FiredUp Network
Saturday, June 22: FiredUp Live With Rudy Reyes Welcoming New York Jets TE, Pat McSweeney
Welcome to the epicenter of sports and entertainment. This is the root dog show. Now, here's your host, Rudy Reyes. Welcome to the root dog show. No, you don't know the gentleman to my left or your right, depending on what device you're actually watching, but rest assured, we're going to talk about him and everything that he will bring to New York Jets. Maybe that should ring a bell, maybe it doesn't, but you're going to find out a little bit more about Pat McSweeney as we go along. Oh, I said it, my bad. Pat, how are you? Thanks for coming on to the show. Hey, I'm doing well, Rudy. Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure. It's been some time in the making, Pat. To be honest with you, we try to schedule this and then things got in the way and life happens, but here we are. Yes, sir. Yep, here we are, we made it. We made it to the finish line. Your finish line is far from done, just like your job. It's far from done. You received an invite by Robert Saul. We'll talk about that. Basically going into the New York Jets organization, having a chance to walk through, look at all the wonderful banners and ring of honor and basically just get a feel for the organization from the inside, not necessarily being a fan from the outside because we know that those are very different. They look different. They feel different. And being a part of the Jets organization certainly is no different. And I think moreover, when you look at where the Jets were, they didn't do what they needed to do down the stretch last season, but that was last season. This is this season and this season, they have you. Hopefully, on their roster, moving forward. Let's go backwards a little bit because I want people to get a full context understanding of who you are, where you came from, what makes you who you are. But more importantly, what your goals are and alongside the New York Jets and other players on that roster that certainly did get picked in the 2023 NFL Draft, you see me 24 NFL Draft. So, with that, Patrick, you played in Coastal Carolina. There's one other gentleman you may know well or you may not know well that's still clean up. And I interviewed Joe when, of course, the guys doing everything and I don't know what he's doing now, but being a bodyguard, I'm not sure what his career path is gonna be. But Joe and I interviewed when he was talked about in becoming drafted and being draft eligible into the NFL Draft many years ago. Not too far removed, but enough to know the difference between the two. You played for Coastal Carolina, but that's not really where you started. That's how you kind of ended up, right? You appeared in 12 games and primarily those games were on special teams. So, let's start there. So, where do you believe special teams had a place for you and how did you fight to get on that roster so you can even be in a special teams unit? Yeah, I think special teams is all about effort, energy and effort and, you know, it's cliche, but that's what they always say is, you know, the fastest way on the field, especially as a young player is special teams. So, I just always tried to work hard, show the coaches that I was available and I wanted to be on special teams. And I was fortunate enough to be on a couple of units throughout my years there and it does feel good. But to get on the field and, you know, be a part of any special teams unit and just know that you have a job and the team's counting on you. So, you know, I think it was great in special teams. It's a great part of the game. You know, it's overlooked sometimes, but really special teams, you know, can win you a game and lose you a game pretty quickly, so. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Special teams need to come up special when special situations call for the teams to be, well, called special teams because they're special, special and winning, special and losing. You said it better than I. You saw action against a Gardner web day before my birthday. We'll dive into that contrast to that conversation. Buffalo, Georgia, Southern, Old Dominion. What is it about those appearances where you saw action in? Do you felt that you were going to be a major impact moving forward for Coastal Carolina? Yeah, I just I just felt like I wanted to do my job. As you know, I play tight ends and we had a lot of good tight ends throughout my time there. One being Isaiah like leaving out plays for the Baltimore Ravens. And he's having a lot of success in the NFL, but, you know, it was it was I just always felt like, you know, I wanted to be ready to do my job, you know, whether my number was called or not. Luckily, I was able to get, you know, some solid snaps and, you know, some solid playing time. And just I was grateful for it all. And yeah, like I said, I think it was just we had a we had a good we had a good team atmosphere. We had good coaches and just, you know, it was just up to me to be ready to do my job at, you know, just preparation and just just trying to stay focused and stay disciplined. So that when my time came, you know, I was ready for it. And I was able to go out there and, you know, doing my job at a high level. So that's really what it was. Well, and that I believe is where you can separate yourself from those. I don't want to commit to the work that don't want to commit or maybe don't have a feeling that they need to commit time to the classroom, commit time to being on the field and to be coachable, right? To be able to listen, follow, follow rules, follow instructions, you know, understanding positioning. Where do you need to be on the field? You know, there's so many nuances, even a special teams capacity, there's still so many different situations where, you know, there's a maybe an onsite kick or some type of squib, you know, there's something that you need you guys need to be prepared for. What were the coaches there to basically help you understand? And what did you get of your experience at Coastal Carolina? Well, my experience at Coastal was phenomenal. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Luckily, throughout my time there, we were able to... Our team was able to be nationally ranked for over a year straight. And we had a good thing going. We had a lot of great leaders, you know, whether it was the coaching staff or just some of the older players. You know, a lot of the older players kind of led the way. And as a younger player, when I first got there, it was really just follow them, see how they do things. And like you mentioned, the classroom, the classroom is very important. You know, like another, like, please chase sort of how you do anything, is how you do everything. So if you constantly are missing class and, you know, not turning in assignments, then if the coaches would say, you know, if they can't trust you to go to class, how can they trust you on the field when it's 4th down or even on special teams? Like you said, it might sound simple. Like I was on a kick return, kick return was big for me. And there's always different situations. Like you mentioned, even a sky kick, you got to be ready. We had to practice catching sky kicks. Because then once in a blue moon, they're going to kick you the ball. You don't want to turn the ball over, you know? So it's all about trust, but at Coastal, I learned a lot. Like I said, playing with some great players who are in the NFL today, making great careers for themselves. And those guys taught me just how to carry myself, how to work, how to act on and off the field in the meeting room. So like I said, I wouldn't trade my experience at Coastal for anything. I'm really grateful for it all. You know, there's a lot of things that people can take away from your story. And we'll get into some of the nuances here shortly. But when it comes to understanding what academics and how academics can be such an integral part of your career path, regardless of whether you play football or maybe you play a year, maybe you only play six months. But knowing that you have the educational acclimation to understanding what that process looks like, variable classes. You know, you have homework for three different out of four classes, or you know, you have to understand, and I say this to the general audience, clearly you have, you can attest to that probably more so than I, that you have to learn how to perform that balance. But the educational aspects of it are extremely critical. They're very important. They're an integral part of what people do. And I think that gets overlooked more often than not, because without the education, how can you be a student in the classroom and not be a student in the game room or in the film room? I think those two go hand in hand, understanding that there are some parallels associated with that, but moreover, what that should look like is success, and success that people have by committing to what they're trying to accomplish, committing to understanding that there are goals they need to ascertain, what does those look like, how will that benefit the rest of their life, and are outside of football as irrelevant, but just in general. And I think a lot of it has to do with having discipline, recognizing that that discipline carries throughout your life, carries through whatever you decide to do, but that discipline will help lead you to achieving educational greatness. Some people go on to have PhDs after the NFL. They're so many greats that have rings that decide to go be professors in their older age, having a PhD, because they recognize the value of education and how that's applicable to their life moving forward. What does that mean to you? Describe, if you will, the types of challenges that you faced, knowing that you had classwork, and then you had homework, and then you had football work. You had to incorporate and put that all together to basically get you to where you want to be. Yeah, I think you mentioned it. Discipline is everything. I'm pretty sure Derek Jeter said that. I'm from New York. I'm a big, big Yankee fan, big Derek Jeter fan. I think somebody asked him about his career and how he did it for 20 years so consistently. And he said, "Discipline is everything." And I think anybody else would tell you, time management is really what you learn. Playing football in college and going to class, being a full-time student. You really have to kind of schedule out your day-to-day and just make time for school. And when it's time to do it, you've got to do it during that time frame. You don't want to set yourself back. And it's just having a good schedule, trying to sleep rest well every night, this way the next day. You're refreshed and you're just ready to go. So it's just, I always tell younger guys, take it one day at a time. It can get overwhelming. You start to think down the road, and, "Oh, we have this, this, and this coming up." And I have this and this in the classroom. And I would just say, take it one day at a time. What do you have to do today? Get it done today. And, like I said, try and get a good night's rest. And whatever's on the agenda for tomorrow, you want to do that to the best of your ability. So that's what I'll say about that, when it comes to the classroom, and kind of balancing out athletics and academics. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. I think it could probably finish this off by saying that having the understanding of what that means will actually help carry you personally and professionally as long as you stay in line with having the discipline, as you well said, Pat. And with that, carry that with you, right? Because we are who we say we are. We are who we emulate, right? So if you emulate some interesting characters, that's probably not the right crowd. It's probably not the right approach. So stay disciplined, stay focused. You can end up like Pat McSweeney an opportunity in the NFL to play if that's your dream to do so. Clearly, it is yours, Pat. And by the way, for those that don't know, it's Pat McSweeney. I'm Rudy Reyes here on TheRoodDockShow.com. And throw me an @ on X or Twitter, or whatever you want to call @RoodDog Reyes. And what is yours, Pat? It's all the way people can connect with you. On Twitter or X, it's @PAT McSweeney9, Instagram @PAT McSweeney_. And yeah, that's about all I got. Fair enough. So let's talk about a rookie minicamp, right? We all know that minicamps are designed to do one of two things. Filter out the guys that deserve to be there, that want to be there, that show that they want to be there, and those that don't. Those that don't commit. Those that are not coachable. Those that are not trainable. And it's a fine line between those two. I see so many guys who come in, they look promising, all of a sudden they get cut, you know, off at their head, or whatever euphemism you want to use. But what was it like going through the Atlantic Health Training Center and looking up and seeing all these wonderful players, like Nick Mangold, I grew up watching him. San Antonio Holmes played on the Steelers as well. I won a Super Bowl ring with Ben Ross as burger. But what was it like to go through that ring of honor and look at the walls that were just doused with greatness? Yeah, it was unbelievable. For me, like I said, I'm from New York, and I grew up a big Jets fan. So being able to, you know, go to the facility at One Jets Drive and walk through the halls and kind of just check everything out. It was surreal. And in that moment, you know, I was just very grateful. I truly believe I got that opportunity just thanks to my faith in God. You know, I really had faith that, you know, my hard work was gonna pay off and the discipline and the sacrifice. And being there was phenomenal. You know, it was really a great experience. I was able to meet Coach Salah, Woody Johnson, the owner of the team. I was able to have a good conversation with the GM, Joe Douglas. A lot of the position coaches I was able to meet and talk to. And, you know, it was just, it was all around just a phenomenal experience. I'm forever grateful for it. And, you know, there's nothing I want to do then get back there, you know, as soon as possible, you know. So it was, it was really, it was, it was awesome. Well, you could be on your way back a lot sooner than later. Do you believe you'd find yourself along there or maybe one day with some of those great New York Jets on the walls? Yes, sir, that's my main goal. You know, I said it, I said it during me camp. You know, I want to be the greatest grad of all time. And, you know, I like to, what I learned over the years, I was always, you know, I never really would talk about my goals with people. I would just sort of work towards them and kind of, kind of not, not really say, not really set my expectations too high. Because there's always that fear when you're a young kid of, you know, being, being laughed at or ridiculed or mocked. Because you have certain aspirations that others may believe are unattainable. But as I've gotten older, I mean, I realize it's important not to, not to share your dreams and your goals with everyone. But, you know, the people closest to you that you love and trust, it's okay to verbalize things, you know. And I think the more you do that, the more it becomes real. And, you know, the closer you get. And then one day, you know, you just, one day, hopefully, you end up, you know, reaching those goals. And like I said, you know, I would love to just get back there and just, and just, you know, give it everything I have, you know, especially for the New York Jets. You know, like I said, I grew up as a big fan of, so. Well, now you're on the other side. And the other side is obviously a lot different looking than being a fan of the stance. Let's go back a lot because before any of this, before there was conversations that you had with anyone about aspirations or goals or dreams. And I completely agree with you to share those with very selected individuals. And not everyone, because not everyone needs to know. Because that basically will give them ammo. And I hate to use this statement or euphemism, but haters are going to hate, regardless of what you do or how you do it and the ways that you do it. They always believe there's some type of magic potion, you know, or something that you can easily say to weasel yourself in and or out of a situation, any given situation. I recall a day unlike any other, and we shared this commonality off camera in the fact that 9/11 was a day that will live in infamy for many people, especially New Yorkers along with people in D.C., people outside of Pittsburgh, and myself, because that's the day I was born. There are a lot of things that people may have said in a positive light, maybe in the sombering light about your dead Timothy. I think that when people pass away, there's no real good reason and there never will be, but your dad passed away when you were just nine months old. And I know you don't remember recall, can recite any feelings because at that point there weren't any being so young. I found myself sending an alarm to a sound that I typically don't set, which is an alarm clock after working over nights. And I know obviously you're too young to remember, but when you look back at your father's legacy, do you find yourself maybe possessing similar mannerisms, personality traits that people have mentioned to you that were similar to your dad? Yes, sir. Without a doubt, I think my dad and I are very similar, although, as you mentioned, I don't quite have any memories of him. I feel like I know him, and I feel like my memories come through the stories from my mother, my aunt, who were my father's sister and my father's sisters, and just a lot of people who were close with my father. I've heard a lot, and I feel like I know the type of character that he had and the type of man that he was. And I do think we're similar, and I think it molded what happened to him. I think molded me and helped shape me and helped me grow. And it wasn't easy to get first, especially for my mom having three young babies to raise on her own. And I give her the most credit. For me, it was just once I got older, I basically just wanted to give her the easiest life possible. And once I got older, and I really realized, and I really appreciated her for what she did for us and what she still does for us. But this situation is, it is sort of a sad situation, but I would love to use what happened to our family to try and help others, even if it's in the most minor way. Because there's a lot of people out there that are going through things much worse than what we went through. And I would just like to try and use this to help as many people as I can. And it's important to remember that you never know what someone's going through. It's important to treat everyone kindly. I believe and just treat everyone with respect. And like I said, this was tragic for our family, and for many other families, it was the biggest terrorist attack this country's ever seen. And unfortunately, many people were negatively affected, many families. And the people of New York and New Jersey area, I feel like had never been the same. And I do think it made our family stronger. And like I said, I would just like to use this situation to try and help as many people as I can and try and inspire people. And as I mentioned, there's a lot of people out there that are going through things much harder than what we went through. And it's important to remember that. So that's kind of how I feel about the whole situation. Yeah, there are a lot of ways that most people feel about what happened on that day. But it's basically boils down to understanding acknowledgement and how to move away from that shadow. There were times where people go through things that didn't necessarily were asked by them, right? And nobody said, Hey, you know what, I want this to happen today or I want that to happen. Hey, look, tomorrow we'll take care of itself. Tomorrow took care of itself for you. And now you're finding your way into a just organization that, you know, needs not only a guy on special teams, I think you'll find yourself in the in the working 53 man without a doubt and then maybe special teams there, but then slowly migrating into the offensive side of the ball without being on special teams. Coast Carolina was more than gracious to host you, to have you, to train you, to show you, to educate you. But then more importantly, you did that all yourself. You found a way to do that yourself with the tools that you were given and all the gifts that you were given athletically, personally. And I think that speaks to your credit. And also believe moving forward that for you as being a part of the jets or organizations going to speak volumes based on your character, based on this conversation, obviously. And many other people can take away from this conversation. They can contextualize it if they want. They can take bits and pieces. Maybe they don't agree with everything. Maybe they don't agree. Maybe they agree with everything, you know, we can't control what people say or what people do. We can control ourselves. We can control what we say and what we do. And I think that if your dad was looking down at you right now, he's laughing and smiling and just overjoyous and having you not only as his son, but taking the next step and being the man that you are and that you'll continually grow to be inside and outside of football. Yes, sir. And speaking of, you know, the whole situation with September 11th and my family, I would just like to say it's not really about me. I'm happy that I'm able to use this platform through football and the story of my family to sort of shed light on the subject, although it's been over 20 years since it happened. But I would really just like to acknowledge and say that it's more about all the firefighters and police officers and nurses, not only who passed away that day, but those who are still active today. And, you know, those are the real heroes, the first responders and all the active and retired military. We have a lot of FDNY, NYPD members, nurses and, you know, retired military members in our family. I have some of my best friends who are in the military today. And I really admire those people. You know, and like I say, you know, all I did was play football. I was blessed by God with, you know, ability and talent and drive to want to pursue football. And all I did was dedicate my life to football. And now years later, you know, because I was able to make it as far as I have so far, you know, now I can sort of try and take this, take this attention and just say thanks to, you know, all those people that I just mentioned, because it's really about them. I'm not a hero. I would say that my father was, but I'm really, I'm really just a football player. And I try and be, I try and be a good person to everybody that I encounter. But really, it's important to remember those people, you know, the real heroes. And I would just like to say that. I, I'm going to have to resound on that too, because there are so many people that have gone unmentioned in their works, their efforts being out there. Matter of fact, I remember receiving some photos of what happened that day on the streets and photos that you'll probably never find anywhere else. I'm not in a newspaper. You won't find them on TV. They were very, they're very heartfelt and they're almost, almost painful in such a way, because at, at ground level, near, near ground zero is where most of the devastation occurred. However, it, this is really about those heroes is really about. And of course, we're coming up on that holiday, AKA my birthday and, and the travesty that happened on that day in three separate parts of our country. So I take none of that for, for granted, because it could happen again at any given time whatsoever. Hopefully, we're much more prepared and able to have the foresight moving forward so that we, we don't have this happen again, especially on our soil. But your dad, he spent nearly, you know, his entire life, you know, working in New York. He was, is the, he was on the 64th floor of the south tower. When the north tower was struck at 846 a.m. There's just so much to unwrap and all this. And I wish you even more time to do it. But, Pat, I thank you so much. I appreciate sharing your time. Throw me a follow up Rude Dog Reyes on Twitter as well as the Rude Dog Show dot com. And Pat, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate it. Yes, sir. Thank you so much for having me, Rudy. And I would love to do it again sometime. We definitely will hopefully during the season. Thank you. a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a [BLANK_AUDIO]