00:00A wire-to-wire Ram for life, recently retired after an incredible 11-year career,
00:07the one and only Rob Havenstein, former Rams offensive tackle and host of Believe in Rams
00:14over there at the Believe Network. Welcome to the show, man.
00:18Thank you. Thanks for having me on.
00:20Thrilled to have you. And I mean, Rob, I got to start with this question just right out the gate.
00:25You just retired on February 10th, 2026. Are you sure you want to retire?
00:29You want to come back? It seems like a good team to come back to.
00:34You're not kidding there. No, it's really funny.
00:39I've been getting a couple of messages online, a couple of buddies, a couple of fans.
00:42Like, I'm retiring. Do it now. Like, no, I'm done.
00:46Time is running for us. I'm going to be a happy fan.
00:49Maybe I'll come back as the assistant to the assistant to the head coach.
00:54And, you know, I could still get a Super Bowl ring that way.
00:56But we'll be watching on Sundays from my couch.
01:00Well, actually, there's a lot of primetime games.
01:02I'll be watching on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday, Monday, all the days.
01:07Yeah, every day.
01:11Rob, Derek Fisher here, man. Thank you for joining us, brother.
01:14What? Just had a birthday a few weeks ago, man.
01:16You retired from NFL. Birthday, May 13th.
01:20You had to have the best birthday celebration ever this year because you weren't worried about staying ready for the
01:26season.
01:27Oh, man, I got to tell you, it was pretty nice.
01:29You know, I had a great one.
01:31It was low-key. I got three kids.
01:34So usually the big celebrations, the next day is a little rough trying to dad it out.
01:40So we kept it low-key, had a good time.
01:42But it was definitely nice not to have to worry about when am I getting my work in.
01:47Well, Rob, I got to ask you because looking at how this last 24 hours has played out, I mean,
01:54did it catch you off guard?
01:56Was this something that was like ever banted around like the clubhouse at some point of being a realistic possibility?
02:02Because as much as we've heard Miles Garrett's name attached to teams, up until yesterday morning,
02:08none of us had heard Rams until it just seemingly happened.
02:13Yeah, no, I mean, it's how tight they played this was incredible.
02:18I'm actually, you know, I'm kind of wondering who actually knew because no leaks came out, no insiders, no this,
02:26no that.
02:27Maybe the insiders kept it tight too, but that hasn't been the case usually in the NFL.
02:31So they did a heck of a job playing this thing close to chest.
02:34And no, we didn't hear nothing about it.
02:36And the first time I saw it, I was, you know, just kind of scrolling through and saw, you know,
02:41Miles Garrett to the Rams.
02:43And I was like, all right, you know, what fake account is this?
02:45And I looked up and it was Adam Shester.
02:46And I was like, oh, whoa, whoa, hold on.
02:48Let's do some research into this real quick.
02:50Is this real?
02:51Does this have legs?
02:52And then all of a sudden it happened.
02:53I was like, oh, my goodness.
02:54They kept that thing real close.
02:56Yeah, they did.
02:58Rob, you were one of the Ironmen.
03:00You played, you know, 150 career games, man.
03:04And started 148.
03:06Like, what was that mentality of, like, showing up for your teammates every Sunday?
03:12Oh, man.
03:13I mean, it's just kind of, you know, just kind of ingrained in you.
03:16It was, you know, I got lucky throughout my career where I was able to play for so long and
03:21for the same team.
03:22And it was just kind of trying to make the, you know, trying to make the right choices and, you
03:27know, prepare your body for, you know, the physicality of an NFL football year.
03:31And just continuing to do that day in and day out.
03:34I mean, there's no, there's no secret sauce.
03:36And it's just, you know, the work and then what shows from it.
03:41We are talking with Rob Havenstein, former Ram offensive tackle and, of course, current host of Believe in Rams.
03:49You know, kind of getting back over to this trade real quick.
03:51I mean, your thoughts, not only on what Miles can bring to this Rams team.
03:58Can you also speak on a little bit on what the Browns just got with their acquisition of Jared Verse?
04:06Yeah, you know, it's, it's not usually, you know, you get a lot of people talking about, you know, the
04:11trade is good for both teams.
04:13And, you know, first speaking with Jared, because that's obviously who I, who I know personally.
04:18And, you know, Jared is a young player.
04:21He is a heck of a player.
04:22He's a two-time Pro Bowler, defensive rookie of the year.
04:25I mean, he's, he's on his way to great things.
04:28And, you know, he's done great things with the Rams in just as, you know, a few short years he
04:32was there.
04:33But he's a dog, you know, and obviously that means a little bit more now that he's a Cleveland Brown.
04:39But, you know, he kind of seems like he's everything that the Browns are looking for.
04:44And he brings that tenacity.
04:46You know, he's, every time he walks him into a room, you're going to know about it because he's usually
04:50one of the loudest guys in there.
04:51But he's, that's just who he is, that he's true to himself.
04:54That's how he plays the game.
04:56That's how he goes through life.
04:57And he's a heck of a football player doing it.
05:00And then, in terms of Miles, I don't have any personal connection with him.
05:04But, obviously, you know, you've seen the highlights and watched him play on Sundays.
05:07Every time you have to go against him, it's, you know, you watch a lot of, a lot of film
05:11on the guy.
05:12And Miles is the type of player to, when you're studying for Miles, trying to play him in a game,
05:18you almost can't watch too much film because then you're going to almost talk yourself out of,
05:23be like, listen, this guy's unblockable.
05:26So, you can't watch the sack tapes because there's just so many of them.
05:31And, you know, so many close stuff where it's, you know, it's just like, man, this guy is winning on
05:36every single play.
05:37So, for a guy like him, it's, you know, you're definitely watching a little bit more of just the overall
05:43game,
05:43just to not convince yourself that he is getting the sack on every single play.
05:47Man.
05:48Right, yeah, which is insane.
05:50But, like, from an offensive lineman perspective, like you said, what's the flip side of that, right?
05:55You're watching the whole game, kind of seeing, you know, where his dominance kind of fits into the whole defensive
06:03scheme.
06:04But for you, like, how you prepared specifically in what ways, like when you were playing against guys like Miles?
06:13Yeah.
06:14Luckily for me, Miles is more of a left tackle rusher.
06:17So, obviously, I had a plan if he ever did come over.
06:21But, luckily, I was like, all right, that's going to be my left tackle's problem.
06:24But when you talk about kind of those upper echelon guys like a Miles Garrett,
06:28it's just really honing in, like, the techniques and the fundamentals of everything.
06:32Because if I'm going to have a chance to go out there and, you know, block this guy 65 to
06:3775 times a game,
06:38I need to make sure my technique, my fundamentals are on point, everything I'm doing makes, like,
06:45I'm not losing the rep myself and then just letting him get a win.
06:48He's got to beat me every single time.
06:50And with a guy like that, he can do that if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do on
06:54that particular play.
06:56So, it's really just kind of locking in, like, your personal technique, your personal fundamentals,
07:00and making sure those things are crispy by the time Sunday comes out.
07:04Once again, we are talking with Rob Havenstein, former Rams offensive tackle,
07:08and, of course, host of Believe in Rams on the Believe Network.
07:12And, Rob, man, I know where my mind went.
07:16And I know it's where a lot of other minds went, whether it's unrealistic or not.
07:20But did your mind at any point, when you saw that trade happen, go,
07:26maybe Aaron Donald should come out of retirement?
07:28It's everywhere.
07:28What do you think?
07:31Yeah, you know, I've heard a lot about it.
07:34Obviously, I put some thought to it.
07:35But me, personally, I think he's happy where he is.
07:39I think when he retired, saying, you know, the passion for the game is not quite there,
07:44that's a hard thing to get back.
07:46Could Aaron still physically do it?
07:48100%.
07:49The guy's in unbelievable shape.
07:50He's one of the strongest, most explosive person, athletes I've ever been around.
07:56Could he still physically do it?
07:58Does he want to?
07:59Does that passion come back, you know, being that he gets to play with a Myles Garrett?
08:03I don't think so.
08:05I wish it would be true.
08:08But me, personally, don't think it's going to happen.
08:12It's fun to speculate on, though.
08:14Yeah, it is.
08:15Rob, you played on some championship-caliber teams.
08:18Is it, you know, Super Bowl or bust for this team?
08:21And how did you handle that going into certain seasons where you guys really felt like this was your year?
08:29Yeah, it's tough because, you know, the Super Bowl is at the end of the season.
08:32You can't do anything about that at the beginning of the season, especially here in our time frame now in
08:37the spring.
08:38So I think the teams that are championship-bound and have good things coming to them are teams that are
08:44completely focused on what they have in front of them.
08:46So it's, you know, the best teams that I've been around is like, all right, let's go get better during
08:51OTAs.
08:52Okay, let's take that break.
08:54Let's get stronger physically by ourselves at home, you know, whatever our plan is.
08:59And we come back for training camp.
09:00Let's have a great training camp.
09:01And then from there, it's just let's have a great week one and continuing all the way to week 18.
09:07And so I think when people start putting Super Bowl or bust on it, it kind of shows you the
09:16end result.
09:17And it takes away from the process that it takes to get there.
09:19And I think that's going to be a thing that Sean is going to be harping on this team, Sean
09:24McVay, about, listen, let's just let's be as good as we can today and then try to take that momentum
09:31into tomorrow.
09:32And I think, you know, if that gets done, they've got a real good shot.
09:36I mean, you look at the team on paper.
09:38I mean, it's unbelievable.
09:40Yeah, it is.
09:41And I want to read you this quote from Jay Glazer because it's very eye-opening for the draft that
09:47this team just had.
09:48And this is what he said.
09:50Rams and Browns started talking about the Miles Garrett trade since draft day.
09:55One of the reasons they selected Ty Simpson in the first round was because they knew they'd be without at
10:01least a first rounder in next year's draft.
10:05My question for you just off of that is simply this.
10:09Is Les Snead the best GM in the game?
10:12I don't know how he keeps pulling it off, man.
10:16Yeah, no, he's for sure one of them.
10:18Um, I'm still in shock about how this actually happened.
10:23And, um, but, you know, he keeps making big moves.
10:27He's done that, uh, you know, his, his whole tenure here.
10:32If he's not the best, he's, he's one of the best.
10:35And he's a, uh, you know, he, he approaches that a very interesting way.
10:39And it's, uh, it's fun to see.
10:42Rob Havenstein, former Rams OT.
10:45And of course, believe in Rams.
10:47Really quick, but just before I let you go completely, how has it been?
10:50How's been this transition getting into the media world after 11 years of minding that line?
10:58Yeah, you know, it's, uh, it's different.
11:00It's a challenge.
11:01It's probably something that, you know, I haven't done before.
11:03I've always been on the other side of the, uh, the interviews.
11:06And so, um, just trying to learn, you know, learn a new skill, um, you know, do the best I
11:11can with the information I have and then continue to learn.
11:14And, you know, I do have a lot of insight having played, you know, 11 years, uh, with the same
11:19team, um, but, you know, not a lot of guys have.
11:22So I have a lot of unique insight into how the Rams are.
11:24I was there when Sean, uh, first came in in 2017.
11:28I was a Jeff Fisher guy before that.
11:30And so taking my perspective and, um, and then just kind of, you're basically shedding some light on, I guess,
11:36maybe some of the inner working, some of the things that have happened over the years when it comes to
11:40specific, uh, specifically to the Rams.
11:41So, um, but it's been fun, you know, it's, it's, there's, uh, a lot of great people out there and
11:47a lot of great people helping me right now.
11:48No different than my football career.
11:50So I'm excited for it.
11:51And, um, you know, I'm ready for it and we're, uh, we're having a great time.
11:55Excited for you, Rob.
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