Speaker 1: Welcome to the Sports Bubble, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio Entree Fork Media. My name is Jensen carp and
Speaker 1: I'm a sports which means I've spent the last forty
Speaker 1: eight hours staring at this Patrick Mahomes contract extension. Listen,
Speaker 1: he deserves it, He's the best quarterback in the league.
Speaker 1: But ten years I don't even know what I'll be
Speaker 1: doing ten minutes from now to find that kind of
Speaker 1: gig in this climate. God bless that man. Considering what's
Speaker 1: happened in the last three months, though, I have to
Speaker 1: assume they'll be playing football in those weird clear bubble spheres,
Speaker 1: competing against x mocking A like robot dolls, and having
Speaker 1: playbooks digitally implanted into their heads when this contract runs out.
Speaker 1: It's now officially a Casey dynasty if you ask me.
Speaker 1: And you know what they say. When one door opens,
Speaker 1: another one into Sean Jackson's house closes, and I'm still
Speaker 1: talking to athletes and sports industry professionals about what they're
Speaker 1: doing during this very weird time, because someone has to
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Sports Bubble with Jensen carly Right. Phillips
Speaker 1: found soccer superstardom in a rather unique way. The English
Speaker 1: born forward started his career with Manchester City in the
Speaker 1: Premier League, but never found his groove, landing himself on
Speaker 1: second and third tier teams, prompting a move to the
Speaker 1: States and Major League Soccer, and where he may have
Speaker 1: stalled at home, he excelled abroad. As part of the
Speaker 1: New York Red Bulls. He became one of the league's
Speaker 1: all time greats as a two time Golden Boot winner,
Speaker 1: two time All Star, and three time Team MVP. The
Speaker 1: son of legendary Arsenal forward Ian Wright and brother de Sean,
Speaker 1: who played in both England and the U S as well,
Speaker 1: went above and beyond any expectations, finally finding comfort in
Speaker 1: his game in the Big Apple. That is until last
Speaker 1: year he was injured, having trouble scoring, and now at
Speaker 1: thirty five, might finally be showing signs of slowing down.
Speaker 1: But as soon as you start to think Bradley is out, well,
Speaker 1: that's when he's in signing a new contract with the
Speaker 1: defending supporter Shield Champs l a f C. Right. Phillips
Speaker 1: is ready to prove his haters wrong, but also he's
Speaker 1: completely terrified. We spoke only days before he was set
Speaker 1: to leave for Florida to play in the MLS is
Speaker 1: Back tournament, still in the dark about how he'll stay
Speaker 1: safe while away from his family for three months. We
Speaker 1: have a raw conversation about what he's facing and how
Speaker 1: he honestly is not comfortable. We also talk about the
Speaker 1: longstanding racism in his sport, if a tournament when will
Speaker 1: mean anything at all, and if activism has just moot in.
Speaker 1: It's a very real and important listen this week in
Speaker 1: the sports Bubble from Bradley Right Phillips to accept Press one. Hello,
Speaker 1: Bradley Man. I usually start these interviews asking where you've
Speaker 1: been quarantined, but with you it's slightly different. We're getting
Speaker 1: ready for the MLS is Back Tournament, am I assuming
Speaker 1: you are in Orlando in l A right now? Okay,
Speaker 1: so they are supposedly starting Wednesday. Are you Are you
Speaker 1: planning on going out? Yeah? There was a few things
Speaker 1: where I might not have gone, something like personal reasons.
Speaker 1: I just needed my family to be sorted, you know,
Speaker 1: because it's a if I'm being totally honest, it's a
Speaker 1: tough ask. You know, obviously we all miss football. It's
Speaker 1: a tough ask what they're ask him. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I'll be I'll be good to go. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I think because we're in l A, we didn't
Speaker 1: have to go as soon as everyone else. We could
Speaker 1: still do team training too. It's good, you know, the
Speaker 1: less time now, I think, the better, you know, if
Speaker 1: if I'm being honest, if you're just locked in a
Speaker 1: room for however long, you know it's going to be tough.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we're just with the lady a bit. I
Speaker 1: have tons of questions. One, you have a three or
Speaker 1: seven and eleven year old, you have a wife as well.
Speaker 1: Are these people that will be going with you to
Speaker 1: this bubble of sorts? No, it's another thing that it
Speaker 1: crossed my mind to do. But I'm not sure how
Speaker 1: how the options were in doing that. And also I'm
Speaker 1: not sure how dangerous is I don't want to be
Speaker 1: away from them that long. You know. I've just moved
Speaker 1: them out here, you know, from New Jersey, and then
Speaker 1: I've got to leave them. So I felt I felt
Speaker 1: bad in that way, but then I don't want to
Speaker 1: bring him to a place now and they're just stuck,
Speaker 1: you know, with maybe a risk of getting a virus
Speaker 1: for it was a tough one. But they're going to
Speaker 1: be in l A. Yeah. I mean, I guess it's
Speaker 1: such a fake out too, because you're going to tell
Speaker 1: your kids you're going to Disney World, and yet it
Speaker 1: would be it would be the least cool version of
Speaker 1: Disney World for them ever, exactly that. And it's funny, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you poled out because when I told my son, I'm
Speaker 1: probably going to Orlando to play this tournament that can
Speaker 1: I come? I want to come. I want to go
Speaker 1: to Disney that. I'm like, you trust me, it's not
Speaker 1: going to be what you think. And he doesn't let up.
Speaker 1: He still wants to come, and like, I can't do
Speaker 1: that to you, mate, I really can't. Yeah, there's a
Speaker 1: there's a distinct difference between Orlando and Disney World. And
Speaker 1: you're going to Orlando. What he thinks Orlando is doing,
Speaker 1: that's the only thing he thinks exists there. Well, he's
Speaker 1: gonna he's gonna miss out on a hotel room. So
Speaker 1: do you know, like if they filled you in on
Speaker 1: the process, like once once you land, are you like
Speaker 1: driven somewhere in like a big outbreak truck, Like what
Speaker 1: what is the do you know if they told you Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've told me that we've got a bit of information
Speaker 1: on it, but I won't at you because I was
Speaker 1: so against you know, I was kind of against it
Speaker 1: in the beginning, so I wasn't I'm not really sure
Speaker 1: what happens when you get there. I think you go there,
Speaker 1: you have some testing, and then you're going into quarantine
Speaker 1: for I want to say this could be, but I
Speaker 1: want to say seventy two hours, maybe less, and then
Speaker 1: if your test of negative, then you go out and
Speaker 1: you train as normal as a team. If you're positive,
Speaker 1: and I think you're staying quarantine until ye until until
Speaker 1: you figure things out. I guess it's it's just the
Speaker 1: weirdest summer camp. It's like, I can't even fathom. You guys,
Speaker 1: all these professionals, your whole life have played one way,
Speaker 1: and now they have you in this strange weight here
Speaker 1: stay in your room alone. It is very strange. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I don't really care how I come across here
Speaker 1: because it's there's no secret to me, and I don't
Speaker 1: I just think it's a little bit stupid. I'm being honest. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I just think we could have waited
Speaker 1: like the rest of the leagues, and you're trained until
Speaker 1: you're able to play, and that's it. You're taking us
Speaker 1: all to a place now in a bubble where you've
Speaker 1: got to stay in your room away from your family's.
Speaker 1: You know, some people got some real some real life
Speaker 1: issues you know, to deal with, and you just got
Speaker 1: to go to leave your family for how long? You know?
Speaker 1: But I guess Money talks to my friend Money does
Speaker 1: the League? I mean, I'm not piling on here. I
Speaker 1: don't want you to think I'm just hitting you. But
Speaker 1: League said this last Sunday, eighteen players six staff members
Speaker 1: test positive before leaving for Orlando. But then yesterday it's
Speaker 1: reported six Dallas players test positive. Now the entire team
Speaker 1: is quarantined. They did not test positive before they left
Speaker 1: for Orlando. This isn't a bubble if people are getting
Speaker 1: coronavirus while inside it, or if you know people are
Speaker 1: coming and going that work for Disney. I mean exactly.
Speaker 1: I guess when you get there, are you are you
Speaker 1: still going to reassess? Yeah? I think I'll you know,
Speaker 1: it will be team first and see what everyone else
Speaker 1: is doing. My initial forces are just did once we
Speaker 1: get in all this information? Are we still go? Every morning?
Speaker 1: I wake up and like, are we still do it. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think once I get there, I say, in my
Speaker 1: room and I'll just play cord of Duty. I'll play
Speaker 1: quard Internet train, I'll train and get back to the room,
Speaker 1: play call a gut. I'm not going to time me
Speaker 1: do anything. I've got a family to think about. I'm
Speaker 1: with you there, Uh listen. I gotta give you my
Speaker 1: honest opinion and fear of the food situation. Everyone saw
Speaker 1: the hashtag yesterday regarding the sixty five dollar lunch or
Speaker 1: whatever it is. I want you to to pack as
Speaker 1: much lunchables as possible, anything you can get your hands
Speaker 1: on at the market. Bring it with you, Just bring it.
Speaker 1: I'm very scared. I'm gonna go shopping on Sunday. The
Speaker 1: rumor of your l a f C teammate and reigning
Speaker 1: m V pete Carlo Savella not returning, is that Do
Speaker 1: we know if that's for sure? Or I mean it
Speaker 1: seems like it's for sure he's not coming. I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: I'm really not sure. Honestly, it's not much talking on
Speaker 1: who's going. I think they people saw that out between
Speaker 1: them was John and Bob. I know when I had concerns,
Speaker 1: that's what I did. I don't think many people knew
Speaker 1: my situation, you know, so I'm not really sure. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure. Yeah, because he has a pregnant wife. Uh,
Speaker 1: this obviously would hurt the team, and not that that's
Speaker 1: the top priority, but it's gonna put you in a
Speaker 1: in a place to step up. And I was wondering
Speaker 1: if you were able to get comfortable with your team.
Speaker 1: Is a new squad for you in l A. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but mostly individual practices and maybe some zoom calls? Are
Speaker 1: you Are you comfortable with these dudes? Yeah? And do
Speaker 1: you know what, I felt more comfortable now just after
Speaker 1: we got to resume team training. I've been there for
Speaker 1: a while now, you know, it's weird because of the lockdown.
Speaker 1: It feels it just feels so strange. It's like I
Speaker 1: get introduced and then something happens. Then I came, Remember
Speaker 1: I came. I got surgery, so I was injured. I
Speaker 1: wasn't getting to train with the team, so it's been
Speaker 1: stop start. But I do feel like one of the
Speaker 1: boys now. I think, you know, I'm lucky enough since
Speaker 1: I've been in America to be in two good changing
Speaker 1: with where the guys are a really good and I'm
Speaker 1: not just saying that, you know, really like cool guys
Speaker 1: that if I wasn't playing football, but I still want
Speaker 1: to know these kind of people. So I've been lucky
Speaker 1: in that way. They've been good to me. And now
Speaker 1: I do feel part of team. I feel good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and obviously you have a green card here you
Speaker 1: are a citizen. But I was wondering what the EU
Speaker 1: shutting down basically any tourism from the U S. Has
Speaker 1: that affected you at all? Or is that just I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it seems everything. It's like you said, you wake
Speaker 1: up every day and there's just a new part for
Speaker 1: the course. I'm telling you, it's like nobody knows anything.
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, you wake up as an rule or
Speaker 1: something else you can't do and something you can do. Now,
Speaker 1: I just go with the flow. Traveling to England hasn't
Speaker 1: affected me. I went recently for some personal reasons. Other
Speaker 1: than that, yeah, it hasn't affected me. And the fervest
Speaker 1: I goes to the park to get the kids some
Speaker 1: fresh air. But like caged animals right now and training
Speaker 1: the mess ht Yeah, it's insane. Uh. You turned thirty
Speaker 1: five during quarantine. By the way, did you do anything fun?
Speaker 1: For your birthday? Did you have friends drive by? No?
Speaker 1: Do you know what? My wife, you know what my
Speaker 1: birthday is. What marched the twelve And on that day,
Speaker 1: that was the last day we we got told we
Speaker 1: can't come into training. And on that evening she took
Speaker 1: me to a restaurant. We went out and ate had
Speaker 1: a few drinks, you know, so I luckily bought a
Speaker 1: nice little you know, celebration and then we had a
Speaker 1: little cake at the house with the family. So it
Speaker 1: wasn't it wasn't bad, but that was actually the last
Speaker 1: day or something normal. Yeah, well, you know, turning thirty five,
Speaker 1: huge career change for you, leaving New York a football
Speaker 1: team of soccer team just absolutely connected to you forever.
Speaker 1: You're coming off an injury, like you said, showing you're
Speaker 1: still this MLS powerhouse. How important is that to you? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You know what. At first, when I when I left
Speaker 1: Red Bull, and I wasn't sure what I was going
Speaker 1: to do, where I was going to go. I was
Speaker 1: almost done, you know, not retiring, but I just thought,
Speaker 1: you know what I got, I've got nothing to prove.
Speaker 1: I don't care what anyone thinks. And then just the
Speaker 1: way it come about then I'd read certain things and
Speaker 1: here things and my last season I read was injured.
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people don't really know the
Speaker 1: into And now it's like even when I was on
Speaker 1: the bench or coming on, I was an injured and
Speaker 1: I just thought, I don't want to go out like that.
Speaker 1: And then I get a second chance with l AFC.
Speaker 1: So it's just for all the like kind of doubts everyone,
Speaker 1: I think she is older now his last season wasn't great.
Speaker 1: It just gave me like a new lead of life
Speaker 1: to where I have something to prove, because it's not
Speaker 1: easy to find those kind of things in the game
Speaker 1: when you've been someone for so long or done something
Speaker 1: for so long. You have to find little ways to,
Speaker 1: you know, to get ahead. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: having to find a new team and actually getting a
Speaker 1: really good team where I feel like I could fit
Speaker 1: in and do well. It's just it's given me just
Speaker 1: a new bowl and I just can't wait to get
Speaker 1: out there and improve myself. Yeah. Can I tell you
Speaker 1: something that how crazy is soccer? That you had one
Speaker 1: bad season after five or six of the greatest in
Speaker 1: the sport, in the league of MLS and they're just like,
Speaker 1: oh he's done, dude. I was like, man, that is
Speaker 1: one season. But that's the world we live in. It's
Speaker 1: like everything. If you look at music, like someone puts
Speaker 1: the album one week and you listen to a few tracks,
Speaker 1: and next week someone else has got what. No one cares,
Speaker 1: you know, it's up to the individual or the people
Speaker 1: to to say that I'm not done. You know, this
Speaker 1: is what I can still do and keep proving people.
Speaker 1: It's actually the world we live in. Get we can
Speaker 1: get everything quick. Yeah, you know. I guess people feel
Speaker 1: they can just go and get another strike and that
Speaker 1: would do that or and that's just the world we live.
Speaker 1: And it's not to ask too to say no. And
Speaker 1: I'm actually like still good. You know I can actually
Speaker 1: still play. I'm excited for that. Though it said it's
Speaker 1: a challenge. You had a legendary run, like you said
Speaker 1: it with the Red Bulls. They retired your jersey before
Speaker 1: you even retired. You'll be in l A a team
Speaker 1: defending the supporter shield in the in the most difficult
Speaker 1: tournament division in Florida. It appears you're gonna be flying
Speaker 1: out there on on Wednesday at least. So what do
Speaker 1: you see your chances as a team being able to
Speaker 1: win this thing. Yeah, as a team, it's difficult to
Speaker 1: say because you know everyone's coming out of lockdown and
Speaker 1: you don't know where anyone is. What I do know
Speaker 1: is that we've trained very odd. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of honest people, apart from the talent to talents obvious
Speaker 1: anyone that watches them, probably the best football in team.
Speaker 1: You know, got the best player in the league at
Speaker 1: the moment. So I think that goes about saying. But
Speaker 1: I think the work we've put in behind the closed doors,
Speaker 1: I think I'm hoping, you know, it will show when
Speaker 1: we get there, but you never know what to expect.
Speaker 1: It's a different whole, different set of no fans and
Speaker 1: no you know, I mean, it's weird, you know how
Speaker 1: serious or some player team is going to take it
Speaker 1: and so on. But we've definitely got a good chance.
Speaker 1: More with the l a f C. S Bradley right
Speaker 1: Phillips after this right now, Feeding America is working tirelessly
Speaker 1: to ensure our most vulnerable populations, like students who are
Speaker 1: out of school, the elderly individuals whose jobs are impacted,
Speaker 1: and low income families continue to have access to food
Speaker 1: and other needed resources during the COVID nineteen pandemic. The
Speaker 1: Feeding America Food Bank Network is committed to serving communities
Speaker 1: and people facing hunger in America and their greatest need
Speaker 1: is donations and support of cool food banks. This podcast
Speaker 1: is committed to donating a portion of the proceeds from
Speaker 1: the show to Feeding America and we hope that you
Speaker 1: can join us in this effort to find out how
Speaker 1: you can help Feeding America dot org. Backslash COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: and now the rest of my chat with MLS great
Speaker 1: and l a f C striker Bradley Wright Phillips. You
Speaker 1: were one of the sixteen individual players who was able
Speaker 1: to take advantage of sort of the strange MLS practices
Speaker 1: that happened after the pandemic. We spoke with Brian Rowe
Speaker 1: and he was He explained it to us and it
Speaker 1: it truly sounded like a nightmare. He would like wait
Speaker 1: in his car, they'd call him, he'd walk in, he'd
Speaker 1: basically be covered with a hefty bag he couldn't pass
Speaker 1: to people. It was just like, did you get anything
Speaker 1: good out of those? Do you know what I did?
Speaker 1: But I think why it wasn't as bad for me
Speaker 1: because before that we were just training. We'll find in
Speaker 1: punts where you could train and run, you know, uneven
Speaker 1: gross you got dogs running around you. So for me
Speaker 1: just getting back at the facility, I know it wasn't
Speaker 1: the best terms like training alone, but you still got
Speaker 1: to see some of your teammates. You've got a good field,
Speaker 1: you had goals, yes, small goals, passing boards, everything, you know,
Speaker 1: you had things that you couldn't bring to the park.
Speaker 1: So for me, I didn't even it was annoying when
Speaker 1: I look back at it now, it's that what the
Speaker 1: hell was that it's waiting in your car. It was
Speaker 1: kind of it was kind of crazy, But at the
Speaker 1: time it was a great change for me because I
Speaker 1: was tread up and going into the park and dogs
Speaker 1: running around my cast and looking out my ankles. I'll
Speaker 1: tread up. Yeah. I mean. Also, we're both in l A,
Speaker 1: me and you and and I mean it doesn't help
Speaker 1: that you have to make this decision in the middle
Speaker 1: of what we're going through in l A with the
Speaker 1: cases spiking, where it seems like we're going to go
Speaker 1: back into quarantine. Bars are closing for the next three
Speaker 1: weeks and stuff like have you guys as your family
Speaker 1: been basically inside and that's it for the past three months. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we we have actually I think my wife right so
Speaker 1: every now and again to find a hotel and actually
Speaker 1: not too popular as you'll get into a hotel and
Speaker 1: actually locks herself in a room and rights. Yeah. But
Speaker 1: other than that yet it we've just been in the house.
Speaker 1: So honestly, the park is been our best friend. We
Speaker 1: go to the park every now and again, and and
Speaker 1: that's it, honestly, training, home, homework, the school teacher. I'm
Speaker 1: breaking up ninety flights a day. I'm not the only
Speaker 1: one by It's yeah, it's been tough. It's been tough. Yeah,
Speaker 1: three seven eleven, those are all pretty serious ages. That's that.
Speaker 1: That's hard to keep down, let alone on a chair
Speaker 1: than the house. I mean, that's not easy. It's been
Speaker 1: it's been time beyond the pandemic. The world has obviously
Speaker 1: been focused on a racial division and the murder of
Speaker 1: George Floyd, and coming from soccer in the Premier League,
Speaker 1: you and your brother have seen and been accustomed to
Speaker 1: a racism in sports that we don't even necessarily know,
Speaker 1: at least in public in the United States. I'm wondering
Speaker 1: if you could speak on that experience that that you
Speaker 1: guys have faced in the past honestly, like, yeah, growing up,
Speaker 1: you get it, but it's something that isn't right even
Speaker 1: when I said it is now that you learn to
Speaker 1: just live with the deals. I'm not going to say
Speaker 1: I've been abused in every game I've played. Oyeay, it's
Speaker 1: been about But even now when I see just so
Speaker 1: quickly go off, like even now, when I see everyone
Speaker 1: like coming together, I like it, but I don't like
Speaker 1: where it's going to, where it's almost like a trend
Speaker 1: now and like you know, it just feels like a
Speaker 1: lot of sheets. I've always been on the side of
Speaker 1: like it's I can make some real change, or people
Speaker 1: can make some real change. Let's do that. Let's come
Speaker 1: together and make a real change. Because this is not
Speaker 1: a secret. This has been in the game or interest
Speaker 1: in life for hundreds of years. So I'm just knock
Speaker 1: down with what's going on at the moment. It's just
Speaker 1: everyone just posting a black picture. Do you know what
Speaker 1: I'm doing with this? Almost you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I just want some real change or I don't want nothing.
Speaker 1: Don't pretend please don't pretend to me, don't try and
Speaker 1: just saying at you, by the way, but I don't
Speaker 1: need sympathy, like I just want real change or please
Speaker 1: don't come to me with anything. I just I want
Speaker 1: to work on something now with a few players where
Speaker 1: I can you know, where I can make some real
Speaker 1: change or just open some eyes in a different way.
Speaker 1: At the moment, now, just what I'm seeing is just annoying.
Speaker 1: Some things are just annoying because this isn't new. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a little weird to have people say, hey, don't
Speaker 1: kill us. You know the police are killing us, and
Speaker 1: the responses let's make sure that no white people do
Speaker 1: the voice his two black characters and cartoons. It just
Speaker 1: seems like a very strange connection because it's like, well,
Speaker 1: the stakes are so much higher than those things. And yeah,
Speaker 1: and I guess maybe as someone who watched soccer kind
Speaker 1: of from the side, I I'm not a super fan.
Speaker 1: I love researching it more than anything else watching real sports.
Speaker 1: There was a segment years ago that was very famous
Speaker 1: here in the States, where it was the first time
Speaker 1: I had seen the throwing of bananas or the chance
Speaker 1: or the things that just to me were mind blowing.
Speaker 1: Even living in a country that I know has systematic racism,
Speaker 1: to see it's so public and the anti semitism in soccer,
Speaker 1: those things were so damaging to watch that I almost
Speaker 1: thought to myself and I know your brothers talked about
Speaker 1: his experience where he felt he couldn't leave the field,
Speaker 1: he couldn't leave the pitch, and is that I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously in MLS it's probably a lot I hate to
Speaker 1: say hidden, yeah, but but it was that maybe part
Speaker 1: why you may not have felt as comfortable there whom
Speaker 1: you Yeah, I mean, you know, you play in the
Speaker 1: Premier League, you come to MLS and you really thrive
Speaker 1: and you you beyond anyone's expectations. And I wonder so
Speaker 1: much about jobs, not even just sports, but so much
Speaker 1: about jobs is about being comfortable and and I wonder
Speaker 1: how much it meant to you to come to a
Speaker 1: place where that crazy stuff wasn't wasn't happening. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: you know what, at the time, there was a lot
Speaker 1: of things that were pissing me off or getting on
Speaker 1: my nerves, you know, just about just how football is
Speaker 1: in England. There's a lot of things, some of my
Speaker 1: own doing, and just somehow things work, you know, how
Speaker 1: things were set up, you know, very old school in
Speaker 1: the ways of the coaching, how the people fought. And
Speaker 1: now you ask me that it's yeah, there was a
Speaker 1: little bit of those things, but I wasn't thinking, honestly
Speaker 1: that black and white to wear like it's it's racist
Speaker 1: here or along those lines, and I have to leave.
Speaker 1: But there's a lot of things that I didn't like. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: it's just such a tricky conversation. And because it's been
Speaker 1: happening so long and I just don't know how to
Speaker 1: change certain things that I honestly think that I think
Speaker 1: our generation or whatever, I'm not sure you're as well.
Speaker 1: We're just a lost cause. I think I don't I
Speaker 1: really want to sound like I'm giving up, but I
Speaker 1: think like just in your household makes you a kid
Speaker 1: the raised right, your neighbor, you know. Do you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying it, I think almost this period were
Speaker 1: in like even everyone that's like with the Yeah, with
Speaker 1: the movement, it's good. Yeah, it's good to see there's
Speaker 1: some unity. But I think it's almost a lost cause.
Speaker 1: I honestly do. I think you've just got the kids
Speaker 1: have got a you know, be taught different ways, and
Speaker 1: and and from there from someone. Even now, my words
Speaker 1: are like jumble because it's frustrating to even talk about
Speaker 1: something because I'm just that nothing will be done about this.
Speaker 1: So it's just kind of frustrating. But that isn't why
Speaker 1: I left England. It wasn't just that black and white.
Speaker 1: That's not why I left England. But yeah, there's some
Speaker 1: bullshit that happens. Yeah, I mean, I have a one
Speaker 1: year old, uh, and I just my wife and I
Speaker 1: have focused on the idea that we just we think
Speaker 1: it's twenties, we say about twenty five and under I'm forty,
Speaker 1: so we we just have hope for them. I mean
Speaker 1: I had read Ian Desmond's Instagram post last week that
Speaker 1: he did about baseball and the systematic kind of racial
Speaker 1: bias in in the league, and it felt so heavy that,
Speaker 1: like you said, it's like, oh, I don't think there's
Speaker 1: anything as sad as it sounds. We almost have to
Speaker 1: start over by saying, oh, we're the idiots, don't don't
Speaker 1: worry about us. Yes, it's almost a loss, coolis what
Speaker 1: I'm trying to say. I think, yeah, we can do
Speaker 1: what we can now, but I think our vision has
Speaker 1: just got to be for the kids, for our children,
Speaker 1: and that's it, because you're not going to change how.
Speaker 1: I'm not even saying he's a racist or whatever, but
Speaker 1: you're not going to change how Donald Trump thinks, you're
Speaker 1: not going to change how the CEO of of or
Speaker 1: wherever a multi million dollar company thinks you're not going
Speaker 1: to change that, you know. So it's yeah, it's it's
Speaker 1: just it's just a tough one and black people for
Speaker 1: a long time, I've learned to live with Some people
Speaker 1: have learned to live with that's not right, evil, but
Speaker 1: you learn to live with it or you Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: not even sure. I'm not even sure. Honestly, you can
Speaker 1: hear by how I'm talking. I'm not even sure. I
Speaker 1: just think, yeah, it's almost until we're teaching the kids
Speaker 1: the right way to to live, the right way to
Speaker 1: think and so on. Is yeah, I think we're just
Speaker 1: a lost cause. Have you been impressed at all by
Speaker 1: what the Premier League has done so far? Does it
Speaker 1: just feel symbolically gesture based, Yeah, it's again. It's it's
Speaker 1: nice to see it seems like, you know, when you're
Speaker 1: just watching it or you see a picture of it, yeah,
Speaker 1: it looks nice. How many of those people actually care?
Speaker 1: How many people that are kneeling again, don't don't mince
Speaker 1: my words. This this looks good. It shows unity, it
Speaker 1: shows that um it's being thought about. How many people
Speaker 1: kneeling or how many people wearing Black Lives Matter on
Speaker 1: the back of their shirt actually care? Like how many
Speaker 1: giver ship? But I can come off here now, or
Speaker 1: you can off this phone call and post something, post
Speaker 1: a nice picture with the nicest words, and and you
Speaker 1: could be just you could be slying. I've seen people
Speaker 1: go to riots, take a picture or riot such said
Speaker 1: that protests, take a picture and get back in the
Speaker 1: car and and go home. So you know what I mean. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it looks good, but I don't know if it's if
Speaker 1: it's coming from your heart and it's ruining it bothers
Speaker 1: you and bed at night, fair enough, But if it don't,
Speaker 1: just don't get involved, like, just don't do it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess that's just do what you've been doing the
Speaker 1: last seventy years under DearS. But you've seen this, because
Speaker 1: let's be honest, there was it's only a few winning
Speaker 1: was it maybe last season or most seasons? These player
Speaker 1: is getting rich and abuse in Italy at the manager
Speaker 1: of the teammates to say they shouldn't have walked off
Speaker 1: the pitch. Yeah, you know what I mean? Is this
Speaker 1: this this happens? Yeah, you think you're changing all the
Speaker 1: way those fans think by putting what everyone needing, You're
Speaker 1: not going to change. I like the way we're doing that.
Speaker 1: I like the way if people are interested in it
Speaker 1: and people have a real passion for it, we're showing unity.
Speaker 1: But I don't know if that's what changes those set
Speaker 1: of fans or that's what changes the CEO at SO
Speaker 1: and SO. I don't know if that's what changes their minds.
Speaker 1: Do you understand my plant? Yeah? Absolutely, I mean I
Speaker 1: I guess it's even hard for me because I want
Speaker 1: to ask you, do you see protesting or acts of
Speaker 1: like social justice awareness during this tournament coming up? But
Speaker 1: like it is, it's like, what is that going to
Speaker 1: actually do? And you And it's true that we should
Speaker 1: all do something because it's a great uh, it's a
Speaker 1: great metric. We we should we should obviously see it
Speaker 1: and and kids like mine and yours should should see
Speaker 1: these things because it's important. But what is really going
Speaker 1: to change if someone does something in a soccer game,
Speaker 1: or in a baseball game or a football game. It
Speaker 1: truly is about and I think that's what a lot
Speaker 1: of athletes are facing when they're asked to go back
Speaker 1: right now. We've seen it with guys like Avery Bradley
Speaker 1: and the NBA and Ian Desmond baseball. Like this is
Speaker 1: a question everyone is asking and there's no wrong answer,
Speaker 1: but it's difficult. If you really care what I think,
Speaker 1: don't judge me if I don't turn up to football
Speaker 1: because I'm I'm hurt about this, don't judge. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: like a basketballay foot and I don't want to play
Speaker 1: right now, I'm sure they'd go into a camp as well.
Speaker 1: If you really care, then let's you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: let's let's let people do what they want to do.
Speaker 1: Not Okay, come but we're all neil. Okay, we'll come back,
Speaker 1: but yeah, we'll all have Black Lives Matter on it. Okay,
Speaker 1: that looks good. You've covered your back Premier League or
Speaker 1: MLS or whatever you've Yeah, you look like you care.
Speaker 1: But what about of people that don't. There might be
Speaker 1: people still affective from this and don't want to go
Speaker 1: to work, don't want to work, don't want to play
Speaker 1: sport right now, they might want to do something to
Speaker 1: make a real change. Yeah, these people don't care. That's
Speaker 1: what I think, anuate they don't care. And also, I
Speaker 1: guess a big thing too is what about in six months?
Speaker 1: What about in a year? It will go? It will go.
Speaker 1: That's the burnout. Yeah, they'll be gone, it will go.
Speaker 1: And this is what this is my beginning point about
Speaker 1: if it's a trend, it's a trend. If you go
Speaker 1: on Instagram, you won't see any of the following things.
Speaker 1: I know what I think, I know how I feel.
Speaker 1: I felt like this for years. But it's a trend.
Speaker 1: Soon something else will happen and this will be gone.
Speaker 1: This will be gone. One of the harder things that
Speaker 1: I've seen recently was your father, the legendary arsenal player
Speaker 1: in right, posting his support of black Lives Matter, and
Speaker 1: was met with just these disturbing racist messages that he replied,
Speaker 1: I mean, does he is he like you? Is he
Speaker 1: sort of like? I know this? This is this is
Speaker 1: what I faced my entire career. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: want to say jaded or callous. He had He's probably
Speaker 1: had it worse. He's had it worse than I have.
Speaker 1: You know, he's probably had it worse than I have
Speaker 1: for sure. Actually. But the thing even him just posting
Speaker 1: that and showing that that's going to be tread out,
Speaker 1: this is like, that's not even a new thing. That's
Speaker 1: just because he's fed up. He's posted that now, and
Speaker 1: he's just like something has to be done, at least
Speaker 1: shame this guy, at least shame these people. But this
Speaker 1: is a normal thing, you know, and that's someone that's
Speaker 1: done very well in his country, like very well for himself,
Speaker 1: and this is how people will treat him or think
Speaker 1: they can talk to him. Yeah, it's it's crazy. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: What do you think that kids thinking when when he
Speaker 1: sees the Premier League doing what they're doing, like all
Speaker 1: of that stuff, you know, Black lives matter, like all
Speaker 1: of these things. Do you think that kid is like,
Speaker 1: oh man, you're not thinking that he thinks those guys,
Speaker 1: But that's what he thinks. And this brings him back
Speaker 1: to my point. That's why I don't even talking about this.
Speaker 1: I just feel like it just goes round in circles.
Speaker 1: It's like, unless I can do something real, and I'm
Speaker 1: still working on things, thinking about sulf Unless something real
Speaker 1: can happen, it's just bought it because, like you said,
Speaker 1: people are going to forget about all of the sun
Speaker 1: too when there's a new trend or need something else happening. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw Maya Moore this week
Speaker 1: who you know, took off a season of the w
Speaker 1: n B A to kind of crusade for someone who
Speaker 1: was improperly imprisoned for assault and burglary charges, and you
Speaker 1: was released this past week. And it just makes me
Speaker 1: question being on a stupid microphone podcasting. It's like, is
Speaker 1: there things to do? Are there too many things? What
Speaker 1: can I do? I mean, these are just questions that
Speaker 1: that should be racing in everyone's mind. Yeah, well, I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what you don't do. You do what you
Speaker 1: keep doing, what you're doing. You don't just do anything
Speaker 1: to do it. Something will come to you where you
Speaker 1: can literally make a change or help or get a
Speaker 1: message out of that. It's from your heart and you
Speaker 1: think will affect people in the right way, then you
Speaker 1: do that. I think there's a lot of people just
Speaker 1: doing anything. They're pressured. Even my old team I saw
Speaker 1: a thing like and they thing. I don't even know
Speaker 1: if I should say it might be too far now
Speaker 1: forget that anything. Well, I never expect you to censor yourself,
Speaker 1: but okay now, and I don't normally, but I don't
Speaker 1: want things to come out too because I even had
Speaker 1: a chance that you can think about things myself. So
Speaker 1: I don't want it to come out to or you know,
Speaker 1: just do things from the heart. Do things if you
Speaker 1: want to do it. If you are racist, and I
Speaker 1: don't pretend that, okay, you're going to do this to
Speaker 1: sure everyone you're involved, you know, just do things from
Speaker 1: the heart. If you have nothing to say right now,
Speaker 1: don't say might have something amazing or life changing to
Speaker 1: say in two or three months. Well, on a much
Speaker 1: lighter note, we are both hip hop heads. You and
Speaker 1: I are both what I call retired m c s,
Speaker 1: which is high and that is a title that only
Speaker 1: a few of us can really have. An exclusive club
Speaker 1: legends yet two legends in the game. But I wanted
Speaker 1: to close out by seeing if you had some suggestions
Speaker 1: for listeners who want some new names in grime. This
Speaker 1: is a a American I say, it's been very elusive here.
Speaker 1: We know Skepta, who's I know a personal friend of yours.
Speaker 1: We we know the big names, but I want to
Speaker 1: see if there was anyone you could suggest to us
Speaker 1: kind of on the horizon, someone that that we might
Speaker 1: not know about on the horizon. It's it's tough to
Speaker 1: send horizon because I should have got a list. You're
Speaker 1: not sure the technic because I'm just all I do
Speaker 1: is listen to Griham Really okay, So what you want
Speaker 1: to be listening to because I don't think and it's
Speaker 1: not on the horizon. But these guys are not on
Speaker 1: the horizon, but I just don't get their credit worldwide.
Speaker 1: But you want to listen to O G. So that's
Speaker 1: like Little d T, Money, Blacks, Gender, Desperado. This is
Speaker 1: on recording. So you get all those names, then you've
Speaker 1: got um. You've got another legend that should be heard
Speaker 1: all around the world, just as much as skept is
Speaker 1: like that, have you heard of Kano? Yes? I love
Speaker 1: Kanoko amazing, but I don't know he should be like
Speaker 1: in America right now he's telling him not just good
Speaker 1: in England, just in the world. He's a Drake favorite.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I know Cano through Drake Drake
Speaker 1: lack ship yeah, that makes sense. Yes, so many Grahame Like,
Speaker 1: there's just too many obviously. Have you guys heard a
Speaker 1: D double E. No, I do not know d W E.
Speaker 1: D W Graham legend um on the horizon. So I'll
Speaker 1: get some younger names and people that don't really get
Speaker 1: their dudes. Even in England here it's like they're all
Speaker 1: emerging because yeah, we don't we don't have a scene here.
Speaker 1: We have to follow you guys. Yeah, yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: you should start putting on some events maybe, Yeah, we'll
Speaker 1: get them over, We'll ride them over if events exist.
Speaker 1: I do like, uh, this group out of the definitely
Speaker 1: not grime, just hip hop, but but out of the UK,
Speaker 1: these guys Cult of the Damned d A, M and E.
Speaker 1: D you hear him at all? Damn? Yeah, a hip
Speaker 1: hop hip hop on a like a like proper hip
Speaker 1: hop like lyrics and or the they're kind of they're
Speaker 1: kind of boom bap, they're kind of like, uh, they're
Speaker 1: a little bit of underground feeling a little bit like
Speaker 1: a late late nineties I'm gonna s yeah could to
Speaker 1: the Damn. They have a song called Nicole I really like.
Speaker 1: But they're they're British group that nobody talks about, so
Speaker 1: I throw them in the mix. It's not grime. I
Speaker 1: never want to pretend I know what you're talking about,
Speaker 1: but at least with the boom bap stuff, I know
Speaker 1: the lyric guys. Yeah, now I'm gonna check those, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna check them out. Yeah. There's so many, man, Yeah
Speaker 1: it is. It's hard to follow. But I am very
Speaker 1: excited for you to get back on the field. If
Speaker 1: that's the case. I'm I'm, I'm. What I'm really more
Speaker 1: excited about is for you to make a decision based
Speaker 1: on what you see. Yeah. Yeah, Well, thank you for
Speaker 1: talking to me, and uh and good luck with everything. Man, No,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you for having me on. I remember, people,
Speaker 1: be yourself. Be yourself. Don't just say things you the people,
Speaker 1: don't just say things to say. Be yourself. The Sports
Speaker 1: Bubble is produced and distributed by Tree Fort Media. The
Speaker 1: show was executive produced by Kelly Garner, Lisa Ammerman, Matthew Coogler,
Speaker 1: and me Jensen Carr. Tom Monahan is our senior audio
Speaker 1: engineer and sound supervisor, with production and editing by Jasper Leak.
Speaker 1: Additional production help from Tim Shower June Rosen and Hayley Mandelberg.
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