WEBVTT - Wrestling Your Crazy Roommate with Randy Couture 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:11.000 Welcome to the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Schick and I'm 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.240 joined by my co host and wife, Ashley. 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.840 Shik Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.720 a gold Star granddaughter, and we work together to serve 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:24.160 military veterans, first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:28.200 with mental and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.960 At One Tribe Foundation, we believe everyone. 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:33.880 Has a story to tell, not only about the peaks, 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.120 but also the valleys they've been through to get them 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:37.200 to where they are today. 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:39.920 Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story, 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.440 to share with us the lessons they've learned that shape 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.360 who they are and what they're doing to pay it 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:45.720 forward and give back. 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:48.480 Our mission with this show is to dig deep into 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.040 our guest's journey so that we can celebrate the hope 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.120 and inspiration their story has to offer. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.720 And we're thrilled you're joining us again. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:01:00.760 Welcome to the Good Stuff. We have the gift of 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:02.600 getting to hang out with one of the nicest people 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:04.880 in the world who also happens to be really good 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.440 at beating people up. Today's guest is Randy Gettuur, who 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.399 I've been friends with for years after getting to know 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:13.160 him through various fundraising events and motorcycle rides. 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:15.039 And you may know him from being a Hall of 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:19.119 Fame six time world Champion UFC fighter, or as an 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.760 actor in countless projects, including The Expendables, and he's an 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.160 Army veteran. He's here to tell us the story of 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:27.920 being raised by a single mother, how he discovered his 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.640 love of wrestling, and his path to becoming a champion. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.160 He's nice enough to record this episode over zoom, even 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.600 though those AirPods kept not only popping out, but shooting 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:39.040 out of his califlowers. 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:42.520 Here's Randy Gattuur. 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:52.880 Just start back. You got it, the benefits of cauliflower year. 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:55.480 I didn't notice ever, Keith. 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.480 Yeah, sure it's thirty because it's the first thing that 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.240 some people notice, like they can't stop staring at it. Yeah. Now, 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:07.120 other people have known me for years. I'm glad. I 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:10.920 just got back from Bulgaria. And of course you're here 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:12.840 to do the pick up scenes with fifty s And 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.480 a big part of the scene was about my ear. 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:20.160 As usual. Expendable, so all by college buddies lose their 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:22.240 body when that stuff comes on it's a blast. 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:27.000 So one of the first pictures I showed ash, you 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.840 sent me a picture where you stabbed some cauliflower and 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.560 then held it up to your ear. I said, just 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.000 to give you an idea who Randy is. He's the 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:40.680 real deal. There's no nothing manufactured about this guy. You've 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.120 been there for me and for guys that I know 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.280 that served that have been either battling cancer or just 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:49.240 been dealt cards that they didn't ask to be dull, 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.040 and you've just always been a stand up dude. And 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.160 I remember the first time we met years ago at 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.200 one of your events. It was one of your rides, 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:00.640 was pokeron in Vegas for Extreme director from Foundation, and 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:03.320 I just appreciate the human you are. 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:03.600 Man. 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:06.920 I've seen you around a lot of people before you 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:11.200 take the stage and rock the microphone. You're so gracious man, 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:13.720 and you don't big time people. I think that's why 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.120 people just gravitate to you, because not only are you 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:22.720 this badass fighter, but you love hard man and it's palpable. 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.360 And I think that's one of the reasons is people 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:27.680 feel it, and I know I have. Before we kick 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:29.280 this off, I just want to say thank. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.560 You for that man. Thank you. I appreciate that very much, Jake. Yeah, 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:34.560 we put another one out come on. 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:37.280 This is awesome. 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.800 This is this is the challenge trying to get things 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:41.320 to stay in these damn ears. 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.760 Here's the deal. Like, if that's the biggest struggle you 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.200 have this week, that's a win. 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:48.280 Yeah ah, no doubt about that. 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.680 Well, we are so thrilled and so honored today to 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:55.480 have our next guest here on the Good Stuff Randy Couture, 0:03:55.840 --> 0:04:01.520 the Natural, a six time UFC champion act Jim owner 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:06.040 father also runs the Extreme cature g I Foundation, which 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:10.520 serves combat veterans in need and motorcycle enthusiast and great friend. 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.160 Thank you Randy so much for being on the Good Stuff. 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.240 Thank you. I appreciate you having me on so pleasure. 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.000 Jake has told a lot of stories about the two 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.039 of you in the time that you've spent together. We 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:22.679 won't tell those on the Good Stuff. 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:26.039 But well, the good thing is just like they're really 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.800 other than just being horrible up singing karaoke. 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:33.720 I'm just impressed that you actually got him to sing Karyo. 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:39.200 Liquid courage was involved drinking. There are some liquid courage. 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:41.440 Jake is now five years sober. 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:43.159 Yeah, that is amazing. 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:47.120 Good for you, bro, been actively trying to get the 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.400 crutches out, and I have one hundred percent accountability and 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:54.799 with my everyday life and trying to be a legitimate, walking, eating, 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.839 breathing example for our boys and just let them see 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:03.240 what ability looks like and that every decision has a consequence. 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:05.640 You got to own it all that to say, we 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.000 do go deep here on the good stuff. The whole 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.360 point is to be vulnerable and talk about the hard 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.120 times in life so that we can celebrate the great 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.560 times in life. Is there a time or a story 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.000 that you can remember in your path where you went 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.800 through something that really helps shape the man that you 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:24.360 are today. 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.960 Gosh, I've had a few of those instances in my 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.480 life for sure. Growing up in a single parent household 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:33.400 up in Seattle, my mom kind of toning the line, 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:36.720 raising three of us by ourself with literally no support 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.719 or little of no support definitely set the stage, I think. 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:42.839 And you can use those circumstances as an excuse to 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.400 make a lot of piss poor decisions, but I think 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.920 being the person I was, I use them to motivate 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.400 me to head in the right direction, to make some 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.920 choices that put me in the right places and got 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:55.920 me the right people that I needed to get through 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.760 those circumstances. And those coaches were very important. I mean, 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.800 walk down arrest on that hoping to get a dead 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.200 beat dad's attention and didn't work. He never saw me 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.680 wrestle in a single match my entire career. But I 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.280 found the place that I seemed to fit or it 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.760 seemed to flourish. Some of my best friends were guys 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.080 I was sweating and bleeding with on those mats, and 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.440 those coaches were very important people, and I needed to 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:20.960 kick any ass. They were the guys to step up 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.080 and do that. I needed someone to throw an arm 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:24.680 around me and give me a Dutch rub and say 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:26.600 it's gonna be all right, man, You're gonna be fine. 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:28.760 They were the guys that do that too. And junior 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.400 high school coach John K. Spear still good friends with 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.240 him to this DAYE an amazing man. I don't think 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:35.680 he realized the impact he had on so many of us. 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.040 Coach backer boy in high school old football coach never 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:40.640 wrestled a day in his life, but he was a 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:43.760 great wrestling coach. He was a disciplinarian and kept us 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.839 on task. And I won my first championship with him 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.040 as a state champion in nineteen eighty one, my senior 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:54.760 year in high school. And see how you sound like 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:56.440 my girlfriend? 0:06:57.720 --> 0:06:59.800 Nobody liked the bragger Randy that. 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.000 It's easy for She slaps through with that all the time. Oh, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.640 when I was six, what. 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:06.719 Were you like as a teenager? 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.400 I was pretty shy. Around my friends, I would open up, 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.920 but certainly around adults, I was pretty shy, kept to myself, 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.160 soft spoken, some might say, until you turn me loose 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.240 on a wrestling matt or on a football field, and 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.480 then that's where all that came out, was there? I 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.200 was never in fights, well, I think I was in 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.720 two fights all through school. Never any trouble on athlete. 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:32.800 Probably I just didn't get caught. That's the truth of 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:33.600 that situation. 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:35.720 How did you wind up on a mat in the 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:37.880 first place? If you were shy and you weren't a fighter, 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:39.240 How did that even come about? 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.480 My best friend at that time, his name was Bobby Stevenson. 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.440 He had two older brothers, David and John, and they 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:47.480 were both on the wrestling team and the junior high 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.880 school we were at grade schoolers. We're in sixth grade. 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:52.680 Bobby's like, Hey, we're going to go watch my brother's wrestling. 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:54.400 You want to go, And I'm like, hell yeah. We 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.560 get in the car, go with his parents, go to 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.360 watch John at David Wrussell in this tournament. It was 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.600 the district and they happened to have a novice division 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:06.560 that they'd implemented for kids, and John and David thought 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.640 it was funny to throw me and Bobby into the 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:12.520 novice division tournament. Never wrestled the day in my life. 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:14.400 I pain a kid with a headlock. I got my 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:18.120 first bloody nose, and I'm like this was amazing, Like 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.760 I just had a blast. So I think in my 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:22.600 young mind, I thought, wow, I haven't heard of my 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:25.320 whole life what a great wrestler head was, And maybe 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.280 he'll come round, Maybe you'll you'll want to come see 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.400 your wrestle. So that next year I rolled into seventh 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.280 grade at All the Way Junior High School and coach 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.480 K Spear was the same pee teacher and coach that 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:39.640 had been running that tournament. He remembered me. He said, hey, 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:41.680 wrestling starts next week. I'll see you there, And I 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.360 was like, all right, I've been wrestling ever since. 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.760 What was your first big win that you can remember. 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:51.160 I won the state championship in nineteen eighty one, my 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.240 senior year in high school. I'd never been to the 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:58.200 state tournament before that. I qualified as an alternate the 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.680 year before wrestling two weight class is above my weight. 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:03.880 I couldn't make my varsity team. You know. It was 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.520 five hundred at best that season. And I going into 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.000 my senior year, I sat down with my mom, I 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.920 want to be a state champion this year in wrestling, 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.800 and said, I'm working twenty thirty hours a week to 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:17.800 be able to pay my car insurance and put gas 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:19.800 in my car so I can drive to school. And 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.200 you know, I don't think I can do that and 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:26.000 achieve this goal. And my mom said, look, I believe 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:28.800 in you. You can take the next four or five 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:31.439 months off from your job. I'll pay your car assurance, 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.199 I'll pay for your gas money. And so I went 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:37.920 about writing that plan down. I wouldn't go from where 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.360 I'm sitting right now in Las Vegas to Dallas, Texas 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.240 wherever you all are at, without a map, And you 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.040 better sit down and draw a map. Figure out all 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.920 those steps rolls off your tongue very easily to say 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:51.640 I want to be a state champion, But how am 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.240 I actually going to get there? Because from where I'm 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.400 sitting then to where I want to be down the 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:58.559 road in five months is a long ways away. 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:00.480 How did you not to do that? 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:04.000 I didn't. Literally I was doing this stuff on a whim, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.320 had no idea that I was visualizing. Coach Kseper had 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.040 all these tagboard signs in a stage where we wrestled, 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.520 where we practiced. He had all the takedowns, all the reversals, 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.520 all the escapes, and I used to memorize those and 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:19.520 sit at home at night while I was going to 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.319 bed and visualize each one of those ones I knew, 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.040 and then sooner or later I knew all of them 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:27.840 on the list. No idea how to visualize or what 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.200 I was doing. I literally fell into the same thing. 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:32.520 No one had ever talked to me about setting goals 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:35.200 or how to map that out or I had a 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.960 fair idea what I needed to do, and I started 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:40.800 writing down a plan and this is how I think 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:43.960 I need to be to get to that. And this 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.720 was what led to the conversation with my mom, which 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.320 allowed me to stop working at the grocery store as 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.199 a box boy and start doing the extra lifting, start 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.040 doing the extra running, doing the extra drilling, and practice 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.800 time and being diligent in all those things. I practice. 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:00.240 All that stuff was written in a journal. I had 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:02.920 no idea, why are what motivated me to do it? 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.320 Come to find out, I was doing exactly the right thing, 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:06.720 And I had no idea. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.400 I had a great mother as well, who always was 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.679 just hammering at us. You know, set goals, reach for this, 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:16.880 no self doubt, keep going, you get in your own way. 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.600 But few short years later you're a father. 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.040 Yeah, nineteen, had a family on the way. Dated the 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:25.120 same girl my whole senior year in high school, and 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:28.200 she stayed in Seattle at University of Washington, and I 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:31.120 went across the state, the Washington State, which was eight 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:34.199 hours away, and so I said, man, I can't imagine 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.960 going to college my freshman year and dating somebody that's 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:39.560 living clear across the state. So we kind of parted 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:43.719 ways after our senior year and I came home. I 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.720 lost in the challenge match to make the varsity team. 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.160 Thanksgiving was the first big tournament in the resting season. 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.000 Usually every year but in nighteen, so I'm not going 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.680 on the trip. Might as well take the bus across 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.800 the state and go home for Thanksgiving and seeing my family. 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.520 Ended up going out on a date with Sharon, my 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:06.640 girlfriend that whole senior year. Go back to Washington State 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.360 and I get a phone call, Hey, I'm pregnant. You know, 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.319 don't what to do. She was like, look, I'm having 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.800 this baby. Whether you're in or it doesn't matter. I'm 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.760 having this baby. So the ball was definitely in my court. 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:19.800 I went on autopilot. I was like, I am not 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.840 going to be like my dad was. I'm going to 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:23.360 be part of this kid's life. And that was a 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:26.880 huge decision. I quit school right there, went to an 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.640 art recruiter, took the ASVAD, qualified and joined the service 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.200 to support a new family on the way. I went 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.040 on the layed entry. I wasn't going to get in 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.520 too basic training till that next October. So October nineteen 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.040 eighty two, I left for basic training. My son had 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:45.520 just been born that August before I left. Ryan, that's 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.640 my oldest Scared out of my mind was a nineteen 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.319 year old to be a parent and all this responsibility, 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.280 all of a sudden that came with the decision to 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.880 go on that date when I was hope for Thanksgiving. 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:59.640 Sharon is an amazing person. She's in the great mother 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.080 and an amazing person. We have two great kids. Amy 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.840 was born when we were stationed in Germany a couple 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.920 of years later, been six years wearing that uniform. And 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.000 then the next big decision, have two kids. Now, have 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.920 the opportunity to keep wrestling and doing what I'm doing 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.160 in the service, pursuing that Olympic dream of you know, 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:20.439 making that Olympic team, or am I going to get 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.920 out and take this scholarship. I basically ended up being 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.240 an alternate on the Ada Olympic team as a soldier. 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:27.760 So all these college coaches are like, where the hell 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:31.960 did this kid come from? And because I basically joined 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.600 that service right away, my clock stopped as far as 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.520 matriculation in college, and so I had had four years eligibility. 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.240 So all this all the college coaches started calling. Now 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:45.679 I'm fielding all these college from all these great colleges 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.280 wanting me to come wrestle for them. And it was 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.839 a big decision for me, was I got to keep 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:52.760 doing what I was doing, support my family, as a 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.080 soldier wearing that uniform, or was I going to get 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.320 out and try and get that college degree? And they 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.160 are my Army coach Floyd Winter again those coaches is 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.840 we're very important guys. He encouraging me to get out. So, no, 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.439 I think you need to get out. You're crazy if 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.760 you don't take that scholarship at Oklahoma State it's one 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.120 of the best wrestling schools in the country. And pushed 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:12.839 being he was sure he would have loved to keep 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:14.360 me on the team and keep me in the service, 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.520 keep me winning championships for him, but he did what 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:18.680 was best for me and pushed me to get out 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.360 and take the scholarship. That was a huge decision for me, 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:24.480 and a very scary decision with two kids and a 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:28.760 wife and a family to support, to go try and 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.240 see if after six years of being in the uniform, 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:33.480 if I had what it took to be a college 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.760 student again. I mean, it was crazy, but it worked out. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.360 Does Ryan ever say to you like that if it 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:43.880 weren't for me, you know, your whole life been Does 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:44.120 he ever? 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:50.760 Yeah? No, he's never you know, never had that conversation. Obviously. 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:52.600 I think he could do the bath and figure out 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:53.600 how things went down. 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.040 How would you describe your time in the army looking 0:14:59.080 --> 0:14:59.560 back now? 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.920 Formative? It was nineteen between my junior and senior year. 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.560 I went to Europe for three weeks, first time really 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:08.520 out of the country other than going to Canada or 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.440 Mexico and seeing other cultures. And it was in a 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:16.480 humanities class. And that summer, our humanities teacher and social 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.600 spence teachers all got together and they took sixty of 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:24.240 us overseas for three weeks. I work all year saving money. First, 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:31.160 catching chickens, the nastiest, nastiest job. Oh yes, the nastiest 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:34.640 job I've ever had in my life, literally wading through 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.800 barns full of thousands and thousands of chickens and chicken shit. 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.560 But it was six dollars an hour in the late 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.960 seventies early eighties. That was a lot of damn money. 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.520 What would you do with the chickens once you caught them, they. 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.480 Were going to go to the slaughterhouse and be slaughtered 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:51.680 for food. Somebody has to catch him and put him 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.600 in those trucks and take them to the slaughterhouse. So wow, 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:55.400 that was us. 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.720 You can't tell me that didn't help with your footwork. 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.960 We got creative, for sure. We got into some trouble. 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.480 Our boss, mister Potter, was not too keen on us 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:10.480 playing football with the chickens. And yeah, how do people 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.880 don't realize there, I've never been around that many chickens, 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:18.520 but they're urine species, is right. With ammonia, it is 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.440 it makes you literally makes your eyes water. It's so 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:25.160 strong in those barns. There's eighteen to twenty thousand chickens 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:29.440 and one of those barns, so it's crazy. All right, 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.880 where'd that one go? We got an ear pod that 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.160 shot across the room. 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.040 It's because pressure these thunders. 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.280 All right, let me find my earpod one real quick. 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.160 There it is, I got it, all right. 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.360 So you've you've now served with one hundred and first 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:52.200 Airborne and got out. Did you ever prior to that 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:53.840 have a desire to serve your country? 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:56.560 Why? It was one of those kids with my cousins 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:58.920 and my buddies. We ran around with sticks, steating out 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.680 each other belly. We're all in through the grass and 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.440 all of that. My dad was a Navy man back 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:06.359 in the Bay of Pigs Era. He was a CBE 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.040 in the Navy. My uncle was on the Kittie Hawk, 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.760 and nom my great grandfather, Arthur Griggs, drove for General 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:16.159 maccarson and will work due. So definitely had some history 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.720 there that I was aware of, but wasn't something I 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.840 ever set out to do. I literally was scrambling to 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.280 find a way to support a new family, and this 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.440 was one of those light bulb moments, Oh that'll work. 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:29.840 I can do that. And what I didn't want to 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.080 do is go live in our parents' house and see 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:35.480 how that went. I was way too independent to want 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.680 to do that or to think that was going to work. 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.600 The Army solved that problem. I honestly never didn't see 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.800 a Navy or recruiter. The only recruiter in Pulman, Washington 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:48.399 that I saw was an Army recruiter. So that was 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.639 the one I walked into and took the test, and 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.520 obviously things worked out huge decision for me. I went 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.960 to the Eedy eight trials that summer, was an alternate 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.440 on the team, literally two matches away from making the 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:03.760 Olympic team, and I was wrestling at a level and 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.080 I'd never expected to be at. I think during that 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.919 time in the Army, I believed I learned and developed 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:10.960 the confidence that I could compete at that level, and 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:13.560 I don't think that was there before that, And now 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.119 they want me to go to a whole new level. 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.679 And I'm like, holy shit, talk about a butt pucker. 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:19.359 Yeah, yeah, I was. 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.600 You know, I was like, man, and now how am 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.640 I going to support my two kids and my wife? 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.040 And what if this dodn't work? You know, I was 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.720 a pretty good student. I didn't apply myself. I literally 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.439 got e's and b's without trying, So it wasn't like 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.400 I was a dummy, but it was still six years 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:37.159 since I'd been in that kind of mode, in that 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.640 environment as a student at a college Division one college. 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.439 And there was definitely a scary decision for me driving 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:48.960 out of Fort cambl Kentucky for Stillwater, Oklahoma, car packed 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.080 and loaded with the kids and everything, and I pulled 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:54.320 into town and first person we met, we're staying at 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.000 a hotel too, We could find an apartment, and everybody 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:00.240 was just so dang friendly, so amazing in that you know, 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.840 I was like, man, I am definitely in the right place. 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.120 It was a lot different than the way you get 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:08.000 treated around the military base and living just off the base, 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:11.080 and seems weird how much finance and you know, how 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.000 much money we bring into those communities, but those communities 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:16.479 a lot of times aren't very friendly or kind to 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:19.320 us around the bases. I don't think a lot of 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.280 folks know that, but that's just how it is. And 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:25.040 so yeah, you know, I was almost immediately elated that 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:27.600 here we were and it was it looked like everything 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:30.440 was positive. They were all positive sides, that this was 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:31.840 going to be a good decision and things were going 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:35.000