Yo, yo, yo, what's up? It's Chris Sims, Chris Sims Unbutton. It's Super Bowl week, baby. That's right. Super Bowl 56. You might be able to hear the noise around me right now.

I am in the NFL experience. I got the Super Bowl trophy right behind me. I got crazy raiders fans walking by. I got it all going on. I'm glad to be here. You should check out first off. I'm on the set of pro football talk. Florio and I will be doing our show live 5 5 p.m. Eastern time all throughout the week. Okay. That's how we're going to film us. So please check that out. But for my podcast, they're a little different this week. Interviews going to be happening throughout

the week. NBC hosting the Super Bowl. I got the opportunity last week to go hang out with the Rams for a day and be around a lot of their players. Be around their facility. And I got a chance to interview Sean McVeigh. McVeigh, an awesome guy. A guy that I've had a relationship with for a long, long time. And this will be a part of the NBC pregame in our five hour show leading up to Super Bowl 56. And I had a sit down interview with McVeigh, which was

going to be on bailing there. But first it will be unveiled here on Chris Sims on buttoned. We talked for a long time. We hit all subjects. I hope everybody enjoys this. Here again, once again, Super Bowl 56 head coach Sean McVeigh sitting down with me. Yes, just Chris Sims. That's all I am. He's Sean McVeigh. All right. They're Super Bowl bound Sean McVeigh. Man, I mean, we got a little history first off back in the day. This guy used to sit at the lunch table with me. A training table.

I'll never forget how good you were to me. I had just finished up playing ball. I come in there. I don't know anybody at the beginning of training camp. And you were great to me, man. But those are the things you always remember, you know, the way that people treat you and the way you treated me. That always stuck with me. And that's why we're friends to this day. Thanks, man. Thanks a lot. All right. So I want to get into some things here. You know, of course, like really want to start from basically a year ago. Yeah. Here we are, you know, a week before the Super Bowl. But a year ago, this time was one of the big, you know, changing moments.

That's a football team. Matt Stafford. All right. And that's where I just want to go. Like, what was the first off for you, the light ball moment to know that, okay, I might need a little bit of a change at that position. Are we going to do something else at the quarterback position? Really Chris, what ended up happening was you see that, you know, he had gone and talked to ownership and they gave him permission to seek a trade. You know, so the wheel you're saying, all right, what does a guy like this really become available? You don't know exactly what the parameters are going to be. But then, you know, Brad Holmes going there as the GM. There was some immediate connection.

You know, we're in Cabo. I'm out there with, you know, my fiance and Whitworth and his family. We're literally watching the NFC championship games. You know, we're kind of out by the pool and join that. And Stafford had been texting with Clint Bowling, who was a former teammate of Whitworths. He said, oddly enough, Stafford is actually coming out to the same exact resort we were staying at. And you're like, you know, everybody thinks it's all fixed and stuff like that. But it organically occurred. He ends up coming in with his wife and some friends, you know, that day. And, you know, we started.

We were hitting it off and, you know, just talking ball hanging out. It was the best organic free agent visit you could ever really have. And then you start saying, okay, is this a realistic possibility? Yeah. I think things accelerated faster than anybody thought. But I mean, that was really the start of it. And just getting to know him and the way he's wired and why his teammates have always loved them coaches. And then you start studying the film. I always appreciated him from afar. You know, when you cross over, but when you're really watching him like, okay, let's really watch the intricacies of the game. The way he sees it.

He's able to move and manipulate the pocket and coverage contours, all the throws he can make. I mean, the guy special, he really is. I mean, we've talked about this. Yeah, no, I mean, I know it is. So that's where I'm shocked. First off, I, you know, it seemed like the fix was in with Brad Holmes going there. But this was already kind of on the radar from his standpoint a little bit. And then it kind of just grew from there when Brad Holmes went there became more of a real possibility. He really was. You know, I think he had had that conversation, you know, with Mrs. Ford beforehand. And, you know, when Brad got there, they knew that was, okay, probably

when he and Dan Campbell got there, I think that was something that they knew. All right, we had kind of, you know, given him the thumbs up that he could seek a trade. And so that dialogue started. I don't think the timeline that it actually occurred was was what anybody anticipated. But it gets out, you know, somebody ends up reporting that a the Rams are interested in that accelerated the talks, you know, much faster than anybody anticipated. A lot of other teams kind of tried to get involved. And, you know, fortunately for us, you know, the, the Lions had real interest in and acquiring Jared because of the security.

He said that he had had. And then it was figuring out the parameters, you know, to have an owner like Mr. Cronkey that was so willing to, you know, say, we felt like this was a chance to upgrade our team and wanted to be able to do that, you know, not minimizing all the good things that Jared had done. But felt like it was a rare opportunity. And it came together a lot faster than anybody said, you know, could have ever met. It's a man. Nothing comes together that fast in the NFL. It really does it. I want to get it just a little bit like you studying him because the perception is Matt Stafford. It's all

stats. He can't win a big game. He turns the ball over in big moments. I know I've been a defender of them, you know, but when you turn the film on, you know, just give me some of those first few thoughts. When you went, oh my gosh, I'm looking a little deeper into this guy. Yeah, I think the thing that really stood out to me is the most difficult time. The play quarterback are in those known passing situations. You know, whether you're two minute and a half end of the game. You're coming from behind the third downs. And that to me is when he shined his brightest. You know, I thought in the red area as well, the tight window throws. But you know,

you just watch, I mean, just the feel for the position. And I think when you have to play the quarterback position in those known passing situations, that's the most difficult. And defense is in an advantage. They're able to tee off. They can, you know, provide a bunch of different looks. And I thought he really shined whether it was man coverage, whether it was zone coverage, understanding how to move and manipulate people and just playing the position at an elite level in those most difficult spots is really what resonated and what I thought shined through when you start watching the film. And, you know, he elevates

people around him. You know, the other thing that I love is just watch the way his lineman respond when he makes a player. They're going to help him up. No doubt, you know, he's just got. I'll tell you what, he's got a lot more shit in his neck than I think a lot of people really. He's a great competitor. I mean, I think we've seen that throughout the playoffs. You know, you look at how excited he got in Tampa and talking about stealing people's souls. And, you know, I think, you know, he's got such a great even killed demeanor when he's talking to the media. But as a competitor, you know, and I love the fact that he and I are close enough to go back and forth at one another.

He's a healthy banter. And so, you know, that's what you want. You know, we're close enough to be real with one another. And then we move on. And he's, you know, he's a very strong-minded guy. He's got a great way about himself. He's one of the most emotionally intelligent players I've ever been around. Wow. So authentically connect with his teammates. And he knows how to do it in a way that brings people together. He's he's special. There's no chance we'd be in this position without him. Yeah. All right. So like, well, you know, first off, the banter. He got me there. So he's yelled at you a few times.

Yeah. Little Rich Ganon, John Groot, and that's kind of thing. I don't know about all that. But, you know, it's healthy because we care about each other so much. And I think there's something to be said for being comfortable to disagree with one another. Right. And come to a solution. And he's the one out there. And he's got such a great feel. Like what I love as much as anything about him is how quickly he's able to correct himself. He recognizes the information that he gives you coming off. You know, he doesn't need to wait to look at the pictures to confirm what's going on. Yeah.

He's got such great capacity. He uses all the inventory that he gathers, whether it's, you know, previously from his experience that he's gathered from Detroit or even this year, or just in the moment. And it's been it's been invaluable to me to be able to get to certain things. And, you know, his feedback. I mean, he truly is an extension of the coaching staff on the grass. Yeah. So you guys push each other. Yeah, you definitely have an open dialogue and you you have enough confidence in his knowledge that you sit back and think about the things he says to you and really take it to heart.

It's impressive. Chris, you know, I mean, the, you know, the thing that you appreciate so much about a coach is when you're around players that push you to get better, because you want to have answers, or they see things, or they point out things that maybe you would miss otherwise. And I'm a better coach for Evan worked with this guy, you know, the way he sees it, the way he goes about his preparation, how consistent he is. And I think it's so valuable to be able to have somebody that won't just agree with you all the time. But, you know, they'll challenge you or, hey, I might see it through a little bit different lens. And it truly is a collaboration that we have, you know, and Kevin, okay.

It's one of the great things you've experienced so, you know, I mean, it's been just a little bit different than other players, but you know, that's really a great thing to have.

So I think it's because Kevin is a former coach and just feels, hey, it's great to be able to have people, they're really good.

Adam, I do think you'll qualify for your sport, and I think it's really a great thing to be able to have people like him and his friends and sound like, you know, listen up, I literally want our coach to have the passion to look at.

I mean, what did it feel like as the play designer

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