It was refreshing to see someone who says they're going to work hard and know that they mean it, and then be rewarded for backing it up with a show of good faith from the Commanders organization.
That was JP Finlay's takeaway from Terry McLaurin's press conference to announce his new $70 million contract on Wednesday.
"I've heard a lot of people talk," Finlay said on 106.7 The Fan's 'BMitch & Finlay.' "I've been to a lot of press conferences, heard a lot of athletes over the years talk about lots of things. But with Terry, I personally know that it's all sincere, that it's all real, that he is going to put the required work in, and this is just a step in the journey. And it's so refreshing to hear that and to know that it's real."
"It's true," Brian Mitchell said. "I think the thing about Terry is he's the same all the time, and I think that's the one thing that I think a lot of people can take away from him. He doesn't change whether he's up or down. He's giving an interview after signing a contract like that, or after a tough game. He's always sincere. He thinks about what he's saying. A lot of people, they are wishy washy. They're fake. They talk it when they're in front of the camera and once they leave the camera, they begin to go back to that lazy ass that they were before. He has never been that way and I don't think ever will be."
"Rivera spoke with the media after the presser and he was explaining, I'd say accurately, that McLaurin was a signing the organization had to get done," Finlay said. "He called it an 'organizational signing,' and that it showed everybody — it showed players, it showed coaches, it showed business partners and sponsors that this team means business and is doing things the right way."
"If they don't sign him, there ain't much you can believe they say anymore after that," BMitch quipped.
"So I'm standing there and I'm standing next to Terry as he's listening to Ron say these things, and I kind of just whispered to him: 'What does it feel like to be an organizational keystone, an organizational cornerstone, of a $5 billion organization? Like they need you,'" Finlay shared. "And he just looked at me and you could see the emotion in his face. He's like, 'Man, I'm just a kid from Indianapolis. I just always worked hard.' And it's just, it's so real with that dude."
"But see, that's what they need. They need a kid from Indianapolis. They need a kid with a work mindset," BMitch said. "Because you know how many kids we had come through here from different parts of this country, that all they cared about was the fact that they were on the team and the money they were making, and they just ran around town with their chest poked out while they were losing games and didn't give a damn about anything?
"That's a young man who works hard, who, in a game where he has a fantastic game, he remembers the one pass that he drops. He can go out there and have a fantastic game... if they lose the game, he's not even happy. See, they need somebody like that at that position where he's at to begin to change the mindset."
"We can listen to coaches, GMs, they can say whatever the hell they want to say," he said. "Until you have the right soldiers inside that damn locker room, those guys are not gonna listen. Because the coach can pull you into his office and tell you a lot of stuff, and once you walk out of his office you're like 'yeah, whatever.' If you go back in that locker room and if there's nobody that's keeping the same mindset going that the coach just told you, it's a waste of time."
"Every time Terry speaks, you learn something," Finlay went on to say, "and I thought today was a lot more about Terry the human who has to continue to push forward to make this thing work and I thought it was really impressive."
