Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Chris Harry with you on the Chargers Training
Speaker 1: Camp Podcast. Today, I'm joined by former All Pro linebacker
Speaker 1: Shawn Merriman. Merriman and I look ahead to Sunday's preseason
Speaker 1: opener in Los Angeles. We also discuss his visit this
Speaker 1: offseason with the Chargers rookies, spending last weekend with LT,
Speaker 1: and whether or not he thinks his single season sack
Speaker 1: record could be in jeopardy in twenty seventeen. Okay, it's
Speaker 1: my pleasure of bringing the former All Pro Shawn Merriman
Speaker 1: to the Chargers Training Camp podcast. Can follow him on
Speaker 1: Twitter and Instagram at Shawn Merriman. Sean. Appreciate you joining me, man.
Speaker 1: How you doing? How everything? Everything is good? It's it's
Speaker 1: starting to get real here in LA. We got a
Speaker 1: football game at StubHub Center on Sunday, Seawan, and having
Speaker 1: spent six seasons with this organization and being so familiar
Speaker 1: with the LA at the same time, you've got to
Speaker 1: be looking forward to this landmark weekend for the franchise.
Speaker 1: It is, it is, and it's monumental if you really
Speaker 1: look at it across the board and making a move. Um,
Speaker 1: you know one thing I was talking about early is
Speaker 1: you get a chance to be a part of history.
Speaker 1: And I think that the guys are starting to really
Speaker 1: realize that that they're they're a part of history, that
Speaker 1: this move that LA can can be forever remember and
Speaker 1: known for a long time. And they have a good
Speaker 1: opportunity to come here and really do some things and
Speaker 1: get in front of from new people, from new fans
Speaker 1: and new eyes. And then that's that's what's the most
Speaker 1: exciting part about it. You know, you start over fresh um,
Speaker 1: you got a great team this year. They got some
Speaker 1: players coming in. It's going to help the team out
Speaker 1: a lot. And it's exciting time for everybody. Should be
Speaker 1: really exciting for them. It's shown. I know there's a
Speaker 1: few things that fans in LA like, right They like
Speaker 1: the glitz, and I think you're going to get that
Speaker 1: with that unique experience as a StubHub center. They like stars,
Speaker 1: and I think this roster has a ton of them.
Speaker 1: And then obviously it comes down to winning, and I
Speaker 1: think this team has a real shot to win a
Speaker 1: lot of games this upcoming season. They do they do,
Speaker 1: and you're right about that. I mean, this is LA, man.
Speaker 1: I mean people like personality and h They like people
Speaker 1: who you know they can come to the game to
Speaker 1: support and also you know, really get behind and identify with.
Speaker 1: And this is a team with great personality. You know,
Speaker 1: you look at some of the stuff with Melvin Ingram,
Speaker 1: Melvin Gordon, Um, you know, you go look at Philip
Speaker 1: who many people know that will will open up his
Speaker 1: mouth at times and get after it. And um, you
Speaker 1: know you have you know guys who a little bit
Speaker 1: we've been around for a long time, but but have
Speaker 1: kind of a more of a quiet persona than Antonio Gates.
Speaker 1: You know, these fans here in La are very familiar
Speaker 1: with Antonio Gates and his time and m what he's
Speaker 1: done for the team and most importantly, to win. That's
Speaker 1: going to be number one. Um. You know, you can
Speaker 1: have the best team on paper, great guys, personality, characters
Speaker 1: and all that stuff, but winning is it's number one. Um.
Speaker 1: Winning it is over everything, and they have an opportunity
Speaker 1: to do that. Well, let's get your thoughts on this team.
Speaker 1: In twenty seventeen, you played with Rivers and you played
Speaker 1: with Gates. You know the playmakers that they have on offense,
Speaker 1: they have talent on all three levels of the defense.
Speaker 1: And over the past couple of years shown this team
Speaker 1: had eleven fourth quarter leads and they just couldn't hold
Speaker 1: on to them. But I get the sense that watching
Speaker 1: camp that anything Glenn is going to make an indelible
Speaker 1: impact on this group. Oh, no question, no question about it.
Speaker 1: And it's hard to even put together those numbers. Think
Speaker 1: about that eleven fourth quarter leads. You can't that they're
Speaker 1: given up And yeah, that's the equivalent of winning three
Speaker 1: or four games. You know, you win four games last
Speaker 1: year and you have a completely different season. We're not
Speaker 1: even talking about the same team, you know, do you
Speaker 1: have guys like Keenan Allen coming back was just another
Speaker 1: our club. So if you look around the field and
Speaker 1: it's it's hard not to get excited for what the
Speaker 1: team has already. Um. But if they go out and
Speaker 1: get things done, which they can, and start fast, that's
Speaker 1: that's one thing you have to do with here, especially
Speaker 1: making a move to big um. You know now and
Speaker 1: all the moving that's done and it's put behind you
Speaker 1: that that's not a distraction anymore. Now you can get
Speaker 1: excited about little coming in and us coming up now,
Speaker 1: and if you start fast, it can really do a
Speaker 1: lot of things for your season because now you're not
Speaker 1: your back is not against the wall, um, and now
Speaker 1: it's about momentum. Keeping that momentum. Yeah, and three of
Speaker 1: the four first regular season games are at Stobhub Center.
Speaker 1: So to your point, let's say you get a win
Speaker 1: on the road against the Broncos. You got three straight
Speaker 1: home games to get off to that fast start on defense, Sean,
Speaker 1: there weren't many players who got to the quarterback as
Speaker 1: well as you did. And this team has two guys
Speaker 1: coming off the edge in Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa.
Speaker 1: When you study their game, what jumps out to you
Speaker 1: one film for one, they're great tandem and I think
Speaker 1: I posted something about it the other day on my Twitter.
Speaker 1: They're great handom in and not to really make comparisons,
Speaker 1: because I don't like to compare other players, even myself
Speaker 1: to anyone, or someone else to another player, but you know,
Speaker 1: they have a lot to where we had back there
Speaker 1: when I played with myself and Sean phillips Um. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't think that I would go out and be
Speaker 1: able to do the things I did on Sundays what
Speaker 1: I would having Sean phillips on the other side. God,
Speaker 1: I don't think I could. And that's what they have.
Speaker 1: They have with Joey Folst and Melvin Ingram, two capable
Speaker 1: guys going out making a player, and you have to
Speaker 1: decide on the offenside of the ball when you're playing
Speaker 1: these guys, which way and which guy do we want
Speaker 1: to block? Um? And since you have two guys more
Speaker 1: to capable of making plays, it's almost in a sense
Speaker 1: pick your poys, you know, which which hell if you
Speaker 1: want to take? You know, and since you have two
Speaker 1: guys that they can go out and be an explosive, explosive,
Speaker 1: it's going to help everybody. Everybody else. Tip you know,
Speaker 1: those cornerbacks and safeties aren't gonna have to cover as
Speaker 1: long because the ball have to be on out of
Speaker 1: a quarterback hand was within three seconds if not, you know,
Speaker 1: quarterbacks an n up on the ground period. You and
Speaker 1: Leslie O'Neill hold the Charger single season sack record with seventeen.
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa had ten and a half last year in
Speaker 1: twelve games. Is that record in jeopardy in twenty seventeen? Hopefully? Hopefully, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not I've never been a guy that's
Speaker 1: been you know, look five setter record and it's it's
Speaker 1: been great. Um. You know, I didn't even know when
Speaker 1: I had the seventeen that I was tied with Leslie
Speaker 1: n And obviously I knew it. Leslie was a great player,
Speaker 1: loved watching him growing up. Um, but I didn't know
Speaker 1: at the time until approaching that game. I think it
Speaker 1: was against Arizona Cardinals. I was coming into that game, um,
Speaker 1: and when I was supposed to breaking the rack the record,
Speaker 1: I think that I really do believe that botha Joey
Speaker 1: boss can do it. Um, you know, having a strong
Speaker 1: first year, which I knew he was gonna have once
Speaker 1: he got on the field and really got his feet
Speaker 1: under him, It's it's possible. And you always you look,
Speaker 1: you want to see records broken. You don't want to
Speaker 1: see the game stay the same and um, and you
Speaker 1: want to see the game progress and get better over time.
Speaker 1: And the only way to get better these records are
Speaker 1: are broken. And I think he can possibly do it.
Speaker 1: Every team in the AFC West has pass rushers. You
Speaker 1: look at Denver with with Vaughan and Shane Ray. The
Speaker 1: Raiders have Khalil Mack and Bruce Irving. The Chiefs have
Speaker 1: kind of a three headed monster with Houston and d
Speaker 1: Ford and Tom Biallee. What's the best way for an
Speaker 1: offense to prepare for that? If you're the Chargers knowing
Speaker 1: that you have six games against those divisional opponents. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know what. One of the one of the biggest
Speaker 1: things out who always have problems with when I was
Speaker 1: a player coming in the game is guys a quarterback,
Speaker 1: you getting rid of the ball fast, and you can
Speaker 1: only do that by being up. You know, once you
Speaker 1: get the seven enough and or ten, ten and nothing,
Speaker 1: you know, ten to three, then you don't have to
Speaker 1: take those risks anymore and let those pass rushers unleashed. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, going into the game, if the team can
Speaker 1: get up early against those pass rushers, then they don't
Speaker 1: have to hold on to the ball is long to
Speaker 1: throw the ball down the field. You can kind of
Speaker 1: get those guys on their heels, quick huddles, getting it
Speaker 1: out off the field and things like that, and just
Speaker 1: cause a problem for those pass rushers because look, great
Speaker 1: pass rushers are going to make plays if you give
Speaker 1: them time period. It's not a it's not candidate making
Speaker 1: or not. As if you have enough time against the
Speaker 1: pass rushers, they're going to make plays. So keep those
Speaker 1: pass rushers on their heels, not knowing whether it's going
Speaker 1: to be a draw or screen or run or a
Speaker 1: quick pass. You know, now you can go down the
Speaker 1: field a long play. Really keep on their heels and
Speaker 1: giving profits. And that's the way to kill that problem.
Speaker 1: And we know about the weapons that Philipps on the outside,
Speaker 1: and I think you couple that with the tight ends
Speaker 1: with Hunter Henry and Antonio Gates to your point, getting
Speaker 1: the ball out a little bit quicker, and then Melvin
Speaker 1: Gordon coming out of the backfield and then Brandon Oliver
Speaker 1: coming back. I think there are prescriptions for a pass
Speaker 1: rush on this Chargers offense, Oh, no question about it.
Speaker 1: And it starts really with that running game Melvin Gordon,
Speaker 1: who turns out and he has a great season, one
Speaker 1: thousand plus yard season, which I believe personally he will have. Um,
Speaker 1: that's going to open up all the doors for the
Speaker 1: passing game. UM. It really can get scary the amount
Speaker 1: of points they can put up this year. And I
Speaker 1: want to jump out there and say that pop, they
Speaker 1: could score thirty points a game this year. I really
Speaker 1: do believe that because they have a weapon to do it,
Speaker 1: and they have a defensive guys to give them more
Speaker 1: opportunities on offense with turnovers and turnover ratio. They have
Speaker 1: that they have a port neuplier to go out and
Speaker 1: get it done. It just mattered whether they're gonna get
Speaker 1: it done or not. And I think they could show
Speaker 1: in this offseason. You got to speak with the Chargers
Speaker 1: rookies about adjusting to life in the NFL. What was
Speaker 1: the biggest piece of advice you shared with those guys
Speaker 1: and what did you take from that experience? For one,
Speaker 1: did they realize I realized how old I was now
Speaker 1: walk talking to some of them guys and I had
Speaker 1: a conversation with Dean Spanos and I act them. I said, man,
Speaker 1: that I did. I looked at young and baby faced
Speaker 1: it when I came in, and he said, yea, you know,
Speaker 1: and till you know, you realize how fast time flies.
Speaker 1: But two, um, you know, there was a there was
Speaker 1: a young Sean Merriman sitting sitting in those seats and
Speaker 1: somebody else coming and talking to us at the time
Speaker 1: there's a rookie composing, but um, there was young Sean
Speaker 1: Merriman that was sitting in the seats and listen to
Speaker 1: someone else talk. And I tried to relate to as
Speaker 1: many things as possible. And I think that people to
Speaker 1: know me and know me best, no doubt. I don't
Speaker 1: really hold back bunch. I'll say what I feel, and
Speaker 1: I'll say what I think to need to be said. UM.
Speaker 1: And I think that they took a lot of it in.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that I told them is
Speaker 1: is take take advantage of a great opportunity. UM. This
Speaker 1: move to LA for them is UM, it could be
Speaker 1: a part of history. These are the two thousand and
Speaker 1: seventeen Los Angeles charges, and they have an opportunity to
Speaker 1: make history. To take advantage of that. Also, take advantage
Speaker 1: of what you have around you. You know, you're playing
Speaker 1: in the National Football League now the biggest stage, um,
Speaker 1: you know to me in the world that you can
Speaker 1: play on. UM. Football is a game that, uh, they
Speaker 1: can teach you a lot of things in life. And
Speaker 1: if you take advantage of the right time and do
Speaker 1: what you do, do what you need to do, just
Speaker 1: this thing could be around for a long time. So UM. Really,
Speaker 1: just speaking to them and having the questions I enjoyed.
Speaker 1: Probably the question is more than I did talking to
Speaker 1: them about and just hearing the questions that some of
Speaker 1: these guys had UM because they were legitimate questions. What
Speaker 1: was the best question that you received from one of
Speaker 1: the rookies really time management UM and all the stuff
Speaker 1: that they were going to have. So I had a
Speaker 1: question from one of the rookies like what what was
Speaker 1: I doing at this time? Like what issues or problems
Speaker 1: I've had coming into the situation and what did I
Speaker 1: do about it? And for me, it was all it
Speaker 1: was time management UM. Realizing uh that you you're coming
Speaker 1: in a lot of things coming at you got questions here,
Speaker 1: you guys, your family, and you agent, and you have managers,
Speaker 1: assistance and financial. It's a lot of stuff going on
Speaker 1: your first year and you have to stop your head
Speaker 1: spending for two seconds and realize what's most important to
Speaker 1: you and not have to play the game in football,
Speaker 1: get your head to playbook, start watching as much film
Speaker 1: as you can, and get done what you need to
Speaker 1: get done on the football field first and everything else
Speaker 1: the second. That's one thing that I kind of passed
Speaker 1: along to them to get prepared for and what's the
Speaker 1: most important to them, Shanna, what ways is being a
Speaker 1: rookie now in twenty seventeen, different from your first season
Speaker 1: to two thousand and five. I think the first thing
Speaker 1: that kind of stands out to me is just this
Speaker 1: world of social media that we're living in with with
Speaker 1: Twitter and Facebook and Snapchat and Instagram and Instagram stories.
Speaker 1: I feel like that's something that's just another wrinkle in
Speaker 1: you know, in a rookies first season in the NFL
Speaker 1: that they kind of have to be aware of. Yeah,
Speaker 1: no question about it, because it wasn't as big when
Speaker 1: I came in in two thousand and five. We had
Speaker 1: some social media stuff, but not really much, and it
Speaker 1: grew so on my way out of the game and
Speaker 1: around two thousand and eleven, two thousand and twelve, when
Speaker 1: social media really really um blew up and it became
Speaker 1: something that couldn't make or break you dependent on the horn,
Speaker 1: what you did on it, what you post, um, what
Speaker 1: somebody else have, uh, you know, looking at and um.
Speaker 1: It became a staple to really talking about a seam
Speaker 1: who you were as a person, and that wasn't out
Speaker 1: there when I when I came in in two thousand
Speaker 1: and five. So with these guys, they have even more
Speaker 1: of a platform to do the right things. If you
Speaker 1: do the right if you do what you need to
Speaker 1: do as as a player, you know you post, you
Speaker 1: know some of the great things about what you're doing
Speaker 1: off the field, community, what you're doing on the team,
Speaker 1: and um, you can you can really in the sense
Speaker 1: build a platform for yourself. Um that's gonna be around forever.
Speaker 1: And that's one thing I got a chance of speaking
Speaker 1: to guys to look you can you know you do
Speaker 1: this thing right, you go out there and perform, you
Speaker 1: play well, you guys win, um, and you know you
Speaker 1: do these great things for your team. You can build
Speaker 1: a platform for yourself that will be around it and
Speaker 1: it's gonna last your lifetime. So take advantage of sean
Speaker 1: last thing for you Hall of Fame weekend. I guess
Speaker 1: it may be old news now because we're taking this
Speaker 1: on a Friday, but you can never talk enough about
Speaker 1: lt speech and the job that he did. And I
Speaker 1: know you were in cann to support him. If you
Speaker 1: could share with me the highlight for you and or
Speaker 1: a good story from the weekend, it was an ultimate
Speaker 1: experience for me to be there. And you know it's
Speaker 1: funny that they induct you. I think it's what four
Speaker 1: or five years after you retired, and it's a great
Speaker 1: period of time to reflect on everything that you did
Speaker 1: while you while you are plan you know, you some
Speaker 1: time when you're playing the things, you're moving so fast
Speaker 1: and you don't realize the type of guy's teammates, the
Speaker 1: locker room, the winds, losses, the ups and downs, the
Speaker 1: Washington field laughing a guy, you know, all these things
Speaker 1: that you don't really pay attention to, a to you
Speaker 1: removed away from the game, so to come back and
Speaker 1: watch all the LTE's high life. Then I think that
Speaker 1: everyone seemed the speech that he did. I mean, if
Speaker 1: that's not nominated as the best speech has ever happened
Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame, I would be shocked because
Speaker 1: he was speaking on things about life, things about you
Speaker 1: know a little you know, some politics and football and opportunity.
Speaker 1: He touched on so many points that hit across the board,
Speaker 1: hit across the board with everybody that you know, it
Speaker 1: has to go down to one of the speaks. So
Speaker 1: I think it was that speech for me that that
Speaker 1: I'll never forget because seeing the crowd react in the
Speaker 1: applause and it coming from one of the best running backs,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, the best running back of all time.
Speaker 1: It coming from him and find a former teammate is
Speaker 1: something that I'll remember the rest of my life. It
Speaker 1: was certainly an ald timer. And I spoke with Dean
Speaker 1: Spanos this week and he mentioned how LT is going
Speaker 1: to be such a big part of the community here
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles with the LA Chargers, so we afford
Speaker 1: to seeing him around LA And Sean, tell me about
Speaker 1: what you're doing this weekend. I know that you're gonna
Speaker 1: try to get to the game on Sunday. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm actually hit it up tomorrow. I old as NASCAR
Speaker 1: team on the can in the West Series and my
Speaker 1: driver Jesse and woujee is Uh is driving this weekend
Speaker 1: tomorrow actually in Washington and Monroe. So I'm headed up
Speaker 1: to the track and supporting that. He's a huge a
Speaker 1: bastator for my company life out um and it's it's
Speaker 1: been great. So you know, another another team sport you
Speaker 1: even though you only have a one guy driving, But
Speaker 1: if you know NASCAR, it's all about the team and
Speaker 1: the crew chief and you know your your team just
Speaker 1: really pushing you and putting me together. Shed while I'm
Speaker 1: performed doing the racist So I'm a hustle on Batman
Speaker 1: and Cassie trying to catch first preass game on Sunday
Speaker 1: and uh talk from Charges Football. Awesome man, Well, hey,
Speaker 1: I wish you the best of the Lucky's Shawn Merriman.
Speaker 1: You can follow him on Twitter on Instagram at Shawn
Speaker 1: Merriman and Sean, I will see you at Steve Hub
Speaker 1: the Sunday Man. Okay, that'll do it for today's Chargers
Speaker 1: Training Camp podcast. A big thanks to Seawan Merriman and
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that this podcast is now on iTunes.
Speaker 1: Search Chargers Podcast to subscribe and if you could, please
Speaker 1: leave a review. And if you're heading to the games Sunday,
Speaker 1: make sure to arrive early. Chargers dot com has everything
Speaker 1: you need to know about attending StubHub Center this weekend.
Speaker 1: Until next time, we'll see you soon.