Zyon McCollum on Victory vs. Packers, Praises Antoine Winfield Jr. | Bucs Total Access

Team Reporter Casey Phillips is joined by Cornerback Zyon McCollum on the weekly radio show.

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Welcome into Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by Hooters and we are coming to you live from the Hooters ow Nest Casey Phillips joined by DB Zion McCullum Zion thanks so much for being with us thank you for having me I’m happy to be here yeah you you drew a

Great game to get to come on here to talk about man I mean what a fun win and just a huge win in terms of what it means for the season but then I mean December and then Lambo and in the fashion you guys did I just imagine

That’s like every kid’s kind of dream in so many ways of of going in and doing something like that what did that feel like for you guys as a team and and the significance of it exhilarating to say it in one word but I mean just to see

Everything coming together at the right time and Coach BS preach us all through training camp you know we’ll see who we really are when December football starts and for us to be three on a three- game win streak right now in the middle of December I mean it feels exhilarating

Yeah then what do you think that says about this team why do you think it is that at this point in December that’s what you talk about when like you said you want to be playing your best football what does it say about this team that you guys have been able to

Figure it out and and what does it feel like in the midst of it of why now is when everything is kind of coming together I mean we just show up to work and you know we put our heads down and we just take one step at a time and even

When it feels like we’re taking steps backwards I mean the leadership on this team the coaching staff on this team you know we get back to just doing what we do it’s always about us never about the opponent and whether it’s fundamentals or or mental aspect you know we just

Keep working at the little things I know that um especially just for you guys defensively there’s there’s been a lot of changes a lot of for you you know you’ve had to step in in these really big moments you know when you weren’t maybe considered a starter at the the

First part of the season and then you’ve had to become one now I mean um for you how do you evaluate you know your game how about just this this Sunday to start with I feel good out there I mean I feel really really comfortable and for me it

Was just gaining the trust of the coaches and the players around me you know just being able to do things consistently over and over in practice in the film room and then obviously on Sundays and so I feel like I’m finally gaining the trust of everybody which

Makes me feel like I have a we lifted off my shoulders and I can kind of just play a little bit Freer out there of course you know I’m still searching for that perfect perfect game as I’m sure I will be for my entire career but uh

There’s things that I can work on every time I’m really really hard on myself and my brother he’s really hard on me too he calls me after every game I thought you were going to say he was hard on himself too but no he’s hard on

You we’re hard on each other and every time I talk to him the first thing he’s telling me is like oh man you lost leverage on that one play oh man he slipped away from you on that one and he’s just telling me tips that he sees

Cuz I mean we think really similar so when he’s telling me stuff it’s kind of like I’m telling myself things and so because of that you know it just makes me want to work even harder to perfect everything that is imperfect I like that how about um you know last week’s game

Was so big in terms of the Atlanta game of it it was essentially a playoff game in so many ways of what it meant for the standings in the NFC South and your chances at playoffs was there any concern about how intense that game was

And how big it meant to lose some of that intensity or Vibes afterward you know what was it like to be able to try to focus on keeping that for this week and and what do you think it was that let you guys not kind of have a bit of a

Let down after that one I mean every game from this point on to to me and for this entire team is like a playoff game and you know you can get caught up on big wins and big losses and but we always talk about it not creating a

Domino effect and spilling on to the next week and you know something that I live by I treat the highs just like I treat the lows you know whether it’s a bad game I treat it no different than if it’s a really good game you got to come

Back to that Center and just keep working and keep working and keep chipping away and I feel like this team did a really good job of that just having fun for one I mean you got guys running out there and 40° with no shirts on it’s drizzling everybody’s screaming

And we just like to bring this type of energy that just goes to show that even it’s December late December we still have energy as if we’re just starting OTAs were you one of the people running out with no shirt on I wasn’t I I thought about it really but I was like

You know what maybe I should keep my muscles a little bit warmer yeah there’s the mental side of trying to prove you’re okay and then the tangible side of like maybe I should be warm exactly I definitely thought about it but I was like yeah no we’re not going to we’re

Not going to be that tough guy I like it uh how about man you talked about the the leadership on this team and we do this show every week and we joke about how we feel like we should just have an Anton Winfield Jr segment every week on

This show to talk about him um so now this game you know led the team in tackles a 10 he got his career-high fifth Force fumble of the season so now he and TJ wat the only players since Antoine came into the league that have at least 10 Force fumbles and takeaways

Um why is he so good at that in particular whether it’s the force fumbles the takeaways that part of his game what do you see out there he’s different and I mean he’s somebody who I came into the league and just seeing him my rookie year I mean I look up to

Players like that and I aspire to you know be at that level in my career and he just has a calm aura about him to where he’s just a true professional when he’s in the building you know he can have fun he can laugh around he can talk

About things outside of football but when it comes down to football there’s like a switch and he just goes into that that mode and you know he’s so consistent and it’s something that I strive for and when it comes to consistency at just being great all the

Time whether it’s practice or in the meeting rooms or on game day I mean there’s no change there’s no shift and everything’s always the same and he’s always locked in and I mean he’s just a really headyy football player he he knows how to make plays and he’s really

Really fun to play with you know whether we’re working together if I know that I got him next to me and I we’re communicating we’re on the same page and it almost feels like there’s nothing an offense can do we’re talking to Z mullum I was thinking about that of what that

Means to have someone like him on the field behind you and just what it means to the rest of the DBS in the corners you kind of talked about that of just the way that how can he influence the way maybe that you feel like you can

Play out there I mean it all comes down to trust and when I’m on the field and I know that I can trust my players and my my teammates and my teammates can trust me then we can really take chances and we can really you know do things that BS

Is looking for out of the defense and so when I’m in man coverage and I know I got Antoine over the top of me I know that I can take gamble I can be way more aggressive at the line of scrimmage because if I do slip up or something

Does happen I know that I’m protected that’s a big deal um and another person I feel like you’d probably say that about is lante David and um you know he got a half sack couple tackles for loss nine tackles pressures um and then this stat is amazing he now has 10 years of

100 or more tackles which is the most since the third most since 2000 and he’s trailing only London Fletcher and Bobby Wagner in that category um fourth career season with 100 plus tackles 15 plus tackles for loss no other player has more than two of those since they

Regularly started tracking them in 2006 like it’s you could just do these stats forever for him um what is it like to play alongside a guy like that and to have him to learn with and just just even watch as as almost a football fan he’s such an incredible leader and like

I mean the best quote I can think of from Ronda Barber your best ability is your availability I mean he’s available whenever you need him whenever he goes down he works so hard to get back and he’s just a different type of leader on the sideline and the Huddle he calms

Everybody down and even when we’re up and we’re feeling ourselves you know he’s always the type of player to be like we got to go out there again we got to keep going keep going keep your foot on their necks you know stay consistent stay with your mind focused on the end

Goal and having somebody like that he just grounds everybody it keeps everybody calm so that we can just attack and stay on attack mode and KJ Brit uh stepping into a bunch much bigger role these last few weeks um what have you seen from him both in terms of

Practice and and what let him be ready when his number was called I think he’s been waiting for like this moment to just Blossom and to really show his leadership uh qualities as well because he’s a superb leader as well vocally and you can tell that he really really cares

A ton you know he watches his extra film and he he’s in the meeting room talking everybody trying to get everybody lined up and everybody right and it seems like he wants to know everybody’s job so that he can just be able to just make sure

That the entire defense is on the same page and it was fun like even last year running with him me and him we had like our own like handshake dynamic duo on special teams and so to see him like finally be able to get his opportunity

At linebacker and to just take it by the head and just keep going like it’s incredible and I’m super happy for him that’s great I’ve also heard he’s one of the bigger trash talkers on the team is that fair oh yeah big time I mean he’s definitely the loudest in the locker

Room for sure I mean you can’t go in the locker room and not hear his voice like that’s great where are you on the team in that do you ever trash talk sometimes I mean more more than not I talk to myself and a lot of times if I

If I’m on the field or anything and I do some trash talking it’s to fans like to opposing fans or or I’ll look at you know other opposing Team Sidelines and just kind of I just get energy from all that not too much talking to the other

Players yeah that’s smart the fans can’t really do anything to you in the game as compared to like you know doing it to a player I think this is a wise move um so offensively the game obviously we got to talk about Baker’s game first of all I

Mean he just did so many incredible things season High 381 yards uh he almost got his career high in yards four touchdowns perfect passer rating which he is the first visiting quarterback ever to get that at Lambo um just his fourth career 300 yard three plus

Touchdown game of his career what was it like watching him out there and even just maybe what that did for the defense to see a performance like that Baker baked he did his thing I mean it’s so it gives us so much confidence as a defense

When you just look out there and it’s third and four third and seven third and two and I have 100% confidence that we’re going to pick up this first down and Lambo is not an easy place to play at that was my first time playing there and I definitely want to play there

Again because the atmosphere is incredible I mean they had every seat packed and it was loud but there was no no flinching no blinking from anybody especially not Baker and he just seemed like he was on a roll and when Baker’s on a roll and everything’s clicking I

Mean that’s a dangerous man that’s awesome and what has it been like just having him join the team this year what does he bring attitude wise leadership wise and and again even the way that it can affect both sides of the ball he keeps things fun for sure and I mean

When it’s time to get serious then he gets serious and he’s locked in but at the same time he just has this easeful you know Jolly just Joy about him where you can tell that he really loves the game and he really cares and want want

To get better he wants to spread the ball around he wants to run opposing linebackers over I mean he wants to do everything and I think having a team guy like that is just the perfect for the position he plays what’s he like to go against in practice he’s a trash talker

Too in Camp especially I mean it’s super fun he’s so competitive it doesn’t matter you know whether it’s a scout team or whether it’s ones versus ones like he has that same competitive fire and everything that he does and so it’s fun going against that in practice

Because you know that you’re to get the best of him every day and then Mike Evans 11th touchdown catch of the Season he ties grank and Devonte Adams for the 12th most in NFL history why is he so tough to defend particularly in the end zone as someone who’s I’m sure tried to

Do it a few times in practice well I mean for one he’s 6’5 a true 6’5 I mean he’s super tall and I’ve been looking up to Mike since high school days and when he went to the league I mean I was in high school that’s all they ever talked

About you know he was kind of set the pave the way for for my generation and so I mean I’ve been seeing him do it forever and I mean a lot of people I don’t know if they know this he was a two-way athlete in high school I he had

Offers to play basketball at A&M and football to play at A&M and he just ended up loving football more and so he can has the jumping ability and he just when he’s in the end zone he just feels like he can just dunk on anybody and I’d

Say his mindset is the most powerful of anything of all his physical traits you know uh he has his mind made up that when the ball’s in the air belongs to him and so he’s just going to go up there and get it that’s crazy and yeah

So for people who didn’t know you went to the same high school as Mike so do you did you go watch him play when you were like when he was in high school when you were a kid no uh when so I moved to gston and I was in Middle

School but by the time I had gotten up uh to high school and everything he was already at A&M and so we just heard the stories and then we watched the film over him and he’s such a positive influence on the community there he comes back as much times as he can to

The high school he played in The Faculty versus student game uh basketball dunan on high school yeah that sounds so unfair so unfair but that’s M like he’s competitive too and he wants to be the great at great at everything and all those kids look up to him and so

Whenever he’s in the hallways around it just gives the entire school just hope that you know no matter what they’re doing in life like if they just try their hardest and they can be just like Mike I love that just like Mike all right we’re going to take a quick break

Here here on Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by Hooters the original Wing joint since 1983 this is Buccaneers radio welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by Hooters we are coming to you from the Hooters owl Nest Casey Phillips long side cornerback Zion

McCollum so Zion I mean we were just talking about Mike um Chris Godwin another one that we just I’m sure going against in practice has been a wild experience of having these two guys for you to practice against but he gets 10 catches 155 yards season highs for both

He had 108 yards in the first half alone which is wild so tell us about his skill set the challenges of covering him and and what he can bring to the team he’s such a smart football player and he’s not the fastest I mean he’s definitely strong so from a corner perspective like

Me who has you know speed and I feel like I can stick and stay glued to him it’s just so weird covering him sometimes because he’s such a good route Runner he doesn’t have to be fast or or quick to get open he just knows how to manipulate you know Defenders and find

The open spots and some probably the best hands I’ve ever been seen from anybody I’ve played with I mean his hands are so sure and he has so much confidence in his hands and when he has confidence in Baker baker has confidence in him and they’re connecting then a lot

Of good things can happen I’m sure it’s fun to watch him do that to other teams as compared to having to go against in practice most definitely um and then same thing we shot I mean man 89 yards rushing 50 receiving so he just keeps his streak going of the 100 plus yards

From scrimmage now he joined work done as the only players in team history with 1,000 plus rushing yards and 750 plus receiving yards over their first two career Seasons tell us how dangerous he’s become as a receiver and how unique that is as a running back to be able to

Do what he does out in space and and with his routes we always knew that he could run routes and he had crazy hands he’s always making the one-handed catches and the spectacular plays but we were just waiting for it to translate onto the field and I feel like just

Watching him I’m so proud of him because every game he just gets better and better and better and better and there’s no nothing that’s going to stop him I mean he’s so confident in the way that he talks you know you’ll never catch him on having a bad day because he just

Talks himself up and he’s just so confident and you need that from a playmaker especially to his caliber so I mean the sky’s the limit for him I was thinking about in this game Sunday knowing I was having you on the show how many people from your draft class were

Just making huge plays and so involved in the game I mean you had CO’s touchdown and Kade making a bunch of different plays Rashad having an amazing game Luc is in there and you and I mean it’s just like the your draft class has

Been asked to do so much so early is it really what is it like to watch them do that and then how is the chemistry important in terms of you guys all coming in together and having so many of you that have known each other since day

One exactly I mean from the first day we all you know sat down together and we’re like you know this group could be special and Duke uh he talked to all the rookies as he does every year and he just talked about how staying together and just grinding chipping away one step

At a time one day at a time and I feel like this group has really taken that message by the head like we just want to get better and better every day and whether it’s a bad day or a good day it doesn’t affect the mission that we have

To just continue to get better and that chemistry and that love that we have for one another to just you know we hype each other up we’re we’re our number one fans you know what I mean so just having that family kind of aspect about it just

Makes us want to compete at the highest level for one another you know I remember before the season started uh your cornerback coach Kevin Ross was asked about just you and and the group overall and he said he thought that you might be and should be the most improved

Guy on the whole team from last year to this year what do you think made him say that and then I I think it’s maybe fair to say that he was right would you agree with that sentiment at this point yeah sure why not why not not going to turn

Down a compliment definitely not and I mean he to he told me that day that he had that interview he came up to me before and he’s like I’m going to get interviewed later and I’m telling them that you’re going to be the best most improved buck and he was just that gave

Me a lot of confidence when he said that because again it was the whole I just wanted everybody to trust me and when he said that I knew that it was in that direction like they trusted me they just needed me to trust in myself and you

Know I feel better and better and it was a lot of mentally that I had to hurdles that I had to get over you know facing my rookie year and the ups and the downs and to finally be able to have an offseason to just reset and to just

Really get deep into the Playbook you know have those meetings with Coach Rock and have those meetings with Coach BS and just get better in the summer I feel like I just continue to get better and better and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon what do you remember as the

Big mental hurdles I think it’s been interesting that you’re watching guys like Tristan and everybody be open about the fact that like there’s there can be some anxiety there can be a lot of stuff that goes on in your mind when it comes to football and it’s been really cool to

See how open everybody’s been about that what do you remember as was it the actual ex’s and O mental part of the game was it a more confidence side of things what it for you was the the mental hurdles I think it was definitely a little bit of confidence which kind of

Just spilled off into a bunch of other things and I mean the pressure and just everything coming from a small school into this big stage and you know I didn’t really know too much what to think and you know out there on the field it just kind of felt a little

Surreal like at times last year I felt like I was just I was the fan that had the best seat in the house like on the field you know what I mean like I didn’t actually feel like I was playing football and so just getting out of that

And just focusing on just making plays trusting the people next to me and that’s what makes it fun and then when coaches you know have your back and you have your coach is back it just frees me to just be able to just fly around and

Just play the game how I want it to be played what do you think it is about the way you were playing that gave them that confidence to trust you and you know I think about how coach BS has said multiple times that he doesn’t think of

You as a starter only when there are injuries he still just thinks of you as a starter at this point that regardless of whether Carlton or Jamal are both available only one of them is available he’s like yeah Zion is up there as a starter caliber player what are the

Things that you think you’ve done that have made him say that I think just doing my job is what it completely boils down to I see myself as an intelligent player but sometimes I can be a double-edged sword in a way because it can cause me to overthink things or try

To compensate you know and help other people and really I just got to focus on helping myself and if everybody’s just doing their oneth then we’re moving as one unit and so I think just being able to just calm down focus on myself just do my job and let everybody else do

Their job allow them to see like that’s all they ever wanted and what does that look like in Bull’s system specifically what are the things that you get asked to do what does he expect of a corner in in your position and and what has that

Looked like to fit into what he is is wanting you to do I mean every play call that he calls has a set of jobs and you know I have to keep the same leverage and but at the end of the day he just wants us to make plays and be headyy

Football players to be able to see the quarterback and break when he’s throwing it re three step you know when if I got manto man keep your eyes on your man you know come in Phil run on the outside I mean he he asked a lot of of the corners

But to me it’s it’s not a lot to me it’s just football and so I enjoy to be uh asked to do a lot I like having a lot on my plate because I feel like I can handle it and so anytime anything they

Ask of me you know I just I ask you know how can I do that the best you know how can I F your needs the most because if we’re working together then he’s going to put me in positions to make plays and I’m G to make the plays that he puts me

In position for what do you like about having him as your defensive coordinator and head coach I mean he’s so smart and so intelligent but he also keeps it things fun and he he he seems like really really serious but he’s not serious all the time I mean it’s just his Aura and

Like how he is and so he makes the game fun at the same time you know he if you make a mistake then you can laugh about it and just get better just don’t let it happen twice then there won’t be any laugh then you’re in trouble and so I

Mean it makes me calm because like when we have meetings together he just makes the game so simple and so easy and so for somebody who overthinks and was over complicating things from the jump to go in a meeting and he just it’s as simple

As ABC one two three it’s like oh okay that makes it a lot easier we’re talking to Z mcallum um how about for you you talked about the going from a small school to the NFL what were the biggest adjustments the most challenging things about that honestly if I’m being honest the

First big adjustment that I saw was I couldn’t see over the o line and dline they were so much bigger and so it was so hard for me to see you know the running backs hitting gaps or even like the quarterbacks sometimes and so but no

The biggest jump was just the pressure I mean the fans I mean at Sam Houston we didn’t have you know the $80,000 crowds you know screaming roaring that you uh have in the NFL and so just being able to take everything in I mean it’s so much but being able to decompress and

Just breathe it away you know I’m blessed now that I was able to go through and see you know both sides of that experience were you always uh mainly football or how many other sports did you play growing up our mom wanted us to play everything and anything just

To kind of a act for everything so like in Middle School I mean it was everything it was tennis track basketball not so much baseball t-ball though uh football of course I mean it was so much we you know skateboarding you know surfing this golf I mean it was like so

Much things that we did and but football just we ended up falling in love with that the most and I’m glad that she did it like that because it really for one it caus us to be you know competitors you know and always compete in everything that we’re doing no matter

What sport or activity it is and then it also just added to our athleticism a little bit just being able to do so much things when you go out on the football field you just feel more natural out there yeah do you feel certain moments where you can tell that it’s almost

Because of those other sports that you’re able to do what you do definitely I think just the coachability and me I see myself as like a sponge so no matter what sport or activity that I’m doing like I want to be the best at it and so

Being able to do so much different things you know really young when it comes to football it’s like if I get asked to you know change a technique or to learn a different job or to do something else I think it comes a lot easier for me I was like asking if guys

Were naturally their sort of football size early or if they were more of the they had to grow late or work late to get to be uh the football size that you are and I think I saw that you were only like what 5’8 as a sophomore is that

Accurate I was so sure and I was skinny too I I remember me and Tristan uh my twin brother we were in the weight room and we were like if football’s going to work out then we probably should start hitting the weights a little bit and we

Could only do it was a 45lb bar and we only could do 25s on each side oh no and we were like dude we are so weak right now but we’re like we got to start somewhere we got to start somewhere and so we just put our head down and just

Got to work and we knew that because we were short our mom always told us just because you’re short I mean you’re going to have an advantage because you’re going to work that much harder to be faster and quicker and when we got our height uh late in high school I mean

That same worth ethic stuck with us so it caused us to just continue to work as if we’re at a disadvantage even though finally we were blessed to have an advantage so how much did you grow by the end of high school I we had grown up to about 61 61

And a half so you grew five or six inches yeah my back I have stretch marks on my back from going so fast we both do it just happen and our mom always told us you know your dad’s side late bloomers everybody on my dad’s side is

Really tall my uncle’s 68 my dad was 66 her my grandpa is 6’5 like they’re all really really tall so we knew that we just had to be it was in there somewhere it was in there somewhere and your dad played for the Bulls is that right yep

He did he got drafted by the Atlanta Hawks and traded to the Bulls played there for a couple years and then went over to Europe and played in the Israeli league for ever and yeah I’m pretty sure he’s a legend over Legend that’s awesome I love that uh and

He only he just barely missed Jordan right with the bulls barely just by you just devastated at realizing this of like my Dad could have known my when I was old enough to realize that he played for that Bulls team that’s the first thing I asked I was like how was Jordan

When was Jordan man son bully uh I was one year off one year off so close did you idolize your dad as a kid knowing he’ played in the NBA played overseas or or was it just your dad and you didn’t even realize till later I

Didn’t realize too much I mean if there was one person that idolized it was my mom just cuz she was so much did so much for us and she I mean I credited her our development you know mentally uh everything to her because she was a teacher and she was always

Really really hard on us I mean we got grounded if we had 89 like we had to have all a wow and when she grounded us she took away all of our Electronics so all we could do is go outside and pass the football do something like that but

Seeing my dad play at that you know level and coming from a really really small town uh Kingsville Arkansas and what he blew up to I knew that I had it in me to get to this level and so it let me know that you know what I thought was

Impossible wasn’t that’s awesome all right we’re going to take another quick break here on Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by Hooters the original Wing joint since 1983 this is Buccaneers radio welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access is brought to you by Hooters coming to you from the Hooters Al Nest

Casey Phillips here with cornerback Zion McCollum so we talked about how you played a Million other sports but when you played football was Corner always the position or what all have you played in football so actually with the position that I wanted to play growing up with

Safety and my brother who played Safety wanted to play corner but funny story in High School freshman year when they line you up and you’re like get in your positions of what you want to play I went with the safeties he went with the corners and we had the that whole

Practice and then the next day when the coaches were grabbing everybody to see you know who had made what position they switched us up they got us mixed up so I went with the corners and he went with the safeties but it was supposed to be

The other way around and then it just stuck and I was like you know what the Corner’s not too bad this is hilarious so you are playing the position you are because people got you and your twin brother confused basically yes and I love that you didn’t say anything that

You just were like okay I feel like this really sums you up you’re just like yes coach whatever you need coach that’s fine yeah um down to do any position I’ll play nose tackle if you want me to I would love to watch that that would be

Great that is so funny so and again your brother now uh plays for the Eagles on the practice squad um so you were already kind of facing him earlier this year it’s not like you guys were ever going to be on this field at the same

Time and he’s on the practice squad but um how how crazy is it to realize that you guys are on opposing Sidelines in the NFL and that I mean heck there’s a chance it happens again depending on the playoff scenario that you know it’s a high likelihood that if the Bucks make

The playoffs that the Eagles could be one of the teams they face so what is it like to have already faced him once and maybe have to do it again and be on opposite Sidelines like a dream come true really especially I mean our childhood team growing up was the Eagles

That we love so much and to see him play for the Eagles and then for us to go ahead tohe like it was just a dream come true it’s something that we’ve been talking about ever since we were young and we actually s sat down and realized

That football was what we wanted to try for and we definitely know that we could play the Eagles in that first round of the playoffs depending on how things shake out so we’re still holding hope that we will be on the same field together going against each other how

Did having a twin that played the same you know Sport and similar position to you how do you think that affected your growth in football and and the way you guys do I mean you talked about how he gives you his thoughts on your game afterward but you know I just feel like

I think about this kind of iron sharpens iron idea of having someone that is I mean even genetically so similar to watch out there and to go against what do you think that that gave you Advantage wise as compared to other people I think it gave me an incredible

Advantage and I’m blessed that I wish everybody had a twin first and foremost but I mean you always had somebody to pass the football with you always had somebody to run drills with and he knows my weaknesses more than shoot I even know my own weaknesses and vice versa so

When we’re in the offseason and we train together I mean we don’t necessarily you know need a training facility as long as we have each other in a field then he’ll play receiver and I’ll play corner I’ll play receiver he’ll play safety and we just continue to work on all of our

Weaknesses and we’ll stay out there for hours just you know sharpening our tools and getting ready and I’m just I’m so happy and blessed that I have him that’s awesome and so we heard that there was an accidental Mi mixup between the two of you were you guys the twins that did

The purposeful switching places at times to confuse people in elementary school we actually did once and we thought about it and we only had to switch shoes our mom dropped us off at school we ran in right before we walked in the door and said you know wave so she would

Drive off and switch shoes really quick so wait were you wearing all the same clothes all the same clothes and so then the shoes were the only giveaway she only give away and uh but afterwards after that day you know he had math twice I had science twice it was like if

We keep doing this then you’re going to be a genius in math I’m not going to know how to add I’m going to know all the science you’re not going to know the planets and so we were like we’re like we’re hurting ourselves doing this this

Is the most mature thing I’ve ever heard from elementary school students of like you know I really should be able to go take my math yeah that’s true now that I think about it I mean we were all always really really educational when it come

To that like I said like our mom was really hard on us she wasn’t putting up with it you knew that you were going to get grounded if you kept not going to math and I was not going to get grounded that’s but but people always

Fell for it no one would catch you when you would switch that you guys were that identical nobody caught us on that day and then of course sometimes we like play jokes and like he’d walk in one of my classes in middle school or in high school or something just see if the

Teach teacher would know and the teacher wouldn’t know until you would say something obvious and they’d be like stop playing around get out that’s amazing and then so I love this not only we have you as a twin here uh but of course Ronde Barber the the famous

Buccaneer also a twin and did I hear that you used to read his books when you were a kid definitely I mean every single night when we were young in elementary school and we used to read right before bed that was our favorite book and we used to read it cuz I mean

To see twins in the NFL at that level and we were so young but we knew we were Twins and so it that was something that we could grasp hold of and we could see like oh it’s possible like we can do this together as long as we stay

Together like they did then you know we can get there that’s so cool and that did definitely influence your football journey and particularly what college you went to so uh tell us a little bit about that story of how you guys ended up at Sam Houston State yeah I mean we

Are originally committed to Utah and we were both going together and he had a little bit small complication with his back and so Utah decided to offer what’s called a gray shirt which basically means you sit out a year and you become a part of the next class and we already

Had our minds made up that we were going to go through this experience together that we were going to college together and the thought of just being on campus with him sitting at at home and knowing how much he wanted to play and how much he could play and how much the back

Wasn’t a big deal we just like you know what back out uh can’t commit to Utah we have to decommit from them because we want somebody who believes in both of us and Sam Houston was always that school that I mean they were the first school

To reach out to us and offer us and they always loved us no matter what and so when I hit them up after the decommitting happened I was like does our offer still stand they were like oh 100% we can get you on a visit this next

Week and just that love and that camaraderie that family aspect we fell in love with and that ended up being the real determination of why we went there that’s pretty incredible we’re talking to Zion McCullum um yeah that what do you remember then about the fact that

You guys were going to get split up in the NFL was that challenging for you after doing everything together and and making all those decisions to try to stay together in college it was going to be challenging at first we knew it was going to be challenging but that was

Something that we actually decided to go go ahead and do on our on our own because when I got drafted to the Bucks Tristan could have came to the to the buck they wanted him you know to come and sign and be on the practice squad

And work his way up but at that point in our careers we had become so attached to each other we wanted to be able to like Blossom individually and so we knew that whether it be just for football but mainly just for life in general that at

Some point especially now it was time to Spread spread our wings yeah separate you know fock from the nest and then hopefully somewhere down the line in our careers we end up being on the same team again that’s really cool um how about what you remember about when you first

Got to the Bucks we’ve talked about that it’s a challenging thing to transition from a smaller school to the NFL but it’s a big transition even for people who went to Big colleges did you have a welcome to the NFL moment or something where you were like oh dang I’m in the

Big leagues now I think seeing Tom Brady run out for the first time and in practice when he just missed a deep Ball by like an inch and he’s screaming going crazy on the receiver you know you need to run your route you know two degrees more like I’m

Exaggerating but seeing him probably not by much though yeah he was intense and just seeing that intensity in practice and then he’s on like what like I forgot what year I mean I lose you lose track of how much years he’s been in the NFL 85 somewhere in there yeah exactly and

To see like a man that has that fire at his age at this point and everything that he’s accomplished it was like and then of course you see Mike Evans who I idolized in high school walking around it was like dang I’m really here this is

This is real this is real life had how quickly was that a thought for you when you got drafted by the bcks that it would be with Mike Evans after you idolized him so much immediately immediately yeah immediately as soon as we found out that we were going to the

Bucks uh that was the first thought that I was like like I’m going to be able to play with Mike Evans did you go tell him like right away he actually hit me up first as soon as the uh I had got drafted he hit me up on Twitter and he

Was congratulating me and telling me like let’s go to work you know I’m excited happy to be here you know gston Texas G all stand up that’s awesome do you remember the first time you actually lined up against him in practice I do yeah I do how’d that go it was a learning

Experience no it was it was surreal it was like like I was like I need somebody to get a picture of this so they can edit the ball high Uniforms on us because I mean that’s really what it came from that’s so cool so it was yeah

It was just so cool that’s great what do you think you’d be doing if not football I would definitely be a teacher or a coach I feel like I don’t know that’s just something that well I am going to do whenever I’m done playing football uh is teacher coach somewhere

And that’s just something that I have a passion for I guess it kind of runs into my family blood too my mom she’s a teacher my dad is a coach now after he played uh my grandma was a principal on the daycare you know a lot just giving back

To the youth being able to teach and spill off you know everything that I’ve learned everything that I have I just want to be able to pass that on to the younger generation that’s cool what would you teach I would teach probably science biology chemistry maybe or math I I like

Math too all those real hard ones yeah somewhat good thing you guys didn’t keep switching now you have the ability to teach all of them exactly so we knew you grew up idolizing Mike Evans obviously but before that what do you remember about who you grew up you know watching

You know when it came to really wanting to hone your craft or did you have guys in the league that you thought man this is who I want to emulate derl Rivas was probably the biggest for me I used to watch his practice tape his one-on ones

That they would put on YouTube like the hourong videos you kind of got to cut up on your own and I used to just just watch over and over and over and over again and more than anything from the technique it was just his ability to just be calm in the craziest situations

And then he had a knack for the football he was always finding the football and whether he’s turned around 360 making crazy catches or anything he just finds a way to come down with the ball and so you know going into high school and college that was something that I was

Like SE ball get ball like I saw him do it I know that I could do it who do you like watching now that’s that’s currently active in the league I like watching I mean really just and I if somebody’s doing something successfully and somebody’s playing at a

High level then I’ll watch them no matter you know who they are or what they are just to see you know you know what nuances are they picking up on but uh recently I like watching Stefon Gilmore because of how smart he is and how he kind of sets up his own plays

Xaven Howard that year he had like seven eight interceptions was a phenomenal year of tape for him that I watched so a lot of the older more the guys that are getting slower so they have to compensate by being smarter I was like if I can get

That smartness aspect of it while I’m young then it’ll be a double-edged sword that is smart where do you rank yourself in terms of athleticism as a corner across the league because I feel like that’s always what bus is complimenting you on is that he said you’re one of the most athletic

Corners that he’s coached so where do you think you rank in the league I mean if there was like a com or anything I pretty sure I mean I have confidence in myself that I’d be the most athletic Corner in the league coming into the coma that was something that I wanted to

Set for myself and I ended up having like a super super good score for athleticism so I mean like I said anything that it is whether it’s a small task or a big task I’m trying to be the best at it I like it how about the most annoying things that wide receivers

Do hold or complain like they get on us for holding so much they hold just as much and and then just the complainers that always complain about every little thing but I’m I’m the type of guy like if I do endend up holding which I I hold a

Little bit I’m not going to lie everybody holds a little bit Yeah and they’ll be look at me like man why you holding like my bad I won’t hold next time I got you or like I’ll just be like super nice like oh my I didn’t mean to

Do that I’m so sorry like y y I bet they don’t know what to do with that they look at me sideways and just anything to just throw them off their game like fald was that nice type of receiver like oh that was good coverage good job or hey

Good hit and you know I’ve seen a lot of successful people players do that and so that’s pretty funny just to confuse people um how about the types of wide receivers that youve either like maybe your favorite ones you’ve gone against hardest ones you’ve gone against what

Stands out the hardest type of receiver is the sh the quick Shifty guys the shorter guys that know that if I get my hands on them that they’re going to lose so they’re going to do everything that they can to make sure I don’t get my

Hands on them uh the bigger receivers I kind of like going against the bigger receivers just because I know that they’re going to try to use their muscle to to overpower me and I feel like I can I hold my own in that aspect but yeah those those quicker guys Mike though

He’s a different type of big receiver just he’s so aggressive and so good at using his hands he’s probably the hardest receiver I’ve had to cover yeah yeah that’s pretty amazing when he’s on your own team that I’m sure that was a good way to get adjusted to the NFL

Quickly definitely I mean just being able to play at that caliber and seeing like in practice when you catch it it’s like it’s a catch and it’s over it’s no harm no foul but when you start to sit back and realize oh if that was a game

Though I mean one touchdown is one catch you’re one slip away from giving up something or making a play so it really just helped me just be like I just have to take it once play at a time if I can stop him on this one route then in the

Game that one route and Big Time situations I’m gonna be able to stop him there all right we’re going to take one more break here on Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by Hooters the original Wing joint since 1983 this is Buccaneers radio welcome back into Buccaneers Total

Access brought to you by Hooters coming to you from the Hooters owl Nest Casey Phillips joined by quarterback Zion McCollum so um your your room your quarterback room is such an interesting one of like especially how young so many of the guys were that like Carlton became the Elder Statesman of the room

At a very young age as well and then he and Jamal both being those guys when you came in what do you remember about having Carlton and Jamal already here to kind of pave the way and and how familiar they were with bowl system it was really good just being able they’re

So different and they came from the same school from Auburn so it’s kind of hard to but they have like a funny like big brother little brother Dynamic that they have and that’s fun they make the game fun and if ever something I’m struggling with you know Dean he’s super smart and

Super intelligent and he he’s kind of like Bulls an aspect where he’s like like why are you over complicating this like it’s not that hard he’s starting to sound like Bulls he’s been around him so long oh yeah he’s definitely BS is rubbing off on him and and Carlton I

Mean he he just knows how to make the game fun and how to you know make a serious situation not as serious and so that you can just be kind of free and so just learning from him and he’s he’s taught me so much different you know

Tips and tools that he doesn’t have to tell me you know he doesn’t have to teach me like some of the things that work for him but he does just because you know I could tell that he really cares and we have a good relationship I

Mean all the corners in that room we kind of just help build each other up what do you think are the things that for Carlton and Jamal when you watch them and you watch film of them what are their biggest strengths in terms of the the technicality of the sport the

Physicality of the sport what are the things that you’re like oh man like he really does this well what are the things that stand out Carlton is just so I feel like he’s just such a natural football player you know he doesn’t necessarily do a specific technique that

Is like perfect like oh step like this and then step like that and then he just kind of goes out there and plays is and then that’s like the technique and so just being able to learn from from that for me and my biggest it was just

Trusting in my own ability and he trust himself so much to where he can just go out there and just play and so me seeing that it helped me trust myself to be like you know what I’m just going to go out there and play

Too and Dean he’s so smart and so some a lot of play he sets himself up and he a lot of times he’s in their huddle like he knows what play is coming before it comes and so that helped me just understand how important you know film study and understanding your job really

Was and then Dean he’s he’s not afraid of anything like he’s a thumber he’ll come up and he’ll hit you in the mouth and no matter if you’re you know big 240 PB fullback or a small receiver like he treats everybody the same uh physically and how about Christian iian coming in

As a rookie being asked to do a lot you know in this defense pretty early on in that nickel roll and we saw him get you know some interceptions early in the season and what are the things that you’ve seen in terms of what he brought

In his rookie year of what he’s been really good at and then what are some of the things you feel like coaches are still working on with him I think that he’s he just was able to pick up on things super well and you could tell

Like the way that he carries himself and the way that he carried himself on the film he knew that he belonged in the NFL he knew that you know this was his Destiny per se and so it was really really good especially seeing a rookie come in and just have that confidence

From the like right off the Jump and it was like a breath of fresh air like you can depend on him when he’s on the field and he’s going to be where he needs to be and if he’s not where he needs to be then he’s going to try 10 times harder

To make sure that that doesn’t happen again and you know he be hard-headed sometimes you know as a lot of rookies are you know especially around this time of year when you hit that you’re talking about it like you’re this elder Statesman like you know a lot of these

Little rookies over here yeah I know I’m not too but a lot can happen in that OB that’s true yeah you grow a lot it’s like dog gears exact oh yeah that’s a good way to put it and him I just know that he’s gonna continue to get better

He’s a lot of fun to play with and he’s really fun to communicate with he’s you know from New York he’s from Jersey so he he knows how to talk and so having him on the field you know it’s like we have you know conversations before this

Ball is snapped about what we think is going to happen about anticipating a certain motion or whatever so we work really well together and then D Delaney having to in similar roles to you of being asked to just kind of fill in jump in these different places due to injury

And um he’s had to do safety and corner and all these different things um what has enabled him to do that of whatever’s asked of him whatever position and explain just a little bit about how complicated that can be in like a bowl system to be asked to play multiple

Different positions like that it’s super complicated I mean he’s Mr versatile of the defense he has been asked to play every position that he can play and I think just him just his faith is so strong in the process and God and and everything that he just knows that

Whatever situation that he’s put in his faith is so strong that it’s G to work out and he just keeps such a positive attitude I mean when you’re around him you can’t just help but like Giggle and just start laughing because he just brings such a good happy positive energy

That you need and he the the moment is never too big for him the game’s never too big for him and so when he’s in the Huddle and he’s in the game you know that you know he’s somebody that you can depend on and if it’s ever a stressful

Situation in the game and you know I look over at him and he’s the safety right next to me it kind of just makes me smile like you know what like why am I like taking this too serious like I got D Delaney right next to me I know

Good things are going to happen that’s great uh we’re talking to Z M colum so what would you say at this point in the year just a few regular season games left what are the biggest goals for the cornerbacks and what would be the thing that you think if coach BS was sitting

Here what would he be saying is what he wants to see from you guys these last few weeks production for sure especially at this time of year going into you know the end couple last three games of the the season and then you know God willing playoffs he wants to see production out

Of us but more than anything just consistency doing our job but knowing him and things that he sets up you know he wants us at this time of year to be able to put everything together you’ve seen every route that could be ran you’ve seen every offensive scheme that

Could be run so now let’s all put it together so that we can take calculated risks and start catching interceptions yeah I was going to say I know the interceptions is something that at the start of the season was a big point of emphasis sometimes you can create them

Sometimes they seem fluky what do you guys feel like it is of what would let you guys get a few more than I that I know you guys feel like you’re supposed to be getting it all comes down to trust at the end of the day when you know bus

Gets a call in to the defense he’s anticipating something he’s not just calling plays for no reason or off of a script you know he has knows this game unlike any person that I’ve ever been around and so when he calls something you know there’s a reason for it and if

You understand and you’re on the same page with him and you trust him and cuz when you line up and he gives a call like anticipating a certain particular play and you’re like man if I jump this it could be a big play but if I don’t what if I give

Up the big play but coach Bose is calling that so that you can he wants you to trust him he wants you to be able to make those calculated risks and so I think just trust in him for the entire room knowing that he’s going to put us

In the right position is what’s going to cause and lead to more of those interceptions and now we have Christmas Eve game at home against the Jaguars um holidays in the DB room what do you guys do you guys decorate do you have the gift exchange what does this look like

Yeah we we decorated the the rookies decorated the room they did a decent job decent job decent I can’t say they did a good or a great job they did a decent job how did you do last year as a rookie I thought I did an impeccable job of

Course impeccable impeccable but I’m a little biased but then we have a little secret Santa going on with the safeties in the corners that you know we’ve been doing we did it last year and so that’ll be very very fun we promise we won’t

Tell who do you have I have Josh Haz all right you feel good about it you feel like oh I feel really good about it I already know what I’m going to get him and it’s perfect I’m going to get him if you are listening J I’m getting you what

You need not what you want oh man I can’t wait to find out what that is are you g to bust out a Christmas outfit for the game what are we thinking cuz I know you’re always a guy that comes in swaggy what are we thinking last year I wore the Christmas

Lights around my neck I feel like I got to upgrade a little bit so I might do something it’s hard for me to wear hats because you know the hair but yeah you can’t cover that the impecable hair way maybe I’ll paint my hair red and green

Or something I don’t know I like that and then uh how about for you just any kind of pregame rituals home game rituals I’m not super superstitious and I don’t really have too much rituals when it comes to when I’m at the stadium you know I get my

Stretches in I I get my hamstrings worked on and make sure that everything’s right physically but before I come into the stadium that’s really when my process starts when I wake up in the morning and I make sure that right before I go to bed I

Look at my notes so that I go to sleep with you know the offensive scheme and the routes are in my head so that when I wake up it’s the first thing that I’m thinking about and then I’m a big shower person so I’ll take like an hourong

Shower and just sit there and just be with my thoughts and just be restful and be mindful of everything and remind myself of everything that I’m grateful for and why I’m here and to just go out there and play as hard as I can I love

It well Zion thank you so much for joining us this has been awesome we really appreciate it and good luck on Sunday thank you super fun having awesome all right thanks all of you guys for listening this has been Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by Hooters

The original Wing joint since 1983 this is Buccaneers radio