Transcript: Rob Ryan, 12/24 - Thu, Dec 24 2009 at 5:37 pm
(On if he gets a kick out of playing his former team)- “Yes, I really do. I think it’s exciting. I know when we went back to New England, going there with the Raiders, it was an exciting time. Then [after] that first drive, it was like, ‘This is not so fun.’ It’s great when you are around guys like the Oakland Raiders. I was there for five years, I have the utmost respect for that organization, for Mr. (Al) Davis especially. [They have] a lot of the great players, Nnamdi Asomugha, Richard Seymour who was in New England, Kirk Morrison, Thomas Howard, JaMarcus Russell a lot of good people there. [There are] a lot of guys it will be fun to see again, but it will be better to compete against.”
(On how he can help the Browns’ offense)- “That’s one of the most talented groups of players on defense. There are not a whole lot of quarks there and obviously I am sure they are running a different scheme then when I was there. I haven’t seen them on tape. If I could help on anything I would. Brian (Daboll) knows this team really well. We talked a little bit, but he’s done an outstanding job of preparing and I can’t wait until Sunday.”
(On Asomugha)- “It’s his work ethic. Like I’ve told everybody before, he made himself a superstar. He made himself the best corner in football. Really, the best two players I’ve been around on defense were Warren Sapp and Nnamdi Asomugha. Warren had all kinds of talent. He was tremendous. He was at the tail end of his career, but he was the best thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t imagine what Warren would have looked like in his prime. God almighty, it wouldn’t have been fair. Nnamdi just made himself a great player by his work ethic, the way he studies tape, he is so smart. The thing is about him, he is a better person than he is player, [that’s] a pretty good combination.”
(On if Asomugha’s low interception figures the last few years is because team’s don’t throw against him)-“Right, absolutely. No one is going to take a chance out there. He has the long reach that can reach from me to you, Tony (Grossi). The guy is special. He truly is unbelievable. You get these shut down corners and you always hope and dream about having one to coach and they are hard to find. He really is something amazing. His coach Willie Brown has helped him a lot. He is obviously his own superstar player and superstar person. It’s fun when he is on your sideline. He really is special.”
(On the best thing he’s seen Asomugha do)- “I just remember his first year when people were testing him and he had the eight interceptions. It’s hard to get interceptions in man coverage because you have to focus on your receiver and then at that split second when that ball is getting there you have to be able to get your eyes back when you are in phase we call it. I saw him just do some unbelievable things. Against Antonio Gates, who is obviously a great player as we all know and I continue to make him look that way. On days we stopped him we had Nnamdi on him and Gates couldn’t do anything against him. Nnamdi just took of them away from him and intercepted them. He has always been great.”
(On Charlie Frye)- “We’ve played Charlie Frye when he was at Cleveland and I was at Oakland. The thing about him I always think of first is you put that Rocky tape on where he was chasing that chicken all over the place. This guy runs like crazy. He can flat out fly. He is starting. We are going to have our work cut just chasing this guy and getting him corralled. He makes a ton of plays with his feet. It looked like he is a good competitor. I remember him in the Senior Bowl, he was a good ball player there. He was on our team and of course that kid probably doesn’t remember it, but that’s alright. It was impressed with the way he handled himself. The backup quarterback was a kid I was really thinking would be a superstar by now. He had that 77 quarterback rating, I guess, when he finally played his first year starting. I think if you look back, that might have been the highest rated guy as a rookie as a starter than [darn] near anybody in the last 20 years. [I am] a little surprised that he hasn’t just become that superstar player because he has everything, all the intangibles. He’s a great kid. I am kind of hoping he doesn’t get in the game. I don’t care how bad the weather is, I hope it’s real bad, it’s Cleveland, but that kid could throw it through a storm. I am not sure if he will get in the game or not.”
(On why Russell isn’t the starter)- “I don’t know really. I think the young man is a good kid. You hate to see anybody go through some misery. [Heck] I know about it, been through it myself. Everybody is disappointed I guess. One thing in football, you can’t win a championship every year. One thing is, you will make friends that last forever, but that’s about it. Nothing is guaranteed in this league.”
(On how he knew Russell so well)- “I don’t know. I think I get to know a lot of people. I don’t know how I got to know him. Probably from ducking some of those fast balls because he can really throw them.”
(On what it’s like to coach in Oakland)- “It was like a dream come true for me. Me and my brother, ‘I’d like to coach for the Raiders.’ That’s something we always dreamed about, being the bad guy. It was great. I learned a ton of football from Mr. Davis. It was a great experience. We didn’t win and that’s the thing, like I said, nothing is guaranteed in this business. Even though they have the teams of the decades and had all of those Super Bowls, it didn’t work out when I was there five years. I know a lot of [crap] has been written about our defense, but we were third in the league one year. That wasn’t bad. I think we were last in offense that year. We’ve always had fighting guys over there and I was proud of my work. Top-10 pass defense the last three years, top-10 in the red zone three years, number one in the league in drives that started outside of the 50 [yard line]. I can live with those numbers. ”
(On how he survived and played under different coaches in Oakland)- “I think that’s like a family tradition. My dad started it in Chicago. Nobody had done that before, where the players, Alan Page and those players wrote a letter when Neil Armstrong was fired and saved my dad’s job. They went on to win a Super Bowl. My brother did it with Baltimore. It’s strange, but [heck] he did it with Baltimore last year. I did it how many times? Four?”
(On how much Al Davis interferes with the defense)- “That’s the biggest misconception there is. Not at all. Not at all until the season is over. He wants to know what you did and why you do it and things like that and the personnel. I never saw all of that, what people say. Maybe he changed when I got there. I don’t know. He didn’t like to be around me or something.”
(On his mindset coming into the game with Mike Holmgren joining the Browns)- “Obviously you want to do well in front of your old team. I guess that’s on my mind. My mind it’s winning a third game in a row, whatever it takes. I know we didn’t have a [heck] of a contribution by the defense, although we had some moments that were good. It was fun to watch that offense roll and watching (Joshua) Cribbs do his thing on special teams. Bottom line is we win as a team and we play as a team and that’s what we want to do again.”
(On Holmgren coming to town and how it will affect him)- “To be honest with you, I never even thought of that. I was thinking about the Raiders. I kind of forgot about that, [shoot] maybe I shouldn’t have. I know he is a good football man. I am anxious to meet him and see what happens.”
(On keeping his streak alive of staying with teams despite new head coaches)- “I don’t want anything to happen to Eric (Mangini). I hope I don’t keep that streak alive. Bottom line is, like I’ve said, [heck] I’m not scared of anything. I don’t give a crap, I am doing my best and if it’s not good enough [heck] I’ll coach somewhere else where it will be.”
(On Gerard Warren)- “Money is his nickname. He is a good guy, a hard worker. That’s the thing about everybody, people have different reputations [but] until you actually see them and you are with them you find out really what these people are like. Gerard was a great worker. He works his tail off. He hustles. He did a great job rushing the passer. He is fun to be around. He is a serious guy, loves football and played really hard. There’s a lot of pressure, I guess, that comes to these guys when they are top draft choices. [They have] some loft expectations that sometimes don’t get met. Maybe everybody is harder on him in the media than maybe they should. I am not real sure why that is. Everybody’s got a job to do and I know that guy came to work every day and busted his tail.”
