00:00:00
Speaker 1: But right now, though, we're going to talk to a guy that I think we're all happy for, man. A guy that was undrafted out of Duke. A guy, Bone, I know is a Duke fan. You pulled for big time. And he made a bunch of big plays for your Blue Devils. And now he is on the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie. And Dan Morgan could not say enough nice things about him in the presser this week. He is Aaron Hall, defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, and he joins us here on the Mac and Bone Show. Aaron, what's going on, man? How you doing?
00:00:35
Speaker 2: What's up, Matt? What's up, Bo? How are you guys doing?
00:00:37
Speaker 1: What's up, man? Dude, we're doing great. We're not doing as good as you, man. I mean, for you to make this roster in your rookie year, like, truth be told, you were one of the undrafted guys who we knew about and who we said, man, this guy could be a factor. But I think we wondered, oh, will he be on the practice squad, you know, right away? You jumped on that roster right away. Did you surprise yourself or did you like sign with the Panthers and believe in my mind I'm going to be on that opening day roster?
00:01:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. When you sign, the first thing you tell yourself is your goal is to make the roster. I mean, nobody comes into the NFL hoping to be on a practice squad. You want to make the roster. You want to make an impact on that field. But I think most importantly, I just came in here and I just put my head down every day, take it one day at a time. I didn't try to look forward to that moment of making a roster, making practice squad, because in the truth be told, it's just too far ahead. It kind of takes away from your focus from OCA's and from camp, gaining your trust of your teammates and your coaches.
00:01:39
Speaker 3: Aaron, you kind of have a crazy bio when we read it now because there are times we look at players and they'll have three or four schools that they went to, but you were at Duke the whole way through. You stuck it out and you stayed there all conference. What does that mean for you in this day and age that, hey, you were at one school the entire time and not all these multiple schools?
00:02:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think if anything, it just shows the perseverance of my character. Because if we're going to be honest here, the way college football, the game that it's become, it can be quite easy to change schools sometimes when you look at the factor of money, when you look at the factor of playing time, or what type of team you're trying to build there just off of the other factors that you have. But I think at the end all be all, I continue to have great coaches to come into the Duke facility regularly. continue to raise me as a growing man. I continue to have a great group of brothers around me, guys like the Dwayne Carters, the Neal Peebles, the Jamie-Ann Franklins, who just continue to pour into me as a football player. And then the different position coaches, Coach Jess Simpson, Coach Alex Devine, and Coach Afonte. I mean, having that group of individuals around you with the peer strength coach of David Seeley, there was no reason to ever leave. I knew everything I ever needed was going to be at Duke University.
00:02:53
Speaker 1: Now, it Now, Aaron, I need to ask you to make sure. You're not going to leave the Panthers and join Lane Kiffin at LSU, are you? You're good?
00:03:01
Speaker 2: No, absolutely not.
00:03:03
Speaker 1: Just making sure. Just making sure. Let's talk about the Panthers and the team that you are on now. There's an opportunity. I mean, for all you young, it's so many young guys. It's Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown. And the other four of you guys, interior D linemen, are all young, right? It's rookies. It's second-year guys. There's an opportunity to get some snaps there. What do you think about the defensive front? And what do you think you guys can accomplish up front on this defense this year?
00:03:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're a violent, we're a physical group. I think every day the leader of the room, Derrick Brown, he just comes in and challenges every day to do things right, to take the hard route on things, to come in and just be keyed into details. It's something that he told me a lot coming into this process and just throughout OTAs and camp was to see a little, to see a lot. And by saying that, that's the way you guys see him make plays on Sunday when, I mean, he's just at the ball in the backfield or reading pass plays before you guys know they're there. And so... With his teachings and with the way he just commands his D-line room, I think there's a lot that we can accomplish in there this year.
00:04:13
Speaker 3: Aaron, you're so well-liked right now on our text line. Even Tar Heel fans are saying, hey, this guy's awesome.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: Oh, wow.
00:04:19
Speaker 1: That's big.
00:04:19
Speaker 3: You've done that rare thing. You've crossed over right now, Aaron. So congrats on that. What are some of your interests outside of football? What do you like to do when you're not playing?
00:04:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a big thing I like to do is cook. I mean, I'm a defensive lineman. I like to eat. But I was in a household where I was blessed to have both parents in the house. And that's just all glory to God, understanding how some situations end up in the world. But I was one of those places where I wanted to play the game all day. And my dad was like, hey, man, get downstairs and help your mom cook. And so I was always in there learning recipes, experimenting with stuff, just helping her. I like being on the grill. Sometimes I like doing artistic work, a lot of sipping paints with the fiance. So I think that's kind of more of my speed, but I'm not too much of an outgoing person. Sometimes I can travel a little bit.
00:05:05
Speaker 1: You're talented, though. Cooking and arts, you got talents off the football field. You're doing stuff we can't dream of. So what are your go-to dishes? Like if you really, you and your fiance are hanging out, and you're like, I got to make a killer dinner tonight. Like what's one or two of your go-tos?
00:05:23
Speaker 2: I have to make a killer dinner. I think I'm going to go with– I'll start with the vegetable first. I'm going to go red cabbage for sure. Red cabbage is up there. I think I'm going to go baked mac and cheese. Nice. For green, we're probably going to go with like a sauteed asparagus probably. And then for protein, I mean, I think it depends. We could do a stuffed chicken. We can definitely do some grilled steak. We can do– There's a good amount of things. We can definitely do a style of salmon, more so not heavily flavored, but more like the lemon and herb side of salmon. So we could definitely do a lot of things on the protein side, but I think the baked mac and cheese and the red cabbages, Those are definitely the two things that I lean towards.
00:06:07
Speaker 1: Man, you are versatile.
00:06:09
Speaker 3: We get an invite or what?
00:06:10
Speaker 1: When are we coming over?
00:06:12
Speaker 2: Just let me know whenever you guys want to come down. Oh, man.
00:06:16
Speaker 1: I'm getting hungry now, Bo.
00:06:17
Speaker 3: One of our texters says, Aaron's throwing out words that even Bo doesn't know half those words. Yeah, you're right. Look up some of those things.
00:06:24
Speaker 1: I love it, man. Hey, what's Derek Brown like in that locker room? We were talking about him the other day, Aaron. He is such an awesome leader. And I'm saying this as a fan and a media guy. What he says publicly, the clips from the locker room the Panthers share, I'm like, that dude's a leader. But you see it every day. What does he do to be a leader behind the scenes every day?
00:06:47
Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is he's the same guy every day, in and out. He doesn't say anything to you guys and then come do something differently with us. Everything that you guys hear is everything that we hear. So I think the biggest thing is just his consistency. He's going to be the same person every day, uh in and out and then he also takes that on the field derrick brown isn't somebody who comes out and there's like one mistake this day and another mistake this day i mean it's just down the line consistently with his technique with his play style uh with with how much he wants to get better and so at the end of the day i think that's what i can ask for that's what anybody can ask for when you need a leader on the defense side of the ball especially in the d-line room um where it's up to those guys up front to dominate in order to win games.
00:07:30
Speaker 3: Hey, Aaron, before we let you go, we were just talking Duke in a previous segment. How good of hands is that program in right now with Manny Diaz at the helm?
00:07:39
Speaker 2: Oh, it's in excellent hands. I think you guys have seen the work that he's been able to accomplish in his past two years there. Last year, I mean, we go to the ACC Championship, and we went against Virginia, who ended up beating us in the season to kind of knock us off of that reign that we were on to go. And so, I mean, I think you guys have seen what he's able to do. We're in excellent hands, and that just– It also just comes down to his staff. We talk about at Duke, there's only one type of culture of people that you meet around there. And at the end of the day, Coach Diaz has done that exceptionally well in terms of his staff and his players. And so when you have guys like David Feely, who's the strength coach, and that's somebody who's going to push you every day, no matter what it is. He doesn't care if you squatted 500 pounds the day before or bench-pressed 350 the day before. You're going to get the same guy who's going to push you the same way the next day. And you have just the position coaches around you who push you every day to be better. I mean, there's just never a place for complacency in the building. And so, They're in great hands with him, and I think he'll just continue to show how excellent the program is in these next years that he's here.
00:08:42
Speaker 1: That's cool, man.
00:08:42
Speaker 3: All right, Aaron. You became a fan favorite instantly today. People want to buy your jersey. They want you to have your own cooking show.
00:08:48
Speaker 1: This is better.
00:08:49
Speaker 2: Thank you guys for having me up here. Hey, man.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: It was great chatting with you. Now we're all hungry. But thanks for coming on, man. Stay healthy. Best of luck this year, man. Appreciate you.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. You guys have a wonderful day.
Speaker 1: But right now, though, we're going to talk to a guy that I think we're all happy for, man. A guy that was undrafted out of Duke. A guy, Bone, I know is a Duke fan. You pulled for big time. And he made a bunch of big plays for your Blue Devils. And now he is on the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie. And Dan Morgan could not say enough nice things about him in the presser this week. He is Aaron Hall, defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, and he joins us here on the Mac and Bone Show. Aaron, what's going on, man? How you doing?
00:00:35
Speaker 2: What's up, Matt? What's up, Bo? How are you guys doing?
00:00:37
Speaker 1: What's up, man? Dude, we're doing great. We're not doing as good as you, man. I mean, for you to make this roster in your rookie year, like, truth be told, you were one of the undrafted guys who we knew about and who we said, man, this guy could be a factor. But I think we wondered, oh, will he be on the practice squad, you know, right away? You jumped on that roster right away. Did you surprise yourself or did you like sign with the Panthers and believe in my mind I'm going to be on that opening day roster?
00:01:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. When you sign, the first thing you tell yourself is your goal is to make the roster. I mean, nobody comes into the NFL hoping to be on a practice squad. You want to make the roster. You want to make an impact on that field. But I think most importantly, I just came in here and I just put my head down every day, take it one day at a time. I didn't try to look forward to that moment of making a roster, making practice squad, because in the truth be told, it's just too far ahead. It kind of takes away from your focus from OCA's and from camp, gaining your trust of your teammates and your coaches.
00:01:39
Speaker 3: Aaron, you kind of have a crazy bio when we read it now because there are times we look at players and they'll have three or four schools that they went to, but you were at Duke the whole way through. You stuck it out and you stayed there all conference. What does that mean for you in this day and age that, hey, you were at one school the entire time and not all these multiple schools?
00:02:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think if anything, it just shows the perseverance of my character. Because if we're going to be honest here, the way college football, the game that it's become, it can be quite easy to change schools sometimes when you look at the factor of money, when you look at the factor of playing time, or what type of team you're trying to build there just off of the other factors that you have. But I think at the end all be all, I continue to have great coaches to come into the Duke facility regularly. continue to raise me as a growing man. I continue to have a great group of brothers around me, guys like the Dwayne Carters, the Neal Peebles, the Jamie-Ann Franklins, who just continue to pour into me as a football player. And then the different position coaches, Coach Jess Simpson, Coach Alex Devine, and Coach Afonte. I mean, having that group of individuals around you with the peer strength coach of David Seeley, there was no reason to ever leave. I knew everything I ever needed was going to be at Duke University.
00:02:53
Speaker 1: Now, it Now, Aaron, I need to ask you to make sure. You're not going to leave the Panthers and join Lane Kiffin at LSU, are you? You're good?
00:03:01
Speaker 2: No, absolutely not.
00:03:03
Speaker 1: Just making sure. Just making sure. Let's talk about the Panthers and the team that you are on now. There's an opportunity. I mean, for all you young, it's so many young guys. It's Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown. And the other four of you guys, interior D linemen, are all young, right? It's rookies. It's second-year guys. There's an opportunity to get some snaps there. What do you think about the defensive front? And what do you think you guys can accomplish up front on this defense this year?
00:03:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're a violent, we're a physical group. I think every day the leader of the room, Derrick Brown, he just comes in and challenges every day to do things right, to take the hard route on things, to come in and just be keyed into details. It's something that he told me a lot coming into this process and just throughout OTAs and camp was to see a little, to see a lot. And by saying that, that's the way you guys see him make plays on Sunday when, I mean, he's just at the ball in the backfield or reading pass plays before you guys know they're there. And so... With his teachings and with the way he just commands his D-line room, I think there's a lot that we can accomplish in there this year.
00:04:13
Speaker 3: Aaron, you're so well-liked right now on our text line. Even Tar Heel fans are saying, hey, this guy's awesome.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: Oh, wow.
00:04:19
Speaker 1: That's big.
00:04:19
Speaker 3: You've done that rare thing. You've crossed over right now, Aaron. So congrats on that. What are some of your interests outside of football? What do you like to do when you're not playing?
00:04:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a big thing I like to do is cook. I mean, I'm a defensive lineman. I like to eat. But I was in a household where I was blessed to have both parents in the house. And that's just all glory to God, understanding how some situations end up in the world. But I was one of those places where I wanted to play the game all day. And my dad was like, hey, man, get downstairs and help your mom cook. And so I was always in there learning recipes, experimenting with stuff, just helping her. I like being on the grill. Sometimes I like doing artistic work, a lot of sipping paints with the fiance. So I think that's kind of more of my speed, but I'm not too much of an outgoing person. Sometimes I can travel a little bit.
00:05:05
Speaker 1: You're talented, though. Cooking and arts, you got talents off the football field. You're doing stuff we can't dream of. So what are your go-to dishes? Like if you really, you and your fiance are hanging out, and you're like, I got to make a killer dinner tonight. Like what's one or two of your go-tos?
00:05:23
Speaker 2: I have to make a killer dinner. I think I'm going to go with– I'll start with the vegetable first. I'm going to go red cabbage for sure. Red cabbage is up there. I think I'm going to go baked mac and cheese. Nice. For green, we're probably going to go with like a sauteed asparagus probably. And then for protein, I mean, I think it depends. We could do a stuffed chicken. We can definitely do some grilled steak. We can do– There's a good amount of things. We can definitely do a style of salmon, more so not heavily flavored, but more like the lemon and herb side of salmon. So we could definitely do a lot of things on the protein side, but I think the baked mac and cheese and the red cabbages, Those are definitely the two things that I lean towards.
00:06:07
Speaker 1: Man, you are versatile.
00:06:09
Speaker 3: We get an invite or what?
00:06:10
Speaker 1: When are we coming over?
00:06:12
Speaker 2: Just let me know whenever you guys want to come down. Oh, man.
00:06:16
Speaker 1: I'm getting hungry now, Bo.
00:06:17
Speaker 3: One of our texters says, Aaron's throwing out words that even Bo doesn't know half those words. Yeah, you're right. Look up some of those things.
00:06:24
Speaker 1: I love it, man. Hey, what's Derek Brown like in that locker room? We were talking about him the other day, Aaron. He is such an awesome leader. And I'm saying this as a fan and a media guy. What he says publicly, the clips from the locker room the Panthers share, I'm like, that dude's a leader. But you see it every day. What does he do to be a leader behind the scenes every day?
00:06:47
Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is he's the same guy every day, in and out. He doesn't say anything to you guys and then come do something differently with us. Everything that you guys hear is everything that we hear. So I think the biggest thing is just his consistency. He's going to be the same person every day, uh in and out and then he also takes that on the field derrick brown isn't somebody who comes out and there's like one mistake this day and another mistake this day i mean it's just down the line consistently with his technique with his play style uh with with how much he wants to get better and so at the end of the day i think that's what i can ask for that's what anybody can ask for when you need a leader on the defense side of the ball especially in the d-line room um where it's up to those guys up front to dominate in order to win games.
00:07:30
Speaker 3: Hey, Aaron, before we let you go, we were just talking Duke in a previous segment. How good of hands is that program in right now with Manny Diaz at the helm?
00:07:39
Speaker 2: Oh, it's in excellent hands. I think you guys have seen the work that he's been able to accomplish in his past two years there. Last year, I mean, we go to the ACC Championship, and we went against Virginia, who ended up beating us in the season to kind of knock us off of that reign that we were on to go. And so, I mean, I think you guys have seen what he's able to do. We're in excellent hands, and that just– It also just comes down to his staff. We talk about at Duke, there's only one type of culture of people that you meet around there. And at the end of the day, Coach Diaz has done that exceptionally well in terms of his staff and his players. And so when you have guys like David Feely, who's the strength coach, and that's somebody who's going to push you every day, no matter what it is. He doesn't care if you squatted 500 pounds the day before or bench-pressed 350 the day before. You're going to get the same guy who's going to push you the same way the next day. And you have just the position coaches around you who push you every day to be better. I mean, there's just never a place for complacency in the building. And so, They're in great hands with him, and I think he'll just continue to show how excellent the program is in these next years that he's here.
00:08:42
Speaker 1: That's cool, man.
00:08:42
Speaker 3: All right, Aaron. You became a fan favorite instantly today. People want to buy your jersey. They want you to have your own cooking show.
00:08:48
Speaker 1: This is better.
00:08:49
Speaker 2: Thank you guys for having me up here. Hey, man.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: It was great chatting with you. Now we're all hungry. But thanks for coming on, man. Stay healthy. Best of luck this year, man. Appreciate you.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. You guys have a wonderful day.
