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Speaker 1: And that advanced McDonald shack shedding attack we're taking on another.

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Speaker 1: Okay Vans, first of all, congratulations, UM, how did you

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Speaker 1: come to this decision to retire from football? Um? You

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Speaker 1: just like to think of it as a call. Um.

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Speaker 1: You know, it wasn't by accident that my wife and

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Speaker 1: I just felt this tremendous passion to uh not only

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Speaker 1: stay in the Pittsburgh area, um, but find this farm.

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Speaker 1: Um and just uh just felt called to start this ministry. UM.

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Speaker 1: So we did all the things mentioned, but there was

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Speaker 1: just a really strong urge over the last a few months,

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Speaker 1: especially no with COVID, everything kind of thrown uh you know,

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Speaker 1: all about in every which direction for different families in

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Speaker 1: their situations. UM, I just wanted to take a pause

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Speaker 1: and just start this next chapter. So we've we've been brainstorming,

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Speaker 1: We've been we've been planning, we've been directing, and I

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Speaker 1: think now is finally the time to sort of shut

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Speaker 1: the NFL chapter and again just start to move off

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Speaker 1: with Hit Metal Farm Retreat, which we felt very passionately

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Speaker 1: about doing and we are very excited to get started.

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Speaker 1: For those who don't know, can you explain where it

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Speaker 1: is located? I know, it's close to training camp at St.

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Speaker 1: Vincent College, and it's like you said, it's something you

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Speaker 1: guys have been working on. Yes, so we set out,

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Speaker 1: Um you know again, we we just fell in love

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Speaker 1: with this area. Um. We fell in love with the northeast.

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Speaker 1: We fell in love Pittsburg. Um you know, I always

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Speaker 1: us proud Texans. We always think that I'm just gonna

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Speaker 1: go back to Texas, and but we really did. We

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Speaker 1: fell in love with Pennsylvania. And um again, I do

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Speaker 1: not think that that's by accident, and it's by God's design.

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Speaker 1: And we started putting out sort of feelers of places

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Speaker 1: of you know, where to live and where to set

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Speaker 1: up not only our roots, but where to launch this foundation.

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Speaker 1: And um, you know, we wrestle around with the idea

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Speaker 1: of what exactly that would all look like. And um,

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Speaker 1: you know again, we we found a place. It's a

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Speaker 1: hundred and thirty three acres gis of Pittsburgh, about fifty

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Speaker 1: five miles And I always tell people, um, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm not from this area, but everyone's very well versed

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Speaker 1: with Mr Rogers. So it is just north of Hottle Wild,

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Speaker 1: the entrance to Hottle Wild. We're about five minutes up

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Speaker 1: the road. So and then, like you mentioned, it's very

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Speaker 1: close to training camp, so it's about a fifteen minute

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Speaker 1: drive from St. Vincent College. When you decided, okay, it

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Speaker 1: was time to close the chapter on playing in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: Who was the first person from the Steelers that you

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Speaker 1: told or called or you know kind of a learned

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Speaker 1: to your decision? Um, it was Ben. It was actually

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Speaker 1: right after the game. Uh, I went up to Ben.

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Speaker 1: He you know, we're all that's the persona of NFL athletes. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: you know, we're rough and tough and well built. We

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Speaker 1: run into walls for fun. But you know, obviously after uh,

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Speaker 1: situations like that when our season ended with against Cleveland,

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Speaker 1: we're just thrown into this emotional whirlwind and we're just

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Speaker 1: all a bloody miss and you know there's fluids coming

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Speaker 1: from us. I guess you could say. So, Um, just

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Speaker 1: given been a big hug and thanking him for man

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Speaker 1: all the memories. You know, we were locker mates for

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Speaker 1: four years and I didn't take one day for granted,

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Speaker 1: you know, knowing what he's done and uh, just a

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Speaker 1: friend that he became. And so he was the first

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Speaker 1: one I told. And there was a couple of the

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Speaker 1: guys that I just felt prompted, um, you know, based

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Speaker 1: off of you know, how they were responding from the

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Speaker 1: conclusion of the season. It just felt right to sort

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Speaker 1: of express that to them as well. And but it

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Speaker 1: was something that my wife and I, you know, we

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Speaker 1: had thought about for many months, um, you know, leading

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Speaker 1: up to the season, and knew that this one was

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Speaker 1: gonna be the last one. But it was definitely a

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Speaker 1: bitter sleep moment. Um, you know, I'll miss the guys

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Speaker 1: for sure, I'll miss the daily facility and relationships and

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Speaker 1: again all the things that aren't even necessarily football. Then

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Speaker 1: I just really came to appreciate, um, you know, I'll

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Speaker 1: miss the game for sure. Of course as well, I

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Speaker 1: did want to ask you for the last question, kind

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Speaker 1: of a two parter. What is one memory as a

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Speaker 1: Steeler on the field that sticks out to you and

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Speaker 1: then one from off the field of something you're able

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Speaker 1: to do in the community. So the one on the

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Speaker 1: field is probably definitely the stiff arm the animal. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the animal unleashed, fires it to an open man and

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Speaker 1: running up the fields, Vance McDonald. Vance McDonald runs over

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Speaker 1: a man. He's at the forty thirty five or thirty

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Speaker 1: but twenty five, but twenty touchdown Vance McDonald took quickly

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Speaker 1: ran over strong safety Chris Conte. Uh yeah, it was

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Speaker 1: just such a special moment, you know, replaying it and

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Speaker 1: you know constantly people's even still just talking about it. Um,

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Speaker 1: it was just such a cool moment and not even

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Speaker 1: really just you know, just for me particularly too, but

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Speaker 1: it was you know that in that game, you know,

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Speaker 1: we were we didn't have momento mginst Tampa, and you

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Speaker 1: know everyone kept saying, man, you were the spark that

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Speaker 1: got it started, and I was like, yeah, you're right,

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Speaker 1: But it was just such a cool moment, you know,

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Speaker 1: especially to in a primetime game. I thought that that

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Speaker 1: was just really really fun, really great, great, great memory.

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Speaker 1: I always remember it too, But um, you know, I

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Speaker 1: mean there's so so many others. I everyone you know

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Speaker 1: that watches me or I didn't watch me obviously knows

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Speaker 1: that I really enjoy you know, after catching the ball,

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Speaker 1: just finding the nearest defender and just putting everything I

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Speaker 1: had into hitting them. And I enjoyed every one of

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Speaker 1: those collisions, the ones that I wanted lost. So I'll

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Speaker 1: miss that for sure. My wife told me there's no

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Speaker 1: walls that you can mark around the house that you

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Speaker 1: can do that again. So you better get it all

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Speaker 1: out of your system in this season. Um. As far

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Speaker 1: as off the field, man, there's so many to think about,

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Speaker 1: you know. I think about the True the Mission strip

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Speaker 1: that I went on with teammates back in San Francisco.

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Speaker 1: That was such a great thing, and it was such

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Speaker 1: an amazing inception of the relationship with Convoy Fote that

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Speaker 1: I'm not only blossom within the forty Niners organization, but

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Speaker 1: also came with us here to say to Pittsburgh, that's amazing. Um.

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Speaker 1: You know, I think about you know, trucks of hope,

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Speaker 1: you know, the things that we put together this past

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Speaker 1: year just regarding covid um. One also that sticks out

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Speaker 1: in particular is the stance that the Pittsburg Seedlers took

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Speaker 1: this past season. Um. You know when we all kneeled

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the field and we had a

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Speaker 1: we had a private prayer that I led among the

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Speaker 1: entire organization that I just for me, it was such

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Speaker 1: an amazing thing to be able to do, and you know,

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Speaker 1: to be appointed and being held responsible of doing that

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Speaker 1: and leading us. Um, because you know, the overall sort

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Speaker 1: of message you know that we were sending is you know,

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Speaker 1: obviously the Pittsburgh Steelers stand for everyone. You know, we

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Speaker 1: we want to we want to fight just as hard

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Speaker 1: for you know, him and her as the other people

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Speaker 1: that anyone else and so um, you know, that stance

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Speaker 1: that we took as an entire team, as a collective,

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Speaker 1: as an organization in the middle field was really amazing.

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Speaker 1: And again, man, I mean there's there's so many awesome memories,

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Speaker 1: but I really especially enjoy um, God, you just giving

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Speaker 1: back the community. I would I would say to the

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Speaker 1: huddle for holidays being able to rock around Hinsfield. Um. Again,

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Speaker 1: I'm you're fighting nerves, expectations and everything else. Whenever we

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Speaker 1: did the first one a couple of years ago with

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Speaker 1: the Convoy and the Steeler partnership, um, and seeing that

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Speaker 1: I think we had like thirty something teammates, uh, and

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Speaker 1: just the families walking around highs. You know, people are

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Speaker 1: always there for games and the only again how right

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Speaker 1: now we have a tree outreach event there and giving

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Speaker 1: back and just people are so excited. We all have

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Speaker 1: our jerseys on and it was just such a cool evening.

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Speaker 1: Um to do that and to give back to the community.

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Speaker 1: So man, there's there's a bunch of the name. There

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Speaker 1: really is a bunch of name and I'm going to

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Speaker 1: miss them all, but you know it's a it's really

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Speaker 1: fun to celebrate them all too. Alright, fans, well, we

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Speaker 1: really appreciate your time. Today's best in luck, don't be

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Speaker 1: a stranger, and hopefully we'll see you, you know, at

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Speaker 1: the next training camp at St. Vincent. Likewise, thank you

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Speaker 1: for everything missing