Speaker 1: Drafted as a production of tree Fort Media, Clutched Sports Group,
Speaker 1: and I Heart Radio. You couldn't play football in Kansas
Speaker 1: until you were in first grade. Yeah, and so the
Speaker 1: very first organized thing you could get into with soccer,
Speaker 1: it would be like about ten kids of all bunch
Speaker 1: together and then Bryce would be about eight yards in
Speaker 1: front of him because you just had these long stride
Speaker 1: and you were just running away from one time, He's
Speaker 1: going like nine crash. That's so funny. That's crazy, because
Speaker 1: I literally thought soccer was gonna be my sport until football. Ye.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Drafted, where eight elite college football players
Speaker 1: take us on their own personal journeys as they entered
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft. They'll mike themselves up without producers, directors,
Speaker 1: or cameras, offering an honest, authentic look at who these
Speaker 1: athletes are beneath the pads and what it takes to
Speaker 1: go from a childhood dream to hearing their name called
Speaker 1: on draft day. Last episode, we took a big bite
Speaker 1: out of the three d pound world of offensive linemen. Today,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from cornerback Bryce Hall. When I hear draft Dad,
Speaker 1: I just think dreams come true and I get butterflies
Speaker 1: in my snubbing. But I also get like a burden
Speaker 1: on me that it's just something that stirs up in
Speaker 1: me when I think about it, because it's like, dang,
Speaker 1: I got an opportunity to do something special. And running
Speaker 1: back Keyshawn Vaughn don't care who in front of me,
Speaker 1: You don't care what team we're playing. Came over by
Speaker 1: the step of your way. It's gotta be rid to
Speaker 1: just take over a game, especially playing running back, because
Speaker 1: on the field you've got no friends. On whatever game
Speaker 1: day is, you've got no friends. So much in me
Speaker 1: don't allow me to quit, you know, quitting me to
Speaker 1: skill position players thriving less on size and strength and
Speaker 1: more on speed and finesse. These positions can live and
Speaker 1: die under a perpetual spotlight. Running Backs make the highlight,
Speaker 1: real plays, pick up the crucial first downs and score
Speaker 1: the big touchdowns. They get tons of love and fantasy football,
Speaker 1: and they're the ones who celebrate in the end zone.
Speaker 1: Then there are cornerbacks. They have to defend against ultra
Speaker 1: athletic playmakers every snap, often playing one on one against
Speaker 1: the fastest, most reliable pass catchers in the world. It's
Speaker 1: feast or famine. Almost every time the ball comes their way,
Speaker 1: every play they make or don't make is highlighted for
Speaker 1: all to see. In today's episode, We're going to take
Speaker 1: you inside the lives of these two players and the
Speaker 1: obstacles they've faced to arrive at draft day. We'll hear
Speaker 1: what all the hard work, sweat, and tears mean along
Speaker 1: their bumpy roads to get to this life changing weekend,
Speaker 1: and how their football dreams are finally coming true. Said
Speaker 1: Mary William What what was rep? Wash it? Quick, Nasa.
Speaker 1: This is Keyshawn Vaughan, an explosive running back known for
Speaker 1: his hard nosed, violent style, A player some describe as menacing.
Speaker 1: How you do kersh Keishan could be picked as high
Speaker 1: as the second or third round or as low as
Speaker 1: the fifth or even sixth rounds in the coming draft.
Speaker 1: He's a complicated prospect, an undeniable talent, but too many
Speaker 1: also an enigma. L how do you donna do that? Wat?
Speaker 1: You just see it? Ever since Septemp Bird seven, two
Speaker 1: thousand nineteen, I have been doing this for my son,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of who helped guide me through the season,
Speaker 1: even though he can't talk or nothing. Just seeing his
Speaker 1: face I kind of understood it was a bigger purpose
Speaker 1: than just me been on that field. M h m hmm.
Speaker 1: Proud father. My son name is Keeling Vaughan U. I
Speaker 1: spelled the same way as mine with Apostophe, except it's
Speaker 1: Kae Apostophe l a and killing Vaughan. Um me six months,
Speaker 1: he'll be turning seven months on the seven. His eyes
Speaker 1: lights up when he seen me. He ain't seen me
Speaker 1: a couple of hours and he's seen me first time.
Speaker 1: Eyes just lights up and you can tell he's gonna
Speaker 1: be like a daddy boy. So that's my guy. Hell
Speaker 1: that what are you doing? What are you doing? What
Speaker 1: you're doing? What the puppy like to go for a ride?
Speaker 1: I got a mouth, I got a feed now. So
Speaker 1: that's that's what I've been playing for ever since there.
Speaker 1: But before then, it was mainly to give my family
Speaker 1: in a better position. Um that was the biggest thing
Speaker 1: my whole life, always just for I was the one
Speaker 1: who could cut my family in a better position. So
Speaker 1: I stuck with football and they'll pay out soon. This
Speaker 1: a week coming. Keyshawn runs like he's on that mission,
Speaker 1: he describes. To get to the NFL fighting through would
Speaker 1: be tacklers and his share of adversity in hopes of
Speaker 1: one day reaching the draft. Well, I went to one
Speaker 1: of the biggest public high schools in the Nashville Pearl Cone,
Speaker 1: and so kind of high school I go. In my
Speaker 1: freshman year, I made it to the varsity squad, was
Speaker 1: probably didn't touch the field first four or five games.
Speaker 1: End up getting on the field late game score my
Speaker 1: first touch down against Eastern Nashville. Now on I was
Speaker 1: like a second string and running back. End up breaking
Speaker 1: my ankle my freshman year during the playoff game against
Speaker 1: c p A. The whole team for like, I don't
Speaker 1: break my ankle, we win that game. And so that
Speaker 1: was the first big injury I had playing the game.
Speaker 1: So that that let alone just kind of scared me
Speaker 1: a lot. I'm like, I don't know if I want
Speaker 1: to play this game no more. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's for me. And now I'm trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna do. And then from right there that's
Speaker 1: when I want to quit football, kind of give it
Speaker 1: all up. But so much so much in me don't
Speaker 1: allow me to quit, just not in my DNA. It
Speaker 1: just want't sit well with me as a person as
Speaker 1: a man, ain't know quitting me. This doggedness can be
Speaker 1: seen every time. Keep Sean touch just the ball. One
Speaker 1: scouting report describing his playing style says, you'll get his
Speaker 1: best effort. He'll make you earn it. He is likely
Speaker 1: to outpunish you if given the opportunity, says another. Keyshawn
Speaker 1: describes his rushing attack in a different way. I call
Speaker 1: it grimmy. That mean I don't care who in front
Speaker 1: of me, who trying to stop me. I don't care
Speaker 1: what team we're playing. I just feel like you gotta
Speaker 1: have a can't be funk with attitude, can't nobody step
Speaker 1: in your way. You's gotta be ready to just take
Speaker 1: over a game, especially playing running back, because on the field,
Speaker 1: you've got no friends. On Saturday, Sunday, whatever game day is,
Speaker 1: you've got no friends. So you gotta have that mindset
Speaker 1: at all time because you it ain't no turning it on,
Speaker 1: turn it off. It's when I step on this field,
Speaker 1: no matter what field, practice field, game day, I gotta
Speaker 1: be ready to go. I can't come out here and
Speaker 1: I hope this team let me run on him today.
Speaker 1: Now you gotta goat gonna take it. You gotta take
Speaker 1: what you want either be eighty's to sum it up.
Speaker 1: No status are revealing about his playing style than the
Speaker 1: fact that of Keishawn's one thousand, twenty eight rushing yards
Speaker 1: this past season, seven hundred and forty three of them
Speaker 1: came after contact. That means nearly of the time he
Speaker 1: gained yards, he broke a tackle or dragged the defender
Speaker 1: down the field with him. That fight comes from somewhere
Speaker 1: deep inside him. But back as a high school kid
Speaker 1: returning from a serious injury, the most intimidating opponent he
Speaker 1: faced was doubt my album A year. A year I
Speaker 1: had to gain that confidence back in my ankle. You know,
Speaker 1: you're going out there and play football, and a long
Speaker 1: time he just broke ankle. Oh, you're kind of scared
Speaker 1: out there. So that's album. Yeah, that's kind of the
Speaker 1: season that I was able to get my confidence back
Speaker 1: and my ankle and myself. By his senior year, Keishan
Speaker 1: ended up winning a state championship in track and running
Speaker 1: for two thousand, six hundred and forty six yards and
Speaker 1: forty five touchdowns on the gridiron. He was named the
Speaker 1: Tennessee Gatorade Football Player of the Year offers from top
Speaker 1: college programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Louisville, and West
Speaker 1: Virginia poured in, along with one from the local hometown school,
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt University. Keishawn felt an urge to leave Nashville and
Speaker 1: he liked the University of Illinois coaching staff, so ultimately
Speaker 1: he committed to go play for the ELNI, and I say, uh,
Speaker 1: far as college as a whole, things has just been
Speaker 1: crazy as hell. Before I hit college, I was going
Speaker 1: through trials and tribulations. When I signed. A couple of
Speaker 1: weeks later, my coach get put under investigation. Allegations of
Speaker 1: player rebews suddenly surrounded the coaching staff. So make it
Speaker 1: through camp. My freshman year coach get fired a week
Speaker 1: before the first game, So now my kind of whole
Speaker 1: world just shifts. My position. Coach goals to head coach,
Speaker 1: and they just sent the running backs grand assistant. So
Speaker 1: that was kind of one the coach and that a
Speaker 1: freshman needed, especially playing as a true freshman, you needed
Speaker 1: somebody with that coaching experience who can help guys who's
Speaker 1: basically coming out of high school straight to college and
Speaker 1: playing as a true freshman. Most highly sought after recruits
Speaker 1: like Keishan choose their schools based on their close relationship
Speaker 1: with the coaching staff. A week before Keishawn's first game
Speaker 1: of his freshman year, his coaches were gone. Keishan became
Speaker 1: the starter as an eighteen year old, and suddenly his
Speaker 1: running back coach was a grad assistant barely older than him.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of something I went through my freshman year,
Speaker 1: made through my freshman year good. I think I have
Speaker 1: about seven hundred fifty rushing about eight nine hundred total,
Speaker 1: made the All Freshman team. By the end of his
Speaker 1: freshman season, the interim coaches were also let go, replaced
Speaker 1: by former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach
Speaker 1: Lovey Smith. Smith became Keyshawn's third college coach in less
Speaker 1: than a year, and then saltomore year, new coaching staff come. Man.
Speaker 1: I was a starter for three games, then I got
Speaker 1: benched with no reason, no explanation, and so from there
Speaker 1: all created that I have built up just disappeared. Far
Speaker 1: as to the n C double a world, he faced
Speaker 1: another challenging moment head on. Man, I feel like just
Speaker 1: at that time I kind of didn't know what was
Speaker 1: going on. Myself. I was kind of still trying to
Speaker 1: figure out that, and so that was probably the most
Speaker 1: mental thing that I probably had to go through, especially
Speaker 1: like keeping my cool the whole season when I got benching.
Speaker 1: I don't have a reason why I got bench trying
Speaker 1: to find happiness even though I really don't want to
Speaker 1: build this team because they benched me and ain't told
Speaker 1: me why. I wanted to quit. Every day for the
Speaker 1: second time in his short football career, t shot the
Speaker 1: questions why he plays, what drives him, and whether he
Speaker 1: wants to continue. That's kind of was my mindset. But
Speaker 1: I talked to my mama every day I have to practice.
Speaker 1: She telling me to just keep pushing, don't don't create
Speaker 1: no batter relationship with these coaches because they can They
Speaker 1: can use that against you when you're trying to transfer,
Speaker 1: or even it could have used it against me um
Speaker 1: trying to get to the league if coaches went back
Speaker 1: and talk to Illinois staff and asked about me. So
Speaker 1: that Illinois situation was more long term, the kind of
Speaker 1: short term my mom would helped me get through that well.
Speaker 1: I figured the best thing for me wasn't being there
Speaker 1: because things had kind of got out of my control.
Speaker 1: I was no longer competing with players on the team.
Speaker 1: It was starting to become competing with coaches. And that's
Speaker 1: kind of something that I knew I couldn't do um
Speaker 1: in my position. So the best thing for me was
Speaker 1: to leave. For a player who drags defenders down the field,
Speaker 1: who gained over three fourth of his yards after the
Speaker 1: first hit by refusing to give up on the play,
Speaker 1: deciding whether or not to leave the University of Illinois
Speaker 1: program is an excruciating decision. Quitting goes against his character,
Speaker 1: it goes against who he is, But the prospect of
Speaker 1: being a backup seems even more demoralizing than transferring. So
Speaker 1: Keyshawn looks back home. When I announced I was transferring,
Speaker 1: one thing I didn't know Coach Mason. I called him
Speaker 1: on sign to day like a coach. I ain't coming
Speaker 1: to Vanderbilt. I'm going somewhere else. He understood why I
Speaker 1: didn't want to go to Vanderbil. He knew I wanted
Speaker 1: to get away from home because Vanderbilt like ten minutes
Speaker 1: from where I grew up from. So he knew. He
Speaker 1: understood why I wanted to get away, and he was like, all,
Speaker 1: we got your awful waiting. Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason
Speaker 1: said he would always have an offer waiting for the
Speaker 1: hometown hero, just in case he changed his mind. Me
Speaker 1: and him had already had relationship kind of built just
Speaker 1: based off recruiting from high school and him will understanding
Speaker 1: why I didn't want to go to Vanderbilt at the time.
Speaker 1: That's kind of one of the only coaches who really
Speaker 1: done game I trust, So that's how I got the
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt coach. Mason was one of them guys who I
Speaker 1: knew I can trust. A National Signing Day coach. Mason
Speaker 1: made the announcement, um in the running back position, of course,
Speaker 1: you know, look at Keishawn von in this class. I
Speaker 1: think his abilities will running back to get yards after contact,
Speaker 1: to be a home run a player. And I was
Speaker 1: gonna have to sit you, but I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: be tremendious in this program. It's gonna get, you know,
Speaker 1: in the products. So I'm back home and and he'll
Speaker 1: do he'll do national problem. You know, he's six one five,
Speaker 1: uh and day all day and uh you know for him,
Speaker 1: I know he's glad to be back home. So we
Speaker 1: get a really good player. I think. I mean, he
Speaker 1: may be the best running back signed in this class.
Speaker 1: I don't care what school you look at. So when
Speaker 1: it's all said and done, that's that's what we need.
Speaker 1: Keishawan transfers to Vanderbilt and sits out the season per
Speaker 1: n C double A rules. When I transferred home in
Speaker 1: the Vandy kind of had the look homey kind of
Speaker 1: vibes and then also able to play scout team and
Speaker 1: get in the looks as he can't play in games.
Speaker 1: Keishan practices on the scout team with the second and
Speaker 1: third string players. In football, the scout team helps prepare
Speaker 1: the starters for their opponent by mirroring the other team system.
Speaker 1: Every week, Keishan ran Vanderbilt's opponent's offense, so the Vanderbilt
Speaker 1: defense knew what to expect. I enjoyed that first year
Speaker 1: I transfer back home. That's really what I said was
Speaker 1: my fun is you're playing football. Ever on scout team,
Speaker 1: I'm able to just run around and play without hearing
Speaker 1: that that coaching that you know, the coaching you don't
Speaker 1: want to hear that. You want to hear you but
Speaker 1: like when you don't gotta here and you're like, you
Speaker 1: just get able to run around and be free. I
Speaker 1: enjoyed doing that so much so that two seventeen year
Speaker 1: on scout team, that was the year I looked at
Speaker 1: us getting better, working on new things to add to
Speaker 1: my game, which will improve my game. Once he finally
Speaker 1: got his chance at Vanderbilt, playing as a junior against
Speaker 1: many of the top defenses in the country, Keishan ran
Speaker 1: for an absurd even point nine yards per carry. That's
Speaker 1: the eleventh highest season average ever in the SEC Conference,
Speaker 1: better than the best college seasons from some of the
Speaker 1: conference's most revered running backs, stars like Bo Jackson and
Speaker 1: Sean Alexander. Even more remarkable, Keishan did it on a
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt team that only won five games and lacked many
Speaker 1: other weapons on offense. Defenses could focus on Keishan. They
Speaker 1: just couldn't stop him. So after such a strong junior season,
Speaker 1: Keshan is faced with a stomach churning decision enter the
Speaker 1: draft and hope his rushing numbers speak for themselves, or
Speaker 1: returned to Vanderbilt for his senior season. I had one
Speaker 1: year school though I'm a guy like, I hate school.
Speaker 1: Mom she wanted me to had a degree. Is whatever
Speaker 1: with me own really care about school anyway, but Varios
Speaker 1: you need that degree and ask something that I want
Speaker 1: to give her. Mom did a lot for us growing up.
Speaker 1: For real, there's so much like she There's so much
Speaker 1: he be prepared for fully even got out of me.
Speaker 1: Graduating Vanderbilt coming back a year was kind of because
Speaker 1: of her too. The decision wasn't only about the degree.
Speaker 1: Questions lingered about Keyshawn's potential at the next level. Well,
Speaker 1: I had to make the decision whether to come back,
Speaker 1: we'll go to the NFL. Had await a lot of things.
Speaker 1: One was my projection. I was getting full filth six
Speaker 1: seventh round projections. Then I looked at it as it's
Speaker 1: a whacking get into the first round, come back and
Speaker 1: have another dominant season. He returned to Vanderbilt with the
Speaker 1: goal of finishing his degree and jumping from a fourth
Speaker 1: to seventh round pick to a certain first rounder. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: the team struggled. That statistic about seventy of Keishawn's yards
Speaker 1: coming after contact this past season tells us something else.
Speaker 1: There weren't many open running lanes. He didn't have a
Speaker 1: Mackay Beckton or a Tremaine Anchrum clearing the path defenders
Speaker 1: were constantly on top of him. Vanderbiltly won three games,
Speaker 1: and Keishawn's numbers were down in nearly every category. I mean,
Speaker 1: the season ago was great, but I graduated made It's
Speaker 1: who I want to be, so I'm good total. But
Speaker 1: there is another way to look at Keishawn's senior year
Speaker 1: that it changed his life for the better, providing something
Speaker 1: much more valuable than gaudy rushing numbers or dozens of touchdowns.
Speaker 1: What's up this keeling Crash? So what's up? So? What's up? Hey? Heybody?
Speaker 1: He ain't listening to me. Only nine months so it's
Speaker 1: just going in one year out the other. But my
Speaker 1: son I called him Crash. The name Crash came from
Speaker 1: the situation with his mom and while he was bren
Speaker 1: kind of really Friday night before a game, I get
Speaker 1: a call she had gotten a wreck and UM rushed
Speaker 1: to the hospital. His heart rate was dropping, so that
Speaker 1: to take him three weeks early. And that's kind of
Speaker 1: where the name Crash came from, making a beautiful thing
Speaker 1: instead of the ugly situation that occurred. Man, Crash Bond
Speaker 1: is just kind of crazy. You can't kind of tell
Speaker 1: that he's gonna be a daddy'sh boy. I can yell
Speaker 1: his name, and I didn't be nowhere around him to
Speaker 1: see me. He would just started going crazy. And that's
Speaker 1: kind of me and his bond. He gets super hyped
Speaker 1: when he seen me, and um, I love. That was
Speaker 1: too much. Keishan found a purpose bigger than himself. Another
Speaker 1: reason he can't quit one even more important. There's nine
Speaker 1: oh six him. Yeah, crash still up what I know?
Speaker 1: Killing quick touch and stuff. No, it's not for you
Speaker 1: to do killing. Thank you again. God. Cut where I've
Speaker 1: been to, Holliday Son time what you ain't want to see?
Speaker 1: No time soon it's you don't want to I'm gonna
Speaker 1: start putting me on the bed time give me the
Speaker 1: bed triumph, Greg, you can do, just do it will
Speaker 1: be we want to do. Some of the people making
Speaker 1: decisions on draft day will only see what they want
Speaker 1: to see at Keyshawn Vaughan. He's the running back version
Speaker 1: of the famous psychology ink black test. Scouts and analysts
Speaker 1: watch a play, only to report completely different accounts of
Speaker 1: what they see. Some teams wonder about Keyshawn's maturity. They
Speaker 1: have questions about why he was benched in Illinois, why
Speaker 1: he was transferred. Why his numbers were down. The other
Speaker 1: camp points to his perseverance, his improvement and production as
Speaker 1: a player, and his maturity as a father. We'll be
Speaker 1: right back, I say, if anything, having my son just
Speaker 1: kind of tightened up my focus more. I'm always in
Speaker 1: the house in a way, so it didn't change my
Speaker 1: behavior or approached thing. Is kind of just tightened up
Speaker 1: my focus, more attention to detail. Knowing that he looking
Speaker 1: up to anything that I'm doing, even if I'm not
Speaker 1: thinking he is. He's watching my every movie. He still
Speaker 1: he's got a new relationship with his son and with football.
Speaker 1: The way McKay, Beckton's dad and Tremaine and Crum's dad
Speaker 1: cared to deeply about their sons success, all wanting to
Speaker 1: provide a better life for them. Being the father, you
Speaker 1: have to set a good example because he probably want
Speaker 1: to be just like me. Yeah. Yeah, I have to
Speaker 1: do everything right to give him something to look up to.
Speaker 1: I'm already putting stuff in place for him. Um, so
Speaker 1: he's straight. Like supporting their thing, that's mandatory. Love support,
Speaker 1: that's that's required. But like small stuff and fishing, how
Speaker 1: to change tires, little little small stuff like that, That's
Speaker 1: what I want to do with him that nobody ever
Speaker 1: did with me. Don't play running back. That's my only thing.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell him. Play a more chill position. They
Speaker 1: really don't take a lot of crazy hits. That's kind
Speaker 1: of something I wanted to play. If he is gonna
Speaker 1: play football, But I mean, even if he ends up,
Speaker 1: I wanted to play running back. I can't do enough
Speaker 1: but respected and support it. Keepshaw doesn't worry about the
Speaker 1: scout or the punpits these days. He's focused on controlling
Speaker 1: what he can, thinking only of the future and the
Speaker 1: ever increasing magnitude of draft Day. It's kind of more
Speaker 1: like you have options um to do really anything at
Speaker 1: this point, because it wasn't really many options for meals.
Speaker 1: Football was the way I was gonna get out of
Speaker 1: my situation where I was gonna make some more money.
Speaker 1: That was kind of the only option I kind of had.
Speaker 1: But with him, I want them like I want to
Speaker 1: have so many options. Let them be able to make
Speaker 1: choices for itself. So that's why name of Jr. Or
Speaker 1: kind of anything like that, because I want to let
Speaker 1: him know that you an individual, he can do kind
Speaker 1: of whatever he put his mind to that's my thing.
Speaker 1: M no, suir, hey m. When I was were a
Speaker 1: little were in class, one of my teacher she asked me,
Speaker 1: um she was we had those activities where they she
Speaker 1: asked us to draw what we wanted to be when
Speaker 1: we grew up. I remember John a football player, and
Speaker 1: so I remember just as a little kid. This is
Speaker 1: something I've been dreaming him out. This is Bryce Hall,
Speaker 1: the football player, not the TikTok star le. Bryce Hall
Speaker 1: from the University of Virginia, a cornerback, widely considered a
Speaker 1: first round pick in the NFL Draft after leading the
Speaker 1: nation and passes defended his junior year. He plays with size, strength,
Speaker 1: and remarkable speed, all on display during one crucial game.
Speaker 1: I was selling Vanessa about the soccer thing, huh, because
Speaker 1: that was like, like we wanted. This was the first
Speaker 1: organized sport that you could play. His dad, Michael, tells
Speaker 1: the story over breakfast to Bryce's step mom, Vanessa and
Speaker 1: his girlfriend end Zel. You couldn't play for ball in
Speaker 1: Kansas until you were in first grade. Yeah, and so
Speaker 1: the very first organized thing you could get into with soccer,
Speaker 1: and it was so hilarious how you would be running away,
Speaker 1: it would be like about ten kids of all bunch
Speaker 1: together and then Bryce would be about eight yards in
Speaker 1: front of him and he nobody would pass the ball
Speaker 1: and anybody. So once he broke out of it, he
Speaker 1: was gone another goal because you just had this long
Speaker 1: drive and you were just running away from one time.
Speaker 1: He's going like nine goals crashing up because it was
Speaker 1: so funny because even no passed the ball. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: because they didn't know how to play. That's crazy, because
Speaker 1: I literally thought soccer was gonna need my sport until football.
Speaker 1: That's forward to fourteen years. Bright showcases his talents in
Speaker 1: another crucial moment, this time against the Miami Hurricanes when
Speaker 1: I ran down the running back from Miami. The running
Speaker 1: back broke free down the sideline and then I came
Speaker 1: from across the field and pushed him out of bounds
Speaker 1: at like fifteen yard line. He ran for like almost
Speaker 1: sixty yards. They clapped me at two miles per hour.
Speaker 1: Is the fastest I ever ran before, and something came
Speaker 1: over me to help me get to the to the
Speaker 1: speed that I was at the top speed anyone ran
Speaker 1: in an NFL game last season was twenty two point
Speaker 1: three miles. The same blazing speed Rice hit chasing down
Speaker 1: the Miami player, that little kid on the soccer field
Speaker 1: faster than everyone else now a junior at the University
Speaker 1: of Virginia, And then they ended up kicking a field
Speaker 1: goal on that drive, and we end up winning the
Speaker 1: game by two points. I believe the score was fIF
Speaker 1: and I felt like that was a defining game for
Speaker 1: our season and turned us our season around, catching that
Speaker 1: running back save the touchdown, holding Miami to three points
Speaker 1: and that of seven one Virginia the game. That game
Speaker 1: started a winning streak. One play changed the course of
Speaker 1: their season from then on. We went on to win
Speaker 1: eight games after that and go to the Bowl Game
Speaker 1: back to back foot ball games for the first time
Speaker 1: in like a decade. Qualifying for back to back Bowl
Speaker 1: games was a stunning turnaround for the Virginia football program,
Speaker 1: which had only won eleven games in the previous three
Speaker 1: years combined. And it was a stunning turnaround for Bryce,
Speaker 1: who seemed destined for an unremarkable college football career. I
Speaker 1: never ever thought I would go to u v A,
Speaker 1: and um, honestly, it was the best thing for me.
Speaker 1: I probably would have been playing defense. I've been somewhere
Speaker 1: trying to play receiver. Bryce played wide receiver in high
Speaker 1: school and was rated a two star prospect out of
Speaker 1: a possible five. This meant he wasn't in the top
Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty to one thousand recruits in the country,
Speaker 1: and scouting services considered him unable to compete against the
Speaker 1: top athletes in his class. He only received offers from
Speaker 1: two call programs, Virginia, which had won four games that year,
Speaker 1: and Coastal Carolina, which played in the College Football Subdivision,
Speaker 1: essentially the minor leagues. Bryce chose Virginia, switching from offense
Speaker 1: to cornerback almost immediately. My school is shaped me. I
Speaker 1: feel like my heart's always gonna be in Charlottesville, Virginia
Speaker 1: because I came in as a boy and I left
Speaker 1: as a man, and some of the principles that were
Speaker 1: instilled at me while I was at college. UM, I'll
Speaker 1: never forget a lot of athletes who excel from a
Speaker 1: very young age, like Bryce, continued to dominate as they mature.
Speaker 1: They're named top recruits early in high school, like Ohio
Speaker 1: State cornerback Jeff Okuda, who received scholarship offers as early
Speaker 1: as his sophomore year, or Keyshawn Vaughan, but highly recruited
Speaker 1: Tennessee high school player of the Year before Virginia, Bryce
Speaker 1: was an unconfident, undersized freshman at Bishop McDivitt High School.
Speaker 1: There was a lot of really good players that came
Speaker 1: out of that high school, some of um most people know,
Speaker 1: like Lashawn McCoy, Noah Spends, Ricky Waters, Aaron Berry. And
Speaker 1: I remember my coach saying one day as I was
Speaker 1: a little skinny freshman and I didn't have much confidence
Speaker 1: in myself, and he he was saying, I can't wait
Speaker 1: till you continue to grow and develop, because you're gonna
Speaker 1: be the next player that's gonna have multiple offers coming
Speaker 1: out of here. And I just remember when I didn't
Speaker 1: believe in myself, he was somebody who saw that in me,
Speaker 1: and I think that gave me so much confidence to
Speaker 1: know that I could actually do this thing. Like I
Speaker 1: knew that was my dream. But he instilled that first
Speaker 1: little bit of hope in me, and I believe that
Speaker 1: what he said was true even when I didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: see it. Bryce didn't have a five start phy, seek
Speaker 1: ability or confidence. His dad, Michael again on just how
Speaker 1: vast the size and talent cap was when Bryce was
Speaker 1: around middle school age, there was a kid in football.
Speaker 1: He was from Africa, so when he came, he didn't
Speaker 1: have like a birth certificate. They didn't know like how
Speaker 1: old he actually was, so they estimated his age. So
Speaker 1: he was always like his side burns. It was he
Speaker 1: wasn't he was. He was fast and stronger. He was huge.
Speaker 1: Most of its saw like the eighth grade of playing
Speaker 1: against filth grade. Yeah, the thing is hold on, I'm
Speaker 1: about to show you, but this is like freshman year
Speaker 1: of college. But he was the same. Size is the
Speaker 1: same with the five star athletes, as I figured it out,
Speaker 1: a five star You remember how you look at your
Speaker 1: sophomore year after you got the UV. That's what a
Speaker 1: five star athlete looks like in high school. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: already have that. It wasn't until two years into college
Speaker 1: that Bryce looked and played the way a five star
Speaker 1: prospect does. Some of that is genetics growing and physically
Speaker 1: maturing later. Some of it is coaching and work ethic
Speaker 1: continuing to improve year after year, and I'm of it.
Speaker 1: His confidence. Everybody was like intimidated by him, including me.
Speaker 1: You were afraid of him on defense. I was scared.
Speaker 1: I was legit scared of play against him because he
Speaker 1: was just so much bigger than everybody else. Even by
Speaker 1: the time he got to high school, somewhere in Bryce's mind,
Speaker 1: he was still that frail little fifth grader catching the
Speaker 1: ball and getting crushed by the bigger, stronger kids. At
Speaker 1: one point, he thought, maybe football wasn't the sport for him.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. He wanted to play baseball, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but then I had the patience for baseball, basketball, baseball, football,
Speaker 1: Like you know, I was gonna have a weekend. It
Speaker 1: was crazy in baseball. Had too many games sitting there
Speaker 1: in the dusty because I would come home with dust
Speaker 1: all over me, Like, no, I'm not sitting for hours,
Speaker 1: it's like a day. It was boring. I never could
Speaker 1: get it so because I didn't like that. True, I
Speaker 1: thought it was because I didn't have the patients for
Speaker 1: some reason, because that's hilarious. As a kid, Bryce tended
Speaker 1: to always follow his dad's lead. They've shared a close
Speaker 1: bond ever since his early elementary school days. My dad
Speaker 1: has been somebody who's been um so supportive of me,
Speaker 1: and me and him have a special relationship because it
Speaker 1: was just me and my dad in the house for
Speaker 1: a while and whatever I was committed to my dad,
Speaker 1: he would always do research. He was so analytical and
Speaker 1: how like he approached everything. And that's where I get
Speaker 1: my film study, my preparation, and my analytical aspect of
Speaker 1: trying to figure out and crack the codes, you know
Speaker 1: when I go up against offenses. Is I think he
Speaker 1: really instilled that discipline in me just watching from him.
Speaker 1: He poured a lot into me then and and contributed
Speaker 1: a lot to where I'm at now. From that little
Speaker 1: kid drawing pictures of his dream to a fifth grade
Speaker 1: were scared of getting hit by the bigger kids, to
Speaker 1: a skinny freshman full of doubt, now to a potential
Speaker 1: first round NFL draft pick. Bryce has faced daunting challenges
Speaker 1: along the way. Honestly, it's really UM shaped me and
Speaker 1: get me to where I'm at now, just from going
Speaker 1: to experience a lot of adversity in my life, like
Speaker 1: UM with my mom when she passed away when I
Speaker 1: was in fifth grade, going to sixth grade. When you
Speaker 1: experience something like that that lost at such a young age,
Speaker 1: it does something to you. And I think for me,
Speaker 1: there were like negative repercussions. I like shunned away from
Speaker 1: being opened up with people and allowing my heart to
Speaker 1: trust fully and because I just didn't want it to
Speaker 1: get hurt like that again. And I realized just how
Speaker 1: important relationships are in cherishing the moments and things like that.
Speaker 1: Family just huge for me now. Bryce's hard fought maturity
Speaker 1: is one reason why he's such a compelling prospect, but
Speaker 1: other factors are his aggressiveness, his twenty two mile per
Speaker 1: hour speed, and the two d plus pounds he's forged
Speaker 1: onto his six ft one frame. Before adding all that muscle,
Speaker 1: Bryce didn't even register on NFL radars. Then his stellar
Speaker 1: play his junior season transformed him into a second team
Speaker 1: All American and a projected first round pick. The media
Speaker 1: and NFL scouts embraced his story. I got to talk
Speaker 1: to the coaching steff prior to this football game, and
Speaker 1: they really really loved Bryce Hall the individual, one of
Speaker 1: the most consistent guys, loves the game. Self made man.
Speaker 1: Bryce might be as cell made as they come in football.
Speaker 1: And then shockingly, he turned on the pros and opted
Speaker 1: to come back for his senior season to continue building
Speaker 1: the program at Virginia, to continue learning and developing from
Speaker 1: his coaching staff and maybe just maybe to continue spending
Speaker 1: time with his girlfriend and Zelleville June, a field hockey
Speaker 1: star at Virginia. We met about two years ago at
Speaker 1: a party and we just were chatting away and we
Speaker 1: kind of like go along really well. Actually Bryce was
Speaker 1: super fluty with me, if we're being real, but you know,
Speaker 1: I think he was just more into my accent, if
Speaker 1: I'm being honest, most of the year. But yeah, and
Speaker 1: so we met then, so we kind of were just
Speaker 1: like acquaintances. After that, we didn't really nothing ever came
Speaker 1: from it. And then a year later, okay, yeah, and
Speaker 1: we were part of this group called Athletes in Action
Speaker 1: at u v A, and it's like a Christian group
Speaker 1: for student athletes. So yeah, so we knew each other
Speaker 1: through that. And so then like last year for spring break,
Speaker 1: we went on a mission trip to Belize together. Um,
Speaker 1: and that's where we really like became close. But yeah,
Speaker 1: then me and Bryce kind of like hit it off.
Speaker 1: I definitely knew first that I was into him. I
Speaker 1: think he was so focused on just like football and
Speaker 1: you know, his whole career and stuff. And then uh,
Speaker 1: like halfway through the semester, I went to storm at
Speaker 1: the hospital, like really late at night after the surgery
Speaker 1: because we were out. We were in Kentucky, Um. We
Speaker 1: had played for Rocky there after that night, I think
Speaker 1: we both were like, yeah, this is it. What turned
Speaker 1: out to be a defining moment for his relationship with
Speaker 1: Nzel can only be described as a nightmare for his
Speaker 1: football career. In the sixth game of the senior season,
Speaker 1: after he turned down millions of dollars in the pros,
Speaker 1: Bryce got hit awkwardly on a punt return. It was
Speaker 1: kind of crazy experience because I was on the ground.
Speaker 1: I saw my leg on my foot twisted the other
Speaker 1: way and it was and I knew, like, Okay, that's
Speaker 1: not supposed to happen. And I just remember calling over
Speaker 1: the people from the sideline like yeall need to come
Speaker 1: and you know, do something about this, and ain't supposed
Speaker 1: to look like this, and yeah, and I knew that
Speaker 1: was kind of It's pretty bad. It was a broken fibulu,
Speaker 1: a dislocated ankle, and a torn ligament. It made me
Speaker 1: realize like that nothing is really guaranteed, and to really
Speaker 1: cherish and make the most out of the opportunities that
Speaker 1: you do have in each day. He missed the remainder
Speaker 1: of his senior season with the injury, and he's been
Speaker 1: rehabbing ever since. His ankle still hasn't healed enough to
Speaker 1: participate in almost any of the pre draft workouts or
Speaker 1: combine drills for scouts. Now, with the draft only one
Speaker 1: week away, Bryce tries to put his complicate had passed
Speaker 1: behind him and focus on the future at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, like how things will land with the draft,
Speaker 1: it's out of your hand. Honestly, you never want to
Speaker 1: get to a position where you're like, man, if only
Speaker 1: I had done a little bit more there, or man,
Speaker 1: had I only just took in this a little bit
Speaker 1: more serious, maybe I wouldn't be in this position I'm
Speaker 1: at right now. So Brise trains and rehabs as hard
Speaker 1: as his body will allow. I'm with my girlfriend ganzel
Speaker 1: ll Um. So right now we're running where there's a
Speaker 1: whole there's like Helen Hills. Yeah, hold on, just Helen Hills.
Speaker 1: So what we're doing is we're just running the hills
Speaker 1: and then we're walking down the back side of him.
Speaker 1: So let's get it. Okay, one, what's a good one?
Speaker 1: I don't I'm not even port to the next time
Speaker 1: because that was like a mountains who h Yeah, he
Speaker 1: hears the whispers and doubts. Is the ankle going to
Speaker 1: keep him out of most of the season. Will he
Speaker 1: regain his confidence on the field, Will he ever be
Speaker 1: the same player he was before? According to most sources,
Speaker 1: he's fallen out of the first round, now projected to
Speaker 1: go somewhere in the second or third rounds of the draft.
Speaker 1: I'm still not yet. I gotta like I'm being patient.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to stay disciplined and do all the right
Speaker 1: things and all that stuff. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: when I a draft, yeah, I just think dream come
Speaker 1: true and I get butterflies in my snubbing. But I
Speaker 1: also get like a burden on me. Dad. It's just
Speaker 1: something that stirs up in me when I think about it,
Speaker 1: because it's like, dang, I got an opportunity to do
Speaker 1: something special. After this long road, he finally sees himself
Speaker 1: as an elite player, a five star NFL prospect, transformed
Speaker 1: into one of the best football players in the draft.
Speaker 1: Then he got hurt. Now NFL teams have more questions
Speaker 1: than answers. He goes into the draft with as much
Speaker 1: upside and as much risk as any prospect out there.
Speaker 1: But Bryce knows what it's like when the scouts don't
Speaker 1: believe in you, or when you don't believe in yourself.
Speaker 1: He's been through this before. Coming up on the next
Speaker 1: episode of Drafted. This whole draft thing been filling really
Speaker 1: because of Corona. So with this, what are you doing
Speaker 1: right now to stay in shape? Why would you ask
Speaker 1: me that question? Wide receiver of Leavisca Chennault fell, Guy,
Speaker 1: I was like in a black hole and like just
Speaker 1: from that point on, like I feel nothing and like
Speaker 1: I'm working on that cornerback is saying, Bassie. My hope
Speaker 1: on draft day is that my name gets called, uh
Speaker 1: flat out? Who is that that? No? I think eleven? Yeah,
Speaker 1: eleven years old? Yeah, at defensive end, Chase Young. Let's
Speaker 1: compare status, let's compare stats. I mean, if you want
Speaker 1: to go down in the numbers, that's all. That's the
Speaker 1: only thing that matters. Drafted as a production of tree
Speaker 1: Fort Media, Clutched Sports Group, and I Heart Radio. The
Speaker 1: executive producers are Kelly Garner, Lisa Amerman, Eric's a Lot,
Speaker 1: Shawn to Tone l Key, and me Keegan Michael Key.
Speaker 1: The series is produced and written by Eric winer. Jared
Speaker 1: Brom is our coordinating producer. Tom in a Hand is
Speaker 1: our senior audio engineer. Mixed and edited by Steven Johnson,
Speaker 1: additional production help from Tim Shower, June Rosen, and Hailey Mandelberg.
Speaker 1: For transcripts of the show and more information on Drafted,
Speaker 1: go to tree Fort dot fm. And for more podcasts
Speaker 1: for my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.