Speaker 1: Drafted as a production of tree Fort Media, Clutched Sports
Speaker 1: Group and I Heart Radio. Okay, I'm having get my
Speaker 1: camera and yeah, you need to uh, you're right, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know, I'm kind of I need to get on
Speaker 1: in the lifetime thing. You know, I'm missing concent Welcome
Speaker 1: back to draft It. In this fifth episode, we're checking
Speaker 1: in on cornerback Bryce Hall. Hold on, I'm missing you.
Speaker 1: Get this fade though, hold on, hold on, hold on,
Speaker 1: let me get it right real quick. Whose girlfriend and
Speaker 1: Zelville jun is making a documentary about his draft process.
Speaker 1: Whoever is listening to this, I'm telling you, the fade
Speaker 1: is everything in a change in life. I mean I'll
Speaker 1: be like in the background like Copers, just like Okay,
Speaker 1: now he's doing yeah, and we're going to hear from
Speaker 1: two other NFL hopeful for Kutap. I know growing up,
Speaker 1: it could have been easy for me to um give
Speaker 1: up and kind of just accept my reality is what
Speaker 1: it was instead of trying to recreate it. So I
Speaker 1: really left somebody else take away fifty yards worth the
Speaker 1: work for me, just to make him feel better. I
Speaker 1: feel like I cheated myself in this process and like
Speaker 1: I'll never get over that. Never again. We're looking at
Speaker 1: how the challenges they faced and overcome have shaped them
Speaker 1: into the men who are now knocking on the door
Speaker 1: to the NFL. So what's the platform today? So right now,
Speaker 1: right now? So I'm first off, I'm about to do
Speaker 1: these ankle exercises to get right. We're about to get
Speaker 1: a little snacking, going for a little run. After we
Speaker 1: come back, we're gonna eat some more food, and then
Speaker 1: we're gonna just chilling to the draft that I'm thinking
Speaker 1: about watching the Last Dance you know, shout out Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan's he got the major keys to greatness. So I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have to apply some of the things I learned
Speaker 1: in the Last Dance documentaries so we can make my
Speaker 1: own Last Dance run whatever you call it. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I love it. As the draft approaches, it's Enzel who
Speaker 1: carries a lot of the weight in her relationship with Bryce.
Speaker 1: All right, I'll carry the kettle bell. Are you sure
Speaker 1: he's strong enough? Boy? I lived you lift the kettle bell. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's I'm strong. You're right. Maybe I can work out
Speaker 1: with this deal bell today, do a little bit of squats.
Speaker 1: That'll change in life for real. You might get a
Speaker 1: bigger button than me after that rail. All Right, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna just let you think that right now. She may
Speaker 1: be Bryce's part time documentarian, part time trainer, and full
Speaker 1: time girlfriend, but Enzel also happens to be a great
Speaker 1: athlete in her own right. And they scored right back
Speaker 1: and trick it has check it up three one league
Speaker 1: and so Bill Jill. She was an all a CEC
Speaker 1: field hockey player at the University of Virginia, where she
Speaker 1: met Bryce as a senior. Alright, I'm on my hit
Speaker 1: you you've been too far out of the game. Huh. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean look when I go around, I don't round
Speaker 1: the hills. I woke the hills and unfet dies. Right yeah,
Speaker 1: hold on, let me give a little context for that. Listeners,
Speaker 1: We're just on a little nature job right now. It's
Speaker 1: twelve five and we just need to get some fresh air. Walked.
Speaker 1: Only five months ago, Bryce had surgery on his broken
Speaker 1: ankle and torn ligaments, so running with his girlfriend like
Speaker 1: this wasn't an option. So I'm running get you, okay,
Speaker 1: So if you need to go to an if I
Speaker 1: can keep Yeah, I ain't trying to die today. It's
Speaker 1: just like a therapeutic run. Just get a little movement
Speaker 1: to get the least cast it out. I just got nice,
Speaker 1: just same right fact before getting hurt, Bryce's trajectory seemed
Speaker 1: clear my sophomore year going into my junior year, I
Speaker 1: just remember when I was at a place where everything
Speaker 1: it looked like everything outwardly looked great. I had played
Speaker 1: my freshman year. I had a chance to go to
Speaker 1: the NFL my junior year if I did really well
Speaker 1: that year, And I just remember just kind of questioning
Speaker 1: why I was doing what I was doing, like what
Speaker 1: my purpose was, because I felt like I was kind
Speaker 1: of in like a law, like I knew what my
Speaker 1: dream was, but I didn't know like necessarily, like why
Speaker 1: fully I wanted it. And the thing is like every
Speaker 1: day in practice, our coaches job and their goal was
Speaker 1: to create those situations where they would push us to
Speaker 1: the limit. Every day I'd be putting my body on
Speaker 1: the line going through tough training, and my coaches they
Speaker 1: were getting on us every day, yelling and just really
Speaker 1: getting on us mentally. And I remember thinking, when you
Speaker 1: go through difficult situations, if you don't have a purpose
Speaker 1: or a reason why to push through those certain situations,
Speaker 1: It's very hard for you to to work through those situations,
Speaker 1: to overcome them and come out on the other side
Speaker 1: if you don't have a purpose or meaning for why
Speaker 1: you must go through it. And I was questioning, like,
Speaker 1: is this really something I want to do for the
Speaker 1: rest of my life? Like how dangerous we know the
Speaker 1: game of football is, with concussions all that stuff. I'm
Speaker 1: putting my body through hell every day in practice, and
Speaker 1: I was thinking, you know, like is this really worth it?
Speaker 1: A once obvious path to success was thrown into question
Speaker 1: after that software season, Bryce walked away from football. We
Speaker 1: have a very unique approach at the University of Virginia,
Speaker 1: and so our program is very, very challenging. That's Bronco Mendenhall,
Speaker 1: Bryce's head coach at the University of Virginia. I'm surprised
Speaker 1: it took Bryce to a sophomore year at the question.
Speaker 1: My goal is actually to have each of our young
Speaker 1: people uncover why they would be playing as soon as possible,
Speaker 1: to make things so significant, so challenging that once decided,
Speaker 1: there's clarity on how come. And so Bryce moved from
Speaker 1: receiver to defensive back. Here comes a brand new coaching staff.
Speaker 1: None of whom recruited him, nor did he know in
Speaker 1: a program to expects more than I think anyone might
Speaker 1: even think it is reasonable. And so here's all of
Speaker 1: this commitment, here's all of this effort, here's all that's
Speaker 1: being required, and certainly why now, why would I do this?
Speaker 1: And so it's actually pretty normal and it was an
Speaker 1: amazing though the transformation once the clarity and the choice came,
Speaker 1: is this something I really want to do? Rice then
Speaker 1: took that, internalized it, and then he wrestled with it.
Speaker 1: The dream that formed in the far reaches of Bryce's mind,
Speaker 1: the dream he visualized in a picture in kindergarten when
Speaker 1: he told his teacher that he wanted to play football,
Speaker 1: was still there, but fifteen years later he lost some
Speaker 1: of the motivation to achieve it. The best gift I
Speaker 1: could give Bryce Hall isn't the football mastery or that knowledge.
Speaker 1: It's the defining moments, or the possibilities to have the
Speaker 1: defining moments. So before he leaves college, he's ready and
Speaker 1: much more certain and clear about what he wants, who
Speaker 1: he is, and how we'll navigate the world. After he
Speaker 1: left the team, he searched for something to give him
Speaker 1: a sense of direction, but he didn't know exactly what
Speaker 1: that was. He was empty inside waiting to be filled,
Speaker 1: but with what he no I didn't really have a
Speaker 1: strong relationship with God at the point, but I was
Speaker 1: just kind of searching, like is this really what I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing. I think that's where I leaned
Speaker 1: in to where my faith became so strong, because I
Speaker 1: felt like in in those times where I was just
Speaker 1: kind of seeking and like is there more to this
Speaker 1: and why I'm doing this? And I felt like God
Speaker 1: just placed this burden on my heart to like that
Speaker 1: he has a purpose and the plan for me, and
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily for me, but it's so that I
Speaker 1: can be a light and help other people going through
Speaker 1: these situations and knowing and it kind of gave me
Speaker 1: purpose as to why I was playing the game of football.
Speaker 1: He discovers a sense of purpose bigger than money or fame,
Speaker 1: and he rejoins the Cavaliers one week before his junior year.
Speaker 1: I feel like with the game of football is preparing
Speaker 1: me for whatever I have coming after that. How Like,
Speaker 1: football teaches me so much about life and at the
Speaker 1: same time, football is just taking me places where I
Speaker 1: never thought I could go and meet people in different
Speaker 1: things like that, and it's something I love to do.
Speaker 1: It's a gift and I really want to utilize this time.
Speaker 1: And I feel like I'm learning so much from the
Speaker 1: game of football to make a difference to people that
Speaker 1: come behind me, you know, the younger generation and even
Speaker 1: you know, it's a really dark industry, just sports and entertainment.
Speaker 1: And if I can be a light in that industry
Speaker 1: and just be a positive inspiration for people that come
Speaker 1: after me, I think that gave me extra juice. Like
Speaker 1: why I'm playing this game is it is bigger than
Speaker 1: just me. But like I can endure those things because
Speaker 1: I know, like God has prepared me for this, He's
Speaker 1: called me to do this, and there's something bigger that
Speaker 1: I'm playing for and not just myself. And when you
Speaker 1: move past just yourself, I think it gives you way
Speaker 1: more like purpose and meaning. Then the injury after discovering
Speaker 1: his mission a blind siding setback in the Miami game,
Speaker 1: Bryce Hall is hurt and that's not good for Virginia
Speaker 1: because Bryce Hall is one of their very best players.
Speaker 1: They got that air cast whatever you wanna call it,
Speaker 1: wrapped around his lower left leg, ankle. We're not going
Speaker 1: to show you that the injury is not pretty quiet.
Speaker 1: Virginia sideline Bryce Hall, an amazing kid, thought about going
Speaker 1: to the NFL last year, prayed about it in the
Speaker 1: off season, decided to come back. So our thoughts are
Speaker 1: with one of the best players in college football. So
Speaker 1: in the course of my career UM, one of the
Speaker 1: things that has an increasingly difficult toll is when a
Speaker 1: player gets hurt because most of them have recruited and
Speaker 1: gotten to know and our program is so challenging and difficult,
Speaker 1: and they've contributed and worked and and remained dedicated. And
Speaker 1: then in Bryce's case, you just take all of that
Speaker 1: and then just turn the dial to eleven, right, like
Speaker 1: it has to be a new category. And and I
Speaker 1: actually had him contributing on punt return, So this wasn't
Speaker 1: a defensive snap. This was a special team snap. And
Speaker 1: in the world of college football, that's usually looked at
Speaker 1: UM as a lesser than snap, even though it's not.
Speaker 1: But that's usually how it's looked at. And rarely are
Speaker 1: your very best players UM contributing on those units at
Speaker 1: the level Bryce was for us, which was the personal
Speaker 1: choice UM and a cultural choice that I made to
Speaker 1: put him out there. So I see Bryce go down
Speaker 1: and the very first, my very first thought is what
Speaker 1: a poor choice by me as the head coach to
Speaker 1: have Bryce out there on that play. And so is
Speaker 1: an immediate acknowledgement of responsibility of I'm totally responsible for that,
Speaker 1: and and so I felt awful it would require ankle
Speaker 1: surgery and months of rehab. Bryce's resolved from a year
Speaker 1: prior is suddenly tested in an enormous way. I felt
Speaker 1: like I put on my heart that I was supposed
Speaker 1: to come back and all that other stuff. And when
Speaker 1: I um when that happened in that moment um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I was frustrating, and I think one of the things
Speaker 1: I was thinking was like, okay, what, like, what's the
Speaker 1: purpose in all this? And one of the things I
Speaker 1: knew is like people were looking at me, especially family
Speaker 1: and other people that looked up to me. They were
Speaker 1: going to react how I reacted, you know, if I
Speaker 1: was gonna a fit and you know, act like I
Speaker 1: was the victim and just like sob which I had
Speaker 1: the right to do, they were gonna follow in that lead.
Speaker 1: I think knowing that I was just kind of sitting
Speaker 1: and I'm like, Okay, what's the purpose and all this?
Speaker 1: I truly believe God works everything together for our good
Speaker 1: and that he never causes bad things like these to happen,
Speaker 1: but he can use them for our good. And I
Speaker 1: just remember trying to figure out, like what is the
Speaker 1: purpose and all this, and honestly, like so much good
Speaker 1: came out of that, you know, bad situation, and like,
Speaker 1: I think it's helped prepare me for what I'm going
Speaker 1: into now we'll be right back right studies his life
Speaker 1: the way other players analyze game tape, trying to use
Speaker 1: every experience as a teachable moment, trying to learn from
Speaker 1: any setback and use it to create his carefully planned future.
Speaker 1: You gotta show our children this stuff. That's true. That's true,
Speaker 1: and I look back to trying that's my mom doesn't
Speaker 1: like to watch my video. She says, it's sad to see, like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, like my kids growing up. Yeah, but we're
Speaker 1: gonna be with him the whole line, so it won't
Speaker 1: be like you know what I'm saying. I was thinking
Speaker 1: the other day, just being excited about starting like a
Speaker 1: legacy for I got a family, and it's like we
Speaker 1: get to start like a generation line for years and
Speaker 1: years and years to come. Probably we can design how
Speaker 1: he wants to look, you know. Yeah, like you're controlling that.
Speaker 1: It's like that turned back. Should we turn back? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Even after we're are you dead and gone? It's are
Speaker 1: we It's like that generation that's just gone on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if I it's solid enough. Yeah, family, cute little babies,
Speaker 1: bro our baby, they got wet. They we gotta protect them.
Speaker 1: Ain't no, but anybody too, you know anywhere. We do
Speaker 1: want thishere anywhere anywhere. And it's not like build a
Speaker 1: family or just like beat like go to have a
Speaker 1: vacation spot when I'm done, And I'm not telling you both,
Speaker 1: so like where would you spot with like a nice
Speaker 1: house river? But then also where would you want to
Speaker 1: build your family? And there's no restrictions. It's like you
Speaker 1: have a nice you have everything you ever wanted in life.
Speaker 1: Where would you want to sell? That sounds good? That's
Speaker 1: for you. Well, I lived in Kansas when I grew
Speaker 1: up in Kansas, Open in Park, Kansas. I love that
Speaker 1: people in the Middlewest so friendly. It's a nice slot.
Speaker 1: It's like the center. Like granted it's not going to
Speaker 1: be the best weather all year round. But exactly, you
Speaker 1: know what this postestenither and so I'll take that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so it's beautiful. I loved it. I love like and
Speaker 1: it's just like I feel like it's a great place
Speaker 1: to raise a family in Kansas. Like I love that
Speaker 1: it was it was it was slotting for me. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna run this hill. Stop. For Bryce, the loss
Speaker 1: of his mother in fifth grade, the loss of his
Speaker 1: faith in his life's direction in college, even the potentially
Speaker 1: we're ending injury this past season, all heels he had
Speaker 1: to climb, mountains he had to scale, each with a
Speaker 1: differing degree of pain, moving him towards a purpose that
Speaker 1: maybe taking shape. It's just the right time. Why I'm
Speaker 1: playing this game is is bigger than just me. I
Speaker 1: can endure those things because I know like God has
Speaker 1: prepared me for this, He's called me to do this,
Speaker 1: and there's something bigger that I'm playing for and not
Speaker 1: just myself. And when you moved past just yourself, I
Speaker 1: think it gives you way more like purpose and meaning.
Speaker 1: And that's what I feel like I've learned through this
Speaker 1: adversity and what's helped me just get through a lot
Speaker 1: of tough times. Is is leaning on that coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Speaker 1: When people will interact with Rice, they're gonna have this
Speaker 1: maybe first impression of veteran of the league or a
Speaker 1: veteran of life. And he's like fifty five years old
Speaker 1: and he's packaged in this college athlete, young person now
Speaker 1: professional athlete um form. It just is weight and talking
Speaker 1: to the Dali lama here or like who who is
Speaker 1: this person? You know, there's there's kind of this kind
Speaker 1: of wise old stage there, and I think there's a
Speaker 1: difference between intelligence and wisdom, and there's wisdom for him.
Speaker 1: Brace's most difficult moments in football have brought him a
Speaker 1: newfound sense of purpose, a deeper understanding of the game,
Speaker 1: and an unshakable faith in his path through life. That
Speaker 1: horrible senior year injury created the circumstances for his relationship
Speaker 1: with an Zel. That's where it gets good right here.
Speaker 1: I love this. You gotta push yourself to finish this one.
Speaker 1: It's gonna feel so good after. It's exactly the set
Speaker 1: that have been stepping stones to improving his life. Incidents
Speaker 1: when most players would understandably get discouraged or give up,
Speaker 1: Bryce used as opportunities, which is why in just three
Speaker 1: days he has the chance to be drafted. All sports
Speaker 1: are filled with success and failure, but in football, the
Speaker 1: moments of defeat are more pronounced and visceral. Two hits
Speaker 1: are bigger, injuries are more common, careers are shorter. It's
Speaker 1: an unrelenting, merciless league playfully dubbed not for long Clutch
Speaker 1: Sports Group Agent to Mary's Bilbo, the NFL is a
Speaker 1: league in which, you know, you take the things that
Speaker 1: we all know, you know, the short lived careers. There's
Speaker 1: a draft every year for every sport, but there's a
Speaker 1: draft in football where you're looking at two plus guys
Speaker 1: coming in the league. It's such an easy turnover in football.
Speaker 1: One year the Saints have Adrian Peterson and mark ingram
Speaker 1: on Arosity, get Alvin Camarona third around, and two or
Speaker 1: three years later Alvas only one there those guys are
Speaker 1: other teams, So you know. The challenge with football is
Speaker 1: a supplethetor of players, so many, so much change, with
Speaker 1: hundreds of new prospects fighting for roster spots, coupled with
Speaker 1: the physical toll of the game, it's not surprising that
Speaker 1: the average NFL career last three point three years. When
Speaker 1: you see the greatness of a Calvin Johnson and then
Speaker 1: you see how quickly is saying that his career passed by,
Speaker 1: that's real stuff, you know, Like you saw Calvin going
Speaker 1: to league and then it was like that he was
Speaker 1: gone when he played nine years, you know, and is
Speaker 1: thirty plus years old and not in the NFL. Now,
Speaker 1: even when you've succeeded in football, failure could be around
Speaker 1: the corner. Kelvin Johnson set the NFL record for most
Speaker 1: receiving yards in a season, an undeniable superstar, and still
Speaker 1: players like him often only endure for a decade or less.
Speaker 1: It's a brutal, unforgiving sport, even for those at the
Speaker 1: up overcoming failure, having the mental fortitude to turn every
Speaker 1: setback into a step forward. Only those who can do
Speaker 1: what Bryce has done will survive. I know what it's
Speaker 1: like to go and drafted. I knowiced like to get cut.
Speaker 1: I noticed like to hate my coach. I know its
Speaker 1: like to feel like I'm getting the unfair treatment and
Speaker 1: I'm better than the next man. I know this feel
Speaker 1: like to you know, not have a job and and
Speaker 1: have a kid on the way, or not know that Hey,
Speaker 1: do I really want to use this college degree right
Speaker 1: now or what? Or do I want to keep giving
Speaker 1: it a shot and keep pursuing my dream? I know
Speaker 1: all of this stuff. Those are real questions and you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to face that when your football career is over.
Speaker 1: I want to be that guy that pushes you every
Speaker 1: year to explore other things, because let's be honest, men,
Speaker 1: you call somebody a Fortune five CEO or a big
Speaker 1: time alumni, they don't give a damn. They're not gonna
Speaker 1: ask the phone change. Young calls, or he wants to
Speaker 1: get connected, Kula wants to get connected. One of these
Speaker 1: guys wearing the NFL uniform. It's a lot easier. So
Speaker 1: use it while you have it, you know, because we've
Speaker 1: all seen, you know, Ohio State, the Maury's Clarress story,
Speaker 1: We've seen the JaMarcus Russell's at l s U. These
Speaker 1: university are pushing these players out left right. Which players
Speaker 1: are gonna take that platform and say, let me build
Speaker 1: out resources because I don't know how long I'm gonna yet.
Speaker 1: My contracts as five years, they probably cut me in
Speaker 1: three and Dan, where am I? It's that level of
Speaker 1: relentless competition and need to always improve that keeps players
Speaker 1: on edge. Tremaine and offensive tackle from Clemson, focused on
Speaker 1: this gongged pursuit of getting into the league. I felt
Speaker 1: a lot, but I guess that's that's that's what makes
Speaker 1: me me, is that. Yeah, I wasn't high school kid
Speaker 1: coming in. Oh he's gonna start. I was, what the
Speaker 1: hell is this kid going here? And I was skinning
Speaker 1: to our un guy, like you know my challenges. But
Speaker 1: it's rough, man, you know, like you can work harder
Speaker 1: than everybody and I only get an answer podcast. But
Speaker 1: you know, I guess that's it's part of a that's
Speaker 1: you a man? Is this how blucks can you? Yeah?
Speaker 1: How much can we take? How much shake can you take?
Speaker 1: And still keep going? Door survived? Have some resilience, you know,
Speaker 1: But how does the player develop this necessary grit and resilience?
Speaker 1: How do they find the mental strength to keep going
Speaker 1: in the face of terrible adversity? For Bryce, it took
Speaker 1: quitting the game entirely. It took finding his faith story time,
Speaker 1: Tremaine learned some of these skills from his father, like
Speaker 1: we heard an episode two, but there were also other
Speaker 1: defining moments for the last I don't know. Four or
Speaker 1: five weeks, me and my buddies were running hills and
Speaker 1: we had made it a thing on Friday mornings to
Speaker 1: always run hills like our little conditioning test. And you know,
Speaker 1: we run five up this eight yard killed. It's sucking massive.
Speaker 1: First week was five, second week was six, next week
Speaker 1: was seven, eight, nine. We had did this all the
Speaker 1: way up and had killed us last time, just kill us.
Speaker 1: And so we get to the week ten and we're
Speaker 1: already and when my boys he comes, he said, hey,
Speaker 1: what if we started from halfway up? And rant? Immediately
Speaker 1: I was like, what the funk? If this that makes sense?
Speaker 1: Like why do you want to do that? He was like,
Speaker 1: I just feel like it'd be better. I ain't better.
Speaker 1: Me being the kind of guy I want to please everybody,
Speaker 1: I was like whatever. So we started from halfway and
Speaker 1: I convinced him enough to back it up just ten
Speaker 1: more yards, so instead of at being eighty, it was
Speaker 1: probably about sixty seventy and and get starts out really
Speaker 1: easy and then we're like, yeah, it's gonna get harder.
Speaker 1: As I'm going I'm like, I'm breathing heavy, but it's
Speaker 1: not the same. Bird out of my mind. I'm like, damn,
Speaker 1: it's even better. But the same time, I'm like, maybe
Speaker 1: maybe John has the point here. And so we get
Speaker 1: to thirteen and I'm like huh. And sometimes he's like
Speaker 1: it's so good and I'm like, I don't know. I'm
Speaker 1: not passed out tired, and run down the hill all
Speaker 1: the way back to the start point. I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do this and finish it out the right way,
Speaker 1: and I rub all the way up and eventually they
Speaker 1: come with me, but they're like, bro, like you gotta
Speaker 1: do this, this, this, And at that moment, I realized
Speaker 1: I really just let these guys pull me down. Our
Speaker 1: legs weren't really shaking, wen't really out of breath, people
Speaker 1: had energy and all that ship, and I felt like
Speaker 1: I cheated myself in this process and like I just
Speaker 1: can't Y'll never get over that. If you want something
Speaker 1: bad enough and you won't work for don't let anyone
Speaker 1: else's feeling's getting the way where they feel like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're doing too much or you're not doing it right,
Speaker 1: because then that takes away from what you want to do.
Speaker 1: I can't let you know somebody else and if they
Speaker 1: want to feel good their feelings affect my work. I
Speaker 1: need to get in as part of that in factor
Speaker 1: I talked so much about. Even with the long one
Speaker 1: we ran, I was short, like fifty yards, So I
Speaker 1: really left somebody else take away fifty yards worth the
Speaker 1: work for me, just to make him feel better. Funk
Speaker 1: that never again, Never again, We'll be right back. Legendary
Speaker 1: Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes, who won five national championships,
Speaker 1: used to say, show me a gracious loser, and I
Speaker 1: will show you a bus boy. Clearly, how you respond
Speaker 1: to the defeats, to the losses and injuries, and even
Speaker 1: to the friends cheating on workouts, that's what matters as
Speaker 1: much or more than your skills or athleticism, at least
Speaker 1: over the long haul. Jeff what y quick questions, UM,
Speaker 1: when we do this press call, I want to make
Speaker 1: it as realistic as possible, like you were actually here.
Speaker 1: This is former Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okuda preparing for
Speaker 1: the draft in the COVID nineteen world. Normally, we would
Speaker 1: bring you any family memory that you'd want to bring
Speaker 1: with you to the first day. So who would you bring?
Speaker 1: Who would you have with you? You were normally going
Speaker 1: to call here on uncle, sister, your uncle and sister,
Speaker 1: you send me like their names on the attack, because
Speaker 1: I just want to mention them as just being some
Speaker 1: review whatever else that would be, you know, with you
Speaker 1: on a normal press conference first day, I just want
Speaker 1: to mention them by name, just for you, just so
Speaker 1: they can get some recognition. Okay, thanks, all right. Jeff
Speaker 1: is on the cusp of likely being a top ten pick,
Speaker 1: but for almost every conceivable reason, he shouldn't have made
Speaker 1: it here by now. Growing up, it could have been
Speaker 1: easy for me to, um, let's give up and kind
Speaker 1: of just uh, except my reality is what it was
Speaker 1: instead of trying to recreate it. Former Ohio State associate
Speaker 1: head coach Greg Ciano, who became extremely close with Jeff
Speaker 1: over the years, he had grown accustomed to football being
Speaker 1: his escape because life wasn't easy in high school growing
Speaker 1: up for him, and football was the one place that
Speaker 1: he could go and I think just get away from
Speaker 1: everything and play a game that he loved, and it
Speaker 1: became a bigger personal mission my mom when she was
Speaker 1: battling cancer. Now Hoskins on phone with her bow uh
Speaker 1: sixteen seventeen years So I mean for me like playing football.
Speaker 1: I was always more avated to like because we didn't
Speaker 1: have a lot of money, so I was always more
Speaker 1: avated to get to the NFL, so I can kind
Speaker 1: of make it easier on her financially. There were some
Speaker 1: of the things, the experiences that I know she didn't
Speaker 1: get a chance to go through because she always had
Speaker 1: chemotherapy and she had to work. Her and my father
Speaker 1: had separated, so uh, pretty much she was doing on
Speaker 1: her own. He saw the sport as the only option
Speaker 1: to improve his family's circumstances, to provide for his mom
Speaker 1: in ways she physically couldn't, the only way to recreate
Speaker 1: his reality. Marie got that officially diagnosed with cancer when
Speaker 1: Jeffrey was too, So Jeffrey has never known a mom
Speaker 1: that was you know, that was not ill. He's watched
Speaker 1: his mom's suffer. That's his aunt Jane, his caretaker later
Speaker 1: in life. Do you expect kids like that, you know,
Speaker 1: like low self esteem or loss up war and maybe
Speaker 1: just dysfunctional, but not he is this. You know, he
Speaker 1: didn't grow up in a like in a typical trajectory,
Speaker 1: enough in a household, so to speak. This kid has
Speaker 1: a superior understanding. You know, it's just amazing. It's hard
Speaker 1: to describe how he sees, you know, his world view
Speaker 1: is his philosophy about life. Almost everyone would have given
Speaker 1: up in Jeff's situation, assumed it was hopeless or the
Speaker 1: odds were too great. Somehow, Jeff always saw it the
Speaker 1: other way. Failure was never an option. It's never been
Speaker 1: an option. But why where does that unthinkable inner strength
Speaker 1: come from? How does Jeff become the one in a
Speaker 1: million who defies the odds him seeing the mom go
Speaker 1: through what the mom went through and with the stage
Speaker 1: fall in Foma, you know, shows up and going. She
Speaker 1: did what she had to do so many times I
Speaker 1: had to let her to slow down, or when I
Speaker 1: find out about something that she did and I said, hey,
Speaker 1: why didn't you tell me? You know I could have
Speaker 1: usually done definitely, So the mom kept going, you know,
Speaker 1: despite you know, her illness and how she felt. So
Speaker 1: I think that was new. That was a dry for Jeff.
Speaker 1: Marie wasn't final. Jeff is a whole look like like
Speaker 1: his mom, very dreaming. Here's his sister, Karen Okuda. I remember,
Speaker 1: like in kindergarten, I knew my mom was sick, but
Speaker 1: of course she my mom is not going to have
Speaker 1: that conversation with like a kindergartener that she has cancer.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't probably until second grade that I really
Speaker 1: knew that she had cancer, and that was kind of
Speaker 1: explained to me. I mean, I still didn't really understand,
Speaker 1: but I just knew that she was sick. Day to
Speaker 1: day activities were a struggle for her. But regardless of that,
Speaker 1: she made a priority to try to push that aside
Speaker 1: and just be there for Jeffrey and I. Even coming after,
Speaker 1: like coming out of chemo treatments, she would try to
Speaker 1: come see his football games. Um, whether it be sitting
Speaker 1: in the car just away from everyone because she was
Speaker 1: immune compromised, A sick mother in her car alone after
Speaker 1: more treatments, desperately trying to watch or listen to her
Speaker 1: son's games because she isn't healthy enough to be in
Speaker 1: the stands That portrait of determination, a mother who knows
Speaker 1: letting her son down isn't an option either. Having to
Speaker 1: leave mama home every day, and now that I had
Speaker 1: to go to school, show up, make good grades, be
Speaker 1: the best that he can be out there. That made
Speaker 1: his mom happy. So he learned to do that at
Speaker 1: a very young age. He knew how much that meant
Speaker 1: to his mom. As a young kid. No, that was
Speaker 1: all he could do to make her happy. The audeo,
Speaker 1: you know, having a sick mom and being the primary
Speaker 1: care provider at some point for his mom. He and Karen,
Speaker 1: this kid had to grow up no much much faster
Speaker 1: than the average kid out there, developed like coping skills,
Speaker 1: kind of learned how to move on like a kaid.
Speaker 1: Mom is stick, but I have to do this, So
Speaker 1: I think that's part of where he he lend those skills.
Speaker 1: It was an environment no child should ever have to experience.
Speaker 1: It was just always a tough time. I I know
Speaker 1: my mom didn't want to stress Jeffrey and I, but
Speaker 1: it's hard when you see your mom who's trying to
Speaker 1: do everything for you, but you know, like if you
Speaker 1: look away, she's trying not to break down and whatnot.
Speaker 1: So there were a lot of times I would skip
Speaker 1: high school just so I could take her to chemo
Speaker 1: treatment because I didn't like the idea of her having
Speaker 1: to drive you to dollars from Grand Prairie maybe like
Speaker 1: thirty minutes, have to be in chemo for that long
Speaker 1: and then come back, Like I know, what that can
Speaker 1: do to someone's body. So there were times when I
Speaker 1: skipped out, um from high school just take her to
Speaker 1: her treatments, and she fought a law for that. But
Speaker 1: I think she realized that she needed the help, and
Speaker 1: I wasn't afraid to give her help, like at whatever
Speaker 1: costs that would have came to me. I know Jeffrey
Speaker 1: felt the same way too. My sister. Everything I went through,
Speaker 1: she went through the same thing, if not worse, because
Speaker 1: she's older, so a lot of stuff, the bad news
Speaker 1: she heard first, and she didn't have me to lean
Speaker 1: on at the time. She had to take a lot
Speaker 1: of that stuff to the chin. And for her to
Speaker 1: come through all that and still be standing tall, I
Speaker 1: think that's something that that's really inspiring to me, something
Speaker 1: that that I'll draw a lot of inspiration from. And
Speaker 1: I think that, um uh now is it just it's
Speaker 1: just crazy to see that the roles have flipped and
Speaker 1: she's take care of me all the time, and I
Speaker 1: was like, I'll be taking care of her. There were
Speaker 1: a lot of times like I knew, of course that
Speaker 1: Jeffrey knew our mom had cancer and whatnot. But I
Speaker 1: feel like in that sense, she came to me a
Speaker 1: lot for all of most like her health issues in
Speaker 1: terms of like going to details of what is going on,
Speaker 1: just because she didn't want to. I guess have Jeffrey
Speaker 1: deal without knowing that he was so focused. Marie's illness
Speaker 1: was a burden the whole family carried, but mother and
Speaker 1: daughter tried to shield Jeff as much as they could,
Speaker 1: seeing something special in him from a very young age.
Speaker 1: Coach explains further, you saw a guy that was very
Speaker 1: focused on his goals, and you know, Jeff had to
Speaker 1: overcome quite a bit as a young kid with the
Speaker 1: illness of his mom and he and his sister trying
Speaker 1: to do everything they could to help her. You know,
Speaker 1: that'll grow you up in a hurry. Unfortunately. You know,
Speaker 1: all along in his recruitment, Jeff and I would talk
Speaker 1: about the situation with his mother and his relationship with
Speaker 1: his dad and all those things. And that's one of
Speaker 1: the things of building relationships when you're when you're recruiting
Speaker 1: young man, as you you know, it gets much deeper
Speaker 1: than football, or at least it should. And when Jeff
Speaker 1: finally arrived at Ohio State, it was it was really
Speaker 1: it's one of those parent things you know Jeff's mom,
Speaker 1: I think fought her rear end off to stay alive
Speaker 1: until Jeff got to college, because literally it was you know,
Speaker 1: three or four days after he arrived at Ohio State
Speaker 1: that Jane called me with the news. So Jeff was
Speaker 1: in school when Mary passed, so I had to call Coodian,
Speaker 1: whose was the defensive Cordnato at ohiost It at the time.
Speaker 1: He was more like a father forgot to him, apart
Speaker 1: from being a coach too, was the one that put
Speaker 1: used to him. She said, I think you should be
Speaker 1: the one to tell him, and I agreed, And that
Speaker 1: was a tough conversation to call Jeff in and and
Speaker 1: tell him of the news. But I felt like we
Speaker 1: had the relationship that you know, after giving him the
Speaker 1: bad news, we could talk through it and never did
Speaker 1: you take the pain away, but try to help him
Speaker 1: understand that his mother was finally in a much better
Speaker 1: place and a place where you know, she didn't have
Speaker 1: to go through all that pain anymore. The suffering was over,
Speaker 1: her baby was in a safe, very very competitive, aligned
Speaker 1: place for him, and I think she then could could
Speaker 1: move move on to heaven and peace. And I really
Speaker 1: believe that's what happened. She felt like kick to hang
Speaker 1: on until her baby got safely at school. My mom
Speaker 1: passed away freshman in college, and uh, I think at
Speaker 1: first it was football. Just like I remember when I
Speaker 1: washen she had first passed away. I go to the
Speaker 1: workout to not just be working out really hard, trying
Speaker 1: to get mind off of it. But then it's like
Speaker 1: when I went back to the dorms, I would just
Speaker 1: be by myself and I was thinking about it get upset.
Speaker 1: So for me, I think the biggest thing was just
Speaker 1: like facing it. Like I'm not not looking for someone
Speaker 1: to like football to take away take it away, but
Speaker 1: like just kind of facing the new reality. I think
Speaker 1: I remember finding out that she had passed away, and
Speaker 1: I don't know, it was a very numb feeling end
Speaker 1: of just all this finally happened, and I just remember
Speaker 1: going to sleep and just just going to sleep. But
Speaker 1: I think after, like Jeffrey said, you can approach the
Speaker 1: situation in various ways. Some people would want to cry
Speaker 1: and like a fetal position, not talk to anyone. Other
Speaker 1: people may be angry, but I think Jeffrey and I
Speaker 1: we both have to sign the same mindset that when
Speaker 1: something like this happens, or something serious in your life happens,
Speaker 1: like what are you gonna do about it? So that
Speaker 1: was my mindset. It's difficult not to wonder how these
Speaker 1: kids learn how to handle setbacks and misfortune even as
Speaker 1: they're watching the crushing loss of their mom. A mother
Speaker 1: who fought cancer for sixteen or seventeen years, who went
Speaker 1: through two bone marrow transplants, who went to nursing school
Speaker 1: while she battled limphoma, who drove to high school football
Speaker 1: games to watch from a parking lot. Once I found out,
Speaker 1: I came back to Grand Prix and took the bus
Speaker 1: and came back, and I was just in game mode
Speaker 1: of like having to finish my mom's businesses, like kind
Speaker 1: of putting an end to some things, having to move Jeffrey,
Speaker 1: my mom and I out the apartment, putting our stuff
Speaker 1: in storage, as handling everything they need to be handled.
Speaker 1: Because I didn't wanted to spend so much time just
Speaker 1: I think, dealing what was going on. I just felt
Speaker 1: like I had things I had to do. And once
Speaker 1: I'm in that mindset, I'm just hyper focused and I
Speaker 1: won't stop until I'm at my end goal. So I
Speaker 1: think that's what Jeffrey and I both are on the
Speaker 1: same page of when my mom passed away. You know,
Speaker 1: after we had spoken that day and we kinda agreed
Speaker 1: that mom was in a better place now and that
Speaker 1: that he, you know, he could go and honor her
Speaker 1: with what he did in his time in college and beyond.
Speaker 1: And I think jeff really took that to heart. He
Speaker 1: was always a driven guy, a focus guy, but upon
Speaker 1: his mother's passing, I think he even took it to
Speaker 1: another level. The way that I'm wired, why everyone in
Speaker 1: my family's wired to see her go to that battle
Speaker 1: and pass away. It's kind of like I see the
Speaker 1: toughness that she had in the resiliency, and I kind
Speaker 1: of just tried to use that approach when I get
Speaker 1: like a tough scenario going through something. I prom my
Speaker 1: mom that I would graduate college. I promised her I'd
Speaker 1: be top of my class. I promised her that I
Speaker 1: would get a good job after college. And these are
Speaker 1: things that even though she's not here to experience, like
Speaker 1: me having kids or me getting married, stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Like I lived my life for my mom in the
Speaker 1: sense that I told her I would accomplish certain things.
Speaker 1: And that's what I am going to do, like regardless
Speaker 1: of the cost, like what it'll do. When she had
Speaker 1: passed away, and I came back from College Station to
Speaker 1: come clear out our apartment back and Grand Prairie, like
Speaker 1: I was going through a stuff, and I just saw
Speaker 1: a stack of just articles of my brother and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And I saw pictures of Jeffrey playing sports, and I
Speaker 1: saw some pictures that I know was of him at
Speaker 1: times that she said she could not go. But I
Speaker 1: know those were the times when she would drive up
Speaker 1: and you know, sit in her car and just try
Speaker 1: to take little videos here and there, but or just
Speaker 1: take pictures here and there. But she just wouldn't tell
Speaker 1: Jeffrey and I and I never knew that that's a
Speaker 1: woman who refused to lose graciously to a disease, who
Speaker 1: showed her kids with grit determination really mean everything that
Speaker 1: he does, he's took on myrie and he feels she's
Speaker 1: with him and she sees him. And he even told
Speaker 1: me said, you know, I don't have to go to
Speaker 1: the cemetery to know that my mom is with me
Speaker 1: and know that my mom is here. I know my
Speaker 1: mom is happy, Auntie, because you feel down void my
Speaker 1: mom loves to safe with you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: You know, she's happy. So I think he came to
Speaker 1: terms with that, with all the trauma that he went
Speaker 1: through as a kid, He's just gonna sets, you know,
Speaker 1: things the way they are and then what next? What
Speaker 1: can I do to on on my mom. It's obvious
Speaker 1: how hard he's worked, how focused he has been, how
Speaker 1: he refused to accept any setbacks, and what draft they
Speaker 1: will mean to him and his memory of her. When
Speaker 1: that moment finally arrives, what our coach are you doing?
Speaker 1: I'm doing good? Honly here. Congratulation is gonna be great
Speaker 1: for you, however works out. This is Ryan Day, head
Speaker 1: coach at Ohio State. Thanks so much, coach. I mean,
Speaker 1: I also want to thank you for everything that you
Speaker 1: did this year, you know, helping me, allowing me to
Speaker 1: grow as a leader. All that give me darn boyable.
Speaker 1: I just wish I could a coach your for a
Speaker 1: few more years. Man, for sure, all the feedback that
Speaker 1: hearing a lot of gms and head coaches have called me,
Speaker 1: I mean, it just did no bringer, you know, and uh,
Speaker 1: this is a dream come true, man, like one of
Speaker 1: those things yet and it's you know for you too,
Speaker 1: which is really cool to see somebody you know, it
Speaker 1: didn't have an easy growing up, you know, and the
Speaker 1: nut that I had it like you, but it was similar.
Speaker 1: And you go through a bunch of stuff when you're young.
Speaker 1: It's just motivation, you know. And and to see you,
Speaker 1: you know, put it through with you're yourself disciplined, your
Speaker 1: work ethic and all that stuff is what what makes
Speaker 1: you special. And you're gonna do that the next level.
Speaker 1: And I just wanted to let you know, man, just
Speaker 1: really proud. I wish I could be there in the
Speaker 1: green room with you a Vegas. I was planning on
Speaker 1: being there with Big and everybody and it's fun, but
Speaker 1: um wing spirit and I want to let you know
Speaker 1: when you appreciate thanks for everything called you to. This
Speaker 1: is what people mean when they talk about the transformative
Speaker 1: power of sports. Football starts as a game, but over
Speaker 1: a lifetime of playing, relationships are built that transcend the sport.
Speaker 1: There's a middle school kid right now. He's in a
Speaker 1: situation like Jeff Okuda where he can't afford a book
Speaker 1: for his class and his life is going to change
Speaker 1: forever because of football. I would say, when you have
Speaker 1: situations like that, you know, unfortunately the young man has
Speaker 1: to go through it. Jeff had to go through that,
Speaker 1: but it connects he and I for life in that
Speaker 1: we went through something that you don't wish on any
Speaker 1: young college student. But I was glad that I could
Speaker 1: be there for him and not only his mother's passing,
Speaker 1: but helping him grow spiritually, help him him grow as
Speaker 1: a man. You know, to me, that's why you coach. Granted,
Speaker 1: I love the game of football, and and has done
Speaker 1: so much from me and my family and for a
Speaker 1: lot of young men that I've coached. But it gives
Speaker 1: you an opportunity to connect with young people at a
Speaker 1: different level and within their passion of what they love
Speaker 1: to do. You can connect on so many different levels,
Speaker 1: and I feel like we did that with Jeff. And
Speaker 1: I'll always be a huge fan of his because he's
Speaker 1: not only a great player, but he's really a great
Speaker 1: person and a guy with a huge heart. And uh,
Speaker 1: I know for a fact that he plays with a
Speaker 1: passion that is uncommon for for college football players. I
Speaker 1: think some of that's his love for the game. I
Speaker 1: think some of it, quite frankly, is playing with the
Speaker 1: image of his mom. In his mind. I think he
Speaker 1: plays with a real strong purpose, and you know that's
Speaker 1: a powerful thing. Coming up on the next episode of Drafted.
Speaker 1: We're so excited and we cannot wait to speak to
Speaker 1: you later when you're in the NFL. Defensive lineman Chase Young,
Speaker 1: he said, you want on your phone? He commantly too
Speaker 1: long wide receiver levisca cholt just you know, the hard
Speaker 1: times and just realizing like basically I'm built for this.
Speaker 1: Cornerback Jeff Okuda, Atlanta, trying to trade up. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I really don't know. Like I thought it was
Speaker 1: gonna be a try for a long time. You've already
Speaker 1: controlled everything. You enjoy the ride man, Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1: Coach offensive tackle McKay Beckton, who calling her? Calling her?
Speaker 1: Are you in this top five? How risk proscal? Wait?
Speaker 1: What do that mean? I'm saying? Drafted as a production
Speaker 1: of tree Fort Media, Clutched Sports Group, and I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: The executive producers are Kelly Garner, Lisa Ammerman, Eric slot
Speaker 1: Seawan to Tone l Key, and me Keegan Michael Key.
Speaker 1: The series is produced and written by Eric Weiner. Jared
Speaker 1: Brom is our coordinating producer. Tom Monahan is our Senior
Speaker 1: Audio Engineer. Mixed and edited by Steven Johnson, additional production
Speaker 1: help from Tim Shower, June Rosen, and Hayley Mandelberg. For
Speaker 1: transcripts of the show and more information on Drafted, go
Speaker 1: to tree Fort dot fm. And for more podcasts for
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.