NFL Draft Preview + Marcus Mariota Tells All: Oregon Glory, NFL Journey & Titans Days | Bussin’

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Bussin' With The Boys" – NFL Draft Preview + Marcus Mariota Tells All

Title: Bussin' With The Boys
Host: Taylor Lewan
Guest: Will Compton and Marcus Mariota
Episode: NFL Draft Preview + Marcus Mariota Tells All: Oregon Glory, NFL Journey & Titans Days
Release Date: April 22, 2025

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1. Introduction and Episode Overview

[00:30] Taylor Lewan kicks off episode 325 of "Bussin' With The Boys," welcoming listeners and encouraging subscriptions and engagement. He previews the episode's main topics, including:

• Lawam Easter Bash 2025
• Spring Tour in Nebraska
• Recap of Michigan's Performance
• NFL Draft Talks featuring prospects like Cam Ward, Shadur Sanders, Travis Hunter
• Exclusive Interview with Marcus Mariota

Taylor shares excitement about Marcus Mariota's candid interview, highlighting his career's highs and lows, including moments of doubt and personal growth.

Notable Quote:

Taylor Lewan [00:30]: "It is truly incredible, breaking down all of the things that he's gone through, both the highs and especially the lows of his career."

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2. NFL Draft Preview and Sports Betting Insights

The hosts delve into the NFL Draft, discussing various prospects and their projected draft positions. They emphasize the integration of sports betting through FanDuel's sportsbook, exploring how listeners can engage with the draft using betting strategies.

Key Points:

• Cam Ward is heavily favored to go first overall to the Tennessee Titans with odds at -20,000.
• Shadur Sanders is projected as a top 10 pick with odds at -230 for top 5.
• Travis Hunter and other prospects like Mason Graham and Ashton Gin are discussed regarding their potential impact and team selections.

Notable Quotes:

Will Compton [02:58]: "It's a lock that Cam Ward's gonna go first overall to the Tennessee Titans right now on the FanDuel sportsbook. He's minus 20,000."

Taylor Lewan [04:28]: "At buss with the boys, we like our parlays to be in the plus 30,000 range."

The hosts share personal experiences with sports betting, recounting wins and losses to illustrate the unpredictability and excitement of draft betting.

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3. Spring Tour Recap: Nebraska and Oregon Experiences

[14:58] Taylor Lewan and Will Compton discuss their recent Spring Tours in Nebraska and Oregon, sharing anecdotes about workouts, interactions with players, and the overall atmosphere at both universities.

Highlights:

• Oregon Tour:

  • Impressed by the level of access and the functional nature of workouts.
  • Interaction with young athletes curious about their training processes.
  • Taylor Lewan reminisces about helping incoming freshmen understand the physical demands of the sport.

• Nebraska Tour:

  • Acknowledgment of Michigan's scheduling impacting their ability to engage fully.
  • Experiences with the university's strength staff and witnessing high-energy training sessions.
  • Discussions about the importance of special teams coaches and their role in maintaining team morale and involvement.

Notable Quotes:

Taylor Lewan [15:30]: "Something's gotta break. It's either gonna be you or you're gonna break the back."

Will Compton [13:00]: "We were pretty shocked at how much they opened it up and allowed us to walk away and look around. It was awesome."

The conversation underscores the camaraderie and dedication observed during the tours, highlighting both the physical and mental challenges faced by players.

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4. Exclusive Interview with Marcus Mariota: Journey and Personal Growth

The standout feature of this episode is an in-depth interview with Marcus Mariota, a distinguished NFL quarterback. Marcus candidly shares his experiences, focusing on his Oregon glory days, NFL journey, and transformative moments with the Tennessee Titans.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Career Highs and Lows:

  • Early success at Oregon, leading to high expectations entering the NFL.
  • Challenges faced during his tenure with the Titans, including injuries and team dynamics.
  • Personal struggles with anxiety and the mental toll of professional football.

• Relationships with Coaches and Teammates:

  • The impact of coaching styles on his performance and mentality.
  • Building strong bonds with teammates like Will Campbell and Ben Grassu.
  • The importance of mentorship and support systems within the team.

• Mental Health and Personal Development:

  • Marcus opens up about seeking help from sports psychologists to overcome anxiety.
  • Emphasizes the significance of balancing professional commitments with personal life.
  • Reflects on the role of family, especially his wife, in providing emotional support.

Notable Quotes:

Marcus Mariota [70:10]: "There is no way it's sustainable. 20 snaps a game at two positions? That's insane."

Marcus Mariota [145:06]: "I have such high expectations for myself that I was envisioning being a part of a Super Bowl team there. When it doesn't work out that way, it's a sting."

Marcus Mariota [152:25]: "Having kids changes everything. It equalizes a lot of things."

Marcus's transparency about his vulnerabilities offers listeners a profound understanding of the pressures faced by professional athletes and the importance of mental resilience.

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5. Conclusion and Closing Remarks

The episode wraps up with heartfelt reflections from Taylor Lewan and Will Compton on the importance of sharing both successes and struggles. They express gratitude towards Marcus Mariota for his openness, reinforcing the podcast's commitment to genuine conversations about sports and personal growth.

Final Thoughts:

• The value of transparency in overcoming personal and professional challenges.
• Encouragement for listeners to engage with their mental health proactively.
• Anticipation for future episodes featuring more insightful discussions and interviews.

Notable Quote:

Taylor Lewan [157:15]: "What you have to pour into a profession like this at a level that you've obsessed about for your entire life. And knowing how that can... a whole lot of stuff that you consume is about everybody's highlights."

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Overall Insights and Takeaways

• Balancing Professional and Personal Life: Marcus's journey underscores the necessity of maintaining personal well-being amidst professional pressures.

• Mental Health Awareness: The discussion highlights the evolving perception of mental health in professional sports, advocating for openness and support systems.

• Sports Betting Engagement: The integration of FanDuel's sportsbook into the podcast illustrates the growing intersection between sports fandom and betting culture.

• Team Dynamics and Support: Building strong relationships within the team is pivotal for both individual and collective success.

"Bussin' With The Boys" continues to provide a platform for authentic conversations, offering listeners both sports insights and personal stories that resonate on a deeper level.

Transcript

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spring is in full swing, which means it's time for spring cleaning. Don't worry, we've got everything you need to stock up on spring cleaning essentials because a clean home is a happy home. Shop in store or online for spring cleaning favorites like Method All Purpose Cleaner, Swiffer Heavy Duty Mopping Cloths, Lysol Bathroom Cleaner, Scotch Brite Sponges, and Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and Save. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Taylor Lewan]

Guys, welcome into another episode of Busting with the Boys. Before we get started, please do me a favor. Subscribe, unsubscribe, resubscribe and comment. It's not a lot for you, but it helps us a whole bunch today. In this episode, what you're going to see, we're gonna hit the intro. Your boy has a Netflix show coming out tomorrow. If you're watching this Tuesday, that means it comes out Wednesday, April 23rd. We let's talk about Lawan Easter Bash 2025. We got the spring tour in Nebraska coming up. We recap Michigan. That happened before and we got some NFL draft talk, including Cam Ward, Shadur Sanders, Travis Hunter, all of those things. But the creme de la creme the SP really want to stay for is this Marcus Mariota interview. It is truly incredible, breaking down all of the things that he's gone through, both the highs and especially the lows of his career. Times that he thought to himself, I don't know if I want to play football anymore. Going to see somebody to fix what's going on up top. It is for me, a guy that was able to play with him and see that stuff in real time. It was an incredible episode for me. I hope you guys enjoyed as well. Again, subscribe unsubscribe Resubscribe let's get to this episode. And also do me a favor, Bert Kreischer. His special lucky is out. Now go see that on Netflix.

[Will Compton]

All right, we're good.

[Marcus Mariota]

Be like busing with the boys.

[Taylor Lewan]

Hanging with the fellas.

[Marcus Mariota]

Betting on a game no woman's gonna tell us what not been over here.

[Jack]

Just drinking beer and making that noise, baby.

[Marcus Mariota]

I'm hanging with the fellas busting with the boys, bro.

[Taylor Lewan]

Ladies, gentlemen, it is episode 325 of busing with the Boys. We have an outstanding episode for you today. Electrostatic to be here alongside me, Will Compton. My name is Taylor1, and we are presented by the number one. America's number one sports book. Vanduul Sports. A lot of exciting things in the sports betting world. We got playoff hockey right now. If you haven't heard, I am now a Toronto Maple Leafs fan for the foreseeable future. We won the first game versus the Senators. Also NFL draft. The boys will be there this weekend. It's exciting stuff. I think there's some odds, Cam.

[Jack]

There are, there are. If you jump, I mean, yeah, like, look, I think it's. It's a lock that Cam Ward's gonna go first over all the Tennessee Titans right now on the. On the fandom sportsbook. He's minus 20,000.

[Taylor Lewan]

20,000.

[Jack]

Minus 20,000. Abdul Carter, the one who is like also in the running to potentially be the first overall pick. He's at like. He's sitting at like plus 3,000, I believe. But it is ultimately a lock to go Cam ward on the FanDuel sportsbook. This is fun, boys. So let's just say Shadur Sanders, you can get on the app. You can project guys to go top 10, top 5. You can build parlay Shador Sanders, if you're picking him to go top 10, he's at minus 230 right now. Top five, plus 400. Is Mason Graham going to be a top five pick? That's at minus 145. Ashton Gin plus 240. You can also select the team who they're going to go with in that specific position. So for example, the New York Giants sent with the number three overall pick. Abdul Carter's on the app right now, minus 480. On FanDuel Sports, Shadir Sanders plus 470. This is the fun part. You can build out parlays with the players. So you can choose like say Will Campbell. I know he's projected to go to the New England Patriots with Braves Tyler Warren, a tight end out of Penn State to go in the top five or top ten. You can parlay those picks together and build out parlays. There's also shout out the boy Chris. Shout out. He sent out in a little parlay. Shur Sanders to be a top 10 pick. Jackson Dart to be a first round pick and Amica Egbuca to go to be a first round pick. You can parlay those three together and you'll get plus 117 odds on the FanDuel sportsbook app.

[Taylor Lewan]

And at bus with the boys, we like our parlays to be in the plus 30,000 range.

[Jack]

We're going to build. We're going to build.

[Taylor Lewan]

We're going to build the spice one. We probably will bet all 32. Put. Put that in the parlor. That's fun, though.

[Jack]

Draft night.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yes, because it is fun. Because for me, when I was watching and when the Titans were doing relatively well, we were picking that, like 18 to 24 range, it was like, I'm kind of just watching the draft, waiting for my team to pick. And then once they pick up, all right, time to go to bed and.

[Jack]

To go off that. Like, you can go each team and select their position. It doesn't have to be the exact player. You can say, like, you know, yeah, yeah, Jaguars, they're gonna pick an offensive tackle, running back, whatever it is. Like, that's. It's a fun little.

[Taylor Lewan]

That's a fun little game. Yeah, fun game. Shout out Chrissy for that parlay. Also, Chrissy had some information in that email that he sent that does piss you off a little bit. It's cam Ward's now minus 20,000 to be the first overall pick for Tennessee Times. Before this cultural ball season, he was plus 2000. And just think to yourself, could you imagine. Imagine if you had a crystal ball. Imagine that's what we always play these games. Like the. Would you rather. When we had the crazy questions back in the day from Mitch Carsley, like we're. Would you rather, like, see 10 minutes in the future? All this stuff. It's like, that's where you play the game.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

If you. If you could just see 10 minutes in the future, could you imagine gambling?

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Could you imagine? Well, it wouldn't be gambling. You just watch a draft and then like, you know, you. That's so raving yourself into the future and then come back and you're like, okay, yeah, take this person. Next. Baccarat Jack. Player, banker. I'll tell you right now, it's going to be player. Just go on this crazy run. Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop. Getting after NBA playoffs are also going. Will and I put parlays. How'd your parlays do?

[Jack]

Lost bank. My guy. You know, we have a guy.

[Taylor Lewan]

JJ1.

[Jack]

No, we have a guy. We can't say the guy.

[Taylor Lewan]

You can't say.

[Jack]

Can't say the guy who sent the bet last week just got a spontaneous text. Hey, go with this parlay. One leg, of course, doesn't. Doesn't hit one out of the five, I believe.

[Taylor Lewan]

Who is I? We can't say.

[Jack]

Can't say the guy. Can't say the guy. Tell you after.

[Taylor Lewan]

Tell me after. But right now, no, if you're watching this and you're in the dark. I'm also in the dark.

[Jack]

While you're talking with K. Adams on a parlay. Also made a JJ Redick parlay. All my parlays.

[Taylor Lewan]

Lost all of them. I did a parlay Friday. I was like, let me just throw my hat in the ring with this basketball. Not one hit. Actually, not one got close. And then I took Houston and the Golden Knights and I'm like, I know who Steph Curry is. Let's get him.

[Jack]

The Golden Knights.

[Taylor Lewan]

Golden. I'm sorry. Golden Warriors. I'm all hockey right now, boys.

[Jack]

Golden State warriors.

[Taylor Lewan]

Hockey. I'm all hockey right now. Yeah, Golden State warriors. Whatever. Steph Curry, he hits five threes. I knew that was lock, stock and two smoking barrels.

[Jack]

Well, he hit that in the last couple minutes. He's fit three.

[Taylor Lewan]

Well, I should have watched. And then the Rockets, they lose. And then the. The. The under hit and I bet the over. So one for three.

[Jack]

If you think you know how it's all going to go down, make those predictions pay off. With FanDuel in the NBA profit boost every day of the playoffs this week, simply make your bet, activate your boost and go for even, even bigger winnings. Don't just be a spectator this postseason. Don't just be a spectator for the draft either. Head to FanDuel.com Bussin to download Amer to download America's number one sportsbook, FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA, the boys, the NFL and everything in between.

[Taylor Lewan]

Beautiful stuff.

[Jack]

I am excited for the draft, though.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, I am too. It's going to be exciting.

[Jack]

Like, it's Mason Graham. You think he's going to go top five right now?

[Taylor Lewan]

There's a couple.

[Marcus Mariota]

A couple of.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, like five. Yeah. They. I mean, that could happen.

[Jack]

Tyler Booker.

[Taylor Lewan]

Will Johnson. Yes. If there's any scouts out there that have the opportunity to. To draft Tyler Booker, I don't think there's a better kid out there. This kid's going to play 10, 15 years in the NFL. He's going to be strong, dependable, reliable. Really, the only thing holding back that kid is injuries and he just has. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. No, no, no, no.

[Jack]

I do feel like I have a.

[Taylor Lewan]

Sorry.

[Jack]

A free $1,000 bet to put this week to put on Shadur because Delaney. The bet we have with. With Delaney right now is insane. Yeah. What is it? Top two rounds, right? Shadur's just got to go in the win. Thousand dollars from Delaney because he thought he's gonna fall out of the top two rounds.

[Taylor Lewan]

God love him. Dumbest bet I've ever heard.

[Jack]

So I'm gonna treat like I have, like a freebie. Yeah. I got some free money to play on.

[Taylor Lewan]

Get some free money. Go ahead and rip that up a little bit. I could see him going top five. I could see you got the Giants there. You got the Saints there.

[Jack]

Three and four Raiders, they're out of the top five.

[Taylor Lewan]

Raider, what's.

[Jack]

Raiders, I think are seven, I believe. And Saints are what, nine?

[Taylor Lewan]

No, no, no. I don't know. What was the thing we were just looking at before we came in?

[Jack]

You talking about all the different.

[Taylor Lewan]

Because three is the Giants.

[Jack]

Yeah. Giants are at three because it seems like Travis Hunter is going to be a lock of going to the Browns.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Which is.

[Jack]

And Giants are choosing out of. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Here we go. Here we go. Yeah.

[Jack]

Raiders are six.

[Taylor Lewan]

Titans, Browns, Giants, Patriots, Jags, Raiders. Who's that buys.

[Jack]

You know, there's.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Will Campbell out of lsu.

[Marcus Mariota]

I don't. Well, I don't.

[Taylor Lewan]

I think if you're going to pick at four and you want to take a tackle, you're gonna take that kid out of Texas. Yeah, yeah, he. I think he's the number. I think he's clearly, the number one tackle on this draft. Will Campbell, he's been. There's been some comments about his length of arms. Is he more of a guard?

[Jack]

Oh, the arm length.

[Taylor Lewan]

The arm length game. To me it's. The arm length game's so ridiculous because I didn't have like overly long arms. But it's all about using the length you have. It's all about using the length. You got T. Rex, boys, but yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You square. Yeah, but that's all good.

[Jack]

Vray wouldn't let me on punt return because my arms weren't long enough to.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, he just. He was doing that just because your name was Will Compton. Yeah. Treated you that way. The way Shitter Sanders got his jersey retired. You know, he just did it because you're point.

[Jack]

He is. He is like a tangible. He loves the length, loves the length, loves.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Because. Yeah. Vrabel's built like a Neanderthal. Like his. He's a knuckle dragger. Like his. His arms literally go past his knees. He's built to play football.

[Jack]

Yeah. What'd you think of the shader getting his number retired at Colorado?

[Taylor Lewan]

I don't ever want to hate on that. Because it is like, I think of myself if, like, Michigan doesn't really retire numbers, but if they ever were, like, hey, we're putting you in our hall of Fame. If they. I don't even know if they have a Hall of Fame. I would just be so grateful and so proud of that. And to see Shadow, it's like, okay, he wasn't an All American. He was Big 12 offensive player of the year, or all Big 12, something like that. Like, which is great, but, like, a lot of everybody has that.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So there is.

[Jack]

There's gonna be a lot.

[Taylor Lewan]

There's the nepotism. There is the bias that goes involved in it. But I'm. I'm happy for him because it's like, that is cool. Now, whether he deserved it or not, I don't know, man. Hopefully he has an incredible NFL career. And then we all look back on it, similar to way Michigan looks at Tom Brady, where Tom Brady, he didn't have, like, a Hall of Fame college career, but then he goes to the NFL and he's the greatest player of all time.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So there's still an opportunity. His story's unwritten. Dude who sings that song, the rest is still unwritten.

[Will Compton]

Natasha Bedingfield.

[Jack]

I thought it was. I did.

[Taylor Lewan]

Staring at the blank.

[Jack]

I did think Dion dropped the gym when he was talking to the. To the press and talking about Rashawn Salaam. Like, how long did it take for him to get his number retired?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

And it was like, what, 20 something years. Well, how long after he died? And it was like, within one year. And he's like, he enjoys guys smelling the flowers. I feel like my only issue with the hall of Fame retiring jerseys, because Travis Hunter, like, that's a shoe in.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, he won the Heisman.

[Jack]

But it's like, you know, there should be like a. Like a protocol, whether it's, you know, in the hall of Fame, you have to be five years. You have to be five years before you get eligible. Like, if they had standards like that, I think it would land a lot softer because these kids, them getting their jersey retired and getting into the hall of Fame, like, within months after playing, I think is. And obviously the last name being Sanders.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Do what?

[Marcus Mariota]

The school semester.

[Jack]

School semester is not even over.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack]

Very sick. For the. For Travis and Shadur, like, you know, going. Going to get on the field and getting your number retired and getting your name written up so quick. But also it's like, you know, there seems to be, like, no parameters because they have how many Guys retired overall, six total. And there's been some great players that come out of Colorado, especially in the early 90s when they were a very damn good football team.

[Taylor Lewan]

Dave Bhattiari. Yeah, I mean, he was like a fourth or fifth round pick, though.

[Jack]

He was like a lower.

[Taylor Lewan]

So he's kind of in that similar. I mean, it's weird to put him in the same category as Tom Brady, but like, they don't have the college careers, but they had the NFL career.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Is what I'm basically trying to say, because Bach. Yeah, Bach was a stud, man. He signed multiple massive contracts, multiple all pros. Like, dude was a fucking stud. Looks fantastic, too.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Saw him this weekend at Easter.

[Jack]

Yeah. You had just.

[Will Compton]

When they. When you look at the top 10 quarterbacks to play at Colorado, there's maybe one name that you truly like, recognize from an NFL standpoint, and it would be Cordell Stewart.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

But that's about it. Number two, Darian Hagen. Sal Anisi, Coy Detmer, Joel Clapp. Shout Out Joel Clapp, Bob Anderson, Stefo Liafo, John Hessler, all these guys. And I'm like, yeah, it makes sense. Chedur is probably. Was the best.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

College quarterback. Of them all.

[Jack]

Except for, I think the second one you said he was one that was playing around 90, like in the. He had a really good career at Colorado.

[Taylor Lewan]

How does Nebraska's hall of Fame work?

[Jack]

I think you have to be before you become eligible. I want to say it's like a. There's like a waiting period, maybe five years.

[Taylor Lewan]

Okay, so you're eligible.

[Jack]

Yeah, I'd be eligible.

[Taylor Lewan]

Okay.

[Jack]

I would be getting in the.

[Taylor Lewan]

What do you mean?

[Jack]

The Nebraska hall of Fame, bro.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

I get. I was on the jump.

[Taylor Lewan]

And also you can get put in the hall of Fame for things other than football.

[Jack]

Do what you need to put in.

[Taylor Lewan]

The hall of Fame for things about impact. Yeah. And you're impacting the game. You're making. This is not as truly. Please stick with me here.

[Jack]

Okay.

[Taylor Lewan]

You're making. You're making more of an impact now than when you played.

[Jack]

Yeah, I would agree with that.

[Taylor Lewan]

Okay. I'll take that because that could have gone. You just never know.

[Jack]

I don't mean you're good. You're a good compliment.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yes.

[Taylor Lewan]

Okay. I meant it as a compliment. I just didn't want to get that, you know, the blurred lines, the grays. I wanted that to happen between us right there.

[Jack]

So you're making a bigger impact.

[Taylor Lewan]

So maybe it's time for Will Compton. Maybe this weekend they surprise You. Because we'll be in Nebraska. Boys will be at the draft starting this new thing called the two minute drill. That'll be exciting. Got ourselves an interview or two lined up. Head over. I'm coming back. I got to come back. I got some dad stuff to do Friday for my kids. I got a little play, and I'm being back over here. And then I'm off to Nebraska to see the boys. Watch people just shower. Will Compton, the love glaze everywhere, dude. Just the gif of all the hot dogs hitting that woman in the face. That's Will Compton. Every time we go to Lincoln, dude, it is incredible how much love this man gets. But the spring tour. Let's just talk about the spring tour for a little bit.

[Jack]

It's been awesome.

[Taylor Lewan]

Has this been the most fun spring we've ever had at busting with the boys?

[Jack]

Yeah. This has to be the playbook we use with other schools going into next year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Forever and always.

[Jack]

Yeah. Especially with Oregon. Like, Michigan was an awesome one, but again, that was the week of the spring game.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right.

[Jack]

So they're a little lighter.

[Taylor Lewan]

Their scheduling was a little different, so we didn't have the opportunity to work out with the team. However, the. The strength staff baptized us. Oh, yeah, they baptized us. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm gonna have a bar in my back. My knees gonna feeling me. I'm gonna be benching a whole lot of weight. Whatever it is, it was all functional stuff.

[Jack]

My back's in hell. My back is currently.

[Taylor Lewan]

Talk to me about it.

[Jack]

I don't know.

[Taylor Lewan]

You were in hell that whole entire workout?

[Jack]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know what it is specifically, but something I have got to get my back corrected, man. And it's bothering me mentally. Like, it. Like. Like I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of my low back. Like, I have to fix it.

[Taylor Lewan]

Something's gotta. Something's gotta break. It's either gonna be you or you're gonna break the back.

[Jack]

Yeah. Like, I feel a sneeze coming on and I'm like, I'm scared. I'm preparing. Yeah. What position do I get into to where I feel the lightest impact? Because it's like a sharp pain that just goes through my, like, L4 and 5 on my right side, and it fucking bothers me, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Can I tell you what the biggest surprise to me was for myself in the spring tour so far?

[Jack]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Taylor Lewan]

When we were in Oregon and that kid came up to me and asked me for some help we did some core stuff. First off, I had no idea the clip that's on YouTube right now would be getting as much love as it is. But there I understand. Similar to when I watched the Masters, I understand golf. Now I understand why guys coach. Because seeing this kid come up and want some information, me being able to give him something that I hope he takes with him and runs with him, that was a very special moment for me. And I loved it. I loved it when guys came up and they're like, ultimately curious about my process and how I handled things. And it was. It was awesome.

[Jack]

Yeah, man, it was great. You see why coaches do what they do. But, I mean, think of yourself as like that young kid and you got a three time pro Bowler coming in. Like, you want to pick their brain. You're trying to figure out what questions to ask. Hey, he's working out with us right now. Like, let me, you know, let me get out in front of the boys and pull him aside.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, and he. He was. He was. He's way more open and curious than I was at his age. He's a freshman. Yeah, he's a freshman. Just got there. He was early enrollee.

[Jack]

That's awesome.

[Taylor Lewan]

From Florida and. Yeah, I mean, I remember being a freshman. And there would be some guys that would come in. I can't remember his name. He was literally at Michigan weekend we were there. But he played tackle. He was from Georgia, went to Michigan. He would play for the Detroit Lions for 10 years. He would come in all the time, kind of do rehab and stuff like that in Ann Arbor. And I always wanted to pick his brain, but never did. Jake Long will be around once in a while. He was always around, but I never picked his brain because I was just kind of like, more in awe than I was. Like, I'm gonna try to get something out of them.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

I think I tried to be a friend more than I tried to be like a. A mentee.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And so to me, it was just super cool that these guys are. Are curious. Like, Michigan was very similar, but Oregon, I would say more that offensive line group were like, very interested in my process, how I went about things. I was much more vocal in the. In the meeting rooms of Michigan because the coaches were asking me questions. But it was. It was awesome to be a part of.

[Jack]

Yeah. Mine was Barrett Rude. Barrett Rude would come around. He'd, like, work out with the team in the off season. And he, like, taught me how to watch film, taught me about his process, how he breaks down, how he. How he compartmentalizes it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So that was like getting to see that. It, like, reminds it just as you as a player, as a young player and wanting to get knowledge from these cats because Barrett Rood was a stud at Nebraska and in the league. But, yeah, it's cool to think about.

[Will Compton]

Of any linebacker and any offensive tackle. Who would you guys want to spend the day with while you're playing? Who's the one guy you would want.

[Taylor Lewan]

To be or want to spend time.

[Will Compton]

With, spend time with to learn from?

[Jack]

Ray Lewis? I'll say, like, anytime I was driving to workouts in the morning, I always had like, Ray Lewis speeches on. I got to see him speak one time, but I'd say, Ray Lewis, I mean, dude did it at the highest level for all of what, 16, 17 years. He was like the baddest man on the football field.

[Will Compton]

God, don't make mistakes.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah, I. That's a really difficult question for me because the person I looked up to the most was Jake Long. Jake Long's career, I mean, he ended up getting a lot of injuries in the NFL, so it was very difficult for him to like, show off how much talent he actually had. I mean, the guy was. He made three Pro Bowls in a row in his first three years. Like, he is an insane talent that was only plagued by. He. He's a Hall of Fame guy that was just injured a bunch. But we were much different play styles. Like, I was more bendy and. And probably a little more, yeah, more athletic. He was stronger and understood technique a little bit better. I think if I was going to spend time with a guy and I would honestly want to ask you about that before is probably Trent Williams, because we did. We were. We were like, similar in a lot of ways of like, how we decided to play. He was much stronger, much more powerful, but from a movement standpoint, very similar.

[Jack]

It's interesting too, hearing you talk about, like, technique and everything else. Like, I feel like Ray would always talk about the game so much. Like, I was always gravitating towards the guys who you'd see on film, like on YouTube, whatever it is, and kind of talking about the game with Ed Reed, because I was just so interested. It's like, how do these, like, break the game down at such a level to where, you know, you. Technique and all that stuff's part of it. But I don't think technique wise for a linebacker is as involved as like, say, an offensive tackle.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, it seems like you guys are. You guys are seeing what the formation Is what the motion is. And basically playing, playing. Like, process elimination of what this play could possibly be. And it's reading and reacting. Yeah, we do a lot of reacting post snap. But, like, for me, I was always under the thought process that if I'm. If I lose, it's because I did something wrong, not because they did something right. Like, people can have great rushes and do a bunch of amazing things, but, like, if my feet are correct, if my hands are correct, and my angle's correct, I can't. I cannot lose.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And so when I hear. When I. Like, a couple weeks ago, we had Luke Keakley on. If you guys are watching for the first time, you can go watch that incredible episode. You guys. Listen to you guys break down film. For me, it was just identifying. You know, the coaches would give me, hey, when they're in this formation, the safety's over this way. Look for this blitz. Yeah. What's. Whatever. So you knew when there was, like, movement going on, but it was really just identifying, like, what's this guy's fastball? And then now I'm evaluating to myself. Okay, is his best against my best? Because I'll take my best. But if it highlights one of my weaknesses. Okay, I need to now equalize the playing field of being, like, I need to get him off his game. So if it's a power guy, I was always concerned about power because it's like, you know, I. I was fast and twitchy when it came to, like, just, you know, sitting on a bowl. That was my most difficult thing. So I need to jump this guy and set up different angles. So now, mentally, we're both playing this game of whose confidence is higher in moments. So if I can jump this guy a couple times, set him differently, use my hands differently, and I'm winning those battles. I know mentally, his head's in a different spot than mine is now. My confidence is a little bit higher. So there was always about finding that guy and seeing what he was best at and taking that away first. And with the film stuff, it was like, linebackers essentially handle things the same. If they're fast, twitchy guys, they're going to try to up and under you. If they're big, powerful guys, like, fucking buckle your chin strap and get ready to get hit under the chin. Keep your feet moving. And so I never was, like, a student of the game that way. It was always just, like, identifying the individual battles.

[Jack]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

But it's awesome to listen to you guys talk about it. Just talking about coverages of him, like peeling off of COVID two and all that. And listening, the way you're breaking down it, it's like it's such a part of the game that maybe I didn't do as much. So it's just fun to listen to.

[Jack]

Yeah. It's like, as a backer too, like, you're always trying to identify, like, how is the offense trying to beat you? And like, when Luke's in there talking, like, which offensive lineman's going to be blocking you? Because you've, if you can, you want to have every angle or be the fastest to the first step. Because when you're going into the line of scrimmage, like, you guys are much bigger than us.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

So you're always trying to, like, find those edges of when emotion's happening, when a formation's going on. Always trying to figure out, like, how an offense is trying to beat you so you can have the faster first step and just listen to Luke. And even off Ray Lewis, like, I went and spent time with London Fletcher and London talked about the game in such a way. I remember when I was a rookie and London had the keys to do whatever he want. Like, if you wanted to check out of a defense similar to what, what Thomas Davis and Luke Keakley were doing, like having the coaching staff have that much confidence in you that you were seeing the game good enough, that it's like, hey, if he sees something, he's checking something, let him do it. Like, I was always fascinated with, like, how do you get there? Like, when I was in a cold tub and I'd be asking London, like, why are you checking? Why are you checking in a cover two in these situations? But, like, trying. It's like always the game within the game and trying to be one step ahead on how offense is trying to beat you because they know what they're running and you're just having to. You're trying to put yourself in the best position. Position to like, have the quickest first step and beat them to a spot.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

So I always, I always love that stuff. I feel like Ray always had a lot of things on YouTube to. At least you. You would hear him talking about it. So when Bear would come in and talk about playing the linebacker position and talking about breaking down film study and everything else, I was just always so fascinated because in the weight room, you're always going to be trying to chase those edges to get the 1% better, whether in speed, jumping, quickness, body, physical, your physicality, like, let me gain five pounds.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

But like, what are the. What are those little things that can kind of give you a step up? Like when you're on the field to where you're kind of anticipating everything versus just reacting to it.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. It's so interesting. You ever. You ever see on, like, Instagram when there's like, the. Someone did a drawing and they start zooming out, and then all of a sudden, that drawing inside of a cat's eye and then some kind of universe.

[Jack]

It's like, yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Insane. The amount of depth and levels.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

I was talking to my dad after the Easter party, after Lawan Easter Bash 2025, just about, basically the conversation we're having now and how many different levels there are. Like, there's 22 guys in the field at one time. And if you sit there as an office, you're like, okay, I can understand the concept of what's happening here. I know the backs track. I know relatively if this is a longer route, shorter, intermediate, whatever. Whatever it is. And then you go into a little bit. Okay, what's the offensive line doing here? And then you can zoom in a little bit more. But, okay, what's the center's job here? And then the tackle job? And you start to realize all the little games of chess.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

That are happening while 11 guys are trying to do the same thing to help each other. And that is why football really is the best.

[Jack]

Yeah. Because it is awesome.

[Taylor Lewan]

There's so many levels to this. It's just crazy. It's awesome. Not even thinking about the defensive side. Like, everyone's also doing their 11 things. You know, if this guy goes inside and does this, you have to cover this gap. It's just. It's awesome.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And so, like, going into these. These schools and being able to do what we were doing is just great. I mean, we talked about it last week at Oregon, but, like.

[Jack]

Yeah, if you haven't watched that vlog, check out the Oregon vlog.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's one of our favorites we've ever done. The Michigan was great, too. I think the only thing that got in the way with us with Michigan was their scheduling. They had the spring game coming up, so these guys are kind of like deloading.

[Jack]

They're on the back finals the next week.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oregon was very much Jake still in their process of like, you know, implementing, like, installation, doing the workouts, all that stuff. We got there. What was it, Tuesday last week? Tuesday or Wednesday?

[Jack]

Yeah, we got there Tuesday.

[Taylor Lewan]

Another Tuesday, Their spring game Saturday. So their last, like, it was kind of like their last real practice before they Split up into their maze and blue groups. And it was just. It was a little bit different. But the access, I was impressed with the access because Oregon really opened it up to where we walked away. And I looked at the boys, I was like, I don't know if Michigan's gonna give us this. Like, that was insane amount of access. It was awesome.

[Jack]

Lanning's a homie, bro.

[Taylor Lewan]

Lanning is an absolute homie, me. But I mean, even after practice at Michigan, like, it's you, me, abl, the boys, Sean. We're all just basically telling terrible stories about me the whole time. Top five, top five.

[Jack]

Isn't that crazy, bro?

[Will Compton]

Isn't that just one has to hurt.

[Taylor Lewan]

It doesn't. It doesn't. Like, so top five.

[Jack]

JP Explain the top five.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, explain top five.

[Jack]

Top five.

[Will Compton]

Dave Abaloff has been at Michigan for how long?

[Taylor Lewan]

Like, 25 plus years.

[Will Compton]

He's essentially the director of media relations. So anything that goes down with Michigan, he's the guy that gets reached out to and he has to handle it. So we were asking him, or I don't even know if we asked.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, Dave. Dave, a couple times, like, made a couple, like, comments like, oh, I thought I'd be done worrying about Taylor.

[Jack]

Keep saying, the gift that keeps on giving.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, he would keep making those types of comments which, like, you. You laugh at. But I'm thinking to myself, like, bro, I won. Like, I won that bad. It was, you know, there's a couple.

[Jack]

Of instances and those exchanges get us sparked to ask Dave, like, hey, so where's Taylor Reyn?

[Taylor Lewan]

So after practice, problem child, we're all sitting in a circ, and it's like, us, Blake Corm, Sharon Moore and Dave and I don't know who. Was it you who asked the question?

[Jack]

I might have. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. But let's just say we'll ask the question, like, how bad was Taylor? And then he goes, I mean, you guys, I don't feel like I'm talking about myself. But, like, yeah, he said that was top.

[Jack]

Say we. We were up by Coach Moore's office when he came out. Maybe JP Asked like, where's Taylor rank, maybe?

[Will Compton]

And basically Dave was like, he's probably top five.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Top five.

[Jack]

What? What?

[Will Compton]

And then the very first story, there's already two different versions of it where Taylor thought one thing happened. And Dave, which one was like, oh, Arizona. The Arizona Bowl.

[Jack]

He said, where the bus left him. He's like, well, do you remember how that trip started?

[Taylor Lewan]

The bus did leave me, and I think he bent the Knee to that?

[Jack]

No. Well, he goes, well, do you remember how that trip started?

[Taylor Lewan]

Because I actually, you know what's crazy is he brought that up and I did not remember that. We can. We can talk about, like, that's all old. That's all news.

[Will Compton]

Like, yeah, yeah, it was your brother's fault.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, I still blame the kid. These dudes were 29 years old.

[Jack]

This is the Ohio trying to fight.

[Taylor Lewan]

My 18 year old brother. So I came in and, yeah, I hit the kid. I. I did what people says I. I did my senior year after the Ohio State game. And they didn't hear about it. They didn't hear about it. Obviously, me being dumb and 21 years old, I'm like, I'm not gonna tell them this happened.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And then we land in Arizona and I guess Dave Abloh's phone starts going off like the headline. Yeah. The headlines. Taylor1 hit this Ohio State fan after the Ohio State game, which we did lose 4241. That was like the most painful loss of all time.

[Jack]

He said, they sat you. They brought you Taylor saying he didn't do.

[Taylor Lewan]

I didn't. I said, my brother did it. At first. Hey.

[Will Compton]

Pulled up the video on him.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. And then I ended up telling the truth. Yeah. But they did leave me after the Buffalo Wild Wings. They left me after that. But some of the stories, man, and as we're sitting there in Al Glick field house, and then like, story after story is happening, I'm having to explain the story. I'm thinking to myself, God damn, maybe I am top five. Maybe I really was top five.

[Jack]

I love.

[Will Compton]

I loved Blake's reaction to hearing all the stories because he's like, smiling and kind of just in awe of like. Kind of like, how the heck did you do this?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

He said three times while y'all were just talking, like off the back, he. He's like, top five. I like that. Because, you know, Blake was probably number one easiest.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

The. The freshman year dorms with Craig row was probably is the worst one.

[Jack]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

We don't got. Anyway, you know what's weird is like, I didn't think it was that bad. I didn't think it was that bad that I'm telling that story. I'm thinking, oh, my God.

[Will Compton]

I turned the camera off.

[Taylor Lewan]

Did you really?

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

I'm like, we. We don't need to put this out there for Taylor.

[Jack]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is what great times, though. That's what they were talking. Hey. High production. Production maintenance was there. I Guess. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I made the most.

[Will Compton]

Those were great. I also love Will and Blake Coram's rivalry that they have.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's beautiful.

[Will Compton]

It's also, like, four, zero, Blake.

[Taylor Lewan]

It really is, man. It really is.

[Jack]

And you see, he is up on me. He's up on me so high. I have to just walk by him on the sideline, shoulder him, and feel like that's a dove. Like, yeah, yeah, dude.

[Taylor Lewan]

And then. Yeah. I mean, you kind of didn't want to do a one on one against him either.

[Jack]

It wasn't that. I didn't want to do a one on one against Blake. It truly wasn't that. You heard me talking about my back just a few minutes ago.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right. And I know you're feeling fine at this time, but go ahead.

[Jack]

I wasn't feeling fine on the field. I was like, bro, I'll have to do a full warm up. Because we were saying, like, at Oregon, it was, hey, the next morning, you know, get the body right. I'm like, ready to go. Because it's early in practice. It's early enough in practice. This one, we were there all day long. Like, we fly out early in the morning. We're doing that workout, which, by the way, they. They absolutely crushed us in that workout.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Or my shoulders. I felt like I had a chest cold after.

[Taylor Lewan]

The biceps were gonna tear.

[Jack]

And then we're standing at practice all day long. Like, we were out there on the field for what, three, four hours?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Before it's like, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, think about the pre practice. I know, like, an hour before practice started.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right.

[Jack]

And so it's just. You feel the swelling coming on. Like, you. I would have had to do an entire, like, program just to get ready for this one on one.

[Taylor Lewan]

But. But. But the practice was two hours an hour in. I did come up to you, and I was like, hey, we should get ready for you to do the. The thing.

[Jack]

There's about 30 or 40 minutes. But what happened? What was going on, though? They were playing. They were doing the move the ball situation. I did want to see Bryce Underwood, like, play.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Like, he was going out there and he looked insane.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, he did. He. He was all.

[Jack]

And then you guys are sitting there talking. You guys are sitting there talking about Nebraska 20th, and they're talking because he was moving the ball.

[Taylor Lewan]

He was five for five.

[Jack]

Like, yeah, he was moving the ball.

[Taylor Lewan]

Getting the ball out so fast.

[Jack]

And I'm like, he does look nice. And then he throws his pick to shut out Nico. He throws a pick to the safety walk on. Then right when he throws a pick. Right after they were talking, I was like, hey, you guys were saying something about Nebraska. Yeah, Just perfect timing.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. But he was. He was lighting it up. And there was a couple times he had like a. Like a. A zone read type of situation. He should have pulled it because the end crashed inside. And you see him like, kind of doing the chest thing. We were basically doing the same thing to Bryce under. What is. We did at the Colorado Nebraska game with Dylan Raiola, like, yeah, helping up his offensive lineman. Yeah, he's doing the thing. He's taking a knee in the huddle. He's looking around while he's.

[Jack]

You just see this guy landing the huddle.

[Taylor Lewan]

This guy's confidence is insane. And then he has the stats and everyone's like, this kid struggles in the spring game. It's like, dude, I did see that.

[Jack]

I did see that. Like, you know, I guess game. Game reps are a little bit different than practice.

[Taylor Lewan]

Spring game, bro. Like, he. They're probably just like, hey, go there.

[Jack]

He threw another pig.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 88 yards. There was a Instagram post, I don't know which one. It was one of the football. College football ones that are like, you know, number one overall recruit struggles in spring game. Is Michigan gonna have more quarterback woes this upcoming season? Most liked comment was Bryce Underwoods. And it's just a bunch of cry, laughing faces like that. And I'm just. I'm in a parking lot of Target. Just like, this motherfucker's got the confidence.

[Jack]

Article's got a point.

[Will Compton]

Y'all do. Y'all should clear. Y'all should clear the air, though, because Bryce was getting a lot of hate for the photo we put up.

[Taylor Lewan]

Up.

[Jack]

What was that crazy?

[Will Compton]

What was your first reactions when you saw him?

[Jack]

Specimen.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, specimen.

[Jack]

I was like, oh, that's.

[Taylor Lewan]

He looks like a leaner Cam Newton. Like, yeah, he is. I mean, Cam was.

[Jack]

People are talking about his gut. That's the most. It's one of the more athletic looking guts that you will find. Like, the Internet's reaction to this photo was blowing my mind because I'm like. And people are really seeing it that way. Yeah, because he is. He's all of six. Six. I don't know how much he weighs, but the dude, he's 17 years old.

[Taylor Lewan]

17.

[Jack]

And seeing him, I know it's a very small thing, but seeing him one hand, those. One hand, those footballs, bro. I mean, dudes are chucking like 30 yards and he's just snatching. Play wide receiver.

[Taylor Lewan]

The ball was coming to you. And he's like, don't worry about that.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I'm filming. And the ball is, like, coming in kind of hot. He's like, don't even worry about it. And then I'm like, I'm gonna worry about it. Yeah, like, get out the way. He just plucks it out of the air.

[Taylor Lewan]

Plucks it.

[Will Compton]

He lost Chris Bryant.

[Taylor Lewan]

It.

[Will Compton]

Chris was just, like, walking towards us, back to the ball. And this is, like, in the far left of my camera frame where I was filming somebody else. And this is just going on on the side. And Bryce jumps up, reaches over with his right hand, comes back over one hand.

[Jack]

I'm like, yeah, dude, this guy. I tell you what.

[Taylor Lewan]

Same man.

[Jack]

If he's a baller on Saturdays, like, the offense will be extremely fun to watch.

[Will Compton]

I'll say this. If he's not a baller on Saturdays, it's not because of him. It's because of whatever scheme they have around them. Him, because he's athletic enough, you have got to be able to move the ball.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is. That's a. That's a fantastic point. Because college football, you. That amount of athleticism, you can. Johnny Manziel, right? I mean, you can kind of march away.

[Will Compton]

At Auburn, I was. They were always winning, like, 10 games. Guy could not throw the ball to save his life. But that offense was schemed up so well around him.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And it's like, Bryce is a lot better than Nick Marshall.

[Taylor Lewan]

What really impresses me about this kid.

[Jack]

Is he's Elva player.

[Taylor Lewan]

I mean, he was the first guy out there. He was the first guy taking snaps, throwing the ball. He was working 30 minutes before practice even started. His dad's at practice. His first off. The dad, him and his sister, all, they look the exact same. They look the exact same. I'm, like, talking to the dad, and the sister's like, fake dribbling in the back, like, dunking on her dad the whole time. But I'm like, hey. Like, you know, talking about his work ethic. And he's like, we brought up the money. And his dad's like, he has always said he wants to afford the opportunity to work. And he's like, the money is just more of an opportunity to get working. He's like, last night he was at this one place with a private quarterback coach from 11 to 1. He woke up at 7, did X, Y and Z. He's like, just crazy.

[Jack]

Coaching staff talks about him being in the film room. For hours at a time.

[Taylor Lewan]

Hours. And so sounds like this kid's. It sounds as. Even as a Michigan fan, it sounds too good to be true. Like, what's this. This kid, they're saying all the right things, he's doing all the right stuff, and it's just like.

[Jack]

Like he'll have some.

[Taylor Lewan]

What can he do?

[Jack]

I mean, he's got to come see us in Lincoln.

[Corey Levin]

I don't know if y'all saw either.

[Taylor Lewan]

Well, we'll see you.

[Corey Levin]

He. He gifted his high school, like, CEO officer, like, a brand new car, which, I mean, if you're a 17 year old gift in like your security guard from your high school car. Kids got a good head on his shoulders. And they were saying he was in the facility too. Like 3am the day before. And then came back. Yeah, and then they came back at 7am so when we were doing.

[Taylor Lewan]

We were doing the crossbar challenge, he's like, we were talking about the workout we were doing, how we're kind of hurting. He's like, yeah, I got mine at 5am I'm thinking, all right, that's a weird flex, like the say on us, but, yeah, that's impressive. Jack, how did that make you feel seeing somebody get gifted a truck?

[Corey Levin]

This feels nasty now. I don't know.

[Taylor Lewan]

I didn't know.

[Corey Levin]

Getting brought up, I mean, yeah, it's cool. It's cool to see a guy who cares about his people, you know? Yeah. 17, you know, just grinding it out, man. So I was happy for him.

[Jack]

We interrupt this episode because we are brought to you by Neutral Vodka Seltzer. Have you tried neutral? If not, you're missing out. Neutral is so much better than any other seltzer I've tried. It's made with real vodka and real juice. That's what makes it delicious. Neutral comes in a variety of flavors. Pineapple and watermelon, just to name a couple of my favorite. They also have new flavors, lime and strawberry. Neutral is the perfect drink to bring when hanging with friends. And it is such a crowd pleaser. Whether you're watching at a bar, in the backyard with friends or at a tailgate. Drink Neutral. Neutral. Keep it tasty.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Taylor Lewan]

Nico. Nico found a home. You happy for him?

[Corey Levin]

Who?

[Taylor Lewan]

You seen that video? That Tennessee fan walking in Chick Fil A. He's like, no Polynesian sauce. That is funny as hell, dude.

[Corey Levin]

Yeah, he's back. I mean, he's back home. He's back in California. I think it's comical at least to say that he goes from a state with zero state income tax to the state with potentially the highest state income tax.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, yeah.

[Corey Levin]

Making less money, going to a college with less talent. Way worse offense. But good luck. Good luck.

[Jack]

I know.

[Taylor Lewan]

Fired the boy up right there. Fired him up.

[Jack]

He is in the Big Ten. We got to see him this year.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

We got to say, no matter what, he is a hell of a player.

[Corey Levin]

Hell of a player there. But I mean, you hope this next.

[Jack]

Movie makes it's all ball from this point on.

[Taylor Lewan]

He's got to write some wrongs.

[Jack]

And not that it wasn't all ball. I'm just the magnifying glass that'll now be on him since he. This situation is kind of going to be the example of college football when he does become draft eligible. Like this will be something that's peeled apart and picked apart.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

So wherever he is now or being at UCLA now, you hope that it's all. It's all ball from this point on because he's got to know that that magnifying glass is going to be.

[Corey Levin]

Oh, yeah, it's going to be all eyes on him. But yeah, it'll be exciting to watch, especially those first few games. Tenness fans are going to be tuned in.

[Jack]

What's Tennessee going to do? A quarterback?

[Corey Levin]

We're still figuring out. We got two guys right now on the roster. No one's been contacted as of right now for anyone coming in. But we'll see. It's scary. I mean, it's scary.

[Jack]

Yeah. Cuz, I mean, he is like Nico was.

[Taylor Lewan]

He looks the part. He looks the part and he looks good athlete, bro. Yeah.

[Jack]

You don't think so? Jp, I know you got. I got. I know you got your cat out of South Carolina. Yeah. But you see Nico, like, he can throw the ball around. When he puts his foot in the ground, he can run. So I saw ucla. Like, I've had all the. The takes on Nico and then I'm thinking, oh, yeah, we gotta play UCLA this year.

[Taylor Lewan]

It is a home game. It's different playing in Lincoln, man.

[Jack]

Do we really? I thought we go to ucla. UCLA beat us at. When we were in Memorial last year. Yeah. Usc. USC will be at home. Home. We need that home crowd. Yeah. Like, UCLA got better. Getting Nico on board. Yeah, we'll figure it out. Yeah. Yeah, we'll figure it out.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. He used to be all right. Yeah. Raiola.

[Jack]

Yeah. We got a squad. We don't got just Raiola. Like, we got a squad. You know, I was watching the local presser last week. He's like. He's been waiting for a team like this.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What up?

[Jack]

He got me. Right? It got me hyped.

[Taylor Lewan]

Saturday. We'll be there. Do you have any idea what to expect from the spring game? Because it's not really a spring game this year. No.

[Jack]

No. So I think they've pivoted a little bit now that the NCAA has put in that new rule of you can only carry, like, 105 on the roster. He'll be doing something. And Michigan was kind of doing it, too. But to where a lot of those guys. It'll be bubble guys are trying to, like, earn their way into training camp. So they will be having, like, a scrimmage for, like, guys to show talent and have film to send out everywhere else because they're, you know, they're cutting down to the 105 draft, so guys are gonna have to, like, make rosters. So he's kind of treating it like they only have three in the NFL. Yeah, yeah. Fourth, third preseason game.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jack]

But, no, I don't know what to expect. I'm sure they'll have elements of both to where they'll have a scrimmage, but I have no clue what to expect.

[Taylor Lewan]

Team captain.

[Jack]

Yeah, but even this, I don't even know if that's going down anymore just because they. They kind of pivoted early last week.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, those are. They're changing it.

[Jack]

Yeah, they're changing the layout a little bit.

[Taylor Lewan]

Head on a swivel, boys. It's gonna be a fun time in Lincoln.

[Corey Levin]

Stars versus the Legends.

[Taylor Lewan]

Well, it sounds like they're not doing that, or they might not be doing.

[Corey Levin]

Was what they were doing, and now.

[Jack]

They were going to do something. And I don't even know what was going to take place with the Stars versus Legends thing. But just off last week, like, I haven't had much communication with Nebraska on what exactly is going down this weekend.

[Taylor Lewan]

What year is that right there?

[Jack]

Freshman year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, that Neck.

[Jack]

See? Echo. That's echo in the background.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. I see him giving you little flowers, too.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Come on now.

[Jack]

Yeah, that's nice. Played a crucial role in getting that out of Tennessee. Out of Tennessee to Nebraska. No, it was. No. You know, he just happened to be at Tennessee.

[Corey Levin]

Disgusting that you have influence in this college football world like that, because that. That's cool. But Eckler is a hell of a special teams coach.

[Taylor Lewan]

Another thing from spring tour that I've noticed is how important special teams coaches are. Like, the enthusiasm that needs to be in the room to keep guys involved in what's going on. Because we sat in a couple rooms and it was like, I've never really been in special teams meetings.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

I leaned over to Will at one point. This is boring. Like. Yeah, you run down.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

I mean, you run down. You got a lane. Like, stay in that lane. Yeah, yeah.

[Jack]

Take it easy. We've only been to a couple schools people can figure out.

[Taylor Lewan]

No.

[Jack]

No.

[Taylor Lewan]

But there's no. An X enthusiast back that he has. I'm sure his. His rooms are dialed in the entire time.

[Jack]

Hell of a recruiter.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. I wasn't taken away from that. Yeah, I can see how that was bad. Listen, I was bored because this just seemed like he just run down the field.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

I mean, there's. It's like. There's more. It's more drill essential stuff than it is, like, exodus on special teams.

[Taylor Lewan]

I feel like it's such an underutilized part of the game just watching.

[Jack]

I mean, it. Like, guys, every part of the game matters.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, it matters a lot.

[Jack]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

But the third or third. Third thing's a little crazy. Yeah, that's crazy concept.

[Jack]

It is. It is cool, though. I saw that interview that E did and I. That is. I was his very first recruit, which is awesome. Yeah. He would, like, give me an envelope and I'll be like, thinking in my head, like, oh, snap, what's about to happen? Oh, my God. I'd open it up and it'd be like a stick of gum with a note that said, there's more where that came from.

[Will Compton]

That's what sold you?

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Dude, that is funny.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is awesome.

[Jack]

X the man, though, it seems like he's doing well out there.

[Taylor Lewan]

This is going to be a fun week. Anytime you go to Nebraska, man, they treat you right. They treat you right out there. Are you guys still Adidas?

[Jack]

I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Das has been up and up, though. J.P. knows what I'm talking about.

[Will Compton]

Buy shoes. Best shoes. In the game.

[Jack]

He won't have to trade his shoes out there. He's going to be leveling up out there.

[Taylor Lewan]

What else we got, boys? What else we got going on? Titan singing Cam Ward, NBA.

[Marcus Mariota]

What.

[Will Compton]

What guy in the draft do you think will have the best NFL career? The early prediction for it Will Johnson.

[Corey Levin]

Cam Ward.

[Jack]

Yeah. I don't know. That's a good question.

[Taylor Lewan]

That's your question.

[Jack]

Tyler Booker.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Fair point, dude.

[Jack]

It's. It's tough because it's like. Like book. We got to be around him. So you kind of know his mental. You kind of know his approach to the game, and not just the game, but also off the field. And we know it's. It's like guys like that who are going to last last the longest.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Yeah. And he understands like the fans.

[Jack]

I'm excited to see Tyler Warren in the NFL. I think he's going to be a beast.

[Taylor Lewan]

Tight end for Penn State. Yeah. He seems like he can do it all.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

He can play any position you got.

[Jack]

There's. You guys got a cat out of Michigan, right? Love Cortland.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, yeah. Colson Loveland. Yeah. He is a stud. That's a guy that. His draft stock probably fell a little bit because the quarterback play was below par last year. We actually had quarterback turned off. We just handed the ball off for 12 games. But he's a cat that's. Can. He can block, he can run routes. He's. He's a guy that. He's a matchup nightmare.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

My workout for him in the long run, for sure.

[Jack]

I'm excited to watch Travis Hunter's career.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, dude, that'd be interesting.

[Will Compton]

This was the first weekend I saw, like, the Travis Hunter effect on the youth. There was this kid, we were at this little Easter thing on Sunday, and he put on his Travis Hunter jersey and they're playing football in the backyard. And he was switching between offense and defense, and he would line up and he would go offense mode, and then he would switch back and he would go defense mode and do his thing.

[Taylor Lewan]

No doubt.

[Will Compton]

I'm like, that's pretty cool. Because for us, it's like, yeah, we vote.

[Jack]

We.

[Will Compton]

We're growing up. It's only like, oh, I'm Randy Moss or I'm whoever, when. Now they can just be Travis Hunter everywhere.

[Jack]

He is trying to play both positions at the next level.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right. I think. I don't want to misquote, but I think he said he won't play football if he can't play both ways.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Which is Wild.

[Jack]

I'm.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm excited to see 20 snaps a game.

[Jack]

I mean, it hasn't been done like, in my brain. I don't see how it works out. Like, just imagine the week you have invested in one position at the next level and think of yourself, you know, both sides of the ball.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Could you imagine being in the NFL and stepping off the sideline and then not stepping back on the sideline.

[Jack]

Your break is just special teams.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Like, oh, punts on. I'll get off for one play. Get this water real quick.

[Jack]

I wonder if like, because Cam Newton was breaking it down on. Cam Newton's breaking it down on his pot. He's like, imagine if you're like, you're. You're on the Dolphins and in practice it's like you're covering Tyreek Hill and then the next period you're stepping to the other side and Jalen Ramsey is covering you.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

And the physicality at the next level, just all of it, the mental, the physical, everything.

[Taylor Lewan]

Interesting.

[Jack]

I'm not questioning his. His gas tank. I'm more so just questioning, like, it will be insane if he gets that done. Yeah, I can imagine, bro.

[Taylor Lewan]

I know, it's. It's crazy. I think to myself, like, what about when he gets older? Like, no, there's. He regrets again. There's no he regret not. He was not going to one and just staying with one position the whole time. Because there's more longevity in that.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

You gotta think four years from now.

[Jack]

There'S no way it's sustainable.

[Taylor Lewan]

20 snaps a game.

[Jack]

That it can't be for the organization. You got to be fired up. Like using it out in his rookie deal. Yeah, but longevity purposes, like for the individual, it's almost like I don't see how that's sustainable.

[Taylor Lewan]

But imagine he plays 10 years.

[Jack]

Do you think you.

[Will Compton]

That we would ever see? Because the quarterbacks get more and more athletic. A quarterback. My dream scenario would be a quarterback.

[Taylor Lewan]

Playing both ways in the NFL.

[Will Compton]

Like quarterback playing quarterback and safety.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, never, Never.

[Jack]

True.

[Will Compton]

It's already happened. Taysom Hill.

[Jack]

There's too much involved in like the quarterback position. Like, if you look at or not shoulder. Travis, I would see him being predominantly like a corner. And then in the situation where he just has packages on offense.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, but more Charles Woodson.

[Jack]

Yeah, yeah, but obviously like more invested on the offensive side. But you more so just have packages. And his main focus will probably be cornerback because there's no way. There's just. I mean, who knows though? I'm not trying to Sell them short. But I'm just thinking like, there's no way, like the.

[Taylor Lewan]

Our brains cannot comprehend.

[Jack]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Being in it for this many, that many years and just being like imagining how tired you are after camp and then being like, well, we're tired. Look at that guy. He just played.

[Jack]

Yeah. Everywhere. Yeah, yeah. So he is able to like actually play both ways. Do you think he's gonna demand an absurd amount of money? Because, hey, I'm a lockdown corner and I'm also wide receiver number one.

[Taylor Lewan]

If he's a lockdown corner and a wide receiver, he should get a billion dollar contract.

[Will Compton]

Higher than all the quarterbacks.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah. Higher than all.

[Jack]

Like an Otani type.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yes.

[Jack]

Contract.

[Taylor Lewan]

You just got to hope like he can keep it up for four years until he gets a new contract. It's like, yeah, Travis Hunter signs $1 billion deal.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And then, I mean, that would be mindblowing. Yeah, yeah. 500 million guarantee, different clauses and everything.

[Jack]

And if you get hurt playing this, playing defense, you're only making this much. Or if you get hurt playing offense, you're only going to make this much. That contract would be like so interesting to read.

[Taylor Lewan]

Crazy, man.

[Jack]

Be creating a different market.

[Taylor Lewan]

I hope he does it. I would love, I would love to witness that a dude that plays in the NFL at the highest possible level, you can play and plays both ways and is dominant in the same game.

[Will Compton]

Like first three games that technically. Could he be a, Would he be like a two time Pro bowl selection in one year?

[Taylor Lewan]

Could be, yeah.

[Jack]

That would be so sick.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, just double everyone's numbers.

[Taylor Lewan]

That would be insane. Plays eight years as a 16 time Pro Bowler, 16 time All Pro.

[Jack]

I'm excited to see too like this class perform in the league because everybody's kind of like on it being one of the weaker class.

[Taylor Lewan]

Weaker classes. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[Jack]

So I'm kind of hopeful that, that, you know, they have like a good, a good selection of guys that just. I want to conquers the league. Where Genti goes and how he does. You saw his letter.

[Taylor Lewan]

His letter was dope. That was awesome. That was awesome. I pray to God Cam Ward is the guy for the Titans for the next 15 years.

[Jack]

How do you feel? What do you think?

[Taylor Lewan]

I mean, he's got the talent. He put up, he put up records. He can, he can move through the pocket. He can make every single throw. He can extend plays. Like, like he's got the capability.

[Jack]

I know. I hope it works out for the, for the Titans organization.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, I hope it does too.

[Jack]

Crazy.

[Taylor Lewan]

I just hope he has a hell mark.

[Jack]

A Marcus Mariota situation. Three tuddies in the first half.

[Taylor Lewan]

The. The national be set on fire that first game. I thought we were winning the super bowl that year.

[Marcus Mariota]

I was like, oh, it's over again. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

It was no.

[Marcus Mariota]

1'S number one pick versus number two.

[Taylor Lewan]

Pick and number two pick dismantle number one one murdered. It was crazy.

[Jack]

Speaking of Marcus. Yeah. This. This episode is. This is everything.

[Taylor Lewan]

Mount Busmore.

[Jack]

For me personally, I feel like it's a Mount Busmore.

[Taylor Lewan]

It is. And you could. I. I wish. The only thing I wish about this podcast is that it was two hours longer.

[Jack]

Yeah. You can talk to him for days.

[Taylor Lewan]

You can. And he was. We talked about. I think it was in the vlog. But if we would have got Marcus a couple years ago, the podcast wouldn't have been as good.

[Jack]

No.

[Taylor Lewan]

He was so open and vulnerable about all the trials and tribulations, the ups, the downs.

[Jack]

In a couple years ago, just no one talking to him in this interview. Like, where his head was at.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

This podcast is all time, man. God, it's one of my favorites.

[Taylor Lewan]

There's not. Yeah, I love them. I love him. Yeah.

[Jack]

We've been trying to get him for a while.

[Taylor Lewan]

His wife, though, I tell you what, in the future here, she's ready.

[Jack]

We need to get her on the bus, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

His wife is. I can't wait for the tell all when it's over.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

When he's done in what, 11 more years.

[Jack]

Yeah. He wants to play 20.

[Taylor Lewan]

Wants to play 20 years in the NFL. Yeah, dude. Win episode to bring you True Classic boys. The shirt I'm wearing right now, you might think, yo, Louie looks kind of tight right now.

[Jack]

Or will he see I got the wild.

[Taylor Lewan]

Them boys look nice today. Well, the reason why is because we're wearing True Classic. And I know. Listen, listen. They messed up in a big way because they decided they're going to be sponsors of us. If I. If I was not with True Classic on this bus, I would still be buying True Classic. Not only is the fabric incredible, it grabs the shoulders in the chest just right. It's got enough length for you tall boys out there because they did come out with the Xls. They're also extremely affordable. I love this brand. It's a little warm right now, so I got the shorts on, but usually I'm rocking those black pants. Them boys are in another sneaker.

[Jack]

Too easy to pack. Like, you just have the blank, simple tees, jeans, shorts, whatever it is.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right.

[Jack]

You just throw them in the suitcase. You don't have to think about, should I wear this, should I wear that? Yeah, you just get True classic.

[Taylor Lewan]

One thing I've noticed in my life is anytime I'm around people that think they have money, it's the, you know, the gaudy brands, the big bold, they got this acrylic painting on top of them and they got the watches and stuff like that. Anytime I'm around a gentleman who, you know, his bank account looks like a phone number, it's a classic, plain looking tee. He's not there to impress anybody because he's already inside knows I'm successful as fuck. Yeah, I can do this. And that's another reason to wear true classic tee. Do me a favor, go find yourself some true classic tea at Costco, Sam's Club, Target or online at truclassic.com forward/bussin. Kids and women's line are launching later this year. Look good, play good, boys. Let's feel good out there too. Let's get back to this episode.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spring is in full swing, so take some time for self care. This spring now through April 22, buy two self care items and save $2. Shop in store or online for self care essentials like Tom's Toothpaste Soft Soap, Liquid Hand Soap, Colgate Optic White toothpaste and Colgate Total toothpaste. And save $2 when you buy two participating items. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Jack]

Should we hit shout out? No free shout out and jump into it. By the way, I just saw a Netflix background this Wednesday, tomorrow.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yes, thank you. Thank you. Yes. We always, the last couple weeks we've been talking about, we got to talk about it. I, I want to say I have no idea. Host, Host. How we doing? How's everybody doing? This is battle camp.

[Jack]

Dude.

[Taylor Lewan]

This was such a fun experience. And so like this time last year, I was just getting back from filming this in, in Mexico and I had no idea what to expect. Had no idea. I had no idea what I was doing the entire time. It was so much fun, the process. Like my agent calling me and being like, hey, this company wants you to host a show, but you're probably too busy for it. I'm like, well, what's the company? They're like, Netflix. I'm like, we should probably take that call. So I take the call with these people and then I make a joke about not being able to read good. And they, like, kind of sent them in a blender a little bit, so they're like, hey, we got to make sure Taylor can do a script.

[Jack]

I remember when you were having those. What was it like, basically, the tryouts.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I was.

[Jack]

You were super nervous.

[Taylor Lewan]

I was nervous. So I went. I memorized the entire script, and I did it for him. They told me I had it. And they sent a host coach shout out Alita to my house for three days. And we stood outside of my backyard by the pond, and she's like, all right, this is how it's going to go. This is what's going to happen. When you're going. You're talking, they'll just stop you and they'll move cameras and all this stuff. So she was so great at, like, kind of teaching me what was going to happen in the process. And then I go down there. She's with me for, like, two days or like a. I think a day and a half. And then she flew back to California where she lives. And I remember just being alone, like, 400 people on set. 200 were straight out of Mexico. The other 200 were, you know, besides the contestants of me, like, all from, like, London, all from Europe. And it's like me and, like, two other Americans the whole. The whole time. It was like, it's such a culture shock, everything. But it was so much fun to do. I had a blast. Like, these people, I would go into it.

[Jack]

So explain what. Explain what battle camp is, too.

[Taylor Lewan]

So Battle camp is there's three teams, and they're going to do this challenge. It's going to be intense. Like, there's, like, these massive walls that they got to do this different stuff on. There's some simpler ones, but these insane challenges. Whichever team wins is immune from being eliminated. Then the other two teams, whoever got third place, their name goes on this wheel. The first team will then pick three people from the other two teams to do punishments. Those punishments could be, like, cold tub stuff. It could be eating crazy things. Like, it could be how many steps you can do in an hour. Who the. Whoever does the best is good. The other two, they go on the wheel, and then there's a camp wide vote to fill up the other 12 slots. They vote on who they want to go. And at night, we do a wheel ceremony. I spin the wheel, someone goes home, and all these guys are competing.

[Jack]

Whoever the wheel lands on, whoever it lands on.

[Taylor Lewan]

So there could be somebody with seven their name on the wheel seven times and a Person on the wheel one time, and if it lands on them, they're out of there. So it's a game of, like, popularity, athleticism, and chance, dude. And it is. It was cool. It was interesting, too, like, being a part of this because you're just in a football world your whole entire life now. You're being thrusted into, like, this reality TV pop culture, and so you do not know what to expect. I will say, this cast was awesome. Like, they were great to be around. There were so many moments where they're rearranging cameras and they're like. It's kind of just me staring at them, and eventually I'm like, let me just talk to these people, you know? And so, like, they were all awesome. This dude Tony, who you will see on the show, he is hilarious. And, well, this guy right here, I would make fun of him all the time, but he was one of those guys you can kind of, like, punch on a little bit. And he was. He was great. But he kept coming on. He was so curious about, like, the football world and all that. He's like, you know, I played, and I was like, oh, yeah. He's like high school where you got stiff hips. And we were just going back and forth. This kid was great. He was awesome. But the show, I had a lot of fun doing it. I hope everybody enjoys it, because it comes out. Comes out tomorrow.

[Corey Levin]

For one crew that's going to be in Green Bay on Wednesday, I think we got to do a watch party. First episode.

[Taylor Lewan]

Watch party.

[Jack]

Yeah. We will be together.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yo, wait, we're going Wednesday? Yeah, I thought we're going Thursday morning. All right, Wednesday evening.

[Jack]

I think it's Wednesday. Early afternoon.

[Corey Levin]

Yeah, yeah, let's go early.

[Taylor Lewan]

Let's go early afternoon. Wednesday.

[Jack]

I can already see one. One thing from seeing the trailer.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, we got.

[Jack]

You should have had the fade. Facts. Well, you should have the fade. You're clean with the fade.

[Taylor Lewan]

I do appreciate that, and I do think the fade, I will say it looks better than I thought it would. It looks better than I thought it would. However, the maintenance it takes to keep a fade, for that reason, I'm out suddenly.

[Will Compton]

As hard as you make.

[Jack]

Yeah, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

You know, man, I'm like, one hour.

[Jack]

Every one hour, every two weeks, three.

[Taylor Lewan]

Haircuts a year, four haircuts a year type of guy. I like to let it grow out and then eventually look at the mirror and be like, I got to take care of this. So I go and take care of it. I like a little more. A little more of a grunge look.

[Jack]

Yeah. Big win for the bus. We've been trying to get Taylor to get this fade.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yep. Shout out for a minute. Promises made. Promises cap, brother. We got it done. Let's go.

[Jack]

You know, hey, he'll. He'll. He'll keep the fade going. He will. He'll keep the fade. Yeah. Because you know the boy, he likes to look good. He likes to look good. Like, once it grows out, he'll get the fade again.

[Taylor Lewan]

Says likes to look good. Like, not everybody likes to look good. Look at this, Sher. Just do a little editing. That looks solid, man.

[Jack]

Shout out. No free shout out.

[Taylor Lewan]

Shout out. No free shout out.

[Jack]

I have a shout out.

[Taylor Lewan]

Go ahead.

[Jack]

And it's going to be two charcuterie boards.

[Taylor Lewan]

Let's go.

[Jack]

Dog at the lwan Easter Bash 2025. Look, I'm a man who. I don't like to socialize a whole lot. I love to sit by a charcuterie.

[Taylor Lewan]

Board, which, by the way, is just such a lie.

[Jack]

Well, I know once you get in the groups, but once you're there feeling it out, like I'm somebody who'll just gravitate more towards the eating table. And then kind of, you kind of pick your shots. You kind of like, yeah, you fight. You're hoping you find your people there has so and so showed up yet. And then if new ones are coming over, you're kind of like, man, hopefully this doesn't last too long. But I like to find myself by the. By the eating table table and shout out, Jason. But your charcuter. That whole table setup was as good as I've ever seen.

[Taylor Lewan]

Let's go.

[Jack]

As good as I've ever seen. And we got a photo up right now. But picture like little moats and crevices going throughout the board. And in those little moats and crevices are like cheese and chocolates, different variations of chocolates. It was you as your tuna salad sandwiches to where the bread is kind of soft and smashed into this tuna salad. The what's the what's like the yellow orange cheese.

[Taylor Lewan]

Pimento.

[Jack]

Pimento cheese. The little pimento cheese bites Jason makes, bro. The cups that you had with the salami and the cheeses and the olives, like, it was incredible. It was incredible.

[Taylor Lewan]

Jason is amazing. Jason made Lawan Easter Bash 2025. Yeah. What it needed to be. It was awesome. Beautiful.

[Jack]

Shout out. It's my shout out. No free shout out.

[Taylor Lewan]

My shout out. No free shout out is the first time being sun kissed after a long winter. And it kind of goes back to lawan Easter Bass 2025. Man, we were all out there all day. It's like hot. Where if it was like, it's been weeks of it being that temperature, I'll be like, yeah, it's pretty hot out here. But I feel like it was everybody's first time, like kind of being out in the open after a long hibernating winter and everyone's just like enjoying a little bit of sweat going down your cheeks. At the end of the day. You kind of look. I look at Taylor and I go, sweetheart, you got a little, little. You got a little red on your face. She's like, look at you. And I kind of look in the mirror and I'm like, dude, yes. We're back in tan time. It's beautiful. Sooner or later Jack will see me in the Bronco ripping around those shirts, trying to keep that tan even, baby. I'm about it. I love it. I. There's not a better feeling, man, than getting that first hand.

[Corey Levin]

Yeah, boys, I got one kind of on the same lines as yours, but it's the first time you get into a pool. Pool after. After a winner or whatever. And apparently yesterday my cousin told me he's ex army guy, so like I. I believe what he's saying was apparently the hottest record on day for April 20th ever earlier this year. So it was a beautiful day yesterday in Nashville.

[Jack]

Pool was going.

[Corey Levin]

I was at my parents house and just like getting in there and just diving in, just kind of floating around. You remember? Yeah. The good times are right on the horizon.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, they're on the horizon.

[Corey Levin]

I love the water. So anytime I get the pool, the ocean, the lake, it's a good day.

[Jack]

Sipping on some neutral.

[Corey Levin]

You sipping on neutral? Whatever you want, man. They both work.

[Taylor Lewan]

Also, you brought. You said 420 yesterday. Oh, my wife and I celebrated our nine year anniversary.

[Will Compton]

Let's go.

[Taylor Lewan]

Nine years, man. What you guys do Easter? We just chilled. We just chilled, man. It was awesome. Like, so did you throw in a.

[Jack]

Did you throw in a rose bar, work and spark that up?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, don't worry about my personal life. Put on your birthday suit, Netflix and chill on himself.

[Jack]

No.

[Taylor Lewan]

That'S Koji. Could you imagine, could you imagine me like putting on the show and like kind of inching over to Kaylin, start kissing the neck a little bit. What are you doing? You know, you in the bucket list.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Are you still watching me while we get there? Oh, my God. This is battle camp. Yeah. We were sitting there and it was like, yeah, we kind of just chilled because it was Easter and the kids were all about Easter. We did this, this. So last year, we're driving down Granny White and we see a dog. And the dogs are just like kind of out in the open. So we get out, we get the dog, we find out. We like go over to these, these people's houses. These, this old couple lives in this house. We end up hanging out their house for like an hour. The, the. This Lady Margaret's like showing us her greenhouse, their garden. Like, it's just awesome to be around them. They send us a east. Like they do like an Easter egg hunt for the neighborhood every year. And we like, we went to that, hung out. It was awesome.

[Jack]

Nice.

[Taylor Lewan]

And then obviously you guys know Jason. Like, I don't want to flex, but like, you're by, right every day, every day, Monday through Friday, like, we're eating like crazy good meals. And so Tammy, like last night, night, I called Sherm up. I'm like, torchies, what should I get? So we order a bunch of that. Torchies. Got that queso. But was it enough? No. Hue, babies, burgers, milkshakes. Just sitting there watching my team, the Toronto Maple Leafs take 10 against the Senators. Dude, my team, my boys, the number one seed.

[Jack]

Number one.

[Taylor Lewan]

Bro, you the last time they won a cup. 1967, the one.

[Jack]

See, not a good year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Saying the President Maple Leafs are notorious for being. For getting kicked out of the playoffs in the first round. Notorious for it. And everyone I talk to who's been in the NHL says the Toronto Maple Leafs are like the Dallas Cowboys. Like, it's like, like you're treated like royalty. Like that is, yeah, America's team, that's whatever. NHL's team. And then Austin Matthews, Scottsdale guy, Senators. Their captain, Brady Tkachuk, he's a Scottsdale guy. So I got a couple of AZ boys rocking a C on their chest. Watched some good old fashioned hockey, watching the boys crush them six to two. Cashed in a nice little money line. Toronto pet, we are up. We are gonna win it all this year. Let's go, let's go.

[Will Compton]

I got a shout out. No free shout out.

[Jack]

What you got?

[Will Compton]

This morning I was working out in the garage and I saw something that. I wish I could meet the dad that created it, but it's the tennis ball in the garage that lets you know when to stop pulling forward.

[Jack]

Nice. And it's multi use.

[Will Compton]

Like when you're growing up, you punch it. Yeah, you, you dodge it. And it was. I saw it in my friend's garage. And I'm like, man, whoever this legend was, you know, when he finished screwing in that little thing up top, just stood back, put his hands on his hips, looked at it, and was like, I just changed the world.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And he did. And I wish I knew a name.

[Jack]

Can't wait to tell the rest of the dads at practice. Right?

[Will Compton]

Like, y'all got to do this.

[Jack]

Yeah. You.

[Will Compton]

Your wife will never run into the front of your garage again, man. Once you do this.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Iconic.

[Jack]

It's a great shout out. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

One of the best inventions of mankind ever. Yes.

[Jack]

The.

[Taylor Lewan]

Hence mankind.

[Jack]

Anybody trying to. Anybody trying to follow that one?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, I will.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh. Oh.

[Jack]

Okay, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh.

[Jack]

It's not like that, though. We had a. I want to shout out Alex Cantu. He came to the shop last week. You guys had just left. He is a border patrol officer down in Texas. Is dropped off some patches for the boys. So I said that we would shout them out on the pod.

[Marcus Mariota]

So, yeah, shout out Alex Cantu. We appreciate you what you do down.

[Jack]

There on the border. All right, now we got some. Some patches show. Shout out Alex.

[Taylor Lewan]

Shout out Alex, man. Appreciate you coming by, brother.

[Jack]

Let's dive in.

[Taylor Lewan]

We're good.

[Jack]

Let's dive in.

[Taylor Lewan]

Dive in. Marcus Mariota, please enjoy. Enjoy this episode and subscribe.

[Jack]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spring is in full swing, which means it's time for spring cleaning. Don't worry. We've got everything you need to stock up on spring cleaning essentials because a clean home is a happy home. Shop in store or online for spring cleaning favorites like method all purpose Cleaner, Swiffer Heavy Duty Mopping Cloths, Lysol Bathroom Cleaner, Scotch Brite Sponges and Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and Save. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Jack]

This interview is brought to us by Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy, Bud Light is always brewed with four simple ingredients for a clean, crisp taste. Stock up now on Bud light. Head to www.bud light.com locator to find a store near you. They are the official beer sponsor of the NFL. The NFL draft tied in you, the UFC and Shane Gilly. Shane Gillis's 2025 tour. They're also partners with the Boys Manning, George Kittle, Baker Mayfield, Emmett Smith, Shane Gills, Post Malone and Dustin Will Compton. Go get you a Bud Light now, Marcus.

[Taylor Lewan]

Mary Goda.

[Jack]

Mary Goda. Welcome to busting with the boys.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's an honor. It's an honor.

[Taylor Lewan]

It is an honor to have you on, man.

[Marcus Mariota]

I been looking forward to this for a long time and I appreciate you.

[Jack]

You're not a big interview guy.

[Marcus Mariota]

I'm not.

[Jack]

So we are.

[Marcus Mariota]

Especially on season two. And it's like. And it's like in my kind of my hometown.

[Jack]

Ish.

[Marcus Mariota]

You know, and it's like where I really just try to, like, unwind and not get into too much. So really, she kind of pushed me to do it.

[Taylor Lewan]

Shout out. Kill me, man.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

You really did not really know I was wanting to do this.

[Taylor Lewan]

Damn.

[Marcus Mariota]

I just shout on my wife and.

[Taylor Lewan]

My kid if she wanted to.

[Jack]

We got the wife. We got little Micah here.

[Taylor Lewan]

See? Yeah. We'll do a tell all the bus. That'll be nice. I know every person in Nashville who has ever gone to a Tennessee Titans football game is smiling ear to ear right now. They're thinking about you. And you were telling a story before about coming back and playing the Titans for the first time. I like you to relive that for me and for this camera.

[Marcus Mariota]

So back last season was the first time I played against the Titans. And crazy thing, it's been five years and it was a really emotional time for me. It was kind of weird and eerie because it's like, you know, I really, I wasn't playing and it was like I was going out there and I was seeing. I mean, there's like maybe two guys there since I've been there.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

You know, but it's a lot of the same resource that half, you know, saw Jeb, of course, saw Jeb. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

You know Jeff waddled his ass up to you, Marcus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

But got to see Amy and Keith and the ownership, and it was. It was cool. Got to share a moment a little bit and got a big hug, and I was kind of unexpected for me. I didn't know how that was gonna go, and they were just very welcoming. And I think for me personally, like, it was such a good five years, regardless how it finished and all that, but there was a lot of good memories in there, and it was. It was kind of cool to share a moment with them and. You never close the door, man. You never close the door.

[Jack]

Yeah. Why was it. Why was. Why did it feel unexpected? You feel like it ended in a very awkward way to where you just. You more. So I'm not gonna. I'm gonna use the word hate for a lack of a better term, but you just have this assumption built up in your head. Head. How it might go. Yeah, there's a little bit of animosity, but maybe not really.

[Marcus Mariota]

I mean, pride. Right. You know, like, at the time, like, Ryan played unbelievable, and I was upset that it wasn't me, and I wanted to be there. I wanted to be a part of that. And when it didn't work out, I didn't know what that response was going to be from people that were around there. I know. For how it was. For me personally, like, you know, yeah, I was upset, but at the same time, we had so many people in there that were so good to me that I was like, huh, I wonder how that's gonna, like, pan out. Like, I didn't. I didn't really get to say goodbye maybe the way that I wanted to, and to see people, to see some familiar faces. The love and all that, that was still there. Like, it was very genuine. And, yeah, it was. I mean, it was emotional for me, so it was kind of one of those moments. And. And it does help when you win the game, obviously.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

But, yeah, it was cool to see a lot of. A lot of old faces.

[Taylor Lewan]

Did you have a lot of guys in the team leading up to playing the Titans? They were like, hey, we're gonna get one for you.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah. I mean, it's funny because dq. He does. He does, like, a rotation of captains every week, and a lot of times it's guys that either played for that team or whatever. So when it was the Titans week, I was like, he's for sure. Like, is. I was like, he's gonna. Because at the. At the end of the day, like, he picks three guys and then like, he has a guy basically speak to the team. And for me, I was like, I'm probably gonna end up being one of those guys just because how it played out. So it was kind of. The team was, like, kind of rallying around that, and I'm like, guys, I'm. I'm, like, five years removed. Like, you know, it's that staff, everybody there, like most of those guys are.

[Taylor Lewan]

But you remember Ben Jones, like, every time we played Houston.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, for sure.

[Taylor Lewan]

It was always, like, super personal to him. And he was at the Titans for seven years.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yes.

[Taylor Lewan]

And even that seventh year, he'd be like, ben, we like.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's okay, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

Don't worry. We're gonna get this one for you.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So they were rallying around you like that a little bit.

[Marcus Mariota]

And we had such a good team. Just a core. Like, a core group of guys last year. That was just fun. It reminded me a lot of, like, our first few years in Tennessee. Just guys very close, regardless of what side of the ball they played on. So it was a pretty cool moment for me to be a part of that. And, yeah, those guys, man, they were. We're going to get this one for you. I'm like, it. It's still a regular game for me. Like, we're good, bro.

[Taylor Lewan]

But when the clock struck zero, it was a piece. You're like, there was a little bit of nature that's like, your competitive nature being.

[Jack]

Got those bastards.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. How was. How was the. The goodbye? You say it might have been the goodbye you wanted to have. Obviously, the way it ended with the Denver. With the Denver game, and we'll get into all that. But, like, when you're cleaning out your locker for the last time, do you, like, remember that? Do you remember looking back and being like, I think, okay, this is probably the last time I'll ever step in this facility again after being picked.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, a little bit. I think those. Those emotions definitely crossed my mind. What was hard about it was I was. I mean, I was, like, 26, so I was like, I'm just. I'm. I'm gonna find the next spot and I'm gonna go play, and I'm gonna go prove everybody wrong. And instead of, like, kind of just like you said, taking a moment and, like, realizing, like, what was really going on and to just say thank you to a lot of the people that were. I mean, there's people in there, Jeb. You know, Hoss. I know Hoss isn't there anymore, but, you know, just years and years and years of People that, you know, did a lot for you. So I think I was so focused on what was next that I didn't really take time to just say, say, you know, hey, thank you. We. We had a good run.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. It's hard to be present in those moments, for sure. It really is.

[Jack]

How was it for you as a player kind of going through. I'm not going to say first, you've had plenty of adversities, but a big adversity, knowing that you were the second overall pick. And probably a part of you feels like maybe yourself personally, like, did I fail this franchise or am I starting to doubt my ability? Like, bring us in your head of the player in that moment, in that year.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, dude, it was. Yeah, yeah. All of that. And I think a lot of that was because I have such high expectations for myself that I was. I envisioned being a part of a Super bowl team there. I envisioned myself kind of like being a guy and playing up to all the expectations, and when it doesn't work out that way, it's a sting. And I think for a long period of time, like, I never really had to deal with that, that, you know, I came here at Oregon and we were rolling, you know, and I.

[Jack]

3. What was it? 3, 4 touchdown passes in the first half.

[Taylor Lewan]

This first. Yeah, he had a per. Perfect quarterback rating against. Yeah, that. Hey, that game, too. We'll get into that. That game. I was like, we're going to win it, cuz. But the year before that, we were 3 and 13. And I was like, we're going to be. This is awful, bro.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's so funny. I. I'll never forget. I'm sitting next to Craig Stevens after we'd won that game. He looks at. He goes, man, we're going to make the playoffs this year. And then we lose like six.

[Taylor Lewan]

I was like, what, though?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, but no, I mean, yeah, I just. You go through a lot of ups and sometimes you feel like you're invincible. And I think I was kind of in that mode and I was struggling a little bit. Probably. I would even say, like in 2018, just being hurt. I was like, banged up and.

[Jack]

That's right. You had the. Was it the wrist, the hand, the forearm?

[Marcus Mariota]

I don't wish 2018 upon anybody. Everybody. Like, I was. I had a fracture in my neck. I had a broken rib. I had torn planar fasciitis. It was like. It was a mess and sounds like.

[Taylor Lewan]

His offensive line needed to do better.

[Marcus Mariota]

That's not true.

[Jack]

I was there. I remember the Ravens Jack hey, that.

[Taylor Lewan]

Ravens game was crazy.

[Marcus Mariota]

Talk about that. A lot of that was. I was holding the ball. It's fake there, you know, but, yeah, I was just. I think, like, 20, 18, 2017, like, I was. I didn't feel invincible anymore. I had. I had a really bad ankle injury in 16. Very unfortunate, where, you know, you just got legs cut, like, tangled up, and I broke my ankle. And that was kind of the first time, really, as an athlete where I didn't feel like, okay, I'm. I'm really not superhuman. Like, I. I'm gonna. I can get hurt. I can kind of get. Get in trouble in that sense. And it was kind of interesting because I think a lot of that started to develop a little bit of the anxiety, the fear of not being maybe who I thought I was. And I think that all kind of cumulated into what transpired in 19, where, I mean, I wasn't playing well at all, to be completely honest with you. And I think Braves was just trying to, like, hang on during camp, and we all kind of knew Ryan was playing well. And I think out of respect for me, he was like, just keep it. Like, we'll get you there. We'll get you there. Because, I mean, we. I played against him. He was a defensive corner in Houston. Like, I had some good runs against him, so he kind of knew what the potential was. And I think I was so lost in my own mind that I just. It kind of just led to what it was. So, yeah, I mean, it's interesting because I think throughout my career, I've kind of had these peaks and valleys, and I'm starting to overcome these valleys because I'm leaning into a little bit more of the mental side of the game. I was so much more, like, physical. Like, I was like, I can just kind of outrun people. I can out throw people. Now it's like, okay, you can't do that anymore. Like, how are you going to kind of create the advantage, Create those types of things? And that's when I started to kind of learn a little bit more about how to play the position. And that was a lot of that had to do with, like, being with the Raiders, and. And so, yeah, but I. I think over time, you just kind of learn. And part of that adversity made me better.

[Taylor Lewan]

When you. When you talk about things you would do a little bit differently, do you ever wish you were more vocal with the ocs?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yes.

[Taylor Lewan]

One thing I noticed. There's one thing I did notice when they're like, what was the difference Between Ryan and Marcus is I always. You always were very agreeable. Like, you were always super easy to get along with. I'd always seem like, hey, Marcus, you're doing this, this, and this. And there was never pushback in a team meeting room. But I remember. I think it was the game after the Denver game. We're playing Chargers. I remember Ryan's first start and him and Arthur. I walked into the. The little cafeteria on Saturday, and I literally hear Ryan going, don't call this play. Call this one. I like this play on first down. I like this play on second down. And he just seemed like. He seemed like a guy that's been in the league for a long time and has had more valleys.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And so when you look back at that, like, what would you have done differently from, like, a vocal standpoint with these ocs?

[Marcus Mariota]

I think you said it. I think just being open and transparent about what I felt most comfortable with, because I think the ego for me is like, I can do anything. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. But there's things that you really like, and there's things that you're good at, and I think I could have been more transparent about, hey, I don't see that very well. I'm not into that. I don't like hard play action, turning my back and, like, trying to figure out what's going on. Like, being able to communicate those things early on in my career, I think would have helped. And that's something that, like, with. With me now, like, being able to, like, hey, Jay, talking about Jaden, like, tell him what you like and what you don't like. You know, just kind of passing some of that knowledge on a little bit so that maybe he doesn't kind of follow the footsteps that I did.

[Jack]

You mentioned figuring some things out with the Raiders. What was it about the Raiders that was kind of bringing you out of your shell or your development? Or maybe it was coming out of that valley and being in a completely new environment, because sometimes that's super helpful for a player.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, a lot of that. A lot of it was Coach Gruden. He was like, hey, I want you to come here for a couple years. Just, like, find yourself. I know you're kind of not who you. Who you are. Like, you're kind of lost. And he's like, man, just take your time. Figure it out. And I have a lot of respect for Coach Gruden. I know people may have however they feel about him, but. But at that point in time in my Career. That's exactly what I needed. And I was in a great quarterback room. Like, Derek's awesome. And being able just to kind of find the love again, almost like competing and having fun. And a lot of that was just, like, Gruden, like, hey, just go out there and feel free to make a mistake. Like, you don't have to be perfect. So I really kind of aligned with that, and I felt very comfortable with it. And then on top of that, like, Vegas is, like, the ninth island, so people in. In Hawaii, when they go to vacation, they go to Vegas. And for me, I had a lot of family and friends there, so, like, I felt very comfortable in that community, and it made it really easy for me just to kind of transition with my family. And I think a lot of that was kind of why I felt like I found myself again.

[Taylor Lewan]

Talk about the. This place we're at right now, Oregon. Like, what has changed so much since you've been here? Because it seems like they just keep growing every single year, and things just keep getting better and better.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's impressive. It's impressive. There was a streak there when we were done where there was kind of a transition of coaches over and over again. But I think the heart and soul of the program has always been Eugene. It's, like, the only thing in town, right? Like, no matter regardless of how the team's doing, like, that stadium's usually sold out, and there's such a crazy following here. So to have that kind of steady fandom, I think, has always propelled this place to be good. And it's always given this place, like, expectations. And regardless of who's been the coach, I think guys have always tried to come here because it is the University of Nike. And when you look at it from that standpoint and you let these guys just come in here and play and put it together, you can find ways to be pretty good here. And I think Dan's kind of found the formula, and it's been cool to watch.

[Taylor Lewan]

What's it like when you walk into this building and you go up. I don't know. This place is a maze. But you walk up. You walk up the stairs, one of these 17 staircases, and you look over, and it's got the islands of Hawaii, and there's another hallway that has the 8 Mariota jersey. Like, yeah, what is that? Like, what does that feel like?

[Jack]

Well, our first visit here, we're walking, and we're like, yo, this is Marcus's house.

[Taylor Lewan]

House. Like, it's. It's crazy. Your only. Heisman Trophy winner. It's sitting right there.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's surreal, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

And don't do that.

[Marcus Mariota]

No, I know. It's really. And I don't want to get emotional because it is. It like, you know, I came here, I was 17 years old, like, didn't have much thought about what was going on outside of Hawaii and come to this place in Eugene. I was so homesick my first year. But like, they took me kind of under their wing. And regardless of who it was, like it was people in the community, it was a staff, half. A lot of the trainers are still here that I was here with. So they really kind of helped me transition into who I was. And yeah, I just, it's. It does, it does get a little emotional because it's so such a part of you. And it's kind of, like I said, it's surreal. Like to think that middle of the Pacific, some kid gets to come here and become the only Heisman Trophy winner. Like, that's. Well, I don't even know what the odds are that. Right. Like that's wild.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

So it kind of blows my mind. And still to this day, like even walking through there is. It's just surreal.

[Taylor Lewan]

How did you go through the process of choosing Oregon?

[Marcus Mariota]

That's a great story actually. So they offered me before I even started a game in high school.

[Jack]

Before you even started a game.

[Marcus Mariota]

So there was a kid, there was a guy in front of me. His name is Jeremy Higgins. He's an all state player. He's great, great left handed kick, could really throw it and was committed to Utah State. So I really just had to wait my turn. And I like, I messed around playing receiver. Like I was doing all sorts of stuff. And I had kind of done the camp circuit and got my name out there, I guess.

[Jack]

Camp circuit, like Nike Cams.

[Marcus Mariota]

So Spark. Did the Nike Spark. Yeah, a couple combines they used to hold like these PIA combines in Hawaii.

[Jack]

And how old are you at this time? Like, what are you, like a sophomore and hadn't started yet?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, I hadn't played. I mean, I played a game here or there when we're blowing teams out or when Jeremy had gotten hurt. I played a little bit, but nothing to the extent to receive. And Oregon at the time was like playing a national championship.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

So it was kind of a weird, wild story that like, why are you offering this kid who hasn't played yet? But what I learned the story was, was the offensive line coach here, Coach Greatwood was going and recruiting and he was recruiting at my high school. Monicreg, who ended up playing here, was playing guard. And it just so happened while he was there, he, I guess, had noticed me running. Like, I was. We were running sprints or something and had threw my name out there. So they invited me to come to the camp here, and someone showed me a video. But Johnny kind of talked about this a little bit. Johnny Manziel. And at the time, I was offered and Johnny was offered, but they invited me to this camp, and they basically were like, put me on this team to, I don't know, play with all these other high school kids. And I'd been there for two days. I'm in pads, like, doing all this stuff. And Johnny shows up, unpadded, T shirt and shorts, goes in there, says they're gonna do a workout with him. Coach Kelly hasn't really even talked to me. I've been here for two days. He's like, hey, like, why don't you just come in? Like, just do a workout with Johnny. And I'm mad because I'm like, johnny's not even been here. They're gonna. He's like, offered, whatever. Like, I was just, like, not feeling the love, basically. And we run a 40. We're throwing, and Johnny. It was. The workout was unbelievable. Like, I mean, I. I can still remember to this day, like, I don't think a ball touched the ground, and. And it's funny to think, you know, 10 years later or whatever it is, but, like, he had two Heisman Trophy winners sitting there going through a workout together. And. But I just remember at the time I left, and Johnny commits, and I was so mad because I'm like, he hasn't been here. I've been here a couple days. Like, I've been talking to the coaches. Like, he just commits on the spot, and I don't even have a chance to commit or whatever. And I was, like, upset about it. And we're on the plane ride home, and I told my mom, like, I. I want to go to Washington. I had got an offer from Washington. Steve Sarkian was up there, and Sark was like. He gave me. Wrote out the red carpet. We had talked, you know, I was like, I'm going there. I'm settling. Yeah. So we're sitting there on the plane, and my mom's like, you really want to go to Washington? I was like, no. I mean, I. Oregon was like, all, like, everywhere I wanted to be. And she's like, at some point in time, you're gonna have to compete, so you might as well compete Wherever you go, and you might as well go where you want to go. And she told me that, and that was it. And I committed when we got home, and kind of the rest is history. But, yeah, that's why I ended up. I was so set on being an Oregon Duck because of guys that had played before me. Like, there's a guy named Jeremiah Mosoli who went to my high school, had played quarterback here, and I just remember watching the Ducks as a kid, and I was like, that's where I want to be.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

So for my mom to say that to me in that point in time, I was like, well, yeah, I might as well compete and go where I want to go. So that's how I know.

[Jack]

That's awesome.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is. Well, because I did see. I think that was on Club Shay Shay, that Johnny was talking about him seeing Marcus, and he's like, this guy just. He talks about the workout, like, not a ball touched the ground. Have you seen that clip? That's it.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And that's someone. I'm not gonna make it at Oregon. Basically said, because of Marcus, I'm not gonna make it Oregon and go say a M. That's wild. Yeah.

[Jack]

What was it like? Dude, talk about growing up in Hawaii. Like, anytime that I've taken my family down for a vacation, I've seen eight jerseys in Hawaii and the culture there, like, even listening to you in the interview, like, the perspective that you have, the peaks and valleys and just the intention and the moments that you seem to live in and appreciate, I feel like that's all over. That's all over Hawaii. Like, that's, like, Hawaiian culture. Like, everybody seems to be so proud of guys like yourself, Manta Teo, guys who have, like, made it on the mainland and talk about. Just talk about that.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

No, you're sitting there running.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm like, talk about it.

[Jack]

I could talk about that, man.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's funny because growing up, when you'd, like, watch the news and they would, like, the sports would come on, they would just show the athlete. Like, they wouldn't even really care about what the score was, like, whether they play in the NFL, mlb, like, whatever. It was like, hey, so and so from Hawaii was 2 for 3 and hit a home run or. And it was like, oh, by the way, like, the. The Boston Red Sox won the game. So, like, very early on, like, as a kid, you just. It was always highlighted, like, people from Hawaii, and you kind of, like, that was like, oh, it's like, it's a responsibility. Like, you want to be able to represent that, that the best way possible. So that was kind of always in my mind. And then really, I think for Hawaii, like, there is a little bit of a chip on your shoulder. Like, you're not a part of the continental U.S. so it's like, you know, the closest landmass is five and a half hours away. So it's like, yeah, there is a little bit of a chip on your shoulder. And everyone's always talking about, oh, you're from Hawaii. Like, you know, maybe the football is a little different down there or whatever. And it was just kind of that type of chip on your shoulder and people always highlighting those athletes. I think that really just, like, creates, like, this really crazy fandom, you know, and it's. It's a blessing in disguise. And I. I really, like, whenever I look back and think about it, like, I'm very lucky to be where I'm from. And when it's all said and done, that's. That's where you'll find me. Somewhere on the beach. I'll be like £300, but I'll be down. Yeah. Dude, have you. You've been there, all the rice and amazing.

[Jack]

It's amazing when you go there. Is it like a movie star showing up?

[Marcus Mariota]

No, no, no, bro, it has to be.

[Jack]

Is it crazy? I'll ask the Mrs. Do what?

[Taylor Lewan]

We're not walking around the malls. Yeah, I can't imagine what it's like.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's really, honestly not that bad.

[Taylor Lewan]

Who do you think is more famous in Hawaii? You are Manta Tao.

[Marcus Mariota]

Okay. I give Mantai. He's got his own Netflix.

[Jack]

Bro, he does have his own Netflix. He's got his own Netflix.

[Marcus Mariota]

But I mean, I was kind of a third part of Pat and Kirk. You know, they're just like, yeah, we'll kind of put Marcus in there. So.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, dude, dude.

[Jack]

How was that experience doing the quarterback?

[Marcus Mariota]

Dude, it was all right.

[Taylor Lewan]

Safe space. Yeah, it was.

[Marcus Mariota]

It was. I will say our crew that we had for Netflix were awesome. They're unbelievable. Shannon and that entire group were. Were great. Especially with Komi being pregnant with her first. Like, like, very respectful of the space and all that. It was old, though. After really like a week, I was like, I don't know why I signed up for this.

[Jack]

They're just in your house every day, all the time.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, they actually. They were like, for outside stuff, they were cool. They're like, hey, I know K's pregnant, like, just once every couple weeks, just like, let us come do something. Whether it was like meeting with Taylor, our chef, or, you know, like coming into ultrasound and different things like that. So. So they really kind of kept a safe space, but like, I was Mike for like every practice, every game. It was brutal.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's mind blowing to think that you signed up for that. Just.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Kind of knowing you and how you.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, I'm not gonna lie to you. Like, the money was good, so I could have turned that down.

[Taylor Lewan]

Hell of a show too. It was awesome, dude.

[Marcus Mariota]

I was. They sat there like, hey, will you do this for this? I was like, yeah, 100.

[Taylor Lewan]

100. We'll do that for that.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Jack]

Now that you're a couple years removed, removed from, from your perspective, what went down at Atlanta, because there were obviously stories that came out of your, like, questioning your commitment to the team, obviously being a teammate of yours, it's like, like you're reading that stuff and, and trying to fill in whatever gaps without being like, hey, Marcus, what, you know, what happened in Atlanta, like, fresh off of Atlanta.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, no, it was. And we talked about peaks and valleys. Like that was a valley for sure, I think. And we all kind of know Art. Like, Art's a very emotional person, so I think sometimes he can kind of maybe say some things that give or take maybe not what he wanted to say or wanted to portray. And, and it was one of those things where we were all pretty aligned of like, what was going to happen. I was signed there for two years.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

And it kind of flipped and I don't really know the extent why. And nothing against Art. Like, I understand being a head coach. It's a hard position. I understand that it can make you do some things that maybe you don't want to do. Right. But at the same time, like, some things were said and it was almost like I just kind of had to remove myself from that situation just because I was like, first of all, I didn't want to be distracted. I never want to be a distraction. Like, that was never the intent. At the time. I was not sure how bad of a knee injury I had. And when they wanted to go in a different direction with dez, they were like, hey, you know, you're signed for a couple years. We'd love to have you. So in my mind I was like, well, at that point in time, like, let me just go make sure my knees like, like ready to roll regardless of whatever that looks like. And, you know, unfortunately, like, when I left to go get the surgery, like, things were set and. Yeah, I mean, but at the end of the day, like, I saw Art the other day, or not the other day, but during the season, and I got nothing but love for him. Like, he gave me a chance, really, after. After Vegas. Whoa. I almost said Oakland, but Almost then did. But he gave me a chance to be a guy. Right. He gave me a chance to play. And I don't have any. Towards animosity towards that situation kind of unfolded the way that it did. And it was unfortunate because I think at the end of the day, like, I'm not sure my relationship with Art will ever really be the same. But when you look back on it, like, I learned a lot from it, and it made me appreciate being around people that care for you and want you to be around.

[Jack]

So is there anything you would have done different in those moments? Looking back on how everything unfolded?

[Marcus Mariota]

If I. I guess if I had known maybe what was going to be said for people, I guess, I don't know, like, he kind of came out after the. I think it was like we had a bye week. Makai was born on Wednesday. He brought me in on Thursday. Was like, hey, we're gonna go in a different direction. You know, take some time to kind of talk it through, talk it to your agent, whatever.

[Taylor Lewan]

Tough timing.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, tough, right? There's a lot of emotions kind of built in there. So, you know, talk to my agent. And we were just like. It was very much like, hey, they want you back for another year. You know, you're kind of. Technically, we're not out of it, but we were out of it in terms of playoff positioning. He's like, you know, let's just go. Maybe make sure your knees good to go and attack this at camp again and see where you stand. Talked to Art, talked to Terry, and that was kind of. We were. When I left, we were kind of all aligned in that. And my thought was I was going to go get surgery, come back and kind of be around and help dads if he needed it. And then some things were said on Monday with Art, and at that point in time, I was like, oh, I don't want to just kind of pop back in and, like, make this a whole ordeal. So I'll just kind of take it on the chin and just kind of step away from it. And, you know, guys reached out and called and kind of checked in to see what was going on. But, yeah, it was just like, I never want to be kind of the center of attention. I just kind of want to do my job and make sure others around me are kind of getting better, and I can help them kind of achieve what they want to achieve. So for me, like, I saw Des after the whole conversation, talked to him, was like, hey, man, if you ever need anything thing, I'm here for you. I'm gonna go get my knee fixed, but don't hesitate to call or whatever. And I left. And I. Looking back on it, I probably should have stuck around maybe until the following week and just talked to the team, but in my mind, I was like, I'm coming back anyways. Right.

[Jack]

You felt like you were aligned.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah. And I felt like I was like, okay, I. You know, I'm not. I'm not disappearing. Like, I'm gonna come back and, like, be around and. But once that was said, I was like, like, yeah. I don't think it's probably healthy for anybody for me just to walk back in there.

[Jack]

Yeah. Make it awkward.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah. So I was just. Yeah. Stepped away. And, you know, and like, I said, like, I think with Art, it's. It's unfortunate because I do think he's a good guy. Like, and when you're put in positions where it's like, you know, maybe things aren't going the way that you want and things aren't really materializing, you know, I think, unfortunately, it can get a little bit where I. I don't. I don't want to say, like, cover your ass, because I really don't think that's what it was. I just think, like, he didn't know what to say, and I wasn't there to make any sort of comment on it. And I think that's really why maybe it went down that road. But the end of day, I saw Art. Like, I said, I don't got any hate in my heart for him. I just. It is what it is just a.

[Taylor Lewan]

Little bit different now.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

This stuff happens, man. I mean, Art is an emotional guy, and he does, like, say a lot of things, and I'm sure it was. It was tough for both of you, Right, because you guys had a great relationship before the Titans, and he's a head coach as well, first time. And he's trying to figure out the best way. And everybody knows, like, you don't win games.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

You're gonna get fired for sure. So he's probably dealing with, like, very similar stress as you were.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Feeling that whole entire time. So that's got to be really Tough for you, too, pivoting back to when you're in for the draft. When did you know, like, okay, I'm probably going to be a titan at some point. Do you think. Did you think you were going to go to Tampa?

[Marcus Mariota]

No. I knew I wasn't in that mix.

[Taylor Lewan]

But it seemed like it was like Jamis or Marcus.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, I went down there, I met with Lovey, Coach Smith, Jason Knight, the gm, and I just didn't feel like I was kind of in the mix. I think they were just like, hey, hey. It was like, we want you to come in, kind of meet you, get to know you a little bit, but check a box a little bit. Which I was like, okay, that's. Hey, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

You guys, what do you think that was? You just. I mean, you just won the Heisman, all that. I had no idea James was their guy.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

In their head already.

[Marcus Mariota]

And I think when you have the first pick, like, you have opportunities to really diagnose everything. And for whatever reason, maybe my tape or whatever it was, you know, but I didn't really think I was in that mix. But then what was really interesting was I get drafted to Tennessee, they pull me, my agent and my marketing agent pull me in the back, and they're like, hey, don't. Don't put the hat on yet. Don't put the jersey on yet. Like, we don't really know exactly what's going to happen. Like, you might still end up getting moved. So. Yeah, so for like an hour, I didn't. Didn't take a picture, didn't do the media, waited and then did all that after it was like, confirmed. But.

[Taylor Lewan]

So what was your agent and your marketing guy thinking?

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, Philly with Chip.

[Taylor Lewan]

That's right. He had the infamous quote of being like you. He went by past a house and realized it was too much money.

[Marcus Mariota]

Something like that. But I. I think that's what it was. I don't. I can't say for certain, but yeah, that was just kind of what happened. And then along the lines of that, when I got. Got to Nashville, I didn't have a suit or anything, so I actually borrowed Wizards. This is like dress shirt and like put on a suit coat just to do the pictures and all that stuff. Because I was. I was so far in Hawaii, like, to get over for the next day for the press conference. Like, we flew, like all night. So I didn't. I didn't have time to actually get a suit. I didn't even own a suit, really.

[Jack]

I had a couple from trophy Winner doesn't.

[Marcus Mariota]

I had a couple. I had a couple from the ceremonies. Don't get me wrong. Wrong. But yeah, I didn't have a suit ready to go.

[Taylor Lewan]

Did Chip or anybody call you during that process? Because obviously you guys had a good relationship.

[Marcus Mariota]

They did not.

[Jack]

Isn't that weird? I feel like coming out of college, I'm thinking if Beau was, like, on a. Coaching a team or something, I feel like I'd be like, hey, you think I'm gonna get drafted? Like, what do you. What's the board?

[Taylor Lewan]

First round, Compton. What do you say? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jack]

What's the board saying? And I'm thinking, like, if I'm gonna be a potential top five pick, my head coach, who I've had such an incredible relationship with during college, win the Heisman Trophy, all the accolades that they got together, like, you'd think, like, it would be. There'd be some. Some communication.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

You know what I mean? Like, hey, what are you guys thinking out there in Philly?

[Taylor Lewan]

Chips at Philly would love to come.

[Jack]

Play out for the Chip in Philly.

[Taylor Lewan]

Come on.

[Jack]

Where'd you want to go, Philly?

[Marcus Mariota]

I really. Actually, I never. Never had a preference. I was just like, man. No, seriously, Seriously.

[Taylor Lewan]

But Chip Kelly, who you've already had so much success in his office offense.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Jack]

But he's probably thinking.

[Marcus Mariota]

But I was like, I'll just go, probably. Phil's awesome. You guys got it messed up.

[Jack]

I'm saying, coming out, like, knowing. Knowing how. How you were with Hawaii, being very homesick in Oregon, then it's just such.

[Taylor Lewan]

You know, farther away.

[Jack]

Yeah. Like, you're still a kid. Like, as you get drafted.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. It's like an hour and a half.

[Jack]

I love to play for you, Coach.

[Taylor Lewan]

Kelly, but he's like, no difference at all. The distance, that was the first thing.

[Marcus Mariota]

When I got drafted. My mom looks at me, she goes, that is so. So far. I'm like, sorry, Mom.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, Arizona or San Diego or something like that. Dude, I remember when you got drafted, I was at Nissan Stadium for, like, they were doing, like, a host show thing. And obviously, you know, I was massive. Boys of Mettenberger.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And, you know, Mets personality. So when you got picked, I was like, I was so mad that you were picked, because I was like, I might. I'm like, zach's gonna take a. To the top, man. He's. He's the one. He's the one to get it done. And then I. I. You get picked, whatever. I immediately leave the thing. I call Zach. I'm like, where are you at? He. I'm at my house. So I went and sat with him for a little bit. But I remember, man, during. It was like rookie mini camp. We're all kind of, like, peering out the winter like, hey, what's this kid about? What's this Hawaiian guy all about? And you were zipping the ball on the field. I remember sitting there with Matt thinking to myself, it's so over. You are done, amigo. It is done. Fun. But Zach, he was such a. I mean, how. Like, is there anybody like Zach Mattenberger?

[Marcus Mariota]

There isn't. No, there isn't.

[Taylor Lewan]

It was.

[Marcus Mariota]

I really. I did enjoy my time with Matt. Like, obviously, when you walk in the building, like, that's such a weird, awkward relationship.

[Taylor Lewan]

Could not have.

[Jack]

You been around Zach a couple times.

[Taylor Lewan]

Completely different personality.

[Jack]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Zach's like, hey, watch me spin this. And Marcus is like, I don't really want to be the center of attention. I want to help everybody else out, make sure everyone's doing great.

[Jack]

Whatever you guys. Guys want me to do, trust me.

[Taylor Lewan]

Whatever you guys need me to do, I'm there. Exactly. I'm gonna light the world on fire.

[Marcus Mariota]

But that was. I think that's what was cool. Like, when I walked in there and, you know, like, whiz. Kind of like gave me the job early on.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

And I. I felt bad about it because I was like, I hadn't. I hadn't even been here yet. And being around Matt, like, his personality, like, I just kind of wanted to, like, not. Not disrupt. Not. Not, like, step on his toes, really. And being around him, he was very. Almost welcoming. And he was just like, hey, man, I know you're not very vocal, but, like, if you need me to yell at somebody, like, I'll do it for you. I was like, perfect, man. We're on the same page.

[Taylor Lewan]

Just imagine being like, met 65. Get him.

[Marcus Mariota]

77. Can you help me out here?

[Taylor Lewan]

What was. What was it like walking into that building because you come from a place like this and then it was. That was a huge shock for me as I Going from college facilities to NFL facilities and being like, it's kind of a dump. Yeah.

[Jack]

I mean, to put it.

[Marcus Mariota]

You are.

[Jack]

You are. Washington has newer facilities now, but even going to Washington, it's like you have the kitchen set up, and it's just like buffet style food where it just has a red, yellow, and green card on if it's okay to eat.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

You're thinking, like, what in the.

[Taylor Lewan]

Why is there red? If it's not okay.

[Jack]

You're doing walkthroughs in like a basketball gym.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

You know what I mean?

[Taylor Lewan]

No. Yeah. And it's. It's. I'm so.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

A dump relative to college teams. So I'm not just specifically going at the Titans. I just remember going from like Michigan.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And like then I go here and I'm like, you guys got a cold tub? Like it's around the corner. But we had this silver float.

[Jack]

We had like the silver ones or like a rubber made tub as like the cold tubs that like iraqpo and Fletch would set up.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

But not like an in ground cold tub. Whirlpool. It is a different. It's a different world.

[Taylor Lewan]

The old cold tubs we had, you were there for when they went to the new setup.

[Marcus Mariota]

No, I didn't that. I was. The only thing that was new was they kind of redid the locker room.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Because they had those.

[Marcus Mariota]

But the bathroom. They redid the locker room, but the bathroom wasn't done yet.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So you walked into a construction zone that already wasn't that great. And so you. You probably had to be thinking to yourself like, this is crazy.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, the original one that I walked into was the old one.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

And I was like, okay, here we go. You know, this is gonna have to.

[Taylor Lewan]

Figure out how to outsource sauna, I don't think.

[Marcus Mariota]

No, we had nothing in there.

[Taylor Lewan]

We had. We had nothing.

[Marcus Mariota]

Or maybe we had a sauna, but I don't know if it was working.

[Taylor Lewan]

And they had those big boxy like lockers. Put your shoes.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And you're like, well, this is such an eyesore. And it made that. It made that like that area to walk through. Like so hard to like get from point A to point.

[Jack]

I mean even when I was there at in 18, the sauna was broken like the entire year. Just the steam room that was up.

[Taylor Lewan]

Were you there when the kid got cut and he pissed in the sauna?

[Jack]

No.

[Taylor Lewan]

Were you? You weren't there.

[Marcus Mariota]

I'm. I don't remember that.

[Taylor Lewan]

There was one kid. Yeah. He got cut like I think halfway through camp, even before cutting. And you walk. We walked in the locker room like, it smells terrible in here. And some guy's like, yeah, babe. I think it was hos. Yeah, babe. Somebody pissed in the sauna, babe. Apparently some guy just like peed on the hot sonic coals. And that was his like.

[Jack]

Like this tip of the cap.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'll see you guys later. But yeah, it's just different. It's just different going from college to NFL. So how was that for that, that transition?

[Marcus Mariota]

I was. I think I was just, like, so happy to be there. I didn't really think about it looking back on it, like. Like, it was. It was, like, not the greatest, but, yeah, it was what it is, what it was, you know, how was it?

[Jack]

Keep, like, compartmentalizing, playing ball to the best of your ability, and also the expectation of being a second overall pick. I want to say you're the high. I mean. Oh, yeah. We did interview Jamis, but we didn't ask him about this. But I feel like being a high. A high overall pick as a quarterback, I'm always curious, like, do you feel that pressure, Expectation?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, I think, but I think I. It was more from myself, like, more internal. Like, I was more worried about, like, me living up to my own standard, which I think sometimes can be detrimental as well. Yeah. But, yeah, I was so, so focused on making sure. I was, like, trying to play to the best of my abilities that I. Maybe I lost a little bit of, like, being able to just enjoy, like, what was going on. Like, stay light. Yeah. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

That first game, man, like, obviously, like, we talked to Jamis and we're like, hey, did you have a. Like, kind of, like a rivalry with Marcus at all?

[Marcus Mariota]

He was like, I saw parts of it.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. So he was kind of talking about, like, how there was, like, kind of a rivalry.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And, like, kind of wasn't. Then you guys, like, made amends or whatever. Well, he probably made a mess.

[Jack]

He was talking about you guys were like, combine training. And the way he's thinking in his head is like, he's, like, bucking up, kind of peacocking a little bit. Like, it felt like a competition, which.

[Taylor Lewan]

Has got to be the fun.

[Jack]

He's like, Marcus wasn't really giving a whole lot. And just knowing you, I'm thinking.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm.

[Jack]

I wonder if Marcus was even thinking.

[Taylor Lewan]

About even aware that a rivalry was taking place. Marcus, like, just doing his work and James is, like, flexing in the corner.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, it's funny because we, like, we never even, like, worked out together. Like, so the guy that we trained with, Ryan Flaherty, one of my closest friends still to this day. But, like, he, like, tried to time it out where we were separate because I think he felt like that was what it was. And I was. I, like, literally was like, I don't. That's not something that crosses my mind. Like, Jamis is in there working out, like, cool.

[Jack]

Like, I don't care Didn't Jamis say he would see Marcus working out and be like, I don't want to go in there? Am I just thinking.

[Taylor Lewan]

I think that might be, like, a little bit seasoned, like, you put a little extra sauce on that. But there was definitely, like, a.

[Jack]

It was a.

[Taylor Lewan]

It was a true Marcus workout. Yeah, that's CTE brain for both of us. It was definitely something. Yeah. But that first guy game, like, it is. It is what it is. We kind of talked about a little bit, but, like, did you do it again? Are you. Were you excited to kind of put.

[Marcus Mariota]

I was like, we got this.

[Jack]

You're like, yo, hall of Fame. It's this easy out here. This the NFL.

[Taylor Lewan]

Your first throw was a touchdown.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, no, no, that was. I think that was, like, the. Maybe the third or fourth. The one to Kendall. Yeah, yeah, that was like, the third or fourth. My first throw. Throw, I'll never forget, was roll pass under center, roll pass to the right, and we just run to the left, by the way. It was. It was to the back was like the first read, and, you know, you're like. You're nervous. It's your first game playing in NFL. I was going number one the whole way, and I threw it to Bishop, and he got smoked by Levante David. I was, like, sick.

[Taylor Lewan]

Good start. Good start. We rolled them, man.

[Marcus Mariota]

Man.

[Taylor Lewan]

And then literally halfway through that year, Wizard Hunt's gone. And then your boy took the reigns.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, Malarkey.

[Taylor Lewan]

I. Bro, do you want to talk about it?

[Marcus Mariota]

Absolutely. All right, so I.

[Jack]

Now, before we start you, Malarkey is the one that you did not like.

[Taylor Lewan]

I am on record saying I despised Mike Malarkey.

[Jack]

Okay.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, I'm on record.

[Jack]

Is that the one where you had the C patch and got it taken away?

[Taylor Lewan]

Actually, well, I said you and I should iron it out. They took my C and gave it to you. That's pretty crazy, right?

[Marcus Mariota]

I also. I also owe you a lot of fine money, too.

[Taylor Lewan]

That was. What's that?

[Marcus Mariota]

I said, I also owe you a lot of fine money, too.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, no, no, no. We're. That. I love doing that. That was, like, my favorite thing in the world was bucking up for eight.

[Jack]

Hey, that's funny. Your C got taken away.

[Marcus Mariota]

I didn't realize. I didn't even realize that's what it was. I was like, they like game. They're like, hey, here's just. You got a C patch. I was like, oh, okay, cool.

[Taylor Lewan]

So we played Houston. Let me relive this for a second. We played Houston. We get Donkey stomped in Houston. And on the way home, I. I think before the wheels even touched, we're like, ken's out of here. The next day, news breaks. Ken wizard hunts out Mike Malarkey stepping as interim head coach. Text. No, I'm sitting at home and Mike Malarkey texts me, and he's like, hey, come see me in my office tomorrow. And I was like, all right.

[Jack]

His first day there.

[Taylor Lewan]

This is like the night after. The night of the news breaking of Ken is like, this is like, so it's Monday, Tuesday. I walk in his office and I literally made the joke, taking my C away. And he goes, yeah, we're gonna take your seat away. Here's the deal.

[Jack]

Was Malarkey there with Wizard?

[Taylor Lewan]

Markey was the tight ends coach.

[Jack]

Okay, all right.

[Taylor Lewan]

Tight ends coach. Which Malarkey is a tight ends coach. All time guy. Like, he had a good vibe about him, was like one of the boys, boys type of thing. He got that crown placed on his head and a whole lot of things changed. A whole lot of things.

[Jack]

His first order.

[Taylor Lewan]

His first order of business. And he. You know what his. His reasoning was? His reasoning, he goes to me, goes, hey, listen, like, obviously the team's not doing very well right now. You're a young guy and this is a lot to be like, putting on you to have a C on your chest. So, like, we're just gonna. We're gonna take it. We'll let you focus on being you and give to somebody older. Then they called Marcus, who's.

[Marcus Mariota]

A year ago. I don't think that was me, though. I don't think they gave it to me. I don't remember having this.

[Taylor Lewan]

Marcus is only four captains, and they took mine off and they gave one to you. Like, where do you think that C came from?

[Jack]

How are you playing at this time?

[Taylor Lewan]

I was playing all right. I think my rookie year was better. I played better my rookie year than I did my second, but I wasn't.

[Jack]

Were you a distraction in the locker room?

[Taylor Lewan]

No, I don't think so. I mean, was I? No, he was more of a distraction playing.

[Marcus Mariota]

He was a distraction in the hook.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yes.

[Marcus Mariota]

Delaney used to be like, taylor, get over you. Taylor be over there talking to who knows who. And we're like, 30 seconds on the play clock, and I'm over there trying to call the play, and I'm like, we're like, where's Taylor? And Delaney's like, taylor, get your ass over here.

[Taylor Lewan]

A lot of talking. It was over there. It's kind of spouting I'm like, he.

[Marcus Mariota]

Doesn'T really need to know the play. Like Ben's gonna tell him what to do anyways.

[Taylor Lewan]

That did. Yeah. Ben kind of just did. Would say one thing, like, we got it, we got it. We had a nice operation. But yeah, he took the seat. I totally forgot that he gave it to you. And it literally didn't register. This is how dumb I am. It didn't register till like three weeks later that like, oh, he told me he's gonna give somebody older. And then he gave it to a guy that's a year like in his rookie season.

[Jack]

Yeah, that's tough.

[Taylor Lewan]

That was tough. But I do think I got to see. I think a reason why I got to see was Ken knew he was on the hop, like the chopping block. And I was his first drum pick the year prior.

[Jack]

Got you.

[Taylor Lewan]

And so there was like. I think it was a politic game for him because even some of the older guys were like, what do you. Yeah, I'm like, come on, man.

[Jack]

But Marcus is that malarkey is one of his boys.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, go ahead, Marcus.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, I mean Mike's been good to me, so I can't. I can't talk trash about him. I mean there's.

[Taylor Lewan]

I thought we were aligned.

[Marcus Mariota]

I'm not gonna. I'm neutral game here in.

[Taylor Lewan]

You know, that is smart. But we beat the Saints in overtime. We did right after that. And didn't want another one.

[Marcus Mariota]

I threw the luckiest touchdown of my life to Delaney. Oh my goodness. I was trying to throw it away. They brought Firezone. I'm a rookie. I don't. Protections is just like whatever, you know. Yeah, I'll figure it out later. And they basically brought four to this, four to the side. And I was hot and I was just like, I'm just gonna try to throw it away. And I threw it in the direction of Delaney, who was running a sale right out. When I threw it, I was like, I didn't put enough on that. And then I'm like watching the ball and I see Delaney start to track it. And then Jerry Spurd, I think. I think it was Jerry Spurd played at Oregon, by the way.

[Jack]

Stud, dude.

[Marcus Mariota]

He up in the air. Delaney catches it, scores like a 60 yard touchdown. I was like, wow.

[Taylor Lewan]

Isn't the Saints are like still the Saints too?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah. I mean Drew was there then that. Didn't the field goal go off the upper right to go into overtime for us or them Them like they missed it. Remember I got them.

[Taylor Lewan]

I was. It was. Was it fasano or Stevens? Who won the Fasano?

[Marcus Mariota]

Fasano.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Fifteen was a tough year. It was a tough year. But you're probably. You're just getting your feet wet.

[Marcus Mariota]

I was just trying to. I was swimming.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, just trying.

[Marcus Mariota]

Just trying to tread water.

[Taylor Lewan]

You made it through that whole season.

[Marcus Mariota]

Did not. I did not. Not at all when I was in Tennessee.

[Taylor Lewan]

But. Yeah, but 15, like our offensive line, Ben wasn't there yet.

[Marcus Mariota]

Ben wasn't there.

[Taylor Lewan]

It was me, Chance, Andy Gick, Andy Gaelic, but Schwenkey before Schwy getting hurt and then kind of a revolving door at right guard and left and right tackle. So you didn't have a whole lot of protection. And the offense we were running was insane for an offensive line that wasn't seasoned.

[Marcus Mariota]

We. I have a funny story about that. We. So quarterback, wristband, right? No, I didn't really. I never wore one. We were no huddle here. I was like, no huddle in high school. So, I mean, first game they gave me one. We did fine. Second game, we're playing up in Cleveland, and the numbers for the wristband are one through whatever. I think there was like 80, 90, 100, maybe 100 plays or whatever. And I took a sack. Is like two minute. And our two minute menu with Wiz was one through ten. So he's yelling, four, four, four. So I'm like getting everybody in the huddle. I'm going off wristband four. Well, the first like five plays of the wristband are usually like specials or like, you know, trick plays. So I don't know, it's like, like minute and 10 seconds left before half. And I call this play and it's a reverse to Harry Douglas. And I. I'm like getting ready to call and like, people are like looking at me like, you sure about this? I'm like, that's what they said, four. And I, I'm like, I take the snap, we do the, the reverse. The Harry, we get tackled for like a 5 yard loss or whatever. I come off to the sideline, he goes, what were you doing? Why'd you call? I'm like, you said four. Like, I'm looking at play four on the wristband. He goes, oh, no, no, no. We're talking about play four on the two minute menu. I was like, that's tough, man.

[Jack]

Yeah, that's a five yard loss.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Calling the reverse.

[Taylor Lewan]

God.

[Jack]

Two minute drill.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, dude.

[Taylor Lewan]

16, man. I mean, once we got Ben in, it seems like that's when everything kind of changed for our offense. Talk about your Relationship with Ben and how important he was.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

For you at those times. Because I had to grow to love Ben as opposed to, like, appreciating him for who he was in the beginning.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, he was, for me from the start, was unbelievable. Guy that's played at a high level, knows the ins and outs of protections. Like, I mean, my first. My rookie year, like, I had to go up there and, like, make a mic point and, like, which I was fine with, but, like, I didn't understand, like, trying to make mic points, like, in the run game. And, like, I'm over there, like, I don't care. Like, the wheels, the mic, I don't. Who cares, you know?

[Jack]

Yeah, we do.

[Marcus Mariota]

I never understood any of that, you know, and so getting Ben into the team, like, he controlled all that, and we were able to, like, he taught me a lot about protections. We're able to get, like, on the same page. And a lot of times in protections, I would be like, hey, you know, he's seeing one thing. I'd be like, hey, no, no, go left, go left, go left. And he would make all the calls, everybody would switch up, and we'd be good. So I. I mean, Ben was heaven sent for me, and I think for all of us, really. Like, he was just such a glue guy and thankful that I was able to play with him.

[Jack]

Was it hard going through so many coaching changes?

[Marcus Mariota]

It was. Wasn't easy. I mean, but part of it is, I think, again, it's like, I was so naive to it. I was like, nah, man. Like, I'll make it work.

[Jack]

Yeah, look, whoever's in here, whatever plays called.

[Marcus Mariota]

But looking back on it, like, I think on my 11, this will be my 11th season. I've had nine different plate callers. That is wild. Yeah. And I think, like, looking back on it, like, that is kind of crazy. And I was. This was what, 2018. We had Blaine Gabbard, BG, my guy.

[Taylor Lewan]

Watch daddy spin it.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah. Hell, yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Just fighting for one more. Every year. Being the tribe room, he'd be lacing.

[Marcus Mariota]

Blaine's awesome.

[Taylor Lewan]

He's got a great vibe about him.

[Marcus Mariota]

He does, he does. And I remember we were sitting there, one meeting, and he was like, yeah, this is my eighth season. This is my eighth. Different play call now. Like, damn, man. It's crazy. Like, I'm on five, and this is, like, four. It's like, it's kind of crazy to think about.

[Jack]

Yeah. Talk about the transition to Washington. It feels like you found a. Found some footing there. You opted to Go back. I know you were having your presser and talked about, you know, if you were to get an offer from another team, they would have had to have knocked it out of the park for you to leave because you, you know, accepted. You love the role, you love the organization, you love the team. Team. But talk about your time in Washington.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yes, it was awesome. I mean, aside from maybe our first couple years, like, it was probably the most fun I had in the NFL just from a day to day basis. And what was really cool was when I was in free agency last year and they called me up, like, DQ's message to. @ least to me, and it sounds like it was like to a lot of other guys was, I want to create the best environment to come play football. Football. And I was like, okay, you know, sounds good, right? Sounds good in theory. And when I. When I showed up there, being around Cliff, being around Tavita and the rest of the staff, like, he really created this type of environment where it's just, man, have fun, cut loose, like, be who you are, and we're gonna roll and win games. And from a person standpoint, he's, like, unbelievable. Like, comes up to everybody's wife, like kids, like, he's very personable, and I think that's where you get guys to just play hard for you. And being around him and being around the core group of guys like Zach and Bobby. And when you got a group that really just kind of enjoys being around each other, like, you find ways to win. And I think for me, somebody else, if I had an opportunity to go play, was gonna have to really like, like, kind of show me that was possible, because I feel like I play my best in that type of environment, and I'm. I'm fortunate and I'm excited to be back, and I'm looking forward to kind of seeing what. What we can make of it.

[Jack]

When did you know that J.D. had it?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, that's funny. Everyone kind of asked me that. Like, we, you know, like OTAs. Everyone's kind of like, yeah, you know, he looks good. Like in camp, you know, it looks good. Everyone.

[Jack]

Helmet. Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

You know. But I would say for me personally, it was probably against Cincinnati on Monday night. And, like, his demeanor, the moment, like, the moment was never too big for him. Like, he was ready to roll from the get go. And I watched him go and just like, dissect the defense. And it was probably from my vantage point, probably one of the better games that I've seen a quarterback play. And whether it was running, making guys miss to completing 4th, 4th and 5 or 4th and 6 to like keep drives alive to score touchdowns. Like, he was unbelievable. And I was like, if this kid can continue to do that or kind of play in that realm, like, he's going to be really special. And he found a way kind of throughout the year to do that.

[Jack]

How is he in the film room as like a student of the game? He's actually young.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, he's very knowledgeable. And what's been cool for me is like, I've been able to just like, like from my past experiences be like, hey, this is like something that happened to me. Just be aware of it and like to see him recognize that and realize that and do maybe what I not saying he was doing what I was saying, but like, just being able to like account that type of information and use it like, was really cool for me. And it's pretty, pretty spot on about how he is as a person. Like, he comes in, works hard, goes about his business and moves on. And I think he's got a chance to be really good.

[Jack]

Is he a vocal guy?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yes and no. And what's cool is like when you have a group of veterans you can kind of get, you kind of encourage it. And towards the end of the year you could really see it from him. And what's been nice about dq though, is he's like, don't. We don't ever want you to be somebody else that you're not. And if you're not vocal, if you're not, like, don't force it. Which I think for Jay has been really good because then he kind of like, he's able to create that type of leadership for himself and is able to relate to guys and kind of get the most out of them.

[Jack]

What is. Oh, sorry, go ahead, go ahead. I was going to say, what is it about DQ's culture? You talked about his intention, how he, how he's personable, he's great with people, he goes up to wives. What is it about, like his day to day in the season? Say you drop a game. We've all been in the locker rooms where it's like the urgency and maybe coaches kind of of, you know, the negative energy is kind of in the building. But what it is, what is it about DQ's culture on the day to day, like in the grind of the season? Because anybody you talk to about dq, everybody talks about how great his culture is.

[Marcus Mariota]

We hit a stretch last year where you lost three in a row. Did his demeanor at all change? Not one bit. And his day to day is always the same. Like, you know what you're going to get on Monday? Tell the truth. Monday you go in, you get the day off on Tuesday, and it's fundamental Wednesday, it's turnover Thursday, and it's fast Fridays, and it's the same regardless if you're winning or not. So you're not showing up after blowing out whoever and getting a Monday off. Like, it's. We're gonna do the same exact thing. So regardless of the. Of how the results are, like, his preparation and process remains the same. And a lot of that, too. Like. Like, is not football. It's kind of wild. Like, I've never been a part of a team where on Saturday he doesn't talk about football at all. And this is a day before the game and you're sitting down. And I remember the first week, I'm like, I mean, should we, like, talk about, like, hey, keys to victory. Or, you know, some of these things, you know, and it. He has Dylan Thompson, who shout out is like, unbelievable. But he goes up there and he. He leads, like, a life lesson and, like, a talk about how you can become better men. And for me, like, being a part of the NFL for 10 years, like, you never see that. It's never been about that. But when you can step aside and realize that football is just a little bit part of what you do, it's not who you are. I think you really kind of galvanize a group and guys really reacted to it. And I don't think it was any surprise for any of us in that building that how well we did and how far we went went just because of DQ and what he's about.

[Jack]

I love that.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is beautiful. Like, you. You brought up a point that a lot of football players say a lot, which is, like, football is what you do, is who you are. How do you stop that from becoming your identity for you?

[Marcus Mariota]

Dude, I. I didn't. I. I still struggle with that. And I think from my transition in Tennessee, after everything had kind of fallen apart, like, I was like. Didn't know what to do. Same with Atlanta. Like, I was. You know, it's funny, like, you think you're able to learn from previous challenges, obstacles, and I thought I did. But when everything had happened in Atlanta, like, I was like, man, this is all over again. Like, I'm. I'm pretty good. Like, I don't need to do this football thing. Like, it's just kind of. It's tearing me apart. Like, I was, like, over it and it really led to me being in Philly with Howie, the gm, and I kind of started talking to some, like, sports psychologists. My agent had recommended one who I still talk to today. And Howie, like, I went to Philly after Atlanta, bro. It was like, the worst camp I've ever had. I couldn't even hit a shallow route. I was, like, dirtying flat routes, like. And Howie, like, comes over and he's like, hey, man, I really just want you to, like, kind of dig into your mental side a little bit. And so I did. And really, I think through the course of that season, I kind of started to maybe get away from my identity as a football player and more as my identity as a husband, a father, a son, a brother. And it's so hard because I think as athletes, like, we sit here and forever, that's your sport or whatever you do. That's, like, how you identify yourself. And you sit in these meetings. The PA does all these meetings, right? Like, oh, you know, you're not. You're not just a football player. And you, like, sit there like, I know I'm not. Like, whatever. But, like, you really don't know kind of until you have something kind of thrown in your face to realize, like, oh, maybe I am really kind of identifying myself as that. So for me, like, I take. Call it an hour a week, and I talk. And it's a little bit about football, like, how can I get better mentally? But it's a lot of. It's just like, like, unleashing, like, things that are going on, whether it's me inside internally, or, like, from, like, as a father or, like, just little things like that. And it's kind of crazy to think about how much these external things really affect your internal and being able to understand that internally. If you control kind of what. How you feel and how you react to things, like, you're going to be better for it. So I was so easy for me, me throughout my time, especially in Tennessee, where, like, I would just shoulder everything. Like, you can put the blame. I don't care. Like, I'll figure it out. And you don't really realize how much that affects you until, like, maybe it's all said and done. You're like, dude, like, I could have been a better teammate. I could have been a better person. Depending on how you know, it all would have. Would have played out.

[Jack]

But, yeah, I had one and I lost it.

[Taylor Lewan]

That's okay. That's part of cutting it.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

You kind of went through it.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

What are some of your Fondest memories. Because, like, for me, when I have you on the show, I just start racing in my brain about all the times we had in Tennessee. And then Will jumps over to Commanders. I'm thinking, like, how do I bring this back to Tennessee? And then we go to Oregon. I'm like, how do I bring this back to Tennessee?

[Jack]

Because it was.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's. It's. It's because having this conversation, you. You realize, like, how it ended, how tough it was for you. But still being in Nashville to this day, like, every single Titans fan is like, yo, market the Marcus, Mary Go Yoda. Like, everyone is still, like, sees you as this. When I talk to you now, and you're not seeing yourself as that at that time when everybody in Nashville is, like, still so proud of, like, eight and they're like, all about it. Which is. Which to me is like, says a lot about you as a player, but it also says so much about your character and how you were just talking about, like, shouldering things. Like, I remember vividly, like, when things weren't going well, I would see you, I would watch you, and you would never. You would never emotionally emotional. And I think I even said to you one time, I was like, maybe you should, like, show a little bit more emotion.

[Jack]

His wife's price of that, too.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. But there was one specific time, and it was like, towards the end where I remember we were, like, going out. Like, it was half time, and I was like, one of the last ones in the locker room, and you, like, let out a scream and, like, slammed your fist on the. On the locker. And I remember thinking myself good. Like, that's. He needs that. And I think we ended up going, like, winning that game. But I want us to know, like, kind of your fond memories, because there's been a lot we talked about. We talked about a lot of valleys here, but, like, it doesn't take away from, like, you, how good of a player you are, how much you've accomplished in your life. So I just want to roll down memory lane.

[Marcus Mariota]

I like it. I like it. Gosh, one of my favorite memories. Tennessee, huh?

[Taylor Lewan]

13 Wolverine past 12 duo. Is that a fond memory for you?

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, man.

[Jack]

We talking about Titans or.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, that's all I know.

[Jack]

How do we bring this back to Tennessee? How do we bring it here?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. How do we bring it back here?

[Jack]

Yeah, yeah. To, like, their team. Wolverine.

[Taylor Lewan]

Only thing I know. Right. Exactly.

[Marcus Mariota]

Gosh, my favorite memory has probably got to be Jackson. We played Jacksonville at home to get in the playoffs, and 17 was kind of up and down year for me, battling a lot of injuries. Like, I was kind of not playing great. And we had a. A fumbled exchange with Derek and. And Jannik ends up getting the ball and returns it for a touchdown. And I remember sitting there like, dude, no way we're about to lose this game. Like we, we were at the time. I think we're like 8 and 4 before we went to the West Coast. And I was like, we were sitting there trying to just scratch and claw to get in. And I remember we get to. We get the ball back. We're just trying to hold the lead. It was third and five or third and six and took the snap. I probably could have thrown Delaney the ball. I mean, never wrong throwing Delaney the ball. But I scrambled and I took off to the left and I ended up getting the first down. And I remember sliding and looking up to the stand. I was trying to find. I was trying to find my family. And I like, kind of spiked the ball. That was kind of like the most emotional thing I've ever done. You know, I was just like, for all that was going on that year, for me personally, just, just being hurt, not playing well. Like, I was like, kind of threw the ball down, was like, yeah, I know I can still do this. And I remember getting that first down and Delaney had to grab me because he thought I was going to say something to. I think it was church, maybe something like that.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Because you did do the stare down.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

But it was nothing to him. It was nothing to him. I just had so much emotion built up, I think from kind of that year in 17. But that's a fond memory for me because it was like, regardless of what was going on, like, we still found a way to win. And like, Delaney being there, having my back, having, having, making sure I was like, not doing too much, but like, hey, we got another game to play and like, for us to get in. I don't know what. It was like, maybe a while since we had been in the playoffs for Tennessee. So being able to do that at home in Nashville was. Was a special moment for me. And I mean, who can forget the Kansas City game? Like, that was wild. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Was it 21 3.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, my goodness.

[Taylor Lewan]

At halftime.

[Marcus Mariota]

We should never won that game.

[Taylor Lewan]

I never should have won that game.

[Marcus Mariota]

Should have never won that game.

[Taylor Lewan]

You threw a touchdown pass to yourself.

[Jack]

I mean, I. I remember where I was when you guys came back. Like, I was in my buddy John Wigger. I was in his basement. We were playing.

[Taylor Lewan]

Last name.

[Jack]

Yeah. And we were. We were playing pool and I remember seeing it, halftime, like, this isn't even exactly game.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right.

[Jack]

And then by the end of it, it's like, these came back and won.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yes. Beat them.

[Marcus Mariota]

That was. That's another really fun memory.

[Taylor Lewan]

That was. That was the coldest game I've ever played in my life.

[Marcus Mariota]

That was.

[Taylor Lewan]

That was brutal.

[Marcus Mariota]

That stretch was cold. Jacksonville home was cold.

[Taylor Lewan]

Jacksonville at home to Kansas City.

[Marcus Mariota]

Then we went to New England, got donkeyed.

[Taylor Lewan]

We got murdered, bro.

[Marcus Mariota]

Philip Supernova came up to me. It was like, I don't know, we were losing, whatever it was. And he goes, bro, I'm open down the middle. I'm like, philip, it doesn't matter, bro.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's over. It is so done. That Kansas City game was awesome.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yes.

[Taylor Lewan]

Do you ever regret whenever we tried to put in tackle eligible plays for me, you throwing the ball too fast in practice and I would drop it and then they would take.

[Marcus Mariota]

You got a touchdown bat.

[Taylor Lewan]

I know, but there was a lot of opportunities before then as well. And I specifically remember you rocketing a few just above my head. And it felt very intentional.

[Marcus Mariota]

It was intentional.

[Taylor Lewan]

I knew it was intentional. There was this.

[Marcus Mariota]

It was more just a laugh at practice.

[Taylor Lewan]

But then I felt my. I felt my dreams, like slipping through my fingers every single time you threw.

[Jack]

That football mark saying, if he can handle these, he'll get the one.

[Marcus Mariota]

Exactly. I just wanted to build confidence, you know?

[Taylor Lewan]

I know. I was so nervous.

[Jack]

That's all I got going back to about.

[Marcus Mariota]

Can I cut off real quick? So we were sitting there and we had this tackle eligible play against the Colts and we had practiced it all week and he had dropped it. I remember going into it every time and he. I remember coming in through the headset and I'm like, I'm just gonna throw it at his body so he can't drop it. So I come out of it, come out of the fake and I see him go like this. His eyes are so big at me. Like.

[Taylor Lewan]

Hey, I was so nervous.

[Jack]

He was.

[Marcus Mariota]

I never. He's never nervous about anything. And he was. I just. That was a. I can still remember his eyes like this. And I threw like a little like just at his. At his stomach.

[Taylor Lewan]

Like you're throwing to your. Like you're throwing to r. Trying to teach her to catch a ball for the first time. Muffin it right in there. Thank you.

[Marcus Mariota]

Turn around. Score to touchdown.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, yeah, dude. The podcast, now that fired me up. We are up this episode to bring you two simply safe. What do you want to keep safe, right? Family, kids, your house, your car, all the things traditional security systems only take action after someone has already broken in. And let me be honest, that's too late. Simply Simplisafe is setting the new standard in home security with Active Guard outdoor protection. Simplisafe's monitoring agents can help prevent break ins before they happen. We're talking about AI powered cameras backed with live Professional monitoring agents monitor your property and detect suspicious activity. If someone's lurking around or acting suspiciously, those agents see and talk to them in real time. Activity spotlights and even contact the police, helping to proactively deter threats before they can escalate into a crisis. You can get 50% off your new Simply Face Simply Safe system with pro monitoring and your first month [e-mail] bus again, that's simplisafe.com bussin there's no safe like Simplisafe. Let's get back to this episode.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Jack]

I'd like to dive back into a valley. Here's why. Here's why. What I appreciate so much about this conversation is you're such an accomplished athlete. Like it doesn't matter if you're a Heisman, a second overall pick, like you've had an 11 year career like you had have an incredible life that I know you're grateful for. And getting like having these conversations, like a lot of stuff that you consume is about everybody's highlights. And I'm appreciative that you're so transparent in these low moments because I feel like everybody watching like it goes through stuff like when you're talking about getting benched or this happening like in my brain there's like something you're speaking to that I'm relating to in my journey. And I feel like everybody does that. It doesn't matter how high you are. It's like everybody goes through this human factor factor of bringing it back to internal talking with a psychologist, like getting over whatever those mental blocks are to allow your body to do what it's capable of doing. So that's why I love, like, talking about the valleys and going to the time where you were talking about in Philly, Was there a moment where you're talking to your wife and talking about, like, retiring and not wanting to do it anymore?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

And that was the place you were thinking about, hey, once this training camp's over.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

I was like, maybe they're not, but I think I'm gonna hang it up.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah. I mean, I was feeling that after Atlanta, just kind of how everything transpired there. And the negative kind of, you know, you try to say, like, oh, nothing gets to you. Right. Like, I. I mean, I don't even have social media, but, like, that stuff was getting to me about, like, oh, he's a quitter. This and that. Like, he. And I was like, I've never been. That's never been who I am. Never been labeled as that. And it's like, it felt like it was attacking my character and my integrity. And so I was like, man, I was like, f this. I don't. I don't need this. Like, why would I. Why would I just set myself up for that? And, like, after Atlanta, I had met with the sports psychologist who I'm currently working with, and, you know, we felt like we're kind of overcoming some of these hurdles, but it's really. Not until you go through it again or, like, you go and you're actually out there on the field, you realize, like, wait, I'm not. I'm not. Okay. Okay. You know, like, my anxiety, like, these. These things are still bothering me. And so really, like, I mean, I was like, we had this open. We had this open stadium practice when I was in Philly, and. Which is wild, by the way. They sell those out.

[Jack]

So there's practices at Philly. How many people.

[Marcus Mariota]

Whatever the stadium holds, I think it was like 70 some thousand people, the.

[Jack]

Whole stadium for the.

[Marcus Mariota]

It was like an open scrimmage and that really, like, you know, you had open practices or whatever. But, like, that was the first time I had been in a stadium gym full of people like that since the whole thing in Atlanta. And, bro, I could not. I mean, I could not throw a ball. Could not throw a ball. I was like, my. My fear, my anxiety, like, everything was just, like, through the roof. And so I ended up just running around. Like, I was like. They were calling plays, and I was just scrambling, just trying to, like, move the ball. And I remember coming out of that game or the scrimmage, and I was like, Dude, I'm. This is not it. I don't care. I remember looking at my wife like, I'm good on this. Like, I don't. I don't need it. And it just kind of. It compiled like, I went into this next preseason game against Baltimore did okay. Cleveland. I was, like, a mess. And I was like, after the Cleveland, I really thought I was gonna get cut. I was playing so bad, and I was just, like, almost in my mind, I was, like, hoping. Like, I was like, I hope they just cut me, and I just, like, walk off with it and move on. And that's when Howie kind of sat me down after the. The Cleveland game was like, hey, I'm gonna try to kind of help you out here. And through that process, through that year, working with g. My sports psychologist, like, I really kind of just started to separate myself from what that anxiety and that fear is. And a lot of it is. Is external. A lot of it is, like, you're so worried about what maybe other people are thinking about you that you don't really realize that that's affecting who you are and what you're about. And my nature as a people pleaser, I think kind of really sets that off. Like, I naturally want to be liked. I want people to appreciate me as a person. So when something that I identify with, specifically football, isn't allowing me to do that, and people are like, man, you suck. Like, you're not worth this. You know, you're not worth a. And, like, then I'm like, well, if I'm not able to be liked because of the one thing that I feel I'm good at, then I'm kind of, like, lost. And being able to really kind of realize that and take a step away from it and be around, really. Alex Tanny was with me, like, help me through that. Brian Johnson, who's on staff with the commanders, like, they all kind of helped me through that avenue to where, like, I played in the last game against the Giants. Jay had gotten hurt before the playoff game and didn't. I played okay. But, like, I was, like, the first time I can remember, like, telling Kyomi, like, it was the first time I played, like, somewhat free since really college. And I think a lot of that was because there was a lot of expectations. He came to Tennessee. When I got to the Raiders, like, I was playing in my hometown. Like, there was expectations there. Then when you go to Atlanta, it's like, you know, you're asked to be the guy there, and it just kind of reacts, kind of does that whole thing again.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

So, yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, like, I had to really come to terms with the fear and the anxiety that I was dealing with and that I needed to be able to communicate those things because it did affect me and it affected how I was playing.

[Jack]

Take a moment to shout out your wife because you're somebody who is probably when you're in front of everybody else or in the locker room, you can't really see what the emotion is or what's going on with Marcus, you're a quiet guy, but I'm sure you're having these conversations with your wife through the ups and downs. And how pivotal was she through all this as an athlete, too, here at or.

[Marcus Mariota]

You're gonna make me cry on this podcast, and I want to do that.

[Taylor Lewan]

We've all cried, right? Yeah.

[Jack]

Yeah. Trust me, we'll cry with you.

[Taylor Lewan]

I promise.

[Marcus Mariota]

She's. Yeah. I mean, everything that I could ever ask for. She was an athlete herself, which I think think for us has been great because she understands the valleys and understands the peaks and very, very fortunate. She's an unbelievable mother, which I think has made me realize how much I even love her more, because I don't think you really realize until your significant other has maybe a child or that you really realize, like, how much you really do care about them. So. So, yeah, we've been through a lot. She is kind of the ying to the yang. I always joke that she's the social one and I'm not. She's the one that everyone likes and I'm not. But very, very fortunate and, yeah, blessed to have her in my life.

[Jack]

I love that.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is beautiful.

[Jack]

Just wait for the tell off. She seems like you gotta get her on.

[Marcus Mariota]

She's a firecracker.

[Taylor Lewan]

I said a couple times before we started this book, I was like, you can come sit down. She's like, no, I'm good.

[Jack]

Yeah, we'll give you a mic. No doubt. Because I'm fascinated.

[Taylor Lewan]

Is there anything you do want to say? Yeah.

[Jack]

Don'T let her get going, dude.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Congrats on two kids, man.

[Marcus Mariota]

Thank you.

[Jack]

How did that throw a wrinkle in everything while you're going through all these ebbs and flows?

[Marcus Mariota]

No doubt.

[Jack]

Trying to be present at home while also trying to pour in, into your craft and get back, you know, out of the funk that you were in?

[Marcus Mariota]

For sure. I think what really kind of set me off maybe a little bit was after having Micaiah in Atlanta and had everything that had happened, I can just Remember sitting there holding her and thinking about, man, I should have done this on this play, or I shouldn't have thrown this, or, I wish I would have checked to this. And then I'm sitting there, like, five minutes later, like, dude, there's something wrong with this. You know what I mean? Like, I'm sitting there holding my child, who's maybe a week old, and I'm thinking about decisions and plays that I did wrong. And that's when I was, like, really searching. That's when I ended up getting a sports psychologist, because I was like, there's not, like I. There's. There's nothing in this world that should take me away from her. And it was. And I was like, that's not. For me. It wasn't worth it. So they've been a great perspective for me, and I think it's really helped me kind of iron out a lot of that fear and a lot of that anxiety, because I don't want my kids to be afraid to talk about it if they do have it right. Like, I want my kids to be able to be vulnerable and be open to having conversations, whether it's with us or with other people, because I think that's how we all internally grow. So I think for me, it's been the biggest blessing because it's helped me kind of overcome a lot of these things that I've been dealing with.

[Jack]

Yeah, I love that.

[Taylor Lewan]

Having kids is. Changes. Changes everything.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

And I get what you're saying, too, with the. Like, I remember having a win, and she was born in July 1, and then a couple weeks later, I'm in camp. But I would get done with camp, and I'd be thinking about tomorrow's practice or the film. I messed up this play.

[Marcus Mariota]

Right.

[Taylor Lewan]

And, yeah, it's so consuming when football becomes that consuming. It takes away from the fun. It takes away from the reason why you started playing the game in the first place. It's so hard to get out of that mental gymnastic of how tough, like, the smallest things can set you off when they used to. Not at all.

[Marcus Mariota]

Right.

[Jack]

Yeah, man, I. Yeah. Because there's parts of me that feels like I got lucky having Rue because we had our first around the same time. So I was actually about to go out to Atlanta, but even leaving however old Ru was at that time, and feeling like, man, it kind of sucks. Like, hey, shout out NFL moms and wives that are out there for sure. Because just knowing that what we pour, like, talking for myself, and then you probably now being out of the league. Like what you have to pour into a profession like this at a level that you've obsessed about for your entire life. And knowing how that can like, you know, again, I feel like I'm like thankful that I had rue kind of after the fact because of how much you have to pour into everything at home and knowing that, you know, your unbelievable wife has to sacrifice a lot of stuff for us to chase our dream. And it's when I was thinking about going out to Atlanta or playing, it's like, damn, she's going to have to do. Do all this stuff that, you know, in the off season you have to help out on. You're there, you're intentional, you're all of it.

[Marcus Mariota]

Absolutely. Well, like, I don't mean to cut you off, but like, that's like right now, right? Like I'm. We start April 22nd and I'm not gonna move my entire family out there for seven weeks or eight weeks of the OTA period. So like she's gonna be here in Oregon for Monday through Thursdays by herself and it's basically she becomes like a single mother. Right. And then I come pop in on Friday for the weekends and. And you know, it's just, I don't think a lot of people understand like what that is and how that operates really on a day to day basis for a lot of these families. Because that's not, it's not just me, you know, I mean, guys like Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner, like, they have kids, you know, that are on the west coast that they're going to be traveling back and forth to.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

And it's just everyone kind of sees the end product on Sundays. But like, it is, it's, it is strenuous on the families and, and to have someone solid at home to be able to take care of those things is really important.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. It's such a unique balance of like having gratitude for being able to do something that 1% of 1% get to do.

[Marcus Mariota]

Right.

[Taylor Lewan]

And also being as present as you possibly can when you do get home because it's just like you got to turn, like turn that switch on and.

[Jack]

Coming home and probably wanting to kind of talk about your day or a practice and you're. Then you kind of like check yourself like right.

[Taylor Lewan]

On the flip side too. Like, I mean, Taylor had to deal with that, you know, Know, especially when I had win shortly after that was like the acl, the bad season and they like. So there was just like so much turmoil and I was a shell of myself. And I would remember going, like, my knee would be hurting. I have a bad game or something like that. And then I'd go into the next week and have practice on a Wednesday and come home and she's like, oh, today was tough. And I selfishly, I'm thinking to myself, like, bro, you don't know how tough this is. You know what I'm saying? Like, obviously what they're doing is no doubt. I'm like, truly trying to be as honest as possible where I was mentally sure. Because I would sit there and be like, bro, this doesn't work, and I have to go do things that this needs to work for.

[Marcus Mariota]

Right.

[Taylor Lewan]

And it's just like, it's. It's crazy how selfish you can get if you, like, allow yourself to. Then definitely, like, towards the end of my career, I was like, I could look back at that and be like, wow. Like, I was very selfish about me and, like, everything that was going on with me as opposed to, like, seeing what she was having to go through. So it's. Yeah, having kids is definitely me.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's a good perspective.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

It definitely equalizes a lot of things.

[Jack]

Should we hit him with the Bud Light question?

[Taylor Lewan]

We should. I want to see if Jack.

[Jack]

We'll give Jack. We'll give Jack a moment.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

So, you know, people do anything for an ice cold Bud Light. Anything. What is something that you would do anything for families off the table? If we've learned anything about this podcast, we have to take family off the table because that's where you'll go.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jack]

So you got to take family off the table. What is something that you would do anything for?

[Marcus Mariota]

Give me an example.

[Jack]

It's a great question.

[Taylor Lewan]

Who had a good one? It wasn't Dale.

[Jack]

So somebody.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Steve Renella says, who does Meat eater was like, I want to do a documentary that I don't think anybody will ever care about, but I need to do the documentary. He wouldn't tell us on camera. He told us off camera, but. But he's like, that's what I would do anything for.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, wow. I think mine's actually, to me, a little bit interesting, I guess maybe for me, but I would do anything to go to. It's called the Nepali coast on Kauai, and they have these secluded beaches that you only get to by boat. And I would do anything to get there and have an empty lineup up and my boogie board and fins and just be there all day and catch barrels and get shacked and not a worry in the world.

[Jack]

That Seems like a vibe.

[Taylor Lewan]

Dude, the boogie board, that's a good one. That is solid jazz.

[Jack]

It's hard to think outside of the. Obviously it's like especially with kids and everything else. Family for sure.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

I got.

[Taylor Lewan]

I got a question.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, see this is the most nervous I've been all day.

[Corey Levin]

No, no, Downtown.

[Marcus Mariota]

Don't.

[Corey Levin]

I'd love that. I have a two part question. Football related and then non football one. It could be from high school, college or pros. Who is your favorite teammate you ever had and favorite coach?

[Marcus Mariota]

Can I say these guys or.

[Corey Levin]

No, no, you cannot say them. It's a cop out.

[Taylor Lewan]

But if, but if you were going to say that's an option for a player.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, first of all, I mean he. He probably has $100,000 in fines for me, so I really enjoyed my time with him. Him. Gosh, you know, put me on the spot because I. I've played with so many great guys. Yeah, it's probably my dog. Actually he just retired or officially had his retirement party on Sunday.

[Jack]

Who's this?

[Marcus Mariota]

Hironus Grassu, he was my center here. Congratulations to him by the way. Got inducted into the Oregon hall of Fame. Fame. University of Oregon hall of Fame. 1. I don't know how many offensive linemen are in it, but yeah, so he's probably one of very few. So we're pretty cool. But that's my guy and been through a lot of things up and downs. Had a great time in Oregon, but he was there with me in Tennessee. Was also there with me and with the Raiders and yeah, just my guy. Like special dude, special family and now he gets to be a trophy hustler. Been so congratulations my guy.

[Jack]

Favorite coach?

[Corey Levin]

Yes, favorite coach.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh man, I would say Mark Helfrich, he was my head coach here. He was also the offensive coordinator when I got here. He taught me so much more than just football and I think to this day that's why we're so close. He lives here in Eugene, we play golf. You know, he's had. Had our families over. Like he's just an unbelievable person who's been through a lot and I think like being able just to have someone in your corner like that that you can always rely on is. Is special. And he probably had the. Honestly, I could go on record in saying this, but he probably had the worst team meeting. He was. He's a very smart guy and he would lose probably half the room when he would go through some of his pre game speeches. But for me he was just unbelievable and I love him to death. And yeah, he's just one of a kind.

[Corey Levin]

Amazing. All right, last question. Non football related. You're back home, you go to the gas station, build out your perfect hot plate.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, I wouldn't go to a gas station because I'm an ev guy, but I would say if I had. So back home in Hawaii, they do spam musubis. So it's like it's spam on top of rice that's wrapped with nori or seaweed. So I'd have one of those. That sounds brutal.

[Jack]

Honestly.

[Marcus Mariota]

If you get lucky, you can't get a little egg or, you know, something else on there. It's unbelievable no matter what you think. But it's great. And then I would probably get along lines of like we call it Korean fried ch. Korean fried chicken. So they do like, it's a. Like a sesame type of teriyaki sauce and they put some chili flakes in there. So it have that and espam sa. Beautiful.

[Corey Levin]

Thank you for your time.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, hold on, wait. What would your hot plate be?

[Corey Levin]

I've only had the experience of it once. My brother lives in Maui and has for 10 years. And I want to say it was some local. Just some kind of pork, some macaroni salad, cold obviously, and probably lots of rice. Yeah, I think it was just another.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Corey Levin]

Decided rice. And hopefully they just got some nice house sauce in there. You can just drizzle it all over. So I think that's probably a good howly play for me.

[Marcus Mariota]

But you know, it's safe. It's safe. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Appreciate it.

[Jack]

You don't have anything else, Jack?

[Corey Levin]

I've got my trivia after this, but okay.

[Marcus Mariota]

Oh, trivia.

[Taylor Lewan]

Quick trivia. Jack brought up Hale's. Is there really a beat up Hal day?

[Marcus Mariota]

My mom grew up on Kauaheo. They have beat up holidays. They don't have it anymore though.

[Jack]

What is that?

[Taylor Lewan]

What is the Holly's like white be.

[Marcus Mariota]

Of the white Foreigner. Foreigner.

[Taylor Lewan]

Nah, it's white. The white kids.

[Jack]

They go to a day and get beat up.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Like you go to school and it's like it's beat up Halley day. Which by the way, no, not even a fun name to go with it. They should have like another cool beat up H day. Yeah.

[Jack]

And y'all just beat up the. Y'all just beat up the white. We gotta initiate them.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, they roll the dice.

[Jack]

This is real.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, they roll the dice. The first dice is how many minutes. The second dice is how many people is that?

[Jack]

Is there true to that?

[Taylor Lewan]

No, no, no, that's like a gang thing.

[Jack]

Like, damn. Is this for real? Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So your mom took part in that, didn't she?

[Marcus Mariota]

She wouldn't go to school.

[Taylor Lewan]

That's sweet.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Oh, when it was beat up H day, she just would skip out on school. Yeah, that seems right. Marcus, coming from that. Yeah.

[Marcus Mariota]

He came from a good family.

[Taylor Lewan]

He's got a good.

[Jack]

Don't want no part of that.

[Taylor Lewan]

No doubt. When it's all said and done where you're in a living.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yep. I'll be £300 on a boogie board somewhere. Come find me.

[Taylor Lewan]

I love it. Dude.

[Jack]

Man, this has been an incredible conversation. Oh, it's been a. I legitimately appreciate it, man. Talking through the. The peaks and especially the valleys, all the transparency. I do. It's like, you know, it shows you who you are.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

And it's. It's rare. You get guys that, you know, that want to sit in some of those uncomfortable spaces and talk about it, you know, knowing it's going to give views, and that's hard for a lot of people. And I do. I genuinely appreciate it.

[Marcus Mariota]

No, thank you, guys. We gotta do it on the bus, though.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Yeah. You know, but, hey, you've been. We've been wanting to get you locked in.

[Marcus Mariota]

It's for sure.

[Jack]

It's been since the beginning. So it's like, hey, we're gonna be out in Eugene. I just. I just. I was driving home and I was just thought to myself, I wonder if, for whatever reason, Marcos would be out in. In Oregon, because you mentioned your boy. Who's it? Ryan Flaherty. Flaherty. I remember listening to him on a podcast.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah, he used to do all the Nike podcasts. Yes.

[Jack]

Yeah. Love his stuff. Shout out Ryan.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

But I just remember thinking, like, I wonder if he'll be out there. You're like, Yep. Until the 22nd. I'm like, Buddy, it's time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because we talk about it every year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Every year we got to get Marcus.

[Jack]

Because we're with him out in. What was it, Vegas last year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yep.

[Jack]

When that. When that little moment went down in the hotel and I kind of had.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Jack]

The ACD kind of had to shut it down.

[Taylor Lewan]

That was.

[Jack]

That was two years ago. Crazy. That was insane. Marcus loved it. He's like, hey, I got this game. What's the game called?

[Taylor Lewan]

It's called AC Ducey. Right?

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah.

[Jack]

AC Doocy. Did you tell your wife about this?

[Marcus Mariota]

No. Now you're gonna get me in trouble.

[Taylor Lewan]

You. You weren't.

[Marcus Mariota]

I don't think you got.

[Taylor Lewan]

I think we all could. Well, we all could have lost a lot of money if someone. If you were like, hey, we can't do this. Everyone's like, yeah, let's not do this.

[Jack]

Because it got to a point that either Ben or somebody put their car in the middle because there was so much money on the table. I forget the AC Part of AC.

[Marcus Mariota]

Ducey is like, it's not even really skill. It's just like, what the cards come out.

[Jack]

Yeah. But this round, it was going so long.

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, we kept hitting post. So, like, basically, A.C. ducey works is you have to get in between the numbers. So, like, if you get, like, a jack and a two, like, you want a number in between. If you go outside of that, you have to pay whatever you bet. If you hit a post, you have to double whatever you bet. So people will say, like, pot, and they'll hit a post. So they'll hit jack or whatever the other number was, and then they have to match the pot and double it.

[Jack]

Match the pot and double it.

[Marcus Mariota]

Got a little excessive because the way.

[Jack]

He explained it, it's like, you know, it probably was over a couple. A couple thousand. Yeah. We had to split it up. We had to, like, hey, let's just get back to zero.

[Marcus Mariota]

Two years ago.

[Taylor Lewan]

That was two years ago. That was when Arya. You. Yeah, you.

[Jack]

Somebody put a car.

[Taylor Lewan]

You love the tables.

[Marcus Mariota]

I do. I would say if there. If there's a vice in my life, it's gambling.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, but you do it so responsibly.

[Marcus Mariota]

I try to. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. But I remember we would do old line trips, and you would come out and some of the boys would go out and they'd be like, yeah, I saw Marcus at 7am When I got back, just on the craps table with, like, a hundred bucks, just like, hey, what's up, man? I just love playing.

[Jack]

Well, have you heard about. Have you heard about our boy?

[Taylor Lewan]

You would love this.

[Jack]

He's. He's heavy on the gambling now.

[Taylor Lewan]

Big.

[Marcus Mariota]

Really?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. I got caught up with Dana, and Dana was like, blackjack. Yeah, black. Well, it was blackjack. Now it's baccarat. Oh, and banker. Banker. Depends what the screen says.

[Jack]

And we're talking how. How. How hard the hands, the limits.

[Taylor Lewan]

You go the max.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So, like, one hand.

[Marcus Mariota]

That's what people in the high roller.

[Taylor Lewan]

One hand's 30.

[Marcus Mariota]

I'm gonna. That catch me on the crabs table.

[Taylor Lewan]

See, the craps table is fun. I feel it's more social.

[Jack]

That was back when we were just we get some drinks. We're running the football. We're having the football. Turn 200.

[Taylor Lewan]

I wonder what's going to happen here. Yeah, that was so much fun. We were like. There was like five or six of us just sitting there.

[Jack]

Few hundred hands, then we're up in the room and all that. I don't know how much cash we had, but it felt like it was like 30 or $40,000 in the middle. And then somebody wanted to put a car in, and nobody was hitting whatever the term was, the post or the pot, or somebody hit the pot, have to double it. And it was like, hey, fellas, let's. Yeah, let's just separate all this. Let everybody get money.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, that was a terrifying one.

[Marcus Mariota]

That's right. Yeah, that's right. Then he lost it that night playing blackjack.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Who's that? Corey.

[Marcus Mariota]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack]

Corey. Corey. The next morning, we, like. We, like, shared. We shared a room. And I come out of my room, and he's just standing. We're, like, up there in the hotel, and he's just standing, looking out the blinds, and, like, all I say is Corey. And he just goes. He's standing right there in his briefs, and he just goes, man, what are we chasing out here?

[Marcus Mariota]

Well, he won. I mean, he won a good amount of money that day. And then I remember sitting there at the blackjack table, like, that's all gone.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Was that the same. Were we. Did we go to Mr. Chow's that night? Night. Was that that same night?

[Jack]

Yeah. Where we got. Oh, either Chows or pizza.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, we went to Chow, and I think Mitch was like, didn't Cory win 10,000? And Cory's, like, slumped in a chair so sad, and someone's like, does that look like a guy that's won $10,000?

[Marcus Mariota]

We shouldn't laugh about that.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, he's all right. Cory's doing great, man.

[Marcus Mariota]

He's doing great.

[Taylor Lewan]

I think he's back with the Titans again.

[Jack]

Yeah, I think he. Is he back?

[Taylor Lewan]

I think so.

[Marcus Mariota]

Gosh.

[Taylor Lewan]

Cockroach can't kill him.

[Marcus Mariota]

9.

[Taylor Lewan]

Something like that, ma'am.

[Jack]

I think he's going on 8.

[Taylor Lewan]

He had a year he didn't even play right.

[Jack]

Yeah, I think he was, like, in the training camp with Chicago. That's when you hit him with your. Built like a muffin or something.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Saved his career. Yeah, we were playing. We were playing. This is 2020, so we were playing.

[Jack]

Risk, and it was in the middle of COVID games.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. I'd be in California. We play like. I was like one in the morning where I was at. So I had to be like three where you guys were at. And we played three games of Risk in a row. And Corey was talking one day, oh, Corey, you're built like a muffin. Just like going out.

[Jack]

And it got quiet. Like it was kind of awkward. Like, damn, Taylor's being. Because I think Corey said something like a pencil. And he took a photo and like.

[Taylor Lewan]

You know, you're building a pencil, Taylor.

[Jack]

And then Taylor that night on the mic was just ripping into him. Everybody's just kind of quiet. Like, oh my God.

[Taylor Lewan]

The next day, like 8am sends us a photo of him at the field grinding.

[Jack]

And now he looks incredible.

[Taylor Lewan]

He looks better. Yeah. Now it's like, hey, Corey, like, you're welcome. Sometimes you got to bully a kid to put him on the where he needs to go. Shout out Corey Levin. Corey all right, let's lock it up.

[Jack]

Feel good? I feel amazing.

[Taylor Lewan]

This is awesome.

[Jack]

Listen to it twice.

[Marcus Mariota]

Thank you.

[Taylor Lewan]

So nice. You listen to it twice. Subscribe Rate 5 stars the whole thing big hugs 10 of kisses 21 plus.

[Jack]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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