Back on April 1 we had Bart Scott in studio with us for the second half of GAMETIME. In this the second of two parts, Bart discusses how the Ravens make defensive alignments, who the most valuable Ravens’ defender is and the origins of "Hot Sauce."
TL: Bart you mentioned funny things and you mentioned Ed Reed. Back in 2004 you guys are on the road against the Jets. NFL Network covered it and really gave their viewers an inside look. Now during an important point of that game won by the Ravens, Ed Reed and Will Demps are discussing a blitzing assignment. How did they determine which of the two would blitz? They played Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Now Bart, with all of the morphing defensive sets that Rex Ryan installs; all of the sophisticated schemes and moving parts; all of the film study, your defense is reduced to Rock, Paper, Scissors when it’s time to execute the plan?
BS: (chuckling) We do that all the time. We’re interchangeable. Me and Ray might look at each other and say, “Man I’m tired of blitzing. Let me get my breath back. I’m going to drop this seam hook. You go ahead and take it this time.†Or, “You wanna blitz?†“Yeah I’m gonna blitz.â€
TL: And so when you can’t make up your minds it’s Rock, Paper, Scissors?
BS: Yeah. You know he trumps me because he’s the veteran. “You go knock the wall down.†Then I’ve got to go and bang my head up against these 300 pound linemen.
Most of our blitzes we really love to do. Certain blitzes I might like to do more than Ray and I might say, “Hey I’ve got a lot of juice left.†So I might want to go through. And we’ve got the ability to do that. “AD, alright let’s switch it up this time. Let’s trick ‘em. We’ve been running this blitz and they know when it’s coming. Let’s switch it up. I’ll cover this time and you blitz.â€
DP: There aren’t a lot of players around the league that are willing to sacrifice themselves for the team.
BS: We call it knocking the wall down. As far as you know, the way we draw it up, you’re going to come through clean. That usually means there will be 2 or 3 guys waiting for you. So you throw your body in there and eat ‘em all up so somebody else can get it. You know we always tease, you’ll be laying under the pile under 8 people with your neck all crooked and then we see Ray up there dancing. “Hey man, help me up.â€
TL: So you’re all contorted lying on the ground and Ray is up there pounding his chest!
BS: (laughing) Yeah you just cannonballed three guys…but you know he does it for us too and that’s the beauty of it. We do it for each other and I think that the biggest example of that on our team is Trevor Pryce and Kelly Gregg. Trevor is such a great pass rusher and he has that reputation that you can’t block him one on one. So we’ll take Trevor to one side an wrap him all the way to the other side. He’ll take four guys. We appreciate it. I’ll be over their dancing and having fun when Trevor’s under the pile with 3,000 pounds on top of him.
TL: Bart you mentioned Kelly Gregg. Talk about him, a guy who has been slighted for Pro Bowl recognition…
BS: He is!
TL: Just compare his numbers to those other Pro Bowl defensive tackles and his numbers dwarf the Pro Bowlers.
BS: It’s all about the name and a lot about the reputation. You know a lot of people make it to the Pro Bowl basically on their name. Kelly Gregg is THE most important player on our defense. No. 1! The most important guy on our defense is Kelly Gregg. It starts with him.
TL: That is quite a statement coming from Kelly’s Pro Bowl teammate. Do you guys take it personally when he doesn’t make it?
BS: We take it EXTREMELY personally. We’re talking about a guy that plays three technique and it’s unfortunate because in the media, a lot of it is [based upon] the look test. We all look for the big guy who’s strong and athletic. That doesn’t mean he’s productive. Here’s Kelly Gregg, five feet nuthin’, a hundred and nuthin…you know the old Rudy speech. But he just gets it done.
But what is productivity? Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes. Mike Singletary was what, 5’10â€? It comes in all shapes and sizes. Barry Sanders, 5’6â€, Jim Brown, 6’1â€. It doesn’t matter! Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes. Size doesn’t determine productivity. If that’s the case you should just go out in the draft and pick all the guys on that chart and you should have the best team in the league.
TL: Bart I have a very serious question for you…for all the X’s and O’s guys. When Kelly pulls up his pants all the time, is that an act or is that for real?
BS: (laughing) You know we call him Spongebob Squarepants. He’s about the same size wide as he is tall. He doesn’t have any hips to keep them up so he’s squarepants. But no he has to pick them up. We tease him all the time about his t-shirts. We call them untuckables because his shoulders are so wide.
TL: Where did the Hot Sauce phrase come from?
BS: The hot sauce. Well the hot sauce, you know, I did something in the heat of the moment. I was down in Louisiana, I love hot sauce, everybody can’t handle hot sauce so I decided I’d pour a little on old Reggie out there. I didn’t think that it would make news or that I personally tried to hurt him because I was putting some hot sauce on his ankle. I thought it was kind of funny.
TL: Speaking of Hot Sauce, I’m going to put you on the GAMETIME Hot Sauce Hot Seat.
BS: Uh-oh, it’s burning.
TL: I’ll throw something at you, a phrase, name or word and you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind…Best former Raven
BS: Wow, that’s tough. Can I pick two?
TL: Sure
BS: Well since I’m a defensive guy I’ll say Mike McCrary and Peter Boulware.
TL: After the third quarter during home games, do you guys watch the cheerleaders?
BS: (Laughs hard then abruptly stops) No….you ain’t gonna get me cut!
TL: Koby Bryant or LaBron James?
BS: Koby Bryant
TL: Favorite Movie
BS: Of Mice and Men
TL: Favorite musician
BS: Hmm, that’s a tough one. I like Michael McDonald.
TL: Favorite vacation destination
BS: I want to get over to Spain…Barcelona
TL: What will you do after football?
BS: Rest
TL: Best dressed Raven
BS: Me!
TL: Worst dressed Raven
BS: Ooo, that’s tough. You’re really putting me on the hot seat.
TL: Make it someone that you can take.
BS: We’ll go with a former coach, probably the worst dressed guy I’ve ever seen…Gary Zauner
TL: 24 or CSI?
BS: 24
TL: Toughest running back you’ve had to tackle…
BS: Hmm, they all fall down pretty easy. Let’s see, the guy that gets the most respect out of our locker room is Fred Taylor.
TL: Toughest Raven
BS: I would have to say Corey Ivy. He’s a little pit bull. Lacerated liver…we call him Mike Myers. He gets knocked out every game. Get him on the side lines and he’s cussing out the medical staff. You’d think he’s done for the season and then you turn around and he’s back out there the next play. We’re like, “Hey man what’s wrong with you?â€
TL: Worst Stadium
BS: Colts stadium…I don’t like that hard stuff. They tried to change it but I still don’t like it.
TL: Best Stadium
BS: Ravens
TL: Worst road trip city
BS: Cincinnati!
TL: Best road trip city
BS: Atlanta and Houston
TL: Best trash talker other than you.
BS: Chad Johnson. We go at it a lot. We even went at it at the Pro Bowl.
TL: One free throw to win the game. What Raven would you want at the line?
BS: Javin Hunter. He should have been a basketball player.
TL: Actor to play you in your life story
BS: I’m going to take that new guy, ,I don’t know his name…he plays on The Wire
TL: NFL’s biggest crybaby.
BS: Ah man…I can’t say that one on the air.
TL: Best word that describes Joey Porter, a punk or a player.
BS: He’s somewhere in between.
TL: So a plunker?
BS: Yeah he’s a plunker.
Originally posted on May 18, 2007
