Minnesota Gophers STAR RB Darius Taylor Hangs Out With Ron Johnson | The Ron Johnson Show

hey everybody it's Ron Johnson and this is the Ron Johnson show locked on Sports Minnesota I am out traveling I'm in Iowa right now so I'm trying to check with all the Iowa fans this week to find out are you still mad about the fair catch but you know what today's show is not about that we are sitting down with a guy that was a part of that game Darius Taylor Darius Taylor Jr he's the running back for the Golden Gophers he's one of the best runningbacks in the Big 10 he's going to sit down with us in the hanging around Johnson segment and stick around for the daily three because he does a little special Daily 3 with us as well but at the top of the hour we have to talk about yes the Vikings there's another situation we'll talk about all that much more coming up next on the Ron Johnson show locked on Sports Minnesota podcast it's endless Minnesota Vikings talk with the diverse voices of your local experts now the Ron Johnson show on the field in the broadcast Booth Ron Johnson is Minnesota sports he's played with them hung out with them and grown up with all the big names in Minnesota sports they're hanging out with Ron Johnson it's the Ron Johnson show on the lock on Sports Minnesota podcast and it starts now hey good people I'm Ron Johnson hope you're having a beautiful day wherever you're watching from for those watching on YouTube we thank you make sure you subscribe though and tell a friend to tell a friend that we are here this is the Ron Johnson show on locked on Sports Minnesota I'm your host Ron Johnson former Gophers wide receiver Gophers Hall of Famer an NFL wide receiver as well and my producer Sam xum Sam's gonna come in and show in a minute but I want everybody to know today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel just make every moment more as the playoffs wind down sports are kind of they're not sporting like they used to the playoffs aren't play offing like they should and the games aren't gaming like we thought they would be this time of year but FanDuel still have something for those that are heavily invested in a lot of these sports that are going on right now you got baseball it's a ton of baseball make sure you go on there every day there's a daily boost or bonus for every customer daily a boost or a bonus for every customer daily you just have to go on to the app and you'll find out how that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long just visit fanduel.com to get started again you have to go to fanduel.com to get started make sure you go on the App every day there's a daily boost or bonus you're not going to want to miss that well in today's show as I as I kind of tease we're going to talk about Jordan Addison now we do have Darius Taylor coming up in the hanger Ron Johnson segment we are going to have a daily three with Jordan Taylor or sorry with uh Darius Taylor but we got to talk about Jordan aen as I bring my producer to the show Sam XOM um for those that don't know now there the the reports have to come out it's not guarantee just yet all stories have to have an end we have to get the the thing but he was arrested on suspicion of a DUI so under the influence of something and again it doesn't say alcohol so let's make sure first until we get all the information leave Le I haven't seen anything yet breaking maybe Sam does but influence so means it could be anything it could be something the doctor gave him we know the Tiger Wood situation happened where he was driving Under the Influence come to find out he had took the wrong meds or too many of his meds because he was on pain medication uh so we know guys do a lot of things to self-medicate we do know a lot of guys do a lot of things could be marijuana again that's you cannot drive under the influence of marijuana but my issue with Jordan Asen before I kick it over you Sam is you just had a player Kyrie dra Jackson lose his life to a driver that was suspected to be drunk now again that case is still open that that information is still going to come forward but to just have a teammate pass away and be killed in a car crash I just I just I just feel like it's very negligent and it's very selfish and and and like how do you not learn from what you just saw to then go out get behind the wheel again there the story is going to come out we know before he was speedy and there's the problem one time you're like okay two times you're like wait a minute what third time you're out of here and so Jordan Addison for those that don't know on his social media now he's taking down a lot of Viking stuff off of his page one could be just a kid throwing a tantrum because the team might have levied some type of punishment to him that we don't know about yet maybe they reached out to him say hey George's heads up you're gonna be suspended for this or maybe you're going to pay a fine for this or that's you know that's against detrimental to team you know rules or whatever how how they do it whatever it might might be something wanted him maybe it's like hey I don't want people searching my name right now to see the Vikings stuff on my page because I want to disconnect myself from the Vikings because I'm going through this legal battle now of you know this arrest for whatever reason people are going back to the Stefan Diggs era of like deleting all this stuff wanting to get out of Minnesota I don't think Jord n wants to get out of Minnesota I I hope that it's I'm trying to separate myself from the Vikings so that as people search my name right now it just says Jord n my my Instagram is just me um you know I don't want to have to deal with that I don't know but but again kids do weird stuff it's not like people don't know you play for the Vikings so taking down stuff from your your Instagram page means nothing but again maybe it is something the team said to him after this happened and he's just not happy and he want that's that's his way of like disconnecting but again I I say it's selfish it's negligent it's irresponsible and to have a teammate just passed away from a drunk driver potential drunk driver we don't know I I just don't understand the reason for it when you are first round draft pick it would cost you maybe at the most two to three hund bucks to get a car service home from as far as you're away usually I mean Ubers are 50 60 bucks $100 for a black car like there's too much technology out there to be putting yourself in that situation where you could have killed somebody yourself but I don't know Sam what are your thoughts yeah I mean now that we've got two instances of Jordan making bad decisions behind the wheel I guess it makes you think are there other instances where he wasn't caught right like these are the two instances we know about what else is he doing what else has happened that we just don't know about and is this a habit for him is this an issue for him uh because I'm sure Kevin oconnell the last two summers has given them the speech guys stay out of trouble always get a ride um make good decisions because you're representing yourself you're representing the team um we don't want you to you know lose your paychecks because of a suspension and that's probably what's going to happen now I mean Jordan Addison's going to lose credibility he going to lose money he's going to miss a game or more we don't know the the length of the suspension but I'm sure the league will Levy something um so now it's not it's not really a three strike rule in the NFL it's less than that like you get one or two strikes and so like now he is squarely like on the radar as someone that you have to worry a little bit about and that's unfortunate and um you know he's got some he's got a lot more work to do now to I think build back his credibility uh than he did last year when I think I think people forgave him pretty fast once the season started um but now it's going to take a little more work and we've had Chris Carter on the show numerous times and so I remember he you know he talked about his stuff when he was in Philly you know he he got you know I don't know if it was drugs or alcohol or what but you know he said he kind of changed his life that's why he doesn't drink that's why he doesn't do drugs anymore that's why he doesn't do anything like he's like how you know he doesn't even party really he talked about the second chance leaving Philly coming to Minnesota and Denny green taking a chance on him he's like you know what when Denny decided to take a chance on me I never wanted to let him down and I wanted to make sure he knew that life was behind me I was not that Chris Carter anymore I was not that self-serving selfish person anymore and he changed his life around and he's a Hall of Famer now and that's my hope for Jordan adderson that he realizes like self-medicating whatever it might be like even if it is I'm just gonna have a drink or two but I'm GNA make sure I have a car service or a driver um that's the stuff that I mean you have enough money to do that like and so that's the thing where some people not say anybody should do it but some people make that decision because they can't afford that you know they go out they're they're stranded somewhere not stranded but they've been drinking and they have their car and they make a horrible decision because they feel like I can't afford a hotel I can't afford and they make a horrible decision and whether it's kill somebody whether it's you know lose points of your license and your insurance and lose your car and the next car payments high and now you can't like it can really change your life at the end of the day the biggest issue is you can kill yourself and you can kill somebody else and that's one I always see like drunk drivers they're the ones and this is what's crazy Sam remember when KJ Osborne saved the dude from the burning car yeah yeah uh I don't know if you know that story so that's Nelson Thomas he's on he's on uh MTV he used to be on MTV shows uh like doing a lot of the uh Ro rules versus you know the The Challenge and he's known for that well now as I'm reading into the story and again his whole story hasn't come out but people are commenting now on because he's now uh he lost his leg I don't know if you knew that he lost his leg in the accident um so he had his leg amputated like a couple weeks ago probably because of like you know the injury never really healed he was losing you know blood slows they're like look in order to to save your life we need to you need to lose your leg and so he you know he lost his leg and then people were like commenting now like man I don't have sympathy for a drunk driver so allegedly he was drunk and he got into an accident which set his car on fire and he almost died KJ oor save his life so you you you have one Viking die in a car gladney you have another Viking uh save a guy in a car then you have another Viking D in a car and now you have this Viking DUI in a car like it's just you have to learn those that don't know their history are doomed to repeat it and that's that's so tough for me to watch a young guy and I've reached out to the Vikings um I've talked to you know I'm not going to say the names but I've talked to a guy who who does a lot of their stuff uh within the organization uh one name I can't say because I know he's okay with les Pico he's the Player Development guy and I've told him like Hey I would love myself and Rachel Baro uh she's been on a show she's helped out the secc and and and Georgia and the the Gophers she's reached out as well to me and said hey let's connect with les Pico and go meet with these players this this training camp and so we have done that we reached out to him and I hope he does take advantage of it he said he's not the guy that sets that stuff up because they do have internal people that need to vet people and make sure people come into their building or who they say they are and they're not going to you know bring a crazy message to the team um but I I'm hoping at some point they do utilize it because I think some guys need to hear from a guy that looks like them and sounds like them uh because there's only so much a doctor can tell you and you're going to be like man this dude is a doctor like of course he's going to feel this way like I I I want to be able to because again I'm I'm around like it's not like you're flying me in and paying for me and putting me up and all I just want to be able to tell the guys what I've been through what I've seen and what can happen because Jordan aen is like a second-year guy we keep forgetting that he's young but to to to be where he's at it's it's so tough to see him possibly throw it all away where like you said this could be who knows how long the suspension could be hopefully not long um but if it's another time maybe it's then a ban like hey you're banned for the year man like you know and then again it's like okay you're off the lead and that's what you don't want you don't want to see somebody's career thrown away for something that crazy but it's funny we talk about that doing the right things learning The Right Stuff Darius Taylor talks about PJ Fleck and what he had to learn from his dad um had an incident uh where a guy and he got into an argument um they both pulled out guns he and the guy loses his life he tries to go to court and say self-defense for some reason the judges didn't believe him because he was on the Run he ran he was on the run for two years like after the the incident happened he was on the run for two years 2011 they found him he went to court went end up going to jail in 2012 and so again better lawyers maybe self-defense Works he couldn't have you know afford a better lawyer he's still appealing and doing some other stuff because like both guys did have a gun so he feels like it should have been self-defense my other question though is Darius Taylor's learned from this or sorry my my response that Dar to should learn from this he's learned like you have to do the right things because your life can change in a moment you you can't put yourself in certain situations and be places where that can even happen because that can happen and so PJ flex's been a big proponent of that and coming up next we're going to sit down with darus Taylor gopher's running back talk about that EA Sports and all much more we'll do that after work from our sponsors and we're brought to you today by FanDuel Ron is coming to from Iowa so he's in a FanDuel State and even though the sports aren't sporting the way we want them to the playoffs have wound down All-Star break right now your sports going on there are still some sports you got the British Open or the Open Championship coming up this weekend a personal favorite of mine golf offers Great Value that's what I would be wagering on if I was in Iowa like Ron and I would use their daily booster bonus that's right all customers not just new customers all customers right now through FanDuel hooked up with a daily boost or bonus so there's something for everyone every day all summer long head to fanduel.com start making the most out of your summer at FanDuel an official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball hey everybody well like I said I got a special guest joining me today in the hanger Ron Johnson segment that's of course I always got to wear the gopher's gear when I got Gophers joining me and this one is special because this kid is from where I'm from I'm from Detroit Michigan this kid is from the state of Michigan as well he picked Minnesota I pick Minnesota Tony dunie pick Minnesota so there's got to be Marian Barber's Dad came from Detroit and pick Minnesota so there got to be something to it so with no further Ado I'm going bring in Darius Taylor one of the best running backs in the Big 10 going to be one of the best backs in gopher's history and we know if you do right by the Gophers fans they'll do right by you I'm 44 years old I came here in two actually no 1998 I'm old in 1998 and I came back met my wife I still here Darius what year were you born I always love to to because when I think about that 1998 when I came here what year were you born I was born in 2005 oh my God so 2005 I remember that well I was I was leaving the Ravens I was going to the Bears yeah oh man and you were just being born and so now darus Taylor's here with with at the University of Minnesota darus I want to jump out there first man like coming out of Detroit for me I picked Minnesota for a few reasons one like because I wasn't originally like I was planning on going somewhere else I had like Penn State and Michigan State were kind of my top two until I actually got a really like I got to sit down with Nick Sav this is back that's how old I am Nick Sabin was the coach at Michigan State I don't even know if you knew that uh but Michigan state had Nick Sabin and I met him he was cool but I just didn't feel like that was a guy I wanted to play for ended up Tony dunie reached out to my dad he played at Minnesota he said Ron should check out Minnesota him and my dad were teammates with the Steelers so I got a lot of the Steelers gear behind me um and and of course his jersey behind me but Tony dunie calls me I take the visit and I kind of fall in love with the campus what what Drew you to Minnesota um the biggest thing was just the energy uh coach Fleck always has high energy always has a smile on his face always bring bright so um that was the biggest thing uh that's something that I kind of strive to be always the light in the room energy ready to go at all times um and then the second thing was I mean it's pretty close to home like now with the city feel and all that stuff so it didn't feel very much different for me so I thought why not it was great opportunity to prbly be play as a freshman so that was some of the bigest things yeah and everybody always ask me because they're like man it's it's cold I'm like yeah but Michigan gets snowed too like it's not like the snow is something totally different from what the state of Michigan has um but when you look at like Michigan as a whole as a late like you know you look at will Johnson at the University of Michigan you look at uh Dante Moore Went to went to UCLA now at Oregon Michigan has pulled out some I don't know if you saw this stat recently not the state because Texas California Florida they kind of dominate the NFL but City City s Gardner avonte Maddox uh Amry Thomas I know you know those names they all went to Martin Luther King High School um Donovan peoples Jones went to ctech they have the most I don't know if you saw this the most NFL guys in a city and now you have an opportunity in a couple years to be one of those guys man what does that feel like as you see like the city of Detroit the state of Michigan now kind of being put on the map because of guys like s Gardner and Devonte Maddox and Amry Thomas going to the Super Bowl um I think that's the cool uh I feel like Detroit does a good job of um we kind of like feed our guys into into college with like the sound mind sound body programs the rising stars programs I feel like those things are kind of what sets us apart from all the other state or cities and states uh just because we kind of have those programs to to kind of feed us into and teach us the landscape and itself and when you think about Sal M body now that's that's again that's how old I am Kurt Blackwell which I know who you know that started s my he was my high school teammate so I'm that old but but Kurt was way older than me he was two years older than me I was a sophomore we went to state with him he was a senior linebacker outside linebacker he end up going to Hampton uh but but he was because he ended up being my roommate when we went to State we went like we went to stay at like Sterling Height Stevenson to play Sterling Height Stevenson High School and uh I remember being in a hotel and Kirk was my Kirk was one of my because we had four guys you know how it is in Detroit we had four guys to a room we couldn't afford just everybody get a bed so it was four guys to a room one guy had a c one guy had the couch two guys got the bed I was a sophomore so of course I had to get the c um I didn't get the bed but Kurt was one of my teammates and so when you think about s sound mind sound body and the exposure you get with all those colleges showing up man like how did you really just try to say like because I see kids now like we didn't have to do that we didn't have to say here's my first 16 or here's my like we just we only had five we kept it to five when I was growing up you had you had a bunch of letters you got all this because we didn't have emails and text messaging and all that we got letter actual pieces of paper in the mail and then you could write them back or give them a phone call but we kind of picked five early and then that was the five we kind of stuck with going to visit there were some unofficial visits but how did you kind of hone in on the four to five schools that you really want to be at um I'd say I kind of knew where I wanted to be just on a geography landsape of I wanted to be in the midwest it's a style of football that we play up here yeah um and then obviously it's the big 10 that's since all the schools up here so I knew that I wanted to most likely be in the Big 10 so the schools I were looking at were Michigan Michigan State Iowa Wisconsin Minnesota it was it's kind of just what they were um and then I kind of just literally went to all of them and just looked at the small things because I mean every Big 10 school is a great school academically um you're going to play good football no matter where you go um so it was really the small things like the people and things like the area or just housing just the small things that I would like to have um so that was like the biggest things that I was looking at yeah when and when you look at where you are now so you're in Minnesota you're having a great freshman season uh injury hits and I know PJ talks to you guys about response and and and how do you you know failures growth but when you're having the season you're having and I think it was the Northwestern game you got hurt because I remember watching the game and you didn't go back in I'm like something's not right I'm like there's a reason not in the game it was what was what was that like how did you kind of transition from okay I'm not going back in because I mean I don't know if you've watched quarterback on Netflix or you watch receiver on Netflix I just watched receiver and all the receivers got hurt except for the tight end and they each had like a different response or different you know tough times like having the camera with them what what was going through your mind in that moment and then how did you kind of like make sure you stay dialed in so then when you you know when you clear to come back and play um I'd say the biggest thing that I struggled with was just right away like right like during the game not being able to go back in and help yeah or or just do anything about the rest of the game have no control um I struggle with things like that like not being able to go back in and the other thing was being patient and understanding like that I have to take care of my body that's another thing being patient with the ual like rehab process and and figuring out the things that my body specifically needs yep and the things that I need to do for myself just to stay healthy when I do come back so that was probably the biggest and hardest thing that I was going through in that time yeah and and and going through that season like I said you guys had some ups and some Downs you had some games you probably thought you were going to win and then of course we know the Northwestern outcome uh one of the craziest I guess finishes if you want to call it I talked to this Tyler nuben came on the show as well uh I think right either after that or around that time time and uh you know he kind of talked about that I think it was after yeah because he talked about that moment like here's what happened I know I I should have done this I know I got a little greedy on this and blah blah we had him on the PJ Flex show as well and he talked about it um when you talk about response because I know PJ tells you guys that what what is what when you think about like your how or your response or you know how you're going to deal with you know tough times what are some things you you try to talk yourself through to make sure like I know I'm coming out on the other end of this tunnel um really the main thing and the one thing that I think of when I'm going through tougher times is just perspective um coach Fleck talks to me specifically a lot about perspective yeah because I struggle with like small things in the grand scheme of everything yeah um so perspective like there's kids in the children's hospital that we go see and work with all the time and they're going through stuff that's way harder than just a hamstring tear or something as small as even a broken arm is way smaller than the things that they're going through not I'm through that but um like they're going through things that are just way bigger than anything that could be related to football right and they're fighting for their lives and we're just this is all just a game at the end of everything so that's the biggest thing is keeping everything honed in in perspective yeah and that's that's the key I think that's a great word uh for any high school kids because you know a lot of high school kids struggle with am I getting recruited why is this school not reaching out to me I I wish I can go to the Big 10 or I want to go here and and they struggle with that but when you talk about the change in the landscape of college sports now you I've seen you do some Social Media stuff now some commercials with with companies I've seen you with IFA now did you ever think like years ago because this wasn't really a thing yet did you ever think in college you would be starting to talk to companies and doing commercials never growing up I just always thought and always like we talk to my parents about like you can't really make any money as a college athlete you can't have a job and things like that so like that's a that's kind of like how I was growing up and then right at the end of my high school career obviously that's when the nil started to pick up and things of that nature so I kind of had a little bit of time to learn and kind of understand the the landscape before I even got here and then it's really been a learning process as I've gone on since jumping into this landscape of like things to do things not to do understanding just business things because I mean I feel like this landscape is causing like kids I'm still a kid like to have to grow up way faster in like making those adult decisions or business decisions yep um you usually don't make those until you're 25 plus or right out of college so it's different things that like different decisions that kids are making that can be catastrophic that they're maybe not educated on so it's something that like I've been working with coaches like coach fle very closely and IFA and my family to make the right decisions um financially and also also just in PR relations like things that I should and shouldn't do and how do I help the community how do I do those certain things so that landscape the landscape has caused me to like kind of have to grow up even faster yeah so I feel like it's a good thing but it can also be a it can be a bad thing to in certain situations because of decisions that young guys have to make and um I think it could put some guys in bad situations but I feel like once everybody understands the landscape and somebody's educating the athletes I feel like it'll be all good yeah and and that's the thing that's that's a wise word uh because if you if you think about it like I was 21 when I went to the NFL it doesn't change like it you you're never prepared to get paid honestly like it it it like even though we knew like yep we're going in the draft and I was one of the you know top 32 players that got to take the visits and I got to you know talk to different teams and I end up being the you know a top 10 receiver taking in the draft and blah blah but you just don't know and I remember we were at the the rookie hey rookie in the NFL down at the rosebowl in California and Clinton poris walks in and the first adult decision we all had to make as a group was we were 21 Clinton was not because he left early and he had to wear no sorry we had to wear wristbands around him so that when we all went to bars and we went to these events they knew here's the play players that are 21 and here's the player that is 20 now we all know 20 year olds are going to have a drink every once in a while there was buses taking us we weren't driving but still in that moment we all had to kind of say like man you forget that this guy is 20 and we're 20 you know like we all showed up thinking we're adults and we got jobs now we're NFL players and then a lady comes in and literally makes you know reminds us hey he's still underage you gotta you know and so the money like because we all got paid for being down there by EA Sports we got paid by uh I forgot the car tops I think was the car company back then and so we got paid and so that's one of the things you have to figure out but speaking of getting paid for being down there with EA Sports you're now in a video game I've seen the videos now on Instagram and Twitter I've seen people early release because spice Adams uh he was one of the guys that got the game early his son's been playing it so he sent me some videos of his son playing uh I need to text him and tell him play pin State Minnesota and just put it on simulation and see what happens we're going to win uh but but he's playing it I saw LeBron playing it but I saw some people starting to post here's the Gopher opening here's the stadium here's darus Taylor and his offense how does that feel man to be in a video game now because when I played we were in it but then it went away and I think 2014 was the last time college football even did that because they realized we're not paying these players and we're making a ton of money off of them now you guys can get paid now you guys can opt into the game uh first did you have any hesitation about putting yourself in the game um not really I feel like that's just something I'll be able to tell my that's another thing to put on my resume to tell my grandkids and my family down the line like I was in this video game they'll be able to look back on it I just feel like that's a major accomplishment in my opinion yeah um just for me and my family just kind of like putting my family on the map so I'm in a video game that's something that I don't think anyone in my family has done so I think that's really cool and I feel like it also gives you opportunity to just experience something new um most people in this world don't get to play a video game with literally themselves in the game playing so I mean that's really cool and I'm really excited um the clips look really nice um with the op in we do but you're in the game so did you get it early since you you opt it in did they send you got like did you guys get a pre- early EA sports package of the game or how what did they do for you guys I know money was involved but uh yeah the money and then we also get um we get like a code for the game early access so so have you already been playing it no we'll we'll be able to start playing it tomorrow all right all right all right so that so you're plan with because I know you guys are GNA play with each other against each other how do you guys decide who's going to be Minnesota or is there a different team you're going to use um I'm probably gonna use either Minnesota or probably Oregon okay why why Oregon just just the higher Pace offense honestly okay like just like the throwing the ball um maybe pretty much all the West Coast teams like Utah that they're just going to throw the ball so they'll probably have a bigger passing attack different play so it'll all be based on it's no it's not really the team it's kind of going to be based on really The Playbook and the things that they that they can do in the game but with us everybody knows that I'm just going to be running the ball with me I'm at 400 yards on the ground [Laughter] so so you're guy that just wants to run the same play over again and just like really just try to grind somebody out yeah if it's not broken why fix it so and are you playing with your boys back home like do you go online and play with your boys back home or at other schools oh yeah definitely so pretty much all the guys I was playing with in high school I still play with this to this day okay that that'll be fun definitely cuz those guys back home are going to be trying to play with me as well like that's what they're excited for like they've all been saying like they're excited to be playing with me on the game so that's cool yeah man and when you when you think about this like so you got the game you got you got all the stuff in there is there anything like cuz I know there's other stuff you can do with EA Sports you can go down there they can use your body they can get your celebrations they can is there anything moving forward because I know IFA is big in that too and trying to make sure guys are maximizing their potential is there anything with video games or with EA Sports that you would like to go deeper and do with them or try to be involved in um I would like to go in and do that stuff I think it just be cool not even for monetary situation I think that it would just be a good experience and a cool experience to get into the office and just get to see how they do things and all the like the behind the scenes of all this stuff so I think it'd be cool to do that definitely yeah and I know we're going to talk about this later in the Daily 3 I kind of left this team I'm Gonna Leave This team out of the Daily 3 on purpose because I want to ask you now you're going back to the big house I remember I had it Circle because ly we were on ABC it was a it was a Prime Time game on ABC ly Swan was a s report he was my dad's teammate Hall of Fame receiver with the Steelers and so it was a lot my family was all coming my cousin I think I had like 20 something tickets Larry foot who I played against in high school at Persian high school he played in Michigan K June who I knew Todd Howard I knew um and so all you know David Terrell was on the other side brillan Edwards who was from this he didn't play back there he was a freshman but he was on the team uh but he went to Martin Luther King High School what are you looking forward to going back to play against Michigan um I say the biggest thing is Ping FR of my family okay uh once again just like the bowl game I'll probably have a lot of people there to be hon it's just cool to be able to have my pretty much my whole family there people who aren't able to make the trip to Minnesota see games or make the trips to the other schools um it's kind of right in their backyard easy drive up to an arbor so I think it'll be cool just for the family to be able to be there and then obviously the Nostalgia of just playing against Michigan uh is always cool especially because I grew up watching Michigan in Michigan State those two schools are just always cool to play yeah and my cousin is mcari paig he's a safety number seven um so he went to West Bloomfield High School and I know they have the turnover Buffs cuz I've talked to him about that are you going to put on the bus when you score a touchdown in Michigan uh probably [Laughter] I it's just kind of it's kind of mandatory it's and and when you put because I know I knew what they were right away when you put them on but did did some of your teammates or did because I knew people I guess your teammates know about the turnover Buffs with Michigan but when you put them on with was there anybody like trainers teammates maybe fans that didn't really understand or the media that didn't understand why you put them on um like my teammates all knew what they were but there were some staff members that were kind of like what kind of glasses are those are what are those glasses and I have to exp them that their cardier and all that stuff but mainly everybody knew like the media knew pretty much automatically I mean it's their job they do right a lot of stuff like that so it was cool yeah cuz they texted they text me the picture right away cuz we did we we watched the bowl game and then we did like a little postgame show uh for you guys and we did you know a little pre- deal and so I didn't see that right away cuz I was I was doing some stuff but then I was like Ah that's dope because like being able to do that in Detroit like people don't really understand that um but when you look at before we get out of here I got a couple quick ones for you but when you look at this upcoming season what really like what is your expectation like personally for you and then for your team because you're going into your sophomore season this is a season to really just put your stamp on it I know staying healthy is one of them but is there something personally you're like this is what I want to do whether it's you know I want to be the captain or I want everybody you know I want big moments or whatever it might be um and is there what's your expectation for the team when you look at the schedule because I personally I know you can't do this I know PJ never likes to do this but I can look at this schedule and I say I know that's five to six wins right there and then these other ones you gotta you know you got to try to just dominate early to stay ahead of these really good teams but what is your expectations or what have you put on your you know vision board for this season um i' say the biggest thing for a team aspect is I think that um our biggest thing is I think we need to just play good on all like all three platforms of football U special teams offense defense I think that everything needs to be firing on all cylinders um something that we've been working on that's our biggest goal is just to fire on all cylinders and and play some sound football so that's the biggest goal for the team and for myself honestly I think that I just want to be me um just BDT and just make plays when they're there um take what they give us and I'd say like a stat goal that I have is I want to get I want to try to get a thousand yard plus um that's something that's that's big for me I think that' be a great accomplishment and and really just it'll set me up for the years to come so I think that will be a good opportunity to do it this year especially against the competition that we do have this year I feel like those will be a clean thousand yards there won't be any asteris next to those to that thousand yards or anything like that just because of the competition level that we have this year so daris I know you guys got a new quarterback Max brosmer you I mean Minnesota you weren't here for this but Minnesota had Tanner Morgan forever I know Tanner's still around helping out uh and then you guys had aan C Manis and now you have Max brasmer fand he know he he has one year and I saw that you guys got a chance to travel with him and kind of hang out and get to know him with with some of the key guys on the offense but what was that trip like um that trip was fun um we did a lot of stuff on the board uh we had a lot of opportunities to go out on the boat and just do fun stuff out get on jet skis things like that and also we got some field work in um but the biggest thing was just it was cool to see the guys coming together he brought us all together and kind of made the offense a little bit closer closer than even are right now so that was really cool yeah and I know that's me I'm I'm excited to see because I I've heard um he he's really accurate um get definitely different from what we've seen in Minnesota and I know for the biggest thing is like the Gophers because they've told me this too is like we don't want to show anything to anybody until it's time and that was the reason for like the spring football game being cancelled and not being viewed by the fans and so on and so forth I know I was around for some stuff but I know we were told not to say stuff about the offense so I'm not GNA even say it but I'm excited to see it because I am a big offensive-minded guy and I love after the first game even being able to break down the film moving forward and explain it to people and explain it to the media fans and when we do our pregame show um but I'm I'm really excited for that but when you think about Max brasner on the field because I know you you got to spend time all What What In the Huddle about him kind of gives you confidence going into the season um I think that he just has that big leadership AA to him he's just a big leader um he's kind of in command of everything keeping everything running he's he's like the head coach on the field as it should be so he just kind of he kind of just brings a just a different feel to the game just with his leadership yeah and uh the last one before we get out of here man I know a lot of people saw it if you haven't see it man check out darus Taylor's story about his dad uh spice Adams is one of my best friends grew up with him his father uh had got out of prison a while ago I know your dad was incarcerated but what what is that like you know that relationship with your dad having to you know keep that sometimes in the back of your mind but also move forward life and I know he's probably talked to you about it as well there's an article uh I think the Pioneer Press did it um you know on you and your father as well but how is that kind of like what have you used to grow from that no you know that life lesson um I'd say I think that obviously it's taught me different situations not put my myself into certain situations yeah um but it's also like I said earlier in the interview it's given me some perspective on I'm not going through the worst things every day or I'm not in the worst situation possible when I'm going through certain things um I think that it's also taught me a lot like just as a Man how he still how my father is still in my life and being a father even though s the circumstances that he is in um it's something that that kind of motivates me and like keeps me thinking that to be a good father one day or or just be a be a true man to my family and and still try to provide no matter the circumstances I'm in or or just keep fighting for for those different opportunities to to better the family I think that he's doing a good job of just just being there and and I'm having someone to talk to even though he's not able to Mentor me necessarily in the way that I needed for the football aspect of things but just as like a life thing and decisions I shouldn't shouldn't make he's definitely been there and really big in that situation well I appreciate you man I'm looking forward to the season definitely going to have to make sure I connect you on the sidelines because I know before I you know I would walk by you guys but I I usually don't just come up to guys unless I really really know them and so I'm glad we got a chance to do this because I'm looking forward to this season I'll be around in the summer but I'm definitely going to be there at those home games down on the sideline before the game and pregame warm-up in XYZ uh but I'm Ryan Johnson that's Darius Taylor coming up next we got the daily three that's three questions three minutes each Sam's going to join us we're going to put Darius in the high seat see how he does uh because one of the questions I want to know who he thinks the best four running backs in goph for history are you guys can be surprised with this answer but again I'm Ron Johnson we'll be back after word from our sponsors well now it's time for the daily three that's three questions three minutes each take it away Sam all right Darius and Ron we're gonna start out with Gophers running backs all time Darius obviously you're trying to get your face on the Gophers Mount Rushmore of running backs but do you have one of your own of alltime gophers RBS from the past and Ron I want the same from you let's start with uh let's start with Darius um for that I'd say not in any specific order like Lawrence um Mo um I say DT uh Daryl Tom oh yeah um and then can I put myself on there or I gotta put someone else yeah put on there yeah oh me CA I I'm making my way so for me like I like I like your answers and I think you forgot about Mary and Barber but here's where I go with it I'm gonna go or maybe you didn't you left them off the list I'm gonna go in no order either but if I had to go order I would probably go ah that' be I probably go Lawrence Daryl Thompson and then Maran and the reason for me and Maran is Lawrence and Maran did something that no other college football running backs had ever done which is multiple thousand yard seasons together and that's like that's ridiculous when you think about that because back then it was Ronnie Brown and CAC Williams uh it was uh the two kids from uh Alabama and then of course it was the Gophers and the Gophers of course being in the Big 10 those guys being in SEC they got kind of like they they didn't take them as serious but when you look at the NFL how those guys all panned out Mar and end up having better careers than those guys as far as their Duos went so I got to go Maran for my fourth and this is the tough one so for Mo it's longevity because he got all those extra years and and I struggle with that one because there was also Gary Russell who went to the Pittsburgh Steelers he was before them he also was a part of a double Duo thousand yard running back deal um you can go all the way back to like the black and white days I know you know some people do that but I I do want to say that like I I like when I looked at Darius Taylor playing this past season I got a chance to do the pregame show the PJ Flex show so I you know being a former gopher I I love watching your game and I and I would say that i' I'd say in the next three years two to three years Darius Taylor will be on that Mount Rushmore uh but you know as a freshman man you gotta earn it bro you gotta earn it but I will say like you had one of the best freshman Seasons you had one of the best like college football seasons barring injury you know probably would have been the top and so I I definitely got to put you up there but Mo iam you know I would say he he probably does kind of put because you know there's Rodney Smith there's a b but yeah Mo would be in there right now and then I would definitely put you in there as the upand coming honorable mention to knock one of those guys off because that's how it goes you know that's that's how guys see it um but you know when when you think about one thing I did want to say how much are you trying to get into the passing game as a running back because that that's where Maran kind of set himself different from Aon as he was willing to run a lot of those screens where you at with your screen game um honestly in my opinion that's what what I want to be doing okay I know I know you guys probably know about my receiving background so that's always been big catching the ball I don't drop any balls so like getting in a passing game is is definitely a goal of mine so okay well that's so that's that's what I say then you you get The Passing added I think that adds you as that dual threat running back that can definitely put you up there on the top four of a go for history but Sam what you got next yeah uh we talked a lot of hoop Ron and I do Darius and we were debating this on Friday so we got to throw this question at you uh old school or new school hoopers in a three Onre game who wins LeBron Curry and Durant or Jordan magic and Larry Bird they're going to 21 playing by ones and twos new school or old school um I feel like new school would win just cuz they they like the old school guys couldn't handle the style of play nowadays now the new school guys couldn't handle the the tougher basketball back then but the new style of shooting that ball and like just the sheer size of like KD and the way that he moves or is able to move I don't think that like Larry bur could handle something like that yeah you know what and I gotta give it to you like I I I I love Jordan I love magic and bird but magic and bird for me are the outliers of being able to handle LeBron and KD I think Steph and Jordan like Steph can't handle Jordan in the post but Jordan Steph moves around well and can shoot you know he can back up as far as he needs to to shoot the three if you switch off and all Magic's on them lay Birds on them same he's gonna move around in space but I I struggle with the the bird like you hit the nail on the head the bird on the KD for me too that was the one for me where I'm like I don't know I I really don't know but I know when I played we played a lot of like Hoops I know PJ plays with you guys every once in a while and he loves to show guys he can play horse and he can shoot and you know I don't know if he showed you his basketball highlights from high school but when you think about your team if you had to pick three players that you're like you know what these three football players can go face any three other football teams in a three on- three contest who are your three top hoopers on the team um I'd say an Anthony Smith um he's big and good I ain't gonna lie he's athletic um Krick laner he he could shoot um and I'd say like a sneaky good guy is like Tony Tony Nelson okay yeah he's good and so if you had to go in the locker room and you're like because I know you seen these on Twitter and Instagram if your life depended on three guys and you're like I know these guys are gonna miss or you you can win a million dollars if if these three guys just absolutely are trash in basketball Miss shots who who are the three Trash Guys on your team that you're like I know these dudes going to win me a million dollars um I'd say Quinn Carol uh arante hating on the o line say uh and I probably say like Theo Theo Randle okay I mean AR Ur and C Carol are going to be the reason why you go for 2,000 yards like that is true but they don't play basketball I love it I love it so that's a little audible I always love to throw a little Omaha in there get a little audible in but Sam what you got last yeah simple one uh Darius what are you most looking forward to in the upcoming college football season uh the biggest thing I'm looking forward to is one just having an opportunity to play this schedule uh we play a lot of good talent in the Big 10 and I feel like it's just good opportunity to to Showcase where I am and it'll show me personally where where I line up against like they say like better competition as they say um I feel like it's just a good opportunity as a team to do big things um I mean it'll be a fun year I mean we're going all over the country we get to go to the West Coast so that'll be all fun that's what I'm most excited for and when I and for me like covering the team doing the pregame show like I'm looking really forward to talking a little because I know deshun Foster he's been on our show head coach for UCLA he and I got drafted together in 2002 so he's been on the show I've talked to desan about it you know when he was a running backs coach now head coach uh he talked about recruiting so and so forth so I'm looking forward to doing that one uh Penn State because Penn State comes back to Minnesota again and that's been some ridiculous games against Minnesota and Penn State since 1999 when we knocked them off when they were number two spice yep still talking about it bro we killed y'all but when I name off I'm GNA name off some some games for you real quick and and and I know one and I'm thinking I'm I'm and you know I I hope this is one but when I Nam some games other than Michigan because you're going to Michigan so I know you're excited to go back home because I couldn't I remember when I went back home for the first time to play at Michigan at the big house it was it was fun and I got to score a touchdown I got to shut the crowd up for a little bit so I was excited about that but when you look at Rhode Island Nevada Iowa you USC UCLA Illinois Maryland ruter Penn State and Wisconsin out of those teams other than Michigan what jumps like what's and you kind of say West Coast but what jumps out like right away like I I'm looking forward to that team um I'd say the Iowa game okay or UCLA because we're going over to the West Coast but with the Iowa game I'd say um I just I just love like just the Nostalgia of the Rivalry um I respect that rivalry a lot it's fun uh we all know like the history of even with just the coach fle era how we haven't won many games in there but last year we got one so it'll be cool to like play them again after we coming off the win and yeah that's probably one that I'm really excited about and when you think about Iowa like I know if you if say you get put back there on punt return or something are you ready to not do the fair cat like is there anything that you're thinking of when people are talking about the fair catch or you're like you know already known what not to do I mean we're always taught in practice like about the rules so I mean we all we all know as returners not to do that um um it's kind of something like we got called last year a few times for the thing not to that magnitude I understand the situation is what caused the up um unfortunate situation but I mean the ru is the rule yeah I love it I love it well I'm Ryan Johnson that's darus Taylor that's Sam AC the producer that does it all and thank you guys for joining us today on the Ronan Johnson show remember make sure you go on YouTube and subscribe just takes an email address subscribe 247 you can get all of our shows as Vikings wild wolves links gophers and of course we are going to be there for training camp it's coming people so make sure you you guys are dialed in I recently ran into CJ ham I was talking to Adam Thelen I got a chance to catch up with JJ McCarthy they're all ready for training camp so make sure you're there because we're going to take you every step of the way again I'm Ron Johnson I want you guys have a great week