• 2 years ago
Transcript
00:00 Duron Bland is taking the NFL by storm.
00:03 He needs only one more pick six in order to set the NFL record for pick sixes in one season.
00:10 Coach Mike McCarthy talks about him a lot today.
00:11 He says, "You know, it kind of irritates me when people talk about him like he's a fifth-round pick."
00:17 Right.
00:18 "Who cares?" says Mike McCarthy.
00:20 Once they're here, they all get the opportunity, and Bland is certainly taking advantage of that.
00:24 What has been impressive to you about what Bland's been doing?
00:28 Well, first of all, the McCarthy and Jason Garrett, the former Cowboy Coach, friend of the show, used to talk about this, too.
00:33 It doesn't matter if... He used to say whether or not we're playing or where the guy came from.
00:37 He can come from the parking lot, he can come from the moon. It doesn't make any difference.
00:40 Now he's here, and he's one of us. Can he play?
00:43 It is a fact that he was a late-round pick. It is a fact that he played at Fresno State.
00:47 Those things are very real.
00:49 The most impressive thing about Bland, though, is when he says, "I think I'll go for the record now,"
00:54 there just isn't a boastful bone in his body.
00:59 He's not saying it that way. He's kind of saying, "I mean, I got four. I guess I might as well get five."
01:04 And the beauty of the way that we think he's structured is, he's not going to suddenly take crazy chances so he can go get a record.
01:11 He's not going to risk giving up a touchdown so he can go get an interception.
01:16 That's not his playing style.
01:18 What it is, is, not unlike Trayvon Diggs, who has replaced that cornerback out for the year,
01:22 he's got a knack for playmaking.
01:25 And he's talked about how, "I was a wide receiver in high school, and I made plays in high school, so why can't I make them on defense now?"
01:32 The old chestnut for football is, the way you decide if a good athlete is a wide receiver or a defensive back,
01:41 if he's a defensive back, that means he can't catch.
01:43 And that's clearly not the case, not only with Diggs, clearly not the case with Bland.
01:48 So, the fact that he's an even-keeled guy, and obviously a phenomenal athlete,
01:54 and then, "Brie, let's throw this onto the pile, too."
01:56 And I don't know that everybody saw this. I don't know what parts of the country got to see this.
02:00 So, after the game, he does a live, on-camera interview with Aaron Andrews of Fox.
02:06 His first such interview of that sort in his life.
02:11 He's even reserved when he talks to us.
02:14 Very much so, every day.
02:16 And she said something to the effect of, "I'm going to ask you a Betty Basic question."
02:22 "I'm going to be Betty Basic here. What does it feel like?"
02:25 So, she was handling him very gently, knowing that this isn't his bag.
02:31 He gave some great answers, he smiled, everything was fine.
02:34 And then, when the cameras were done, but yet they weren't.
02:37 When they thought the cameras were done, there was a wider shot, and it was Betty Basic,
02:43 it was the great Aaron Andrews, Daron Bland, and two members of the Cowboy PR staff.
02:49 And the two of them came up to him and hugged him like he had just conquered Mount Everest.
02:57 Because I think that his view was, "I bet you, can I not do it? That's not me, I don't want to do it."
03:05 Then they said, "Ah, go have some fun."
03:07 And he went and had some fun, and he did just fine.
03:09 So, a little behind the scenes on what this building thinks of this guy.
03:13 Not to happy for him, because he got the fourth pick six.
03:17 Happy for him because he's maturing into somebody who might want to get used to doing interviews.
03:22 Because I have a feeling that more Daron Bland greatness is on its way.
03:26 We spoke with him in the locker room after he got his third pick six.
03:30 And everyone says, "Wow, can you believe it?"
03:32 And he says, "No."
03:33 I said, "Well, what was your goal this season? Did you have a pick six number in mind?"
03:39 He goes, "No, but I already surpassed whatever goal I had, and I'm going to need to set some more goals."
03:45 So, certainly now his goal is to set that in a program.
03:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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