'I hate to f--king lose:' Wyatt Teller Q&A
Here's the written transcript of our chat with the Cleveland Browns Pro Bowler. Once again, he does not disappoint.
Our conversation with Wyatt Teller is transcribed in full below.
Video and audio of is also available here, and everywhere you pod.
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If we were to create a silhouette emblem for Go Long, it would be Wyatt Teller, guard for the Cleveland Browns, kicking somebody’s ass out there. Maybe Alex Anzalone on a pull left against the Lions. Poor Alex.
Teller: He’s a stud. It was funny when that happened, he even got up and was like, “Holy shit, I just got tossed.” And then the next drive, he smoked me in the A gap. He was coming with a vengeance, but he’s a damn good player.
Unfortunately for Alex, that’s not the play that gets replayed all week on ESPN and NFL Network.
Teller: Man to man, you know when someone gets you. Sometimes it’s not even the most spectacular play. It’s just like, “Damn, he put me on my butt.” Which isn’t common. I don’t like being put on my butt. If I get tripped or something like that, you’re coming down with me. I’m not falling on my butt and I’ll get a holding call before I let you whoop my ass. But there’s times, man to man, when you’re like, “Damn, he got me.” Or, “Damn, that was a good hit.”
How’s Brooks? How’s Carly? How’s the baby girl on her way? It’s got to be a busy time for you.
Teller: Yeah, it’s insane. Life is moving. I used to think that offseasons were so long — “Gosh, five, six months of doing nothing.” And then all of a sudden, now, it’s like it’s the season again. You’re like, “Wow.” The days are long, but the years go quick. It’s amazing. We’re expecting No. 2 next month. She’s doing amazing. This second time, I think having a little one running around the house, you can’t really feel bad or mope. You’re just like, “Hey, we got to go.” So she’s been amazing. She’s taking care of her body. Brooks is growing like a weed. It’s so insane seeing Brooks now and then, here in a month, how small that baby is and it’s amazing to go back.
Your life has changed quite a bit since we were drinking a little whiskey at your place in Westlake, Ohio. I think it was “Pappy,” the $1,600 bottle. You let me have a taste of that, which I don’t know why you wasted that on me.
Teller: What’s the point of buying these bottles — and hopefully I didn’t pay that much for the bottle, but they do get expensive. I try to buy ‘em at the low market so I can actually drink ‘em. Second market’s always a little higher than retail, I guess. It was a cool experience and drinking that stuff. If you buy it, what’s the point of just looking at it? So of course I’m going to open it and I’m going to let you try it and drink it. My bottle collection has grown and since then, I think in my basement I have four pretty stocked shelves. My brother’s usually my bourbon guy. Our security director, love his bourbon too. So, I’m just like, “Hey, let’s slow down. Let me drink some of these bottles and then we can start talking.”
This is a big year for the Cleveland Browns. The way this team has been built, the position you’re in, the run you went on last season when you are down so many players. At one point, you’re down Dawand Jones, Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin. Your line was just decimated and you’re finding a way to get into the playoffs. Didn’t end the way that you wanted to obviously. Overall, expectations into 2024 for the Browns?
Teller: Funny you brought that up. At one point I think someone put a tweet or a meme out there and my wife showed it to me. The end of “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” when he walks into the house and everything’s moved out. And he is like, “Where’d everybody go?” Last year was a weird thing. I think David and Amari played a lot. But there were so many injuries all over.
Didn’t even mention the quarterback. You had five players start at quarterback.
Teller: It’s insane. And I had three different right tackles, two centers. So it was just inconsistent. But it just showed you how amazing our defense was, which was a blessing. And then Old Grandpa, who was an amazing quarterback coming out of retirement: Joe Flacco. I actually called him Dad. His oldest is 10 or 12 or something like old. And I’m like, “Geez, I’m as close to your kids as I am to you and I’m following you. He was an amazing guy and an amazing leader and to come in and play the way he did is just a testament to who that guy is. But I’m really praying Deshaun comes back healthy and I’ve seen him moving around and when he plays well, “Hoo…’ He is unbelievable. Lights out. We saw that in the Ravens game where that was a really good Ravens team. We played well and played through a lot of adversity. So I pray that we stay healthy, but the name of the game is Next Man Up. That’s just the reality of the game. So I hope so. One of our assistant offensive line coaches, Roy Istvan, he messaged in the group chat the other day. I think Bleacher Report or something like that, I don’t know, was like, “Hey, the Browns are going to be last in the AFC North.” It was just like, “That’s a crazy take. We have a good defense. We have a lot of guys returning. But basically what they were saying was our offensive line’s aging — the strength of our offense is aging and Deshaun, hopefully he stays healthy and plays well, but they said he’s “unproven.” I’ve seen that man play lights out. So I just pray that he comes back with a vengeance and we play well. Super Bowl expectations, it’s crazy to frickin’ talk about. I’m trying to win Game 1 versus the Cowboys, and hopefully that’s a good game and we keep going.
We don’t want your cliches.
Teller: I actually think that I’m like Dory, I have short-term memory loss. We watch too much Finding Nemo. It’s real. If we’re going to be real: Playoff Caliber. The first couple of years I was in Buffalo, they always spoke about playoff caliber. If you're not giving effort, is that playoff caliber? Because if it was a playoff game, would you be giving effort? Of course you would. So that’s the caliber of every single day thing. And last year we played the Texans who were a really, really frickin’ talented team and they’ve only added to it, which is crazy. They’re going to be a problem. And we’ve got our work cut out for us. So honestly, I want to go to the Super Bowl. I don’t think any player that you’d ever talk to is like, “You know what? This year would be a good year not to go to the Super Bowl.” I will say this: Going to the Super Bowl as the Cleveland Browns — the Detroit Lions understand this — it hasn’t been done in a very long time, so there’s nothing more I want. But in reality, we got to start with Game 1. So I know that’s cliche, but I promise, I mean that.
You brought up Deshaun Watson and it’s been a while since we’ve seen that magic out of him. Early on with the Houston Texans, it just felt like he was playing at a different speed. The improvisation. The magic. Doing whatever he wanted to out there. He was right there with Patrick Mahomes as the future of the position, of the sport. What gives you the confidence that that Deshaun Watson is still in there? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Deshaun Watson play at that level.
Teller: I feel like he has had a really shitty run. It’s been really tough on him. He is coming back off of — originally it was six games, then out of nowhere it was 11 games. I’m still confused with how that worked. We had someone come out of the NFL who said — and PA — both agreed on an amazing judge, and she said that, “Hey, it should be six games.” And then it was like, “No, that’s not enough.” It’s like, “Wait, if the NFLPA agrees and you agree on this woman and then you don’t agree with what she says, where’s that?” So from the start, I think that curve balls have been thrown at him. I’ll tell you this right now. I’ve seen glimpses, I’ve seen flashes of absolute greatness. I know that putting a whole game together is really frickin’ hard, especially at the helm of quarterback. But even in the Ravens game, I mean, he was doing what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. I mean, we saw with DTR, who’s an amazing guy, great quarterback, good quarterback, he’s just young, inexperienced. And that defense ate him alive. And it got into a passing frenzy vs. that front. I don’t care how good your offensive line is, that’s not going to be a recipe for success. And then we see the exact same defense, everybody’s out there again, and Deshaun does what he does. And we play really tight with an unbelievable team.
I would love to say he has glimpses of Patty Mahomes. Patty Mahomes is a once-in-a-lifetime guy. I mean, he’s insane. And he has great outlets, he has great receivers, he has a great defense. He has all these different things around him to make him better. But he is the truth. I believe that Deshaun has that. I truly do. I’ve seen glimpses of it. Putting a whole game together, it’s tough. Putting a whole season together, putting a whole stretch together, it’s f--king hard, man. I couldn’t imagine taking two years off of football and expecting to play at the same level I was playing at, 2020 and 2021. So he’s the helm of my team. I pray that he has an unbelievable season and honestly plays out of his mind — not to win a Super Bowl, but just for himself. I truly believe that he’s a great leader. I remember the first time I met him, he was like, “Hey, do you guys hang out?” I was like, ‘Yeah, we do.” It was Covid. It was a little weird. I was really close with Baker. My wife was really close with his wife. I hung out with Baker, but a lot of the guys couldn’t. Especially during Covid, you can’t have any hanging out. So, it’s been tough. We kind of lost that culture of hanging out, and then all of a sudden, he comes in and he is like, “Hey, let’s hang out. Let’s actually spend time together.” I know he does that with a lot of the guys. So he’s a good leader. Everything I can say is he’s doing everything he can. I remember I was getting my ass shipped out of Buffalo and everybody’s like, “Wyatt’s just not a good player.” … They gave me a year and got me out of there. So, I pray that he has an unbelievable season and puts it all together because I want to win.
Baker was beloved in that locker room. Even in Tampa, he’s had that effect. It led to a division title for Tampa Bay. You guys loved Baker, and you go from that to Deshaun Watson. He’s coming in off of all of his off-the-field issues. What was that transition like? How did he ingratiate himself to you guys as teammates? And was it tough for guys to see Baker let go like that when you loved him that much?
Teller: Well, I will say this. I love Baker and I think Baker has matured enough to where he would even say this. I truly believe when they were talking to Deshaun, if Baker just said, “Hey man, it’s going to be OK. I have one more year on my deal. Everything’s going to be OK,’ and just played, I truly believe he still would’ve been the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. I don’t how every conversation went. I have no idea. But I’m just saying, he was beloved in Cleveland by the ownership, by the team, by the coaches, by the players, everybody. By the fans. So I think that he should have let calmer heads prevail. I think that even he would say that, where he kind of got like, “Hey look, this is disrespectful.” My mindset in the NFL is — and maybe this is because I’m an offensive lineman — they’re always drafting, they’re always looking to have your replacement. Even if you play for 10 years in the NFL, it’s good to have guys who are good behind you. And the way he viewed it was, “Wow, they’re giving up on me.” And I just truly believe that if Baker was like, “Hey, calmer heads prevail,” I think he would still be the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. That being said, he has made transitions to other teams. He’s learned a playbook in two days and been able to win games, which is just unbelievable. The Rams. And then come back, go to Tampa Bay and just be an unbelievable leader and have a whole offseason with that team, it shows you how good that man is.
I get Baker’s point of view. You don’t want to be a lame duck. You’re seeing Josh Allen get his deal in that class. You’re seeing your peers get paid and you just played with a torn labrum. … Maybe if Baker goes back, he takes a little time off and lets that thing heal. But I get his point of view: I put my ass on the line for you. Now, show me the money if you believe in me.
Teller: Yeah, I agree. But I also believe that — and this kind of comes back to me being a man of faith — but I just don’t know how someone could think that anybody deserves that. I’m not entitled for anything. I don’t deserve a damn thing. I am so blessed to be where I’m at and I’ve worked my ass off for it. And I’ve also gotten frickin’ lucky. I went through the transition from Buffalo to Cleveland and I thought I was a horrible player. I left that going, “I’m not good. I’m not good.” I left a team that was on the verge of being in the playoffs every single year, going to the AFC Championship. They still have to get past Kansas City, which is easier said than done, but they’re an unbelievable, unbelievable team. And I was kicked out of it: “You’re not good enough to be here.” That tore me apart. But I thank God for it because then I get to Cleveland, I get nine starts under my belt and an offensive line coach that I think he believed in me. I don’t know if he likes me at all, but he wanted me to be the best Wyatt Teller I could be. And I’m thankful for that. I had an organization, a coach, everybody that backed me up and I got really lucky. But at the same time, I worked my ass off for it. That season of 2020, no one could travel, no one could do anything. But I mean, I put on 16 pounds of lean mass. I worked my butt off. I could have gotten an injury, the first play of Game 1 and Wyatt Teller would not have been anybody.
So the point that I’m making is injuries happen. I don’t know why, and I think that it was because in college he had such a loyal… in college your team’s loyal to you. Especially if you win the Heisman. He was just absolutely loved by his coaches. And when he came to the NFL, it’s the same thing I see with Aaron Rodgers, too. Aaron Rodgers is a perennial Pro Bowler, All Pro. I mean, crazy good quarterback. And he was pulling those things like, “You’re not going to talk to any quarterbacks. You’re not going to talk to anybody.” That’s at Year 10 that he was saying, stuff like that? So I’m not saying that Baker doesn’t have the right to do that. And I love Baker and trust me, he deserved more than he got. But I don’t want to be remiss of being like, “Look, man. We are so lucky and blessed to be where we’re at. And the grass is not always greener on the other side.” Hopefully I talk negotiations with the Cleveland Browns here in a year or two. Joel did set a nice precedent with two years left on his contract, so hopefully I can start talking this year.
If you want to put something out there, you can demand a raise right here.
Teller: They were saying Joel was so underpaid, and then he got one of the highest-paid guard spots. Now guards are making $22-$24 million. I did make that joke to Jimmy (Haslam). I said, “Jimmy, hey man, I’m getting close.” He said, “How old are you?” I said, “I’m 29, I turn 30 this year.” He goes, “Alright. Guards aren’t cheap anymore.” I said, “Nope. No, they’re not!” That’s not my problem.
The market’s the market.
Teller: I want everybody to get paid, right? I want guys to get paid because that helps me out. So I just feel like coming into a season where — make or break, I have to prove myself. It’s serious. And I don’t expect them to be like, “Wow, Wyatt. You’ve played 4,000 snaps for us. You deserve a contract with the Cleveland Browns to close out your (career). I want to stay in Cleveland. There’s no doubt about that. And how many guys have said that? You see what I’m saying? I want to be in northeast Ohio. I love the people. I love the fans, I love the hunting, the fishing. But I also love the team. I love the culture that we’ve built. Three playoff appearances since 1999 — 25 years. Three playoff appearances, and I’ve been a part of two. We’re so close. So I want to see nothing but success for the Browns. And even when if I don’t work for the Cleveland Browns ever again, I want to see them have success because I helped build that culture. I want to get paid. I’m not an idiot. You need to know your worth and I want to maximize my abilities and make money. But at the same time, it’s like, do I deserve that? I don’t know. It’s hard to wrap my head around. Maybe I’m the weirdo.
You mentioned Buffalo and, as you said, getting your “ass shipped out of Buffalo.” I think there’s a lot of people here in Western New York wondering what in the hell happened? How did the Bills let this guy leave the building?
Teller: Juan Castillo, he was the offensive line coach when I got there. And his thing was, “Hey, you’ve got 34-inch arms. You’re 6 foot 4 ½. You’ve got the size. You got the length. I’ll make you into a good player.” I think that he was a huge proponent of me, and I think that he still is. He still texts me. He’s an amazing guy. But I just think that they had another kid, Ike Boettger, who’s a really good player, but Ike had just come off an Achilles. I think he was supposed to go middle rounds, maybe late rounds, but he was supposed to get drafted. He didn’t. So they picked him up with me. Ike is a very smart player. I’m not a dumb player, but it takes me a second. I have to study. I have to work. Now after Year 6, it’s a little second nature. But at first I had to learn. I didn’t know what frickin’ “duo” was. No offense, but in college, they didn’t teach us anything. That man was at Iowa. That man knew offensive line play. So it took me a second to kind of mature and learn that aspect of it. But I think that they truly believed that Ike had a very high upside, ceiling, and that I was at my ceiling. So I think that they were making a business decision with, “Hey, we have an undrafted guy, same size, same length. Smarter than Wyatt. So why would we not use this as an advantage for the team?” And I think a lot of people are like, “Damn it, why did we get rid of Wyatt?”
With the offensive line struggles, I don’t watch the Bills all the time, but people tell me it has been tough to watch because it’s like, “Hey, we had a mainstay at right guard and we got rid of him.” Maybe they still get rid of people, but it’s like, “Hey, if we have an offensive lineman, we’re going to give him a year or two to really show us what he's got.” And I think that that kind of maybe taught them a lesson. And if anything, that’s a good thing. And I will say this: Brandon Beane and Coach McDermott, just absolute amazing guys. Mr. Pegula, just an amazing organization. I can’t speak highly enough about them. And even after the fact of being traded, Coach McDermott still reached out to me: “Hey man, thinking about you, praying for you, hope the best for you.” He didn’t have to do that, but it was just a different family. Plus, they send you in all those rookie meetings where they brainwash you into absolutely loving the city. But Buffalo was a pretty cool city. Now you can’t own guns up there, and I am a second amendment guy, but it was a special place. And now being in Northeast Ohio, I feel like it’s a blue-collar, rust-belt city. It’s just amazing. Sometimes when I drive down some of the roads here, I’ll just be like, “Am I in Buffalo?” It feels very similar. But now I’ve spent three times as long in Cleveland as I have in Buffalo.
You’ve got to be thinking at that moment, “How good am I?” You’ve got to rebuild your confidence. Where did you even start to rebuild yourself?
Teller: I will say this, that my girlfriend at the time, my wife now was an amazing backbone to that. She said: “Wyatt, you got traded. Not cut.” And I don’t think she even knows what she was talking about. She probably read it on Twitter or Instagram or something like that. But she was like, you got traded, not cut. You have a team that wants you. You got traded for more than you were worth. She was just amazing. She backed me up in every single way. I can’t say enough about it. But I will also say this: Four or five weeks after, maybe halfway through the season, they ended up trading who they got for their 33rd pick. Austin Corbett, who was an unbelievable player. And he’s actually won a Super Bowl since then, with the Rams. And Austin Corbett — I don’t know if he hates me or not — but I saw the writing on the wall that “We’re going with Wyatt. This is our guy.” And it did give me a little bit of confidence. Our GM, our head coach, Coach Kitchens, it was nice to be wanted. Now I don’t know how much they cared about me. If I didn’t play well, they were going to move. I think at the end of the year, Coach Kitchens ended up benching me halfway through the game because I let a TFL through, and Nick was on pace to being the leading rusher. So I don’t think he was very happy with me, but I think he got fired not very long after. But I love Coach Kitchens. That didn't get in my way of being like, “Coach just made an executive decision in the moment because he’s got a thousand things to do, a thousand things to think about, and took me out of the game. And then it turned into a passing fest.” And back then they said I was good at pass pro. Now it’s like, “Wyatt sucks at pass pro and he’s just a run blocker.” But I would like to say I’ve gotten better in both.
All those things, they kind of add up and it gave me hope. And then I remember Bill Callahan coming in. I still wasn’t very sure about it: Am I going to be the starter? There was a three-way competition at right guard between Drew Forbes, Colby Gossett, and me and Colby Gossett and and me and Colby Gossett trained together. So I knew how good Colby was. And Drew is one of the strongest men I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I’m pretty sure he could bull rush a cow. He’s frickin’ crazy strong. If a cow jumped on him, I’m pretty sure he could catch that thing and put it to the ground. But it was just one of those things where those guys opted out. I believe it was a God wink. Like, “Wyatt, I want you to be here. This where you need to be. Be content with where you’re at, but also strive to be the best at what you do so you can glorify my name.” So it was like, “Alright, hey, I have a three-way competition. Two guys opted out. And those two guys were the guys that I was competing against.” I guess I had started 16 games at that point. So I started the whole season over two years, but I had never been that Week 1 starter.
So I remember we're doing our four H’s, which is an icebreaker. History, heroes, heartbreaks, hopes. This was through Coach Stefanski. I also kind of felt bad because heartbreaks, I was hearing guys who had unbelievable, heartbreaking stories. I’m like, “I lost my grandfather. I’ve never really played in a championship game. I have nothing compared to you all.” I am so blessed. And even with the heartbreak of being traded, I don’t even think I thought about that because it was just like at that point I was a Brown. That’s sad, but I found a family. So then all of a sudden, my hopes. I remember saying my hopes are that I’m a Week 1 starter for the rest of my career. And it happened. And I remember even earlier in that year having meetings with Bill and Scotty Peters, who I absolutely love, great coach, technician, stud. He’s with the Patriots now. And I remember him being like, “Hey, what are your goals?” And we just kind of got on a tangent. And he’s kind of wired similar to me. He’s that MMA wired guy. And I get to the point where I’m like coaches had a lot of right guards that have been All Pros, Pro Bowl guys. Who says I can’t? And it really started with that confidence and that thought. And then I start practicing. I don’t think Coach (Callahan) thought I was going to be very good. I remember going into the game — and him sitting next to me the night before the game — and he was just like, “Look, man. Whatever happens tomorrow, it’s going to be OK. If I have to take you out in the second quarter, third quarter, it is going to be OK.” And I’m just thinking, “I’ve started 16 games in the NFL, Coach.” I’ve been here. Not Week 1, but I’ve been here.” And I just remember coming out. We get up absolutely obliterated by the Ravens. And I ended up having a good game and Bill started being like, “Wait, who the f--k is this guy?” And maybe that started his confidence with me a little bit more. I don’t know. I don’t think he ever had confidence in me, but it did kind of start with that a little bit. Maybe a minor bit of respect.
He’s hard on guys?
Teller: He’s very hard on guys. And he also came into a room where you have Jack Conklin, Joel Bitonio, we get our first-round draft pick with Jed. Starting center, JC Tretter, who’s Year 10 or 11 at that point, who’s a great player. And who’s the little pinky who doesn’t know who the hell he is or where the hell he’s been? So I think that Coach really focused on me because I had to make the most of gain. Jed had to make a lot of gain because he was a rookie. But Jed was a first rounder. I was a fifth-round draft pick who had been traded. So they didn’t really trust my… I think that he thinks I was a good player, but he was like, “How good can he be and how hard can I push him to see how far he can go?” So I’ll say this, I’m thankful for Bill Callahan, but he was a very difficult coach.
All offensive line coaches have something to them, right?
Teller: Offensive line coaches, you want someone who, no offense, is a little gritty. That’s the offensive line and Bill, who’s one of the most intelligent men I’ve ever met, he’s got some hardness to him. But he's also very kind. I will also say that there’s times where Bill is unbelievably kind. When we’re talking about family, unbelievably kind. He knows my son’s name. Has reached out multiple times. It’s also like, “Hey, when I was at my lowest coach, I think you kept on pushing when I was barely afloat.”
When was he really hard on you?
Teller: He’s been hard on me my entire career, and I’m thankful for it. But I remember five days after my son was born — sleeping in a hospital bed, and this might’ve been 2022, so I’d been going through injuries like a madman after playing every snap in 2021. So it was weird. Very weird year. I think I’d just been paid. My son was born December 19th and we were playing on the 24th. So five days later. I might’ve gotten one good night of sleep that entire week. One, I want to be there for my wife because when football’s all said and done, that’s the person that I am still going to be focused on. Football's going to be done. I’m not going to be worried about who the Mike linebacker is and what his tips and tells are, what the three technique does with his backside foot, how much weight he has on his hand and what that means. I’m not going to be thinking about that anymore. I’m going to be thinking about how I can keep my wife happy and not spending all our money. No, I’m kidding.
What’s the Starbucks order for Carly?
Teller: Black iced coffee with extra ice. Easy.
I just remember being up every couple hours, maybe getting three to four hours to sleep at night. I didn’t miss any days. But I mean, Bill knew this. He knew this very well. We go out Christmas Eve — negative-18 degrees. Right, wrong or indifferent, we can’t run the ball. So we start passing the ball. We start passing the ball in negative-18 degrees. Amari Cooper, unbelievable receiver, has absolute Stickum hands, he’s dropping the ball. His hands are frozen. It’s impossible. And plus, we’re trying to pass block when defensive linemen have to use their forearms, which is a little bit of a bigger piece of meat than your fingers trying to grab. So it is just getting into the problem. And I remember going into that meeting, and two weeks, three weeks prior, my calf, I think I had a minor strain. So I’m coming back off that. And I just remember him just being merciless. Just tearing me down and being like, “You’re not giving any effort. You’re not running after the plays. You’re not doing this. You look soft.” And it was just like, “Coach, coach, man. I’m with you, man. I want to play better, too. And I wish that we ran for 455 yards and you would’ve been happy. We would’ve won by 21 points. But that wasn’t the case. So why are we even pushing it more when I do nothing but work hard for you, Coach? I do everything I can for this team.” So I’m getting confused. I’m like, “Do I suck? Am I literally that lazy?” Because I take coaching very serious. If coach says, “Hey, you’re talking too much.” I shut the hell up. “Hey Wyatt, you’re not running hard enough.” Alright, run harder. “Hey Wyatt, you’re not getting length or your hips through the block.” I’m going to do that. That’s the coaching. And I think that it was very tough. After that season, Bill in our exit interviews was basically saying that I’m not a very good player. And I’m like, “Thank you coach, I appreciate you. Yes, sir.” I mean even after last year, I played 100 percent of the snaps. Actually I didn’t. Game 17, I was able to sit out for the first time in my career for a good reason, which was just an amazing feeling. So I played 98 percent of the snaps. Something like that.
So I played more snaps than any other offensive lineman or I think guard in the league. I think we were averaging like 75, 80 plays a game. And I played every game. So it’s naturally going to happen. And it was just going into that meeting. I’m like, “Alright Bill and I have come to a conversation. We’re going to communicate well.” And I know why he does this. He's playing chess, we’re playing checkers. But I will say this: Bill wanted me to work extremely hard in the offseason. And if he comes in saying, “You’re the GOAT, you’re the greatest of all time, you’re the man.” He’s afraid that I’m not going to work hard. So I get why. It did suck hearing it. “Wyatt do you see the stretch right here? You weren’t playing very well. This is going to get you out of the league. You need to do this and that.” And it's just like, “Yes sir. Yes sir, Coach” and him being like, “You just get wrecked and emotional in games. I’m like, “Yes, coach. I do get emotional in games, but I’m not throwing punches. I’m not spitting on people and I’m not throwing refs around.” I’m like, “Hey guys, do you see how this is crazy? We’re getting mugged out there.”
It's hard to win in Cleveland. Any team that hasn’t had a very high success of winning understands this. I don’t think that the refs are making bad calls for Cleveland, but I do believe that there is a part of a lot of our games are nitty-gritty run games. And remember in 2020, I don’t think they called a holding call ever — I’m pretty sure I tackled people. But they weren’t calling holding calls, so I had a great freakin’ year. And then all of a sudden they’re like “77, you hold like a MF’er. So we’re going to be on your butt.”
The mind games of Bill Callahan. He’s trying to maniacally manipulate and push guys to the edge. But did he really use the word “soft?” That’s a word you don’t hear often in football. That would’ve pissed me off a little bit after having a child and playing in that cold. I think it was like a 17-10 loss to the Saints.
Teller: And that’s what kills me. You’ve got a bunch of guys from New Orleans that play in 70 degrees every day. It’s negative 18. They’re going to crack — run the ball. We can do this, Coach. If it’s two yards, two yards, two yards. Well, guess what? In the fourth quarter it’s going to be 22 yards, 42 yards because they’re not used to the cold. I remember being frozen, putting my hands right here, looking over to Jack and Jack being like, “I’m so cold.” Just being like, “I’m f--king dying, bro.” And the defensive lineman being like, “Hey, you know what sucks? You all have to stay in this weather. I get to go home.” And me being like, “You son of a bitch.” It was tough. I’m never going to say that Coach doesn’t know what he’s doing. If I was better at calling the plays, I’d be the first offensive coordinator, quarterback’s right guard. I’m not. I’m right guard, so I’m going to focus on right guard. But there are times it’s like, “Come on coach, we can do this, man. You just got to have faith.” But it is hard if you have any TFLs or any bad games and you’re playing on a sheet of ice. It sucks.
I will say this: Bill Callahan would do all that shit to get the best out of me. So before I get remiss of being like, “He’s mean, he’s so mean!” No, f--k it. I’m a grown ass man. And he can speak to me how he wants. I came from a military household. If I spoke back to my Dad, he would whoop my ass. So I don’t speak back where some guys would be like, “No, coach, you’re being a f--king prick. Get off me.”
You’re not an emotionally sensitive dude. You hunt alligators. It’s just being a human being. You had a kid. It’s freezing.
Teller: I cried at the end of “Marley and Me.” So I guess I’m a little emotional. I feel like the emotions that I go through in a game, they’re keeping me aggressive. And if I try to suppress that, then I play not soft, but I just play timid and I can’t play timid. I’ve got to be a frickin’ predator missile. I’ve got to run out there and not be afraid that I’m going to hit someone hard and hopefully put ‘em on a highlight tape. But that’s what you want. You’ve got to play full speed. So I do understand maybe he got me into that angry position, but I also believe that “Coach, when things are getting down, when things are tough, and if I’m barely afloat, you can see that, don’t push on the top of my head to see how much more I got.” But that also being said, in frickin’ SEAL training, they’ll drown your ass. What are you going to do? Are you willing to die?
I didn’t really know much about that until reading David Goggins’ books.
Teller: Who’s going to carry the boats?!
Bill Callahan Goggins is off to the Tennessee Titans now. So you’ve got a new coach, which good and bad, I suppose. Maybe a fresh voice is a good thing.
Teller: Even when I was young, I didn’t know what I was expecting. And now that I’ve gotten older, I have a great relationship with our (current) offensive line coaches. I’m not remiss to know that the coaches in the offseason are not going to be the same in Week 12 after two losses. That’s going to be a very different team. I pray we don’t lose any games. But I’m just saying the reality of it is, you go through ups and you go through downs. And a coach is harder when it’s hard. A coach is tougher when it’s hard. But I’m just seeing an open sense of communication with Andy (Dickerson) and Roy, and it’s a season that I’m actually excited for. I’m actually excited. And usually it was like, “I got to go spend 30 days with Bill and then five days every week being told that, not that you suck, but hey, ‘you’re not doing it right. You got to work harder.’” But that also being said, that made me a hell of a good player.
So I’m not taking everything Bill taught me away from him, but there is stuff: the work, the meticulous understanding of the game. Bill is arguably the best offensive line coach in the league. In history. But I’m really thankful to have a coach that has open conversations, has open reasonings. If I don’t like something, I’m not afraid to — well, I’ve never been afraid to ask a question — but I can be like, “Hey coach, what are we doing here? Got it.” Where if I spoke up in front of Bill, he’d be like, “Are you dumb?” “No, no, I’m not dumb coach! I’m just asking a question!” But no, it’s nice having that open form of communication. I even feel that last year, halfway through the season, I was able to speak candidly to Bill even on the sidelines. And because sometimes when he is on a rant, if you say something, it’s only going to make it worse. So don’t say anything. “Yes sir. I got you, coach. However you want it. I got it.” But there was times where I was like, “Hey, Bill, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” And we were able to communicate and he was talking to me and I thought it was great, and I wish nothing but the best for him.
I am just picturing the scene there, breaking film down after that Christmas Eve game if Wyatt speaks something up and says, “Bill! What the hell, man, I just had a baby. The beds in the hospital rooms are not comfortable. I couldn’t get in the right position.” If you’re breaking it down, I wonder what would’ve happened.
Teller: It would not have been good.
A pencil to the head.
Teller: Yeah, he would’ve been like, “Hey…” Vroom! (Pretends to throw pencil.) Honestly, there’s players that you get yelled at and you shut down and there’s players that you yell at and they get mad and they play better. It sucks that I responded to the latter.
We see the way you play, it’s beautifully belligerent. You play angry and now people are getting a sense for your personality here. You’re such a gregarious, fun dude to talk to off the field. And we got a story up on David Long Jr. This is somebody who plays with your same anger at that position. Taking people out.
Teller: Souls.
He is as old-school Dick Butkus as it gets. But as he kind of broke down, there’s a reason for that. Everybody around him is dying and he has become extremely angry and brings that anger to the football field. He’s just now kind of figuring out how to balance that all. You said earlier that you haven’t had a lot of heartbreak in your life, so how do you get to that place? How do you get to that place of just pure, raw anger as you turn that corner and you’ve got an Alex Anzalone in your scope?
Teller: I don’t think that there’s ever been anger. My thing is I’m never trying to start a fight, spit, yell, scream, be an asshole, call people names, call people all this stuff. I’ll never do that. And I’m not lying just to say that. You’ve seen me Mic’d up. I don’t do that. I stay quiet. And if I do say something, it’s usually a joke or something like that. Or conversation. My thing is, I don’t want anybody to get hurt. I don’t want to f--king take bread out of your kids’ mouths. I want to play you at your best and win my reps so that you know you got beat. That’s it. Man to man. For example, I was talking about Anzalone. I got him. Two plays later, he got me. We were laughing about it because that’s the game. That’s the brotherhood. I’m not trying to hurt him. I’m not trying to just blatantly embarrass him, but I want him to know — it is that enforcer mentality that I don’t need you to hate me.
I remember I played Fletcher Cox. He hates me. And for good reason. The first play of the game, Bill’s like, “Cut his ass Cut him. Get in his head.” Alright, great. I remember I cut him, he didn’t even yell at me yet. He didn’t even get mad. He looks straight over to the sideline and says, “F--k you, Bill!” All this different stuff because they’ve played against each other when he was in DC and Fletcher’s been with the Eagles. So since then, now Fletcher hates my guts. The entire game, he’s trying to push me over piles. All this different stuff. And it just didn’t end well. I’ve never really had that relationship with any other player I’ve ever played with. Even Madubuike, who’s an unbelievable tackle for the Ravens. I don’t think he likes me very much, but if someone’s going to go into his knee, I’m not going to push him into someone’s knee. That is insane. I don’t want anybody to get hurt that my hands are touching. If it happens, it happens. I remember I had a guy, we were playing in Cowboys in 2020 and last name (Trysten) Hill. Pretty good D-tackle. He was a little bit of a dirtbag and hit people late. But I ended up playing football with him years later. And I actually really liked the guy, but he played with that little edge and that chip on his shoulder. And it wasn’t until that we got to become teammates that we kind of were like, “Alright, we’re cool, dude.” But during film, he was hitting people late, hitting people low. If you threw him, he would try to lean into people. Regardless, I was running him past the pocket, and I don’t think he meant to do this, but I kind of pushed down at the last second to turn back and he fell into Nick Chubb’s knee or an ankle or something like that, and hurt him. I was like visibly distraught after that. I was like, “Dude, I just got the next Jim Brown hurt! Because I’m being a dumb ass and I’m trying to push someone at the end of the play.”
In the playoff game this past season, I’m picking my guy up, throwing him to the ground and he runs into Joel’s knee. Luckily, Joel is as tough as it frickin’ gets and can play through it, but I’m like, “Joel, I’m so frickin’ sorry.” I don’t want anybody to get hurt, but that’s the name of the game. If someone were to fall on my knee, I would never yell, “You piece of…” The fact that we all get up after a play is crazy in the first place. A frickin’ explosion, an atomic bomb goes off, and then 22 guys get up. It’s unbelievable. It’s unbelievable.
Sixty-plus times a game.
Teller: And that’s on the lower end. We did it like 75 plays a game.
Trysten Hill would’ve been that player.
Teller: He’s actually a pretty good dude. And it wasn’t until we became teammates that I was like, “I like you, man.” You’re funny, dude.” He played with that edge, he played with that chip. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. I’m not going to be talking smack to you. There’s times where if you're going to talk smack, I’m not going to back down. I’m not a little punk, but I’m not going to be like, “Screw you man. You bitch!”
Somehow you get to that place, though, whether it’s Bill’s voice echoing in your ear or it’s just the competitiveness of pro football.
Teller: Competitiveness. I hate to f--king lose. That’s what it is. I don’t want to lose. If it’s a man vs. man sport where I have to use my hands in a certain area and he can put his hands in my face, around my eyes, scratch, gouge me out, but I can’t do anything? I think that’s advantage him. So if I beat him? If I embarrass him? I played D-line. I wasn’t very good. I wouldn't sniff the frickin’ cleats of any of the guys in the NFL, but the best part was like, “Dude, pop his hand down, move right past him.” Now it’s like, “Dude, if I got picked up and moved against my will from an offensive lineman who did it legally?” Damn, that’s a good ass player.
What’s something that happened in the trenches that you're most proud of? That you’ll tell those kids about one day?
Teller: Hopefully that there’s enough film going around that people see it. But even last year against Germaine Pratt, who’s an unbelievable inside linebacker, who was a really good frickin’ player. I played against him a lot. I got a really good handle, got a good hand, and I was just running, and it was either I put you in the end zone or you fall right here. And he was like, “Yo, get the off me and just quit it.” That play right there. The Honey Badger play where I’m running out. I didn’t know he said this, but me smiling at him, he’s like, “Oh, tackle for loss.” And I’m smiling at him, like, “Bro, you and I both know what just happened.” And he taps me on the helmet. That’s that brotherhood.
That's what I frickin’ thrive for when it’s all said and done. That’s the shit that you write home about. The people that hate you, the people that talk crap, all that stuff, I’m going to forget that. It’s hard for me to even bring it up. It took me to 2020 to talk about the people that hate me. … If anything, I might be like, “Hey, how’s your walk with Christ?” if I see the little cross pads in his pants, I’ll be like, “You’re a follower of Christ?” I think I was talking to one of the D-tackles from the Houston Texans, and it was in the playoff game. He had these cross things and I think he had a cross paint on his eye black. And I was like, “You like Jesus?”
One thing for Andrew Luck to talk like that to opponents, but you are on the line of scrimmage bashing into these guys every single play, so that’s impressive.
Teller: And I’m going to do it full speed and I’m going to try to put you on the ground so I can move to the next player. It’s not that I want to embarrass you or hurt you. I want to do my job, move on and hit the next guy so we can score. There’s some guys that in their mind it’s like — I don’t know what they think of me — they maybe think that if they hate Donald Trump, they may be like “That’s Donald Trump.” I don’t know. But if they hate someone or if they just truly just can’t stand someone, they have to envision that to play me. I am not doing that to play you, man. I’m watching your technique. I’m watching your fundamentals. I’m just trying to win my rep. And if I get to pancake you and move on to the next guy, then I got a double plus.
There’s a little trickeration that works to your advantage. George Kittle said he jokes around with D-tackles and D-linemen. Even Aaron Donald. He tries to have fun between plays to almost kind of disarm you. It kind of takes you to a different level, if you’re always on and always wanting to destroy and obliterate and kill. He jokes around, gets somebody to lighten up — or maybe just gets them to think for a split-second — “Who the hell is this guy making a joke about the hot dog vendor?” And then he can turn it on. He flips a switch and he is one of the best run blocking tight ends ever.
Teller: Exactly. And I’m not trying to lull a guy to sleep. My thing is, it’s like “Bro, you are faster. You’re stronger than me.” If I was fast and I was strong, I’d still be playing D-tackle. I’m not. I moved to offensive line because I wasn’t fast and strong. Now, when I did move to offensive line, I realized that I was athletic for an offensive lineman, but I was very unathletic for a defensive lineman.
This is at Virginia Tech, too. The college level, D-I.
Teller: And I remember I was finishing last in all my drills on D-line and then all of a sudden I moved to offensive line and I was also 260 or 265, so I was kind of light, but I was still finishing all my drills and it was easy because it’s a different thing. And I know that offensive linemen are crazy athletic and freaks. Look at Trent Williams. But I’m just saying that on average, a D-tackle is way more powerful. They create way more force. Now, I know that offensive linemen are not the exact same as they used to be. It’s not some 400-pound guy that just gets in the way. No, there’s athletic — Chris Lindstrom is just a crazy athletic player. But yeah, D-tackles and D-ends are way more athletic than us. But we have to block them every play. And what’s crazy is they just have to be right once a game. If they are right once a game and they get 16 sacks, they are the best defensive tackle in the entire league. If I give up 16 sacks, if I give up one play a game — just mess up — I’m fired. Now, I will say fast twitch vs. low twitch. There’s 12 guys on defensive line just being rotated and you’re like, “Oh, great.”
They’re playing 40, 50 snaps tops and they’re fresher. You’re out there the entire 70.
Teller: That being said, I wouldn’t have any other way. It’s a faceless, nameless job. But at the same time, I love my job.
Who would be the best D-tackle that you’ve faced?
Teller: Chris Jones. He is one of the freakier players I’ve ever played against. He wants you to punch him in his chest. The best pass rushers can move their body — their upper body is moving and rotating while their lower body is still moving towards the quarterback. So what he does is he’s moving towards you. You punch him. He grabs both your hands with the force of Zeus, lifts you up, moves you to the side and gets the quarterback. It is one of the scariest, childlike feelings in the world. Yeah, and I will say this, we play unbelievable D-tackles every day at work. I’m not going to be that cliché. But even in our division, unbelievable. And not only that, a seven-headed monster. You can’t be right against half the Ravens’ fronts because they’re so good. They’re coached well. They’re good players. We have to play ‘em twice a year and most guys don’t even get to play them? This past year, I played Aaron Donald. Thank God, he retired. He was one of the strongest men I’ve ever blocked. He literally grabbed me with two fingers and a thumb on my jersey, and I might’ve been 310, 315. He picks me up and moves me. I’m like, “What the f--k?”
With three fingers?
Teller: I don’t even think he had a whole hand on me. He just moved two fingers and I was like, “God, this guy is crazy.” And he’s so fast. Then again, his trainer literally throws knives at him. And I don’t care if it’s trained or planned or anything like that. It’s life or death to him. He is crazy good. So I know that other guys go against really good tackles all the time too. I don’t know if there’s a lot of bad tackles in the league. I always say this when people talk about the speed from college to NFL. In college, you go against three to four really, really dynamic talented difference makers. I know SEC has lots of talent, but ACC had lots of talent. I’d go against good guys who are still playing the league. Clemson, every single one of them are still playing. But with the NFL, you're going against three or four guys at left D-tackle that are just crazy freakin’ talented that are just as good as the next one. They just haven’t gelled their pass rush moves. Very rarely do you go against a no-talent guy because you wouldn’t be playing in the league. It’s the best of the best of the best of the best.
Asking Olin Kreutz that, he played in a different time. He brings up Ted Washington. You think of Ted Washington and he’s like 400 pounds, and he thinks that he be in the Hall of Fame. He didn’t have the numbers. He’s not rushing the passer, but he would just clog up two, three bodies at a time. But the aesthetic of the D-tackle has changed. The Gilbert Browns and the Ted Washingtons have now become the Chris Jones and the Aaron Donalds and can just flat-out embarrass you in front of a national audience at any moment. That could be a terrifying existence for you or anybody trying to block them.
Teller: And like I said, they have to be right one or two times. If they get right three or four or five times, maybe it’s on a pass play where they really beat you. And if you do that consistently, you’re out. And it’s very different. So we’re less athletic. Not all of us, maybe me. Less athletic. I know there are some really strong offensive linemen, but I mean defensive linemen are… three techs are crazy powerful. That’s by design. You want to close that edge and guards are usually pretty strong. But I still believe that if a D-tackle really wants to train, a D-tackle is going to be stronger. For example, I just saw some kid at Virginia Tech squat 700 pounds for 10 or maybe 600 for 10, I don't know. Ridiculous. For 10 reps. I couldn’t sniff that. I think my max back squat was 700. So they have the potential of just being ridiculous. We’re slower. We’re not as strong. And we have to be right every single time. It f--king sucks. But also, I love my job. It’s amazing.
You’ve got to have something different to you as Wyatt Teller. If you could really put yourself under that microscope, why are you one of the best linemen in the NFL? What do you have that has gotten you to this point?
Teller: Good question. I always think about that. There’s a lot of talented guys that I watch and, for example, when I think of Joel, I think of it’s easy, it’s quick. He’s crazy fast. He’s crazy smart. His feet are unbelievable. And if I had to say anything through asking D-tackles what’s my strengths and weaknesses, I guess grip. I am strong. I have pretty good leverage, but it’s also like a craftiness. I remember a couple players were talking about, I’m trying to just pull a little bit or push a little bit and see how your balance is and see how your core is to see, “Alright, boom!” I didn’t really wrestle that long. I think I quit wrestling in sixth or seventh grade. But it’s that little feel, that push-pull. Kind of what a defensive lineman’s doing to us. I guess that maybe comes from that aggressive defensive lineman mindset.
What has been the best part about being a Dad?
Teller: Seeing him grow and seeing him start to put things together. And he was in here sitting on my lap while I was playing “Fallout.” Probably not the best game for him to be watching, but it was just for a minute. And he’s sitting on my lap and he gets down and he grabs this little thing, this little angel thing. He got it up, pulled it over here and I was like, “Brooks, be careful buddy. Got to put that back. Put it how you found it.” And he literally walks over there, puts it right where he found it, walks away. I said, “He’s the smartest to ever live! I’m the greatest father of all time!”
You’re also a huge Zach Bryan fan. Have you unleashed little Zach Bryan in the household? Some dance parties going for Brooks?
Teller: I’ll play country. I don’t even know if he knows it’s music, but whenever something with a little beat or something like that gets on, he just starts bouncing. It’s like, “Yeah, that’s my boy. Horrible dance moves. That's my boy.”
Thank you for sharing Go Long with a friend.
Icymi, our profile of Wyatt Teller in 2021:
Wyatt Teller is why we love football
This was great - thanks for posting the transcript!