You have to get in, you have to do the work, you have to learn it, and you have to master it. Because that's what it's about. It's not just about knowing it's about being able to go out there. And it's 80,000 people yelling, and you've got to be able to recall it and spit it out and make sure everybody know what they're doing. What is up, Dolf fans? And welcome to the D draft time podcast on today's show. We're starting

the podcast with my chat with new Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis, plus a Greg Dolsitch

breakdown. We'll talk some Willie Gay, internal re-signings, some outside free agent acquisitions

and what it all means and where things kind of stand a week into this. And I had a little bit of fun

with an all-defensive and all-offensive draft and what those could look like. All of this on this edition of the Draft Time podcast, let's go. Welcome into the Draft Time podcast alongside me as new Dolphins quarterback, Malik Willis. Malik, welcome in, man. I appreciate you for having me. We're very excited to have you in here.

And just so far, I mean, this is the first time since high school you've had a chance to choose your next venture in football, right? What's the process been like for you and free agency? It's a little bit like recruiting, but also you kind of have an idea of what you're getting, not like high school. high school you you don't know what you're getting in college, but free agency, you know what happens in the league and what people expect of you, what your job will be. And it's just figuring out a role in a place that you think will fit. And I think this has been the place for me. Yeah, we love to hear that. And I love seeing the Pat McAfee interview when you're on the field working out before you, you know, you announced that you're coming to the Miami Dolphins. How has the office been going for you so far? Working pretty hard, it looks like.

Oh yeah, it's been awesome. That's how you keep away from all the media and all the thought processes on what you're going to do.

You know, so you just try to stay focusing in the grind and do what you can and prepare yourself for the next opportunity. So you arrive here, had a chance to meet the folks so far and doing all your media stuff and getting out of the way. But what does it mean to you to come here and have a chance to prove that you're the guy for the Miami Dolphins? I think it's awesome. I think it's a blessing and it's just a part of the journey and the story that's been written for me. And I'm more than grateful that they even give me the opportunity to prove something like that. And I'll do my best to, you know, make them right. Yeah, those guys are talking about, of course, Jeff Halfley and John Eric Sullivan. And Jeff Halfley told some great stories so far. His various media spots that he's done since he got hired here talking about you a little bit. And he talked about going up against you in practice on the scout team, right? Just first, though, real quick, what can you tell us about your relationship with both Coach Halfley and John Eric Sullivan? I mean, both great dudes. And they know how to win. They know what it takes to win. and I have great faith that they'll do everything they can to put us in position to be successful. Going against Ali, I mean, going against

half every day, it was awesome because he gets very energetic. He's going to let you know when he

feels like the defense is doing great. So you should see having the coaches battle against each other.

It used to be really awesome. The smile on your face says it all, man. You're fired up to work with him, right? Yeah, you love that type of energy. You love when people care about what they do. And it's not just, you know, a business relationship. He has a personal relationship with all the guys, and I respect that more than anything. He's touched on that quite a bit in those various media spots I talked about and you've had a chance to watch him, you know, do his thing.

As far as what the Dolphins are getting in terms of a leader from Coach Halfley, what are we getting with Jeff Halfley in terms of commanding a room and being the leader of this football team? I mean, he's a guy you can get behind when he speaks. He's definitely adamant and what he wants to talk about and he'll make it so he can communicate with each and every person, no matter how different they may need it to understand. And I think he does a good job with, you know, delegating and making sure that we're all, you know, leading each other at the same time. Another one of those talking points we've heard about is just the culture of toughness and hard work and they're going to they're going to grind their way through this this thing for the results in the end how do you contribute

to that culture of toughness mentality and hard work i'm just doing everything that i can to the right thing

each and every day i feel like that's where it starts it starts with you know putting the work in

and you know you can't control all the other stuff but toughness is is a mindset. It's not more than anything than that. It's if you're out trying to get back, if you're, you know, banged up, still fighting through it and doing what you can because we're all going to be tired. We're all going to be hurting. We're all going to, you know, that's the name of the game. But it's fighting through and persevering. That's a huge part of this league, right? The physical traits are great, but you have to be wired a certain way to excel in this league.

Has that kind

been your experience four years in? A thousand percent, because there's just so many ups and downs and

so many things that are uncontrollable. And you can't be easily swayed. I want to say that. You

got to have your mind fixed in a certain way, and you have to be willing to handle the good with the bad. So I want to dig into this a little bit further here. And this is a long question, so I apologize. I'm going to go through it here. I did some background on just kind of getting to know you a little bit and going back to the famous scouting combine video when you're giving away your clothes, right, before the workouts there. I read some quotes when you had to start against the Titans your former team back in 24 and the

questions that the reporters were asking were like are you excited to get revenge and you didn't take that

that path you talked about being thankful for the opportunity to get your start in the league with those

guys and then going back to college you know the patience to wait for your opportunity, going to Liberty and eventually, you know, excelling there. And it just kind of seems like nothing really bothers you. Like nothing really gets to you. And again, that jives with what we've heard from both half and solely. So the question, after all that is, how did you develop that mindset? Where does that come from where it's instilled to you just roll roll the punches and can control what you can control? I mean, gratefulness and just understanding who my God is.

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