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Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everybody? I'm Peanut someone, and thank

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Speaker 1: you for tuning in to another episode of the Player's Podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today we have a special guest. First off, I gotta

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Speaker 1: write off some of these some of these accomplishments that

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Speaker 1: this young man has. Yes, I do. Uh, NFL Legend,

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Speaker 1: NFL Hall of Famer, super Bowl MVP, UH twelve, your

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Speaker 1: NFL pro undrafted, four time Pro bowler, two time All Pro,

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Speaker 1: two time passing Champion, Passing touchdown Champion, three time NFL

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Speaker 1: completions leader, two time NFL Passing RAIDAR leader. I could

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Speaker 1: go on and on. Please welcome Kurt Warner to the show.

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Speaker 1: Thank you very much Kurt for joining us today. How

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Speaker 1: you got about it and get to see you? First off,

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Speaker 1: I didn't know. So I watched the movie and I

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Speaker 1: had no idea that you had that type little story,

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Speaker 1: you know, and it was it was quite first it

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Speaker 1: was remarkable even that I got to watch it, the

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Speaker 1: lions Gate, the link and the app and trying to

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Speaker 1: get all that dialed in. Um, like, what really made

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Speaker 1: you want to tell your story? Well, I mean, obviously

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Speaker 1: a lot of people gravitated to my story, you know,

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Speaker 1: way back in and you know, the primary part of

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Speaker 1: the story was of course, you know, stock and shelves

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Speaker 1: to to the Super Bowl, and obviously, you know, I

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Speaker 1: was rare. You don't have people that go from where

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Speaker 1: I was to where I ended up, especially in such

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Speaker 1: a short period of time. So a lot of people, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, enjoyed that part of it, and over the

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Speaker 1: years had so many people you know come up to

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Speaker 1: me and just say, you know, you're the reason that

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Speaker 1: I kept going in whatever field that was obviously a

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Speaker 1: lot of people you know, playing football or having a

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Speaker 1: dream to play football, But but I got it in

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Speaker 1: you know, any and every field you can imagine that,

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Speaker 1: you know, knowing your story and hearing your story was

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Speaker 1: the reason that I kept going, realizing that, you know,

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Speaker 1: maybe I can get to the mountain top. And so

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Speaker 1: you know, it all started with that. But there's so

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Speaker 1: much more to the story, and there's so much to

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Speaker 1: my wife's story that we felt could really connect with people.

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Speaker 1: You know, people come to all the time, Hey, you know,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna make your your story into a movie. And

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Speaker 1: you know, as we went through that process, it was like,

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Speaker 1: you know, that's honor, that's that's humbling. But if we

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Speaker 1: do it. We want to make the right movie, and

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Speaker 1: the right movie to me is so much bigger than football.

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Speaker 1: Is that football is the backdrop, of course of my

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Speaker 1: story and of my life and what everybody recognizes, but

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Speaker 1: there's so much more to it that we felt our

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Speaker 1: journey and our story could could impact people, that could

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Speaker 1: connect with people where they're at or where they've been

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Speaker 1: in life. And so that's why to us, it was

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Speaker 1: so important to make this movie and make this kind

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Speaker 1: of movie. Once we did it, And how did you

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Speaker 1: get partnered up with lion Gate? Like, there's Mirramax, lion

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Speaker 1: Gate there. I mean, there's a ton of other companies

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Speaker 1: out there to tell your story, Like how did you

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Speaker 1: partner up with them? Well, you know, it's actually been

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Speaker 1: about a ten year process and were with different production

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Speaker 1: companies and we had different writers early on. Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: but as I said, we didn't want to just make

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Speaker 1: a movie. We want to make the right I have

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Speaker 1: kind of had a vision of what I wanted this

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Speaker 1: movie to be for a long time. We could never

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Speaker 1: just get there. With some of the other, you know,

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Speaker 1: groups that we were working with. They would have great

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Speaker 1: pieces to it, but never felt like it was the

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Speaker 1: complete story, and so you're always looking for someone that's

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Speaker 1: passionate about your story that also was passionate about, you know,

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Speaker 1: being able to connect with, you know, those whom the

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Speaker 1: story is about, and making sure together you get that

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Speaker 1: right script, you get the right pieces to make the movie.

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Speaker 1: And uh. So, you know, some kind of came and

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Speaker 1: some went uh and there were times that we thought, Okay,

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Speaker 1: maybe this movie isn't going to be made. And then

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Speaker 1: about three years ago, lions Gate stepped in. The Irwin

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Speaker 1: brothers who directed this movie stepped in, and they were

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Speaker 1: very passionate about the story, very passionate about the football

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Speaker 1: side of it, but very passionate also about what's the

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Speaker 1: rest of the story, you know, not just what you

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Speaker 1: did when you finally got between the lines, but who

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Speaker 1: are you and what made you who you are? Because that,

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Speaker 1: to me, is the story of life. It's not about

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Speaker 1: what we end up accomplishing. It's about the experiences that

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Speaker 1: create who we are and develop us into the characters

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Speaker 1: that we become. And it's those things that ultimately end

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Speaker 1: up allowing us to be successful when we get you know,

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Speaker 1: between the lines or whatever profession that is that that

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Speaker 1: you're in when you get to that moment. It's about

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Speaker 1: who you are, not just about what you're capable of doing.

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Speaker 1: And that's the story that we wanted to tell. There's

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Speaker 1: certain scenes in your movie that kind of resonated with me. One,

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Speaker 1: I didn't go to a very well known college at

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Speaker 1: the time, and you went to a D two school,

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Speaker 1: So I kind of got that, uh, like that wrisening

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Speaker 1: with me. I've seen The blind Side, and I've played

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Speaker 1: with Michael Orr and having an opportunity to play with

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Speaker 1: him and ask him questions about the blind Side, and

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Speaker 1: he would always say, it didn't really happen like that. Now,

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Speaker 1: how much input did you have in this movie since

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Speaker 1: it was about you, Like did you write stuff yourself?

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Speaker 1: Did you say no, I'm not for that that didn't happen, Like,

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Speaker 1: how did that work? Explaining that? Yeah, we we had

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Speaker 1: a big hand in this, you know everything from the beginning,

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Speaker 1: as you were saying, as I mentioned, I had an

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Speaker 1: idea for what this movie, you know, should be from

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Speaker 1: the get go. So I had written up my own

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Speaker 1: treatments numerous times about different things that I thought connected

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Speaker 1: and connected my story with, you know, with different scenes

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Speaker 1: in the movie or different characters that are in the movie.

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Speaker 1: And so very early on, you know, the Irwin brothers

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Speaker 1: came here and they interviewed Brenda and I talked a

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Speaker 1: lot about what we thought that the story was. And

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Speaker 1: then throughout the process from scriptwriting to being on set

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Speaker 1: uh and talking through different scenes. We also had a

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Speaker 1: great team that was willing UH tell us to at

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Speaker 1: times go, you know, that's not a good idea. You

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Speaker 1: know that that's not going to make the movie. And

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Speaker 1: and I love that because we probably could have screwed

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Speaker 1: the movie up because there were so many great scenes

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Speaker 1: or moments in our lives that we thought, well, we

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Speaker 1: got to throw that in there, and we got to

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Speaker 1: throw this in here, and you know, they had to

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Speaker 1: edit some of that, they had to say, you know,

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Speaker 1: that's not the story that we're trying to tell here.

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Speaker 1: So it was a much of a collaborative effort, you know,

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Speaker 1: throughout this entire process, and we love that. We felt

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Speaker 1: like we fully had to say in what this movie became,

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Speaker 1: but we also had the right team to be able

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Speaker 1: to shape it into what it needed to be and

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Speaker 1: and what story we were trying to tell. Because what

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Speaker 1: you realize in two hours you can't tell the whole story.

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Speaker 1: You gotta figure out what will it be that we

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Speaker 1: really really will connect with the audience and that that

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Speaker 1: has a story or a movie that flows, uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: from beginning to end and to the other part of

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Speaker 1: your question just about how much of this is accurate.

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Speaker 1: It's extremely accurate. Now, you know in movies that they

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Speaker 1: have to, you know, take some creative license. So for instance, um,

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Speaker 1: you'll see my college Coach, and you know when when

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Speaker 1: they do the kill Kirkdil, that kill Kurtdriill actually happened

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Speaker 1: in high school. So My college Coach is kind of

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Speaker 1: a compilation of a number of different coaches in this

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Speaker 1: movie because they're telling the time frame from when I

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Speaker 1: was in college too, when I got to the NFL,

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Speaker 1: so we didn't go all the way back to high school.

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Speaker 1: So so things like that. You know, you might say, well,

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Speaker 1: it was your college coach accurate to his character, and

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Speaker 1: I have to say, well, not really, because because there's

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Speaker 1: numerous different people, you know, placed into one, and so

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Speaker 1: there is some of that that makes a whole lot

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Speaker 1: of sense. Because I was in my mind, I'm like, wait,

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Speaker 1: stay in the pocket, he gonna who does this? You

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Speaker 1: can't do that you're gonna get your quarterback kill, Like

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Speaker 1: it doesn't make any sense, But it did happen because

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Speaker 1: I didn't start playing quarterbacks and I was a thresh

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Speaker 1: being in high school and I was a wide receiver

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Speaker 1: before that, and all I wanted to do was get outside,

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Speaker 1: Like I was just like, I don't want to stand

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Speaker 1: in here and get hit. I'm gonna run out there

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Speaker 1: and either make a play or throw the football. So

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Speaker 1: the drill actually did happen, um, And you're right nowadays

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Speaker 1: it could never happen. You wouldn't be allowed to do

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Speaker 1: that nowadays. But it only happened in high school. It

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Speaker 1: didn't happen in college. So how many hits did you

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Speaker 1: take when that process was going on? Like I don't

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Speaker 1: even know. I mean, it just it was way too many.

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Speaker 1: But you know it kind of like in the movie

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Speaker 1: there's that scene with my best friend Hug. I would

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Speaker 1: have you know, all of my buddies in high school,

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Speaker 1: as you can imagine, like what we get a free

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Speaker 1: opportunity to hit Kurt. Everybody wanted to line up on

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Speaker 1: the other side and take their shots. That's what you want.

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Speaker 1: But you know, but ironically enough and why it's in

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Speaker 1: the movie is because you know, you played against me

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Speaker 1: in the NFL. If there was one great strength that

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Speaker 1: I had in the NFL, it was my ability to

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Speaker 1: stand in the pocket, oblivious to the rush and deliver

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Speaker 1: the football. And so, you know, what would be my

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Speaker 1: biggest weakness when I started playing would ultimately become my

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Speaker 1: biggest strength. And that's really the message in, you know,

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Speaker 1: in that storyline of the movie, is that too often

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Speaker 1: we want to we want to run, we want to

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Speaker 1: bail when things get harder, and you know, and when

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Speaker 1: we have a weakness, we want to always play to

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Speaker 1: our strengths, you know. And it was through that that

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Speaker 1: it became one of my greatest strengths and would be

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Speaker 1: one of my calling cards later on in life. Right right,

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Speaker 1: that's cool. So another thing that I enjoyed was the

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Speaker 1: country The line step in or barn barn dance song

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Speaker 1: or barns I have I'm from sex life. Even I

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Speaker 1: heard a line is I've never heard of barn though.

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Speaker 1: So do you like country music? Uh? Now I do? Uh?

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Speaker 1: You know, as you saw the movie, I hated country

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Speaker 1: music growing up, even though I was an Iowa guy.

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Speaker 1: A lot of country music played in Iowa. I didn't

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Speaker 1: like country music at all, and my my roommate really

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Speaker 1: just drugged me out to the bar, which would ultimately

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Speaker 1: do where I fell in love with my wife, and uh,

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Speaker 1: kind of fell in love with country music. And as

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Speaker 1: you said that, the barn dance is a dance where

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Speaker 1: you know, you kind of get in the circle and

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Speaker 1: you switch partners throughout the dance. You do whatever those

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Speaker 1: steps are and then you you shift and you move

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Speaker 1: and uh and the ladies move, and ultimately, Brendan I

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Speaker 1: got hooked up in that barn dance and you know,

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Speaker 1: and that's where we would meet. And that's uh, as

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Speaker 1: they say, I guess the rest is its history. But

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Speaker 1: but do love country music now? My wife has gotten

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Speaker 1: me to to fall in love with it. So if

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Speaker 1: there's one type of music that shows up in our

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Speaker 1: house more than any other, is definitely country music. Do

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Speaker 1: you still have the calendar when she was like miss

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Speaker 1: September or miss October? Do you still have that calendar?

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Speaker 1: We do. We do. Actually, when we were shooting the movie,

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Speaker 1: you know, we had told them about that and they're like,

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Speaker 1: do you have a shot of it? And so we

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Speaker 1: went back and looked some of the old stuff, and

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Speaker 1: sure enough we uh we we found a picture of

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Speaker 1: of her in that calendar and uh, you know, with

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Speaker 1: the high hair. And remember remember when she looked like

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Speaker 1: when I when I fell in love. So obviously you

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Speaker 1: you you go to Green Bay and all through that

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Speaker 1: one scene, it's packer for life, Packer for life? Were

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Speaker 1: you really channing packer for life? I was? I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know how it is is that you know, well,

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Speaker 1: just being a guy that was you know, I sat

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Speaker 1: on the bench for four years in college and for

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Speaker 1: a long time thought, oh man, my dream is gonna

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Speaker 1: disappear because I can't get on the field in college.

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Speaker 1: And then finally get on the field, and and then

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Speaker 1: a team calls and wants to sign you. I mean

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Speaker 1: you you just think, oh gosh, okay, that's all I needed.

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Speaker 1: I got this now, like no doubt, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: make it. You have that level of confidence. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: as soon as I signed that contract, I'm like, no doubt, Okay,

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Speaker 1: here we go, you know, because it doesn't matter how

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Speaker 1: you get there once you finally get there. And you said, well,

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Speaker 1: now that I'm here, I'm not letting this go. So

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Speaker 1: with that, I mean, yeah, like in the movie I

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Speaker 1: went out and bought a green car because I thought, well,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be gonna be a packer forever and our blazer, right,

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Speaker 1: And obviously that didn't that that didn't turn out quite

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Speaker 1: like I thought. So the way I interpreted was like,

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Speaker 1: they signed you to this I don't know contract, and

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Speaker 1: it was training camp, so in the movie, and I know,

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Speaker 1: for editing purposes, in two hours, I can't tell your

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Speaker 1: full story. I took it is you had just gotten there.

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Speaker 1: You're only there for like maybe a day or two,

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Speaker 1: and the coach is like, hey, Kurt, get in the

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Speaker 1: game and you're like, well, you've never told me anything.

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Speaker 1: I don't know a single play All right, give me

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Speaker 1: your book. You're out of here, Please tell me. It

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Speaker 1: wasn't like that. It wasn't that quick in terms of

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Speaker 1: when I was cut, but it was that quick in

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Speaker 1: terms of it was at our first mini camp. So

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Speaker 1: at our first mini camp, you know, they give you

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Speaker 1: the playbook the night before, you know, the first meeting,

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Speaker 1: and they give you the other that three inch playbook

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Speaker 1: there and so you know, the next day, I'm just

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Speaker 1: kind of thinking, okay, and I just got here. They've

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Speaker 1: got you know, bread and mark and tie, and so

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Speaker 1: you know, they'll give me a chance to unit for

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Speaker 1: a couple of days and just kind of soak this in. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that the first day, he's like, all right, go in,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, go in. I don't even know how

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Speaker 1: to call a play in the in the huddle because

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Speaker 1: you just gave me this book four hours ago. And

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Speaker 1: so so I did you know at that time ago,

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Speaker 1: you know, coach, I'm not going to go in because

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Speaker 1: my mindset was if I go in and don't do well,

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Speaker 1: you know that that's all they need to see. So

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Speaker 1: I kind of want to you know, I'd rather not

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Speaker 1: go in and wait until I'm ready. So then when

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Speaker 1: I'm ready and I get my chance, you know, I'll

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Speaker 1: be able to go in and shine. Not going in

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Speaker 1: without a douars. I mean, who does that. Like never

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Speaker 1: in my life before or after, I ever told a

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Speaker 1: coach I'm not gonna go in. But it was simply

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Speaker 1: my mindset. I was so worried about failing as opposed

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Speaker 1: to believing that I was going to succeed that that

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Speaker 1: I passed on that opportunity, you know, and I thought

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Speaker 1: about it. I mean for years after that. Um, back

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Speaker 1: to your your point. So I was there for probably

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Speaker 1: four or five weeks, got a few, you know, small

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Speaker 1: opportunities within there, but really I think my fate was

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Speaker 1: determined in that first or second day when they asked

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Speaker 1: me to go in and I didn't go in. But

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Speaker 1: you know, it was one of those things that you know,

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Speaker 1: just kind of teaches you never be afraid to fail,

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Speaker 1: you know, never be afraid to believe in yourself, no

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Speaker 1: matter what the moment, no matter what the situation. You know.

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Speaker 1: So so it didn't quite play out exactly like that meeting.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't there just two days, but that did happen

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Speaker 1: within the first couple of days, and then I was

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Speaker 1: cut shortly after that. All right, well that's cool. I'm

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Speaker 1: kind of glad they cut you because I think everything

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Speaker 1: happened the way he was supposed to happen, Zachary LEVI

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Speaker 1: tell me, you know, so seeing his character, I was

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Speaker 1: all I saw him when he played in Shazam, you know,

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Speaker 1: that was that was like, oh, yes, this is Shazam guy.

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Speaker 1: Did you get a chance to pick him because he

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Speaker 1: kind of looks like you. Yeah, No, we didn't get

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Speaker 1: a chance. I didn't. I didn't want to have any

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Speaker 1: hand in that part. But I wanted to be left

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Speaker 1: the experts trying to figure that out. But you're right,

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Speaker 1: the first thing you think of when you know somebody says, Okay,

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Speaker 1: who's gonna play you? As you said, they gotta look

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Speaker 1: like and so that's the kind of the only thing

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Speaker 1: you really think about when it's you know, who's gonna

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Speaker 1: play you in a movie. But I think the great

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Speaker 1: thing about Zach is that he's very similar to who

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Speaker 1: I am and how I carry myself and um, and

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Speaker 1: that to me was very important at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day when you watch him on the big screen

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Speaker 1: and you realized that he was able to do such

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Speaker 1: a great job of, you know, of getting my character

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Speaker 1: and showing the different emotions. But no, I didn't want

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Speaker 1: to get in that process at all. My my wife

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Speaker 1: was probably more interested in that process in the boxing

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Speaker 1: TV and and knowing all the people that were out there,

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Speaker 1: and then you know, my wife and her hair and

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Speaker 1: who could pull off short hair, so that was more

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Speaker 1: of her category. I was more worried about the storylines. Yes,

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Speaker 1: I mean to love that, I mean an Academy Award

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Speaker 1: winner obviously, and uh and she did, and she felt

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Speaker 1: like in a really embodied who Brenda was. You know,

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Speaker 1: Brenda's you know, the ex marine, tough, strong and like

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Speaker 1: to you know, personify that. But at the same time,

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Speaker 1: you know, there's a vulnerable side to her and there

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Speaker 1: was a soft side that that a lot of people

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Speaker 1: haven't seen. And so I felt like the character had

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Speaker 1: to get both of those sides, and we thought and

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Speaker 1: did a did a great job at that. Yeah, that

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Speaker 1: was cool. So did you tease Zach kind of throw

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Speaker 1: a football? Because I was looking at kind of some

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Speaker 1: of his form and how he was looking. Did you

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Speaker 1: were you the coach for that? Trust me, we worked

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Speaker 1: on it. Uh, you know he came so that means

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Speaker 1: he must have been terrible. It must have been terrible.

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Speaker 1: We had process, We had some work to do, no,

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Speaker 1: no question, I mean, you know, and again you gotta

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Speaker 1: take you know, all with a grain assault that that's

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Speaker 1: not you know, really what they cast. They you know,

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Speaker 1: they didn't ask the actors to come in and throw

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Speaker 1: a football. They wanted a guy that could you know,

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Speaker 1: pull off the character and then you've got to teach

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Speaker 1: them the other side of it. But he came to

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Speaker 1: visit us just a few days after he signed to

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Speaker 1: be a part of the movie, and you know, we're

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Speaker 1: sitting in the living room talking and all that's going

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Speaker 1: through my mind is can we go out back. I

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Speaker 1: gotta see if you could throw a football, because if

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Speaker 1: you can't throw a football, we're gonna lose people, right

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Speaker 1: because you know that you go to see a sports movie,

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Speaker 1: you've got to at least pull it off. We've gotta

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Speaker 1: to a degree believable. Now. You know, you can't go

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Speaker 1: and expect exactly leave to look like a you know,

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Speaker 1: an NFL quarterback and the scenes to look exactly like that.

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Speaker 1: But you gotta be good enough and uh, and so

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Speaker 1: that was one of my big concerns. But you know,

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Speaker 1: the way they shot at the way they put it together,

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Speaker 1: and the work that's acted and put in, I thought

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Speaker 1: he did a really really good job. And again, never

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Speaker 1: gonna be perfect, but you know, there were some scenes

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Speaker 1: in there that I thought we're just almost right on,

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Speaker 1: you know, with with the way that he picked up

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Speaker 1: some of the ways that I threw the football, and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I would give him a few little tips

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Speaker 1: along the way on things that I would do, and so, yeah,

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Speaker 1: a lot of work went into that. I didn't do

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Speaker 1: all that work. He actually had a quarterback coach that

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Speaker 1: would that would work with him throughout the process and

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Speaker 1: try to help him with that. So I know that

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Speaker 1: that was probably the hardest thing for Zack in this movie,

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Speaker 1: was to continually work and try to get that right.

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Speaker 1: And one thing I noticed was your wife her hair

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Speaker 1: It changed throughout the movie, and your hair was just

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Speaker 1: like I made low dark black the entire the entire

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Speaker 1: time like it. It never changed. No, that was that

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Speaker 1: was pretty much me at that time, and that was

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Speaker 1: pretty much my wife. That always changed. You know, you

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Speaker 1: usually knew what part of my career we were in

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Speaker 1: based on what my wife's hair looked like. So that

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Speaker 1: was just something that we wanted to give right as well.

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Speaker 1: So going from stocking shells to or college football stocking

386
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Speaker 1: shells and then you get to the Arena League and

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Speaker 1: then you play there for a couple of years, and

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Speaker 1: it's it's a faster game. The NFL seems slower to you.

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Speaker 1: You think you think arena actually helped you and prepared

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Speaker 1: you without a doubt. Yes, you know. When I was

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Speaker 1: on and as it's kind of depicted in the movie,

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Speaker 1: the first couple of games I played in arena football.

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Speaker 1: I was awful where I just like, oh my gosh,

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I just like everything. You think

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Speaker 1: you're gonna be really good at it, and you think, okay,

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Speaker 1: you know, the arena league is not the NFL. You know,

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Speaker 1: these players aren't NFL type players. And then you go

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Speaker 1: play and you're like, oh my gosh. You know, the

399
00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,280
Speaker 1: fields smaller, everything happens quicker. You know, there was only

400
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Speaker 1: three defensive lineman, so the defensive ends are you know,

401
00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:27,920
Speaker 1: are right there, and so they get on you quick.

402
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:31,280
Speaker 1: So everything happens faster. But ultimately, yeah, you know, when

403
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Speaker 1: you get used to it and you start playing and

404
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,240
Speaker 1: the decisions and the accuracy that you have to have

405
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Speaker 1: in the small windows. When I did get to the NFL,

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Speaker 1: it's exactly what I thought. I'm like, oh my gosh,

407
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Speaker 1: you know, everything's taken longer to develop. You know, routs

408
00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,159
Speaker 1: are deeper and throws are longer and all that stuff.

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Speaker 1: Where I did remember going, okay, now I got to

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Speaker 1: get acclimated back to the to the big field, you know,

411
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,159
Speaker 1: to to the big game and the timing of this

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Speaker 1: game because it is you know, and again obviously the

413
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Speaker 1: players aren't slower, but the way things developed in the

414
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Speaker 1: things that you're seeing take longer. And so yeah, ultimately

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Speaker 1: I think that was a huge benefit that you know,

416
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Speaker 1: when I got there. You know, everybody talks about why

417
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Speaker 1: what the first thing they say when you go, okay,

418
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Speaker 1: when you got to the NFL, what was the biggest adjustment?

419
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Speaker 1: And everybody goes to speed, the speed, everything's faster everything,

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Speaker 1: And for me it was it was the opposite that

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh no, it wasn't too fast. It

422
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Speaker 1: was being able to adjust to uh, you know, just

423
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Speaker 1: slowing myself down and being able to you know, tie

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Speaker 1: my feet to the you know, to the new game

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00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,359
Speaker 1: on the on the big field, so we're out of doubt.

426
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:35,040
Speaker 1: From accuracy, uh, to making quick decisions, all of that stuff.

427
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Speaker 1: In the arena league, you know, it accentuates those skills,

428
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,399
Speaker 1: and again those became skills that when I played in

429
00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,760
Speaker 1: the NFL would become my calling card. The things that

430
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:46,560
Speaker 1: that I did really well was to fall out of

431
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,040
Speaker 1: my hands and and be accurate with the football. All

432
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:50,680
Speaker 1: things that I did those three years when I was

433
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,440
Speaker 1: playing in arena Yeah. So tell me, you know, looking

434
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,520
Speaker 1: at the movie, I've played with some great coaches, and

435
00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,399
Speaker 1: these coaches kind of motivates you, and you don't want

436
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,440
Speaker 1: to disappoint those coaches. And obviously Smith, he was my guy.

437
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,920
Speaker 1: He was in you know St. Louis with you tell

438
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,560
Speaker 1: me about Mike Marks was was Was he difficult when

439
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,720
Speaker 1: you got there? Yes, I mean very much. Said you know,

440
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:16,320
Speaker 1: that's one of the questions a lot of people have

441
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,600
Speaker 1: after seeing the movie, like, Okay, you know how legit

442
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,320
Speaker 1: was that little relationship that you had with Mike in

443
00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:28,359
Speaker 1: the movie and that was accurate? Is that? You know,

444
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,639
Speaker 1: just from the standpoint of how Mike dealt with me,

445
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:36,119
Speaker 1: that every moment of every practice he was all over me.

446
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,320
Speaker 1: You know, every time I didn't call the playwright in

447
00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:39,840
Speaker 1: the huddle, he would get on me. You know, if

448
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,080
Speaker 1: a fumble, the snap, he would get on me. In

449
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,119
Speaker 1: the meeting rooms, you know, I'd sit back and go, man,

450
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,560
Speaker 1: didn't I just do exactly what Trent did? Why is it?

451
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 1: Why is he yelling at me? You know, bro, after

452
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,160
Speaker 1: the fact, you understand that he was trying to coach

453
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,440
Speaker 1: Trent through me. You know, I'm sure you've been there

454
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:58,400
Speaker 1: that I don't want to I don't want to coach

455
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,200
Speaker 1: through the starter because if I coached the starter hard,

456
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,000
Speaker 1: then everybody in the room thinks, well, what's wrong with

457
00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:07,400
Speaker 1: our starter? Why is our starter starting if he can't

458
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,119
Speaker 1: get anything right. So a lot of that coaching was

459
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 1: done through me, and because I was a guy that

460
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,359
Speaker 1: was never really going to get an opportunity to prove

461
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,680
Speaker 1: between the lines who I was and what I could do.

462
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:20,680
Speaker 1: You know, if I was going to play, it would

463
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,040
Speaker 1: be in a backup role and then be kind of

464
00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:27,320
Speaker 1: thrust into that position. So Mike was just trying to go, Okay,

465
00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,879
Speaker 1: how can I put the most amount of pressure on

466
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,920
Speaker 1: this guy every single day and see how he responds

467
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,359
Speaker 1: to to just give us an idea. If he is

468
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,840
Speaker 1: thrown into that moment, can he handle that pressure? So

469
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:42,879
Speaker 1: you know, so he rode me, and he rode me

470
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,680
Speaker 1: and he rode me, and you know, ironically enough, when

471
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,600
Speaker 1: I would become the starter, he called me into the

472
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 1: room and he just kind of said, I just wanted

473
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 1: to ochre all that was with the purpose. You know,

474
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,159
Speaker 1: I was doing all that to try to get you

475
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,800
Speaker 1: ready at this moment ever came and he said, that's over,

476
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,719
Speaker 1: that's done, you're the guy, and now we're moving forward.

477
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,320
Speaker 1: And it didn't happen after that. But you know, when

478
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,160
Speaker 1: you're going through it, you're just like, this dude hates me? Why? Why?

479
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:15,440
Speaker 1: Why is he constantly But you understand the purpose, and

480
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 1: you know, I remember us doing an interview Means Marshall

481
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 1: and Isaaca Tory about three or four weeks into the season,

482
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: and the interviewer just you know, asked Marshall like, Okay,

483
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 1: did you know that Kurt could be this good if

484
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,919
Speaker 1: he got the opportunity to play? And I remember mukshow

485
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,120
Speaker 1: kind of laughing. But you know, we all thought Kurt

486
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:35,600
Speaker 1: was awful because all he did was getting yelled at

487
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 1: in training camp every single day. So how Mike was

488
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 1: using that to be a positive? Ultimately, when I get

489
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 1: took over the starting role, you know, all the guys

490
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:46,320
Speaker 1: are like, oh my gosh, not this guy. Not the

491
00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:48,960
Speaker 1: guy that's been yelled at every single you know, every

492
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,840
Speaker 1: single day. So just you know, funny stories that that

493
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,560
Speaker 1: happened in different ways, Like you said that coaches coach

494
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: you to try to get the best out of you,

495
00:23:58,000 --> 00:23:59,840
Speaker 1: and I think that was you know, a really cool

496
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,880
Speaker 1: part of the movie is that at certain people along

497
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,960
Speaker 1: the way, and specifically coaches that had to coach me

498
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 1: a certain way, had to teach me something in their

499
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,879
Speaker 1: coaching style that would ultimately make me the player and

500
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,440
Speaker 1: the person that I was. And that was when we

501
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,040
Speaker 1: tried to show because you know, coaches have such an

502
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,800
Speaker 1: influence on not just who we become as players, but

503
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 1: who we are as people, and they teach us things

504
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:28,320
Speaker 1: through the game that ultimately become things that drive us

505
00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: and to find us, you know, as a man. And

506
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 1: those were some of the things that we were trying

507
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,320
Speaker 1: to tell in the movie through the coaching style and

508
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,120
Speaker 1: coaching situations that that we had in right right, Well,

509
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,000
Speaker 1: you definitely rose to the occasion. Um one last question

510
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,879
Speaker 1: before we go. We had a little viewing party at

511
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 1: my house when we watched it, and you know, one

512
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:52,919
Speaker 1: lady she talked about how the faith. There's a lot

513
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,159
Speaker 1: of religion in this movie, and they talked about that

514
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,440
Speaker 1: and she says, is this is this a Christian movie?

515
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:58,879
Speaker 1: Is this? I was like, No, I think it's just

516
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,919
Speaker 1: a movie. He's just he's passionate about, you know, as

517
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,399
Speaker 1: Lord and Savior, like he's not He's not shy about that.

518
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,919
Speaker 1: And I would like to commend you for that because

519
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,719
Speaker 1: I think now we don't really see that in movies

520
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:16,120
Speaker 1: and it's all about just uh, sex appeal and what sells,

521
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,080
Speaker 1: and there wasn't any of that in this movie. It

522
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:24,679
Speaker 1: was just true, authentic people, you know, within your marriage

523
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,160
Speaker 1: and showed you know, the good times the bad times

524
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,120
Speaker 1: that you guys struggle. You're in the NFL, but yeah,

525
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,719
Speaker 1: I have a wife and we argue with times. We're

526
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 1: not always on the same page. And it was a

527
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 1: very um I think it was real and authentic and

528
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:42,920
Speaker 1: I think when people watching this film, they'll they'll appreciate that.

529
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 1: So I took my hat tif I had one on.

530
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:48,960
Speaker 1: I really like the fact that your wife did that.

531
00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,120
Speaker 1: I saw on Kelly Clarkson and she said, I want

532
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 1: this to be authentic. I wanted to be the real us,

533
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,960
Speaker 1: and I think he pulled it off. I really do. Well,

534
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,840
Speaker 1: thank you man. You know that you know, obviously everybody

535
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 1: that knows us and followed the journey, it all knows

536
00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,920
Speaker 1: that we're, you know, people of faith. But I love that,

537
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,960
Speaker 1: you know, the lady that you were talking about kind

538
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 1: of asked the question like, is this a Christian movie

539
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,440
Speaker 1: is because the bottom line is to me, it's it's

540
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,639
Speaker 1: a movie and It's a really good movie with a

541
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 1: lot of storylines, but faith is an element. Faith is

542
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 1: a storyline in that movie because faith is a part

543
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,240
Speaker 1: of who we are, and so the one of the

544
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,560
Speaker 1: underlying themes is always going to be that faith. And

545
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,440
Speaker 1: what we really tried to do in this movie was

546
00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:36,800
Speaker 1: I think often times when you say are they making

547
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,160
Speaker 1: a Christian movie, you think about movies that are trying

548
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,040
Speaker 1: to tell you where you need to be in your faith. Okay,

549
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 1: this is what you have to believe, and this is

550
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,879
Speaker 1: what you know faith is all about. And what we

551
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 1: tried to do in this movie will show the faith

552
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 1: journey because Brenda was in a completely different place in

553
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,879
Speaker 1: her faith at that time than I was, and I

554
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:00,920
Speaker 1: think in the movie that's the picked it really really

555
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,919
Speaker 1: well that here's where Brenda's at, Here's where I am.

556
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 1: Both of them are okay, because all of us have

557
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 1: to come to our own faith journey. We've all got

558
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,760
Speaker 1: to come and develop what faith means to us and

559
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 1: what that relationship looks like to us. And so that

560
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,480
Speaker 1: was what we wanted to get across in the movie

561
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,960
Speaker 1: was that I was on this journey this entire time,

562
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: and you know, my wife and her faith and when

563
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:26,680
Speaker 1: she went through some of the things that kind of

564
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,720
Speaker 1: rocked her world, to watch her faith play out in

565
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 1: front of me went a long way and showing me

566
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: the kind of faith that I wanted to have, the

567
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 1: kind of relationship that I wanted to have, you know,

568
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,639
Speaker 1: with God. And so that's what we tried to show. So,

569
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 1: no question, it was always going to be in there.

570
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,239
Speaker 1: It was just a matter of how it was in there.

571
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,040
Speaker 1: And I believe the directors did a great job of

572
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 1: not making it the primary thing, but making it a thing,

573
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 1: you know, making it a part of our journey, because

574
00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:56,000
Speaker 1: it was a huge part of our journey and would

575
00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,320
Speaker 1: overimately shape who we were and you know, how we

576
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,880
Speaker 1: lived our left. Yeah, it didn't feel like a Christian movie.

577
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,119
Speaker 1: Just felt like a movie that had religion in it

578
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 1: and it was just a part of your character. And yeah,

579
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 1: I think the message was well received. And I will say,

580
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,600
Speaker 1: the young man you know who played your son, z Man,

581
00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 1: he was he was awesome, awesome. I mean, you know,

582
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: there's so many great storylines in this that you know,

583
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: people will never hear. But obviously that the title of

584
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,680
Speaker 1: the movies American Underdog, so obviously you know, plays to

585
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,480
Speaker 1: to My Journey. But you could look at Branda as

586
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 1: an American underdog. You could look at Zack as an

587
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 1: American underdog. It could coach for Meal at times that

588
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 1: you know, so so many underdog stories in this But Hayden,

589
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: who plays Zack in the movie, is fully blind and

590
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:47,280
Speaker 1: he is from all accounts that we could find, the first,

591
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 1: you know, young person to play, you know, a role

592
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 1: that has disabilities in a major motion picture. And so

593
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,320
Speaker 1: he was a young man that was adopted, you know,

594
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,960
Speaker 1: when he was five years old, had never acted in

595
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,760
Speaker 1: a single movie before this, you know, stepped in and

596
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,520
Speaker 1: did a phenomenal job playing Zac. And you know, every

597
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,240
Speaker 1: time I watched the movie, those are the themes that

598
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,720
Speaker 1: that probably give me more than anything else, is that

599
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,280
Speaker 1: we wanted to share a story. And you've seen a

600
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 1: lot of sports movies. Many of the sports movies, you know,

601
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: they'll have kind of the main character trying to live

602
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 1: up to what their dad wants them to be or

603
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 1: trying to to chase their dream because they want dad

604
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 1: to be proud of him. You know, one thing in

605
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,800
Speaker 1: My Journey was always looking at this young man that

606
00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,880
Speaker 1: it devil struggles from the time he was four months old,

607
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 1: and his perseverance and his overcoming and the fact that

608
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 1: he never complained about the hand he was dealt, and

609
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,000
Speaker 1: I would watch this young man on a daily basis

610
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,280
Speaker 1: just continually pushed through and pushed through and pushed through,

611
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: where he motivated me so much to keep chasing my dream.

612
00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,720
Speaker 1: So one thing we wanted to flip in this movie

613
00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 1: that a big part of me chasing my dream is

614
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,000
Speaker 1: I wanted to approve to that the young man that hey,

615
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 1: I can do what you do. I'm not going to

616
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,560
Speaker 1: ever give up, as you've taught me not to ever

617
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 1: give up. And so I think that's a really powerful

618
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,680
Speaker 1: part of this movie is that too often we feel

619
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,040
Speaker 1: like the leaders have to be people that are older

620
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: than us, people that are in positions of leadership. But

621
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: I've learned in life that you can be led by anybody.

622
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,080
Speaker 1: You can be led by by people that aren't even

623
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 1: looking to lead you if you keep your eyes open

624
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: and and you have relationships with those kind of people.

625
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,960
Speaker 1: And and that's who Zach was. Zach broke down so

626
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,959
Speaker 1: many barriers for me and my wife. He inspired us

627
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,480
Speaker 1: so much of who we are and what we chased

628
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,120
Speaker 1: after in life was because of you know, because of

629
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 1: him and our love for him and what he showed

630
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 1: us on a daily basis. So I appreciate you saying that,

631
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,600
Speaker 1: because Hayd he did an unbelievable job and he's got

632
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:55,720
Speaker 1: his own amazing story. But Zach was such an instrumental

633
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 1: part of our journeys and it was fun to watch

634
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,240
Speaker 1: him become, you know, a hero in this movie. That's cool.

635
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:05,400
Speaker 1: That's cool. Well, Uh, hey, Kurt, I appreciate you coming.

636
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 1: Oh one last thing, Uh the jacket. You still got

637
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 1: the code? I still got the code. Yeah, it's hanging out.

638
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: It's hanging over there right now. Yes, Yeah, Twitter was

639
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:16,480
Speaker 1: killing you with that jacket. Is it? Is it warm?

640
00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,680
Speaker 1: It is warm? Uh? You know how that goes when

641
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,400
Speaker 1: you when you go on TV, you gotta give him

642
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,400
Speaker 1: something to talk about. I hear you, and you gotta

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00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 1: understand in this day and age that that's gonna happen.

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00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: So you gotta have thick skin when you're on TV

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00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,920
Speaker 1: and it's all bottom bride is Hey, I got a

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00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: movie coming out, and everybody's talking about Jacket, and everybody's

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00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,720
Speaker 1: talking about the movie, and that is a win win

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00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,040
Speaker 1: across the board because you know, I'm confident enough in

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00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,120
Speaker 1: myself that I'm not gonna allow that to to affect me.

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00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: When somebody hits me on Twitter and tells me I

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00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,440
Speaker 1: look like a you know, chocolate kiss or whatever it was,

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00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 1: it's it's it's all good. Joles. Hey, well, I appreciate

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00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,080
Speaker 1: you coming home, man. Thank you so much. From those listening,

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00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 1: y'all gonna check out this movie. It is amazing. Thank you.

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00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:02,760
Speaker 1: And again I'm Charles Tillman and this is the Player Podcast.

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00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:07,960
Speaker 1: Thank you all for tuning in. Thanks for joining us

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00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,600
Speaker 1: on the NFL Players Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and

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00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,440
Speaker 1: follow at NFL Players Podcast on Instagram for the latest

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00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,760
Speaker 1: player stories and to connect with the NFL Players community.