We are honored to announce that we have been granted a second interview with former NFL offensive lineman Duval Love. In order to get the perfect atmosphere for this follow-up, we chose a local sports bar and met up to watch the Monday night football game on October 17 where Duval’s old team, the St. Louis Rams, met. faced the Indianapolis Colts. In this interview we cover UCLA’s hot streak, Terrell Owens in the preseason, the Minnesota Vikings boat ride and, most important of all, Duval’s future as offensive line coach.

All right, let’s see how much you follow this year’s Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams. Who has the best offensive line?
I’d say the Indianapolis Colts. I like your line. They’re protecting Peyton pretty well. They are running the ball with Edgerrin James. They’re 5-0 so they’re having a lot of success.

Who is going to win this game?
My heart says the St. Louis Rams but my brain says the Colts. They have a better team, they have a better defense and they have Peyton Manning. St. Louis is losing their head coach and they’re not firing on all cylinders right now.

How do you think the loss of their coach affected the St. Louis Rams?
It’s going to affect them a little bit because Mike Martz calls all the plays and that’s a big part of their offense. Nobody has the kind of timing that he has, but they will try to do their best, but they don’t have their head coach yet.

The last time we spoke, you were looking for an assistant coaching position in the NFL. I know you had some success this offseason. Let us know.
I got an internship with the Philadelphia Eagles. Basically, I got in there on the recommendation of his head coach, Rick Burkholder. He recommended me to intern with Andy Reid. Andy Reid said he was fine and I was there for six weeks. I was there from the first day of boot camp to the last day of court. It was a very interesting experience. Very valuable. I learned a lot and got my foot in the door.

You mentioned that I hope they call you back. What is the process now?
I think the process now is that they like to hire their interns, so since I’ve been there and I’ve got my foot in the door. I just have to wait and see what happens. I’m much further along than I was last year at this point.

Your UCLA Bruins are on fire this year. Have you been following them and what do you think is the biggest contributing factor to their success?
This year I am a fan of Bruin again. I claim them again. I didn’t get to see the game yesterday, but I had a chance to go to the game where they played Oklahoma. They brought back some of the old football players. We got a chance to sit on the sidelines and watch them get excited and take it to the Sooners. I think Karl Dorrell has had the opportunity to implement his system and is getting the players from him and you see the effect of that. They are starting to win and these are their guys so there are no excuses and they are doing well. Good coaching can solve many problems. Good players make coaches look good too.

This year’s UCLA/USC game should be excellent. What is a moment that stands out in the games you played against USC?
First of all, I made my first start against the USC Trojans as a freshman. I played but it was my first start at the Coliseum, a game I watched as a child. But actually, starting out as a freshman was a great experience.

It seems that one team or the other is usually the hottest team. What was the hottest team at the time?
We were, definitely. No doubt. In fact, we were playing for the Rose Bowl that year. It all came down to the last 4 seconds and if we kick a field goal, we go to the Rose Bowl. What happened was we kicked the field goal and USC’s George Achica blocked it and we lost the game. So we went to the Bluebonnet Bowl instead of the Rose Bowl. We definitely had a better team this year.

Let’s talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of the NFL. Who is the best team in the league right now? The team that is going to take it all?
Honestly, I’m going to say Philly. Now I am a fan of Eagle. I have to, I never know if Andy is going to read this or not. The Eagles are a very good football team. It’s a bit early to say who is the best. There’s some parity across the league, so it’s a bit tough. With Donovan injured, that’s not good for Philly. You have to stay healthy for them to win. New England is at .500, Tampa Bay was horrible last year and now they’re one of the elite teams. It’s still too early, you just don’t know. We played Cincinnati in the preseason and I didn’t think they were very good. I thought they were soft. Next thing you know, they’re 5-1. Who knows?

Do you think coaches regress in the preseason? Trying not to give away too much?
I think they give you the aperitif. They won’t give you the full 5-course meal. They give you some, let you taste it, and then they’ll be ready to go when the season starts. Preseason games don’t really mean anything. They just want to tune it up.

What, if anything, can you tell us about Terrell Owens?
Believe it or not, he’s a good guy. A lot of that stuff you hear, it’s kind of hard to pin down why he does it. I’m sure he has his reasons. Everyone on the team likes it. Extremely hardworking. You’d be surprised how hard he works. He is a superstar and he works harder than anyone on that team. He eats well, he’s healthy and that’s why he has that stomach. It is 30 years old and it is a well maintained machine, it is incredible. He is a great player who plays hard and anyone who sees him play would want him on his team.

Who is the worst team in the league right now? Who is not going to put it together this year?
Honestly, I think everyone would choose Minnesota. They have the Love Boat incident. They made some poor judgements. A lot of guys do different things, they just got caught. You know, they’re out in the open and they got careless. It’s hard. Honestly, we don’t know the whole story and it’s hard to believe that a lot of those things were happening. They are high-profile guys, so everyone is trying to attack them right now. It’s kind of hard to believe that 17 guys were having sex. I only say what I read. Who knows what was going on? Only the people on the ship know. Hopefully, they clean up their image and clean up the rest of their season. The spotlight is definitely on them right now.

Is Mike Tice going to survive the season?
I like him as a coach but if he doesn’t win I doubt it because winning solves many problems. If he doesn’t, it could be a bad offseason. Someone is going to take the hit.

And now the ugly. This offseason, the Tennessee Titans saw 5 of their players, including their No. 1 pick in the draft, get in trouble with the law. How does this happen in a professional soccer team?
Boys will be boys. When these things happen, they are magnified because of who they are. Every time they get arrested, no matter who you are in the NFL, they see that NFL player. That’s what you work for, like the Minnesota Vikings. What will be in the paper the next day could be a DUI, domestic violence, or assault. Whatever it is, they’re going to be in the paper the next day for who they are. When they are playing and more when they finish playing, because they will always have that ex-NFL player label. Those things are magnified. Lots of people go to jail every day, but when you have a high-profile job, everyone will know what happened to you. Duval Love or Pac Man Jones, everyone will know. They’ll read it, email everyone, Google his name, and everyone will know what happened. Trust me.

Let’s go back to fantasy football. You play?
Being a lineman, no. I don’t even know how the whole concept worked. I never asked. I didn’t care because it never involved a lineman. Once again, the lineman is out again. Although there are many people playing.

Mark Chalifoux, a featured critic for TheSportsCritics.com, recently wrote an article about the NFL’s demand that networks that carry its games not air commercials for the movie “Two for the Money” because they don’t approve of gambling. Both you and I know that the game is a big part of professional sports. Do you feel that betting hurts or helps the NFL? Why?
I think the NFL brass don’t want the image of betting and gambling to be associated with their sport because they don’t benefit from it. That’s something people do, but the NFL wants to be clean. They don’t want their players to bet, so they don’t want that label on them. So on a Monday night you see that commercial, it’s not in their interest to air it, it’s not the image they want to convey.

Besides pursuing a career as a coach, what else are you working on?
I’m working on a book right now, but my main goal, my main vision, to stay positive, I’m going to be a coach. That is my number one goal. My number one approach and that’s it.