Derrick Johnson, Former Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker

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Derek, it's Akhil. How you been? Doing pretty good. How y'all doing?

I'm doing fantastic. So I got to start you off with that Chiefs defense because they made the timely stops when they needed to. I think they kind of got overlooked going into the game and Chris Jones, who's been great all throughout the year, came up big when they needed him to on that last drive.

Yeah, absolutely. In order to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, who kind of had our number the last three times we played them, probably the only team that consistently beat the Chiefs. But I tell you, Chris Jones, I mean, when you talk about affecting the quarterback, getting in the quarterback space, affecting him, pushing the pocket from the middle of the defensive line and the outside of the defensive line. We talk about a 300-pound plus lineman that can just whoop any lineman still. So it was pretty impressive. When you look at the performance of Patrick Mahomes, how do you describe it? Because no one knew what he was going to be able to do on one ankle. Yeah, honestly, I was a little afraid. I was like, man, because what makes Pat special is his gutsiness, the way he moves and when he gets outside their pockets, I'm like, man, we're going to have to either run the ball and he's going to have to throw a lot of checks downs and get the ball out of his hand because I don't want him to get hurt, you know, but at the same time still win the game. But I got to tell you, man, he brung his cape on Sunday night. And I tell you what, man, Pat is the best quarterback in the league and will be that way for a while. And that's saying a lot when you got Hubert and you got guys like Justin Burrow, I mean, Joe Burrow.

By the way, when he said Burrowhead, I think that kind of pissed off everybody. So that's why they had a lot of gas on that fire, put it like that. Yeah, like I don't think you need any extra motivation in an AFC title game, but you know how coaches are and you know how players are. They use anything, especially this late in the season to kind of even get them more going. You think that made a big impact on the game where Mike Hilton was calling a Burrowhead going into the contest? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it's an AFC championship, so it's going to be, it's going to be, juices are going to be flowing regardless.

But when you put that extra personal touch on it, it definitely touches everybody against it. I played there for 13 years. So when you talk about changing the name to Burrowhead and just kind of, you know, kind of disrespecting, you know, the best, loudest fans, I mean, technically loudest fans in the NFL. They took that offense to that and we came out with some juices flowing and we needed it.

And whenever you can use extra motivation, why not? Derek Johnson here with us. What's your first thought on the Super Bowl? Because, and I'm not just saying this because we all hope it's going to be a great game, but I think this is going to be a really close one between these two teams. Absolutely. It will be.

It will be. And they're all, they're both pretty different when it comes to their offense, but they're very explosive. Both have really good defenses. Eagles defense, I mean, defense is a line. I think, I think all of them got, you know, close to double digit sacks when it comes to getting after the quarterback.

So I hope Holmes ankle is really well because he may be running a little bit more than I want him to. But it's going to be a great game, especially with Andy Reid playing his old team. That's always a special time for being, when I was a chief, whenever we played the Eagles, there were always extra incentive just between us players to make sure we get a win over the Eagles.

So I'm sure that's going to happen this coming in a couple of weeks for the Super Bowl. Derek Johnson here with us. So your final year, you play with the Raiders. We all know the Raiders and Derek Carr are heading to a divorce.

The question just is, does he get traded or do they cut him out right? How do you kind of react to the end of Derek Carr with now the Las Vegas Raiders? Yeah, Derek Carr, you're talking about a stand up guy, a stand up guy. He's always, you know, been in the media for all the right reasons. He says the right things. He's a godly man.

When I played up there, I played against him a lot, obviously, but to be able to play with him that one year in 2018, that was pretty, pretty, pretty special to see how he went about his business. You know, being an NFL player, I'm always curious to see how leaders lead and he is definitely a leader. Things don't work out always, so I'm sure they're going to have to cut ties and I don't know how that's going to go business wise, but he'll land somewhere. He'll do well. He's a good quarterback in this league.

Alright, I want to ask you two more before we let you run. Sean Payton now has winded up with the Denver Broncos as their next head coach. Do you think he'll be able to find a way to fix Russell Wilson? We know how good of a coach he is, but Russ Mann had a bad year last year. Yeah, he did. He did.

That was unfortunate. I'm a fan of Russell Wilson. I think what he did at Seattle is unparalleled and he did really well. I mean, winning the Super Bowl, being able to do some great things there and at the same time being able to move teams. A lot of things have to go right when you have success in the NFL, so I don't want to blame it all on him. They have to fix a few things, but quarterback is the number one thing they have to fix, and I believe you could fix a guy like Russell. I mean, you paid him a lot of money, so hopefully they do.

If not, too bad. There are robberies in the AFC West, so I don't feel too bad, I should say. Well, I've got to ask you also about D'Amico Ryans, a fellow linebacker in the NFL. He's going back to the Houston Texans, the team that drafted him when he was coming out of Alabama, and he's going to be their head coach. How do you think, because you know what it's like to be a leader in this league, and we saw the man that they call Mufasa be a great leader as a player and then a heck of a defensive coordinator with the 49ers. Are you optimistic that he'll be able to be a successful head coach in this league?

Absolutely, absolutely. You see what he's done the last few years with San Francisco being the number one defense in the NFL. That's hard to do, and consistently he's done that. He's got that bully, I should say, and he's well, well worth it. It's kind of making me feel like I'm getting old, because I'm a year older than him.

I remember playing in the games, playing against him, looking at his stats, he's looking at my stats. It's pretty cool to see him getting his success as a young African American coach. This is pretty cool, and I think the Houston Texans got it right this time.

I don't know how soon they'll be winning, but they definitely got the head coach right. For you, have you ever thought about maybe coaching and joining an NFL staff? You know what? I have thought about it. I have thought about it, but I have six kiddos, and I have to wait. I have to put that on hold, because I'm having way too much fun with my kiddos, and I'm golfing a little bit. I definitely will help out here and there, especially with my Longhorns while I'm here in Austin. Coaching is a lot to coach.

The time commitment that they have is different, and I'm not committed to that time. Right now, I would say that, but I know at some point I may be calling guys like D'Amico to say, hey, let me come up and see what I can do for you. Eric Johnson, you have six kids.

You can practically field a flag football team right now if you need to coach a little bit. Absolutely. How's your golf game, by the way? It's okay. I just broke 90 a few weeks ago, and I tell you what. I went home and said I got it. I hit an 85. I'm like, all right, cool.

And then the next week, it went down south. So, I mean, it's probably a game that I'll be trying to get better for the rest of my life, honestly. Well, welcome to the game of golf, my friend.

Just when you think you solve it, you end up just being absolutely horrible. I appreciate the time, Derek Johnson. Thanks so much. We'll do it again soon. All right.

Take it easy. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams.

Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today.