WEBVTT - Ryan Sutter 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:00.480 For me. 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:02.880 You know, you're just growing up, you're playing football for fun, 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:04.960 and you're you know, not recruited out of high school 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:07.320 and all this sort of stuff happens, and then you 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:09.080 finally get this chance where you're kind of like, yeah, 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:10.479 I told you, you know, I told you I could 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:14.560 do it, and that's a cool feeling. Unfortunately didn't last 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:16.959 all that long, but at least, right, you know, you 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:20.919 get there and you get to have that brief experience 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:22.759 in my case, but that's very hard. You know, you 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:24.319 get a knock on your door at like six in 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:26.639 the morning and they're like, hey, coach, need to see you. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:28.920 Bring your playbook and you obviously know what that means. 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:30.280 And then you just turn it in and you're like 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:30.760 what now. 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:35.480 Welcome to Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired, a podcast featuring conversations 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:40.239 with professional athletes and coaches who have experienced being cut, traded, fired, 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.479 and or they're retired. I'm your host, Susie Wargen. This 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.199 episode's guest is usually thought of in connection with the 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.680 reality TV show, but Ryan Sutter has plenty of ties 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:53.120 to Colorado and sports. Ryan grew up in Fort Collins 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:55.680 and played football at the University of Colorado as a 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.720 walk on. He ended up setting a multitude of records, 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.160 many of which stand today. He was drafted by the 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.679 Ravens in nineteen ninety eight, but unfortunately, his pro career 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.360 didn't last long. In fact, on the field, it was 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:09.720 just a few seconds of a regular season game before 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.320 an injury put him out of commission. Ryan would bounce 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:14.800 around to a few teams and also played in NFL 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.160 Europe before calling it quits and becoming a firefighter in Veil. 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.480 Then the rest of his story began. A friend volunteered 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:23.920 him to be a contestant on the Bachelorette, which he 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.000 had no interest in doing, but went anyway. Turns out 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:30.080 Ryan was the last one standing, and the words Trista 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:32.160 and Ryan became a household phrase. 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:32.639 Today. 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.399 Ryan is still a firefighter now in Denver, and he 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.720 and Trista are in the Denver area, raising their two 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.680 teenagers and still getting roped back into reality TV appearances. 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.800 Here and there, Ladies and gentlemen, Ryan Sutter. 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:50.720 Cut Traded Fired Retired podcast with Susie Wargin. 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.080 Hello, Ryan Sutter, How are you? 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:54.240 I'm good? How are you? 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:56.520 I'm good? It's good to have you here. We've been 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:58.960 trying to kind of figure this out for a little while. 0:01:58.960 --> 0:01:59.760 You're pretty busy. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:01.920 Yeah, I mean I pretend to be busy show. 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.400 Oh I don't think that's true. You're busy. But you 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:06.480 have a cool story. 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.920 Most people know you for TV and The Bachelorette, but 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.680 you've got a professional sports story and a very homegrown 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.320 story before that too, with sports, which I think not 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:19.519 a lot of people talk about. And I think that's 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.280 a great experience to use for others. And now you 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:25.000 use it for your kids too, which I think is 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.320 pretty amazing. So you're born in Fort Collins. 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:28.560 I was no co guy. 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.280 Yeah I was. Yeah, I haven't been back for what 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:32.440 we had to go back for? 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:32.960 What? 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:34.720 Did we go back for a hockey tournament or something 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:36.800 a few years ago and we drove by our old house, 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:37.400 and I mean. 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:38.560 The town has changed quite a bit. 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:39.200 Oh my gosh. 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.120 Yeah, been there. But I loved growing up in four Collins. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:43.680 Yeah, you go to Four Collins High School. 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.720 You obviously played football, but what other sports were you 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:47.680 into growing up? 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.519 Well, I'm from the old school way of sports where 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:54.520 you just played all the sports. So we go football 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.280 was the fall sport, and then we played that transition 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:59.799 into basketball. I played baseball for a little while and 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.840 stopped playing that in high school and started running track. 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.000 Not because I was good at track, but I was 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.560 trying to get faster for football. 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.200 Ah, okay, so I did that didn't help. 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:14.359 It did? Yeah, it turns out like technique, and. 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:16.079 Again a good reason for doing multi sports, right. 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:18.320 Yes, I know, And it's a hard that's a hard 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.480 thing to impart on your kids, like are my son 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.200 who loves hockey, especially hockey where that's a pretty specific 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.400 movement and you want him to do some other things 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.600 so he doesn't get poor hockey players get lots of 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.600 hip injuries and ye trying to avoid that stuff, and 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.680 it's hard to convince him that doing other things. 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:38.040 Cross train could beneficial. 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.160 Yeah. So I just played everything. 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:43.040 I played soccer growing up, and the only thing I 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.560 do regret is I didn't get to play hockey in 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:50.120 Fort Collins. The Epic Center didn't have an ice rink 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.320 until I was in sixth or seventh grade. 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:55.720 Oh, and I played a year in I think I. 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:57.720 Sixth grade, so I was a bantam. And then my 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.160 parents sat me down and said it would be a 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.600 lot easier on us if you just played basketball. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.480 Put this five am ice time thing is not really 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:07.320 driving with us. 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:07.800 Yeah. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:09.840 So, so I didn't get to play a lot of hockey. 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:13.200 I actually play now. Denver Fire has a team and 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.320 nice Valor dads have these pickup games, and so I 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:17.800 love the sport. 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:18.960 I'm terrible at it, but. 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:20.720 It's Oh I bet you're not terrible at it. 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.640 It's fun. So yeah, I just tried to do everything. 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:24.400 That's awesome. 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.320 Okay, So when did you, then, Ryan, figure out that 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.640 football was kind of your sport and what you might 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:30.719 end up doing in college? 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:31.520 Uh? 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:35.279 Football was my sports since I can remember just watching 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.680 it with my parents. They both went to Nebraska, so 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.400 we grew up watching college football every single weekend. 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:44.560 How did that go with you going to see you? 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:44.760 You know? 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:46.880 With my parents, it was fine, they became to see 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:51.640 you fans. With my grandparents, Bay did not. I would 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:56.360 be playing their grandson in the game and they would still. 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.440 Be rooting for the Huskers. Are you kidding me? 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:01.800 They wanted me to personally have a good game, but 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:03.520 they didn't want my team to. Actually, it was like. 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:05.440 Having a fantasy football team right where you're like, I 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.000 don't want them to win, but I'd like this guy 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:07.560 to do well. 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:11.000 Yeah, exactly that one side of my grandparents, my dad's side. 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:15.240 My other grandparents were a little more supportive of me 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:17.679 and the team and stuff. So it was the sport 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:20.719 that I always loved. And I remember I was a 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.600 little old for my age. I have a September birthday, 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.239 so my parents had me start later rather than earlier. 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:30.279 And you couldn't play tackle football till it was either 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.080 fourth or fifth grade or something, and I was technically 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.480 old enough to, but they wouldn't let me play, and 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:38.680 so I got all mad because all I really wanted 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.200 to do was play football, and they maybe play soccer. 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:41.640 For one more year. 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:43.520 And you were probably bigger than most of the kids too, 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:44.479 since you were a year older. 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.359 I was a late bloomer. Like I went to see you. 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:49.400 Out of high school. I was one hundred and seventy 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:50.480 five pounds. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.880 And then I readcher that year came back as a 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:54.880 sophomore two hundred and five pounds. 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:56.880 So I grew a lot, wow, to the point. 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.440 Where my mom actually asked me if I was doing 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.520 anything illegal to put on way, which. 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.359 I wasn't, but just a boy, that's what happened. 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:05.800 I just grew Yeah, I grew late. 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:07.800 And what was defense your thing too? Or did you 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.400 play both sides in high school? Nope, wide receiver. 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.760 I started out like everybody, wanting to score touchdowns. I 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.799 wanted to be a running back, and I played running 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:17.440 back all the way through high school. 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.000 I played running back in cornerback because in those days 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.320 far less specialized and you could play both sides of 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:24.440 the ball. So I did that. I returned punts. 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.159 Then my senior year, we got a really fast kid 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.320 on the team who was an underclassman, but he took 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:33.960 my running back spot. So I ended up playing slot 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.600 back or something like that. But yeah, I played both ways. 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.320 I didn't play safety. I played corner, but I ended 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:40.760 up playing safety in college. 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.200 Did you get recruited by others besides ce you? And 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:45.240 I'm assuming coach McCartney recruited you. 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:45.960 He was your coach. 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.120 No began, No one recruited me, no one. 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:49.320 Did you walk on? 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.760 Yeah I got. I didn't know that, Yeah I know. 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.240 I think the only scholarship offer I got was a 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.279 half scholarship to School of Mines. I visited there and 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.600 I started an engineering school at You ended up transferring 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.960 to architecture, but at one point I wanted to be 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:05.800 an engineer, so I was thinking School of Minds would 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:06.200 be a great place. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.160 You have no kidding, so see as you didn't either, 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:09.840 even though you were in the backyard. 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:12.240 Really no, and I took a visit. 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.560 I had a friend, Pete Money, who ended up going 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:16.840 to Wisconsin and then playing for the Giants for a while, 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.200 and I went with him on his visit to see you, 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.880 and had someone in Fort Collins write a letter who 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.560 knew Coach Mac personally, so they granted me a It 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.720 was a invited walk on, so I got invited to. 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:31.760 Training camp and then as long as. 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.800 I didn't stumble and fall too much, then I got 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:35.560 to stay on the team. 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:36.200 Wow. 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.240 So I didn't have to go to the traditional walk 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:39.400 on tryout process. 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.160 I just walked on and invited walk on, I think, yeah. 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:43.720 And eventually were you scholarship? 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:44.000 Yep? 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:46.680 After two years, Coach Mac gave me a scholarship. So 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.800 I read here to my first year, played special teams 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.440 my second year mostly just kickoff team, and then got 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:53.520 a scholarship after that. 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:54.240 That's pretty cool. 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.800 That's I mean, that takes a lot Ryan to walk 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:58.840 on and then try and work that hard to eventually 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:02.200 be scholarship, especially around that time with that team in 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.480 the nineties. Oh, with coach mag there were no slouches 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:06.000 on that team. 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:06.320 No. 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.320 No, I almost quit my freshman year, did you. I 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.920 was small and school was overwhelming. Engineering school was hard. 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:15.120 I'd always done well in school. I wasn't doing well 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.440 in school. I was on the scout team playing against 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:21.360 like I specifically remember Chris Naoli, offensive lineman who also 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.120 played in the NFL for a while for the Saints. 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.920 For whatever reason, he was always like the pulling guard 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.880 or something when I was coming and he was not nice. 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:32.120 That's very nice to human being, but not a nice 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:33.359 on the football field. 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:33.520 Kind of guy. 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.640 Yeah, And it was just You're getting beat up at 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.560 day after day. You're not playing, so all you're doing 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.439 is practicing, and then I'm just scholastically like I was 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:44.080 just in the tube. 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:46.240 So yeah, but you didn't didn't quick? 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:46.480 No. 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.959 Was there anything defining moment wise that that made you 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:51.360 kind of keep going at that point? 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:53.120 Did anybody talk to you? Did you have anybody that 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:54.000 pulled you aside? 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:54.400 No? 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.719 I went and talked to a couple engineering professors and 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.720 they said, it's really difficult to play a sport. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.199 And be an engineer. You might have to choose. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.040 I wasn't really enjoying engineering, to be honest, and I 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.600 still felt like I liked football. It was just a 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.520 frustrating period. So I switched to architecture school. That was 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.440 a much more creative major than engineering. Is just so 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.760 black and white and I needed something a little less 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:21.559 black and white. 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.960 It took just as much time, perhaps more, but I 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:25.959 enjoyed it more. 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.080 And something's more fun. That makes a difference. 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.240 Yeah, And so that helped, and then I was able 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.120 to kind of refocus when some of it's just you're adjusting, 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.480 you know, you have to. There's a period where you're 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.080 not at your house anymore. You're on your own. You're 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.320 inundated with all the temptations of college life, and like 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:43.199 no one's there to wake you up to make sure 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.040 you get to your eight o'clock in the morning class. 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.760 All of our classes were in the mornings because practice 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.120 was in the afternoon. We didn't get paid, you know, 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:51.680 like I wasn't making any money. 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.040 So it was a lot. It's just a lot. 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:55.040 Yeah, wow. 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:56.959 Well, and I know you played a lot of special teams. 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.960 I had to tap into Dave Platty, the longtime historian 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:04.160 and sid at Cu, So you have eight special teams 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.760 points records, and he said they don't even keep track 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.960 of those anymore. So now you have them in I 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:10.400 can never. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:14.440 Say it right perfectuity, Ye forever yours forever, which I 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.199 think is really cool. Yeah, that's awesome. But then also 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:19.760 you hold records for the most tackles by a dB 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:21.959 in a game you had twenty eight against Michigan in 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.120 nineteen ninety seven, and the most tackles in a season 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.599 by a defensive back with one hundred and seventy in 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:29.520 nineteen ninety seven. 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:33.559 So that ninety seven season, your last year was pretty spectacular. 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:35.960 What kind of clicked and good thing that you stuck 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:37.320 around after that freshman season? 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:38.480 Yeah, I just had. 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.840 To kind of take small strides along the way. Freshman year, 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:43.959 I red shirted, sort of got my feet underneath me. 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:48.160 Sophomore year, I think I only played for the majority 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:48.520 of the time. 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.440 I only played kickoffs. I missed letter. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.520 I remember missing my letter by like four plays because 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:54.600 you had to have one hundred plays and I. 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:55.720 Think I had like ninety six. 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.280 No even guys, on the team were like, hey, can 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.760 we like figure something out, and coach acts pretty like nope. 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:03.160 Sorry, it's how it goes black and white. 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:03.480 Yeah. 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:05.840 So the next year I played all the special teams. 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.600 My red shirt sophomore year. Year after that, I played 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:12.200 all the special teams and nickel defense. I didn't start 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:13.840 as a safety until my senior year. 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.079 So okay, that's why. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.120 I had all those tackles my senior year because I 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.240 was actually on the field time. Yeah, I had to 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:24.680 just work my way through. It's like I tell my son, 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:26.520 The first thing I did was I just worked really 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:28.679 hard in the weight room because if you get the 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.720 strength and conditioning coaches on your side, it's amazing how 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.280 many head coaches will go to the strength and conditioning 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:36.720 coaches and ask. 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.320 Like, hey, who who's showing up? Like you have any like? 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.320 Yeah, So they advocated for me, and I kept getting 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.679 more and more opportunities, and then that that senior year, 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.840 I just finally got on the field and I had 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:50.880 no pressure. I mean, despite the fact that I played 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.640 for a school with a lot of expectations and a 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.080 lot of really good athletes. It worked in my favor 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:59.480 because people were coming you know, NFL scouts were coming 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:02.240 to watch people, and so those guys had they had 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:03.800 all the pressure, they had, all the pressure they had 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:04.760 the eyes looking at them. 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:06.720 Were you even thinking that you would have a chance 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:07.320 in the NFL? 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:09.640 No, I mean I always that was always my dream, 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:13.840 right to do? Yeah, And so I just was out 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.440 playing football, having fun. And then towards the end of 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:19.160 the year, I started getting the feeling that maybe I 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:23.440 was getting some looks, and that just motivated me more 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:25.520 to try to do well. And some of it's just 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.800 I mean, a lot of it's preparation and just being 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.560 ready for when you do get your opportunity, yep. And 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.319 then a lot of it's just luck. I mean, unfortunately, 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.720 there's just there is a component of good. 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:37.160 Fortune in this. 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:39.720 It's kind of like I think the music industry, like 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:42.360 if you ever watch America's Got Talent or whatever, you 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:44.600 just think, or go to Nashville and just go to 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.720 these little dive bars and and you're thinking, why is 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:49.720 this person not world famous? 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:50.000 Right? 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:52.760 I think it's the same way with sports. My son 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:55.560 plays hockey, and I for hockey for sure. You go 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:57.640 and watch do you play? And you think every single 0:12:57.679 --> 0:12:59.480 one of these guys should be in the NHL, but 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:03.120 they're not. And some of them probably could be and 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.000 just don't get the right chance. And probably some of 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:06.920 them maybe shouldn't be and get the right chance, And 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.679 just that's just how life goes sometimes. 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.000 Yeah, and for me, it all kind of lined up. 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.080 I felt like I was well prepared and I just 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.599 got kind of lucky to have the right opportunity. 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:20.360 Yeah, that's cool, And that is so how it happens 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.599 so often, Ryan, where it's you're kind of in the 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:24.480 right place at the right time, But if you aren't 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.040 prepared at that time, when you're in the right place 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.400 at the right time, then nothing will happen. So that's 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.880 where that preparation thing is so key. So as you 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:34.920 move on to so do you do graduate? Do you 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:35.520 get your degree? 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.160 Then that Y're okay, And then in nineteen ninety eight 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:39.600 you get drafted in the fifth round. 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.520 Yeah, yeah, I remember that day because my as luck 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.800 would have it somehow, our landline again, this is a long. 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:47.840 This is nineteen ninety eight. 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:52.600 Yes, our landline was tied up or something like it 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:53.040 was out. 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:54.720 So are you at your parents' house? 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:56.880 Are you in parents Collins? All right? 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.520 I think my agent ended up calling my girlfriend the time, 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:03.400 but it was after I knew I wasn't going to 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:05.400 be a first day drafty. And then back then, I 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.839 think they did the first two or three rounds the 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:09.920 first day, and then after that it was the rest 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.240 of them. We're watching ESPN and I saw my name 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:13.920 come along the bottom. I was like, oh, wait, what 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.240 the did I just get drafted? And then seconds later 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.520 my girlfriend's phone rang Ted Marchibroda. He called in Ozzie 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:23.720 Newsome and they said that they had drafted me. And 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:25.640 so I was super excited to get that. 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:27.960 What'd you think then, because you didn't really I mean, 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:29.920 you kind of knew probably you had an agent at 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:30.400 that point. 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.320 But now you're going to go and try out for 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:33.960 the NFL. 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.920 Yeah, I mean that's the realization of the dream, the 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:39.800 sort of childhood dream that Joe. No one thinks you 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.800 can do it. You know, these days, there's a little 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:46.840 more of a path. I guess, there's so much specialty 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.000 and all these things, like you have the IMG world 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:50.920 and all these places where you've got a pretty good 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:52.720 chance of if you're gonna make it. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.240 They probably know there. But for me, you know, you're 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:56.960 just growing. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:58.720 Up, you're playing football for fun, and you're you know, 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.000 not recruited out of high school, and all this sort 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:03.480 of stuff happens, and then you finally get this chance 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:04.960 where you're kind of like, yeah, I told you, you know, 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:05.840 I told you I could do. 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.280 It, And that's a cool feeling. 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.000 Unfortunately didn't last all that long, but at least you know, 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:16.120 you get there and you get to have that brief experience. 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.280 In my case, but for a lot of people, I 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:20.280 think they have similar stories and they end up they 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.040 always see all these Division three guys in the NFL 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:27.680 that have Oh and I specifically remember Jeff Saturday was 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.760 a free agent at Baltimore and we went out to 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:32.680 like pizza or something was he and I and a 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.320 couple of other guys, and I remember him saying like, yeah, 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.280 I'm probably just gonna end up going back to the 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:40.840 Coca Cola plant in Atlanta where my dad works, and 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:42.840 you know, we'll just see how this all turns out. 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:45.960 He obviously didn't make the Ravens but got picked up 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:47.600 by the Colts and had. 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:50.000 A yeah best friend. 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:50.720 Yeah yeah. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.960 So wow, there are tons of those really cool stories 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:54.480 there are. 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.840 So with the Ravens specifically, you make it through I mean, 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:00.400