How did that, that process work for you guys?

Yeah, I think it's number one broke down to how the team is assembled and kind of how the Giants are assembled right now.

You got a lot of young, good talent with a couple leaders in a certain like no veteran leaders in certain spots that can kind of help those guys mature at a faster rate.

You know, obviously your quarterback, your running back, you got a couple of young guys or a young guy on the offensive line or two young guys on the offensive line.

And then, you know, that defensive front, you know, that's a scary thing.

So, you know, for us, it was – maturing fast, maturing on an accelerated level.

And then once you do end up having those wins about the, those teams that had been the gold standard.

What was it like for you playing in that sort of mindset?

How, how did that, that process work for you guys?

Yeah, I think it's, uh, n- number one, broke down to how the team is assembled, and kinda how the Giants are assembled right now.

You got a lotta young, good talent with a couple leaders in a certain, uh, like, you know, veteran leaders in certain spots that can kinda help those guys mature at a faster rate.

Um, you know, obviously your quarterback, your running back, you got a couple young guys or a young guy on the offensive line, or two young guys on the offensive line.

Um, and then, you know, that defensive front, um, you know, that's a, that's a scary thing.

Uh, so, you know, for us, it was maturing fast, maturing on an accelerated level, and then once you do e- end up having those wins about the, those teams that have been the, the gold standard.

And when I first came in, it was Arizona, Ari- well, yeah, Arizona, Seattle, and, and really the Niners.

Um, how do you see this game from a Rams perspective? What's the best pathway for the Rams to win this game, in your opinion?

For you as a player, how do you assess what's at stake tonight for this season, if anything,

for the Wisconsin Badgers? Man, I think you said it right there.

It's almost the season, you know? Everyone knew it was going to be kind of tough sledding versus Notre Dame, but, you know, especially here versus the Leathernecks, like this almost...

It doesn't need to be.

It needs to be a W, but it needs to be a convincing W.

Especially my time with the Badgers, we were expected to run for 1,000 yards, have 27 touchdowns, and maybe not have to throw a pass.

Obviously, it's kind of different areas and things like that, but it was...

Rob I asked Barry this question as a follow-up when we had that conversation at the Hard Rock Casino earlier this week on the Barry Alvarez show curious from your perspective playing under Sean McVay and throughout your successful career because we talked about this with the Green Bay Packers too what we saw from the playoffs last year and we've seen now for pretty much all these big games that Luke Fickle's been the coach at Wisconsin they're competitive in the first half can't finish in the second half how do you practice finishing how do you instill the culture of finishing in a successful high level football operation like of course everybody wants to play for four quarters how does that not happen and how do you instill that then in a team that's incapable

What did you see out of the trenches last week?

Yeah, you know, it's a habit I need to break because for, you know, especially my NFL career for 11 years, I've been staring at the right tackle no matter what game is on.

And so it's something I'm trying to break now because, you know, I could be watching football with my girls back home, especially, you know, if we had a Thursday night game in the NFL and you could go watch the games on Sunday, you know, sit down with my girls, watch it and, play could be going on and like, man, you know, great play.

It could have been a, you know, a four, a forced fumble on the other side that went back for a touchdown, but the right tackle locked his man down.

And I'm, and I'm, I'm watching such a different game where I'm trying to broaden my horizons to kind of like, there is a football in there and they're trying to do stuff with that football.

Um, but yeah, in, in terms of kind of what I saw, uh, you know, uh, I actually spent some time around, uh, the Badgers during training camp.

Um, Just a little bit.

From your perspective, what did it mean to have resources like that part of the program that you were able to learn from and reach out to? throughout

Which way do you prefer?

Yeah, you know, [sighs] this first kind of started with the London thing last year.

I mean, I, I, I wanna say we were there for 23 hours or, or whatever the heck it was.

Like, it wasn't a long time, and so that took a lot of trust, 'cause they kept saying around the building, it's like, "You gotta trust the science, trust the science.

We've researched this.

We think this is what's best." And so having that experience last year and then going on to this year, it's like, it's almost kind of that same thing where you just gotta, you gotta really trust what they're telling you, and what they're telling you has been researched and studied on, and be like, "Th- we think this is best for our football team." And so you go into a trust with Bear, and then, you know, Matthew said it in his presser where, you know, guys are gonna be tired at the right time.

Like, yeah, they're probably exhausted.

What do players for the Rams, what did you guys say watching the Niners fall apart every year physically?

So I want to let you give them some love and maybe point out, you know, who the leaders of this room are and what to expect from them this year.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, I appreciate you saying that because, you know, there's everything I've heard in the offseason, especially when I transitioned to kind of the more media side.

It's O-line depth.

We stake this and that, you know.

everyone loves to say we just need to get better at O-line without actually understanding kind of how the room operated.

So, no, like you said, Wendy, Ryan Wendell, he's done a great job with those guys.

What more can you tell us about how you guys morphed into that 13 personnel that's become even more popular league-wide?

What's the secret sauce for his success as a head coach?

Yeah.

Number one, he's genuine.

I mean, what you see is what you get with Sean.

Like, there's no real BS to him.

Um, and so he is, he, he is all those things you just me- or, just mentioned.

He, he's a savant when it comes to the game of football, especially offensive football.

What's it look like for you, who's know- knows how this offense goes, the addition of Stafford and playing with him, what did you think of what he did last year a- and how good this offense could be this year?

What is Sean McVay's secret sauce? Like, did you know instantly, "Oh, this guy is different"? Did you just walk in the room and know? At first meeting did you know it? Did you have a sense?

I knew it on the first meeting, yeah, but like over time is, is when you, he really started showing you what his, his real secrets were, and I think it's how genuine he, he is as a human being.

Almost to a fault sometimes, 'cause he'll let the bad days be really bad, especially early in his career, and the good days be really good.

But at the end of the day, like Sean truly cares about the guys on his team.

He cares about the people on his staff, and that's, like that trust is felt and reciprocated back to where he just creates a, a, like a fun culture to go in there and actually like want to go to work for him.

Like, want to go to war for him.

You know, there's no real animosity, um, really anywhere.

Did you kinda know before everybody else did New England was in trouble?

came on and you know we talked about uh aaron donald wanted to come out of retirement getting all swole because he's excited about miles garrett speeding around uh and now rob havenstein we asked him do you want to unretire do you want to apologize to him and come back and play for the rams since they're favorites to win the soup air bowl

no no absolutely not Nope, not coming back half where I am.

It's funny, I got a couple guys texting me and a couple of the staffers gave me a FaceTime telling me to put the weight back on.

It's like, man, I worked so hard to get the thing off, so I think I'm going to keep it that way.

But if they did offer me a seat, man, I'd have a long, hard talk with the wife.

She's like, hey, I'm going to be gone for a while.

I got to go see this.

Rob, thank you.

So how big of a jump can you take from someone that was as good as Versa was last year to now dropping Myles Garrett in there?

I think you hit on it right there.

Jared obviously did some wonderful things and had a ton of success.

Honestly, I believe he's going to have continued success over there in Cleveland.

I wish him nothing but the best.

He's such a good young man.

He's loud, don't get me wrong, but he works.

Uh, does this make one-on-ones when they do crossover periods and things like that in practice when, when you guys have to face these people, uh, does this make it a nightmare or is it more fun? Uh, I mean, obviously you're retired now, but you know, a lot, you know, that whole room, are those guys upset today? How are they feeling?

All right, look, you were disappointed that you were not out there, but are you at peace with that, how it ended?

ended?Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, you know, the, uh, the ankle injury was pretty much just a culmination of, you know, those previous 10 years and, you know, the five at Wisconsin kind of just doing the same movement over and over again, and it just g- kind of got old.

Um, you know, I, it's just an old joint.

And so obviously I wanted to be out there, I wanted to be, uh, fighting with the boys.

And, you know, when we made the decision to go to IR, uh, you know, that was a l- you know, a lot of talk with me and Sean back and forth, and it was like, y- you know, I just wasn't having a good time out there.

How are you approaching that? And then what happens when you're doing a Rams podcast and if you have to be critical, you gotta go there, how are you gonna handle that?

All right, look, you were disappointed that you were not out there, but are you at peace with that, how it ended?

ended?Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, you know, the, uh, the ankle injury was pretty much just a culmination of, you know, those previous 10 years and, you know, the five at Wisconsin kind of just doing the same movement over and over again, and it just k- kind of got old.

Um, you know, I've-- it's just an old joint.

And so, obviously I wanted to be out there, I wanted to be, uh, fighting with the boys.

And, you know, when we made the decision to go to IR, uh, you know, that was a, you know, a lot of talk with me and Sean back and forth.

How are you approaching that? And then what happens when you're doing a Rams podcast and if you have to be critical, you gotta go there, how are you gonna handle that?

All right, look, you were disappointed that you were not out there, but are you at peace with that, how it ended?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, you know, the, uh, the ankle injury was pretty much just a culmination of, you know, those previous 10 years and, you know, the five at Wisconsin kind of just doing the same movement over and over again, and it just g- kind of got old.

Um, you know, I've- it's just an old joint.

And so, obviously, I wanted to be out there.

I wanted to be, uh, fighting with the boys.

How are you gonna handle that?

And, and, uh, what you guys did, especially with Gurley and everybody, uh, w- all your backs, uh, with the Rams all these years, uh, what is it about the way specifically that Sean McVay teaches that play or the way your offense kind of runs around that play, that, that, uh, that makes it so efficient and makes it so they can do it year in and year out and have success?

Yeah.

So I'm, I'm, uh, I think the first thing is, you know, you're putting, y- you're putting your guys in positions to have success.

Um, it's kind of what fit when Sean first came in and we had a lot of succe- uh, success with Whitworth over there on the left side, and then a Roger Saffold, uh, playing right next to him.

I mean, two just absolute maulers of human beings, and that's kind of...

You know, we had a bunch of success back there and just me on the backside trying to cut off three techniques and, um, it's had a lot of success, and that play has kind of evolved over the years to, you got maybe different cuts, and so everything can kind of work out, and just it puts a lot of stress on the defense, because it can go this way, it can go that way, or it could do this.

Um, and I think it's just the details and how Sean teaches it, and passes it down to his, uh, position coaches and the, the way it's relayed, uh, to the, uh, players.

But I mean, you're seeing guys that didn't take a single snap at guard or center going in the first two rounds, and they're announced as a center in the case of Rutledge and a guard in the case of Slaughter.