3x Super Bowl champion Joe Gibbs joins G&D to discuss when he knew this team was special, and also thinks this team has what it takes to go to the Super Bowl.
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00:00And he did that with Rivera.
00:01He's always been very helpful and gracious in that way.
00:04But let's go right now to the Rood guest hotline
00:07and welcome on to the show,
00:09a DC sports legend and a dignitary
00:12and the man that brought this organization
00:14three Lombardi trophies.
00:16The great Joe Gibbs is with us on Grant and Danny.
00:18Mr. Gibbs, welcome back to the show.
00:20How are you?
00:22Hey, thanks Grant, Danny.
00:24Thank you all for having me on.
00:26I love every time I get a chance to speak there
00:30to the, I think the greatest fan base in all the sports.
00:34I love the fans and all my memories there.
00:37Appreciate you guys having me on.
00:39Hey, and we're all excited, man.
00:41I gotta tell you,
00:43Washington in the championship game this week
00:47is gonna be awesome.
00:48Can you believe this?
00:48It's pretty great, coach.
00:49Can you believe this is happening?
00:51I can't, let me say this.
00:53I told Josh, I was on the sidelines there in Detroit
00:57and I just told him before the game,
01:00I saw him and David there,
01:01just really thank a lot of both of them.
01:03And I said, I just wanna tell you what you guys have done.
01:06This is really special.
01:10And we all know that are in football or follow it,
01:13how hard this is.
01:15And what they've actually done in a little over a year
01:18is put together a team
01:21and that winds up being in the championship game.
01:24And so all of us really respect it.
01:27I think it's great and fantastic for all the fans there.
01:32It's great for us to all be a part of it.
01:35And I just think it's a special time.
01:39Coach, do you see parallels with this group,
01:42maybe playing together,
01:43the sum of their parts may be better than the individuals
01:46and some of the teams that you put together
01:48that went on such magical runs as well?
01:51Well, it's kind of amazing
01:54that in one of the things about football
01:57and you got a team,
01:59sometimes a team just gets a real feeling
02:03and they care about each other and everything.
02:05And it doesn't carry over from year to year.
02:07For instance, 87, when we won the Super Bowl in San Diego,
02:14we came back the next year and had our toughest year.
02:17It doesn't carry over sometimes.
02:20But when certain teams get a certain feeling,
02:23as a coach, I know I could feel it.
02:26And you just have a confidence about the team.
02:29And I think this team has done that.
02:32And when you think about it,
02:34the fact that Dan Quinn came in there,
02:38I think everybody likes him.
02:40The players like him, they respect him.
02:43You got a GM, Adam, when he jumps in there
02:48and makes the selections he did.
02:50And you got ownership with Josh and David,
02:54Josh doing all the things that he's done.
02:57It's just really, that is so hard to do and they've done it.
03:02And so they deserve the credit, man.
03:03I gotta tell you, you gotta give it to them.
03:06And who knows?
03:07I think when you get to the championship game,
03:10you can make a case for all four of these teams.
03:14So it could happen.
03:15Each one of these teams is gonna have a chance.
03:18A turnover at the right time,
03:21a great play at the right time.
03:23That's what it takes.
03:25That's why we all love it as fans.
03:27I know I'm gonna be fixed on everything
03:29that's taking place in these two games,
03:32because you know what's gonna happen.
03:36Two of these teams are gonna get to be a part
03:38of the greatest, one of the greatest spectacles
03:42that man can do, the Super Bowl.
03:45The best.
03:45You don't need me to tell you,
03:46because you know the voice.
03:48That's Joe Gibbs on Grant and Danny.
03:50Dan Quinn calls it his brotherhood.
03:51This is a brotherhood is the word that he uses.
03:55But I said this yesterday on the show.
03:57I did experience this most recently,
03:59once before around your teams in 05 and 07.
04:03I'm a younger guy,
04:04so I wasn't around for the Super Bowl years,
04:06especially after Sean's tragic passing in 07.
04:09And then in 05, when you guys won five in a row,
04:12in that locker room, there was, I call it like a chemistry
04:14or just a love between teammates.
04:17But that's been your whole life.
04:18You do it now in NASCAR with Gibbs Racing.
04:20You did it in multiple iterations here.
04:23How do you build that chemistry
04:25and that brotherhood in the locker room?
04:27And how do you know when you've done it?
04:29And how do you feel it?
04:31Yeah, it's kind of special.
04:35And I think certain parts of it,
04:37you're not sure how it did happen.
04:39But it's got a lot to do with the people you select
04:42and the people on the team and the character that they have.
04:46Yeah, I said early on for me, I was not a good athlete.
04:50The only award I ever got in sports was Most Improved.
04:54So I said, I better get in team sports.
04:56And so I love football because it's team
05:01and it's putting a team together.
05:03And when I was the athlete, I said,
05:06I better be in team sports where other great athletes
05:09can make the plays and I can get some credit for it.
05:13But I love teamwork.
05:14I think that's what it is in football.
05:16That's what it is here at NASCAR.
05:19It's getting the right people together.
05:21And then, I can tell you definitely in football,
05:26at certain times, in certain years, at certain times,
05:29the team kind of gets that feeling.
05:32And they have a confidence
05:34and they make the plays at the right time.
05:36And it's just a feeling it's like,
05:38and I think that's the reason why we love it.
05:40And I love that part of coaching, when you get that.
05:45I had a group of players that first go around
05:49and the second go around where we had a group
05:53of about eight to 10 players that I leaned on.
05:56And when I had a problem with the team,
05:58I used to tell them, this is your team, fix it.
06:02And honestly, they would fix it.
06:04I mean, that's what great teamwork.
06:08It's not all the coaches directing things.
06:11And I'm sure that that's the first thing
06:13that Coach Quinn would tell you.
06:16Certainly, it's what I felt.
06:19Coach, watching this team from afar
06:20and then getting to be there with them this past weekend,
06:23when did you know that this group was special and different?
06:28Well, you kind of see it in times
06:31where they won some of those close games.
06:35I think everybody was focused too,
06:38because we know how important the quarterback position is.
06:41And with Jaden, honestly, he is,
06:44have you seen him with any emotion yet?
06:47This man is cool as a cucumber.
06:50I mean, nothing shakes him up.
06:52And when you look at the pictures of him
06:54on the sideline and everything,
06:56he's just ready for the next play.
06:58I think he made the statement, I'm prepared,
07:00so I don't have to worry about getting upset.
07:02But that has been, obviously, a big part of it.
07:07But also, it's all the other team guys.
07:11And you know, on any team,
07:13when you put something together
07:14in this short period of time,
07:18they find a way to actually play even better
07:23than what you would think that the skill of the team is.
07:28And I think they've done that.
07:29They play together great.
07:30They got a great team feeling for each other.
07:32They do have playmakers, for sure.
07:34That showed up in Detroit.
07:37And so, they've got what it takes.
07:40And like I said, what's exciting for all of us,
07:44the Redskins fans, I have a tendency to say that,
07:47instead of the Washington and Commander fans.
07:49But all of us, we're excited because it can happen.
07:54And so, that's what's exciting
07:55when you get to the championship game.
07:58Speaking of that championship game, Coach,
08:00I mean, what advice would you have
08:02about trying to normalize that game as best as possible
08:06so that they can make sure
08:07it's not the last one they play this season?
08:10Yeah, I got nothing to coach them up on.
08:12They are way beyond me.
08:15They're doing a fantastic job.
08:17So, they don't need me to tell them anything.
08:19These guys are on it.
08:21You know, the entire organization there
08:24is just absolutely doing great.
08:26I think we all, what we'll be pulling for,
08:29for them to seize the moment.
08:32And it's, you know, when you get to this point,
08:35it's like I said, a turnover here, a big play there.
08:39You know, all it takes is one play sometimes
08:42to turn a game around.
08:43And that's why we love football.
08:45It is physical.
08:48So, we love the idea of seeing the physical part of it.
08:52But it is also mental.
08:54You gotta be smart, okay?
08:57You wanna protect the football.
08:58You don't wanna be hitting people on the sidelines.
09:01You don't wanna hit the quarterback low or high.
09:03It is, you've gotta play the game smart.
09:07And I think that's what this team is doing.
09:10Joe Gibbs giving us a couple of minutes
09:12out of his busy schedule.
09:13You're under a month away from your own Super Bowl
09:16and in NASCAR again, the Daytona 500.
09:19And yet again, you guys are having to replace
09:21a points champion, I think Chase Briscoe
09:23coming in to take over for Martin Truex.
09:25So, we're T minus under a month, coach.
09:27You're busy from all angles here.
09:30Yeah, we are.
09:31We got a lot going on.
09:34And for sure, I think we get excited about our,
09:37we have an unusual thing.
09:39We have our Super Bowl as the first game of the year,
09:43which is the Daytona 500.
09:46Yeah, we added Chase to our group.
09:48I think we got four cars that can win, that's for sure.
09:52And then we're kinda working extremely hard right now
09:55because in this sport, what's different
09:58from football, basketball, and baseball,
10:01you gotta have great partners and their sponsors
10:04is what we call them.
10:04But they're really more than that.
10:05They're really partners.
10:08And we just had, we celebrated Kings Hawaiian
10:13coming on board for us.
10:15A great family organization.
10:18We're a family organization.
10:19We really fit.
10:20I'm going to California tomorrow to be able to see them.
10:23It's fantastic.
10:24We got them on board with all their great products.
10:28And then we have SIA, which is a trucking firm,
10:33a huge trucking firm that we just signed.
10:35So we're in the middle of that,
10:37getting everything dialed in for the Daytona 500,
10:42going there for a huge week of racing.
10:46And I love it because it's a sellout.
10:50Everybody's there.
10:51And it's a great forum to have a great weekend.
10:54And NASCAR, I love it because it's aggressive.
10:58It's the best race teams in the world racing in NASCAR.
11:02Coach, good luck to you.
11:03This is always a treat to catch up with you
11:05and enjoy Washington's game this weekend.
11:07Like the rest of us.
11:08Will you be at the game or are you going to be on the couch?
11:09How are you going to watch it?
11:10I'm going to go to the game.
11:12Oh, let's go.
11:13That's my plan.
11:16Let's go.
11:17Let's go.
11:17Here we go.
11:18Coach, we appreciate you.
11:21Thank y'all for having me on.
11:23You got it.
11:24Joe Gibbs will be in the house in Philly
11:27for the Commanders and the Eagles and the NFC championship.
11:29Walk down that sideline, tap on someone's ears.
11:31Hey, you know what?
11:32Play would be good.
11:33Yeah, you can go help him out.
11:35So you didn't want to help him out?
11:36We'll take all the help from Joe Gibbs.
11:37We can get it.
11:38Right at that guy.
11:39Run a little countertry over there.
11:40God, I love it.
11:41I'm 10 years old every time I hear his voice.
11:43Every time, man.
11:44It's the best.