Speaker 1: Hey, what's up. This is Nate Big. I want to
Speaker 1: give a quick shout out to Peanut enrollment at the
Speaker 1: NFL Players and the Second Acts podcast. So here's what happened.
Speaker 2: We had a super dope episode and y'all should check
Speaker 2: out all of the episodes. They have credible guests telling
Speaker 2: incredible stories, doing big things. But at the end of
Speaker 2: the episode, they were like, yo, we want you to freestyle,
Speaker 2: and I was tired.
Speaker 1: I wasn't on my game. I didn't feel right when
Speaker 1: I left.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I actually went on and couldn't sleep. I'm like, man,
Speaker 3: you can't really leave them with that. You got to
Speaker 3: redeem itself.
Speaker 1: So here we are.
Speaker 3: It's a little something for y'all. And you can see
Speaker 3: New York as the backdrop right, but I'm from Seattle.
Speaker 3: I feel right at home when it rains. The two
Speaker 3: six is synonymous with my name. I'll take the space
Speaker 3: needle straight to the Vans. There's something in a way
Speaker 3: that city make me feel. A word to Kurt Cobain,
Speaker 3: rest in peace to a legend. I want to find
Speaker 3: Nirvana on Earth before I get to Heaven. That's no desire,
Speaker 3: no sense of self, feeling rich without money, see that's
Speaker 3: a sense of wealth. Once had low cash down. My
Speaker 3: digits is up. But if you can't trust me, you
Speaker 3: can't trust us. We dead mice, Peanut and Roman.
Speaker 1: It's a mustard. This is something you ain't see the
Speaker 1: fora But I'm not mc gusto. Yeah.
Speaker 3: See this is hip hop back, bigger than black and
Speaker 3: slaps like Chris Rocker.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: We don't make music. We make movies. Kids smoking every
Speaker 1: single track, just like Poopy did for real, something like
Speaker 1: the Second Acts. I'm Peanut telling me and this is
Speaker 1: the NFL players Second Acts podcast, and with me as always,
Speaker 1: this is my older uncle Roman Harper right here, what's
Speaker 1: up with it? Up with him?
Speaker 2: All?
Speaker 1: I'm good? I see that is the type of intro
Speaker 1: I'm used to getting, right when he just says my
Speaker 1: government name. I'm like, I don't know what to do next.
Speaker 1: All right, anyways, I do know what to do next,
Speaker 1: and that is ask all of our followers, our watchers,
Speaker 1: to make sure continue to hit subscribe, hit like give
Speaker 1: us a five star rating. I'm telling you, not asking
Speaker 1: give us the five star rating. Anywhere you pick up
Speaker 1: your podcast, whether it's Apple Podcast or iHeartRadio, please give
Speaker 1: us a look or listen, Tell a friend to tell
Speaker 1: a friend, to tell a friend. P Nutt, who's our
Speaker 1: guest today. An oldie, but a goodie. This is someone
Speaker 1: that we're trying to be like, you know, on the
Speaker 1: on the national level, he's at there. Doctor two thousand
Speaker 1: and three draft class stuff for this A third round
Speaker 1: two thousand and three draft class. Played eleven years and
Speaker 1: since leaving the game, he has become a media mogul.
Speaker 1: He is one of the hope excuse me. He is
Speaker 1: one of the co hosts from the CBS Morning show.
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome in Nate Borlson. What's up, y'all?
Speaker 1: What's up? I appreciate that. Thank y'all for having me in.
Speaker 1: Before we get started, I was want to say, I've
Speaker 1: always admired what you guys did on the field, but
Speaker 1: what you guys have done and your second act has
Speaker 1: been incredible and it's a beautiful thing to see, man.
Speaker 1: So this is an honor. You know. When I got
Speaker 1: word that y'all wanted to have me on, I was
Speaker 1: pumped about it. And you even got the voice, don't
Speaker 1: he like? I feel like when I didn't really recognize
Speaker 1: your voice, but it's.
Speaker 4: Like, well, you know, I really want to thank y'all
Speaker 4: for tuning in.
Speaker 1: You remember, I'll been working on it, Donny Simpson, meaning
Speaker 1: that was one of my inspirations. I see it. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's coming. It's coming in the little things that really
Speaker 1: get people excited. As Nate has progressed in his career
Speaker 1: and his life, he's like, bro, I don't even care
Speaker 1: about you getting all the love and some of the
Speaker 1: catches and stuff. It's like, man, did you feel that story?
Speaker 1: Did you feel the passion in my voice right exactly
Speaker 1: what he's looking for, scratch. I appreciate it. I like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: no worries, man, but yeah, man, you've been you've been
Speaker 1: killing on CBS Warning Show. I like it representing us, well,
Speaker 1: thank you, you're doing your thing. I like you straight hand,
Speaker 1: like you give athletes us a platform to say that. Yo, man,
Speaker 1: we not just athletes. Like I don't just have to
Speaker 1: I don't just have to talk about sports. I don't
Speaker 1: just have to be a coach or an analyst. Like
Speaker 1: I can come in, I can do radio, I can
Speaker 1: do TV, I can do like legit news. I can
Speaker 1: interview the president. I can interview politicians, hip hop's artists,
Speaker 1: athletes like I can do it all, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, And I'm just I'm proud of I really
Speaker 1: like what you've done. You started out a good morning
Speaker 1: football and your progression and the work ethic that you
Speaker 1: put in and like you, legit you, you like legit
Speaker 1: media like you you doing the damn thing. And I
Speaker 1: just say, man, I applause you. It's it's amazing to see. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I sincerely received that, man. And like I said, you
Speaker 1: guys have also, you know, kind of recreated the blueprint.
Speaker 1: I feel like we all we all have this one
Speaker 1: big blueprint, and we're all making our marks on it,
Speaker 1: you know, individually. You know. Straight Hand of course, is
Speaker 1: one of the people that they look at and they say,
Speaker 1: all right, he going from a super Bowl champion, Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer into media, into news and now hosting everything
Speaker 1: from reality shows to game shows. Now there's this blueprint
Speaker 1: out there. But what I love about this new landscape
Speaker 1: in the new NFL player is that we're all grabbing
Speaker 1: that same blueprint, making our marks, saying, here's an avenue
Speaker 1: for you as a player. You can go into podcasts,
Speaker 1: and you can go into law enforcement. You can go
Speaker 1: into coaching if you want, but you can also going
Speaker 1: in the fashion, media, music, finance. You can do whatever
Speaker 1: you want, you know. I think the greatest live sports
Speaker 1: has ever told us as athletes is all you need
Speaker 1: to do is care about this. Yeah, And I don't
Speaker 1: know where we picked it up from. Maybe it was
Speaker 1: just indoctrinated as a young age at a young age,
Speaker 1: but like we got to the NFL, and if you
Speaker 1: would have talked to us our rookie year, our second
Speaker 1: year about what we would do for the team, I
Speaker 1: think about ninety nine percent of us say I run
Speaker 1: through brick wall and mean it, like I die for
Speaker 1: these colors, this logo on my helmet, this emblem and
Speaker 1: these team colors. This is everything that matters to me.
Speaker 1: And for the most part, that helped us do our
Speaker 1: jobs at the level it did, but it also blinded
Speaker 1: us to the next chapter and what we were also
Speaker 1: going to have to face, which was figuring out who
Speaker 1: we are after we take the helmet off. And I
Speaker 1: think us and many others like us are just representations
Speaker 1: that being an athlete was just a small part of
Speaker 1: our lives. It wasn't necessarily who we were, and the
Speaker 1: sooner guys can figure that out, which is why I
Speaker 1: love this new generation of athletes. It's like, you'll be
Speaker 1: better off once retirement comes. It actually makes a lot
Speaker 1: of the coaches and people that work with these players
Speaker 1: more uncomfortable because they're not used to it. They're used
Speaker 1: to just guys doing what you tell them. And now
Speaker 1: they're like, man, you know, they understand they have value.
Speaker 1: They understand that they're not just football players, and you know,
Speaker 1: they they have their own face, they have their and
Speaker 1: they want to know what their you know, the media
Speaker 1: responsibilities and who they want to be off of the
Speaker 1: field is where their brand their brand, and so all
Speaker 1: these things are happening and I just think it's really cool.
Speaker 1: I heard you talking to this guy about on Cairo radio.
Speaker 1: Seems like yeah, it seems like you guys really hit
Speaker 1: it off, Like yeah, yeah, I can tell, I can tell.
Speaker 1: Like you guys open up, shared a lot of stories
Speaker 1: and just you talking about your whole journey of like man,
Speaker 1: you know the confidence that came with as you got
Speaker 1: more and more of this and doing more and more
Speaker 1: of the TV that it allows you all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: now you're relaxing and you're you're really getting into these
Speaker 1: things more. At what point in time did that really
Speaker 1: start to happen for you. I'm in this space right
Speaker 1: now that I work with it on the day. That's
Speaker 1: my normal job, and so I'm trying to do more
Speaker 1: personality TV. I want to be able to be able
Speaker 1: to make that switch and show like I have more
Speaker 1: just football knowledge and to have way more rain yep,
Speaker 1: like you guys are just holding me down from this right,
Speaker 1: like I can talk way more about other things. I
Speaker 1: actually enjoyed that way more, of course, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. I'm just football. I mean that's just a
Speaker 1: small chapter. That's right, That's right, so many more to do.
Speaker 1: How do you get to that? And at what point
Speaker 1: in time did you all of a sudden start to
Speaker 1: get way more comfortably Like, dude, I can totally expand
Speaker 1: and do this. Yeah, that's such a good question. The
Speaker 1: first time I was actually on TV was the year
Speaker 1: I got drafted, which was two thousand and three. I
Speaker 1: went to the NFL network, and you know, I got
Speaker 1: a little bit of a buzz from it, and I
Speaker 1: got to be honest, it was more self serving. I'm
Speaker 1: a wide receiver, you know what. Divas. I like to
Speaker 1: hear myself talk, and I like to look at myself
Speaker 1: on TV. He's no surprise to you. I don't even
Speaker 1: need to glasses, you know what I.
Speaker 3: Mean.
Speaker 1: I'm almost forty two. I'm behind, but but you know
Speaker 1: so I say that because every off season I would
Speaker 1: do either local or national TV or radio. I would
Speaker 1: go do the NFL network hits. They were never paying me.
Speaker 1: I would do stuff back home. So it's almost like
Speaker 1: I was sharpening the tools while I was playing. And
Speaker 1: then I went to the broadcast boot camp and that's
Speaker 1: when I realized that I wanted to do this as
Speaker 1: a career. And it was funny because I had a
Speaker 1: little bit of a when you was still playing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was like year nine to ten, and they basically
Speaker 1: gave me a pat on the back, say, hey man,
Speaker 1: you're talented. You got you got some some foundational pieces
Speaker 1: that could allow you to be good at this if
Speaker 1: you choose to. But I remember struggling when we did
Speaker 1: the exercise of calling a game like it just it
Speaker 1: was so foreign to me to have somebody in there
Speaker 1: to kind of like tee me up. It was like
Speaker 1: the alley oup, and I just kept missing the dunk.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like, all right, first and ten bend
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger drops back and the past is completed and need
Speaker 1: to wait for me to jump in. And I just
Speaker 1: didn't know how to do that dance. So once I
Speaker 1: left the broadcast boot camp, as much as I felt
Speaker 1: good about certain areas of being on TV, I just
Speaker 1: kept thinking about where I struggled. I guess that's the
Speaker 1: athlete in you know. We focused on on the details
Speaker 1: of something we're not doing well at and that made
Speaker 1: me feel like a rookie again. And that's what I
Speaker 1: think that element encouraged me the most. When I retire,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna work on this craft. I gotta I gotta
Speaker 1: be good at it. And at that time, I had
Speaker 1: a partnership with a clothing line, Bangs and Baker. I
Speaker 1: had an Italian restaurant in Seattle. I had a couple
Speaker 1: other small things going on from a creative standpoint. So
Speaker 1: I had all these things that I didn't know. I
Speaker 1: didn't know what I wanted to do, so I had
Speaker 1: to pick something. It was either go into TV or
Speaker 1: try my hand of all these other things. And I thought,
Speaker 1: if I go on to TV and I'm good at TV.
Speaker 1: It's gonna make these other things easier. So let's get
Speaker 1: into TV. And that's when I signed on to the
Speaker 1: NFL Network and from there I was the busiest guy
Speaker 1: like there was. There wasn't nothing that they couldn't call
Speaker 1: me for. It was live TV, tape, TV pregame, halftime, postgame,
Speaker 1: digital content, getting reps. So all it was was getting
Speaker 1: as many reps as I could. And also, you know,
Speaker 1: I wanted to prove that I was just as good
Speaker 1: as some of these guys that were there. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't have the gold jacket or the ring, so
Speaker 1: you know, I needed to work twice as hard. And
Speaker 1: I felt like, remember when we first got in the
Speaker 1: league and the OG's be like, hey, look slow down, man,
Speaker 1: shut up. Yeah, yeah, that's the Booker got me with that.
Speaker 1: What do you feel real bad? Like I'm practicing. I'm
Speaker 1: just I'm doing I'm working. And that's how I felt
Speaker 1: the ogs at the NFL Network, where it was kind
Speaker 1: of like yo, rook, slow down, bro, like you're not
Speaker 1: getting paid anymore, so why are you doing stuff that
Speaker 1: that you're not getting paid to do? And I didn't
Speaker 1: have an answer. All I knew is if I got
Speaker 1: as much reps as I could at all of these
Speaker 1: different aspects of TV, eventually I'll start to find my rhythm.
Speaker 1: And and I'm still finding it, but you know, I
Speaker 1: for like, at least I found my voice. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: so so look, I want this is gonna be the
Speaker 1: toughest question to ask, all right, And so Peanut got
Speaker 1: me so excited. I wanted to hit you with this first. Right,
Speaker 1: Who's the best receiver? Calvin? Better receiver? Calvin Johnson or
Speaker 1: Randy Moss? You played with both, all right, Randy was
Speaker 1: a different time in Minnesota when you remember Calvin you
Speaker 1: had young, you were older, and you got Calvin. So
Speaker 1: which one was the best receiver you ever played against?
Speaker 1: You ever played with? I would have to go with
Speaker 1: Randy Moss. You know a couple of reasons. One longevity
Speaker 1: by his side, all right, even at an older age
Speaker 1: when people thought he was washed. He went to New
Speaker 1: England and he got killed. Busy killed twenty two touchdowns, todown
Speaker 1: something wild. He was the most naturally gifted athlete I've
Speaker 1: ever seen. I mean, he could play baseball. I think
Speaker 1: he could have ran in the Olympics. He was a
Speaker 1: really good Hooper beast, and he would show up and
Speaker 1: not even really have to warm up in his prime,
Speaker 1: Like Randy didn't even warm up. I'm talking about not
Speaker 1: that practice a game. I remember, you know, warming up
Speaker 1: next to him, and I'm like, like Jim Carrey and
Speaker 1: Cable guy, I'm doing all kinds of stretch, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. And Randy's over there just moving his
Speaker 1: feet up and down. And the coach was like, hey, Randy,
Speaker 1: you gotta warm up. He's just sitting there like whatever,
Speaker 1: and he's like, Randy, come on, let's go. We've got
Speaker 1: a game in a little bit. And he just so
Speaker 1: casually looked at her. He's like, hey, you ever seen
Speaker 1: a cheetah stretch before a hunts? And it was like
Speaker 1: one of them like abnormally profound questions that we didn't
Speaker 1: have to answer for. And I'm like and we're all like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right. The cheetah nuvers, it just goes, it gets
Speaker 1: the food, and we all kind of looked looked at Randy,
Speaker 1: looked at the coach. Coach turned around, walked away, and
Speaker 1: Randy had another big day on the field. So Randy
Speaker 1: was naturally gifted. I will say this though Calvin was
Speaker 1: a freak, but he also worked his ass off. Calvin
Speaker 1: was six four sixty five two thirty. Sometimes he gets
Speaker 1: it to a round two forty and he still was
Speaker 1: a four to three guy jumping a forty five inch
Speaker 1: vertical crazy, but he would show up every day and
Speaker 1: work like he was a free agent. Like Calvin, when
Speaker 1: we could do conditioning, he wouldn't just like lead us
Speaker 1: by step or two. He would beat us by as
Speaker 1: much as his athleticism was supposed to beat us by.
Speaker 1: And I always like, I admired that about him, and
Speaker 1: I feel like if Calvin would have played as long
Speaker 1: as Randy, this would be a different conversation. But you know,
Speaker 1: you can't you can't knock Randy's numbers. And then on
Speaker 1: top of that, just like his his intimidation factor. I
Speaker 1: remember being in the slot and there was a there
Speaker 1: was a dB in front of him, there was a
Speaker 1: safety behind the dB, and then the safety from the
Speaker 1: other side of the field was rolling over the top.
Speaker 1: So he basically had to beat three levels of defense
Speaker 1: in one play, and short Donta Colepepper dropped back with
Speaker 1: max protection and let that thing rip touch down back
Speaker 1: in the end zone like, and I just remember being
Speaker 1: there were moments where I was just in ah.
Speaker 2: Like.
Speaker 1: I remember another time DV is given everybody fits and
Speaker 1: Randy goes up there and I saw the whites of
Speaker 1: the dv's eyes. His toes is all the way up
Speaker 1: because he's ready to get out of there. And then Randy,
Speaker 1: the dB backs up right, so he's acting like he's
Speaker 1: gonna press him, and then he backs up to about
Speaker 1: eight yards and as soon as he snaps the ball,
Speaker 1: Randy's off the line SCREAMAG goes like this, Now, mind you,
Speaker 1: he had a hitch, so he could have ran the
Speaker 1: hitch right, but he's like this, DB's off at eight backpedaling,
Speaker 1: which means probably like at fifteen. Yeah, and Randy in
Speaker 1: his head is thinking, I'm still gonna run past you.
Speaker 1: So he comes off the line of screamings and just
Speaker 1: hot hand, hot hands, and then boom, touchdown. So Randy
Speaker 1: was just a different type of beast man. And look,
Speaker 1: that's what all my former teammate Darren Sharp is like,
Speaker 1: Look like nobody would call Randy Moss one on one
Speaker 1: in his prime, like you had to have another safety
Speaker 1: or it was like you had no chance, and that
Speaker 1: was a whole defense that was out there, you understand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think for me though, I think I had successful Randon.
Speaker 1: You played both.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I had.
Speaker 1: Successful Randy because the coach used to always say, man,
Speaker 1: you gotta guard the man, not his reputation. And I
Speaker 1: really I really took that the heart, like, yo, he
Speaker 1: is Randy Moss.
Speaker 4: He is that dude.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I can't be I can't be afraid of
Speaker 1: you the man, like your reputation.
Speaker 4: You're this, but like I'm a dog too.
Speaker 1: And you also play it to your strengths, your length,
Speaker 1: like you're length. Even if you knew you weren't trying
Speaker 1: to get your hands on him, you knew if you
Speaker 1: just did the street fighter like Dawson just like reached out,
Speaker 1: you knew that would just like it would cause a
Speaker 1: little bit of hesitation if you get Randy that has
Speaker 1: didn't line scrimmage, not saying you got to has to
Speaker 1: beat him, you got a chance to stay with him.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you know, I've always admired those battles, man.
Speaker 1: You know, It's just it's hard though when you look
Speaker 1: at those two guys because they're just so different, Like
Speaker 1: Calvin was physical. I will say this though you stack
Speaker 1: up their highlights together, you're gonna see impressive catchers. You're
Speaker 1: gonna see them go up over the top of guys
Speaker 1: double coverage, even triple coverage. You're gonna see good route running.
Speaker 1: But I think the separation will be that Calvin was
Speaker 1: by far a better blocker. Like Calvin was a beast
Speaker 1: in the run game. I remember me being in the
Speaker 1: slot and having a bubble route and Calvi's on the outside.
Speaker 1: I got it to the line scrimmage and in my head,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm already thinking about my damn I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do because Calvin's about to run this dude into the tunnel.
Speaker 1: And I knew it, and I knew I was about
Speaker 1: thirty yards away from the end zone. I wasn't even
Speaker 1: worried about Calvin's man. He got up on that dB,
Speaker 1: put them hands on them, drove them to the sideline.
Speaker 1: I just ran right inside because I trusted Calvin that much.
Speaker 1: He never gave up on the play. What was it
Speaker 1: like when you because you use this acronym for her,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, his everlasting Yeah. Football with football,
Speaker 1: after being involved with it for eleven years, having to
Speaker 1: walk away, you've had some tragedy things happen throughout your career. Yeah,
Speaker 1: move from a couple of places you had an ACL injury.
Speaker 1: Talk about so that journey when you finally said, all right,
Speaker 1: it's time to move on. Yeah. I feel like we
Speaker 1: all fall in love with this sport at different places
Speaker 1: in our lives. You know. I started playing when I
Speaker 1: was a kid in Pop Warner football, and then in
Speaker 1: high school is like puppy love. And then it's like
Speaker 1: we got engaged in college and then the league was like,
Speaker 1: oh damn, I'm married to this job. Put a ring
Speaker 1: on it, you know. And there were some good times.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: The reason I described it like this tourd love affairs,
Speaker 1: because you know, the good times are the contracts, the touchdowns,
Speaker 1: the winds, you know what I mean, The traveling city
Speaker 1: to city and playing villain on the road, you know,
Speaker 1: all of that. Like it's like it's like it's like
Speaker 1: good sex and the merits, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: The vacations are fire, and vacations are good. Vacation love
Speaker 1: is great, right exactly exactly. That's that's what the good
Speaker 1: times in the NFL were like. But then there's the
Speaker 1: injuries there's the contract negotiations when they tell you you're
Speaker 1: not what you usual. Yeah, the devaluing and which it
Speaker 1: plays such a role on our mental health, but we
Speaker 1: don't know it at the time, because all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you go from when we were young telling us what
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since sliced bread too, when we're older
Speaker 1: that you just ain't got it anymore and this is
Speaker 1: why we're going to pay you crumbs. And and I
Speaker 1: think like all of that. The bad times, it's like
Speaker 1: sleeping in separate beds, or arguing with your boo or
Speaker 1: you know, just just not being on the same page.
Speaker 1: So when it was time to walk away from the game,
Speaker 1: I mean I knew it was I knew it was here,
Speaker 1: Like I remember seeing the light at the end of
Speaker 1: the tunnel. It's brighter never. But I still didn't want
Speaker 1: to have that conversation with her. It was like, it's
Speaker 1: like football came to me and she was like, hey, Nate,
Speaker 1: can we talk? And you know when you hear that
Speaker 1: as a man, this is a real We got to talk.
Speaker 1: Damn what did I do? And she basically said the
Speaker 1: NFL basically said I found someone else. He's younger, he's faster,
Speaker 1: he's more athletic, he's cheaper, and I'm happy with him,
Speaker 1: and I'm happy, And it was that's when it sank
Speaker 1: in where I had to look at the league and
Speaker 1: just say it was fun while it lasted, and it
Speaker 1: also had things that I could fall back on. So
Speaker 1: there's also talking about the second act. When you have
Speaker 1: something that you can look forward to, it makes it
Speaker 1: easier to deal with, like a breakup like we all
Speaker 1: deal with when we play our last game. It's tough though,
Speaker 1: as a player when your career abruptly ends and you
Speaker 1: don't have a next chapter to go to. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: why was it important for you to start the media
Speaker 1: like right away?
Speaker 4: I know for me, I did a little bit of media.
Speaker 1: I wish I would have did more like you did,
Speaker 1: like in the off seasons and things like that. I went,
Speaker 1: I worked for spot By, I went and I worked
Speaker 1: for Fox Sports. I remember that, and I thought I
Speaker 1: was terrible and I was trying to get these reps
Speaker 1: and everything. I wish I envy you because you said
Speaker 1: you were going and you were getting all these reps
Speaker 1: and you were doing all these things. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: wasn't as prepared as I should have been. So why
Speaker 1: do you think it was important for you to go
Speaker 1: and get all these reps during the off season. I
Speaker 1: just knew one if I was in the building, these
Speaker 1: execs and producers would get to know me. And when
Speaker 1: somebody knows you, you're much more than just a talent.
Speaker 1: When they bring on athletes, it's just like your football
Speaker 1: got talking football. But if they know me, it's you're
Speaker 1: Nate Burlison, the football player talking football. And they want
Speaker 1: to help me out and they want to make it work.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're a little bit more honest with me.
Speaker 1: I remember I had a bad show. I was working
Speaker 1: for the NFL Network. In my head, I had a
Speaker 1: bad show. Stumbled through a few lines, and I just
Speaker 1: took the long way to answer some questions. I just
Speaker 1: wasn't sharp. And afterwards, the producers came by as we
Speaker 1: were walking to the locker room at the NFL Network,
Speaker 1: and he was like, hey, good job, could job everybody, goodjob,
Speaker 1: good job. He pat me on a back, good job,
Speaker 1: and I was like, wait, wait, no, no, no, don't tell
Speaker 1: me it's a good job. I didn't do a good job.
Speaker 1: And he's like, no, you know, I'm just saying. I
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, but don't do that, like I'm used
Speaker 1: to coaching. You know, we come from the football field,
Speaker 1: like just be just be honest. And it also like
Speaker 1: you don't want me to get into a place where
Speaker 1: I feel like mediocrity is acceptable, and so I can
Speaker 1: like bs my way through it or not prepare and
Speaker 1: just show up. And I think from there it shifted.
Speaker 1: So now they started like they started coaching up Nate Burlison,
Speaker 1: who's talking football versus always high five in the football
Speaker 1: player because he's in studio. And I've seen that before
Speaker 1: with athletes. It's like, you know, you see him at
Speaker 1: one point in their media career and then five years
Speaker 1: later there isn't much growth, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And I feel like it's not necessarily an athlete. If
Speaker 1: you're telling me he's doing a good job for five
Speaker 1: years straight, he's never going to change our approach. It
Speaker 1: so hard to get honest feedback in this side of
Speaker 1: the business unless, like you're saying, you build those relationships, well,
Speaker 1: now they're going to be open and honest with you,
Speaker 1: and then you can actually have real growth. Because the
Speaker 1: biggest thing is when in this space, for me, is that.
Speaker 1: I'm always trying to ask, like, all right, how is that?
Speaker 1: How is this? And I know I try to look
Speaker 1: at myself and that's another part of it. But when
Speaker 1: you don't honestly know because you don't even know what
Speaker 1: they're looking. I have no idea of no idea, and
Speaker 1: you don't know your voice no, like you have no idea.
Speaker 1: I got to the NFL network, and you know, you
Speaker 1: try to be like what you see on TV and
Speaker 1: guys that are in the building. So you know, one
Speaker 1: day I come in and I'm just like, all right
Speaker 1: to be like like Dion and IRV, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, because they were in the building. So I'm
Speaker 1: coming in. I'm all hype and I'm talking a little
Speaker 1: bit of passing like HERV. Dude, I'm just in friends
Speaker 1: like Dion and I'm like, yeah, but I'm not damn though,
Speaker 1: Like so why am I trying to be? Then I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: I see Marshall fall you know he's more of intellectual type,
Speaker 1: so let me just come in and you know, focus
Speaker 1: on the puntification and make sure that they you know,
Speaker 1: when I'm talking about these words that it's more elaborate
Speaker 1: and articulate, and I was like, that's not me, is
Speaker 1: not it? So what is my voice? And then surely
Speaker 1: shortly after that, I started to realize who I am,
Speaker 1: which is a kid from the West Coast who loves sports, music, movies,
Speaker 1: pop culture, who loves art, who can write like, that's
Speaker 1: who you, That's who you are, that's your voice. And
Speaker 1: the more I displayed that, the more receptive the viewers
Speaker 1: viewers were. You can see it though, too, and I
Speaker 1: think it's I think it's authentic. So you are well
Speaker 1: not You're not a self proclaimed, but your wife calls you.
Speaker 1: And from what I've learned about you is that you
Speaker 1: are creative. I am a creative. I'm married to a creative.
Speaker 1: So you know, you know all kind of all over
Speaker 1: the place, you kind of dil We got all these
Speaker 1: grand ideas. You're like, nearly I get it right accurate,
Speaker 1: and I want you to really dive into this. This
Speaker 1: mantra you use about open your eyes and you you're
Speaker 1: torn your a cl After one of your best seasons,
Speaker 1: I think that was in a and you were down
Speaker 1: in Birmingham, you went to doctor Andrews. You're doing some
Speaker 1: drinking and you realize, like man like it's a slippery
Speaker 1: slow that's a fact, and how fast it could easily
Speaker 1: just go away when you start to get in your
Speaker 1: own head and you're not using that energy and putting
Speaker 1: it into other things, and you're talking about opening your eyes.
Speaker 1: And I want to get this quote right. You talked
Speaker 1: about how all the beautiful things around you, the support system,
Speaker 1: the people that you had that were actually there helping you,
Speaker 1: and how bright today really is. And so maybe you
Speaker 1: could share with us how you still use that mantra
Speaker 1: about opening your eyes and every day you so like,
Speaker 1: maybe where are you at with it now? Yeah? For sure.
Speaker 1: I remember going to Birmingham doctor Andrews, world renowned doctor
Speaker 1: and he did both of my knee surgery. He's a beast.
Speaker 1: He's a bast. I remember I was sitting in there
Speaker 1: just depressed and he comes in. He had the little
Speaker 1: country He's like, hey, son, you gonna be all right,
Speaker 1: And I don't learn that moment. I was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I am gonna be all right. But I wasn't though,
Speaker 1: because it was my first major injury, and you know,
Speaker 1: when you have that type of injury, first you start
Speaker 1: thinking about if you're gonna be the same when you
Speaker 1: come back, run as fast, jump as as well being explosive, right,
Speaker 1: and then you know, the actual procedure happens. And I'm
Speaker 1: in Alabama recovering. My family is still in Seattle. My
Speaker 1: kids are in school, so the wife is holding down
Speaker 1: the fort, and I remember listening to the game on
Speaker 1: the radio because it's Alabama, they don't play Seahawks games,
Speaker 1: and I just so desperately wanted them to say my name,
Speaker 1: like I don't know why, just like I want to
Speaker 1: miss you. Yeah, I wanted them to say, like, man,
Speaker 1: they could really use Nate bros. And ore, you know
Speaker 1: thoughts with them. I just want them to like just
Speaker 1: focus on me. That that's that selfishness that I was
Speaker 1: used to. And I think he might have said something
Speaker 1: in the beginning, but it was quick and the Borrows
Speaker 1: is out, next guy up. That was it. The entire game,
Speaker 1: theydn't mentioned my name, And I don't know why that
Speaker 1: made me so sad, because I think it's set in.
Speaker 1: It's sank in that they're going to move on without you,
Speaker 1: like this is just an injury, but one day they
Speaker 1: are going to move on without you. That's the name
Speaker 1: of the game. So you know. The first day I
Speaker 1: come back after being cleared from like using my medication, like, hey,
Speaker 1: let me get a vodka soda and drink my little
Speaker 1: vodka soda. Next day, I'm like, yo, make it a double,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. A few days later, I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: just fill up the cup all the way, no ice, man,
Speaker 1: just slide them a little hunted. And then like a
Speaker 1: week later, I remember going to him like, hey, yo,
Speaker 1: here go hunt Can you just send the bottle up
Speaker 1: to my room? And he's like, yeah, sure, you got mixtures.
Speaker 1: I'm like, Noah, need them. And I remember sipping vodka
Speaker 1: on ice and drowning my emotions and alcohol. And I've
Speaker 1: never had an issue drinking, but in that moment, I
Speaker 1: feel like I was close to the edge. I was
Speaker 1: either going to drink myself into a stoop or create
Speaker 1: some habits that will following me for the rest of
Speaker 1: my life. And I woke up fully dressed us. I'm
Speaker 1: a pajama guy, you know, hoop and T shorts, a
Speaker 1: T shirt and hoop shorts and T shirt. When I
Speaker 1: go to sleep, and I had all of my clothes
Speaker 1: on from the day before, in my shoes with my
Speaker 1: braces on like on top of the sheets, and I
Speaker 1: was sleeping still, and I remember waking up and I
Speaker 1: kind of like came to as if I was like
Speaker 1: sitting up in a casket. I felt like, yeah, like
Speaker 1: the undertaking it was wild, Like my arms were like crossed,
Speaker 1: so he was yeah, I felt like I felt. I
Speaker 1: felt like I was in a casket. And then my
Speaker 1: mind starts thinking like a creative like is this Am
Speaker 1: I reading too much into this? Or do I need
Speaker 1: to read more into what just happened? I blacked out,
Speaker 1: woke up completely dressed like the day before, when my
Speaker 1: arms crossed over my chest, like I'm sitting in the casket?
Speaker 1: What are you gonna do now? And I remember pouring
Speaker 1: the voc out, putting it in the trash, and I
Speaker 1: was like, bro, let's rehab lock in. Let's let's get busy,
Speaker 1: Like you got enough hurdles that you got to get over,
Speaker 1: got enough obstacles you got to get around. Let's not
Speaker 1: put alcohol in the mix, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And that's when I got focused and I came back
Speaker 1: from ACL in like six months. It was extremely fast.
Speaker 1: So that was a turning point because I either had
Speaker 1: to sit in this state of depression and feel sorry
Speaker 1: for myself, or I can open my eyes and realize, like,
Speaker 1: not only do I have a great support system, but
Speaker 1: I got everything I need to get back healthier and
Speaker 1: even stronger. And that's what I decided to do. Now
Speaker 1: that you're in TV, and you were trying to say,
Speaker 1: you know, do I want to be like Dione?
Speaker 4: You want to be like Marshall, Right, So now I
Speaker 4: get how you can have that view.
Speaker 1: Now you're in like TV TV, you doing the news
Speaker 1: every day, five days a week, CBS Morning Show.
Speaker 4: You have a certain.
Speaker 1: Look, your hair, your dress, your language, how you talk
Speaker 1: like it's not the traditional and reporting to you live
Speaker 1: on the CBS Morning News Show Charles Tooman and talk though,
Speaker 1: and it's no secret, no doubt about that. Did you
Speaker 1: did you get any flack or any pushback or backlash
Speaker 1: about just you being you? Because you have your voice
Speaker 1: right you said you found it, so this is this
Speaker 1: is you. Was there any backlash like talk about that.
Speaker 1: I remember talking to straight Hand shortly after taking the
Speaker 1: job and he said, you know, go in there and
Speaker 1: try to find your voice right away. Also realize, like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of people that love that you're there,
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of people that don't want you there, right,
Speaker 1: and those people are also working for CBS, basically saying
Speaker 1: that there's individuals that they don't want another football player.
Speaker 1: They don't want kirkland Brand straight hand taking a seat
Speaker 1: when there are experienced journalists that have been waiting for
Speaker 1: that seat to open for years, some decades. So there
Speaker 1: was a hyper awareness and a gonna be a good
Speaker 1: VET move to come out there and tell you that, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: no doubt, no doubt. It's like huge, yeah, and it
Speaker 1: gives me some sensitivity to people i'll work with. I'm
Speaker 1: coming in with my chest all out, you know, I
Speaker 1: understand what it looks like. Now I have to earn
Speaker 1: your respect by what I do and the work that
Speaker 1: I put in. But I did have some struggles though,
Speaker 1: initially finding my voice because when I came in like
Speaker 1: all right, this is news, it is different, and everybody
Speaker 1: kept telling me like, yo, this is news. You can't
Speaker 1: dress like you typically dress, which I didn't really get
Speaker 1: cuz like that's who you are.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but it's like.
Speaker 1: On Sundays I wear like pimp and can suits or something.
Speaker 1: I'd wear regular suits, but you know, there were a
Speaker 1: few people that were like, hey, you know, you can't
Speaker 1: dress loud on this show, and I'm like, when did you?
Speaker 1: Are you talking about stuff I wore twenty years ago
Speaker 1: when I was on the road playing against the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers, and my suit was what is it? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: what is it?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Exactly exactly, And you got to be a little bit
Speaker 1: more traditional because you know, I speak with you know,
Speaker 1: like we all do with our hair and our look
Speaker 1: and a cut and a swag and how we dress
Speaker 1: and walk and talk. So initially I came in and
Speaker 1: I was wearing a bunch of browns and blacks and
Speaker 1: navy suits, like it was very blah, and even my
Speaker 1: voice and delivery was different when I first joined, because
Speaker 1: I thought that's what they wanted and that's what they needed,
Speaker 1: and I was doing the same thing. Hey, how you
Speaker 1: doing This is Nate Brolson and were here this morning.
Speaker 1: It's good to see you guys. We have a traffic
Speaker 1: accident on the freeway and it's like, that ain't shoes.
Speaker 1: That's not me. So one day I took all the
Speaker 1: suits I had in my office and I put them
Speaker 1: in a bag, took them home. I replaced all those
Speaker 1: suits with suits that I have in my closet at
Speaker 1: home and brought them to work. And I walked in
Speaker 1: with a brighter color suit. It was like a deep
Speaker 1: red or something like that. I had my flat top
Speaker 1: with like curl brriage was like a cranberry. And immediately
Speaker 1: my voice was different. It was crazy like once I
Speaker 1: got comfortable in my own skin, my delivery was different.
Speaker 1: Even the way I set even my body language was different.
Speaker 1: So it took a few months for me to find
Speaker 1: my voice. And I feel like, you know, I'm at
Speaker 1: a good place, and you know, shout out to Gil
Speaker 1: because I remember walking in with that type of suit
Speaker 1: and she kind of looked at him, was like, about time.
Speaker 1: This is where I'm at with it. But yeah, it
Speaker 1: takes time, man, I'm sure for sure. So now being
Speaker 1: in that position, now, has any other players like reached
Speaker 1: out who are in the in the media, say football,
Speaker 1: and they're trying to get over into like the new
Speaker 1: side of it. Have they reached out to you or
Speaker 1: have you like mentor like, look here's what y'all should
Speaker 1: be doing. Of course you're gonna get my number. We
Speaker 1: got to tap in, listen, we have to be each
Speaker 1: other's biggest fans period. And you know, I'm not just
Speaker 1: here to get in this position and close the door
Speaker 1: behind me. I want to kick this damn door down
Speaker 1: so we can walk into the spaces that we want
Speaker 1: to walk into. But yeah, guys have reached out and
Speaker 1: I told them the same things that I learned early
Speaker 1: on was one reps, but to force your way into
Speaker 1: these other spaces. Because when I was doing Good Morning Football,
Speaker 1: I was grinding away three hours of TV a day,
Speaker 1: live TV, which is crazy. Yeah, and then you know, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. And then but if that's all
Speaker 1: you know this, yeah yeah, yeah, but it was great
Speaker 1: to have those rests on the run and on the
Speaker 1: fly and live TV. It's like a heightened sense of
Speaker 1: like being on point. But then I started to strategically
Speaker 1: put myself in different spaces, and that's why I joined
Speaker 1: Extra to do entertainment. Now it's not necessarily hardcore news,
Speaker 1: but we do tackle hardcore topics, so they might be
Speaker 1: more celebrity driven, but it's the same type of concept.
Speaker 1: You know, we're talking about celebrity news, and sometimes the
Speaker 1: crossover between politics and death and tragedy happens, so people
Speaker 1: were able to see me in a completely different light.
Speaker 1: They're like, oh, wait, like Nate, he can do entertainment.
Speaker 1: Oh he's tackling, you know, politics, because we're doing a
Speaker 1: story about Obama meeting the Super Bowl champions and he's
Speaker 1: he's speaking about it so eloquently like that. I think
Speaker 1: that right there got the attention of CBS and they
Speaker 1: were able to see that. You know. I remember going
Speaker 1: over to the digital side of the CBS building and
Speaker 1: they wanted to do a hit talking about the opening
Speaker 1: season schedule. And I remember something somebody told me a
Speaker 1: long time ago. Microphones are always on, good and bad,
Speaker 1: so watch what you say, but also take advantage when
Speaker 1: they're on. And I was over there and we were
Speaker 1: talking about the season and what games I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to and what game CBS had. But in between the takes,
Speaker 1: I was just sparking conversation about stuff that I knew
Speaker 1: they didn't know about me. I knew they didn't They
Speaker 1: didn't know I owned a restaurant, or that my financial
Speaker 1: advisor and I help athletes invest money, or that I
Speaker 1: started a few clothing lines, or that I had interest
Speaker 1: in poetry. So I was just like throwing this stuff
Speaker 1: out there, starting conversation and by the time I left,
Speaker 1: I remember one of the producers was like, hey, Nick.
Speaker 1: You know I kind of looked back, like what's up.
Speaker 1: He's like, hey, would you mind coming back at some
Speaker 1: point and talking about all that other stuff not just football?
Speaker 1: And I was like, yeah, yeah, of course, And I
Speaker 1: just kind of gave my self with fist pump because
Speaker 1: like that that was the point. It was strategically done. Sometimes,
Speaker 1: you know, we assume that people know more about us
Speaker 1: than they do, but in reality, all they care about
Speaker 1: is that we play ball, and that's fine. You know,
Speaker 1: we've been playing ball the whole lives. So we almost
Speaker 1: have to force their hand and show them. So the
Speaker 1: strategy came with little moments like that where I was
Speaker 1: able to step outside that box. And that's the advice
Speaker 1: I give to these guys, Like, I don't know, the
Speaker 1: comfortable thing is talking about sports, but flex all your muscles,
Speaker 1: Like we all have all these interests and nobody knows so,
Speaker 1: and that's the best advice I can give to those guys.
Speaker 1: So the wealth management, the clothing line, the restaurant of
Speaker 1: poetry art, you have so much interest would you call
Speaker 1: it earlier? You. You were crazy, no doubt, Like I
Speaker 1: get it, so I can already see you and how
Speaker 1: you are and everything, But like, how do you focus
Speaker 1: on what to do? Because you got the TV. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you got to prepare and work on that because
Speaker 1: that's your full time nine priority. But yet you also
Speaker 1: but yet also you got all these other interests. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. And then you got kids
Speaker 1: and you want to be a dad. You got to
Speaker 1: be a husband, you know, Like, so that's that's a
Speaker 1: lot of time to Okay, I got job, I got work,
Speaker 1: but my creative side and this, and then I have
Speaker 1: be a parent and sports and basketball games and like
Speaker 1: what am I doing? Like how do you manage all that?
Speaker 1: I'm doing a better job of managing it now. When
Speaker 1: I first moved out to New York about seven eight
Speaker 1: years ago, now, did a terrible job at managing it.
Speaker 1: I couldn't. I said yes to everything because I was like, god, man,
Speaker 1: it's my opportunity to show how versatil I am. I'm
Speaker 1: saying yes to everything and I wasn't getting paid a
Speaker 1: ton to do it. But I knew if I got
Speaker 1: the reps and I got the exposure, eventually I get
Speaker 1: to a point where I can say no to things.
Speaker 1: But because I didn't know how to manage being a husband,
Speaker 1: of father, a coach, juggling multiple jobs. Like I remember
Speaker 1: one day waking up and like little patches were missing
Speaker 1: in my beard. I'm like, damn, am I using the
Speaker 1: wrong like soapmotion or something, And then before you knew it,
Speaker 1: big patches were going. And then my entire beard was going,
Speaker 1: but bald, naked, and you know, black man with no mustange,
Speaker 1: no beard, I can't trust it. Attlemas got a little
Speaker 1: Thomas got a little Thomas. He got a little bit,
Speaker 1: a little bit, but Mommy's button egg it all the
Speaker 1: way around. Though. So I remember going to a dermatologist
Speaker 1: and it Yeah, it started as her just diagnosing me,
Speaker 1: and then it turned into a therapy sessions. She's like,
Speaker 1: all right, you have alopeia due to stress. Body's reacting
Speaker 1: and this is its way of fighting. And now I'm like, okay.
Speaker 1: That's where she's like, do you have history Alopeacha's like nope,
Speaker 1: surrounding family, nope. And then she's like, well, what's different
Speaker 1: in your life? I'm like, oh, man, start a new job.
Speaker 1: You know I used to play used to play that
Speaker 1: breath because waiting somebody, I think I kicked my feet
Speaker 1: up on and I got a new job, a new job.
Speaker 1: I'm waking up it for him. And she's just kind
Speaker 1: of listening, and I'm like, I used to have another
Speaker 1: job and I used to wake up, you know, seven
Speaker 1: or eight. And she didn't understand football. She's like, I
Speaker 1: don't know he follow football. I'm like, well, waking up
Speaker 1: at four him is one thing. Moving to the East
Speaker 1: Coast is another thing. But also this job, I just
Speaker 1: really want to be good at it, man. And she's like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: that's it. Like you you're stressed out because of your job.
Speaker 1: You're you're worrying and you're not embracing you know how
Speaker 1: much this means to you. I was like, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not stressed. You know now my egos kicking at
Speaker 1: the defensive Yeah, I'm not stressed. Well, what are you
Speaker 1: talking about? And I'm like, no, my old job. I
Speaker 1: used to have these these linebackers and safeties. They used
Speaker 1: to try to like break me in half. Like that
Speaker 1: was stressful. And I'm like smiling as I'm telling her
Speaker 1: that part, and she's like like, look at the joy
Speaker 1: when you talk about football. That didn't stress you out.
Speaker 1: It might have been difficult, but you loved it this
Speaker 1: new job. When you start talking about that, you weren't smiling.
Speaker 1: And she was like, you have to figure out how
Speaker 1: to balance your energy, and if you do a better
Speaker 1: job doing that, your beard will come back. And sure
Speaker 1: enough I did. I start to focus and just be
Speaker 1: a little bit more strategic and not saying yes to everything,
Speaker 1: you know, because when we leave the game, it's like
Speaker 1: we feel like we have to say yes to everything
Speaker 1: to prove to everybody that I'm so much more than
Speaker 1: a football player. But then I figured out that that
Speaker 1: was detrimental and I had to be a little bit
Speaker 1: more selective. Man. I mean, you just gave us a
Speaker 1: lot and I love that too. Right is learn how
Speaker 1: to balance your energy. Everybody uses it in different terms
Speaker 1: or found in your inner piece or whatever that may be.
Speaker 1: But balancing your energy because you naturally have a lot
Speaker 1: of things going on. Naturally, that's your type. But you
Speaker 1: know I will use that when I get home as well,
Speaker 1: you know, balance balance, Yeah, really, probably do a better
Speaker 1: job of balancing my energy. I think my kids are
Speaker 1: like Dad, You're always serious all the time, I was like,
Speaker 1: but I'm not. But yeah, ever since hearing you say that, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be a that's gonna that's gonna
Speaker 1: be serious all the time. Yeah, because I'm always like
Speaker 1: the authoritative like but I know me and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm the jokes like, I'm always playing pranks and I'm
Speaker 1: always telling jokes like, but but you're an authoritative figure
Speaker 1: in the household.
Speaker 4: Correct.
Speaker 1: So when they when in the hand comes down, it's
Speaker 1: it's usually usually do this, do that. Yeah, it is
Speaker 1: always wait till your dad gets home. You know, I've
Speaker 1: been hearing that, I'm.
Speaker 4: Gonna do that.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna try to, you know, be more be more
Speaker 1: fun loving and yeah, a little more balanced, a little
Speaker 1: more balanced. This is something I want to know from you.
Speaker 1: And that is like, all right, after year and a half,
Speaker 1: end of CBS in the morning, where is your comfort
Speaker 1: level on that now? I'm really comforting you dress. Your
Speaker 1: dress is going there really really helps you out probably huge. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, girl,
Speaker 1: she's awesome. Man, I'm really comfortable now. And it's and
Speaker 1: it's because of you know, how I see myself on air.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm being next as well. Because like
Speaker 1: that's a good question, because that's always like what you
Speaker 1: think about what's next. Yeah. I think my comfort also
Speaker 1: came in the form of the team I'm working with.
Speaker 1: So at CBS Mornings, I didn't realize that you had
Speaker 1: your own team of people, your assistant producers. I didn't know.
Speaker 1: Like I came from Good Morning Football, where yeah, we
Speaker 1: had people that worked on the show, but they weren't
Speaker 1: like our assistant. Yes signed to me. So I remember
Speaker 1: getting there yea, and they was like, hey, so, who
Speaker 1: you do you want your assistant to be. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I get an assistant. Yeah. So the producers are going
Speaker 1: to start putting in their names to work with you.
Speaker 1: I'm like, they're gonna work with me alone. They're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: to tell your stories. So when I go to sit
Speaker 1: with Bill Russell or Frank O'Hare rest in peace to
Speaker 1: both of them, or you know Obama or Michael J.
Speaker 1: Fox or Parry Gordy, it's a team of people that
Speaker 1: put together these stories. So I can tell any story
Speaker 1: I want as long as I pitch it, and we
Speaker 1: can build out the characters as we call it in TV,
Speaker 1: and then we can execute it. And I just like,
Speaker 1: for a long time. I didn't realize that I'm like,
Speaker 1: damn like, morning news is a completely different animal when
Speaker 1: it comes to storytelling, especially at CBS, it's the one
Speaker 1: thing they hang their hat on. So that that's why
Speaker 1: I'm extremely comfortable. And then as far as what's next,
Speaker 1: I have a production company. You know, it's called Watch,
Speaker 1: which is an acronym for we are the culture House.
Speaker 1: We have a few projects that we want to launch.
Speaker 1: You know, I want to start doing work behind the
Speaker 1: camera as well as an executive producer of some projects.
Speaker 1: Going to start with a docuseries focus on sports and athletes,
Speaker 1: not just on the field, but also what they do
Speaker 1: off of it. And then just continue to flex my
Speaker 1: creative muscles, you know, continue to write. There's a few
Speaker 1: shows that I pitched that were based loosely based around
Speaker 1: my life. Got a couple of nibbles at it, but
Speaker 1: nothing is landed. So I just want to want to
Speaker 1: do more, continue to expand and growing and uh and
Speaker 1: step outside this box. So speaking of shows, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a fan of watching, So what's a
Speaker 1: what's a bigger thrill?
Speaker 4: So SNL did a.
Speaker 1: Parody you remember that, and you also got recognized by
Speaker 1: al Pacino on the red card, so bigger thrill. You
Speaker 1: did this voice over tool decent.
Speaker 4: Yeah, being recognized with al Pacino.
Speaker 1: SNL was fired. Don't get me wrong, I was crazy.
Speaker 1: I was right for the Super Bowl. I think it
Speaker 1: was Chris Red Yeah, and they had these these funky
Speaker 1: little little he had the braids in he had the
Speaker 1: the Tyler Perry braids that you have this movie. I
Speaker 1: thought I thought that was Fire but al Pacino though,
Speaker 1: Like I was working for Extra at the time, I
Speaker 1: think it was The Irishman. Yeah, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I just got four hours from movie, so I'm just
Speaker 1: doing my thing, you know. I talked to narrow And
Speaker 1: and a few other people that are starting in it,
Speaker 1: and then I'm like, hey, hell, can I talk to you?
Speaker 1: Comes over and I'm like, you know, just humbly, Hey,
Speaker 1: how you doing. My name is, yeah, I know who
Speaker 1: you are. Nice to meet you. And I'm like, wait,
Speaker 1: you know who I am? Yeah? Yeah, you play receiver. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you do the Football show. And I'm like yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: and I'm immediately I'm sweating, like back of my knees
Speaker 1: is sweating, and I'm like nervous. Yeah, I'm like, Yo,
Speaker 1: this is crazy. I have to like collect myself. I
Speaker 1: looked at that camera. Man, I'm like, just give me
Speaker 1: a second, Like, Mistercino, you for real. He's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a big football fan. And I'm like, Yo, this
Speaker 1: is wild right now. And then I got back into
Speaker 1: my mode as a professional and interviewed them and and
Speaker 1: so yeah, that that's pretty cool man. The people that
Speaker 1: you look at and you've seen all their movies recognize you.
Speaker 1: That'll sweet. All right, this is something peanut. I would
Speaker 1: love to know who's got the most that all of us.
Speaker 1: You probably do. But how many pair of shoes you got?
Speaker 1: I saw Robinson? Yeah, yeah, you brought out some. He
Speaker 1: got some heat. You got to meat, I would say.
Speaker 1: I was saying about, do you have a number count
Speaker 1: in your head? Yeah? I think I got like four
Speaker 1: hundred shoes. Four in the shoes, this tennis shoes or
Speaker 1: dress tennis shoes, dress shoes. All my dress shoes upstairs
Speaker 1: in my closet. My my tennis shoes and kicks are
Speaker 1: downstairs in my sneaker room. So yeah, I love kicks.
Speaker 1: I've always loved kicks. That's kind of like my thing, man,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm golet don't change sizes for a long Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a fact. Nike deal. He was able to you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, That's what I did a lot
Speaker 1: of that before I returned. I spent like thousands of
Speaker 1: dollars on that night. Get count Like I loaded up
Speaker 1: everything and everybody I loaded up on it and they
Speaker 1: were young. I was like, you're getting the size six
Speaker 1: wis seven y eight wie. See that's smart. I didn't
Speaker 1: do that. I did all that from I should have
Speaker 1: got all these sizes knowing they was gonna come back.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what I did, so I didn't have to buy.
Speaker 1: Shoes for miss It was like I just got it.
Speaker 1: My boys. My my son's one six three, one six four.
Speaker 1: There was a brief moment where my middle child near
Speaker 1: my seventeen now, he was like seventh grade, big old foot,
Speaker 1: he's the size twelve and he's like, Dad, can I
Speaker 1: wear you shoes? School? Cool? My shoes? It's fine. Son.
Speaker 1: So he picked like one of my like exclusively lebron kicks.
Speaker 1: Man boy came back. Them things were so beat up.
Speaker 1: I was like, what was you doing?
Speaker 2: Bro?
Speaker 1: He's it was. It was like a gladiator He's like, Bro,
Speaker 1: we played a Super Bowl, we had a basketball game,
Speaker 1: and then it was soccer, and then then we also
Speaker 1: played kickball. I'm like, first of all, how long were
Speaker 1: you guys outside? My shoes was beat up and I said,
Speaker 1: they mind. Here's the thing, man, you know, I love you,
Speaker 1: but unless you learn how to respect my shoes, you
Speaker 1: will never put on another pair ever. And that was
Speaker 1: the lesson of the day, was like, this is how
Speaker 1: we take care of shoes moving forward.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm still like that with my son.
Speaker 1: They already know don't touch my stuff because they do
Speaker 1: they're not my son.
Speaker 4: Just like anything that that we have, it's.
Speaker 1: Gonna happen soon, It's gonna happen soon. I'm trying to
Speaker 1: have a favorite pair. Yeah. Yeah, the Concord Jordan. I'm yeah,
Speaker 1: like the Blacks all the space Damer. Listen if you can,
Speaker 1: if you can go on the course and hoop and
Speaker 1: then where to a promp Come on, bro, like aay
Speaker 1: you do anything from it's a fire. It's a fire, kid.
Speaker 1: I guess the final question we have for today is
Speaker 1: you know, you've had a successful life, an amazing career,
Speaker 1: and you're continuing to just kill it. Who would be
Speaker 1: on your personal mount rushmore, people that have had just
Speaker 1: influencing you, people that have mentors you helped you along
Speaker 1: the way, helped you along this journey, help you to
Speaker 1: get you where you are right now. I would say
Speaker 1: one of my mom and dad. They have been my
Speaker 1: biggest supporters on and off the field, and they've always
Speaker 1: they've always seen more in me than I've seen than myself.
Speaker 1: So I have to shot them out and it's just
Speaker 1: staying within the family circle for right now. My wife,
Speaker 1: she former track star. She won indoor hurdles as a senior,
Speaker 1: so she's a champion, graduated then graduated with her masters.
Speaker 1: Beautiful woman really had the world in front of her
Speaker 1: and put everything on hold to follow me chase this
Speaker 1: dream of the NFL. So if she wasn't married to me,
Speaker 1: she'd probably be some woman running some fortune five hundred company.
Speaker 1: But you know, she put all of her dreams on
Speaker 1: the shelf. So without her support, I don't think I'd
Speaker 1: be here. But as far as like men that have
Speaker 1: like men or women that have been there as a
Speaker 1: support system, Straighthand has always been there because there's these
Speaker 1: comparisons that happen and he has constantly told me you're
Speaker 1: different than me. Be different, you know, you don't have
Speaker 1: to try to be like me. And if you're different
Speaker 1: and you're better in the areas that you bring to
Speaker 1: the table that I can't bring to the table, this
Speaker 1: this business is going to open up his doors to you.
Speaker 1: And I always thought that was dope because it wasn't
Speaker 1: like there's only room in this town for one of us,
Speaker 1: you know, it was the opposite. It was I'm gonna
Speaker 1: make room for you, which is why I want to
Speaker 1: make room for everybody else. Gail. Gail has been such
Speaker 1: an influence and she's just a dope woman because she's
Speaker 1: constantly trying to build people up and allow them to grow.
Speaker 1: Like so she'll have assistance and producers, but as soon
Speaker 1: as she feels like they have kind of reached their
Speaker 1: peak where they are, She's like, leave the nest and
Speaker 1: I'll be the first one to stamp your approval anywhere.
Speaker 1: I'll be the one that, yeah, gives the recommendations. You know,
Speaker 1: instead of just like hogging all the talent, she puts
Speaker 1: the talent on and then allows tim allows them to
Speaker 1: leave and grow and then just like I think collectively,
Speaker 1: you know, and I said it at the beginning, I'll
Speaker 1: say it again, it's the brotherhood of the NFL. Like
Speaker 1: you know when I said that, I've seen you guys
Speaker 1: as athletes on the field, but that pales in comparison
Speaker 1: to what you guys have done that I truly mean that,
Speaker 1: and we don't say it enough. But I just love
Speaker 1: watching y'all work. And that goes for the rest of
Speaker 1: this fraternity. There's so many men doing great things across
Speaker 1: all spaces. Of course in football, back into the game
Speaker 1: on a low level like Pop Warner, all the way
Speaker 1: up until the league. There's guys that are coaches or assistants,
Speaker 1: are working for teams that are doing a fantastic job.
Speaker 1: But from the men that have went into the medical field,
Speaker 1: law enforcement, the finance world, art, the creatives, I just
Speaker 1: think like there's no better motivation than knowing that the
Speaker 1: guys that bled like me, gave everything, they got everything
Speaker 1: they gave to the game like I did, are sailing
Speaker 1: in other spaces and that that gives me all the
Speaker 1: hope in the world to know that we can continue
Speaker 1: to do whatever we want. Man, football is it's it's
Speaker 1: a beautiful sport, and I don't want to be dismissive
Speaker 1: of the careers we had because it is like being
Speaker 1: a rockstar with pads on, for sure. But if we
Speaker 1: can do that at a high level, man, we can
Speaker 1: accomplish anything in this world, no doubt, you know.
Speaker 4: What, no doubt.
Speaker 1: Two things I really loved about that whole breakdown. Number
Speaker 1: one was that, I mean creatives got their own space, yes,
Speaker 1: and that the whole description right, yes, no doubt, no doubt,
Speaker 1: no doubt, no doubt. Enforcement creators are right there, bro,
Speaker 1: Actors and producers got like Matthew Cherry, who's who's an
Speaker 1: Oscar winner, He's a director. You know, guys like that
Speaker 1: that have have done such a good job. But I
Speaker 1: will say this though, before I go, I got to
Speaker 1: hook you all up with some suits, man, And I
Speaker 1: mean that you're not free of charge. You know that
Speaker 1: bangs and bakers, the brand this I got you down.
Speaker 1: Let me let me let me off straight handsome suits,
Speaker 1: straight hand suits. See, you ain't got to buy the first.
Speaker 1: I'mnna hook you up first. I'm just trying to see
Speaker 1: me and we do everything from traditional suits. We call
Speaker 1: this like the jump Man suit. We have joggers. It
Speaker 1: was built as a brand to allow guys to look
Speaker 1: fresh while not overcharging them. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: because you guys, remember we first came in and then
Speaker 1: people was with the Walkers, and but they was getting us.
Speaker 1: The price was killing us. And on top of that
Speaker 1: they had to they had the women in there like, oh,
Speaker 1: fill you up, get you right. So so one quick thing,
Speaker 1: because you're the real professional in this whole business, I
Speaker 1: want you to wrap the show for us. Man, give
Speaker 1: us a tell them let it be gone. Speaking to
Speaker 1: the camera, let them know. Oh yeah, well listen, man,
Speaker 1: we out of here. iHeart radio. You know this is uh,
Speaker 1: this is the the main stage for guys like this
Speaker 1: to give individuals like me the stage to show that
Speaker 1: what we have done in the league, it is it
Speaker 1: is a small part of who we are and what
Speaker 1: we're doing now is is truly a representation of how
Speaker 1: gifted athletes really are. I'm peanut A's Room. That's Nate.
Speaker 1: NFL Player Segments podcast. Were We out
Speaker 3: H