WEBVTT - Matt Leinart 0:00:27.270 --> 0:00:30.950 Hello and welcome back. It's time for another installment of 0:00:31.030 --> 0:00:34.330 Teen Beat. I am your host, former guest on Politically 0:00:34.370 --> 0:00:38.360 Incorrect with Bill Maher, Danielle Fishel. and I'm the shortest 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:41.900 podcast host on the active iHeart roster. Truth is, I've 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:44.940 done absolutely no research to confirm that title, but I 0:00:45.060 --> 0:00:50.150 dare anyone to challenge me. I'm looking at you, Sophia Bush. 5'4. 0:00:50.830 --> 0:00:53.350 Either way, I continue to talk to interesting people who've 0:00:53.370 --> 0:00:57.250 done interesting things, knowing that learning about their histories can 0:00:57.390 --> 0:01:00.230 only help us understand who they are today. I look 0:01:00.270 --> 0:01:03.150 at it this way. I gave you my childhood. It's 0:01:03.210 --> 0:01:06.390 time we hear yours. And this week, we are talking 0:01:06.590 --> 0:01:10.699 to a true superstar, one of the greatest college quarterbacks 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:14.100 of all time. Don't believe me? Listen to just some 0:01:14.380 --> 0:01:19.459 of his accomplishments. Heisman Trophy winner, Rose Bowl MVP, Orange 0:01:19.500 --> 0:01:23.820 Bowl MVP, back-to-back AP National Champion, one of them in 0:01:23.860 --> 0:01:30.000 a perfect season, a BCS National Champion, two-time first-team All-American, 0:01:30.450 --> 0:01:34.900 two-time Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, and 2005 Sportsman 0:01:35.140 --> 0:01:38.100 of the Year. He has been inducted into the USC 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.539 Hall of Fame, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, the 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:44.280 College Football Hall of Fame, and he once went on 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:48.040 a date with Rihanna. I am now almost out of 0:01:48.100 --> 0:01:49.910 time for his intro, so I'm going to speed through 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:54.030 the rest. There's a podcast called Throwbacks, Fox Sports Analyst, 0:01:54.190 --> 0:01:57.410 and can currently be seen on Fox's newest reality hit, 0:01:57.750 --> 0:02:02.230 Nation's Dumbest. He is my most athletic guest yet. Sorry, 0:02:02.270 --> 0:02:06.870 Kat Dennings. So please welcome to the show, Matt Leinart. Matt, 0:02:07.010 --> 0:02:09.970 thank you so much for stopping by to chat with me. 0:02:10.190 --> 0:02:14.000 I grew up in a diehard USC football home. 0:02:14.220 --> 0:02:15.860 So I think- Did you really? 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.139 Yes, I really did. I think that me being Topanga 0:02:19.180 --> 0:02:21.160 will have finally paid off for my father. 0:02:21.500 --> 0:02:24.100 Like I think- I mean, not to sound weird, but 0:02:24.139 --> 0:02:26.080 you being Topanga, I was a big fan because I 0:02:26.100 --> 0:02:27.160 loved that show growing up. 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:28.380 Oh, really? 0:02:28.460 --> 0:02:31.440 Well, I will get to that a little later. I 0:02:31.820 --> 0:02:34.900 want to start in kind of maybe a weird place, 0:02:34.940 --> 0:02:38.370 but maybe not. I want to talk about the eye 0:02:38.430 --> 0:02:42.410 condition that you had as a kid. How do I 0:02:42.470 --> 0:02:43.890 say it? Is it strabismus? 0:02:44.230 --> 0:02:45.250 Strabismus, yeah. Strabismus. 0:02:45.270 --> 0:02:49.600 Strabismus. It's commonly known as crossed eyes. And I think 0:02:50.020 --> 0:02:55.380 when people see a wildly gifted athlete like yourself, they 0:02:55.440 --> 0:03:00.840 assume you were a perfect physical specimen since birth, that 0:03:00.870 --> 0:03:03.930 you were just born athletically superior. But I find it 0:03:04.190 --> 0:03:07.470 so inspiring that that actually wasn't quite the case. 0:03:08.490 --> 0:03:11.650 Yeah. So I was born with strabismus. 0:03:12.570 --> 0:03:17.350 And Um, I had my first eye surgery when I 0:03:17.389 --> 0:03:19.030 was about a year and a half years old. 0:03:20.030 --> 0:03:21.430 Um, obviously I don't remember that. 0:03:21.550 --> 0:03:25.510 And then throughout my whole, you know, elementary school grade school, 0:03:25.530 --> 0:03:29.350 I had to wear these big old bifocal glasses. And 0:03:29.910 --> 0:03:32.329 the minute I would take my glasses off, my eye 0:03:32.370 --> 0:03:34.230 would turn in now only one eye. My right eye 0:03:34.250 --> 0:03:36.650 was always fine. It was just my left eye. Um, 0:03:37.350 --> 0:03:41.390 and then I had my second surgery. the summer before 0:03:41.450 --> 0:03:43.310 high school. So I was about four, I was 14 0:03:43.310 --> 0:03:45.850 or 15 years old and that corrected the whole issue. 0:03:45.910 --> 0:03:49.980 So two surgeries, didn't have to wear glasses going into 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.500 high school, et cetera. On top of that, I always 0:03:52.540 --> 0:03:56.420 kind of joke, but I was also enormously heavy. 0:03:56.560 --> 0:04:00.560 I was huge. I, yeah, I was like, I was super. 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.800 Fat in like all of middle school from like fourth 0:04:02.860 --> 0:04:06.290 grade to like probably like sixth grade. And then I 0:04:06.330 --> 0:04:08.090 just shot up cause I'm six, five and I don't 0:04:08.110 --> 0:04:09.510 know where I got my height from, but I just, 0:04:09.630 --> 0:04:13.560 I just grew. So I was, I was super fat 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:17.720 and cross-eyed. And honestly, the only thing that really got 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:19.640 me through it, like my outlet was sports. Like I 0:04:19.660 --> 0:04:21.479 was always, I was always good in sports. I was 0:04:21.500 --> 0:04:24.940 a good athlete, even though I was big. Um, but yeah, 0:04:25.060 --> 0:04:27.589 it was, it was quite, it was quite the unique 0:04:27.650 --> 0:04:30.970 childhood in that regard. And it's so great, you know, 0:04:30.990 --> 0:04:33.430 because I actually just got, um, a DM on my 0:04:33.490 --> 0:04:37.640 Instagram the other day, from a mom whose kid is 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.570 going through the same thing who has strabismus. So it's, it's, 0:04:41.070 --> 0:04:44.150 it's really cool for me because like, I'm so grateful 0:04:44.190 --> 0:04:45.990 for my mom. She saw it right away. She's like, 0:04:46.010 --> 0:04:48.670 we're going to fix it, et cetera, et cetera. That 0:04:48.970 --> 0:04:50.970 people have kind of heard that story with me because 0:04:51.010 --> 0:04:52.929 obviously I went on and got to play in the football, 0:04:52.990 --> 0:04:54.130 got to play in the NFL and all that stuff. 0:04:54.150 --> 0:04:57.719 So still have a little impact today of helping some 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.060 of these kids kind of navigate through that because it was, 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:01.340 it was, it was tough for sure. 0:05:01.950 --> 0:05:04.180 When did you realize you were good at sports? When 0:05:04.190 --> 0:05:05.600 did you gravitate to sports? 0:05:07.150 --> 0:05:10.080 Oh, gosh, I was five. I mean, it was like 0:05:10.100 --> 0:05:10.780 my old. 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:14.560 Yeah, my dad played professional baseball in the minors. He 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.220 played at LMU. My brother's five years older. So we 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.000 just we were just always a sports family. 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:22.219 Baseball, basketball, football. 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:26.880 You are, as you mentioned, 6'5. I mean, at least 0:05:27.050 --> 0:05:30.250 that's what you said and the football program said. So 0:05:30.270 --> 0:05:35.050 when were your growth spurts? My son, who continuously says 0:05:35.089 --> 0:05:37.690 he's going to play in the NBA, but he has 0:05:37.710 --> 0:05:40.760 a 5'1 mother. So I would like to know when 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:41.840 his growth spurts were. 0:05:42.140 --> 0:05:44.920 Well, listen, my wife is 5'2 1⁄2. So we always joke, 0:05:44.940 --> 0:05:47.360 we have a 6 1⁄2-year-old who, at least at this point, 0:05:47.380 --> 0:05:54.919 has my height. And we have my five-year-old who's got 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:55.680 his mom's height. 0:05:56.260 --> 0:05:59.000 She's a 5'2 Cuban. So I'm like, God, you're bringing 0:05:59.020 --> 0:06:04.000 down the averages. You know what? It's so crazy. 0:06:04.540 --> 0:06:09.610 My mom was 5'8, so fairly taller for a woman, 0:06:09.650 --> 0:06:11.570 especially growing up in the 60s. 0:06:12.630 --> 0:06:13.350 And my dad's 5'11. 0:06:13.930 --> 0:06:16.230 So I have no clue where I got my height from. 0:06:16.290 --> 0:06:20.510 But my growth spurt was seventh, eighth, ninth grade. Like 0:06:20.570 --> 0:06:22.710 I was, I was six foot in seventh grade, which 0:06:22.770 --> 0:06:25.370 is tall. And then going into high school, I was, 0:06:25.390 --> 0:06:27.110 I was pretty much the height I am now. I 0:06:27.150 --> 0:06:29.250 was like a touch under six, five. 0:06:29.730 --> 0:06:31.890 Okay. So you were basically six, five by the time 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.240 you entered high school. So I'll let him know if 0:06:34.300 --> 0:06:39.160 he's got a shot. He's real 50th percentile. 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.400 You know, I don't think, I don't think he is 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:42.240 he playing sports? 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:46.260 Oh, he is my oldest who is just turned seven 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.480 is the biggest jock. 0:06:49.100 --> 0:06:49.520 I love it. 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:54.000 It doesn't matter what the sport is. You tell him 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.600 we're going to go play something and it involves a 0:06:56.760 --> 0:07:02.130 ball catching, throwing. It doesn't swimming even anything, anything that 0:07:02.210 --> 0:07:05.279 is athletic. He excels in and just loves it. 0:07:05.630 --> 0:07:06.530 It's incredible. 0:07:06.650 --> 0:07:08.370 I'm so, I'm so excited about it. 0:07:08.390 --> 0:07:11.830 Yeah. It's a fun age. I always say, I always tell, um, 0:07:12.130 --> 0:07:13.210 you have two kids too. 0:07:13.270 --> 0:07:14.380 Yeah. Seven and five. 0:07:14.980 --> 0:07:16.580 Oh, okay. So yeah. So we're in the same boat. 0:07:16.620 --> 0:07:19.260 So I actually, I have a kid who's in college 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.840 who's 19, which I had him younger and he's playing football, 0:07:22.860 --> 0:07:23.540 which is pretty cool. 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:24.960 That's great. 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:27.880 But my wife and I have six and a half, five, 0:07:27.950 --> 0:07:29.489 and we have a one and a half year old daughter. 0:07:29.590 --> 0:07:33.570 And I tell everybody because I got to, I'm getting 0:07:33.610 --> 0:07:35.890 the chance to relive it again, which is so cool. 0:07:35.910 --> 0:07:38.390 And I have such a different perspective going through it once. 0:07:39.070 --> 0:07:41.480 I would say like the five, like four, five, six, 0:07:41.510 --> 0:07:43.860 and even seven are like the golden years of parenting 0:07:43.900 --> 0:07:48.630 in my opinion, because- they, whatever they're into, they just, 0:07:48.690 --> 0:07:49.570 they love mom. 0:07:49.670 --> 0:07:53.500 They love dad. They're all, they're, you know, they're like, 0:07:53.780 --> 0:07:55.880 we're still cool. They're by your side. They want to 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.140 do everything you do. And then, and then that grip 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.860 slowly just goes away as they get a little bit older. 0:08:00.900 --> 0:08:01.840 And it's so sad. 0:08:02.140 --> 0:08:02.820 So sad. 0:08:02.900 --> 0:08:03.160 I know. 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.230 I was like crying for weeks when my son went 0:08:06.260 --> 0:08:08.610 to college because I'm like, I was just going back 0:08:08.650 --> 0:08:11.320 to all the memories growing up. So I always tell 0:08:11.380 --> 0:08:14.940 everybody like, man, just, you know, obviously just embrace every moment, 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.420 like every opportunity you can, because it just, it goes. 0:08:17.780 --> 0:08:19.840 I know my seven-year-old said to me the other night, 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.060 I was putting him to bed and he said he, 0:08:22.140 --> 0:08:24.450 every night he asks me, what do I have tomorrow? 0:08:24.750 --> 0:08:27.250 He loves a schedule and he likes to be busy. 0:08:27.690 --> 0:08:30.450 And so what he knows he has camp during the day, 0:08:30.510 --> 0:08:33.850 but then what he really means is, do I have baseball, basketball, 0:08:33.970 --> 0:08:37.300 or karate after school? Like, what do I have tomorrow? 0:08:37.700 --> 0:08:39.740 So I go, well, tomorrow you're going to have camp. 0:08:39.820 --> 0:08:43.020 And he goes, hmm. I said, do you not like camp? 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.949 And he goes, no, I like camp. I just, I 0:08:46.990 --> 0:08:48.770 wish you could be there with me. I want to 0:08:48.790 --> 0:08:49.850 spend more time with you. 0:08:50.270 --> 0:08:51.530 And I was. 0:08:51.450 --> 0:08:55.550 Like, oh my gosh, cherish this moment. Remember this sentence. 0:08:55.570 --> 0:08:57.939 God, I just got goosebumps you telling me that because 0:08:57.980 --> 0:08:59.260 it's just, God, it's just the best. 0:08:59.300 --> 0:09:02.780 The things they say, it's like, God, they just, yeah, 0:09:02.940 --> 0:09:04.620 it is the best. It's the best time right now. 0:09:17.230 --> 0:09:21.109 Okay, with kids' sports these days, it really can feel 24-7, 365. 0:09:21.110 --> 0:09:25.630 And I know you're well aware. I want to talk 0:09:25.670 --> 0:09:27.940 to you a little more about Cole later. But there 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.800 are club teams and travel all-stars and personal coaches. I 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.260 know in Little League, kids used to play four times 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.780 a month in the 80s and 90s. And now they 0:09:38.820 --> 0:09:42.640 are playing three to four games per weekend. Was that 0:09:42.700 --> 0:09:46.079 something you did as a kid or would have enjoyed 0:09:46.140 --> 0:09:47.600 growing up or is it just too much? 0:09:47.980 --> 0:09:51.640 Gosh, you know, it's such a great question. And we 0:09:51.870 --> 0:09:57.449 are currently living it now. So our six-year-old just finished 0:09:57.530 --> 0:10:00.370 all-star baseball this summer. So so everyone's like six, you 0:10:00.429 --> 0:10:03.480 all-star baseball, all-star baseball is a little bit different because 0:10:03.530 --> 0:10:05.979 it is a small period. It's a couple months max, 0:10:06.020 --> 0:10:07.939 and then you're done travel, you know, as year round, 0:10:07.980 --> 0:10:14.080 especially living in California. Um, he just played 35 games 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.500 in like eight weeks, but that was all stars. 0:10:17.260 --> 0:10:18.280 And it's over. Yep. 0:10:18.580 --> 0:10:21.130 And so he played equivalent of like three seasons of 0:10:21.170 --> 0:10:25.790 like pony baseball or whatever. Um, I grew up playing 0:10:26.290 --> 0:10:28.670 the seasonal sports. Like I love baseball was always my 0:10:28.730 --> 0:10:32.090 first sport. Um, but I would play like, you know, fall, 0:10:32.170 --> 0:10:34.750 spring baseball. I would play flag football for my school. 0:10:34.809 --> 0:10:37.170 I would play basketball when it was, and they never 0:10:37.250 --> 0:10:40.190 really overlapped back then. And then I got into travel 0:10:40.250 --> 0:10:43.929 baseball probably when I was 14 or like going into 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:45.920 high school. Cause I was, I was that was like 0:10:45.940 --> 0:10:47.400 my number one thing. I wanted to play baseball. I 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:49.480 ended up getting hurt switching to football, but that's a 0:10:49.500 --> 0:10:53.640 whole other story. But so it's interesting because it's so 0:10:53.700 --> 0:10:57.230 much more competitive now at a younger age for better 0:10:57.250 --> 0:10:59.050 or for worse, because of all the things you said, 0:10:59.090 --> 0:11:02.189 because of travel, because of personal coaches, because of specializing, 0:11:02.230 --> 0:11:07.030 all those things. I am, I'm not naive to the 0:11:07.110 --> 0:11:10.199 fact that there is a lot more competition at a 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.520 younger age and you don't want to get left behind, 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:14.339 especially if you have good athletes. If you have kids 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.420 who you think you know, have a shot to play 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.120 high school or whatever it is. But I also like, 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.120 I just, I want, I'm a firm believer like cream 0:11:23.140 --> 0:11:25.140 will always rise to the top in sports. So like 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.209 if my kid's good enough, he's going to, at some 0:11:27.260 --> 0:11:28.970 point he's going to show it, you know? And again, 0:11:28.990 --> 0:11:30.550 I'm going to, he's going to do the stuff that 0:11:30.610 --> 0:11:32.609 you need to get there. So I guess the long, 0:11:32.809 --> 0:11:35.390 the short of the answer is play as many sports 0:11:35.450 --> 0:11:36.090 as possible. 0:11:36.750 --> 0:11:38.550 You don't need to specialize in one. 0:11:38.710 --> 0:11:41.800 I think being a, being a great athlete, quote unquote, 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:45.090 and being versatile and, is the best way to go 0:11:45.270 --> 0:11:46.110 as you get older. 0:11:46.210 --> 0:11:46.970 And then, then at. 0:11:46.929 --> 0:11:48.990 Some point when you can start to see, I tell 0:11:49.010 --> 0:11:51.830 parents this all the time, if you could start to 0:11:51.890 --> 0:11:54.290 see what your son or your daughter is like, Hey. 0:11:54.350 --> 0:11:56.730 They're pretty good in this. Like I can see it. Then, 0:11:56.870 --> 0:11:58.010 then that's when you start. 0:11:57.850 --> 0:12:02.069 To maybe go that route and specialize or at least 0:12:02.130 --> 0:12:04.190 spend a little, invest a little more time and energy 0:12:04.250 --> 0:12:04.670 into that. 0:12:04.990 --> 0:12:06.950 That could be middle school. It could be eighth grade. 0:12:07.230 --> 0:12:08.110 I don't know when that is. 0:12:08.350 --> 0:12:10.689 You know, every parent is different, but I always tell 0:12:10.730 --> 0:12:13.069 parents too, like, gosh, just like, let them have fun. 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.500 If they love it and they compete, then, you know, 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:19.160 then you'll just know, like everyone knows their own kid, 0:12:19.179 --> 0:12:22.199 you know? So yeah, I mean, I see a lot 0:12:22.220 --> 0:12:25.140 of these, like we played this team this summer and 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.010 for Pony All-Stars, again, it's, you know, it's six, eight weeks, 0:12:28.410 --> 0:12:30.670 but that team plays year round together and they started 0:12:30.730 --> 0:12:31.709 at five years old. 0:12:31.790 --> 0:12:33.890 And I'm like, five years old? 0:12:33.950 --> 0:12:35.950 Like my kids are pretty good in sports, but I'm like, 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.260 I want them to have summers of camps and beach 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:43.550 and enjoying the family time, you know. So it's a wild– 0:12:43.620 --> 0:12:46.190 youth sports are wild, to say the least. 0:12:46.210 --> 0:12:47.969 You might be going for it. You might be going 0:12:47.990 --> 0:12:48.290 through it. 0:12:48.550 --> 0:12:52.229 Well, yeah. I mean, well, my kids started karate at three. 0:12:52.250 --> 0:12:55.939 Which I love, by the way. it's unbelievable. It's been 0:12:56.059 --> 0:12:59.120 so good for them. Nothing makes me happier than hearing 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:03.010 one of them say, yes, ma'am. And I'm like, yeah. 0:13:03.090 --> 0:13:06.010 My, my, my older son is so funny. He, he did, uh, 0:13:06.250 --> 0:13:07.429 was doing jujitsu. 0:13:07.490 --> 0:13:10.210 So along the same thing, you know, the discipline, this 0:13:10.250 --> 0:13:13.290 was like two years ago and we were going to like, 0:13:13.309 --> 0:13:14.470 we were just going to do it for a couple 0:13:14.510 --> 0:13:16.190 months and get like the discipline and all that kind 0:13:16.210 --> 0:13:18.470 of stuff. And he's, he's the big kid and he's 0:13:18.550 --> 0:13:20.750 tough and he feel he's kind of a caveman. I 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.760 But he doesn't, he's not a fighter. He doesn't like, 0:13:25.940 --> 0:13:27.740 he doesn't like, you could punch him a hundred times. 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:28.740 He's a gentle giant. 0:13:28.940 --> 0:13:30.390 He is. And he's tough as nails. 0:13:30.410 --> 0:13:33.429 But this little girl in this jujitsu class was beating 0:13:33.450 --> 0:13:35.370 the hell out of him. And the coach was like, 0:13:35.510 --> 0:13:37.650 you know, doing your submissions and your teaching right at 0:13:37.690 --> 0:13:39.940 this age. And he just, he started crying. He just 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:41.870 stood there and he's like, God, I can't, I can't, 0:13:41.950 --> 0:13:42.880 I can't, I can't do it. 0:13:42.929 --> 0:13:44.230 I can't hit her. I can't, or like, you know, 0:13:44.290 --> 0:13:46.270 and I'm like, Oh, maybe this isn't for him. 0:13:46.330 --> 0:13:49.860 But the fact that your kids do it is amazing. 0:13:49.980 --> 0:13:53.199 Well, both, both my kids did cry the first week 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:54.479 that they had to do grappling. 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:55.680 Similar. 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.420 My kids were like, you want me to take my 0:13:58.490 --> 0:14:01.290 friend down? Like, what do you mean take my friend down? 0:14:01.630 --> 0:14:04.230 And we realized like, Oh, this is something we need 0:14:04.250 --> 0:14:07.060 to let them practice on us. And for us to 0:14:07.100 --> 0:14:11.650 practice with them at home. Like, look, it's not aggressive 0:14:11.730 --> 0:14:14.410 when you're both agreeing to it. It's not, you know, 0:14:14.429 --> 0:14:19.580 that's the difference between violence and athleticism. So anyway, but 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.480 it did take some time because they were both like, oh, 0:14:22.540 --> 0:14:23.680 this feels weird. 0:14:23.980 --> 0:14:24.810 I love that they do it. 0:14:24.820 --> 0:14:27.620 I think like the discipline it teaches you is amazing 0:14:27.660 --> 0:14:28.980 and respect and all that kind of stuff. 0:14:29.450 --> 0:14:29.750 Agreed. 0:14:30.330 --> 0:14:34.100 Did you have any hobbies outside of sports? Was there, like, 0:14:34.130 --> 0:14:36.150 did you have time for anything else? Did you collect 0:14:36.290 --> 0:14:37.460 rocks or anything? 0:14:38.660 --> 0:14:41.540 You know, what's funny is, God, this is such a 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.200 terrible hobby now, but I used to collect like sports 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.160 cards and I, and I, I, maybe your boys do, 0:14:48.220 --> 0:14:50.900 but like, I do, I do that again. And my 0:14:50.980 --> 0:14:53.560 wife thinks I'm like, like, you're not a child and 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:54.400 you're wasting money. 0:14:54.420 --> 0:14:56.910 It's like a hobby, you know? So I would say 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:57.820 that's probably. 0:14:57.750 --> 0:15:00.100 One that I really enjoyed doing with my brother and 0:15:00.140 --> 0:15:04.960 my dad growing up. And my oldest son never really 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:07.240 got into it because like, I don't know how familiar 0:15:07.260 --> 0:15:08.260 you are with sort. 0:15:08.140 --> 0:15:10.000 Of the hobby, but it sort of lost its luster 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:10.540 for a while. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.880 And then when COVID happened, like it just boomed again 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.120 because people were just like buying cards, like, you know, 0:15:16.300 --> 0:15:17.980 and now it's like, it's all. 0:15:17.900 --> 0:15:18.340 Over the place. 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:21.280 So I've gotten my younger boys into it, which has 0:15:21.300 --> 0:15:24.380 been pretty cool, you know? So they're collecting and putting 0:15:24.420 --> 0:15:27.030 them in their little, things and asking me, dad, what's 0:15:27.050 --> 0:15:27.770 this card worth? 0:15:27.830 --> 0:15:29.590 And all this kind of stuff. It's kind of fun. So, 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.170 I mean, I would, I would say probably that, like, I, 0:15:32.260 --> 0:15:35.240 I just, my childhood was great. 0:15:35.260 --> 0:15:39.760 We were always outside playing sports with the neighborhood kids. Um, 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:41.780 you know, we, we grew up, you know, we didn't 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:43.470 have a ton of money growing up. So I didn't, honestly, 0:15:43.490 --> 0:15:44.790 I didn't get to do a lot of camps, but 0:15:44.830 --> 0:15:47.950 like we were, it was awesome, man. We were always 0:15:47.990 --> 0:15:50.960 outside riding bikes and you know, kind of like the 0:15:51.020 --> 0:15:53.140 old days, which we wish our kids were, you know, 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:54.820 not on their phones. And I mean, not kids don't 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:56.280 have phones, but like, it's just a new day and 0:15:56.340 --> 0:15:56.700 age now. 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.780 Right. So, um, but that's it. Yeah. The card stuff 0:15:59.820 --> 0:16:00.520 is pretty hard. 0:16:00.820 --> 0:16:02.860 I love that. Do you ever open car? Do you 0:16:02.900 --> 0:16:04.520 ever open packs online? 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:06.620 You know, that's, you know, I, I did, I did 0:16:06.660 --> 0:16:11.540 some rips, um, with the mojo guys. Um, I think 0:16:11.570 --> 0:16:12.920 they're based out of San Francisco. 0:16:13.180 --> 0:16:15.810 Um, I, I love it. It's just because it's become 0:16:15.830 --> 0:16:20.690 a fun hobby. Um, Yeah, and it's an expensive hobby, which. 0:16:20.870 --> 0:16:22.110 It is an expensive hobby. 0:16:22.150 --> 0:16:24.630 I always tell my wife, I'm like, I'm investing. 0:16:25.010 --> 0:16:26.810 She's like, well, if you're investing, when are we going 0:16:26.830 --> 0:16:29.110 to get our money back? Because I never like sell 0:16:29.150 --> 0:16:30.250 my cards, you know, but. 0:16:30.620 --> 0:16:31.220 Right, exactly. 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:33.800 Listen, I don't know if your wife is like a 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.780 bag person, but you know, if she collects handbags, it's 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.120 an investment too, except I also never sell my bags. 0:16:40.540 --> 0:16:43.000 I know, I tried. I can't, she's just like, you're 0:16:43.020 --> 0:16:45.800 an idiot. But you know what? It's like, I don't 0:16:45.830 --> 0:16:47.130 really spend money on anything else. 0:16:47.170 --> 0:16:49.560 Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and it's a bonding thing for you 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:50.180 and the kids. 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:51.430 It is. It truly is. It truly is. 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.440 Yeah, I get that. You attended one of the country's 0:16:54.460 --> 0:16:58.000 top high schools for sports. It has spawned more professional 0:16:58.100 --> 0:17:01.140 athletes than basically anywhere on the West Coast modern day. 0:17:01.650 --> 0:17:05.629 Did you feel a pressure from the expectations of that school? 0:17:09.490 --> 0:17:10.670 Not at the time. So.... 0:17:12.210 --> 0:17:14.910 My older brother, again, like I said, was five years 0:17:14.990 --> 0:17:16.750 old or so. He graduated high school when I was 0:17:16.810 --> 0:17:21.469 coming in, so we never overlapped. He played baseball. It's 0:17:21.510 --> 0:17:25.880 kind of interesting. This is going to sound kind of weird, 0:17:25.890 --> 0:17:28.280 but I always felt like I was born to play baseball. 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.119 And again, I know my path took me to football 0:17:30.140 --> 0:17:32.419 and all that stuff, but I was born to be 0:17:32.460 --> 0:17:32.840 a pitcher. 0:17:32.859 --> 0:17:33.300 I loved baseball. 0:17:34.410 --> 0:17:37.550 I loved the, I guess it's why quarterback worked out. 0:17:37.590 --> 0:17:40.010 Cause I loved the pressure. Uh, I just, it was 0:17:40.030 --> 0:17:41.669 just natural for me, right? Like I just, I just, 0:17:41.770 --> 0:17:44.030 I never really felt the pressure. I love being, I 0:17:44.070 --> 0:17:46.100 love the ball on the mountain. I love being the pitcher. 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.240 I love being the quarterback. Um, it was just sort 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:50.340 of kind of. 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:51.060 Innate in me. 0:17:51.180 --> 0:17:55.000 So like when I went to modern day, very, very great, 0:17:55.220 --> 0:17:56.780 great school, great academics. 0:17:57.440 --> 0:17:58.580 Great sports. And I love that. 0:17:58.740 --> 0:18:00.440 I love modern day because a lot of the people 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:02.960 there are like minded, like whether an athlete or not, 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.600 like they have goals to be to get to college to. 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:07.640 Whether it's academically or sports. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:10.580 So you're surrounded by a lot of people who have 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.939 the same goals as you, which, you know, makes you 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:13.470 compete more. 0:18:14.270 --> 0:18:15.970 But I never really felt it. You know, I just 0:18:16.030 --> 0:18:17.390 went there and kind of did my thing. 0:18:17.450 --> 0:18:19.530 Like I was injured for a year and a half, 0:18:19.590 --> 0:18:22.130 so I didn't even play sports my whole entire sophomore year. 0:18:22.590 --> 0:18:25.150 That was a really tough time for me, as any 0:18:25.210 --> 0:18:28.050 athlete could tell you, especially as a young age. But Um, 0:18:29.150 --> 0:18:31.030 you know, some of my best coaches I've ever had 0:18:31.090 --> 0:18:33.810 were there. Um, they molded me, they really helped me 0:18:33.869 --> 0:18:35.169 and they prepare me for college. 0:18:35.190 --> 0:18:36.060 So I love modern day. 0:18:36.859 --> 0:18:39.639 Well, you clearly didn't show any nerves. You led the 0:18:39.700 --> 0:18:44.180 team to a CIF co-championship and were named the California 0:18:44.220 --> 0:18:47.680