WEBVTT - Football is back with Barry Sanders 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:08.559 From the King of sports Books comes the Key sports 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:19.360 podcast Unleashed, presented by the MGM. Here's your host, Olivia 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:31.080 Harlan Decker. Welcome back to Unleashed. NFL training camps are 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.960 underway as the preseason begins this weekend. I'm so excited. 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.080 I'm gonna be going to Texans at Packers. Green Bay 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:41.280 is the favorite at minus one. You're probably going to 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.559 see quarterback Jordan's love. The big question mark is Deshaun 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.239 Watson for Houston, if he's even still a Texan by 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.280 the weekend. I can't wait to smell the bronze cooking 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.400 in the parking lot, the sticky spilled beer in the concourse. 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:57.520 There's just something so great about being at an NFL stadium. 0:00:57.560 --> 0:00:59.320 I really wish my co host could go with me. 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:02.200 Janice Office, You're honest. How was your week going and 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.280 how you excited the football's back. I'm very excited the 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:09.000 football's back. And yeah, all of those nostalgic smells, the 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:13.280 hot dogs cooking, the beers, the courts underneath the stadium 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.160 is being full with people getting arrested for being drunk. 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.640 And I've just been in one of those holding cells. No, 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:22.800 I've never been in one of those holding cells, Thank god, 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.039 I have not been, but I've seen a lot of 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.919 people go into them. You know, people like to drink 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.360 at a certain sport if there is the legal system 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:35.280 is present in the sport that you play. So, but 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:38.800 I just got a new seventy TV from my basement. Wow, 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:40.640 I want to hang it out and I want to 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.360 turn it into like just a football mecca. So I'm 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:46.440 excited for that. I'm very excited. But you know, because 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:49.320 of the pandemic, it's like my couch isn't coming till 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:54.800 so so you're standing and watching. Yeah, let me ask 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:56.919 you a question. Did you break into a pottery barn 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:01.080 to it to do this episode? Because that background looks 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.920 very manicured or a funeral home kind of looks like 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:07.160 that as well. I will confirm we are all well 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:09.160 and alive. You're in the doctor household. These were not 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.880 sent over by concerned friends and fans. Um No. I 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.480 just I like flowers everywhere, and when I have a 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:19.000 simple shot, why not you know, cram it with flowers. Yeah, 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.400 we're not endorsed by one flowers. That is just should 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:27.480 be though, that would be great. I would send myself 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:30.480 flowers a lot. Yeah. Yeah, my wife does that every week. 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.200 She gets new flowers and throws over here. Yeah, so 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.560 she's buying herself flowers. Well, one thing you were busy 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.200 doing this week helped our show a lot. We appreciate 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.079 that you went on the Joe Rogan Show. Tell me 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.080 about that. Yeah, I went on the Joe Rogan Show, 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.720 thank god, not to talk about vaccines. Thanky didn't bring 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:48.560 that up. We just had fun. You know, he's a 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.800 comedian and he's a good friend now and I plugged 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:53.880 our show, got a nice plug. So hopefully we'll get 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.040 a lot of m m A fans, a lot of 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.360 guys were you know, drinking energy drinks and like a 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:03.519 good mm A shirt, like a Brazilian. We're gonna have 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.680 a lot of fans wearing Brazilian jiu jitsu shirts. So 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:10.280 maybe we'll be sponsored by Monster Energy or something. You know. 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:12.960 I gotta stop you there though, because you tried to 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.400 plug our show, and our loyal listeners will remember my 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:18.720 dad also tried to plug our show on a T 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.359 and T n P A game and fudged it a bit. 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.200 You fudged it a bit here too. Let's just let's 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:28.160 roll yeah, I have this new sports podcast, um and 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:33.800 uh we undefeated. I'm sorry it's not called defeat. Sorry, 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.600 I had a little it's called Unleashed. I'm sorry. It's 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:40.320 called Unleash for us for gu Bet MGM with me 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:44.120 and Olivia Harlan Decker. Yeah, so I'm glad you tried 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.320 to save it. There. I'm glad you plugged carry strung 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:51.880 and you know, it's very strong. Last week you were 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.520 struggling with some some NBA player names. But it kind 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:56.520 of keeps me on my toes. I like that. Yeah, 0:03:56.640 --> 0:04:00.560 my nickname is Yanni Biden's so I will miss now stuff. 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.120 But I nailed your name. I nailed your name. And 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.640 that's the harder name because I'm one of those pretentious, 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:07.960 weird people with three names because I can't decide what 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:09.840 one to go with, so I just kept all three, 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:11.680 and because I don't want to do the paperwork. The 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:16.120 paperwork is a pain. So you nailed it. Yeah, I nailed. Yeah, 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:17.920 you got the three names. It almost looks like you're 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.040 Whenever I see the three names, it should come with 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:22.320 like a book deal. You know, it always sounds like 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:26.479 a writer's name. Whenever there's three just sounds official or 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:29.120 a law firm. I sound like a law firm. Law firm, yeah, 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:36.040 Harlan du do you suffer from pelvic mesh imps? All right, well, 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.800 let's get to some football. We're glad to have everyone 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:42.279 with us because this week preseason starts. As I mentioned 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.039 on Thursday, Um, but we're gonna have a really good 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:47.799 interview coming up later in the show. It's NFL great 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:50.440 Barry Sanders, Jannese, you gave it a listen. What was 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.240 your impression of Barry? Well, my impression of Berry. First 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.279 of all, like you said, he is a living legend, 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.640 and he's he's typically like a closed guy, doesn't talk 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.800 my totally celebrate much. And in the interview he said 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:06.440 that's part the error he grew up in part his style. 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:08.400 He kind of led by example. But you really opened 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.600 him up. I gotta say it was like a very 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:16.000 very engaging interview. So well done, partner. Well, thank you, partner. 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:17.919 I'm excited for everyone to listen to that one. It 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:19.760 was it was very cool to sit down with them. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:21.680 And then later in the show, we wrap up as 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.480 always with Peter Andrew for our Lions luck. He's gonna 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.080 tell us about some big bets around the NFL. We 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:29.880 kind of picked the corner last week with tent lines that, 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:32.440 but there are some more and you might want to 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.120 think about it. You know that that's how you make 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.200 the big money. You gotta bet big money, and you 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.400 gotta be a little outrageous sometimes. So Peter is gonna 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.520 hold our hands through that one. I'm still betting with 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.279 my heart and that is not the way to do it. 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:45.599 So I need him because I just I I bet 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.640 for the Knicks Giants, and I've been doing that for 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:51.840 years because I'm a Greek and I have big heart, 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.680 and that's that hasn't been paying off for me. I 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:57.560 don't know, follow your heart too, but make sure your 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.279 wallet goes along. Hey, you're gonna fill me on some 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.679 m m A storylines. That is a whole world I've 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.680 never covered as a sports reporter. I don't dabble in 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.159 much as a viewer. But catch me up because I 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.200 know there was a big fight this week. Frenchman Cyril Ghani. 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:14.440 Am I saying that? Right? Yeah? I mean, you know, 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:16.720 we're Americans, so we get a pass, right. I call 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.280 him gone Ghani. Whatever. It's like, they get pissed about that, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.719 but we're American, you know. It's like they say Duval. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.480 We see you know, they we say Duval. They correct us, 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:28.080 were like, look, we save you, we save you in 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.279 World War two. How about you let me misspronounce a 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.440 few names. Okay, how about you let me misspronounce a 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:39.920 few names, Frenchie, It's okay. So yeah, he's uh yeah, 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:42.520 he is a heavyweight and he is a problem. I 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.159 mean he is you know, the heavyweight is always the 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:47.640 baddest guy on the planet because he can he can 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:50.320 obviously beat up all the other weight classes. And now 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.400 m m A, which is very exciting, has like an 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:58.479 exciting heavyweight division with two big stars who used to 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:02.080 train together in France. So it's a nice storyline that 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:07.479 they're gonna now fight. Let's call him Ghani Gunny and 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:11.360 Francis and Ghanu are gonna fight and their former training 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.360 partners friends and it's a much anticipated fight in Ganya 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:18.120 has only had like ten professional m m A fights, 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:22.120 but he's an absolute phenom. He destroyed Derrick Lewis, who 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:23.880 I'm a big fan of and I was rooting for, 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.320 but I mean, it was total destruction. It was an 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.840 exciting night of fights. And jose Aldo look great. He 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.160 moved down to one thirty five and he looks as 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:33.920 sharp as ever. And he's a guy who's taking a 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:36.680 lot of punishment and higher weight classes, and he's been 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:38.840 around for a while. He's kind of a living legend himself. 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.280 But he looks like he looks as fresh as new, 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.240 like he could clean up at one thirty five. So 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:45.560 M m A is exciting, and I'm gonna get you 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.480 into it because you don't look like a person who 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.760 kind of grew up watching because I like watching women 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:54.520 fight too, but I also like watching women try to 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.400 destroy each other with fake compliments as well. Like I 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:59.360 told you, so, those are my two favorite sports. Is 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.240 it the hydra angels that make me look like I'm 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:03.120 not really into m m A or what is it? 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.960 I think it's the you were missed teen Kansas right, 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:11.040 you can seOne check their Wikipedia. I am a Wikipedia slut. 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:16.480 I'm so high if you looked in a mind yeah, 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:18.400 I mean yeah, I mean you were missing you, you 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.320 were doing you. You play golf. I mean you know, 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:23.720 you just don't seem that the type that would tune 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.800 in to watch people smatch each other. Faces sponsored by 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.800 an energy drink just for the sake of proving you wrong. Now, 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.439 I'm gonna do a deep dive. Deep dive and this 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.160 is what I do for a living, So I'm gonna 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.360 I'm gonna find like backstories you've never even heard of. Yeah, 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.840 doing deep dive like my my good friend Joe Rogan 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.240 hasn't done about vaccinats. Oh that is too funny. Well 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.440 that was again, thank you for the plug. That was 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.679 pretty cool. He's he's a legend in this space. He 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.840 is beyond successful. So that was That's a that's a 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.439 pretty cool connection there. Honest. Did you watch any of 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:59.400 the Hall of Fame induction? I watched Peyton mannings and 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.760 I got kills. I got He's so he's such a 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:06.319 good speaker, he's so charismatic, he's funny. I loved it. 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:08.560 I got chills at the end when he said God 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:11.920 bless you and God bless football. Yeah, it was very 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.480 was like, oh my god, can I have that bumper 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.839 sticker tattooed? Like where can we put that thing? Because 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:20.880 he also said it at his retirement so that was 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.319 pretty cool. Um. Also, Charles Woodson, I'm a huge Packer fan. 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.640 Obviously I thought his speech was killer, shouting at his mom. 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.439 He even saying boys to men, which was really cool. 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:32.480 And then what he said, he has two boys, and 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:34.560 he said, you know his wife was there. He said, 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.720 I hope you will love your mom the way I 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:39.000 love mine. I mean, here, I am just holding the remote, 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.240 tearing up and like I need a son. I need 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:46.400 to love me that much. Yeah, it's um. They always 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:48.640 choke up when they talk about their parents, and Peyton 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:50.680 choked up too. But let me ask you, did he 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.719 not mention Eli? You know, I don't think he did. 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.280 He choked up speaking about his dad, but he didn't 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.199 mention his brother. He did. I don't think he mentioned Eli. 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.480 The whole speak each and I didn't even think about 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.400 that until you brought it up. So that was shady. 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.600 That was shady. That was a little shady. I also 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.720 noticed at the beginning he got a huge ovation, obviously, 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.640 and the camera was cutting to Tom Brady a lot. 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:17.400 They're good friends. But I've read in that expression tom 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:19.440 Brady might have got a little competitive. He might have 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.880 thought that ovation was a little too much, because I 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.200 saw in his face he had a little like fake smile, 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:26.280 and you know, maybe he was starting a little shade, 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.120 maybe you start a little shade of Peyton, or maybe 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.360 your full of conspiracy theories. Today, I'm into the gossip. 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.120 I don't care about the numbers, and I want to 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:39.760 know who's fighting, was dating, what's going on behind seats. Well, 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:42.640 speaking of Hall of Fame Hall of Famers, let's get 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:44.839 to our Barry Sanders interview because it's pretty long, but 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:46.920 you're gonna want to make sure you were listening to 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.320 it in the car, walking your dog, whatever, because there's 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:53.280 so much info. Barry Sanders is a Heisman winner, NFL 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.200 Rookie of the Year, Pro bowler every year of his 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.080 NFL career, which is incredible. Hall of Famer, like I 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.200 mentioned in so much more, He's thought by some to 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:04.560 be one of the best players to never play in 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.040 a Super Bowl, which is a title no one once. 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.200 He never suffered a major injury, and his retirement seemed 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.520 a bit premature after just ten seasons. We get into 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:15.760 all of that, but I've got to say I've met 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.560 a lot of athletes past and present, and he is 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:22.839 as respectable and down to earth as any honest. He 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:26.319 spent so much time talking with our whole production team 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.080 and crew which was a big crew. He stayed later 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.200 than he had to contractually. He took pictures with everyone, 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:35.560 signed stuff. He was incredible, which made this conversation that 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:39.040 much more interesting to me. Without further ado, let's bring 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:51.199 in my fellow cans in Barry Sanders, Welcome to Ford Field. 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:53.880 I'm Olivia Harland Decker. I am joined by Hall of 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.400 Famer detroit lyon great Barry Sanders with Bet MGM. We 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.640 are so excited to talk Barry. Thanks for joining us. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.480 Great to be here. Okay, Barry Sanders, I'm going to 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.040 read off your list of accolades and I could have 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.480 memorized it if I wanted to Heisman, All American, Rookie 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.760 of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Pro Bowler, 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.440 All Pro, m v P, Hall of Fame. I'm curious 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.400 which title meant the most at the time when you 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:20.480 were awarded it, oh, man um, which title meant the 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.080 most at the time? Probably I would probably have to 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:28.400 say Heisman, just because so much change for me after 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.760 I won the Heisman. I'm not gonna say no one 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.599 knew about me, right, but it's been said that I 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:38.960 sort of came out of nowhere. Was that you? Well? 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:41.840 I mean I was. I was probably almost as surprised 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:43.560 as a lot of people when I won, you know, 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.560 just because uh as my first year starting, you know, 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.760 and I just played special teams and done really well 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.319 before that, you know, and I remember the big Heisman 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.920 campaigns of Troy Aikman and Rodney Pete before that season. Uh, 0:12:57.160 --> 0:12:59.160 you know, I just never thought. I just never thought 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:00.800 a million years and it would be me, you know, 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.199 So it just kind of happened. But yeah, but but 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:05.440 to asker your question, yeah, I would probably have to 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:10.360 say just because it was such a big change in 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.160 my life and when that happened, that junior season of 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:16.559 yours is regarded as one of the best individual performances 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:20.480 in college football history. Now in retrospect, is that give 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.160 you chills? What do you think when you hear that. 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.320 It's it's really amazing, man, It's phenomenal when I hear it, 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.680 just because you know, I grew up watching um so 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:33.160 many great players play the game. I remember all those 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.200 great USC running backs that I watched as a kid, 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.720 you know, Anthony Davis and Charles White and of course 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:43.200 Marcus Allen, and you know guys like Billy Seams or 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.240 Tony Dorris Set and even just other Heisman Trophy winners. 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:50.040 But yeah, and I watched so much college football UM 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.080 as a kid, and just the fact that that my 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.360 numbers stack up against all those great players that I watched, 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.040 it's a part of it doesn't seem very real. Honestly. 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:01.920 It seems like it's some other guy. But but no, 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:04.360 and you know, I think back, it was such a 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:07.040 phenomenal year. And it was such a phenomenal situation I 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:09.760 was in, you know, because I had um, you know, 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.520 I was fortunate enough to have five fifth year senior 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.840 offensive lineman at a fifth year senior fullback court you know, 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.320 Coach Gundy, you know, he was a quarterback, you know, 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.120 and so there was another first round why receiver, Hartley Dikes, 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.320 And so it was such a great situation for me. 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.160 And I'm not saying I wouldn't have done well anywhere, 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.880 but but it just seemed like the perfect situation. UM. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.800 And those guys love blocking and and um, you know, 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.640 and they love seeing me be successful. So I'm fortunate 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.480 in that sense, perfect situation. But like you said, I 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:41.640 have a feeling you would have found your gaps anywhere 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.480 you anywhere you played when you look back at that 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.280 season you mentioned Coach Gundy. Is that group still tight? 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.520 Do you have like a cowboy text throat or something? 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:52.920 We do still talk every now and then. You know, 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.840 we had a reunion, thirty year reunion. Uh, just in 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:58.800 the last year or so. So it was great, great 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.960 seeing all those guys come back to Stillwater and and 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.680 men having a chance to really highlight highlight that season. Heisman. 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.760 That's a pretty unique fraternity as well. What's it like 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.920 having that name attached to yours? Oh, it's amazing. It's 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.120 amazing because it's such an iconic name and there's so 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:21.480 many great players that played the college game and only 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.640 only just to select few when the Heisman. And I 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:28.520 remember being a kid watching NFL. The first guy I 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.280 remember as a as a really good Heisman player, Heisman 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.160 Trophy winner in the pros was Roger stall Back. And 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:37.440 I just remember his his Heisman trophy picture, you know, 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.600 and seeing how dominant he was with the Cowboys, and uh, 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.720 the fact that I'm in in a group with guys 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.800 like him in some ways had an impact on the 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:48.840 game the way he did. I mean, it's just, you know, 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.480 it's really remarkable to think about it. For me, any 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:57.280 early Heisman favorites this season? Are you? Are you? I 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.880 don't know if I can say favorites, right, I don't 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:01.840 know say favorites. And I know you're not going to 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:03.600 say someone who played at ALCOHOL And I know there's 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.840 a kid, obviously there's a kid another another quarterback at 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:10.160 the University of Oklahoma who who was a favorite UM? 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.680 And obviously I mean, but hey, look, you know I 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.440 wouldn't want to lean one one one direction or another UM. 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.520 And hey, may the best man win. Every position has 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:22.480 its presence in the locker room, team meetings, on the bus, 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:25.640 you know. And you think of quarterback being the face 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:27.960 of the team, the leader, and then when you come 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:29.840 in as running back, you're the face of the team 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:34.000 that season. Especially what type of presence does a star 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.720 running back need to have among his teammates. Whenever you 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.840 talk about attach star, I think people are watching what 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:44.280 you do, watching what you say. But I think mostly 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:46.320 they're watching, you know, how you carry yourself on the 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:48.960 things that you do. I wasn't a very vocal leader. 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.960 If you're talking about, you know, my Husman Trophy year, 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:56.080 and I think people were wanting, you know, we're curiously Okay, 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.000 what kind of player here is going to be as 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.520 a full time starter. But I think you know, you 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.520 have to be consistent. I know, in my case, I 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.080 believe you have to be a hard worker. You have 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.439 to be willing to do anything else that anyone else's 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.600 is doing and realize that you're you're invested as much 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.960 in that group as anyone else, and be a great 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.920 team player, you know, and and so things like that. 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.359 Um so, because it is a great team game. And 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.320 like I mentioned before, all the guys that that, um 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:23.560 you know, I felt like we're doing a lot of 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.399 the heavy lifting up front, you know, and and that 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.160 kind of thing. So you know, you lead by example, 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.520 and they want someone who's consistent, who you know is 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.719 gonna show up on Saturday, you know, and make plays. 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.919 It's funny I could interview a current college star and 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:39.560 ask them, you know, how they're having a great season. 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:41.200 They would still tell me the guys that from the 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:43.359 guy's blocking here, we are all these years later and 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.919 you're still pointing out your online that's pretty incredible. No, absolutely, 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.159 you know, if you met these guys, you would understand 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.480 what I'm saying. But if you think back to my 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.440 Heisman Trophy a year because in today's football, really this 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:59.359 couldn't really happen to have five fifth your senior office lineman, 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.760 you know. I mean, you know, most of the most 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.680 most of you guys now are gone. If they're really 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:06.960 really good, they're going by, you know, their junior year 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:09.520 or whatever. You know. So to have those guys that 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:15.240 had played that much college football together, right, definitely absolutely 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:17.800 definitely benefited me. And they think about it too. Is 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:19.919 the thing about it too, was I was a true junior, right, 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:21.680 so they so so they were a couple of years 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.480 older than me, right and so late. So it's funny 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:28.760 because they kind of knew or felt like we had 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:30.840 a chance to win the Hysman earlier than I did. 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:33.159 They when they would say stuff like that, I was like, 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.600 these guys gonna be crazy, man, you know. And then 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.280 it sort of called on. After we played that, which 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:40.439 I think it was maybe like the fourth game of 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.800 the season, we go to Colorado because we had we 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.400 hadn't played, um any really top teams until then. Um 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.520 and then we go to Colorado and we knew it 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:50.119 I was gonna be a tough game for us. And 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:54.040 then after the game, I remember people started saying, you know, 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:56.800 fans and things like that started sort of a Hysan 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.159 Trophy chant, which I just thought, Okay, these are like, 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.000 you know, they're really going overboard with this win against Colorado. 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:05.040 But but it's sort of caught on after that. If 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.600 we played you know, some tougher teams got more into 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.159 the schedule, you know, and then and then once we 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:14.160 played Nebraska, then OU and I had a good game. 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:16.760 Then I thought, okay, maybe maybe it's possible. Yeah, maybe 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:20.000 it's possible. That season you had two thousand fifty rushing 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:23.919 yards forty two touchdowns in twelve games. That's incredible. And 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:25.359 you said you were a guy who came out of 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:29.400 nowhere special teams backup running back. Did your mental change 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:31.639 much after that? Then you go to the draft? I 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:36.600 mean it changed gradually, you know, it changed gradually. I think, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.640 you know, the same way I approached everything in college. 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.840 You know, I got there in we had a ton 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.040 of running backs, and I don't I don't know where 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:48.600 I was on a depth chart going in, but I was. 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:50.560 You know, people say I backed up Thurman Thomas, and 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:53.320 I always think, well, yeah, I backed up Thurman and 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.000 about five other guys. You know, it wasn't just Thurman 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:59.520 Thomas um. And then I just kind of gradually worked 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:02.600 my way. Uh. I was very hungry, you know. And 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:06.000 and and so my freshman year I ended up playing 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:08.080 a lot more than I thought I would because some 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.960 of the older guys we're injured. There was a few 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:13.800 guys that had gotten call up into Prop eight thing, 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.040 and so I you know, so I played. You know, 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:18.199 I don't know how many carries I had, um I 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.080