1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:07,119
Speaker 1: Hi, am and s Williams. Welcome to the NFL Legends podcast.

2
00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,680
Speaker 1: I'm here with Bradley Bozeman and we're gonna talk about

3
00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,880
Speaker 1: reading our country with bullying and I would say a world.

4
00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:17,680
Speaker 1: We also talked about high in the world here and

5
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,439
Speaker 1: his wife lived in an RV while playing for the

6
00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:25,159
Speaker 1: raven for the Ravens for a year. And also the

7
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,440
Speaker 1: success in the admiration with the University of Alabama and

8
00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:33,559
Speaker 1: what has caused the consistency of the excellence competitive excellence

9
00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,320
Speaker 1: that Nick Saban taught not only the Bradley but every

10
00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,239
Speaker 1: young man that came through the University Alabama. Well, we're

11
00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,599
Speaker 1: gonna start with the house, Bradley, I'm hearing University Alabama

12
00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,720
Speaker 1: not all. This is just don't equate to me, all right,

13
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,120
Speaker 1: going to the Universe Alabama playing with the Ravens union

14
00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,080
Speaker 1: wife Nikki end up living in the r V. Let's

15
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,720
Speaker 1: just start there. How in the world does a professional

16
00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,279
Speaker 1: athlete end up living in the r V for an

17
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,520
Speaker 1: entire year. So we have the Bradley Nicky Boseman Foundation,

18
00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,600
Speaker 1: and it's a foundation that is based on childhood bulling

19
00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,280
Speaker 1: and we focused and fight against childhood bulling. We go

20
00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:12,880
Speaker 1: uh school to school, and then we were getting all

21
00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:18,199
Speaker 1: these conversations from you know, Arizona, Texas, California. I wanted

22
00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,360
Speaker 1: to fly us out to come to their schools to talk.

23
00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:21,920
Speaker 1: You know. We were like, well, we can't just fly

24
00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,880
Speaker 1: out every weekend. So we planned a trip. We bought

25
00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:26,960
Speaker 1: an r V and in the meantime we decided to

26
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,720
Speaker 1: live in the r V. Lived there for eleven months,

27
00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,600
Speaker 1: absolutely loved it, met some great neighbors. Nicky and I

28
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,120
Speaker 1: worked on a communication skills because there's nowhere to hide

29
00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,240
Speaker 1: in the in the r V. So you know, it

30
00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,040
Speaker 1: was just a great experience. We bought a house right

31
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,720
Speaker 1: before COVID and didn't have to go through quarantine and

32
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,560
Speaker 1: in the trailer, so happy about that. But uh yeah,

33
00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,800
Speaker 1: it was an amazing experience. And went across country to

34
00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,160
Speaker 1: um from Maryland to California and back and talked to

35
00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,800
Speaker 1: over ten thousand students in twenty two different states. Now, Brad,

36
00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:58,960
Speaker 1: I'm looking at you. You're not a little guy, so

37
00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,520
Speaker 1: it's not like you walking around high school with somebody

38
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,400
Speaker 1: bullying you. How did you end up with this passion

39
00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:09,640
Speaker 1: to anti bullying when you were probably least likely at

40
00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:11,640
Speaker 1: least once you got you got to high school to

41
00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:13,800
Speaker 1: be bullied, right. So for me, you know, I was

42
00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:15,320
Speaker 1: always tell the kids they look like a gust s

43
00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,239
Speaker 1: glue from Tarling and Chocolate Factory. I was like a

44
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,760
Speaker 1: gust of Schluey from Charlton and the chocolate factory. So

45
00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:22,880
Speaker 1: you know he falls in the in the chocolate fountain

46
00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:24,960
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. But um, I was a big

47
00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,079
Speaker 1: teddy bear. You know, I was a big kid teddy bear.

48
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,240
Speaker 1: People taking advantage of that and they bullyed me. They

49
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,960
Speaker 1: picked on me. I had a um a reading challenge

50
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,959
Speaker 1: when at a young age, I was called stupid, slow,

51
00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:37,800
Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it. You know that that

52
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,400
Speaker 1: affected me. And so looking back and Nicky was the

53
00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,760
Speaker 1: same way. Nikki is six ft Once she played basketballt

54
00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:44,920
Speaker 1: University of Alabama. She was the tallest kid in her

55
00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,960
Speaker 1: grade for a really long time. People uh picked on

56
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,240
Speaker 1: her for that. And so we we saw that we

57
00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,360
Speaker 1: were asked to come to a school or actually do

58
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,880
Speaker 1: a video for this little girl that was getting picked

59
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,920
Speaker 1: on simply because of her her race. You know, she

60
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,799
Speaker 1: was beautiful, she was smart, she was athletic. I mean

61
00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,240
Speaker 1: she was everything that a kid wanted to be. But

62
00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,640
Speaker 1: she wasn't the right race apparently to some of these kids.

63
00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,160
Speaker 1: So we were asked to do a video, and we said, well,

64
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:10,959
Speaker 1: instead of doing the video, why don't we just come

65
00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,520
Speaker 1: down to the school and talk to the girl and

66
00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,959
Speaker 1: the kids that are buoying. So get down there. And

67
00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,600
Speaker 1: the principle was like, well, you know, we set up assembly,

68
00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,480
Speaker 1: so you guys, if you don't mind just talking to

69
00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,400
Speaker 1: the old school, if you knowing me at the time,

70
00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,919
Speaker 1: not a public speaker, like sweaty hands, like summing over

71
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,760
Speaker 1: my words, like I just can't hold myself together. But

72
00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,000
Speaker 1: my wife is like she thrives and she loves it.

73
00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:34,839
Speaker 1: So she's like, no, we're gonna do this. She's gonna

74
00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,200
Speaker 1: be fine. And so she was my girlfriend at the time,

75
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:39,520
Speaker 1: and so we got in there, we started talking, the

76
00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,880
Speaker 1: words started to flow, and the emotion started rolling, and

77
00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,320
Speaker 1: it was just it was such a beautiful thing that

78
00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,040
Speaker 1: had happened there. We got to the car and her

79
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,560
Speaker 1: and I both just started started bawling. I mean, it

80
00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:50,280
Speaker 1: was like, this is this is what we're called to do.

81
00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,600
Speaker 1: So now we've talked over a hundred thousand students since

82
00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,280
Speaker 1: two thousand and eighteen, and it's been such a life

83
00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,640
Speaker 1: changing organization for us. And then we switched to Food

84
00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,720
Speaker 1: and Secure. After Food and Security after once COVID kind

85
00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:05,480
Speaker 1: of shut down all the schools and everything. So we

86
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,880
Speaker 1: fed one point four million meals over the last five

87
00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:13,080
Speaker 1: months to Baltimore area. Why did you get this philanthropic spirit?

88
00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:15,440
Speaker 1: Why did you guys get this from so our parents?

89
00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,400
Speaker 1: I mean, nick and I were both blessed to grow

90
00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,240
Speaker 1: up with amazing parents that taught us life lessons and

91
00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,240
Speaker 1: values of being a good person and helping others. And

92
00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:25,000
Speaker 1: then Nicky and I kind of just took that ran

93
00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,360
Speaker 1: with it. We had the opportunity, were given the platform

94
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,159
Speaker 1: by the NFL, by football, and to have that platform

95
00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,560
Speaker 1: and not use it, I feel like it's a little selfish.

96
00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,080
Speaker 1: So to to use that and to try to take

97
00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,520
Speaker 1: this to another level and to help as many people

98
00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,760
Speaker 1: as we can. It is such a big passion of ours.

99
00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,200
Speaker 1: Why did you and Nikki discover what you've been teased about?

100
00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:51,000
Speaker 1: Your big right and she's tall, end up playing basketball,

101
00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,560
Speaker 1: You end up playing football. I was also a tease

102
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,120
Speaker 1: feet too big, No, it's too big. He was too

103
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,280
Speaker 1: big and I had to dip in my head. But

104
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,480
Speaker 1: those big feet allowed me to cover ground. Then big

105
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:06,560
Speaker 1: nos allowed me to breed them more air so I

106
00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,520
Speaker 1: could have endurance. When did you guys realize that what

107
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,080
Speaker 1: you're being teased about became your assets? Yeah? Absolutely, And

108
00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,599
Speaker 1: that's what that's what our mention is to the kids, like,

109
00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:20,560
Speaker 1: you don't know what you know Jim or John is

110
00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,120
Speaker 1: going to turn them to be. You don't know what

111
00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,719
Speaker 1: their future holds for them. You don't know their background

112
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:26,479
Speaker 1: at home, you know, you don't you don't know what's

113
00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:28,960
Speaker 1: going on behind closed doors. And for us, you know,

114
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,880
Speaker 1: to to go out and use that and to um

115
00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,040
Speaker 1: show these kids that you know, athletes and you know

116
00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,960
Speaker 1: professional athletes and college athletes go through the same thing

117
00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,520
Speaker 1: as as they're going through and to give them a voice,

118
00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,800
Speaker 1: to someone to talk to and someone to to relate

119
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,800
Speaker 1: with is just so powerful to us. So a lot

120
00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,159
Speaker 1: of the young people that you guys spoke with, do

121
00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,160
Speaker 1: you find they think that we're exempt as far as

122
00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,400
Speaker 1: athletes because we're in this bubble. Do they look at

123
00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,120
Speaker 1: athletes say Okay, they can't relate to like what you

124
00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,000
Speaker 1: just said. They don't understand what it's like being bullied.

125
00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,240
Speaker 1: Il could Bradley, who was at the University Alabama, come

126
00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,039
Speaker 1: back now and tell us our story. So how do

127
00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,120
Speaker 1: you get them to realize that we're just everyday people. Yeah,

128
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:13,719
Speaker 1: so we just we tell them our story. We start

129
00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:15,479
Speaker 1: from the top, you know, like I told you, we

130
00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,240
Speaker 1: start with I like a gusts plue from Charlie and

131
00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,040
Speaker 1: Chocolate Factory. You know, Nikki goes through her her whole

132
00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,040
Speaker 1: her story was a bus situation where this kid picked

133
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,120
Speaker 1: on her every single day the bus every single day,

134
00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,520
Speaker 1: would not leave her a long just constantly was just

135
00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,760
Speaker 1: just harassing her. She saw that there was a flower

136
00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,560
Speaker 1: for basketball trits practicing the mornings and you practicing that

137
00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,599
Speaker 1: from so for her, hey, I get off the bus.

138
00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,680
Speaker 1: So that turned into playing, getting the scholarship and play

139
00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,560
Speaker 1: at the University of Alabama starting for four years, you know,

140
00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,320
Speaker 1: doing such amazing things. I mean, she's a better athlete

141
00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,720
Speaker 1: than I am, but but I mean, you know, it's

142
00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,640
Speaker 1: just that for her turned into something very special. And

143
00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,040
Speaker 1: so to to use that and to talk to these

144
00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,360
Speaker 1: kids and just be real, like just be every day

145
00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:02,400
Speaker 1: people to them. And we always open up the floor

146
00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,599
Speaker 1: at the end of the day whenever we're talking these kids,

147
00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,599
Speaker 1: we've talked to fifth through eighth grade. For the most part,

148
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,040
Speaker 1: I think no one's gonna share their story, no one's

149
00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,320
Speaker 1: gonna talk about what's going on. But every we've never

150
00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,440
Speaker 1: had a session where a kid didn't raise a hand

151
00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,600
Speaker 1: and start talking. And I mean, just it's the most

152
00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,240
Speaker 1: powerful thing. You're sitting there, You're listening to these kids

153
00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,480
Speaker 1: that are, you know, twelve fourteen years old. They're talking

154
00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,640
Speaker 1: about committing suicide and talking about, you know, wanting to

155
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:33,360
Speaker 1: kill theirselves and just all this powerful stuff. As a

156
00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,720
Speaker 1: thirteen year old, I've never thought of And you know,

157
00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,880
Speaker 1: they shouldn't have a care in the world. It shouldn't

158
00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,200
Speaker 1: it shouldn't be an issue for them just to go

159
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,480
Speaker 1: and live and love life. There's with social media, there's

160
00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:49,000
Speaker 1: been such a rise in in suicide rates and young adults.

161
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,800
Speaker 1: So to to try to change that, to try to

162
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,920
Speaker 1: help and try to to take that statistic down, it's

163
00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,239
Speaker 1: such a big cost to us, you know, social media.

164
00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,240
Speaker 1: When I even when I was growing up, you know,

165
00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,520
Speaker 1: I went to school, I'd get picked on, I got home.

166
00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,400
Speaker 1: I was safe. For these kids, they wake up in

167
00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,040
Speaker 1: the morning, it's on theirselves. They go to schools. At school,

168
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:10,800
Speaker 1: they get home, they get on their video games, on

169
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,400
Speaker 1: the video games, and it's on everything. There's so much

170
00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,960
Speaker 1: access to these young people and they're constantly going through

171
00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,880
Speaker 1: this this challenge every single day. It makes sense, and

172
00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,720
Speaker 1: it makes sense why why suicide rates have risen so

173
00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,760
Speaker 1: high for young adults. It's a second leading killer among

174
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:31,000
Speaker 1: young teens. What I hear is when you do those assemblies,

175
00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,559
Speaker 1: not only the victims, but it has to be enlightening

176
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,560
Speaker 1: for those that are building absolutely when they now here

177
00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,640
Speaker 1: what the impact of what they're really doing absolutely right. So,

178
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,319
Speaker 1: Denzel washed you to play the movie called Equalize It,

179
00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,880
Speaker 1: where if somebody was done wrong, he's this uber driver

180
00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,439
Speaker 1: guy and he'd go right it. How do you manage

181
00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,679
Speaker 1: your passion when you see someone I saw someone being bullied,

182
00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,880
Speaker 1: but now you're this big guy. How did you manage that?

183
00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:03,839
Speaker 1: What you did? Hey be about to stop, leave you,

184
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:05,960
Speaker 1: but leave him on? How did you balance that in

185
00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:08,520
Speaker 1: terms of manage it to make sure you didn't go

186
00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,160
Speaker 1: now I'm gonna thump you said you bully somebody else?

187
00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,560
Speaker 1: How did you manage that? Um, it's a great opportunity

188
00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:16,560
Speaker 1: when you see it, especially now knowing everything that I

189
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,000
Speaker 1: know going through the things that I've gone through to

190
00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,040
Speaker 1: be able to use it as a learning tool, to

191
00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,160
Speaker 1: be able to walk over and it's like, all right,

192
00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,640
Speaker 1: so how is this making you feel? How is this

193
00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:27,600
Speaker 1: making you feel? Why are you doing this? Because usually

194
00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,640
Speaker 1: there's an underlying issue with the kid that is bullying.

195
00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,959
Speaker 1: There's an underlying issue, whether it's home life, it's school,

196
00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,280
Speaker 1: it's it's something, and they're they're using, you know, picking

197
00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,880
Speaker 1: on someone else as a either a cry for help

198
00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,960
Speaker 1: or a just just to relieve theirselves and to be

199
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,160
Speaker 1: able to go and neutralize that situation. I think there's

200
00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,760
Speaker 1: a set out there that even for kids to intervene,

201
00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:58,280
Speaker 1: there's one person intervenes on someone being bullied two percent

202
00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,120
Speaker 1: of the time, the bullying stops for the remainder of

203
00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:06,000
Speaker 1: the year or the remainder of the lifetime. So it's um,

204
00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:07,840
Speaker 1: you know, your your voice is a very powerful no

205
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,400
Speaker 1: matter how big or small it is. Speaking of bullying,

206
00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,880
Speaker 1: how do you keep people from bullying? Let's transition to

207
00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:17,120
Speaker 1: the ring events. How do you keep guys from bullying Lamar?

208
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,280
Speaker 1: When Lamar runs? What is that like? What is it

209
00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,040
Speaker 1: like blocking for Lamar Jackson? The dual threat? What is

210
00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,240
Speaker 1: that like? It's I mean, it's great as always start

211
00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:29,720
Speaker 1: with Lamar is. Lamar is a better person than teammate

212
00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:32,800
Speaker 1: that is a football player. And guys had every opportunity

213
00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,440
Speaker 1: to have a big head, to be arrogant, to to

214
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,720
Speaker 1: go and just be this the snob. But he hasn't.

215
00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:40,800
Speaker 1: The guy has stayed the same person as he walked

216
00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,080
Speaker 1: in those doors, hungry and driven. I mean, he's just

217
00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,800
Speaker 1: the ultimate teammate, the ultimate person. I mean, guy shows

218
00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,319
Speaker 1: up at at our charity events, he's you know, he

219
00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,120
Speaker 1: does everything. He's being mobbed by people and he's just

220
00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,560
Speaker 1: like it's fine, Like I'm not I'm not worried about this,

221
00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:57,200
Speaker 1: you know. He said, I was like, thank you so

222
00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:59,480
Speaker 1: much for coming to our to our event. He's like,

223
00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:03,160
Speaker 1: that's we're family. That's that's what we do. Like, Lamar

224
00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,720
Speaker 1: is just he's an amazing person. But blocking for him

225
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,960
Speaker 1: is a whole another animal. That guys is special to

226
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,000
Speaker 1: get us out of situations where things are looking too great.

227
00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:16,240
Speaker 1: I mean he is, he is a great, great football player,

228
00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:17,720
Speaker 1: and he gets me out of a lot of sicks.

229
00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,800
Speaker 1: So that helps a lot too. So you gotta you

230
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,320
Speaker 1: gotta just stay blocking with him. You know, you gotta

231
00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,760
Speaker 1: stay engage the entire time because you never know he's

232
00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,000
Speaker 1: gonna end up, but he usually makes it look good.

233
00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,959
Speaker 1: So when your office of alignement and you have a

234
00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,360
Speaker 1: mobile guy like Lamar, first I got a chance to

235
00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,560
Speaker 1: know him. We uh we actually Hall of Famous win

236
00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,520
Speaker 1: against he and some other current players on family feud, right,

237
00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,679
Speaker 1: and just to shout out and make sure everybody know

238
00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,400
Speaker 1: we beat him. So but that's what I meant and

239
00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,520
Speaker 1: realized his humility is probably the power of the secret,

240
00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,920
Speaker 1: absolutely of that ability. As an office of lineman. Take

241
00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,920
Speaker 1: us into when you have a jewel at the quarterback

242
00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:05,320
Speaker 1: position like that, how do you guys see man like

243
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:07,760
Speaker 1: if somebody trying to bully him, like hitting him on

244
00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,680
Speaker 1: the ground something like that, how do you guys view that?

245
00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,280
Speaker 1: As an office the line unit, You're you're gonna protect

246
00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,440
Speaker 1: those those type of guys, I mean, like they're the

247
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,520
Speaker 1: family jewels. You know that those guys are special. Now

248
00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,680
Speaker 1: you get some you get some quarterbacks that are arrogant

249
00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,280
Speaker 1: or cocky or whatever you want to call it, and

250
00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,320
Speaker 1: you want to protect him. Obviously that's your job. That's

251
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,280
Speaker 1: that's what there we're there for, you know, But you

252
00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,800
Speaker 1: know you're not you're gonna have their back. But at

253
00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:33,199
Speaker 1: the same time, when you have a guy like Lamar,

254
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,600
Speaker 1: like you know, you'll live and die by the guy.

255
00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:37,959
Speaker 1: You know, he's just a he like you said, he's

256
00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,400
Speaker 1: a jewel, like he's a great teammate, not just a

257
00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:48,240
Speaker 1: great quarterback. The final question has released to professionally what

258
00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:53,240
Speaker 1: makes a good officer the line um and the key line,

259
00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,040
Speaker 1: because you guys have to be on the same page, right.

260
00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,760
Speaker 1: It's communication and just that opportunity to work together to

261
00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,280
Speaker 1: mesh too. I know, if I have a combination block

262
00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,440
Speaker 1: with my center, what foot he's stepping with and he

263
00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:08,120
Speaker 1: knows what a foot I'm said that we're not stepping

264
00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,560
Speaker 1: all over each other. We're not stumbling over each other

265
00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:12,920
Speaker 1: my tackle, I know what kind of pass pro said

266
00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,760
Speaker 1: he's gonna take, So that way I can adjust myself

267
00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,840
Speaker 1: with him. Because he's the initial setter, you know. So

268
00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,880
Speaker 1: if if he's setting flat, I can't set back because

269
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,200
Speaker 1: we're gonna get picked. But if he's you know, jumping

270
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,400
Speaker 1: way back and I'm setting up, I'm gonna get picked.

271
00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,920
Speaker 1: So it's just about knowing knowing your fellow offensive lineman

272
00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,559
Speaker 1: to go in there and just play balls to the wall.

273
00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,480
Speaker 1: Didn't know that those guys are gonna give you everything

274
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,160
Speaker 1: they have. So I think that's the definitely the key.

275
00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,040
Speaker 1: So here a couple of random questions. You're in the

276
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,600
Speaker 1: r V park, but that year you're at Nikky War

277
00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:50,240
Speaker 1: in the r V What was it like what your

278
00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:56,360
Speaker 1: neighbors seeing Brantley Ravens player living in their RV park?

279
00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:01,800
Speaker 1: What was that like? It was pretty common, honestly, So

280
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:03,679
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't, we don't. We don't talk

281
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,720
Speaker 1: about it much. You know, we're normal people, you know,

282
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:07,560
Speaker 1: we we just football is what we do for a living.

283
00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:09,760
Speaker 1: So the first time they found out was the first

284
00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,520
Speaker 1: two people that found out where they're groundsmen that worked there. Uh,

285
00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:14,880
Speaker 1: they're Gary and Bill. They're great people, you know, they

286
00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,880
Speaker 1: have great families. You know, they helped us out tremendously

287
00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:20,840
Speaker 1: through that whole like getting everything set up and getting

288
00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,600
Speaker 1: new gravel in and all types of stuff. But you know,

289
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,400
Speaker 1: it was definitely a funny. It was. It was funny.

290
00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,320
Speaker 1: It's like you've been been They didn't know for like

291
00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,120
Speaker 1: two months, Like you've been living here for two months

292
00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,040
Speaker 1: and we had no clue like that what you did?

293
00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,440
Speaker 1: They eventually asked me. And it's hard for me to

294
00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,840
Speaker 1: lie to people about what I do, so I'm just like, yeah,

295
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,520
Speaker 1: I played for the Ravens like like no way, and

296
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,640
Speaker 1: just they loved it, so you know, they kept on

297
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:44,480
Speaker 1: the download For the most part. We had some good

298
00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:48,160
Speaker 1: close neighbors that that were really respectful and uh, you know,

299
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,160
Speaker 1: they come over for dinner and different stuff. But um,

300
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,160
Speaker 1: they were so cared about the people we were rather

301
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:54,720
Speaker 1: than what we did for a living. So it was

302
00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,160
Speaker 1: it was always a good, good combination. All right. I

303
00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,000
Speaker 1: want to close out what I called the half Fields

304
00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:03,560
Speaker 1: and McCoy's. That's those families at always at war. University

305
00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:08,720
Speaker 1: of alban University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. You tell me you

306
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:14,040
Speaker 1: live within sixty miles of the University of Aubura. You

307
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,240
Speaker 1: end up going to the University of Alabama. First, did

308
00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,760
Speaker 1: anybody in your city give you an evil eye? He

309
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,200
Speaker 1: chose Alabama? Yeah, for sure. Um, you know there for

310
00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,000
Speaker 1: a while, I mean I was wearing some Auburge stuff.

311
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:29,560
Speaker 1: You know, I was a difference, and I would I

312
00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,000
Speaker 1: would start just wearing Aburge stuff just to make the

313
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:37,000
Speaker 1: Alabama people and everybody listening. No, there's no in between, Like,

314
00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:39,040
Speaker 1: it's not we all from the state of Alabama, we've

315
00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,800
Speaker 1: all been in Alaba, we all want them to win. No,

316
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,920
Speaker 1: it's if Alabama's in the National championship, albrage sharing for

317
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,600
Speaker 1: Hoover's playing against him, and vice versa the other way. So,

318
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,760
Speaker 1: I mean, you know it was growing up, it was

319
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:55,000
Speaker 1: there was no proteins. There was no you know, pro baseball, basketball, football, nothing.

320
00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:58,520
Speaker 1: It was Alabama or Auburn. And you know, if you

321
00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,760
Speaker 1: you whoever you picked at bird was who you stayed

322
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,080
Speaker 1: with the rest of your career. At birth, you were

323
00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,040
Speaker 1: you were your point. And this is like the baby

324
00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,200
Speaker 1: gets when they come out the womb, and then there

325
00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,520
Speaker 1: was a decision. There's a swaddle that's put on the

326
00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:17,840
Speaker 1: baby if it's Alabama Albard. So usually whatever, I'm serious. Yeah,

327
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:19,680
Speaker 1: I mean you kind of you're kind of born into

328
00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:21,480
Speaker 1: the family and you have the kids that kind of

329
00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,880
Speaker 1: branch off. But I want to be different. But um,

330
00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,760
Speaker 1: I grew up in an Alabama family. You know that.

331
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,480
Speaker 1: My my family was Alabama. My grandmother was Auburn. She

332
00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,400
Speaker 1: absolutely loved album. My dad was was Alabama. You know,

333
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,360
Speaker 1: it was, yes, definitely, you you picked the team you

334
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:37,920
Speaker 1: you rocked with him, But yeah, I love messing with

335
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,480
Speaker 1: my people in my hometown because they were like, Oh,

336
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,360
Speaker 1: you're gonna go to Auburn. Nope, it's like you're going

337
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,360
Speaker 1: to Alabama. I don't know yet, but yeah, So I

338
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,600
Speaker 1: grew up, you know, forty five minutes from Auburn UM.

339
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,360
Speaker 1: But I loved Alabama. Alabama was my was my team,

340
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,480
Speaker 1: was my dream. That's what I dreamed of doing my

341
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,440
Speaker 1: entire life. Yeah, I told my dad was really young

342
00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:57,720
Speaker 1: kids like I want to win Multipleness Championships. I wanna

343
00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,600
Speaker 1: be a team captain. As ten years old, you know,

344
00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:03,160
Speaker 1: I want to do all these these great things. I

345
00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:04,639
Speaker 1: want to win the Rimmington Award. I want to win

346
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,840
Speaker 1: you know, I want to do all these things. Was

347
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,280
Speaker 1: ten years old, you know about all the names of

348
00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,399
Speaker 1: Eastward Yeah, I mean yeah, I did. I loved it

349
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,000
Speaker 1: like we I loved album football and it was my

350
00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,160
Speaker 1: dream to go and play there. And so, Nick Saban,

351
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,560
Speaker 1: how do you first come in contact with the universal

352
00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:25,480
Speaker 1: out of men when it comes down to recruiting? When

353
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,960
Speaker 1: did you meet Nick? So? I met coach Saban after

354
00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,680
Speaker 1: my freshman year. So I was in finish up ninth grade.

355
00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,840
Speaker 1: I had. We had connections through UM Tommy Hill, which

356
00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:42,240
Speaker 1: was our UM apparel provider, and he had connections with

357
00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,440
Speaker 1: the coaching staff up there, and he got me in contact.

358
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,399
Speaker 1: We changed information that got me up to a thing.

359
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,480
Speaker 1: It was a day, so I got up there and

360
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,199
Speaker 1: then coach Saban is coming around in his you know,

361
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,520
Speaker 1: his blue suit. He always wears a funny colored suit

362
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,880
Speaker 1: whenever a day. And so it's like the spring game.

363
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:01,960
Speaker 1: So it's like, you know, the red team versus white team,

364
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,720
Speaker 1: the offense firsus defense, and so you know he comes around.

365
00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,240
Speaker 1: It's like, holy smokes, that's that's an excapment right there.

366
00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,119
Speaker 1: And so you know, we got got the picture and

367
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,800
Speaker 1: shook hands, you know, did the whole whole spill, and

368
00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:13,600
Speaker 1: you know, it was great, and then went on from there.

369
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,000
Speaker 1: We went over fifty visits there UM, So it was

370
00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,479
Speaker 1: it was a great experience going through there and and

371
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,560
Speaker 1: having the opportunity to play. Last question, what would you

372
00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:27,240
Speaker 1: say is the key to close sab in the universe

373
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,960
Speaker 1: of Alabama success? Why have they been had? They have

374
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,439
Speaker 1: great talent, a lot of teams do. How has he

375
00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,280
Speaker 1: managed to be consistently excellent? I would say discipline and

376
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,960
Speaker 1: probably mental strength. He he builds mental strength, their mental character.

377
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,480
Speaker 1: Everything is geared towards that. Our practices are geared towards

378
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,760
Speaker 1: you know, gonna break you down. Are running conditioning is

379
00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,600
Speaker 1: gonna break you down. And just to have that that

380
00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,520
Speaker 1: mental fortitude to continue to go forward and make your

381
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,760
Speaker 1: legs take that extra step to just you know that

382
00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,440
Speaker 1: the practice to go that extra period, it's just it's

383
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,520
Speaker 1: it builds it in you. Wow. This has been great. Absolutely,

384
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,920
Speaker 1: thank you, Thank you very much. Please tell Ma you

385
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:11,600
Speaker 1: we say a little keep up the great work too.

386
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:18,880
Speaker 1: I will do I'll stand well do. Yeah. This has

387
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,000
Speaker 1: been the NFL Legends podcast. To provide feedback or request

388
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,440
Speaker 1: a topic for discussion, email us at NFL Legends at

389
00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:38,639
Speaker 1: nfl dot com