← Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
REID FERGUSON on LONG SNAPPING, LIFE in the NFL and HOW to ORDER COFFEE
00:51:25
Reid Ferguson joins Mike, Jenna and Dan to talk about the life of an NFL player and how to order a coffee on the latest episode of the Buffalo Plus Podcast.
Loading summary
Transcript335 lines
- [00:00]
A
For the early games. Early riser. Got to stop by and get get my Dunkin Donuts in the morning.
- [00:07]
B
No free ads on the way.
- [00:09]
A
No, no free ads.
- [00:10]
C
What's your order? What's your order?
- [00:12]
A
Just a large black coffee. That's it. I'm not into the morning milkshakes.
- [00:17]
D
Dan orders. Dan orders. When we're traveling, I go, there's a 13 year old girl that's going to pick up your order.
- [00:23]
A
You have 30 seconds to explain yourself.
- [00:25]
B
Go ahead, go ahead, say a grande.
- [00:28]
D
Oh, God, you lost.
- [00:30]
B
What do you have? What do you think it's.
- [00:32]
A
Hello, may I take your order please?
- [00:34]
B
Yes, could I get a grande salted caramel, cold foam, cold brew.
- [00:38]
C
Oh, God.
- [00:39]
A
What's. What's the name on that gonna be?
- [00:42]
B
That'll be Dan.
- [00:43]
C
It'll be Danielle.
- [00:44]
A
Yeah, One order for Danielle, please.
- [00:46]
C
Yeah.
- [00:56]
A
This is the Buffalo plus podcast brought to you by Connors and Ferris.
- [01:00]
C
All right, welcome back to the Buffalo plus podcast presented by Connors and Ferri my Catalana. Dan Fates will be joining us shortly. I am Jenna Cottrell. Please be sure to like, comment, subscribe and share. Coming up today we have a special interview with Bill's long snapper, Reed Ferguson. He talks to us just about the behind the scenes portion of what it's like to be an NFL player. Talking game days, travel, his coffee order.
- [01:24]
D
I would say I will say the things I wanted to hear him talk about. And you'll hear it. How they get paid. I'm just fascinated by that a little bit differently. Preparing the footballs for the kickers. Something you might not think about, but that's a big deal for them. And just his life as an NFL player slash fan of the game.
- [01:48]
C
Yeah, absolutely. And how the Bills really feel about playing in the cold weather.
- [01:52]
D
Yes, that was good too. He was great. Reed was great.
- [01:55]
C
All right, so you were in Orchard park today. You and Dan were otas going on. What was some of your takeaways from this afternoon.
- [02:02]
D
Josh Allen not there and this is not a deal at all. He's entitled to some time. He just got married on Saturday. Yeah, we loved the wedding. It was great. Didn't you guys think it was awesome?
- [02:13]
C
It was amazing. I really love. They did a great job with cocktail hour.
- [02:18]
D
We're kidding.
- [02:19]
C
Yeah, no, I did get him a toaster on Saturday.
- [02:22]
D
I got him a toaster oven. I figured everybody likes those but didn't give them the gift. No, he wasn't there today. The backup quarterbacks, you know Mitch, you know Mike White, Shane Buchel, getting The. The throws, they need some time with the starting guys. I know Joe Brady talked today. You know, real football, like he said, doesn't start until the pads are on. But it's. It's something you don't want to see too often when Josh isn't there. But I'm sure he'll be back soon, probably for the mandatory camp.
- [02:48]
C
Anything else that stood out?
- [02:50]
D
Trey White really likes Maxwell Hairston. That's cool to hear.
- [02:54]
C
That's cool.
- [02:55]
D
And Dane Jackson talked about him as this young kid and. And working with them and. And just what it is for a veteran. And Dane's wearing number 23.
- [03:05]
C
That's. That's weird.
- [03:06]
D
Yeah. And he said the trainers or the equipment people are like, do you want to wear 23? And he's like. I think he said, what do you call him? The big guy. The big bro. Big bro, yeah. And Micah was like, take my number, take my locker. Go ahead. Whatever you want. So that was cool to see. You know, you can see probably some of the full interviews. The coordinators all talk today. Some. Some interesting stuff, but, you know, this is more about getting everybody acclimated. That's what all of them talked about. Getting the rookies another chance to be out there with the vets. And then, you know, then they'll have the mandatory. And obviously, you know, still no James Cook. And it's not even really sort of talked about. It's just been expected that he wasn't there. Yeah, fine. Mandatory comes up next week. Then. Then it becomes a thing. Yeah, I think then it becomes.
- [03:58]
C
We'll soon learn. Yeah. Mandatory camp is in about a week, like you said. So we will soon find out if he plans to come back to Orchard park when he does and how that'll all unfold. All right, without further ado. Further ado. Excuse me. Let's get into our interview with Reed Ferguson. All right, a very special guest joining us, Reed Ferguson, long snapper on the Buffalo Bills, the longest tenured current Bills player. We're going to talk to you just about what it is like life in the NFL. We know it's off season mode for you right now, but, Mike, I want you to ask the first question, because I know this is a topic that fascinates you.
- [04:33]
D
It's so much of what it is. I want to start with your position. So I think about this, Reed. You're on a plane, you meet somebody, they go, what do you do? And you say, I'm a football player. And they say, well, oh, I don't know a lot about football, what do you do? Do you say your position to them? Do you say, I'm a long snapper? And if you do, what kind of response do you get?
- [04:52]
A
Yep. So that's actually, that's actually a great question. One of my favorite questions. So the first thing I would say is, hi, my name is Reed, I'm a financial advisor. And then if they follow up and ask me deeper questions, I'll realize that I've dug myself a hole. But no, so I will, I will tell them that I'm a long snapper. More often than not. They don't know what it is or may have heard of it and don't know really what it entails. So I'll just tell them usually that I, I snap the ball to the punter for punting and I'll snap it to the holder for kicking field goals. And that pretty much gets the point across. The, the next question is, do you snap to Josh Allen?
- [05:43]
D
And then I'll tell them, no.
- [05:45]
A
The guy that does that actually outweighs me by about £80. So, yeah, I, I played center in high school, had no desire to continue to, to do that past high school, so just stuck with the snapping. But yeah, usually, you know, I go in on fourth downs when we, you know, kick extra points, punts, field goals, that's when I'm on the field. So usually, usually that gets the point across.
- [06:12]
D
Yeah, they have to be. Honestly, I would think they're fascinated by that.
- [06:16]
A
Yeah, I think it's just because people don't pay attention like you usually would. Like, we're on the, we're on the field for, apart from field goals, you know, when, when, when the offense, you know, stalls on third down or, you know, you just score a touchdown. That's usually when people get up to go pee or something. Right? You, you know, the punt team comes out on the field, they're changing possession. The opponent, you know, the opponent's getting the, getting the ball back. They score a touchdown, you celebrate, and then field goal team kickoff and you know, you got a few minutes to kind of run to the bathroom. So that's, you know, we're on the field definitely when there's less eyeballs, unless T. Bass is out there kicking, kicking a game winner.
- [07:04]
B
So yeah, going off of that, we are obviously in the middle of OTAs. Really appreciate you doing this. I needed to ask the hard hitting question. Question of are you in the best shape of your life? Because we are in best shape of your life season right now. Are you in.
- [07:20]
A
We really Are. And I can come and say, yes, I am. Yeah, we were winning the off season. Is that the inside joke?
- [07:28]
B
Well done.
- [07:29]
A
Yeah. Yeah. Best shape. We're all in the best shape of our lives. Are we?
- [07:33]
B
Do you guys get, like. I mean, obviously you're on social media, you interact with fans and all that kind of stuff, but, like, what is, I guess your inner. I guess the better question is, what is your level of interaction and how do you digest as. Like, we all eat it because it's part of our job, but our family and friends digest it differently. As a player. I know some people you try and talk about, like, blocking it off, but, like, it is enjoyable sometimes to mindlessly scroll social media. Do you find yourself still doing that? Being like, oh, I. That wasn't actually what happened on the field, or that's not what Coach McDermott really said?
- [08:06]
A
Definitely, there's the answer to your question. But I think, like, I enjoy. So I. I watch the game, obviously, from I play on the team. I'm focused on, you know, the continuous, ever changing situations of a football game that control when I have to go out on the field. But, like, when. When I try to, I try to. And I like to watch the game as a fan, because if you guys got to see. And you guys do, really, you guys are down on the field, you guys see what some of these guys do on a football field. I do not feel like I belong in the same. On the same field wearing the same uniform as these guys. Sometimes, like, I feel like we're playing a different sport. So, you know, from a, you know, I tell people all the time, you know, you know, they. Fans like to tell me about, you know, their great, you know, the great games that they've attended and stuff like that. And I'm. I'm like, I tell them, I'm like, I'm right there with you, you know. You know, guy asked me the other day, I was talking to him in the airport, and he's like, you know, what's the best throw you've ever seen? Josh Allen had. I. And I immediately thought, like, I'm like, there's like 20 or 30 throws you can probably pick out in the last, you know, two or three seasons, you know, much less, you know, seven or eight that he's been here for. So, you know, I enjoy watching the game as a fan just as much as, as anybody else. And that goes for the Bills and really as the league as a whole, because, you know, when we play a 1 o' clock home game, I'm I'm home, you know, 5 or 5:30 maybe. And I'm immediately flipping on the afternoon games while we eat dinner and stuff and watching what's going on and then, and then turn it on the Sunday night game after that. So I, I, I, I try to watch as much as I can. Just less, less like oh, you're watching the Jets Dolphins game. Like we play them in a couple weeks. Like I'm not like watching them and like scouting and being like, oh, the Hunt team did that. Like, you know, because we'll see it on film the week that we're practicing them.
- [10:32]
C
Yeah.
- [10:34]
A
It's just I'm, I'm watching for, for the entertainment value.
- [10:37]
C
Yeah.
- [10:38]
A
Just as much as you guys probably are.
- [10:39]
C
So you're, you're a fan of the game?
- [10:41]
A
Definitely.
- [10:42]
C
Yeah. That's cool. I'm just curious too. Obviously you're just coming off and getting a new deal. You've been in Buffalo for quite some time. Like when you first told people I play for the Bills to now when you tell them I play for the Bills, like how different of a perception do you feel like there is now?
- [10:58]
A
It's definitely changed. So when I, so I'll answer it a little twofold. So when I first signed in Buffalo and they approached me to sign undrafted as undrafted free agent I am, and Dan knows this, I'm a big Yankees fan. I thought I was going to be going to a bunch of Yankees games and I couldn't tell you where Buffalo was on a map.
- [11:24]
B
I didn't know that that read.
- [11:26]
A
I, well, so I grew up in Atlanta. I had never, you know, I had, I had some family in Tennessee. Never. I don't ever really think that I went north of Kentucky like until I went to Buffalo. You know, never been to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, like never really been up in this area. I've been to New York City, Boston. Like we took family trips over, over like on the, on the, on the east coast. But I had never really been kind of like up in this, you know, this area, this region of the country. So I, you know, shortly after looked it up seven hours, six, seven hours from New York City. I was like, well I guess I'm not going to many incidents, you know, take a short 50 minute flight but you know, take a day trip I guess. But no, it's, sorry I lost, I lost, lost, lost my mind there. But so I think, and I, and, and it's, it's funny that you asked this question because I was just at a dinner last night where a guy was asking me a question, and he was talking about how Dallas gets a lot of primetime games and they're America's team and, you know, this and that, but they haven't had a ton of success recently. And I think that the Buffalo Bills are America's team because, I mean, you look at the, you know, some of the recent success we've had, but. But you look at the, like, look at the primetime games and the stuff we play. I mean, it seems like we're setting new records every year, you know, for prime time games, you know, holiday games, Thanksgiving games, whatever it may be. People love to tune in to watch the Buffalo Bills. So I think, you know, when you talk about what's changed since I got here in 2016, it's that people can put Buffalo on a map. People know who, you know, the players are getting recognition. You've got the MVP of the league on your team. So, you know, I think when you talk about what's changed, it's definitely, you know, the success has helped, but building the culture and bringing the right guys in the building has helped as well.
- [13:36]
D
Yeah, I'm fascinated by the minutia of things in the games, especially one thing I don't think a lot of people realize that you talk about when you're on the field and you said when people are leaving the room and all, but you are there for huge plays in the game, right field goals and, and punts sometimes how important they are. It's a different football. Right. And can you explain a little bit about that? Because I don't think most fans realize what goes into that. And I'm thinking they are changing some rules about that. Can you let everybody know what, what happens with that?
- [14:12]
A
Sure. So the. There's two different footballs used for the, for the games, the offense. Each team's offense has their own footballs and you could tell when you're watching the game, they're much darker. They have, you know, they're broken in differently. They have, you know, some mud or something on them. Every. Every team breaks them in for the most part the same way. They kind of put the mud on it and then kind of go from there. But for the specialists, the. We get three, excuse me, three cables per game. They're changing the rules a little bit this year, thankfully, but since I've been in the league and they changed the rules probably a few years before I got here, but they're. Each team gets 3 balls, 3k balls that are brand new on the day of the game. Never broken in. Are you know, we have a guy on staff in our equipment room that, that breaks those in on game day. He'll go, he'll meet up with the other team, whoever we're playing. He'll meet up with their equipment manager who breaks in the footballs, and they'll meet up in the. With the referees. They'll. They'll take turns picking which ball they want based on how the leather looks, the feel of it, you know, how easy, you know, one ball might be to break in. And they'll take those balls back to the, back to their workspace in the equipment room, whether we're home or away, and back into, into the locker room, and they'll get about an hour to break those balls in all three of them. So. And those ball, those footballs are only used for kicking plays, kickoffs, punts, and extra points and field goals. So those balls are not you. You know, they're not used by the offense. So we for the most part, try to use the same ball all game. So. Yep. Dan, go ahead.
- [16:09]
B
No, I just. We've had in depth conversations about this. We've talked about your balls quite a bit.
- [16:15]
D
And it's been.
- [16:16]
B
At times, it's been in the locker room at times it's been after. Yeah, yeah, I just.
- [16:21]
C
What.
- [16:22]
B
But it was. There's 1, 2 and 3. And you were saying that you can't to get the K ball to where you want it to be. You said you can't evenly give time to all of them. You have to focus on one, which is why if you lose one, which is why I've seen you from being down on the field. If you ever see Reed freaking out after an extra point or a field goal, there's a reason, right, Reed?
- [16:45]
A
It's true. Yeah. Yeah. So you hit the nail on the head. It's in, in that hour of time that his name and his name's Austin Scoble com scopes. He's our equipment guy that does the football. So it, you know, during that time, that time, that hour time frame on game day, and it's a couple hours before kickoff, he will get to. He will take the, the best football that he picked out of the bunch, and that will be the one ball. So he will spend X amount of time on that, maybe 25 to 30 minutes. He'll probably spend almost half the time just on that one ball to get it broken in to where it is, the A plus that it could possibly be for. For game day. Because that's the, that's the one ball. That we want to be using in all of our kicking situations. The two ball, he'll probably spend another maybe 15 to 18 minutes on that and then another 10 to 12 minutes on the third ball to get it at least usable in case of emergency. So we, you know, like you said, we really try to use that one ball as much as we can. You know, rain games present a little bit of a, an obstacle, if you will, for, you know, interchanging the balls throughout the game as the game goes on. Sometimes when it rains we spend, you know, take a little less time on one and add that time to the two ball. So you have a first half ball in a second half ball.
- [18:28]
D
Wow.
- [18:30]
A
You know, because the rain, you know, the refs do, do a good job of covering the footballs, you know, when they get tossed in and out. But those guys aren't, you know, those guys are referees, they're not wide receivers. So sometimes, you know, when they're tossing them in, they might drop them on the ground and they get wet and that. And you know, that that affects how the ball is coming out of my hands, how the punters catching it for a punt, how the punter is catching the whole, you know, how he's catching it when he's down holding for a field goal. There's a, you know, a lot of aspects that go into the game day footballs for the specialists, just the dynamic.
- [19:03]
B
Because I think so many people think of it's the kick, like you throw the ball back to him and you punt it. And there's not like it's the most basic thing. There's no routes, there's no anything. And when we've talked about it like how much goes into that process and how timing is everything, the steps, the blocking, all that stuff that goes into it. It's fascinating to see that side of everything goes into it. And going off that read your preparation for the game like you're out there, you're warming up in your pads and you're throwing and things like that. But what is the preparation like during the week? Because it's not necessarily, I imagine there's some film work in there, is it? As much as a quarterback, you've also talked a lot about your understanding weather and wind patterns of where you are at the game. That's also a lot of your prep. Right.
- [19:54]
A
We like to think that we understand, you know, what happens in our stadium the best just because we get to, you know, we get to practice there during the week but and have played a bunch of games there on Sundays. But I mean, the, the, you could walk down every 10 yards, all the way down the field on both hashes. So you could get, you know, I don't know what, what that would be 20 day, 20 different data points, and every one of those data points would give you a different wind reading. So, and, and that's just ground level, right? You're, you've gotta, you've got to think, okay, so ground level, this is what the ball could do to the snap. Could it blow it from, you know, I, if I, if we're putting one way, I'm aiming at his left hip, could it blow it a little bit to his right hip? Okay, I need to know that for when I'm snapping with the wind or when I'm snapping into the wind. How does it affect it? Does it make it rise a little bit or does it die? Does it make the ball dive a little bit, you know, you know, when we're punting towards the scoreboard, we're punting towards a tunnel. How are we kind of attacking, you know, the, the wind that day, the wind on the ground levels, attacking, you know, how does it affect the snap? Okay, let's go to the next tier up from there and then the next tier up from there where, where the ball is climbing and then it's at its peak. You know, what's it going to do? Is it going to, is it going to hit a wall? Is it going to kill it? Is it going to blow it one way or the other? So you need to know, you know, where's my aiming point? Where am I starting the ball? And that goes the same for kicks too, and kickoffs as well. There's so much caddy, there's so much that goes into it from, from, you know, your, you know, you can have a game day plan you can read, you know, on Friday. I don't like to look more than 48 hours out for a home game just because, you know, it changes so much up here. We've had games where, you know, it's 90 chance of rain and you don't see a drop of rain. Weather, man, we've seen games where it's, you know, 10 to 20% and it's sprinkling the whole game. You just never know when a cloud is gonna pass you by. Go north or south when you think you're getting anything, and then the rain cloud decides to hover over the stadium for, you know, from 12 to 5. So from, you know, oh, we just came out here for warm ups. Imagine that it Started to rain.
- [22:33]
C
Yeah.
- [22:34]
A
Oh, you're driving home, it's not raining anymore or snowstorm. I can't tell you how many times that's happened. It's unbelievable, but classic. Yeah. So it's. You definitely learn how to adjust and adapt to the weather up here. But it is. Every week presents a new challenge.
- [22:53]
C
Okay. Speaking of the weather, I know that it is, you know, defend every blade of grass, and Buffalo is cold weather and all that stuff. The cold weather, we're in the trust tree talking about it. Like, how do you guys, as players. I know you have to adapt to it, but, like, do you. Do you like it? Are you fine with it? Like, how do you. How do you approach that?
- [23:18]
A
I think. I think that we use it to our advantage. Dan probably has some video on his camera, some B roll of me just camping out by the heater all game. Because that's usually, you know, next to you, dude. Exactly. Exactly.
- [23:37]
B
Like, hey, man, let's get a little bit of the heat to the hands.
- [23:39]
A
I know, I know. Players only. That's my job. Like, when trainers and stuff come over to the heater, I'm like, hey, players only. They don't think it's funny, but. No, it's. I. I think, you know, when you've got Josh back there with. With a cannon, he can really throw it in any weather. And then I think it helps also, you know, when you look back. And this helps me as well with my snapping. When you look back and you say, I've done it in basically every condition imaginable. Right. We played. You look at the New England playoff game from a couple. From 21. Right. It was negative eight degrees outside. And. Yeah, we didn't. We didn't punt. Right. And you just had it. Yeah. The offense had a perfect game. It's like, you know, you can do it. Right. You've done it in negative eight. So, you know, use that previous. You know, we don't have a lot of. A ton of players that are still here from that game or that season, but, you know, you. I like to look back and say, you know, a couple of years ago, we Play. It was 100 billion degrees in Miami. Yeah. In September. And we had great snaps that day. You know, just.
- [25:05]
B
You almost had to go in and play line that day. You were almost gonna have to be a lineman. That was the hottest. That was the hottest I've ever been in my life.
- [25:13]
A
Okay. Did you go to the game the year before?
- [25:16]
B
Yeah.
- [25:18]
A
What was the score of that game?
- [25:21]
C
Oh, trivia.
- [25:23]
B
Which game? Because that was.
- [25:25]
A
We played them in week two, like, two years in a row.
- [25:29]
B
Was that.
- [25:30]
D
You shot him out. You shut them out.
- [25:31]
C
No, the Charles Clay one was up.
- [25:33]
D
Shout them out.
- [25:33]
A
Yeah. 35. Nothing.
- [25:35]
D
Yes. Yes.
- [25:39]
B
There wasn't. I like to say on that game. That felt so hot.
- [25:42]
C
Stop it.
- [25:42]
B
There wasn't a fart of a breeze. It was so.
- [25:45]
A
There wasn't. But. Different game.
- [25:50]
D
Yeah.
- [25:51]
B
That was like a sauna.
- [25:53]
A
It's hot. But Mike's right. We shot him out the year before.
- [25:55]
D
Yeah. Shot him out.
- [25:57]
A
Same weather. Same weather.
- [25:59]
D
See, he knows I want to go back to minutia.
- [26:02]
A
Okay.
- [26:03]
B
Big word.
- [26:04]
A
Sorry. Did I answer the question?
- [26:05]
D
Yes.
- [26:05]
B
Nailed it.
- [26:06]
A
Okay.
- [26:07]
C
Yeah.
- [26:07]
D
Okay.
- [26:09]
A
Yeah. Okay. All right. I just want to make sure I. I follow through. Oh. I was going to say the other example. What you do. I did it hot in Miami, but you look at Christmas eve in Chicago three years ago. It was negative 40 -30 degrees.
- [26:23]
B
We skipped.
- [26:26]
A
The ball. I don't blame you. The ball. Like, I'm reporting off live tv. Like, I'm watching TV from home. You're. The ball was frozen.
- [26:37]
D
Yeah.
- [26:38]
A
It was like snapping a frozen leather brick.
- [26:42]
D
Yeah.
- [26:43]
A
Like, Sam had a bruise on his foot from punting. Like, it was. You couldn't. You couldn't barely. You couldn't barely warm up in the net because the. It was so windy. The ball felt like a rock. I mean, we would just sit on the bench and go out, snap and kick, and then come back to the bench and then go like. You couldn't even stand next to the heater because it was so windy. The. The heat that was blowing out would dissipate before you even. Oh, my gosh, Adam. Glad we missed that minutia.
- [27:18]
D
All right, so you guys earn your money, and you just got your new deal. So congratulations on that. That's awesome for you specifically getting paid. I don't know if fans realize this. When you get paid, how you get paid. And then I think about things like, what about this time of the year? OTAs or, you know, training camp or the playoffs? Like, I think I know the answer to these, but go through that a little bit, how it works for all of you guys.
- [27:48]
A
Sure. So a few years ago, after the. I think it was. I think it was after the last CPA got voted through, they changed the payment system. So my first couple years up until 20, I think it was 20 to 20, 20 season, we had to. We got paid weeks one through. At that time, it was 17. Right. So you got seven. You got your. Whatever your salary was. It was divvied up into 17 game checks. After that CBA, you know, they added the. Got the 18th game added a couple years ago. So there's 18, you know, 18 weeks in the season. And they, in an effort to the. The players union, in an effort to help out the younger players and kind of practice good financial responsibility, they expanded the pay schedule. Schedule to 36 weeks.
- [29:01]
D
Oh, okay.
- [29:02]
A
So that guys wouldn't just get the chunk during the season and then you're kind of left with nothing coming in in the off season. Yeah, mixed reviews. But, you know, now, you know, past handful of years, we. So basically we get half of our week one paycheck in week one after the week one game. And then I call. The way I explain it to guys when they ask me is week. It's basically week 1A. So you get week, you go week 1A all the way through week 18A. And then as you know, that first week after the season, so the fir. I guess it'll be the first playoff, the first week of playoffs. Whether you make it or not, that first week after the season, week 19, if you will, would be. You would get your week 1B check.
- [29:59]
B
Okay.
- [30:00]
D
Right. But that's for your salary.
- [30:02]
A
So now salary. So that goes all the way through 18 weeks after the season's over. So it was, it was just a few weeks ago we got our last second half game check, I guess, if you will, from the season it goes almost. It goes into May, I think a week or two. So. So for the playoffs.
- [30:23]
D
Yeah.
- [30:25]
A
And I think I, I have to look it up every year because guys ask me like what the bonuses and stuff are. I think it's on. I think there's some, there's some website that puts it out. Used to be SB Nation, I think, but you get. There's the bonuses escalate, obviously the deeper you go into the playoffs. And I think per the cba, those bonuses have to be paid out, I believe, within 15 days of the date of the game that is played. So.
- [30:55]
D
So wait. But here, this is what I want to ask you.
- [30:57]
A
Yep.
- [30:58]
D
The amount for the playoffs, is that based on your salary or is that based on what the team gets and you split it up?
- [31:07]
A
No, it's a. It is a. That is a preset agreed upon number that's in the cba. I think you can maybe. I don't know if it's in the CBA or if it's on. I can't remember where I found it.
- [31:22]
D
Right.
- [31:23]
A
It's a pre. Agreed upon in It. And it escalates a little bit up every year, like the divisional round or the wild card round. You get X amount of dollars. I think the divisional round is maybe the same amount. And then it goes up for the championship round and then the super bowl, the winning team gets higher number than the losing team.
- [31:43]
D
So you're getting the same Josh is.
- [31:45]
A
Getting for those games for the playoffs. Everybody gets the same bonus. Yeah. Guys. Guys. There are guys, Josh, you know, some of the guys that. That you know are on the higher salaries there. That playoff bonus check will be lower than a game check that they see every week.
- [32:03]
D
Yeah, yeah, I believe.
- [32:04]
C
Yeah.
- [32:05]
B
What is it like? I think another thing we always kind of talk about, too, is the life of a. Of a football player. When you joke around, you guys are like robots and things like that. But you guys do have lives. Wives, kids, significant others, all of these things. I don't think a lot of people know that you guys stay in a hotel the night before, even home games. I think people understand that you travel, but I guess, how weird is that? Obviously you've done it for a long enough time. But to be like, hey, guys, Dad's going. You know, you have two daughters, your wife. To be like, hey, Dad's going to work tonight. You'll see me tomorrow. Like, how does that all go down?
- [32:43]
A
Yeah, so we. We normally do our meetings, like we have nightly meetings on Saturday nights at the facility, and then we'll all drive down and stay at the hotel the night before the game. So I will say that it would be nice to stay home. But I do.
- [33:09]
B
Yeah.
- [33:10]
A
Guys appreciate a good night's rest.
- [33:13]
D
Yeah. Yeah.
- [33:14]
A
Before game day. Um, and, you know, we've laughed about it. My wife totally understands. I. We have a guest room in the basement of our house up here. And last year, I think it was the. It might have been. I think it was last year. Might have been two years ago for the Pittsburgh game. The one that got. The one that got moved.
- [33:40]
B
Yeah.
- [33:41]
A
We did not go to the hotel. They let us stay home. That. That the night before that game.
- [33:47]
B
Yeah.
- [33:48]
A
And I slept in the basement.
- [33:49]
B
Yeah.
- [33:50]
A
Because the kids were young. They're, you know, get up overnight babies and wives. She totally understand, but she's like, you know, do what you gotta do. But, you know, it's. It's, you know.
- [34:05]
B
Do you have a room?
- [34:06]
A
You guys all get your own rooms, so. Used to have a roommate when I first got up here. The rule was you'd get a roommate until your. I think your fourth season, you had the maybe his third or fourth season in the league, you had the opportunity to buy out half of your. The other half of your room if you really stay by yourself. And then after, and then after that I think your fifth year you get no roommate. So as soon as I, as soon as I hit that threshold I was like, charge me the other half of my room I want to save.
- [34:45]
D
Did you have a regular roommate?
- [34:47]
A
I did. It was Ike Butler. He was awesome.
- [34:51]
D
But you still couldn't wait to buy him out though.
- [34:53]
A
Yeah, no, no, I think he, he did the same thing. We came in around the same time. So I think he.
- [34:59]
B
It's not you, it's me kind of being like has.
- [35:02]
A
We totally. It was a. It was mute. It was mutual words. Before that it was Colton Schmidt. I don't know if you guys know.
- [35:09]
D
Yeah.
- [35:09]
A
If you guys were around. So huge massive quads.
- [35:14]
B
Massive quads.
- [35:15]
A
Massive quads. So. Yeah. So. And he was a great roommate as well. I. I was fortunate to have two good roommates the couple years. But. And then during COVID we didn't do roommates obviously everybody got their own room. But now I think they are back to roommates for. For just for the younger guys.
- [35:33]
B
Yeah, Phil doesn't have enough money.
- [35:35]
D
That's it.
- [35:36]
C
What, what is like a game day look like? Like I know it's dependent on what time kickoff is, but like what is the average game day like outlook like for me personally? Like just like in general for the team and for yourself.
- [35:50]
A
Yeah. So I am an early riser and, and I was pre kids. Even on game day I just like to get up and going. So especially for a one o' clock game, for a later game I may sleep in a little bit. But for the, for the early games, early riser gotta stop by and get. Get my Dunkin Donuts in the morning.
- [36:13]
B
No free ads on the way.
- [36:15]
A
No, no free ads.
- [36:16]
C
What's your order? What's your order?
- [36:18]
A
Just a large black coffee.
- [36:20]
D
Boy, that's the way to go.
- [36:23]
A
I'm not into the. I'm not into the morning milkshakes.
- [36:27]
D
Dan orders. Dan orders. When we're traveling, I go, there's a 13 year old girl that's gonna pick.
- [36:33]
B
It's so erroneous.
- [36:34]
D
It's so erroneous.
- [36:36]
B
Okay, so if you wanna explain, you have you.
- [36:38]
A
Okay, you have 30 seconds to explain yourself.
- [36:42]
B
If you go to Starbucks, what are.
- [36:43]
A
You getting Read a large black coffee. I don't get anything else. So I don't even like Starbucks. So I don't ever go To Starbucks.
- [36:51]
C
Oh my God, you sound like Catalana.
- [36:52]
B
That's fair. But if I were to say a cold brew.
- [36:56]
D
Yeah, but then you add all this. Go ahead.
- [37:00]
B
Go ahead and say a grande.
- [37:01]
D
Oh God, you lost.
- [37:03]
B
What do you have? What do you think? It's the orders.
- [37:07]
A
Let's hear it. What's your order? You're go.
- [37:08]
B
You're salted caramel.
- [37:13]
A
Hello, may I take your order please?
- [37:15]
D
Go ahead.
- [37:16]
B
Yes, could I get a grande salted caramel, cold foam, cold brew.
- [37:20]
C
Oh God.
- [37:21]
A
What's the name on that gonna be?
- [37:24]
B
That'll be Dan.
- [37:25]
C
It'll be Danielle.
- [37:26]
A
Yeah, one order for Danielle, please.
- [37:28]
B
Yeah, that's fine. That's fine. For the longest time I used to have to my wife when she wanted an order, I would make either her order it or I'd make her text me the order and I would just show them because I didn't understand all the adjustments.
- [37:41]
D
Now he's very proud of his order.
- [37:43]
C
It is really good.
- [37:44]
B
You get a stone.
- [37:46]
A
How can you appreciate?
- [37:47]
D
Why not?
- [37:48]
A
You can't appreciate the taste of the coffee when it has all that added stuff to it.
- [37:54]
B
It's just a little cold foam on top. It's still a cold brew. It's just black cold coffee.
- [37:58]
A
I don't know. I can't do cold coffee. It tastes weird.
- [38:01]
B
Oh, I'm cold.
- [38:02]
A
Really?
- [38:03]
B
Cold coffee year round winter, 10 degrees, cold brew.
- [38:06]
D
Yeah. With his macchiato and his.
- [38:09]
B
Okay, we got it. We got sidetracked. You get your Dunkin. You get your Dunkin.
- [38:13]
A
Get the Duncan. Gotta get black coffee. Dunkin.
- [38:15]
B
And the game day fit.
- [38:17]
A
Game day fit. Got it all. You know, Erica does a great job of helping me pick it out. I get. I gotta get approval from all three girls now. That's adorable. They love helping dad pick out a shirt and the whole fit now. So it's great. But head to the stadium for a one o' clock game. Normally get there, I don't know, around 8:30, 8, 45. Grab some breakfast and kind of just hang out and you know, take, take the morning as it goes, I like to say. And usually head down to the stadium locker room around 10, 10 o', clock, get everything situated. I like to do a little lap around the field on game day and we go out for warm ups a little after 11, like 11, 15, 1120. And that's kind of when the day gets started.
- [39:11]
C
Okay, I have one question.
- [39:13]
D
Who.
- [39:14]
C
Who gives the best pregame speech?
- [39:18]
A
I wish I knew.
- [39:20]
C
Really.
- [39:21]
A
We're not in there for it.
- [39:22]
C
That's so fair. Yeah, I guess that's very true.
- [39:24]
B
Oh, you're right.
- [39:25]
A
Yeah, yeah. We come, we come out. They have the little schedule in the locker room and when there's the two minute warning is when they kind of all get up and you know, somebody talks. I'm not sure who it is, but coach will call it up. But two minutes before the two minute warning is when we make our way outside.
- [39:48]
C
Yeah, yeah.
- [39:49]
D
So you're obviously still one of. I mean, we, you know, we'll be biased and say the best in the league at what you do. They just paid you, right? How long you want to do this?
- [40:02]
A
Till they stop paying me.
- [40:04]
B
Atta boy.
- [40:05]
A
Yeah, I've gotten that. I mean, I'm, I'm on the other side of 30 now. Just turned 31 a couple months ago, so I've gotten that question quite a bit. But I mean, there's, there's a guy, J.J. jansen in Carolina this year. He's, he'll play this season at 40. John weeks out in San Francisco, he snapped in, he snapped for the Texans for his whole career until this year. He, he's going to be 39 this season. Wow. Morgan Cox down in Tennessee, he's going to be 39 this season. And you're young. The guy, the guy, James Winchester for the Chiefs, I think is going to be 36. May. There's a couple other guys that I think there's one or two other guys that might be 37, 38. So. Yeah, I mean, you guys as long as, like as long as they want to have me. Yeah, yeah.
- [40:58]
C
Well read. For the record, 31 is young.
- [41:01]
D
Yeah, yeah.
- [41:02]
A
Correct.
- [41:02]
D
And 30 as I, I can use my joke read. 30 is no big deal. I've done it twice, so. It's fine. It's fine. How about a long snapper summit like they do for tight ends and pass rushers? You want to get the guys together.
- [41:18]
A
It has been discussed. It has been discussed.
- [41:21]
B
There's a couple sponsor Buffalo plus would like.
- [41:25]
C
We can't give you any money.
- [41:27]
B
Exactly. We're loosely associated. That's how you can just throw our names. We got this big media group and podcasts.
- [41:33]
A
No free ads. So it has been discussed. Yeah, golf trip, stuff like that. So cool. It has been discussed. But there's, there's a couple, there's a couple kicking coaches around the country that will host groups of guys that they train in the league over the summer around the country. So a couple of the guys will ask their snappers to come there. You know, hey, can you come. You Know, we're gonna get tuned up before the season, so it's kind of, you know, guys kind of bounce around. But it's tough. I mean, Dan, you know, we're. We're. We're busy with. Busy with the kids.
- [42:12]
B
We are, yeah.
- [42:13]
A
Sorry, Mike, I don't know if you have any kids or not, but they're.
- [42:15]
D
Oh, oh, read. I've got two grandkids.
- [42:18]
A
There you go. Oh, there we go, Grandpa.
- [42:22]
D
That's it?
- [42:23]
A
Yeah, that's it.
- [42:25]
B
One last one for me. And I don't know if this question is going to pump your tires or deflate them in the sense of, like, I can't imagine Josh goes to Wegmans and goes grocery shopping or, like, is out and about all that much for you. How much are you recognized when you just go out, Whether it's with the family or you're pumping gas, like, how often do you get stopped? And they're just like, way to go, Read. Or Go Bills.
- [42:53]
A
It does happen frequently. Not a ton. And I have to give credit to the people. Buffalo, they're always, you know, super respectful if we're eating dinner or if we're, you know, we're shopping, you know, grocery shopping, whatever it may be. Always super respectful. Hey, go, Bills. You know, looking forward to the season, whatever it may be. People are. People are always very respectful. So it does happen. And, you know, the girls love it, and they're like, oh, it's my recognized daddy. But, yeah, it's. It's cool. I don't know if Josh goes to Wegmans. I, I, you know, no free ads. He might, he might, he might. They might open up after hours, like, shutting Disney World down, you know, like. Yeah, you kind of got the park to yourself there.
- [43:46]
D
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure he could get it.
- [43:49]
A
He might, he might. You know, he's probably. He's probably an avid instacart. Yeah.
- [43:53]
D
Yeah, I would think.
- [43:54]
C
Yeah, one can imagine. Well, Reed, thank you so much for joining us. Is there anything that you want to plug or anything before we wrap up here? Raising canes.
- [44:04]
A
No.
- [44:04]
B
Free hats.
- [44:05]
A
This is a. This is a. This is a plea to my friend Todd Graves.
- [44:12]
C
Okay.
- [44:12]
D
We need it made it a Raising canes.
- [44:15]
B
I thought they were. I thought raising canes was very good when we had it.
- [44:18]
D
Yeah.
- [44:19]
C
Do they have, like, a signature sauce? Like, is it, like. What's the signature sauce?
- [44:22]
A
Just, like a good cane sauce.
- [44:24]
B
Yeah.
- [44:25]
C
What, like, what's it taste? It's like, I've never had it, so I don't know.
- [44:29]
B
Like a zesty sauce read like a zesty ranch.
- [44:32]
D
You kind of read's like.
- [44:35]
C
No. Is it like a honey mustard?
- [44:38]
B
No, it's not like a honey mustard.
- [44:39]
A
It's not honey mustard. I'm trying to think. It's got. It's. It's mayo. It's mayo, ketchup and pepper.
- [44:43]
D
Oh, that's.
- [44:44]
B
It's kind of like a Big Mac sauce. That's probably the best way to.
- [44:47]
A
No, Big Mac is just Thousand Island. That's all.
- [44:51]
C
Yeah, it's just relish.
- [44:52]
B
No free ads.
- [44:55]
A
I've actually never had a Big Mac before.
- [44:57]
C
Oh, wow.
- [44:59]
A
Yeah, I know.
- [45:00]
D
We're trying to get surprising.
- [45:01]
A
Is that surprising?
- [45:03]
C
Yes. What's your go to order at McDonald's?
- [45:06]
A
I don't go to McDonald's. I don't really go to McDonald's.
- [45:08]
C
You don't ever go to McDonald's.
- [45:09]
B
Order at Chick Fil A. I'll.
- [45:11]
A
The only time I'll go to McDonald's is if I need, like, breakfast on a road trip or something.
- [45:16]
D
Yeah. Okay.
- [45:16]
C
Yeah.
- [45:17]
A
And I'll get, like, their oatmeal is really good. Like, egg. Wow.
- [45:20]
C
We are not the same.
- [45:23]
B
I just said okay.
- [45:25]
D
My God. Reed and I could travel together. He knows. There we go.
- [45:30]
A
Maybe a sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle every now and then.
- [45:34]
C
Yeah. Okay. Do you like scones, Reed?
- [45:38]
A
No.
- [45:39]
C
Exactly. Thank you. Because they're not too. It tastes like dust. Yeah.
- [45:43]
A
A little too airy for me. I like my. I like my treats to be dense.
- [45:49]
B
Like a snapdragon apple.
- [45:51]
A
That's correct.
- [45:52]
D
Yeah.
- [45:53]
B
Got you there, bud.
- [45:56]
A
An ad. All right.
- [46:00]
C
Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate your time.
- [46:03]
A
Good questions.
- [46:05]
B
Thank you.
- [46:06]
C
Thank you.
- [46:07]
B
Appreciate it.
- [46:07]
C
I love that he hated on Dan's coffee order. That being said, though, for the record, I order, like, the same thing Dan does.
- [46:14]
D
I know, but, you know, Reed is that guy, and he has been around this team for that long. And he was around with Rex Ryan. Yep. I think he's a respected guy, and I think players at any position would talk to Reed about stuff because they know. They know. He knows his way around. He loves Orchard Park. I love the fact that he just says, I'll keep playing until they stop paying me. Why not? He is really good at his job.
- [46:38]
C
Yeah.
- [46:38]
D
And the one thing I wanted to ask him again, but, like, his job is pretty much like, you got to be perfect or close to perfect. You only really know notice Reed.
- [46:51]
C
Yeah.
- [46:52]
D
If there's a mistake because he does a hell of a job and you know, it's the snap for punts, the snap for kicks, and they like him. You know, he's done. He's done a really, really good job for years now, and he wants to keep doing it.
- [47:09]
C
It's. It's crazy, too, when you do think about hearing him talk about the weather and the wind patterns and, like, how much does go into that, because you're right. Like, I feel like with what he said of, like, a lot of people get up for a pee break or to get more chips and salsa. Like, there is so much that goes on, and there is so much that can affect how the kick goes off, all that stuff. So I thought that was pretty interesting to know.
- [47:29]
D
Yeah.
- [47:29]
C
And also the check system. Yeah. I would need to get paid on the 36. I. I would be really bad if I only got the 17.
- [47:38]
D
Yeah. I learned something there because I was always under the impression the league likes that you get paid for the games kind of thing. But I do understand. I think it's tough for younger players or players who don't make as much.
- [47:52]
C
Yeah.
- [47:53]
D
To get the money spread out a little bit. It's a little bit of forced. I mean, think about yourself. If you got.
- [47:59]
C
I was.
- [48:00]
D
Yes. Right. You're like, that's tough.
- [48:03]
C
I would be bad at that.
- [48:04]
D
Not everybody is making exactly the huge. I mean, they're making good livings, but it's not the same thing. It is. I didn't want to hear him say it. When the playoffs come around from. At least from the league, Josh Allen's getting the same thing. Yeah, that's.
- [48:20]
C
That's the way that is interesting. Because that's a bit counterintuitive.
- [48:23]
D
Well, they might have bonuses, like any player bonuses in their contract, but from the league, it's like we're all in this together the regular season. So I think it's cool. That was cool. I was glad. He was very open about everything, and I'm really glad that he picked on Dan a lot.
- [48:37]
C
Yeah. No, me too. We didn't pay him either.
- [48:40]
D
I know. He just. He went right at it.
- [48:42]
C
Also, I guess I have to try raising canes. I've just never had it, so.
- [48:45]
D
So Dan and I. The quick raising cane story is we were in Cincinnati, we were at a hotel, and we were working, and I said, do you want me to go get us lunch? And he said, sure. And he said this is what he wanted. I walked over. I was back in the lobby. It was like I went to a vending machine so fast. I was there. I told the Guy we wanted, boom, boom, had him out there. It's both great and a little like, oh, when was this made? They were just cranking out the food at that place. It was really good.
- [49:16]
C
It was just chicken tenders. That's what I had, which I love chicken tenders. It's not like a slight on chicken.
- [49:22]
D
Tenders, but Reed is big on it, so let's see if they can get.
- [49:24]
C
So Dan trying to explain the sauce?
- [49:26]
D
Yeah, he was not even close.
- [49:30]
C
Yeah, it's like. No, it's not.
- [49:32]
D
No, no, it's not. Not even close.
- [49:34]
C
Okay. Anything else?
- [49:35]
D
No, I don't think so. I just really appreciate him doing it.
- [49:38]
C
Yeah, absolutely.
- [49:39]
D
That's good.
- [49:39]
C
Yeah, it looks like it is. Oh, no, there's a sandwich. Yeah, I gotta try this place.
- [49:44]
A
There we go.
- [49:45]
C
Okay, thank you so much for joining us here on the Buffalo plus channel. Comment in. Before you do that, comment in your thoughts on what Reed had to say.
- [49:52]
D
As well as what your order is.
- [49:57]
C
For coffee and if you would be okay getting paid just 17 checks a year.
- [50:02]
D
Oh, I know that's tough.
- [50:03]
C
I hope a lot of people are like me. I would imagine. All right, thank you so much for joining us. Please be sure to, like, comment, subscribe and share and we'll catch you next time here on the Buffalo plus podcast, presented by Connors and Ferris.
- [50:27]
E
Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sure, you can post your job to some job board, but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along. Which is why you should try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com zip. ZipRecruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you. It finds them for you. Its powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites them to apply to your job. You get qualified candidates fast. So while other companies might deliver a lot of hay, ZipRecruiter finds you what you're looking for. The needle in the Haystack.
- [51:04]
B
See why 4 out of 5 employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. And right now, you can try ZipRecruiter for free. That's right, free at ZipRecruiter.com Zip. That's ZipRecruiter.com Zip. ZipRecruiter.com Zip.