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Speaker 1: I didn't like running backs when I came to the NFL.

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Speaker 1: I had no respect for running backs. And I don't

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Speaker 1: mean that in a nasty way.

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Speaker 2: I couldn't tell because your face was so straight. I'm

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Speaker 2: glad you.

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Speaker 3: Got to break care say that. Okay, he's the greatest.

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Speaker 4: US Like I don't like running backs. I was like,

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Speaker 4: damn you, I'm glad you laughing now, thank you?

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Speaker 3: Holy yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. But anyway, I was.

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Speaker 4: What's up, everybody, I'm Peanut Tohiman, and this is the

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Speaker 4: NFL Player's Second Act podcast and with me as always

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Speaker 4: as my trusty co host, Roman Harper.

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Speaker 3: What's up? What's up? Peanut? I'm doing great, man.

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Speaker 5: I want to jump right into this, uh this next guest, man,

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Speaker 5: I know he can't be here forever. Plus, he's my

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Speaker 5: favorite defensive player of all time, especially growing up. I

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Speaker 5: just want to say that right now, So get to

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Speaker 5: it his so then we can actually, you know, pan

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Speaker 5: over to my favorite defensive player Hall.

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Speaker 3: Of Fame, Mike Linebacker.

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Speaker 4: He was basically the face of that nineteen eighty five

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Speaker 4: defense aka Chicago Defense Monsters of the Midway, considered the

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Speaker 4: greatest defense of all time.

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Speaker 1: UH.

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Speaker 4: Nicknamed Samurai Samurai Mike in college. After football, he was

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Speaker 4: a coach in the NFL. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome

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Speaker 4: to the pod Mike Singletary.

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Speaker 3: Greatness. Yeah, okay, coach, it's okay, we call you coach. Coach.

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Speaker 5: So I played with you on techno ball, right, So

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Speaker 5: I played with Mike Singletary on every single snap.

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Speaker 3: So you made every play in the past. Absolutely, you

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Speaker 3: made every play in the run game. Do you ever

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Speaker 3: remember tech.

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Speaker 1: All the time? I guess Airport?

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Speaker 2: Then you are a beast and like it was you.

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Speaker 5: Yes, this is like my experience is my first football

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Speaker 5: game that I was like really into. And that's saying

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Speaker 5: you were my first guy, okay, And so this is

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Speaker 5: in the honor to have you, have you sit here

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Speaker 5: in front of us.

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Speaker 3: And being our pre and being in the presence of

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Speaker 3: you today. So I just greatness.

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Speaker 5: I know you probably hear this a lot, but thank you,

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Speaker 5: thank you for getting you.

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Speaker 3: You help me win a lot of games.

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Speaker 1: Thank you.

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Speaker 4: Now I'm spoiled because I played for the Bears for

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Speaker 4: twelve years and my entire time there defense Marcell's main

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Speaker 4: ways takeaways, like that's what that's what I know. So

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Speaker 4: I got there in O three, and it was basically

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Speaker 4: it was what you and the rest of the other

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Speaker 4: defensive grades, the Hampton's, the Dance, the earl Ackers, the

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Speaker 4: Marshall like it was what you all built. And for that,

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Speaker 4: I am forever grateful and just man like, Chicago was

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Speaker 4: known for its defenses. I don't care about offense. And

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Speaker 4: you know this, like it's just they kind of still

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Speaker 4: know it's a defensive city. Why don't well, you can't

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Speaker 4: say that, man Like I don't don't take a little

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Speaker 4: digs at my team.

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Speaker 3: I don't do that with them.

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Speaker 4: Sorry Saints, I don't don't take I don't fight back

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Speaker 4: when you say sorry.

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Speaker 1: Though I.

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Speaker 3: Still live there. I still live there.

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Speaker 4: But one of the things I want to talk about,

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Speaker 4: and it's it's I don't want to say it's made

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Speaker 4: you famous, but it's it's made you and it shows

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Speaker 4: the type of person and it shows the character that

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Speaker 4: you have. Talking about the Vernon Davis situation, you know,

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Speaker 4: something happened, Vernon did something. He didn't react the way

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Speaker 4: he was supposed to as far as a champion or

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Speaker 4: a character or a guy with good character at the time.

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Speaker 4: And then you went to the media and you addressed it.

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Speaker 4: And people have made memes off of this, but it was,

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Speaker 4: you know, I want winners. I can't live with them,

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Speaker 4: can't play with them, don't want them. I want winners.

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Speaker 4: Can you talk about just that moment, that situation.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think first and foremost, when I stepped into

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Speaker 1: the San Francisco situation, it was a lot of hardheads

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Speaker 1: that were doing their own thing and not only really

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Speaker 1: listening to the coach. And I had a conversation with

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Speaker 1: Vernon when I became the head coach and I said, Vernon,

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Speaker 1: I said, I want you to understand something. What you've

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Speaker 1: been doing will not work. We can't do that going forward.

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Speaker 1: I said, this is the team and everybody is going

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Speaker 1: to work as a team, even myself. I am not

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Speaker 1: above the team. And I said, I want you to

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Speaker 1: understand that that goes for everybody on our team. If

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Speaker 1: you do anything that violates that, then I'm going to

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Speaker 1: have to take, you know, steps that will make you

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Speaker 1: understand that these are the boundaries. And so, you know,

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Speaker 1: he tested it. You know, it's like like a kid

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Speaker 1: that you tell them, hey, if you do this, you

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Speaker 1: know here or here are the consequences. And he tested

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Speaker 1: that and so I don't know what he was thinking about.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what he thought I was going to do,

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Speaker 1: but I told him probably if something like that happens you,

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Speaker 1: you will not be a part of this team. And

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Speaker 1: so I said that, I followed through with it, and

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Speaker 1: you know, the rest is what it is.

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Speaker 4: The best part about it, though, is he apologized. And

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Speaker 4: he later said, like, Yo, that moment, that moment changed

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Speaker 4: my life. And that's a testament to you, the character

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Speaker 4: you are and what you said. It's about the team.

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Speaker 4: It's always about the team. I'm not above the team.

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Speaker 4: You're not above the team. And when Vernon's when he's

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Speaker 4: talking about that, he commenceds like, yeah, man, I just

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Speaker 4: have it was a bad culture. It's just he was

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Speaker 4: trying to do something and I wasn't feeling it. But

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Speaker 4: looking back on it now, like yeah, I was one

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Speaker 4: percent of the wrong and I just I commend you

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Speaker 4: for that, just like letting him know like you were

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Speaker 4: trying to establish a new culture and let him know

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Speaker 4: it was about the team. And this is obviously you're

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Speaker 4: an old school guy. You even said a envous like

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Speaker 4: I'm from the old school. It's always about the team.

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Speaker 4: So I appreciate what you brought to the forty nine

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Speaker 4: ers and that that mentality and the culture that you

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Speaker 4: were trying to change.

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Speaker 1: Thank you.

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Speaker 5: Well, I want to piggyback on this same situation because

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Speaker 5: I think we all get focused up on the the

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Speaker 5: big the big saying was you can't win with him,

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Speaker 5: rather play with ten like it was great, Like this

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Speaker 5: is what this is what young people remember? You asked,

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Speaker 5: I remember you from Technmobo with the eyes and the

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Speaker 5: highlights and all the big hits and when we actually

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Speaker 5: showcased all the hard, hard hits.

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Speaker 3: In the NFL films.

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Speaker 5: But when you started off, you first apologized for when

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Speaker 5: you got there, you apologized to the San Francisco media

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Speaker 5: and you said it will change and that this team

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Speaker 5: wants to be champions, which they later on became.

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Speaker 3: We got close to it, that.

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Speaker 5: Same team with a lot of those same core guys

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Speaker 5: that you were there with. You like, these guys want

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Speaker 5: to be great. But it still comes down to three things.

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Speaker 3: In the game.

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Speaker 5: Number one, you got to out hit the team. That's

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Speaker 5: Mike's singletary. Number Two, it's not a charity. We can't

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Speaker 5: give the ball the game away. We can't give the

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Speaker 5: game away, not a charity out here for anybody. And

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Speaker 5: then number three, you said, it's all about execution, and

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Speaker 5: we didn't do that today, And so I think those

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Speaker 5: are the words that none of us get to actually hear.

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Speaker 5: And I want to make sure all of our viewers

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Speaker 5: get to actually hear the sayingness that was Mike's singletary

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Speaker 5: in that moment when we all see the real that

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Speaker 5: seems a little insane, and that's what we repeat. But

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Speaker 5: you caught your breath once two times in this whole interview.

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Speaker 5: We watched the whole thing, and to me, it was like, man,

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Speaker 5: this guy was right on point and the most important time,

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Speaker 5: I didn't hear all that in the SoundBite, but that's

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Speaker 5: when I went back.

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Speaker 3: I want to make sure everybody hears the whole thing.

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Speaker 5: So you get to hear the whole true story of

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Speaker 5: what Mike Singletary was in the most the biggest moment,

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Speaker 5: what some people may remember him as as San Francisco

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Speaker 5: head coach in that moment. But your actual words were

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Speaker 5: dead on and impactful.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think you know, first and foremost, it's it's

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Speaker 1: interesting that when I stepped out of playing the game,

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Speaker 1: you know, I remember as a player being the leader

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Speaker 1: of our team, what we have to deal with, you know,

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Speaker 1: And so many times the players put the coaches in

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Speaker 1: difficult situations and it makes the coach have to follow

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Speaker 1: through with some of the things they said they were

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Speaker 1: gonna do, and then oftentimes, you know, the coach ends up.

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Speaker 1: You know, if we want to win this game, we

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Speaker 1: got to have this player. So if I do this,

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Speaker 1: if I really follow through and do what I said

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Speaker 1: I was gonna do, We're going to lose the game.

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Speaker 1: And so but but to me, it's always you may

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Speaker 1: win that game, but in essence, it's just like your

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Speaker 1: kids at home. You're gonna lose their trust because you said,

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Speaker 1: if this happens, this is what I'm gonna do, but

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Speaker 1: you didn't follow through because it was the different guy.

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Speaker 1: You didn't think it was going to be that guy,

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Speaker 1: the most important guy. And the way you build a

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Speaker 1: team is the most important guy must be the guy

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Speaker 1: both on the field and off the field, and if

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Speaker 1: he's not that guy, then you got to find another guy.

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Speaker 5: Now, what did this whole situation, How did it impact

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Speaker 5: you as a coach going forward?

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Speaker 3: Were you more confident?

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Speaker 5: Did you know now like that this is what I'm

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Speaker 5: supposed to be doing, or did it make you question

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Speaker 5: your decision about what I did with Vernon, or just

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Speaker 5: question even being in the coaching game, like just overall.

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Speaker 1: Not that day, I didn't What I didn't realize is

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Speaker 1: how far removed you know, when you were a player

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Speaker 1: and you're playing the game, it's one thing. The coach

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Speaker 1: is the same thing. That's great, okay, and you're not

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Speaker 1: really that much invested in what's happening in life. You

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Speaker 1: hear it, but you're focused on football. You're focused on

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Speaker 1: when you're focused on being all pro the best you

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Speaker 1: can be. But when you become a coach, particularly the

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Speaker 1: head coach, then you begin to see the whole picture.

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Speaker 1: And so the thing that I guess, the thing that

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Speaker 1: I was most really concerned about after I became a coach,

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Speaker 1: you begin to see where the game has gone, how

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Speaker 1: much the game has been removed from what it used

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Speaker 1: to be. I remember when I first started playing the game,

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Speaker 1: when I sat down, I had coaches talk to me

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Speaker 1: about this is what football is all about. This is

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Speaker 1: what even the position is all about, the position of

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Speaker 1: middle linebacker. When you're the middle linebacker, you have to

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Speaker 1: be the leader you have to set the standard for

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Speaker 1: how we practice, how we prepare, when we get on

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Speaker 1: that field, what we do, how we get there, all

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Speaker 1: of those things. As the middle linebacker, that's what you do.

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Speaker 1: So to me, when I became a head coach, it's going,

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Speaker 1: you know, miles ahead forward. I was the head coach,

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Speaker 1: So I'm setting the standard. And to kind of get

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Speaker 1: a slap on the wrist, Hey, wait a minute, that's

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Speaker 1: a grown man. You don't do that to a grown man.

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Speaker 1: I'm hearing all these people talk about it, but I said, yes,

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Speaker 1: he's a grown man. But when you become a part

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Speaker 1: of a team, just like when you become a part

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Speaker 1: of the family, there can't be rules that are here

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Speaker 1: for some people and they're set at a different level

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Speaker 1: for others. When you do that, then we got a problem.

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Speaker 1: That's the way it is in our society. That's the

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Speaker 1: way it is on different teams, different organizations, And to me,

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Speaker 1: it has to be whenever you have a team of

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Speaker 1: any kind, this is the team. This is the culture,

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Speaker 1: and it's for everybody, and it starts with the leader

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Speaker 1: and it goes down. It trickles down to everybody else.

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Speaker 1: If it's not going to be there, then you don't

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Speaker 1: have a team because there's no consistency. A team is

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Speaker 1: consistent across the board. That's how you develop the culture.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so there are a lot of people that know

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Speaker 4: you for that that rant, and you're so much more

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Speaker 4: than that. Right as Roma saying, you know segon ball

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Speaker 4: like you're you were a dominant player. If no one

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Speaker 4: has ever seen film on you and you had to

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Speaker 4: describe yourself and your style of play to a person,

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Speaker 4: how would you describe yourself your style of play?

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Speaker 1: I would say my style of play, you know the

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Speaker 1: Samurai Warrior, that that is my style of play. It

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Speaker 1: is it is all out, it is reckless, it is abandoned.

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, there is a respect for

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Speaker 1: my opponent. I'm never gonna dog my opponent. I'm not

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Speaker 1: trying to take his heart. What I'm trying to do

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Speaker 1: is compete, compete to win at the very highest level,

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Speaker 1: but in such a way that when that game is over,

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Speaker 1: that competition is over. I can walk up to that

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Speaker 1: person and shake his hand and say, next time.

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Speaker 5: How did you become How did they name you the

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Speaker 5: Samurai war Like? Were you into martial arts?

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Speaker 4: Have anime or something like that.

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Speaker 1: First of all, it was the energy, was the intensity. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know, there's a certain intensity. I'm this way right now.

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Speaker 1: But if I were to play a game, that would

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Speaker 1: be something that would change.

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Speaker 3: There.

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Speaker 1: There's a change is that's going to happen. There's going

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Speaker 1: to be a transfer. I'm stepping outside of the line

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Speaker 1: and I'm talking to you and it'asy hey man, how

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Speaker 1: you doing? What's going on? But when I step inside

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Speaker 1: the line, it's different. You know what it's on. So

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Speaker 1: that that really is the to me, that's that's the difference,

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Speaker 1: knowing how to do that.

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Speaker 5: Okay, So this is exactly what I wanted to hear.

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Speaker 5: So because growing up, first of all, the nostalgia to

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Speaker 5: be a Chicago Bears defense at the time when you

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Speaker 5: guys were there doing what you guys were doing playing

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Speaker 5: for the forty six, Like all these words in football

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Speaker 5: jargon have become legendary because of what you guys were

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Speaker 5: able to do, and you were a vital part of that.

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Speaker 5: You know, when we see you guys on all the

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Speaker 5: highlights where you can see the smoke coming from up

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Speaker 5: underneath the helmets and when.

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Speaker 3: You're barking out orders and blah.

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Speaker 5: Blah, blah blah and always see you know, yeah, Scoop,

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Speaker 5: your eyes are I don't even know if you blink.

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Speaker 3: Did you ever blink?

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Speaker 5: Okay, so you know, so I could see this so

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Speaker 5: vividly as a young kid.

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Speaker 3: This is all I ever wanted to do. I wanted

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Speaker 3: to play at Soldier Field.

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Speaker 5: I wanted to play in cold weather because I could

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Speaker 5: see the steam coming out of my now when I

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Speaker 5: played in cold weather.

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Speaker 1: I changed.

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Speaker 3: Once I did that, I changed my mind.

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Speaker 5: But these are all things that I picked up as

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Speaker 5: a young man and watching the NFL's hardest hits with

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Speaker 5: you and the rest of your teammates and all these

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Speaker 5: other things. And this defense that you guys ran so

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Speaker 5: just that is the encapsulation of what we all felt.

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Speaker 5: I don't know if you ever thought that you were

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Speaker 5: presenting that picture or what you actually thought that you

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Speaker 5: were presenting.

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Speaker 3: I'd love to know that from you.

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Speaker 5: It was this just who Mike Singletary has always been

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Speaker 5: as a person and as a player.

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Speaker 1: Well, it was it was really the first time that

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Speaker 1: you didn't just come on the field, buddy Ryan. That

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Speaker 1: defense came out of all of our linebackers getting hurt

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Speaker 1: at some point in time, before I got the ball,

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Speaker 1: Before I got to the Bears, everybody had gotten hurt,

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Speaker 1: all the linebackers, so Buddy had to use DB's so

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Speaker 1: he had to protect them. And so now you got

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Speaker 1: six defensive linemen across the board, and then you got

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Speaker 1: a couple of line backers behind. Well, he used DB's

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Speaker 1: but he had to cover him up, Doug Plank and

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Speaker 1: Gary Fencing. So that's where forty six came from. Doug Plank,

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Speaker 1: that was his number, So that that's where the forty

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Speaker 1: six came from. So when I started, when when I started,

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Speaker 1: you know, playing on first down and second down, well,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't playing at the time. I was middle linebacker.

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Speaker 1: Most middle linebackers came out of the game on third down.

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Speaker 1: So I'm thinking, I'm not coming off the field on

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Speaker 1: third down. You know, if I'm good enough on first

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Speaker 1: and second down, I got to figure out what am

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Speaker 1: I gonna What do I need to do to become

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Speaker 1: the third down guy. So that was a conversation for

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Speaker 1: Buddy and I and we went back and forth for

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Speaker 1: a year before that happened, and finally, you know, he

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Speaker 1: had cursed me out enough told me not to talk

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Speaker 1: to him about it. It ain't happening because it's too complicated.

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Speaker 1: So finally I asked him again and I said, Buddy,

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Speaker 1: I'm getting ready to go home, back to Houston's off season.

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Speaker 1: If I were to play on the forty six, well

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Speaker 1: would I have to do if I to play it

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Speaker 1: on every down? The nickel every down and that forty six.

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Speaker 1: That guy that was that middle line back on the

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Speaker 1: forty six, on every play, he had to do about

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Speaker 1: five or six things depending on the keys. And so

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Speaker 1: for me, it was going home. Buddy said, hey, you

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Speaker 1: need to lose You need to get down to like

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Speaker 1: two twenty five to twenty six. Um, really, yeah, you

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Speaker 1: need to get down by two twenty five because you

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Speaker 1: gotta cover receiver, you gotta cover backs, you gotta cover

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Speaker 1: tight ends down the field. You got to go out

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Speaker 1: there and cover wide house as they come across the field.

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Speaker 1: You take them as they come across. So he said,

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Speaker 1: and you can't do that. So I said, okay. So

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Speaker 1: when I came back, I was two twenty five to

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Speaker 1: twenty six. Buddy was pissed up. In a minute. He

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Speaker 1: saw when I came back from art seat, and he said,

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Speaker 1: why'd you lose that weight? I said, because I want

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Speaker 1: to play third down. I told you you're not playing

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Speaker 1: third down. Okay. A couple of weeks later, a Nickel

347
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Speaker 1: guy got hurt and I ran on the field, but

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Speaker 1: it was cursing me out, and I was working with

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Speaker 1: the Nickel guys. I was going down there working on uh,

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Speaker 1: working with the corners and the safeties and all that. Well,

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Speaker 1: he got pissed when I went down there and did that,

352
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Speaker 1: why are you going down there and working with them?

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Speaker 1: So I just need to work on myself. But so

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Speaker 1: I'm covering I'm covering Willie Gaulton, I'm covering Dennis Gentry,

355
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Speaker 1: the f i astest guys, quickest guys. Yeah, all the time,

356
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Speaker 1: covering Walter. And that's all I wanted to cover. And

357
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Speaker 1: so when that happened, Buddy that Monday, Buddy called me

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Speaker 1: in the office. It's okay, here's what we're gonna do.

359
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Speaker 1: I'll put you in on four six, and you make

360
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Speaker 1: one mistake, you're out. You understand what mistake? Yes, So

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Speaker 1: never mistakes. Never mistake. Just it just increase the amount

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Speaker 1: of film work that I put in. It just increased

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Speaker 1: the amount of That's what I wanted. That's that's what

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Speaker 1: has as a leader. That's what you want. You want

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Speaker 1: your your leader on your team to say, give it

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Speaker 1: to me, give it all to me. What else is

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Speaker 1: that it? Okay, let's go, that's what you want. When

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Speaker 1: you have that, you've got a chance.

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Speaker 3: Stay tuned in.

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Speaker 2: We'll be right back after a quick break.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So when I got to Chicago, obviously they give you

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Speaker 4: like a little class with the rookies and they talk

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Speaker 4: about the defense, and you know it's one of the

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Speaker 4: oldest franchises in the NFL, so you're thinking like, okay, yeah,

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Speaker 4: this is cool. Then I get out there for my

377
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Speaker 4: first mini camp with the with the Vets.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, rookies, you're good. Get out there with

379
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Speaker 2: the Vets, and you're just.

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Speaker 4: Like, oh, snap, that's that's Brent Rocker, that's Mike Brown,

381
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Speaker 4: that's you know, you're You're running through all these names

382
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Speaker 4: and I'm like, man, am I supposed to be here

383
00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,960
Speaker 4: or not? My question for you when you got drafted,

384
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Speaker 4: you get to Chicago, at what point did you know, Yo,

385
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Speaker 4: I can lead this defense, I can lead us to

386
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Speaker 4: be champions. How long did that take or was that

387
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Speaker 4: like an immediate thing that you just knew I'm the

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Speaker 4: mic backer.

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Speaker 3: Y'all gonna play on my level.

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Speaker 1: Here is Here is the thing. This is what really

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Speaker 1: caused the rift between Buddy and I. When I from

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Speaker 1: the first day I got there, I was in there.

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Speaker 1: I was in the huddle as a rookie and Dan

394
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Speaker 1: Hampton who was All Pro, and Alan Page was future

395
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Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, who were in the huddle. And I'm

396
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Speaker 1: a rookie. I'm getting in the huddle and Dan and

397
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Speaker 1: Alan Page a talking. So I get in the huddle

398
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Speaker 1: and I'm calling the defense and they're jacking around whatever,

399
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Speaker 1: and I look at him and say, hey, what are

400
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Speaker 1: you doing. Let's be quiet in the huddle. Buddy. Buddy

401
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,240
Speaker 1: was walking by with his pipe and he's a wait, wait, wait, wait,

402
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,880
Speaker 1: hold on, you know, he said, do you know who

403
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,679
Speaker 1: that is? He's going to Alan Page. I said, no,

404
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,120
Speaker 1: I know who he is, but I don't care who

405
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Speaker 1: he is. He's a huddle and when you in my huddle,

406
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,919
Speaker 1: you be quiet. Buddy said, we're gonna have a problem.

407
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Speaker 1: So that was the beginning of our relationship. So I

408
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 1: came to Chicago thinking that I don't know where they are.

409
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:33,800
Speaker 1: I know they haven't they haven't won in a number

410
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: of years. Oh, we're gonna win. We're gonna win. So

411
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Speaker 1: I went to Chicago. When I when I stepped in

412
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Speaker 1: the huddle that first day, it was with the intent

413
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Speaker 1: to start. It was with the intent to go to

414
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Speaker 1: the super Bowl. It was with the intent of becoming

415
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Speaker 1: an All pro, It was with the intent of being

416
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Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer, all of those things. When I

417
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Speaker 1: stepped in the huddle the first day.

418
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Speaker 3: Those are your goals when you came in.

419
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Speaker 1: Those are my goals at twelve years old.

420
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Speaker 3: Oh, tell me about that? How did that? How did

421
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:01,919
Speaker 3: those become your goals?

422
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,120
Speaker 5: Not everybody has such lofty goals.

423
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Speaker 3: What led you to that point?

424
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:11,359
Speaker 5: What gave the young Mike Singletary that type of confidence

425
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Speaker 5: to say, you know what? You know, I really truly

426
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Speaker 5: I'm gonna shoot for the stars and hopefully land.

427
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Speaker 3: On the moon.

428
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Speaker 1: First of all, I'm the last of twelve kids. I

429
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:24,239
Speaker 1: mean I'm the last of ten kids, and so I

430
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:30,200
Speaker 1: was the smallest of the ten and the least talented.

431
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,800
Speaker 1: We were a Pentecostal family. My father was a Pentecostal pastor,

432
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Speaker 1: and so we could not play sports.

433
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Speaker 3: Your uncle, your brothers a pastor as.

434
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Speaker 1: Well, Right, Well, no, they were a couple of them

435
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 1: are Christian, but not the castas so so the being

436
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:55,640
Speaker 1: a Pentecostal or no football was allowed at all, and

437
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,720
Speaker 1: so I wish my brothers would have been able to play.

438
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: But anyways, my father and my mom divorced when I

439
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,560
Speaker 1: was twelve. And before they divorced about when I was

440
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,360
Speaker 1: nine ten years old, there were some tapes that came

441
00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 1: to my house, and those tapes for Norman Vincent Peel

442
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:21,199
Speaker 1: tapes the amazing results of positive thinking. So when I

443
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,720
Speaker 1: got those tapes, you know, my family was kind of chaos, disarrayed, Dad,

444
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,199
Speaker 1: mom fighting all the time, all these kind of things

445
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,960
Speaker 1: and other than and out of jail, sister, that baby's

446
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,840
Speaker 1: out of wedlock. It was tough. And so I got

447
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 1: these tapes and I put these tapes on and Norman

448
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 1: Vincent Peele taught me how to close my eyes and

449
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 1: visualize myself in what I wanted to be. I saw

450
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:53,639
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys play. Roger Starbat was the guy that

451
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: I saw that he captured my eyes and I wanted

452
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:04,439
Speaker 1: I want it to be that guy. He was the

453
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,840
Speaker 1: team leader, he always said the right thing. He looked

454
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 1: like he was the spiritual leader on the field. Guys

455
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,080
Speaker 1: believed in him, and he willed that team to win.

456
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,960
Speaker 1: So when I saw him, that's what I want to be.

457
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: Right away, I knew I wouldn't have quartered by, but

458
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,360
Speaker 1: I wanted to be a leader, and that's the one

459
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:32,479
Speaker 1: thing that I know I am. And so when I

460
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: had the opportunity to look at the Cowboys play, I

461
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,119
Speaker 1: w was sneaking watch the Cowboys play on Sundays, and

462
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 1: that was hard to do. Sometimes I was sick and

463
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:49,840
Speaker 1: I stay home and watch the Cowboys. So fast forwarded.

464
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,360
Speaker 1: My mom and dad divorced. My brother Grady moved back

465
00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: home when I was twelve years old, and he was

466
00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: killed in an automobile accident six months after my dad left.

467
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,000
Speaker 1: So I'm thinking, you know, I don't know about this

468
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 1: God thing. I don't know about you know, being the

469
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:08,159
Speaker 1: best that I can be, and all this other kind

470
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 1: of stuff. God let me down, God let us down.

471
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,440
Speaker 1: Mom got to go to work and work two and

472
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,399
Speaker 1: three jobs, and Grady is home, he's trying to do

473
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,560
Speaker 1: the right thing, and he's now dead. So where am I?

474
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,679
Speaker 1: So I made the decision that basically just kind of

475
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:27,439
Speaker 1: meander through life. My mom challenged me that day, a

476
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 1: couple of weeks after the funeral, my brother's funeral, and

477
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:32,679
Speaker 1: she said, son, I want you to know that there

478
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 1: is greatness in you. I want you to know that

479
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you something that's unfair, but I need

480
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 1: to know if you can do this. She said, I

481
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:44,919
Speaker 1: need to know if you can be the man at

482
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 1: the house. And in a moment, I was like me,

483
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,160
Speaker 1: you want me to be the man at the house,

484
00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:01,560
Speaker 1: I'll still suck at my thumb and so so. But

485
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,879
Speaker 1: I said, okay, I can do that. I walked in

486
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,840
Speaker 1: my room. And keep in mind, I've been listening to

487
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,080
Speaker 1: him and Vincent Peale about what I wanted in life,

488
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 1: what I wanted to be in life. So I walked

489
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,200
Speaker 1: in my room. I got out a sheet of paper.

490
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,879
Speaker 1: I got a book coming out that has all this senate.

491
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 1: But I got out of sheet of paper and I

492
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,199
Speaker 1: began to write out But I knew what I didn't

493
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 1: know then but I know now was my vision statement.

494
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:32,879
Speaker 1: It was find a way to get a scholarship, to

495
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 1: go to college, get my degree in which I'd be

496
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,479
Speaker 1: the first in my family to do so, become an

497
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 1: All American, get drafted and go to the NFL, buy

498
00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 1: my mom a house and take care of her for

499
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 1: the rest of my life. Become an all pro, go

500
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl, and own my own business. I

501
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 1: wrote that out, and I put it on the wall,

502
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,760
Speaker 1: and I looked at that every day and every morning,

503
00:27:57,359 --> 00:28:00,280
Speaker 1: every day, before I went to before I went to

504
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,919
Speaker 1: bed at night, I looked at it. And before I

505
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 1: went to school in the morning, I looked at it.

506
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:09,399
Speaker 1: That was my driving force. And I wasn't even playing

507
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,880
Speaker 1: football at the time. I had to beg my mom

508
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 1: to let me play.

509
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:14,880
Speaker 3: So what age did she let you play?

510
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:15,360
Speaker 1: Twelve?

511
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 5: Okay, so when you became the man in the house,

512
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:19,560
Speaker 5: you got to play football.

513
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 3: Yes, that is awesome.

514
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 5: I don't know how many times you've shared that story,

515
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:26,880
Speaker 5: but I'm glad we got that today.

516
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:31,439
Speaker 3: Yeah, what's the name of the book.

517
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:36,359
Speaker 1: The name of the book is greatness. Hold on, we

518
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 1: just came up with the name of last week, greatness.

519
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:43,560
Speaker 1: I'll think of it.

520
00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:45,720
Speaker 3: It's fine, let's talk about sweetness.

521
00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:46,719
Speaker 1: Go ahead.

522
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 5: I don't think I've ever got to ask anybody what

523
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,840
Speaker 5: it was like to be his teammate. I've never got

524
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,440
Speaker 5: to meet or sit down with one of his teammates.

525
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 5: He was my second favorite player. I mean, I played

526
00:28:58,160 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 5: with you guys on technobol, So.

527
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 3: What was that like?

528
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,720
Speaker 5: I remember the videos of him with the pumas running

529
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:05,440
Speaker 5: up the hills.

530
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:12,440
Speaker 1: Any accolades that he received he deserved, I didn't. I

531
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,240
Speaker 1: didn't like running backs when I came to the NFL.

532
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:21,960
Speaker 1: I had no respect for running backs. And I don't

533
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: mean that in a nasty way.

534
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,280
Speaker 2: I couldn't sell because your face was so straight.

535
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,720
Speaker 4: I'm glad you said that.

536
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 1: I was.

537
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,800
Speaker 3: The greatest. Was like, I don't like running backs. I

538
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,480
Speaker 3: was like, damn, I'm.

539
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 2: Glad you laughing now, thank you?

540
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 3: Holy Yeah.

541
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:49,080
Speaker 1: But anyways, I was, I was. I was telling. When

542
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 1: I first met Walter, everybody was telling me how crazy

543
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 1: he was, the prankster and all that. And I went

544
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: up to Walter when I first got there, the rookie,

545
00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:00,120
Speaker 1: and I said, Walter, I said, I really respect you

546
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:04,240
Speaker 1: and I appreciate you as a person, but whatever you do,

547
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 1: don't pull a prank on me. I don't take those well.

548
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: And I you know, I don't laugh a whole lot either.

549
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:16,800
Speaker 1: So Walter was like, okay, that was that was my

550
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 1: first Yeah, okay, but I I really have any opportunity

551
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 1: to watch him and see him. He was an amazing individual.

552
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:34,760
Speaker 1: First of all, I don't think I've ever seen him

553
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,959
Speaker 1: say no to an autograph. People would be lined up,

554
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,680
Speaker 1: I don't know how long, and Walter would stand there

555
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:46,080
Speaker 1: and sign every one of them. He was what you

556
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: want in an athlete. The attitude of an athlete toward

557
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,800
Speaker 1: the fans, that's what you want, because he realized and

558
00:30:54,920 --> 00:31:02,480
Speaker 1: recognized the importance of being this this figure, and people

559
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:07,160
Speaker 1: loved him, and it was it was a beautiful thing

560
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,640
Speaker 1: to see. When I get first got there, you know,

561
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,280
Speaker 1: no one was asking for my grab, and I'm thinking, like, man,

562
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 1: that's that's a long line man all the time. So

563
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 1: but it was it was really cool. As a player,

564
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: he could do anything. He could throw the ball ninety yards.

565
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 1: A matter of fact, he played. He played quarterback one

566
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,240
Speaker 1: game we got all our I ran the back. Yeah,

567
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,560
Speaker 1: he started played quarterback in one game that I.

568
00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,400
Speaker 2: Do like a couple half back passes.

569
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:44,959
Speaker 1: Now, he started and played quarterback in one of our games.

570
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,640
Speaker 3: So what was that like that whole week of practice. Oh,

571
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 3: it was cool.

572
00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 4: Cool, you'll just show up like that, like.

573
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really it was the first it was

574
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 1: the first sign of a wildcat. Right, yeah, but yeah,

575
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:06,560
Speaker 1: he startedn't play quarterback. Every quarterback we had was done

576
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,280
Speaker 1: toast and he started.

577
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 3: We all have signature plays. I got a signature play.

578
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:17,320
Speaker 3: I mean, rings you, it doesn't matter. I think your

579
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 3: signature play is.

580
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 4: Don't worry about it. We've worried about Mike Marshawn Lynch.

581
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:22,960
Speaker 4: You trying to like make the tackle twice.

582
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:24,600
Speaker 3: I don't think that's that's.

583
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:32,120
Speaker 4: I do your signature, your signature play thirty one, Eric

584
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,200
Speaker 4: Dirickson MC title game.

585
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,640
Speaker 3: Let's talk. Can you talk us through that play?

586
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 1: It was it was like we're in college again when

587
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:46,760
Speaker 1: I was a Baylor and he was at s m U. Yeah,

588
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,200
Speaker 1: we've had we've met many times like that.

589
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 3: And we already know your opinion on running backs.

590
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 2: Don't respect him, don't like him.

591
00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,240
Speaker 1: Now, you know what, there's nothing more beautiful than than

592
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:05,680
Speaker 1: watching a running back and in their in their greatness running.

593
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 1: I love to see a great running back. But when

594
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 1: I'm playing against them, I don't like them.

595
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 4: Absolutely yeah, say less, yeah, do you remember the play?

596
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 1: You know it was it was a routine play. It

597
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 1: was a third one, and you know they they normally

598
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 1: if he's lining up on the right, he's gonna probably

599
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,640
Speaker 1: come across the ball. Running left, he's line up on

600
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 1: the other side, he's gonna come across one. But more

601
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:39,920
Speaker 1: than anything, it was just sometimes you you you just

602
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 1: gotta go on blind faith. Eric is such a big guy.

603
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:44,680
Speaker 1: A lot of people don't realize how big he is,

604
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: and so just his his lean is gonna get him

605
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: a first down if you got a third one. So

606
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:58,280
Speaker 1: I knew that I made up in my mind, you

607
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,080
Speaker 1: gotta go the minute you if there's end, if this

608
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,560
Speaker 1: guy moved, this guard moves just a bit just to

609
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 1: show me, Yes, if the guard moves just that much,

610
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:13,479
Speaker 1: I gotta go now.

611
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,799
Speaker 3: So you know, I.

612
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 5: Read something that you had talked about after winning that

613
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 5: Super Bowl. You know, you're the one defensive MVP that year,

614
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,880
Speaker 5: you were all pro went to another Pro Bowl. You

615
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,839
Speaker 5: guys had just won a Super Bowl, and I think

616
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 5: the word that you said was that you you had

617
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,560
Speaker 5: felt emptiness at that time in your life, like you

618
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:43,319
Speaker 5: were just incomplete because you maybe talk about how just

619
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,160
Speaker 5: because because I remember I became personally I kind of

620
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:50,520
Speaker 5: went through something very similar in my life where you know,

621
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:53,200
Speaker 5: we had won a super Bowl, I just became the

622
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 5: highest paid person in my position, and I was living

623
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,920
Speaker 5: in la and I felt sometimes the most alone out

624
00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 5: of failed my life. And I literally had everything under

625
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,120
Speaker 5: the sun that I ever wanted as a young man,

626
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,600
Speaker 5: and it just was missing. And I think that's when

627
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,960
Speaker 5: I was called the faith. And so could you maybe

628
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,520
Speaker 5: share about your journey and your story at that point

629
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:15,680
Speaker 5: in time and.

630
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:16,400
Speaker 3: How you were feeling.

631
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:22,440
Speaker 1: Absolutely that was another marker that I had in my

632
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,759
Speaker 1: vision statement going to the Super Bowl, and I just

633
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,480
Speaker 1: envisioned the night before what that was going to be, like,

634
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:32,560
Speaker 1: how amazing, the feeling of being the world champion and

635
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,960
Speaker 1: all of that. And right after the game, the confetti's

636
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:41,439
Speaker 1: coming down and everybody is laughing and crying, and right

637
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:48,120
Speaker 1: away I felt this loneliness, like this anger, frustration and

638
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:53,520
Speaker 1: loneliness at the same time, and I'm like, Lord, what

639
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,279
Speaker 1: in the world is this? You know, where did this

640
00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:00,160
Speaker 1: come from? And there was this small quiet voice in

641
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:05,319
Speaker 1: me because I didn't I didn't like my dad and

642
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:07,479
Speaker 1: I had this thing with my dad. I hadn't talked

643
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,360
Speaker 1: to him in a while, didn't want to be around him,

644
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:16,480
Speaker 1: and and this small voice said, you need to forgive

645
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:21,080
Speaker 1: your father I'm like, no, no, I'm, I'm I'm. We

646
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 1: don't talk, we don't argue, we don't do anything. So

647
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:28,839
Speaker 1: I'm good, no need to forgive your father. So that

648
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 1: voice didn't go away for several days, and finally I

649
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 1: picked up the phone and called my father from Chicago

650
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,839
Speaker 1: and he was in Houston, and I said, Dad, I

651
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 1: I you know. He picks up the phone and the Dad,

652
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:44,840
Speaker 1: I just want you to know, I forgive you for

653
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,080
Speaker 1: everything that happened. And he said, hey, forgive me for what?

654
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 1: You know. I put clothes on your back, food on

655
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,239
Speaker 1: the table, what what what? What? What are you talking about?

656
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,640
Speaker 1: Rough over your head? What else is there? And so

657
00:36:57,800 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 1: needless is saved. For the next hour and a half,

658
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,359
Speaker 1: you know, were screaming, I'm crying, and well, the next

659
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 1: step was for me to go to Houston. Get on

660
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,480
Speaker 1: the plane, and go to Houston. A couple of weeks later,

661
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,440
Speaker 1: so I'm sitting across with my dad like this, and

662
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,319
Speaker 1: you know, on the way down to Houston, I'm just

663
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 1: imagining the things that I was gonna say to him.

664
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 1: I was gonna tell him what I really felt about him.

665
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 1: But yet, when I get there and I'm sitting across

666
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:26,759
Speaker 1: with my dad, and I started talking to him, you know,

667
00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,759
Speaker 1: why did you why did you treat mom the way

668
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:31,440
Speaker 1: you did? Why did you treat us the way you did?

669
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:33,080
Speaker 1: Why did you act like this? Why did you why

670
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,359
Speaker 1: were you angry all the time? Why were you so

671
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:37,799
Speaker 1: I As I began to ask him those things, He's

672
00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:42,160
Speaker 1: looking at me and he really didn't have an answer.

673
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:47,040
Speaker 1: And I in that conversation, I begin to understand he

674
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:50,799
Speaker 1: got kicked out of his house at thirteen, he got

675
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:55,560
Speaker 1: he married my mom at like sixteen, and next thing,

676
00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 1: you know, you got ten kids. So I began to

677
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:02,600
Speaker 1: realize that he didn't have the tool. You had no

678
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:06,719
Speaker 1: tools whatsoever. You're still a kid. And I'm looking at him.

679
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:09,239
Speaker 1: He's seventy something years old, and I'm looking at him,

680
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 1: but he's still thirteen. He had the tools of a

681
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 1: thirteen year old. How do you deal with issues? How

682
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,759
Speaker 1: do you deal with disagreements? How do you deal with

683
00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:21,239
Speaker 1: you know, when you can't pay the bills, when money

684
00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: is not coming in, how do you deal with that? Well,

685
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:26,680
Speaker 1: it turns the emotion, and normally that emotion is going

686
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:33,960
Speaker 1: to be anger. So that was a tremendous opportunity for

687
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:38,000
Speaker 1: me to get to know my father. And at the

688
00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,760
Speaker 1: end of that conversation that I was having with my dad,

689
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:44,719
Speaker 1: I asked him. At the end, I said, Dad, I

690
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:50,759
Speaker 1: know that I'm a lot like you. I said, can

691
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 1: you help me not to be like you? Can you

692
00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:00,279
Speaker 1: help me? I don't want to wreck my family, want

693
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:02,440
Speaker 1: to wreck my kids. I don't want to do that.

694
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 1: What can you tell me to help me? That was

695
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,319
Speaker 1: the beginning of our relationship as it begins to grow.

696
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:15,080
Speaker 1: And I'm the only one, the only kid and out

697
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,960
Speaker 1: of the ten that actually forgave my dad and and

698
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:19,600
Speaker 1: really became friends with him.

699
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,799
Speaker 3: Did he have an answer for you when you ask?

700
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,880
Speaker 1: He just said, you know, it's it's like you're driving

701
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:29,920
Speaker 1: down this this highway and you know you need to exit,

702
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:35,840
Speaker 1: but you just never do just keep going. So exit, Yeah,

703
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,240
Speaker 1: you need to exit, and and just slow slow down

704
00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:43,560
Speaker 1: and kind of you know, think about where you are

705
00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:48,200
Speaker 1: and being able to ask for forgiveness, being able to

706
00:39:48,239 --> 00:39:53,320
Speaker 1: say I'm sorry, being able to reflect. You know. I

707
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:57,840
Speaker 1: I begin to read like crazy about family and relationships

708
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,360
Speaker 1: and those kinds of things, began to really get in

709
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:05,920
Speaker 1: my Bible like I'd never had before, and begin taking

710
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:10,080
Speaker 1: those steps towards being all the things that I knew

711
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:11,439
Speaker 1: my father could have been.

712
00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:16,960
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, What emotions did you feel after you basically

713
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:18,840
Speaker 4: said I forgive you and then you got to know

714
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 4: him and you understood, like, man, he's seventy, but he's thirteen. Like,

715
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:26,840
Speaker 4: what emotions did you feel after the whole entire conversation?

716
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:32,480
Speaker 1: After the entire conversation, you know, you begin to realize

717
00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,919
Speaker 1: as you begin to look around, the more I begin

718
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 1: to read and understand America, our history, and particularly being

719
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 1: an African American father growing up in the South, all

720
00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 1: of those things, the amount of frustration that he felt,

721
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,880
Speaker 1: the dreams that he had that simply because he was

722
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:03,400
Speaker 1: an African American he could never do, and being a

723
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:07,239
Speaker 1: part of something great. I know, I'm a lot like

724
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:11,120
Speaker 1: my dad, and and there's nothing. If I'm gonna do something,

725
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:13,839
Speaker 1: oh it's it's gonna be great. If I can't make

726
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 1: it great, then I don't need to be a part

727
00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,480
Speaker 1: of it. Whether it's being a husband, whether it's being

728
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:23,880
Speaker 1: a father, whether it's whatever job I'm in, whatever that is,

729
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:27,719
Speaker 1: it's gonna be all out because I feel that's the

730
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,440
Speaker 1: only way that I can represent God and say that

731
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,799
Speaker 1: I'm a believer. I shouldn't have to say it. You

732
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,160
Speaker 1: should be able to look at me and see by

733
00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:40,640
Speaker 1: my action that man is a believer, that man loves God,

734
00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,359
Speaker 1: that man without me saying a word. And if that's

735
00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:45,720
Speaker 1: not it, then something's wrong.

736
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:47,680
Speaker 3: We'll be back in a minute.

737
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 5: So do you think all your personal turmoils from the

738
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:57,240
Speaker 5: childhood trauma? Which childhood trauma usually hurt people, hurt other people.

739
00:41:57,400 --> 00:41:59,600
Speaker 5: That is this is what life has taught us. If

740
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:03,440
Speaker 5: you read and then you researched, this is what happens.

741
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,279
Speaker 5: Did all these emotions bottle up? Like now, hearing all

742
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:10,279
Speaker 5: your stories and everything else, I totally understand why you

743
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:12,719
Speaker 5: were the player that you were, who you were in

744
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:16,000
Speaker 5: between the white lines versus outside the white lines. This

745
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,799
Speaker 5: whole blurred vision of who Mike's singletary was as being

746
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:22,960
Speaker 5: the man since twelve years old in his own household,

747
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:27,120
Speaker 5: growing up all these other things did that kind of

748
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,840
Speaker 5: make you the coach you were the way that you

749
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:33,760
Speaker 5: you know, played on the emotions you understand and coach

750
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:36,040
Speaker 5: the same way in a way, in the same kind

751
00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:38,520
Speaker 5: of veins the way you played. And ray Lewis had

752
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:41,680
Speaker 5: a great quote when he described you when you were

753
00:42:41,719 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 5: the linebackers coach in Baltimore. It was good, you know, right, yeah, right,

754
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:49,160
Speaker 5: was celebrated his birthday. He was praising the Lord the

755
00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:51,600
Speaker 5: other day's birthday. Ray and Girl came a long way.

756
00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:57,480
Speaker 5: So he said this about you. Singletary helped him Girl

757
00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,680
Speaker 5: as a player and a person. He understands this is

758
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:03,840
Speaker 5: about people more than anything else. Lewis says, that's what

759
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,520
Speaker 5: makes coach so powerful. For him, coaching is almost like fatherhood.

760
00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:10,080
Speaker 5: Teaching the game is one thing, but giving a man

761
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,560
Speaker 5: tools and understanding that's bigger than the game.

762
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:15,400
Speaker 3: That's deep.

763
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:23,160
Speaker 1: He I mean, he knows that that's who I am.

764
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:34,240
Speaker 1: My thought process if I'm going to coach and really

765
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:38,480
Speaker 1: do what I believe coaching was always meant to be

766
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:46,160
Speaker 1: is if I'm coaching someone, it winning is kind of

767
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:54,120
Speaker 1: a byproduct of helping you to become a man. If

768
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:59,080
Speaker 1: I'm winning championships and you know five years later, you

769
00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:02,320
Speaker 1: know you're in a situation where you're beating your wife,

770
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:05,240
Speaker 1: or you know you're jumping on your kids, or you're

771
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:11,400
Speaker 1: doing something matter, then I fail as a coach. My

772
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:17,880
Speaker 1: job is to help you understand the football that that's gravy.

773
00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:22,400
Speaker 1: That's you know, I got skilled, I got talent, I

774
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,120
Speaker 1: got it. That's gravy. That's something that I should do.

775
00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:31,960
Speaker 1: But being a man, that's something that takes a lot

776
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:36,640
Speaker 1: of work. It does takes a lot of discipline, take

777
00:44:36,719 --> 00:44:40,759
Speaker 1: a lot of sacrifice. And if I'm not gonna have

778
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:44,360
Speaker 1: you go through that, and I'm gonna I'm setting you

779
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:49,160
Speaker 1: up for failure because you think you're winning, but you're

780
00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:54,480
Speaker 1: losing because you know, the time that you play football,

781
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,239
Speaker 1: that's a short span of life, but you have the

782
00:44:57,239 --> 00:45:02,279
Speaker 1: rest of your life. And you know, the last thing

783
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:04,759
Speaker 1: that I would want my players to say about me

784
00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:10,000
Speaker 1: is why didn't coach teach me that? You know, sometimes

785
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:12,920
Speaker 1: the coaches are the last line of defense. You're the

786
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:16,600
Speaker 1: last opportunity to help that man get what he needs

787
00:45:16,719 --> 00:45:18,200
Speaker 1: before he goes into real life.

788
00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:23,240
Speaker 3: So anyways, do you still want to coach?

789
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:31,239
Speaker 1: You know what I think, in all honesty, there are

790
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:38,040
Speaker 1: so many the needs now in our society are so great.

791
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:42,239
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that if I were coaching now that

792
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,640
Speaker 1: I'd be looking back outside of the lines realizing I

793
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:48,279
Speaker 1: need to be out there where the fight is. And

794
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:52,400
Speaker 1: I'm not quite sure if I'm not a dinosaur now

795
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:56,600
Speaker 1: in the game. Because my thought process isn't going to change.

796
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:00,560
Speaker 1: I'm not going to say it's okay, you know, say

797
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:02,160
Speaker 1: what you want to say and do what you want

798
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:06,239
Speaker 1: to do. I'm not gonna be okay with that. Now

799
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:11,520
Speaker 1: I'm violating the game. To me, there's a the game

800
00:46:11,719 --> 00:46:14,719
Speaker 1: is there's there's there's a respect that comes to the game.

801
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:18,440
Speaker 1: You don't just play the game because you're great. You

802
00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:22,799
Speaker 1: play the game because there's a code of ethics that

803
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:28,840
Speaker 1: you play by and you live by. When I was

804
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:33,920
Speaker 1: in junior high and high school, the athletes were the

805
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:37,480
Speaker 1: role models. You say, hey, you know, need to be

806
00:46:37,560 --> 00:46:40,160
Speaker 1: like Jimmy man making got three point oh.

807
00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:41,959
Speaker 3: You study and even doing that, right.

808
00:46:42,239 --> 00:46:46,000
Speaker 1: The athlete, that's that's that's what you want. Well, it's

809
00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:48,600
Speaker 1: not that way anymore. And now there's a reason why

810
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:52,880
Speaker 1: that is so so easy to lose. Focused sometimes.

811
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,279
Speaker 5: Okay, I got I got one of that. I'm wanna

812
00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:57,839
Speaker 5: back it up with one. What keeps you busy?

813
00:46:57,920 --> 00:46:58,319
Speaker 3: Right now?

814
00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:03,720
Speaker 1: What keeps me busy? Studying? Man? I study. I'm always

815
00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:10,239
Speaker 1: studying about health, brain, health, hard health. Energy, graphene graphite

816
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:20,160
Speaker 1: carbon graphene is just a form of energy and making

817
00:47:20,239 --> 00:47:24,200
Speaker 1: batteries with it. So graphene, graphite, you know, those kinds

818
00:47:24,239 --> 00:47:32,360
Speaker 1: of things, methane, carbon, those are things that the new energy,

819
00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:34,399
Speaker 1: you know, we got to find a way to have

820
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:39,640
Speaker 1: this this uh, this country continued to run, and those

821
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:41,520
Speaker 1: are some of the things that you know are going

822
00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:44,080
Speaker 1: to be a problem if we don't do something about it.

823
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:48,280
Speaker 1: So that's something that I'm I'm involved in and study

824
00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:56,399
Speaker 1: a lot. The health is huge, particularly mental health is huge,

825
00:47:56,440 --> 00:48:00,840
Speaker 1: So I study a lot about that. And and knowing

826
00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:03,359
Speaker 1: that you played this game, and you played it at

827
00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:07,480
Speaker 1: such a level, I'm probably broke more helmets than anybody.

828
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:09,960
Speaker 5: That is exactly what I wanted to go to. This

829
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:15,800
Speaker 5: is my backup. Well, I mean, your career Baylor is legendary. Okay,

830
00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:19,560
Speaker 5: you were a two time All American. Your sophomore year,

831
00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,680
Speaker 5: you had two hundred and thirty two tackles. I don't

832
00:48:22,719 --> 00:48:24,200
Speaker 5: really know how you accomplished that.

833
00:48:24,239 --> 00:48:26,399
Speaker 3: I don't either two tackles to play.

834
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:31,440
Speaker 5: So one game you had thirty five tackles. You also

835
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,120
Speaker 5: had three other games with thirty plus tackles.

836
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,200
Speaker 3: They actually third other co tackles in one game.

837
00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:41,160
Speaker 5: Yes, this young man did, and they actually tried to

838
00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:43,480
Speaker 5: dispute it, and they actually went through the film and

839
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:47,000
Speaker 5: they said no, it was correct and so and then

840
00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:50,160
Speaker 5: the other thing was you actually broke eight helmets in

841
00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:52,880
Speaker 5: college over three year, over your three year career. Was

842
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 5: that your helmet or somebody else's helmet?

843
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:56,600
Speaker 1: Both? Oh?

844
00:48:56,840 --> 00:49:04,359
Speaker 3: Okay? Both with an F okay? So like, when you're

845
00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:10,440
Speaker 3: doing these things, how how did you bring it up?

846
00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:13,359
Speaker 3: How intimidating is that? When?

847
00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:16,439
Speaker 5: I can't imagine because you I don't think you thought

848
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:20,719
Speaker 5: yourself is anything bigger than anything. You probably just just

849
00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:24,239
Speaker 5: Mike singletary. But how much fear do you think you

850
00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:25,000
Speaker 5: struck another?

851
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:26,640
Speaker 3: People? And was that a goal?

852
00:49:27,200 --> 00:49:30,320
Speaker 1: It really wasn't you know? I never I never set

853
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:34,600
Speaker 1: out to intimidate anyone. You know. I've had guys ask me, man,

854
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:36,719
Speaker 1: what's wrong with you? But what are you mad at?

855
00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:40,160
Speaker 1: I'm mad at anything you know? Or what are you taking?

856
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:46,399
Speaker 1: I'm not taking anything? Man? Also, you know what you're

857
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:48,439
Speaker 1: gonna tell me what you're taking? The guys are mad

858
00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:52,960
Speaker 1: at me because I'm not taking anything, you know. But

859
00:49:53,719 --> 00:49:59,400
Speaker 1: in all honesty, football was just and everybody was always

860
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:04,480
Speaker 1: telling me it was too small. You know, you're you're

861
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:08,279
Speaker 1: not big enough you're not fast enough, you're not mean enough,

862
00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:14,680
Speaker 1: You're not And so for me it was I always

863
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:17,839
Speaker 1: believe that, you know what, Lord, I'm going to give

864
00:50:18,040 --> 00:50:23,120
Speaker 1: everything I have to you and you take it and

865
00:50:23,160 --> 00:50:26,319
Speaker 1: do whatever you want to do with it. I'm just

866
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:28,759
Speaker 1: going to give you my best. That's all I can do.

867
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:33,320
Speaker 1: And so I always had, whether it was a coach

868
00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:38,520
Speaker 1: or a mentor that I was able to ask how

869
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:42,040
Speaker 1: do I become the best? And they would always give

870
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:44,120
Speaker 1: me this list. How do I become an all pro?

871
00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:46,840
Speaker 1: How do I become you know, Devons a Player of

872
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:49,520
Speaker 1: the Year, how do I become MVP? How do I

873
00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:54,000
Speaker 1: do it? So I always would find someone that would

874
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:57,040
Speaker 1: be honest with me and tell me, Okay, you need

875
00:50:57,080 --> 00:50:58,480
Speaker 1: to do this every day, you need to do that

876
00:50:58,560 --> 00:51:00,120
Speaker 1: every day, you need to do this every day. You

877
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:01,440
Speaker 1: need to do this. Twice a week, you need to

878
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:03,960
Speaker 1: do that, and whatever it was. At the end of that,

879
00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:09,200
Speaker 1: I would always add a little bit more and say, okay, Lord,

880
00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:14,440
Speaker 1: here's my Christmas list, and I'm gonna go after it.

881
00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:16,680
Speaker 1: I'm gonna work at it, and I'm gonna do the

882
00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:19,880
Speaker 1: very best that I can to bring you glory. And

883
00:51:19,960 --> 00:51:23,080
Speaker 1: at any time I accomplish any of these it's because

884
00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:26,480
Speaker 1: of you. And you know I mean that from the

885
00:51:26,520 --> 00:51:27,359
Speaker 1: bottom of my heart.

886
00:51:28,200 --> 00:51:32,439
Speaker 4: You are very accomplished in all the things that you do.

887
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:36,560
Speaker 4: So we asked this question to a lot of our guests.

888
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:42,239
Speaker 4: You get four picks who would be on your personal

889
00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:46,560
Speaker 4: Mount Rushmore from the time you were born till today,

890
00:51:46,760 --> 00:51:49,920
Speaker 4: of people that have of people that have had influence

891
00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:52,800
Speaker 4: and just poured into you over your life.

892
00:51:54,320 --> 00:52:00,040
Speaker 1: Obviously number one is my mom. Number two.

893
00:52:01,480 --> 00:52:04,879
Speaker 3: I would have to say, well, let me see why Mom?

894
00:52:05,640 --> 00:52:06,160
Speaker 1: Why Mom?

895
00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:07,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is.

896
00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:15,520
Speaker 1: Let me put it this way. My mother was everything.

897
00:52:15,680 --> 00:52:19,799
Speaker 1: She was amazing. She was the one that, you know,

898
00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:25,279
Speaker 1: when the doctors told her to abort me because she

899
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:30,640
Speaker 1: was in her forties, I had several miscarriages. She said, no,

900
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:37,399
Speaker 1: not doing that. God's gonna God's got something special in here.

901
00:52:41,040 --> 00:52:43,560
Speaker 1: She's the one that sat me down across from me

902
00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:46,920
Speaker 1: and with the Bible and just went through the Bible

903
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:51,799
Speaker 1: every day. Taught me about how to be a man,

904
00:52:52,040 --> 00:52:56,120
Speaker 1: how to be a godly man, how to stand when

905
00:52:56,239 --> 00:53:03,479
Speaker 1: nobody else will, even if you're the only one. Don't

906
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:07,720
Speaker 1: be afraid to die for the right thing. Those kinds

907
00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:14,319
Speaker 1: of things are things that I sat there said yes, yes, yes,

908
00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:20,400
Speaker 1: ma'am okay, I got it. So that's that's why mom uh.

909
00:53:20,520 --> 00:53:26,160
Speaker 1: Coach Brown. Coach Brown was my high school coach. Coach

910
00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:28,839
Speaker 1: Brown believed in me. Coach Brown was tough man. Coach

911
00:53:28,880 --> 00:53:31,560
Speaker 1: Brown had a board, pop you on your tail. You

912
00:53:31,560 --> 00:53:32,439
Speaker 1: don't know what you're doing.

913
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:37,080
Speaker 3: And in practice, oh yeah, it was always after practice.

914
00:53:36,960 --> 00:53:40,920
Speaker 1: No in practice doing practice, so you you needed to

915
00:53:40,960 --> 00:53:42,839
Speaker 1: know what you were doing. It was really a track coach,

916
00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:48,719
Speaker 1: but he did yeah, so you have to know what

917
00:53:48,760 --> 00:53:52,160
Speaker 1: you were doing. But he always talked to me about

918
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:56,120
Speaker 1: you know, he was say singletary when when when you

919
00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:59,600
Speaker 1: get to college. He would always talk to me as

920
00:53:59,800 --> 00:54:02,520
Speaker 1: as if I had already done those things. So when

921
00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:06,800
Speaker 1: you get to college, there will be all kinds of distractions.

922
00:54:07,680 --> 00:54:11,320
Speaker 1: You gotta make sure you stay focused, stay focused on

923
00:54:11,480 --> 00:54:14,680
Speaker 1: it's too easy. A lot of guys that are more

924
00:54:14,719 --> 00:54:19,279
Speaker 1: talented than you, vaster, bigger, all that they're not gonna

925
00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:21,760
Speaker 1: make it. Know why they're not gonna make it because

926
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:27,319
Speaker 1: they don't have what you have heart heart. So when

927
00:54:27,400 --> 00:54:30,399
Speaker 1: you get to college, and he said, when you leave,

928
00:54:31,120 --> 00:54:33,160
Speaker 1: do not come back here. I don't want to see

929
00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:37,320
Speaker 1: you until you got your paper when you got your degree,

930
00:54:37,400 --> 00:54:39,400
Speaker 1: that's what I want to see you. So that was

931
00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:48,759
Speaker 1: coach Brown and then number three, oh man, I only

932
00:54:48,800 --> 00:54:56,600
Speaker 1: got four. Number three would be coach taff Coach grantaff

933
00:54:56,719 --> 00:55:02,320
Speaker 1: my head coach in college. My freshman year, Coach Taft

934
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:04,040
Speaker 1: would come by the door and knock on my door

935
00:55:04,440 --> 00:55:06,839
Speaker 1: say I want you to go with me. I'm going

936
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:09,640
Speaker 1: to go speak to a church. I'm going to go

937
00:55:09,680 --> 00:55:13,560
Speaker 1: speak to a council meeting. I'm gonna go do this.

938
00:55:13,600 --> 00:55:18,600
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go do that. And I'm like, yes, sir,

939
00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:25,879
Speaker 1: I'll go. And one day he called me and he said, Mike,

940
00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:28,640
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to go to this church and speak, but

941
00:55:28,719 --> 00:55:31,120
Speaker 1: I can't go. I need you to go for me.

942
00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:35,440
Speaker 1: I'm like, go where. So I need you to go

943
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:37,040
Speaker 1: to this church and I need you to speak to them.

944
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:40,320
Speaker 1: By God, you've heard me. Do it. I want you

945
00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:47,680
Speaker 1: to do it, Yes, sir, So I'd go. And that's

946
00:55:47,800 --> 00:55:51,640
Speaker 1: that's kind of really how I started speaking and training

947
00:55:51,680 --> 00:55:56,440
Speaker 1: myself to get better at that speaking. And he helped

948
00:55:56,440 --> 00:56:01,080
Speaker 1: me to become the leader that God was calling me

949
00:56:01,120 --> 00:56:07,040
Speaker 1: to be. And there were times to Coach Tafford come

950
00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:11,600
Speaker 1: into my dorm and say. He would be crying. Said,

951
00:56:11,640 --> 00:56:14,759
Speaker 1: you know what, Mike, I told this kid, if you

952
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:17,520
Speaker 1: do this again, if I catch you stealing again, I'm

953
00:56:17,520 --> 00:56:24,680
Speaker 1: gonna send you home. And I said, so, what's the problem, coaching.

954
00:56:24,200 --> 00:56:30,600
Speaker 1: I called him again and I said, what's the problem.

955
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:34,600
Speaker 1: I gotta send him home? I said, what's the problem.

956
00:56:34,719 --> 00:56:38,000
Speaker 1: I promised his mom that I was gonna get make

957
00:56:38,080 --> 00:56:40,320
Speaker 1: sure that he got his degree. He come from nothing,

958
00:56:40,680 --> 00:56:44,320
Speaker 1: He come from nothing. And I said, well, coach, you

959
00:56:45,600 --> 00:56:49,400
Speaker 1: held up. You're part of the bargain. I said, but

960
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:51,879
Speaker 1: if you say yes to the kid, if you don't

961
00:56:51,880 --> 00:56:57,040
Speaker 1: say anything, you're the kid. You failed him, and you

962
00:56:57,120 --> 00:57:06,040
Speaker 1: fell a team. Okay. And then the other coaches would

963
00:57:06,040 --> 00:57:08,279
Speaker 1: come to me and say, who in the hell do

964
00:57:08,360 --> 00:57:11,680
Speaker 1: you think you are to tell him that? I said,

965
00:57:11,680 --> 00:57:14,960
Speaker 1: he asked my opinion, You asked my opinion. I'm gonna

966
00:57:14,960 --> 00:57:16,720
Speaker 1: give it to you. I didn't go to him. He

967
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:22,120
Speaker 1: came to me. So, but that was coach Taff and

968
00:57:23,160 --> 00:57:27,840
Speaker 1: the leadership role that he put on on me the

969
00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:29,640
Speaker 1: last one.

970
00:57:30,400 --> 00:57:30,800
Speaker 5: Mm hmm.

971
00:57:32,640 --> 00:57:36,800
Speaker 1: Now I got to give it to my girl, my wife. Yeah.

972
00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:44,840
Speaker 1: My wife is by far my best friend. She she

973
00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:50,120
Speaker 1: was with me when when I was hard when I

974
00:57:50,200 --> 00:57:53,120
Speaker 1: was tough, when the way I played the game was

975
00:57:53,160 --> 00:57:56,640
Speaker 1: the way I lived at home. I'm focused, man, you know,

976
00:57:56,760 --> 00:58:00,720
Speaker 1: I'm focused, not relaxing, still trying to become a man,

977
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:08,080
Speaker 1: and she would just it's okay, I know. It's like

978
00:58:09,120 --> 00:58:12,000
Speaker 1: I got it. I got it, I got it, and

979
00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:19,240
Speaker 1: she just kept loving me through it. Until one day

980
00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:22,120
Speaker 1: I really began to realize. I took a step back

981
00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:29,960
Speaker 1: and I really looked at her, said, Wow, God loves

982
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:34,760
Speaker 1: me so much to give me somebody with the patience.

983
00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:37,800
Speaker 1: Because I knew I was a different I was stubborn,

984
00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:43,480
Speaker 1: a hard headed, knucklehead. But because she loved me the

985
00:58:43,560 --> 00:58:47,840
Speaker 1: way she loved me, never gave up on me, always

986
00:58:47,920 --> 00:58:51,800
Speaker 1: building into me. It helped me become. It helped me

987
00:58:51,880 --> 00:58:56,040
Speaker 1: refine myself and become all that God has created me

988
00:58:56,080 --> 00:59:01,000
Speaker 1: to be. And I'm still working. But it's because I

989
00:59:01,160 --> 00:59:04,240
Speaker 1: heard that. I feel that I'm the luckiest man in

990
00:59:04,240 --> 00:59:09,200
Speaker 1: the world. Yeah, yeah, my best friend. Man, that's beautiful.

991
00:59:09,240 --> 00:59:12,520
Speaker 1: It is beautiful. That's all the questions we got for

992
00:59:12,600 --> 00:59:14,200
Speaker 1: a coach. That was beautiful.

993
00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:16,600
Speaker 3: We got to end it on that. Hey, yeah, man,

994
00:59:16,720 --> 00:59:19,840
Speaker 3: that was Uh that was great. Coach. You're probably the

995
00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:20,720
Speaker 3: most passionate guest.

996
00:59:20,760 --> 00:59:24,920
Speaker 2: We you ever had, not probably you are. I was

997
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:27,040
Speaker 2: trying to this is not a hot seat, but you

998
00:59:27,120 --> 00:59:27,960
Speaker 2: made it a hot seat.

999
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:30,240
Speaker 4: Were trying to have fun and laugh, and I got

1000
00:59:30,320 --> 00:59:31,640
Speaker 4: you to laugh a couple of times.

1001
00:59:32,320 --> 00:59:36,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, that we gotta go to comedy, showed inn.

1002
00:59:36,600 --> 00:59:39,280
Speaker 5: No, that's not that's not what he told Walter Payton.

1003
00:59:39,360 --> 00:59:44,680
Speaker 5: That was not Walter Payton. You said some great things there.

1004
00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:48,959
Speaker 5: You know what you your mom told you about don't

1005
00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:52,440
Speaker 5: be afraid to die for the right thing. I think

1006
00:59:52,520 --> 00:59:55,560
Speaker 5: you still live your life full speed ahead, just like that.

1007
00:59:56,120 --> 00:59:59,360
Speaker 5: And so I'm appreciative of you spending this time with

1008
00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:01,840
Speaker 5: us because for a long time I was just a

1009
01:00:01,880 --> 01:00:05,360
Speaker 5: fan of Mike Singletary of the player. And we got

1010
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:08,280
Speaker 5: to meet Mike's singletary of the man, and we got

1011
01:00:08,280 --> 01:00:11,920
Speaker 5: to hear about his journey, his path, the things that

1012
01:00:12,240 --> 01:00:16,840
Speaker 5: created this enigma, this phenomenon that was in between the

1013
01:00:17,160 --> 01:00:20,360
Speaker 5: white lines wearing number fifty for Chicago Bears. And I

1014
01:00:20,400 --> 01:00:22,080
Speaker 5: got to look up your stats in Baylor, and I

1015
01:00:22,120 --> 01:00:26,320
Speaker 5: got to know you more personable. And you know, some

1016
01:00:26,360 --> 01:00:27,880
Speaker 5: of the great things that were told to you were

1017
01:00:27,920 --> 01:00:30,640
Speaker 5: told to me my dad when I left school told me,

1018
01:00:31,200 --> 01:00:33,880
Speaker 5: don't you come back home? That's all I got for you.

1019
01:00:33,920 --> 01:00:35,920
Speaker 5: That's the only advice he had for me. And I

1020
01:00:35,960 --> 01:00:39,640
Speaker 5: haven't been back since. And so it's always beautiful to know,

1021
01:00:39,760 --> 01:00:42,040
Speaker 5: like when you've been set on the right path yourself,

1022
01:00:42,440 --> 01:00:44,920
Speaker 5: because you see other great ones that are out there

1023
01:00:44,920 --> 01:00:47,000
Speaker 5: in front of you, that are still fighting the good fight.

1024
01:00:47,200 --> 01:00:49,680
Speaker 3: And so I thank you for that.

1025
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:53,200
Speaker 5: I thank you for your passion, your emotions, and your

1026
01:00:53,840 --> 01:00:58,200
Speaker 5: genuine realness. You're just a different breed, and you truly

1027
01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:00,760
Speaker 5: are a different breed and you should never oologize for that.

1028
01:01:01,080 --> 01:01:03,280
Speaker 5: I'm honored to say I got to meet you at

1029
01:01:03,320 --> 01:01:06,240
Speaker 5: your finest and you know you want to say anything

1030
01:01:06,280 --> 01:01:07,000
Speaker 5: else before, I thank of you.

1031
01:01:07,240 --> 01:01:10,720
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm being a Chicago guy, being in being on

1032
01:01:11,040 --> 01:01:13,200
Speaker 4: you know, I plan on some great defenses, and I've

1033
01:01:13,240 --> 01:01:17,840
Speaker 4: seen you around. I've never had an opportunity to sit

1034
01:01:17,920 --> 01:01:19,520
Speaker 4: down and talk to you. I wanted to when we

1035
01:01:19,560 --> 01:01:22,680
Speaker 4: did The Bears one hundred, but it was, you know,

1036
01:01:22,800 --> 01:01:25,200
Speaker 4: you with your your old teammates. I was with mine,

1037
01:01:25,240 --> 01:01:27,080
Speaker 4: so I kind of wanted to give you your space and

1038
01:01:27,120 --> 01:01:30,720
Speaker 4: just kind of let you be. But I am a

1039
01:01:30,760 --> 01:01:34,920
Speaker 4: fan first and foremost. Thank you for coming on our

1040
01:01:34,960 --> 01:01:38,560
Speaker 4: podcast and just pouring in us. And I'm glad my daughter,

1041
01:01:38,640 --> 01:01:42,440
Speaker 4: my daughter's in the back. I'm glad she was here

1042
01:01:43,040 --> 01:01:46,360
Speaker 4: to see me work and just hear me and hear

1043
01:01:46,400 --> 01:01:50,160
Speaker 4: your story. So yeah, thank you, thank you for that.

1044
01:01:50,280 --> 01:01:53,200
Speaker 4: I'm very appreciative of that. Thank you very much, man.

1045
01:01:53,560 --> 01:01:54,240
Speaker 3: Great job man.

1046
01:01:54,280 --> 01:01:56,040
Speaker 5: All of our viewers and listeners out there wherever you

1047
01:01:56,080 --> 01:01:58,600
Speaker 5: pick up your podcast, where it's Apple Podcast.

1048
01:01:58,680 --> 01:01:59,440
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio.

1049
01:01:59,480 --> 01:02:03,200
Speaker 5: App uh give us a five star rating, lead review, click, follow,

1050
01:02:03,760 --> 01:02:07,600
Speaker 5: h comment, share, subscribe, subscribe, all that other stuff that

1051
01:02:07,600 --> 01:02:08,440
Speaker 5: Peanut always tells you.

1052
01:02:08,480 --> 01:02:10,920
Speaker 2: Tell her friend, to tell her friend, to tell her what.

1053
01:02:11,000 --> 01:02:13,360
Speaker 3: Tell a friend. Yeah, to make sure you tune.

1054
01:02:13,160 --> 01:02:16,200
Speaker 4: In and check us out on the NFL's YouTube channel

1055
01:02:16,480 --> 01:02:18,080
Speaker 4: on Penut Best.

1056
01:02:17,880 --> 01:02:21,120
Speaker 2: Rumor and that is Samurai Mike.

1057
01:02:21,080 --> 01:02:24,160
Speaker 4: And this is the NFL Player's second Act podcast.

1058
01:02:24,280 --> 01:02:25,200
Speaker 3: We all, thank you all,