WEBVTT - S3 Episode 8: Least Expected 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.960 Drafted is a production of tree Fork Media, Clutch Sports Group, 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:15.840 and I Heart Radio. You're going to Minnesota. Welcome back 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.720 to Drafted. I'm Steven Johnson and this is episode eight 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:24.240 of season three. Last episode, quarterback Kellen Man got drafted 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.360 by the Minnesota Vikings at the top of the third round. 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.520 Everyone went crazy, So, I mean, it was a phenomenal 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:33.360 feeling in I tell a lot of people that was 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:38.040 probably one of the best feelings that I've ever had. Now, 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.720 the third round continues at the Fitzpatrick draft party in Pontiac, Michigan. 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.600 Receiver Des Fitzpatrick, his parents, Greg and Wendy, and his 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:50.480 friends and family all watch as the third round continues, 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:54.040 and although ten receivers were drafted in the first two rounds, 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.840 none have been selected thus far in round three. Des 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.320 his mom Wendy, describes the mood as the third round 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:09.320 winds down. So Thursday, we knew it was going to 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.800 be round one or two, you know, we expected that again. 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.559 We were hoping for a third and fourth. Third round came. 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:21.760 Nothing transpired from that. We were getting a little nervous 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:30.160 at that point. By the end of the third round, 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.880 five more receivers hear their names called. That means five 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:36.920 more players get vel growed up on Greg Fitzpatrick's draft 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:42.080 board at the party, and with the draft almost halfway over, 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.720 exactly fifteen of the thirty receiver names death and his 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.640 dad originally laid out are now assigned to teams, while 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:53.200 does his name plate still looms large on the adjacent table. 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:58.400 Here's does his dad Greg on the situation. So after 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.120 day two at night, I was a little worried. That 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.080 could be honest, I was a little worried. Fifteen guys 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:10.600 have went and I said, Okay, Jesus, I'm getting worried 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.600 because you know, when day three happens, it's like he 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.040 could just start sliding, Like you just never know what's 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.040 gonna happen. So that night I couldn't sleep that night, 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:23.560 and before I went to bed, I said, you okay, man, 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.640 he goes, yeah, dah. I knew it wasn't gonna happen. 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.720 And that was the night he invited everyone over. But 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:31.079 you know, I gave a speech at the end of 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.000 the night and say, hey and everybody and morning, welcome 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.240 to come back tomorrow. There'll be plenty of food and 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.760 spirits tomorrow. So so you guys everybody come on. Back. 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.440 Rounds four through seven will take place on the third 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.280 and final day of the draft, and if Daz is 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:51.680 feeling any stress or pressure about falling into the later rounds, 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:56.359 were possibly even going undrafted, he isn't showing it. However, 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.480 his parents, Wendy and Greg, can see right through their sons. 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:04.240 Composed is the facade. I'll say this dance sometimes comes 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:07.320 across as a robot because he kind of protects his 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.519 emotions when it comes to the stuff, because he's been 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:12.880 on like this crazy roller coaster, right, so he's been 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.480 on this incredible roller coaster. So he just tries to 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.280 stay kind of even, not too high, not too low, 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:22.280 no expectations. He's just like, I didn't think it's gonna 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.560 happen anyway. But I'm laying up staring at the selling 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.200 all night man three o'clock at Moore, I'm like, jeez, 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.680 please don't let this thing just go left. He worked 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:37.320 so hard. I can't imagine it just going left. What 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:39.960 Desmond does and he's always done this every since he 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:46.920 was little. He tries to to protect his heart. He'll say, 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:50.240 it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I don't it doesn't matter. 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.840 And then we were constantly no, Desmond, it's okay. It's 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.760 like he didn't want to have feelings because now if 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.040 I have, if I show some type of feelings, now 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:03.120 I have my feeling as will be affected by either 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.640 hurt or mad or sad, And now I don't want 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.080 to have those feelings, So let me just try to 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:19.120 block it out like it doesn't exist. Of course, his 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.680 feelings do exist, and he does care deeply. He just 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.960 tries to hide it all. Only now that it's Saturday, 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.600 May one and Day three of the NFL Draft is 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:33.720 about to begin, his friends and family do wonder will 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.000 he be able to maintain this stoic demeanor throughout the 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:44.440 final day of the draft. So Saturday, we're like, okay, okay. 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.640 So when we got over there, it started at no 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.040 So Desmond leaves to go pick up some friends at 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.400 the hotel. We're there, We're like, where is the dement 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.000 needs to her and kid here does elaborates on how 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:02.080 the morning got messed up and at that point the 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:06.080 draft started I think at twelve on that Saturday, and 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:10.080 I was going to pick up because a couple of 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:13.560 my friends were at a nearby hotel, probably ten minutes away, 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.000 and I was picking up three of my friends from 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.440 the hotel, and I was about to run out of gas, 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:21.800 and you know, one of the gas pumps said that 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.160 the car didn't work. Obviously my car is working, so 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.440 I had to go to another one. We had to 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:29.240 stop like two different times to get gas. So this 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.839 is we're we're starting to run a little late now 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:34.360 and it was just a whole ordeal. And you know, 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:36.760 my friends are in the car with me and my 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:45.800 phone start drink game A hello, yeah, yes, sir, anybody 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:49.840 John Robin the younger, we're doing well, of coach, how 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:54.920 are you doing? I'm doing that manding congratulation were about 0:05:54.960 --> 0:06:00.279 to make you. I appreciate it so much. Course, thank 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.280 you so much, coach. I don't think I don't you 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:07.320 go to your question. Yes, sir, of course I appreciated 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.760 so much. Coach, Thank you so much. And I'm gonna 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.960 let you talk to our great and you know what 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:19.280 kind of Dez Fitzpatrick may have just become the first 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:23.040 person in NFL history to be drafted while driving a car. 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:26.720 So as Daz tries to focus on the road, his 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.400 new head coach, Mike Rabel, gets on the call, thank you. 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.200 How are you doing, coach? I'm a great banking granulate. 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.240 I work and John and I don't want to want 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.800 up and got you. I want to you and branding coach. 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:43.960 I appreciate it so much. Coach. You know I'm gonna 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.000 do everything in my part of work car and make 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.960 sure that's a really great decision. I know, I know 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:51.840 you are man, I know you all love what you're about. Man. 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.480 I worked hard to work pretty okay, but where a 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.800 lot of people reaching indeed, and I'll be texting here. 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.080 Of course. I appreciate it again, a coach, So thank 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.880 you so much. The Titans general manager gets back on 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.920 the call. Go celebrate what you say. I'll tell you 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.960 we should. We finished the draft last night, and I'll 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.000 look at your cars. Don't ever forget a point a 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:15.000 way to get up to get that, um, coach, great 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:19.240 about your work. Okay, that's what we're about here, Okay, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir. 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.960 I'm gonna live up to that. Okay, wait to being 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:36.200 Because those were desert friends screaming as they got out 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:38.720 of the car in front of his dad's house. Here's 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.640 DEAs trying to make sense of being drafted by the 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:45.200 Tennessee Titans in the fourth round while driving to his 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:48.840 own draft party. When I hung up the phone before 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.640 I pulled up to my house, I was thinking, like, Okay, 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:55.320 I don't know what picked they're on on the TV, 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:57.040 so I have to make it home fast. So I 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.160 was going like seventy down the street trying to make 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:01.800 it home fast everything because I'm trying to think. You know, 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.560 nobody in the house knows, Like the other thirty people 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.480 in the house don't know anything yet. His parents and 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.520 all his other friends and family inside have no idea 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.800 any of this has happened. So now Dez opens the 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.760 door and enters his draft party with the biggest secret possible. 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:48.880 Everybody on our technology somebody, they asked him, He said 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:55.600 the same. That's dess Dad Greg in the background talking 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.400 about how one of DES's former coaches might be getting 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:02.040 some inside information about when and where Daz will be drafted. 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:11.160 That's how will Oh, he said. He said, that's I mean, 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.839 when I get the call already, don't know. I'm just 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:16.880 saw coach I love I know, he just he just coach. 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:19.800 Coach Ruce just said that's the word. I'm just selling. 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.880 Don't mess me mind for that. Greg received a text 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.800 message from the former coach that claims Dez is about 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:30.360 to be drafted soon. So Des counters that he would 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:31.960 have gotten a call from a team by now if 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:40.200 that were true, so the rumor can't be real. Okay, 0:09:42.040 --> 0:10:01.800 standing guard there towards from one, the pick is announced 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.319 and everyone in the litterm He leaps up off the 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.640 couches in shock, everyone except Das and his friends who 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.280 were in the car earlier. Of course, here are Daz 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:15.319 and his parents on that moment. My dad said, I 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.240 had a great poker face, like he didn't know at 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.280 all this was coming up, and you know, they said, 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:22.800 you know, the pick is in and with the one 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.560 on ninth picks, you know, the Tennessee Titans select does 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:30.640 fit Patrick? And everybody was like, oh my sides going crazy, 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.200 started screaming, jumping up and down, and they're like, did 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:34.920 ain't here to call you? And I was like, yeah, 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:39.400 they called me like ten minutes ago. I'm thinking, well, 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.160 it can't be the Titans because he was gotten a 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.160 call by now and they're on the clock and they 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:46.640 only got you know, a few minutes, and the next 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.280 thing you know, they picked Das and the whole house 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:59.280 just erbs. There's tears everywhere. We just all jumped up, 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.559 all of the family and friends at the time, still 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.719 not knowing that Desmond and his friends already knew, but 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.600 we all jumped up and we just tears just started 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:14.839 just flowing. We're all just started hugging. We're all just 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.040 kind of boll Garden just pounced on Desmond and just 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.480 giving a home hugs and kisses and crying at the 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.040 same time all of us, and it was just there 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.600 wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was just awesome. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.160 It was just awesome. That was a moment I won't 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:50.280 ever forget. We'll be right back. Ye. Kellen Mond and 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.880 Desmond Fitzpatrick are officially professional football players. They were drafted 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.960 in the third and fourth rounds by the Minnesota Vikings 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:01.319 and the Tennessee Titans. That leaves us with our final 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:05.880 two players and this season of drafting linebacker Hammaka Rashid Jr. 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:09.480 And cornerback Cameron by Him, who was currently on his 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:18.559 way to a cabin in Big Bear, California, so for 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.280 the draft, will be in Big Bear, California. We rent 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:23.720 a cabin right off the late. This is cam by 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.880 him had a lot of family from the Bay Area 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:29.640 in southern California, family and then a bunch of my teammates. 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.240 Cam is a Southern California native. So he and his 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.920 family arrived at the rented lake house in just under 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:41.439 two hours and the party starts almost immediately. So we 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:47.600 just got to the cabin. We're unloading everything and now 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.560 now we're star stuck. Is this place, this cabin matsion 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:58.360 is crazy? My mic alright, So I'm in here with 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.800 my all my city wings off, five of whom we 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:05.760 have a noisy house here, three dogs, five kids, two parents. 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:11.040 My aunt is over. This is where Cameron's come here, Kay. 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.760 Just like des Kellen Davante and most other players in 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:21.559 the draft, making it to the NFL has been a 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:25.200 lifelong dream for Cam. The differences is that his dream 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:28.400 always seemed more like a fantasy than a real possibility, 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.960 even since I was a kid. Obviously a super cliche 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.160 when people talk about Yeah, people ask me what I 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:39.080 wanted to do. I said NFL, and they said, well, 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:41.439 you gotta have a backup plan. That's the story for 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:43.960 all of us. But now it's it's it's way sweeter 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.040 knowing that at a point I wasn't super good at football. 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:51.599 That's what makes Cam's journey especially unique. For most of 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.199 his childhood and even as a young adult, he was 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:58.480 actually pretty bad at football. Here's his trainer, coach Anthony Brown, 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:03.120 describing the first time he saw Cam play. He was 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.760 a sophomore going in towards junior season. Where was at 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.280 one of our tournaments and he had a very very 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.360 bad day that day. I want to say he gave 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.679 about five touchdowns that day. Yeah, it was. It was 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.520 a long day for the kid. Cam was getting beat 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.360 on the field for a number of reasons. He hadn't 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:23.400 been taught the technique needed to play his position. He 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.040 didn't have a dad like Greg Fitzpatrick drilling him on 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.440 the finer points of play and receiver when he was 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.320 a little kid. And that's normal because most dads aren't 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.040 able to teach their nine year olds what they learned 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.960 from practicing with Jerry Rice. However, there was another reason 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.800 Cam kept getting beat over and over again for touchdowns. 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.920 All the other players were a lot bigger than him. 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.840 Here's coach Brown on what he saw that day. Now, 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:49.920 I've been doing this for years you know, Decenci backs 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.040 are looking like they're about six ft, you know, one 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.600 ninety So I had this kid going into his junior 0:14:55.680 --> 0:15:00.680 season at Corona Centennial, like, well, how are we going 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:08.840 to get the job done? Cam was going into his 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.120 junior year at Corona Centennial High School and he still 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.120 hadn't hit a Grosberg or learned the finer points of 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.240 playing cornerback. It was at that moment his childhood dream 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:23.240 of becoming an NFL player looked utterly impossible. But growth 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.520 often comes from life's toughest struggles and failures, and that 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:30.160 day where Cam gave up touchdown after touchdown changed everything 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.440 for him. Now, as he waits for the NFL Draft 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.320 to begin, Cam talks about this exact moment with some 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:40.680 friends and family. Would you say, what's my what was 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.840 my well? Yeah, what was your the turning point here? 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.280 Where would like made you realize you were soft? And 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:52.880 now my catchup moment was I was already on ground zero. 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.920 Did a couple of tournaments, I was, I was surviving. 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:02.080 I just at the surviving always worked, but that training 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.200 was and it was just busy where just getting tired, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:08.000 getting the shape and not doing actual DV ware. Cam 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.400 was lifting weights and running, but no one was coaching 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.560 him on the details of how to play defensive back. 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:25.640 So once one tournament, may ten remember stuff like that. 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:32.160 I remember that stuff may ten Long Beach City College Tournament, 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:36.080 Gridiron tournament. I'm gonna hear getting I'm getting popped for 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:40.520 six at least three touchdowns a game and Brown will 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.120 not take me out the game. And then I was 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:45.480 just looking at him like you know that look you 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:47.480 just like I can't do anything about this. Coach. They 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:51.440 take me deep every play. Brown is coach Anthony Brown, 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.320 who we heard from a minute ago. He was coaching 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.680 Cam's team in that weekend tournament, and despite the fact 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.000 that Cam was getting beat deep over and over, Coach 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.720 Brown wouldn't take him out of the game. I'm just 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:06.320 looking at him. He would not take me out, and 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:08.200 he's like, no, you're gonna You're gonna figure this out. 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:10.880 And then I don't even want to look at him. 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:13.920 He's calling me chicken. He's just calling me, like, just 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:17.199 breaking me down mentally, and he was like, I need 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.000 to see you this week. Monday, five am, Vanola Park 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.720 said that went up to Dad and Dad was like, yeah, 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.520 he's there and I was sick in my head, but 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:30.680 I knew I needed it and I was like, dang, 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:32.960 I gotta really work with this dude. So I went 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:38.240 and there was that was history, and yeah, Brown believed 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:45.320 in me. After that brutal weekend in the seven on 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.800 seven tournament, Cam signed up to train with coach Brown 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:52.040 every morning at five am. It was a commitment the 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:56.000 whole family would be making. Cam's father, Curtis, explains their decision. 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.000 You know, you hear a lot of stories for parents 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:00.639 kind of drunk their kids and say we want you 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.159 to do this. This was always what he wanted to do, 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.360 and not once where I remember we had to pull 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.119 him out of bed or force him to go. He 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:10.480 wanted to go. And those times where you know, I 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.280 was working so much of the time to my wife 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:14.880 and a lot of transporting back and forth and think 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:16.879 like that, but not wants to shiver. Tell me, hey, 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:19.120 he didn't want to go today. You know, he didn't 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.680 feel like training. This was all this was his dream, 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:26.480 This was all him. Cam loved football and was willing 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:30.160 to work incredibly hard, which made his struggles even more puzzling. 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:32.720 By the time he made it to a sophomore year. 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:35.840 He just hadn't improved as much as he should have. 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.040 Sophomore year of high school, I was trash of football 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.280 fifth training on JV. A lot of my friends obviously 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:51.159 once starting on varsity getting offers already. Most people that 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.240 are getting drafted, that's that's their story about when they're 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.680 in high school. They're always the guys since freshman year, 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.080 always the best one of the same. But for me, 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.200 that wasn't the case. If you listen to season one 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:06.680 of Drafted, you might remember Ohio State star cornerback Jeff Okuda. 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.720 He plays the same position as Cam, and by the 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.199 end of his sophomore year in high school, he had 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.840 received dozens of scholarship offers from almost every top program 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:19.760 in the country. At that same point, Cam was backing 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.919 up the backup for the third stringer on the junior 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:27.680 varsity team. When I was twisting on JV, the first 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:29.480 thing I did was like, Okay, I need to I 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:31.360 need to work and get my way, get my way 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.080 out this whole. And so the best thing I did 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.600 was find a coach that really put the time into me, 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:40.080 really invested into my future, trying to teach me that 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:42.800 the real details of football, not just a coach out 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.200 there doing busy work. He's getting me tired of stuff. 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.280 You really taught me the game, just being becoming a technician. 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:51.760 Never was the most athletic, biggest, fastest, or strong, especially 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:55.959 back then I was tiny, like super undersized. But as 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.760 soon as I started learning the game, becoming the technician 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:00.959 and putting that time and knowing that I put more 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:03.679 time and and separate myself with the amount of work 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:05.720 I put it and I somehow get better than somebody. 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.240 So that that kept going throughout the whole year, my 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.080 whole career, even when I got to college, still doing 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:14.919 those crazy hours, still putting in an extra hours more 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:17.720 than anybody went a whole year without missing a dave 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:21.120 doing extra work. So that's that's really been the whole 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:23.560 story of my entire career, just putting the extra work. 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:26.480 Know that, Okay, I might be behind some things, but 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:30.720 I'm setting for myself with the details and just how 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:39.920 much extra work is cam talking about throughout the week? 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:44.119 It was before school go there, We're start workout starts 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:46.560 at five so because we had to start school it 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.840 was seven thirty back then, so we have to do 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:53.480 that right before school. Obviously, I've practice lifting during school 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.639 at the right after school, another practice on the field 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.199 at the high school, then right back at five o'clock 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:02.120 we're back with the facility doing our speed work, doing 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.720 our lifting, and one more GB workout. So it was 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:10.360 at least fourteen hours a day just from the time 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:12.680 you wake up at five am and I'm not getting 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:16.560 home until seven at night. After my last workout, then 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:18.480 I had to do homework and then right back and 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:21.840 now that was basically my whole routine. Even with Cam 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:25.440 working fourteen hours a day on football, Coach Brown knew 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:30.920 the daunting odds that they faced. Basically, I'm scratching my 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:33.560 head like wild. We mentioned NFL, but at the time 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.280 we're just mentioned and trying to just get him on 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:39.159 track to be a football player, you know, because he 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:41.440 had the ambition, he had the motivation, he had the 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:47.280 heart in the work ethic, but looking at him, the 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:50.000 skills set by eyes wasn't there and everything else. So 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:53.800 the first few sessions would count it was two left feet, 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.520 two left feet, you know, he couldn't do the drills. 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:01.680 It was really a no rhythm at all. And the 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:05.240 daughters in the car watching us and asked, I'm finishing 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:07.400 up the session with you, so we're getting the car 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:09.639 and she's first things that my daughter in mouth was 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:12.640 like that, why are you training this kid camp? You know, Dad, 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:14.960 he's not a football player. I have to tell my daughter, 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:16.879 I say, baby, as long as he keeps showing up 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:18.879 to his training sessions, we're gonna keep showing him to 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.000 the training session. When you get a kid that believes 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:24.240 in itself, I couldn't tell the kid no. I didn't 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:27.359 want to be that that guy saying kid, football, it's 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:30.919 not your sport. So as he showed up, I showed up. 0:22:43.160 --> 0:23:02.480 We'll be right back. Coach Brown needed to figure out 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:06.400 how to turn his sophomore cornerback giving up multiple touchdowns 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:09.600 a game into a high school starter, and he needed 0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:12.600 to build a foundation where Cam could continue to grow 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:16.000 into a college player and maybe even one day into 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:20.040 an NFL defensive back. But the million dollar question was 0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:26.359 how So One of the things was we never had 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:28.800 a football. I never trying to account with a football. 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:30.479 So it's one of these things. As the parents, you're 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:33.760 looking like, Okay, who is this man and what is 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:35.640 he really doing? Because none of the things where we're 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:38.359 doing look like it was football related. You know, we 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:40.679 started from the ground up, so we had to actually 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:44.560 built the coordination, I placement, you know, built the Rivermnis 0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:46.480 feed and things like that. You know, the big total 0:23:46.520 --> 0:23:50.280 power inside arts so he can move with you know, consistently, 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:53.440 would have would have smoved rhythm. Scouts often say the 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:56.800 best cornerbacks never look out of control or out of position. 0:23:57.240 --> 0:24:00.960 They described them as smooth and fluid. They can turn 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:04.800 and run with receivers without losing any speed. They always 0:24:04.920 --> 0:24:08.160 know where the ball is. They anticipate where the receiver's going. 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:11.159 That's the kind of work Cam and Coach Brown put 0:24:11.240 --> 0:24:15.320 in morning after morning, week after week, without ever touching 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:22.480 a football. It was reminiscent of Daniel LaRusso learning karate 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:25.760 by waxing Mr Mayagi's car and painting his fence over 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:28.399 and over again instead of sparring with the kids in 0:24:28.480 --> 0:24:31.240 Cobra Kai and like the karate kid, Cam and his 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:34.520 parents couldn't help but question the process at times, But 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:37.200 as the weeks went by, Cam's parents began to know 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:47.360 it's a difference in their son. Over time, you saw 0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:49.480 the progression he was making, like he was getting better. 0:24:49.960 --> 0:24:52.159 So now I was like, Okay, let's continue to do this. 0:24:52.440 --> 0:24:55.360 That hard work and that discipline no matter whether it's 0:24:55.359 --> 0:24:58.600 pro football or anything in life, that translates everywhere, and 0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:04.760 everyone respects hard work. Whatever Coach Brown sawing Cam over 0:25:04.840 --> 0:25:08.200 those weeks, whatever progress he made or bond they built, 0:25:08.720 --> 0:25:11.160 he also felt that he couldn't let the young cornerback down. 0:25:13.920 --> 0:25:17.959 I've been in coaching twenty five years plus, started at 0:25:17.960 --> 0:25:20.119 To You Love with Dead High School, but it was 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:24.120 it was morrisover, resident of intervention, loving the kids. I've 0:25:24.160 --> 0:25:27.719 been officer for twenty years, so my background is serving 0:25:28.640 --> 0:25:32.040 the people who need to be served. Coach Brown is 0:25:32.080 --> 0:25:36.080