Speaker 1: Mr Jenkins told me. Mr Jenkins told me. Mr Jenkis
Speaker 1: told me to always make it easy for the customer.
Speaker 1: That's you alive person will always be here to answer
Speaker 1: the phone. We're here till midnight, seven days a week,
Speaker 1: so you never have to take off work, and it's
Speaker 1: the same prices in the daytime. We're the ones you
Speaker 1: want to call. We're the ones you want to call.
Speaker 1: We're the ones you want to call. You're gonna love
Speaker 1: these people. I guarantee. See gotta Morrish Jenkins dot com.
Speaker 1: It's time for a Happy Half Hour with your friends
Speaker 1: Kristen Balboni, Miles Simmons and Will Brian. That's right, it's
Speaker 1: that time of the week. It's the Happy Half Hour
Speaker 1: podcast presented by Morris Jenkins, Kristen and Will in the
Speaker 1: in the regular raid Oh area where we record and
Speaker 1: Miles in the Booth of Shame today. What's up, Miles?
Speaker 1: You know what? I really deserve to be in the
Speaker 1: Booth of Shame today? Not only uh did I you
Speaker 1: know weird Maclamore lyrics last week in reference Brick and Morty,
Speaker 1: but I was definitely late. So that's what happens. You
Speaker 1: get put in the booth of shame. Now, it's okay.
Speaker 1: We've all been running around. Uh, that's what training camp is,
Speaker 1: That's what this time of year is, as we're gearing
Speaker 1: up and as wild as everyone's schedules are right now. Well,
Speaker 1: it's nice to have this business and to have football.
Speaker 1: We saw football on our TVs last night. We're all
Speaker 1: running around like crazy, gearing up for a season. So
Speaker 1: it's nice to have some sense of normalcy. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was nice just to actually come in the stadium today.
Speaker 1: You know, I actually have to hop off here before
Speaker 1: the show is going to be finished. But last night time,
Speaker 1: you know, oh sorry, yeah, big timing, you guys. You
Speaker 1: know if Myles was I'm just kidding. Um, I was
Speaker 1: working on something else and then I lost track of time,
Speaker 1: and that's why it's crazy. As Kristen said, Um, but
Speaker 1: last night, you know, we we had the Panthers practice
Speaker 1: all access. I got to to watch it from home. Um,
Speaker 1: seeing it on on on the big screen, watching you know,
Speaker 1: some aerial shots of the stadium. It felt good to
Speaker 1: to watch the Panthers on TV. Again. Um, it was.
Speaker 1: It was really cool to kind of to see all
Speaker 1: of that from from the fans. Perspective and and and
Speaker 1: see the stadium lit up. You know, it's felt so
Speaker 1: so long. Um. But obviously you know, christ and you
Speaker 1: were a big part of that broadcast, Miles, you were
Speaker 1: here last night. UM. What were the things that that
Speaker 1: you guys took away outside of the fact that it
Speaker 1: was really loud. Yeah, well that was one of the
Speaker 1: biggest things I I took away. So for anyone who
Speaker 1: didn't watch, I was on the sideline for the broadcast
Speaker 1: doing interviews with the players and coaches, and of course
Speaker 1: the the noise was a big thing, the fan noise
Speaker 1: that they were pumping in. Um, which I want to
Speaker 1: get to, but I do just want to kind of
Speaker 1: walk everyone through the process of me getting to be
Speaker 1: on the field, because there's a lot of stuff about
Speaker 1: who can be around players and coaches, how far away
Speaker 1: have to be from them, etcetera, etcetera, And so they're
Speaker 1: these tiers and for the most part, Miles and I
Speaker 1: are not allowed to to be very close to the
Speaker 1: players at all. You know, we're in a part of
Speaker 1: the building where they can't be, and so we have
Speaker 1: to you know, see them from a distance and cover
Speaker 1: them from a distance. So yesterday, for this broadcast, I
Speaker 1: was moved up into what's called Tier two, which means
Speaker 1: you can be closer to the players. You can be
Speaker 1: six ft away from them. You still have to be safe,
Speaker 1: but you can move within the same circles that the
Speaker 1: players are moving in. And it was just for a
Speaker 1: day because that Tier two space is very very small
Speaker 1: per NFL rules. Tier one is the team Tier two
Speaker 1: or you know, it's a lot of people like GM,
Speaker 1: Marty Hernie or doctors. There's some communication staff to make
Speaker 1: sure that the players all get to their media obligations.
Speaker 1: So it was very small and I was very lucky
Speaker 1: to get to be a part of that for one
Speaker 1: night because that's the first time I've met a lot
Speaker 1: of the players and coaches in person um, so that
Speaker 1: was great. As we go into the season, the NFL
Speaker 1: has released rules on sideline or orders that they will
Speaker 1: not be on the field for the season, will get
Speaker 1: to be in what's going to be called a moat,
Speaker 1: and I think that's the first row from what I understand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna be the moat reporter, not sideline reporter,
Speaker 1: but media. A certain amount of media will get to
Speaker 1: be in this first row, almost like an operational zone,
Speaker 1: which is still great, great access, great view, but that's
Speaker 1: probably the only time that I will be on the
Speaker 1: field at all this season, so it was a cool
Speaker 1: moment for me. And of course a lot of work
Speaker 1: went into making sure that it was done safely, and
Speaker 1: there was a lot of operational stuff, a lot of
Speaker 1: COVID testing, So I was very glad that it all
Speaker 1: worked out and that I was allowed to have that
Speaker 1: access for that one night. Um. But yeah, the the
Speaker 1: noise was the big thing for me. I don't know
Speaker 1: will how it sounded on TV, and I would love
Speaker 1: to find that out, but they had it pumping in
Speaker 1: at the NFL prescribed decibel, I guess, and it is
Speaker 1: quite loud, um, which is good, you know, it's it's good.
Speaker 1: It definitely adds to the vibe there, the energy there,
Speaker 1: but it is it was a learning curve trying to
Speaker 1: make sure that, you know, I wasn't yelling into my microphone,
Speaker 1: which I'm sure I was at a certain point, but
Speaker 1: then you have to be a certain amount distance away
Speaker 1: from the players and coaches and so they're like, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I can't hear you. I got that at least seven
Speaker 1: times last night. Which is I mean, it's all you know,
Speaker 1: everyone is doing their best, and it was fun and
Speaker 1: everyone had a good time with it. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot that we learned about this, this whole other layer
Speaker 1: of making sure that you could do all the stuff.
Speaker 1: But honestly, even just the fact that we were able
Speaker 1: to do it and in the midst of everything going
Speaker 1: on in a safe manner was really cool. And I
Speaker 1: also want to say, and Miles, I would love to
Speaker 1: hear from you about this. And I don't know how
Speaker 1: it came across on TV. Well, I thought the energy
Speaker 1: in the stadium, it's weird to talk about energy when
Speaker 1: there when there's no one there. But with the music going,
Speaker 1: as well said, with the lights going, the fake crowd noise, um,
Speaker 1: it didn't feel it didn't feel terrible. The energy was
Speaker 1: pretty high, if you can say that. Yeah, i'd agree.
Speaker 1: I mean it was kind of it's I think weirder
Speaker 1: to hear that fake crowd noise when you're at the
Speaker 1: practice field, because when you're the stadium, sounds kind of
Speaker 1: like white noise at the practice field, right, But when
Speaker 1: you're at the stadium, it's kind of like, Okay, there's
Speaker 1: somebody shouting from like the five hundred section, and you
Speaker 1: can't really make out what it is that they're saying,
Speaker 1: but you think that there's somebody shouting up there, but
Speaker 1: you intellectually know that there's nobody else in the stadium.
Speaker 1: But I think that just that feeling of, oh, yes,
Speaker 1: you hear some ambient noise, Yes, there are people around,
Speaker 1: it makes you think that there are people around even
Speaker 1: though there aren't. And so I think what you're saying
Speaker 1: about the energy is absolutely true. I mean I noticed
Speaker 1: players were dancing, they were really getting into it before
Speaker 1: everything started. And Matt Rule has talked about this, The
Speaker 1: team that creates its own energy the best is probably
Speaker 1: going to be the one that wins games this year
Speaker 1: because you're probably not gonna have crowds in most places
Speaker 1: that you're playing. So if the Panthers can keep that
Speaker 1: same energy, as the kids say, throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the season, then that there might be in good shape.
Speaker 1: I think that's such a good point about bringing your
Speaker 1: own juice, and we've heard that a lot from players
Speaker 1: in their press conferences, and as you said, Miles, Matt Rule,
Speaker 1: but really getting to see the players in that environment
Speaker 1: last night, they are so locked in and that's something
Speaker 1: we all know. But I think sometimes we and the
Speaker 1: media can create these narratives of like, how's it going
Speaker 1: to affect the players if there are no fans there,
Speaker 1: things like that, where we say we can't imagine a
Speaker 1: world in which they can play at that same intensity,
Speaker 1: or they feed off the crowd, and certainly that that
Speaker 1: is the case in some instances, but they're so locked in.
Speaker 1: They are so locked in, and it really kind of
Speaker 1: speaks to their ability and professionalism that you have to
Speaker 1: think that's how it is all the time. They block
Speaker 1: everything out. That's what they're good at to play the
Speaker 1: game at this extraordinary level. And I definitely got that
Speaker 1: sense last night. Now, do I think the energy would
Speaker 1: have been much better if fans were there? Absolutely? Of course,
Speaker 1: of course the players want the fans to be there
Speaker 1: and help them out. But I was really impressed, like
Speaker 1: Miles said, of they brought their own energy, and we
Speaker 1: all have to think that they'll be able to do
Speaker 1: that all season if there are no fans allowed there.
Speaker 1: And honestly, until the you saw the drone shots with
Speaker 1: the actual empty seats, I couldn't tell. You really can't
Speaker 1: tell on TV that there's anything different until you see
Speaker 1: like there's literally no one there. I mean, I couldn't.
Speaker 1: I couldn't tell that. It felt loud until Joe Brady
Speaker 1: came to talk to you and you could literally see
Speaker 1: him from the one angle, like leaning like I can't
Speaker 1: hear you, you know, and like from from the TV
Speaker 1: it sounded like because obviously you're talking to the mic.
Speaker 1: He's talking to the mic. Every everyone's mic sounds great.
Speaker 1: But then he's just like, I can't hear you, you know,
Speaker 1: like you could. I could just feel like the frustration
Speaker 1: or just like the you know, through it. It was like, man,
Speaker 1: you know, I wish you could get because it looks
Speaker 1: from the angle it looks like you guys were closer
Speaker 1: than you actually were because of like the angled shot
Speaker 1: like over kind of the shoulder, it looked like you
Speaker 1: were right next to each other. And then they showed
Speaker 1: another shot. It's like, wow, you guys are really six
Speaker 1: seven ft apart. You know the magic of television. It's
Speaker 1: incredible about to hit them angles, baby, if you think
Speaker 1: about it, you know, six ft is the height of
Speaker 1: an average or slightly taller than average guy. It's not
Speaker 1: that far are away. It's a good distance to do
Speaker 1: an interview from Um, if you have to have these guidelines,
Speaker 1: if it's quiet, it's just that I think it speaks
Speaker 1: more to how loud it was there than how far
Speaker 1: apart we were. If they and they did a couple
Speaker 1: of times bring the crowd noise down the entire way,
Speaker 1: uh so that we could hear each other. So you know,
Speaker 1: it all works, um, But I I like the crowd noise, actually,
Speaker 1: I really do. I have to say, though, I did
Speaker 1: hear one. Like you said, it's kind of ambient noise.
Speaker 1: But we were in the practice field last week, Miles,
Speaker 1: and I just heard you know, you can't really hear
Speaker 1: too much, you hear you know whatever. I heard this
Speaker 1: one woman go whoa yeah, just in the middle of it,
Speaker 1: and I was like, who ay, who recorded that? And
Speaker 1: b I should have been asked to do that, like hey,
Speaker 1: just give us a big woo yeah you know, or
Speaker 1: I'm sure you know, I'm sure it was taken from
Speaker 1: previous games. But I was like, she just you know,
Speaker 1: that was her time to shine and she did well.
Speaker 1: I have one question for you guys, since the we
Speaker 1: got so unlucky by literally seconds that you know, we
Speaker 1: had to go to Marshal right before the field goal.
Speaker 1: So what happened at the end of the practice. I
Speaker 1: will be honest, I could not see it. Miles. Oh,
Speaker 1: we'll just let it live in mry now made the
Speaker 1: field goal. Yeah, yeah, he made the field goal at
Speaker 1: the end of the game or the end of the drill,
Speaker 1: the two minute drilling. So the offense one. Mr Jenkins
Speaker 1: told me. Mr Jenkis told me. Mr Jenkis told me
Speaker 1: to always make it easy for the customer. That's you
Speaker 1: alive person will always be here to answer the phone.
Speaker 1: We're here till midnight, seven days a week, so you
Speaker 1: never have to take off work. And it's the same
Speaker 1: prices in the daytime. We're the ones you want to call.
Speaker 1: We're the ones you want to call. We're the ones
Speaker 1: you want to call. You're gonna love these people. I guarantee.
Speaker 1: See got a Morrish Jenkins dot com you hear something overheard.
Speaker 1: So we're about to hear from Will Greer, who spoke
Speaker 1: this weekend um about what he learned last year. But
Speaker 1: you know, after we we talked last week about Teddy
Speaker 1: Bridgewater talking about to his backup quarterbacks about being ready
Speaker 1: and being honest about how he wasn't ready in that
Speaker 1: game where he had to come in in Los Angeles
Speaker 1: and you know, in the Saints lost, and then he
Speaker 1: was ready for the next five. Absolutely, that was the
Speaker 1: That was the biggest adjustment for me last year is
Speaker 1: just learning how to handle day in and day out
Speaker 1: again me against me. That was something that I failed
Speaker 1: miserably at last year. Um, But I think that's where
Speaker 1: you make the biggest jumps of learning from your failures.
Speaker 1: And and and I failed last year at that. I
Speaker 1: mean straight up was bad at um at being a backup.
Speaker 1: And like I said, I learned a lot from it,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, film I ready to go this year.
Speaker 1: I think it was so refreshing and so incredible to
Speaker 1: hear Will be so honest about what he was really
Speaker 1: going through last year. Here's a guy that was an
Speaker 1: all star in you know, North Carolina high school football,
Speaker 1: you know, went and had a you know, a big
Speaker 1: career after transferring to West Virginia, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: he has to be the backup, the number three quarterback.
Speaker 1: He's not even dressing on on Sundays, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden he's thrust in there into a starting role
Speaker 1: at the end of the season, and you know, for
Speaker 1: him to be really honest about his preparation, about the
Speaker 1: way he went through it and now to be like,
Speaker 1: that's not going to happen again, you know. And I
Speaker 1: think that that speaks vibes about who he is and
Speaker 1: what this team and this culture, and you know, the quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater, you know, the offense Coordina and Matt Rule,
Speaker 1: like all of them coming together of like, this is
Speaker 1: not just Will, this is everybody. Everyone has to be
Speaker 1: ready this year. And I think that was a really
Speaker 1: really nice honest take on on on growing and learning. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I appreciated how candid he was, and as you said,
Speaker 1: well it started with Teddy last week. Um, just everyone
Speaker 1: just being honest about their own journey. And I really
Speaker 1: appreciated Will coming in and saying, yeah, I was not
Speaker 1: up to my own standard last year and I wasn't ready.
Speaker 1: But that's what I've been working on and it wasn't
Speaker 1: good enough. And here I am working every day. I
Speaker 1: worked all off season to be ready for that opportunity when, um,
Speaker 1: when the time presents itself. I absolutely love that. The
Speaker 1: interesting thing I think about these quarterbacks right now is
Speaker 1: just how candid that they've been and well, you just
Speaker 1: mentioned it right. We heard from Teddy Bridgewater the same
Speaker 1: sort of thing last week, and now we hear the
Speaker 1: kind of thing from the backup quarterback and Will Greer.
Speaker 1: So I think it will be interesting to see how
Speaker 1: this thing progresses and how these guys are able to
Speaker 1: function as quarterbacks. All Right, we gotta say goodbye to
Speaker 1: Will now he's off to a big meeting, leaving us
Speaker 1: here in our little podcast in the dust. It was
Speaker 1: nice to have you. Money happened at me. Nice to
Speaker 1: have you while we could. Our next SoundBite that we
Speaker 1: really liked this week is from Shack Thompson and Miles.
Speaker 1: Jack gets asked a lot how he's gonna either step
Speaker 1: into the void created by the absence of Luke Kickley
Speaker 1: and Thomas Davis, or how he's going to try to
Speaker 1: assume that role or how he's gonna play without them
Speaker 1: there um and what that means for him. And I
Speaker 1: really loved his answer to the media this week. He said, look,
Speaker 1: I just gotta be me. I just gotta leave by example.
Speaker 1: That's what Luke did. Luke wasn't a raw right guy,
Speaker 1: but when he needed to speak up, his presence was felt,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of how I followed in the same
Speaker 1: way behind him. But me and Luke had a little conversation.
Speaker 1: I'm like you, I'm not TD, I'm not Luke, I'm Shack.
Speaker 1: So he told him to go out there and be Shack,
Speaker 1: play like Shack. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna play like Shack. I think when players talk about authenticity,
Speaker 1: UM and being genuine, that is some of the most
Speaker 1: important things that you can have with leadership. And so
Speaker 1: when Shaq is talking about the fact that he can't
Speaker 1: be those other players, he has to be himself, I
Speaker 1: think that speaks to a level of maturity that he has,
Speaker 1: because sometimes when people are leaders they just want to
Speaker 1: go out and imitate the people that they've seen before.
Speaker 1: But you have to be able to take what you've
Speaker 1: seen and know some things are gonna work that those
Speaker 1: other people used to do, and some things are just
Speaker 1: not gonna work. Becau is I am not those people.
Speaker 1: So you have to be authentic and genuine to yourself
Speaker 1: in what it is that you're doing. And I really
Speaker 1: like that Shack has the maturity to know that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And speaking of authenticity, UM, I just have to say this.
Speaker 1: So I got to talk to Teddy in person for
Speaker 1: the first time yesterday, and I think this is something
Speaker 1: that we all know and consents over the media zooms
Speaker 1: or our conversations with him, even though they're not in
Speaker 1: person or seeing him out on the field. But boy, boy,
Speaker 1: is he a magnetic person and you get why he
Speaker 1: uh is the leader of this team, and so much
Speaker 1: of that is his authenticity. And we talked about that
Speaker 1: a little bit earlier in the episode with what he
Speaker 1: talked about with the quarterbacks and how that led to
Speaker 1: Will Greer being authentic this week, and we just talked
Speaker 1: about it with Shack and as you said, it's such
Speaker 1: an important component of leadership. But in the excitement of
Speaker 1: last night and talking about everything going on with the
Speaker 1: fan fest and then getting to our favorite sound bites,
Speaker 1: I almost forgot. Yeah. I got to interview Teddy in
Speaker 1: person for the first time yesterday, and I just want
Speaker 1: say I get it. I absolutely get it. What is it?
Speaker 1: I mean, because I've not had the chance, unfortunately, as
Speaker 1: strange as it is to actually have a conversation with
Speaker 1: him in person, it's hard, it's hard to explain. It's
Speaker 1: just the thing. It's he's got the it thing, and
Speaker 1: it's a very quiet, direct confidence. I would say, I
Speaker 1: think that that's it. There's a lot of confidence there.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of yeah, I did, what do I
Speaker 1: What can I say? It? He carries himself like a
Speaker 1: QB one right like that's and I think across the league,
Speaker 1: I've talked to former players about this. I've talked to
Speaker 1: current players about this. You know it when you see it, right,
Speaker 1: It's almost not to do this, but it's almost like
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court standard for pornography. You know it when
Speaker 1: you see it. Yea. So it's one of those things
Speaker 1: where you can walk into a room and sometimes you
Speaker 1: can pick out if you know nothing about what the
Speaker 1: team is, you can pick out, oh, that guy's the leader.
Speaker 1: If you're walking around the Carolina Panthers, and we can
Speaker 1: see this even from a far at practice, you know
Speaker 1: that guy's a leader. They don't need to have numbers,
Speaker 1: they don't need to have jerseysm whatever. You know, the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks wouldn't necessarily need to work green. You can just tell, yeah,
Speaker 1: that guy is a leader. And I think when you
Speaker 1: have that, that's the foundation that you can then build
Speaker 1: upon and it can come across in different ways, right,
Speaker 1: you can identify who the leader is and and one
Speaker 1: person might be over the top, and or when one
Speaker 1: person might be giving those big speeches. And I didn't
Speaker 1: get a lot of that from Teddy. But he listens
Speaker 1: to everything you have to say, answers questions by really
Speaker 1: thinking about them. He's very direct and authentic, as as
Speaker 1: we said. And I just see that going. I mean
Speaker 1: I probably spent three minutes with him, but I can
Speaker 1: see how that gets the other guys to buy in.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a he's the most competitive UM. He's
Speaker 1: going to study the hardest. He was out there for
Speaker 1: what an hour and a half after the practice was
Speaker 1: over last night, So he's setting that example. He's reaching out.
Speaker 1: I mean, he took the time to listen to my
Speaker 1: questions and really thoughtfully respond. So I just pictured that
Speaker 1: with all of those eyes that he was building the
Speaker 1: relationship with over text in the off season, you know,
Speaker 1: actually genuinely caring about his teammates, trying to make them better,
Speaker 1: trying to implement Joe Brady's concepts with those guys like
Speaker 1: Robbie Anderson when they were doing UM their own form
Speaker 1: of training down in Miami together. You just really see
Speaker 1: you really see the leadership come through in a in
Speaker 1: a very small amount of time. I was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I I got it. I got it here right well, especially,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, if you can see it in that
Speaker 1: short amount of time, imagine what he's doing. He's spending
Speaker 1: that much time around That's my point. Um, I think
Speaker 1: it really came through. And so I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I get why all of these players immediately flocked to
Speaker 1: him and and wanted to be a part of this
Speaker 1: thing that that he's taking over. Now. Yeah, um, so
Speaker 1: talking about a fan fest and and everything we learned,
Speaker 1: we of course want to share undoubtedly the most important
Speaker 1: sound bite of the week with you, and that was
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the broadcast. I had Coach Rule
Speaker 1: on and I started to to ask him about this practice,
Speaker 1: and he said, you know, thank you for asking me
Speaker 1: that question, but I want to address the social unrest
Speaker 1: that's going on in our country right now and how
Speaker 1: the Panthers are handling it as a team. And this
Speaker 1: is what he said. I think I have to take
Speaker 1: this opportunity to know. Today I had a chance to
Speaker 1: talk with some of the members of our team. Um,
Speaker 1: following the you know, the shoot, the Jacob Blake shooting,
Speaker 1: and and there's a lot of raw emotion and hurt
Speaker 1: and anger on our team. UM. You know, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of our guys wanted to make sure that
Speaker 1: you know, they wanted to stand with the NBA as
Speaker 1: the NBA has made the decision that you know what,
Speaker 1: today is a day to step back and stop. Um
Speaker 1: in the end, and talking to our guys, I think
Speaker 1: they felt like, um, they want to do something impactful
Speaker 1: here moving forward and come together and and really do
Speaker 1: something that that that makes it change, because something has
Speaker 1: to change. And UM, you know, we we thought about
Speaker 1: all the kids in Charlotte, you know, some some of
Speaker 1: whom are going to school right now at the Virtual
Speaker 1: School and looking forward to seeing these guys play. And
Speaker 1: our guys made it to see going to come out
Speaker 1: here and play. But I just want to say this
Speaker 1: for me as a as a white American male, to
Speaker 1: hear from some of our players about the numbness, the rage,
Speaker 1: the perpetual anger, the fear. Um, I think all of
Speaker 1: us have to take a minute and and and and
Speaker 1: and think about what's going on in our country and
Speaker 1: and listen and um, I listened today, but it's time
Speaker 1: to take action as well, and so um, I'll choose
Speaker 1: to stand with our players as we move forward and
Speaker 1: do something really impactful. But tonight they felt like it
Speaker 1: was it was the best thing to come out here
Speaker 1: and practice and and show the Carolina Panthers fans what
Speaker 1: they've been doing. They've been working really hard. So Miles,
Speaker 1: that was how he began our interview. And I didn't
Speaker 1: know it was coming, um, but I really really appreciated
Speaker 1: him starting things off with that because it is incredibly important.
Speaker 1: And I appreciated him sharing with everyone the conversations that
Speaker 1: were going on with the team because from from what
Speaker 1: I heard, it was it was a big, are emotional
Speaker 1: conversation that they had before coming out to practice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that makes sense. I think where we are as
Speaker 1: a country right now is an inflection point. And I
Speaker 1: think we could have said that a couple of months ago,
Speaker 1: and I think we thought we were at that point
Speaker 1: a couple of months ago, but then things like this
Speaker 1: keep happening. And when I say this, I mean, um,
Speaker 1: police shooting a man seven times in the back, and
Speaker 1: so as a black American man myself, when you continue
Speaker 1: to see these things happening. It's it's so disheartening, and
Speaker 1: it is so frustrating, and I think it's hard sometimes
Speaker 1: to concentrate um and tell your white head gave voice
Speaker 1: to that after practice and he said, you know, when
Speaker 1: he was asked, how hard is it to focus on
Speaker 1: practice today, I've got what we said in front of me.
Speaker 1: We don't necessarily have that audio because it was over
Speaker 1: a virtual press conference, but he said, it's extremely hard.
Speaker 1: It is because a lot of us we have children,
Speaker 1: we have younger cousins, siblings, family members, and we know
Speaker 1: that it can easily be one of them at any
Speaker 1: point in time, it can easily be one of us.
Speaker 1: And constantly having every time on the news something like
Speaker 1: this happens. I'm showing my twelve year old, my six
Speaker 1: year old even done to my three year old, what
Speaker 1: exactly is going on in this country? And I'm having
Speaker 1: to conduct and I'm excuse me, and I'm having to
Speaker 1: talk to them about how to conduct yourself when you
Speaker 1: encounter law enforcement. I think it's just downright wrong to
Speaker 1: have to have that conversation with your children because you
Speaker 1: feel like they're targeted when they go out into society
Speaker 1: and in this country and in the world. So that's
Speaker 1: what the players have on their minds, and I think
Speaker 1: we all need to understand that at this point in time,
Speaker 1: it's hard for them to know what exactly is the
Speaker 1: right thing to do. And I think when you see
Speaker 1: the NBA players striking as they did, I've been starting
Speaker 1: with the Milwaukee Bucks, and you gotta give them a
Speaker 1: lot of credit because this is basically happening in their backyard.
Speaker 1: And then it extends to the rest of the games
Speaker 1: yesterday and as of right now is recording this. We're
Speaker 1: not necessarily sure exactly what's going to happen with the
Speaker 1: rest of the NBA season. But I think what to
Speaker 1: your white said said that was really interesting. To your
Speaker 1: white head said that was interesting, is you know he
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily know what it means what the players are
Speaker 1: going to do later. You know, they could they strike,
Speaker 1: he said, he didn't want to say yes. He didn't
Speaker 1: want to say no. So we have to continue to
Speaker 1: think about what it is that the players are really
Speaker 1: trying to express, and that's the police brutality is wrong,
Speaker 1: social injustice is wrong, Racism is wrong, and there is
Speaker 1: no middle ground on this, and it's a it's a
Speaker 1: question of right and wrong, and I think we have
Speaker 1: to be able to understand that. And UM, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: like I said, I don't want to make this about me,
Speaker 1: but on a personal note, it it's it's hard, it's frustrating,
Speaker 1: and it's sad. And I think that when you see
Speaker 1: what happens to one person and then you see another
Speaker 1: person go out, a white seventeen year old go out
Speaker 1: and allegedly murder two people in the street and then
Speaker 1: get to drive all the way home to Illinois before
Speaker 1: that person gets rested the next day, that is Uh,
Speaker 1: it's frustrating, I think, to say the least, end it
Speaker 1: is disheartening, and it is it's hard. It's hard to
Speaker 1: deal with and it's hard to think about. UM yeah,
Speaker 1: it's hard. I appreciate you sharing all of that, UM,
Speaker 1: because you're right. I can't. All I can do is listen.
Speaker 1: I can't understand. I can't put myself in in your
Speaker 1: shoes or anyone's shoes who who is black. I can't.
Speaker 1: All we can do is listen, UM. And I just
Speaker 1: want to know from you, have you been heartened by
Speaker 1: the dance that athletes have taken over the last few
Speaker 1: days or hearing tire talk the way he did yesterday. Yes, Um,
Speaker 1: I think it's great what these players are doing, both
Speaker 1: in the n b A and in the NFL and
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. They went on strike in some places, um.
Speaker 1: But I think at the same time, it's also why
Speaker 1: are we asking our athletes to do this? Because our
Speaker 1: elected officials won't do the things that we believe that
Speaker 1: they need to do in order to create a truly
Speaker 1: just society. And I don't think it's fair a lot
Speaker 1: of times that the players have to do what they
Speaker 1: have to do, right. I I just don't think it's
Speaker 1: fair that players, I really feel like they have to
Speaker 1: go on strike in order to make in order to
Speaker 1: craft this message that what is going on is not okay.
Speaker 1: And I think that's a lot of pressure to put
Speaker 1: on athletes. And I think it's very commendable that they
Speaker 1: want to use their platform in order to shine the
Speaker 1: shine a light on social injustice and racism and systemic
Speaker 1: racism and all these things that are happening in our country.
Speaker 1: But like I said, I don't think it's fair, and
Speaker 1: I think that we'll be better off once once are
Speaker 1: elected officials and those that aren't elected UM do what
Speaker 1: they need to do to create a more justiciety, and
Speaker 1: we're not relying on our athletes to say, you're not
Speaker 1: listening to us, You're not hearing us and what it
Speaker 1: is that we want, and so because of that, we
Speaker 1: are going to stop playing. I don't think that that's fair.
Speaker 1: I agree it's it's not UM, but I am glad
Speaker 1: that they are doing it so that we are having
Speaker 1: those conversations. And Miles, I really appreciate you having this
Speaker 1: conversation here and and giving us a little insight into
Speaker 1: how you're feeling and how it is for you. And
Speaker 1: you know, I thought to your gave us a good
Speaker 1: insight into how he's feeling last night, and so I
Speaker 1: appreciate you doing that here with us today because again
Speaker 1: it's it's not fair that you have to UM, but
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. And I think, unless you have any
Speaker 1: more final thoughts, I think that this is a I
Speaker 1: don't want to say a good place to leave it,
Speaker 1: because it's not good UM. But again, I just really
Speaker 1: appreciate you you being honest about what's going on, because
Speaker 1: it is a microcosm of what's going on in the
Speaker 1: sports world right now and what's going on in our country,
Speaker 1: so thank you so much,