WEBVTT - Big E 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:05.880 Welcome to the Sports Bubble, a production of I Heart 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:14.120 Radio Entree Fork Media. My name is Jensen Carf and 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.320 I'm a sports fan, and look at us. We've got 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.279 a brand new name, the sports Bubble. You see with 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.360 golf and soccer and tennis and NASCAR and maybe baseball, 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.000 but for a little not baseball, and now maybe baseball again, 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.920 and basketball but also maybe not basketball, but yeah, probably basketball. 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.800 All these sports are returning, and because of that, the 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:34.480 No Sports Report just doesn't cut it anymore. But we'd 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:36.960 be fooling ourselves to think everything is going back to normal. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:41.760 Normal is clearly subjective. Things are changing every fifteen minutes. 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:43.560 And anyone who pretends they know what's going to happen 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.879 when it comes to athletics, well they haven't seen that 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.560 video where Roger Goodell encourages kneeling. Hell has frozen over 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:51.720 and we're living in the matrix. And the quicker you accepted, 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.800 the better. So I'll just keep trekking along, following the changes, 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.160 riding the wave as our favorite games return or everything 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.440 just shuts down again and we're begging or another Jordan documentary. 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.200 I'll keep interviewing athletes and sports industry professionals about what 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.920 they're doing in this very weird time because someone has 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.000 to keep track. And now, for the first time, this 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:18.480 is the sports Bubble with Jensen carp five pound w 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.160 w E superstar Big E is a big, old, sensitive 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.560 teddy bear. Don't tell his opponents, but the current w 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.160 w E SmackDown Tag Team champion, former college football player, 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.120 and power lifts standout feels a lot. He's a former 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:32.600 Intercontinental and n x T champ, a two time Raw 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.960 tag team champion, and he's held the SmackDown titles he 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.160 now possesses a record six times. But it's his ability 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.280 to see the larger picture that's always stood out for me. 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.199 He's recently been vocal online and in the ring about 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.160 the racial divide dominating our culture, and though that seems 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.200 like something second nature to an African American in this 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.320 squared circle, well it hasn't been in the past. There's 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:53.440 a pretty big online swell for Big E to finally 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.200 get an individual shine as a singles champion, and I 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:58.960 get why. He's really a new voice in pro wrestling, 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.520 especially as part of the popular New Day podcast Feel 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:03.440 the Power, and his words are more in line with 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.920 society than maybe anything else in sports entertainment. This episode, 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:08.760 Biggie and I talked about the history of the black 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.440 performer in the w w E, his own experiences with 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.200 racial bias, and what the wrestling industry is facing in 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.120 the form of sexual predators and assaulters. Out it online 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.920 by women with the hashtag speaking Out, and to make 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.880 things a little lighter, we play the cameo game. It's 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:43.680 an important episode with Biggie in the sports bubble from 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:48.639 big to accept Press one. Hello Biggie, Well, I want 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.320 to start off. You know, we're obviously starting to gingerly 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.440 tiptoe our way back into the real world. But I 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:57.720 wanted to know where you've been quarantined and with who 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:02.359 I am solo. Although I lived in Lando Lakes, which 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.040 is a real town. Uh it's a real excellent town. 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:09.600 It's just upside of Tampa. And I've been quarantined alone. 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.720 There's not a ton of people we've spoken to alone. 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:17.840 Have you Have you enjoyed it? I have so. I 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.080 really liked my alone time. Even though I'm obnoxious on TV, 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:25.120 I am at heart and introvert. I like being alone. 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.440 I like my alone time. But I did find with 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.359 the quarantine that. So the first few days I think 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.040 was a little anxiety written just because I didn't know 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.200 this is We're just so used to having four shows 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.000 a week and then we have appearances, and you know, 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.320 there's some months where I've been home three days of 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.600 the whole month, and that's like pretty common just to 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.640 be gone all the time. So there was some some 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:50.440 anxiety initially when everything closed down, but then I kind 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.960 of got into a nice groove for the first probably 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.880 like six eight weeks honestly, and you know, Florida had 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.480 been open enough and maybe it shouldn't have been but 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:03.680 the recent spiking chases. But it allowed for me to 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.160 go over to Baron Corgan's house. It was about the 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:07.960 two minutes for me and I would just work at 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.560 work out at his his garage, so still allowed me 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.400 to work out, um, and it was I was finding 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.160 a nice balance between we still had the podcast that 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.520 we were doing, so we're staying busy with that, and 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:20.200 I was working out, having more time to like I've 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:23.240 recently the last probably the last year so I've really 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.039 got into guided meditation, so I've had more time to 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.920 do that and to stretch. So there were some things 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.440 that I really enjoyed with with having extra time, But 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.800 then I realized, man, I really missed people like I missed. 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.120 I'm fortunate enough to like so many of my co workers, 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.960 and you see them, you know, five days a week often, 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.719 and then you go to maybe seeing them once a week, 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.719 or if we do tapings, we might do two tapings 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.080 in a row and then be off for twelve days. 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.159 So it was just weird to, uh, to not see 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.560 people that I liked, and even even things like physical touch. 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:58.479 I realized how much I appreciate just a good hug, 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.240 as as simple as as medias that might sound, just 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.359 being able to hug someone was something that I missed. 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:08.400 So yeah, man, it's it's been a lot of kind 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:12.440 of just refiguring out the best way to stay saying 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:14.880 I think, yeah, Well, people who might not have been 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:18.120 following the w W during quarantine and the pandemic, you 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.280 guys have been taping out of Florida out of kind 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:24.200 of a small in house arena with at first no fans, 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:26.800 and then now they've sort of brought in some employees 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:28.560 to be fans. This must have been kind of the 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.239 best case scenario for you, since you live out there. Yeah, 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.479 it worked for me well because I love about hundred 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.480 miles from the performance center, and so I just popped 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:40.720 in a car and drove the hour and forty minutes. Uh, 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.280 And I could drive back every night. So it's also 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.280 like rare to sleep in your own bed every night. Um, 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.800 that was new for me. And yeah, so it was 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:50.400 I guess it was convenient in the fact that I 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.400 haven't had too haven't been on a plane since uh 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:58.480 like March twelve eleven ish around there, and that's very 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.520 uncommon where we're used to take in probably averaged three 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.080 to four flights a week with w w E Private 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.080 This Yeah, what a different life with this? Uh, you know, 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.719 with the w w E kind of publicly admitting to 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:12.080 hitting a bit of a snag with a developmental talent 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:15.240 testing positive. How did that throw a wrench into wrestling life? 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:17.640 Did that change how you guys normally do things? I mean, 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:19.800 is it is it kind of evolving the same way 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:23.120 the rest of the world is. Well, it definitely changed 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:25.880 our shooting schedule that week. So when we heard about 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.680 the positive test with an n X key talent, it's 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.520 we were supposed to tape on that day, but then 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.040 I think the day it came out, but the next day, 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:36.719 uh so we actually did tape that day, then the 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:39.120 next day we got on that evening the next day 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.120 we had to stop the taping and we all got tested. 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:45.840 We did the nasal swab for coronavirus, which I kind 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.880 of heard some horror stories and it's not great, don't 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:49.640 get me wrong. Not quite as bad as the thought, 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.720 but not great either. And so we had all got 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:56.800 tested that day and then if you were negative, then 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.280 you were allowed to tape again the next day. So 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.560 it's definitely, you know, caused a shift in the way 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:04.640 we do things and tape again, and I think there 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:07.840 may be some more testing moving forward, which is honestly 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.960 what we should be doing. I think, yeah, it seems safest. 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.920 And today I saw Kevin Owens came out and spoke 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:17.200 a little bit about his decision not to wrestle, and weirdly, 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.360 the w w E has faced this before the rest 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.560 of the of the sporting world. We have Avery Bradley 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:25.360 and a bunch of players who have just decided for 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:27.600 the health and safety of their family not to join 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:29.480 the NBA or you know, you'll we'll see that in 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.040 the NFL soon. Uh, you guys have faced it with 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.040 Roman reign Samy Zane, there's a bunch of of superstars 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.400 who kind of made their own decisions. Is that what 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.000 you guys are kind of encouraged to do? I think So, 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.920 I think it's, uh, you know, you have to consider 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:47.000 what your individual case is, the people you're around. I 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.840 think for those guys with families, I definitely understand completely 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.040 because you know it could it can devastate your family, 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.160 and that would that would like you know, to do this, 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.200 to decide to wrestle, to step into a ring, and 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:03.320 the fact it could really negatively affect your your family's 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.600 future as something that it's just I don't think it's 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.160 worth the risk for me. Like I said, I go 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.120 home to no one, So I kind of I think 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.520 there's a certain risk with wrestling that I've accepted anyways 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.160 for myself. And there's really no fear that I'm going 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.120 to get anyone else sick, not a family member or 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.560 anything like that. So I have really minimal contact with 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:24.520 anyone else outside of wrestling at all. So it's kind 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.480 of something that I've been more comfortable with going back 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.640 with supposed to know, with more testing, but I completely 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:31.880 you know, except that you know, there are people who 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:33.400 are going to say this is not right for me 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.440 and my family, and I think it's smart that they 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.600 decide not to step in the ring. And you you know, 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.240 you played college football, you found great success and power 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.720 lifting and with all that teamwork that you've been in 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.800 in the locker rooms that you've been in both sports 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.240 and sports entertainment. Now, can this be contained or is 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.080 social distancing the way is you know, like I have 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.160 been open about it on the podcast, being very nervous 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.440 for athletes going back. You've been back, So are there 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:03.040 things going on backstage getting ready? Are people keeping it 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.160 in mind? Man? It's hard because you talk about like 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:08.480 I played college football at at a major university of 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:12.400 ot Iowa, and it's very difficult because you're just used 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.360 to being around your teammates. And I've talked to like 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.760 two of my really good friends, um we played collegeball 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.600 together that we're like brothers. Um their coaches they're high 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.520 school coaches, and talking to them about some of the 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:24.960 things that they have to do where they have like 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.480 groups of ten and it's really limited. It doesn't feel 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:32.760 like that's not the way we're accustomed to running practices 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.240 and doing things same with us, Like we're we're a 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:37.880 business where there's a lot of contact with another human. 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.360 It's not like tennis or baseball where you can play 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.480 these sports and still have distance. You know, we're just 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:46.600 used to touching each other and even in the back, 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:48.760 like we're, we're encouraged to wear masks and to be 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.439 socially distant, but it can be difficult, and it's it's 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.400 hard to say, you know, after months and months of 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:57.439 seeing people that you really like or your your close 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.880 friends and having no physical contact with them, with seemingly 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.520 no end in sight. You know, this could be probably 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.040 several more months to go, I would say, at least 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:08.560 before we get back to a more normal schedule. So 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.480 it's definitely something that's encouraged, but I think just naturally, 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.360 it's very difficult for us to continue to maintain distance 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.000 and to continue to wear masks, and it's something that 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:19.880 we need to be cognizant of. But I don't know 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.839 how you will be able to enforce this in high 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.400 schools and in the NFL, the NBA, to make sure 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.640 that guys keep a respectable distance in a sport or 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.480 in a culture where you're just used to being around 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:36.440 people and used to being in close physical contact. Yeah, 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:38.360 I mean I even have trouble. My mom stopped by 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:40.520 the other day to see our kid, and I'm even 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:42.960 just like, the instinct to want to hug your family 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.480 isn't something we should be doing, right, I mean we did, 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:47.520 we don't do it. We haven't done it in months, 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.040 but even three months later, I'm seeing myself starting to 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:52.480 go for it. I mean, do you guys have kind 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:54.959 of those oops moments as well? Like, you know, it's 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.640 just you've you've trained and wrestling for so long. How 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.920 do you just change it out of nowhere? It's hard. Yeah, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.559 definitely an adjustment, and I feel like we're and this 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.760 isn't the right thing, but I feel like we were 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:07.680 definitely more A lot of us were more cognisant of 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.240 it the first month or two months in, But then 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:12.520 you get to a point where you're at eight weeks in, 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.240 twelve weeks in, and you just kind of star for 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.640 physical contact and being close to people you enjoy, and 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:22.720 it's it's difficult, and it's it's obviously something that's important 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.320 because it's it's really wreaking havoc man, I like my 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.720 barber of mine. Uh, he's my barber, and he's just 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.400 he's a good friend of mine. Uh. Was someone who 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:32.520 not that he didn't believe it, you know, but but 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.600 Jay was someone who was in great shape. He worked 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:37.880 out a lot. He's not that old, but he kind 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:39.760 of questioned like, hey, I don't know anyone around me 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.760 who has it? Do you and just kind of was 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:44.719 more just kind of weird. But then he's been he 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.040 was in the hospital, just got out of the hospital. 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.160 He's in the hospital for eight or nine days. And 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.880 it really took it just took a huge toll on him. 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:54.840 He was he just didn't look the same. He FaceTime 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.280 me from a hospital and you could see how how 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.840 much it took a toll on him. And it's scary 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:01.400 to see. Like I was really worried, like is he 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:03.240 gonna make it? I don't. I don't know to see that. 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:05.520 But um, it's something that obviously we need to take 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.360 very seriously. And you know, I just think you've gotta 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.200 listen to the experts. You know, there's a lot of 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.160 people with you know, opinions who have no science, who 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.280 read stuff on Facebook and think they're qualified to weigh 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.320 in on what we should and shouldn't be doing. But 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:20.080 I really don't think it's that difficult to put a 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.000 mask on, you know. I don't think it's worth uh 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.920 storming your city halls just to wear a mask, you know. 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.800 So I have no problem wearing a mask. More with 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:33.800 w w E superstar Big E after this. Now let's 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:37.079 get back to Big E. Well, this time in America 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.679 has been wild, first with the pandemic and then with 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.400 the civil unrest semming from the murder of George Floyd. 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:44.800 I wanted to first talk to you about speaking up 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.319 in your industry. You you had a special episode of 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.280 your podcast where you tackled race, You've tweeted support for 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.120 Black Lives Matter, you took a knee at a recent 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.200 w W W tape, and you've had gear made with the 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.480 names of victims that have not yet had the justice 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.640 they deserve on them. Have you felt supported about this 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.720 from I mean the locker room in general, but maybe 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.240 white superstars. Yeah, I have. You know. One of the 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.640 things that was really eye opening to me is I 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:11.880 had so many of my peers reach out to me, 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.480 people who worked with us in digital fellow wrestlers who 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:19.360 wanted to reach out and either offer there you know, 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.280 support or some like. Several people also wanted to learn 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:23.920 and like one of the things that I realized that 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.160 I'm kind of out of loop with a lot of 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:27.960 this stuff, and I have been. I was an African 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.840 American litt minor in college, and I found, honestly, I 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.360 found the weight of of knowing the history of like 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.959 what happens to black men and women in this country. Uh, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:41.640 it really feels like a weight. It was depressing, It 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:43.840 was sad, and I there was a big part of 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.480 me that just kind of wanted to distance myself from 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:48.320 a lot of that stuff after college because it was 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.440 hard to just continue to take in these images of 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.600 black people unjustly dying and nothing being done about it. 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.360 But I've the stuff with George Floyd and the aftermath 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.600 really weighed, so have on. Like you said, we we 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.200 were gonna you know, the podcast for us is usually 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:08.120 very fun and lose and irreverence, but it felt very 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:11.920 necessary for us to record uh an Hour and change, 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:13.679 and we did it. It It was the three of us 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.160 and a buddy of mine, Andrea's Hale, who works in 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.600 combat sports covers combat sports, but he also has a 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:23.360 history and activism. And you know, for the three of 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.560 us with me coping Woods, we don't have the answers, 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.360 but we wanted to speak to our experiences. So many 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.680 of my friends, young black men, who have that histories 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.520 of being pulled over by police, of being harassed by police, 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.440 of being unjustly stopped. Like we, this is something that 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.160 we've talked about, and especially now too many of my 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.360 friends have kids now and they're having to you know, 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.120 we talked about the talk usually is the birds and 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.640 the bees and talking to your kids about sex, but 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.520 for so many black men and women, their talk to 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:55.880 their kids is about how to act when you're pulled 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.280 over by police, because you don't know what can happen. 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.720 If you don't all the letter of everything they say you, 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:07.880 you fear that your child can be unjustly killed. And 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.520 even if they do follow every single thing they're told, 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:12.800 you never know. So a lot that's that's a big 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.040 part of what it means to raise a black child. 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:18.000 And that's scary, and that's frightening, and that's sad. And 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:19.840 you know, even me, like I got pulled over, I've 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:21.920 never gotten to any trouble, never had any issues with 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.080 the law. But in college it was a group of us. 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:27.280 We were actually be had the youth leadership program and 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.440 we put all played college football at Iowa and someone's 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.640 I think someone said that we had a gun in 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:35.520 the car and called the cops. And we did not 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:37.240 have a gun in the car, but we got pulled over. 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.240 I had a gun pulled on me by a cop. 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.280 And who knows, like how that could have gone to 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.680 have a gun a few inches from your face and 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:48.040 have done nothing wrong. And this this happens time and 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.920 time again. So you know, for us, it's uh, it's 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:55.720 it's very frustrating, very sad. And I found the George 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:59.560 Floyd news really really weighed heavy on me and something 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:00.840 that was a It was at the forefront of my 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:04.520 mind for days and days thinking about it, and for me, 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:09.320 I kind of felt some hopelessness. But I didn't want 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:14.560 to just use my anger and frustration and do nothing 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.080 with it. Um. I wanted to at least have a conversation. 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:18.800 And it's been nice. Man. We We've had so much 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:21.400 feedback from different people who reached out and said, man, 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:23.760 I didn't consider these things until I listened to your 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.760 podcast and I learned something or I heard a perspective 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.240 I had never heard before, and thank you. And you know, 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.720 I'm not going to presume to say we have all 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:35.760 the answers or any answers, but we just wanted to 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.480 speak to our experiences, to not be preachy, to to 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.840 not tell people how to feel or what to to believe, 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.880 but to tell you how we feel, to tell you 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.640 our experiences, to tell you the experiences of our black 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.040 friends and what they go through and the things that 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.600 are are in their minds when it comes to being 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:55.520 pulled over by beliefe. So a lot of what we've 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.400 done recently is it's trying to raise awareness. And you know, 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:00.960 sometimes I really think I don't know the power or 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.320 the purpose. Sometimes up a tweet or an Instagram post 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:06.359 and I really like, sometimes I'm wondering, am I just 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.680 screaming into a void or petting myself on the back 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:11.760 when I post something and feeling like I've done something 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.200 And that's not, that's not. I wanted to make sure 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:16.320 that it came from a good place, a place of 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.840 actually wanting to help make our country and our society 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.680 more equitable. I wanted to make sure it came from 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.920 a place of of not self aggrandizement, but a place 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.879 of of wanting to actually see a better world. So 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.080 we've done a few things and I think we're going 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:35.960 to to continue to do some things that you mentioned 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:39.879 taking a need to bring attention to this movement on SmackDown. 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:41.000 And the nice thing is, you know, we ran it 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.480 by by venture Man, our boss, and he approved it. 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:45.520 We got no pushback there. We got a lot of 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.520 support from the company with the podcast, and we can't 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.399 typically put out the video, um not the whole video 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.480 because of the way that the contract is with our podcast, 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.440 but they were so supportive with us putting up the 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.080 whole conversation because we felt like it was important for 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.760 people to listen to this our plus and to see 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:04.760 it and to see our faces and see our expressions. 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.040 So we were thankful that we got support from the 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:08.840 company too. But we've done different things. Like you said, 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:13.000 we put the names of the victims of these people 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.879 who who lost their lives and shouldn't have put them 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:20.679 on arm bands, Chikaradi, Brianna Taylor, Tamla Horsford, Riot, Milton 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.960 uh and so many more. And Uh, we we've done 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.240 a lot with trying to We've tried to do a lot. 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:30.160 We're trying to learn ourselves with reading. UM actually rent 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:35.520 across a great booklist from Victoria Alexander and she's at 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:39.600 Victoria a l x N d R on Twitter and 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:41.680 on Instagram, and I had a lot of people reach 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.320 out to me and asked like, Hey, how can I learn? 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.240 What can I read? What can I watch? And I'm 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:49.520 trying to find stuff that that I know of, but 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.680 she put out this great bookist of of just stuff. 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:54.280 If you want to be an ally and you're trying 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.840 to learn, here's just a laundry list of books. And 0:18:57.280 --> 0:18:59.280 she does a great job. I believe she's a PhD 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.280 student and she's been putting out consistent information with with 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.560 ways to learn. So we just tried to do things 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:06.440 on our end. I've also worked with some great companies. 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:10.960 Astro flav is a supplement company and they're donating of 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:13.040 all the income that comes in from their products. In 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.280 June is going to the a CP Legal Defense and 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.840 Educational Fund. Same thing with Cameo. For a few days 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:23.200 all their cameos, they were donating a portion to the 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:26.320 end double a CP Legal Defense and educational fund, and 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:27.919 we've got a few other things in the next two 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.800 that we're trying to not just post on Twitter and 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.680 on social media, but to help raise money to for 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:38.119