Washington's Zach Ertz & Austin Ekeler: Commander's key adds, Dan Quinn & Jayden Daniels | The Pivot

[Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah I got them there you go brother thank you no problem my man hey sir can I get a picture what up boy how you doing man bro I'm good man I'm excited man you still you still got it going new energy around here though I'm excited bro good to see you man yes sir yes sir nephew what up wi how you doing how you feeling body good y y'all didn't play y' Ain't Got pads yet we did P yesterday how it go first time in him did you bring your stuff from school smart I kept my joints 13 years dog Big Dog hey you can't put me out there unless you want get burned up how are you man doing well I'm doing welcome back bro how's everything going good yeah really good everybody keeps talking about the new energy man I'm excited about that yeah you here today man I'm excited doing I see I had you in earlier I think Hester took it to the 50 the first return second return took it like back off 40 and you come cussing on the sideline do any of y'all just want to play kickoff I'm sitting next to ke trailer I'm like no truck we supposed to say are we supposed to say you was so jacked up I'm I'm looking I'm I'm a rookie I'm looking at the ground truck like man go don't looking that crazy put your ass out there I realiz what up boy how you doing man how you feeling good man you look great man you ready tooll new energy now you got to lead it definitely you always do though good to see you boy yes sir yes sir what up man good to see you brother yes sir man how is everything going so good man man You' been doing it a long time bro I know man seen a lot a minute yeah seen a lot what up boy keep doing it huh I see you come on man you can't be clowning me like that I was when I saw you look good too man D look good man Legend What's happen how you doing I'm good they told me you was coming man hey P what's up brother how you doing man looking good looking good have you met our owner Jos yeah I met him actually Philly how you doing good to see you yes sir good to see as well whole new whole new energy out here Mr Harris whole new energy it's amazing what years were you here 04 and I retired here in 14 did you see Jaden yeah of course of course what up brother how y'all doing man yes sir was that yall doing man we're only cheer for the defense today all right if the offense makes a big play boom right y'all always louder for the offense though offense make a play it's like yay defense defense y'all watching go that's two and three plays I see you three oh damn he little hold up liit it I here to witness it my feelingit feeling got me up on the mission got me up know me I got the key on the vision I can trust just Limitless n s pining it I here to witness it my people feeling militant way I'm feeling get me up the Miss got me up KN me I got the key only Vision I can trust trust Limitless [Music] it hate to see that huh you said what sit that ragged ass technique boy you they never let you rush anyway weak through that big g n they never let you rush man they going have Austin on here in his titty shirt he got muscles I'mma tell you what he cut up like a turkey though that's how Fred used to look [ __ ] but he was 6'2 and Fred couldn't catch like Austin either n Austin six it's okay it's always crazy when I meet short running backs yeah like you tiny he tiny though what up brother what's up definitely the first man to ever do our show like this how you doing man been good man been good good what's up cool good to see y again definitely train C you're a big snack person for sure I have some chips and I have some popcorn you know what kale chips how Che that's my jam we we don't have those problem that that metabolism is done slowed down for sure well Austin Eckler man uh new commanders running back welcome to the pivot thank you so much for taking this time man I know training camps going on Fred Taylor Channon Crowder I'm RC the pivot a part of Fanatics I do want to get to now but bro you're a really good high school player who didn't get recruited heavily you leave your school as the all-time leading rusher you're an undrafted free agent you become a dude that all he does to score touchdowns I think something like 382 years 2122 and then free agency hits and you get to this point and it's like okay there should be all these people chasing someone this productive and then you find a home here what has it been like always producing always being successful and consistently being overlooked we're getting right into it I ain't got you for a long time though that's right we get right to the good stuff man you know and for me through my journey you know I haven't really always had the biggest dreams or aspirations and I think that's because I've always really focused on what I was where I was that like for me I didn't I didn't dream about going to the NFL I didn't I grew up in the ranch life like I grew up out in the country we didn't watch I grew up bass fishing and bull riding um so for me football was an opportunity that I had and I kept having success in that like all right let's let's try to do something here you know and I continued just to to hone in and really took it seriously and and for me what I learned being in a ranch is how to do a lot with a little you know and what I mean by that is hey when you have an opportunity you you put everything into it to try to maximize it so that you can get everything out of that thing and that was exactly what it was for me going into high school didn't know where I was going to go as far as College if I even get a scholarship only got a scholarship to one school getting to college hey my coach comes to me my junior year you might have an opportunity to play in the NFL I'm like NFL what we talking about NFL and so for me but my mind was built in I'm going to go into business I'm going to go out and getting my education and use my brain to get my next opportunity and ended up coming in the physical world of football and so I immersed myself into that and so it was never about being overlooked it was always about being where I was and making sure that hey I'm putting my best self forward so at the end of the day I know that that was everything you could have got out of me and but it was a zero star zero there no below that I didn't even know there was a star system what are you talking about star you know like that's was real about I didn't know there was Zero I read that like pounding toost into the ground throwing hay bals like that was that was my upbringing you know I got introduced to hard work early on in my career my in my childhood and you just when you go through that like your mentality compared to a lot of your my peers was a lot different you know when it was time to work hard that meant something a lot different to me you know we when we were out here building you know miles of fence we were running the toost clip it up Run next toost boom pound it clip it up right it's it's work out in the sun doing that type of stuff and so I was like doing that from six years old um and I was either doing that in the summer or I was you know playing uh Sports at Sports Camps and so it was just grind that's all I knew was grind you know I just want you to know man I don't know how much you've ever talk to this dude he's not really the type of guy that you could keep going pounding right like the way his the way his brain work all like if you would have did it one more time already have you ever pounded a TST in the grand I done pound some to I don't know what the hell you talking about I got I got three babies TST and teabags whatever it is I dis some pound in my life but my football it's crazy when they talk about you cuz it's a touchdown Bandit what you had like 40 touchdowns your senior in high school 43 yeah 55 in college in four years now the Le you got damn well you got speaking of that you got 69 which a great number I know I know like do I score again but the the the point of football is to score touchdown up but they just say a touchdown band it's not like great running back or elusive guy or you know dual threat back you know running and catching oh he just he'll get you a touchdown in the Red Zone like what how do you change that narrative yeah it's it's a loaded question because I think the the parameters around the understanding of the running back is you got to be this Runner right and go out there and run right I've never been a pro bowl but I've had Seasons where I have 1,600 allpurpose yards and 20 touchdowns yeah and like back to back you know leading the league twice you know and so it's like what is the value of a player well if you put it in a confinement of a box of running backs run receivers catch and don't actually expand that box to be like oh this is a good player that makes effort he actually makes really good impact all over the field if you don't do that you're going to put me in a box and say well he hasn't had a th yards rushing you know but you're not seeing the impact that I'm making on the team as far as efficiency in the red zone as far as catching the ball as far as running the ball um and so I think that's what's happened in my scenario across the board as a running back there's a lot of different types of Runners out there you know you got someone like Derrick Henry who rushed for 2,000 yards you know he's still not breaking records as far as getting paid or anything like that so it's like how do you put value on that that impact that that back is having on there it's not as easy as it is as a receiver who you know is just going to go catch routes right it's as a running back is a little bit more diverse in the type of impact that we can have so it's a battle we're going to have to continue to do I think Christian's done a great job so far right he's he's setting the standard of what that can be you know the versatility that he shows and he's getting rewarded for it he still deserves more in my opinion but uh hey at least it's a start you had to make a move now from LA to here to to DC how's that transition been so far it's been pretty normal as far as the football side just because I've been through a couple head coaches before and so it's you know learning the culture learning a new team you know how it is during offseason we get a lot of new players so you see a lot of new faces a little bit more when you go to a different team but then the main thing is just kind of getting acclimated to the to the area right this is I'm not in La anymore and so that's been a little different but it don't matter we'll play ball anywhere you know so just a couple years ago you had a rookie quarterback in Justin yeah now you have another rookie quarterback in Jaden have you been able to talk to him and share share anything in terms of his transition from college the pressures that he might face considering Justin was a high draft pick and now Jaden right there following the same path have you been able to talk to him about anything expectational whatever it's been really cool because uh I think Marcus has also played a big role in that too Mariota you know the quarterbacks that's in front of him um you know for example Marcus got all of us together we went out to Oregon um and Marcus put a put a workout together for all of us and stuff like that Jaden was out there and so it's really good for him to see that leadership that we're expecting from him from a quarterback and how and what that looks like you know because if you don't have that you you're not going to know you're like hey what am I how am I supposed to lead this team how am I supposed to lead these men out there so I've been excited that that Marcus has really stepped into that role but when it comes to me too now it's I'm his backfield buddy right and we're talking I'm to let him him know as far as hey you ever need anything you know where I am you got to know where I am right cuz I'm going to be there I'm going to be open for you throw me the ball um that's that's how I made a living in this league um and then I'm proud of him too because at the leadership he's shown like I have Choice routes option routes things like that I'm out in the slot and he's calling me up after the play hey hey what do you see on that like why didn't you break in here I'm like well there's a whole player in there I don't want to go and and get my head taken off you know so I'm going sit a little bit and was talking like the details I'm like he's going down the right path and as a rookie quarterback there's a lot that you have on your plate like I said he's he's continued to accumulate you know all the knowledge and being around some of our veterans is really helping him out I was here I had two stance here 0405 under Joe Gibbs and then I came back in 14 with Jay guden but that was also all under Dan Snyder right you are new here but this whole place is new Josh Harris entering his second year as the owner DQ becoming the head coach and everybody we've ever talked to about Dan Quinn only speaks glowingly about the sort of energy he provides for building in your short time through the offseason early in Camp what is it about Dan Quinn that makes players and coaches comfortable enough around him to go out and want to play for him if I were to be a head coach I would want to be like Dan Quinn wow like that's a powerful statement but like the way he leads the team he coaches philosophies about Brotherhood about the standard about the expectation what it should look like what it shouldn't he throws some ball in there as well but it's about how do we interact with each other how do we go out there and compete what does that look like because now we're setting the base of how we go out there in the field and what's expected and if it's not now we know hey that's not the standard because from the headband that's been that's been established and I've been around some coaches where they expect that from the players which can go both ways it could go great if you got got great leadership if you don't have great leadership it can go the other way um and so I just appreciate that because when it's from him then it's expected from everybody right that's from the top down that's what it is and that's how we got to get down and if we're not then he's going to call us out so I appreciate him for that and just the the in between stuff cuz yeah we can do talk X's and O's everyone's talking X's and O's everyone's got Playmakers on their team but what's the difference well it's the stuff that's in between that right the stuff that's in between that how how well are we meshing you know are we going through like the scramble drills things like that do you know what I'm going to do when I when break and those are all the things that we talk about you know on the on the side as far as Dan Quinn's coming up to me like hey we might get you in the slot man like this might be an opportunity for you to you know actually you know develop as a player as a pass Catcher from the slot not just the Back Field um so things like that where it's like we're expanding ourselves but also learn how to work man that's so dope that physical game cuz I was with Dan I know Dan's a defensive minded oh yeah let's go break a face mask off D oh yeah you know how he says it's got to go down right here but but the game's changes so much like we're at pracs today and there's a lot of tap offs y get how do you a running back knowing how it is in that Bo like we was all in the Box he used to bring his little ass in the Box sometimes too but preparing for what you know that's going to be like in the game but how different the league is now getting ready to play a physical style of ball pretty much but not being a to do it throughout camp like we used to yeah it's it's definitely different it's it's definitely different even from when I was I was a rookie you know shoot eight years ago now the thing is we're moving we're we're playing around when it comes down to hey we get the pads on like you can start you can still simulate but you can never simulate like the game reps you know where it's like take to the ground people can cut like the physicality of a finish in a block CU we're not trying to you know take our guys to the ground right now you know you want to you want to save your guys because a healthy team is Is wealth in this in this league um and so it's one of those things where you can try to simulate as much as you can if basically you everything is live besides cutting in the ball carrier you know when we have the pads on and so you try to do as much you can but you know you can never get that that full that full you know go you know unless you get to the game preseason your first head coach coach ay yeah is now your running back coach yeah what are you guys relationship like I had a ly back in Jacksonville as a running back coach he was okay yeah he's grown a lot yeah what mean he was okay no I mean look he was okay meaning he was a really good coach but he was my homie like we was tight like Freddy just got [ __ ] play just go make some [ __ ] play like you know you done done your thing no problem no pressure go do your thing and we just had a good relationship so he was he was okay he was a good coach you know not okay asn't bad how's your relationship with Coach L yeah so I had him as a head coach was head coach relationships always a little different I think it's always just more of like hey like how's it going like hey you're a leader we talk to each other every once in a while but it's not like in your room talking philosophies getting getting to know each other and so now that he's come from my head coach to my actual like position coach I see more of what his philosophies were as a head coach like implemented in our room um and what I mean by that I actually told him the other day I was like hey you know what I appreciate about you coach sln like you you will not let anyone slide and you going to coach everybody like you were coaching everything you know and it's like that's what we need as players cuz this is yeah we want to you know have a good time and play ball but we're all trying to win here man and he does not hold back if it was not good he going to tell you that was not good you know that get that's going to get your ass benched you know and I'm like yeah like yeah that's what I want to hear cuz if if I'm going to be on the field to be doing this [ __ ] at the highest level and making it look good and you know being being at a player where hey you can trust me on the field and it hasn't been like that with all my running back coaches everyone's got their own style but he is so direct um he just been around ball for so long you know especially the running back position um and so I appreciate him for that you know and especially as a young guys the young guys might be you know tight like oh [ __ ] like I don't want to mess up but that that helps them care about hey okay I got to make sure that I'm on my [ __ ] cuz I don't want to be I don't be called out here uh so I do appreciate him and his style like relationships are a big part of football but a big part of life too man like married man now oh yeah you know you talk about making the move from LA to the DMV and it's so much easier when it's just about yourself right like this game makes you selfish because there so much that you have to do to make sure you're prepared to be this independent contractor that feeds the family but now being married man and just having that other person to do life with how excited are you to embark on two new Journeys at one time yeah man I'm so blessed my wife Melanie she has kind of opened my eyes I never thought I was actually going to go down the married path you know just from my experience ah you know and then I found Melanie and then it was different it was way different I'm like whoa like this girl takes care of me unconditionally she understands what I have going on she has her own stuff going on as well she she moved out from Michigan out to LA been doing the social media cor she's a choreographer for for music and stuff like that for dance so it has her own life but then also like takes care like I said unconditionally like she I don't have to ask she just does stuff I'm like this is this is a whole different type of love that I'm experiencing here and so I definitely was introduced to that and then that continued to build over time so it was it was an easy transition into getting married and we've been supportive every every step of the way and her out here she can work online which is even better so and she'll travel around for deals and stuff like that she'll be up in New York doing stuff um some beauty stuff things like that but it's been one one of the next steps in my life that I'm a builder and I feel like this was the next step for me in that area hey I found this woman that like is really compatible with me so let's take the next step and build the fam man that's so dope man and I got ass too cuz I looked your name up it said is is eek in a damn cult oh yeah oh yeah are you in a cult C no let's let's back up here so my wife's sister is in a cult and there was a whole documentary that was like number one on Netflix called dancing with the devil and so yeah check it out dancing with the Del still on Netflix Dan wild oh yeah it's wild oh cuz you ain't in the cult I am not I I'm in this C I guess waston commanders that's your name and I was like what the hell do my phone early this morning I said oh [ __ ] no yeah it's it's unfortunate for the fam we're doing everything we can to try to build awareness around that and get her out but still just a time that we're trying to get through you know it's uh you mentioned building yeah I think you said you was your like a raft guide at some point in your life I've been I've been just just grinding to continue to get by like that's that's my mentality like and for me it's not just like oh let's just go and grind to get by like I'm immersing myself like my life depends on this [ __ ] you know and it's like hey for me I left the day I threw my hat up in the air I graduated I'm like I got to go to school I'm getting out of this toxic scenario I'm going to go get on with my own life you know so I needed a job for the summer I was working up in the mountains that's where my school was so I'm R I'm taking you down the river you know right before that I'm getting my workouts in I'm hanging out with the team and establishing myself you know before we're even starting freshman camps or anything like that that's been my mentality man is continue to to whatever I have to push myself forward to increase my capabilities I am immersing myself into that um and that's how I live how do the commanders you know you've gone through coaching changes in Los Angeles now you're here with Dan Quinn and they're starting something new how does this team the Washington commanders find a way to compete this year yeah well the the beauty in starting something new is you get to control the narrative you get to control the destiny of of how your team looks before we're even getting on the field I'm talking about the leadership I'm talking about the standard that you set for yourself and if if you do that the right way which means you see in the Finish look I don't care who you have on the team if we're talking finish if we're talking technique if we're talking how we work together the mesh how we're able to operate how we're able to communicate on the field if you get that stuff guess what comes from that as a result you'll be in a position to win more games you're still going to lose you're still but guess what you're going to give you a better chance to win more games and so that's what we're establishing right now that's the beauty in having something new like this where there's a lot of new parts hey leaders like myself we got to step up make sure we're we're pulling that out of ourselves first and then the guys around us too it's not something that every team could come in and just be like we're going to win this year just because we got the guys every team's going through this right now and whoever can do that the best in the off season is who's going to be able to flip their their season around and make sure they get on the right path I mean look at the Texans yeah look at the Texans they got a rookie quarterback they they won two games two years ago last year they're making a run of the playoffs yep you know so I don't care what the hell the situation was last year here we're I'm talking about now what are we doing now cuz I don't I don't know what happened last year but I ain't trying to I ain't trying to piggyback off of what happened we're trying to win now I didn't come here to to just get by and see what see what we can get done you know that's not what we're doing here that's not my mentality anyway and if you're like that D DQ would already had you out of here you know I love that man I just got to say keep pound it man hopefully you guys can find your way in the postseason yeah absolutely absolutely man that was awesome I wish we had longer bro I appreciate I know giv us the time apprciate that man thank you so much apprciate appreciate keep doing a good thing manate we got we got it up in the in our little in a while yeah we got you guys start yeah he would get after when your KN I got I got CH enough time [ __ ] you can tell you can tell he didn't got hit low a few times you know what I'm saying [ __ ] he is who going to hit him in his chest the thing is though he just built he a tall look at he tall receiver though he lean you know what I'm saying he a got no B he ain't got no bang to him no he a bang but but I'm saying though like he ain't trying to bulk up he got to actually run routes Gonzalez was 44 years old still catching balls on my ass he'll run straight at you just put his back on you and do this Zach may also too I just want to ask you like when I get other Champions on the show like other people who've gone to Super Bowl and won rings I always ask can we include Channing and Fred okay in the conversation how you want I want out back Bowl man Zack Ur man one of the best to play your position in this era Fred Taylor chanon Crowder Ryan clar another part of the pivot by Fanatics bro I just want to ask you like is life less stressful this time around than the Olympics yeah uh I know my I was talking to Julie the other night and this is like thinking back this is the first like major tournament she hasn't played in for the past decade essentially um you know we met in college a long time ago so we uh kind of grew grew up together in our Sports and now to just have her be my mom and wife obviously her career speaks for itself probably the best to ever do it at her position from this country for me just to have her and our crew be together constantly um it's been awesome it's been so much fun seeing her transition to a full-on mom obviously we're expecting more soon um so we're gearing up for that and it's exciting time they let Jonathan Owens leave man and get on the plane and go you never asked uh for that so you can go see Julie play everyone's got their own thing Julie Olympics were zika and Co so was a little different time but I'm happy that J can go support s both of y'all being at the high level like for you to know that you're you know it's usually not that way it's usually not that high level wife with the highle husband but you supporting her and she supporting you and just like J and and Simone and that that thing like what did that do for you how did that help you almost with your career seeing what your wife was grinding obviously she's not giving me football advice and I'm not giving her soccer advice like how to beat man coverage or how to play a ball but I think the thing that she was always great for me is you know as athletes we see in certain situations we almost get tunnel vision like I only see a situation a certain way and to have her be it in my ear like hey maybe you should take a step back and see maybe their standpoint or a different perspective was very beneficial for me especially when I was a lot younger and a lot more emotional in certain aspects and also it's something that if I wanted to go train on a Saturday I've been gone all week Monday through Friday and I I wanted to go get more work Saturday or Sunday in the facility she was like yeah go ahead I understand there was no like hey I need you here I I don't want you to be go like you have your time I want our time and it was vice versa like if she needed to go do do extra work or go get a massage during a dinner date or whatever it was we stood the sacrifices cuz we also understand this is a short season of Our Lives you know as she played about 12 year 11 years I'm going in the year 12 and we're a lot closer to the Finish Line than we are at the beginning and so it it was so much fun being able to support and see her what she did um and it's also great to be see her every day as a mom and great wife as well that's awesome you say he was a lot younger you the OG now lock room they starting to call me that too man getting up in I know year year 12 man what what is it like coming in the camp this year yeah it's fun obviously last year was very difficult mentally emotionally physically coming off a knee injury uh the prior year and you know you get to the certain age and it's almost like man I have I've accomplished so much as an individual my five got great wife son at home more babies on the way and it's like it's the sacrifice really worth it at time yes and being able to go to Detroit last year for those three days and during the NFC championship week and being a part of their culture again or seeing like what Championship culture was really like being in Detroit really like confirmed that hey I still got more in me and I still want to do this and so I view those three days as really a blessing cuz I didn't know like if I had to go back to that situation it was I was probably going to be done and so just being a able to come out here again with Cliff DQ AP guys that truly believe in me again and being in a culture that is focused solely on winning and getting the best of every individual it's been really refreshing I feel rejuvenated I'm taking it year by year at this point but I would love to play a few more years you got to take any pre-workout to get the the engine rev before practice or I mean you know how it is there's always a little extra caffeine now you get old a little extra coffee in the afternoon but overall it's been so much fun to be here man I Lov every bit of it the Philadelphia Inquirer and some of the things you said and leaving you know that you came to Philadelphia as a young man but just a piece of you is always there that's always going to be home looking back at what you accomplished there 116 catches in one year the most ever by tight end how fondly though do you still feel about what you were able to do and what you and your teammates were able to build in Philadelphia we had a special run in Philly uh won the city's first Super Bowl and it was home it is still there's still a part of us that are still philadelphians obviously we're there for 9 years our foundation is still running in Philadelphia we just opened up House of Hope in Philly which is uh pretty much a church that's a safe place after school um cuz we had when we were playing sports from 3:00 to 7:00 we're playing sports after school a lot of these people don't play sports so they're doing things that maybe they shouldn't be we partnered with an amazing or organization called Timo we raised over a million dollars partnered with Acme Comcast turn it into kind of a Wi-Fi Cafe for after school for kids to be able to go and then on Sundays it's a church people can't run out the space so we're still very much invested in that community and like I said we had a great nine years there the tight end in this game has evolved right it evolves from the inline actual why blocker and then guys became pass catchers and then guys like yourself and other great receiving tight ends can move into the slot and do all these different things but they're also a great security blanket for young quarterbacks you play with a young Carson a young jayen you know you'll get an opportunity here to play with Jaden how much do you sort of especially as the OG now Revel in an opportunity to help another Young quarterback develop and become a person that they can look to when they need to get plays made obviously that's a key part of my role here is being able to make plays when the game third down in the Red Zone in situations that I've always felt like this is where I'm really going to make my mark yeah first second down I want the ball whatever but they're down in the red zone is when when the game's on the line I want the coaches to think hey we got to go to Zack I don't want to think of them thinking hey I have this perfect play drawn up I wanted them thinking how can we get Zach one-onone against someone and that's something that I work extremely hard in the offseason and during training camp during the season to be able to build that trust in them to be able to get my number called and then with Jaden I think he's going to be really good and I don't think it's going to take very long but he's also coming into this thing and they don't want to overload him obviously the physical tools stand out you don't get drafted number two overall if you don't have the physical traits but his ability to be intentional with everything that he does he works extremely hard and I was talking to someone the other day I play with Andrew luck in college obviously still to this day probably the best quarterback I ever played with but Andrew almost had a gravitational pull to him you know guys wanted to be around him guy he was never bigger than the team he was always just one of the guys was always building people up and he was the culture Setter and a lot of quarterbacks they win the Heisman they get drafted number two overall they almost that's not how it is like they're like almost different as a quarterback but that couldn't be further from the truth with Jaden Jaden is a guy that brings people together guys want to be around him he's communicating with whether you're a guy that's in year 12 or a practice squad guy last year like there is no agenda with Jaden he's just here to be the best version of himself with the team and I think this city this organization is going to be in very good hands with him should he found you in the red zone today yeaha let me let me put you on the spot let's back up two seconds yeah so Andrew Luck is better than the quarterback you caught your first career pass from Mike Vic I got Mike Vic at the very end so I didn't get Prime Mike I love Mike Mike is like the nicest guy I mean when I was here's a great Mike Vic story I was a rookie and beats was getting big and you know beats sent Mike everything back then he had these kelly green Beats and we're going into the home game we stayed at the hotel the night before the game and we're going Mike probably don't even remember the story but we're going at the elevator pregame I had these like the cheap Beats right and Mike had these clean Kelly greens and I said man those are some sweet headphones he goes here you go man take them and uh I just want your headphones just so I have something to listen to and so he gave me these amazing beats right on the spot and it was awesome like that is a story I'll never forget that's awesome yeah and your first game was against Washington Washington Redskins now the commanders coming into this season with this team have you put much thought into what it would be like when you go back to play against Philly in a divisional matchup uh it's going to be awesome I mean I I want it I think I've thought about it a little bit when the week comes I'm sure I'll be thinking about it a lot more but I think everyone in that City knows how I feel about them right that week comes I can probably give a better answer I already played against them once in Arizona so I got a little bit of the environment and it was fun seeing a lot of 86 jerseys in the crowd from the Eagles fans but it's going to be different play there obviously um and everyone knows how I feel but once the ball snap I'm sure I'll get some boost too they going to curse you out so you praise luck you praise Vic you praise J you praise everybody I've never heard you cuss I don't know if you cuss or I say do you ever say sap sucker you know who I am like like you saying the record most catches out of tight end like he can go man you could like bro you could go you want me some damn money in fantasy like do you ever when you get in the Red Zone you walk in h and be like yeah sometimes I'm been like come on man you know time it is sometimes I mean I try and be very even kill you know my faith has been a huge part of my life I'll say I came to Christ probably when I was 26 before then I was probably a little more wild and Reckless but you know sometimes I'm I'm not perfect by any means in that regard so but sometimes yeah you know the DBS be holding out there and so sometimes I got to let them know man come on there's refs for a reason I know it's training camp there's no one out here but stop holding you can say that too when you the OG though man you have experienced a lot of highs in this game but when you play somewhere for nine years I was in Pittsburgh for eight when that time is up I actually came here to finish my career I remember yeah you know you know but you get traded and it's like okay I did so much here now I'm in Arizona and then you know the release late in last year you go to Detroit the injury yeah what have you learned from some of the adversity and lows throughout your 11 going to your 12E career I think when I was young you know a lot of uh I viewed my success as individual success you obviously you want to do you want to be a part of a winning team and do well at the same time and the older I've gotten I've realized that no one's going to remember how many catches and yards I had in the game you know none of my teammates are going to remember that what what they're going to remember is how I helped build them up how I some of these young tight end they're not going to remember how many catches I had in week one they're going to remember how much time did I spend with them on the side helping them get better what's jadden going to remember mean by he's not going to remember me getting open on third down he's going to remember remember me hey when I was young Zach pulled me aside and kind of coached me hey if I guess if they're playing this leverage or this coverage this is what I'm going to do and so for me I think as I've gotten older I've put less of a priority in the stats and the individual accolades and obviously I want to do well um but at the same time I think I've been much more deliberate in the relationship aspect of this game yeah it is coming to an end one of these years and I hope guys remember me as a great teammate and a guy that they love going to battle with every day versus the guy that caught 116 balls you know I I hope the dudes in Philly that's not what I'm remembered by and so for me I think at that this point in my career yeah I want I want the ball I want to score touchdowns but at the same time I want to be able to build guys up as well it's cool to catch 116 footballs in in any position but it has to be even cooler man for Madden to get an opportunity to come out be around the team uh I'm sure coach you up as much as he can at his young age what's that you know you talk about your family growing but for your son to now to at least be coming of age where he can be and spend some of this time with you how fulfilling is that part of this for you oh man it's a game changer you know uh going in a training camp I didn't know how much I was going to see him obviously and this is the first camp where he's like he starts to understand where Dad's Gone where's Dad last Camp he was not even he was in New Zealand with his mom for the World Cup so he wasn't even in the states for training camp right but now he's at the age where I see him for 20 30 minutes after practice and you know it changes my entire outlook for the day um just being able to be with him spend time with him you guys know and going to need guidance of how to deal with you know when people come up to me and like people see me as the football player where he just sees me as that and we haven't gotten to the point where he understands that people are coming up to me for something other than what he sees me at so obviously maybe you guys can impart some wisdom on that but it definitely is a game changer to have your family here and obviously Julie be here my mom is out here um so it's been this training camp has been a lot of fun that's awesome I'm sure it'll be a lot more fun when you're able to celebrate his birthdays outside of training camp sure he's born uh 81122 right yeah correct yeah yeah Hey listen he's born 8122 he's 8 lbs BN at 11 and 22 in long that's [ __ ] crazy like y I didn't even think of that no I just like numbers when I saw it I'm like this is crazy Rain Man like that stuff intrig that excites me 2013 draft class for tight ends yeah will it go down as the best draft class for tight ends ever I think he's got a chance you know I think um grank and Jimmy Grahams class obviously phenomenal class yeah but I think we had four pro bowlers in ours with me Tyler Trav eer J Reid uh I don't know if Jack doy snuck in up he might have snuck in a pro bowl he was an undrafted guy that year um so we had a lot of good tight end it's I think we have might have five pro bowlers in our draft class so I don't know if that they have the depth and obviously Trav could go down as the greatest ever yeah I think y'all got it you can he's trying he's trying to do that whole thing you know as I've gotten older my individual accomplishments don't outweigh what sort of person I am you got five of them bro I think you got it man I think I know last year when it got late in the season you wanted to be a part of a contender you wanted that opportunity again because like you say man the the individual stuff is great but nothing beats winning in this league and in this game you're having an opportunity to help the Washington commanders start something over and as a person who was here in two different STS it was Sour yeah walking into the building wasn't a great energy it wasn't one of those places where you were like telling all your homeboy hey man you got to come here this is what it's about now with DQ Cliff as an offensive coordinator new ownership going into it second year talk a little bit about what the energy and focus is like inside these buildings I think like you said the stigma around this organization for a long time was negative and so when Washington call you know it's like ah you know I played in this division for a long time you heard those stories and then I talked to Cliff I talked to tovita Pritchard who was with me at Stanford he's a quarterback coach and they are just raving about DQ Dan Quinn and the energy that he brings and the resources now that the ownership is investing in this process and it is going like I've been Blown Away uh with how they've treated the players how much energy the coaching staff brings and obviously the GM and the head coach being on the same page is a big part of it the ownership is a big part of it but they have Buy in from every single person in this building and so no no expenses spared now um I I honestly can't speak on the previous stuff but I've been blown away from the moment I got here how much energy positivity and obviously when things are new you got to new everything is going to be like oh yeah we got to number two draft pick new coach which is there's obviously going to be some optimism but I think this is going to be sustainable because the people they're bringing in the culture they're trying to set and Dan Quinn's probably the best person I've been around that in front of the team you know the culture he sets the how he approaches things in a way that is not demeaning at all he's trying to build people up but hold people accountable at the same time and he's so authentic and I think guys love will love playing for him I've loved it so far and so I don't know exactly what our record is going to be but I think this place is set up for success and that new way cuz you you play for Dan Campbell for a couple couple I Dan for those three days I can't put him in a coach I saw him in the NFC Championship obviously The Vibes were going to be good yeah but the Dan campes The Dan Quinns but you go to the Raheem mois now in Atlanta with the Shawn McVey with the Mike McDaniels with the Kyle shenan like it's a new way with these young coaches and you were there with the before you were there with the older coaches and we played and it was like this dictatorship for sure over top of you players down on the bottom floor is it does it is it like it seems now where we're co-workers yes it's much more collaborative um I would say and it's not that they're actually what my opinion is going to be put into action but they're at least asking um and having a conversation and just having them ask makes you feel like oh yeah this dude actually cares like he cares about my opinion and like they don't have to listen to me employee 86 at the the in the in the big picture but just to be able to have a conversation where hey maybe coach I think some some guys are struggling with this or maybe being and it's not going to be every person has that one-on-one relationship early on I think in year 12 I maybe have a little more persuasion pers per se um a little more stock behind my words but at the same time I think all the coaches here are very like asking for input but it is still hard training camp like it's we still go it's still fast it's not as physical as probably you guys had hell no still rubbing our necks yeah exactly there's no two of days like they do we we've practiced once in pad so far um but we still go and it's been I think like you said it's not that way anymore I don't know if that way I don't know if it's the way we were raised and I sound like the vet now but kids are dudes comeing into League are definitely different than I felt like when I came into the league I just Tred to say nothing and head down yes yes sir no sir but I think kind of the way things are trending EXA in your career you've seen the highest of the highs as RC says cut off the room Super Bowl champ you've also experienced the lows other lows with the injuries and now you're healthy bouncing back year 12 what are your personal goals for this season I think my personal goals obviously number one is to stay healthy um it's been a tough couple years in that regard and it's something that I never really dealt with until the past couple years and I feel like the seasons haven't my ability hasn't been able to be showcased because of the injuries and so I still want to go out there and prove to everyone yeah he's still the same dude and I got to be able to stay healthy for that obviously some of it is just uh I got tackled funny and Guy landed on my knee like I can't really control that but just being able to take put everything I have into taking care of my body being able to stay healthy and also be able to set the tone for the team I'm a guy that's going to be able to make plays and when guy when you're in a tough situation or you're facing adversity you lost a couple games in a row I'm the guy that's able to raise the ties um and be the tone Setter at practice be able to bring the energy and so I don't know what the individual numbers goals will be cuz I'm not playing 95% anymore like I was when I was younger um but uh when I am in there I I got to be able to make a difference um and so those are I can't get to the individual goals because I don't know exactly what the play time will be um if it was up to me I'd play every snap but I realized that's probably not in the best interest of me or the team at this point yeah but there will be a time probably in a game as you hey we got to go Zach you are going to play 90% like we get to December and we're fighting for our playoff lives or we're fighting for home field or whatever the situation is it's like hey you're going man you're not coming off the field right um and so just to be able to take care of my body and put in the work with everyone um those are my goals we about to wrap it up but I have a question cuz I do a little research you're the only you're the second person we've ever talked to that was in the body magazine when I saw your videos you were naked with your wife was it hard not to get excited you were dead naked holding over your head or something looking up that's your old lady that was a long time ago but that was before I came to Christ um that's something that maybe I regret doing but at the same time interesting day for sure interesting day and I know you into some weird stuff so I knew the question if anyone's going to ask the question it was going to be you just I would have been excited uh but yeah it was a unique experience yeah but it was you and your it was you and your wife like and that was that we were never going to do it individually you know in college we she brought it up you know like would you ever want to do the body magazine I said no she was like well if we ever could do it together I feel like it would be powerful and good to do it together and I was like yeah yeah yeah whatever I mean like it's never going to happen right and then we get the call and she's like you told me in college that if we ever get the call to do it together we would do it so they're amazing people very professional what was the workout regimen like to get ready for it though because I would think I was fasting a lot you know a lot of ABS core biceps I think the shoot was at like S I was in the gym at 4:30 trying to get a swrl on uh but yeah that was the day I saw some say y'all were the sexiest couple at the Fanatics party on the red carpet self-proclaimed I don't know uh I don't know who they interviewing for that but uh I love Fanatics they just put on a great job obviously with you guys you guys are killing it so uh it's been fun to see you guys grow as well over the years obviously we play together a long time I tell the story today one of the guys that saw you guys here and I was like yeah I caught a ball over the middle I out of the corner of my eyes I see like a missile coming at me a thousand miles hour I was like nope getting down I see two5 flying over me um so yeah it's been fun to see you guys do your thing man thank you man best of luck here bro like I I do love the energy and also too man I tell us to everybody like we never know we all make our own decision of when it was enough and my last year here bro I was like what it took for me to get ready for Sunday it wasn't paying off I was not seeing the reward but man you've been meant so much to this league bro what you've done at the position has been amazing it's fun to watch you play so whenever you think that time is you've done you've done enough for sure I appreciate that guys no doubt appreciate yes sir thank you for the time man I know it's hard respect ping it I here to witness it get my people feeling militant way I'm feeling get me up on the mission get me up knowing me I got the key only Vision I can trust trust Limitless to me it I here to witness it my