Damontre Moore, 8-Year NFL Defensive End

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2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. Listen to and follow Superfly on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast. Dermontre, how are you, man? Thank you for taking the time to hop on. Man, I'm doing good. Thank you for having me, man.

Most definitely. Now, given all of your experiences, we know you had the injury of the last go-round back in that 2019, beginning of 2020. The week leading up to the Super Bowl, man, and all the preparation and the time. How much of a – I don't even want to say a fight, but a mental battle was that for you, not being able to participate, man. How did you get through that? Man, I got through it with my teammates and my brothers. The good thing about them was that year we had a bond. We had so many guys go down and had to step up and make that play and just be appreciative of it. They made you feel included. We were still involved in meetings. We were still on the sideline giving expertise to what we see as far as pass rush games.

So they made it a good job of keeping everybody involved and mentally locked in. Former defensive end in the league, nine-year NFL vet Dermontre Morris here with CBS Sports Radio. You know, Kyle Shanahan is going to be on the opposing sideline from Andy Reid. A lot has been brought up about his strategies and whether they work or don't work or blowing leads. What was your experience with Coach Shanahan and what makes him unique as a coach? Man, my experience with Coach Shanahan was one of the best. He's a player-oriented guy, but I like to give out nicknames. And his nickname for me is the Mad Hatter. You can never guess what he's going to do. And you go out there thinking he's going to run, open the field up. Like schematic-wise, he comes from a lineage of coaching expertise.

He incorporates that but put his own twist with it. Funny story, my first time in the facility, right? I go in there, everybody talks about Mike McDaniel, how he's been going viral for his shoes right now. The head coach is a dolphin. Well, at the time, he was an offensive coordinator. I told him, man, your shoe game is crazy.

He said, oh, you think this is something? Wait till you see Coach Shanahan. He wears the same 49 and stuff in there.

It's real cool, laid back and straightforward. But his shoe game was so immaculate. He had an unreleased pair of Yeezys on his feet. And he was like, oh, this is nothing but slight work.

And every day it was something different with a crazy twist. And that is identical to his play calling style. He has his foundation, but every day he's going to put a new twist in it.

And he's going to get a new weapon. So it's going to be fun to watch this weekend. You mean to tell me a head coach in the NFL actually has some personality and style? I guess it's the beginning of a new era, isn't it? It's definitely a new era. You see it with Mike McDonough and guess what?

He got it from his mentor, Kyle Shannon. And so, hey, embrace the new way. You have Antonio Pierce out there that's doing his swagger with the Raiders. So it's a new time and a new decade. And I love it.

Embrace the personality. Hey, Demontre Morris here with CBS Sports Radio. From your time in the NFL, you didn't just play with the 49ers. You were also speaking to coaches.

You won the Seahawks at one point in time with Pete Carroll, who, just like Bill Belichick, has, I feel like, been aged out given the recent performance of the team. What was it like being around Pete Carroll, especially given his age? It seemed like he had a lot of personality, even if he was wearing Air Monarchs. Yeah, he might have been wearing Air Monarchs, but with what he lacked in style, he made it up for personality into that. His personality was so exuberant and bright that he didn't need to wear style like that. This man was one of the oldest coaches in the league and was still calling out offensive linemen and people to race and do 100-yard striders.

You have competition Wednesday every week. Not only did he make his players get involved, he made the coaches get involved himself, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator. No man is above one person. His motto is, competition brings the best factor. For him, it goes on to show you why he was there for so long. He built a great foundation to where the players led the team. The personalities took over because he set the precedent a long time ago. When you set that type of precedent and you have that, you get that type of respect.

It goes off and it rings bells. You see, when he was released, so many people spoke out from guys that are quiet, like Russell Wilson, who were known as the good guys, to guys like Richard Sherman, Marshall Lynch, guys with personalities. You have every walk of life speaking about how much of a leader this man was. He embraced them as the person and the personality.

My hat goes off to him. Just like him, Coach Shanahan, he's a player coach. They understand that you have to understand your player to get the best out of them. And not just that, after football, you're going to be a person. And that's the one thing that Pete Carroll, Kyle Shanahan, even Dan Campbell, who's a young and up-and-coming head coach right now, they embody those quotes. And you see why their teams are ready to run through walls for them, so that age has no limit in his eyes. Demontre Morris here with us, the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. Man, operating on the defense, this upcoming Sunday, we know about the Kansas City Chiefs defense, a young team that they've been able to draft well, and probably have the best defense in Patrick Mahomes' tenure since he took over as a star.

And the 49ers have pretty much always been stout over the past several years. When you sit down and watch the game, or a game in general, what are you keying in on? Are you looking at the trenches? Are you watching the quarterback? What catches your eye?

Man, phenomenal question. What catches my eye when I'm watching the game? Does the trench work? Every team that I've been a part, every league dating from all the way back to Peewee to college, AAF, the spring league, the O-line and D-line come together and say, this is the star club front. We only go as far as we go. And so I'm going to pay attention to those, because that's where the battle is going to start. Like you said, you have Kansas City Chiefs, young defense that they have drafted well, and been built. I really think this is going to be the battle of the defensive coordinators, the battle of the Steeves, Steve Spagnolia and Steve Wilkes, and who can call a better game, because in that same breath of having a talented young defense that you built, on the other side, you have a talented defense that is a little more experienced.

And mind you, Nick Bosa was a rookie last time that he was in the Super Bowl. You had a young prayer warner, now he's more experienced. You have Drake Greenlaw, who's making plays that's more experienced. So will that experience be a little much to overpower the Chiefs, is the better question. So I'm going to watch who's going to play better, and what's going to happen with these pass rushers, because it's going to start with quarterback play. You're going to have to contain Patrick Mahomes, who's the Steph Curry of football. He's going to get ill, but can we keep him and manage him, and make him throw in the pocket behind those big guys, where it starts with the trenches. And in that same answer, you're going to have to look at the other side and say, Are y'all going to sit here and allow Brock Purdy to make dimes and use his weapons, or are you going to make Brock Purdy beat you with his leg, and doing what he has to do? Can Lady Luck keep striking?

So I think it's going to start with the trenches, and that's where my eyes is going to be. Speaking of those trenches, it's amazing to see what Chris Jones is able to do as an interior tackle, but then someone who can still get to the quarterback throughout the course of a season, double digit times, it's rare. What makes Chris Jones special or different in that case? It's a rarity.

It is. It's an extreme rarity, and what makes Chris Jones special? Chris Jones makes Chris Jones special. Sometimes you've got God-gifted ability and being blessed with size, but when you have size and what is lacking in certain players, like he has size and dog. You can see it by the way he goes out there. He plays with that tenacity, that hunger, that power, and that aggression. And then on top of that, you have a talented Steve Spagnoliuk. We're not talking about the guy that won the championship with Kansas City Chiefs. His team, they're dating all the way back to innovating the NASCAR package, how to use our pass rusher.

When you have that type of mindset behind you, him having his talent and being just an athlete and now having that coaching and that experience, no wonder he's not one of the best three techniques in the game right now. Demontra, if you had to throw it all down on the line out in Las Vegas, who the hell do you think is going to win this game, man? Come on.

Man, you're going to put me between a rock and a hard place. Some people say, hey, did you bet against the baby goat and Patrick Mahone? Or did you go with the hot team that's more talented and looks better on the stats? And will this finally be Kyle Shanahan's year? If I was the betting man, I'm going to have to go with the 49ers. People might say that I'm biased because I lost and stuff like that. But the one thing I know, I talked to Chris Kise, Eric R. said, some other guys around that building, and was like, hey, man, go out there and finish this unfinished business.

We did something that was special, but we didn't get to do something that was magical. And everybody, that core component is still there. So to hear them talk about how they're locked in, I think it's going to be there. And then on top of that, you have Christian McCaffrey in the game. I think this is going to be a shootout. I think there's going to be a lot of plays made on defense. But I think the 49ers are going to edge this one out by eight points. And this is going to be Kyle Shanahan's year to get a run apart. But whoever has the ball last is going to win. Oh, well, I bet I hope it's not Patrick Mahone's.

Exactly. So we'll see. But I got confidence, and I think the Niners are going to pull it out this year. Well, Demontre, after nine years in the league, you've transitioned over into the CFL.

How was that transition like? And for people here in the States not as familiar with how the CFL operates, please tell us what some of the differences are and some of the intricacies, I guess, too. Oh, man, at the end of the day, football is football. You strap it on and it is a warrior sport. You just have warriors in different countries and all over the world.

And the one thing about there, you get to experience a lot of culture. And, yes, there are certain rules that are different. But once you get past those rule changes and the field being a little bit bigger, football is football.

Oh, sorry about that. I get choked up because it's starting to talk about it because the lineage and realizing that that is one of the longest football playing league. The Great Cup actually was, I believe my history is correct, is 1905. So it started out as rugby, which transitioned to football. And then we had the American version where they moved it down. So our history dates back into that game.

So what they say to know your future, you got to kind of know your past. For me, what makes it so monumental and memorable for me is my uncle Keo Craver, who was fortunate enough to play in the NFL, then went to go play in the CFL. He's the reason I started playing football and he actually won the Great Cup. And my whole thing was I wanted to be like him. He used to always say, don't be like me, be better than me.

And so we have a competition. I played longer than him in the NFL. Then I got over there my first year in the CFL and won a Great Cup. He won one Great Cup and then he went to another one, but didn't win. And so my goal is to get one more Great Cup so I can finally sign, field and deliver and be that competition factor and say that I won. So it is to have that type of lineage, to have the connection there and to see the network and how much they love football and that passion. It was a no brainer for me. It's an opportunity to play this game until the wheel falls off. That's beautiful, man.

Well, thank you for sharing that story and the just personal significance that it has for you. Demontre Moore is here with us on CBS Sports Radio as we wind this conversation down. You talk about the game and it growing and being international. Today, the NFL announces that they're going to have a game played in Spain. You know, we know that there's going to be a game played later this year down in Brazil, in Sao Paulo.

What are your thoughts on the expansion of the game internationally? The NFL has been here. It's done that. But now they're doing even more. Man, I love it.

It's called growth. I'm an avid storyteller and I'll never forget my rookie year. Justin Tucker left a note on my locker and said, Hey, man, get here. Usually I'm the game player. The game is only here so you can improve it and do better after I leave it to see what the NFL is becoming as a whole. Wow. That is so it's amazing. We're touching people. This game brings so much joy to people. A lot of people experience the game through television. So to bring it to a different nation that didn't have the opportunity for them to actually come see it because football is worldwide. My opinion is the best sport out there.

But for them to not actually touch it. It's going to open up more fandom, but also not open up only more fandom, more athletes are going to be there. Now that they see the game in their country, we might see a few up and coming stars.

Hey, I remember being a kid and being at the first game in Brazil and I knew that I could be in the NFL. So I think it's going to be multiple avenues, multiple fans that's going to keep exploding and the game is evolving. And that's the one thing that we all that are fans of the game is wanting to constantly evolve and get better. We're doing the same thing. We get complacent. We get replaced. We keep evolving. And guess what? You stay relevant. So I love it.

Hey, Dimontre, thank you so much for lending your perspective, not just on the game this Sunday, but the game in general, your experiences in the NFL, the CFL. Where can people keep up with you and follow everything that you got going on? Yes, sir. On Twitter, it is Tmore94. On Instagram, it is Dimonster98. And also on Twitch, it is Dlute1911. I streamed out talks on there.

And hopefully on a few radio stations in the future, we'll see where the chips may fall. We'll be chatting with you some more, Dimontre. You enjoy the weekend and have a good old season later on. We'll talk to you soon. Yes, sir. Enjoy Super Bowl weekend. Thanks for having me.

Thanks for getting me. We'll talk about it. I'm Tony and this is the Tony Kornheiser show. Well, that makes it sound a bit more serious than it really is. So what exactly is the show about? It's been almost 30 years and I still don't know. Right now, we have some of the best voices in football come on to explain to us what we need to know in the college and pro world.

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