WEBVTT - S3 Episode 2: Master Plan 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.160 Drafted as a production of tree Fort Media, Clutch Sports Group, 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:12.560 and I Heart Radio. Basically, yeah, live fie for sixty hours, 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.560 alve fi for sixty hours. This for like a podcast, 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:25.320 I mean just like recording like sixty hours. This is 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:32.160 a podcast. It was just audio. Welcome back to season 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:36.400 three of Drafted. I'm Steven Johnson and last episode we 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:40.479 got to know University of Alabama star receiver Davante Smith. 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.760 In this second episode, we're meeting the guy you just 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:52.120 heard laughing, Davante's college teammate, offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood. He's 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.280 six ft five in ways roughly three and twenty pounds, 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.360 almost double the way of Davante, and over the past 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.680 four years, Alex clear the path for his smaller teammates 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.760 on offense, staying in the background as the other players 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:10.119 won awards and got most of the publicity. Now NFL 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.800 Draft arriving in only one more day, Alex is finally 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.280 going to have the cameras and limelight directly on him 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:32.800 and experience he's absolutely not used to. Hello, sorry, oh 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:39.080 my gosh, he's like tripled inside. How are you good? Oh? 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.279 How you doing? Alex will be participating in the draft 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.560 virtually this year, only the thirteen players in Cleveland are 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.760 doing their draft in person. Everyone else has to throw 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.160 their own at home draft party. So before hosting his 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.200 party tomorrow night, Alex decides to visit his godparents, Rebecca 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.680 and Andrew, at their house in Pensacola, Florida, and he's 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:10.600 brought along is ten month old puppy Zuko. Does he does, 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:15.960 but he does, but it's not It's not crazy at all, Deree, 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.280 So how I'm sorry, I'm not at all To be honest, 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.200 I slept through the whole night because I honestly went 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.360 back to sleep when I woke up. But I mean, 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.240 it is what it is. I'm ready to go. That's awesome. 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.200 How to go after college? You got? Well? He traded 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:41.720 it right, because like the day after this season, I 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.400 mean that next day after the National Championship game, I 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:50.880 go straight to Texas to start training. Alabama won the 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:55.680 National championship on January eleven, and instead of taking time 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.480 off and celebrating, Alex woke up on January twelve and 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.240 drove the Texas to start training for his pro career. 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.519 He didn't build a single day off into his plan. Now, 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:09.880 four months later Alex is being talked about as a 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:13.040 first or second round pick, and he's been linked to 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:18.519 a half a dozen teams. I've stayed away from reading 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:23.600 anything about you because it's fake. It's fake. The media 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:27.480 is fake. Watch it. It's literally fake. Yeah. One time, 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:32.160 one time Broncos the Packers, and then it was like 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.320 the last one I saw said that Packers. You know, 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.760 it's like who knows. You don't look at it. Yeah, 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.760 they know, they know nothing. It's all speculation. But I 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.120 do have an idea. I know the charges. They liked 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:46.080 me a lot, but I'm not their first option. Yeah. 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:48.840 So if it's not Do, probably going to be the Raiders. 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.720 If it's not the Raiders, then it will be Miami. 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:58.560 There's not Miami, then it will definitely be the Ravings. 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.560 But how's it going to work? I will we will 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.240 literally all be watching the TV and wait until somebody 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:06.680 calls me. That's what it is. Yeah, I need just 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:11.720 wait for the phone. Well, we're gonna bring a sharp 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:15.640 choose plate. How do you call it? I'm working on 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:28.800 this with you, yeah, yeah, really other things. The correct 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:33.000 pronunciation is charcuterie. It's a French term describing prepared or 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.640 cured meats, and that's the language Alex actually knows well 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.880 because learning French is something he built into his master plan. 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:42.840 In case you didn't notice, when Alex just rattled off 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.920 a memorized list of which teams are targeting him, as 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:48.920 well as exactly where he ranks on each team's position list, 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:53.000 He's meticulous about his entire life, and that includes the 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:57.560 guest list to his upcoming draft parties. So how many 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.359 family you got coming in a lot? My mom was 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:05.080 shared like fifty so people. She didn't bring fifty people, 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:07.200 but she said it's probably gonna end up being close 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:13.240 to fifty. Let me live here already them. Alex grew 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:16.800 up in Pensacola, Florida, with a huge family nearby, but 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.640 his childhood provided plenty of time for introspection. I grew 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.440 up basically a single parent home, just me and my dad. 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:26.280 All of my hid blooms on my desk. I were 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:28.080 much older than me, so it's just me and him 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.000 in the house or whatever. I was staying with my dad. 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.880 UM my mom she lived close to life to um 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:36.680 her sisters and stuff, so I got to play with 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.159 all my cousins and stuff, go to her house every weekend, 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.560 you know. Let me As a kid. Growing up, he 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.520 attended Booker T. Washington High School and that's where he 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:51.000 met his best friend, Kia Hollis. My name is Kia Hollis. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.080 Alex is my best friend. Where we come from, a 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.120 lot of people that are from there, their main goal 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.159 is to get out of Pensacola, mostly because it's not 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.159 a lot of between geest there. Most places where you 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.000 can go, people have already had those jobs. They're stuck 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:08.760 in those jobs and they'll be there until they retire 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.960 or they're fired. So growing up in our town, the 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.760 fifteen year olds back then, he was a lot different 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.520 than them. No, kids our age were really thinking of 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.640 the bigger picture, like oh, we need to probably have 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:25.840 this ready or we need to have this ready. But 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.680 he always did. He always thought about the bigger picture. 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.280 He always thought about where am I going to be 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.000 five ten years from now? I need to work on that, 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.599 and he stuck to that. Lots of fifteen year olds 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.599 have goals for high school and college or even dreams 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.000 of being a musician or becoming a doctor. What Alex 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.600 was doing that was something very very different. His other 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:53.520 best friend, Duress Parks, explains. My name is DRez Parks. 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.560 I am also a football player here at the University 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.440 of Alabama, but also happened to be Alex Otherwood's best 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:03.360 friend of wanted his best friends. Jures played a linebacker 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:05.680 for the Crimson Tide and lived with Alex as a 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:10.440 roommate this past season. I've known Alex for about four 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.480 and a half, maybe five years now, maybe six. I've 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:18.360 never met anyone who's so strategic as of how they 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:20.920 move and how they go about the things that they do. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.800 Whenever you ask him, he will tell you he's like 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.440 executing his plan. And he's been doing this since I 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.400 first met him. He knew exactly what he needed to 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.239 do at the moment where he decided to play football, 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.080 and what football could do for him and his family 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.400 and his life. And he made those conscious decisions at 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.520 a very young age to do all those things and 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:44.000 like strategically placed these things in order, like I'm going 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:46.400 to do this, Okay, after I do this, this leads 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.000 me to get here, I'm gonna do this after I 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:51.840 get there, and it just kept building, and Yeah, he's 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:56.200 definitely a mastermind and planning and executing. Five and ten 0:07:56.280 --> 0:08:00.600 years strategic operating plans are normally associated with corporate executives 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:05.840 running multinational fortuneies, not fifteen year old kids playing football. 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.360 That's Alex though. That's how he goes about his business 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.360 and how he plays his position on the field. Fortunately, 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:17.320 offensive line happens to be perfectly suited to that meticulous, systematic, 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:24.800 detail oriented approach. Here's Alex again explaining further. You gotta 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:27.240 be a big smart after letting the play, like you 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.160 can't just take any big ass efforts Joe off the 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.240 street and say play alone. The movements and stuff we 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:36.720 do are very unnatural to like the human body are techniques. 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.120 They're not like human bodily movements, like we're sending the 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.360 squad to move from you know what I mean. It's 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.880 the most like technical and seer position on the field. 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:50.280 To an untrained eye, Alex's job in football looks like 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:52.960 he smashes into other giant men as hard as he 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:57.559 can on every play and actuality. Offensive lineman need enormous 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:03.640 understanding of positioning, strategy, and technique, along with amazing situational awareness, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.640 and on top of that, they're often the smartest guys 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:09.520 on the field. Offensive lineman score the highest on the 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:13.440 Wonderlick Test, which is the cognitive and problem solving exam 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.280 given to all NFL prospects. Quarterbacks are the second highest 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.000 scoring group. Here's Alex again. Football is a game of inches. 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.960 Everybody knows that, but it's even more defined when you 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.800 plan on line, like the steps you take, how you 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.000 use your leverage, where you exert your power and you 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.280 have to move another human being who doesn't want to 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:35.240 be moved from one point to another, and like it's 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:36.960 not like he's gonna just sitting there and let you move. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.080 That other human being you're trying to move also aways 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.320 three hundred plus pounds and squad six hundred plus pounds, 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:45.720 and it's doing everything in their power to knock you 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:49.120 onto the ground. And sometimes the person you need to 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.000 block is a hundred pounds lighter than you, runs much 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.480 faster than you, and tries to blaze right by you 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.240 with speed instead of force. Offensive lineman like Alex have 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:02.800 to be able to handle both types of defenders. You 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:04.760 gotta watch your opponent and know what your opponent is 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.520 gonna do. A defensive end like he could go up 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:09.960 and under, he can loop. He literally has free range 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.720 to go anywhere he wants on that field, So you've 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.200 gotta be super precise with the steps you take to 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.160 get them, you know, to go one way or the other, 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:19.920 and not on that, but just like understanding and knowing 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.400 the defense and knowing what they're trying to do to 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.800 the offense, just based off alignment of like safety, the coverages, 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:31.079 all types certainly like blitzes, pressures, things like that. You've 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.720 got to understand like downing distance situations, how much you 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:36.440 need to get the first down and what they're gonna 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:38.280 try to do to get you to stop it, and 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:40.360 what you need to do to make sure they don't 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.040 stop you. So I feel like it's a there's a 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:46.240 lot that goes into it. This chess match is what 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.040 analysts and announcers talk about when they say the game 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:53.000 within the game, it's the hundreds of small strategic decisions 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.959 from all eleven guys on the offense, as well as 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.480 those by coaches who calling plays informations that all that 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.560 up to other play works or not. And of course 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.120 this level of strategy perfectly suits the type of NFL 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:10.400 prospect who happens to be very very detail oriented. Here's 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:14.960 Jazz again on his personal chess match with Alex I 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.240 remember I was going against each other at practice, and 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:21.679 we got home that night and I was watching him 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:25.880 watch film and he was trying to see the exact 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.920 point in the moment where I had did something where 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.800 he knew that he could catch me at that given moment, 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.920 and being so analytical about like I need to do 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.400 this at this given moment and this given time, so 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.240 this doesn't happen, and this at this given moment at 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.240 this given time, so this doesn't happen. And I've watched 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.360 him watch film and him slow things down to them 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.760 there another second of where certain things are where he is, 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.520 and him knowing that, Okay, I need to do this next, 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.480 so this doesn't happen again, and I watched him. I 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.360 watched him, watched me two beat me. The next Davids 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.320 go out to practice, me knowing everything he's gonna do 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:05.080 to try to stop me from doing what I do. 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:07.880 Of course, I went on and trying to figure out, okay, 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.880 if he's gonna do this at this point, It's like 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:11.640 I was playing chess with him, but he let me 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.440 watch him figure me out in the sense, and he 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.839 still dropped me, like he literally stopped me like, every 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:22.080 damn time, this is just him going against me. And 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:23.440 he was like, Okay, I know that you're gonna do 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.240 this at this moment, and so I even switched it up, 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:28.360 and he was still prepared for the extra and the 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.559 things that he didn't know I was gonna pour or 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.000 take out on him, you know, And he still was 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:35.480 able to stop me in those instances. So I knew 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:39.679 for a fact that Alex is very much a intricate thinker, 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:44.360 and I've always resented him for that, him for that moment. 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.160 I'm like, how how do you? How do you do that? 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.800 Here's Alex's agent at Clutch Sports Group to Marry Spielbo 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.880 on how Alex's experiences at Alabama propelled his mental game 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:01.240 to another level. Yeah, he played guard, He's played right 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.080 down because play left tackle, so he was kind of 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.120 thrust in a role to be that swing man across 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:10.440 the line. Him playing a lot of different positions, you know, 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.880 on that offensive line meant that he had to know 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:14.560 a lot of different bands, So he had to know 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.120 a lot of terminology, had to know a lot of 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:21.320 defensive fronts and formations from each position. And anybody that 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.160 knows football knows that the box that you're planning is 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.240 completely different. The person across sreet is completely different. So 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:29.800 whichever position he lined up at, he knew there was 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.280 a different skill set lined up across from him, so 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.280 he had to be prepared for that. So I just 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.319 think him just being a student of the game because 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.640 he was thrust into so many positions, allowed him to 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.920 be that srubable person. Surprisingly, this versatility both helps and 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:47.319 hurts him in the draft. Some things view his positional 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.120 flexibility as a strength because he can step in and 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.439 feel any role needed. Others see him moving around as 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.520 a negative. They wonder if he wasn't capable of being 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.520 a pure left tackle in college and therefore can't play 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.040 a left tackle in the NFL either, And unfortunately for Alex, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.360 left tackle is the most highly coveted and highly paid 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:10.280 position on the offensive line. So despite Alex winning the 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:14.280 Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman, NFL teams 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.760 aren't certain what position he'll play at the next level, 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:21.080 and what position teams think he'll play will likely determine 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:27.520 when and where he gets drafted. We'll be right back. 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.120 Alex didn't even play football until high school. His main 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:46.960 sport was track and field when he was younger. Then 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.840 everything changed his freshman and sophomore years when he began 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:54.440 to grow after I got high school like a huge 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:56.600 ghost spurt and got all got big on that good stuff. 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.360 So I'd like it started off with the height. I 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:02.040 may have got like four or five off the bat 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:05.840 like boom within a year. And then um, when I 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.120 turned a sophomore, and that's when I got a lot heavier, 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:09.440 you know what I mean. I started getting to the 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.960 weight room. So as a freshman, started off as in 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:13.920 peevens and I saw a longing back the type deal. 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:17.680 Then my sophomore year he had a coaching coaching staff change, 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:19.840 and that's when I'm Totie Ward was our new head coach. 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.560 And a lot of people may know Charlie Ward. He 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:26.280 played at Florida State UM we won hausman, but ultimately 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.200 ended up playing basketball in the NBA. Former Heisman Trophy 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.240 winner in New York Knicks point guard Charlie Ward played 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.040 a few hours down the highway in Tallahassee, Florida, where 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:39.240 he became a football and basketball legend. So it was 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:41.520 a big deal when he came to Booker t Washington, 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:45.760 to coach their team during Alex's sophomore year. Here's Coach Ward. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.360 When I became a head football coach at hook To 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.000 Washington and Tons of Cola. He was in a rose 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.240 of sophomore and he was a big fellow, not as 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.440 big as he is today, but it was still big. 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:03.200 That he moved very well, really really long arms, and 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.560 it was a very good athlete. Charlie Ward was a 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.480 guaranteed pick in the NFL Draft, but opted to play 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.800 basketball instead. That led him to being chosen in the 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.960 first round of the NBA Draft, and he was also 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:18.640 selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, even though he 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:23.840 hadn't played baseball since high school. He played in the 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.360 championship game in college football, the Elite Aid in college 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:31.480 basketball in the NBA Finals. As a pro coach, Ward 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.000 nos sports and as soon as he got to book 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:37.720 a T Washington, he saw Alex Leatherwood had the it factor, 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.640 even if Alex didn't know it yet. I was just 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:43.360 out there like playing football, and I was like, I 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.000 feel like it just would be cool, you know what 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.520 I mean. And Charlie Ward was saying that, um, I 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.960 was incredibly gifted. You know, I had a lot of size. 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:53.640 Let it like I was an athlete. I was big 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.800 just because the frame I had in the sky, in 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.200 the size, and just the innate talent I had like 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:02.280 playing that position. He said that I can do great 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.280 things just just like a bunch of talks with him, 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.640 because starting off as like a defensive player. He was like, 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:09.520 because you can make a lot of money being an 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.119 offensive lineman. And he really uh set me down. It 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:13.440 was like, you know, if you work hard, you can 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.520 really change the whole trajectory of your life. You know, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.800 get your calls paid for and all of your stuff. 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.000 So after he said that, I just really like body 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:21.880 into what he was trying to sell me. That's when 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:24.840 it clicked, like, Yeah, I'm gonna do this. Here's coach 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:32.119 Ward again. Analysis case. I don't think he fully understood 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:36.160 what his potential was. And when you have kids that 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.120 have great potential, you want to make sure that they're 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.439 understanding and knowing that they have an opportunity to be 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:46.280 able to change their dynamics by getting an alcholarship, and 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.240 that scholarship can help them get an agree to be 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:51.640 able to help their family in one way or the other. 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.080 But we have to put ourselves at the positions to 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:58.159 do that. You know, six am workouts, have it started, 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.960 whole free game meals, all those things that they're going 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:05.120 to get accustomed to at the college level. And then 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.840 when he started going to some of these are combines 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.440 where he was going up against other top tier players 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.040 and definitely opened up his eyes to see what he 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:19.280 was capable him doing. Coach Ward helped Alex begin formulating 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.840 his now infamous master plan both on and off the field. 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.360 Just him as a coach, just like as a mentor, 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.120 being like like a life mentor and things like that. 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:31.440 I mean, it was great because he's seen a lot 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:33.719 of things in his life, you know it, had experienced 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.440 the lives. So he was definitely a person that I 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:38.919 could go to for advice about like going to the 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.359 next level, what it was gonna take to get there, 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:44.560 and what it was gonna take to excel after I 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:47.520 got there and beyond. And then I'll started getting to 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.040 the weight room all that good stuff and just put 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:51.639 on a lot of a lot of good weight. By 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:54.040 the time I was a senior, Oh, I was huge. 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.160 I was like I got up to like three sixty 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.480 as big as hell. Alex was turning himself into a 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.120 force of nature on the offensive line. Unfortunately, because play 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:06.920 didn't often translate onto the scoreboard, book of T Washington 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:16.879 was getting killed week after week. We weren't very successful 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.159 as a team. I mean every won five games in 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.159 four years. I wasn't the best leader, you know what 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.399 I mean on my team because I just I just 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:27.760 didn't know how to yet. So I was a very 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:30.679 very selfish when it came to like me and the 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:32.080 things that I was gonna do. When I was out 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:33.840 there playing, I was like, if we're not gonna win, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.080 like I'm gonna wook somebody as I'm still gonna get 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.960 me some highlights. Even though the school boards says like 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.080 zero to ninety, I'm still gonna get mine in. Like 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:45.680 this team may beginning as woll, but I'm not getting 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:50.560 my ass wood. So yeah, the losing was a challenge 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:56.080 for everyone, even their legendary coach. When we're talking about 0:19:56.080 --> 0:20:00.240 the struggle of losing, don't I don't know very many 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:03.960 people that like to do that. So uh, he wasn't 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:07.240 the only one. And my whole focus on that was 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.840 how can we learn from each opportunity, whether we warn 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:17.040 a loss, it shouldn't define who we are the way 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.480 we go about our business. And that was the struggle 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.080 and the tough part that you know, being a coach, 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:26.960 when you're having to coach through that, it's not easy. 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.320 I'm sure it's very very tough on the player, but 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.560 it's really really tough on the coach because he's having 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:38.040 to sell something or something that is really tough to sell. 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:42.840 And that's that's hope, you know, hope that one day 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:46.280 things will get better. But I do believe that through 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.679 it all, there's a lot of life lessons that he 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:54.240 did learn that helped him at the University of Alabama 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:57.760 because he went through that. Here was Alex's best friend 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.960 from high school again, Kia on what she noticed about 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:05.760 the losing streak. We were one of the worst football 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.280 teams in our city, so that was really hard for him. 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:11.479 He's competitive. Do you want to stick up for your 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.240 team one week up for it, but then not sticking 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:17.040 up for themselves, So it's hard. It really was hard 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.520 on him. Like I said before, he always thought of 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:22.520 the bigger picture, so I feel like that really got 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:25.240 him through. I feel like it was more so I 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:28.639 just gotta get to college and then that way, I 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:32.640 could just soar despite the obvious challenges of losing that 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.520 many games, it did bring out the best in alex 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:40.280 And at least one way. Here's coach Ward again to 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:44.760 that opportunity to leave to go to another school his 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:49.360 senior year because from like, our team wasn't going to 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:52.320 have the great success, but we were able to talk 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:55.560 Aim into learning how to be a leader, not so 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:57.879 arched through wins and losses, but learning how to be 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:01.400 a leader in this environment. But also you know how 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:04.200 he could leave a legacy that book with you Washington, 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:06.919 and so I think that played that also played a 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:10.439 big part in you know, his willingness to stay. So 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:14.719 that's the thing that I imorrow about. You know, in 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:17.800 his day and age, there's nothing for a kid like 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:20.639 himself to jump up and leave and go to another 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:23.600 situation that may be better. Are you being able to 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:27.159 play with some other top tier college players you know 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:29.680 that were in high school at the time, But he's 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:34.080 chose to stay with us, you know us lowly uh 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:37.960 that we're you know, we knew we were gonna potentially 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:42.520 have a great season, but we were establishing a great culture, 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:46.520 and he was willing to do that, and so I 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:50.119 think that as one of the things that his commitment 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:55.119 to that situation I think definitely helped helped him in 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:58.679 the long run. If anything, in these difficult times solidified 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.560 the importance of thinking long term and staying committed to 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:05.240 his vision of the future. It helped Alex focus on 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:07.679 progressing to the next step of playing at a premier 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:11.520 college program. Then, as his recruitment picked up and offers 0:23:11.520 --> 0:23:16.600 poured in, the question for Alex became Alabama or Florida. 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:21.680