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00:00Live from Radio Rose, Sports Grid's coverage of Super Bowl 59. Joe Lisi joined by former
00:07Penn State and NFL quarterback Sean Clifford. Sean, talk to me just about the atmosphere
00:12here in New Orleans and what it means in terms of the Super Bowl.
00:15Yeah, I think that it's electric, to say the least. I think, you know, obviously New Orleans
00:20being such a vibrant city in the first place, but now add the Super Bowl into the equation,
00:25I think it's been a lot of fun. I'm here with my fiancee this week, so staying all
00:30the way until Friday and taking in all the festivities, and obviously Radio Rose, a great
00:34time as well.
00:35When you look at the quarterback perspective, two great quarterbacks, we have Pat Mahomes
00:39looking for history right now, trying to win three straight Super Bowls. Just the best
00:44quarterback you can make the argument in terms of modern day, up with Tom Brady and then
00:48Jalen Hurts, right? One in Alabama, one in Oklahoma. Went toe-to-toe with Pat Mahomes
00:53a couple of years ago, lost that Super Bowl. From the quarterback perspective, how do you
00:58see this game playing out between Mahomes and Hurts?
01:01It's going to come down to who plays the better game. I mean, it really is as simple as that.
01:05I think that both teams have star-studded rosters. Everybody is loaded from the quarterback
01:11position all the way, O-line, wide receivers, defense. They have every piece, so I think
01:17it's really going to come down to just probably a last-second drive here, two-minute drive
01:21as it usually comes down to.
01:23Do you have a pick in the game? Are you liking Kansas City or Philadelphia?
01:26I got buddies on both teams, so I'm not necessarily rooting for one or the other. I'm more rooting
01:32for players, obviously Saquon, Jahan, Hunter Norzud, who is a roommate of mine, so a bunch
01:38of guys, yeah.
01:39Now, biggest thing that you had to learn moving on from college to the NFL as a quarterback,
01:44you were on Green Bay, right? Drafted by them, backed up, Jordan Love. Just talk to me about
01:48that experience moving from Happy Valley to Lambeau.
01:52Yeah, it was very exciting. Obviously, a dream come true for me to be going into year three
02:00with Green Bay now, and it's just a pinch-me moment, obviously. But I think there's no
02:04better place to be a quarterback. It truly is a great spot to land, especially your first
02:09spot because it really builds the foundation for everything else you want to do in the
02:13NFL. And Matt LaFleur does a really good job with coaching the quarterbacks and really
02:18just diving in.
02:19You had a great running back in terms of Aaron Jones, right? A couple of years ago, Jordan
02:23Love progressed, one of the hottest quarterbacks down the stretch. They beat Dallas in terms
02:27of the playoff game, went toe-to-toe with San Francisco, and then you get Josh Jacobs
02:32from Las Vegas. What has that meant to your offense? More balance, and Josh Jacobs is
02:37just a dominant runner.
02:39It allows us to spread the ball out, for sure. I think between our wideouts are across the
02:45board, just fantastic players, great hands, different at every level. You have a Christian
02:51Watson guy who can take the top off. You have Romeo Dobbs, who's a possession guy who's
02:55going to catch everything. Dontayvion Wicks, Jaden Reed, the list kind of goes on and on.
02:58Then when you add in a factor like Josh, who can do everything, he's got the speed, he's
03:03got the power, he can run in between the tackles, and then he can also break one. It definitely
03:07allows us to do more, and it allows Jordan to really play loose.
03:12I feel like Matt LaFleur is not given enough credit. Dealing with Aaron Rodgers and now
03:18seeing what he's done with Jordan Love and the younger guys, just that offense has evolved.
03:22What are your feelings about Matt LaFleur as a head coach? I think he's very underrated.
03:28I think that Matt's done a really, really good job being able to take the practice field
03:33to the game. It's one thing for the guys to do that, but it's another thing for Matt to
03:39do that. I think that the way he calls the game, the flow of the game, it's really like
03:45an orchestra. It's really impressive. I'm proud to be a player underneath.
03:50I have to ask you about college. Your former alma mater, Penn State, was right there knocking
03:56on the door. They knock off Boise State and SMU in regards to the college football playoff.
04:01They go toe-to-toe with Notre Dame. They were right there. What are your thoughts about
04:06James Franklin and the program moving forward, and more importantly, Drew Eller coming back
04:10to college? My brother, Liam, is still playing. He's going
04:15into his third year starting here. I'm super proud of him and the whole team. A lot of
04:19those guys, obviously, were my young guys. Now watching them progress and really have
04:25a lot of success has been fantastic. I think when it comes to James, he's done a great
04:29job with the program. I don't think at this point, especially going to the semifinal,
04:34now he's been to the playoffs, won games in the playoffs, and it's proven that Penn
04:38State is one of the best programs in the country. I'm really proud of what Franklin has done
04:44there. On top of that, I think Drew is primed and
04:47ready for a great season. I can't wait to see what this year specifically leads to.
04:54I know, at least for me, going into the last year is always the most confident, the best
05:00feeling you're going to have. I think Drew's got a real shot here.
05:04Best moment in Penn State for you? The White Outs, for sure, but I'd have to
05:09go for the best moment is the Rose Bowl. Winning the Rose Bowl was something that will always
05:14resonate with me. It was special to me and my family. Nothing really beats the granddaddy
05:20of them all. Absolutely. Great insight from Shawn Clifford.