Connor Colby | WUW 594

On this episode of the podcast, former Iowa Hawkeyes offensive lineman Connor Colby joins the show. Connor is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa and attended CR Kennedy High School. Connor discusses his journey through Iowa football, the challenges faced by the offensive line, and anecdotes from his time on the field. He shares insights into why he chose Iowa over other Big Name schools, the transition from high school to college football, reflects on overcoming early career struggles, and highlights key moments and games from his tenure with the Hawkeyes. Connor also delves into his preparation for the NFL Draft, sharing experiences from the NFL Combine and his thoughts on the upcoming draft. Tune in for an in-depth conversation with a dedicated lineman passionate about the game.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fun one. Today we have Connor Colby on the show
at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa Hawk guy through and through
got offered by multiple other schools and said no, I'm
going to the Black and Gold. Third lineman of this
outgoing class, after Richmond and Elsbury. We've had those two
on the show. Man a few words. I had to
work a little bit harder to try and pull answers
out of Connor today, But damn, this guy loves football.
He just wants to go hit people. He's excited for

(00:20):
the NFL opportunity. And you get to hear about all that.
Let's have a day, Let's go back again, another washing

(00:53):
up walk on the podcast with another one of the
I feel like you guys are endless Connor this year
with the lineman, it's unbelievable. Richmond and now we got you.
It's like the the trifecta. Connor Colby joins the show.
Just a stacked class. You guys have been through a
lot the last four years. And I just saw on

(01:15):
your on your biography the second most starts in the
kf erah only behind Yeah, your buddy Mason, So that
says a lot about you guys, and sort of the
career you guys had. Welcome to the show Man.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, thank you guys, thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
What's life like right now? Just just training?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, it's actually kind of pretty boring in my opinion.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
I just work out at eleven and then I have
to fill my day doing just random stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
What what what?

Speaker 3 (01:42):
What hobbies fill that time?

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:44):
Well, recently I've been selling all the furniture in the
basement and ready to.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Move so Facebook Marketplace.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I don't couch anymore. It's just a lawn chair.
So oh so.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
You're you're you're literally the meme of like this is
all guys need and it's like a TV on a
pizza box in one laun chair.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, that's that's kind of how it's looking right now.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Uh. Is it weird to pack up the uh the
Iowa City apartment or house and and kind of be
moving on after four years?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, it's kind of crazy.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
I didn't realize how much like crap I accumulated in
just three years of living in a house. But it's
definitely been a lot. So it's been trying to sell
crap left and right.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
What about from like the are you in like a
sentimental like emotional guy you look back on like as
you start to see stuff go out the door, you're like,
oh the memories.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
Like no, no, I'm kind of you're not. There's a
lot of stuff. It's better it's going somewhere else.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Oh yeah, So it's just been eleven o'clock workouts this
spring and that's it.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, yep, are you?

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Where are you working out?

Speaker 1 (02:50):
I was?

Speaker 4 (02:51):
I was working out in uh Tampa before the combine
and then I've just been training back at Iowa.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
So how did Tampa happen?

Speaker 2 (02:59):
It's just kind of agent wanted to send me.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, what's the uh? Is that a weird process getting
an agent? It's not.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
I didn't say I think it was too bad. I
mean I made my dad kind of filter through a
lot of them. Just sorry, you know, take meetings with
everyone that I met with three different people, and you
know made my decision off of that.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Is that something that the filtering process I imagine has
to start. I mean it has to start during the
season almost, but like you're trying to focus on playing,
so I imagine that's why maybe you pass that off to
your dad and you're like, hey, you take care of
these for now, because I'm not.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
Yeah, he's got more time than me, especially during the season,
so you know, it's good for him to talk to people.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
That's funny. The was there anything specific when choosing an
agent that you were like, I'd like this to I'd
like this to be why I choose somebody or is
it just a feeling thing.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
For me, it's just kind of more of a gut
feeling thing, you know. I mean, I don't want to
talk bad on anyone, but you know, sometimes they say
stuff you don't like to hear. Yeah, you know, kind
of go in a different direction from that.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
The agents right now, there's been a lot of basketball
discussion over the last couple of weeks, obviously with all
the new coach in NCAA tournament, and it sounds like
the the NIL agents and beyond are sort of ruining
the game of college basketball right now. And it's there's
a little bit of that in college football too, because
now with NIL and all the all the stuff, it's
it's like a bit of a Wild West.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
I mean for me, I never had one of those
NIL agents or anything like that. I was just happy
to be playing for the Hawkeys. That was my dream
growing up. I didn't really care about the money.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
So is it weird?

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Was it weird though to come in? So you came
in in twenty one.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, that January of twenty one.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Oh you're an earlier role. Yeah, didn't need problem. The
senior year, I went and took pictures.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
That was it. I wasn't going to the dance. That's
not really my file.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
That's a that's a classic lignement. Yeah, just take the picks.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well, the offensive line at the at the prom is that's.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
A I feel like it's either they are the guy
or they're just not going to be there. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
It wasn't even like at the school.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
They had it at some like play some downtown seat
rapids because they technically I couldn't have it at the school.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
Oh all right, well there you go. Uh came in
twenty one and you mentioned how it was your dream
to play for the Hawkeyes. I think that's pretty it's
pretty backed up with uh. You know, you type in
Connor Colby Recruit into the into the Google machine. It
spits out the two four seven profile shows who you

(05:44):
were offered by, which is fun for me to kind
of go back because in recruiting nowadays, it's hard for
anybody on the outside like really buy in until someone
plays for a team, you know, you know, with transfer
portal and everything, like who knows if they're going to
end up at the actual school they say they're going
to come too. Was it always Iowa that was that

(06:04):
was the dream?

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (06:06):
So I think Iowa was my second offer, Like I
think it's the second semester, like my sophomore year high school.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
And then uh, you know, all the rest of them.

Speaker 4 (06:16):
Followed that because you know, after Iowa offers an offensive lineman,
everyone kind of hops on board after that. And then
I you know, I went looked like a week week
trip with my dad out to see a couple of
different places, you know. I guess being from Iowa, I
just compared everything to Iowa, and you know, coach Farns
running the program there.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
I didn't think there was a better place for me.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
So, I mean, you had offers from Minnie, Nebraska, Michigan State,
Ohio State, decent schools. There nothing, nothing too compelling to
to take you away from Iowa City.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
No, I mean I went, I went and visited those places.
It's just I didn't feel like home. To me, you
know it helps being thirty minutes away.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah it is your home. Yeah it's a home.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
I got on with that. I mean even for me.
I grew up in Marshalltown, so you know, an hour
west of Cedar Rapids, so really not too far in
the grand scheme of things, but even being closer Cedar Rapids.
Solan Bobauer was one of my good buddies. He's from
West Branch, North Liberty. Like, if you're really right there,

(07:25):
I just can't imagine how how easy it would be
to like really go away from the Black and Gold.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
I just it just seems like the dream.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
They probably most likely grew up coming to games too,
so you always wanted to be on the field and
be one of those guys and then yeah, he presents itself.
You know, you have no other options.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
Did you?

Speaker 3 (07:45):
Did you go to a lot of games growing up?

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah? I went to a couple, probably ten or so,
just growing up.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
Do you remember the first time walking into Kinnick Not.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Really, I was like first grade.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
I still remember it was so cool to me, like
coming off the concourse and you walk up the ramp
and then like the field comes into view and I
still get goosebumps thinking about it like it's and then
you get to like ten x that experience doing the swarm.
It's like a real full circle moment. Do you remember

(08:18):
your first swarm? Uh?

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Kind of?

Speaker 4 (08:21):
I mean I was told like that Friday before, you
know that I was going to be playing, and I'm like,
there's there's no way I'm playing. And then it gets
to game day and I'm like, oh, this might actually
be happening right now that I might have to go
in the game.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
Can you walk me through that? Because your story similar
to Mason and El's. You guys got so much early
playing time. It feels like I'm beating a dead horse
going over it. But like we've on the show, we've
talked about it. Guys left, guys got hurt, guys had
to medically retire, guys, some guys just decided to stop playing,

(08:55):
and all of a sudden in twenty twenty one, there's
like a solid group guys you three specifically, and a
few others that are like, oh wow, like kind of
like you described, like, we're we're the guy We're the
guys now we're the only guys left. Yeah, Uh, can
you can you walk me through that.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
Yeah, So I mean my first spring ball, you know,
coming in early, I think they started me at right tackle,
and you know, coming from Kennedy, I never really took
a pass set in my life before, so that was
that was a big learning.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Did you guys run it a lot? Oh?

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, we had well, we had Max White.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
I was gonna say Max was there.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
He wasn't a thrower, so.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Oh, I wish we just had him on. I wish
we would had you first, so I couldn't give Hi
shit about that.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
But yeah, and then, uh, I think it was you know,
that little break right before camp. We would get like
three days or something, and then I think Shooter broke
his foot in those three days, that's right. And then
I think went into that camp, I started playing right
guard more with the twos, and then you know, went
into the season. First three games I was rotating, and

(10:00):
then that fourth one I started a right guard for
my first time.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
And stay there the rest of here.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
That all had to happen pretty fast.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Oh yeah, I had no clue what I was doing
on dude.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Like like you probably didn't even have time to really breathe,
and all of a sudden you look up and you're
I'm just a starting offensive lineman for the Iawhauke Eyes.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
Now, yeah, I probably shouldn't have been starting, but I was.
You know, just kind of how it went.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
You knew a little bit. You say you don't you
didn't know anything. You obviously knew a little bit, or
at least physically you were ready close enough you you
were in there for some reason.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
Yeah, Well it helped having Lindy right next to me
kind of tell me who to block.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
He was pretty good.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, decent.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Was there was there a lot of doubt on like
were you like were you did you go out there
with a lack of confidence or were you somewhat confident
in your ability? Just looking back, you're like, oh, I
actually didn't know what I was doing, but I was trying.

Speaker 4 (10:59):
Yeah, I think I think freshman year, I was almost
more confident than I was as a sophomore.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah. Just I mean you're just kind of riding the
lightning at that point.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
Sure, I mean, uh, you get thrown in by the
way first uh, first true freshman to start a offensive
line spot since WORF since seventeen.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
So that's sort of the company.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
And you're in there.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
We're not in the same company.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
Well, I mean that's the last two to do it,
you and him. He's doing all right too, and what
oh yeah, just like yeah, he's kind of decently, says contract.
He's got all the money, He's got all of it.
I just saw some stat that he like, I don't
know if it was like a uh pressure pressure rate

(11:48):
or something. He's like less than point one percent or something.
He's ridiculous. All of a sudden, you're starting and do
you remember, like was it what was he even the
goal of like freshman Connor Colby at that point, because
at that point in your career, you're fresh.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
Out of high school.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
High school football is easy, Yeah, for guys like you,
generally right, Like I'm not going to say it was
like every rep you ever played was just a breeze,
but it's generally easy for a lot of Division one
football players, big fish, small pond. You get to Iowa,
you're now playing like like you're in the big ten. Yeah,
what was what was the weekly goal? Like? How did

(12:27):
you even process? There's so many things early on where
you're like, I just need to be better at everything.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
How did you even attack that?

Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (12:33):
So I mean, you know, coming in as a freshman,
Like every freshman has the goal, you know, to play. Yeah,
but when I came in, I obviously I had a
fifth year senior ahead of me. I'm like, you know,
this probably isn't gonna happen. You know, he's gonna have
his senior year and you know, I'll come in next year.
And then he got injured and I was in and
then I think from like a week to week standpoint, Uh,

(12:53):
my coach basically told me just you know, make it
to the bye week and then we'll regroup and keep going.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Hey, let's just get there, man. And that was Arnett's
first year. Yep, so like first year offensive line coach
has to throw in a true freshman because of injury
and all this other stuff.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
Y'all were kind of scrambling a little bit.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
And did you know that at the time or at
the time it was just like all right, all like
next man up because that that man next man mentality
is super prevalent inside the complex, like that is a
major thing in Iowa. And you physically had to. I
mean you were somewhat. I remember when you came in,
it was like, oh, this kid's God, he's he's kind

(13:40):
of got the body for this already, you probably feel
miles ahead of where you were then now, but like physically,
how did you feel on the field against against guys
that were four years older?

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (13:54):
I think just my biggest advantage was I was probably
quicker than most of them, just because when I got
the iowas three, they had me lose weight down to
two ninety and then I played my freshman year at
two ninety eight. So obviously you know, I wasn't the
size and near as strong as I am now. Sure,
so I had to her a lot more on my
speed more than anything.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
So they recomped you a little bit when you got there.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Oh yeah, I was three oh six in all the
worst ways.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
I saw that a couple of times. There's a couple
uh yeah, yeah, yeah, I fully understand that I was.
I came in at like two o six in all
the worst ways. If there is such a thing, and
I did. I did a similar process when you were
being recruited. Did you have any sense of like how
that would go.

Speaker 3 (14:40):
Did they tell you about any of that or they're like.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
Hey, we'll just get you here, it will work from there,
or did you know you were going to have to
lose weight and then put it back on or No.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
I didn't really have any of that.

Speaker 4 (14:48):
I mean I committed before my junior year even started,
so they couldn't have like contact with me before then.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
So it wasn't nothing.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
They weren't like selling the program as based off of
you know what I thought of everything, and then once
I committed, it was it was never you know, talking
about losing weight or anything.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
You committed before your junior year. Yeah, you were just
a you were like a hawkkey through and through.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, you know, there's no point wasting any more time.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
I love that like that is so it's it's amazing
obviously as an alum, like I'm like, fuck, yeah, like
let's go. Ohio State's a really good school though, Like
they're really good.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
At looking for Yeah, I mean everyone's place is different.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
And not only that, but when you commit that early.
This I think this happened with Aaron Graves a little
bit too. I think he committed as like a freshman
or something stupid, and he was like everybody stopped taking
like nobody talked to me. I'm a hawk guy, And
it was it was one of the more sort of
wild recruiting things. I've ever seen coming out of a
fifteen year old's sixteen year old's mouth. Uh. I think

(15:52):
Aaron is sort of known as being like a pretty
mature and intellectual, so he's sort of ahead of He's
smarter than me and all of us probably, But that
was crazy to me because as a young kid, especially
with someone with your talent, you were a four star.
Aaron was a four star. But like when you commit
that early, those services kind of just like lay off

(16:13):
of you, and you you kind of have the potential
is if you're still in that recruiting cycle to be
like oh Ohio State offers, who knows if you're not
committed to Iowa, who else comes around and is like, hey,
you want to come play for us? I mean, you
could have been like a five star, you could have
been rated higher. I get the sense after sixteen minutes
of talking to you, you don't give a fuck about what
those guys say.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
No.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
But but like, where does that come from? Because a
lot of high school that's like the flash for a
lot of high school kids, Like they want to get
rated high, they want people to talk about them, they want.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
All these offers.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
What what was different about you that at like sixteen
seventeen years old, You're like, nah, I'm committing and I'm good.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
Well, I think my biggest thing was I, you know,
I didn't want to worry about going on like game
day visits and all that other crap. I just, you know,
wanted to play football. Finish out by junior and seniory here.
I knew I was gonna be able to graduate early,
so you know, just pour everything into that. Get all
my classes taken care of so I can go play
at the next level.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
So I said, we had Max on.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Grant. Are you sensing some there's some similarity here, this
is a little bit. I just thought that was just
a great answer.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
Just I just want to play football.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
I just want to play football.

Speaker 5 (17:19):
It's just the best answer to every question that for
the for the next like, miss just want to play football.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
And it feels like when we talked to Max, that
was the same that was the same answer that we
got from him. What What's what's in the water there
at over at Kennedy, What's what's going on there? These
guys they don't care about anything but football. I just
want to play. Get me in between the white lines.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
I mean, I don't know I mean me and Max
grew up playing together all the way through.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
I think, you know, just.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Had to be tough for the opposing teams.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
I mean a little bit. I know, like fourth and
fifth grade, they like had to split the teams up
what because we had like many kids go out, So
they had to divide a kids for like I think
it's like metro youth football.

Speaker 4 (17:56):
But then yeah, middle schools where we went to different
middle schools and then we got to Kennedy. It's just
playing football. I mean that was the only sport I
was good at.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
So dominance is that? What else did you do?

Speaker 2 (18:09):
Well?

Speaker 4 (18:09):
I tried to play basketball, played my sophomore year on
the sophomore team, could run up and down the court
three or four times before I was gassed. Got the
varsity my junior year, rode the bench. You know, I'm like,
I'm done wasting time on this. I lost twenty pounds
already this season.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
That well, that's a big Yeah, you lose a lot
of weight basketball.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
You just shed weight. It's I used to go through
that as well.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
I would I would get fat through like high school
football season. I remember my senior year, I was like
two twenty seven at the end of football season, and
I got sick and played basketball season and was down
to like two of two.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah, and I'm not run up and down the court.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
So did you ever did you play as like a
kid growing up? Were you ever on an AAU team
or you just decided to go out and try it?

Speaker 5 (18:54):
No?

Speaker 4 (18:55):
So I wrestled growing up all the way through like
sixth grade, okay, and then I got tall and skinny
for a little bit, not too long. Uh played basketball
in middle school.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
It was all right. I was just bigger than everyone else.
So sure, yeah that helps out.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yeah, were you when you're six six now?

Speaker 2 (19:13):
Like six five six six? After I go with chiropractor?

Speaker 3 (19:16):
There you go hang on the inversion table in the
corner of the weight room?

Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (19:21):
The how when did you reach that height? Were you
that height in like when you committed it? Sophomore junior?

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (19:29):
So I think I was this height since like kind
of eighth grade. I just you're like three inches over
the summer.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
That must be nice sixth eighth grader kind of this guy.
I reached max height in eighth grade too. Same here
stated five eight? Did five get anywhere? Five ten for me?
Five to ten for me? Connor given could have given
us we could all be six f Yeah, uh, that'd

(19:57):
be cool. So Ohio State, get out of here, Michigan State,
get out of here. You become a hawkey. I guess
for you being an early in roll lee, it wasn't
as bad as like, Oh, I got here in July,
June July, and then all of a sudden, I'm playing.
So you at least had that spring to get acclimated
to how to be a part of the program. Yeah,

(20:21):
did it feel like it feel like that was Did
that help your transition even more of being ready to
play that first year when you were called upon because
you kind of got a lot of those freshmen that
you probably had in your class that came in around
camp or just before. We're still getting like they got
to find their classes for the first time, they got
to figure out how to live in the dorm room.

(20:42):
You had already done that for semester. You feel like
that was a leg up.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
I think it helped a little bit.

Speaker 4 (20:46):
I know, like my classes my freshman year because it
was still kind of like COVID.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
Oh true, they were online that first semester, all of them.

Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah, all online, So that was I mean that only
big adjustments, you know, living in a dorm room and
you got loud neighbors, but you kind of learn how
to drown that out, so or you just pound on
the wall, did you?

Speaker 1 (21:09):
I suppose maybe you didn't because you came in in
the middle. Most guys live next to other football players,
but you probably got stuck between.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (21:15):
I think I was on like the second floor next
to just some some random people.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Nice just party in all hours. You're trying to wake
up for like a five forty five lift.

Speaker 4 (21:24):
Yeah, I mean even in the summer, it wasn't that
bad because you know it's just athletes in the summer.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Sure, yeah, it's the best time.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
But at the same time, I'm like also going to
bed at like eight because you got the first lift
group at six, and then of course I was probably
hurt so had treatment at like five point fifteen, So
waking up like four point thirty.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
Oh god, uh yeah. Maybe I know We've mentioned it
at some point on this, but what Connor's saying there
is like, if you are injured in any way and
you have to get treatment, you got to get it
before your workout or practice, and so it it's early
it's real early like that stuff. Why do you say

(22:04):
I was probably hurt? Was that just like you always
had Nixon bruises or what?

Speaker 4 (22:08):
I think it's mostly because I was losing weight, but
I didn't do it in like the healthy way.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
Oh as more of like starving myself more than anything.
I got down to two ninety though, but just kind
of working back up.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
Was that was two ninety like the number they gave you.
They're like, hey, once you get to two ninety, then
we'll build you back up or yeah.

Speaker 4 (22:26):
So you know like when you first way in, you know,
they take your like initial weight and then you got
like your optimum and then you're sure, Yeah, I saw
the goal was two ninety straight from the start.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
I'm like, oh, this is gonna be fun.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
So for a while there, So for a few weeks
there you were are months, I don't know how long
it took you. You were just constantly over over well.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
I think by my optimum had to be like you know,
like three h two to start, and then worked it down.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
All right, man, that's that's crazy. So you just weren't
eating that summer.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
I mean I'd eat, but not like like you wanted
to want it, you know.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yeah, it was one plate of grays instead of two.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, exactly, no cookies, none of that.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
Oh man, that's tough to walk by the end of
that line and not grab cookies.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
I wouldn't even look at it.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, it's that's probably it's smart. Smart you look at
it your toast. So you guys go through twenty one
and do you finally, like in the off season, get
a chance to like look up and breathe and be like, Okay,
we're through through that year.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
Like what was that off season? Like, do you remember
that at all?

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Like hot?

Speaker 4 (23:36):
I think it was just kind of fine and guys,
you know, and during the spring ball to kind of
fill in some spots.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
Whatever, because that was the year you lost Lindy.

Speaker 4 (23:44):
Yeah, so that was the first spring without them, So
we're just trying to find guys to fill in.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
You know.

Speaker 4 (23:49):
Obviously we thought we were better than we actually were
that spring and then you know, reality hit that season.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
So in twenty two, Yeah, what expand on that? What
does that mean for you? Reality hit?

Speaker 2 (24:04):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (24:04):
I think Mason kind of said it best. You know,
we should all have been fired, he did say that.
I mean, we were all aware of it, like we
were aware that we sucked, but you know, we're just
doing the best we could.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
Okay, so that's well. I was going to say, we
all know that. Now you read some people and you
realize that there's some dummies out there who actually think
you're not doing the best you can for some reason,
Like I don't you know, Twitter gets crazy, the cheetoh
fingers at home really like to they think they know,

(24:40):
they think that they I know, this guy, Connor Colby,
he's bagging out there, He's said bagging. What is it
like to I mean, Mason was very sort of open
and forthcoming with it. It was it was interesting to hear.
I'm curious in your words, what is it like to
be in that situation where you know that it needs
to be better, not just from yourself, but like the

(25:02):
entire room. I sort of was a part of this
in the in the specialist room for one year. We
were we were bad, and like the whole team knew
we were bad, and it was like, fuck, we need
to get this together.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
Did you feel did you feel the pressure of that?

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Did you feel like, God, we got to get this
thing to click or what What was the daily process
of that.

Speaker 4 (25:20):
I mean, I think we all kind of knew, you know,
we had to kind of figure our stuff out more
than anything, you know, just being that we were all younger.
I think, uh, you know, our all line coach is great,
you know, just he just he'd always say, just trying
to get the room back to where KF wants it.
So I think just having the belief that we're all
working towards something, you know, that we all wanted. You know,

(25:42):
we're all there for the same reason, you know, to
be the best that we can. And I think you
saw obviously the worst year of it sophomore year, and
we kind of worked a little bit better. We got
we're able to run the ball junior year, and I
think our senior year we did pretty well.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
So I would say so I would agree with that
last year was pretty good.

Speaker 5 (26:02):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
Joe Moore Ward semi finalist, that that means something ran
for a shitload the yards. Shout out to Caleb Johnson,
he was a help help for that.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Uh get him on the second level.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah, yeah, you get that guy any amount of space
and it feels like he can just disappear. That's got
to feel good with him running behind you, not just him,
but like Jazz and Kamari too, like kind of a
dynamic backfield of guys there that is just like you
guys know that if you just give him a chance.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah, it's all.

Speaker 4 (26:35):
It's great see him run down you know, the field,
no no one behind him. That's a great feeling to
have as an off. Then you know you can kind of,
you know, jog down to the field goal protection, you know,
just come to this iseline, get somewhere after that.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Is that one of the best feelings you just watch,
You watch one of those guys just break loose and
you get to kind of just trot it down, celebrate.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
Come on, Yeah, I mean, I mean, I don't know
if there's another feeling like it. I know sometimes you know,
if you see a guy kind has an angle on him,
like is he gonna get caught or not?

Speaker 2 (27:03):
Like should I sprint down there maybe? Or do I
just keep jogging? You know, it's kind of one of
those games. But there's no better feeling than watching him
run down the field.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
A couple clips of Lindy out running Tyler Goodson to
get them to get like a block. I remember one specifically.
It was the COVID year in twenty twenty, was right
before you came in. I think he like outruns Goodson
to the end zone. I don't even think anybody was there.
I think he just ran with Tyler to the end zone.
It was wild. I know linder Bomb is a different animal.

Speaker 4 (27:33):
That's kind of I think it was Caleb's long touchdown
against Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yeah, I almost caught up there, almost caught behind it.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Okay, all right, shout out, everybody stopped the podcast, Go
and search that clip.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
We'll see if we can find Connor running down.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
It helps. He was running sideways here and there, but sure, yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
There was a couple roadblocks in the way for him.
Linnerbaumb shot. Who else was older in the room when
you got.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
The Cody there was just from Britt Britt in his
third year.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
The way young guys develop a lot is by learning
from the older guys. You kind of got thrown in
without a whole lot of like time to do that,
and then they were gone and like you were the
old guy, like you didn't get a lot of There
wasn't two to three years of like learning how to
be the guy before you were the guy. Did did you.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
Ever think about that? Was like and I'm not saying
that in.

Speaker 1 (28:34):
A sense of like you weren't capable of figuring it out,
But there is value to getting to sit behind somebody
for two or three years and watching how they watch film,
how they break things down, how they think about schematically.
You know, when you have to block this certain play,
this certain guy, what's going through their head. They're a cues,

(28:55):
how they practice, you know, all those things, and you
just didn't get very much of that, not only you,
but Mason and l Like, it was just quick for
you guys, Like, do you think that had something to
do with maybe developing a little slower in twenty one
and twenty two?

Speaker 4 (29:13):
I think, you know, I think you know what you
saw in twenty one and twenty two. It's kind of
just I know, everyone comes in with bad habits, you know, freshman, sure,
sophomore year you spend you spend those years breaking those
more than anything, you know, learning the fundamentals. And then
I think, you know, coming into year two, you know,
as a sophomore and being like, you know, I kind

(29:33):
of have some of the most experience in this room
right now. It's kind of crazy to think about, but
I think we were all still going through that growth
phase while we were playing, instead of you know, having
a couple of years to just sit and you know,
keep hammering out all those little details in order to
see the finished product.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Did you ever out of the season think, I mean,
this is a dumb question. I know the answer, but
I'm gonna ask it anyway, did you ever like feel
sorry for yourself? Essentially? Like you know, you're sitting there
and it's like February. You're like, in those eight weeks
before spring ball, the guys just went through it. Now
they're in spring ball, and you're like, man, like, last

(30:12):
year was rough, Like it would have been nice to
get it. It would have been nice to get like
a year to develop, and we were just tossed to
the wolves a little bit. Like, did you ever have
those thoughts or something like anything like that crossed your mind?
Or it was just kind of no.

Speaker 4 (30:26):
I mean, there's really kind of no time to feel
sorry for yourself, and you know, any of the years
that we played, I think obviously, you know there's times
I think my sophomore year was like one of my
worst ones confidence wise, more than anything, just playing right
tackle for a little bit and then you know, shuffling
around to left card. I think that was probably just

(30:46):
everyone has confidence dips now and then it's just kind
of working through those.

Speaker 1 (30:50):
Was the reason for that, The variation you're you're playing
different positions and that you're having to worry about, you know,
kind of two different spots.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
So that's why you couldn't find a groove. Is that
the main reason.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
I think I just kind of had a skewed perception
of what it was like to actually play college football
coming off you know, a freshman year where I got
a lot of playing time versus you know, I thought
I was better than I was, you know, kind of
kind of bit me an.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
Ass a little bit. He had to work through that
and then.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
Kind of I mean, I think that happens to everybody.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
Yeah, I mean it's a normal thing. He just Yeah,
I think people were able to see it more.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
It was funny when Mason described, you guys were sitting
there like last year or something, and you were looking
back on like one of those twenty one or twenty
two games, and you thought you played really well.

Speaker 3 (31:38):
I think he said Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
He's like, we thought we played good, and then we
went back and like we actually played horrible.

Speaker 4 (31:46):
Yeah, Like every time those we'd always pull him up,
you know, like a Friday, you know, when we were
just waiting for the team meeting in the afternoon before
we head to the hotel, we just like would pull
up a random clip from like twenty two that we
thought we did well and we're looking at it now
like this is terrible, Like we should we need to
find a way to delete this.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
We got to get this off the hard drives. Yeah,
the matured eye that you have by the time you
get to a junior senior, you know, kind of the
spot you are now is there's not a lot other
than time and experience that can get you there. It
is really eye opening and it's it's I think you

(32:26):
guys should be proud as hell about where you came,
like where you came from and then where you made
it too. It was probably no more satisfying than to
you guys to like be able to go out this
past year and run all over people after sort of
the grind that you guys had been through.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, I mean it was definitely a great feeling. But
even this year, you know, we thought we weren't the
best just because you know, we'd see like ten plays
a game. They like, if we, you know, ran our
knees one more time, if we held onto our block
one second long, like another big one could have broke.
I think those were the ones that are eating at
us the most.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
It's good to go from a place of we're trying
to find anything that works, though, to a place of.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
Man, we're getting a lot to work. What if we
could have just got one more?

Speaker 1 (33:14):
Because I think I think when you're when you get good,
or when you're finally like getting things to click, that
mindset of oh but one more is that's not a
bad place to be no matter how good you get.
You could go to the some team in the league, Connor,
and you're probably always gonna feel like you could get
one more when you watch the tape, right, But you

(33:34):
guys came a long way. It was it was fun
to see. I mean talking to Mason too, it was
like it was like he said, yeah, it was almost
emotional at one point last year kind of realizing how
far you guys had come. And I'm sure it was
would be uh because like you said, I mean he
he and he said, he's like could have all been fired.

(33:57):
Listen to a lot of people on the outside, including
probably me. Couple of times I probably said some dumbsh
like we got to get these guys out of here. Uh.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
I mean guys had every right too, so.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Yeah, I mean I don't know about that. Maybe us more.

Speaker 2 (34:12):
Than some opinion.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
Sure, Uh yeah, I think KF has a quote he
likes to say, like that they're not all great. Uh
take a second here, just before I forget to thank
the sponsors on the bottom of the page. Here I
egg counsel. I'm sure Connor had a lot of eggs
during during college. You be an egg guy.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah, I mean scrambled eggs. I used to be scrambled eggs,
you know, freshman sophomore year. Then you evolved, you know.
I like them over hard now.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
Really over hard?

Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (34:47):
What what waste? Over hard? Guest? Yeah? What? What? What?
What made the switch?

Speaker 2 (34:50):
What?

Speaker 1 (34:50):
What?

Speaker 2 (34:51):
What?

Speaker 3 (34:51):
What changed?

Speaker 2 (34:52):
I don't know. I just you know, one day they
bring them so as I'll.

Speaker 3 (34:56):
Try and like, I screw it, We'll go this way.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
Hey, hot talks makes every thing better, so I can.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Get I can get behind that as well. How many
eggs did Connor Coleby eat in the last four years
in Iowa? That's that could be like the trivia question,
were they actually like, did you actually eat eggs like
every day for for like breakfast or something or just whenever?

Speaker 4 (35:15):
I mean I try to until you know, like eating
the same foods over and over again. Yeah, stuff, so
every once in a while, mix it up. Maybe if
like peepe are brought pancakes one day, Oh yeah, lay
off the eggs.

Speaker 3 (35:28):
Those refeel sandwiches in the morning.

Speaker 4 (35:30):
Oh I can't get behind those anymore.

Speaker 2 (35:34):
First two years they were good. Last two every time
I took a bite out when I wanted to throw up.
Oh I had to switch though meal.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
I wish I could get one right now.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
I love those things.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
There's probably some of the refeel fridge.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
I probably you're right. I could walk in right now
to the facility and probably grab one out of there.
The uh so you get Was there a moment uh?
I guess maybe it probably wasn't twenty two. Was there
a moment maybe in twenty three or maybe in the
off season and going into twenty three where you felt

(36:06):
like you slash the offensive line? Come like as a unit,
we're starting to to gain a little ground, Like you
started to feel like you were getting some of it,
like this is working.

Speaker 4 (36:18):
I think, you know, there's you know, certain moments are
out camp, you know who we're all blocking well, but
you know, at the same time we're still trying to
you know, fight off those bad habits. I know for
me personally, like I didn't get my backside elbow in
on a block until my senior year.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
So I've heard that once or twice as a Q
for sure. So as I sat there and watched the
uh the old line drills.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
Yeah, sometimes it takes a while for things to stick.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:48):
Is it cool when uh.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
When you're doing offensive line drills and KF comes over
and he's kind of like covering.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Well, now it actually like gets hands on with the coaching,
like really during past stuff will like break up like
guards and centers and okay, if we'll take the tackles.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
Really yeah, I don't know if I don't know if
they did.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
They they probably did, but I don't remember.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
That's kind of.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
Sick, yeah, I mean for the tackles, for the I mean, yeah,
for the tackle.

Speaker 4 (37:15):
It was kind of a running joke because you know
they do like I don't know if I can tell everyone,
but like they do like pass pro reps without their
helmets on versus like full all out scout guys.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
Yeah, helmets on.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
Just okay, Yeah, I think that that rings a bell.
That kind of rings a.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
Bell, but uh, you know that it was a running
joke because they called like the centers and guards like
guard haul up because we wouldn't do anything. We just
kind of sit there and get some water.

Speaker 4 (37:40):
Well, they're doing twenty minutes straight a pass, bro, I
love it.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
Is there anything you'll miss from uh from practice with
the with the offensive lineman when as you move on
from ile.

Speaker 4 (37:54):
I think it's just like kind of giving ship to
Coach Wallace like during practice.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
Oh yeah, because everyone so while you can get riled up.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
Oh yeah, we actually were. I don't know if you've
ever heard any of our shows before. We're big Coach
Wallace fans, right, Actually, I think I can pull up
the uh for anybody who wants a Goat Wallace T shirt.
Can you see that's real small on the screen there, Connor,
But that is Coach Wallace's face superimposed onto a goat

(38:22):
as the greatest one.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
Oh, we can send you one for suit and anybody
who wants one, please scan the QR code right there.
It'll take you right to our website. You can buy it.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
Reaction when I walk in the facility with that on, Oh.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
God, Colby, what the fuck are you wearing? Take that
ship off? So shout out to the Eighway council forgot
to mention the other one down there. Eagles point solar,
Like you said, Grant, I can't see it. I almost
probably do have to brighten that up.

Speaker 5 (38:51):
That's what I was telling you. I was like, that's
impossible to read. That would be it'd be furious if
I was Eagle points solar half of a graphic.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Well, I mean this, Alec sure with the logo on
the screen, Eagle points solar, you're all in one, uh
shop for the solar energy. I don't know. Someday when
Connor buys a house with his NFL money, you can
look and putting solar on that thing. It's funny, Grant.
I seriously, I drive around my neighborhood now and I'm like,

(39:19):
it's kind of if you if you just open your
eyes a little bit. It's kind of crazy how many
houses or buildings have solar panel people expect. It's more
than you think. There's like I swear to God. Down
my road, just out to the main road here, it's
four houses. There's not a lot of houses on like
on the street. They go out to the main house.
Four houses on here, and it's got solar newer development too.

Speaker 5 (39:41):
They're gonna it's gonna be a lot of.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
Soldar for sure. Talk to a lot of people on here.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
Brought Brad on. He's got solar on his house, just
trying to harness the power of the sun. They are
going to educate you. If you go to Eagle Pointsolar
dot com, you can do their solar analysis, send me
energy bills. Uh. They're gonna tell you how much money
you can save bas on how much you're paying right
now and how much you could be paying. Run you
to the whole investment all that. Never know it could

(40:06):
be for you. What's another twenty five to fifty seventy
five dollars a month in your pocket? Right? Tough economy
out there right now. I mean the market bounce back
today as we record this, But tough economy all right.
Connor's about the Like I said, Connor's about to have
the NFL contract.

Speaker 2 (40:21):
I had to stop looking at the investments.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Are an investment Are you an investment guy.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
No, I don't do it. Someone else does it, but
I can look at them.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
But as a twenty three year old you or twenty
two year old you do already have some money, and
that's you're head of the game there. If you already
have a guy that's got a.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Little well, it's better than just, you know, wasting all
the nil money.

Speaker 1 (40:39):
Well, I brother, I guarantee that if we don't have
to name names, but I'm sure offline we could talk
about plenty of guys who are not doing well with THEIRL.
And we had some guys during my time that would
take their scholarship check straight to the bank, cash it
and it would be gone that weekend.

Speaker 2 (40:58):
Yeah. I can think of a couple guys like yeah,
sure right.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
So just you know, we want to stay smart with
our money around here, Eagle points Older can help you
do that. They bring you the sun. I have Egg Council.
Shout out to those guys for a sponsoring the show
this month.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
Where do I go from here?

Speaker 1 (41:14):
Grant you got any questions that we that I brushed
over in this story of Connor Colby that might chronologically
make sense here? I mean, I'm curious about some draft
stuff combine.

Speaker 3 (41:24):
Well, yeah, we're getting what I want to get to.
We're getting close.

Speaker 2 (41:28):
When is the draft a couple of weeks, weeks, three
weeks somewhere in there?

Speaker 3 (41:32):
Is this an exciting time for you?

Speaker 2 (41:35):
Uh? Not really more.

Speaker 4 (41:37):
I want to say I'm worried, but like kind of,
I just want to know where I'm going more than anything.

Speaker 1 (41:42):
So you got a little anxiety.

Speaker 4 (41:44):
Oh, I want to say that. I just, you know,
like to find a place to live more than anything where.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
You just want football.

Speaker 5 (41:51):
I just want to put football.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
Yeah, that's about it. Like I want to watch spring
practice yesterday. I don't know if I can do it
again because I just want to hit someone.

Speaker 1 (41:59):
But did you as an offensive lineman you hit? You're
basically making contact every play. Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna.
I'm gonna zoom in on the hitting somebody portion of
your job. Is that everything that you've worried about, like
with all the concussion stuff and the ct and all
that stuff, Like nowadays, do you ever have you ever
thought about like, yeah, I shouldn't do this or you're

(42:21):
just like no, I like hitting people.

Speaker 4 (42:22):
I like playing for I mean, I've only had one concussion.
And that was in second grade.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
Second grade.

Speaker 4 (42:29):
Yeah, I tripped on my own shoelace headfirst into a
four by four.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
That sounds horrible.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
Yeah, I had a big goose egg wing in as.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
Find that set you up? Well, I mean you were
after you after hitting a four by four, you're probably good.

Speaker 3 (42:44):
No defensive lineman's gonna top that.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it is what it is.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
I will say though, we kind of skipped over in
those first couple of years.

Speaker 1 (42:51):
Did you have a like a welcome to Big ten,
welcome to D one football moment.

Speaker 3 (42:54):
Where you're like, fuck, I just got embarrassed.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
No, I'd get embarrassed every day, Brad. My freshman year,
I go.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
Just every day.

Speaker 4 (43:04):
There was another moment, you know, when the lineman first
put on knee brace you kind of have to learn
how to run again.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:10):
I was running off the field my first spring ball.
There they caught face planet.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
Right in front of Coach Bell, just running off the field. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
Yeah, yeah a lot of people don't, I think because
those are manage they make you wear those, right, yeah, yeah,
they make the linemen wear those the offensive one. Yeah,
those are man Those are not cool?

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Uh, I mean the first couple of first like year
there they suck.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
But then did you ever have a play where you're like, wow,
thank god, I was wearing the eebraces.

Speaker 4 (43:45):
Yeah, so it was like I think a spring ball
before my junior year. One of the guys cleaned the pocket,
you know, right into my knee, so it saved me
from probably tearing everything.

Speaker 1 (43:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
I watched several of those over my time.

Speaker 1 (43:59):
You know, I'm just getting to in between long snapping,
just sit there and watch like team period, and I'm
just like several because you guys, sometimes you get rolled
up on something happens behind you, you.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Get turned around, you having your knees, get them out
of the way.

Speaker 1 (44:16):
Bro, I mean it's scary. It's scary, dude, Like it
kind of gives me the he beat. Gebi's like I
watching an ego the wrong way. It is tough. So
you're getting ready for this draft. It's like in a
couple of weeks you've had to fill your time outside
of working out, because working out last what like two
three hours.

Speaker 2 (44:36):
Maybe maybe like an hour forty five tops.

Speaker 1 (44:39):
Yeah, and then you just go back to your I
mean you were in Tampa, so wherever you were living
their apartment or what. You just go back and you're
just thinking, I mean, you're just football all the time.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
No, I mean in Tampa, I think we I'd have
to leave my apartment at like six forty in the
morning because I was staying in downtown Tampa.

Speaker 1 (44:57):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
Like if I left at seven, it's gonna take like
forty five five minutes to get to the place versus
like ten. So you know, i'd work out there. I
think we started like eight thirty finish up, you know
with speedwork lifting, and then like O line drills after
finish up around like two.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
Okay, so it was it was at least a little
bit more scheduled out and you had stuff to do.

Speaker 5 (45:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
I was there like all day, Yeah, until like four
I head home, taking.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
Too, like recover like cold tub massage, any of that
stuff down there or.

Speaker 4 (45:26):
Just like yeah, so they had uh just I think
it's like a cryo chamber, yeah, like thing, and there
was like a whole thing we'd had to do before
and then after it was just like getting whatever you
need work done, and then I'd always go sit in
the cold tub for like ten minutes.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
But so the draft is in a couple of weeks.
You just want to know where you're going. How do
you feel on the back end of your IOWA career now,
like you've gone through the a couple of years of
like trial by fire, have a good year plus not
just for you but as o line unit. You get
some great tape out there, and now you're entering this

(46:02):
draft process, I'm sure. I mean, have you been probably
been talking to teams like all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
Yeah, I've had had a couple of meetings.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
How do you How do you feel about how it's
been going.

Speaker 4 (46:12):
I think it's been going well. I mean, obviously you
know they're going to find the clips where you didn't
go do so well when you're in the meetings, but
you just got to talk through those. But I think
there's a lot more good ones than there are bad ones.
That's always good. I couldn't say that three years ago.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
True. Yeah, true, I mean there you go, like, there's
the positive in it. You like, yeah, I've got let's
look at the good stuff, let's look.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
At the post.

Speaker 3 (46:38):
Do you feel like you compete at the NFL NFL.

Speaker 2 (46:40):
Level, Yeah, of course, I mean that's kind of where
I thrive as in competition.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
So guy just wants to play football, just want to
play football. It's in the it's in the Kennedy water
water pipes and something about that strength Coach Max said
over there is he's the best.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
I don't think he's there anymore.

Speaker 1 (46:58):
He might have said that, Yeah, yeah, but evidently you
guys had a good guy over her.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
Yeah, good guy. Not the best facilities, but made it
work well.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
He also mentioned how the the Rachel took out your
entire school.

Speaker 4 (47:11):
Yeah, I mean there was a couple of places where
the roof was missing, but weight room looked fine.

Speaker 1 (47:16):
Weight room was good. You can still go pumpy iron.

Speaker 2 (47:18):
It didn't have any windows in it, so well, that's good. Yeah,
it was just in the basement press. The ceilings are
too low.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
Are you serious? That's actually elite. That's like do you
ever try anyway, just burst through the ceilings. You feel
super strong, just take out the tile.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
It was all like concrete.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Light.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Yeah, it wasn't like a drop ceiling. It wasn't that nice.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
When you were you played football, it was your dream
to be a Hawk guy. You got to commit to
the Hawk gys. Was the NFL ever a part of that,
Like you know every you're in fifth grade and they're like,
what do you want to do when you grow up?

Speaker 3 (47:58):
And you write it on your little assignment in fifth grade,
like I want to be in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
Was that you like? Was the NFL? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (48:03):
That was me?

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Yeah, so you've got a chance to like actually complete
like the full.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
Full dream here. I mean, yeah, I got a chance
to complete it. But you know how long can I
stay at that level?

Speaker 1 (48:14):
More than anything is is the ideal world? You just
play until this until they tell you you can't anymore,
and they can hear like a fifteen year vat is.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
That I'd like to retire on my terms if it
comes to that. Not everyone gets that in the NFL. Yeah,
if I could, I would.

Speaker 3 (48:32):
Grant you got anything for him?

Speaker 5 (48:34):
Yeah, So I'm curious as you're doing, like the combine
draft processes. I like watching the clips back like they'll
usually release them like a year later for the interviews
and team.

Speaker 1 (48:42):
Meetings and stuff.

Speaker 5 (48:43):
Did you get any You don't say what team, but
did you get to ask any like strange questions that
maybe you weren't expecting, Like I feel like you know
this video like reporter getting asked some word once?

Speaker 2 (48:52):
Do you remember any No, so I didn't have any
like of the formal interviews and you can get to
have any okay, so minor all like the informal ones
where they just take all you guys into a big
room and you know, all thirty two teams are sitting there.
Oh and it's like you get fifteen minutes a team,
So it's kind of like speed dating at that point.
They're all like teaching you how they id fronts and

(49:12):
you know, install like run plays and pass plays and
then they'll like quiz you on at the end and
then you know, by team like twelve thirteen, you start
getting it all confused from the previous team more than anything.

Speaker 5 (49:22):
Yeah, it feels like a ton of information for a
very short period of time.

Speaker 2 (49:27):
Yeah, you almost have to like remember it all for
the tests at the end and then like immediately forget
it because you're going to a different table.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
That's wild. Is it kind of a thing though, where
they don't like they don't expect you to actually get
all of it, and they're just kind of like, we'll
just see what's the most you can get.

Speaker 4 (49:42):
I mean, they probably don't expect us to get everything,
you know, but I was trying to get everything.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
Of course, Yeah, you want to sue an basically a
job interview you want to do.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
Yeah, so if you got something wrong or they kind
of help you through it until you you know, the
term came back to you.

Speaker 5 (49:57):
But yeah, and then also, I just like to ask
all lemon, do you like run or pass?

Speaker 1 (50:03):
Which one gets you more excited?

Speaker 2 (50:05):
I like run blocking more than anything.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
Run blocking more.

Speaker 4 (50:07):
There's nothing better than like an Oki front and I
get to block down on the nose.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
I just gets taken a hip out.

Speaker 1 (50:12):
Dude, you have the best, just off of Tlimman answers
for every single question that could be asked. I did, okay,
what do you like to do? I just like to
fucking drive people. I just I just like to run.
I just like to run through people's faces. Master brickball,
I'd love to fucking eat it. Man, just let me eat.
I did look it up. By the way, you were right,
you almost caught Caleb. I'm gonna pull up the photo

(50:34):
of it. I figure I did a little photo finish.

Speaker 5 (50:38):
I thought you might have been, uh just just saying
things you you were not kidding.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
I'm gonna pull it up here real quick as well.
Do you have any I've asked people, look at that.
There's seventy seven right there.

Speaker 2 (50:49):
Look at that right I was kind of I didn't
have enough gas on the tank for the last about twenty.

Speaker 5 (50:56):
But hey, DoD, I mean what you you're five yards away,
you're first of the end zone.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
Besides him?

Speaker 2 (51:02):
What a mot be in there?

Speaker 1 (51:06):
Maybe it was that play. Are there any plays in
your career that you know, you're five ten years from now,
You've got a wife and kids, and like you're looking
at someone's like, hey, what do you remember about being
a hawkey? Like what's going to stick with you play
wise moment wise from from your playing days at Iowa.

Speaker 4 (51:23):
I think like the biggest thing would probably be, you know,
like if we ever gotten to like a run the
ball situation, we'd call like six counters.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
I know there was a stretch.

Speaker 4 (51:32):
I think my junior year against Michigan State ran like
six counters in a row. I think that's my favorite
part because I was pulling on all of them.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
And they're just telling you, like, hey, keep again again.

Speaker 4 (51:43):
I wasn't like that that whole game, Like I didn't play.
I didn't start that game because my back was locked
up and I had some stuff going on with stingers,
and then Nick hurt his elbow and then I just
came running it off the sideline and the six counters
in a row.

Speaker 1 (51:59):
Oh god, that's unbelievable. Did you ever in nineteen nineteen
it was when Stanley was the quarterback. We ran like
three or four QB sneaks in a row against USC.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
Yeah. I love QB snaks. That's fun.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
Yeah, that was like one of the all time like
fuck yous to the defense that we've ever done. It's
just like, stop it. We're gonna keep running it. Stop it.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
You just stopped it watching it.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
Yeah, it's the best. It's the like Iowa football. That's
we got Mark Ronowski now or maybe so I've heard
Soli's going off in spring ball two.

Speaker 3 (52:35):
Like we got to.

Speaker 1 (52:36):
Get back to that where we're just running four sneaks.
I know we had I know we had Lindy at
the time, which helped. It helps when you.

Speaker 4 (52:42):
Have somehow he'd always like end up on his speed though,
Like I didn't get that he'd somehow come out just running.

Speaker 1 (52:48):
It's because he's the most other than maybe Tristan, he's
like so domb athletic for how big he is. I
mean he is short for alignment wise, but like.

Speaker 4 (52:58):
He's running off, you know, ten yards down the field
still block people. I'm just laying at the bottom of
the pile.

Speaker 1 (53:03):
Is there anything that you take, like as a older
guy in the room when you got there, now a
guy that's in the league and succeeding at a exceptionally
high level, is there anything that like you take away
from him or like try to glean from his game
to make your own game better.

Speaker 4 (53:20):
I think it's just, you know, all the off the
field stuff more than anything, like you can get to
see how they operated. I know I did his freshman
or my freshman year when he was still there. Just
how serious he took stuff of the way he practiced
and all that. I think that's a big thing that's
helped me out along, you know, my plank career.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah. Can you talk about coach Bartnette.

Speaker 4 (53:39):
Yeah, he's a great guy. I mean I love him
as an offensive line coach. You know, he's he's always
there for you, no matter what.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
I feel like in this time period of you guys,
you know that we kind of broke down there as
you guys you're trying to fix bad habits and you
are having to do it while starting and it's you
and l's all you guys are throwing in the fire.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
Man.

Speaker 1 (54:02):
Barnett took a lot of heat. He took a lot
of heat from the outside like this guy can't develop
offensive linemen and come to find out, like maybe he
was given a situation that probably wasn't the best starting
point when he came in, and uh, I was unsure
from the outside because you know, we're not there. I
always like to give players and coaches the benefit of

(54:24):
doubt coming from that, you know, coming from the inside.
And I just like, I'm like, what I always come
back to is if coach Farns has this guy and
his staff like he knows what he's doing and it
turns out like it was everybody figuring stuff out. And
from what I've heard, like he's just an awesome.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
Dude, Like great coach, great guy.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
I think he's from the same coaching tree coach Farens
is kind of from. Yeah, so you know, there's nothing
better than an offensive line coach learning from Joe Moore.

Speaker 1 (54:53):
I mean, I feel like I feel like you're maybe
the way that you talk about in smile, just like
when you talk about just offensive line and playing football,
you might just be in that lineage.

Speaker 3 (55:04):
Someday you ever want to go into coaching.

Speaker 4 (55:06):
I mean, if the opportunity presents itself, you know. If not,
I'll just find something to do.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
I was gonna say, what was your major in college?
Was there something after football that Connor Colby wants to
do it?

Speaker 2 (55:17):
My major was sports rerec management. Okay, there you go. Football.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
That's a football coach. Didn't come here to play school man?

Speaker 2 (55:26):
Uh got bees? That was good enough?

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Absolutely? Oh dude, I'm you're talking my language. I absolutely
uh absolutely yes.

Speaker 3 (55:37):
Grant anything else for the man here? Uh no, not
a ton, I guess, uh should you?

Speaker 1 (55:42):
Are you excited to be a Denver Bronco coming up here?
So you're looking forward to that? I got some I'm
from Colorad. I could give you some recommendations where to live.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
Hey, that'd be perfect. You know if I end up there,
definitely hit you up everything. Place to eat?

Speaker 1 (55:54):
I know, I just I always want all of uh,
I mean, anyone who done the black and gold in college.

Speaker 5 (56:00):
I I roomer for you guys in college, but or
in the NFL, but especially you know, like I like Riley,
like you end up.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
A little bit more.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
It's time to come home, you know, with Connor home
to call out Connor would look good. And those orange
all unis grant, oh the throwbacks, well hey, and you'd
be coming at a good time where they're supposed to
be wearing them more this year they've been they've been
hearing the complaints that they don't wear them enough.

Speaker 2 (56:21):
So isn't there a way uniform like all white though.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
Yeah, we don't.

Speaker 3 (56:25):
We don't worry about those things.

Speaker 2 (56:26):
You don't worry about it's not my friend.

Speaker 1 (56:28):
Yeah. Hey, well the NFL, this is the spoiler, there's
gonna be a lot of white. You're probably gonna have
to wear white at some point.

Speaker 2 (56:35):
I remember where the white Eyowad jerseys is. Just seeing
you the next day on film, You're like, I need
to lose a couple of pounds is not flattering. Man.

Speaker 1 (56:43):
You get the home black like I'm looking slim, Yeah,
looking good?

Speaker 2 (56:47):
Even black black jersey black pants, you're like looking pretty
good those?

Speaker 1 (56:51):
Uh yeah, dude, all the all black, the all black alts,
You're like, let's wear more. The line is asking for those,
They're they're like, let's wear these all the time.

Speaker 5 (57:00):
So then is it like a sneaky then every alignments
like UK, So we got the Steelers, get the Ravens
all black, you know, like, uh, you look like a
dark uniform. Oh yeah, they got a dark one. You
don't want to be concerned about.

Speaker 1 (57:15):
Like, oh browns neon orange. I don't know that could
or neon brown, that could be tough, tough, go to
the go to the Dolphins and wear that teal.

Speaker 2 (57:23):
I like to feel like it'd still be better than white.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
It's probably everything's probably better than white.

Speaker 4 (57:28):
I mean I don't really care, you know, I know
I look like ship like that's fine, but like to
watch it on films.

Speaker 5 (57:35):
Look look better when you're when you're crushing someone though, yeah,
it looks better.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Then I have a question one more that I just remembered. Uh,
what is Max White like as a teammate.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
I mean he's a great teammate, you know, he's one
of the best ones.

Speaker 4 (57:47):
Obviously he's in the portal now he's get home somewhere,
but you know, I mean he was leading the speech,
just pretty game like when we're all on the field.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
It's just one of those guys, you know.

Speaker 3 (57:57):
Energy guy.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
Oh yeah, for sure love to hear it.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
Connor, thank you so much for giving us your time tonight. Man.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
Yeah, thanks for having us. We appreciate you. It is
a great time.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
Yeah, everybody, thank you for listening to Connor and our conversation.
Shout out to IWAG Council, Eagle Points Solar for doing
the thing. We'll be back again soon. Grant and I
are going to get Kevin to come to one of
these podcasts eventually, and we're gonna draft and Grant gave
me the uh, we're going to alter it a little bit.
We were gonna just draft our time period, but we're

(58:28):
gonna do I think what we do Grant is we
do the twenty tens. We draft the twenty tens, and
then we'll go back and we'll do the two thousands
as well. We could do a couple episodes out of that,
but that'll be coming up here shortly. Got a couple
more guests coming up, six hundred episode six hundred coming
up as well. We got to get you know, some
all time guy on here for that. But thank you
for tuning in. As always, we will see you next time.

(58:49):
Until then, peace, Hey, thanks for listening to the show.
If you want more. You can check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
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(59:11):
We'll see you next time. Hawks buy a million