1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,440
Speaker 1: Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black

2
00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:21,880
Speaker 1: Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime. So

3
00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:25,880
Speaker 1: seventh round pick out of Savannah to a Hall of fame.

4
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,480
Speaker 1: Three times super Bowl Champ talked to me about Alway, McCaffrey,

5
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,120
Speaker 1: Terrell Davis talk to me about those Super Bowl winning

6
00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,360
Speaker 1: Bronco teams. I remember going to when I got drafted,

7
00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:38,680
Speaker 1: going to the Broncos. I remember I was like, man,

8
00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,000
Speaker 1: I was thinking myself, say, man, John Hill, wait my quarterback.

9
00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,440
Speaker 1: First thing, my sister said, Shannon, don't go out there

10
00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:46,839
Speaker 1: bull drive with no John Hilway. You don't know that

11
00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,840
Speaker 1: man like that. What I do, that's just that's here.

12
00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,520
Speaker 1: And for some reason, guys, he took a liking to me.

13
00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,880
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe because you know, I, Joe and I kept

14
00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,640
Speaker 1: the locker room. I mean, I'm a seventh round draft pick.

15
00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,080
Speaker 1: They gave me the number one. So basically I'm just

16
00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,520
Speaker 1: a camp body. That's what that's That's what I'm supposed

17
00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:08,520
Speaker 1: to be. And I just remember my brother saying, look,

18
00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,880
Speaker 1: just know what you're supposed to do when you get

19
00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:14,120
Speaker 1: your opportunity. He said, Now, John, they always gonna be

20
00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,920
Speaker 1: looking for you. Because he knows, big bro. Yeah. He

21
00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:18,920
Speaker 1: was like, Johnny, we're gonna be looking for just be ready.

22
00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,560
Speaker 1: So I'm trying to cram, and so they got me

23
00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:24,400
Speaker 1: learned that I'm supposed to learn z. I'm supposed to

24
00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,560
Speaker 1: learn to slot. I gotta learn all these positions, and

25
00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,959
Speaker 1: I'm struggling. And I remember asking a guy. I said, Man,

26
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,000
Speaker 1: what I got on this play? Right here? He said,

27
00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:42,400
Speaker 1: run this, I run it. It's the wrong route now, yes, yes, here,

28
00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,760
Speaker 1: And I'm fighting for the same job. So if I

29
00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:47,720
Speaker 1: he could get me out of the way. But I

30
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,120
Speaker 1: swore to myself, I said, I would never ever do

31
00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,200
Speaker 1: that to somebody. I said, if I'm secure in who

32
00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,960
Speaker 1: I am and what I am, I don't need to

33
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,240
Speaker 1: be little for me to shine. And so I've always

34
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,400
Speaker 1: went out of my way. But when I got to Denver,

35
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,400
Speaker 1: I was seventh round draft pick. I was a tight end,

36
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,000
Speaker 1: and it just so happens every tight end on the

37
00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,480
Speaker 1: roster got hurt. Now I'm the biggest receiver, so I

38
00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,200
Speaker 1: go in. I'm like to one. So by the time

39
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,320
Speaker 1: they moved me to the tight end halfway through the season,

40
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:17,880
Speaker 1: I'm two oh five. So I'm playing tight end at

41
00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,480
Speaker 1: two oh five man. They ragged all of me. They're

42
00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,040
Speaker 1: throwing me all around in practice, and so I'm thinking

43
00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,640
Speaker 1: to myself, I remember all this, how they throwing me around.

44
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,200
Speaker 1: So guess what happened after the run blocking drill, pass

45
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,840
Speaker 1: catching drills. Oh, now let's see who wants to go

46
00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,200
Speaker 1: because everybody did. Nobody wanted to go Agive Clarence k

47
00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,440
Speaker 1: or to Mobili because they were great run blockers. So

48
00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,240
Speaker 1: now I'm looking. I said, all you guys that was counting,

49
00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,919
Speaker 1: didn't want to go against c K and Orson, y'all

50
00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,360
Speaker 1: need to see me at the lane? Who kill it?

51
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,160
Speaker 1: Wad Philip to the defensive coordinator. So they started practicing me.

52
00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,560
Speaker 1: So what I would be I would be the tight

53
00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,040
Speaker 1: end from the opposing team. So Scott, I'm gonte, So

54
00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:07,519
Speaker 1: I'm not tight in. I'm cooking. You throw the ball,

55
00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,600
Speaker 1: Throw the ball up in the wold. I'm putting the football.

56
00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:14,000
Speaker 1: All of the stacking the ball, I'll do with everything.

57
00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,880
Speaker 1: Way Phillis blows the whistle, he's a dan. Put his

58
00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:19,440
Speaker 1: ass in the game, and let's see if they can

59
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,000
Speaker 1: cover him, because we can't damn put in the game.

60
00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:25,800
Speaker 1: And as they say, the rest is far along was

61
00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,960
Speaker 1: that this was my this was my rookie year, This

62
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,320
Speaker 1: is my rookie decor wait till wait Phillis come on

63
00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:36,280
Speaker 1: on the first team. All comments sense because I said,

64
00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,440
Speaker 1: you got the comment sense and that's what and that

65
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:40,440
Speaker 1: and that's what, and that's what happened. That's kind of

66
00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,520
Speaker 1: how my career started off. And then I just started

67
00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,120
Speaker 1: building this this relationship with John. Every tough you know,

68
00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,000
Speaker 1: every tough catch that needed to be made to make

69
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,960
Speaker 1: it every because you you can't get that trust in

70
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,440
Speaker 1: the game if he doesn't trust you in practice. So

71
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,120
Speaker 1: and then I started sitting there to him during the meeting.

72
00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,120
Speaker 1: I said, okay, well, okay, how you want me to

73
00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,240
Speaker 1: how you want me to run this route? I said this, saying,

74
00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,480
Speaker 1: go you know two out of four team he says,

75
00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,680
Speaker 1: and he would tell me, He's like, okay, let's try twelve,

76
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,800
Speaker 1: knowing that come game time you're gonna be a ten.

77
00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,200
Speaker 1: So don't shorten the practice because they'd be short that

78
00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,440
Speaker 1: much in practice you're gonna be I'm not gonna be

79
00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:20,680
Speaker 1: ready to throw. And so that was the hardest thing,

80
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,080
Speaker 1: is that learning how to control the speed at tight

81
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,920
Speaker 1: end because they moved me from wide receiver. So I'm

82
00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:29,880
Speaker 1: faster than all the tight ends, and so I was wondering,

83
00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,120
Speaker 1: I'm winning in practice, but he's not throwing me the ball.

84
00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,160
Speaker 1: And he says, it doesn't do you any good to

85
00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:36,760
Speaker 1: win if I'm not ready to throw you the ball,

86
00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:38,599
Speaker 1: because now by the time I'm ready to throw you

87
00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,760
Speaker 1: the ball, the guy you you covered again. So now

88
00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:43,840
Speaker 1: you have to understand. So he's talking to me, he's

89
00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,200
Speaker 1: talking through it, what he's seeing, what he wants me

90
00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,039
Speaker 1: to do, how he wants me to run certain routes,

91
00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,680
Speaker 1: and so I don't know if I can go to

92
00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,160
Speaker 1: any of the cause he's very patient with me. So

93
00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,320
Speaker 1: they put me in the game. They moved they moved

94
00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,440
Speaker 1: me to a tight end, so they put me. The

95
00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,720
Speaker 1: gan't on nothing. So I'm struggling trying to learn wide

96
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,240
Speaker 1: and see plays. So they put me in the game.

97
00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,599
Speaker 1: They put me in motion the entire game in Denver.

98
00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,080
Speaker 1: As I run by alway, he returning around and timbory

99
00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,200
Speaker 1: what I got. So I go by in motion. He

100
00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,680
Speaker 1: telled me run the out round, go back to the huddle.

101
00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:16,960
Speaker 1: So he called to play. Put me in motion again,

102
00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,800
Speaker 1: run a corner blocked the end, so he did that

103
00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,320
Speaker 1: for an entire game. I don't know how many guys

104
00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,400
Speaker 1: would have had the kind of patients because not only

105
00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:27,839
Speaker 1: he's telling me what I need to do, he also

106
00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:29,600
Speaker 1: got to go through the reads. He got to worry

107
00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:31,880
Speaker 1: about what defense they're running, where he's gonna go with

108
00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,200
Speaker 1: the football. But he took enough time and say, so

109
00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,720
Speaker 1: you know what, So that just got okay, Now I

110
00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,400
Speaker 1: need to get on top of this, and so I

111
00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:41,760
Speaker 1: got more. I started watching more and more take I

112
00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,080
Speaker 1: wanted to know as much as information as he did,

113
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,640
Speaker 1: and so it just got where were just like it

114
00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,159
Speaker 1: was like second nature. So he had a large part

115
00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,680
Speaker 1: to do with my success because he was very very

116
00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,679
Speaker 1: patient with me. Dan drafted me Dan reads. He drafted

117
00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,680
Speaker 1: me um in the seventh round. But he said, look,

118
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 1: his brothers and all pro it's got I mean, gotta

119
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,240
Speaker 1: be something. We're gonna find something. We gotta got something.

120
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,400
Speaker 1: So I was on all the special teams, you know,

121
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:10,880
Speaker 1: which was at the time wide receivers didn't play a

122
00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,000
Speaker 1: whole lot. I was gonna kid man, head, bustle man.

123
00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:21,400
Speaker 1: It's stack. Look here he was laying people. I was.

124
00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,480
Speaker 1: I was going on the punt team. It's over. They

125
00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:26,680
Speaker 1: couldn't do anything with me. I let they put they

126
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:28,600
Speaker 1: put the double lot there to put them head up.

127
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:34,160
Speaker 1: I break through that incredible hole. Get them horses, get

128
00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,039
Speaker 1: him get But you know it's different now, you don't

129
00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:38,880
Speaker 1: really try to for me. I would look at I

130
00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,760
Speaker 1: was looking at that, I was looking at that kills. Yeah,

131
00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,880
Speaker 1: it's different. That's why it's so hard to evaluate guys,

132
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,840
Speaker 1: because back when I played, they were trying to put there,

133
00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:54,320
Speaker 1: trying to twist you. You run that seven route like guys,

134
00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,479
Speaker 1: I've never seen to run a one step slant roper.

135
00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,320
Speaker 1: But you know why because they're not word about that

136
00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,960
Speaker 1: kind of punishment that there was doling out back then.

137
00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,599
Speaker 1: What you're running one step slaying right? It was over.

138
00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,400
Speaker 1: It was over. But now, so that's why it's so

139
00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:11,960
Speaker 1: hard for us to evaluate. When they said, well what

140
00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,160
Speaker 1: about this guy? What about that guy? The rules have

141
00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,440
Speaker 1: been changed so much. The way they attacked the quarterback,

142
00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,280
Speaker 1: the way that our defenseless receiver, like, what was the

143
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,080
Speaker 1: defenseless receiver he got on him and show the pass

144
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,480
Speaker 1: he's not defens Yes, you're on the football field, you

145
00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,080
Speaker 1: should expect to get hit. But and then and then

146
00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,640
Speaker 1: you know air came later, to real came later, and

147
00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,120
Speaker 1: then we started Mike Shanahan with my offensive coordinator. When

148
00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,800
Speaker 1: I first got there, he leaves comes back as the

149
00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:46,720
Speaker 1: head coach. And then Mike was tough the expectations. He

150
00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,680
Speaker 1: expects you to make every play, no excuses. He came in,

151
00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,920
Speaker 1: you catch the pass finished forty yards, so he was

152
00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:55,600
Speaker 1: way down the field, so we had to catch. I

153
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:57,480
Speaker 1: might catch a five yard route taken, but I had

154
00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,440
Speaker 1: to run forty yards because that's what Jerry nice den

155
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,520
Speaker 1: and so that's what that was. Still from San Francisco.

156
00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:09,080
Speaker 1: So that was our mentality, is that get home. We

157
00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:11,000
Speaker 1: were always trying to hit our head on the gold post,

158
00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,800
Speaker 1: and he brought a mentality of how we practice, how

159
00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:19,040
Speaker 1: we met the expectations, have fun. But the thing was

160
00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:21,520
Speaker 1: I just remember he's always saying, okay, eighty four, get

161
00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,440
Speaker 1: him going, because that was you know, in in training

162
00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,320
Speaker 1: camp office according to Gary Kubiak, in my position coach,

163
00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:29,720
Speaker 1: he's an eighty four. We need to strike up the

164
00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:39,280
Speaker 1: band to day. So now I'm talking eight fo. Get

165
00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,120
Speaker 1: somebody today. Somebody gonna get it God today. They don't

166
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,200
Speaker 1: want to see eighty four. Y'all don't want this, y'all

167
00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,560
Speaker 1: don't want these kind of problems, and man, it would

168
00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:50,200
Speaker 1: get it would get going because and that that's that's

169
00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:51,840
Speaker 1: that's what it was about. You guys have been on

170
00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,040
Speaker 1: team where you're really really close, and we were really

171
00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,120
Speaker 1: really close. We we bowled, you know, like I said,

172
00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,160
Speaker 1: we go go bowling together. We did almost everything together

173
00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,600
Speaker 1: in training camp. You know, John, like I said, John

174
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,679
Speaker 1: would come up, guys will come Overen, just showty face.

175
00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,160
Speaker 1: You don't understand how important chemistry is. Those are normally

176
00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,840
Speaker 1: championship quality teams. At least you have the ability to

177
00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,120
Speaker 1: win a championship those kind of teams. You know, I

178
00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,080
Speaker 1: was fortunate enough to play on the team that one.

179
00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:19,679
Speaker 1: I was on the team that I thought we had

180
00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,640
Speaker 1: the talent, but we just didn't. We didn't vibe like

181
00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,360
Speaker 1: our chemistry wasn't like that. So I tell people all time,

182
00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,960
Speaker 1: it's more people, Oh, chemistry, that's a class that you're

183
00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:33,000
Speaker 1: taking high school in college. No it's not not no, no, no, no, no,

184
00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,079
Speaker 1: you can't. You guys gotta believe, sincerely believe that that

185
00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,280
Speaker 1: guy has my best interests and he got to know

186
00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,840
Speaker 1: that I have his best interests and the common goal,

187
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:43,760
Speaker 1: like and I tell you know, when I talked to

188
00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,600
Speaker 1: young guys, said, look, whatever you want to do, I

189
00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,000
Speaker 1: got no problem with that. If you want to be

190
00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:50,360
Speaker 1: go to the Pro Bowl, you want to be all this,

191
00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:52,520
Speaker 1: or you want to be m v P, be that,

192
00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,840
Speaker 1: but not a the expense of the team. Yeah, not

193
00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:57,600
Speaker 1: because if you want to be that, I know you're

194
00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,080
Speaker 1: gonna put the time, and I know you're gonna put

195
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:00,839
Speaker 1: the effort in, You're gonna put the training in, you

196
00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,840
Speaker 1: will put the studying in. But not at the expense

197
00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,040
Speaker 1: of the team. And that's maybe what I butted here

198
00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,120
Speaker 1: with guys. What I know. All they cared all yeah,

199
00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,320
Speaker 1: all they cared about with staff. They cared nothing about

200
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,400
Speaker 1: the team. That that rubbed me the wrong way. Don't

201
00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:22,840
Speaker 1: I don't want to part. I don't know. Talk to

202
00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,120
Speaker 1: us a little bit about your impact on the game

203
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,000
Speaker 1: that I think still exists today because you were the

204
00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,000
Speaker 1: flies must I mean outside of your game, you were

205
00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,880
Speaker 1: flying before flying was flying sports with the glasses you

206
00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,680
Speaker 1: had the motherfucking Jerry Curl dripped like my pops had.

207
00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:45,160
Speaker 1: Look wet but it was dry, but it was dry.

208
00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:50,160
Speaker 1: Put off the wet look but the dry but it

209
00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:57,400
Speaker 1: was drying was getting next product called next. I'm gonna

210
00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,960
Speaker 1: tell y'all something that I never told no about it.

211
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,880
Speaker 1: Then this this is the person I love you. You

212
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,240
Speaker 1: remember the head mand that I used to go around

213
00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,160
Speaker 1: the neck. It wasn't intended to be war rounding it was.

214
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,440
Speaker 1: It was no no. I used to wear it on

215
00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:20,760
Speaker 1: the head like y'all do the NBA because the girls juice.

216
00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,800
Speaker 1: I'm not lying, and then put out put the helmet

217
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,440
Speaker 1: on and mess around and slipped down to the neck

218
00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:35,960
Speaker 1: and it just became fashionable. Let me just roll with

219
00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:43,560
Speaker 1: That's how that happened. I'm not lying. That's how That's

220
00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:45,600
Speaker 1: how the hair very was more running, nick, I never

221
00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,280
Speaker 1: told nobody else that in my last y'are the first

222
00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:52,319
Speaker 1: one to getting that truth. My dad, my dad had

223
00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,320
Speaker 1: a dripper. My dad used to have the tale around

224
00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:56,280
Speaker 1: his neck so the ship didn't get on his clothes.

225
00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,800
Speaker 1: So should I That's what I thought, Yeah, a little drift,

226
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,120
Speaker 1: no dog, no dog. I was offended when Coming to

227
00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,000
Speaker 1: America came out and they were sitting there ears on

228
00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,480
Speaker 1: the couch man's I was offended by that. Man. I

229
00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,200
Speaker 1: was offended by that movie. I really was. Anybody way

230
00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,920
Speaker 1: the colonel talking about you. I'm a Florida point man.

231
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,880
Speaker 1: And you know we we have swag. We haven't talking

232
00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,120
Speaker 1: to y'all, you know, and but the but the lot

233
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,200
Speaker 1: of it, oh man, And y'all ain't gonna believe this

234
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,240
Speaker 1: when I tell you, But it's the one truth. I

235
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,679
Speaker 1: never talked drunk on the field, man. I never spoke

236
00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,480
Speaker 1: to my opponents. I never telling anybody ever played, never dog.

237
00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,360
Speaker 1: I spent games to the medium. But I had the

238
00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,480
Speaker 1: mantra off I talked drunk caller and I never did.

239
00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,680
Speaker 1: So where is it coming? Is? That's not true about

240
00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,000
Speaker 1: you happening out the limo, running the fold where the folks.

241
00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,840
Speaker 1: It's always it's always a little true to every life.

242
00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:56,199
Speaker 1: That it was a literal I did. I did. I

243
00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,360
Speaker 1: did catch the rabbit that day. I ran my butt off,

244
00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:00,959
Speaker 1: But I didn't leave in the come to rapid. I

245
00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,000
Speaker 1: ain't leaving the limo that day. I went. I did

246
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,680
Speaker 1: what everybody else did. It was normal. But I left

247
00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:07,840
Speaker 1: right out that ram because it was what. Am I

248
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:09,599
Speaker 1: gonna lay there and put two twenty five and do that.

249
00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,839
Speaker 1: I ain't nobody laying across my arms and no games

250
00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,000
Speaker 1: bench press, and I ain't no hide jump. I'm not

251
00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,240
Speaker 1: hie jumping for I ain't gotta high jumping no game.

252
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,800
Speaker 1: So I wasn't doing none of the foolish stuff at

253
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,560
Speaker 1: the comeback. I just wanted to run my part because

254
00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:24,520
Speaker 1: I was the number one coming out in my position.

255
00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:26,480
Speaker 1: So why would I risk at a chance that they

256
00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:28,840
Speaker 1: had nothing to prove of no comback. I just wanted

257
00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,280
Speaker 1: there to put it in work. No, I actually I

258
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:36,920
Speaker 1: want to sue because I went for business. I went enough.

259
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,480
Speaker 1: I want enough, I want enough, suit and boot it

260
00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,280
Speaker 1: because I went for business. And I remember when I

261
00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,600
Speaker 1: was in the big room with all the players. Dude,

262
00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:46,559
Speaker 1: somebody from the league came over to me. He said,

263
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,120
Speaker 1: excuse me, sir, there are no agents, a lot of

264
00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:55,400
Speaker 1: inside and I said, I'm gonna player. You played for

265
00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,520
Speaker 1: both of our favorite teams. I think, did you win

266
00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:02,240
Speaker 1: a championship with Dallas? Yeah? With the Niners. Yeah, we

267
00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,640
Speaker 1: want one with the forty nine. And then to let

268
00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:06,360
Speaker 1: them know the jack is a Dallas fan, I'm a

269
00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:08,680
Speaker 1: Niner fan. What was it like playing in those times?

270
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:12,840
Speaker 1: You played with too great I mean Aikman, Emmett, Michael Irvin,

271
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,000
Speaker 1: and you went over with Steve and Jerry John talked

272
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,360
Speaker 1: to us, Well, my finnest place to ever played was Atlanta.

273
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,920
Speaker 1: That was home. You know, when somebody draft you, that's

274
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,320
Speaker 1: that's your home, that's your that's your blood. Man, Like

275
00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,840
Speaker 1: Atlanta drafted me. So I'm forever in debt. And I

276
00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:29,040
Speaker 1: loved Atlanta. But they wasn't. Uh, they didn't have the

277
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:39,640
Speaker 1: expectation of winning. And I was a winner and I

278
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,840
Speaker 1: wanted to win. So when I was a free agent,

279
00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,320
Speaker 1: they ain't even offer me. Man, they just let it

280
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,520
Speaker 1: ride out. So I ended up I was getting ready

281
00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:47,720
Speaker 1: to go to mine because I went on a little

282
00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,920
Speaker 1: tour just like a little bit and tool. Everybody was

283
00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:51,720
Speaker 1: trying to put it to see who's gonna get primed,

284
00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,960
Speaker 1: and uh, I can remember getting ready to go to

285
00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,480
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. I even had Dolphins cleats made like like

286
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:00,960
Speaker 1: Nike had made my Dolphins c and they said, where

287
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,080
Speaker 1: you going? Is that what I'm going over to? Man,

288
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:04,480
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do the dog one thing. I would have

289
00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,360
Speaker 1: met with Eddie de barnlow man and he said you

290
00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,280
Speaker 1: want to do this? I said, yeah, yeah, I want

291
00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,640
Speaker 1: to do it. So we even had a handshake agreement.

292
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,600
Speaker 1: I got on the plane and went back before I landed.

293
00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,400
Speaker 1: Before I landed, I think bet so I hit the

294
00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,800
Speaker 1: dolphins about three yards passed. So they was blowing my

295
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:22,640
Speaker 1: phone up. Now they want to do the deal. Now

296
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,240
Speaker 1: they want to come up with the money. But I

297
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:25,800
Speaker 1: was always been a man of my word. If I

298
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,760
Speaker 1: said it's gonna be that, so I had already gave

299
00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,560
Speaker 1: Eddie Baro my word. So I went to San Francisco, man,

300
00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:33,880
Speaker 1: and I remember the first that practice going in there,

301
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:36,760
Speaker 1: me with the head coaches, like we have no individuals

302
00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,280
Speaker 1: on the team. You know, you got to coincide with

303
00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:41,520
Speaker 1: what everybody else done. Like it kind of offended me

304
00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:43,800
Speaker 1: because if you have you haven't done your homework, you

305
00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,000
Speaker 1: would expect to get prime. And I introduce you to

306
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:47,920
Speaker 1: deal on I'm trying to show you who I really at.

307
00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,520
Speaker 1: Your private just comes out on Sundays. Man, that's just

308
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,400
Speaker 1: my marketing. That's just that's just what I did to

309
00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,040
Speaker 1: get my paper. So man, I go out on the

310
00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,120
Speaker 1: practice field. Jay got on red tights, Rickard war has

311
00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,160
Speaker 1: got a black taxes on a kid, and that I said, Well,

312
00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,520
Speaker 1: I thought we was a team. I thought we were

313
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,880
Speaker 1: a team. I thought everybody did the same thing. So

314
00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:08,800
Speaker 1: they kind of wrought me the wrong way, man. But

315
00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,200
Speaker 1: we put in some work that year and we won

316
00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:13,000
Speaker 1: the super Bowl, and that was one of the best

317
00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:17,760
Speaker 1: years individually I think I've ever had, and I love it.

318
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:19,800
Speaker 1: But I just was empty, man, I was empty. As

319
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:21,600
Speaker 1: we want the super Bowl, man, I would right home.

320
00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,840
Speaker 1: First point out in the locker room, first one in

321
00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,000
Speaker 1: the hotel room. Ain't even go out club, ain't even

322
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,160
Speaker 1: gonna kick it. I'm just sitting on managing my bed

323
00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,160
Speaker 1: like dang. That ain't that Ain't what I thought it was.

324
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,400
Speaker 1: I knew right then I needed the challenge, man, So

325
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,720
Speaker 1: I needed a challenge. So then that's why that took

326
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,640
Speaker 1: me to Dallas. I wanted to go prove I could

327
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,560
Speaker 1: get you all there. Now I'm gonna go get you

328
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,480
Speaker 1: all back. Then. I wanted to prove that. Did you

329
00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:48,160
Speaker 1: thank him for that, Jake, Man, I'm gonna thank him now.

330
00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,480
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, cause I've been adopting the cowboy fast

331
00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,280
Speaker 1: as a baby. But people blow up to San Francisco.

332
00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:55,360
Speaker 1: I think you played with somebody from my hometown named

333
00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,840
Speaker 1: Tim mccayo. It was in Atlanta. In Atlanta, you played it,

334
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,400
Speaker 1: Yeah with Tim was crazy. Tim was a trip. Man,

335
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:09,399
Speaker 1: I remember a trip. I remember your man still. I

336
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,520
Speaker 1: remember man playing with his cat and we had a

337
00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,760
Speaker 1: great Yeah. I think I had like seven picks. He

338
00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:16,959
Speaker 1: made it. Hats man has six, and every time he

339
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:18,880
Speaker 1: picked it he brought. I used to say, Man, when

340
00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:20,520
Speaker 1: he played black jack on the way, you win, should

341
00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:22,239
Speaker 1: get twenty one. You get that ball to twenty one.

342
00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,280
Speaker 1: A good things happened. Every time people gotta pick. They

343
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,639
Speaker 1: got at the twenty one and good things happened. He

344
00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:29,560
Speaker 1: did pick it, run allay across the feeling pitch for

345
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,040
Speaker 1: the ball, and we house that thing. But Tim Man,

346
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,919
Speaker 1: I remember I was trying to blow him up so

347
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:37,720
Speaker 1: he could make the Pro Bowl with your boy. And

348
00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:39,320
Speaker 1: we just on the ter ofview and that. They said,

349
00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,400
Speaker 1: what's you like about Tim game? Tim's game? I said,

350
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,560
Speaker 1: what Tim does this? He does this? Tim does this?

351
00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,720
Speaker 1: They said, well, Tim, what you like about prime game?

352
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:55,800
Speaker 1: He's like, well, he ain't better than me. Don't almost

353
00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,199
Speaker 1: swum doing the interview. I'm not lying, man, I'm this

354
00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:05,280
Speaker 1: dude flipped out on me. Man. I could not believe that. Man, Yeah,

355
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:06,960
Speaker 1: I ain't. I ain't ever met him. And I heard

356
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,040
Speaker 1: a lot of stories just like that about him. I know,

357
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,040
Speaker 1: I brothers and everybody, but he from my hometime. But

358
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,960
Speaker 1: I heard the same type of stories about it. Man. Yeah, man,

359
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:16,760
Speaker 1: he had a little jellous spirit in the man with

360
00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,280
Speaker 1: You don't know why, you know, it was all good,

361
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,840
Speaker 1: but that that's what was. It was a trip. Who

362
00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:29,480
Speaker 1: was who was your favorite matchup? Who was the one man? Man?

363
00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:34,400
Speaker 1: You know, Jerry, Jerry, right, Michael Irvin, all of them? Man,

364
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,280
Speaker 1: Because I was I was coming to see him. You know,

365
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,960
Speaker 1: it wasn't that it went back then. We we we

366
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,520
Speaker 1: went to see the main dog the dog on dog,

367
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:44,840
Speaker 1: the dogs on dog, like like it used to be

368
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,359
Speaker 1: back in the day of the NBA Dog the Dog. Yeah, yeah,

369
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,040
Speaker 1: I was like it now, like LaRod, I want to

370
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:52,800
Speaker 1: see you with Kauai. You know, I like, I like

371
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:54,760
Speaker 1: to see I want to see dog on dog. That's

372
00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,719
Speaker 1: what you selling me on TV. I want to see that.

373
00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,840
Speaker 1: And it was me and Jerry got down me and

374
00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:01,880
Speaker 1: got that. Now they sending me dream that I don't

375
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,480
Speaker 1: get to see it. Yeah, they don't sell me the dream.

376
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,920
Speaker 1: I want to get Mike put in work with everybody. Okay,

377
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,800
Speaker 1: you were sitting the bulls, you were gonna see Mike,

378
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:12,800
Speaker 1: you was gonna see code. You know, you was gonna

379
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,119
Speaker 1: see the dogs, Dogs gonna dog. It's a little different

380
00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:26,280
Speaker 1: game now, you know. I played, you know, fifteen years

381
00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,880
Speaker 1: and had a had a contract for two more years,

382
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:31,680
Speaker 1: but I happened to luck up and when the championship

383
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:33,760
Speaker 1: will golden stating, I retired early because I wanted to

384
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 1: spend more time with my kids. I felt like I

385
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,480
Speaker 1: was missing a lot of important times in their lives

386
00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,040
Speaker 1: because I was in one city there and another. So

387
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,560
Speaker 1: talk to me about what retirements like, because that's to me,

388
00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:45,239
Speaker 1: that's the best part, is being able to get up

389
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,120
Speaker 1: every day and be with your kids. See. I come

390
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:52,199
Speaker 1: from the broken background, so I've always wanted to have

391
00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:54,800
Speaker 1: a structure, you know, household, you know what I mean,

392
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,000
Speaker 1: as far as the wife, kids, growing up, being in

393
00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,800
Speaker 1: your kids life, you know what I mean, because I

394
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,480
Speaker 1: didn't have that, um and I and you realize you're like, damn, man,

395
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,600
Speaker 1: I'm missing so much time. And thank god I had

396
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,000
Speaker 1: two girls first, you know what I mean, So I

397
00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:10,840
Speaker 1: kind of got spoiled and and had my son last.

398
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,280
Speaker 1: So I get to see, you know, the first time

399
00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:14,879
Speaker 1: you get to go to the party, you know, the

400
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,240
Speaker 1: first time, you know, he waking up screaming. Adam Jones,

401
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:23,400
Speaker 1: you know, so were Ryan were Ryan Foewelers together every day.

402
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,080
Speaker 1: So it's a venture just to be and watch and

403
00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:28,440
Speaker 1: see the growth and see like, hey man, I wanted

404
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:33,000
Speaker 1: to was like that bad, so you know what I mean.

405
00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:34,879
Speaker 1: Like the other day he set up a ball in

406
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,000
Speaker 1: the living room, the little tea ball thing, and it

407
00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:40,520
Speaker 1: was it wasn't the tea ball, but it was a

408
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,760
Speaker 1: dodge ball smack boom buzz. Wanted to look glass. But

409
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,320
Speaker 1: you know it two years anything, you know what I mean,

410
00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:51,520
Speaker 1: But like it's amazing man, and and and that's probably

411
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,800
Speaker 1: the best feeling in the world, you know, besides running

412
00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,480
Speaker 1: out of that tone, you know what I mean, and

413
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,600
Speaker 1: eager to see, like dam I want to see how

414
00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 1: good he could be, you know what I mean. That's

415
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:00,800
Speaker 1: moments you can't get it back, bro, you know what

416
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,560
Speaker 1: I'm saying. That that's price, that's priceless moments. That's that's

417
00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,440
Speaker 1: that's what you're doing. And for men like you said,

418
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,200
Speaker 1: we come from broken homes. You know, me and you

419
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:09,119
Speaker 1: broken come from broken homes. I I didn't have my

420
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,120
Speaker 1: father and obviously you know what I'm saying, I don't.

421
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:12,600
Speaker 1: I don't have all my kids in the house, but

422
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,640
Speaker 1: just being uh, you know what I'm saying, having those

423
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:16,480
Speaker 1: experiences with him, you know what I'm saying, knowing that

424
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:17,800
Speaker 1: you didn't have them with your father, you know what.

425
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 1: Saying that means a lot to me. So I understand

426
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,960
Speaker 1: totally where you're coming from. But beside, besides your kids,

427
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,560
Speaker 1: I don't know if any kids play sports, but you

428
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:26,680
Speaker 1: do camps, You do all kinds of stuff involving kids.

429
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,120
Speaker 1: Talk about that. Oh yeah, so um, I do all

430
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,040
Speaker 1: of well most of the camps because all of a sudden,

431
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,159
Speaker 1: under them and don this is my father like a

432
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,200
Speaker 1: father figure to me, or we just had him all,

433
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,560
Speaker 1: we just had him all. Whatever you want to say,

434
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,520
Speaker 1: like I bleed, breed, bleed and sleep whatever that man

435
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,560
Speaker 1: says right there. But he's a great person to me.

436
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,680
Speaker 1: He'd always been there for me, you know what I mean,

437
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,400
Speaker 1: he was some most of the success that I've had

438
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,960
Speaker 1: in my lady career comes from what he's done from

439
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,320
Speaker 1: me and the jobs I've got, you know, the phone

440
00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,159
Speaker 1: calls and relationship you know, because it was the time, know,

441
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,000
Speaker 1: like nobody wanted to take a chance on me Dion.

442
00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:06,560
Speaker 1: I went with D. I stayed with D for like

443
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: two months. He called Mike Zimber called Mike Zamber. I

444
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 1: came here and worked out with the Bengals were Actually

445
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,119
Speaker 1: he called him the first time and called me. He's like, Yo,

446
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,120
Speaker 1: they want you to come right now if you want

447
00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,359
Speaker 1: to work out, Like man, Bro, I've been out for

448
00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:24,080
Speaker 1: a whole year. I ain't no shape to workout. He

449
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:25,960
Speaker 1: was like, Yo, you're gonna tell him you ain't gonna

450
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,959
Speaker 1: work out. So I was like, yeah, I go. So

451
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,200
Speaker 1: I came up to Cincinnati. Bro. It was twenty two degrees.

452
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:37,399
Speaker 1: Bro just had seven inches of snow. They shove have

453
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,159
Speaker 1: on the field. Office Like, come on, let's go with me.

454
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:43,640
Speaker 1: I'll never forget this was me. Uh the Jones kid,

455
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 1: the wine receiver who came from the jag War was man.

456
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,320
Speaker 1: It was so called. I ain't even finished the workout,

457
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,360
Speaker 1: so I end up. I live. So so I'm gonna

458
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:58,000
Speaker 1: saying m Marvroman. He say, look, you got three weeks, man,

459
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 1: We're gonna bring you back in three weeks. You better

460
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 1: be ready in three weeks. So I wouldn't have worked

461
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 1: out for three weeks. And that that started my story

462
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,399
Speaker 1: here back in two thousand nine. But if I wouldn't

463
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:09,760
Speaker 1: have had the relationship with with Dion, if if I

464
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,240
Speaker 1: wasn't taking the time to set up different things and

465
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,040
Speaker 1: treat people right, you never know who you're gonna need,

466
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And and that's what I

467
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,800
Speaker 1: try to teach my kids, like you never know, like

468
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,520
Speaker 1: it can be that you would never you would never

469
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,560
Speaker 1: know who knows who know? You know what I mean.

470
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:29,360
Speaker 1: Like for instance, I was doing the wrestling right, so

471
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,480
Speaker 1: the lady, the lady who owned ten A was Dixie.

472
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,800
Speaker 1: So Dixie was best friends with Jerry Jones. That's how

473
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,679
Speaker 1: I got the Dallas She asked, I can't. I cannot

474
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,560
Speaker 1: make this up. She said, if you could choose one

475
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,399
Speaker 1: team who you wanted to play for? I said, the Cowboys.

476
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: Swear to God, God strike me down right now. The

477
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,600
Speaker 1: next day, I had Jerry on the phone. He was like,

478
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 1: so you really want to come here? Like yeah, now

479
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,960
Speaker 1: I was in Dallas like two months before anybody knew that.

480
00:23:58,000 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: I don't even go into Dallas, you know what I'm saying.

481
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:05,119
Speaker 1: Always had in prospered Texas, man, like, so like every

482
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 1: my life has been like because you know, I had

483
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: up and down, like and I ain't shoying away from

484
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,359
Speaker 1: I like fighting, I've had this and that go on.

485
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:18,000
Speaker 1: But like the people that that I've treated and the

486
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,040
Speaker 1: people that I've met, I would say that I built

487
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:25,120
Speaker 1: relationship to it just because of how you treat people. Man. Yeah, yeah,

488
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,720
Speaker 1: you know at that time, I have been suspended a

489
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,360
Speaker 1: whole year, you know what I mean? Like really I

490
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,919
Speaker 1: was thinking like do I really want to do this again?

491
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,480
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Right? Is it word? Going

492
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 1: through all that ship again? Yeah? We you know, we

493
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 1: were similar, you know, you know with the broad ship

494
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 1: with me. You know, I know I missed at least

495
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 1: three solid All Star games just because I ran into

496
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:50,360
Speaker 1: the stands and punched the fan. They stopped looking at

497
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 1: my play, just like they did you. It's not looking

498
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 1: everything you've done. They stopped looking at your play. My Ricky. Yeah,

499
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,919
Speaker 1: I was Ricky Ell the year. Well, I ain't made

500
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 1: defense Ricky year, but I was Special Team with Guild year.

501
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:07,199
Speaker 1: My second year, I was second team All Pro. I

502
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,679
Speaker 1: had just was I was just buying the sign a

503
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 1: sixty million dollar extension and then that's when I got

504
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 1: into Trumpor and Vegas. Then so I get in Trump

505
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 1: and Vegas and missed two of my prime years. I

506
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,600
Speaker 1: was twenty three, twenty four, twenty five when I went

507
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,200
Speaker 1: to Dallas, I think, but like I missed a lot

508
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 1: of my prime like where when I was I could

509
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 1: wake up in the morning and run FO to five

510
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,479
Speaker 1: with just like without scritching and not doing nothing. You

511
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,200
Speaker 1: know I'm saying. That's why I call him baby Dan.

512
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:40,520
Speaker 1: That's why I called him baby d Like like I said,

513
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,280
Speaker 1: I've been knowing I've been knowing him for a while,

514
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. We know a lot of

515
00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 1: the same people. A lot of home was around the A.

516
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,160
Speaker 1: But I've been on I've been called I've been calling

517
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,680
Speaker 1: that baby deal. But like I said, we are very similar.

518
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. We went we went through

519
00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff, but that that that's not who

520
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:56,399
Speaker 1: we are. You know what I'm saying, And it's it's good.

521
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 1: That's one reason why I wanted to have you on

522
00:25:58,240 --> 00:25:59,720
Speaker 1: the show. Just like I told you, you know what

523
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 1: that Yeah, we came back involved in our later careers.

524
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 1: Thought yeah, yeah, we were making probols at thirty two

525
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:16,399
Speaker 1: years old. Man, Yeah, yeah, yes, sir, yes, sir, don't stop.

526
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,760
Speaker 1: You're big and and and have been speaking and outspoken

527
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 1: on mental health. And that was the one thing when

528
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:30,159
Speaker 1: I got a chance to talk to PG while he

529
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,159
Speaker 1: was in the bubble because he was dealing with some

530
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 1: mental health and anxiety and depression and separation. How serious

531
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,480
Speaker 1: is this because as black men first and foremost, and

532
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,679
Speaker 1: as black athletes, it was looked down before before as

533
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:49,240
Speaker 1: almost a weakness to talk about issues you had. Obviously

534
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 1: we're passed that and it's more talked about these days,

535
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:53,359
Speaker 1: But what is your take on it? Being someone that

536
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 1: has suffered from it. There was a lot of guys,

537
00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: you know, uh, struggling in that bubble, and there's guys

538
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:02,359
Speaker 1: in NFL struggling right now, so you know, it's not

539
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 1: a game. It is serious. But like that's why I

540
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 1: talked about, you know, marijuana is because when I was

541
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 1: playing for the Dolphins, that's when I realized something was

542
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,679
Speaker 1: going on, and marijuana was the thing that got me

543
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,840
Speaker 1: through that year. Like it is like that was the

544
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,320
Speaker 1: first time I was able to smile again and and

545
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,119
Speaker 1: feel again. And then you know, you get to the office.

546
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,639
Speaker 1: I got to the off season and I went to

547
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,399
Speaker 1: McClain hospital and I was there for three months in

548
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 1: the outpatient programs diagnosed with borderline personality sort of. The

549
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:35,680
Speaker 1: best way to describe is like an emotional disorder, being

550
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,879
Speaker 1: able to self regulate your emotions. Right, long story short.

551
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 1: I took dialectical behavior therapy, that's a group therapy. I

552
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 1: took mentalization therapy. I took self assessment, you know, one

553
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,919
Speaker 1: on one with Dr Gunderson. I did a clinical evaluation,

554
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,800
Speaker 1: neurological evaluation, just to see what was going on in

555
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 1: my mind. And I was put in this program and

556
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,640
Speaker 1: it changed my life. And there's so many of us

557
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,639
Speaker 1: that deal with this. Life is hard, you know, and

558
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 1: if you don't have if you don't have a game

559
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,280
Speaker 1: plan around how you're gonna deal with stress, that stress

560
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:11,160
Speaker 1: can turn into uh mental health challenge, initial mental health

561
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,040
Speaker 1: issue for you. It may it may not be bipolar,

562
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,919
Speaker 1: it may not be borderline, it may not be anxiety,

563
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,680
Speaker 1: but if you don't correct these things, uh, then it

564
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 1: can definitely hit you and hit you in a major way.

565
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 1: So you know, even now, like now, we got people

566
00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 1: dealing with anxiety and depression for the very first time.

567
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,040
Speaker 1: So I just think that you know, for me, I

568
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 1: appreciate it, Paul George saying it, you know, because there's

569
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,440
Speaker 1: a lot of athletes dealing with anxiety, there's a lot

570
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 1: of athletes dealing with depression or understanding being comfortable with

571
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 1: who they are in this big space. So now you've

572
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 1: got the Kevin Loves of the world, you got the

573
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: Dak Prescotts of the world really using their platforms and

574
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: talk about and highlighted. We still talk about it wrong

575
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,240
Speaker 1: in the media. You saw what Skip Bayliss said after

576
00:28:55,320 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott came out. So you know, there's a there's

577
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 1: a there's a long way to go, but I love,

578
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,560
Speaker 1: I love where where we're at right now. And once

579
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 1: again lad by the athletes. So it used to be

580
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,959
Speaker 1: a taboo topic not to not to press too much

581
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,760
Speaker 1: in your personal life. Is this something that's ongoing or

582
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 1: did you get it fixed when you win or is

583
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,240
Speaker 1: this a daily still a daily battle for you? Now

584
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,200
Speaker 1: it's interesting, you know, because there's so many ways it

585
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,840
Speaker 1: can present itself. You know, mental health could present itself

586
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 1: in over three different ways, but just one diagnosis. So

587
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 1: for me, going through that process really gave me the

588
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,240
Speaker 1: skills and tools I needed to self regulated. So you

589
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 1: know I could be in a moment and I'm like, well,

590
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,400
Speaker 1: with tools, with skills, do I have to regulate? You

591
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 1: know what I mean? To manage this? Do I kind

592
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,600
Speaker 1: of make it better? You know? I wanted to stay

593
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 1: the saying, don't make it worse? So what I do now?

594
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,760
Speaker 1: And I'll go back to my last years in football,

595
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: So what I did in the football season, I had

596
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 1: a game plan. I knew that was the most stressful

597
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,400
Speaker 1: time of the year for me. So every every week

598
00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: I was sitting down with the mental health practitioner before practice,

599
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: I would jump in the float pod after practice, jumping

600
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 1: the float pod, like I was very intentional daily in

601
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 1: my mental fitness in the off season. In the off season,

602
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,680
Speaker 1: what I do is as needed. So I'll probably like

603
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,240
Speaker 1: once a month check in um with the mental health practitioner,

604
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:22,720
Speaker 1: or I might check in with a family member or

605
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,120
Speaker 1: friends just like yo, how you doing? He checked or

606
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,000
Speaker 1: he or she checking on me? And but part of

607
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 1: my daily routine because I feel like you need to

608
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,240
Speaker 1: make deposits because something's going to happen, right Like who

609
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:36,080
Speaker 1: who would have known? We you know, this year would

610
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 1: have turned out the way it is? Like where you

611
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 1: did you have the deposits that to be able to

612
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,480
Speaker 1: be strong enough through this. So meditation is big for me.

613
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,680
Speaker 1: Um being able to recover, get aways, turn off at night,

614
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 1: you know, shut my brain off is important for me.

615
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 1: So those are things that I do every single day

616
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:56,600
Speaker 1: to make sure I'm making those deposits. So when those

617
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 1: stressful moments come up, I'm good, I'm ready to go.

618
00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 1: I think the key you said if anyone takes what

619
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,160
Speaker 1: way the tools you need to handle the situation, because

620
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:09,920
Speaker 1: we're not we're not equipped with them. We we weren't

621
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,040
Speaker 1: raised with them. It wasn't something that was talked about.

622
00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:14,840
Speaker 1: Showing emotion in our culture was a sign of weakness,

623
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 1: no matter who you were. From a child to stop

624
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,520
Speaker 1: sucking crying to an adult, you know what I mean.

625
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,800
Speaker 1: So now that we're in a where in a space

626
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: that we can comfortably talk about it, it's the tools,

627
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 1: like you said, that you learned from handling, doing your counseling,

628
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,600
Speaker 1: that that we're allowed you to get through the process.

629
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: And not enough of us have that too. I was fortunate,

630
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:35,719
Speaker 1: I mean I may and I came from a you know,

631
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 1: functioning drug addicts. My parents were functioning drug adics. Very

632
00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: abusive household. So I found marijuana at fourteen and smoked

633
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 1: it from fourteen to this day, and that was really

634
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 1: At the time, I didn't know what it was. I

635
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 1: just knew it was an escape for me. And as

636
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,240
Speaker 1: I got older, I realized, Okay, damn, I can focus,

637
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 1: I can sleep better. You know, a lot of different

638
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:54,880
Speaker 1: things are coming from this. So that's why I was

639
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,880
Speaker 1: so glad when the medical research finally caught up, because

640
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 1: I could have said everything it made me do until

641
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,120
Speaker 1: I was blue in the face, but until there was

642
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 1: medical backup, medical research saying okay, well it does a

643
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 1: B and C just like these guys are saying it

644
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,440
Speaker 1: was doing. It wasn't doing any good. But I think

645
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,320
Speaker 1: if I didn't have cannabis, no bullshit, who knows what

646
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:14,280
Speaker 1: kind of deepened I would have went off of. Because

647
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,440
Speaker 1: you know, my life off the court was very well document.

648
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 1: I was in a lot of ship off the court.

649
00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:21,280
Speaker 1: But you know, to be able to be on TMZ

650
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,240
Speaker 1: and all these blows and then have to play on

651
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 1: ESPN that night, that focus is essential, you know, no

652
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,240
Speaker 1: matter what the fun is going on in your life,

653
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:29,960
Speaker 1: for that two hours, two and a half hours where

654
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,120
Speaker 1: it's on the football field, the basketball field, there's no

655
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 1: excuses and and my outlet is always being cannabis. So

656
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 1: I'm very thankful now that, like I said, the medical

657
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 1: research is catching up because I know a lot of

658
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 1: these athletes, like you said, whether you use it or not,

659
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 1: we need some sort of tools to deal with this

660
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 1: ship because people think we're invincible because we have money.

661
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 1: But that's the furthest thing from the truth. Yes, So

662
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 1: is that is that why you're so passionate and investing

663
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,680
Speaker 1: in this space? Yeah? Yeah, because I believe in it,

664
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:56,160
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I'll be the first one

665
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 1: I tell you I enjoy getting high, like the way

666
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 1: it feels, but I'm more on the educational like I'm

667
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:02,240
Speaker 1: not a snoop, I'm not a rapper. I mean, it's

668
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 1: okay to kind of glorify in that aspect, but I'm

669
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 1: coming from an aspect of a former player, a father,

670
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,000
Speaker 1: and someone who coaches my kids right now, So I'm

671
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 1: coming more on the medical side and understanding trying to

672
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 1: remove the word high and explain that the medical benefits

673
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:19,240
Speaker 1: of it in the way it makes me feel. And

674
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,920
Speaker 1: I think that's where we're finally starting to make headway

675
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,560
Speaker 1: because whether they like it or not, whether they keep

676
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 1: find us a lot a lot of professional athletes use

677
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:38,400
Speaker 1: it and we shouldn't be penalized for it. As a receiver. Um,

678
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,840
Speaker 1: you know, you get teed off on. People always get

679
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 1: to hit you. I remember I used to love the

680
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,280
Speaker 1: crack back, the peel back block. Do you have one

681
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,880
Speaker 1: particular peel back or crackback where you just suck somebody up? Man,

682
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,200
Speaker 1: I got one to tell you. It was absolute fail. Man,

683
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:53,800
Speaker 1: I ain't. I got something that I really like, you know,

684
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: just people out, you know, but I got one where

685
00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:58,360
Speaker 1: as an absolute fail, I'll tell you. But it's actually

686
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,320
Speaker 1: we're playing Chicago at Chicago and this is my rookie

687
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: year and I had to go in and crack um

688
00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,640
Speaker 1: Lance Bridge, I'm just trying to Chicago there. He's from

689
00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:12,400
Speaker 1: US so we played in high school at the same time.

690
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 1: He's from out my way. Okay, you know what you know,

691
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:17,560
Speaker 1: he's you know, he's a man boy, somebody you don't

692
00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:19,800
Speaker 1: want to have to hit. Man. He saw me and

693
00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 1: he like, I'm coming down in motion, you know, my

694
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,279
Speaker 1: little slopan and my little short motion, you know, like

695
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:25,880
Speaker 1: I'm about to run my round I'm trying not to

696
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:27,719
Speaker 1: look at him, but I'm peeking on the inside of

697
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:29,600
Speaker 1: my eye and I was trying to die. Damn. I

698
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:31,359
Speaker 1: hope he don't see me. I hope you don't see.

699
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 1: Right before the balls snap, he looked me up, and

700
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 1: he looked right at me, and he's just writing rapping

701
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:38,360
Speaker 1: the ball snap. He just ran right out and he

702
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,080
Speaker 1: diedose to play. He just ran around me, ran through me,

703
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 1: maybe too, like I get tossed out on Monday. So yeah,

704
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:49,640
Speaker 1: that's like I just seen one. Like an old highlight

705
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:52,440
Speaker 1: tried to crack back on ray Lewis and he blinds

706
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 1: out of ray Lewis, but still he was the one

707
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:58,440
Speaker 1: that still got sucked up. Yeah, bloody ray Lois. That's

708
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 1: another one. You don't you come into the NFL nearly

709
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:10,160
Speaker 1: two thirty nine running a four three eight at six four?

710
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:15,160
Speaker 1: What the hell is that? I mean, it's I just

711
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 1: love hearing it because, like I said, football is my

712
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,239
Speaker 1: first spart I love football to death. Uh you know,

713
00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:21,759
Speaker 1: I let the nation in touchdowns. I'm six seven and

714
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,040
Speaker 1: I ran a four three nine my senior year. So

715
00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:25,839
Speaker 1: like you were someone when I saw coming to the the league,

716
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:27,319
Speaker 1: I wish you to think like, man, if I would

717
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,120
Speaker 1: have stuck to it, you know what would have happened,

718
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:33,279
Speaker 1: Like I used to really watch you like damn, Like

719
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:34,920
Speaker 1: I would see the hit you take, like damn, my

720
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:36,799
Speaker 1: three inches arling, they would have really fucked me up

721
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,839
Speaker 1: on that one. Or just the way you were able

722
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,560
Speaker 1: to physically dominate dudes because we had a similar body style.

723
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,319
Speaker 1: So it was just so dope watching you do what

724
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,560
Speaker 1: you did. And I wish, like I said in the opening,

725
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:50,520
Speaker 1: that you had a chance to win more, you know

726
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 1: what I mean, and getting in playing playoff games and

727
00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:55,520
Speaker 1: get a chance to really play for a ring, and

728
00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:58,480
Speaker 1: the fact that you didn't, how tough did that way

729
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:02,239
Speaker 1: on you, you know, getting later in your career. I

730
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,640
Speaker 1: think the main reason I decide understand destroy it it

731
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,680
Speaker 1: was because I felt, I legitimately felt we had a

732
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,360
Speaker 1: chance to win that ring. I mean, we had an

733
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 1: offense that was putting up four to five yards a

734
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,279
Speaker 1: year on offense, and we had a defensive line I know,

735
00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:15,319
Speaker 1: I mean we had the secretary too, but we had

736
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,400
Speaker 1: the defensive line that featured in Dominican Sue Nick Fairley,

737
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 1: a young really young c. J. Moseley, like a mean

738
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,840
Speaker 1: defensive line like like old lines, quarterbacks are scared to

739
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:26,640
Speaker 1: come play you. That's all. That's what you need to

740
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: win the Super Bowl. You need you need that good

741
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,239
Speaker 1: D line, You need a defense that can hold up,

742
00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 1: and you got an offense that can score at will.

743
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:34,840
Speaker 1: You know, we had the makings and then when everything

744
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 1: got blown up there towards the end, is really rebuild

745
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:42,120
Speaker 1: a mode. That's it's a wrap from Nick. Yeah, that's tough.

746
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,200
Speaker 1: Early on you. Uh you did something that you know

747
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:48,280
Speaker 1: I like to see. And because I'm always pro player

748
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,920
Speaker 1: and get you, you held out as a rookie to

749
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:56,040
Speaker 1: sign a better deal. How how did that end up unfolding? Oh? Man,

750
00:36:56,120 --> 00:37:01,960
Speaker 1: I vaguely even remember that. Uh what I do remember

751
00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: is that, you know, I just took the advice of

752
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 1: my of my Asian bus cook at the time, and

753
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:08,160
Speaker 1: he was just he was just telling me, you know,

754
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:10,319
Speaker 1: this is this isn't the deal that we need to sign,

755
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:12,439
Speaker 1: you know, and I don't have the experience at the time.

756
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,239
Speaker 1: You know, That's why we brought him on board. You know.

757
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,319
Speaker 1: You know it's really just them me um not not

758
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,239
Speaker 1: accepting anything less than what I was worth. And that's

759
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,239
Speaker 1: that's one thing I don't tell any player right now. Man,

760
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:25,120
Speaker 1: you know you got a team by the balls, like

761
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 1: keep them, you know, take advantage that because once they

762
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 1: got the other way around, you believe they're gonna exercise

763
00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:41,799
Speaker 1: on you. So you win Defensive Rookie of the Year

764
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,440
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl soon after all Pro playing sixteen years, there's

765
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:49,080
Speaker 1: I guess it's more in the NBA now, is that

766
00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 1: this management and we kind of you know, we rest

767
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,040
Speaker 1: and all this stuff. But for you to consistently play

768
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:59,680
Speaker 1: sixteen games every season in such a physical sport, I mean,

769
00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:01,879
Speaker 1: we just gotta commend you for that, man, because that

770
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,480
Speaker 1: that ship is tough to do. You know, we play basketball,

771
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,279
Speaker 1: it's a little bit physical. But to be out there

772
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,319
Speaker 1: every single day and suit up as a football player, man,

773
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:12,640
Speaker 1: that that that that that's that's tough to do. You know,

774
00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:14,799
Speaker 1: it's it's it's funny you say that because you know,

775
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,879
Speaker 1: I sit back I watched games now, or if I'm

776
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,840
Speaker 1: at a game and I'm on the sideline and you know,

777
00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,560
Speaker 1: guys are out there giving it everything they've gotten. All

778
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,839
Speaker 1: of a sudden, there's a tackle that's near you, and

779
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,480
Speaker 1: I can I can hear the contact. I see the

780
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:32,960
Speaker 1: physicalness of the game and I sit there and I

781
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:34,719
Speaker 1: think to myself, Man, how in the hell did you

782
00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:37,879
Speaker 1: do this for so long? You know, getting up every week. Man,

783
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:40,839
Speaker 1: you know, practice and you know playing on Sundays and

784
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:42,840
Speaker 1: sometimes you know, you you know, you get up on

785
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,320
Speaker 1: Sunday morning, you're still feeling last Sunday, you know, um

786
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:48,600
Speaker 1: and the one thing that that gets you through, you know,

787
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:50,600
Speaker 1: going back to the fans and walking out into the

788
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,520
Speaker 1: walking out into the stadium. Like once you get out

789
00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:56,279
Speaker 1: there into that stadium, man, sometimes that energy from the

790
00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:59,000
Speaker 1: crowd hits you, man, and that's you That's what you need,

791
00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:01,399
Speaker 1: you know. Otherwise, man, you'll be trying to stay back

792
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:03,600
Speaker 1: in the in the hotel room and sleep it off.

793
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:05,840
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's it's it's a tough game, man, but

794
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 1: you know what, when you love it, you know, and

795
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,879
Speaker 1: you you you're fighting for a chance to win the championship. Man,

796
00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:14,319
Speaker 1: you'll run through a wall. Your guys bodies are really

797
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,120
Speaker 1: beat up and like you just said, without that adrenalin sometimes,

798
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,319
Speaker 1: ship you don't know where you would be. So what

799
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:21,759
Speaker 1: is your routine? So if you play on Sunday, walk

800
00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:23,960
Speaker 1: us through the week leading up to the following Sunday,

801
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:27,040
Speaker 1: games over. You know, now it's on to the next opponent.

802
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:30,040
Speaker 1: But what you're doing is on that Monday, you're going

803
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,360
Speaker 1: and you'll watch film of the game you just played,

804
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,959
Speaker 1: you know, kind of go over, um. You know, any

805
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:38,279
Speaker 1: corrections that that the coaches have seen, you know, they'll

806
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,719
Speaker 1: give you a grade, you know, as far as how

807
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,719
Speaker 1: you perform, whether or not you missed any assignment. So

808
00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:45,560
Speaker 1: you might have some if you got a bunch of

809
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:47,840
Speaker 1: red checkmarks on it's like school, your ads had a

810
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:51,279
Speaker 1: bad day. Um. So then you know, after that, either

811
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:53,480
Speaker 1: either before or after that, you know, you get your

812
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,799
Speaker 1: workout in, you know, you know, trying to you know,

813
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,360
Speaker 1: just trying to work through everything man and keep yourself mobile.

814
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:02,000
Speaker 1: Usually Tuesdays or your days off, so between Monday and Tuesday,

815
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:03,759
Speaker 1: you're trying to figure out, you know, when you're gonna

816
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,839
Speaker 1: try to get your massage in and all that stuff man,

817
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:09,400
Speaker 1: and try to you know, work some of that stuff out. Wednesdays,

818
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:14,240
Speaker 1: Wednesdays and Thursdays are your long practice. Usually Wednesdays are

819
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,359
Speaker 1: you know, first and you go over first and second down. Um,

820
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,279
Speaker 1: so that that day is gonna be long. You're gonna

821
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:21,560
Speaker 1: get out of there maybe five you know five thirty

822
00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,080
Speaker 1: or so, Um, Thursday is gonna kind of be the

823
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:26,960
Speaker 1: same thing. You're gonna go over your third down and

824
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,000
Speaker 1: then you know kind of marry some some some red

825
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:32,440
Speaker 1: zone which will have on Friday, and then some still

826
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:34,560
Speaker 1: some first and second down stuff, but it's mainly you know,

827
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:36,319
Speaker 1: you focus on that third down and trying to get

828
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:38,920
Speaker 1: off the football field. So that's gonna be another long

829
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,480
Speaker 1: day five five thirty. Then Friday rolls around. Uh, Friday,

830
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,040
Speaker 1: you're gonna go over red zone. You know, it's gonna

831
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,200
Speaker 1: be more of a walk through tempo for portions of it,

832
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,160
Speaker 1: and then you'll get into uh really some some game

833
00:40:51,239 --> 00:40:54,239
Speaker 1: management type stuff. Uh So, but it's a shorter day.

834
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:56,080
Speaker 1: You know, you probably get out of there. You know,

835
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,480
Speaker 1: everything will be done probably one thirty two o'clock on Saturday.

836
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,359
Speaker 1: You're gonna walk through in the morning, you know, meet

837
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,759
Speaker 1: you know, watching films. It's gonna be pretty light. And

838
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 1: then uh uh Saturday night you meet up at the

839
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,680
Speaker 1: hotel and you also you go through your individual meetings,

840
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:19,080
Speaker 1: uh team meeting, you know, uh pregame or nightly before

841
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,359
Speaker 1: the game, meal or whatnot. Curfew at eleven. Then man,

842
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:24,759
Speaker 1: you're back at it again on Sunday, Ready to roll.

843
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:27,880
Speaker 1: Let me touch on that that that curfew because you know,

844
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:31,520
Speaker 1: as basketball players, we didn't have the I guess maybe

845
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,200
Speaker 1: the structure from a standpoint, and you guys are really

846
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:35,960
Speaker 1: in there all day. When you go to a facility,

847
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:37,439
Speaker 1: you in there in the morning and like you said,

848
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:41,600
Speaker 1: five thirty, you know, like a real work. Yeah, we're

849
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:43,840
Speaker 1: going there. We get our extra shots, we watch film,

850
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:45,799
Speaker 1: we get stretched, we left, we do all that ship,

851
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 1: we practice, we're still out of there and no more

852
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:51,879
Speaker 1: than three hours sometimes with Nellie, we mother be at

853
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:54,200
Speaker 1: the end and out that bitch in forty five minutes sometimes.

854
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 1: But to have that kind of like curfew, And did

855
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:00,120
Speaker 1: did you guys have roommates? It was that only for

856
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,600
Speaker 1: the players that worked like superstars. How did that ship work?

857
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,480
Speaker 1: Some guys like the room on the road? Um, I

858
00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:08,560
Speaker 1: had my own room when you first came in, like rookie,

859
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:11,920
Speaker 1: I think rookies second year of players, you had to

860
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:13,759
Speaker 1: have a roommate. But if you if you older in

861
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:17,440
Speaker 1: the game, you stay in the room by yourself. So yeah, okay,

862
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:19,799
Speaker 1: I couldn't imagine having no ruck, couldn't getting nothing off

863
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:22,880
Speaker 1: on the road right now? I couldn't have done that

864
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:26,319
Speaker 1: speaking to y'all, man, I know, I know y'all don't

865
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:29,000
Speaker 1: have curfew. I lived in Atlanta for about eight years. Man.

866
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:32,280
Speaker 1: I remember, Man, so you've seen Jack. I've seen you've

867
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:34,879
Speaker 1: seen Jack a few times. I've seen him a few times, man,

868
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:38,000
Speaker 1: And uh, I remember being out one night. Man, it's

869
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:41,759
Speaker 1: it's five six in the morning. Man, I see my man, hey, hey,

870
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:43,879
Speaker 1: eyes out there and you know, at the club, man,

871
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,960
Speaker 1: and like, damn, this man, how does he he got

872
00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 1: a game tomorrow? Man? Man, Hey, I got out there

873
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:53,600
Speaker 1: and gave them people forty five points. Man, I said, she, Well,

874
00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:56,520
Speaker 1: you know what he's doing. He knows what he's doing.

875
00:42:57,080 --> 00:42:59,080
Speaker 1: Some of us can do it. On the flip side

876
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:01,719
Speaker 1: with us, you know, that whole Warrior team, we would

877
00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:03,960
Speaker 1: be out till the sun came up sometimes and still

878
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:06,120
Speaker 1: have a game that night, and still went hard the

879
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,359
Speaker 1: whole night. Like I said, it was just so much

880
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,080
Speaker 1: different to where, Like I said, the strug, not that

881
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,759
Speaker 1: we were we were actually why, but I'm saying as

882
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:15,759
Speaker 1: far as the structure and the rules and the regulations,

883
00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:17,600
Speaker 1: we didn't have that kind of ship. You know. Once

884
00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,759
Speaker 1: we got to the league, it was like like you say,

885
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:22,160
Speaker 1: like you're real, like you really so everything you on

886
00:43:22,239 --> 00:43:24,360
Speaker 1: your own, doing whatever you gotta do. And some people

887
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 1: can handle in some game right right and and to really,

888
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:30,359
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that freedom, that leash that they

889
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:32,480
Speaker 1: give you some of the fucker's hanging themselves with, because

890
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,680
Speaker 1: like you said, if you can't you out here doing

891
00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:37,640
Speaker 1: whatever and you're not performing on Sunday or when the

892
00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:40,720
Speaker 1: ball goes up at seven thirty, for us, you hanging yourself,

893
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:45,560
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Talked about you was able to

894
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:48,759
Speaker 1: turn that that that leash into a motherfucking gold change. Jack,

895
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:56,799
Speaker 1: You didn't, So what what was it like? You as

896
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 1: a player evolving into the one of the best defensive

897
00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:03,160
Speaker 1: players of the the game, your team evolving into a

898
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:07,400
Speaker 1: contender under John Gruten. Yeah, man, it's it's really to me,

899
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,560
Speaker 1: it's about experience. You know. The more you play, um,

900
00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:12,920
Speaker 1: I think, the better you get, the more understanding of

901
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,600
Speaker 1: the game, the more time you're in certain situations, the

902
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,279
Speaker 1: better you get, the more times you see things, the

903
00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:20,600
Speaker 1: better you get. Um. So I just you know, as

904
00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,440
Speaker 1: a player, you know, being able to come in as

905
00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:27,480
Speaker 1: a rookie and start and play sixteen games, I felt

906
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:29,879
Speaker 1: like I feel like for any player, man, from your

907
00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:32,200
Speaker 1: first year to your second year, it should be your

908
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:34,560
Speaker 1: biggest your biggest jump if you're able to play, you know,

909
00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:37,360
Speaker 1: sixteen games. So I was thrown into the fire, you know,

910
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,000
Speaker 1: in the NFL, man, and which was great for me

911
00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:42,560
Speaker 1: because I wanted to be out there anyway. But we

912
00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:46,600
Speaker 1: we we built the team, man Grouten and uh you

913
00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 1: know our gym and everything. They started building, building that contender,

914
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,240
Speaker 1: you know, bringing in some pieces, you know and putting

915
00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:55,000
Speaker 1: them in the right places. You know. We were a

916
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,600
Speaker 1: veteran team, you know that. So we had Tim Brown

917
00:44:57,680 --> 00:44:59,360
Speaker 1: who was there when I already got there. Then Jerry

918
00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:03,000
Speaker 1: Rice came outside linebacker named William Thomas, and you know

919
00:45:03,120 --> 00:45:05,280
Speaker 1: Eric Allen was there. So we had some veteran guys

920
00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:07,400
Speaker 1: and then we added some pieces man that you know,

921
00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:10,560
Speaker 1: got us to being a contender in the league. And

922
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:12,920
Speaker 1: so you know I was around some some guys man,

923
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,840
Speaker 1: like some real lives, you know, legends man, Eric Turner,

924
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:18,640
Speaker 1: Eric Allen, you know. Then rich Ganning came in and

925
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:21,440
Speaker 1: so I was, I was Jerry right, man, come on, man,

926
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:25,640
Speaker 1: Charlie Garner, my boy, Charlie Man. So I as yeah, man,

927
00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:27,319
Speaker 1: so I had some real that has some real dudes.

928
00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:38,319
Speaker 1: I felt like I couldn't help but get better. What

929
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:40,560
Speaker 1: was it like to be a three sport varsity athlete?

930
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:45,000
Speaker 1: A you're talking to me or him? Definitely him, because

931
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:48,240
Speaker 1: I was too. Were you three? Football? Basketball? Baseball? Basketball?

932
00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:52,000
Speaker 1: This is my first time here in the baseball ship.

933
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:55,120
Speaker 1: Basically asked a couple of people in here that I knew.

934
00:45:55,160 --> 00:46:00,279
Speaker 1: I knew you was, you know center field football? Basketball? Yeah? Ball,

935
00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:03,360
Speaker 1: just travel basketball picked up? So I stopped playing, so

936
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:07,399
Speaker 1: not I know what I call you played? Bro? Call

937
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:11,239
Speaker 1: you guys. You was calling it baseball to know and

938
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:17,480
Speaker 1: now it's not racial. Understand understood, it's not racial America.

939
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:21,040
Speaker 1: Don't find him? Uh nah, bro? It was cool, like

940
00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:24,319
Speaker 1: in all honesty, sports or what keep me going? You know,

941
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:26,759
Speaker 1: sports are just that's what energizes me. I was I

942
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:29,440
Speaker 1: was good enough at basketball. I wasn't great. I was

943
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:31,759
Speaker 1: really good at track and discus. I was really it's

944
00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:34,600
Speaker 1: a technical thing. I was really good at track. Um,

945
00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:37,040
Speaker 1: but football I was so raw. I knew I could

946
00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:38,800
Speaker 1: be good, and I was. I was never the biggest,

947
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:40,399
Speaker 1: never the smartest, but I was like, I'm either gonna

948
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:42,759
Speaker 1: be the biggest, the fastest, excuse me, or I'll be

949
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:44,920
Speaker 1: the smartest. And I was never the biggest of the fastest,

950
00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:47,239
Speaker 1: but I was like, Okay, people don't realize and y'all

951
00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:53,000
Speaker 1: get this. Man, sports, you gotta be smart. It's like

952
00:46:53,080 --> 00:46:56,040
Speaker 1: people don't you have about ninety plays on the football

953
00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:58,480
Speaker 1: field during the game, you take about thirty of the

954
00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:01,560
Speaker 1: men and adjustments based on a receiver motioning and moving,

955
00:47:01,640 --> 00:47:05,799
Speaker 1: especially as a middle linebacker. You have to be brilliant.

956
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:08,920
Speaker 1: But like, people don't get it. People don't respect athletes

957
00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:12,720
Speaker 1: intellectual and intellectually enough. You gotta be brilliant playing football

958
00:47:12,719 --> 00:47:15,560
Speaker 1: in Texas, was there any chance that you would go

959
00:47:15,920 --> 00:47:19,640
Speaker 1: somewhere else for college? Brought? Not a chance? But never

960
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:23,560
Speaker 1: never never Texas. We were nice, but remember we had

961
00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:25,759
Speaker 1: Vince Young was oh five. I went to Texas and

962
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,960
Speaker 1: oh eight, So there was no no I mean you

963
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:31,400
Speaker 1: go you you play football in Texas to go to Texas?

964
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:33,359
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Like, you don't even fix

965
00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:35,560
Speaker 1: your lips to think about going. And I'm not even

966
00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:38,319
Speaker 1: one of those like crazy die hard alums. I'm just

967
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:44,480
Speaker 1: like Texas Texas. There was a standard talk to us

968
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:47,759
Speaker 1: about that experience. Actually being a long home though first

969
00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:50,480
Speaker 1: two years went crazy. We was twenty four and one

970
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:53,080
Speaker 1: the first two years, I didn't lose a game. Quarterback,

971
00:47:55,120 --> 00:47:58,239
Speaker 1: two time Hivesman finalists, winning his college football quarterback when

972
00:47:58,239 --> 00:48:01,040
Speaker 1: he retired. When he left college, we went, we went.

973
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:03,799
Speaker 1: We lost one game my first year, and then we

974
00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:05,480
Speaker 1: ran the table my second year till we got to

975
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,040
Speaker 1: the National championship and lost Obama. Funny enough, we were

976
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:10,840
Speaker 1: Obama's beginning of their streak gonna beat us in the

977
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 1: National Championship, mark Ingram Julio Jones and they go on

978
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:15,720
Speaker 1: to win seven of the last god knows how many.

979
00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:20,879
Speaker 1: But m bro, when you're winning at Texas, I mean,

980
00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:26,279
Speaker 1: don't get me started. Ain't nothing like nothing. So what

981
00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:28,200
Speaker 1: you talk to me about this though on some other ship,

982
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:32,120
Speaker 1: being in such a strict household and then kind of

983
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:34,879
Speaker 1: gaining some sort of freedom, and you're a young man

984
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:38,200
Speaker 1: in Texas, now you're on a winning football team. What's

985
00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:40,719
Speaker 1: that like to you? Because you were so confined in

986
00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:43,560
Speaker 1: one space and now you're somewhat free and you're on

987
00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:45,799
Speaker 1: top of the world. Man, that's good, bro. They say

988
00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:47,200
Speaker 1: when you go to college, at least when you were

989
00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:49,240
Speaker 1: the Austin six Street. It's gonna make or break you.

990
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:50,920
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Like, when you now you're

991
00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:53,120
Speaker 1: away from home, it's either gonna make or break you.

992
00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:54,880
Speaker 1: I don't think it broke me, you know, it was

993
00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:56,680
Speaker 1: cool being away from home. The thing about it, though,

994
00:48:56,719 --> 00:48:58,279
Speaker 1: I have my big brother there. He's one year older

995
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,279
Speaker 1: than me, and so I think he may all the

996
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:02,719
Speaker 1: mistakes for me, and he knew just how far I

997
00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:05,520
Speaker 1: could go before reeling me back in. And the big

998
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:07,680
Speaker 1: thing was just like, don't make the pivotal mistake. You know,

999
00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:10,400
Speaker 1: have fun, live your best life, but keep your grades up,

1000
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:14,000
Speaker 1: don't get suspended, don't do nothing wild and like for really,

1001
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:17,000
Speaker 1: if if you're Nigerian, it's like, don't embarrass your last name. Right,

1002
00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:19,040
Speaker 1: there's a saying you'll probably heard with Nigerian's n John

1003
00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:22,680
Speaker 1: know that caddy last, nigiohn No that caddy last. Nigerians

1004
00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:25,680
Speaker 1: don't carry last, like you can't finish the last and

1005
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:27,799
Speaker 1: all that is and kind of Nigerian culture is like

1006
00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:32,000
Speaker 1: you gotta be the best. And so I didn't really

1007
00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:35,920
Speaker 1: have that luxury of just doing whatever because it's like

1008
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,720
Speaker 1: you gotta be the best at whatever you do. Plus

1009
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:40,719
Speaker 1: my freaking brother was there. He was a genius. He

1010
00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:43,480
Speaker 1: was an academic All American. He was an athletic All American.

1011
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:46,520
Speaker 1: So I was like, oh god, um, so yeah, that

1012
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:49,319
Speaker 1: was That was college man. What's the most memorable moment

1013
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:55,120
Speaker 1: on the field, God, that's a question. My senior year

1014
00:49:55,680 --> 00:49:58,239
Speaker 1: at Missouri. This is how I ended up a third

1015
00:49:58,239 --> 00:50:01,880
Speaker 1: team All American senior at missour Um. Their field was terrible.

1016
00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:04,680
Speaker 1: Bro our captain running back towards M C L A

1017
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:08,279
Speaker 1: C L pcl earlier in the game, star linebacker next

1018
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:10,880
Speaker 1: to me, Keenan Robinson. He got drafted to Washington in

1019
00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:13,759
Speaker 1: the fourth round. He broke his thumb, and he broke

1020
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:15,640
Speaker 1: his thumb, but it broke out of the glove. Like

1021
00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:18,520
Speaker 1: the thumb was no longer in the glove. And that's

1022
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:20,480
Speaker 1: my dog, Like Keena was my dog. I was in

1023
00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:23,799
Speaker 1: his wedding all that. So star linebacker Tears was holding

1024
00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:28,000
Speaker 1: up Keenan's thumb is out of his glove. He runs

1025
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:31,160
Speaker 1: off the field during the play. He's like, reff, my thumb,

1026
00:50:31,239 --> 00:50:33,000
Speaker 1: my thumb. He runs off the field during the play.

1027
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:35,319
Speaker 1: I sit there to ref doesn't stop the game. Um

1028
00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:37,400
Speaker 1: they throw a now screen, I run over to the

1029
00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:40,480
Speaker 1: now screen. I forced the fumble. I see my team recovery.

1030
00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:42,120
Speaker 1: I don't even wait for the ref to singal recovery,

1031
00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:43,799
Speaker 1: and I just run off to the sideline to check

1032
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:46,960
Speaker 1: on my dog. That was the most memorable, Like he

1033
00:50:47,040 --> 00:50:49,440
Speaker 1: got hurt. Ref didn't stop to play. They throw a bubble.

1034
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:51,359
Speaker 1: I forced a fumble, don't even care about the ball.

1035
00:50:51,400 --> 00:50:53,520
Speaker 1: I see my other little young bro recovered, and I

1036
00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:56,000
Speaker 1: just from like, hey, what happened to keenan Um? That

1037
00:50:56,160 --> 00:51:00,479
Speaker 1: was wild? Yeah, that was the most valuable take away

1038
00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:04,680
Speaker 1: from your four years as a long horn. You have

1039
00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:08,239
Speaker 1: to be consistently good to be great. Mm hmm. You

1040
00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:11,000
Speaker 1: gotta be consistently good to be Everybody wants to be great.

1041
00:51:11,239 --> 00:51:13,600
Speaker 1: But what's being great look like? Being great looks like

1042
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:16,279
Speaker 1: being consistently good? You turn on it, You turn on

1043
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:18,120
Speaker 1: a tube every day, and if you watch, speak for

1044
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:20,759
Speaker 1: yourself like, oh he's good the next day, Oh he's good,

1045
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:22,920
Speaker 1: the next Oh he's kind of good, the next always

1046
00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:24,160
Speaker 1: kind of good. All of a sudden, it's like, you

1047
00:51:24,200 --> 00:51:27,200
Speaker 1: know what, because might be great. You know what I'm saying, Like,

1048
00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:29,960
Speaker 1: you gotta be consistently good to be great. Stack. When

1049
00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:32,799
Speaker 1: I was playing ball. I knew the normal players would

1050
00:51:32,840 --> 00:51:34,680
Speaker 1: come to me, but I would try to find one

1051
00:51:34,719 --> 00:51:37,160
Speaker 1: to two highlight plays a game. Right if they line

1052
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:39,360
Speaker 1: up in a certain offset formation, I know exactly what

1053
00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:41,200
Speaker 1: they're gonna do. I'm gonna make the big play tax

1054
00:51:41,239 --> 00:51:43,319
Speaker 1: for loss sacks, something like that. And now I take

1055
00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:47,000
Speaker 1: the same thing on TV every block, every conversation. I

1056
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:49,120
Speaker 1: know it's gonna be I but you gotta find the

1057
00:51:49,239 --> 00:51:52,640
Speaker 1: one quotable sound bite that makes somebody like you said

1058
00:51:52,719 --> 00:51:54,640
Speaker 1: stop twice and say, hey, you'll make sure go run

1059
00:51:54,640 --> 00:51:57,480
Speaker 1: that back. Um, you gotta be consistently good to be great.

1060
00:51:57,760 --> 00:52:01,200
Speaker 1: You said something off off camera now since you talked about,

1061
00:52:01,239 --> 00:52:03,719
Speaker 1: you know, kind of finding your magic um in this

1062
00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:06,640
Speaker 1: space now that I thought was really interesting because you know,

1063
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:09,440
Speaker 1: although you know our job is to talk sports, for

1064
00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:11,920
Speaker 1: the most part, not everyone is interested in sports, so

1065
00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:13,400
Speaker 1: you try to find well, expo, I don't want to

1066
00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:15,600
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take your words from you, but explain that, Yeah, man,

1067
00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:18,040
Speaker 1: not everybody cares about sports, but everybody cares about life,

1068
00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:21,399
Speaker 1: and so I really just use sports as a masquerade

1069
00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:23,439
Speaker 1: to get to the root of life because everybody wants

1070
00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:25,880
Speaker 1: to talk life. So sports to me is just a

1071
00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:29,960
Speaker 1: It's an avenue to get to life, because life is

1072
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:31,719
Speaker 1: a vehicle there it is. It's a vehicle to get

1073
00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:34,080
Speaker 1: to life. Everybody cares about life. Not everybody cares about

1074
00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:36,439
Speaker 1: your favorite team. You don't like that. I like that.

1075
00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:39,440
Speaker 1: So drafted sixth rail and two thousand and twelve. And

1076
00:52:39,600 --> 00:52:42,200
Speaker 1: obviously I caught what you said earlier in the interview.

1077
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:44,920
Speaker 1: It was calculated. You had kind of taken your calculations

1078
00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:47,360
Speaker 1: and understanding who you were as a football player. You

1079
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:50,359
Speaker 1: have that for your run, three, your for your run

1080
00:52:51,080 --> 00:52:53,880
Speaker 1: um and was ready for what was next. But in

1081
00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:56,759
Speaker 1: that for your run, what stood out to you the most? Bro?

1082
00:52:56,960 --> 00:52:59,560
Speaker 1: When I got traded, Because when you had traded you,

1083
00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:01,000
Speaker 1: you just think it's a video game. You know what

1084
00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:02,560
Speaker 1: I'm saying, like, Oh, you trade people on video game.

1085
00:53:02,600 --> 00:53:05,160
Speaker 1: Not a big deal. I'm in Cleveland my first year.

1086
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:07,839
Speaker 1: They drafted me and I get the athletic trainer comes

1087
00:53:07,880 --> 00:53:10,000
Speaker 1: in and it gives me like the handshake pad on

1088
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,759
Speaker 1: the bag. I'm like, hell like that. It's been nice

1089
00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:14,439
Speaker 1: knowing you. Y'all know that I wasn't the good old

1090
00:53:15,120 --> 00:53:17,800
Speaker 1: I had to the to the general manager, head coach's

1091
00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:20,640
Speaker 1: office and they're like, hey, I just want to notify

1092
00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:23,400
Speaker 1: you you've been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. I'm trying

1093
00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:25,680
Speaker 1: to hide my Jubia League because I'm like, get me

1094
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:27,880
Speaker 1: the hell out of Cleveland. Like we're about to go

1095
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:31,000
Speaker 1: to Philly. They got Lashawn McCoy out there, Mike Vic

1096
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:34,919
Speaker 1: out there, like some real stars. Um. Craziest thing though,

1097
00:53:35,400 --> 00:53:39,200
Speaker 1: like your flights in three hours? I left, bro When

1098
00:53:39,200 --> 00:53:41,000
Speaker 1: you get traded, y'all, I don't know if you was

1099
00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:43,600
Speaker 1: traded when you get traded flights in three hours. I

1100
00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:45,759
Speaker 1: went to Philly. I didn't go back to Cleveland for

1101
00:53:45,800 --> 00:53:48,200
Speaker 1: five years. Somebody packed up my stuff, they moved it.

1102
00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:49,960
Speaker 1: I get to Philly, I stay in a hotel and

1103
00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:52,399
Speaker 1: it's just like you're just good, You're just packaged good.

1104
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:57,000
Speaker 1: So that was probably the craziest and most memorable thing

1105
00:53:57,080 --> 00:54:00,200
Speaker 1: of the four years. Man, it was a wild you

1106
00:54:00,239 --> 00:54:03,920
Speaker 1: know that sports media stepping into this space was something

1107
00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:05,920
Speaker 1: you wanted to do or to just kind of falling

1108
00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:08,840
Speaker 1: your lap. Fell in my lap. Man. I do what

1109
00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:10,839
Speaker 1: I'm good at. I told people, I'm like, if I

1110
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:13,520
Speaker 1: was great at math, i'd be an accountant. You feel

1111
00:54:13,560 --> 00:54:16,600
Speaker 1: me like, if I was very gracious, I might be

1112
00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:19,960
Speaker 1: a secretary, but I'm a good communicator, um, and I

1113
00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:21,759
Speaker 1: study it and I work at it, and I'm just

1114
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:24,600
Speaker 1: good at putting words together. It kind of fell in

1115
00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:27,600
Speaker 1: my lap or even even uncomfortable conversations like y'all realize.

1116
00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:31,400
Speaker 1: People move to l a just to creative video and

1117
00:54:31,440 --> 00:54:33,880
Speaker 1: hopes that it goes viral and hopes it Oprah calls

1118
00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:35,959
Speaker 1: them and hopes that they get nominated for an Emmy

1119
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:38,480
Speaker 1: and hopes that they win. People sell their whole lives

1120
00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:40,799
Speaker 1: and dreams to do that. And I stumbled into it,

1121
00:54:41,520 --> 00:54:43,200
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, Like I tripped and fell

1122
00:54:43,640 --> 00:54:46,480
Speaker 1: into it, and so I just do what I'm good at.

1123
00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:47,920
Speaker 1: And like I said, I'm bad at a lot, Like,

1124
00:54:47,920 --> 00:54:51,160
Speaker 1: don't get it twisted. I am bad at a lot um,

1125
00:54:51,200 --> 00:54:53,120
Speaker 1: but I know what I'm good at, and I lean

1126
00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:55,319
Speaker 1: into that. I've tripped and fell into a few things

1127
00:54:55,320 --> 00:55:08,680
Speaker 1: and much hell support bills are crazy now, It's so

1128
00:55:09,080 --> 00:55:14,680
Speaker 1: Westlake Boy, Westlake, Ohio three sports star in high school football, baseball, basketball.

1129
00:55:15,239 --> 00:55:17,520
Speaker 1: I played everything is well going through high school. When

1130
00:55:17,560 --> 00:55:20,040
Speaker 1: did you decide to or did you play everything up

1131
00:55:20,080 --> 00:55:21,919
Speaker 1: until your senior year when you had to start trying

1132
00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:24,640
Speaker 1: to pick what you were gonna do next. Oh yeah,

1133
00:55:24,680 --> 00:55:27,240
Speaker 1: So first all, I got a funny story about Westlake, Ohio.

1134
00:55:27,360 --> 00:55:29,920
Speaker 1: I'm from Cleveland Heights, Ohio. I took going into the

1135
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,040
Speaker 1: NFL so serious that I thought when it. When I

1136
00:55:32,080 --> 00:55:35,560
Speaker 1: was filling out the form for the NFL dot Com stuff,

1137
00:55:35,680 --> 00:55:37,400
Speaker 1: I thought that I had to put where I was,

1138
00:55:37,600 --> 00:55:41,920
Speaker 1: like the hospital. I was born in Westlake Hospital. I

1139
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:45,239
Speaker 1: thought it. Well, I thought they wanted the government government.

1140
00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:50,279
Speaker 1: So that's how that's how silly I am. I'm from

1141
00:55:50,280 --> 00:55:52,759
Speaker 1: Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and they just put Westlake up there,

1142
00:55:52,840 --> 00:55:55,239
Speaker 1: so they shout out to west Lake and everybody, but

1143
00:55:55,280 --> 00:55:57,279
Speaker 1: I'm from the east side of Cleveland. Uh. Ask you

1144
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,040
Speaker 1: a question, though, man, I still I still wish I

1145
00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:02,520
Speaker 1: could find my way into an NBA team for a

1146
00:56:02,640 --> 00:56:07,960
Speaker 1: quick fifteen days, ten days. Yeah, I love hoops. I'm

1147
00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:09,640
Speaker 1: actually wearing the old school I don't know if you

1148
00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:11,560
Speaker 1: guys were part of the old school Gatorade, hoop it

1149
00:56:11,640 --> 00:56:16,440
Speaker 1: up back in the day. Back in the day, that

1150
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:18,960
Speaker 1: was that was life right there. But for me growing up,

1151
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,160
Speaker 1: growing up, I played every single sport uh you can

1152
00:56:22,200 --> 00:56:24,480
Speaker 1: think of. Man. I was going from hockey practice to

1153
00:56:24,520 --> 00:56:27,839
Speaker 1: basketball practice when I was in like fourth fifth grade. UM,

1154
00:56:27,880 --> 00:56:31,840
Speaker 1: I was playing baseball just about year round, hockey year around,

1155
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:34,680
Speaker 1: soccer year round. And when it got to high school,

1156
00:56:34,680 --> 00:56:36,920
Speaker 1: that's when I really had to, you know, narrow it down.

1157
00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:39,719
Speaker 1: And UM, I wasn't sure exactly what I was gonna do.

1158
00:56:39,800 --> 00:56:42,520
Speaker 1: I knew I knew my school was was more tailored

1159
00:56:42,560 --> 00:56:45,239
Speaker 1: to a basketball school, as we had one state uh

1160
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:47,720
Speaker 1: in nineties seven. Um and had a good track record

1161
00:56:47,719 --> 00:56:50,920
Speaker 1: that guys going to college for free playing playing hoops.

1162
00:56:50,960 --> 00:56:53,040
Speaker 1: And you know, that was something I knew. You know,

1163
00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:56,480
Speaker 1: my grades weren't the best, my effort in the classroom

1164
00:56:56,520 --> 00:56:58,160
Speaker 1: wasn't the best, so I knew I had to you know,

1165
00:56:58,360 --> 00:57:01,000
Speaker 1: sale somewhere else. Uh I wanted to go to college

1166
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:02,960
Speaker 1: for free. So it was um it was definitely a

1167
00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:06,480
Speaker 1: basketball football with the main two in high school UM

1168
00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:10,680
Speaker 1: and uh. I just I had more offers uh and

1169
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:12,719
Speaker 1: and and it just felt more comfortable for me to

1170
00:57:12,800 --> 00:57:15,160
Speaker 1: stick with football. Even though I did go to Cincinnati

1171
00:57:15,160 --> 00:57:17,680
Speaker 1: to play both football and basketball, I never saw the court.

1172
00:57:18,240 --> 00:57:20,160
Speaker 1: I practiced a few times and got and got in

1173
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:23,360
Speaker 1: a few summer games, but outside of that, man, you

1174
00:57:23,400 --> 00:57:25,160
Speaker 1: only saw me cheering for the hoop squad, but I

1175
00:57:25,640 --> 00:57:27,920
Speaker 1: think it was. It was. It was an easy transition

1176
00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:31,000
Speaker 1: because I initially went to college for to play quarterback.

1177
00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:33,919
Speaker 1: So I went to University of Cincinnati to play QB

1178
00:57:34,120 --> 00:57:37,040
Speaker 1: and my first my first year, I read shirted. Second year,

1179
00:57:38,240 --> 00:57:40,320
Speaker 1: our coach Brian Kelly, who's that Notre Dame now, had

1180
00:57:40,360 --> 00:57:43,320
Speaker 1: a package for me um that to be the Wildcat,

1181
00:57:43,680 --> 00:57:45,880
Speaker 1: and man I did when I tell you, he came

1182
00:57:45,960 --> 00:57:48,280
Speaker 1: up with this the week before our first game, all

1183
00:57:48,360 --> 00:57:51,280
Speaker 1: training camp, two days nothing. I'm just trying to work

1184
00:57:51,320 --> 00:57:53,200
Speaker 1: on my three step with my three step game, right

1185
00:57:53,240 --> 00:57:55,479
Speaker 1: like I'm a rookie, like I'm a freshman, fresh meeting

1186
00:57:55,720 --> 00:57:58,600
Speaker 1: in the pocket and h shure enough, he puts this

1187
00:57:58,600 --> 00:58:01,400
Speaker 1: this package together and wants me to straight run the ball.

1188
00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:03,600
Speaker 1: The game came around, we went up I think like

1189
00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:05,840
Speaker 1: two scores, and the third time into the red zone,

1190
00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:08,400
Speaker 1: he threw me in there and I'm I'm in my mind,

1191
00:58:08,440 --> 00:58:10,480
Speaker 1: I'm like, he's not even gonna call this and he

1192
00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:13,440
Speaker 1: throws me in there, and I remember being so scared.

1193
00:58:13,520 --> 00:58:15,640
Speaker 1: My brother is actually playing left guard at this point,

1194
00:58:15,960 --> 00:58:18,640
Speaker 1: which is which is ironic because he's he's lead blocking

1195
00:58:18,680 --> 00:58:21,600
Speaker 1: for me. So I'm catching the snap I'm catching the snap,

1196
00:58:21,640 --> 00:58:23,720
Speaker 1: reading the defenders, and I'm like, in my mind, I'm

1197
00:58:23,760 --> 00:58:26,960
Speaker 1: I'm not even I'm handing this thing off the first time.

1198
00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:28,560
Speaker 1: I'm just letting a round. I'm like, hey, I'm in

1199
00:58:28,720 --> 00:58:32,040
Speaker 1: this thing. I'm a freshman in the in this uh,

1200
00:58:32,080 --> 00:58:34,280
Speaker 1: in this college football game like I always dreamed of.

1201
00:58:34,360 --> 00:58:35,959
Speaker 1: And man, it just didn't feel like I was ready

1202
00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:37,840
Speaker 1: for the moment. And then once I got my feet

1203
00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:39,680
Speaker 1: wet for one play, man, I was ready. I was like,

1204
00:58:39,720 --> 00:58:41,560
Speaker 1: all right, I can do this. I can do this.

1205
00:58:41,600 --> 00:58:43,840
Speaker 1: I I see how everything kind of just slowed down

1206
00:58:43,880 --> 00:58:46,640
Speaker 1: a little bit and uh, and that's when I really, uh,

1207
00:58:46,720 --> 00:58:50,120
Speaker 1: I really felt that I could take the game, um

1208
00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:52,600
Speaker 1: and turning into something you know that I could I

1209
00:58:52,600 --> 00:58:54,120
Speaker 1: could do for the rest of my life. Once it

1210
00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:57,000
Speaker 1: all slowed down and I could get into the zone, UM,

1211
00:58:57,320 --> 00:59:02,240
Speaker 1: I had the confidence to be able to just play instinctually. UM.

1212
00:59:02,320 --> 00:59:05,640
Speaker 1: And I made the I made the transition into into

1213
00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:09,680
Speaker 1: into the tight end room. UM naturally so so because

1214
00:59:09,720 --> 00:59:11,680
Speaker 1: I was doing the wildcast stuff, the coach wanted me

1215
00:59:11,720 --> 00:59:13,000
Speaker 1: to kind of be on the field so that we

1216
00:59:13,040 --> 00:59:15,960
Speaker 1: can when you sell players in and out in football,

1217
00:59:16,120 --> 00:59:20,280
Speaker 1: the official actually waits the offense can't snap the ball

1218
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:22,600
Speaker 1: until the defense. You give the defense time to switch

1219
00:59:22,640 --> 00:59:25,880
Speaker 1: their personnel. So if you keep a certain personnel on

1220
00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:29,000
Speaker 1: the field, um, they have to keep their personnel on

1221
00:59:29,040 --> 00:59:30,919
Speaker 1: the field. So it's just it's one of those things

1222
00:59:30,920 --> 00:59:32,640
Speaker 1: where he wanted me on the field so they could

1223
00:59:32,640 --> 00:59:34,800
Speaker 1: stay in a certain personnel so that I could run

1224
00:59:34,800 --> 00:59:37,480
Speaker 1: the ball as well. But uh, doing that meant that

1225
00:59:37,520 --> 00:59:38,960
Speaker 1: I had to play a little bit of tight end.

1226
00:59:39,040 --> 00:59:41,600
Speaker 1: The success I found with tight end, man, it just it.

1227
00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:44,760
Speaker 1: It took off in college, and uh, you know, I've

1228
00:59:44,800 --> 00:59:46,760
Speaker 1: just been so grateful that I got the opportunity at

1229
00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:50,560
Speaker 1: such a young age, or I didn't wait till later

1230
00:59:50,560 --> 00:59:52,680
Speaker 1: in my college career to make the transition. I really

1231
00:59:52,680 --> 00:59:54,640
Speaker 1: found a love for the game when I when I

1232
00:59:54,680 --> 00:59:56,840
Speaker 1: moved to tight end. This is all a smoke A

1233
00:59:56,920 --> 00:59:59,720
Speaker 1: production of The Black Effect and Our Heart Radio and

1234
00:59:59,760 --> 01:00:00,960
Speaker 1: Part the Ship with Showtime