Speaker 1: It's time for another episode of Patch in the Past podcast.
Speaker 1: Matt Smith down in beautiful Swanee, Georgia, home of number
Speaker 1: ninety three Richard Seymour, who in just a few short
Speaker 1: months will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: Thanks for letting us come down here, and really want
Speaker 1: to thank you for your time.
Speaker 2: Greatly appreciate it.
Speaker 3: No, well, actually I was glad to get you out
Speaker 3: of what I know. It's not snowing, not yet. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's not snowing, so it's good for you guys to
Speaker 3: come down and get some of this Georgia's son.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we can understand why you would want to
Speaker 1: make this your home beautiful. It's a beautiful home.
Speaker 2: No, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: We're just going to have a conversation here Richard and
Speaker 1: talk about football and the Hall of Fame deal. When
Speaker 1: did it become apparent to you? Do you remember when
Speaker 1: it was me and I really love this, I love football.
Speaker 1: Do you remember was there a time where it sort
Speaker 1: of clicked for you, like this is something I really
Speaker 1: love to do.
Speaker 3: As a kid, I'd say that as a kid, I
Speaker 3: remembered football was really big in our family and my
Speaker 3: dad's played my uncle's. It was really big in our community.
Speaker 3: I didn't play when I was younger because I was
Speaker 3: too big to play with kids my age. But also
Speaker 3: at the same time, my dad didn't want to push
Speaker 3: me up to play with the bigger kids because he
Speaker 3: was afraid that was gonna take my confidence away. So
Speaker 3: long story short, I didn't end up playing until high school.
Speaker 3: And I told the story when I got inducted into
Speaker 3: the Patriots Hall of Fame that the first time my
Speaker 3: mom took me to play football, I didn't even get
Speaker 3: out of the car and I was in the eighth grade.
Speaker 3: I was going to play against the high schoolers. And
Speaker 3: you know, I still tease her about that to this day.
Speaker 3: But believe it or not, I knew I was destined
Speaker 3: to do it because I had the passion. I had
Speaker 3: the love. I knew. I thought I had the ability.
Speaker 3: I mean, I didn't know where I compared to other
Speaker 3: guys that played my position, but I knew I had
Speaker 3: the passion and the drive. And I think in life,
Speaker 3: no matter regardless of what you do, if you if
Speaker 3: you have a relentless determination, you have a drive. You know,
Speaker 3: I had the support system from my family so I
Speaker 3: had everything that I felt like it took, but I
Speaker 3: still didn't get out of the car.
Speaker 1: Some of them had to push out of the car.
Speaker 1: As you told everybody back in August, Yeah, when did
Speaker 1: you so you said you thought you could be good
Speaker 1: at it? When did you know you were good at it?
Speaker 1: What was there a moment you said you know what
Speaker 1: I belonged.
Speaker 2: I think in high school it was.
Speaker 3: I think it was around my junior year because when
Speaker 3: I got to high school, like, I played basketball all
Speaker 3: my years that well, my first three years I played basketball,
Speaker 3: but most of my classmates they were actually taller than
Speaker 3: me when I first got to to high school. So
Speaker 3: my freshman and sophomore year they were taller than me.
Speaker 3: But my junior year, if you look at those pictures,
Speaker 3: my junior year, I just hit a growth spurt, and
Speaker 3: I think every I think my body started to catch up.
Speaker 3: I started getting the weight room and started to do
Speaker 3: you know, agility drills and start to train in my body.
Speaker 3: And then once that happened for me, it was like, Okay,
Speaker 3: I think I can be pretty special because all of
Speaker 3: the other stuff was there, I just wasn't physically ready
Speaker 3: to do it. But once all of it came together.
Speaker 3: It was like, I think I can be pretty decent
Speaker 3: at this and.
Speaker 1: Help you understand if you wanted to take it to
Speaker 1: the next level.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, certainly, so I'll back up for step.
Speaker 3: Even before I got to Georgia, So my senior year
Speaker 3: of high school, my dad got me a trainer. And
Speaker 3: the trainer that I got, I mean he worked at
Speaker 3: University of South Carolina at the time, but he would
Speaker 3: also train guys on the side as well. So my
Speaker 3: dad got me the trainer and by the way, he'll
Speaker 3: be at the my induction speech. But he gave me
Speaker 3: a lot of confidence because he trained college athletes and
Speaker 3: he said, hey, Richard, you having a unique ability. I've
Speaker 3: seen a lot of guys if you push yourself and
Speaker 3: you train hard and you work hard in the summers,
Speaker 3: you know, I've seen like guys who went on to
Speaker 3: the next level. And I'm just telling you, you have
Speaker 3: an ability to stand out, and you know, so I
Speaker 3: took that. I think that gave me a lot of
Speaker 3: confidence at that time.
Speaker 1: Motivation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, certainly, it was a lot of motivation.
Speaker 3: And I just I've always been a competitor and I
Speaker 3: love to compete. I hate to lose, but I still
Speaker 3: had a lot to learn, and when I got to
Speaker 3: the University of Georgia, I think I just started to
Speaker 3: hone in on those skills.
Speaker 1: So he had come from the University of Georgia, one
Speaker 1: of the top ten national champions this year.
Speaker 2: But say that again, champion. There we go, all right,
Speaker 2: thank you, But it's a.
Speaker 1: Legitimate college football program. And I remember the video of
Speaker 1: you walking up the stairs at the old Foxborough Stadium
Speaker 1: and Coach belichicks at the top to shake your right.
Speaker 1: Are you looking around at that point in time and
Speaker 1: go holy smokes? Like I thought I could drafted into
Speaker 1: the professionally? Did you think about that when you got there?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: Well, no, here's the thing, so obviously, you know you
Speaker 3: you think about recruiting now, and you look at the
Speaker 3: facilities across the country that are not yeah no, I mean,
Speaker 3: I mean they have every recruiting tool that you could
Speaker 3: desire at these Power five institutions, and you know, brother,
Speaker 3: it's Oregon, you know, USC Georgia, Tennessee. I mean, the
Speaker 3: weight rooms are crazy. So when I first got to
Speaker 3: New England in the old Foxborough Stadium, I was like, wow,
Speaker 3: it seems like I'm taking a pay cuts. But but
Speaker 3: needless to say, you know, right next door, you know,
Speaker 3: mister was building Gillette Stadium, and I was very fortunate
Speaker 3: at that time to walk through it when the foundation
Speaker 3: was still going in and I still remember, you know,
Speaker 3: mister Kraft saying, hey, you're going to be a really
Speaker 3: big piece and a part of the foundation you know
Speaker 3: that's going in here.
Speaker 2: So that was pretty special.
Speaker 1: Can you look back at that now? I mean, when
Speaker 1: you're going through it, you're trying to figure out, you know,
Speaker 1: I hear people talk about, you know, when you're buried
Speaker 1: in the weeds, your rookie what's going on? But if
Speaker 1: you look back on it now and you could see, yes,
Speaker 1: you were a part of something that built that whole
Speaker 1: thing that twenty years now after the fact, you were
Speaker 1: one of the bed rocks and the foundations of that
Speaker 1: whole thing. Can you look back at it and with
Speaker 1: a little bit more perspective when you were buried after
Speaker 1: you know, your rookie year and your second year moving
Speaker 1: into that place.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I can look back and reflect now,
Speaker 3: you know, because as a player, you never look back,
Speaker 3: you never reflect. It's always the next year, you know,
Speaker 3: never rested on your loyals, you know, like for us,
Speaker 3: it was you know, you know, I think it started
Speaker 3: at the top and Coach Belichick and mister Kraft and
Speaker 3: had we had all of the right ingredients and we
Speaker 3: had the right players, and you just name it even
Speaker 3: I mean even to the fans, like it was important
Speaker 3: to the fans and the community there that you know,
Speaker 3: the support that we got all around the board, and
Speaker 3: it was important. And so you know, for us as
Speaker 3: as players, you know, I was very, very very fortunate
Speaker 3: to be on a team with a lot of veterans
Speaker 3: that taught me what it meant to be a pro
Speaker 3: and showed me and they lived it and walked it
Speaker 3: by example. And I can just go on and just
Speaker 3: name you know, from Troy Brown with him again, is
Speaker 3: Teddy Brook.
Speaker 1: Had played the same position? Was Willie and Anthony Pleasant
Speaker 1: especially There's two guys. How how important were they to
Speaker 1: help this young little buck coming from the University of Georgia.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, certainly.
Speaker 3: You know, I tell everybody I was talented, but I
Speaker 3: still needed to learn what it meant to be a pro.
Speaker 3: And I was, like I said, I was very fortunate
Speaker 3: to you know, come to a team with you know,
Speaker 3: all of the ingredients in place from and here's the
Speaker 3: thing a lot of people forget, but we were coming
Speaker 3: off of five and eleven season, So it wasn't like, hey,
Speaker 3: you coming, because anytime you're top picking the draft, you're
Speaker 3: going to a team where you know, yeah, I me
Speaker 3: the it's the reason that they got the top ten pick.
Speaker 3: So for me, I couldn't have rode a better strip.
Speaker 3: You know, from mister Kraft to Coach Belichick. You know,
Speaker 3: at the time, Drew was the franchise quarterback. You know,
Speaker 3: all of the star warks on defense, and you know,
Speaker 3: Willy was the first guy to welcome me in. And
Speaker 3: I remember getting there even before I met Coach Belichick.
Speaker 3: I might have met Willy when I got picked up
Speaker 3: from the airport and when I got when I was
Speaker 3: born in it was a bubble in the back. But
Speaker 3: he was the first guy that I met. And then
Speaker 3: from that moment forward, like we've been together pretty much
Speaker 3: ever since. And so like I said, but you know,
Speaker 3: from Willidy, Anthony Pleasant, Bobby Hamilton, I mean you'd name
Speaker 3: it like it wasn't no young guys like I was
Speaker 3: the youngest guy, right, you know, on the team and
Speaker 3: because I think I was twenty or twenty one years
Speaker 3: old at the time, and so you know, for me,
Speaker 3: you know, reflecting back on that, like it was such
Speaker 3: special times and a lot of those relationships that I
Speaker 3: cultivated then, you know, I still have to this.
Speaker 1: Day as we record this a few days ago talking
Speaker 1: about a special guy I'm going to assume was Romeo Crenell,
Speaker 1: who is a defensive coach. Then as you're coming into
Speaker 1: the league, Yes, how important was he do you think
Speaker 1: to your development as a real molder in shape of men?
Speaker 2: Richard?
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, you know, coach coach Crenell, he had he
Speaker 3: had a father like demeanor. I mean he was you know,
Speaker 3: he didn't get very loud, he didn't, but you know
Speaker 3: when he spoke like, he was very knowledgeable and even
Speaker 3: like our relationship transcendent football, Like we spent time, like
Speaker 3: our family spent time because we lived in the same
Speaker 3: community in North Alborough, and so you know, his wife would,
Speaker 3: you know, lead my wife as well. We'd have Thanksgiving dinners.
Speaker 3: You know, my mom and his wife would hang out.
Speaker 3: So it was a very unique relationship and I respected
Speaker 3: him as a coach. He taught me so much, you know,
Speaker 3: but I remember before one Super Bowl, I think we
Speaker 3: were getting ready to play the Panthers, and I still
Speaker 3: remember it to this day. It was this pregame meal.
Speaker 3: He came in, he said, we're getting we just we
Speaker 3: were eating the pregame meal to get ready.
Speaker 2: To go to the stadium that before the fight in
Speaker 2: the pre game. Yeah, this is before. This is before that.
Speaker 3: But he said, hey, Richard, if you see something today,
Speaker 3: you have the green light to take it. And I
Speaker 3: still remember it like it was yesterday, because it was
Speaker 3: like the third year in the league. Yeah, it was
Speaker 3: my third year.
Speaker 1: That's a wouldn't you say that that's a pretty big statement.
Speaker 2: No, certainly it was. I mean that's why I still
Speaker 2: remember it to this day.
Speaker 3: And you know, he was just a guy that meant
Speaker 3: so much to me in my career just in terms of,
Speaker 3: you know, the wisdom, the discipline, the understanding of the game.
Speaker 3: He was once a defensive lineman himself, and so like
Speaker 3: he was just able to talk to me in a
Speaker 3: way that it related. And he's still a differend to
Speaker 3: this day.
Speaker 2: What a career.
Speaker 1: What a career for a guy who never really was
Speaker 1: in the spotlight or anything like that to be able
Speaker 1: to put in the time that he did, all the teams,
Speaker 1: all the players, all the success he had. Truly, he's
Speaker 1: worthy of, you know, a huge tip of the cap,
Speaker 1: right and had a big influence on you.
Speaker 3: No, certainly, I mean he was. You know, he's one
Speaker 3: of the best coaches that I've ever ever played for.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're like kids. You know, you've
Speaker 1: got four kids, three super Bowl championships, and it's really
Speaker 1: hard to ship that who's your favorite?
Speaker 3: Right, do you have a favorite? I don't necessarily have
Speaker 3: a favorite. Yeah, right, they don't. They don't need to
Speaker 3: see that, as everybody knows. I mean they're all different,
Speaker 3: you know, different teams. You know every every year that
Speaker 3: the journey is different. But for me, you know, the
Speaker 3: most physical Super Bowl was definitely the Carolina Panthers. I
Speaker 3: mean that game, I tell everybody to this day that
Speaker 3: was the most physical game that I've ever played in
Speaker 3: my twelve year career.
Speaker 1: Did you expect that from them.
Speaker 3: Well, we expected them to run the football, yep, But
Speaker 3: it was like they played the game the right way,
Speaker 3: like they were, they were tough. I mean you look
Speaker 3: at the talent that they have, you know, so for
Speaker 3: us to come out of there with a victory, Like,
Speaker 3: you know, our offensive and defensive line had to be
Speaker 3: you know, we had our work cutout for us.
Speaker 2: But we accepted the challenge.
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, I don't know if you rate the you know,
Speaker 1: so I'm sort of asking and ran them a little bit.
Speaker 1: I think many people believe that of the run that
Speaker 1: four is at oh four team is certainly among the
Speaker 1: greatest teams in franchise history. So four versus seven, what
Speaker 1: would Richard Seymour say? Was the better team?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 3: The team that won it? I mean, you know, I
Speaker 3: mean the team that won it. I mean, yeah, look
Speaker 3: to this point, I think you know, you give the
Speaker 3: Giants credit. They were amazing. You know, every ball that bounced,
Speaker 3: it bounced their way, like I mean, it went right.
Speaker 3: But they earned it, like I mean, so no doubt
Speaker 3: about that. You know, their defensive straight and you manure
Speaker 3: and tuck and you know everybody, like they played the
Speaker 3: game the right way, and so they'll give them credit.
Speaker 1: Many coaches and players have a difficult time really expanding
Speaker 1: on the victories. You know, the victories are great and
Speaker 1: everything like that, but it's the losses that maybe stick
Speaker 1: with them. Does your seven watch stick with you at all?
Speaker 1: Does that game bother you at all? Or are you
Speaker 1: able to sort of wash your hands and say, try
Speaker 1: my best, they beat us, they were the better team
Speaker 1: that day.
Speaker 2: And you move on.
Speaker 3: Well, I think I don't. I don't watch any of
Speaker 3: the highlights. I really don't watch the game of that
Speaker 3: game at all.
Speaker 2: I haven't. I might have seen the play here and.
Speaker 1: There you were held on the uh yeah, yeah, yeah, No.
Speaker 3: I mean, but I watch plays and highlights of the game.
Speaker 3: But I haven't just sit down and watched any of
Speaker 3: the Super Bowls from start to finish, wins or losses,
Speaker 3: wins or losses. I haven't watched not one game. But
Speaker 3: I will watch highlights and plays.
Speaker 1: Because what is it I played in the game. I
Speaker 1: don't need to watch.
Speaker 3: It, you know what I mean? You certainly certainly. Well,
Speaker 3: I'll say that I think I get more anxiety like
Speaker 3: watching my kids play. Sure, they play sports, and like
Speaker 3: I'm more intense and I feel it more because I
Speaker 3: can't control it, or you know, you want to protect
Speaker 3: them more, you want you know, it's it's a lot
Speaker 3: of different things that are at play. But when you're
Speaker 3: playing or when I was playing like I felt like, hey,
Speaker 3: I'm prepared, I've done what I needed to do. I
Speaker 3: can control, you know, to a degree, what goes on,
Speaker 3: so I'm more at peace. But when I watch them,
Speaker 3: you know, it's just it's totally.
Speaker 1: Different internal emotions.
Speaker 3: I remember my son, like this was his first year
Speaker 3: of playing football, and you know, me and my wife
Speaker 3: were going to the game and as the whistles, like
Speaker 3: they had the coin toss. But I looked at her
Speaker 3: and she looked at me, and both of our eyes
Speaker 3: are warded up, just because the moment.
Speaker 2: It was pretty special.
Speaker 1: I want to give him credit for saying it. I
Speaker 1: don't think he's it's necessarily original line. But in the
Speaker 1: Patriots Hall of Fame induction, Teddy bruce K was talking about, well,
Speaker 1: it was easy to play linebacker in our defense. Who
Speaker 1: was in front of me? I mean, if Richard Seymour
Speaker 1: is in front of me, I think you got a
Speaker 1: chance to make some tackles. When you hear stuff like
Speaker 1: that from guys like Brew, I think Maddy p said
Speaker 1: it about not only you, but Vince Wolfork's going in
Speaker 1: this year. Certainly you know you're not a stats guy, Richard.
Speaker 1: You know if somebody's going to open up some sort
Speaker 1: of a guide or go online or something like that.
Speaker 1: They're not going to see a ton of stats. But
Speaker 1: the people who know the game, guys who you played with,
Speaker 1: people who coached you, when they talk like that, is
Speaker 1: there a sense of pride when you go, well, so
Speaker 1: he appreciates it. He appreciates all the stuff that I
Speaker 1: did help make our team better. How does that make
Speaker 1: you feel when you hear that?
Speaker 3: We're when I played the game at the end of
Speaker 3: to day for for wins, and that was our most
Speaker 3: important thing.
Speaker 2: Brother, It was. It wasn't never about you know.
Speaker 3: The accolades or the Pro Bowls or you know, I'm
Speaker 3: you know, for me, I think one, you know, it's
Speaker 3: about a body of work. And it's also you know,
Speaker 3: so I'm really proud of, you know, like being a
Speaker 3: member of the All Decade team because that that says, hey,
Speaker 3: you didn't do it like one year.
Speaker 2: Or two years. You did it for a decade.
Speaker 3: And so for me, it's always humbling to get the
Speaker 3: respect of your your teammates, your coaches, your competitors, you
Speaker 3: know guys you played against those Those accolades for me
Speaker 3: are really what matters most like at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, like you know, regardless and and trust me,
Speaker 3: the Hall of Fame is great, but it's not something
Speaker 3: that I can control at the end. Today, it's writers,
Speaker 3: it's voters, it's it's where they are, it's their understanding
Speaker 3: of the game, and I totally respect it. But also,
Speaker 3: you know, the guys that I was in the huddle
Speaker 3: with and the guys that I competed against, you know,
Speaker 3: people who were around you every day, right, Like, what
Speaker 3: do they say about you? What type of person you were?
Speaker 3: You know, what what work ethic did you have? How
Speaker 3: did you treat other people? You know, it's more in
Speaker 3: my mind that you know, that's those are the real
Speaker 3: things that I embrace and you know, feel validated by.
Speaker 1: You mentioned body of work. And we're here for the Patriots.
Speaker 1: I think most people associate Richard Seymour as a New
Speaker 1: England Patriot with the championships and everything like that. You
Speaker 1: got traded to a team that wasn't the New England Patriots.
Speaker 1: Certainly from a team success standpoint, it's not a comparison,
Speaker 1: but the way you continue to play in uh, you know,
Speaker 1: you were in Oakland at the time. I can't remember
Speaker 1: where they were, but you still had a responsibility. You know,
Speaker 1: you were trying to do just as well obviously as
Speaker 1: you were in New England, but the team didn't have
Speaker 1: that much success. Do you look back at that point
Speaker 1: in time where maybe the team wasn't as successful but
Speaker 1: you did everything in your power and okay, maybe you
Speaker 1: weren't on Sunday Night football every week like you were
Speaker 1: in New England everything like that. But there's where your
Speaker 1: pride really needs to come into play, because you were
Speaker 1: on a team that maybe wasn't as successful as one that.
Speaker 2: You would come from.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, for me, I look at the big picture, right.
Speaker 3: I was very fortunate to play in New England with
Speaker 3: a lot of great players that taught me so much
Speaker 3: about the game right and then also going to Oakland,
Speaker 3: I was also able to share that knowledge. So the
Speaker 3: fulfillment that I got from because my heart has always
Speaker 3: been I want to be able to share the things
Speaker 3: that I have. You know, whether it's financially or whether
Speaker 3: it's knowledge, it's insight when you can bridge the gap
Speaker 3: and make the game better by transferring that knowledge to
Speaker 3: younger guys who were just as hungry like I mean,
Speaker 3: when's and losses.
Speaker 2: That's happened.
Speaker 3: But I mean that's that's that's not lights right like
Speaker 3: you want to like I had, I had an opportunity
Speaker 3: to affect guy's lives and had and wanted them to
Speaker 3: take you know, that knowledge and that wisdom that was
Speaker 3: passed to me and I was able to transfer to
Speaker 3: them and hopefully they were able to give it to others.
Speaker 3: And so at the end of the day, that's really
Speaker 3: what it's all about.
Speaker 1: One of those guys. And we're going back to England
Speaker 1: here and he just got inducted into the into the
Speaker 1: Patriots Hall of Fame. You had a young buck play
Speaker 1: Wilfork and was able to play with him.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: What was he were you able to maybe do some
Speaker 1: of those things mentoring you know, you weren't the same position.
Speaker 1: But here's another freak athlete sort of like yourself. There
Speaker 1: are many people who move as big as the two
Speaker 1: of you guys do and can do what you What
Speaker 1: was it like mentoring him and seeing him grow?
Speaker 3: Well, I tell everybody all the time, So me, uh,
Speaker 3: Big Vince and Ty Warren, we were the original big three.
Speaker 2: I know they got you know, original big three like it.
Speaker 3: So yeah, no, Memphis is so big, and Vince was
Speaker 3: the biggest of the biggest, so you know, I know
Speaker 3: they got all of the big threes in basketball now.
Speaker 3: But but but I'll say this, you know, it wasn't
Speaker 3: I enjoy when you know, younger guys they are hungry
Speaker 3: for knowledge, like they're looking to you, like, hey, tell
Speaker 3: me this, or what do you think about this? How
Speaker 3: did you guys do that? Like, So it's not that
Speaker 3: I had to seek Vince or tie out like they were.
Speaker 3: They were in the meeting rooms asking questions. They were
Speaker 3: hungry for knowledge, and they were just kind of saying, well,
Speaker 3: here's how we did you know certain things, or when
Speaker 3: we got this look from when the tight end was
Speaker 3: here in the back was over here, you know, getting
Speaker 3: a lot of runs this way, or it might be
Speaker 3: some calendars and whatnot.
Speaker 2: So it's easy to help guys that care that they
Speaker 2: wanted that they want to be helped.
Speaker 3: They want to be helped, they're looking you know, So
Speaker 3: it's easy when it's you know, that's the mindset.
Speaker 1: I can't imagine you sort of touched on this. There
Speaker 1: isn't anybody who goes to play football and says I
Speaker 1: want to be in the Hall of Fame. I mean,
Speaker 1: you get maybe some guy is confident enough to right,
Speaker 1: that's not a goal your goals to win when your
Speaker 1: career was over. Was there ever a time did you
Speaker 1: need to be prodded into thinking about it? You know?
Speaker 1: Was there every time? Like jeez, I wonder if somebody's
Speaker 1: going to think that I merit consideration for that once
Speaker 1: you Did you ever think about that when your career
Speaker 1: was over?
Speaker 2: Not really?
Speaker 3: And even here's the thing, even when my first year
Speaker 3: of eligibility and you know, I made the semi final
Speaker 3: list or you know, I don't know, I think I
Speaker 3: made it in the top guys or something like that.
Speaker 2: Like it wasn't something that.
Speaker 3: I was, like, I don't know, I didn't give it
Speaker 3: much thought or you know, just because in my mind,
Speaker 3: and trust me, it's a tremendous honor and you know,
Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's their leader, elite, and you know,
Speaker 3: so like I'm honored to stand alongside the greats of
Speaker 3: the game. But again, I've always as a player been tought, hey,
Speaker 3: control what you can control and.
Speaker 2: The things that you can't. Like it is what it is.
Speaker 2: And so you know, but you know, again I said,
Speaker 2: I embraced it.
Speaker 3: I am, you know, and I feel validated by you
Speaker 3: know at all, and it's a tremendous honor.
Speaker 1: When Ty went in, did you think about it anymore?
Speaker 1: Like did you say, Okay, maybe now some of these
Speaker 1: people are recognizing, right, we had a great defense. You know,
Speaker 1: we had a great defense. So Ty sort of has
Speaker 1: been knocking on the door here for a little bit.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe they're going to recognize, if not necessarily you,
Speaker 1: maybe they're going to recognize these other people and that
Speaker 1: side of the ball.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I felt I firmly feel like, you know,
Speaker 3: it takes a lot to win a Super Bowl, right
Speaker 3: and to accomplish what we did in the time span.
Speaker 2: That we did.
Speaker 3: And like I said, it's the pillars from ownership, coaches,
Speaker 3: you know, general managers, the team that we put together,
Speaker 3: and then to do it on a year in and
Speaker 3: year out basis. I firmly believe we should have more guys,
Speaker 3: you know, knocking on that.
Speaker 1: Door, speaking and knocking on the door when time knocked
Speaker 1: on the door, were you surprised? Did you have any inkling,
Speaker 1: was anybody here in on the on the joke or
Speaker 1: were you legitimately surprised? When you saw him on the ship.
Speaker 3: I was legitimately surprised when I saw him at you know,
Speaker 3: I've had a few words with my wife after like,
Speaker 3: but I will say it made.
Speaker 2: It extra special. It was so cool, like Tie, what Tie.
Speaker 3: Was the one to come and knock on the door,
Speaker 3: and you know, we had a journey together and so
Speaker 3: like you know when winning Super Bowls and you know,
Speaker 3: practice and year in and year out, you know, we
Speaker 3: had the same financial what we still do have the
Speaker 3: same financial you know. So it's just a lot of
Speaker 3: you know, we're intertwined in a certain way, and you
Speaker 3: know we're you know, my family. We went to see
Speaker 3: you know, Ties entrainment and then for him to come
Speaker 3: in the gold jacket and you know be a presenter
Speaker 3: for me like that, that was really special.
Speaker 1: What was it like? Can you think back and I
Speaker 1: mean that day must have just been a whirlwind for you.
Speaker 1: What was like like emotionally for you that day?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, you think about the journey. It's not
Speaker 3: necessarily about me. You think about the people that have
Speaker 3: sacrificed so much for you.
Speaker 2: Brother.
Speaker 3: It's practices and taking you, you know, different places and
Speaker 3: you know, just you know, traveling and just everything that
Speaker 3: it took to you know, because a lot of times
Speaker 3: we just see the final product, but you know, just
Speaker 3: to understand the story, you know, behind it. You know,
Speaker 3: I'm really excited to you know, give a speech in
Speaker 3: honoring so many people. That's meant so much to me.
Speaker 3: And that's the special part.
Speaker 1: Did you think about what your dad would have said.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he'll want the gold jacket. That's my jacket. That's
Speaker 2: what I was.
Speaker 3: That's certainly what I would say. But but again, you know,
Speaker 3: just think about, you know, all of the hard work
Speaker 3: that went into it, everything that I've learned, you know,
Speaker 3: from my mom and my dad, And my dad was
Speaker 3: my hero or growing up. I want you know, he
Speaker 3: taught me the value of of of of hard work.
Speaker 3: And I feel personally that football is a game of values,
Speaker 3: you know, discipline, toughness being intertwined in a way where
Speaker 3: you know, everything that's important to you, you have to
Speaker 3: it calls so much in or in order for you
Speaker 3: to play at.
Speaker 2: An elite level year in and year out.
Speaker 3: And so for my family to have taught me all
Speaker 3: of those values and my mom giving me the compassion
Speaker 3: and the loving and the nurturing side and my dad
Speaker 3: the tough love and you know, uh taught me the
Speaker 3: value of your word. And in terms of your word
Speaker 3: is your bond. If you don't, you know, you know,
Speaker 3: lean on that like you don't have anything, Like it's
Speaker 3: more important than anything. If you give your word on something,
Speaker 3: you know, you honor that. And so like those were
Speaker 3: the values for me growing up. And so you know,
Speaker 3: I just wanted to operate and you know, leave a
Speaker 3: legacy that to to honor.
Speaker 1: Them as a parent. You know, you talked about Tiny
Speaker 1: and Vince. It's not all Richard Seymour. Because if Richard
Speaker 1: Seymour or the Patriots are going to do well, then
Speaker 1: Tie's got to do well, and Vince has got to
Speaker 1: do well, and the secondary's got to do well. It's
Speaker 1: the ultimate meritocracy football. You've got to rely on somebody else.
Speaker 1: It's not just you. And isn't that a great lesson
Speaker 1: that you can teach your kids whatever they want to
Speaker 1: do in life, Like it's you know, in order to
Speaker 1: be successful in something, you've got to collaborate and you've
Speaker 1: got to lean on this person and lean on that person.
Speaker 1: And that, to me is really what the true beauty
Speaker 1: of football is because It's the ultimate team game, isn't it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it's it's certainly a team game, and you
Speaker 3: need everybody and you know, it's about you know, leadership,
Speaker 3: it's about discipline, it's about the fundamentals, it's about doing
Speaker 3: things the right way. It's also about you know, you're
Speaker 3: not always going to see out of eye either, right,
Speaker 3: So how do we handle when things are not going right?
Speaker 2: Because we're all doing well when you know, hey, you know,
Speaker 2: we win it.
Speaker 3: But now when when things aren't going your way or
Speaker 3: whether it's practiced, you know, can we adjust like because
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, that's really what separates
Speaker 3: in my mind, like the good from the great. And
Speaker 3: can we be disciplined enough to understand how other teams
Speaker 3: are trying to attack us or what's going on? And
Speaker 3: you know, as coach Belichick said, hey, ignoring the noise,
Speaker 3: blocking things out, and focusing in on doing your job.
Speaker 1: Because every team's got talent, right every time, You've got
Speaker 1: a lot of good players and everything like that. So
Speaker 1: it's how you differentiate that talent is what separates the
Speaker 1: winners from the people who don't win.
Speaker 3: No, certain you need to get well, I don't know
Speaker 3: who it is, but I heard it not, So.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna pause. Okay, have last.
Speaker 1: Few months been more hectic than you could have imagined,
Speaker 1: because it's like, like I mentioned, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: people like me are coming asking for your time. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of demands on your time because if this isn't.
Speaker 3: There, Yeah, no, it is. But I I welcome it.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm honored by it. You know, it's a
Speaker 3: part of it's a part of the deal.
Speaker 2: You know. Yeah, I enjoy it actually, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean it's you know, I'm this is my twelfth
Speaker 3: year of being out of pro sports.
Speaker 1: And by the way, you look like you could, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you could give it like seven snaps.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think I some third down, third
Speaker 3: down packages. That's all I got for you. Don't put
Speaker 3: me in on the run situations right now. We've got
Speaker 3: to know their past exactly. That's it. But you know,
Speaker 3: I you know, like I said, I'm honored by it.
Speaker 3: And uh, you know, I embraced the.
Speaker 1: Moment, have posed for the bust yet.
Speaker 2: I have Actually I had to sit for eight hours.
Speaker 1: I was going to say, that's supposed according to people
Speaker 1: what they say, and you look at it. You can
Speaker 1: call time. What is it like?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I talked about it, so I was thinking
Speaker 3: in order to do the bus I'm like, man like,
Speaker 3: technology is.
Speaker 2: So good these days.
Speaker 3: They could just take you know, a three D scan
Speaker 3: on my head and eyes and everything and then kind
Speaker 3: of put it together. But the artist side of it
Speaker 3: just like, hey, if you really wanted to look real
Speaker 3: and look like you, so I said, for eight hours,
Speaker 3: so hopefully it looks good.
Speaker 1: And I don't mean this from a vanity standpoint, but
Speaker 1: your likeness is being immortalized and it's going to be
Speaker 1: in a museum for the rest of time. That's important
Speaker 1: and has that sort of thing like your kids and
Speaker 1: their kids at some point time can go, let's go
Speaker 1: take a look. That's got to be pretty cool, ye
Speaker 1: think that you know, you.
Speaker 3: Know, uh, we've been to Canton uh several times since
Speaker 3: you know, my induction, and you know, each time we go,
Speaker 3: just finding out more about Canton and how they honoring
Speaker 3: and protecting your legacy and telling the stories. You know,
Speaker 3: the people there are really special. You know, we've we've
Speaker 3: met some really great people that you know, just the
Speaker 3: archives and you know, finding out more about the game.
Speaker 2: And you know and who they.
Speaker 3: Are, and also the people are can'ton like it's a
Speaker 3: big deal for them as well.
Speaker 2: And so.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm honored to be a part of the family.
Speaker 2: And you know, even my.
Speaker 3: My classmates, for it's an exclusive club, and my classmates
Speaker 3: that are are going in with me, we said it.
Speaker 3: So it's myself, it's Brian Young, you know, Tony BASSELLI,
Speaker 3: Leroy Butler, coach, Dick Vermeil, you know RK McNally. I said,
Speaker 3: you know, hey, I'll take our class and a bar
Speaker 3: fight anytime.
Speaker 1: I like it.
Speaker 3: Me, Bran Young and Tony Boselliah, I feel pretty good,
Speaker 3: I teased, I said, Ty had they had the Prima Donna,
Speaker 3: you know him and Bailey and all of the guys
Speaker 3: and and and you know, I tease Champ all the
Speaker 3: time as well, because you know, we went to college together.
Speaker 3: And so I said, you know, hey, we'll take y'all
Speaker 3: in the bar fight any day.
Speaker 1: You have a supreme confidence, uh and a very level personality,
Speaker 1: very thoughtful person I don't think this seems like something
Speaker 1: that might happen to you. However, do you think you'll
Speaker 1: be nervous that day? Do you think you'll have butterflies.
Speaker 3: I'm sure I will. I'm sure I will. I mean
Speaker 3: I had butterflies when I came and gave my uh
Speaker 3: my speech at at the Leette Stadium.
Speaker 1: That was a nice little rehearsal for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But here's here's the thing.
Speaker 3: So my speech, my speech I spoke for the Patriots
Speaker 3: was twenty one minutes, right, I have to narrate to
Speaker 3: six minutes, absolutely.
Speaker 2: So I said.
Speaker 3: By the time I said Mom, I love you, Dad,
Speaker 3: I love you, my wife, my kids, you know, thank you,
Speaker 3: you know, New England, my Oakland, I'm pretty much done
Speaker 3: after that.
Speaker 2: But you know, I.
Speaker 3: Firmly believe that words would never show my true gratitude
Speaker 3: and appreciation for what football has given me and my family.
Speaker 3: And also I tell everybody all the time too that
Speaker 3: I'm really for me personally. I'm also excited because I
Speaker 3: did things in my mind the right way, and you know,
Speaker 3: regardless of the Super Bowls and the Pro Bowl, like,
Speaker 3: all of that's amazing, But I like, I never compromised
Speaker 3: who I was as a man or a person to
Speaker 3: do any of it, you know, so I can look
Speaker 3: myself in the mirror and be happy with you know,
Speaker 3: the man that's staring back, and so you know, to
Speaker 3: your point, will I be nervous and cant I'm sure
Speaker 3: I will be when I get the gold jacket, you know,
Speaker 3: just because I respect and I identify and I can understand.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm standing alongside the heroes and the greats
Speaker 3: of the game and going to be you know, my aunt,
Speaker 3: I'm be honored forever and my grandkids and great grandkids,
Speaker 3: and you know, so when you think about that, like,
Speaker 3: that's a lot to take in, but I'm excited to
Speaker 3: do it.
Speaker 1: If seventeen year old Richard Seymour could see today's Richard
Speaker 1: Seymour and see what he's become, what do you think
Speaker 1: he would say to today's Richard Seymour Or what would
Speaker 1: Richard Seymour today said to the seventeen year old Richard.
Speaker 3: Man hindsight, I don't know, you know, yeah, I think
Speaker 3: I will probably say to my younger self, you know,
Speaker 3: make sure you prioritize the time that you spend and
Speaker 3: the people you spend it with. I think that's really
Speaker 3: important in life because it's you know, in my eyes,
Speaker 3: I think life's really about relationships, you know, I think
Speaker 3: that really sums up. You know a lot for me,
Speaker 3: you know, my faith, my family and the relationships that
Speaker 3: I cultivate. I think that's you know who I am.
Speaker 1: On August sixth, twenty twenty two, Richard Seymour will go
Speaker 1: into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Can't wait for it.
Speaker 1: I think all of New England feels like it's an
Speaker 1: honor much deserves a bit delayed, but can't wait for
Speaker 1: the process. I hope you have fun during it. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy kind of the arduous process going through it.
Speaker 1: But congratulations and best of luck for what's going to
Speaker 1: be a very special weekend for you. And thank you
Speaker 1: so much for your time.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 3: And like I said, for me, I mean, I know
Speaker 3: I'm the one going in Canton, but you know, it's
Speaker 3: so many people that have done so much for me,
Speaker 3: and it's really for them.
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