Speaker 1: Fires touch stop by Waddles knocked into the end zone
Speaker 1: Miami type rome tip window. They had to get that
Speaker 1: touchdown on that play, they gave it. What is up,
Speaker 1: Dolphins And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Winfield
Speaker 1: and as always I am here to bring you your
Speaker 1: daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show,
Speaker 1: it's a very special edition of the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: We are honoring linebacker Jerome Baker and his nomination as
Speaker 1: the Dolphins representative for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of
Speaker 1: the Year Award. In one We're gonna talk to Jerome Jr.
Speaker 1: As well as his father, Jerome Baker Sr. About living
Speaker 1: a life of service and the work they both do
Speaker 1: in their communities from the Baptist Health Studios inside the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast
Speaker 1: one announcement. So every team uh in the league just
Speaker 1: to nominate a player was a Walter Payton Man of
Speaker 1: the Year Award. So this first we nominated someone who's
Speaker 1: not just excellent on the field, but more portly does
Speaker 1: a lot of things in the community, makes an impact
Speaker 1: on people, uh, you know, outside of football, all right,
Speaker 1: So to be on to be uh nominated as a
Speaker 1: great honor this year's nominee is drumming. Being nominated to
Speaker 1: be what Walter Payton a Man of the Years, It's
Speaker 1: it's a great honor. I think it uh kind of
Speaker 1: highlights um the player on the field, but more importantly
Speaker 1: off the field and in the community. And I think
Speaker 1: Jerome's made an impact obviously with our team on the field,
Speaker 1: but you know, certainly in the in the community as well.
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking to the about the Haiti situation. I
Speaker 1: know he was very involved in and UM and helping
Speaker 1: them UM during that situation. And he's he's he's a
Speaker 1: he does a lot for the community, so UM and
Speaker 1: I'm proud of him for that. And it's certainly an
Speaker 1: honor I'm gonna be nominated. Well, you know, the thing
Speaker 1: that sticks out about Baked to me is, you know,
Speaker 1: he's a very even killed guy. I think he's got
Speaker 1: a good perspective on Uh, you need balance in life,
Speaker 1: and I think that uh, you know, are our soul focused, um,
Speaker 1: you know, when we're in the building is really about
Speaker 1: getting better and executing better, coaching better, and uh, becoming
Speaker 1: better football players. I think, you know, oftentimes what gets
Speaker 1: lost in that is the balance of being a good
Speaker 1: human being and uh, you know, being kind, being considerate, um,
Speaker 1: being able to be compassionate by listening and uh. I
Speaker 1: think Bac embodies all those things. I think he's got
Speaker 1: a good balance of football. Uh, and he knows when
Speaker 1: to um, you know, put in the time uh solely
Speaker 1: for football, and he also has that um you know,
Speaker 1: once he leaves the building. There's a lot of other
Speaker 1: things that he embodies, uh that I think he shows
Speaker 1: why he's in the building and when he's out. So
Speaker 1: I think he does a good job of, you know,
Speaker 1: just having that balance in life that probably all of us,
Speaker 1: regardless of profession, are searching for. So in order there,
Speaker 1: we had Brian Flores his announcement to the team talking
Speaker 1: about Jerome Baker being the Dolphins nominate nominee for the
Speaker 1: Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. Then we had
Speaker 1: Coach Flores and his press conference on Wednesday morning talking
Speaker 1: about that nomination of what Jerome Baker means that this
Speaker 1: team and this community. And then last there was Josh Boyer,
Speaker 1: Dolphins defensive coordinator, talking about the same thing Jerome Baker
Speaker 1: and what he means here to South Florida, not just
Speaker 1: the football team, Miami Dolphins, but also within the community.
Speaker 1: We're gonna hear from Jerome here in just one second,
Speaker 1: but first let's go ahead and talk to Pops. Jerome
Speaker 1: Baker Senior joins the podcast and we are very happy
Speaker 1: now to have Jerome Baker Senior on the podcast here.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned this before we started recording Jerome about
Speaker 1: not talking about Mr Baker Senior, but I've got to
Speaker 1: differentiate somehow with you guys here, so we're gonna have
Speaker 1: Jerome on later. So Jerome, welcome into the podcast. Thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you, glad to be here. We're very happy to
Speaker 1: have you on. And you know, before we get started here,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to ask you, I think Jerome had
Speaker 1: asked answered a question at the press conference after the
Speaker 1: game last weekend. Did the Ohio State Michigan result kind
Speaker 1: of hit you the same way it hit Jerome? I
Speaker 1: don't think so, right, because you know, Jerome played at
Speaker 1: Ohio State, he lived Ohio State, and I just over
Speaker 1: the years just followed Ohio State. And that's a really big,
Speaker 1: big difference right to where um um he had then
Speaker 1: actual opportunity to experience what that really means. I'm just
Speaker 1: a fan, you know, like being a fan is one thing,
Speaker 1: being a player and being part of that family is
Speaker 1: something totally different. So you know, when something happens to
Speaker 1: your family, it's different than uh, you know, a friend,
Speaker 1: uh you know, hearing about the same situation. Right, So
Speaker 1: I'm a fan. You know, he was part of that family,
Speaker 1: and so I'm quite sure it impacted him, you know,
Speaker 1: more than an impacted me. And I was disappointed. I
Speaker 1: have a lot of friends who are Michigan uh uh
Speaker 1: you know that supports Michigan. Uh. And so yes, I
Speaker 1: was disappointed, But I didn't play at Ohio State. I'm
Speaker 1: just an Ohio State fan. So you that's just the
Speaker 1: difference for me. Yeah, by association. Right. My my wife
Speaker 1: wears a shirt that says I married into this with
Speaker 1: a Dolphins logo, So she's becoming more and more of
Speaker 1: a fan. But she she's uh, she knows, she knows
Speaker 1: where her bread's buttered. So I just wanted to kind
Speaker 1: of start off there was something like Jerome because I
Speaker 1: want to ask you about so much here with with
Speaker 1: your son and all the incredible things he does downe
Speaker 1: here in South Florida. But first, can you tell us
Speaker 1: a little bit about men men of Central and Jerome
Speaker 1: Junior's involvement in that. Sure sure, so like at the
Speaker 1: present time, you know, we are actually the men and
Speaker 1: women of Central right. And so initially when I started
Speaker 1: the organization, and I don't like to say when I started,
Speaker 1: but it's true. You know, when I started organization, it
Speaker 1: was really a mentoring program to support youth and essential
Speaker 1: community of Cleveland, because you know, there's you know, various
Speaker 1: challenges that young folks, you know, African Americans faced within
Speaker 1: our urban cities. And so part of my dream was
Speaker 1: always I lived out of town for a long time
Speaker 1: in New Jersey as an adult, and I moved back home,
Speaker 1: and so one of my dreams is always to come
Speaker 1: back home and UH provise some support if you will,
Speaker 1: or some leadership. And it was in my own community,
Speaker 1: and so I started that through the menu one of
Speaker 1: the central mentoring mentoring youth and UH in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1: And so um I always brought my children along with
Speaker 1: me to see to show them what that looked like,
Speaker 1: and so, um, you know, uh, even at a young age,
Speaker 1: you know, I called him you know, Rome was always
Speaker 1: a part of that through our minimum programs, passing out supplies,
Speaker 1: participating in programs, being our photographer, being in every aspect
Speaker 1: of the work that I was doing. As I was
Speaker 1: learning and doing, he was watching me, you know, so
Speaker 1: he grew with me at the same time. So that
Speaker 1: was pretty awesome. I have to imagine that was a
Speaker 1: big part of instilling these values that he obviously still
Speaker 1: carries today. I mean with Football Unites, Uh, his his
Speaker 1: foundation that he also is part of it. He's always
Speaker 1: working with kids. I have to imagine that was a
Speaker 1: big part of instilling some of the values that he
Speaker 1: still carries today. Right absolutely. So you know, unfortunately sometimes
Speaker 1: you know, there's a there's a lot of youth who
Speaker 1: do not our fathers and their home and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I've always valued them ports of fathers. I wanted to
Speaker 1: demonstrate them in all aspects. What that meant to my
Speaker 1: truth you're not just from my perspective, but what the
Speaker 1: responsibilities you know require with that title, and so, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I always poured into other truths and other
Speaker 1: than my own rather be my nieces and nephews or
Speaker 1: younger cousins or you know, people in the community. And
Speaker 1: he had the opportunity to grow up just seeing it
Speaker 1: every day, you know, So it's no surprise to me,
Speaker 1: you know, how he interacts with his younger cousins, his
Speaker 1: nieces or his nephews, that he's taken on that same
Speaker 1: type of spirit and attitude. And uh, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: just really proud just to him, you know, taking it
Speaker 1: to to this level for real. Yeah, It's it's incredible
Speaker 1: to hear. And there's there on the same podcast here
Speaker 1: you're gonna hear from both Brian Flora's and Josh Boyer,
Speaker 1: Dolphin's defensive coordinator and head coach, about what Jerome means
Speaker 1: and his work in the community. There's some some very
Speaker 1: high praise there for you, and I'm sure you'll you'll
Speaker 1: look forward to hearing that. On that same kind of
Speaker 1: thought there, you know, what was the most importan thing
Speaker 1: to you as a father to for your children, like
Speaker 1: what was your non negotiable that you really had to
Speaker 1: instill in them as as as children non negotiable? Wow,
Speaker 1: that's a very good question. Thank you. Nonnegotiable. Like so, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, as a as a fifty six year old
Speaker 1: man today, and then how I raised my children, you know,
Speaker 1: when I was in my early forties of forty or
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be. Uh, you know, education was
Speaker 1: like really important to me in family, right, and so
Speaker 1: behavior in school was non negotiable. Bad behavior rather in
Speaker 1: school was non negotiable. Right. I would tell my children,
Speaker 1: I'm hoping that you'd be the smartest person in the class,
Speaker 1: smartest person in the school. But if that's not the case,
Speaker 1: bad behavior is unacceptable. So if the teacher or the
Speaker 1: counsel of her or the principle whoever, has to call
Speaker 1: me and say, you know, uh, you know my child
Speaker 1: is behaving in a way that doesn't represent you know,
Speaker 1: our family, there's gonna be a problem, you know. And
Speaker 1: so bad behavior has always been unacceptable in school for
Speaker 1: all of my children. So do you think Drem took
Speaker 1: pretty well to that. He didn't have no choice, non negotiable, right,
Speaker 1: it was nonnegotiable. And I probably say I've never had
Speaker 1: you know, any issues of no major issues of with
Speaker 1: Jerome in school. Like sometimes truldren are so smart that
Speaker 1: they can become lazy sometimes because they may not be
Speaker 1: challenged at times. Right to Droms, intelligence was he can
Speaker 1: pass all the tests that you can give them, but
Speaker 1: when it came to homework sometimes maybe not so much, right. Uh,
Speaker 1: And so either he got an A or he got
Speaker 1: to ELF. There was no in between, uh you know,
Speaker 1: which which was always kind of you know, crazy to me.
Speaker 1: But it was never from a behavioral standpoint, never had
Speaker 1: any any of my children never had any behavior issues
Speaker 1: in school. So U I think, you know, me and
Speaker 1: my wife did a real good job in terms of
Speaker 1: like expectations of how to conduct yourself now as a
Speaker 1: person in school, within the community, within in the public places.
Speaker 1: And so I'm really proud of all of my children
Speaker 1: from that perspective. For sure, he either did it or
Speaker 1: didn't do it right, and it was always good work
Speaker 1: when he did it, and if he didn't do it,
Speaker 1: obviously you don't get the credit for it. Interesting perspective there.
Speaker 1: You had also told me the story before he began
Speaker 1: recording the podcast about him selecting it was a Pop
Speaker 1: Warner football team. Can you can you kind of repeat
Speaker 1: that story again? Yeah? Yeah, So like you know, when
Speaker 1: you uh, drone started playing football, at like six or
Speaker 1: seven years old. And the craziest thing he asked me.
Speaker 1: You know, we was moving from the suburban to into
Speaker 1: the city at this particular time, and you know, we
Speaker 1: were selling our home, was having home built, and he
Speaker 1: was like a daddy, I'm want to play football. And
Speaker 1: I was under like a tremendous a lot of stress.
Speaker 1: And I was like, son, let me sell this house
Speaker 1: and let me you know, we're building his other house.
Speaker 1: I surely can't pack for the two homes. So I said, uh,
Speaker 1: let me find a place for you to play. And
Speaker 1: so he has exceled so well in early ages of
Speaker 1: his football, and so it comes to that point you're
Speaker 1: by like ten or eleven or twelve, uh, and so
Speaker 1: um he had grew kind of, you know, to a
Speaker 1: nice size and so you can only play certain positions
Speaker 1: at pop warn on some leagues, and um, so he
Speaker 1: was like, you know, I don't want to be restricted
Speaker 1: to play like a center or offensive lineman or you
Speaker 1: know whatever. And uh, a lot of teams was recruiting
Speaker 1: them at like eleven and twelve years old, which was
Speaker 1: it was it was crazy, and uh, we would have
Speaker 1: these conversations. I said, we're wrong Uh, we're gonna look
Speaker 1: at the pros and cons, and you tell me what
Speaker 1: the pros and cons are, and then that's how we're
Speaker 1: gonna select the team. So I really want him to
Speaker 1: think about it. And uh. We we sat down and
Speaker 1: had a conversation. I still remember sitting in my living
Speaker 1: room and he's like that, I want to play for
Speaker 1: the Denville buck Eyes because there is no weight limit.
Speaker 1: The competition is going to be, you know, tough. Uh,
Speaker 1: and I could play any position I want to and
Speaker 1: we would travel throughout Ohio, I said, And he spoke
Speaker 1: about the coach. He said, uh, um, the coach is excellent.
Speaker 1: He really teaches the kids, he really pours into them.
Speaker 1: And I think that would be a great for me.
Speaker 1: What an awesome selection process that was. It wasn't linebacker
Speaker 1: and running back is his positions. Well, he was playing,
Speaker 1: you know ever since even a small kid. He played
Speaker 1: multiple decisions. So he played running back in linebacker around
Speaker 1: that particular time, but he ended up switching to quarterback
Speaker 1: right also because just some changes because you know, sometimes
Speaker 1: you know, young guys don't want to play that position,
Speaker 1: so he ended up playing quarterback also. So it was
Speaker 1: like one of the best decisions I think, uh we've
Speaker 1: made for his football career for sure. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: it sounds like that's a big part of kind of
Speaker 1: his versatility, which as you know, is very well valued
Speaker 1: down here in Miami under coach Brian Flores. One more
Speaker 1: question for you here, Jerome, I just wanted to ask you,
Speaker 1: you know, the Walter Payton, man of the your nominee.
Speaker 1: It's it's no small matter, It's a really big deal.
Speaker 1: What does it mean to you when you saw that
Speaker 1: news break? I'm n let me tell you something I
Speaker 1: followed wart and paid over the years, you know, as
Speaker 1: a football player and as a man, right and so
Speaker 1: uh specifically as as as as a black as African
Speaker 1: American man, and how he conducted himself as a human being,
Speaker 1: you know, first and foremost. Uh, it is a pleasure
Speaker 1: to be spoken in terms of as a human being
Speaker 1: with comparison to Water Payton, like seriously, and to understand
Speaker 1: like his athletic attributes, and then what he meant to
Speaker 1: the community. I mean, you know, we could be here
Speaker 1: all day talking about water, uh seriously. So for my
Speaker 1: son to be uh selected and thought of in those terms, man,
Speaker 1: it is the greatest feel in the world for me.
Speaker 1: I mean, my son has had all the football attributes
Speaker 1: that you can probably imagine, right, but there's nothing that
Speaker 1: speaks to my being proud of his accomplishments as a
Speaker 1: young man. Right. And I said tell him all the
Speaker 1: time growing up, I said, wrong, football is what you do.
Speaker 1: It is not who you are. Football is what you do.
Speaker 1: And to see him roll into this role as a
Speaker 1: as a training for a year old man on and
Speaker 1: off the field, I can't express enough how proud I
Speaker 1: am as as a father. Uh. I kind of expressed
Speaker 1: enough how part I am of him as a as
Speaker 1: a young man, and that you know, sometimes you think
Speaker 1: your children may not be listening or watching, uh, but
Speaker 1: he really My goal for my son has always been
Speaker 1: to be better than me, To be smarter than me,
Speaker 1: to look better than me, be more outlet than me,
Speaker 1: have more money than me. I want your wife to
Speaker 1: even be pretty than my wife. I want everything to
Speaker 1: be better than me. And I still tell him I
Speaker 1: sick room. But you know, like I ain't those slouts,
Speaker 1: So don't think that's gonna be like a walk in
Speaker 1: the park. Right. But to see him be uh nominated
Speaker 1: for such a prestigious award is better than any award
Speaker 1: that can be given me. I mean, I know, super
Speaker 1: Bowls and playoffs and championships, all that stuff is important,
Speaker 1: but that stuff is you know, it's going to subside
Speaker 1: and you gotta live in the real world eventually. So
Speaker 1: I'm just extremely proud of my son and being nominated
Speaker 1: for this award. Well, you certainly give him a good
Speaker 1: example to follow after. And I'm not sure if he
Speaker 1: ever told you this, but the local media down here
Speaker 1: has a good Guy Award that they're the person who
Speaker 1: was most cooperative and easy to talk to for the
Speaker 1: media among all Dolphins players, and he won that. I
Speaker 1: think it was the last year or two years ago.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he told you that, but it
Speaker 1: kind of speaks to your behavioral standards, right absolutely, you know.
Speaker 1: And uh, even after the game, if he ever follows
Speaker 1: Rome after the game, so uh, he signs autographs after
Speaker 1: every game. He makes himself accessible after every game. Because
Speaker 1: I'm proud. I don't never want to make things about
Speaker 1: me when it comes to my son, but I'm so
Speaker 1: proud that, um, he heard, you know, some of the
Speaker 1: things I was teaching him, and that he's taking it
Speaker 1: to the next level in terms of like what it
Speaker 1: means to be a quality human being, what it means
Speaker 1: to serve, what it means to give back, what it
Speaker 1: means to continue to develop, to be the best person
Speaker 1: you can be. And so, yes, he's only twenty four.
Speaker 1: Yes he has a lot to grow in, lots to
Speaker 1: still to do, but uh, he's doing okay. You know,
Speaker 1: his father is always been his number one family. He's
Speaker 1: a kid. I was always talks it wrong. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm a number one fan. He was seven years old,
Speaker 1: you know, and so he grew up hearing you know, uh,
Speaker 1: you know you might superstar. So from he was seven
Speaker 1: years old, you know, I'm your number one fan. And
Speaker 1: so uh in aviagees from him being a person and
Speaker 1: football players. I'm just really extremely proud of him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that that's great. There's nothing else I gotta ask you
Speaker 1: about that. That's That's a properate way to wrap it
Speaker 1: up right there. Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 1: I'm sure all of Northeast Ohio will be casting their
Speaker 1: votes for Jerome Baker Jr. For the Walter Payton Man One.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time today, Jerome. We
Speaker 1: really appreciate Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, enjoy the
Speaker 1: rest of your day. Thanks you too, and there he goes.
Speaker 1: How good was that. Let's go ahead and jump straight
Speaker 1: into our next guest, Jerome Baker Jr. Joining us now
Speaker 1: is the one Miami Dolphins Walter Payton Man of the
Speaker 1: Year nominee linebacker for your Miami Dolphins Jerome Baker. Baker,
Speaker 1: thanks for taking some time. Let's day man. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Thank you. Good to be being here. And
Speaker 1: you know, see, so what's the before I get to
Speaker 1: the questions here? What does the bye week look like
Speaker 1: for you? Are you stay at home kind of guy
Speaker 1: or maybe you're a jet setter? Um, so yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: definitely gonna just chilling hit the beach a little bit.
Speaker 1: That's kind of been my main thing is I actually
Speaker 1: want to relax and um just give my mind right
Speaker 1: and come finishing season shrump. I don't want to give
Speaker 1: you to give away your your hot spot or your
Speaker 1: secret spot. But what where's the beach of choice down
Speaker 1: here in South Florida. You don't have to give away.
Speaker 1: I don't want to. Yeah, so I definitely go to
Speaker 1: a lot of the beach um, you know South beaches.
Speaker 1: It's a little hectic. UM, so I definitely just go
Speaker 1: to four a lot of Dale and show a little
Speaker 1: bit head over Dania Beach right by the airport there.
Speaker 1: It's pretty quiet spot if you ever interested in some
Speaker 1: a little more private beach style there. But I digress.
Speaker 1: Let's let's get into the real stuff here. Jerome. What
Speaker 1: does this nomination mean for you? I mean, you talked
Speaker 1: about in your press conference about how this was very
Speaker 1: important to you. What does this, this nomination for the
Speaker 1: Walter Payton Man of the Year Award mean to you. Oh,
Speaker 1: it is truly honor. UM. I think this is like
Speaker 1: the one award I trually wanted to um win and
Speaker 1: UM really have since the beginning of the year. You know,
Speaker 1: I talked to so, I talked to you know, my
Speaker 1: friends and my family, and it was one of those
Speaker 1: awards I knew that, you know, deep down, I can
Speaker 1: definitely win and UM and it was kind of cool.
Speaker 1: You can win about just giving back and I'm doing
Speaker 1: things for the community and that's why I love to do.
Speaker 1: That's why I truly, um, you know, take pride in
Speaker 1: and I'm just to be nominated. It's truly honor. You
Speaker 1: got a chance to watch the coach Flora's announced the
Speaker 1: nomination to the team after practice of the day. What
Speaker 1: was going through your mind that when coach made that
Speaker 1: announcement after practice. Uh, I don't know. It was like
Speaker 1: one of those I didn't really know what he's about
Speaker 1: to say and then sprung it up. It was like
Speaker 1: my heart started racing a little bit, like maybe you know,
Speaker 1: I do have a chance to win in Once he
Speaker 1: said my name, it definitely, Uh, it made it all
Speaker 1: worth it. It truly meant a lot to me, and um,
Speaker 1: it's definitely an honor to win it. I saw your
Speaker 1: teammates calling for a speech there. Did you oblige them? Um? So, yeah,
Speaker 1: I had a speech. But it wasn't nothing, especially at all.
Speaker 1: I say that no problem, no problem. That we saw
Speaker 1: him kind of cut away. It looked like you were
Speaker 1: just kind of trying to be humble and accepted in
Speaker 1: so we'd expect nothing less. Man. I wanted to ask you.
Speaker 1: I told you we had your father on the podcast
Speaker 1: here and he talked a little bit about men of
Speaker 1: Central and now it's men and women of Central. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to kind of ask you about your involvement
Speaker 1: and that what it what it meant to be around
Speaker 1: something like that as a youth. It I think, you know,
Speaker 1: when I was younger, I truly didn't understand how powerful
Speaker 1: that was. Um, it was like one of one of
Speaker 1: those things. I just wanted to follow my dad and
Speaker 1: follow his lead. But growing up, you know, to see
Speaker 1: that it isn't steal something in me that I am
Speaker 1: truly grateful for. And that's uh, you know, we're blessed.
Speaker 1: I was blessed with different opportunities. I was blessed to
Speaker 1: have a support system. Um. And it's truly my job
Speaker 1: and my duty to give back. You know, I'm blessed
Speaker 1: and I definitely have things that a lot of people
Speaker 1: don't have, and uh, you know it's my job to
Speaker 1: really just get back and do as much as I
Speaker 1: can for my community, my city. Um. And that's truly
Speaker 1: what I appreciate it. You know, looking back at all
Speaker 1: the memories I had with me and my dad and
Speaker 1: my mom, my sister. Uh, the one cool when he
Speaker 1: always brings up is we had this. Uh. It was
Speaker 1: like a parade all the different nonprofits. You know, you
Speaker 1: bring out your your group and bring out to people
Speaker 1: in the nonprofit and you know, my dad just started here.
Speaker 1: So it was just me, my mom, my dad, and
Speaker 1: my sister. My mom and my sister was in the
Speaker 1: band following us, me and my dad. He was holding
Speaker 1: this giant poster um. But it was just cool of
Speaker 1: you know, that's all we need and you know, we
Speaker 1: can definitely make it work. We can definitely impact some people,
Speaker 1: just us. And just to see over the years how
Speaker 1: much of your own it truly meant a lot to me.
Speaker 1: So when I got you in a place that I
Speaker 1: can start my own you know, nonprofit, that was the
Speaker 1: first thing I wanted to do. That was like my
Speaker 1: main thing I wanted to do when I got to NFL.
Speaker 1: So I'm definitely happy for that. Yeah, kind of continue
Speaker 1: the family business. Right, Can you tell us more about that?
Speaker 1: Expand the land? Right? Can you? Can you expand on
Speaker 1: expand the land? Yeah? So expanding its kind of play
Speaker 1: on words Cleveland Cleveland's to the land Lauran made it famous. Whatever,
Speaker 1: uh and I a trually just wanted to expand the land.
Speaker 1: If you think about it, I wanted to um, you know,
Speaker 1: mentor I wanted to do, you know, help kids in
Speaker 1: any direction they wanted to go. And if it's a lawyer,
Speaker 1: if it's a doctor, if it's sports, if it's whatever
Speaker 1: it is. I want to help them and use my
Speaker 1: resources and use the people I met, you know, throughout
Speaker 1: my life, and help guide them to be just really
Speaker 1: the best person they can be. Uh. You know, growing up,
Speaker 1: I had a lot of friends. I had a lot
Speaker 1: of people I met that they were better than me
Speaker 1: and football, they were smarter than me, you know, they
Speaker 1: triually just better people, but they didn't have the support
Speaker 1: system to really guide them to really success, uh succeed.
Speaker 1: So I truly wanted to be that and help as
Speaker 1: much as I can. I remember going to camps, I
Speaker 1: remember going to you know, pretty much anything, and just
Speaker 1: to remember those experience of like having that uh support,
Speaker 1: it really meant a lot. So I wouldn't be here
Speaker 1: without the support sys in my head, and I actually
Speaker 1: want to be that, you know a little bit of
Speaker 1: support to someone else. That should has been my reason
Speaker 1: and why I started, and I'm definitely happy I did.
Speaker 1: So you must really look back at your upbringing with
Speaker 1: a lot of gratitude, then, oh yeah, I definitely do that.
Speaker 1: That's why you see that where my mom a video.
Speaker 1: I looked at my mom Uh, my mom, my dad,
Speaker 1: my family. They I wouldn't be the person I am
Speaker 1: today without them, and I definitely happy I had them,
Speaker 1: and I'm definitely grateful for them. I think one of
Speaker 1: the most selfless things I read and kind of pulling
Speaker 1: some research for this interview Jerome, was the fact that
Speaker 1: your birthday is on Christmas Day and you spend your
Speaker 1: birthday and Christmas with the Boys and Girls Club of
Speaker 1: Miami Dade. Why is that so important to you? Man? Uh?
Speaker 1: I think it really started was, you know, growing up,
Speaker 1: I was always I couldn't really celebrate my birthday. I
Speaker 1: couldn't really, um do anything special for it. But it
Speaker 1: was one of those the whole world is celebrating um.
Speaker 1: And I remember, I truly I was blessed. So my
Speaker 1: parents they're taking me out of town, um. And I
Speaker 1: would get gifts and I just remember, like Christmas is
Speaker 1: one of those holidays. It just brings you so much
Speaker 1: joy and so much love. And when I got to
Speaker 1: this level, it was I'm not really uh, there's not
Speaker 1: many gifts I can't get myself. Um, just you know,
Speaker 1: just speaking like that, but it's one thing I can
Speaker 1: do is make other people happy. And you know the
Speaker 1: people over at the Girls and Boys Club, they do
Speaker 1: a great job of helping me and supporting me, and
Speaker 1: you know, I truly just want to get back. And
Speaker 1: I think that's like the best gift and make someone
Speaker 1: else happy and you know, make kids happy and show
Speaker 1: that you know their love and their cared and you
Speaker 1: know people are thinking about them. So I think that's
Speaker 1: like the best gift I have and every year I
Speaker 1: can definitely have it every year. Yeah, I couldn't agree
Speaker 1: with that more. Now you've been down here since twenty teen,
Speaker 1: how do you compare Christmas in the Northeast compared to
Speaker 1: Christmas in South Florida Because this is my second year here,
Speaker 1: still kind of trying to get used to like palm
Speaker 1: trees and wearing shorts outside on Christmas morning. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely different. I think the one thing is, um,
Speaker 1: it's just the weather. Uh, that's like the main thing
Speaker 1: up north. You know, Thanksgiving and Christmas, all those holidays.
Speaker 1: You're at the house. You want to spend it together.
Speaker 1: It's cold outside, so you're in the house. That's when
Speaker 1: you drink your hot chocolate and you stay by the
Speaker 1: tree the fireplace, and you really just conversate here. It
Speaker 1: was a little different for me because I remember my
Speaker 1: first year I was talking about Christmas and you know,
Speaker 1: the people around they were like, yeah, we're going to
Speaker 1: the beach. I'm like, it's Christmas, though, Like who wants
Speaker 1: to go out? Uh? But over time you get used
Speaker 1: to it, and uh, I don't think I'm going up
Speaker 1: north anytime soon. I definitely stayed out here. You go,
Speaker 1: I feel the exact same way. Hey, jumping on the
Speaker 1: call right now. A quick surprise guest here, Jason Taylor. Jason,
Speaker 1: what do you got for us? Man? What's up? What's up? Joe?
Speaker 1: Are you over? I'm good? Are you? Yeah? I just
Speaker 1: wanted to jump all real quick and congratulate you for
Speaker 1: being a Dolphins nominee for Multipaident Man of the Year.
Speaker 1: I'm sure, as you know, it's probably the biggest honor
Speaker 1: we have in this game. I mean, Pro Bowls are great. Um,
Speaker 1: obviously the Hall of Fame is great, but you know,
Speaker 1: as far as individual individual awards, this is the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: So as a former winner, I wanted to jump, want
Speaker 1: to congratulate you. Really proud of you, love the way
Speaker 1: you play. Obviously A big fan of that and getting
Speaker 1: to see you every week. But what you do in
Speaker 1: the community is so much bigger, so much better. Um,
Speaker 1: I commend you for that. A lot of people know
Speaker 1: about your play on the field, what you do off
Speaker 1: the field sometimes goes I noticed, And I know we
Speaker 1: don't do it for recognition and for notice. We do
Speaker 1: it for the right reasons and because we're making the
Speaker 1: impact in our communities or we're changing lives, and and
Speaker 1: it even makes us feel better when we do it.
Speaker 1: You know, we get a lot more out of it
Speaker 1: sometimes than other people do. But I want to congratulate
Speaker 1: you on on Uh you know, whether you win the
Speaker 1: award or not. You know, you see the trophy sitting
Speaker 1: back here every whether you win it or not, it's
Speaker 1: it's not about that. It's about what you do every
Speaker 1: time you get a chance to. And I love you
Speaker 1: for that. I appreciate you for that. And on behalf
Speaker 1: of myself and really on behalf of my the Jason
Speaker 1: Taylor Foundation. I'm gonna send you a thousand dollars to
Speaker 1: you send any any charity of your choice, and uh,
Speaker 1: if it's everything ever, anything I can do to help you,
Speaker 1: know with any of your events or you're just showing
Speaker 1: up somewhere on Tuesday or Monday, please let me know.
Speaker 1: I'd be happy to do it if I'm available. And hell,
Speaker 1: I ain't doing much. I'm sitting around calling games or
Speaker 1: weekends and coaching football during the week, so I'm always
Speaker 1: here for you. Thank you, Thank you. Actually needs a lot,
Speaker 1: so keep it up, enjoy your bike. We I know
Speaker 1: you guys get more time off than we used to get,
Speaker 1: thank god, thank god the c B. A man dated that,
Speaker 1: but you guys earned it. I hate to see you
Speaker 1: guys take a break when you're on such a role
Speaker 1: right now, but enjoy it. Heal up and uh, we'll
Speaker 1: see you in a couple of weeks against the Jets.
Speaker 1: I appreciate everybody needs a lot. Thanks. I have a
Speaker 1: good one man not huh yeah, that that's a right there.
Speaker 1: Pretty great is the best man and Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: and a great man as well. So you kind of
Speaker 1: share you you share a company with him now and
Speaker 1: this Walter Payton, man of your nomination. So one more
Speaker 1: question for you, droone before I let you get out
Speaker 1: of here and go and join your bye week. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you doing this. The last thing you do before
Speaker 1: you get out of here. There's kind of a last
Speaker 1: day of school type of feel around here today. I
Speaker 1: can definitely feel that vibe. But I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you real quick. You know the surfside tragedy that happened
Speaker 1: earlier this summer, the Haiti earthquake as well, you were
Speaker 1: involved in both of those. You jumped at the opportunity
Speaker 1: to get involved with that. Why was that so important
Speaker 1: to you in both those cases? Um, it's really you know,
Speaker 1: I've been here for four years and just to see
Speaker 1: of Miami, I feel like they adopted me and they
Speaker 1: welcome me in so Um, you know, I was blessed
Speaker 1: with a lot of different things here and with the
Speaker 1: contract it's getting drafted here, Um, you know, the wins
Speaker 1: and losses. I truly love the city and and and honestly,
Speaker 1: just the Haitian community is being down here. They welcome
Speaker 1: me with just open arms. And you know, when I
Speaker 1: heard the tragedy, my first thing was just let me
Speaker 1: just see what I can do to help. And the
Speaker 1: Dolphins they support me in every way they could. And yes,
Speaker 1: that's a truly what I wanted to do and just
Speaker 1: help as much as I can, And even with sef side.
Speaker 1: They truly broke my heart because how much time I
Speaker 1: spend down there and how much many memories I have there,
Speaker 1: and so when I definitely saw that I can help,
Speaker 1: the first thing I do is, you know, our achie
Speaker 1: just called the Dolphin and see what I can do,
Speaker 1: and they helped me as any way I can. So
Speaker 1: I'm definitely grateful for that. And they got you out
Speaker 1: there right away. You were one of the first that
Speaker 1: fifty jersey, one of the first things I saw, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously a triesy situation, but good to see the community
Speaker 1: kind of rally around that. You're a big part of that. Jerome,
Speaker 1: we really appreciate your time today. Man. You can cast
Speaker 1: your vote for Jerome for Walter Payton Man of the
Speaker 1: Year by participating in nationwide seventh Annual Charity Challenge, a
Speaker 1: social media social media campaign designed to support and promote
Speaker 1: Team nominees. Fans can vote by Twitter by using the
Speaker 1: hashtag w P m O Y Challenge followed by their
Speaker 1: favorite nominees last name or Twitter handle. So get your
Speaker 1: votes for Jerome. The player whose unique hashtag has used
Speaker 1: the most between December seven and January sevente will receive
Speaker 1: a twenty five dollar contribution to his charity, Jerome's charity
Speaker 1: of choice, while the second and third place for nurturers
Speaker 1: will receive ten thousand dollars and five thousand dollar donations,
Speaker 1: all courtesy of Nationwide hashtag. Information and official rules can
Speaker 1: be found at NFL dot com. Man of the Year, Jerome,
Speaker 1: thank you again so much for your time. Man, go
Speaker 1: enjoy your bye week. Thank you have a going and
Speaker 1: away he goes like that. Jason Taylor Surprise and not
Speaker 1: too bad there and great to hear from. Jerome's such
Speaker 1: a good guy. I'm so excited to finally get him
Speaker 1: on the podcast here. He's he's one of the best
Speaker 1: and that's what we want to have here in Miami.
Speaker 1: So Jerome Baker, Jerome Baker Senior, thank you for their time.
Speaker 1: Good to hear them from. Coach Flores and Coach Bowyer
Speaker 1: and j T. Fun podcast here. As always, we're gonna
Speaker 1: have more content for you guys coming up tomorrow, including
Speaker 1: some different level of content and you're used to here
Speaker 1: on the Drive Time podcast. In the meantime, you all
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple
Speaker 1: podcast or Spotify, wherever you get your podcast from Go
Speaker 1: ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a review.
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL or
Speaker 1: on Instagram, the Miami Dolphins across all social platforms at
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins dot com. Check out the Fish Tank Podcast
Speaker 1: with Seth and o. J. Nat Moore was on the
Speaker 1: pod this week, and of course our YouTube channel for
Speaker 1: all media availabilities and Dolphins Today. Last, but not least,
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins dot Com until next time fits up Caroline,
Speaker 1: Daddy is coming home.