Speaker 1: Everybody. Chris Harry with you on a Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: edition of the Chargers Training Camp Podcast. Today, I'm joined
Speaker 1: by Chargers radio analyst Nick Hardwick. Nick shares his favorite
Speaker 1: LT memories and stories and also recaps the first week
Speaker 1: of Chargers Camp. But first I spoke with NFL Network
Speaker 1: Steve Wish, who's in Canton for this weekend's Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame festivities. I'll right, the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: induction ceremony is Saturday at four pm Pacific on NFL Network.
Speaker 1: Please be joined by the Network Steve Wish on the
Speaker 1: Chargers Training Camp Podcast. Steve an authority on the Pro
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame. I appreciate you joining me, sir, oh,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for having me on. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: such a special weekend in the Hall of Fame is
Speaker 1: where the great you know, all coming together, they get
Speaker 1: shown the love by the fans that they've earned over
Speaker 1: the years. And you know, I like to tell people
Speaker 1: on the NFL calendar, other than the Super Bowl, this
Speaker 1: is pretty much the cherry on top when it comes
Speaker 1: to NFL and just all the special things we're so
Speaker 1: excited for Saturday. And Steve, if you could set the
Speaker 1: scene for us in Canton right now. I know things
Speaker 1: are a little bit different this year. The Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame game is actually now played on a Thursday night,
Speaker 1: and the Cardinals and Cowboys went at it yesterday, and
Speaker 1: I know the gold jacket ceremony is tonight. So if
Speaker 1: you could set the scene for what's going on can
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, it's you know, it's really awesome. As
Speaker 1: you mentioned, the game was Thursday, and they usually don't,
Speaker 1: you know, play the game Thursdays. It's usually at the
Speaker 1: very end. But they felt that this is a great
Speaker 1: way to kick off momentum. When I say they the
Speaker 1: organizers from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, great way
Speaker 1: to kick off momentum for the week. And it allows
Speaker 1: them just to tweak the schedules a little bit to
Speaker 1: make it a little to accommodate, you know, the gold
Speaker 1: jackets that are going in and that are already in
Speaker 1: and the fans. So the gold jacket ceremony, which is
Speaker 1: tonight is probably when the reality sinks in for the
Speaker 1: class of twenty seventeen. Every year, this is when, oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, I'm in the club now, because they walk
Speaker 1: through a gauntlet of all of the surviving gold Jackets
Speaker 1: who come back to Canton and they're and they're welcome.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of events where these guys are basically like,
Speaker 1: you're in it now. There's three hundred and ten of us.
Speaker 1: You know, these bust in the hall. They last for
Speaker 1: forty million years by all accounts, and so you know
Speaker 1: they really start to feel. This is when the emotional
Speaker 1: part of what this is about starts to surface. And
Speaker 1: then the enswerryment ceremony, which is Saturday evening, that's you know,
Speaker 1: that's the big deal for all of these guys because
Speaker 1: alsomer long they've been preparing speeches and editing and trimming
Speaker 1: and trying not to forget people's names. You know that
Speaker 1: there's always a big historical television moment when someone's got
Speaker 1: that great sound by or that great emotional outburst. And
Speaker 1: then Sunday, which is the coolest thing. It's not televised.
Speaker 1: I actually am see a round table of each incoming
Speaker 1: class and it's at the can Civic Center, about thirty
Speaker 1: five hundred people in attendance, and all the pressures off.
Speaker 1: Now these guys have had their parties, they've gone through
Speaker 1: all the drills, imaginations of the weekend, so they can
Speaker 1: sit back and for an hour they tell the best
Speaker 1: stories and just give you the most. It's so incredible.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is something it's a made for TV event.
Speaker 1: I mean, if if we ever do televise or whenever
Speaker 1: that happens, people will see these guys in real form
Speaker 1: atties just having a special football conversation and life conversation
Speaker 1: which will really really touch a lot of raw nerves
Speaker 1: and emotions to people. And Steven, it's such a star
Speaker 1: study class when you talk about Jerry Jones and then
Speaker 1: your NFL Network teammates Terrell Davis and Kurt Warner. But
Speaker 1: on this side of town, obviously the headliner is Ladanian Tomlinson,
Speaker 1: first ballot Hall of Famer thirteenth, six hundred rushing yards,
Speaker 1: one hundred forty five rushing touchdowns. What stands out to
Speaker 1: you if you had to put a bowl on such
Speaker 1: an amazing career, I just think it's it's humble production.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a guy who never had to
Speaker 1: tell anybody how great he was. He never showed off.
Speaker 1: He almost always delivered. It's unfortunate, you know, in a
Speaker 1: couple of big moments he had some injuries where people
Speaker 1: actually questioned his toughness at the time, which was unbelievable.
Speaker 1: And then the fact that even after, you know, he's
Speaker 1: always going to remember it as a charger without a doubt.
Speaker 1: But even at the end of his career when he
Speaker 1: when he played with the Jets, when you talk to
Speaker 1: Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, and people of
Speaker 1: that organization, they will tell you that in a few
Speaker 1: years he was there, they've rarely had a leader and
Speaker 1: a class human being make the difference that he's made,
Speaker 1: especially in that short window. So you know, when you
Speaker 1: when you look at you know, some of the great games,
Speaker 1: some of the great performances, the thirty one touchdown season,
Speaker 1: it's just amazing. And he did it all. I mean,
Speaker 1: he ran, he called, he threw it. You know, he
Speaker 1: did it all and is clearly, along with Marshall Falk
Speaker 1: and a couple other running back in history, one of
Speaker 1: the most complete running backs to ever play the game.
Speaker 1: And you've gotten to know him as a colleague at
Speaker 1: the NFL Network, and you know the type of person
Speaker 1: that Lte is. What does it mean to you personally
Speaker 1: to get to watch him get inducted this weekend along
Speaker 1: with obviously Warner and Terrell Davis as well. It's it's
Speaker 1: you know, it's amazing. It's you know, it's crazy, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna use this kind of comparison, but I've got I've
Speaker 1: got three kids, you know, they've graduated from high school
Speaker 1: and one just graduated from college. And it's like seeing
Speaker 1: someone that you really know and you're not proud of
Speaker 1: them because you know them and they're being honored, but
Speaker 1: you're proud of them because so many of their peers
Speaker 1: and so many other people respect them. That that's the
Speaker 1: one thing that's hard to really capture at the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame unless you're here. There are people traveling from
Speaker 1: all over the world. You know, they've saved up for
Speaker 1: years to take a vacation to come here to just
Speaker 1: see these guys, to be in the same area code
Speaker 1: as these guys as they get honored, and it's you know,
Speaker 1: Terrell Davis and Kurt Warner and Ladinian Tomlinson, three of
Speaker 1: the most special, humble, genuine human beings you're ever going
Speaker 1: to meet. And you know, knowing how great they were
Speaker 1: on the field and covering them as reporters one thing,
Speaker 1: but just seeing such quality human beings be honor for
Speaker 1: being among the greatest ever. It is impossible to describe,
Speaker 1: and it's just so special. Again, the humility of these
Speaker 1: guys and just the actual authenticity of great men. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's all I think about. I mean, knowing them. I
Speaker 1: don't even think about how great football players they were.
Speaker 1: I think about just how genuine you know, when you're
Speaker 1: in a room with these guys, I know I'm rambling
Speaker 1: and I like to be send to myself a pretty
Speaker 1: solid human being. I end the conversation with one of
Speaker 1: these guys or a group of them, I always believe
Speaker 1: it saying I've got a long way to go to
Speaker 1: be a better man. That's how special these guys are. Wow,
Speaker 1: I couldn't have said it better. Everyone knows what LT
Speaker 1: has met, not only to the charges, the organization, but
Speaker 1: the community in Southern California. Steve, I want to go
Speaker 1: back to something you alluded to earlier, because you've talked
Speaker 1: to enough Hall of famers over the years to know
Speaker 1: that this is a celebration. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: there may be a little anxiousness when it comes to
Speaker 1: actually giving the speech and making sure you take the
Speaker 1: time to thank everyone and say everything that you want
Speaker 1: to say. I actually talked to LT earlier this week
Speaker 1: and he said, Hey, the speech is done. Now it's
Speaker 1: all about the performance and the delivery. How do you
Speaker 1: think these guys balance the celebration aspect of the weekend
Speaker 1: while at the same time making sure they deliver that
Speaker 1: speech the right way, the way they want to do
Speaker 1: it on Saturday. Well, this is a great thing about
Speaker 1: you know, at least our guys, you know, Kurt and
Speaker 1: LT and TV doing television is that's that's had a
Speaker 1: ton of practice doing public speaking. A lot of these
Speaker 1: guys has never never done It's true, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones talks a lot, he's done it. But I mean,
Speaker 1: guy's Morton Anderson, you know, or Kenny Easily. Kenny Easily
Speaker 1: is going to be fantastic, by the way, and Jason
Speaker 1: Taylor he's done TV. Um, you know, other than maybe
Speaker 1: Tony Gonzalo's the best looking guy ever to play. So
Speaker 1: you know, you know, but but they're gonna be smooth.
Speaker 1: But you better believe right now, you know. And I
Speaker 1: was talking to Kurt about this two days ago. They're
Speaker 1: thinking so much about that speech, like I really because
Speaker 1: and part of it is because there's been so many
Speaker 1: great speeches before them. I mean, these things live forever.
Speaker 1: And you know, you see the sound by the Marshall
Speaker 1: Fox saying this is football Heaven. I mean that sound
Speaker 1: bite lists forever or some of the things Chris Carter
Speaker 1: or you know, it's just you know, so living up
Speaker 1: to that is really on these guys minds. And again,
Speaker 1: more than anything, these are macho guys. Right. Every time
Speaker 1: they start talking about their wives or their kids or
Speaker 1: their parents, it's over. The tears come. And no matter
Speaker 1: how much these guys sitting here right now like I
Speaker 1: gotta get through this without crying, they're gonna cry. And
Speaker 1: you know, so they're trying to really compartmentalize their emotions
Speaker 1: until they get to that crescendo of their speech when
Speaker 1: they know, you know, the fault's going to open and
Speaker 1: the water's going to start to flow. An LT's presenters
Speaker 1: Steve Is, Lorenzo Neil, and they were released synonymous in
Speaker 1: many respects in that Charger's backfield. How much of a
Speaker 1: thrill is it for players like Lorenzo to be a
Speaker 1: part of this weekend, being that he played such an
Speaker 1: instrumental role in in LT's success in San Diego. Okay, well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say it's an inside joke, but I'm really
Speaker 1: hoping Lorenzo doesn't wear one of those five buttons sport coat,
Speaker 1: but he likes to wear You think he may think
Speaker 1: may do that. He may he may come zoot suited up.
Speaker 1: We'll see, but no, this is look, Lorenzo Nio was
Speaker 1: instrumental in a lot of ways to help me lt
Speaker 1: get these yards. It's a great it's a great honor.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think about um last year when
Speaker 1: Donnie Shell, the great Steeler's safety who should be in
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame, Um who basically started ahead of
Speaker 1: Tony Dungee, when Tony Dungee was with the Steelers for
Speaker 1: a couple of years, when he was a presenter, and
Speaker 1: you know, I know Donnie, and it means, you know,
Speaker 1: just for just for It's almost like you know, when
Speaker 1: your buddy says, well you'd be my best man. Your
Speaker 1: brother asked you to be his best man at a wedding,
Speaker 1: You're like, wow, how to all the people you could
Speaker 1: have asked, you chose to me. So it's a very
Speaker 1: very special event event. I know loneil um an ltr
Speaker 1: tight but you know again, it's it's you know there
Speaker 1: the presentation. We talk about presenters. All they're really going
Speaker 1: to do is walk up on stage and introduce a
Speaker 1: video that they put much narrated, but it's been a
Speaker 1: pre package and be preproduced. But just to be up
Speaker 1: there in front of twenty five thirty thousand people in
Speaker 1: the stadium, and you're gonna have probably more than one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty gold jackets and kind of a gallery
Speaker 1: to be able to stand in front of you know,
Speaker 1: you're like almost like the gladiator in the coliseum at
Speaker 1: a big event. Do you able to stand there and
Speaker 1: be able to consume all that? To introduce your friend?
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I mean Loneil. I'm sure it's gonna
Speaker 1: be just as powerful for him as it is going
Speaker 1: to be for most of the guys who are going in.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be it's gonna be incredible weekend. We're we're
Speaker 1: really looking forward to it. Steve. Want to get you
Speaker 1: out of here on this. We're excited to see you
Speaker 1: and coast to Mace at some point this season. The
Speaker 1: first week of Chargers training camp is coming to a close.
Speaker 1: What are your overall thoughts on this Chargers team in
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, moving up to LA and of course playing
Speaker 1: in the stub Hub Center this year. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I like this team. For months, I've been on NFL
Speaker 1: Network saying this is this is the team to watch.
Speaker 1: We don't really know which direction is going to go,
Speaker 1: but they've got the talent to be pretty good, if
Speaker 1: not really good. Now they play in the toughest division
Speaker 1: in the NFL, top to bottom. There's no weak sisters.
Speaker 1: But health is the issue. We've already seen, you know,
Speaker 1: Mike Williams and Lamp go down with you know, with
Speaker 1: Williams potentially season ending and Lamp season ending, and you're
Speaker 1: just hoping, like my god, you know, can the Chargers
Speaker 1: stay healthy so we can just see how good they
Speaker 1: can be? You know, at this point of Philip Rivers career,
Speaker 1: I think Anthony Lanta is a fantastic coach. I think
Speaker 1: he's put together a very good staff. The run game
Speaker 1: is going to be important. I mean, they've got some
Speaker 1: talented players on defense too. I mean, there's no reason
Speaker 1: that they shouldn't be a contender for the AFC West.
Speaker 1: There's no reason. I mean, yet, Denver is what it is.
Speaker 1: The Raiders are what they are. The Chiefs are what
Speaker 1: they are. But there's no reason why we shouldn't be
Speaker 1: talking by mid season talking about the Chargers being in
Speaker 1: that conversation that said they're seeing with the Rams went
Speaker 1: through with the relocation. This isn't nearly as radical as
Speaker 1: what they had to do in terms of moving halfway
Speaker 1: across the country. But it's not easy because you know,
Speaker 1: it's not just the football players, it's it's the entire staff,
Speaker 1: and it's trying to figure out you know a lot
Speaker 1: of it. I mean, just so many things that they
Speaker 1: didn't even think of. When my kids are going to
Speaker 1: go to school, you know where the doctors are going
Speaker 1: to be. Oh, our marketing people. We've got to connect
Speaker 1: with folks in downtown LA and now we've got to
Speaker 1: connect with people in Orange County. There's so many wheels
Speaker 1: in motion right now that it's it impacts everybody. You know,
Speaker 1: the football players and coaches like to say, hey, we
Speaker 1: have to control what's on the field, but it impacts everybody.
Speaker 1: If they can compartmentalize. When I say they the players
Speaker 1: and coaches compartmentalize everything they have to deal with, they've
Speaker 1: got a shot and I do think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: really cool then playing in the stub Hub Center and
Speaker 1: kind of the boutique stadium we're calling it. I think
Speaker 1: that I could work to their advantage very much, because
Speaker 1: I think a lot of teams you're gonna be thrown
Speaker 1: coming in. They're like, Wow, this is a small stadium,
Speaker 1: this is this is kind of cool. We're we're playing
Speaker 1: in the club instead of in the arena, and you know,
Speaker 1: I think that should work to the advantage overall. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm pretty excited about what's going on with the
Speaker 1: Chargers again, but that that whole relocation thing is a
Speaker 1: lot more serious than maybe at first blush. We're just
Speaker 1: over a week away from the first preseason game at
Speaker 1: StubHub Center against the Seattle Seahawks. I'll be there, You'll
Speaker 1: you'll be there. Perfect, Are you going to be in
Speaker 1: customac all this week? No, I've you know, I got
Speaker 1: to finish the Hall of Fame stuff since I'm up here,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be with the Browns and then I've got
Speaker 1: to go to some other some other assignments down in
Speaker 1: New Orleans. Perfect. Well, what we look forward to seeing
Speaker 1: it's StubHub next weekend. He's Steve Weish. You can follow
Speaker 1: him on Twitter at Wish eighty nine does outstanding work
Speaker 1: at NFL Network. Steve, I can't thank you enough for
Speaker 1: your time today. I appreciate you having me on all right,
Speaker 1: please be joined by Nick Hardwick on the Chargers Training
Speaker 1: Camp podcast. You can hear him along with Matt money
Speaker 1: Smith for all Chargers game broadcasts this season on caf
Speaker 1: I Am six forty and the first preseason game just
Speaker 1: over a week away. Nick, thanks for joining me, buddy.
Speaker 1: How you doing hey, Thanks Chris, I'm doing quite well,
Speaker 1: looking forward to the season getting going officially, Man, can
Speaker 1: you believe it? We got what. We're taping this on
Speaker 1: a Friday, so just less than about nine days away
Speaker 1: from the first preseason game. It's stubbub. It's wild. You
Speaker 1: can't wait for it to get here. And it seems
Speaker 1: like it's taken absolutely forever during the duldrums of all season,
Speaker 1: but once it starts to near, it just closes in
Speaker 1: so quickly. And I used to have a coach to
Speaker 1: tell me. One of my offensive line coaches used to say,
Speaker 1: blink and it'll be Thanksgiving. And that used to be
Speaker 1: kind of our mantra to get us through training camp.
Speaker 1: But now it's like, crap, it's gonna be Thanksgiving before
Speaker 1: we know what. I'm running out of time. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: it's like blank in the first week a camp is over.
Speaker 1: It's pretty wild how quickly this week is going by.
Speaker 1: And I want to get into camp and your thoughts
Speaker 1: on the first week, But first we got to talk
Speaker 1: lt a teammate of years for six seasons. How good
Speaker 1: do you feel for this guy? It's just such a
Speaker 1: proud moment for everybody who's been involved in Eltie's life.
Speaker 1: I'm sure his family is incredibly proud of him. All
Speaker 1: the coaches, all the teammates he's had over the years
Speaker 1: are just wildly proud. The Chargers organization couldn't be prouder.
Speaker 1: And me myself, I'm just I'm really thankful and grateful
Speaker 1: that I got to participate, and such a fantastic ride
Speaker 1: that he took us on and he made an offensive
Speaker 1: line look good. Yeah, we did a lot of work
Speaker 1: for him on his behalf, but he really had the skills,
Speaker 1: the instincts, the dedication, and the study habits to make
Speaker 1: him the Hall of Famer that he is. He's a
Speaker 1: phenomenal guy and what a tremendous football player. I talked
Speaker 1: to Steve Wish about this earlier. Lorenzo Neil is presenting
Speaker 1: him at the Hall of Fame, and there's got to
Speaker 1: be a level of satisfaction the fact that he was
Speaker 1: such an instrumental part of Eltie's career. The same could
Speaker 1: be said for you. What does it mean for you
Speaker 1: personally when you see lt get that gold jacket on Saturday,
Speaker 1: being that you had such a big part in his career. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think everybody essentially feels the same way, and I
Speaker 1: know for me, it's just I'm really thankful. I'm just
Speaker 1: thankful that I got to participate in such a great
Speaker 1: era of Charger football. I'm thankful that I happened to
Speaker 1: be the center at the time when there was such
Speaker 1: a tremendous running back. I'm thankful that we had the
Speaker 1: pieces in place on that offensive line to make the
Speaker 1: most of the skill set and the tool that we
Speaker 1: had running behind us. We had phenomenal blocking tight end
Speaker 1: and Brandon Momo Malahuna, we had Lorenzo O'Neal. We had
Speaker 1: gates that opened up and spread it out a little bit.
Speaker 1: And I'm really thankful that I just got lucky to
Speaker 1: be at the right place at the right time to
Speaker 1: get a participate in his career. The one memory that
Speaker 1: sticks out to me regarding LT. I'm from the Washington,
Speaker 1: DC area, and I remember two thousand and five, you
Speaker 1: guys played the Redskins and you're down in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: I think in seventeen ten, LT breaks off a thirty
Speaker 1: two yard touchdown. It goes to overtime, and I want
Speaker 1: to say, it's like one of the first two plays
Speaker 1: of overtime. He seals it with a forty one yard
Speaker 1: touchdown overtime to beat the Redskins. And that's just a
Speaker 1: small sample size of how this guy could take games over.
Speaker 1: And I mean he was that lethal. He was And
Speaker 1: that was one of my greatest LTE memories with that
Speaker 1: game in two thousand and five and the overtime victory,
Speaker 1: the walkoff touchdown. I think about that one. I think
Speaker 1: about a walkoff touchdown that we had against the Tennessee Titans,
Speaker 1: where I believe in two thousand and seven in Nashville,
Speaker 1: we were down seventeen to nothing in half and we
Speaker 1: were just playing like dog crap. There was a late
Speaker 1: touchdown by LT to tie it up rushing touchdown, and
Speaker 1: then in overtime it was our standard play to finish
Speaker 1: games off, and it was fifty power and he hit
Speaker 1: it once again, and it seemed to be that play
Speaker 1: that really exemplifies what LT was as a charger was
Speaker 1: fifty power over and over again. And we had the
Speaker 1: right guys to do the double team, We had the
Speaker 1: right guy to do the polls, and we certainly had
Speaker 1: the right guy running the ball. But that Washington Redskins play,
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans play, and then the historic run against
Speaker 1: the Denver Broncos where he broke this single season touchdown
Speaker 1: mark for a running back. Those plays were all the same,
Speaker 1: and they are all the iconic LT moments. Yeah, there's
Speaker 1: countless memories, and I'm sure Nick, there's countless stories. Do
Speaker 1: you have a story or two that you can share
Speaker 1: with fans that they may not know, or anything during
Speaker 1: your time with LT that's appropriate for this weekend. I
Speaker 1: was always all struck by LT, especially a younger guy.
Speaker 1: He was older and he was already a megastar in
Speaker 1: the National Football League, so I was still a little
Speaker 1: bit star struck. And at MEDDA League during my first season,
Speaker 1: him and I didn't have a ton of interaction just
Speaker 1: because probably I didn't want to. Necessarily he'd be asking
Speaker 1: him questions and being all fanboyish. But he took his
Speaker 1: whole entire offensive line in the tight ends and lorenz
Speaker 1: O'Neil alto Hawaii when he made the Pro Bowl at
Speaker 1: the end of two thousand and four, and I had
Speaker 1: my first real moment of a lone time with LT
Speaker 1: And it was off the balcony of one of the
Speaker 1: hotel rooms at the Pro Bowl there, and I had
Speaker 1: my first real moment where I got to ask him
Speaker 1: questions kind of unabated and do a little fanboy experience
Speaker 1: for me. So that was the one where I just
Speaker 1: asked him. I said, what's life like do you? Can
Speaker 1: you live in normal existence? Can you go to the mall?
Speaker 1: What's it all like for you? And he said, if
Speaker 1: I go to the mall, I have to go right
Speaker 1: when it first opens. I have to know what store
Speaker 1: I'm going to, I have to know what I'm going
Speaker 1: to buy, and I have to get out of there
Speaker 1: and go right to my car afterwards. Otherwise I'm sitting
Speaker 1: sitting there signing autographs, taking pictures and doing the like,
Speaker 1: and I thought, we just live in complete for a
Speaker 1: world a little bit different and that oh, totally different worlds.
Speaker 1: But he was always so gracious with the offensive line,
Speaker 1: always very thankful and passing down credit. And after his
Speaker 1: MVP season, he bought us all two first class tickets
Speaker 1: to anywhere in the world. Those weren't cheap tickets. And
Speaker 1: I unfortunately had to have a foot surgery, which canceled
Speaker 1: a trip that I had planned to Australia. And I
Speaker 1: had a trip planned Australia with my now wife and
Speaker 1: we've been married for ten years. But I had this
Speaker 1: epic two week journey planned Australia, and I remember I
Speaker 1: had to have a foot surgery, so I had to
Speaker 1: cancel the trip. And I called and I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: could you put the money back on LT's card He
Speaker 1: paid for the trip, and I had no idea how
Speaker 1: much this whole thing costs. And they said, yeah, sure, sir,
Speaker 1: we'll do that for you. And they go, so we
Speaker 1: are going to refund twenty one thousand dollars to said, oh,
Speaker 1: oh my god. But he did that. He did that
Speaker 1: for like five or seven guys after he won the MVP,
Speaker 1: And that's just kind of shows you how gracious he
Speaker 1: was with his offense refinement. That's unbelievable, and you know
Speaker 1: he's a first class person. I talked about this with
Speaker 1: Steve Weisch too. It's you couldn't be happy for the
Speaker 1: guy just because he is a first class person, first
Speaker 1: and foremost. And there's a lot going on this weekend
Speaker 1: Nick with the Chargers, obviously the Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday,
Speaker 1: a joint practice against the Rams at StubHub Center. The
Speaker 1: team's going to get their first taste of playing in
Speaker 1: there and actually against another opponent. I'm sure at this
Speaker 1: point of camp they're excited to hit somebody else. But
Speaker 1: I want to get your overall thoughts on this first
Speaker 1: week in Coasta Mesa. There's been a really good energy
Speaker 1: to training camp, and the fans in Coasta Mesa have
Speaker 1: provided that because that's reflected of what you see on
Speaker 1: the field, and I think the players are excited. It's
Speaker 1: a different feeling now because a lot of the guy
Speaker 1: who have been there for a number of years have
Speaker 1: had that very comfortable work environment where they go to
Speaker 1: a Charger park in San Diego and they've been in
Speaker 1: the same routines for years. Philip Rivers going on his
Speaker 1: fourteen season where he's been in that same routine and
Speaker 1: training camp hasn't been anywhere different for him because it
Speaker 1: wasn't the Subhub Center our rookie year together. But he
Speaker 1: only showed up on the very final day in two
Speaker 1: thousand and four of his rookie training camp, so he
Speaker 1: doesn't know what that's like. All he knows is getting
Speaker 1: in that very familiar routine and so taking it back
Speaker 1: to a training camp off campus location, I think it
Speaker 1: really sends a mental signal to the guys that this
Speaker 1: is a different place, this is where the work is
Speaker 1: done for the season, and you don't get caught in
Speaker 1: that stagnant feel of this is just work. This is
Speaker 1: just another day of work where you actually approach it
Speaker 1: differently because of its setting in a different for an environment.
Speaker 1: And I think that's got a real chance to be
Speaker 1: beneficial where guys know that when they get on the bus,
Speaker 1: they're going to practice at the park and they are
Speaker 1: there to work to harden themselves up for the season.
Speaker 1: I think it's got a real chance to be mentally
Speaker 1: healthy for the team heading into the season. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that newness could be a real catalyst and just
Speaker 1: in this environment at StubHub, I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be one of the most unique experiences in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Thirty thousand fans, what are you looking forward to when
Speaker 1: you have your first preseason broadcasts at stub Hub? Not
Speaker 1: this Sunday, but next Sunday when the team takes on
Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks. We're gonna have some tremendous sightlines from
Speaker 1: a broadcast. It's gonna be cool, right, very unique. God,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be so cool. And at first, when you
Speaker 1: think of an NFL stadium, you think of these palaces
Speaker 1: seventy thousand, ninety thousand, and you think of these big,
Speaker 1: mega places. But the thing that those don't have is
Speaker 1: the feel of football. So you can see it, and
Speaker 1: you're going to participate in the crowd, which has its
Speaker 1: own unique energy, and that's fun. But the real attraction
Speaker 1: for me, a guy who comes from the field and
Speaker 1: has now worked up into the broadcast booth, is the
Speaker 1: power of the game and feeling that power. And you
Speaker 1: only get that when you're up close, when you're standing
Speaker 1: on the sidelines, when you're not that far removed, when
Speaker 1: you can actually hear the meat being tenderized, if you will.
Speaker 1: On the field with the guys that are the size
Speaker 1: of small water buffalo is just ramming into one another.
Speaker 1: To me, that's the real allure of football, is hearing
Speaker 1: guys thumping one another at full speed. The size, the speed,
Speaker 1: the strength all coming together in these huge clashes. To me,
Speaker 1: that's going to be something very unique and very attractive
Speaker 1: about the stub Up Center. I'm really pumped for you
Speaker 1: and money on Sundays, and I know you're going to
Speaker 1: be doing a lot more above and beyond the game broadcast.
Speaker 1: Why don't you tell Chargers fans where they can expect
Speaker 1: to listen to you and see you this upcoming season.
Speaker 1: But you can hear me every day every morning if
Speaker 1: you'd like, from six to nine am. We're like everyone's
Speaker 1: morning cup of coffee on Extra thirteen sixty Fox Sports,
Speaker 1: and that's in San Diego. And then I'll be doing
Speaker 1: charge Chargers digital media work, so that'll be across to
Speaker 1: all their social platforms and at Chargers dot Com, and
Speaker 1: we get some unique interviews with players, which I thoroughly
Speaker 1: enjoy being able to sit down as a former player
Speaker 1: with current players and kind of get behind the mind
Speaker 1: of the guys who are still lining up and getting
Speaker 1: it done so they'll be able to find me in
Speaker 1: plenty of places. Awesome, man. Well, hey, this has been
Speaker 1: a fun first week. We're gonna put a bow on
Speaker 1: it with LT getting his gold jacket. He's Nick Hardwick. Nick.
Speaker 1: I look forward to kitching up with you next week man,
Speaker 1: and doing this again soon. All right, thank you, Chris.
Speaker 1: All right, then I'll do it for today's Chargers Training
Speaker 1: Camp podcast. A big thanks to Steve Wish and Nick
Speaker 1: Hardwick for joining me. The team will hold a joint
Speaker 1: practice with the Rams for season ticket and waitless members
Speaker 1: at stub Hub Center Saturday, same day Leddanian Tomlinson receives
Speaker 1: his gold jacket. Keep it Lacktchargers dot Com all weekend
Speaker 1: long for exclusive coverage and until next time. We'll see
Speaker 1: you soon.