WEBVTT - Aaron Williams talks recovering from partial paralysis, horseback riding, coaching the next generation 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.920 Thank you for tuning in to the NFL Player's Second 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.880 Acts podcast. I'm Peanut Tillman and I got my boy 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:19.360 gand Off the Gray aka rooman Harbor woman. 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:20.360 Want something? 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.040 Did you just think of that one? I've never actually 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:24.880 heard that one. I just came off the top of 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:26.040 the Don't I like that one? 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:26.320 All right? 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:28.000 I'm's been telling me to rap, so I've been thinking 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.120 about some raps. So yeah, getting off the Gray. That's 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:32.000 that's you all weekend, Getting off the Grad. 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:33.199 You know what. I appreciate that. 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:35.559 First and foremost, let me thank all of our listeners 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:37.880 and people that always tune in and watch us on YouTube. 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:40.640 Wherever you pick up your podcast, make sure you give 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.599 us a five star rating, give us a review, leave 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:45.560 a couple of comments. Be sure to make sure you 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.240 always hit that follow button wherever you pick up your podcast, 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:53.559 whether it's Apple Podcast, our Heart Radio. Peanut, who is 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.080 the beautiful guest today? This is a man of many, 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:57.480 many traits. Man. 0:00:57.560 --> 0:00:59.120 Well, let me just read off his bio to you 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:04.280 real quick around Draft pick twenty eleven Draft dB veteran 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:05.840 six years in the league. 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:07.639 He now wears many hats. 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.600 A fashion model, personal trainer and he is probably from 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:13.920 the greatest state in the United States. 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:17.000 Baby, well the fact I mean when you said probably 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.680 probably maybe really hey, hey. 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.160 Just say it, Aaron Williams, everybody. 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:26.080 I appreciate it. That's a great intro. 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:32.039 Amazingly everybody knows SEXYT football is is king as it 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:36.160 pertains a football. It ain't no damn Alabama. I mean well, 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.000 first team All State Dave Campbell. Hey, if you know, 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.080 if you're not from Texas, you don't know about that 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:45.280 Dave Campbell. Like the Texas high school football the magazine 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:48.760 covered like it's it's everything to make that subject. Benson 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.040 was the first one to make it, like back in 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.320 like I was ninety nine, So he made it in 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.120 like ninety ninety eight or something like that, like. 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:00.360 It's it's a it's a real it's a real big man. 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.279 The agent Peterson making too, I believe. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.280 So. Yeah, because he came. 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:06.280 After him was pretty good. 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:06.840 He did. 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:11.000 It was like it was like a god, yeah, there 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.320 isn't he really was he was. 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.920 He was like starting like he was him before he 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.600 was him. That's how That's how he was pretty much. Yeah, 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:22.800 I didn't know that. 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.640 So I want to get off on this Aaron because 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.040 number one, man, you're a pretty fashionable guy yourself. But 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.320 I went and looked at your LinkedIn profile page and 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.040 I want to know have you updated it at all? 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.679 Because like you got a lot on there, Like how 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.239 often do you update this thing? You got all kinds. 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.200 I try to have my people updated for me because 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.440 I'm just always doing other things. Yes, I try to 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.000 do as much as possible. I mean, being in football 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:50.640 and we always taught the more you can do, the 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.600 more accessible you are. So I try to just stick 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.600 to one thing. I try to do multiple things and 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:57.560 just in case one thing doesn't work and go on 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:58.080 to the next. 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.760 So like a jack of all trades, I try to 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:02.600 be all right. So how many jobs do you have 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:07.239 right now? I mean I feel like I got two jobs, 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.160 you know, or maybe three jobs right now. I feel 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:12.959 like you is like you remember that show Living Colors, 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:13.679 Like how many job you? 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:14.160 God mind? 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:18.680 Not enough? How many jobs you. 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:21.000 Got right now? Honestly, I have a lot of hobbies. 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.000 I wouldn't consider them jobs because they don't feel like jobs. 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.320 I get paid for them, but I make my own schedule. 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.639 I work with people that I really enjoy being with, 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.320 and I'm not forced to do anything. That's a great 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:34.800 pleasure of being your own boss. 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.320 So what's the what's the best job you have right now? 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:37.839 What's the best? 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:43.440 Definitely definitely training high school, college, and some professional academy. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:47.200 And I made to the highest level. So I was 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.160 once that kid. They're like, man, I want to be there, 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.440 So I told myself to get back as much as possible. Plus, 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:54.600 my dad is really like big in the community. He 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:59.440 runs a FBU and does the All American Game with NBC. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.040 So I've been around football camps my whole life, helped 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.280 around the community. Did that same thing when I was 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.520 in Buffalo, so I've been a part of my whole life. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.960 I got a question for you because you're from McNeill, Texas, 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.720 like number one, where's that at? So I saw his 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.880 population two thousand. Shout out to Thomas me and him 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.320 doing some researches. All right, So tell me about McNeil 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.440 and kind of like your upbringing, because you know, you 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:27.919 said your dad was around and really helped coaching and 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.400 doing all these other things. But how does he get involved? 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:32.599 How do you guys get involved in such a small 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:34.200 community to all of a sudden be able to be 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.159 in such a such a big game or like a 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:39.200 big way, you know, if that makes anything. 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.880 Yeah, definitely. So McNeil is actually the high school I 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:44.000 went to, and it's in around Rock, Texas, which is 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.279 a suburb north of Boston, about thirty minutes north of Austin. 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.840 I'm loving this conversation with all these Texas towns. This 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:56.160 is making me feel like home, shaking, kind of good 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:57.240 about myself. 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:05.040 And h predominantly white neighborhood, not really recognized for having 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.600 kids come out to make it in sports. It's a real, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.040 real quiet neighborhood until I got there and I started 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:17.160 racing have it, but everyone real good people. My dad 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:19.640 has always been in love with the game of football. 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:22.719 He had a stint with the Niners, a little try out, 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.440 didn't really pan out for him. Coached for about fifteen years, 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.320 and then I came into the world. Coached me since 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:35.360 we were I was five, and then my brothers came 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.920 along helped them out, and then we all grew up 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.280 did our own thing. I had a brother play a 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.840 issue baseball issue, another brother went to UTSA, and then 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:48.279 obviously me went to ut and my little sister commerce softball. 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:53.599 So family, so we've always been busy running around and 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.200 once we got out of the house, my dad was 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.720 kind of like, I want to continue to help these 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.360 kids because that's his passion, is helping ca Is get 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.520 to the other goal. We've been doing that. We did 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.839 local camps at first, then we started doing state camps, 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.159 and then we nationwide with it. So we're all over 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:13.360 from Cali to Maine, to Vegas, to Florida to Arizona, 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:15.800 every say you could probably think of. We've got a 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:17.720 lot of kids, a lot of kids. C J. Straw 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.120 was probably one of our kids from FBU, so we 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:21.720 have a lot of kids in the league that came 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.279 through us. And it's I'm real proud of my death 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:27.160 for doing that and give me a lie of how 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.800 to really get back to community other than just teaching 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.000 them them kids the techniques are on the field. My 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:35.120 thing is off the field. I'm a big off the 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.880 field guy because I know what it now feels like 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:42.599 to play football for so long and then it not 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:44.560 be there no more to try to figure out what's next. 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.480 So I know the struggles of the transition of being 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:50.400 a part that, and I want kids to understand football 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:51.279 is going to end. 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:52.080 At some point. 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:56.320 At some point everyone's different, but it's going to end, 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.840 and that's when we're to me. Real life really starts 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.280 when football ends. So I try to get ahead of 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:03.800 the curve with these kids. Understand like, I know you 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.719 think this is gonna last forever, but I thought the 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:08.840 same thing and that one injury took me out. So 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:11.080 have a plan. I always try to give these kids. 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:14.160 Have a plan B, C, D, because I know A 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.920 is football for these kids. But I'm more worried about 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:18.640 if that Plan A don't work out, what are you 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:19.040 gonna do? 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.880 So excuse me, what's been one of the most gratifying 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:28.440 stories that you've had helping some of these kids. 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:31.000 I think since you've been doing these camps, I think 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.160 for me, it's always great seeing one of your kids 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.080 to make it to D one, D two, D three, 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.600 where wherever they go as far as college wise, and 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:39.559 even the more accomplishment when they make it to the league. 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.760 But for me is when they come to me and say, hey, 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.240 you change my life, You change my perspective, all things, 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.640 you changed how I look at life. That's that's a 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:54.320 real reward for me, because man, that's that's the bigger. 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.280 I want people to especial for US athletes. Our mentals 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.760 are so important and it's not talked about a lot 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.320 because as we're put on a high pedestal for such 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:05.360 a long time, everybody were looked at as idols and whatnot, 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:09.280 and people forget that we're still humans. So for me, 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.840 it's them coming to me and saying, hey, I'm still 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.119 doing great in life after football. Football stuff is all great, 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:19.920 that's athletic ability that you and God can talk about 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:21.960 and pertain. But when it comes to me, how's your 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.080 mental how your family house? How are you? How are 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.160 you treating others? That's the more important goal for me. 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:29.840 Well, you, I think you alluded to it a little 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.560 earlier when you were saying that, like we all have 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.240 our transition and that's when life really starts. I know 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.560 I had my little transition, rome you did his, obviously. 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.040 That's why we have this podcast, NFL Player Second Acts, 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:45.280 and it's really trying to figure out and help players 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:47.480 and really just listen to them as they tell us 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.160 our stories about their transition. How long did it take 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.640 for you to get adjusted to your new lifestyle once 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:54.720 you transition. 0:08:55.840 --> 0:09:01.600 After football? I'm still there seven years the league. Now, man, 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.280 I say, probably the last year. Yeah, wow, yeah, last year. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.920 I'm just now started feeling comfortable and not feeling like 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:10.960 an outsider really in a way. 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:15.240 Yeah, and outside of like how like as in like 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:19.520 it's hard to get back to like regular society. Yeah, 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.960 like I'm not in society yet, but I'm like in 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.200 this weird place, right, Okay. 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.480 I consider so my life before I I was a 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.160 football I called the football life. Yeah, because it's totally 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.920 different from the life I'm living now. Football life. I 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.839 was handled at a lot of things and rewarded a 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.040 lot of things just for my athletic ability. And then 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.800 transitioning to not blinging football no more, I had to 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.400 really truly figure out, first of all, who I was, 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.440 because I didn't know. I just knew twenty three Aaron 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.599 Wims from Roynrock me Neil that was me for the 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.480 long sign I saw that was my identity? Did that 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.439 go away and be taking them? I had to refigure 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.840 out my identity and and see what makes me happy? 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:03.400 How can I give back in any way possible? And 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:05.599 it took a long time. I'm not gonna lie, it 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.880 took a long A lot of bumpy roads and a 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:13.920 lot of self help and family members helping me, but 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.400 rehab and all that stuff. It definitely got me to 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.080 the point now where I'm at and I have to 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:23.920 think football honestly, because it's a mental game. After football. 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:29.560 At that point, everything is you know, everything was schedule 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.040 was made for you, breakfast was made for you, the 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.960 regiment was made for you. For me now it was like, 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.320 how do I create my own regimen? How do I 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:40.679 go on day to day? Because the first two and 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.679 a half three years I was waking up like, all right, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.880 what do I do now? Now? Lucky for me, I'm 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:49.400 blessed enough to I made two contracts, two very good contracts, 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:53.800 so the financial side wasn't like worries, which thank god 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:55.839 because if it was, it would probably be a harder 0:10:55.920 --> 0:11:02.400 road for me. But not being able to like know 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.000 what I'm going to do the day was very, very 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:08.680 weird for a very long time. It was. It was 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.760 very scary. It was scary because it was fun for 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.880 the first two months, and then after the two months 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:20.000 it was like, well, you don't want to spend money 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:21.520 because you're not really you don't have a job. I 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:23.520 don't have a job, right now, so I can't really 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:27.719 do what I want without going broke. One of my 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:31.240 main goals. First thing caught my dad taught me, don't 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.800 go broke. You know that you don't have to keep 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:36.240 up with the joneses we like to call it. And 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.600 me adjusting to that to be able to once freely 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:47.200 spend whatever whenever to now looking at my bank account 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.400 and what I'm spending and how I'm spending it and 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:52.680 one of my investments, how am I going to do 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:54.600 that when I do put money investments and I don't 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.319 have to readjust how I live in life all those 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.000 certain things until I figure out an occupation or something 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.800 and bring income. That took a little while, but my 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.200 dad being with the camps brought me in and it 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:09.200 was hard for me to stay be with the game 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.920 still with my whole background story with the football, so 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:15.640 it took me a long time to be around the game. 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.080 But my dad forced me just because he knew this 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:20.880 is what I This is what I know, and I 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:22.719 have a lot of knowledge for it and kids need 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.000 to hear about this. And it took me a while 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.520 for my selfish reasons to not want to be there, 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:30.959 but I finally finally kicked it in and decided to 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:32.240 just go for it and try it. 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:36.839 Yeah, so I we read up on one of the 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:42.960 other things you're doing and it's helping lower ranked Yeah, 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.839 lower ranked high school student athletes get scholarships. So it's 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.400 like a big deal for you. You've talked about how much 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.000 you passionately care about the young people that you're helping. 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:53.679 Kind of tell me how you got into that, and 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:57.320 like how's it going, and like how rewarding is it 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.480 to see a kid like you said, because you said 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:02.800 that's what you were mostly excited about. It's not about 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:04.800 the fifteen percent that they're going to be all right, 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:06.720 these guys are good athletes, they're gonna make it. But 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.360 the ones that come to you after they've been with 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.199 you and say, man, like you've changed my heart look 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.080 on life, Like I look at things differently. 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:19.560 I like, I like those comments way more because I 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:23.600 have former players or former teammates or teammates that I 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:26.880 call me today and they are struggling and that that 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.400 need help, whether that be financially, whether it be mentally, 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:33.720 whether it be whatever their situation is, and for for 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:37.720 kids to get ahead of that curve before it hits them. 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:40.679 That's that's a blessing for me because I just say, 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.720 that kid a lot of heartache, a lot of pain, 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:47.800 a lot of suffering. Life is going to give us obstacles, obviously, 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:55.760 But to help that kid acknowledge and see the things 0:13:55.760 --> 0:14:00.720 that may make made him go down that path before 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:05.560 you know where I got to makes me feel happier, 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:08.400 just because how I see my journey was it took me, 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.120 let's see, seven years. It took me about six years 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:17.120 to really feel kind of like normal. I guess that's 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.440 a prize for me. Man. That's that's saving a life, Honestly, 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:22.080 a lot of a lot of I know, you guys 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:23.400 have a lot of friends who played in the league 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.480 and stories of people, you know what I'm saying. 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.600 So, dude, I saw that all growing up. I was 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.200 never My kids are shocked when I'm like, I was 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.640 not the best player on my team at any point 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.800 besides little league football, And I saw so many better 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:42.400 players than me kind of fall by the wayside, continue 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.480 to grow, and then you see them fall by the wayside. 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.000 High school, college, NFL, you see talent. Talent is in 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:51.840 abundance on the NFL rosters. It's all about the mental 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.040 side of it. Who could be spiritually, emotionally, mentally locked 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.080 in long enough to outlast the people around them and 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.840 then also four quarters in the game, and usually those 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.360 are the great ones, like those are the great ones. 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.240 That's what separates the great from the good, to the 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.480 guys that aren't here anymore. And it's really good that 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.600 you're able to talk to these people at a younger 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.360 age and kind of tell them, hey, what all pitfalls 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.560 are out there? And it comes to better, so much 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.680 better because I'm a I'm a father of four peanut 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:18.880 is as well. But when your dad ain't saying it, 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.200 it's come from somebody that actually seems to care about 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:24.040 you or like a mentor, it just really just seeps 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:27.000 in so much better, especially with your experience in your background. 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:29.600 Yeah, the mental I think the well, I know the 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.440 mental aspect of it is super serious. And I know 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.800 you had two serious injuries. I know for me when 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:40.080 I had injuries. You know, you're either talking to your 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:43.520 your trainer, pops, or there's there's always that one person 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:46.320 you can kind of call on when you when you 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:50.160 when you need something. Who was the individual or individuals 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:55.320 that you leaned on when you had those those two injuries. 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.000 I'm always say my family, yeah, but I mean outside 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:02.240 of that Fred Jackson running back, Yeah, brob me brought 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.200 me under under his wing. When I first got this 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.600 and I was a I was a kid from Texas 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:13.560 that came from a winning program, always handed things to me. 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:18.960 Then it get the Buffalo wholly different culture and a 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:21.800 kid from Texas who's never been outside of Texas, only 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:26.320 knows Texas. But getting up there was a very cultural shock, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:28.440 and I didn't really didn't know how to really adjust. 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:33.000 I was very segregated, segragated myself from not on purpose 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.520 for my team, it was just because I wasn't comfortable 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:37.040 to where I was at. So he brought me in, 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:39.960 showed me how to be professional, showed me how to 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.800 be a pro, showed me how to be in the community, 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:48.640 showed me that it's bigger than just football. And I 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.040 ain't gonna lie Without him, I probably have been out 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.720 second year in the league. But he saw potential me. 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.040 He saw potential he saw I don't know what he saw, 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:02.320 but I thank him every time because, Uh, I'm where 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:03.840 I'm at today because of his guidance. 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:08.240 You know, my man Smoked Dixon. Gerald Smoked Dixon actually 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:12.320 worked upstairs for Buffy. Yeah, and loved you, raved about 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.640 you being a great ball, great tackler. 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:17.760 We're gonna take a short break and we'll be right back. 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:22.760 I want to talk about because he raved about you. 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.560 I used to follow you because my boy talked about 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:27.080 you so much. I'm like, I should take this other 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.480 safe down. Who's this young cat about to come up 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:30.879 here and do this, that and the other. You're a 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.080 baller than you. I saw the first neck injury. Was 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:36.199 that the one with Edelman right where you're diving. It 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:37.280 looked like a great tackle. 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.159 It looked like it, but it's kind of weird. I 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:41.680 want to talk to you about these things. I feel 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:43.320 like we can open up about these a little bit 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:45.840 now because you've been through them, because you had two 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.240 significant neck injuries. 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.439 Second one was bogus though, yeah, like number one. How 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.520 was the rehab? How do you feel like they happened? 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:57.200 What exactly was the definition of your first neck injury 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:58.399 and your second neck injury? 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.080 I couldn't even tell you the men a term of it, yeah, 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:06.159 like so long or whatever, But basically, when I tackled them, 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:08.960 when I came down, you'll see my neck whiplash back. 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.840 I have a small from my C five to C seven. 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.240 My vertebrate kind of has a small narrow opening for 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.520 my where my nerves are at. So when I tackled 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:23.960 the element and it landed, my whiplash the vertebrate, I 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.680 wouldn't say ruptured, but it like pinched on my nerve 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.760 really bad, maybe go partial paralyzed for about a month 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:31.760 and a half. Oh wow, and then. 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.040 Like how far down was paralyzed. 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:37.080 On my whole my whole right side. Wow, the whole 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:41.320 right side was paralyzed. It happened right as soon as 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:43.480 I landed and I try to get up. You'll see 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:45.400 on the film, like if you look back, you'll see 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.399 my like trying to roll over, but I can't be 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:49.160 cause my right side it is not really given. 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.000 So what is that feeling like? Because I've never had 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:52.359 that feeling? 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:54.639 Yes you have, Yes you have. And it's funny you 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:58.919 say that. Remember those terrible stingers, Yeah, it's that, but 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.840 fly or maximized by two and have it stay there 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.160 lingering for a month and a half. 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:08.879 Because the sting is like ah, and then you started 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:09.200 to come. 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.240 Now the stingers just stay staying right up here. Have 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:14.800 it go down your leg, down to your toes and 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.080 have that while you're walking every day or trying to walk. 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:21.320 I should have a little bit. It's like when your 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:22.399 legs sleep or something. 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:24.720 It's basically like when your leg sleep and you're pinching 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:26.840 and you can't feel. That's exactly how it feels to 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:27.360 be perilous. 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:29.760 How screened was that When you felt that was like, 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:34.760 oh man, okay, oh wait a minute. Knowing that you 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:36.520 just was like, I just made it. I tried to 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.560 make this tackle, but now I can't move. Like, what 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:40.040 was the first thing that went through your mind? 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:40.960 Oh? 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:41.240 Shit? 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:44.840 Honestly, because I was I remember looking at the sky. 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:47.720 It was a perfect day, blue blue sky. Yeah, and 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:51.959