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Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for

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Speaker 1: the players, by the players. Here's your host, four team

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Speaker 1: year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer Anius Williams. Hello,

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I'm a Nisus Williams.

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Speaker 1: Everyone who's ever played football has dreamed of making a

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Speaker 1: big play of the big game. I made some of

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Speaker 1: my biggest plays when I was ten years old in

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Speaker 1: the backyard. But this guy, Santonio Holmes Pitchbird Steelers, he

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Speaker 1: not only made the big play in the big game,

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Speaker 1: but he did it against my team, the Arizona Cardinals.

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Speaker 1: I can see you right now, Santonio, in the back

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Speaker 1: of the right part of the end zone. The ball

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Speaker 1: looked like Ben was throwing the ball out of bounds.

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Speaker 1: You get up tiptoe, but two nice dancing feet inbounds,

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Speaker 1: and you beat the Arizona Cardinals. That's who we have,

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Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen. Let's talk about that moment. What do

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Speaker 1: you remember just even hearing me describe this, what the

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Speaker 1: trepredation in my voice right now? I get goose bumps

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Speaker 1: thinking about that play, seeing that play, watching the videos

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Speaker 1: and just hearing the fans talk to me about making

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Speaker 1: that play and how ten years later that play still

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Speaker 1: is a significant impact in their lives and they could

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Speaker 1: remember where they were at that particular time or what

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Speaker 1: it made them feel like seeing that happen. Those memories

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Speaker 1: in those moments will continue to forever live throughout understanding

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Speaker 1: that legends are created, you know, by the people that

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Speaker 1: support us, and this's that's a legendary franchise. So we're

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Speaker 1: not talking about the franchise. This is our first super

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Speaker 1: Bowl for first rodeo, So there's so much history with

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Speaker 1: the Steelers. Do you have to pay for anything in

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Speaker 1: Pittsburgh anymore? You go there and just don't bring money

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Speaker 1: when you go to Pittsburgh. After that play, I don't

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Speaker 1: think anybody leaves home without that Wallett. So the American

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Speaker 1: Express stays in my back pocket. But the fans in Pittsburgh, man,

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Speaker 1: they love me, and to know that I got traded

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Speaker 1: and that they still want to see me back in Pittsburgh,

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Speaker 1: that I still get, you know, fourteen year old fans

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Speaker 1: asking me on social media if I could go and

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Speaker 1: play back for the Pittsburgh Steelers again so that they

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Speaker 1: could actually watch me play during this time because they

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Speaker 1: were too young to really understand. You know what kind

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Speaker 1: of magnitude I had in helping the Pittsburgh Steel has become,

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Speaker 1: you know, the six time Super Bowl champions. It makes

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Speaker 1: me feel great, you know, knowing that the hard work, uh,

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Speaker 1: that was brought upon me to take it on myself

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Speaker 1: to say I'm going to be better than all the

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Speaker 1: guys that I played with in high school, all the

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Speaker 1: guys that I grew up. Uh. I was nicknamed, you know,

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Speaker 1: hot hands, the little kid off the Little Giants movie

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Speaker 1: because as a kid, I couldn't catch a football. I

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Speaker 1: could not catch the football. I was the guy running

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Speaker 1: down the field wide open, dropping touchdowns. And it got

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Speaker 1: to me. So I would go home, you know, after

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Speaker 1: practice every day and just toss the football up, the

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Speaker 1: tennis ball up against the house, you know, working on

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Speaker 1: my reaction, working on my hand I coordination, you know,

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Speaker 1: teaching myself how to react to the football and how

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Speaker 1: to be able to track down the ball. You know

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Speaker 1: that I had trouble catching Nobody nobody's at home, Nobody's

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Speaker 1: teaching me me these things. Uh. It was just something

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Speaker 1: that I just really wanted to do. I wanted to

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Speaker 1: learn how to play this game. I wanted to know

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Speaker 1: how to catch a football without being afraid of it,

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Speaker 1: without uh taking my eyes off of it. So I

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Speaker 1: started learning all these little things that you know, just

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Speaker 1: made me better than everyone else. How did that catch

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Speaker 1: change your life? Oh my gosh, man, the shirt I'm

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Speaker 1: wearing today, you know, really solidified the moment that has

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Speaker 1: brought me to this particular place in my life. Uh,

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Speaker 1: it's MVP, and um it's not just an m VP.

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Speaker 1: The logo itself stands for I'm not above anyone, But

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Speaker 1: the bottom line is I'm an m v P and

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Speaker 1: that alone has brought me to wanting to share my

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Speaker 1: moments in life with others and impacting them with the

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Speaker 1: power that they have that they don't know that they

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Speaker 1: already have. Does that go back to you not knowing

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Speaker 1: how good you could have been, and then all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden now you developed you work on those things.

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Speaker 1: But when did you realize, Okay, I can do this

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Speaker 1: or I can be great at it? Probably a sophomore

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Speaker 1: year of high school. I didn't get moved up to

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Speaker 1: varsity my end of my freshman year, and I was

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Speaker 1: very upset, But it was because we had a ton

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Speaker 1: of receivers on the right. So you know, there's there's

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Speaker 1: close to seven or eight receiver was on our high

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Speaker 1: school varsity team, and I know that I'm good enough

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Speaker 1: to be moved up to the varsity because they're getting

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Speaker 1: ready to go to state this year. So I want

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Speaker 1: to be a part of that. And I knew I

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Speaker 1: was more than capable of, you know, giving some assistance,

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Speaker 1: you know, with the receivers, but I wasn't ready. And

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Speaker 1: I think that is when I realized that, okay, I

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Speaker 1: got two years after these guys leave, that I'm going

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Speaker 1: to be a starter. So come my sophomore year, I

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Speaker 1: know I'm not gonna play a lot, but I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: go out and I'm gonna practice hard. I'm gonna do

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Speaker 1: all these things better than these guys. I'm gonna show

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Speaker 1: that I deserved to be a starter. So when the

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Speaker 1: time comes, they don't have any discrepancies to say, well,

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Speaker 1: he maybe can be a starter, he's not big enough

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Speaker 1: for he's no. I brought everything that I could possibly

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Speaker 1: bring to the table as a sophomore in high school

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Speaker 1: at you know, five eight five, nine hundred and sixty pounds.

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Speaker 1: How do you react now when strangers come up and

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Speaker 1: bring up the catch. I take it all in. I

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Speaker 1: love hearing it. I love hearing what a fan has

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Speaker 1: to say about that moment. We've heard so many myths

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Speaker 1: about legends of our past and the things that no

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Speaker 1: one has seen but someone has said. But this day

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Speaker 1: and age, this is not a myth. This is real,

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Speaker 1: and what the fans can share with each other about

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Speaker 1: that particular moment will carry on. You know for a

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Speaker 1: lifetime that that this is going to be one of

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Speaker 1: those stories about something legendary that happened. Uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: back in the history that someone's gonna be able to tell,

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Speaker 1: But this time it's going to be really seen and

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Speaker 1: told in the same manner, over and over and over.

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Speaker 1: The story won't get confused about how it you know,

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Speaker 1: how it happened. Is that transition a little bit? What

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Speaker 1: are you doing now at college college life? Man? Uh?

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Speaker 1: Back at the State Universe. Yes, sir, um, I actually

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Speaker 1: graduated next Sunday, So thank you, thank you so much. Man.

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Speaker 1: It's uh, it's been a tremendous journey. Um. I kept

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Speaker 1: faith that this was something that would be very important,

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Speaker 1: that I didn't want to go to any other school

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Speaker 1: and finish my degree, you know, while playing in the league.

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Speaker 1: Uh to just take it and and give some other

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Speaker 1: university that credit for producing you know what Ohio State

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Speaker 1: helped producing me. So I wanted to go back to

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Speaker 1: my alma mater and graduate and be an alumni of

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Speaker 1: the Ohio State University, you know, with pride and not

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Speaker 1: say that I'm a part of Ohio State because I

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Speaker 1: got my degree from there. You know, I was a student,

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Speaker 1: I was an athlete, and I'm a graduate. So now

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Speaker 1: I'm an alumni of the Ohio State University. I know.

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Speaker 1: She couldn't you keep putting the Ohio University because I

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Speaker 1: now referred to the Southern University just because Olando always

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Speaker 1: messing with him. Man, that was something that was just

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Speaker 1: instilled in us. Man, and you come into that university,

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Speaker 1: it's the Ohio State University. That yes, And I would

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Speaker 1: always say Ohio State or Old State, and you know,

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Speaker 1: I would just get these stairs from from the alumnis, like, Yo,

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Speaker 1: this is really how you're going to talk about the university.

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Speaker 1: So it was being held up to a certain standard,

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Speaker 1: you know that you had to appreciate what you've been

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Speaker 1: through and to go on to be a Super Bowl

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Speaker 1: m v P from Ohio State University, who is actually

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Speaker 1: the first and only Super Bowl MVP to ever attend

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Speaker 1: Ohio State University. Makes it that much more special to

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Speaker 1: put the Ohio State University on anything that you that

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Speaker 1: you speak of, why it's so important for legends to

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Speaker 1: go back and get their degrees, and why was that

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Speaker 1: so important for you? I know you said a little bit,

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Speaker 1: but what was what was going on inside you to

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Speaker 1: make you want to go back because so many guys

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Speaker 1: have opportunities to do it incomplete? Incomplete? Talk about that

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Speaker 1: the body, the mind, all the hard work he put

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Speaker 1: in for eighteen years to go off to college to say, okay,

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Speaker 1: can I get a college degree? Can I move on

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Speaker 1: from college to go play a professional sport? And I

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Speaker 1: went on to do majority of that, but it was

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Speaker 1: something that was behind me that was not complete. So

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Speaker 1: you had a di It was like a voice. What

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Speaker 1: was it that said, Sanntonio, go finish. There was a

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Speaker 1: lot of pride knowing that this degree from the Ohio

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Speaker 1: State University can carry me anywhere in the world from

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Speaker 1: this point on, let alone becoming a National Football League player,

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Speaker 1: a Super Bowl champion, and a Super Bowl MVP for

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Speaker 1: one of the most prestigious organizations in national football history, UH,

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Speaker 1: in the Pittsburgh Steelers. To know that I am well

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Speaker 1: known and recognized in all facets of the game, but

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Speaker 1: I didn't have a degree from ohiuse statement. So no

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Speaker 1: matter what that that is, that's still this the opportunities

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Speaker 1: for your kids to see your legacy being passed on,

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Speaker 1: you know, and being carried on, to walk across the stage,

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Speaker 1: and to know that you know, you could get your picture,

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Speaker 1: you know, posted on the university where millions of people

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Speaker 1: view this university, and when they see that face, they

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Speaker 1: could see all the beauty that's around that particularly individual.

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Speaker 1: And what better place to to want that from than

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Speaker 1: the Ohio State University. I had a question, You had

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Speaker 1: this big moment, but what about being that guy has

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Speaker 1: surprised you over the years. I think what surprised me

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Speaker 1: the most since becoming Super m VP is the lack

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Speaker 1: of successful people that I surround myself with. When did

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Speaker 1: you have that epiphany? When did you realize this potential?

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Speaker 1: All this stuff happened after winning the Super Bowl, UH,

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Speaker 1: getting traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers and not having the

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Speaker 1: right resources around me. That could have protected me from

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Speaker 1: that situation, you know. And I'm not putting it on

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Speaker 1: anyone to say that that someone should have been there

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Speaker 1: for me. But the lack of knowledge affects all of us.

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Speaker 1: And I am guilty of that, of not having enough

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Speaker 1: knowledge and self awareness and the things that I needed

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Speaker 1: to be accountable for to put myself in better position

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Speaker 1: to surround myself with better people. That was the thing

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Speaker 1: I was thinking about. So you have this moment. How

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Speaker 1: many years later you traded? Maybe you mentioned a year three,

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Speaker 1: traded in year five? Okay, so that Super Bowl moment

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Speaker 1: was year three, year three, and traded two years later,

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Speaker 1: two years later, right, So what was that moment? Like, so, okay,

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Speaker 1: we got to high two years later, we'll be traded.

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Speaker 1: I cried, uh the minute football because you you don't

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Speaker 1: have this envision that your career has been altered, that

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Speaker 1: you have no control over what's about to happen. When

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Speaker 1: you don't have any control is when it most affects you.

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Speaker 1: And I got the phone call and I cried, and

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Speaker 1: I told Kevin Cobra that you're lying, like you're not

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Speaker 1: You're not trading me, and he's like, yeah, we really are.

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Speaker 1: And I took a deep breath, and you know, I

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Speaker 1: got out the phone. The first thing I did call

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Speaker 1: my mom, and I called my agent, and I went

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Speaker 1: upstairs and I just cried. I packed my bags and

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Speaker 1: I flew to New York the next day to note

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Speaker 1: that I was accepted, you know, by the New York

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Speaker 1: Jess and coach Ryan, and I was wanted by Woody

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Speaker 1: in the organization. Um. Being in New York, I felt

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Speaker 1: since that I was gonna be redeemed that this is

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Speaker 1: a big enough market for people to actually see this

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Speaker 1: guy change and create the life that he wants to live,

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Speaker 1: you know, from this point on, and that was where

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Speaker 1: the hard work came in. And year five, you know,

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Speaker 1: to earn that fifty million dollar contract in year six,

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Speaker 1: you know from New York Jets. Unfortunately, year eight, year seven,

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Speaker 1: I get an injury and it alters my entire career.

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Speaker 1: I want to ask you, so we know what the

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Speaker 1: stealer fans that remember anyone that loves the game from

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Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, right, but what does Santonio want to

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Speaker 1: be remembered for? Oh man, what the s Antonio Holmes

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Speaker 1: I want to be remembered for being a National Football

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Speaker 1: League player? And maybe not football player, just as a person.

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Speaker 1: You know, we're even just listening to you even as

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Speaker 1: you think about it. One thing, uh, that seemed to

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Speaker 1: be important to be a finisher building It was building

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Speaker 1: uh my fight. Like when guys saw me on the

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Speaker 1: football field, I didn't bark. I didn't bark it all.

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Speaker 1: I put my mask on and I went to work.

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Speaker 1: You couldn't see my expressions. You couldn't see my emotions.

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Speaker 1: The only time you would see my emotions if I

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Speaker 1: never had an opportunity. So I would go out and

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Speaker 1: I'll run forty fifty six players up and down the

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Speaker 1: football field, get three passes. That's all the opportunities that

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Speaker 1: I knew going into this game. It was gonna happen

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Speaker 1: based on the scheme the defense, and so you have

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Speaker 1: to take that. But when there are no opportunities, that's

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Speaker 1: when the mask has to come off and you're gonna

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Speaker 1: see exactly what's going on underneath this mask. Now my

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Speaker 1: aggression comes out. So my fight to be one of

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Speaker 1: the greats to have a catch in every NFL game

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Speaker 1: and I ever play in that's not far fetched at all.

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Speaker 1: Is there like a a memorable play and we're in

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Speaker 1: a hundred season of the NFL. Is there like a

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Speaker 1: memorable catch moment? Fraternity like David Tyree's ball stuck on

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Speaker 1: up the helmet, so turning the homes, tiptoeing right side again,

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Speaker 1: win the Super Bowl? The White Clark, the late Legends,

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Speaker 1: the White Clark. Have you had conversations the immaculate reception?

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Speaker 1: Frank o' harris? Right, do you guys have conversations all

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Speaker 1: day all the time. We had a Pittsburgh thing last season,

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Speaker 1: you know, where all of us got together and myself,

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Speaker 1: Willie Parker, Franco Harris, and John Stalworth and we sat

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Speaker 1: down and we just had had a little session and

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Speaker 1: we talked about our catches and our plays and our moments.

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Speaker 1: You know that that solidify our position as a Pittsburgh

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Speaker 1: Steealer players in history. Um, and it's fun to to

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Speaker 1: know that the tradition will live on, but the legends

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Speaker 1: will never die. You had a room full of current players.

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Speaker 1: Let's go current receivers. All right? You got two things

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Speaker 1: you can tell them based on your with them. What

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Speaker 1: do you tell him how to get off the ball.

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Speaker 1: That's one of my biggest things that that I that

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna harp on is perfection. Off the line of scrimmage.

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Speaker 1: I don't want the defender to touch me. I wanted

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Speaker 1: to put his hands close to me because he can

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Speaker 1: disrupt what I'm trying to do. And if I could

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Speaker 1: teach you how to get off the line of scrimmage

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Speaker 1: the way I knew how to get off the line

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Speaker 1: of scrimmage, I promised that receiver would become one of

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Speaker 1: the best receivers that I would ever coach or or

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Speaker 1: be at a mentor. That's one thing. The second thing

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Speaker 1: is your awareness for the game, being able to play

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Speaker 1: the game before the players are happening. No one coverages

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Speaker 1: when you're lining up, knowing where the defenders lined up

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Speaker 1: in front of you, on how to release off the

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Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, knowing that if I catch a post

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Speaker 1: route between two defenders, which one is gonna hit me first,

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Speaker 1: Which defender that I leave on the back side, who

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Speaker 1: was in the front. Should I split them going forward?

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Speaker 1: Should I stop? Should I come around the outside the

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Speaker 1: outside defender, or should I go inside of the inside defender.

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Speaker 1: Those things have to be played before the game is

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Speaker 1: actually played, so that when they're happening, you're making no

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Speaker 1: split second decisions so fast, and everybody's like, wow, how

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Speaker 1: did he see that? Like what happened? And I think

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Speaker 1: those are two things that I could definitely contribute to

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Speaker 1: any receivers is awareness and his ability to get off

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Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, said Tonio Holmes. Still as a

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Speaker 1: big We talked about how much the Stiller fans love you,

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Speaker 1: but the Arizona Cardinal fans still have a spot in

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Speaker 1: the heart. I love you, guys man, every time we

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Speaker 1: see the Steelers. Thank you so much for joining me today.

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Speaker 1: This has been a great podcast and the best is

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Speaker 1: yet to come and this thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: having me on, sir. This has been the NFL Legend podcast.

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Speaker 1: To provide feedback or request a topic for discussion, email

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Speaker 1: us at NFL Legends at NFL dot com. Yeah Yeah,

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Speaker 1: M