Speaker 1: Bob. If you thought more hours a day, minutes a
Speaker 1: week was enough, I think again. He's the last remnants
Speaker 1: of the old Republic, the sole fashion of fairness. He
Speaker 1: treats crack heads in the ghetto cutter the same as
Speaker 1: the rich pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of
Speaker 1: hot takes, break free for something special. Fifth Hour with
Speaker 1: Ben Maller starts right now in the air everywhere. We
Speaker 1: are back at it yet again. Another weekend is upon us,
Speaker 1: and we are back at it because we do the
Speaker 1: radio show. I do the radio show five nights a week,
Speaker 1: as you know, and then we have the spinoff here.
Speaker 1: We have a Friday, Saturday and Sunday show. So two
Speaker 1: shows on Friday, got two shows kind of on Sunday
Speaker 1: in to Monday. And we do thank you for supporting
Speaker 1: the podcast, even when there are issues. More on that
Speaker 1: coming up. We'll talk about that on the Saturday podcast.
Speaker 1: But today is an interview podcast, a conversation, a chat
Speaker 1: with someone who we know, someone who we like, someone
Speaker 1: that we're curious to talk to. And so, by the way,
Speaker 1: Gascon is back this week. David Guescon is back. He's
Speaker 1: a he's fun lay in don't get used to it.
Speaker 1: This could be his final weekend on a podcast. We
Speaker 1: can hope that he goes somewhere else, but he's here
Speaker 1: this weekend, booking great A guests yet again, and contend
Speaker 1: to shine like like a diamond. That's what I do. Yes,
Speaker 1: pat yourself on the back a little more. I actually
Speaker 1: a little more pretentious. Yes. Uh. Anyway, this week in
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft coming up here just a few days away.
Speaker 1: A chance to catch up with a man who is
Speaker 1: synonymous with the NFL draft. A number two pick of
Speaker 1: the old San Diego Charger show me your lightning bolt
Speaker 1: in it was neck and neck. It was belly to
Speaker 1: belly between Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning. Colts had the
Speaker 1: number one pick, the Chargers had the number two pick.
Speaker 1: We know how it turned out. If you somehow I forgotten.
Speaker 1: It didn't turn out well for Ryan Leaf, one of
Speaker 1: the historic NFL Draft bus He only played twenty five
Speaker 1: games in the NFL. He said some fights with demons
Speaker 1: over the years, but he has continued to counter punch,
Speaker 1: and you gotta respect that that Ryan Lee has been
Speaker 1: knocked down, he's done time in jail, and he's continued
Speaker 1: to fight back. And a lot to a lot to
Speaker 1: talk to Ryan Leaf about which we are excited about.
Speaker 1: So let's get right into it right now. We welcome
Speaker 1: in a now former NFL player for many many years
Speaker 1: played with the Chargers and the Cowboys and had a
Speaker 1: cup of coffee and training camping off season with some
Speaker 1: other teams. But let's bring in Ryan Leaf. We'll start
Speaker 1: with the NFL draft. Ryan, We thank you for spend
Speaker 1: some time with us year. Put let's start at the
Speaker 1: very top. Trevor Lawrence, the number one pick, he presumptive
Speaker 1: number one picked by Jacksonville. Is he as good as advertised? Yes?
Speaker 1: He is every He's everything in a bag of ships,
Speaker 1: I'll give you that. Probably the most complete player UH
Speaker 1: coming out of college since Andrew Luck would have been
Speaker 1: the number one overall pick after he upset Alabama or
Speaker 1: more or less destroyed Alabama. To talk about law in
Speaker 1: the National Championship after his freshman year um and to
Speaker 1: not move a spot after two years um, which everybody was.
Speaker 1: The expectations were so high the only way, only where
Speaker 1: only place you could go is is backwards. He didn't.
Speaker 1: He is still the UH overwhelmingly presumptive number one overall pick.
Speaker 1: And best player in this year's draft. So so Ryan
Speaker 1: he's going. It looks like he's going to Jacksonville unless
Speaker 1: something crazy happens. Is that a trip to the googlog?
Speaker 1: If you William Jacksonville is not actually been a wonderful
Speaker 1: outpost in the NFL. I do you put any stock
Speaker 1: into that. Let if you get drafted by a team
Speaker 1: that's not, you know, not that great, that you are doomed. Well,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. I wouldn't say doomed because Trevor is a
Speaker 1: transformational player. Like you could walk into an environment and
Speaker 1: he changes the environment. You know, there are guys that
Speaker 1: are just guys that are great quarterbacks, but they just
Speaker 1: they can't change the environment around them, and it kind
Speaker 1: of happens the other way. He's capable of doing that. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: a lot of times when these top draft picks, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Trevor reminds me a ton of Carson Carson Palmer.
Speaker 1: He goes to Cincinnati, there's a couple of great years
Speaker 1: where they get get into the playoffs. Um, but that's
Speaker 1: as far as they go. You know, you you just
Speaker 1: kind of lost, kind of forgotten, never been a Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer around of Jacksonville. Tony Baselli could change that
Speaker 1: maybe down the line here someday, but um, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be really, really difficult. And unfortunately for the likes of
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence, the best quarterbacks each draft
Speaker 1: are going to the worst possible teams, and systemically that means,
Speaker 1: you know, we probably won't hear from them in terms
Speaker 1: of a ton of success at the NFL level. So
Speaker 1: so right, I saw a story that I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask your opinion on it. There was an a f
Speaker 1: C coach they didn't name, of course, who said that
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is better than Trevor Lawrence, that they would
Speaker 1: have taken Burrow a hundred times out of a hundred
Speaker 1: in the draft if they had both been in the
Speaker 1: same draft. You buy that that takers that hyperbole? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean their head to head matchup was just an
Speaker 1: absolute dismantling. You know, I know it's not, you know,
Speaker 1: quarterback versus quarterback, but I mean that's what you're going
Speaker 1: off of. Right. Uh, what Joe Burrow did in that
Speaker 1: one season in l s U is remarkable. It's it's
Speaker 1: absolutely remarkable, and I really think he's gonna change the
Speaker 1: environment in Cincinnati. I just you know, um, that's a
Speaker 1: that's a coin top, that's that's the Peyton Manning Ryan
Speaker 1: leaf right there. If that those two are in the
Speaker 1: same draft, I would argue that was exactly the same
Speaker 1: in ninety eight, where no one knew who was going
Speaker 1: to go one and who was going to go to two.
Speaker 1: That I think there'll be a lot of opinions on
Speaker 1: both sides of that coin if that had been the
Speaker 1: case last year. Yeah, I actually I want to talk
Speaker 1: about it. We'll get back to the draft. But back
Speaker 1: when you were you and Peyton Manning were neck and
Speaker 1: neck for the number one pick. Did you did you
Speaker 1: think you were going to go to the Colts? Did
Speaker 1: they talked to you like they were gonna draft you?
Speaker 1: I mean everyone in the media said it was gonna
Speaker 1: be a you know, a last minute decision. How close
Speaker 1: do you think he came to being drafted by the
Speaker 1: Colts instead of the Chargers. Well, I was hosting Rich
Speaker 1: Eyes and the other day and when he was off
Speaker 1: and I had Jim mursay on, I had the owner
Speaker 1: of the Indianapolis Colts on the show, and I asked
Speaker 1: him that specific question, like how close was it, and
Speaker 1: he said, well, you know, it was pretty much split
Speaker 1: fifty fifty in our in our war room with the scouts,
Speaker 1: Bill Polly and who of course the general manager at
Speaker 1: the time, who was the final word. He really was
Speaker 1: leaning towards Peyton um And and Jim R. Say that
Speaker 1: the owner was leaning towards me. And he had asked
Speaker 1: a really close confidanta his in the NFL who came
Speaker 1: to him a couple of nights before the draft, and
Speaker 1: guy he trusted a lot, uh, said to him and said, Jim,
Speaker 1: you gotta take that least kit. And luckily for the
Speaker 1: Colts and for Jim and for everybody involved, Uh, they didn't.
Speaker 1: He he didn't listen to his longtime NFL confidant, and
Speaker 1: he and they went with Peyton and that was was
Speaker 1: the best best choice they could have made. But if
Speaker 1: you if you had gone to Indie like well you,
Speaker 1: I mean you obviously had some you know, some some issues.
Speaker 1: You've admitted that you you're still battling the stuff occasionally.
Speaker 1: But if you had gone to it, he wouldn't have
Speaker 1: been different. I mean, you don't know in a parallel dimensions,
Speaker 1: if you go to the Colts, is there a different outcome.
Speaker 1: You know, I might have been able to keep my
Speaker 1: character defects under wrapped a little while longer because they
Speaker 1: were there was some more they would have been more
Speaker 1: talent around me. But ultimately, you know, I was the problem.
Speaker 1: So how you know Peyton through the most touch of
Speaker 1: interceptions ever, uh in a season for a rookie, and
Speaker 1: uh the team went three and thirteen. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I could have dealt with that failure. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I could have you know, gotten
Speaker 1: through that. I had a really hard time dealing with
Speaker 1: failure in a positive way, where Peyton saw it as
Speaker 1: an opportunity to do it better the next time and
Speaker 1: clearly was the right choice. Um, there's a saying I
Speaker 1: use all the time. No matter where you go, there
Speaker 1: you are, and and no matter where I went, there
Speaker 1: I would have been. And I was definitely the problem.
Speaker 1: So I just I just assumed that no matter where
Speaker 1: I would have gone or where I would have been drafted, Um,
Speaker 1: if it was that high, you know how it went
Speaker 1: in the sixth round and no one knew who the
Speaker 1: hell I was, There might have been an easier way
Speaker 1: to work my way up. But when you're drafted that high. Um,
Speaker 1: it's it really wouldn't have mattered where I went. I
Speaker 1: was going to Uh, I was going to implode no
Speaker 1: matter what. Ryan, What gave you that sense that that
Speaker 1: there was going to be an implosure? Like did you
Speaker 1: ever get that feeling when you're at Washington State? Never?
Speaker 1: Never never got that. No, it was gonna be easy.
Speaker 1: I was gonna walk on the football field and do
Speaker 1: what I've always done my whole life. It shocked me that, uh,
Speaker 1: that the scrutiny came, that the criticism came, that the
Speaker 1: fan hatred came, all of this stuff. It was utterly
Speaker 1: shocking to me such in a way that I was, Um,
Speaker 1: I wasn't shock, you know. And no way in the
Speaker 1: world did I see something like that coming down the
Speaker 1: coming down the pipe. I don't. I mean, no one did,
Speaker 1: clearly because I had. It was one of the highest
Speaker 1: graded players ever going into a draft, Payton Manning and
Speaker 1: I think there were eight point five in terms of grades,
Speaker 1: and you just you just don't see that. I think
Speaker 1: Andrew Luck at an eight point eight or something like
Speaker 1: that when he came out, and that was the highest
Speaker 1: we've ever seen. The relationships that you had when you
Speaker 1: were in the National Football League players and coaches and
Speaker 1: management alike. What was the biggest one that you regretted
Speaker 1: the most and just in terms of how things unfolded
Speaker 1: and dissipated. Well, well, you know, just Junior say I
Speaker 1: and Rodney Harrison two real leaders on that on that defense.
Speaker 1: When I when I came into the league, and um,
Speaker 1: I just did not listen or or was willing for
Speaker 1: like just glom onto them and asked them how they've
Speaker 1: done it and then followed their advice verbatim. That's the best.
Speaker 1: That's the advice I give to guys coming into the league,
Speaker 1: no matter how highly drafted they are, because it all
Speaker 1: starts over. You go into that locker room, you find
Speaker 1: a guy that's played ten, twelve years, who's been a
Speaker 1: veteran in this league, because that is the odds of
Speaker 1: you playing eight odds of you playing at least eight
Speaker 1: years is crazy. I think it's like a thousand players
Speaker 1: in the history of the NFL to have played eight
Speaker 1: seasons in the NFL. You go find those guys, you
Speaker 1: look them in the eye, you ask them how they
Speaker 1: did it, and when they tell you, you follow their
Speaker 1: You follow their guidance verbatim. Any guys that you follow
Speaker 1: now verbatim? Oh yeah, plenty. I have a few mentors.
Speaker 1: I gotta my sponsors. Thirty two years sober, I follow
Speaker 1: I mean every everything he said, I follow him. You
Speaker 1: walk into you walk into one of those meeting rooms.
Speaker 1: You find a guy that has what you want, you
Speaker 1: go ask him how he got it, and then you
Speaker 1: follow him and you get the life of your dreams.
Speaker 1: And that's exactly where I'm at right now. I mean,
Speaker 1: the days, obviously are are not always the highest of highs.
Speaker 1: How do you how do you combat the loads of
Speaker 1: the lows? You know, they just they don't exist anymore.
Speaker 1: I mean, because you know, I was not on the
Speaker 1: golf course the other day and I heard a guy
Speaker 1: just so upset and screaming about how long the round
Speaker 1: was taking. And I looked at him and I said,
Speaker 1: I said, man, it could be worse. And he's like,
Speaker 1: I don't know how, and I go, you could be
Speaker 1: in prison and uh. And he looked at me like
Speaker 1: in complete and utter shock, and I go, I go,
Speaker 1: so hey, it could be a lot worse, buddy, all right,
Speaker 1: let's just enjoy it. So I don't I don't take
Speaker 1: anything for granted anymore. Life is life. Life is hard.
Speaker 1: But I mean the amount of gratitude and perspective I
Speaker 1: have because of what I went through, there isn't There
Speaker 1: isn't a day where I look in the mirror at
Speaker 1: the end of it and go, God, that was awful.
Speaker 1: It is it is never it is never awful. It
Speaker 1: will never be awful no matter what, because of the
Speaker 1: life I've gotten to live. Yeah, run, I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you speaking of you know, one of the things
Speaker 1: that we played the sound by a lot. You had
Speaker 1: a famous locker room melt down with j Pose and
Speaker 1: you you scream knock it off? What led? Were you
Speaker 1: just having a terrible day that what led to that interaction? Um? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's incredibly embarrassing. Um um, maybe that maybe he'll take
Speaker 1: that into consideration next time you guys want to You
Speaker 1: said you run it a lot. Um. The day before
Speaker 1: I played the worst game I've ever played in my
Speaker 1: life at Kansas City. Completed one path, uh for four
Speaker 1: yards through a couple of picks, bumbled three times was
Speaker 1: I think seven times in a rainstorm. It was completely humiliated.
Speaker 1: A cameraman was in the locker room after the game,
Speaker 1: and it was back in the day when they had
Speaker 1: those big, big batteries on the end of the camera,
Speaker 1: and he swung around when I had stood up, and
Speaker 1: it just smoked me in the eye. And I was
Speaker 1: so angry, of course, by the way I played, and
Speaker 1: so I just addressed this this cameraman down like made
Speaker 1: him feel like an absolute peon for permitute pretty much
Speaker 1: doing his job. And the local beat writer Um had
Speaker 1: witnessed it all, and you know, I didn't I didn't
Speaker 1: think much of it. I didn't apologize to the guy. UM.
Speaker 1: I just kind of went about my business. And the
Speaker 1: next morning, of course, it was in the in the newspaper,
Speaker 1: um Jay Polser had written all about the incident. And
Speaker 1: so after my gaggle with the reporters on Monday, I
Speaker 1: I asked him to stick around afterwards, and you know,
Speaker 1: like you know, like I always used to do back then,
Speaker 1: just trying to intimidate people and sho him who was boss.
Speaker 1: And I said, Hey, we're gonna have a relationship. You know,
Speaker 1: I'd like some kind of privacy in the locker room.
Speaker 1: Everything that he just he I think he saw an opportunity, uh,
Speaker 1: and and kind of baited me with it, and I
Speaker 1: took the bait, and I proceeded to kind of fortunately
Speaker 1: get him into the chair. And from what you guys
Speaker 1: saw is when a cameraman in the corner of the
Speaker 1: room spun around and heard me standing over the top
Speaker 1: of him trying to be like the big bad man.
Speaker 1: UM pulled my man card Um and really it looked
Speaker 1: like a petel and child just screaming at somebody who
Speaker 1: was doing his job. And luckily for me, Um, I
Speaker 1: didn't you know, physically harm him. And Junior Sales popped
Speaker 1: in there and pulled me out through me in the shower,
Speaker 1: turned the cold water on and and again was there
Speaker 1: to protect me Um like like he did for me
Speaker 1: for those pretty much the entire time. I was there
Speaker 1: until the end where where he just like, I can't
Speaker 1: do anything more for this guy. He just he's just
Speaker 1: he's self sabotaged it so much. He really tried to help. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know it was I don't we don't play
Speaker 1: it anymore, right, but back in those days when you know,
Speaker 1: we did disclosure, full disclosure, but uh, and I mean
Speaker 1: you came up nine. Social media really kicked in in
Speaker 1: the two thousands, around twenty nine. That's when that really
Speaker 1: became a huge deal. How different, if at all, would
Speaker 1: your career have been if you would add on top
Speaker 1: of everything that happened. You've got a lot of negative
Speaker 1: publicity because of the way you played, But then if
Speaker 1: you add on top of it social media, how would
Speaker 1: that have changed the dynamic? You know, I didn't get
Speaker 1: a lot of negativity around how I played. The negativity
Speaker 1: came for how I behaved. People can get passed. I
Speaker 1: mean there was there were glimpses in time. We played
Speaker 1: at Denver on t for three sum yards and three
Speaker 1: touchdowns and just lit it up, and my athletic ability
Speaker 1: was always there, So it was never really that it was.
Speaker 1: It was how I behaved and how I acted, And
Speaker 1: so definitely it would have been constantly berated on social media.
Speaker 1: I cared so much about what other people thought um
Speaker 1: post prison. I've worked with a therapist on an affirmation.
Speaker 1: We we use it all the time. I say it
Speaker 1: in the morning every morning. I've been saying it for
Speaker 1: four consecutive years now, every morning in the mirror. What
Speaker 1: other people think of me is none of my business.
Speaker 1: I believe it now, I truly believe it. I can't
Speaker 1: control people, places, or things. Ever. All I can control
Speaker 1: is how I react, how I deal with the situation.
Speaker 1: And and when you've come to that realization, there's a
Speaker 1: ton of there's a ton of like radical acceptance with that,
Speaker 1: and so it would have been very difficult. And now
Speaker 1: I'm on social media a lot, but it's all positivity.
Speaker 1: I don't let any negativity on it. It's all about
Speaker 1: pushing the envelope to help people who are dealing with
Speaker 1: substance abut some mental health issues and for me to
Speaker 1: use it as a platform in mine, you know, in
Speaker 1: my sporting brought asking career, which is which is blossomed,
Speaker 1: which I never thought was something that was going to
Speaker 1: be able to ever happen, you know, being a communications
Speaker 1: major from college, not utilizing that when I got out
Speaker 1: because um, the purpost thing I wanted to be was was,
Speaker 1: you know, in a newsroom because I disliked the media
Speaker 1: so much. Chronically, it's funny that I'm now in the
Speaker 1: media and doing that for a living. So it's it's
Speaker 1: interesting how things come full circle. Ryan, do you think
Speaker 1: the National Football League does a good job of helping
Speaker 1: talent deal with with mental health issues? Oh god, No,
Speaker 1: they're awful. They don't they They don't care about about
Speaker 1: the player. They care about how much money that player
Speaker 1: can bring in. And usually when the player becomes a
Speaker 1: former player, UM, that no longer is a viable option
Speaker 1: for them. Even if you are a Hall of Famer,
Speaker 1: you know. Um, they can build up that a little bit.
Speaker 1: But I think that they are a huge propaganda machine
Speaker 1: and they're really really good at it. Their multi billion
Speaker 1: propaganda machine that promotes violence and says they care about people,
Speaker 1: which they don't. Um, they disliked counting their money, and
Speaker 1: so it took me a while to figure that out. Um.
Speaker 1: The recent deaths of Vint and Jackson, our NFL brother
Speaker 1: you know, alone in a hotel room at thirty eight
Speaker 1: years old, that that was the final I think that
Speaker 1: was just the final nail for me. And uh, I
Speaker 1: was really upset about it. And luckily a bunch of people,
Speaker 1: UM jump to action with me, and we've gotten the
Speaker 1: business with a company that's associated with the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: Because the Hall of Fame is kind of like Switzerland
Speaker 1: between the NFL, p A and the NFL, they really
Speaker 1: don't have a side there. They can be neutral and
Speaker 1: truly helped the player, and a lot of us former
Speaker 1: players can control that. So we've worked a deal with
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame and it's called the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame Behavioral Health Center. And Um, when something like that happens,
Speaker 1: when the family reaches out to us and as Vincent
Speaker 1: is locked in a hotel room, he won't talk to
Speaker 1: anybody's drinking himself to death. Um, it's like the bat
Speaker 1: line they call me. I get on a plane, I'm
Speaker 1: in the Tampa area, I get to that hotel, I
Speaker 1: knock on the door and I'm like, brother, I was there.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I know the way out. Just come
Speaker 1: with me. Every life is so precious. We can't have
Speaker 1: something like that happen again. We just we can't. In
Speaker 1: the NFL, UH doesn't care one iota and everything you
Speaker 1: see them say they do, it's just it's just it's
Speaker 1: just a lie. Be sure to catch live editions of
Speaker 1: The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven
Speaker 1: pm Pacific. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Speaker 1: Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm
Speaker 1: Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
Speaker 1: So do you. I mean, I guess on that note
Speaker 1: not to be cynical about this, but do you think
Speaker 1: that the stances they've had against the Redskins changed the
Speaker 1: name of the Washington football team and then with their
Speaker 1: social justice arsues right now taking those stances or those
Speaker 1: disingenuous Yeah, I believe so. I mean, I think it's
Speaker 1: when the when the league's and predominantly um, people of color,
Speaker 1: you better, you know, you better? At least they're good
Speaker 1: at marketing. They're really good at marketing. So that's essentially
Speaker 1: what this is. I mean, all of a sudden, they
Speaker 1: just have this shift in this change. You know, that's
Speaker 1: the biggest thing. Either they came to like an epiphany
Speaker 1: and a realization. Maybe Roger Goodell finally did because he's
Speaker 1: kind of flying in the face of where a lot
Speaker 1: of the ownership believes in and he works for the owners.
Speaker 1: So I was I was taken aback when I saw
Speaker 1: it happen because we've seen how Colin Kaepernick has really
Speaker 1: been black ball from the NFL because of his stance. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean it's really hard for me to
Speaker 1: take anything they say at face value and seriously, just
Speaker 1: because I've been fooled too many times by it, and
Speaker 1: and you know the first time, you know, shame on
Speaker 1: them that they blew you twice, shame his, shame on you.
Speaker 1: It really is a shame on me if if I
Speaker 1: keep believing it, but they're sot him convincing. Are you
Speaker 1: Are you a fan of Kaepernick? Yeah, definitely. I was
Speaker 1: a huge fan of him when he was coming out
Speaker 1: of the vat. In fact, I had talked to Jim
Speaker 1: Harbaugh about him a lot, and sure enough, you know,
Speaker 1: he moved up and grabbed him there at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the second round, and I thought that was a
Speaker 1: wonderful fit. Um. I have a really unique perspective when
Speaker 1: it comes to, you know, a law and order in
Speaker 1: this country because I was an actual criminal right and um,
Speaker 1: and the night they came and arrested me, I was
Speaker 1: high out of my mind. I had committed a crime,
Speaker 1: you know, and at no point did I ever fear
Speaker 1: for my life, and I never have when it's come
Speaker 1: to police. And that's that's like the epitome of white privilege.
Speaker 1: And you have to have empathy around the idea of
Speaker 1: like if you're a person of color in this country
Speaker 1: and you get pulled over by the police or engaged
Speaker 1: with the police at any time, like there's a real,
Speaker 1: honest to god fear that you could die in that moment.
Speaker 1: That's that's what I've that's what I've really looked at.
Speaker 1: I haven't tried to look at incredible nuances to it that.
Speaker 1: I just that's cut and dry. For me. I wasn't
Speaker 1: in that moment fearful for my life. I didn't think
Speaker 1: I was going to die from the police. I actually
Speaker 1: thought they were gonna take care of me. They were
Speaker 1: gonna put me in a car and take me to
Speaker 1: a jail cell and I was going to be safe.
Speaker 1: And Um, when a person of the caller in our
Speaker 1: country is engaged with the police, they are fearful that
Speaker 1: they are going to lose their life. And that's exactly
Speaker 1: what Colin was trying to trying to exemplify with this protest.
Speaker 1: It just it just took an unbelievable different spin when
Speaker 1: people we wanted to look at it in a different
Speaker 1: lights about you know, our military and patriotism and stuff,
Speaker 1: when when it had nothing to do with that. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a big fantist, But do you think though that
Speaker 1: the message was just bad in the way that it
Speaker 1: was presented to me, because you could have that stance
Speaker 1: for obviously social justice and the racial issue and the
Speaker 1: component with that against the police. But when you have anybody,
Speaker 1: let alone a quarterback of a National Football League team
Speaker 1: we're in socks with with pigs on him identifying a
Speaker 1: police officers and Fidel Castro shirts like don't you don't
Speaker 1: you think that that message out there also is seen
Speaker 1: for the masses and can be misconstrued. Definitely, definitely disappointing.
Speaker 1: You know, We're flawed human beings. I've messed up a ton.
Speaker 1: I continue to mess up, you know. Um, I'm willing
Speaker 1: to listen to him and accepted apology for doing it. Um,
Speaker 1: his larger message is one that I can rally behind,
Speaker 1: but I'm not. I don't are blinders to the fact
Speaker 1: that those are those are things that actually exist, right, UM.
Speaker 1: I have enough empathy to understand that. You know, you know,
Speaker 1: no matter how um large of a pedestal we get
Speaker 1: placed upon, we're still flawed human beings like everybody else,
Speaker 1: and we messed up all the time. That's just I
Speaker 1: think that's what makes me so much more relatable when
Speaker 1: I travel around the country and speak. They they're in
Speaker 1: the room and they're like, you know, we're just like
Speaker 1: each other. You know, we screw up. We have principles
Speaker 1: and values and and we don't live up to our
Speaker 1: expectations and O those expectations a lot of the time.
Speaker 1: And clearly those are a couple of instances that people are,
Speaker 1: you know, a point to and understandable. I understand people
Speaker 1: when they have those those points to make. And I
Speaker 1: and my response to him, like to yours, it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I understand it. It's disappointed. I've accepted as a his
Speaker 1: acknowledgement of messing up and the larger message and what
Speaker 1: he's trying to come across I think is more important.
Speaker 1: And uh, and that's why I've I've been a supporter
Speaker 1: of this. Yeah, And I think on that note to Ryan,
Speaker 1: the one area that makes you unique, and I think
Speaker 1: this just speaks for the mass, is whether you're an athlete,
Speaker 1: a politician, a musician, a journalist, is that you're admitting,
Speaker 1: and you have admitted, you've fucked up and you've done wrong,
Speaker 1: and you're and you're not perfect. There are people that
Speaker 1: will just hit the gas and they just continue to
Speaker 1: drive right through a wall and not acknowledge and not
Speaker 1: be at the heat part of it. It's a huge
Speaker 1: part of it. Like you count you know what I
Speaker 1: found that was really difficult, Like when I was playing,
Speaker 1: I could not own up to my ship. I couldn't.
Speaker 1: I don't know why. I thought it was weakness and
Speaker 1: vulnerability and transparency, accountability and the most it costs you nothing,
Speaker 1: It doesn't you know, it costs you nothing to to
Speaker 1: just be honest and say, hey, this happened. I'm not perfect,
Speaker 1: I want to be better. What am I just? What
Speaker 1: am I supposed to do? Just call it? Quit, end
Speaker 1: it all? Right now. I know a lot of you
Speaker 1: might want me to do that, but I'm just not
Speaker 1: built that way. I'm gonna get back up, you know.
Speaker 1: I'm going to continue to trudge forward and try to
Speaker 1: be the best possible version of myself I can, because
Speaker 1: that's that's what I do, and I'm going to continue
Speaker 1: to do it, plain and simple. Hey, Ryan, you know
Speaker 1: I do the Overnight show, So we have an interesting
Speaker 1: eclectic group of people listen to my my show, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, beyont mean a lot of people who are
Speaker 1: up all night. They're fighting the demons of substance abuse
Speaker 1: and whatnot. You've been through the battle. Uh. And if
Speaker 1: someone happens to stumble upon this, You've talked about a
Speaker 1: few things. But if you could sum it up in
Speaker 1: a couple of sentences, what advice would you give a
Speaker 1: person who's listening to this is Like, you know, I
Speaker 1: kind of had some issues like Ryan, but I'm not
Speaker 1: a former NFL player, So what advice would you give
Speaker 1: that person? Well? Play and simple? If I could do this,
Speaker 1: anybody can you know? That's the that's the that's the
Speaker 1: honest scout true right in a complete public eye in
Speaker 1: front of everybody, every time I messed up, you know,
Speaker 1: Sports Center banner, you know, um complete joke. But all
Speaker 1: this stuff like and I'm going to tell you that
Speaker 1: was probably it was probably easier for me than it
Speaker 1: is for you because you're doing it in the darkness
Speaker 1: and no one may know, and you feel isolated. You
Speaker 1: feel alone, you don't feel like anybody cares. Let me
Speaker 1: tell you right now, I care. And if you want
Speaker 1: to reach out to me, my my direct messages are
Speaker 1: open on every social media platform. You wouldn't believe the
Speaker 1: amount of messages from people since the pandemic started probably
Speaker 1: at least ten thousand that we've answered and got people
Speaker 1: in in help or just just people just need somebody
Speaker 1: to listen to hear that you're struggling and that it's
Speaker 1: gonna be okay. I know that you're not alone, and
Speaker 1: asking for help is the strongest thing you can ever do.
Speaker 1: I can attest to that. If I can do this,
Speaker 1: anybody can. So, UM, you've got to surrender and access
Speaker 1: the help, and uh, we're willing to help. That's great,
Speaker 1: good advice. So you can reach out to the Ryan
Speaker 1: I wanted to tell I wanted to ask you actually
Speaker 1: because I was covering the Lakers when you were at
Speaker 1: Washington State and it was right around the draft I
Speaker 1: think it was. So I was at the forum and
Speaker 1: I remember there was a little bit of buzz you
Speaker 1: would come you were you were at a game, and
Speaker 1: you were kind of I think, if I remember correctly,
Speaker 1: you were in the in the locker room. Do you
Speaker 1: do you recall that or my imagining things here? No,
Speaker 1: it was, well, the first Laker game I ever went to.
Speaker 1: We were at the Rose Bowl and so you were
Speaker 1: in college. Okay, we were college. We're getting ready for
Speaker 1: it was like a week before the Rose Bowl and
Speaker 1: we were in l a and uh Dr bust and
Speaker 1: his family invited h Charles Woodson and myself and we
Speaker 1: could bring a fellow teammate and we all we all
Speaker 1: went to the game and we were down there on courtside,
Speaker 1: and I got to meet Jim Carey. I remember doing
Speaker 1: that and the Laker girls and Dr bust And then
Speaker 1: because of that once I got drafted by the San
Speaker 1: Diego Chargers. Um I was up all the time as
Speaker 1: a guest of Dr buston Is at the Form Club,
Speaker 1: and I became close with Kobe and Kobe's assistant and
Speaker 1: my assistant had gone to high school high school together,
Speaker 1: so we became we became really close, you know. And
Speaker 1: especially when they got tough for me and his career
Speaker 1: kind of said take off. He was very empathetic and
Speaker 1: tried to help. He would always send me I'm looking
Speaker 1: at him right now in my office right now. I
Speaker 1: got like his rookie year, when lass rookie year, his
Speaker 1: first couple of years, when I had the Adidas deal on,
Speaker 1: he had these K eight shoes. He would always give
Speaker 1: me or send my brothers his pairs of shoes after
Speaker 1: the game, and I got a I got a pair
Speaker 1: of his shoes sitting right here I look at every
Speaker 1: day in my office, and um, I'm missing Dearly. We
Speaker 1: lost connection, of course because of how successful he became
Speaker 1: and how um dysfunctional I did. But um, yeah, I
Speaker 1: used to love being able to do that and be
Speaker 1: Dr Buss was such a welcoming person, and you know,
Speaker 1: he was kind of from a small town guy that
Speaker 1: made it big in the big city and I used
Speaker 1: to do that a lot. So definitely, Uh yeah, I
Speaker 1: read heard me in the locker room. Yeah, because I
Speaker 1: was there, and I remember I remember the night that
Speaker 1: I recall and I guess it might have been the
Speaker 1: Rose Bull thing. But you were like waiting for a
Speaker 1: cab outside back before Uber was a thing in that
Speaker 1: little tunnel at at the Forum. I so it was
Speaker 1: Jerry Buss, a legendary figure in in l A sports
Speaker 1: and in sports ownership. And uh he he liked to
Speaker 1: have a good time, so you he were like you
Speaker 1: buddies with him. How often would you talk to him?
Speaker 1: And did you have actual like a friendship give you
Speaker 1: tickets and stuff like that? Oh yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: I'd call his assistant and you know, and say, I
Speaker 1: wanted me and my boys wanted to come up, and
Speaker 1: you know that's at the resident we'd eat, we sit
Speaker 1: with him in the forum from and have dinner with them,
Speaker 1: and then you'd have tickets either in his suite or UM.
Speaker 1: He'd have ticket down before for me, um my boys.
Speaker 1: I mean it was. I mean, you're two years old
Speaker 1: Montana boy living this life. It's it was. It was
Speaker 1: really really cool and you know you're watching your heroes
Speaker 1: um play play basketball and it was pretty pretty pretty
Speaker 1: fun deal. Ryan, did you get a chance to I mean,
Speaker 1: because obviously the commute from San Diego to Los Angeles
Speaker 1: is not long, um, but Dr Buss was known to
Speaker 1: to go down to del mar Um quite a bit.
Speaker 1: So did you ever get a chance to play poker
Speaker 1: with Dr Buss? No? I never played poker with him.
Speaker 1: I was not I've never been a good poker player
Speaker 1: and I don't really like it, um, but I did, Uh.
Speaker 1: I did invite him one time down to UM. I
Speaker 1: was del mar Um horse racing member and so um
Speaker 1: the turf club there. I had him down one time
Speaker 1: where we uh where we watched the horse races and
Speaker 1: got to be a part of all that and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. So I think I was the last time
Speaker 1: I probably saw him, to be honest with you. Now,
Speaker 1: you after you left the Charges, you bashed around a
Speaker 1: little bit. You played a few games with the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Did you have much interaction with Jerry Jones when you
Speaker 1: were in Dallas? Yeah, I'm unbelievable to play for him. Uh.
Speaker 1: I was a Steelers fan growing up, so I wasn't
Speaker 1: really keen on being a Dallas Cowboy. But there's something
Speaker 1: about walking out of that stating with a star on
Speaker 1: your helmet. Um. And if you play for him, you're
Speaker 1: his guy regardless. I mean you are. He's as loyal
Speaker 1: as they come if you are a Dallas Cowboy. I remember, Um,
Speaker 1: you know when when when I needed to get back
Speaker 1: to Montana in the off season to visit some family
Speaker 1: because my grandfather had passed away recently. Um, he he
Speaker 1: loaned me his jet, let me take his jet to
Speaker 1: Montana to be with my family and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: I mean, so that's that's the kind of guy that
Speaker 1: he that he is. UM. I guarantee you I can
Speaker 1: call him up today if if I was in a
Speaker 1: in need and and needed needed some some guidance, some help. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, once you're a cowboy, your cowboy forever. Pretty cool.
Speaker 1: And now I want to circle back to the draft.
Speaker 1: So next next week is the big the big event
Speaker 1: here the draft. Outside of Trevor Lawrence as a former
Speaker 1: court back, Ryan, when you look at the other quarterments,
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of cubis. We could see four or
Speaker 1: five cubes drafted like rat a tat tat. Right at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the draft, which of the other guys
Speaker 1: really stands out that you think is going to be
Speaker 1: the guy? Well, my list consists of Trevor Lawrence, one,
Speaker 1: Justin Fields two Um, and then there's a Tassa. You know,
Speaker 1: if you're looking for the highest ceiling I'd probably say
Speaker 1: Trey Lance is probably one of the highest ceiling. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, Zack Wilson and Mac Jones very capable, accurate,
Speaker 1: strong arms. UM. David's Mills for me is a guy
Speaker 1: that that people have slept on. I would have hoped
Speaker 1: for him to come back another year, having only started
Speaker 1: twelve games in his college career, but he's got first
Speaker 1: round talent and it wouldn't surprise me if the team
Speaker 1: snuck up into the late first round like they did
Speaker 1: with Lamar Jackson a few years back to get a
Speaker 1: get a quarterback in the first round so they get
Speaker 1: that fifth year option on them. So um, I think
Speaker 1: everything everything falls to Atlanta at at four. What they
Speaker 1: do with their pick will lay the dominoes for the
Speaker 1: rest of the night, because if they pass on a
Speaker 1: quarterback and um and move back and the team jumps
Speaker 1: up there to take that fourth quarterback, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: you know, probably five or six other teams that are
Speaker 1: clamoring to jump up with Cincinnati or Miami to get
Speaker 1: that fifth quarterback. Because but if they decide to stay
Speaker 1: foot draft Kyle Pitt or Jamaar Chase or um or
Speaker 1: Devonte Smith or or Micah Parson's defense on the on
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the football, uh, those other two
Speaker 1: quarterbacks can drop back always because for the next few picks,
Speaker 1: no one really needs the quarterback. I don't know what
Speaker 1: Detrait exactly is going to do, but I don't I don't.
Speaker 1: I think I think people would really poo poo the
Speaker 1: idea that they took a quarterback after spending all that
Speaker 1: money on Jared Jaw over the next two years. Ryan
Speaker 1: not to geek out a little bit, but I have
Speaker 1: to do this with the college level because you remember
Speaker 1: what Manning do an Indy when he had three and
Speaker 1: four wide receivers and what he did in Denver. And
Speaker 1: I bring that because of Mac Jones. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a he was a great player at Alabama, but he
Speaker 1: had Jalen Waddle, he had Davonte Smith and then he
Speaker 1: had Nag Harris in the backfield and John Matchi in
Speaker 1: the slot. So is that more of what Sarkeesian and
Speaker 1: Sabman did or was that on him? And do you
Speaker 1: think that even translates the national football he because in
Speaker 1: Alabama quarterbacks have not panned out well obviously in recent years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think he's I think he's I think he's remarkable.
Speaker 1: I think he made the Sarkeesian this last year because
Speaker 1: Steve kind of looked like he knew what he was
Speaker 1: doing with Ta and Jalen, but when push came to
Speaker 1: shot with a big game moment, uh, he looked lost
Speaker 1: in terms of how he went about his business, and
Speaker 1: Mac Jones made him look like a superstar. Mac Jones
Speaker 1: got him the Texas Longhorns head coaching job. Um Joe, gurl,
Speaker 1: what was it? Who was Joe Burrow throwing to Edwards Hilaire,
Speaker 1: UH with a bunch of bums out there. No, there's
Speaker 1: Jamar Jason, justin Jefferson, there's ballers, right, I mean, so,
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're gonna it's gonna knock Mac for it,
Speaker 1: you've gotta not Burrow for it too. And and I
Speaker 1: don't believe that to be the case at all. Howcome
Speaker 1: to UH and Jalen couldn't win a national championship um
Speaker 1: start to finish? You know what if the third guy
Speaker 1: in line was actually the best of the three. And
Speaker 1: so therefore I'm every I'm a huge, huge fan of
Speaker 1: Mac Jones. If he goes the third to San Francisco,
Speaker 1: I'll be I'll be, I'll be very very happy for him.
Speaker 1: I have no idea what San Francisco is going to do.
Speaker 1: John Beck, who is a quarterback guru and coach really
Speaker 1: close to Kyle Shanahan. Apparently Kyle had shuttled him off
Speaker 1: to to UH North Dakota to work with Trey before
Speaker 1: this last workout. So that makes me leave lean a
Speaker 1: little bit towards the body. Irons taking a leap um
Speaker 1: for the North Dakota state product at three we'll see,
Speaker 1: we'll find out. I think any of the three guys
Speaker 1: at Landed Standrancisco are gonna have great careers, all right,
Speaker 1: and right, you'll actually be in for our old, our
Speaker 1: former colleague, Rich eisen Right, You're gonna be hosting for
Speaker 1: him on the NFL Draft week, Is that correct? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So Rich is in the gonna be in Cleveland hosting
Speaker 1: UH NFL Draft stuff for NFL Network. Because of COVID,
Speaker 1: his his daily UH television and radio show. UM couldn't
Speaker 1: travel because of COVID, and so you know, you know,
Speaker 1: by the grace of God, he he has been a
Speaker 1: huge supporter of mine and gaving me opportunity after opportunity,
Speaker 1: and sure enough two of the biggest platforms day of
Speaker 1: the Draft or the day after the first round of
Speaker 1: the Draft. I'm gonna be hosting the Big Fellas UH
Speaker 1: TV and radio show both days. So excited about that.
Speaker 1: It gonna be a ton of talk about UM. Always
Speaker 1: have a blast with those guys on that show. UH
Speaker 1: can't write. It's gonna be a great week. Awesome, very cool.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your time, Ryan continued to Briany, good
Speaker 1: luck and we'll talk to you down line. Thank you
Speaker 1: you Betbellots take it easy, yeah, thanks great. Be sure
Speaker 1: to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays
Speaker 1: at two am eastern eleven pm Pacific. Be sure to
Speaker 1: catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at
Speaker 1: two am eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
Speaker 1: and the I Heart Radio app