Donte Moncrief, Former NFL WR

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$10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. Alrighty, rock and roll. This is that Gilb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Dante Moncrief, good to join us. The former Ole Miss Rebel. Played in the NFL for a bunch of years. He's going to be an honorary captain for Ole Miss in their bowl game.

The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl up against Penn State. And Dante Moncrief is here with us. Dante, appreciate the time.

Thanks for it. And how you been? I've been good, man. Live in Florida now. Just with the kids.

Raising my kids and relaxing. Well, what does this mean to you when Ole Miss called you up and they said we want you to be an honorary captain for one of these New Year's Six bowl games? I mean a lot. Everyone knows how much I love Ole Miss. And then just for them to call me to do it is very, very loving for me.

Very respectful and I can't wait to get that. How do you look back at your time being a part of Ole Miss for three years as a wide receiver? What are the memories that come back to mind? The brotherhood, friendship, the ups and downs, the competition. Ole Miss family just breaking me in as a kid from Raleigh, Mississippi.

And coming there just making me feel like I was at home. Talking to Dante Moncrief right now. The job Lane Kiffin has done. He's bringing Ole Miss to some new heights. Has two 10-win seasons right in his four years as their head coach.

Just you being someone that was a part of that program, still loves that program. How do you kind of put it into words, the job that Lane Kiffin has done with the Lane Train now at Ole Miss? He's doing an amazing job. He brought an NFL mentality to the team.

The way he works, the way he treats them. I feel like he's doing an amazing job and I hope that he stays there and continues to do it. And I feel like we got some national championships to win. Yeah, well that's the thing. We're all wondering how far can he take this thing?

Because it's a great accomplishment. Two 10-win seasons, first four years on the job. Right now, you know, Georgia and Alabama still run the SEC. And the college football playoff has expanded to 12 teams next year. Do you believe that one day Lane could take this all the way and maybe win an addy at Ole Miss? Most definitely.

Not even a question. He got all the pieces. He bringing in the right guys. They buying in.

They listening. And like I said, he brought an NFL mentality to that program. You can tell the change.

Talking to Dante Moncrief right now. When you look at the current landscape of college football, right? Name image and likeness, which I think is great for players. You also have the transfer portal, which I think there's some good and then also some bad.

Just how do you react to someone that didn't have to go through these things when you see it playing on out with maybe some experience and some wisdom to have on some of these young athletes? I mean, it's a big change. College football is totally different.

Like you said, the transfer portal. It's a good and a bad. It's good for a lot of guys, but it hurt a lot of high school guys. So at the end of the day, I just think you got to choose what you feel like is home. Go there and do everything that you can to stay there and get out of there.

I was trying to stay there forever and three years and get out. Talking to Dante Moncrief right now. So you saw, right? Spencer Sanders, he transferred into Ole Miss and he was a starter at Oklahoma State.

And then Jackson Dart beat him out. And you don't really see any of Spencer Sanders this year. You know, it's life. Hey, you have to make a decision and you learn from the decision. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad.

But we all talk about the good of the transfer portal. It's like one of those situations. Man, you could make what you think is the right choice in the moment. And then a year later, you go from being a starter to them being a backup in your college career is over. Yeah, it was a competition.

The whole camp. Jackson came out on top and he started, he played good the whole season. It's not like he had a drought or a down year. He played really good. He won a lot of big games.

So that's the situation that was there. And I mean, Spencer's a great guy. Great kid. Everybody on the team love him and talk highly of him. So I mean, I'm glad that he was a rebel.

I feel like he pushed Dart to be better. Does it disappoint you at all? And I know it's a business decision and you know, I know you're not already captain, but a lot of times now these games are alright.

Do you make the semi-final or not? And then all the other bowl games start to feel irrelevant. I think Ole Miss only had one major opt out.

Penn State said five or six, but you look around some of these other bowl games and you're like Florida State. I think there's 20 guys that are opting out or something like that. Is that disappointing to you?

Do you kind of get it from the business side of it? I mean, it's just, you can't really say it's people's choice. It's their decision or what they feel. I mean, you opt out, you just, that's your choice. You stay to play, you play with your boys, y'all get a win. You feel good. I mean, you can't say I'm good at a bad because at the end of the day, they're grown men.

They make their own decision and you just got to go with it. When you look at Ole Miss now, and we look at Ole Miss on Sundays in the NFL, especially the position you played at wide receiver, you think of DK Metcalf and you think of AJ Brown and what they were able to do at Ole Miss and now to the next level that they've taken it in the pros. Just how about your thoughts on the two receivers that they've really turned out to be in the NFL? Well, those guys were good in high school. They played against each other in high school.

That's the crazy thing. And just the work they put in at Ole Miss, being around a guy like Elijah Moore who came in, he bought a different field to the game at Ole Miss. He taught those guys a lot.

Those guys elevated with each other and you can tell. And they continue to put Ole Miss on. I'm glad the way they play. They're good Mississippi kids.

I'm proud of them. You started your career with the Colts. I don't know how much you still keep tabs on Indianapolis, but what a year this has been. They lost their quarterback. Unfortunately, they've been having without Jonathan Taylor for a big chunk of the season. And they still got a chance to make the playoffs.

Shane's like and really do an impressive job there in year one. The organization, man. It's a win organization. When I was there up to now, they want to win.

They have to do two wins. Those guys are always going to play hard. Their defense right now is phenomenal. Their front is really, really strong.

Manchu is doing really good. He's not giving his credit, but we're really playing really good right now. When you get in that locker room and you get ready to speak to the team, I'm sure Lane Kiffin's going to have you speak to the team as an honorary captain. Just what's your message going to be at Ole Miss before they take the field going up against Penn State? It's ACC versus everybody.

That's the word. We've got to come out here and dominate this game and show our ACC is the best to play in. So go out there and get a win in a lineup and a strong and get ready for this big season coming up. Last thing I'll ask, I know we always remember Andre Johnson as a Houston Texan, but he also played with the Colts and you were a teammate of his. Just what were you able to take from Andre Johnson? Man, one of the best guys I've ever been around. The knowledge that he gave me, just watching him practice the way he worked, the way he studied. He changed my game a lot. And I feel like when Andre came, he really elevated me. Just seeing a guy like that and the stuff that he did. I just motored a lot after him and I took care of my body.

He told me things. It was great to have Andre in my locker room. So you got to learn from some good people, not only Andre Johnson, but also Reggie Wayne. What are all these years later, what did you take away from Reggie?

The way you treat your body, the stuff that you eat, hydration, the way you practice, the way you play. Reggie went easy on me, man. Reggie was tough on me early on and I feel like it really helped me a lot having guys like that around me. I know that it's such a pile up right now to get into the Hall of Fame and their finalists, but it's crazy that those two guys, like when I think Reggie Wayne, I think Great Wide Receiver.

Andre Johnson, Great Wide Receiver. You would think they both would already be in the Hall of Fame, but they still got to wait and maybe this will end up being their year. Yeah, those two guys are legends, man.

This position, man. They're guys that we say Great Receivers are two guys that come up. So I had a chance to learn from both of them, be around them. Great opportunity for me, man. I still talk to those guys. Those are good guys. Well, Dante, we appreciate the time.

Good luck being honorary captain for Ole Miss going up against Penn State and I appreciate you doing this. Hotty toddy. There we go.

Hotty toddy to wrap it up. When the whole family comes together to watch the game, nobody wants to miss a second of the action to run to the grocery store. With Instacart, you can get all your weekly groceries in as fast as an hour.

Less time shopping means more game time. Let's go. Visit Instacart.com to get free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time. $10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply.