- 11 months ago
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00:00But joining us right now on the River Islands guest line is none other than receiving great
00:04Plaxico Burris, also with Fox Sports Radio as well.
00:08Plaxico, it's great to have you on the show here on Willard and Dibs 95.7 The Game.
00:11Thank you for doing it.
00:13Man, all good, man.
00:14I think you guys are having me on, man.
00:17And let it not be known that we are still prevalent out there with you guys.
00:24Draymond Green, Michigan State, that is my brother.
00:29Let's go.
00:30Let's go.
00:31Okay, now that you did that, I'm going to just tell everybody,
00:33maybe we get a Dibs question in at the back end of this because of that.
00:39So I love that, Plaxico.
00:40But we do want to talk about the Niners, their receiving situation,
00:44everything that's going into it right now.
00:46First and foremost, Ricky Pearsall has really, really popped so far this season.
00:52I wonder if you've taken a look at him yet, what your thoughts are there.
00:56I have, man.
00:57I think he's a great young talent out of the University of Florida.
01:00You know, obviously, Debo has moved on, trying to get Brennan Ayoub healthy and CMC.
01:10But I really do think that Pearsall, if he can be one of those guys that Kyle Shanahan can lean on to lead this passing game,
01:21moving forward with the development of Brock Purdy, I think it's going to be very good.
01:27What's the biggest challenge for a young receiver when you have to step up and become the one?
01:33Man, it's tough.
01:35It really is.
01:36It's not as easy as everybody think it is.
01:39Man, the speed of the game, digesting the offense,
01:42being able to compartmentalize every aspect of what position they're going to play.
01:48Because when I came in the game, man, you know, I was X, times one was a Z,
01:54and obviously Jerome Bettis played running back.
01:58But now the game is so complex to where you have to learn every position.
02:05And I think that's one of the things that is, you know, really hurting a lot of receivers moving on,
02:11getting to the next level.
02:12But I think Ricky is going to be a really good receiver moving forward.
02:15But if you really want to be versatile, they have this saying,
02:20the law of the niche, the more you can do, the more value you have.
02:26So you really have to learn the wide receiver position from every spot on the field.
02:34Plaxico Burris is with us here on Withering Divs.
02:36Plax, I want to ask you, you mentioned Brandon Ayuk's name,
02:39and I'm kind of projecting forward and wondering how this is going to go.
02:43The Niners do like Ricky Pearsall.
02:45Jawan Jennings has established himself as a piece of the puzzle here,
02:49and they just got Demarcus Robinson back off of suspension, and he had a great camp.
02:54Meantime, they announced today that Brandon is not close, but he's making 30 mil.
03:01Plax, like, how does this whole thing fit in when Brandon gets back?
03:07Man, it's a different day and age.
03:08So, obviously, Brandon's getting paid with the number that you just said,
03:12and obviously Ricky is doing a great job, and Jawan Jennings.
03:17So you have to be able to continue to get better offensively because I will believe that everybody in the Bay Area
03:26wants to continue to see Brock Purdy elevate and get better as a quarterback,
03:32and he's going to need all of those guys on his side if he wants to continue to be better as a quarterback,
03:40Kyle Shanahan included.
03:41I played against John Lynch several years, so I understand the defense is a concept.
03:48But if you want to win in this league, you have to have a defense.
03:52Obviously, with Bosa going down, that hurts them.
03:55But from an offensive standpoint, you've got to try to keep your guys healthy as you possibly can.
04:05And, you know, Brock Purdy, he's going to continue to elevate as a lead wide receiver.
04:12But he's going to need those guys to be healthy if he wants to be considered to be a great quarterback.
04:18And they're trying to keep everyone healthy, obviously, and Christian McCaffrey may be chief among them.
04:24I'm thinking about Tiki Barber on your team, and I'm looking here.
04:27He had 411 touches one year.
04:30Was there any talk in the locker room among the team about maybe trying to bubble wrap Tiki
04:36or maybe not giving him that many touches?
04:38Because that's what we hear out here in San Francisco.
04:41Not at all.
04:43Because, I mean, obviously, you guys have a great tight end in Kittles.
04:48I had a great tight end in Jeremy Shockey.
04:50I had a great wide receiver inside of me, and Imani Tuma, obviously, myself.
04:57And San Francisco has the same thing.
04:59But you guys are playing in a very tough division.
05:03So, to move forward, Kyle Shanahan trying to get to a divisional champion,
05:11conference chance, and get back to the Super Bowl, it's going to be a little tough for you guys.
05:16I'm not even going to front, but for Brock Purdy's maturation,
05:23he is going to have everybody healthy for the San Francisco 49ers to get back to a championship game.
05:31Plaxico Burris is with us.
05:33And, Plax, since you bring up Purdy, I mean, let's dive in.
05:36The guy is such, and I get, to me, it's a head scratcher, but he's such a lightning rod.
05:41Nobody would suggest that coaching doesn't matter.
05:43It does.
05:44The good teammates, of course, and good teammates around you, it also matters.
05:49However, that does, it leads us down the road where certain quarterbacks get labeled as,
05:56well, the only reason you're succeeding is because what's going on around you.
06:00Do you buy that?
06:02What's your view on Brock and the success he's had?
06:05I might do.
06:07Man, listen, I've had the phenomenal opportunity of playing beside two great Hall of Fame quarterbacks,
06:16one in Ben Roethlisberger and one in Eli Manning.
06:21And I know what it takes from a quarterbacking standpoint to be elite and to be great.
06:27And I was instrumented into both of those guys from a player standpoint trying to help the organization and them to be great.
06:41And for Brock moving forward, I think that some of the absences, I'm just being honest, some of the absences that he has had,
06:54I believe that some of the deficiencies of him being a quarterback are going to show up.
06:59And it's normal.
07:03And Debo being in Washington, obviously, Brandon Ayuk not being there, and Bosa being out,
07:12it's going to be a struggle for those guys in the NFC West.
07:15I get it, and I understand.
07:17But for him, he's going to have to continue to study and be better.
07:21You look at some of these great and good quarterbacks that are moving forward without the elite receivers.
07:29I believe that Justin Herbert is on that path.
07:34I believe that Jordan Love is on that path.
07:37And he's going to be one of those guys to not have elite receivers,
07:42but you still have to find a way to be an elite quarterback.
07:47And what are those attributes that make you an elite quarterback just on your own?
07:51If you don't have the talent around you, what does Brock Purdy need to have to still be elite without those guys?
07:58Study.
07:58Study, study, study.
08:01They have to be so immersed in their playbook, and they have to learn it.
08:07It's like it's breathing.
08:08It has to become second nature to them to have everybody on the same page
08:15and to have a rapport with the wide receivers and the tight ends and the whole entire offense around him.
08:21He has to breathe it, live it, see it, and perform.
08:28I've been around it, and he's going to have to go through a transformation process as a quarterback
08:35to develop and really understand the whole concept of the offense and make those guys in the huddle believe what he's saying.
08:49Plaxico Burris is with us.
08:51Plax, let's talk about the Niner opponent quarterback this week.
08:53What's your take on Trevor Lawrence?
08:56Has he had a difficult landing spot with a lot of different coaches, or has he just been a disappointment?
09:03I would say he's been a disappointment.
09:04I mean, obviously, the contract weighs on a lot of guys.
09:11I haven't really had an opportunity to really delve into his performances as far as a contractual standpoint.
09:22But I guess they have Travis Henry now.
09:26But I think for Jacksonville, for him, he's going to, what, his fifth year, I believe?
09:34Yep.
09:35He's going to his fifth year.
09:37And there has to be some kind of transformation.
09:44Are you getting better or are you getting worse?
09:47And I think that's one of the decisions that the Jacksonville organization is going to have to make moving forward.
09:54But he already has a contract.
09:57So they're stuck with him.
10:00So now, how can we put these pieces of the puzzle together to get him back to what the player that they drafted from college?
10:12We don't know what that is.
10:15Nobody does until this point.
10:17But I hope that for himself and the organization, that they can put some pieces around him to develop the kind of quarterback that they drafted.
10:31And how much of that is not only the players around him, but also the system?
10:35And you had me thinking about Eli Manning and his kind of up-and-down career until things got really good.
10:42What was it like for Eli in the time you were there?
10:45Well, first of all, Eli didn't get good until I got there.
10:49I mean, let's not make no mistake about it.
10:52And he got good when I get there, and I laugh when I say it.
10:58And it happens.
11:01And, you know, I came from a great organization, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know, losing two AFC Championship games in four years.
11:11Tom Brady and New England, watching them walk off into the, you know, Super Bowl.
11:18They came in to beat us at home.
11:20They go to the Super Bowl and just, you know, get to New York and watching him grow.
11:30And he became one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.
11:36And myself, Jeremy, Tiki, and David Dill moving from left guard to left tackle, which made a significant difference.
11:47And then we brought him McKenzie at right tackle.
11:52And Tiki had one of the best prolific seasons in NFL history.
11:58But if you look at it, you just hope that Trevor Lawrence and that organization can get to where, to the player that they drafted.
12:12Plax, I want to know how being a Super Bowl champion changed your life.
12:18And I ask it through this sort of lens.
12:20Niner fans, we got a whole generation of them, even though the history of the organization is great,
12:25that have never seen it happen because it hasn't happened now for over 30 years.
12:31You watched Eli Manning go from what you just said, kind of a debatable quarterback to suddenly a Super Bowl champion.
12:38And that's what I think a lot of Niner fans want to see happen for Brock Purdy.
12:41How does that change the way people look at you?
12:45I want to say how it changed the way they look at you.
12:49Eli was, he's highly intelligent.
12:53I don't want to get it misconstrued.
12:56We joke around and we laugh a lot.
12:59But when he got in the huddle and he was on the center on the shotgun, he's highly intelligent of the game.
13:06He knew exactly what was going on around him, defensive-wise, front-wise,
13:11that he needed to make a hot read or whatever the case may be.
13:15And he had some good players around him.
13:18But I would never take away his intelligence to play the game of football.
13:26With that being said, he's a two-time world champion.
13:31And people come to me every day and ask me, is he a first-bellion Hall of Famer?
13:35I say, how can he not be?
13:38He was brilliant.
13:39And the times that mattered.
13:43And how was it different from being a Super Bowl champion to just a guy playing in 13 years?
13:52And just like John Elway said when he won his first one, I couldn't imagine living without it.
14:00And that's what it's all about.
14:01But until you feel that confetti fall and can say you are world champion, my guy did it twice.
14:20And one time with you, and you got a touchdown in that game.
14:23I was just looking at the box score, Plax.
14:25Nine targets, two catches.
14:27Could he not find you in that game?
14:29What was going on with Eli?
14:30Hey, man, listen.
14:32After the NFC Championship game, after I set the record for 11 catches and 154 touchdowns, 154 yards,
14:41Bill Belichick was not just going to single cover me and let me run up and down the football field
14:47because I had played him twice in the AFC Championship game at Pittsburgh.
14:53So we had a pretty good understanding of how you want to cover me.
14:56Hey, do you know how many times they single covered me during that game?
15:02Probably never.
15:03None.
15:04It was the first third down.
15:06I made the first catch of the game on third down.
15:09And I made the last catch.
15:11And I run into Rodney Harrison all the time.
15:15And he shakes his head when he sees me.
15:18You know what he said?
15:20He wanted to check out of the defense because it was blitz cover zero.
15:24And the late, great Junior Seau.
15:28Looked back at Rodney.
15:30What Rodney told me, he was like, I can't change the coverage.
15:34And the rest is history.
15:38Wow.
15:39That's so great.
15:40Some great names right there.
15:41So great.
15:41Hey, Plax, this has been awesome.
15:42Before you go, let's talk about your boy Draymond Green.
15:47Are the Warriors too old to compete at a high level?
15:51Man, listen.
15:51If you're a Sparty on, Draymond is a Saginaw straggler.
15:57All right?
15:57He's never too old to win a championship.
16:01That's my brother, man.
16:02I love him to death.
16:04They are never too old to compete and win a championship because they have one of the greatest basketball players in all time.
16:14Greatest shoes of all time.
16:15Steph Curry.
16:16So they always have an opportunity.
16:19Always have an opportunity.
16:21And I'm going to get out there to watch my boy play.
16:24And the Golden State Warriors always have a chance, as long as you have Steph Curry and the Saginaw straggler on your team.
16:35Okay.
16:36The Saginaw straggler.
16:37There it is.
16:37That's great.
16:38That's awesome.
16:39Hey, Plax, thanks for making the time, man.
16:41We really appreciate it.
16:42That was fun.
16:42All right, man.
16:43Be good.
16:43Peace.
16:44Okay.
16:44Plaxico Burris.
16:45Peace.
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