Zach Sieler – September 28, 2020
Download PDF version
Monday, September 28, 2020
DT Zach Sieler
(I wanted to ask you about your good play the other day; but first I wanted to ask you about something that’s even more interesting. I noticed that you are the founder of Clay Gully Outfitters, Central Florida’s premier hunting facility for hogs and gators. I’ve seen some crazy photos. How do you catch an alligator?) – “(laughter) It’s a big process. We have guys that have hunted for 20-plus years now. They’ve got over 35 years of experience together, so we kind of met up – I’ve been hunting down here for a long, long time. (I have) family in the Central Florida area my whole life, so with that we kind of, between my first and second year, started this outfitters business and it’s been good for us. It’s a huge passion of mine, yeah.”
(So obviously you hunted the quarterback last week in the fourth quarter I think it was. How does hunting animals compare to hunting quarterbacks?) – “(laughter) I guess you get just as much of a thrill, I guess. It’s an experience for sure.”
(I kind of just wanted to ask a follow-up on the last question on the pass rush and hunting the quarterback. It felt like this past game was kind of the most complete performance in that regard and just how would you – looking at the tape – assess how the group did as a whole?) – “I think we definitely made a focus on it. We want to work to get to him and keep fresh guys in there and play the hot hand and really work as a whole, as a unit. You can’t just have a one-man show, so I think that was our real focus on the game coming in last week.”
(Just a quick follow-up, what kind of challenge does Seahawks QB Russell Wilson present this week?) – “Obviously he’s a great quarterback. It’s a great team and we’ve kind of got to take the same mindset where we play as a unit, know our passing lanes and try to get back to him without him running around too much.”
(Can I ask you what’s it like to be a young player – you came in and your first game here you had a tremendous amount of success. Then it’s kind of been weaned in terms how much you’ve played. What’s it like to be trying to earn playing time and trust with this coaching staff?) – “I went through this in college. I was a walk-on at a Division II (school). So my whole career – my whole life – has been kind of earn the trust and get those snaps. So for me, it’s just another day. I’m going to do my job every day, play to my full effort all the time and just when the opportunity comes, make the most of it.”
(My question kind of piggy backs off of the previous one. You didn’t get that many snaps in the first two games, so I wanted to ask you how difficult was it to not play that much those first two games and did you know coming into the game against Jacksonville that you would get a lot more playing time?) – “Obviously everyone wants to play – you want to play as many snaps as you can – but it’s going to be what’s best for the team. And this last game, same game plan we’ve had. We changed some things, whatever; but really it came down to just in the second half was just playing the hot hand and playing the players that were playing well kind of thing.”
(I noticed that they had you on the field with five minutes left. I don’t think the game was technically over at that point when you and DE Emmanuel Ogbah got together for the sack, if I remember correctly. With all those first-rounders in the room – the Lawsons, the Ogbahs, the Wilkinses – guys who have a different journey and a different path; did you think to yourself, “man, I’m on the field here in a critical spot in the game?” Was that something you processed?) – “My mindset since the beginning – since Day 1 playing football – has been I’m going to play my game, do what I can do and give full effort every single play. So I don’t like to look at ‘oh this guy or this guy’ kind of thing. I just do what I can control.”
(I wanted to talk about just you guys’ just collective team pass rush work. It seems like a lot of the effectiveness you guys get comes out of running games and you guys up front creating opportunities for second-level players and rushers. I’m just curious how that mindset works when it comes to like, “I’m going to the one that creates an opportunity for this player.” Is that something you see collectively throughout the course of the defensive room?) – “Oh, absolutely. We celebrate that kind of stuff. We want to be able to create opportunities for other players. It’s not what I did; it’s a team. Team. We just – we were able to set something up for him or like with ‘X’s’ (Xavien Howard) pick in the end. Stuff like that. We thoroughly enjoy watching everyone else succeed as well.”
(I’m back following up on the first question because you got me interested in hunting and alligator chasing. If my first time – maybe I don’t shoot rifles well – what do you recommend to somebody who wants to go catch something wild?) – “We do everything. It really depends on what you’re feeling. We’ve gotten multiple players out there coming to hunt with us. A lot of them have never shot a gun before. We really take you hands-on, show you how to shoot, all that kind of stuff. Our guys make sure of that. If you’re looking for a real thrill, alligators are pretty intense. It’s season right now, so we actually just killed two 10-footers and almost an 11-footer, one of them, this morning. So it’s a good time.”
(So I’ve got some gators out in my lake here in Parkland. I live right next to the Everglades. There’s a lot of gators next to the Everglades over here, but I know you have some up in Central Florida, too. If you were to bring two teammates with you to my house here in Parkland to snag some gators out of the lake who would you choose?) – “You know, a lot of guys ask me – they want to come out and they want to come and they want to try it. I know Kavon Frazier’s been interested. Byron Jones. I’m trying to get Christian (Wilkins) and (Davon) Godchaux out there, too. Honestly I love just taking whoever can because some guys have never been able to experience that kind of stuff and I love to bring them into that world a little bit.”
(Who are some of the players that have you already gone out there with? We see there’s a picture of S Minkah Fitzpatrick with a big smile holding a gator. Was he scared? Was he scared or was the smile a little fake there? But also who are some people that you’ve brought out there with you already?) – “Michael Deiter came out for some turkey and hogs. Minkah Fitzpatrick – he actually is good friends with my girlfriend who is at Alabama at well, so she kind of coerced him into coming out. He was able to come on out and do that. He had an absolute blast. Michael Pierce – I’ve had him come down. We did some hogs with him. And it’s been thrilling. It’s fun seeing those guys get out there and seeing them do stuff they not usually have done. It’s nice.”
(So what’s the most frightened you’ve ever been around an animal? Any close calls or any time that your hands got sweaty from anything?) – “That’s definitely, if you’re going out at night with the hogs and you can’t see anything and all you can hear is just stuff all around you, or when we brought in a the 14-foot alligator. That’s been kind of thrilling to say the least.”
