WEBVTT - Part 1 - Mark Pattison gears up for Mount Everest climb

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for

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<v Speaker 1>the players, by the players. Here is your host, fourteen

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<v Speaker 1>year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer As Williams. Hello,

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to NFL Legends Podcast. I'm As Williams. As part

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<v Speaker 1>of our Storyteller series, we invite legends to come on

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<v Speaker 1>and tell their stories. Today, we have a legend who

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<v Speaker 1>has reached great heights and business and actual heights as

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<v Speaker 1>he tries to become the first NFL Legend to climb

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<v Speaker 1>each of the seven summits. Please welcome Mark Pattison. Mark,

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<v Speaker 1>may you look like you're ready to play right now?

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<v Speaker 1>You you're ripped up? Now do you have to use

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<v Speaker 1>physical weights? Are you all of this mount climbing and

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<v Speaker 1>keeps your physically the way you look? Well, look, you

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<v Speaker 1>got to like anything, it's preparation meets opportunity right and

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<v Speaker 1>on the football and the gridiron back in the day, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>we didn't just show up right. We had a clear

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<v Speaker 1>path on what we had to do to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to take on I was a wide receiver. I know

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<v Speaker 1>you're a secondary guy and for me to take on

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<v Speaker 1>a guy like you, I had to bulk up and

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<v Speaker 1>for you to go up and you know, hit on

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<v Speaker 1>running backs and take on um blockers and wide receivers.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, you know, had had certain techniques and there's

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<v Speaker 1>really no different from from what I need to do

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<v Speaker 1>to prepare to put myself in the best possible position

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<v Speaker 1>of climbing these mountains. And now you know, as you said,

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<v Speaker 1>I've I've climbed six of the seven highest mountains around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. Have actually been on Denale, which is up

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<v Speaker 1>in Alaska twice. I've some of the Kilman jero Um twice,

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<v Speaker 1>one with Chris Long and his group, the water Boy group. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>So I've been down there twice and now and finally

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<v Speaker 1>on the grand finale, the super Bowl of all these things,

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<v Speaker 1>Mount Average coming up in April April? Do you get

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<v Speaker 1>any anxiety prior to well, Mount Average? I always get butterflies.

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<v Speaker 1>No different than when, yeah, from the game, when you

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<v Speaker 1>and I used to be out there and they blow

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<v Speaker 1>the whistle and you go through warm ups and go

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<v Speaker 1>through all those different things. The same thing happens whenever

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<v Speaker 1>I get up and I'm at the front door of

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<v Speaker 1>that mountain and I'm looking up and it's big and intimidating,

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<v Speaker 1>right and then the whistle blows. In this case, you

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<v Speaker 1>say let's go, and we start getting up and going

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<v Speaker 1>to the mountain. And no mountain is an overnight. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean these are weeks and weeks and weeks on the

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<v Speaker 1>ice and making your way up. But again going back

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<v Speaker 1>to just what do you have to do to get

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<v Speaker 1>to the next play? What do you have to do

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<v Speaker 1>to put that next step in front of you? And

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<v Speaker 1>then as these hazards come up, whether it's a safety

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<v Speaker 1>blitz or whether it's a big gigantic crevass or avalanche,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you take those on as you go. So

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<v Speaker 1>you see a blitz. How would you describe a side

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<v Speaker 1>of just on a mountain? Well, yeah, I mean serious

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<v Speaker 1>side it, right, I mean I haven't some crazy situations right,

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<v Speaker 1>and a lot of avalanches and going up ice walls

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<v Speaker 1>that are et degree angle, you know, steep where I've

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<v Speaker 1>had people just roll over um and just say I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not going anymore. And then what do you do? And

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<v Speaker 1>it's like a fallen teammate and it's just like what

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<v Speaker 1>do you do in that moment? And this is the

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<v Speaker 1>stakes are a little higher in terms of life and

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<v Speaker 1>death than it is on a football field. But the

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<v Speaker 1>principles are still there in terms of you've got to

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<v Speaker 1>have that mindset and you've gotta keep going. When did

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<v Speaker 1>climbing a mountain become a goal? Well, yeah, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a great question. And this and about eight years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>I was going through a really difficult time. I was

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<v Speaker 1>I was married to my high school sweetheart or college

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<v Speaker 1>sweetheart for twenty four years, with her for thirty and Um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's just nobody's fault. She's a wonderful person, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>just we we just kind of ran the test of time.

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<v Speaker 1>And it was really heartbreaking for me. I've got my

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<v Speaker 1>daughter here in the studio today, my beautiful daughter, Claudet,

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<v Speaker 1>and um, Trojan, I can't believe that studios and and uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, having to split the family is really difficult

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<v Speaker 1>on me. And and after a couple of years, I

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<v Speaker 1>just needed something to kind of really fuel and energize me.

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<v Speaker 1>And I wanted to do something athletically great. And obviously

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<v Speaker 1>I couldn't go back and play in the NFL anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>And so being from the Northwest, growing up in Seattle, um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's pretty mountainous. I'm sure you played up there, and

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<v Speaker 1>uh so I just started doing some research and I

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<v Speaker 1>found that no NFL player to ever climb the seven Summits.

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<v Speaker 1>I said, you know what, I'm going to be that guy.

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<v Speaker 1>And I didn't really have any grand plans, and I

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<v Speaker 1>was in a pretty low spot in that time, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was just it was really more of a

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<v Speaker 1>place for me to get healed mentally and physically, um, physically,

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<v Speaker 1>more from the standpoint of just not feeling great about myself.

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<v Speaker 1>And um, it's been an amazing journey now eight years later,

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<v Speaker 1>because I went from kind of the figuring out how

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<v Speaker 1>I could accomplish things, and especially on Kilman Joe on

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<v Speaker 1>that first one, which I really didn't know what I

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<v Speaker 1>was doing, and we got down to summer day and

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<v Speaker 1>it was about seventeen thousand feet. I just quit and

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<v Speaker 1>I just couldn't go. And I sat down and this

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<v Speaker 1>this porter Hue I was climbing with, comes up to me.

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<v Speaker 1>He's jamming some protein bars down my mouth and he

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<v Speaker 1>was kind of give me that flipper, you know, one

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<v Speaker 1>of those right, and and so I finally I kind

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<v Speaker 1>of came around and he got me going. I made

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<v Speaker 1>at the top, I take the sign that's up there

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<v Speaker 1>at eight or nineteen thousand three and thirty three ft

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<v Speaker 1>and as I was coming down, I just burst into

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<v Speaker 1>all these tears and I hadn't cried in about twenty years,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, and it was just a it was a moment.

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<v Speaker 1>It was like happy happiness tears of like this is

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<v Speaker 1>something that I can do. If I can get through

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<v Speaker 1>this metaphorically speaking, I can get through anything. And so

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<v Speaker 1>from that moment at Tom I just like rev me up.

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<v Speaker 1>I got down and then we went on the next one.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I found myself in a Russia of all places,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's the highest mountain in Europe. And then the

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<v Speaker 1>next year I found myself in Australia and I climbed

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<v Speaker 1>that on and then I went down. You asked me

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<v Speaker 1>earlier about what's the highest peak I've been on? Three

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<v Speaker 1>thousand feet in Argentina. It was amazing. We started with

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<v Speaker 1>twelve people, you know, the twelve people only six mate

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<v Speaker 1>and we're having flying all these people off the mountain

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<v Speaker 1>and these rescue helicopters. Oh yeah, I was serious. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>because there's this sickness that you get where your brain

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<v Speaker 1>or your lung swell, and when that happens, it's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>people can die and so you've gotta get people down

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<v Speaker 1>as quick as quickly as you can. And so for

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<v Speaker 1>some reason, my genetics are just have been so far,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, set up where I can go high and

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<v Speaker 1>I have a large lung capacity kind of like a

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<v Speaker 1>lands farmer Strong used to have, you know, and it

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't affect me. Now we'll see how things play on Everest,

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<v Speaker 1>But um, I can only tell you what I know today.

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<v Speaker 1>And then after that I went to to Denally and

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<v Speaker 1>you get back to the like the weights and up

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<v Speaker 1>there there's no assistance to help you to get up

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<v Speaker 1>and down. So I'm carrying a hundred and thirty seven

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<v Speaker 1>pounds up a mountain. If you can imagine that, it's

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<v Speaker 1>a backpack in a sled, hundred and thirty seven pounds

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<v Speaker 1>and you're going up the steepest hills, deep, no crampons,

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<v Speaker 1>ice acs, all these things. You're all roped in, and

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<v Speaker 1>you know, to pull that much weight and to be

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<v Speaker 1>and sleeping on the ice for three weeks and minus

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<v Speaker 1>forty degree weather is challenging. It's tough. It's kind of

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<v Speaker 1>going through those whole two days that we used to

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<v Speaker 1>go through where it's really a test of attrition of

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<v Speaker 1>trying to make it through six weeks two days and

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<v Speaker 1>getting ground and beat up, right, and so it's hard.

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<v Speaker 1>So ultimately I was able to climb that mountain in

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<v Speaker 1>this last January of this year. Um, I was down

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<v Speaker 1>in Antarctica, which is a whole another world. Um Antarctica,

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<v Speaker 1>it's only penguins and that's about it. You know, nothing

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<v Speaker 1>actually breathing down there is around, and I was able

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<v Speaker 1>to to to scale that mountain called Mount Vincent. So

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<v Speaker 1>being an environment, you and I playing football teammates are important. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>do you have teammates? Yeah? Yeah, and you should do.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's kind of been one of my things that

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<v Speaker 1>has been frustrating for me because in the NFL, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we have old different counts. You know, you were a

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<v Speaker 1>phenomenal player, um, and you were at the upper end,

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<v Speaker 1>but even at the lower end, which is probably where

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<v Speaker 1>I was in somewhere, you know, you either make it

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<v Speaker 1>or you don't. Right, if you're part of that fifty

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<v Speaker 1>three man you always have better players, and but there's

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<v Speaker 1>nobody awful, right, And in mountain climbing, in a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of cases, there's no there's no barrier of entry. So

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of times. You have people that watch a

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<v Speaker 1>movie right about everyst mountain climbing and they want to

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<v Speaker 1>be that guy, just like some of the fans want

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<v Speaker 1>to be those guys that you or I, but they

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<v Speaker 1>can't actually be out there. So you find yourself with

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<v Speaker 1>those guys and you're tied together through with a rope

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<v Speaker 1>and your life is depending on them. With some of

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<v Speaker 1>those guys, not all of them, some of them. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>at least with the league, you gotta go through three

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<v Speaker 1>years removed from high school, yeah, before yell is able

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<v Speaker 1>to get drafted. Well, and even at that, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a wild car, right, That's what I'm saying. At

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<v Speaker 1>lea you have some playing the game, yeah, exactly. You're

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<v Speaker 1>tied to some people, yeah, who you've seen no film,

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<v Speaker 1>all no, no, and they they all think, they all

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<v Speaker 1>think that, um, they can make it and they can

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<v Speaker 1>do it, and then you get into these very hairy

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<v Speaker 1>situations and you know, you just they're not prepared. They

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<v Speaker 1>have and we talked about preparation meets opportunity, all these things,

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<v Speaker 1>they haven't done it. You know, on Everest, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>there's a four percent there's a there's a four percent

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<v Speaker 1>um uh risk of when you go up there, that

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<v Speaker 1>you're not coming home otherwise, like this last year, Like

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<v Speaker 1>you know, thirteen fourteen people died last year, right, But

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<v Speaker 1>I was climbed with one of those guys who's still

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<v Speaker 1>sitting up on the top of the the mautwain Are, and

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<v Speaker 1>he did not do the work, he did not do

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<v Speaker 1>the preparation. So I look at a little bit differently,

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<v Speaker 1>Like let's focus on the six percent of the things

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<v Speaker 1>that you can do, Like moved to a town that's

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<v Speaker 1>as six thousand feet, Like go open the mountains every

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<v Speaker 1>every single day, Like make sure you're big and strong,

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<v Speaker 1>you do cross fit, and you you put yourself in

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<v Speaker 1>the best position possible to actually make that thing happen.

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<v Speaker 1>So you come back. I see, you know, my goal

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<v Speaker 1>is to see my daughters and and I want to

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I'm not going there to die. I want

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<v Speaker 1>I want to go there, and I want to have

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<v Speaker 1>a successful outcome. So I got to have that kind

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<v Speaker 1>of mindset to start. Do you climb with pictures of

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<v Speaker 1>your g They're on my phone all the time right here, everything,

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<v Speaker 1>And I'll tell you another thing about that. You're right,

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<v Speaker 1>because when you get in the mountains and you're that

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<v Speaker 1>long and that isolated um where there's no cell coverage

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<v Speaker 1>and there's nothing else. You know, what I do have

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<v Speaker 1>is I have memories and I do have my photos

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<v Speaker 1>and and it becomes very important, especially when things get

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<v Speaker 1>very stressful, that I focus on the things that matter

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<v Speaker 1>the most, and the things that matter the most are

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<v Speaker 1>my closest friends, my relationships, my daughters, and without them,

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<v Speaker 1>then what's life? Right? It's all about that at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the day. Well, you just describe, and as

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<v Speaker 1>other legends are listening, when you say preparation meets opportunity,

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<v Speaker 1>you you got committed to this, Yeah, big time. That's

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<v Speaker 1>some of the challenges sometimes as legends that transition difficulties

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<v Speaker 1>besides just leaving the game, maybe not when you wanted to,

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<v Speaker 1>it's the ability to get committed to something else. And

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<v Speaker 1>you did it with Mom Climb. Well, let me tell

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<v Speaker 1>you about this too. And this is probably the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>lesson that I've learned. And if I could, if I

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<v Speaker 1>can impart this to anybody, I would say, by stepping

0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:44.200
<v Speaker 1>into the fear, it is created the greatest not just

0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:49.800
<v Speaker 1>opportunities like not financial or anything, but just the greatest rewards. Um,

0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:53.840
<v Speaker 1>coming back to me the relationships, how I've grown, how

0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:57.520
<v Speaker 1>I've really had to get introspective about myself, my feelings

0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.240
<v Speaker 1>where I want to go get really clear. Um, it's

0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.480
<v Speaker 1>helped me be really committed towards something. And and the

0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:05.880
<v Speaker 1>best thing of all this is and this really was

0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.720
<v Speaker 1>um brought to my attention when I was asked to

0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.480
<v Speaker 1>be in the first class with Chris Long and water

0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.280
<v Speaker 1>boys name Boyer and that is this whole thing about

0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:18.640
<v Speaker 1>going down to um Africa, to Tanzania, raising money for

0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.160
<v Speaker 1>the people in the Serengetti and the Messiah tribe and

0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.160
<v Speaker 1>building water wells. And so I actually a partnered Chimore

0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:27.520
<v Speaker 1>and I partnered together and raised forty seven thousand dollars

0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.000
<v Speaker 1>and built around well, which was really touching to both

0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:31.720
<v Speaker 1>of us because we're the only ones in that group

0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.120
<v Speaker 1>that did that. But UM, something that's near and dear

0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:38.360
<v Speaker 1>to my heart. And and as things have gone have

0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:40.760
<v Speaker 1>all played out of now this platform and four in

0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:44.040
<v Speaker 1>thousand people that followed my journey and my daughter, my

0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.960
<v Speaker 1>younger daughter who's over in Arizona that we're just talking about,

0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.480
<v Speaker 1>has a form of epilepsy and so she has daily

0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.480
<v Speaker 1>seizures and so I last year I called the National

0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.560
<v Speaker 1>Epilepsy Foundation and they want to partner with me on

0:12:57.559 --> 0:12:59.880
<v Speaker 1>this climb. So my goal is to raise twenty nine,

0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.079
<v Speaker 1>which is the height of Mount Everest. And and because

0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.360
<v Speaker 1>now I have this platform which I never thought of

0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.760
<v Speaker 1>years and years ago, and it was really about initially

0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:11.920
<v Speaker 1>about me just getting out of my punk and giving

0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.800
<v Speaker 1>me some direction to go. Um, it is it's just

0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.880
<v Speaker 1>you know, become this gift that I can give back

0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.920
<v Speaker 1>to her in terms of no money goes directly to

0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.160
<v Speaker 1>her or me and my climb or anything, but but

0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.240
<v Speaker 1>it goes to National Epilepsy Foundation and just trying trying

0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.360
<v Speaker 1>to create more awareness and dollars. So hopefully one day

0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:32.280
<v Speaker 1>she can drive, she can ride a bike, she can

0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:42.560
<v Speaker 1>play monkey bars like all kids. Do you mentioned feelings introspection? Yeah,

0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.320
<v Speaker 1>football players, well a lot of time to talk about

0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:54.360
<v Speaker 1>feelings more. Tell me about that. Well, um, I think

0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.839
<v Speaker 1>it's a it's a place as as as we're going

0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:06.120
<v Speaker 1>through from Little league too, tough high school, college, tough guys, right,

0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.200
<v Speaker 1>and it's it's hit them, go crush on me, you know,

0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:11.080
<v Speaker 1>take them out, you know, all this kind of stuff.

0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.160
<v Speaker 1>And it is. It took me fifty years before I

0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:19.280
<v Speaker 1>figured out the actual fifty the more vulnerable that I

0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:23.880
<v Speaker 1>can become, the actual greater strength I can show because

0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:25.480
<v Speaker 1>just like you you walk in a room, you know

0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.240
<v Speaker 1>you carry something right. I know. I now know that

0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:30.440
<v Speaker 1>when I walk in the room, I carry something right.

0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.480
<v Speaker 1>And what do you mean, Well, I mean, I don't.

0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:36.280
<v Speaker 1>I guess back in the day, I would have thought

0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:38.160
<v Speaker 1>maybe that guy is going to think I'm a candy

0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:41.400
<v Speaker 1>ask or something right. And and it's just like, the

0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.640
<v Speaker 1>more that you share, the more other people have been

0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.880
<v Speaker 1>able to open up to me, and the more I've

0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.360
<v Speaker 1>been able to And I think my daughters have had

0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.960
<v Speaker 1>a big component with that me with me too, because

0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.360
<v Speaker 1>they're very sensitive and and they're very communicative, and it's

0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.960
<v Speaker 1>really helped me bring out the things that I really

0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.480
<v Speaker 1>need to share and I need to communicate and be

0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.280
<v Speaker 1>a better listener, you know, and things like that. And

0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:09.960
<v Speaker 1>so again, it is made my life way more rich

0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:13.480
<v Speaker 1>because of my ability to share experiences that have gone

0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:19.600
<v Speaker 1>through which I've been honest and real. Your daughters have

0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:26.760
<v Speaker 1>helped you, Yeah, what was it like becoming vulnerable to

0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:32.000
<v Speaker 1>your daughters as a man? Yeah, what was that like? Well,

0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.520
<v Speaker 1>I think they you know, sometimes the student teaches the

0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.480
<v Speaker 1>teacher right, and I think the way they've been super

0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:43.120
<v Speaker 1>honest and the way especially with um, well both of

0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.480
<v Speaker 1>them have brought something a little bit differently to the table.

0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:51.120
<v Speaker 1>But with my younger daughter who has epilepsy and her

0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:55.240
<v Speaker 1>sister m claudette, who's sitting here, has dealt with it.

0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.560
<v Speaker 1>When she's had a grand mall and she's laying there

0:15:57.560 --> 0:15:59.120
<v Speaker 1>and she's in your arms and you don't know if

0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.480
<v Speaker 1>she's going to die, and I get a call from

0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:06.000
<v Speaker 1>her roommates and Tucson saying, you know, she just had

0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.120
<v Speaker 1>a grandmall seizure. Her eyes rolled back and she's turning blue.

0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.640
<v Speaker 1>You know what that does to somebody. And so like

0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.360
<v Speaker 1>all this this the cool and the toughness and all

0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.480
<v Speaker 1>that stuff kind of goes out the door. And what's

0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:22.480
<v Speaker 1>really important is really what's real. And so that's in

0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.280
<v Speaker 1>one sense that that's made me open up more. On

0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:29.040
<v Speaker 1>the other side, with I think Claudette, it's just opened

0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.360
<v Speaker 1>my heart and in the way that we can come

0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.280
<v Speaker 1>together as a family and make this thing, you know,

0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:37.920
<v Speaker 1>help her in the best possible way. You retired from

0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.680
<v Speaker 1>the NFL and received legend status over thirty years ago.

0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:48.880
<v Speaker 1>Take us through your journey to business. What type of

0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:51.160
<v Speaker 1>business are you? Well, first of all, I'm executive for

0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:55.040
<v Speaker 1>Sports Illustrated, so I'm in a pretty good spy now

0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.320
<v Speaker 1>and UM but coming out and I think when I

0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.440
<v Speaker 1>say this, and I think you would agree that through

0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.600
<v Speaker 1>the Trust and some other programs they have, now it's

0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.479
<v Speaker 1>a whole different animal today than it was back when

0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.719
<v Speaker 1>we were concerning. Certainly when I was retiring, I had

0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:12.800
<v Speaker 1>no idea what to do, and I was down in

0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.560
<v Speaker 1>Los Angeles and I just didn't have a sense of

0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:18.560
<v Speaker 1>I wanted to do something great. I just didn't know

0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.120
<v Speaker 1>what that was going to be. And I would love

0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:23.600
<v Speaker 1>to say that I retired from the game, but really

0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.600
<v Speaker 1>I got thrown out and then and that happens to

0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:28.919
<v Speaker 1>a lot of guys, right, And so now you're in

0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.520
<v Speaker 1>this position where you know what you want to do

0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.399
<v Speaker 1>is like figure out how do you get to the

0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:37.679
<v Speaker 1>next step. Ultimately I ended up where I started my

0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.240
<v Speaker 1>own businesses and marketing UM company. I was I would

0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.680
<v Speaker 1>go to Microsoft, I'd go to Amazon, Expedia, companies that

0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.120
<v Speaker 1>were really blossoming in the c l area, which we'd

0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.199
<v Speaker 1>moved back to, and I was doing all kinds of

0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:52.520
<v Speaker 1>different projects for them. I did a significant amount of

0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:56.760
<v Speaker 1>work for Starbucks UM had a contract for fourteen years there.

0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.840
<v Speaker 1>It was pretty lucrative UM And so that just kind

0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:02.360
<v Speaker 1>of led One thing led to another, and it just

0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:06.080
<v Speaker 1>really led me down the path of learning and curiosity

0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:10.120
<v Speaker 1>and and trying to figure things out. And so one

0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.040
<v Speaker 1>thing led to another, which then led into the whole

0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.480
<v Speaker 1>digital edge and really wanted to have a thirst of

0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:17.679
<v Speaker 1>a knowledge of like work can that go? And how

0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:21.480
<v Speaker 1>can I fit my skill set? And so anyways, I'm

0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:25.480
<v Speaker 1>with a group that we just took over Sports Illustrated.

0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.760
<v Speaker 1>It's a it's a media company and it's been going great.

0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:30.840
<v Speaker 1>And before that, I was at scout dot com law

0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.720
<v Speaker 1>to people know that for the recruiting college content in

0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:37.040
<v Speaker 1>high school recruiting. So you know, been involved in that

0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.200
<v Speaker 1>and it's really exciting to uh, you know, be full

0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:43.119
<v Speaker 1>of life and especially be associated with an iconic brand

0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:48.199
<v Speaker 1>like s I early only your marketing business. Did you

0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:52.280
<v Speaker 1>physically go to these corporations? Yeah? I mean did you

0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.000
<v Speaker 1>use relationships? How did you make contact and in roads

0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.960
<v Speaker 1>into these corporations? Well, you know, like in Starbucks, I

0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:01.320
<v Speaker 1>just found I ended up you've been to everybody's been

0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.120
<v Speaker 1>to a Starbucks and they have those green outdoor market

0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:07.080
<v Speaker 1>umbrellas that you go sit under. I did every single

0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:10.320
<v Speaker 1>market green umbrella for Starbucks for fourteen years um in

0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:12.879
<v Speaker 1>North America, South America and Asia. What do you mean

0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.320
<v Speaker 1>you did them? I've manufactured him. So I didn't know

0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.200
<v Speaker 1>how to do any of this. I called I've I've

0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:19.639
<v Speaker 1>found out that they're maybe looking for a new vendor.

0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:22.240
<v Speaker 1>I called up Starbucks the front line and said, I'm

0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:25.560
<v Speaker 1>looking for the person that the the person at Starbucks

0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:30.880
<v Speaker 1>that is in charge of ordering all the outdoor market umbrellas,

0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:33.240
<v Speaker 1>didn't even know what one was. I got on the

0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:35.040
<v Speaker 1>phone and said, Hammon, him is Mark, and this is

0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:37.320
<v Speaker 1>what I do, and I can give you and produce

0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:41.240
<v Speaker 1>the best possible green outdoor market umbrella you've ever seen.

0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:45.199
<v Speaker 1>And she goes okay, So she said it took me

0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:47.120
<v Speaker 1>two and a half years. Two and a half years

0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:50.880
<v Speaker 1>to get that account by just keeping at it, figuring

0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:57.000
<v Speaker 1>it out. I went overseas. I started a overseas, hired

0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:59.240
<v Speaker 1>two people in Hong Kong that would then help me

0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.840
<v Speaker 1>manufact extra things in in China, and then we brought

0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.040
<v Speaker 1>them back and put them on big containers and wrought

0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:07.439
<v Speaker 1>them to the East Coast and the West coast. And

0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:09.439
<v Speaker 1>so I had no idea what I was doing. And

0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.600
<v Speaker 1>at the time Mark, I don't know, but I did.

0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:19.040
<v Speaker 1>I did before years. Yeah, it's called from how do

0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:24.040
<v Speaker 1>you go to Starbucks, look at umbrella and decide I'm

0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:30.280
<v Speaker 1>going to I will call them not knowing anything. This

0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:34.320
<v Speaker 1>has been the NFL Legends podcast. To provide feedback or

0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:38.080
<v Speaker 1>requested topic for discussion, email us at NFL Legends at

0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:50.040
<v Speaker 1>nfl dot com.