NFL Cover Zero: Going to the Draft? Saints safety Justin Reid

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Speaker 1: NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcast.

00:00:25
Speaker 2: Welcome into a new episode of NFL Cover zero off season edition, although there's never really an off season in the NFL. Today, Drew Franklin here with Billy Rutledge, bringing you another episode with more from that trip to San Francisco. Got a little bit left from that, Billy, We're not done. A few more weeks of it, and I've snuck in my Super Bowl T shirt that I've got on today.

00:00:44
Speaker 3: Kings had had a Super Bowl party, so I'm still very much living in that moment, Drew.

00:00:49
Speaker 4: But excited to share another interview with everybody.

00:00:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, good to talk with you again today. Last week we had Eric Kendricks from the forty nine Ers. It became a big star for them as it battled injuries. Today we have our interview with Justin Reid, played for the Saints. Talked a lot about the emergence of Tyler Shuck. Saints having a decent year, but I think what they're expectations were going in the year. He was also a chief. Got to hear a little bit about a fee thinks he might get invited to important wedding this summer, but he was a fun conversation before that, though, Billy, it is kind of busy time in the NFL, even though there's not sports being played. We're counting down to the draft. There was a moment where we thought we'd be going to the Draft. I'm part of the problem with me not being able to go with a baby coming, and you and Matt aren't able to make it. Now does it bum you out that you won't be making the trip to Pittsburgh.

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Speaker 4: It does.

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Speaker 3: One of the coolest experiences I had was Nashville for the Draft. That was just a sea of people, a fun, multi day event. And you know, they've taken it to different cities since, right, so it's really become an event. So I was looking forward to Pittsburgh and what the pickle stuff that you got into last Nicklesburg Pittsburgh, So you.

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Speaker 4: Know, there's a lot of cool stuff that I was looking forward to.

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Speaker 3: I have a wedding shower that weekend, so it doesn't really work for me either, Drew. You're all this family stuff with expecting much more important things. So we're rooting for you and wishing you nothing but the best coming up here.

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Speaker 2: Well, wedding's a big deal too. I'm glad you'll are having that. That'll be a fun time, but we won't be in pittsbeg. But there's still lots to talk about, including another person that's not going to Pittsburgh.

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Speaker 4: Who's that?

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Speaker 2: What's up with your boy? Fernando Mendoza's not gonna go? I mean, locked in is the number one pick. It looks like he's gonna have his own private family party elsewhere, probably back in Miami.

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Speaker 5: But you know, it's a.

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Speaker 2: Big deal when you're in that first round, especially pick one to go up on stage and shake the commission's hand, get the little get the little side hug with Goodell. And it's looking like he might sit it out as well.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm a little disappointed.

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Speaker 3: Honestly, I'd like the number one overall pick to be there and shake the hand of Goodell and do the pictures and everything.

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Speaker 4: That's just not his style, though, I guess Drew.

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Speaker 3: I mean, he's gonna be a little bit more under the radar, less pomp and circumstance. You know, it doesn't always work. But at the same time, he's trying to do his own thing. I did like the COVID draft though, do you remember the COVID draft so much? To take away from where it was, like, you know you had Ceedee Lamb stealing his phone back from his girlfriend. You, I mean, you had the moment the Titans draft picks mom Is shoving the girlfriend off of him to get out of the camera shot. Going into the home kind of gives you even more storylines a lot of times. But so maybe we get something there from Mendoza.

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Speaker 5: Was that the year?

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Speaker 2: Was it Joe Burrow COVID year with his like parents curtains, they were getting roasted. Yeah, you got to see houses. Yeah, you know all of us went through that. You get on zoom and coworkers and.

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Speaker 5: Like, oh that's where you live.

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Speaker 2: But it's weird to see it for the NFL stars that were used to seeing in the green room and on the stage.

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Speaker 3: Some people want to get a little bit more camera attention than maybe they deserve. But that is a maybe a wrinkle we'll get with Mendoza here. But man, is he going one overall? Has that kind of been?

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Speaker 5: Seems to be the case.

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Speaker 2: You know he's got if he goes to the to the Raiders got some competition now herk Cousins, the best agent in sports, just keeps getting Kirk Cousins paid. But it looks like that's gonna be the plan to have a veteran rookie situation with those two have similar personalities.

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Speaker 3: Kind of seems like, yeah, well throw out the window, like if he deserves that money. I think this is good for Mendoza if he goes one overall, Like, just this is the expectation of these rookie quarterbacks to come in and be the starter and take a team to the playoffs?

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Speaker 4: Is it's unrealistic.

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Speaker 3: A lot of times you see a lot of the greats that had a year behind another, right, So, I mean I think of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers's too, that weren't thrusting into that limelight immediately. So it's it doesn't always work, right, So but this sets him up for success and hopefully Kirk can you know, teach him a couple of tricks to how to stay healthy in the league, because that's maybe the most important thing.

00:04:29
Speaker 2: Yep, my Titans at four, they're considering Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame. Don't do it, I know, I mean, I Love Jeremiah Love, my wife's Notre Dame fan watch him a lot, made a lot of money betting on him on some touchdowns scoring to his Notre Dame career. But a running back at top five, so like the guaranteed money, he would be like paid more than Saquon if like be the highest paid running back having never taken a snap. I mean, as much as I'd love to have that gown or team at top five running back, I don't know about that one now.

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Speaker 4: I didn't realize he'd be paid more than Saquon.

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Speaker 2: That's the kind of like a guarantee. It wasn't the overall contract, but like his his guaranteed money would be a lot more than a lot.

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Speaker 4: Of a lot of the names.

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Speaker 3: Will I just I think you have a pick that high, you've got to go pass rusher alignment. And as a team like the Titans, who are just trying to build back, it seems like pass rusher would be you know, jump off the page, need.

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Speaker 4: For tennessee here.

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Speaker 3: But you know GM's overthinking all the time, right, and so we very well could see a running back taken by the Titans.

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Speaker 2: Are you someone that sits and watches the draft? Last year, I'll admit I watched maybe every minute, including when I went to mow my yard, I had YouTube TV playing. I just listened to it with it in my pocket set of music, even like rounds two or sand Normally, I'll admit in years past, normally I just lock into the two prom time nights. But it was like Saturday afternoon at four, and I'm like, people I don't even know are getting taken off the board. Part of it, Shador had dropped and a couple of Kentucky guys I was watching, so I had a little reason behind it. But I was locked in last year and I love watching it, certainly the first and second rounds.

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Speaker 3: No, I am definitely locked in for the first round. I watched the entire thing thirty minutes beforehand, and even maybe some analysis out afterwards. After that, I'm okay with seeing like where guys went online, Like I don't have to be completely locked in, But like like you said, like Schadur.

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Speaker 4: Falling last year was a huge storyline.

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Speaker 3: You know, the the NFL network or whoever's doing draft coverage, they do get into some good stories during that time too, so it's it's good, you know, good human nature parts in those other days, but the first day, there's nothing like that first day and the energy of the crowd there for sure.

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Speaker 2: Of course, I'll love it. I get why some guys are starting to have their own parties, like Shador that year. I mean, he had all kinds of marketing, branded things everywhere all over the house. Didn't want to be with your family, But I love watching them all in the green room. Max Harrison from Kentucky became a star with his role back there, just bouncing around and congratulating all the guys picked before him. It's just it's part of it. And I hope we don't get too far away where they're all at home.

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Speaker 3: Well in someone to avoid being in that green room for tool of course, right. I mean Will Levis was our guy from Kentucky, and you know his girlfriend became famous by the end of the night how much they showed them in the green room.

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Speaker 2: So that was so hard to watch.

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Speaker 3: Oh, it was brutal because his family's all around him, right, and you know that happens, you know, quite more often than we think. I was a Gino Smith didn't get picked to the second round back in the day, and he had to go through all that, so you know, maybe Mendoz is trying to avoid that, but he's going one Drew so that's not even an issue there, So maybe that's part of the thing.

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Speaker 2: It is bad man, it's like one person in their their vacuum in around him.

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Speaker 5: I think Lamar was one of ours. Felt really free.

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Speaker 3: Even's traded back up to thirty two to pick him. So yeah, he got saved by the best.

00:07:36
Speaker 2: You see him, they're like taking stuff down and putting the food away him, Like, can you all just leave it staged until this one person gets picked. He gets awkward, but it's always fun to watch the draft. I hate that we're not able to go maybe next year, but it is a fun time of the year for NFL fans and our guest on the show today. He was third round pick twenty eighteen out of stand for Justin Reid, a two time Super Bowl champion. As you'll learn in this interview it was with the Saints last year. We had a great time talking to him and it is up next in our series of our NFL Cover zero interviews from the Super Bowl.

00:08:27
Speaker 1: All right here with Justin Reid of the New Orleans Saints, played for the Texans played for the Chiefs, swagged out in a Louis Vatan jacket with a turtleneck. You know, I had my grandmother once told me it takes a special man to wear a turtleneck. I never really felt like I was that guy. But you, I think are able to do it.

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Speaker 6: You just have, you know, just just a pinch of of fearlessness, do you know what I mean?

00:08:54
Speaker 5: Just a pinch of fearlessness. You just gotta go.

00:08:56
Speaker 1: You just you need you need a glass of wine, maybe a pipe, yeah, exactly, Yeah, one of those old schools. When old school pipe, I think it would work.

00:09:04
Speaker 7: You.

00:09:05
Speaker 1: So you've been going around doing these interviews. Uh, the Saints had some life at the end of the year last year, found found some things down the stretch. You feel like you're on an upward swing going in the next season.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:09:18
Speaker 6: Absolutely, there's so much moment I'm going into the next season. And when I first signed with the Saints, there's a couple of reasons that I did it. One was a full circle moment for me to come back and play for the team that I grew up watching. But you knew that there's gonna be some great from New Orleans I'm from bt Rouge. Yeah, but you knew there's gonna be some growing pains coming back and signing with the team, And I honestly expected it to take longer than it did for things to start to turn around. It's because you know, it takes a while for things to develop and chemistry to build. A new coach would be built, new coaching staff, a bunch of new young players. But then Tyler just comes in and grabs the reins. And then this kid, it's just a stud.

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Speaker 5: And so what is it about him? You know, we're a Kentucky fans. Have you have you hung out with them? No? He went to Louisville. I booed him multiple times.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, but if you ever sit in a room with he's just like a really charismatic kid.

00:10:09
Speaker 5: Man.

00:10:09
Speaker 6: There's something about him to where he's got just enough season into him to where he's like, he's funny, witty.

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Speaker 5: He invited the cookout. Yeah, he's absolutely so. He has some season dam stamp stamps, certified stamp. Yeah.

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Speaker 6: But he's a cool dude, and you know he's.

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Speaker 5: Fearless when he throws the ball.

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Speaker 6: He makes the running plays when he needs to, and offense just had a little bit more energy and.

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Speaker 5: Juice behind it whenever he was on the field.

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Speaker 6: So that created some momentum.

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Speaker 5: And at the season when like what five of the last six something like.

00:10:42
Speaker 6: That, and uh, we just got to ride that momentum going into this coming year.

00:10:47
Speaker 2: Still got a ways to go with the Saints to get there, but with the Chiefs, that was a winning culture, a championship culture. What's that experience like being here and being a part of this. I know you're here talking to us now, but you've you've lived this already.

00:10:58
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean it was I mean one an incredible three years. I mean three in a row. He's absolute insanity.

00:11:04
Speaker 6: But it was fun playing for that organization just because of the consistency, the culture was set, the expectations. Excuse me, the expectations were high, the standards were even higher, and it's just about going and executing. Like it was a selfless team and the thing that made the chief specialist. Nobody cared who got the credit, Like, we didn't care who got stats, nobody cared who had the most touchdowns. It was about, hey, did we win or did we lose? And at the end of the day, if we're all buying into what it takes to win. That's when you have a good team. And that's what the two teams that are playing right now both equally have.

00:11:37
Speaker 5: And you know you're gonna need that the show up.

00:11:39
Speaker 1: Are you gonna get invited to the wedding Travison Taylor?

00:11:43
Speaker 5: I hope so.

00:11:44
Speaker 8: I mean that'd be a fun wedding. I mean you get that in Utel Forever. I mean, I feel like I did go to Simone Bile's wedding. I went to Simone Biles and Jonathan Owen's wedding. Joe was a good friend of mine, So that would be a fun one.

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Speaker 1: Wait, I mean you were there when the whole Taylor phenomenon started, could you feel I mean that you already had a ton of attention because of your success s Patrick Mahomes, et cetera.

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Speaker 5: But that was another whole level.

00:12:10
Speaker 6: I mean, were you introduced an entirely different demographic. Yes, professional football. I mean I thought it was awesome. Maybe people got sick of the commercials.

00:12:19
Speaker 5: I'm on the field.

00:12:19
Speaker 6: I didn't see any of them, you know what I mean, But just seeing how many people poured into I have a daughter now, Like, how many girls were without watching football, you know, regardless of the reason, they're still watching football getting the lower a little bit. And know, a bunch of dads out there is like, I'm watching the football game with my daughter. Now she wants to watch Taylor Swift, but hey, she's interested into the game.

00:12:38
Speaker 5: That's just the coolest thing.

00:12:40
Speaker 2: I have my first girl coming in two months. We're counting down. You got any tips for a future girl down here?

00:12:44
Speaker 5: I mean the moment.

00:12:46
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know what, I thought that I didn't need a sleep trainer, and I paid the price for that. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until ten months, Okay, so for me, yeah, so have a plan for that. We used to just take shifts and I'm an early bird, so I take the early morning shift and my partner would take the late night shift.

00:13:04
Speaker 5: But just have a plan for that. And then, man, honestly, just.

00:13:07
Speaker 6: Enjoy it, bro because it's cliche, but it just goes by so quick. Man, Like you don't even recognize how fast they grow up and get big until you look at an old picture. Somebody else has a baby and you have them next to each other, and it's like, wow, where did the time go?

00:13:23
Speaker 5: All right? I appreciate that.

00:13:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, so winning multiple super Bowls, I mean, was it as good the second time.

00:13:28
Speaker 2: As it was the first?

00:13:29
Speaker 5: Even better of the second time?

00:13:30
Speaker 4: Even better?

00:13:31
Speaker 5: The second even better the second time.

00:13:32
Speaker 6: I feel like everything's better the second time you do it, Like in order of what's the best time to ever do it? Second time is the best, First time is the second best.

00:13:40
Speaker 5: Why is that?

00:13:41
Speaker 6: Because like the first time, you don't know what to expect, and like that newness is also exciting that it's a new experience. You don't know like what's going to happen next. You're kind of like eyes wide open, Okay, like what do I do next?

00:13:52
Speaker 5: Where do I go? How does this go?

00:13:54
Speaker 6: But then once you experience that the first time and you know what it feels like, you're just itching to get back to that feeling because now you're expecting, like, I know what it feels like whenever that clock hits zero and you're now another champion. Like the first time, it took like a week for it to really hit, like you know, you celebrated, but it took a week before you're like, oh yeah, I'm a champion. The second one, as soon as the clock hit zero, you immediately had that rush of feeling you're back on.

00:14:18
Speaker 5: Top of the mountain. It's incredible.

00:14:20
Speaker 1: It seems like Andy Reid is one of the few people in sports universally beloved.

00:14:25
Speaker 5: Why is that the case? What makes seem so great?

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Speaker 6: He's like your grandfather, man, He's like your your your old wise grandfather that you you hate to disappoint, Like when he looks at you and he has a face of like disappointment, like it crushes you on it and like it legit crushes You're like, bro, like please yell at me or something like, please cuss me out, something like. But him being disappointed to you, it's just the worst thing ever. And he has very high standards. He runs a type ship, but guys just want to want to play hard for him. Man, Like, guys know, guys know what it takes to win. He knows what it takes a win. He allows guys to show their personality. He doesn't hold you back from that. And he's like, have fun. When we're on the field, it's time to work. But when we're off the field, let your personality show and have some fun.

00:15:11
Speaker 1: I learned a fun fact. And you're the champion. You beat what Kyler Murray. I think in the finals, Am I right?

00:15:16
Speaker 5: Yeah?

00:15:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm the back to back champion actually, but you're going back to back back to back.

00:15:20
Speaker 6: Yeah, I was winning Super Bowls and chess competitions back to back. But that's that's a cool thing in the NFL. Do I think We're in blitch Champs four, so it was the fourth year of them doing it. My teammate Drew Tranquill actually introduced it to me. He won blitch Champs two and we used to play in the locker room, Like I had a chessboard in my locker and guys would just come up.

00:15:39
Speaker 5: We played games in the locker room, and he invited.

00:15:41
Speaker 1: Me to do his competition and hang on, hey, you all had a chess board in the Chiefs locker was it was a tradition every Saturday, every Saturday between when practice ended.

00:15:50
Speaker 6: Before we got on the buses, we just round robin on the board chess games.

00:15:54
Speaker 5: It's like speed chess. Yeah, we had like three minute games.

00:15:58
Speaker 2: Wow, incredible stuff.

00:15:59
Speaker 5: I had no idea. And so who was the worst? Who was the worst?

00:16:06
Speaker 6: Let's see, probably probably mcole he harmon, Okay, yeah, and I know he's going I know he's gonna hate me say that.

00:16:13
Speaker 5: He's gonna get on Twitter right now.

00:16:16
Speaker 6: He beat me one time, he beat me one time, He's gonna grill me on that.

00:16:20
Speaker 5: So how did you get into chess?

00:16:21
Speaker 1: I mean that takes a certain kind of mind to think about the world like that.

00:16:25
Speaker 5: Yeah, so two parts.

00:16:27
Speaker 6: The first part is I had a teammate, Phillip Gains when I played for the Houston Texans. We used to call him grand Master Phil because he will be in his locker playing the chess app on his phone like just all the time, right, So I wanted to I wanted to relate to my teammates, so I tried to play up.

00:16:41
Speaker 5: He killed me. Oh my god, he put me in such a blender, you know what I mean. And then after that, I'm competitive, so I wanted to learn. So now it was the same time the Queen's Game it came out on Netflix. It's like the same time period.

00:16:52
Speaker 6: So I was like, Okay, they played the Sicilian defense in that movie. So I learned that this is Sicilian defense and that's what I still play today.

00:16:59
Speaker 5: And then I hired a grand master to also be a coach for me. Just to make sure you hired a grand master to teach you. Hell yeah, yeah, James Canty shout out to you. GM can't shout out to James Canty. Yeah.

00:17:11
Speaker 1: Wow, that is a Now, that is a very unique story. So, like you say, you're not, you're obviously the best in the NFL. Do you ever like walk down, you know, New York City and Manhattan and just play those old guys sitting in the park.

00:17:25
Speaker 5: On Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

00:17:26
Speaker 6: There's a guy sitting on the corner, a guy that's sitting on the corner on the chessboard out.

00:17:30
Speaker 5: Have you ever challenged him?

00:17:32
Speaker 6: Yeah, I've walked by him twice. I was I was on the move, but I'll talk to him on the way. It was like, hey, I'm gonna come back and play you bro, I'm gonna come back and play.

00:17:38
Speaker 1: Well, let me ask you about New Orleans playing in that city, because I think a lot of people not in New Orleans don't realize it's just how rabid that fan base can be and what an important series, what an important role that team has.

00:17:51
Speaker 6: To that It's it's serious, it's serious, it's it's it's it's godden football, like seriously, Like the football team has a visceral impact on like the entire life of the city, the entire life of the state. Actually, Like if l s U and the Saints both lose, it's a doom and gloom day in the state of Louisiana, you know what I mean. Like that, when both teams are winning, people are happier, the sun's shining a little bit brighter, people are more friendly, you know what I mean.

00:18:19
Speaker 5: Literally, the crime rate goes down, you know what I mean. Literally, Literally it is a fact, you know what I mean.

00:18:25
Speaker 1: So, like, so somebody, you just run for office and go, I'm gonna make the Saints and LSU win and everything.

00:18:31
Speaker 5: You would win some votes. I guarantee you would win some votes.

00:18:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot more people asking for tickets now that you're back home. I know you're excited to see them, but it's a little harder on game day distribute it out.

00:18:40
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know.

00:18:41
Speaker 6: But I'm at a place in my life to where I kind of welcome it, you know what I mean.

00:18:44
Speaker 5: Like if I was a young player, I still am a young guy, but if I was.

00:18:47
Speaker 6: A like wet behind the years rookie or something, it might have been more of a distraction, but I got a sweep for my family. I have about twenty thirty come to all the home games, and I like have my immediate family and then I'll rotate external family, so everybody missing experience.

00:19:02
Speaker 1: You know, one time I accidentally ended up in the suite for the SEC tournament in New Orleans, the No Limit suite at the Superdome. Different experience there, but you know what, it was a good time.

00:19:15
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:19:15
Speaker 6: I mean New Orleans has so much personality. Man like the people, the fans. I mean, it's colorful, it's funny.

00:19:23
Speaker 5: They'll let you know how you feel. They let you know how they feel. Cajun food absolutely, what's your favorite?

00:19:29
Speaker 6: Shout out doors much pollen and doors much pollen is a is a Cajun It's a It's a steakhouse with New Orleans flavor, a twist to it with the seafood and the seasons that they use. It's one of my favorites to go to. And then of course this is a technically casion. But King Cake season, you know that's right around.

00:19:49
Speaker 5: I've been there some King k H.

00:19:51
Speaker 1: Well, I look forward to you need to take towers up there in his seasoning to the Steakhouse, and thank you very much for.

00:19:59
Speaker 7: Your time Justin recently appreciate you guys. Appreciate it.

00:20:18
Speaker 5: All right.

00:20:18
Speaker 2: That was our interview with Justin Reid. Another fun one. We have one more left coming up for you all. I have to admit the next one, Orlando Brown Junior from the Bengals, might have been my favorite. We talked football, but we talked a lot of not football things, which I like to do, especially just what it's like being Burrow's lineman behind the scenes.

00:20:36
Speaker 3: Well, you love the fossil, talk to fossil, you go with Orlando Brown Junior, which we'll play next week. But you know, Justin Reid talks about playing chess, and then in Orlando Brown Junior, he got into like the piano playing he's doing, So I mean that's covers Z all right, talking about everything but the.

00:20:50
Speaker 2: True well skyline Chile. Also he goes from Burrow mister cool to Joe Flacco just shows up in the building in mid season.

00:20:57
Speaker 5: So really fun.

00:20:58
Speaker 2: When coming up, I've been looking forward to this one the most. It'll be next week Orlando Brown Junior. But thanks for listening to this one today with Justin Reid and all the ones before this. We have a fun time doing this and we appreciate all of you listening to Cover Zero. This is Drew and Billy sign it off until next week.

00:21:19
Speaker 1: NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcast. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.