LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET
October 19, 2023
Opening Statement: “Word on the street is (Lions Special Teams Coordinator) Dave Fipp is a tough act to follow today. He had some stories? Shoot, I’ve got nothing. I was just putting it out there. How about we talk about the Baltimore Ravens today, though. Can we do that? Yeah, no, this is a phenomenal defense. I mean, we’ve had – this will be the second week in a row we have on the road, tough environments and really stingy groups that we’re about to face. These guys are built strong right down the middle. They’ve got some really good defensive tackles that do a great job stuffing the run. Their backers are some of the best in the business and then their safety play is up there as well, 14 has really come along in his second year, he pops out on tape. So, when you have that strong interior and then they’ve got some good guys on the edge, they’re leading the League in sacks right now, really, really tough challenge for us here this week. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
On if the ‘cat and mouse’ game is more intense in their planning this week because of how the Ravens have been creating unique gameplans for each of their opponents: “Yeah, I don’t know if it’s more so than normal, but no. I think it might – we might get into the game a little bit to kind of figure out how they want to attack us, at least in certain spots and situations. There are some things, some no, they have an identity and they know who they want to be, so they don’t stray away from that. It’s a physical group that shows up week in and week out. But yeah, in terms of scheme, they mix it up pretty good week to week. Coordinator does a great job. (Lions Defensive Backs Coach) Brian Duker has worked with them in the past. He kind of calls them a (Giants Defensive Coordinator Don) Wink Martindale protégé and clone, so it’ll be a challenge. You know Wink’s a tough one to go against, we saw him there in training camp, so a lot of similarities. He’s got his own flair and style on it, but it’s – it’ll be a good challenge.”
On the biggest challenges the Ravens will present in the red zone: “Yeah, truthfully, haven’t even focused in on red zone yet, just our weekly process. That’ll be something that we dive into more tonight as we formulate that plan. But, they are – I believe they’re ranked second in the League right now. Last week, we were 0-for-2, so I know we have to get a lot better there and, certainly, take a peak at what they’re doing really well. For us, last week wasn’t up to snuff. We get the ball, the defense does a heck of a job with the turnover and we’re inside the red zone, we don’t come away with a touchdown, that’s really disappointing. So, we’ve got to hold up our end when our defense is playing that well.”
On the value of the increased usage of snap motion around the League this season: “It’s – I think if you know how defenses are going to handle it, you can certainly use it to your advantage. Now that more tape is coming out, you can kind of see how defenses are dealing with it and so I think that’s where you’ll see more offenses start to use it, if that’s a good answer, because there’s more tape. As a copycat League, they see it more, so you can address it. Obviously, Miami, San Fran, a few of those teams, they’ve been at the forefront of that movement. I told you back when (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) and I were in Miami, we did a little bit of it, not as much as we’re doing now, but it certainly helps our guys create some access at times on the perimeter or puts them in some tough situations to communicate.”
On the aspects of the Ravens’ defense that they will try to take away from them: “I don’t know. I think that’s what was encouraging about last week is they did make us one-dimensional. We did not run the ball well at all, a number of reasons for that, that we’re looking to clean up. But I thought our guys responded really well. We had to start throwing, heck we had – fourth quarter we’re up by a couple scores and we knew we wanted to produce a time-consuming drive and we had to do it through the air and third-down conversions were a big part of that, but (Lions QB) Jared (Goff) was able to find some guys, we were able to stay inbounds and I think milk seven-plus minutes off the clock there to help put the game away, so. We are versatile, we can shape, we can go whatever direction we need to go because we have the players that can do it.”
On if the offense feels more complete this season compared to years past: “Yeah, no doubt since I’ve been here, sure, yeah, year five for me, so no doubt.”
On the challenges they are facing with the running back depth due to injuries and how Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and Craig Reynolds will help balance it out when they are cleared to return from their injuries: “Yeah, they’ll get plenty of opportunities here in practice to get the experience they need for the game. (Lions RB David Montgomery) D-Mo’s a major blow. He was a bell cow for us, but like we’ve had so often already this year in the receiver room, in the O-line room, someone will step up and rise to the occasion. There’s no doubt about it.”
On if the confidence he has that the running backs will step up despite injuries is because of the experience they have with these types of situations: “Yeah, that’s really kind of since (Lions Head) Coach Dan (Campbell) came in, we’re a very resilient group as an offense, as a team and guys tend to rise to the occasion when they get an opportunity.”
On the areas in which he has seen Lions QB Jared Goff grow since joining the franchise: “The biggest growth I’ve seen from Jared has really been more in the drop-back game. Since he got here, he was known as a movement and play-action guy when we got him, but his ability to diagnose defenses, regulate the protection, make sure he’s covered, understand where his issues could potentially be, he’s grown there in the last few years. And he has complete control of our offense right now.”
On what Lions WR Kalif Raymond brings to the wide receiver room as a leader: “Yeah, shoot, yeah, Steady Eddy. He’s the same guy every day showing up, very professional. He’s one of the most selfless guys I’ve been around in this League, and I think when you start winning games, like we’re doing, guys are – they all want to be involved and have a hand in it and he’s just a guy, ‘Hey, however I can help, however I can help, whatever it is. Is it blocking? Is it give me a punt return? Is it a deep ball? Whatever it is, I just want to help this team, help this offense.’ He’s got that mindset and mentality and really, it carries through for that whole room.”
On the challenges an offense faces when playing against a good linebacker unit: “Yeah, there are different styles every week, but this particular group, they are just as physical as they are, excellent athletes that can run sideline to sideline, so normally when you have the super athletic second level defenders that run sideways, we’ll go downhill on them. Well, this group compensates really well for that. They’ll come, they’ll fill gaps and pull you off your double teams quickly, so it’s challenging, it’s challenging. There’s no doubt we’ll see if we can hopefully make their eyes go different directions to slow them down, but this group’s as good as we’ve seen all year, really the last few years.”
On if there is a unique way they have to approach the Ravens’ dominant linebacker unit that is strong in defending the run game: “Yeah, and it’s not just in the run game either. In coverage, these guys are both excellent, excellent. They keep nickel on the field at all times. They have no problem taking a linebacker and putting him on a tight end and they do a heck of a job doing it.”
On what he thinks Lions WR Jameson Williams’s touchdown on Sunday has done for his confidence: “No, it was great, it was great because that’s two weeks in a row that he’s practiced really, really well and what happens? A big play shows up on Sunday for us. So, we just need another really good week of practice and maybe the results will be the same again this week, you never know. But we’ve just got to keep stacking good days and good weeks on top of each other and good things will end up resulting from it.”
On how important it is to identify what a defense is trying to do pre-snap: “It’s everything. It’s everything. They’ve got a heck of a blitz package here on third down. Coordinator does a phenomenal job with that and they’re really well-coached, they have been for years and I know he was there before, went to Michigan for a year and came back, but I mean it’s the Baltimore Ravens. It’s every time you play them, so it’s good.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET
October 19, 2023
Opening Statement: “I thought it was really good performance by our players. They execute at a pretty high level at this point. The coaching staffs are doing a really good job of coaching our guys, getting them to understand exactly the vision of what we’re trying to create game in and game out and a lot of that is showing up. The one thing I do know is belief and trust are a powerful thing and those things are really showing up with our players.”
On how different the Baltimore offense is with Ravens Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken who joined the staff this season: “Obviously, you see they’re trying to use (Ravens QB) Lamar (Jackson) to sit in the pocket and throw the ball. He has those capabilities. I mean, their run game is still their run game. I mean, it’s still one of the better ones in the League, with him also as a runner. So, listen, we have our job cut out for us this game. We know that, our staff knows that, the players know that. But again, I expect us to execute at a high level.”
On if keeping Ravens QB Lamar Jackson in the pocket will help the defense be successful: “I think any team would rather do that, but you also have to know that he’s a growing thrower in this League. So, there’s a number of ways that he can hurt you. I mean, this guy was a former MVP and he was there for a reason. So, we’re fully aware of that.”
On if Ravens QB Lamar Jackson playing in the pocket will make him produce shorter runs and help the defense contain him: “Well, that’s not going to change. You don’t take a superpower away from a player when that’s what he does best. So, I expect him to continue to do that.”
On how the Ravens’ offense has evolved with the recent additions to the wide receiver room: “Yeah, well again, you start to see the maturation of (Ravens QB) Lamar (Jackson) being able to sit in the pocket and throw the ball. So, if you’re going to go that route, you might as well give them weapons to be able to throw to. And those guys are pretty explosive. And we all know (Ravens WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.). I mean, he’s been around for a while, so we know what he brings to a table. When you look at (Ravens WR) Zay Flowers, you look at (Ravens WR Rashod) Bateman, obviously we have (Ravens TE Mark) Andrews, we know what he brings to the table, so he’s surrounded by a good amount of explosive players. And we’re fully aware of those players.”
On if all 11 players on the field are needed to try to shut down Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s run game: “Who says shutting it down? I don’t think anybody can just shut him down.”
On if all players on the field are needed to try to contain Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s run game: “Absolutely, it’s 11 guys that are on the field.”
On the balance the deep defenders need to have to contain Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s run game and the threat of the deep ball at the same time: “We’re just going to play defense. We’re going to play defense. So whatever that brings, that’s what we’re going to do. And our plan is to contain him. Our plan is to not let the ball go over our head and whatever we do as far as practice, that’s what we’re going to do in the game.”
On where belief and trust stems from: “Where does it stem from? To me, everything starts top-down. And that starts with our head coach. And then it goes down to the staff, the assistant coaches and then we try to impart that to the players. And then you go out there and practice with each other. And then you start to see players in the right place at the right time, and then that transitions over to game day. And once you start to continue to do that, man that’s when belief and trust start to happen.”
On how well Lions LB Alex Anzalone is currently playing: “Alex is doing a good job.”
On how Lions LB Jack Campbell is performing in an increased role: “Yeah, we’ve said this from the beginning, that player’s going to play because he’s a good player. That’s the reason why we drafted him, so we’re going to continue to develop him. This is the NFL, it’s totally different than college and he understands that. Is he perfect? No, but no player is perfect, but he’s doing a really good job for us.”
On if their success with containing Seahawks QB Geno Smith and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes in the pocket this season is how they plan to contain Ravens QB Lamar Jackson: “You’re talking about two guys that are playing at a high level. And just like I said about Lamar, those two guys you just talked about are going to make some plays. This is the NFL. It’s a lot of good players in this League. I don’t know for a fact, but I think Geno just signed a huge deal. That’s the reason why you sign those guys to that, and we all know what Mahomes is. So man, we do everything we can to contain these guys. But the reality is, they’re going to make some plays. I don’t know why everybody thinks that this is Pop Warner football and those guys are – you can just stop them. But we’re going to do our best to do that and contain them.”
On how Lions CB Will Harris has grown over the last three seasons: “He’s grown mentally, first and foremost, because we ask a lot of that player. And he’s played every position that you could imagine in the backend. And that’s why he’s so valuable to us. And listen, I’ll be the first to say sometimes I take that guy for granted, same way when I had (former Saints CB) P.J. Williams in New Orleans because there are some times where they don’t have any reps in practice at playing a certain spot and when something happens, alright it’s like, ‘Hey, Will, get in and do this.’ And I know for a fact that he can do it. And man, that is a great feeling to have when you know you have a player that’s going to study every position on the field and when something happens, you can insert him in. He does a good job for us at that.”
On what Lions DL Josh Paschal can add to the defense when he is able to return: “Really good run player, really good pocket-pusher. Drafted that player to do exactly that, so once he gets back, we’re expecting him to do those things.”
On if they will ease Lions DL Josh Paschal back into the defense because of his injury: “I think we did it with every player that’s coming off an injury, because you have to get used to the speed of the game, also. So, listen, he’ll play. I can’t tell you how much he’ll play, but he’ll play. So, we just keep him on the field.”
On what goes through a defender’s mind when trying to contain Ravens QB Lamar Jackson who poses threats in the pass and run games: “Well, first off, I hope the guys that are in coverage, stay in coverage, so the ball shouldn’t go over their head. And the guys that are actually tracking him, are playing leverage football because he is a dynamic runner, I mean we all know that. And it’s kind of hard for one person to really tackle him. And when you do that, I mean that’s a pretty damn good job to be able to do that. But the reality is, you need more people around that player. And every team tries to do that. And even when you have that many players, he can escape every now and then. So, when you’re deep, you stay deep and you protect deep. When you’re around that player, man you play leverage football knowing that you have your buddy inside of you, or outside of you to help you as far as containing that player and we expect to do that.”
On if they will address the defense’s areas of weakness by trading before the deadline: “And why are you about to ask me that? We play defense. I coach defense. All that, I mean that’s –”
On if he feels the defense is lacking in certain areas that can be fixed by trading before the deadline: “What I’m lacking? I coach defense, man. And that’s all I worry about. So, I mean the head coach was up here not long ago, wasn’t he? Did you ask him? OK, well he’ll be up here pretty soon and you ask him that.”
On how he has seen Lions LB Derrick Barnes elevate his game: “Well, this is – like a player that I think we’ve all talked about from the beginning of the season, really in training camp. The how he – man, he immersed himself as far as understanding the game of football. He’s always going to take care of his body, that’s just who Barnes is. But man, I will tell you who really, really helped is him being side-by-side with (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone). That was a huge help for him. Alex has seen a lot of ball. I’ve been around Alex for a long time, so I know what he brings to the table. But for him to impart those things mentally, to help Barnes, was huge. And then you see that throughout that linebacker room. I mean, that’s what’s so special about that room. And those guys are not trying to say, ‘Man, I’m trying to do this so I can stay ahead of you and I can get playing time.’ Man, those guys teach and coach each other, for the most part. And we know (Lions Linebackers Coach Kelvin Sheppard) Shep does a good job with those guys in there, so. I mean, it’s a special room. Barnes is a special player, just like the rest of those guys. And we expect him to continue to improve as a player, as he goes on.”
On why Lions LBs Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes work well together: “The Bosom Buddies? Yeah, well I think the first thing is those guys are in the same room and they’re around each other so much. And that happens in this League. These guys get attached and there are some – something about that that’s a common ground. I mean, they’re both family men. They both kind of think the same to some degree. And they both want to be really, really good football players.”
On if it makes him happy to see Lions LB Alex Anzalone receive his flowers this season: “Well, I mean we’ve been giving him his flowers for a long time. I mean, that’s you guys that’s just not giving him his flowers, so. And I don’t think he cares. I think the only thing he cares about is his teammates, his coaches, his family and how he’s going about doing things, so. I’ve always known what he’s going to bring to the table, that’s why he’s been here, that’s why we re-signed him.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
October 19, 2023
Opening Statement: “Guys, there’s this Luke Combs song – I was just upstairs (doing an interview) and we were just talking about football, coaching and all that. There’s this Luke Combs song it says, ‘Doin’ This’ and so then after the interview with him, I went up there and I put it on, and Luke Combs is talking about he just can’t believe it. Reporter asking, ‘What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, that’s the thing, I’d be doing this.’ Right here, it might not be on this stage in front of the Detroit Lions logo with all you guys here, but it might be at a high school or whatever. But ultimately, man, we’re here, blessed and feel good about it, so we’re excited. I mean this is really why you coach, it’s an opportunity to go play against Baltimore in a big game where they’re good on special teams and all that stuff, so it should be fun. Now, Luke Combs also has another song called, ‘The Part.’ You guys know what he talks about on that one? Yeah, it’s kind of ironic. So, then he’s like, ‘Yeah, but there’s also this other part that no one talks about. There’s other things that you’ve got to do in your jobs that you aren’t fired up about or whatever but –’ so it’s that other part too. No one talks about that part. They talk about the songs that bought him the fancy cars and all the good stuff, don’t talk about the grind and staying up late and he’s on the road and doesn’t get to get back home. Anyway, so that’s it. I love music, man. And my favorite part of music is the stories. It’s the same thing I love about these players, all these stories.”
On if he would be fly fishing if he was not coaching: “Yeah, I like fly fishing too, but no, I couldn’t. I mean this is it, man. I love it. I always say I can’t wait to retire or something like that, but I mean there’s no way.”
On the decision to have Lions K Riley Patterson handle kickoffs in the Tampa Bay game: “Yeah, it’s a good question. I thought that would come up there. I thought it would catch you off guard too a little bit, but I apologize. No, for us, it’s a thing he’s been working hard on. I think awhile back I had said that part of the reason why he was here is because he had the ability to both kickoff and kick field goals, and that really is true. And then for him, it’s something he’s worked hard at, it’s something we know that at some point there may be a time where he has to do that for us, and if he has to do that for us because at the end of the day (Lions P Jack) Fox is exceptional at it. He’s outstanding, he’s got an incredible leg and it’s like, ‘Well, why are you having Fox kickoff?’ Well, because he’s one of the best and I’ve always said it’s about winning games and putting the best players out there to play. So, ultimately, that’s kind of why he does it game-to-game, but for us also, it’s kind of like what we talked about earlier in the year, learning how to cover kicks, well what happens if there’s a necessity at some point and Fox is not able to do that for us and what are we going to do? So, it was a good opportunity to get Riley ready for that. We didn’t have to do it, but we thought the conditions would be good. We knew we were going to have to kick both right and left with the wind and all that stuff and he does a good job with both of those things. So, anyways, just a good opportunity to use him.”
On if Lions K Riley Patterson will continue to handle more kickoffs moving forward: “We’ll see. Probably a combination of both at some point. It’ll just kind of depend, but I would say for the most part, (Lions P Jack) Fox is our – probably the number one guy, but I see both guys being able to do it.”
On the decision process of when to return punts after the Lions returned two that were within the 5-yard line in the Tampa Bay game: “Yeah, well I think it’s probably – it’s a tough question to answer just because I think it changes week-to-week a little bit. In that game, a couple of those things were super long punts, 60-something-yard punts where you know you’re getting a handful of return yards with an opportunity to get more if you feel like you matchup good in the return game, holding up some of their coverage players down the field and all that stuff. If you watch that first one in the game, I mean we’re close, (Buccaneers DB Josh Hayes) number 32 makes a great play and comes back and just sweeps his ankle, but had that guy not made that tackle, I think we would’ve had something pretty special there. So, there’s a risk to it, there’s a reward to it. You’re balancing out both those things. You obviously don’t want to put your team in a negative position. We do have a lot of confidence in (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf back there. I think when you have a good player back there and a guy who’s confident in himself and believes he can make something happen, you don’t want to take that away from him too much either, so there’s a fine line. But I believe in everything he did back there. I’ve got no problems with any of it. I think if it comes to a point where we’re taking negative yardage plays and we’re putting the team at risk and not getting the ball past where we think we should – but on the flip side of that, there’s no guarantee that those would’ve been touchbacks either. So, you could say, ‘Well, let the ball bounce.’ Well, if the ball bounces and goes sideways like our last one did in the game and we’re down at the two, then we’re going to be frustrated we didn’t return at all. So, it goes both ways. Ultimately, I guess today when you don’t know if it would’ve been a touchback or not, we could all speculate that it would, but – and then it’s a, ‘Well, why don’t we take it at the 20 instead of the 15 or whatever,’ but we don’t really know that.”
On if there is a rule of thumb in deciding when to returning punts: “Yeah, I think we felt good going into that game about returning the ball. We felt like that guy pushed the ball down the field pretty far. The average return I think against him was 15.6 yards or something close to that.You reminded me of this story, man. I went to Marine Corps’ recruiting depot in San Diego when I was out there recruiting one time. It was kind of during the 9/11 stuff, and so I went up to the front gate and I said, ‘Hey, you mind if I just come in here and say appreciate your guys’ service?’ And the guy’s like, ‘Are you crazy? It’s in the middle of wartime, man. You’re not getting on this base, but I’ve got one thing for you, you can go down the street, you can make a right turn, tell them you’re here to see the graduation ceremony. I was like, ‘Oh God, that’s great.’ So, I go down there, I say, ‘Hey, I’m here to see the graduation.’ The guy searches my car, he lets me in, and I go and I sit in the auditorium, and there’s all these families of all these kids that are graduating or getting their eagle, globe and anchor. And so, I’m watching the thing and this guy comes up here and he’s like, ‘Yeah, these kids were just up in ocean side training. It’s approximately 16.32 miles north.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, approximately. Like you know exactly what it was.’ Anyway, so it was approximately 15.6 yards per return.”
On Lions P Jack Fox receiving a game ball after the Tampa Bay game: “Yeah, Fox has done a great job. Now you guys asked me about the touchback and we had a touchback, so don’t ask too many questions. But he’s done a great job throughout the course of the year. And I think really all those guys on special teams have. We’ve covered kicks well, done a lot of positive things. We’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us. We’ve got a lot of room for growth and improvement certainly, but I think it’s reflective of how kind of the whole group has played and I really appreciate and respect – I mean you guys know, I love our (Lions) Head Coach (Dan Campbell) here. He’s an incredible guy. He loves the game of football. He loves all three phases. The fact that he looks at that and feels like it’s an important phase of the game, I know the guys love playing for him. We’ve gotten the opportunity to cover more kicks than anybody in the National Football League. These guys love that, I appreciate that. So, anyway, for him to do that for Fox I think is reflective of the whole group and certainly for Fox himself. But special teams is important, field position’s important and I think the other thing the head coach knows is that when you get into these bigger games, man, it’s going to take all three phases and at some point you’re going to have to come through and make some plays. So, anyways, it’s also a message to what’s coming.”
On if he moves his key special teams players around to keep opponents guessing: “Yeah, it’s a good question. I thought – I feel like you’re kind of saying maybe on the kickoff we move (Lions LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin) Germ around a little bit. Obviously, had a great tackle there that last one we covered. And we move him around a little bit. I think ultimately we’re always trying to put our players in the best position we can put them in. And I think you’re trying to put your best players, your most productive players in positions where they can be productive. So, in general terms, as much as we can, sure.”
On what Baltimore’s special teams unit does well: “Yeah, obviously the (Ravens) Head Coach (John Harbaugh) has some experience on special teams and so, I think they’re going to come into the game and they’re going to play hard, number one. They’re going to give you everything they’ve got. These guys play hard on every play. Not just one of them, not just some of them. It’s not selective. Whether it’s covering a punt, covering a kickoff, a punt return. They have a talented returner back there deep, they’ve got a good group of specialists, all three of them, a younger punter but still a super talented guy. First guy picked in the Draft the year he came out, clearly the top guy coming out that year. Their core guys, their roster top to bottom, they’ve got a bunch of guys with good skillsets and they’re all a little bit different. They’ve got a couple inside linebackers that can really run. Their backup inside linebackers, they can really run. Then they have a couple outside linebackers that maybe their strength isn’t speed, but man, they’re powerful, guys are strong, physical players. And I think at a lot of times they’ve got some corners who can really flat run. They’ve got a running back, (Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell) 34, who’s coming there last week, or last couple week and played and he can fly. I think one of the biggest things on special teams and probably in this game, is having something that’s elite, an elite trait, whether that’s speed, power, if you’re small, maybe it’s speed and that makes up for your size. If you don’t run as well, you’re powerful and man, you can use that to get out of a jam. So, when you’re in a matchup one-on-one with someone, you know the tool you’re going to and if it’s elite, man, it’s going to beat the other guy no matter what, even if the guy’s a good player. And so, they’ve got some guys with some real elite traits on the other side of the ball and a lot of different areas. So, it’ll be a great matchup. Our guys, I know they’re fired up for this thing. It’ll be fun and we’ll give both sides our very best. It’ll be exciting to watch.”
On Ravens K Justin Tucker kicking a 66-yard field to mark the longest in NFL history the last time the Lions faced Baltimore: “Yeah, no, it was a great kick. Obviously, we didn’t like it, but it was a great kick. I mean the guy’s a heck of a player. I’ve been around him a little bit. When you practice against somebody during training camp, you get a chance to be around a guy a little bit more than normal and when I was in Philly, we were with those guys a couple times. So, been around him a little bit. The guy’s super competitive and just (an) ultra-talented player. He’s very good at what he does.”
On his favorite band and song: “Favorite band and song? Gosh, right now I’m digging – I mean I like country music probably because all the stories in country music, especially the old stuff was even better. But I love everything. If you ask the players, I’d say louder is better than softer. So, anything on there loud is pretty good, even all the rap stuff and all that.I’ll give you a funny story. Yeah, so every week when I was in Philadelphia, I used to do this thing on Friday and I would call it the ‘Monster Matchups.’ I would kind of create this thing on my own and then it took a life of its own and whatever. A lot of other people got involved but I would – when I first started doing it, I’d talk about these matchups and I would try to highlight some of our guys going against some of these other guys, make it a big deal. And when I said it, I would say, ‘We’ve got some monster matchups, and thanks to my dawg, Eminem,’ and I would turn on Eminem music and he’d be rapping in the background. And I said, ‘Thanks to my dawg, Eminem. He’ll be playing the matchup music.’ And so, we’d have him in the background – now all those guys are like, ‘Hey, man, have you had Eminem come yet?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t even do it anymore.’ So, I’ve listened to everything. I like country music the best. I love the stories of all of them. But man, I love all the stories. I just read there’s some stuff on Adele. I mean, God, that lady’s voice is incredible. Whitney Houston, I put her song on this morning just for fun. So, it’s a large range of music. Most of it’s the stories and what I take out of the stories or the meaning behind it. Yeah, this is like the Chariots of Fire, when I was a kid, man, I dreamed of getting the Olympic gold around my neck.” |
