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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Colts Reunion Podcast, a conversation with former

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Speaker 1: Colts players look back at their career, what they're up

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Speaker 1: to now, and how the Colts played a positive role

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Speaker 1: in their lives.

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Speaker 2: Welcome everybody to another Colts Reunion podcast here in the

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Speaker 2: Colts Audio Network with Colts Ring of Honored member Bill Brooks.

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Speaker 2: I'm Matt Taylor. We're inside the Indiana Union Construction Industry

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Speaker 2: Radio studio, and our guest today is undoubtedly one of

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Speaker 2: the greatest Colts of all time. Joining us. Also in

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Speaker 2: studio former Colts running back Edgren James, and, like Bill Brooks,

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Speaker 2: James a member of the Colts Ring of Honor and

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Speaker 2: a member of the twenty twenty Pro Football Hall of

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Speaker 2: Fame Class. James was the fourth overall pick in the

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Speaker 2: nineteen ninety nine NFL Draft by the Colts and played

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Speaker 2: in Indianapolis until two thousand and five. His last three

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Speaker 2: seasons in the league were spent with the Cardinals and

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Speaker 2: the Seahawks, and then retired in two thousand and nine.

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Speaker 2: James ranks thirteenth on the NFL's all time rushing list

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Speaker 2: with over twelve two hundred yards. He's also won of

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Speaker 2: four players in the NFL with four seasons of more

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Speaker 2: than fifteen hundred rushing yards, the others being Eric Dickerson,

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Speaker 2: Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders. James ranked sixteenth all time

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Speaker 2: in yards from scrimmage and is one of only seven

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Speaker 2: players with two thousand total yards from scrimmage and at

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Speaker 2: least three seasons. He led the NFL in rushing in

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Speaker 2: each of his first two years with the Colts and

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Speaker 2: averaged almost eighty three rushing yards per game in his career,

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Speaker 2: which is a better clip than Emmett Smith, Ladadion, Tomlinson,

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Speaker 2: Earl Campbell, Tony dor Set, Jerome Bettis, Marshall Fulk, and

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Speaker 2: several other Hall of Fame backs. With the Colts, James

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Speaker 2: was the nineteen ninety nine Rookie of the Year, First

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Speaker 2: team All Pro that season and was named to four

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Speaker 2: Pro Bowls. He also set franchise rushing records for a career,

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Speaker 2: a season, and a single game. And that's the setup

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Speaker 2: for one of the all time greats. Edgerrin James with

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Speaker 2: us in studio Edge. Thank you so much for the

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Speaker 2: time today. Let's start off with the president. What is

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Speaker 2: life like for you? Now? What's a typical day like

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Speaker 2: for Edge these days.

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Speaker 3: It depends on what's going on with my kids. You know,

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Speaker 3: everything is based around the kids. Sure, once I get

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Speaker 3: that in order, if there's nothing on the agenda, then

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Speaker 3: I move on to more exciting things like fun.

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Speaker 4: I like to have fun every day.

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Speaker 3: So before I retire, that's I want to be a

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Speaker 3: full time tourist.

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Speaker 4: So I'm getting closer and closer to that. You know, I'm.

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Speaker 3: Already a semi tourist, but now it's gonna be full

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Speaker 3: time as the kids become an adult and it become independent.

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Speaker 2: Right, and they're getting closer to that. Like you said,

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Speaker 2: you've got six children, three boys, three girls. I know

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Speaker 2: you love being a dad. How much did that factor

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Speaker 2: into your decision back in when you hung it up.

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Speaker 2: How much did that play into your decision to stop

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Speaker 2: playing in the NFL?

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Speaker 4: Oh? That was that was That was probably the major decision.

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Speaker 3: I probably could have squeezed another year or two outs

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Speaker 3: of it, but right you know, it was more it

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Speaker 3: was important for me to go to open the door

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Speaker 3: for somebody else that's younger, that could actually use the

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Speaker 3: game and benefit from the game, and me I can

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Speaker 3: go and go be a dad. You know, I think you,

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Speaker 3: I think everybody, every parent, you know, after he's chased

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Speaker 3: his dream for so long, especially if he played in

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Speaker 3: the game, you know, now you get a chance to

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Speaker 3: go and kick it back down to the younger generation.

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Speaker 3: And part of young younger generation is your children also,

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Speaker 3: So that right there was the part that always took

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Speaker 3: pride in and wanted to be an example, no doubt.

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Speaker 5: Father, Now you talk about your kids. Now you have

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Speaker 5: a son playing running back at Howard University. How was

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Speaker 5: it watching your son play running back? Of course position

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Speaker 5: you played in college.

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Speaker 3: Oh, it's it's actually pretty cool because he's he's actually

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Speaker 3: pretty good.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: So you know, you're looking at those summers when he

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Speaker 3: a pop Warner, you look at when he played high school,

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Speaker 3: and you know what he's capable of doing. And now

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Speaker 3: you see him do the same thing on the collegiate level.

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Speaker 3: So he's one step closer to his goal. You know,

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Speaker 3: his goal is to make it to the NFL, and

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Speaker 3: so he's getting closer and closer and it's becoming a

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Speaker 3: reality as as long as he continued to put into work.

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Speaker 5: Now the big question is does he come to dad

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Speaker 5: and ask dad for advice as as running the football

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Speaker 5: or playing running back in college.

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Speaker 4: Oh do you know?

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Speaker 3: The thing is the studying part. The studying, that's the

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Speaker 3: part that he comes for. You know, everything else he's

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Speaker 3: already instilled him because we started from Pop Warner, you know.

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Speaker 3: So now it's one of those things where you know,

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Speaker 3: trying to look for every advantage, you know, and the

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Speaker 3: pro game is who gets the advantages by getting more information.

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Speaker 3: So I try to provide him with a lot of information,

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Speaker 3: teach him how to study his opponents, teaching the little

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Speaker 3: nuances of the game that probably his coach probably couldn't

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Speaker 3: break it down to him from a running backs position.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, Edge, if we can, let's go back.

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Speaker 4: You have.

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Speaker 2: You have a book out by the way, and Bill

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Speaker 2: and I have both read the book. We went back

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Speaker 2: and reread the book prior to us talking to you today.

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Speaker 4: Great.

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Speaker 2: The book is called From Gold Teeth the Gold Jacket,

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Speaker 2: My Life in Football and Business. It's co written by

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Speaker 2: author John Harris. In the book, you said quote, I

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Speaker 2: didn't go to Miami to get a degree. I went

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Speaker 2: there with the mindset of I'm gonna go there so

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Speaker 2: I can go to the NFL, make money and take

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Speaker 2: my family out of poverty. How driven were you as

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Speaker 2: a high schooler to make it to Miami and best

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Speaker 2: position yourself for a career in the NFL.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that was the total motivation because when you look

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Speaker 3: back at it and you started looking at what could

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Speaker 3: you do in this world? What can I do to

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Speaker 3: actually have an impact and serve a purpose at the

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Speaker 3: same time, and football was it.

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Speaker 4: You know when you find.

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Speaker 3: Things that come easy to you, you find things that

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Speaker 3: you enjoyed doing, and you say, okay, you know this

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Speaker 3: right here may be an out right I have found.

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Speaker 4: Remember, just went to college.

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Speaker 3: You know I have I know people that they have degrees,

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Speaker 3: but that still wasn't something that actually filled the void

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Speaker 3: that I.

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Speaker 4: Wanted to feel, you know.

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Speaker 3: So going to the University of Miami and making it

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Speaker 3: to the NFL that was a driving force because it

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Speaker 3: was realistic and it was right in front of me.

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Speaker 4: It was like I was made to be a football player,

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Speaker 4: no doubt about it.

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Speaker 2: And you also talked about in the book the uniqueness

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Speaker 2: of Miami, right It's it's bigger than just going to

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Speaker 2: school there. It's a lifestyle. It's a brotherhood that exists

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Speaker 2: at Miami. Why do you think Miami is such a

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Speaker 2: special place. And how would you describe Miami for those

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Speaker 2: that aren't from South Florida that didn't go to school there.

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Speaker 3: Well, it's a big melting pot. It's a big melting pot.

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Speaker 3: So you see so many different cultures. But the thing

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Speaker 3: about the University of Miami is, you know, the school

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Speaker 3: is not that big. You're forced to be together. You're

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Speaker 3: forced to be around each other, you know, because you

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Speaker 3: don't have this big school, don't have all these other

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Speaker 3: things going on.

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Speaker 4: Football that's what you have. And it's a private school.

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Speaker 3: So you know, if you see a lot of athletes there,

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Speaker 3: you know they they they have to be pretty good

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Speaker 3: to get in the University of Miami. And then once

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Speaker 3: they put together the type of player that embodies of

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Speaker 3: Miami Hurricane. Know, it all just kind of comes together.

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Speaker 3: And that's something that's that's different. It's special and you

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Speaker 3: got to be pretty unique. It's like, you know, it's

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Speaker 3: one of those US against the world type of situations,

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Speaker 3: and you stick with each other beyond the football aspect

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Speaker 3: of it.

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Speaker 5: Now and talking about you going to Miami, if I'm

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Speaker 5: not mistaken, I think during your senior year of high school,

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Speaker 5: Miami was on probation, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, what

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Speaker 5: made you decide to go to Miami? You know you're

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Speaker 5: from Florida. The other schools in Florida of course went

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Speaker 5: to Florida State or just went to Florida. But why

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Speaker 5: Miami for you?

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Speaker 3: Edrind Well, Miami was our pro team, you know, Hurricanes,

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Speaker 3: Well the pro you know, it's like the Dolphins was

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Speaker 3: second to the University of Miami, and it was a

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Speaker 3: fun school and it was right down the road. You know,

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Speaker 3: it was like it was an hour away from a

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Speaker 3: Moccley where I grew up. And I don't once you

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Speaker 3: understand the ramifications of the probation, it really wasn't that

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Speaker 3: big a deal. It wasn't like they had something that

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Speaker 3: was gonna really stop the progress of the program.

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Speaker 4: I'm gonna take the certain type.

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Speaker 3: Of players, a strategic coach to get this thing going.

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Speaker 3: And you know, to go to a Florida I want

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Speaker 3: to visit. I visit Florida Gators, and my cousin went

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Speaker 3: to Florida State, so I was familiar with those. But

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Speaker 3: it's nothing like Miami, you know, it's and Miami fit

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Speaker 3: me the person, you know, you know, I was a

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Speaker 3: kid dreads gold see.

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Speaker 4: You know, University of Florida didn't tolerate that.

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Speaker 3: You know, Bobby Bowden used to make the late Barby

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Speaker 3: used to have those guys. They just had to cut

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Speaker 3: their dreads or they just have to be clean cut.

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Speaker 3: So it didn't even fit. You know, if I'm if

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Speaker 3: I'm there, I'm not myself. University of Mind, you can

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Speaker 3: be yourself. And it goes back to that melting pot.

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Speaker 3: You know, you have every culture down there, so every

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Speaker 3: everybody's embraced. You know, it's not where where you're running

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Speaker 3: this US Army type of situation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you just talked about it. I mean having gold teeth,

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Speaker 2: the dreadlocks, from from where you grew up, like you

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Speaker 2: talked about you're from a Mochula, Florida small town, but

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Speaker 2: that was I mean having those things that was kind

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Speaker 2: of like your flex as a kid. That was your

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Speaker 2: ability to kind of show your identity. How important was

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Speaker 2: it for you to to carry that with you to

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Speaker 2: the NFL and with the cults when you first got here.

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Speaker 3: Where's it? Comfort zone? You know the thing about it?

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Speaker 3: You know you at your best when you're comfortable. So

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Speaker 3: I've always kept myself in a position where I'm comfortable

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Speaker 3: and me being myself being around people that embraced it.

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Speaker 3: And that's one thing I've always appreciated about coming here.

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Speaker 3: You know, I came here. It was different, but everybody

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Speaker 3: embraced it. You know, everybody embraced it where it wasn't like, oh,

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Speaker 3: it's a problem or people frown on it. You know,

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Speaker 3: they actually you know, I think it's pretty cool. It's

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Speaker 3: different and you get a chance to be yourself. And

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Speaker 3: once you take out all the unnecessary stuff with this game,

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Speaker 3: you could just get down to what it takes to

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Speaker 3: be a good football player. That's one thing that this

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Speaker 3: city provides, you know. It was it was like, man,

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Speaker 3: you can just lock in and really focus on being

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Speaker 3: a football player. If I would have been in if

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Speaker 3: I would have played in South Florida, I would have

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Speaker 3: had so many distractions.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: Up here I didn't really have distractions. Yeah, and it

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Speaker 3: was a situation where you actually enjoy It's like I

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Speaker 3: used to love when the season started. So I can

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Speaker 3: leave from South Florida. Just play ball, Yeah, just play ball, yes,

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Speaker 3: you know you just real ball players want to play ball.

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Speaker 2: One final thing on Miami, do you mind to tell

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Speaker 2: the Reggie Wayne count story inside the locker room at

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Speaker 2: Miami because he's a he's a freshman right when you're

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Speaker 2: a senior, and freshmen are not supposed to be sitting

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Speaker 2: on the couch inside the locker room. And he doesn't

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Speaker 2: know the rule. It's kind of like one of those

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Speaker 2: unwritten rules. And I think you and a couple other

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Speaker 2: older guys come in the locker room and you have

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Speaker 2: to teach him the way, so to speak.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it was a tradition, like you know,

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Speaker 3: the younger guys you come in there, you don't sit

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Speaker 3: on the couches. And you know, I was one of

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Speaker 3: the I was somewhat of you would consider a veteran

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Speaker 3: around them. Yeah, but you know I was always led

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Speaker 3: and there's certain players that stand out, you know. And

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Speaker 3: and that day when I saw Reggie, you know, about

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Speaker 3: to get into it, and hear him really not understanding

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Speaker 3: he and he's really not like trying to go against that.

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Speaker 4: He just was unaware. Sure, but he wasn't somebody that

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Speaker 4: backed down. You know.

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Speaker 3: It's like when you got a group of guys that's

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Speaker 3: approaching you, or a group of guys that's actually like, hey,

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Speaker 3: you can't do this, and you know, we had the

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Speaker 3: big wrestling matches and all that stuff going on, and

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Speaker 3: you got a guy that don't back down. You're like, man,

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Speaker 3: I like this guy man because he that's a Miami Hurricane. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: he's not back down. He's not no follower. He's gonna

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Speaker 3: he's gonna do what you gotta do to defend himself.

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Speaker 3: And so from there that's when me and Reggie like

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Speaker 3: really hit it off good because I'm like, man, like,

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Speaker 3: we like the same age.

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Speaker 4: But I'm a year ahead of him in school, right,

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Speaker 4: I think a year or two. I don't know how

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Speaker 4: many years.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a couple.

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Speaker 4: I think a couple, a couple of years.

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Speaker 2: But but he said he looked you up in the program.

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Speaker 2: He said, this guy, Eddrin James, this is my guy.

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Speaker 3: Now, like reg Regg had what it takes. You know,

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Speaker 3: It's like, man, you don't you don't want somebody on

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Speaker 3: the team that's gonna back down. You want somebody that's

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Speaker 3: gonna stand up and say, Okay, I need to know

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Speaker 3: why you're trying to move me. I need I need

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Speaker 3: some information as to why. And you know, I went

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Speaker 3: over and I talked to him, gave him some information

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Speaker 3: and that was that it was It was cool, but

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Speaker 3: it was a lack of information. But the fact that

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Speaker 3: he's willing to stand up, like, Hey, this is a

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Speaker 3: guy who I want with me on the football field.

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Speaker 5: Now, I want to move from your time in Miami

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Speaker 5: to your time in the NFL. Now you leave Miami

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Speaker 5: and you're the fourth pick in the nineteen nine nine draft.

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Speaker 5: Of course, I head of Ricky Williams and you picked

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Speaker 5: up right from there where you left off college. As

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Speaker 5: far as what you do in the football field, your

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Speaker 5: rookie year, you rushed for over fifteen hundred yards. You

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Speaker 5: won the Rushing Tile that year, You had thirteen rushing touchdowns,

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Speaker 5: over sixty receptions that year, and was named NFL Offensive

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Speaker 5: Rookie of the Year. What was your mindset coming into

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Speaker 5: the NFL and did you ever think that you would

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Speaker 5: have that type of success in the NFL your rookie year.

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Speaker 3: Well, when I was coming to the NFL, I was like,

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Speaker 3: I really didn't know what to expect, because you know,

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Speaker 3: it's the NFL.

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Speaker 4: I thought it was gonna be a lot tougher.

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Speaker 3: I thought it was gonna be like something that you

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Speaker 3: really like, Hey, this thing is serious. But once I

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Speaker 3: got here, I was like, this game is pretty easy.

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Speaker 3: You know, all you gotta do is outwork everybody. Naturally,

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Speaker 3: I was talented, so I didn't have to worry about that.

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Speaker 3: And then coming from the University of Miami, you know,

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Speaker 3: we already have a chip on our shoulder. Plus we

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Speaker 3: had a coach that had been in the Pros, so

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Speaker 3: he taught us. I mean, he kind of showed us

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Speaker 3: the way to Pros practice, so we had it was

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Speaker 3: already familiar with the practice routine. So when I got here,

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Speaker 3: it was nothing different. The only thing that was different

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Speaker 3: was terminology. And you know, you just go out and play.

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Speaker 3: And so by by me being able to go out

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Speaker 3: and play football, that was the easy part. And I

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Speaker 3: didn't realize the NFL was that easy, you know, And

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Speaker 3: once I say, hey, this thing is gonna be a breeze,

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Speaker 3: and then I just I just knew all I got

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Speaker 3: to do is outwork everybody.

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Speaker 4: I got to learn my stuff.

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Speaker 3: And to be in a situation where you come here,

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Speaker 3: where you have Peyton and Marv that's out there working,

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Speaker 3: it's just so much easier to just jump right in

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Speaker 3: and do exactly what they're doing. Putting in the work

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Speaker 3: and lead through your through your work. And that's that's

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Speaker 3: all we did, you know, So I just just jumped

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Speaker 3: and I didn't have this veteran running back that I

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Speaker 3: was able to mentor me. You know, all I had was, man,

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Speaker 3: let me just do what I've been doing, and let

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Speaker 3: me just get with the gang and put the work

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Speaker 3: in and everything else just usually falls in place.

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Speaker 5: Well, as I mentioned earlier about your stats, you were

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Speaker 5: very successful and running them of course. But there was

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Speaker 5: one play that I remember that fit your running style,

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Speaker 5: so to speak here at the end with the Indianapolis coach,

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Speaker 5: and that was a stretch play, And I was wondering,

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Speaker 5: why was that play? Why were you so successful with

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Speaker 5: that play? Why did it fit your running style for

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Speaker 5: you to have that success.

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Speaker 3: Why didn't the stretch played? The stretch play gives you

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Speaker 3: so many options. The beauty of that play is that

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Speaker 3: play you don't have a particular hole to have to

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Speaker 3: go to. A Usually when you're playing football, you know,

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Speaker 3: it might be the two hole, the four hole, or

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Speaker 3: something like that. But with this play was a stretch.

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Speaker 3: But if you see something, you go ahead and take it,

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Speaker 3: you know. So I had that opportunity you know, I

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Speaker 3: had the opportunity to stretch it out as far as

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Speaker 3: I could, and when I see it, go ahead and

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Speaker 3: make a move and go ahead and try to get

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Speaker 3: positive out.

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Speaker 4: So that fit my style, you know, that fit my style.

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Speaker 3: I can go until I felt like I had leverage

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Speaker 3: on the defense, and once I saw a position to

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Speaker 3: kind of exploit the defense, then I would I would

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Speaker 3: make the decision to go in and put my foot

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Speaker 3: down and take off and go and get as many

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Speaker 3: yards as possible.

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Speaker 2: You know, you wore defenses down, and I don't think

347
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Speaker 2: you get enough credit for the opportunities and the leverage

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Speaker 2: the Colts passing game had because of you. I mean,

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Speaker 2: teams had to show that respect to you in the

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Speaker 2: running game, which allowed Reggie Wayne to be Reggu Wayning

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Speaker 2: and Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning to create in the

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Speaker 2: passing game. Did you realize at the time, like how

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Speaker 2: special of a dynamic offense you had because of your

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Speaker 2: ability to keep defenses Honest, yeah.

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Speaker 3: I don't worry about the credit or anything, because the

356
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Speaker 3: respect comes from the fact that you see a receiver has.

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Speaker 4: One on one. Who's gonna give Reggie Wayne or Marvin Harrison.

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Speaker 2: One on one that was because of you, though.

359
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and so it's like you don't have to go

360
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Speaker 3: through it and toot your own horn, or you have

361
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Speaker 3: to go through and show people that a, you know,

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Speaker 3: I did this, So I did that. The defensive coordinator

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Speaker 3: is going to tell.

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Speaker 5: You what the game is gonna show.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the game's gonna show it like there's no way

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Speaker 3: you're going to sit up there and give Marvin Harrison

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Speaker 3: one on one that many times and you've seen it

368
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Speaker 3: so many times, and that's because the defensive coordinator made

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Speaker 3: a decision to say, hey, we got to do whatever

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Speaker 3: it takes to stop this run because this run right

371
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Speaker 3: here is killing us. And when they anytime they made

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Speaker 3: that decision and we caught them in that in that

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Speaker 3: particular position. You know, Payton did a great job of

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Speaker 3: executing it, Marv getting wide open, Reggie getting wide open.

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Speaker 3: But it all stems from the fact that you had

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Speaker 3: to have eight men in the box, You had to

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Speaker 3: have extra man down there to actually try to stop

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Speaker 3: the run. So that's where your respect comes from.

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Speaker 5: Now, Edward, you and I have talked over the years,

380
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Speaker 5: and I know you've give credit to a lot of

381
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Speaker 5: people that helped you to be successful in the National

382
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Speaker 5: Football League. And one of those individuals is Gene Ueie,

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Speaker 5: the former running backs coach here at the Indianapolis Coach,

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Speaker 5: can you explain to the people what you we meant

385
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Speaker 5: to you while you're running back for the Dinnapolis Coat

386
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Speaker 5: and not just running back here at naplis, but when

387
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Speaker 5: you play with other teams as well.

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Speaker 4: Well, you know Jean Jeanie here, he's the old school.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's like it's like that uncle or that

390
00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:13,080
Speaker 3: you know, that that family member. But the relationship turned

391
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Speaker 3: from just being, you know, a coach to more a

392
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Speaker 3: personal relationship to where it actually be turned into a friend.

393
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Speaker 3: But the thing about Gene is it was it was

394
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Speaker 3: never about you know what you're doing to be successful.

395
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Speaker 3: It's about making sure you're doing the right things over

396
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Speaker 3: and over. And I credit Gene with making sure that

397
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Speaker 3: even you start even when I started having success, we'll

398
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Speaker 3: go back to the same boring meeting stuff. And you

399
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Speaker 3: don't realize, especially when you're young. You know, I'm twenty

400
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Speaker 3: twenty one years old and I'm like this, I'm bored

401
00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:46,960
Speaker 3: in here. You know, I'm bored in here. But you

402
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,040
Speaker 3: start understanding the boredom is where your creativity comes from,

403
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,440
Speaker 3: and you start to learn the game a whole lot

404
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,720
Speaker 3: more because of Jene just harping on certain things. You know,

405
00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,040
Speaker 3: he's getting on you about these little things. He's making

406
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:03,040
Speaker 3: sure that you know, you got the ball is toughed,

407
00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,320
Speaker 3: He's making sure the little the basic fundamentals.

408
00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:06,880
Speaker 4: Sure, he's staying on you.

409
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Speaker 3: And then you get to a point to where it's

410
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,479
Speaker 3: like with Jeane, he's not backing down, you know. So

411
00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,600
Speaker 3: it's either either you're gonna do exactly what you're supposed

412
00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,040
Speaker 3: to do or you're gonna hear Gene coming on it.

413
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 3: And he never gave up. So that's one thing I

414
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:24,879
Speaker 3: got to credit Jans. Jane stayed the course and it

415
00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,920
Speaker 3: sticks with you. And then fast forward, I'm done playing

416
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Speaker 3: football and I'm out there with my with my sons

417
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Speaker 3: and I go to coaching them and I'm I'm turning

418
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Speaker 3: into Jen Hughey because.

419
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Speaker 4: I'm staying on them the same stuff, the same stuff,

420
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Speaker 4: and it's the same stuff I used to be like

421
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Speaker 4: Jene tripping.

422
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Speaker 2: On now my god.

423
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Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, So it came full circle.

424
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Speaker 2: It always does, right, That's that's typically how it goes. Now,

425
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,600
Speaker 2: you played with the Colts all the way up to

426
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Speaker 2: two thousand and five. Of course that that offseason, Bill

427
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,120
Speaker 2: Pullying unfortunately had to really make a really tough decision

428
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,040
Speaker 2: based on the South recap. I know Jim Irsay, who

429
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,720
Speaker 2: you're very very close with, he took it very very hard.

430
00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:07,760
Speaker 2: So many great players on this roster at the time.

431
00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:10,720
Speaker 2: Do you remember what it was like getting that phone

432
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,520
Speaker 2: call from Jim irsay? How tough it was to hear

433
00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,160
Speaker 2: those things even though it was a business the decision

434
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Speaker 2: on both parties, But how tough was it to come

435
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,159
Speaker 2: to the realization from Jim on the other end that

436
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,359
Speaker 2: it just wasn't going to work and you weren't going

437
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:24,879
Speaker 2: to be able to come back to the Colts.

438
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,879
Speaker 3: Now, for me, it really wasn't tough because you know,

439
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,720
Speaker 3: I've always been about my business. I've always understood business.

440
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,600
Speaker 3: So when I came into this game, I came to

441
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,520
Speaker 3: this game understanding that it's a business. And once you

442
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,159
Speaker 3: put things in perspective, nothing should be hard when it

443
00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:45,399
Speaker 3: comes to this game or this NFL. And so I

444
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:50,879
Speaker 3: understood that. Okay, with the salary cap and with the

445
00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,960
Speaker 3: impact it would have on the overall the whole as

446
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,719
Speaker 3: a business owner. You have to do what's best for

447
00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:00,760
Speaker 3: the organization, you know, And so it wasn't something that

448
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,560
Speaker 3: I was surprised or disappointed. Of course, you would love

449
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,879
Speaker 3: to be with one team or the team that birth you.

450
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,639
Speaker 3: But at the same time, it's not realistic, you know,

451
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,359
Speaker 3: it's not realistic to have a long career and to

452
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,840
Speaker 3: be in one position or one place at for all

453
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 3: those years. So I wasn't really tripping on it. It

454
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,239
Speaker 3: was cool and then it but the thing about it

455
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,440
Speaker 3: gave me a chance to actually explore or get out

456
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,480
Speaker 3: and get some comparisons, you know, because you know, once

457
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:33,159
Speaker 3: you go to one place, that's all you know, and

458
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,320
Speaker 3: then you go to another place, you get something to

459
00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,720
Speaker 3: compare off for. And then plus I made a lot

460
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,000
Speaker 3: of friends, I got a chance to see a different

461
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,600
Speaker 3: see football from a different side, and I ended up

462
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:45,399
Speaker 3: making it to the Super Bowl on the team that

463
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:47,639
Speaker 3: nobody even ever expected to.

464
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:49,640
Speaker 4: So it all worked itself out.

465
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,199
Speaker 5: Now, you said you didn't have any hard feelings or anything,

466
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 5: and it actually showed because I think we left to

467
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,960
Speaker 5: go to Arizona after that, the coach drafted Joseph had died,

468
00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 5: and then from what I understand and as you talk

469
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,600
Speaker 5: to Josepha Died as far as when he came here

470
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,879
Speaker 5: and talk to him about being in the NFL and

471
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,440
Speaker 5: being with Indianapolis coaches. Do you remember what you said

472
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 5: to Joseph Died when you talk to him back then.

473
00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 3: Well, I don't remember word for word, but the gist

474
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 3: of the thing was to let him know that I'm

475
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,760
Speaker 3: here to help him in anything.

476
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:18,720
Speaker 4: That he knows.

477
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,919
Speaker 3: I'm lettinghim know how great the organization is and things

478
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 3: that can help him be a great pro. You know,

479
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,720
Speaker 3: those are things that you want to talk to these

480
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 3: guys about, and you want to make sure that they're

481
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,160
Speaker 3: doing what they're supposed to do because you know, when

482
00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 3: you're coming in and you got to replace Edge, you know,

483
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,920
Speaker 3: it's a lot that goes with that. You know, certain

484
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,720
Speaker 3: people will try to pin you against Edge or have

485
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,480
Speaker 3: you too looking at things that are out of your control,

486
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:47,920
Speaker 3: and so you wanted to let them look, man, just playball,

487
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,639
Speaker 3: play at a high level. You know, any advantage I

488
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,720
Speaker 3: can give you, I want to try to make sure.

489
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,960
Speaker 3: I'll let you know because this is bigger than football.

490
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,480
Speaker 3: With me, it's more about me uplifting a younger brother,

491
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 3: help him get into the NFL help him do things

492
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,399
Speaker 3: that I was able to do for my family. So

493
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 3: I look at it as another opportunity. I look at

494
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 3: the win win regardless of how it plays out, because

495
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:12,879
Speaker 3: if I don't leave, I don't open the door for

496
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:13,960
Speaker 3: somebody else to come in.

497
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,399
Speaker 2: Right, learning more about you in this process, one of

498
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 2: the things that just like hit me in the face

499
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,399
Speaker 2: was this revelation. So your first two seasons in the NFL,

500
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 2: you led the NFL and rushing those two years, and

501
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,240
Speaker 2: then you had the ACL injury in two thousand and one.

502
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,640
Speaker 2: You come back after that, you rushed post ACL injury,

503
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,440
Speaker 2: You rush for over eighty three hundred yards, which would

504
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,719
Speaker 2: rank forty second all time. If you just look at

505
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,120
Speaker 2: those yards on their own, that would be more than

506
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,360
Speaker 2: a dozen Hall of Fame running backs. How much pride

507
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,120
Speaker 2: did you take and being able to bounce back and

508
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,119
Speaker 2: be the same guy post injury in your career in

509
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 2: two thousand and one.

510
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 3: I think everything becomes a challenging when you're competitive everything

511
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,400
Speaker 3: you do. You know, you compete all the way around.

512
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 3: And once I got the injury, you know, everybody or

513
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,400
Speaker 3: it was it was always said that a running back

514
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,520
Speaker 3: can't come back so I took it upon myself to say, look,

515
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,240
Speaker 3: not only for the other people, but for myself, to

516
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,160
Speaker 3: show that I can come back and finish this thing

517
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,400
Speaker 3: that I started. You know, because you know, you learn

518
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,240
Speaker 3: a lot about football player, or you learn a lot

519
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 3: about the athlete once they get in financial positions. And

520
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 3: for me, it was always about man. I wanted to

521
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 3: be one of the best to play the game, and

522
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 3: that was the opportunity right there to go either way.

523
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 3: I could either say, you know what, this right here

524
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,200
Speaker 3: is too tough. You know, people don't really come back

525
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,879
Speaker 3: from this, so I can fall into that trap. Or

526
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,000
Speaker 3: I can say, you know, I need to do what

527
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,440
Speaker 3: it takes to kind of beat the odds or kind

528
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 3: of defy the position, to say, look, we're going to

529
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,360
Speaker 3: go out and prove that we can come back, play

530
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,959
Speaker 3: at a high level, continue playing and finish the mission.

531
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,200
Speaker 3: You know, I wanted to I've always wanted to get

532
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 3: a gold jacket, and I wanted to do what it take,

533
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,399
Speaker 3: and it was a matter of committing to it. So

534
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 3: that right there was that was a true challenge.

535
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:10,920
Speaker 5: Now you talk about coming back from that injury, and

536
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 5: I'm not mistaken. I think your injury kind of spawned

537
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 5: the development of the Funhouse, if I'm not mistaken, And

538
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,600
Speaker 5: can you explain to the people what the funhouse is

539
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,959
Speaker 5: and why the funhouse was so helpful to you to

540
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:25,240
Speaker 5: get back on the football field.

541
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,560
Speaker 3: But the Firehouse was it was some buildings that I bought,

542
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 3: and I wanted a place where the kids could come

543
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,919
Speaker 3: hang out and just you know, where they can just

544
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 3: beat themselves and they didn't have to have all this

545
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,879
Speaker 3: supervision or they didn't have to have, you know, nobody

546
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,480
Speaker 3: telling them what to do. And I was into video games.

547
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,919
Speaker 3: That was twenty twenty one, twenty two years old, and

548
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,760
Speaker 3: so video games were a thing that we did, and

549
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,960
Speaker 3: I would play video games, but I also had to

550
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 3: work out, and so I took one of the buildings

551
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 3: and got all the equipment I needed to train to

552
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,600
Speaker 3: make sure that I would become the player that I

553
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,200
Speaker 3: always envisioned myself being.

554
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 4: And then I had the other building that was with.

555
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 3: Games and pool tables and whatever the kids needed to

556
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,159
Speaker 3: enjoy themselves. So it actually turned out to be a

557
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,080
Speaker 3: nice thing. You know, you talk something that was negative

558
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,239
Speaker 3: or something that wasn't in your best interest right then,

559
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,880
Speaker 3: and sure, I'm gonna make if I'm gonna go through

560
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 3: this process, you know, at least i'mna have fun doing it.

561
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:24,959
Speaker 4: You know.

562
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,200
Speaker 5: So so that that's a place you worked out at

563
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,280
Speaker 5: when you was rehabbing your knee, Yeah, you know.

564
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 3: So when it came to rehab, you know, I didn't

565
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,280
Speaker 3: I didn't like to have to be on somebody else's clock.

566
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:38,960
Speaker 3: And you know, if you're going to go to another

567
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,360
Speaker 3: facility to train, you have to be done by this

568
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:43,280
Speaker 3: time or that time.

569
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,160
Speaker 4: I like to train when I wanted to train.

570
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:46,639
Speaker 3: I used to like to train in the middle of

571
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,639
Speaker 3: the night or two, three, four in the morning. You know,

572
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 3: I've always had this way. I wanted to just train

573
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 3: it whenever I wanted to train. And the only way

574
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 3: you can do that is you got to own the place.

575
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:02,919
Speaker 2: Or take matters into your own hands, exactly edge. I

576
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 2: know you got a crazy busy schedule still, so we

577
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,119
Speaker 2: can't thank you enough. One final one and then you

578
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 2: were finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

579
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,480
Speaker 2: twenty twenty in your fourth year of being a finalist.

580
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:18,399
Speaker 2: I know that process is very political. It's kind of

581
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 2: a turn off for you. I can totally understand that

582
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,320
Speaker 2: it certainly would be for me, but your resume speaks

583
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 2: for itself. You finally get to where you belong, You

584
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,119
Speaker 2: are where you deserve to be. But what was that

585
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,840
Speaker 2: phone call like when you finally receive the nod that

586
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 2: you are going to get that gold jacket.

587
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:39,400
Speaker 3: Well, you know it hadn't happened years before. So after

588
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:41,479
Speaker 3: a while, you get to where it's like you're not

589
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,680
Speaker 3: really tripping on You're kind of numb to the situation

590
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,480
Speaker 3: because there's no right or wrong, not saying that you

591
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,240
Speaker 3: should have been or you shouldn't have been. You know,

592
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,800
Speaker 3: it's just a process, and you really don't have no

593
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,600
Speaker 3: clues to how this process actually goes. So for me,

594
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 3: I wasn't really tripping on it because I had a

595
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:00,439
Speaker 3: been through it, and then I seen other.

596
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 4: Guys go through it.

597
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 3: And in the past they used to have where you

598
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,960
Speaker 3: would go to the hotel and they would come knock

599
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:08,480
Speaker 3: on the door.

600
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,399
Speaker 4: So I never did that.

601
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 3: I was never gonna put myself in that situation to

602
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 3: be sitting in the hotel just waiting on a knock.

603
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,679
Speaker 3: So that was one way that you deal with it

604
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:20,960
Speaker 3: to make sure you don't even put yourself in that situation.

605
00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:26,960
Speaker 3: And for myself, I just kept my same routine. You know,

606
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 3: my routine remained the same. I hang out, I'm gonna

607
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,680
Speaker 3: go have fun. And on the day that I got

608
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 3: the phone call, I was just waking up from hanging

609
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,360
Speaker 3: out anyway. So it was like I was prepared for

610
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 3: if they called, if they do, if they call, cool,

611
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 3: if they don't call, back to the normal schedule program,

612
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 3: you know, And that's the pros that I've always taken.

613
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:49,760
Speaker 3: You know, I just let just kind of let things

614
00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:51,840
Speaker 3: flow the way they're going to flow, and not even

615
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:53,080
Speaker 3: trip on anything.

616
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:54,760
Speaker 2: I mean, you had one of the all time great

617
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 2: speeches too, I mean it really was. I mean, how

618
00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 2: you only get what ten minutes right? And they're pretty

619
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:04,000
Speaker 2: hardcore about it, like monitoring how long it's taking. How

620
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 2: long did you practice that speech? Because you nailed it.

621
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:09,440
Speaker 3: Put anything I do, I wanna put a lot of

622
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,080
Speaker 3: work in sure. You know, I've tried to put a

623
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:12,320
Speaker 3: lot of work into it. I want to make sure

624
00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 3: it's right. I know, you only get one chance to

625
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 3: do that. And it's just like with my football career.

626
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:22,920
Speaker 3: They didn't really see me coming. I know, they didn't think. So,

627
00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:25,680
Speaker 3: you know, we're prepare put a lot of work into

628
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 3: it to make sure that it was done right, make

629
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,040
Speaker 3: sure everything was presented the right way, and didn't want

630
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 3: to get to it because I had never given a speech,

631
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,080
Speaker 3: and you know, I'm not gonna get up and embarrass myself,

632
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:39,200
Speaker 3: and so I wanted to make sure that I do

633
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,080
Speaker 3: it right. And so I and I had always said,

634
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 3: I said, Man, if I ever had to give a speech,

635
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 3: I'm gonna make sure that when I get my hats

636
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 3: Fan speech, I'm gonna kill it. I'm gonna make sure

637
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,680
Speaker 3: that it goes down as one of the best. And

638
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,480
Speaker 3: that's you know, it's just competing, still.

639
00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:00,719
Speaker 2: Competing, still making sure it stands out, and it certainly did. Edge.

640
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 2: We got a million questions for you. We could sit

641
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 2: here and talk for hours, but I know you got

642
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,720
Speaker 2: a run. Thanks Aimelian for doing this. It's always fantastic

643
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 2: to have you in here, going down memory Lane. Anytime

644
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 2: you want to come by and talk some football, we'd

645
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,480
Speaker 2: love to have you. So all right, cool, Thanks again

646
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,720
Speaker 2: for your time, James

647
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:20,680
Speaker 4: All right, thanks for having me