Haason Reddick, Philadelphia Eagles Edge Rusher

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For home loan solutions that fit your life, Rocket can. One undefeated team remains in the NFL and that is the 6-0 Philadelphia Eagles. They are on a bye week right now and joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio is a college buddy of mine Hassan Reddick. I remember when I was driving Hassan to his first ever autograph appearance and on the 35 minute drive leading up to the draft, his phone kept on ringing and ringing and ringing as there was NFL team after NFL team just doing their due diligence on him and trying to talk to him before the NFL draft.

It ended up going in the first round by the Arizona Cardinals and now he's back home in Philly with the Eagles and Hassan Reddick joins us on behalf of R7 Energy. Hassan, great to catch up with you, appreciate the time. How you been my man? I'm doing good Zach, how about yourself?

Well I'm doing fantastic. I'm so happy for you because I know how much you love the New Jersey Philadelphia area. To see you not only be back home but excelling, just how do you put that into perspective and what does it mean to you to be back in Philadelphia?

Oh man, it means everything man. You know, the chance to play for my hometown team, it means everything and the fact that, you know, we're playing well. You know, I'm just happy to be a part of it. I'm happy to be a part of, you know, one of the biggest sports teams in Philly, one of the biggest sports teams in the nation and then to also be making, you know, our fans proud, our crowd proud, our families proud about it as well. How'd the process go down in free agency because I know you started your career with Arizona then you were in Carolina for a year.

How'd you wind back up in Philly? You know, once free agency started, I got a call from Howie. You know, my agent let me know that Howie would be calling. I got a call from Howie and we just talked and everything, you know, I loved everything that Howie was talking about and then I ended up getting on phone with Nick and Jonathan Gannon as well and man really loved what they were doing from a coaching standpoint knowing that I would be dealing with them, you know, on a daily basis. Really loved what they was talking about as far as me coming in being, you know, a big piece of the defense and all of that. So, it sounded really good and the fact that it was an opportunity to come back home and play in front of friends, in front of people that watched me grow up, you know, I had to, it was a no-brainer. I had to take the opportunity. It's got to be a dream come true, right?

Exactly, man. You know, in this profession or in any professional, you know, especially professional sports, a lot of people don't really get to play for their hometown team, you know. They may play for other teams and things like that but the opportunity to go back home and play where it all started, it doesn't hit every, it doesn't hit for everybody and the fact that it hit for me, you know, I had to take that opportunity. Hasan Reddick here with us from the Philadelphia Eagles.

We'll talk about his energy drink, R7 Energy, in just a bit. You were a walk on at Temple. We know you ended up being a first round pick and you're a heck of a player in college to get in that position to be a first round pick.

For you though, when did you know that something extra was special, really brewing in the story of Hasan Reddick? It wasn't until, you know, the end of the season and, you know, Senior Bowl invites and, you know, combine invite came about. That's when I realized like, okay, my dream of going to the NFL is right there, you know. I just got to continue to do what I'm doing, work hard, you know, stay out of trouble and, you know, my chances of getting to the league are high. They're right there.

I just got to continue to stay on this path and make sure nothing goes wrong. For you personally, was the Arizona game this year when you go there and you beat them the most satisfying game so far through the first six? Oh, not really. The last one, you know, that Dallas Cowboys game, you know, Arizona, going back and playing AZ is always special for me, right? Let me get that up.

Let me say that first. Going back and playing AZ is always special for me for the fact, like you said, I started my career there. I spent the most time there than I have with any other team so far. But, you know, coming back home and, you know, finally getting to play Dallas as a Philadelphia Eagle, you know, it meant a lot because evidently growing up in the area, I know what that rivalry game means to the fans and I know what it means and what it means to sports, you feel me?

So, the fact that I finally got to play the Dallas Cowboys as an Eagle, the fact that we won and continued our streak of, you know, being undefeated, I was just ecstatic and excited to be a part of that. All week you heard the chit chat, you know, the chatter, everything that people had to say, you seen it on social media, whether it's, you know, friends and family texting my phone about it, just some way, somehow that whole week everybody was talking about the game and I was just happy to get the W. Hassan Radek here with us from the Eagles. What have been your impressions so far in Jalen Hurts, your quarterback? Man, I love him. I love him, man. First and foremost, he's a great guy. He's a great person off the field and then on top of that, he's a great leader, man.

When you see him talk in a huddle, the message that he gets across to the guys is always great because it's very important and it's always given the significance of never getting bored with winning, you know, because we're on a roll right now, right, and we got to keep this thing going. So I just, I love Jalen, I love what he's been, I love how he's been playing and I love the leader that he has been for the team. You look at your team before the start of the year, a lot of people, including myself, are picking you guys to win the NFC East. I don't know if people thought you guys could have a Super Bowl run in you. Did you know that this team could be this good?

Because six weeks in, you guys are the only team that's still undefeated. Man, when you looked at us on paper, you know, we looked like a complete team. The thing about it, though, was that I knew that we needed to get the chemistry together. I knew that we were, you know, I knew that we needed all of our pieces to gel and come in and be effective right away and sometimes you just don't know if that's going to happen soon, you know, within that first year and the fact that it has, man, it's just been good for everybody and I love it.

I just hope that we can continue this thing, you know, continue to stay on the road, continue to stay on the path that we've been on. I know it's October, it's still early, you're gonna probably tell me one game at a time, but you being the hometown kid, you knowing how much Philadelphia means and the Eagles means, can you even let your brain go there and envision what it would be like to win a Super Bowl, Hassan Reddick with the Eagles? You know, of course, in the beginning of the season, I thought about it. I'm not going to, before the season started, I had thought about it, you know, that was part of the reason for me coming home is being a part of that piece that helped the city get another Super Bowl. But now that we're in season and we've been playing, it's important to stay focused on just taking the season one game at a time, because when you start looking ahead, that's when things can go wrong or your focus can shift and you start worrying about the wrong thing, you know. Is the Super Bowl the ultimate goal? Yes, but we have to go one and O each week right now even to get to that point. So instead of talking about what's to come in the future, I'm only worried about what's going on right now, what's going on in the present, what can I do right now?

That's the only thing that I'm worried about. Well, you guys got people, Hassan Reddick, in that locker room that has won it all back in that Super Bowl 52 season, two veterans on the defense, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham, you being a student of the game, what do you kind of pick their brains about? Man, just whatever, you know, I'm constantly talking to BG about things that he sees when he watches them, or maybe we're watching practice and we're watching a drill, it won't even have to be like a a rep of us going against the offense in practice, we could just be doing a drill and then BG could be chopping it up like we're talking about how we could, about footwork, how that could be better, you know what I'm saying? Better to overall improve our game, so I'm always picking his brain, he played a lot of football, and it's the same thing with Fletcher, man.

Fletcher, me and Fletcher, we're constantly talking about games rushing off of each other, the way, you know, and, you know, if we get this, you know, what could help if the other guy does this, we're always talking about, you know, we're just always talking about helping each other and just trying to help the team win at the end of the day. We'll talk about R7 Energy in just a second, a few more with Hassan Reddick. What has impressed you the most with Nick Sirianni because, dude, I loved him on the sideline last week, basically telling Dallas to bleep off and then run it into the locker room.

How about them Eagles? He like reminded me of kids that I would see at Temple on the university there, Hassan Reddick. Right, what I love about Nick the most is how he's embraced the whole of Philadelphia, right? Nick came here, he knows what this thing means to silly, and he's embraced it like no other, you know? He's conscious of it, and aside from just embracing what it means to, you know, what it means to be a Philadelphia Eagle and silly, besides that, it's the way he handles the team, man. He takes care of us, you know, he constantly motivating us.

You've seen, if you've ever seen him walking around nine times out of ten, he has a shirt on of one of the guys, you know what I'm saying? So he truly supports his team, his players, and he wants to make sure that they are in the best possible position to succeed, and I love that about Nick. Before we let you run, tell me about R7 Energy and the energy drink that you guys started. Basically, it's a clean energy drink for the everyday user. We created something that, it fuels your body, it fuels your mind, you know, it's things in there for cognitive function, to help you focus on whatever task there may be. We put green coffee beans in there to even, you know, to give people a better caffeine boost and something that's even healthier. Aside from that, it's vitamins in there, adaptogen, you know, all of these things to help the body either get going or repair itself, rejuvenate itself so that you can get going the next day, so you're ready to get going the next day. So it's been good.

I love it, man. I take it before every game. It helps lock me in, it keeps me focused, and it just gives me the energy to go out there and dominate the competition, and that's all we wanted.

We wanted to give the people something that can help them dominate each and every day. You're the hometown kid back in Philly. Speak to the fans real quickly. What do you want to say to the fans about what they could expect from from your football team the rest of the year? You know, I don't know what they can expect from us, but I hope to continue to see them out coming out to the games the way they have been. The crowd has been amazing. The fans have been amazing. Guys, please continue to come out and bring that energy, especially on the road games. It doesn't go unnoticed when you guys come up showing up the way that you do, and we see a wave of green jerseys, midnight green jerseys in a stand, and we hear you guys.

It turns every away game into a home game. We love you guys, and we just ask that you guys continue to come out and support us being loud and making noise like you have been on season. Once again, check it out.

R7 energy. Hassan Reddick, always great to catch up with you. You and your family be well. Thanks so much. You too, Zach. Appreciate you, man. Thank you for having me on the show.

What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen, as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports, interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities and thought leaders across the political, financial and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. More at I'mListening.org. Talk saves lives. Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast.