Randy Cross FULL
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00:00All right, all guests on 95.7 The Game appear on the River Islands guest line.
00:04It's time for you to discover the islands, River Islands in Lathrop.
00:08Joining us right now, three-time Super Bowl champ Randy Cross.
00:10Hey, Randy, I want to let you in on the conversation we're having today.
00:16I was just thinking, you know, the San Francisco 49ers, they're 3-3, and the Dallas Cowboys
00:21are 3-3, and Jerry Jones is on Texas radio being very contentious and actually threatening
00:28to fire a couple guys who do his talk show because he didn't like the questions.
00:32We got Nick Sirianni in Philadelphia getting into it with the fans in Philadelphia, then
00:37knowing he was going to get asked about it, he brings his kids up to the podium, and now
00:41that's all they're talking about in Philadelphia.
00:44When you played 13 years for the San Francisco 49ers, how would you describe the Bay Area
00:51media when you played?
00:54Fair?
00:55Soft?
00:56Difficult?
00:57Um, a tad bit contentious, but, you know, it kind of is what it is when it comes to
01:07the media.
01:08I mean, they're not there to make friends or cover you in a way that you may think is
01:14fair.
01:15Jerry Jones, he needs to go out, go to Home Depot, send somebody at the Cowboy facility,
01:25and get about 200 mirrors because if they want to know what the problem is, it's not
01:31too far away from what they look in the mirror and see.
01:34Wow.
01:35Yeah, I mean, the Bay Area media was just fine.
01:38There was always, you know, two or three idiots, and right now, if you look at everybody
01:46that works at the Niners, on the Niners, media-wise, there are two or three idiots, probably, in
01:53that group that go out of their way to try to be a jerk once in a while, but that's human
01:59nature more than anything else.
02:01Right.
02:02And you also were a member of the media after your career was over.
02:06What was your philosophy, if you will?
02:10What did you try to bring in that position?
02:13Well, I was never under the delusion that I was really a part of the, you know, a journalist.
02:25You know, I was a former player who was hired to talk about the game the way I saw it.
02:32I did occasionally have an opportunity to do some stuff that qualifies.
02:36I used to have all the respect in the world for journalism in general.
02:40I thought they were amazing with their, you know, probes and things they could do, but
02:46that's kind of fallen by the wayside over the last decade or so, but I never really
02:51considered myself, to be honest with you, a journalist.
02:55I was a member of the media, but I was pretty far from being a journalist in that I was
03:01not impartial about the game.
03:03I love the game, you know, with everything I have and I wasn't going to do anything to,
03:10you know, endanger it.
03:12And that's not something you can usually say about people that cover something.
03:15Wow.
03:16Good stuff, Randy.
03:17You know, me and my partner are blessed.
03:19We get to share our opinion, didn't play the game like yourself, a three-time champ.
03:24Kansas City's coming to town.
03:26The Niners have lost two Super Bowls to them, Randy.
03:29And I couldn't wait to ask you this question.
03:32Trent Williams said, you know what?
03:34This is just another game.
03:35And a guy like me fell out of my chair because I'm thinking to myself, Randy, is that leadership
03:41to the young guys?
03:42But damn it, I'm not Randy Cross, but I'm damn sure going to ask him because, man, yeah,
03:49you need this game.
03:50But Randy, you want to extract revenge and send a message, am I wrong?
03:55Yeah.
03:56Yeah, I mean, but you're not going to say that, you know, Monday or Tuesday of the week
04:01of the game.
04:04You might say that behind closed doors.
04:06You might, you might say that in a locker room to your guys, but you're not going to
04:10go out of your way to say that in the media.
04:15I mean, before the game, when they have shots of Trent coming out of the tunnel and about
04:23to take the field and you get a chance to see the look in his face.
04:28No big deal.
04:29Ain't the first thing that's going to come to mind.
04:32Wow.
04:33I got to.
04:35Randy Cross joining us on 95.7, the game three time Super Bowl champion for the San Francisco
04:4149ers.
04:42You know, Randy, you've watched this team the last four or five years.
04:44They've had a ton of success.
04:46Do they look like the same team through six games that we're used to seeing?
04:53No, no, they don't.
04:56But you know, it's they had something last year that that we talked about all the time
05:01when I have these conversations with you.
05:03It's everything a team does in the NFL is pretty much it's predicated on two things.
05:10The weather, which you can't control and injuries, which you can't control.
05:15Last year, the Niners got really lucky with injuries in that they didn't have that many.
05:21This year, you can't say that, but they still found a way to be pretty solid.
05:26Like you said, I mean, they're three and three.
05:30And Dallas right now would trade in a second.
05:35Personnel wise and condition wise and, you know, feel team wise, you know, to be that
05:42kind of three and three.
05:44They're getting healthier.
05:46They're looking at a game this week where, you know, going up, there's you got to win
05:51all four ways, offense, defense, special teams, and you got to beat the guys in those striped
05:57shirts.
05:58Wow.
05:59Well, I love that.
06:00Hey, Randy, let me ask you this, because you you played with the many defensive Hall of
06:05Famers.
06:06And right now I was telling my partner and the fans, I don't recognize his defense and
06:09they got some injuries.
06:11No green law.
06:12New coordinator, first year defensive coordinator and Sorenson.
06:16But I called out both.
06:17I just wanted to see more.
06:19And Thursday night he delivered.
06:20He had 14 pressure pressures.
06:22But can you share with us what you're seeing from this defense?
06:26And can it take it up a notch or two to be considered a championship defense?
06:30Yeah, I believe it can.
06:33I mean, there's a few things defensively.
06:36You need excellent work at corner.
06:39You need heat as far as pass rush goes, and that's something they got.
06:43They've got the work at the corners.
06:46They've got one of the most amazing defensive players in the league and Warner.
06:51What they also need is a presence in the middle on the back end.
06:57And hopefully that's something the next, you know, next little bit that can start coming
07:01through for that defense, because that's whether it's intimidating, a crossing pattern, whether
07:06that support coming from the inside, once that outside guy sets the edge, you need
07:13that bad, especially nowadays, because that can not only mitigate, you know, a tight end
07:18or whatnot when it comes to a guy, you know, like Kelsey, it'll also go a long way towards
07:24some of those running backs that come smoking through there and think they can run with
07:27impunity.
07:28Randy Cross joining us on 95.7, the game three times Super Bowl champion.
07:33Randy, as an offensive lineman, the 49ers are without McCaffrey and Jordan Mason has
07:39been the running back, pretty much the primary running back.
07:44As an offensive lineman, does the job change depending on the running back or do the assignments
07:51stay the same regardless of the running back?
07:53Yeah, they stay the same.
07:55I mean, for something like the offensive line, which is going to be hard to judge because
07:59not that many people know what they're looking at, but when you create holes the way they
08:04have at times, it makes it a lot easier to look at and evaluate.
08:10But no, you can't suddenly, what, you know, you were going 90%, now you got to go 100?
08:16No, they've been playing really well and really hard.
08:19I just think it makes a difference.
08:22You know, Mason's playing great.
08:24I mean, they actually are getting some contributions from guys they were hoping they wouldn't have
08:29to know about, but now they know about them.
08:31But not having McCaffrey makes a huge difference from the run and pass and the big play standpoint.
08:39And that just means the drive's maybe two or three plays longer.
08:42I think that's probably the only difference.
08:44Randy, you got me kind of thinking, man.
08:46I was telling my partner yesterday, you know, a rivalry doesn't start until the other team
08:50wins and right now Kyle hasn't beat Andy Reid.
08:54So when the dust does settle Sunday at 4.30, 5 o'clock Pacific Standard Time, win or loss,
09:00Randy, is this just 1-17 or is there something that Kyle needs to do to show he can beat
09:06Andy Reid and vice versa with the Niners, you know, getting the chief monkey off their
09:11back?
09:12Well, I think the Niner fans would appreciate it if it would happen.
09:16But let's be realistic.
09:17There's only one game they have to win and that's the next time they play.
09:23Yeah.
09:24Yeah.
09:25Randy Cross joining us on 95.7 The Game, three-time Super Bowl champion with the San
09:30Francisco 49ers.
09:33Do you notice that the 49ers are trying to throw it downfield a little bit more?
09:37And if you do, how much of that is maybe Kyle's trust in Brock Purdy or maybe that's the way
09:45they're going about it without McCaffrey?
09:48Well, you know, from my perspective, I thought they've always kind of been a chunk team,
09:55whether it was with Deebo or Ayuk.
09:58Jennings is now that kind of a guy.
10:01Kibble's always been that kind of a guy in the middle.
10:05That's just something I don't think you can get around it.
10:09You know, that's been an offense and probably an organization that for hell, going back
10:14to when I was playing, you know, people that don't understand that style of offense, they
10:19always think of it as kind of a dink and dunk, you know, underneath passing kind of a team.
10:26They don't mind throwing it and they got a quarterback that can throw it.
10:29And when he's really dangerous is when he's out of the pocket throwing the ball down the
10:32field.
10:33So I think Ayuk's just hitting his stride.
10:36I think Deebo's always a deep threat and I think that's an integral part of what they
10:42do and they're going to have to make it work.
10:44I was just about to ask you about Ayuk, you know, that whole contract situation played
10:48out publicly and, you know, he's gotten off to a slow start.
10:52So when I say Ayuk, you say what?
10:54I think you just answered basically saying he's starting to hit his stride, but if Niner
10:58fans were disappointed, Randy, would that be valid of what they've seen thus far or
11:02haven't seen?
11:03If they've been disappointed, look on the bright side.
11:07You don't have to sign those checks.
11:11I'd also look at it from an objective standpoint in that, you know, Trent Williams was in the
11:17same boat and, you know, I think he plays the position that's a little harder to evaluate
11:26than Ayuk where you could look up.
11:28Ayuk can be open on any single play and I think he's just really hitting things back
11:34and he's back at it because I don't care, even if you're in the building, if you're
11:38not out there practicing, your timing's not there with the quarterback, it takes a while
11:42to get there.
11:43But I got it just from watching the last game or so, I think they're there.
11:47Randy, I'm always kind of curious because when the San Francisco 49ers lost in the NFC
11:54Championship game to the Rams, they had beaten them I think eight straight times in the regular
11:58season and then in the big one, the Rams won the game.
12:03With that in mind, does Sunday's game have anything to do with what may happen if these
12:11teams meet in the Super Bowl?
12:15Not really.
12:16You know, it'll be at a neutral site.
12:20If they meet in the Super Bowl, it's going to be at a pretty nice little place and for
12:24all the marbles in the NFL, so not really, but it'll be a hell of a motivator for whichever
12:32team loses this one tomorrow, especially if it's Kansas City.
12:36I think Kansas City, you know, I've been in some of these games against teams where you
12:42go in there, you're pretty sure somehow, some way, you're going to win.
12:46And I guarantee you, if they were to answer things honestly, you ask that question of
12:51Kansas City and these players and these coaches, they would tell you that somehow, some way,
12:56we'll find a way to beat these guys because we always do.
12:59Wow.
13:00Randy, I'm always asked who my all-time quarterback is and I always say it's your quarterback,
13:04Joe Montana, but I can't ignore the elephant in the room, which is Patrick Mahomes, man.
13:09And I hate that history could have been altered.
13:12It wasn't.
13:13Niners could actually beat him twice.
13:14They didn't.
13:15He has three Super Bowls.
13:17He's this young.
13:18Just what do you see from Patrick Mahomes, who's coming in here Sunday?
13:21How good is he?
13:22He's as advertised.
13:23Let's put it that way.
13:27I think he got two things going for him.
13:29One, he was lucky enough to watch Alex Smith and learn and be a young guy that doesn't
13:36have to get thrown to the wolves.
13:38And number two, he came along at the perfect time when the NFL sort of got over themselves
13:46and admitted that these offenses these kids are running in seven-on-seven camps and in
13:52middle schools and in high schools and in college.
13:56It works in the pros and it's been working in the pros.
14:00And for a long time, NFL drafted quarterbacks and said, OK, you adjust to us.
14:04We don't adjust to you.
14:06And I think Patrick's a good example.
14:08He got a coach like Andy Reid, and Andy said, what do you like?
14:12What do you do well?
14:13And the first thing he's going to say is what he did all those years at Texas Tech and all
14:17the gazillion yards he threw for in high school.
14:19Hey, I like these patterns.
14:20I like this kind of offense.
14:23Why not run that?
14:24And coaches are now doing that.
14:26I was going to say, is Andy different in that regard than maybe a run-of-the-mill coach?
14:32No, I think the whole NFL is doing that.
14:36Look at Jayden Daniels in Washington.
14:39Did you watch him at LSU much last year?
14:42I would challenge people to show me a gigantic difference between what he did at LSU last
14:48year and what he's doing right now at Washington, because to me, they look pretty damn close.
14:52Interesting.
14:53Wow, that's a great point, Randy.
14:55Hey, Randy, thank you so much, as always, for joining us.
14:58Great stuff, and we really enjoy talking to you.
15:00Anytime.
15:01Always great to be out in the Bay Area.
15:03All righty, that's Randy Cross, three-time Super Bowl champion, and of course he came
15:07courtesy of the River Islands guest line.
15:10Isn't it time for you to discover the islands?
15:13River Islands in Lathrop.