Speaker 1: Are you ready for this? Sean Merriman A one hand effect.
Speaker 1: Boom boom boom, out go the light. This is Lights
Speaker 1: Out with Sean Merriman. What's up, guys, Welcome back to
Speaker 1: another Lights Out podcast with me, Sean Merriman, and uh.
Speaker 1: This week er special the NFL Draft a life changing
Speaker 1: day for most, if not all, guys get coming out
Speaker 1: of college. Think about it for me myself growing up
Speaker 1: in the Maryland, d C. Virginia area. You know, we
Speaker 1: grew up in a very lower class home. We didn't
Speaker 1: have much and then boom, one day somebody calls your
Speaker 1: name and it changes your life. But I kind of
Speaker 1: rewind it a little bit before then. Um, I just
Speaker 1: told you guys, I grew up in Maryland and and
Speaker 1: we grew up tough. We didn't have much, if anything
Speaker 1: at all at some point in time. And to even
Speaker 1: uh fathom someone calling your name on national TV to
Speaker 1: draft you and to uh, you know, get behind you
Speaker 1: that much financially. I mean they pay these guys, you know,
Speaker 1: big contracts. Um one University of Maryland, and so I
Speaker 1: used to watch a lot of the older guys, especially
Speaker 1: the ones I knew coming into University of Maryland my
Speaker 1: freshman and watched them get drafted, and I would call
Speaker 1: them and say, man, what you know, what's it like?
Speaker 1: What's it like from to call your name? And UM, yeah,
Speaker 1: I see, I've seen players and parents and family and
Speaker 1: friends crying, and You're like, man, come on, guys, it's
Speaker 1: just you know, what's all the crying for? And then uh,
Speaker 1: you realize you get to that day and you're the
Speaker 1: one crying. Your family's crying. Went to Maryland three years,
Speaker 1: left school early. UM. A fun fact, I'll tell you
Speaker 1: guys this my sophomore year in two thousand four. UM,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you remember or not, but Maurice
Speaker 1: Clarette and Mike Williams were petitioning to um, you know,
Speaker 1: leave school or sophomores. And if they would have uh
Speaker 1: got that rule lifted or that band or whatever you
Speaker 1: wanna call it lifted so they can go and uh
Speaker 1: leave school early. I I probably would have tried to
Speaker 1: leave school my sophomore year. It was definitely a discussion,
Speaker 1: uh in the head coach's office that there was a possibility.
Speaker 1: Luckily I didn't go to Maurice Clarette and Mike Williams
Speaker 1: route because they weren't able, wasn't able to come back
Speaker 1: to school. I believe they got agents and and they
Speaker 1: had already crossed the lines. And um, you know, they
Speaker 1: had a rule ant double a. Once you get an agent,
Speaker 1: you can't go back. So they sat out a year.
Speaker 1: But if that rule would have passed, I I just
Speaker 1: might have would have went my sophomore year. I was,
Speaker 1: I was ready, you know. I think I had an
Speaker 1: opportunity to get drafted somewhere in the first three rounds
Speaker 1: and that sounded good for me. But anyway, you know,
Speaker 1: decided to leave school early. And it was a big
Speaker 1: decision really, Um, you know, not starting for two years.
Speaker 1: I mean I go back and I tell people all
Speaker 1: the time when I talk about my time in Maryland,
Speaker 1: and I say, hey, I played a lot my first
Speaker 1: two years, but I didn't start until my junior year. Uh.
Speaker 1: And as soon as I got on the field, you know,
Speaker 1: it was it was lights out. Literally. Once you uh,
Speaker 1: you know, sending your draft grade to the NFL and
Speaker 1: and and your paperwork they basically tell you as a
Speaker 1: junior um they come back to you with a draft grade.
Speaker 1: They'll have you know, first round or top fifteen, top twenty,
Speaker 1: and you submit basically to the general managers and the scouts,
Speaker 1: and they come back with a draft grade. My draft
Speaker 1: grade came back, uh somewhere in the early first round.
Speaker 1: And I knew that once I got an opportunity to
Speaker 1: go through the combine and uh show what I can
Speaker 1: do physical and just show my physical attributes, and I
Speaker 1: knew I was gonna have a chance to jump up
Speaker 1: even higher. And it happened just like that. I was
Speaker 1: blessed and fortunate to have that opportunity. But it's scary,
Speaker 1: you know. You you look at these guys in the
Speaker 1: NFL and you start to maybe question yourself a little bit,
Speaker 1: are you ready to go? And uh, am I gonna
Speaker 1: get drafted in the top ten like they said I will?
Speaker 1: Am I gonna slide to the second round? Third round?
Speaker 1: You just don't know. Uh. I was offered to come
Speaker 1: to the NFL draft, and uh, you know I passed
Speaker 1: on it. Seeing all those guys who sat there for
Speaker 1: some time hours with a camera in their face, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, they were expected to go somewhere in the
Speaker 1: top fifteen and end up going second, sometimes mid to
Speaker 1: late second or even third round, depending on what happens.
Speaker 1: So I declined to go. I rented a big house
Speaker 1: back in Maryland. So my my family and my friends,
Speaker 1: my high school coaches, boys and girls club coaches, uh
Speaker 1: Forge boys and Girls Club back in Prince Georg's County, Maryland,
Speaker 1: we all came. We all went. But let me tell
Speaker 1: you a funny story. So initially everyone thought I was
Speaker 1: gonna go to the Cowboys. So I took I took
Speaker 1: a few visits. Uh when I you know, when it
Speaker 1: was time for the visit the teams. I took your
Speaker 1: visit to the the Reds of what at the time
Speaker 1: watching risk and now known as a washing the football team,
Speaker 1: but the Washington football team, uh, the Lions, San Diego, Dallas,
Speaker 1: and I believe Miami, the Dolphins. So I get to
Speaker 1: my trip and dot to Dallas to Dallas Cowboys. We
Speaker 1: get there, we land, we go straight to the facility. Well,
Speaker 1: it's about fifteen or twenty first round prospects in the
Speaker 1: locker room. So we're all together, We're all, you know,
Speaker 1: talking to each other, meeting each other for the first time.
Speaker 1: I'm meeting a lot of these guys for the first
Speaker 1: time because all I have is all I just watch
Speaker 1: them on TV. So this is my first time get
Speaker 1: a chance to see them in person. So we're kind
Speaker 1: of down there. I see all the guys is potentially
Speaker 1: going in the first round, and I get a top
Speaker 1: on my shoulders and it was someone that some personnel
Speaker 1: to work for the Dallas Cowboys. They come down to
Speaker 1: top of me and say, hey, Jerry Jones and Bill
Speaker 1: Parcels want to see you upstairs. So, you know, the
Speaker 1: first thing that comes to my man mind is, Okay,
Speaker 1: what did I do? What did I do wrong? Why
Speaker 1: didn't they come to grab anybod to else? Right? And
Speaker 1: uh So, anyway, they wanted to see me upstairs. I
Speaker 1: go and follow the player personnel Guyles, the guy who
Speaker 1: worked for the team. I follow him upstairs, went to
Speaker 1: uh Bill Parcels office and Jerry Jones is in there,
Speaker 1: and you know, so I sit down and the seat
Speaker 1: I'm right across from Big Tuna for the first time,
Speaker 1: and I've heard all about him and heard you know,
Speaker 1: Lawrence Taylor talked about him and all these great players
Speaker 1: he's coached, and uh these awards and just I mean,
Speaker 1: this is this is the Big Tuna. This is Bill Parcels.
Speaker 1: I'm in the office with as a twenty year old
Speaker 1: kid at the time, and I'm sitting across from him,
Speaker 1: and also Jerry Jones. So you know, of course, you know,
Speaker 1: being a kid, you're intimidated. You don't want to say
Speaker 1: the wrong thing, you don't want to say anything at all.
Speaker 1: So I just kind of sitting there and listening and
Speaker 1: bobbing my head and shaking it up and down. Bill
Speaker 1: Parcels tell me and say, look, Fox Sports Radio has
Speaker 1: the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
Speaker 1: of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and
Speaker 1: within the I Heart Radio app search f s R
Speaker 1: to listen live. We don't think you're gonna be there.
Speaker 1: They had the eleven pick it up the two thousand
Speaker 1: five draft. We don't think you're gonna be there by
Speaker 1: the eleventh pick. But if you are, we're gonna draft you.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, my head, I'm thinking like, wow,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be a Dallas Cowboy. And anyone know that
Speaker 1: if you're from the DC Marylan, Virginia area, either a
Speaker 1: Washington football team fan or you're a Dallas Cowboy fan.
Speaker 1: And that's it. No other team Dallas Cowboys in the
Speaker 1: Washington football team. These are only two teams that you're
Speaker 1: a fan of. So I'm gonna make some members and
Speaker 1: some side of my family extremely happy by being being
Speaker 1: a Dallas cowboy. So I'm sitting there and I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I turned blood shot red because I can't believe he's
Speaker 1: telling me like he's telling me. But he stopped for
Speaker 1: a moment after that, and Bill part. Bill Parcel said,
Speaker 1: but when you get here, we're gonna work the dog
Speaker 1: shit out of you. And I went from this happiness
Speaker 1: and and smiling from in the air and and wanting
Speaker 1: to just run around the room happy to hell. No,
Speaker 1: I don't want to come here, you know, um, And
Speaker 1: you know I love tough coaches. I played for many
Speaker 1: of them over the course of my career from high
Speaker 1: school on college and then the pro. I may played
Speaker 1: for tough coaches, but you gotta think that's pretty intimidating
Speaker 1: if you're a twenty year old kid. You go somewhere
Speaker 1: in the first going somewhere in the first round, and
Speaker 1: you you can land any one in the thirty two teams,
Speaker 1: and here you got, uh. Bill Parcel is one of
Speaker 1: the greatest coaches of all time. Sitting across from you're
Speaker 1: telling he's gonna work the dog shit out of here. So, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I shook my head and I said, okay, thanks, coach,
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Can't wait to work, you know, I
Speaker 1: said all the right at that point, you say all
Speaker 1: the right things. So I go back downstairs and I'm
Speaker 1: shaking their hand and we talked about thirty or forty
Speaker 1: five minutes. I go back downstairs and I started texting
Speaker 1: my family and I said, hey, guys, I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be a Dallas Cowboy player. I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: that Dallas Cowboy was gonna draft me. Now that year,
Speaker 1: uh you know, they had Cleveland Browns at three, which
Speaker 1: they went with Braylan Netwards um, and they had I
Speaker 1: believe the Minnesota Vikings, but they went with Troy Williamson,
Speaker 1: the fast wide receiver out of South Carolina. I believe
Speaker 1: it was he had. Then they went, uh, Mike Williams
Speaker 1: at the Lions and then the leventh pick. So now
Speaker 1: I'm I'm back in Maryland. I'm with my family, friends,
Speaker 1: high school coaches already told everybody I'm gonna be a
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboy because I said, look, if I slide to
Speaker 1: the leventh pick of the draft, they already told me.
Speaker 1: They told me that I'm gonna be a Dallas Cowboy,
Speaker 1: So you know, just get ready. And I look around
Speaker 1: and you know, my family have Dallas Cowboy hats. They
Speaker 1: have Merriman Dallas Cowboy jerseys. And that's that. There's no
Speaker 1: other team team's jersey or hats in the house. So
Speaker 1: the leven pick come and they're on the clock and
Speaker 1: everybody's getting ready, And with the leventh pick of the
Speaker 1: two thousand five NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys go with
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Where. And when I tell you, you can here
Speaker 1: a pen dropping the room. I mean, it was a
Speaker 1: moment of silence. You would have thought somebody had just
Speaker 1: passed away. And let me tell you, this is no
Speaker 1: knock against the Marcus. DeMarcus Where's a bona fide Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer. They didn't make a mistake. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Ware's the ball, and we also remain close friends
Speaker 1: throughout our time. Now, but there was also always some
Speaker 1: competition there, but I'll get to that in a second.
Speaker 1: Uh So, anyway, they go with de Marcus Ware. Now,
Speaker 1: when I took my visit to the charges, I sat down,
Speaker 1: I flew out there. And mind you, I've never been
Speaker 1: on the West coast. I've never seen palm trees in person.
Speaker 1: I never saw an ocean that blew. I mean, the
Speaker 1: whole nine. I mean, I'm I'm I'm d C Merll
Speaker 1: of Virginia. I'm used to the city and I'm used
Speaker 1: to that that life. And so for the first time,
Speaker 1: I'm flying over to San Diego. Now I met with
Speaker 1: flying to the team. I met with general manager at
Speaker 1: the time, A J. Smith. A J. Smith tells me
Speaker 1: the same thing that Bill Parcels and Jerry Jones tells me,
Speaker 1: we don't think you're gonna be here about the twelve pick,
Speaker 1: but if you are, we're gonna draft you. So since
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys already passed me up, I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I've already heard the same thing from uh now two gms.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking also that the at the time, the San
Speaker 1: Diego Charge is gonna pass on me too. So it's
Speaker 1: still complete silence in this room. I get a phone call,
Speaker 1: My phone rings, and so wow, I'm like, okay, I'm
Speaker 1: going to the charges. It was one of my best
Speaker 1: friends asking me, was the draft live? Listen When I
Speaker 1: tell you I was level ten mad. I couldn't believe that.
Speaker 1: He called me on drafted to asked me was the
Speaker 1: draft live? And was I watching it? Like you fool,
Speaker 1: I'm getting drafted? What are you talking about? I couldn't
Speaker 1: hang up the phone fast enough. About thirty seconds after
Speaker 1: I hang up the phone, my phone rings again. So
Speaker 1: now I'm thinking that he the call back because he's mad,
Speaker 1: and I hung up on him or to Another friend
Speaker 1: asked me the same ridiculous, dumb question. I answered the phone.
Speaker 1: I said hello, and he said Sean. Sean Merriman said,
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, who's this? This is Marty Schottenheimer. And
Speaker 1: from right there, my heart just dropped. I mean literally,
Speaker 1: I felt like I was gonna think. And he said, hey,
Speaker 1: are you ready to be at San Diego Charger? I said, coach,
Speaker 1: are you ready to draft me? You said, yeah, we're
Speaker 1: about to pull the trigger. We're gonna do it right now.
Speaker 1: And you know, I go back and I laugh at
Speaker 1: me watching the draft growing up as a kid at
Speaker 1: the at the at the guy's crying, the family and
Speaker 1: friends and all that other stuff, and you know, I
Speaker 1: I got choked up and I held it in and
Speaker 1: I walked out. I took about three or four steps away,
Speaker 1: and I got closer to the TV, and I turned
Speaker 1: my back to the room and I was looking at
Speaker 1: TV and not just bawled, I bought because you do
Speaker 1: realize that that day that you've been watching since you were,
Speaker 1: you know, nineteen years old, playing playing football, playing sports,
Speaker 1: that that day is going to be your day. And
Speaker 1: so and like why, I tell a lot of guys
Speaker 1: it is a life changer, not just for you, but
Speaker 1: your family, your friends, and everybody else around you. It's
Speaker 1: a special day. So I tell these guys this, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, take the moment, take it in. And I
Speaker 1: just got off the phone here with a couple of
Speaker 1: guys getting drafted. Here soon take it in. It's one
Speaker 1: of it's gonna be one of the best days of
Speaker 1: your life. But also remember this, it's not where you're drafted,
Speaker 1: it's what you do when you get there. So that's
Speaker 1: just a fun story for me. Um, I was fortunate
Speaker 1: enough to even have the opportunity to get drafted by
Speaker 1: the Charges. For one, I just believe the San Diagles
Speaker 1: one of the greatest places on earth. But too, I
Speaker 1: went to a team full of Hall of famers, full
Speaker 1: of them great, great guys, great teammates, and it really
Speaker 1: was a blessing. So that's my story on a draft.
Speaker 1: Good luck to all you guys out there just getting drafted.
Speaker 1: Take it in, enjoy your day. It's one of the
Speaker 1: best days of your life living up. Thanks guys for
Speaker 1: listening in to another lights Out podcast with me Sean Raymond.
Speaker 1: And um, that's that. That was my draft story. And
Speaker 1: and I kind of went back down memory lane and
Speaker 1: and and start backtracking and everything that happened during that time. Um,
Speaker 1: but it really is. It's one of the greatest moments
Speaker 1: of your life. And you'll never forget it. You you
Speaker 1: won't forget what you were wearing, you won't forget who
Speaker 1: was there, who said, what who did was because it
Speaker 1: is that much of a life changing So thank you
Speaker 1: guys for listening to another lights Out podcast with me
Speaker 1: Sean Raymond. Um, keep listening and keep leaving those reviews, man,
Speaker 1: keep subscribing. I read them. I try to apply to
Speaker 1: a lot of you guys. But um, we'll be back
Speaker 1: next week.