Episode 29: Jason Garrett

On the 29th episode of “Great Dane Nation,” Morten is joined by New York Giants Offensive Coordinator and longtime friend Jason Garrett (05:35 – 57:18). But first, he checks in with TommyFreezePops (Tom Carroll), where the guys talk about a wild first week of NFL free agency (01:34).We then move to our interview with Jason, where he discusses a wide array of topics: what it was like working as Morten’s holder, and the story behind him adding that job to his duties in 2001 (06:34); how special it was being Troy Aikman’s back-up on three Super Bowl teams with the Cowboys (12:22); why playing football and being a part of the game has been such an important part of his personal growth as a person (15:19); the moment when he decided he was going to dive into coaching, and why he tried to hang on to his playing career as long as he could (17:50); how signing with Jon Gruden’s Buccaneers late in his career helped shape him as a football coach (20:24); the story behind becoming interim head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and eventually being promoted to permanent head coach by Jerry Jones (22:20); looking back on his nine full seasons as head coach of the Cowboys with great pride, even with a 2-3 playoff record during that span (25:40); how happy he is for Dak Prescott signing a six-year deal in Dallas (27:48); why he thinks the Cowboys and the rest of the NFC East will be competitive in 2021 (28:40); whether he prefers being the head coach or offensive coordinator (29:02); what it was like working with a first-year head coach in Joe Judge this past season (33:23); why the Giants were able to start clicking towards the end of the season (34:28); what he likes about Daniel Jones, and where he thinks the young quarterback can improve (35:56); this week’s edition of “The Name Game” featuring thoughts on Tony Romo, Sean Payton, Ezekiel Elliott, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, and Michael Strahan (41:56); why he’s so excited to be able to gameplan with a healthy Saquon Barkley on his side (50:46); and reminiscing about the hilarious speech Jason gave at Kerry Collins’ wedding (51:44).Then, TommyFreezePops is joined by Thom Cunningham for his weekly check-in with the experts from VegasInsider.com (58:07 – 01:04:07). With the first weekend of March Madness in the books, Thom tells us how his bracket is performing (59:07), where to look for value in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 (59:58), and why the Big Ten has struggled so mightily in this tournament thus far (01:02:19).Finally, we close things out with Morten’s “Game Winner” – a weekly segment where Morten monologues his biggest takeaway of the week. This week, he talks about his friend Jason Garrett, and why perspective has been a key component to the success he’s had throughout his career in football (01:04:07).