WEBVTT - Be a Possibility Model, Not a Role Model with Lori Locust & Jennifer King 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:03.239 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're putting 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.160 on EyeBlack and finding a good recipe for seven layer dip. 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:10.080 Because the NFL season is here. On today's show, we've 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:13.080 got a very special group chat with some truly badass, 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:17.360 truly game changing women. And because I'm still sipping honey 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.800 deuces at the US Open, We're gonna skip all the 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.280 business up top and jump right into the interview. We'll 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.320 get you all caught up on the latest headlines tomorrow, 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.200 but for now, something a little different. I talked to 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.720 Tennessee Titans defensive quality control coach Lori Locus and Chicago 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.320 Bears offensive assistant Jennifer King. The Tennessee Titans and the 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:38.959 Chicago Bears aren't those NFL teams, you ask, well, dear slices, Yes, 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:41.960 yes they are. The NFL season kicks off tonight and 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:44.880 there's a full slate of games on Sunday. And while 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:47.960 we know there aren't any women players in the NFL, yet, 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.080 there are tons of women and girls playing tackle football 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.800 and flag football, and there are more women coaches in 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.000 the game than ever before. So even though this is 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:59.160 a women's sports show, we thought this was worth bringing 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.680 to you because I love talking to these ladies, and 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.479 also because the game is changing. For years, when NFL 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:07.760 and college football coaches were asked why there weren't any 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.520 women on staff, the same excuses were always coming up. 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.520 Women aren't interested, women don't want these jobs, women don't 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:16.720 like football. Even if you wanted to hire a woman, 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:21.759 how'd you find one that's qualified. Enter Sam Rappaport, my queen. 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.560 She had answers to all of those questions. She's the 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.720 secret sauce behind the leap from one woman breaking barriers 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:31.880 as an interned linebackers coach in twenty fifteen to now 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.280 fifteen women holding full time coaching positions in the NFL 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:37.800 this year. It's a new league record and the most 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.640 for any male professional sports league in the world. In 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:45.400 twenty seventeen, Sam Rapaport launched the Women's Careers in Football Form, 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.000 which helps connect women working in football, usually at the 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:51.280 college level, with mentors and job opportunities in the NFL. 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.440 As the NFL Senior Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusions, 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.200 Sam knew that the forum would put qualified women ready 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.760 to be hired right away, in the same room with 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.480 the people actually doing the hiring the coaches and the gms, 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.000 and it's worked. She created the pipeline that women needed 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:09.320 to get access and get a shot, including Lourie and Jen. 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:12.520 Laurie attended the inaugural event in twenty seventeen and then 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.040 again in twenty eighteen when Jen was also invited to participate, 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.600 and the rest, as they say, is history. On Sunday, 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.640 Laurie and Jen's teams open up the season against each other, 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.680 with the Titans traveling to play my Chicago Bears. So 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:29.840 in addition to them talking about being pioneering badasses, we 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:31.960 also had to make them engage in a little smack 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.080 talk too. The whole conversation's coming up right after this. 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:39.840 It's time for another group chat where we take the 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.400 tea from the text and put it on the airwaves. 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.120 Joining us now, she's a Super Bowl champion, now a 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.160 defensive quality control coach for the Tennessee Titans of the NFL, 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.760 Tennessee's first full time female coach in franchise history. She 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.400 became the first female position coach in all of NFL 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:57.120 history and the third female full time assistant coach ever, 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.360 when she was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.799 their assistant defensive line coach in twenty nineteen. As a player, 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.320 she was a D lineman team captain and MVP for 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.519 the Semi Pro Central PA Vipers. She got permission from 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:10.600 Tom Brady to use public service announcement as a walk 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.360 up song, It's Lori Locus. What's up? Coach Low? 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:15.880 Hey Sarah, how are you? Nice to see you again? 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:16.440 You too? 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.079 Joining her, We've got an offensive assistant for my Chicago Bears, 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.120 the first female coach in the Bears franchise one hundred 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.840 and four year history, And when she was hired an 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.240 assistant running backs coach for the Washington Commanders in twenty 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:31.520 twenty one, she became the first black woman to be 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.680 a full time NFL coach. A former two sport athlete 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:37.240 in college, where she played basketball and softball, she went 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:39.040 on to play in the Women's Football Alliance as a 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.640 quarterback and wide receiver from six to twenty nineteen. She 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.360 also coached women's basketball, worked as a flight attendant, and 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.520 as a police officer. She's a cat with many lives, apparently, 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:49.120 it's Jennifer King. What's up? 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:49.520 Jennifer? 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.160 Oh God? How are you? I mean? 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.680 Not a lot just maybe potentially the greatest quarterback in 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:58.680 all of Bear's history. But we'll get to that. I 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.920 want to start with that football career. I just mentioned 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.880 you were a long time semi pro women's football player. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:06.760 How did you get into playing, Jennifer. 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:08.760 Yeah, I always loved football growing up. 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.360 Grew up in a little small football town, and when 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.080 I graduated college, I was playing pick up every week 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.640 with some ladies and they were on the team and 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:18.680 I didn't even know it existed, so they invited me 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:20.560 out and it was a rap from there. 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.400 Yeah, you were just sold. Laura. You were a little 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:25.600 bit of a late arrival to playing football, which I 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:26.760 love tell us about it. 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.679 Yeah, I had always been a fan of the game, 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:32.599 and like Jennifer, when I was younger, I mean in 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.560 the neighborhood, the pickup games and stuff like that. But 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:42.040 the women's team in my area, which was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.320 didn't really get there until I was almost forty, so 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.120 that's when I started playing. So I had a little 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.359 bit of a late jump into the game that we 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:51.960 all loved. 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:53.920 But yeah, it was great. 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.479 I want to say that's a lesson to everyone that 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:58.400 no matter how old you are you can get started 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.359 and jump into football. But I also want to mentioned 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:02.400 that you had four knee surgeries, a bone graph from 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:04.680 your hip, a plate in, a cervical fusion in your neck, 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.600 and one shoulder ripped out of place. So you can 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:16.280 football at forty, but I'm not saying I recommend it. Laura, 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:18.120 you mentioned that you always had a love of football, 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:19.960 so you spent the first dozen or so years of 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:24.200 your football career balancing a job insurance plus raising two sons, 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.159 and then just taking any opportunity you could to coach. 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.560 You interned or apprenticed with high school teams, with semi 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:32.880 pro teams, and you did that at a time where 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:35.280 there were really no women in notable positions that you 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:37.919 could point to and tell your family this is what 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.120 I'm working towards, this is what could happen if my 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.520 hard work pays off. I want to start there quickly 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:48.680 with why when you couldn't see something above those internships 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.720 or apprentice gigs, was that enough for you or did 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:53.440 you believe that eventually they would be there? 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:54.560 Yeah? 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.400 So I don't know that I necessarily ever like looked, 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.000 I don't everything to head enough or tried to find 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.520 somebody to attach to. 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:05.440 If that makes sense. 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:09.039 I mean, I just I love football and getting the 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.520 opportunities that I did, and making the relationships with the 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:16.720 coaches that I still considered to be, you know, very 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.760 instrumental in my path to where I'm at right now. 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.560 I mean, it just kind of was very organic. So 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:25.240 I never really set out to like be like you know, 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:26.480 I got to go to this level and I got 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.920 to that level. I mean, Jennifer said it like a 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.760 thousand times. I totally agree. You know, I just wanted 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.000 to be where I was, but I wanted to be 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.440 as good as I could be where I was, and 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:40.800 then that seemed to always lend itself to like another opportunity, 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:45.440 and that just I mean it sounds like long winded, 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:49.159 but I mean that was enough because I was learning, 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.400 I was involved with coaching staffs that I really. 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.440 Enjoyed being around, and. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.200 I got to coach football and like you said, at 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:00.400 different levels. So you know, and I don't know Jennifer 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.159 feels the same way, but you know, you are a 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:04.719 fan of the game and you love the game of 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.200 football from that aspect, and then you get an opportunity 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.479 to play football and you kind of fall in love 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:12.040 with it from a different angle, And then you know, 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.360 I would have played longer had I not gotten all 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:20.200 these injuries you categorized earlier. But then when you coach football, 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:22.920 you fall in love with the game in a whole 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:23.400 other way. 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:26.720 So it just kind of kept growing. 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.320 And I didn't force it, and I wasn't trying to 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.440 like make big strides or make media splashes. 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:33.760 I just wanted to coach. 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.320 Well, yeah, you didn't need to see something bigger in 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.200 order to have what you were already doing be satisfying 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.480 and valuable to you because you love the game so much. 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.440 And yet you go to this NFL Women's Careers in 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.000 Football forum in twenty seventeen, and that sort of changed 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:48.520 everything for you. Can you tell us about that? 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.360 Yeah, I mean, when you're doing, you know, things like this. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.080 Right when I was back in Pennsylvania, You're right, I 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:59.760 didn't see any other women, and at times it could 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.000 be isolating. So being able to go to that women's 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:04.640 forum and now all of a sudden, you're in this 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:09.280 room and there's like hundreds of women that are as 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.160 actively involved in the game or loved the game, or 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.040 are coaching in certain aspects and then you know, the 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.840 forum that Jennifer and I got invited to, I think 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.840 there were fifty women total, and only fifteen of us 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.640 were in the coaching track, and that was from all 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.400 over the country. So I mean, it's still nice to 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.640 know that there were other women out there that were 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:34.240 like you, that had maybe the same aspirations or experience. 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:38.480 It just kind of validated the fact that this was 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.440 something we didn't know what it was at the time, 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.440 but it was something that we all really enjoyed, and 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:46.040 the connections have lasted. 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:47.080 Obviously. 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.760 You'll have to ask Jennifer about what you remember me 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:53.200 from the forum call. 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.440 That called that. You know. 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:57.839 I love what you said, though, because I found that 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.640 when I joined espnW, one of the first meeting is 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:02.760 I got dropped into a room full of women who 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.320 were obsessed with sports, who had played college sports, and 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.000 after working in predominantly rooms full of men, it just 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.760 felt different to realize I wasn't alone. It wasn't like 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:12.520 I wasn't willing to do it if it was just 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:14.480 me and a bunch of guys, But there was something 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.199 that was additive about being surrounded by women and realizing 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:19.160 there were more of us. I'm not gonna let you 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:20.400 off the hook, though, Jennifer, we didn't. 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:23.480 It was crazy. 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.959 So at that time when I attended, I was a 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.520 head basketball coach. Johnson was university and Charlotte and the 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:33.280 Panthers were right beside our facility as well, So coach 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.960 Rivera was at the forum and me and Lowe was 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.280 actually at a round table with him, but I was 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:42.280 I was locked in. I had one mission and it 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.640 was for him to know who I was when we 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:47.640 were done. And because of that, I didn't even know 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:49.160 she was at the table. I didn't see her. 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:50.959 That sounds like when you do an interview and they're like, 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.520 what's your biggest flaw? My biggest flaw is working too hard. 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.360 My problem is I was too focused to notice there 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:58.520 were other people in the room. 0:09:59.600 --> 0:09:59.880 I love. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.120 That's forward like a couple of years later and I 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:03.560 had to tell her I was at that same time. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.400 She had just showed me the picture you were you 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:06.920 were there. 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:09.800 I mean, there's almost nothing worse than introducing yourself to 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:14.439 someone having be like, oh we've met. Awesome, let's talk 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.120 about it, though, Jennifer, twenty eighteen Forum, Ron Rivera reaches 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:18.920 out to you as you joined the Panthers as a 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.680 coaching intern for two off seasons and then added you 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:23.720 to his staff in Washington as a full time assistant 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:25.880 coach in twenty twenty. So tell me about getting your 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.960 foot in the door via the forum and meeting coach 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:31.320 Rivera and like, what's that moment? Because that forum is 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.160 all fully vetted women who are ready to get into 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:36.640 whatever position, whether that's training or coaching or whatever it is. 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:38.760 So the coaches that are there that come from the NFL, 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.160 the head coaches or the gms, they know that everyone 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.679 in that room has already been interviewed and vetted and 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:46.640 they're ready to go. But you still have to stand out. 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:48.160 You still have to be the one in the room 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:49.880 that they choose. How did you do that? 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.559 Yeah, like Low talked about, you know, to be there 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.120 in a room full of women who has the same. 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:56.800 Goal as you was definitely special. 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.520 And you know, like like I mentioned, I just had 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:03.800 as folks, you know, on hearing the material, introducing myself 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.240 to as many people as possible. And obviously I felt 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.640 my best opportunity was coch Saveria just because of the 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.839 proximity we had and you know, I literally lived right 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.360 by the stadium right by their facility, so you know, 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.480 they didn't have to put me up in hotel or anything. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.319 You could just give me an opportunity and I can 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:18.720 come over. 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.520 So that's really what I wanted to do, and obviously 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:23.800 we hit it off. He saw something in me, and 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.920 you know, my initial opportunity was for Ricky Minicamp, and 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:28.839 he just kind of kept invite me back. So those 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.360 two days at Ricky Minicamp turned into about four months 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:33.560 being with the team, the first time working with the 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:36.880 receiver group. So you know, as Low talked about it 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:38.120 was how about being where your feet are? 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.520 And that's one thing he told me early, and that's 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:40.959 something that. 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:42.880 I was locked in and focused on just bringing value 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:44.160 to the team anywhere that I could. 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.040 I think it's as bad as it sounds. Sometimes we 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.079 do worry when we get into a space that's been 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.480 historically all male. Are we a token? Are we something 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.560 they're trying to put out there to show growth or 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.040 to show progress? When you're coming in for two days 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:58.760 and he's like, keep coming back, keep coming back for 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.040 four months, Like that's proof there that there was something 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:03.199 to prove and something that you had to do there 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:04.680 in order for him to want to keep you around. 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:07.040 You know, coach Love, We've talked about this before. You've 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.080 shied away from talking to media too often. You don't 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.280 want to be the woman who coaches. You want to 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.880 be a coach, and you want them to see you 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.160 as that first. But I do want to ask how 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:21.520 that experience has been for you in balancing wanting to 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:23.600 fit in and then also wanting to be a role model, 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:25.960 an example, and understanding that the fact that you exist 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:27.720 and you're doing what you do is opening a door 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:28.720 for other women and girls to. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.440 See you right and that you know you're correct. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.080 I mean, I think that the biggest fear for a 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.559 lot of us has been, you know, we don't want 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:39.600 to appear to be in this for the wrong reasons. 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.640 We don't want to have, you know, a broken focus 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:45.280 among our colleagues, or have our colleagues looked at us 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:49.160 like sideways, like it's just it's not the culture when 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.439 you're within a staff. So I've been very fortunate over 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.120 the last couple of years. I think Tampa did a 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:59.320 nice job of balancing that out for me. And also here, 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:02.640 you know, I know Rabe set the tone pretty early 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.760 about you know, she's you know, here to do a job, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.560 and you know it wasn't going to be like a 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:10.840 human interest story, like every time we turned around, like 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.840 God forbid, like anybody asked me, you know, to say 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:14.640 the story again. 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.240 I think at nauseum people have heard the story. 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.600 But you know, as you go forward, Like you said, 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:24.160 I think that there is an importance of not necessarily 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:29.080 being a role model, but being a possibility model. And 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.520 I think that there's a distinct difference in that because 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.560 I don't the role model to me says you've got 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:36.560 to do everything that I've done in order to get 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.960 where I'm at, And I wouldn't want anybody to do 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.920 it like that, because everybody's past is going to be 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.960 different and it's an individual process and the hard work 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:46.679 has to go in. 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.319 But seeing like where we're at right now, I. 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.760 Think the media has a tendency to show just the 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.880 end result as opposed to really highlighting, you know, the 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.280 work or the past that we had to take to 0:13:58.320 --> 0:13:58.800 get here. 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:03.120 So I want people to know, you know, young women, women. 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:04.920 That were my age at the time that I did 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:09.040 that hard pivot into this full time, that it's a possibility. 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.160 But how you get there and what you do that 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.439 has to be on you and your hard work and 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.280 your ability to make connections, and like Jennifer said, like 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:22.640 prove yourself if you get the opportunity to do it, 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.080 and that way it's genuine and it's authentic, And then 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.400 I think that's the best way that you have a 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.920 chance to stick at this level, which is another goal. 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.040 You know, once you're here, you want to stick and 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:34.880 keep working. 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:37.440 Jennifer, it's been a couple of years. How have you 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:40.800 seen the environment being a woman in a male dominated space, 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.400 being a woman specifically an NFL changed since you started? 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:47.040 If it has, I mean for me, the opportunity has 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.560 always been, you know, to work with a really great staff, 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.200 and I think that makes everything. What's the culture like 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.040 in the building, how's the staff. If the staff doesn't 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:57.360 make a deal of it, it's. 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:58.680 Not a big deal. It's just another coach. 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.480 So I've been fortunate enough to only experience that the 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:02.480 players have been great. 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:04.000 They just want to be better. 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:06.080 You know, they can care less where it's coming from 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.080 if you can help them out. So I think, you know, 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.320 that's one thing about the Bears, it's just to you 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.920 can feel the coach and we walk into the building. 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.080 And that's one thing I felt on my interview and 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:17.880 knew that were somewhere where I wanted to be. But 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:20.920 you know, it's been fantastic, and I think that's a 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.360 testament to the guys that are already coaching in the league. 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:25.800 The players who are already in this league. They didn't make 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:27.280 a big deal about it. They don't make a big 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.720 big deal about it now. So I think a lot 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:30.800 of that involves them. 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:33.720 Quickly. Can you tell me, Jennifer, what your just average 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:34.320 day looks like? 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:34.840 Oh? 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:36.120 Man, I do a little bit of everything. 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.920 So I help out help our quality control guys with 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.920 some breakdowns, so I'd also break down some things for 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.480 oline coach. And then there's just preparing our guys each 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.520 and every day with whatever's going in with our script, 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:51.880 making sure they're they're good on. 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:53.040 Everything that we're doing that day. 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.160 And also skill development, which is very big, especially at 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:58.480 this point in the year when we have individual time. 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.640 You know, things that we need to work on them better, 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:02.760 things that they want to work on to get them better, 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:05.640 and they're just putting it all together. You know, it's 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.640 almost time to hit the grass, you know, for real now. 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.080 So it's a lot going on in very long days. 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.600 Fortunate to be able to get out a little early today. 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.600 But you know, we got the Titans on the horizon, 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:18.400 so it's. 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:18.800 A lot of folkus. 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:23.440 Yeah, I forgot that we've got the two teams meeting 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:27.680 in the opener. Okay, Laurie, want to talk about women's 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.040 football and the NFL, because you've talked about how you 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.800 actually distanced yourself from women's football early in your coaching 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:35.760 career because you didn't want to get pigeonholed in the 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.680 women's game. You wanted to make sure you weren't kept 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:40.200 out of the men's because they saw you as a 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.440 women's coach. But you've said now that you've assisted at 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.400 women's camps and you understand the advantage that your past 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.120 affords you, and you actually see some real differences in 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.120 coaching men versus women. Can you tell us some of 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.840 the different ways that men and women respond to the 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:53.960 lessons and the drills? 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:54.680 Yeah? 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:56.840 And I mean, again, this is like my perspective in 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.680 my opinion, right, So you know, maybe not everybody shares this, 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:04.639 but I feel like because women have not had an 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:08.800 opportunity from a large population since to play the game, 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.120 since we've been six years old, the whole way through 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:16.000 high school, college and so on. There's a passion about 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.960 the game that you have to have that sometimes is 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:24.000 a little bit more genuine because it's like everybody's all in. 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:26.160 You know, normally you're an adult right when you start 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:27.879 to play wing's football, so like you just want to 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:33.600 know everything. And I think again, in my experience, coaching 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:38.119 women is such a good reminder and it's such a 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:39.640 good sharpener of skills. 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:40.720 I've encouraged a. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.520 Lot of my colleagues if they have a chance to 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.600 do the same thing, because you really have to be 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:51.560 a progressive teacher when you're coaching women because we don't 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.080 necessarily have the football like you when we come in, 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.280 like I said, from like our male counterparts, So you 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.159 really have to break things down and you really have 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.120 to be grand in your description. 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:03.120 And another thing you know. 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.120