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Speaker 1: Welcome to this week's episode of a Cowboy Life, the

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Speaker 1: Storytelling podcast presented by Smoothie King, Blending goodness to fuel

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Speaker 1: your greatness. I'm Brady Tinker. This week we bring you

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Speaker 1: a story told to me by former undrafted free agent

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Speaker 1: safety Jeff Heath. You know, Jeff was one of those

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Speaker 1: guys that had to play for his job seemingly every day.

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Speaker 1: He was from little Saginaw Valley State. He was undrafted,

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Speaker 1: he was undersized, and he was often just dismissed. But

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Speaker 1: truth be told, Heath played for the Cowboys for seven

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Speaker 1: years and he was a hardass that loved to hit.

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Speaker 1: Please enjoy a story that will stir your insides. Jeff

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Speaker 1: Heath And did I kill him? We hit somebody, and

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Speaker 1: it's a lot of times it's a hard hit you

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Speaker 1: don't even feel it. I remember, actually when I hit him,

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Speaker 1: it felt way different. It just felt like a thud,

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Speaker 1: like a huge thud. He felt so heavy when I

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Speaker 1: hit him, and I don't know why that was. And

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Speaker 1: I think when I hit him, I was like, that

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Speaker 1: didn't feel right like And then I didn't see him,

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Speaker 1: I didn't see how he was laying and I hit him,

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Speaker 1: and I kind of ran down and I think we

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Speaker 1: ended up fair catching it. And then when I looked

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Speaker 1: back and I saw and I was like, yeah, like

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Speaker 1: that wasn't right. Something's wrong. According to data collected, the

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Speaker 1: average g force of an NFL special team's hit is

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Speaker 1: akin to hitting a wall in a car at forty

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Speaker 1: two miles an hour. It is the same amount of

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Speaker 1: force applied when a person would fall six stories onto concrete.

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Speaker 1: And sure, NFL players have shoulder pads and they have helmets,

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Speaker 1: but there are no airbags in football. There are no

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Speaker 1: seat belts to slow momentum or to tamper speed. And

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Speaker 1: when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys, there may not

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Speaker 1: be a player who knows this better than former Cowboy

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Speaker 1: safety Jeff Heath. Jeff started with the Cowboys in twenty

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Speaker 1: and thirteen, and he wore the number thirty eight as

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Speaker 1: a strong safety here the two nineteen season, and despite

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Speaker 1: his small school pedigree, Heath managed to impress the Cowboys leadership.

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Speaker 1: You may remember that he's just over six feet tall

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Speaker 1: and weighs about two hundred and ten pounds, and I'd

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Speaker 1: say that's soaking wet, and yet from his first stay,

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Speaker 1: he was physically rocking anyone who was holding a football,

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Speaker 1: and every year Jeff Heath was gonna be gone, but

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Speaker 1: no coach would cut him. He was dependable, tough, fast,

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Speaker 1: and willing to play anywhere and do anything for the team.

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Speaker 1: And those guys in the NFL are oftentimes few and

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Speaker 1: far between. Jeff was one of those guys that I,

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Speaker 1: as a media member, clicked with. He'd tell me the

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Speaker 1: truth and he'd share about himself as well, and we

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Speaker 1: grew close. And there was something that had happened in

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Speaker 1: his career in his third year that we'd never talked about,

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Speaker 1: so I asked, and here goes. Heading into the two

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Speaker 1: and fifteen season, things were looking up up for young

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Speaker 1: Jeff Heath. The Cowboys were coming off a great two

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Speaker 1: and fourteen season, and he was playing a lot at

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Speaker 1: free safety and he was already a special team's captain.

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Speaker 1: But at the midpoint of that year, the Cowboys after

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Speaker 1: starting two and oh we're reeling from the loss of

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Speaker 1: their quarterback Tony Romo and now four straight losses. You know,

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Speaker 1: we were kind of on a little bit of a

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Speaker 1: losing streak, and you know, you try not to kind

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Speaker 1: of put so much pressure. You know, we need this

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Speaker 1: game or else, or we're done or whatever. But you

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Speaker 1: know you can't fall in too big of a hole

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Speaker 1: in the NFL. It's just too hard to get out of.

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Speaker 1: So two and four coming off a bye week, and

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Speaker 1: here come the Seattle Seahawks, a hard nosed bunch that

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Speaker 1: hits you for the full sixty minutes. So let's start there.

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Speaker 1: We knew we had Seattle coming in, and we knew

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Speaker 1: it was gonna be a tough game. You know, a

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Speaker 1: really good defense, really physical team, ran the ball really well,

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Speaker 1: created turnovers. They were just tough. Like you just hated

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Speaker 1: playing Saddle because you knew a type of game it

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Speaker 1: was going to be, and they weren't gonna lay over.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna have to earn everything from him. You go

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Speaker 1: into every game with that kind of mindset that it's

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Speaker 1: gonna be a physical game. But it's something about when

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Speaker 1: you're just playing a team like Seattle, you just know

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be stepped up a notch. They're not a

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Speaker 1: dirty team, but they just have this reputation and just

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Speaker 1: ask kickers, just guys who are tough, gritty, and just

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Speaker 1: to pay the ass to play against. So the whole

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Speaker 1: week preparing, you know, you're just ready for that. For

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Speaker 1: every NFL game played, players will prepare, they will watch

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Speaker 1: film of the opposing team, and each player will know

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Speaker 1: at some point there's gonna be a guy, a particular

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Speaker 1: opponent that they have to be ready for on special teams.

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Speaker 1: Jeff heat knows that that is Seattle's Ricardo Luckett. He's

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Speaker 1: a stud and on this day he will need to

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Speaker 1: pay particular attention to him. When you put on the

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Speaker 1: film of Seattle, you just saw this dude run out

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Speaker 1: and kick off ten yards in front of everybody, number

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Speaker 1: eighty three, and then you know on punt just blown

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Speaker 1: up returners all season, and that's just he was just

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Speaker 1: so fast that I think if you just ask anybody

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Speaker 1: what is his identity or like, what's his best saying

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Speaker 1: at speed, he's just probably one of the fastest players

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Speaker 1: in the league. They put him obviously on fire on

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Speaker 1: pott and at two on kickoff, and he just just

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Speaker 1: could ruin the whole play just by how fast he was.

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Speaker 1: And you know, not only is he fast, he's a

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Speaker 1: big guy's big physical. You know, there's numerous highlights of

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Speaker 1: him just destroying people. So he just fit right into

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Speaker 1: their mold of what types of guys they want, and

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Speaker 1: really what types of guys you want in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: At six foot two, two hundred eleven pounds, Ricardo Lockett

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Speaker 1: was nearly a spot on match physically in size and

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Speaker 1: stature to Jeff Heath, and Heath was right. Lockett was fast.

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Speaker 1: Lockett set records for the one hundred meter and forty

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Speaker 1: yard dashed in the NC double A track season when

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Speaker 1: he was in college. He was also a very good receiver,

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Speaker 1: but he was known to the Cowboys for his uncanny

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Speaker 1: ability to get away from double teams on the outside

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Speaker 1: of the line of scrimmage and make tackles over and

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Speaker 1: over again on special team. Preparing for the game, it

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Speaker 1: was more than obvious to Jeff Heath that he would

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Speaker 1: always have to keep an eye out for Lockett. Game

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Speaker 1: day morning, you know, we stayed at the hotel, get up,

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Speaker 1: have a meal, head over the stadium. Early everything felt normal.

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Speaker 1: There's probably a little bit more urgency at that time

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Speaker 1: of the year, just based off how the last few

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Speaker 1: weeks had gone and we were kind of fallen behind

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Speaker 1: in our division and we weren't playing very well. So

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Speaker 1: I would say there was some emergency that this is

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Speaker 1: a big game. It's November first, two thousand and fifteen,

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Speaker 1: week seven of the NFL season. At three twenty five

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Speaker 1: Central time, ninety five thousand people made their way into

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Speaker 1: AT and T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The temperature didn't matter,

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Speaker 1: the roof was closed on a very gray fall football day. Remember,

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Speaker 1: the Cowboys are two and four, coming off a great

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Speaker 1: two and fourteen season that had seemed them make it

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Speaker 1: to the divisional playoffs. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are sitting at

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Speaker 1: three wins and four losses, and not are they expected

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Speaker 1: to be either, because they've been to two straight Super

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Speaker 1: Bowl appearances and one one of them. The first half

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Speaker 1: is almost over with Seattle leading ten to six in

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Speaker 1: a physical affair. As expected. The Seahawks are punting with

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Speaker 1: twenty one seconds left in the half when suddenly the

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Speaker 1: perspective of everyone with eyes on this football game changed.

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Speaker 1: There is a crash in the middle of the field.

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Speaker 1: Two undrafted free agents that are now key players for

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Speaker 1: their teams come together and it all goes wrong. People

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Speaker 1: don't even know, but that was actually we had a

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Speaker 1: fake or not a fake, but we had like a

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Speaker 1: trick play. On that point. We're gonna it's really a throwback,

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Speaker 1: so we double that flyer, our returner catches it, one

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Speaker 1: of the guys that's doubling him kind of peels off

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Speaker 1: and we were gonna throw it back to him, so

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Speaker 1: Brandon Carr was actually gonna throw it back. So my

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Speaker 1: job is to protect the returner. I don't whoever is

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Speaker 1: the first guy down. I gotta block him so that

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Speaker 1: we have enough time to throw the ball. So it

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Speaker 1: kind of looks like when you watch them play it, it

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Speaker 1: it looks like he's double he's not seeing me, and

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Speaker 1: I'm just like trying to like sneak one on him.

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Speaker 1: But my job on the play is to block the

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Speaker 1: most dangerous guy. And knowing who he is and that

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Speaker 1: they're going to let him release inside, he's probably gonna

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Speaker 1: run right to me. So knowing how fast he is,

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Speaker 1: what type of player he is, I was just kind

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Speaker 1: of assuming before the playoff, I'm probably gonna have to

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Speaker 1: block this guy. And Heath did exactly that as expected.

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Speaker 1: Lockett gets away from a double team on his way

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Speaker 1: to disrupt the return and Heath hits him and Lockett

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Speaker 1: goes down, but this time on a block that looked

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Speaker 1: to everyone else like any other block. Something happened Beasley

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Speaker 1: a fair catch of the thirty. The Cowboys have thirteen

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Speaker 1: seconds left and there is a Seahawks player down in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the field. There's an immediate sense of

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Speaker 1: urgency here is medical personnel of the Seahawks are sprinting

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Speaker 1: onto the field. It appears to be Ricardo Lockett and

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Speaker 1: he is motionless on his side at the top of

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Speaker 1: the star at midfield. He hit somebody. And it's a

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Speaker 1: lot of times with a hard hit, you don't even

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Speaker 1: feel it because I don't. I don't really know why,

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Speaker 1: but it just feels really smooth and clean, and it

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Speaker 1: doesn't feel like anything. But I just I remember actually

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Speaker 1: when I hit him, it felt way different. It just

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Speaker 1: felt like a thought, like a huge thought, and it

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Speaker 1: was like and you can kind of tell how he felt.

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Speaker 1: He just kind of like woman. It was just like

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Speaker 1: just like it just felt so weird, like he felt

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Speaker 1: so heavy when I hit him. And I don't know

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Speaker 1: why that was, and I think it's really hard for

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Speaker 1: me to explain, but the hitting, the hitting did feel different,

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Speaker 1: and I remember kind of like when I hit him,

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Speaker 1: I was like, that didn't feel right, like I and

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Speaker 1: then I didn't see him. I didn't see that he

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Speaker 1: was laying and I hit him. Then I kind of

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Speaker 1: ran down and I think we ended up fair catching it.

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Speaker 1: And then when I looked back and I saw and

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Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I like that wasn't right. Something's wrong.

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Speaker 1: Ricardo Lockett laid on the field at AT and T

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Speaker 1: Stadium for thirty two minutes, and for thirty two minutes

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Speaker 1: while Arlington Fire and EMS technicians attended to him, he

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Speaker 1: did not move. We were on the skyline. I saw

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Speaker 1: he'd come across and I mean he had Lockett. You

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Speaker 1: could hear it. That's John Robertson, an EMS technician in Arlington, Texas.

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Speaker 1: He was a pivotal part of the emergency team tasked

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Speaker 1: with coming to the aid of injured players at AT

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Speaker 1: and T Stadium in two thousand and fifteen. And fortunately

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Speaker 1: for Ricardo Lockett, John wasn't just at the game. He

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Speaker 1: was on the clock. Just when you're average hit and

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Speaker 1: you could tell by the sound of it, and Jess

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Speaker 1: did there. We knew at that point that this is

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Speaker 1: not going to be good. When a player is injured

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Speaker 1: on the field during an NFL game, there are a

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Speaker 1: lot of different systems that need to click into place

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Speaker 1: for everything to go right for that player. Dozens of

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Speaker 1: people will spring into action. Equipment is ready, Broadcast stations

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Speaker 1: have to be notified, and oh yeah, there are ninety

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Speaker 1: five thousand people sitting in the stands who want to

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Speaker 1: know what's happening. Not to mention. In this case, somebody's

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Speaker 1: life is on the line. No pressure. So we got

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Speaker 1: there and he was telling you, I don't feel anything.

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Speaker 1: I'm oriented, verrying out, but I can't feel anything from

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Speaker 1: my neck down. And that's when we knew it was serious.

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Speaker 1: I told Anny to go to the head, talk to

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Speaker 1: and keep talking to him. We're gonna put him on

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Speaker 1: the backboard, put him on a cart, put him on

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Speaker 1: the cart, take him from the cart out to the

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Speaker 1: amlets so the anilets can transport him to the Vader

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Speaker 1: Hospital and down. Sometimes a different perspective from a teammate

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Speaker 1: who was on the field will help. We talked to

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Speaker 1: then safety Byron Jones. He's teammate who was responsible for

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Speaker 1: detaining Lock up to the line of scrimmage as long

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Speaker 1: as he could. He took a hard inside release and

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Speaker 1: Jeff Heath made a good play. It was a clean

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Speaker 1: hit and that's what I thought. It's just one of

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Speaker 1: those things that's a freak accident. You hate to see

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Speaker 1: a guy like that going down because he's one of

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Speaker 1: the most respected special guy in the league. Again, just

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Speaker 1: one of those that happens. Former Cowboys leader and All

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Speaker 1: Pro linebacker Sean Lee told me everything stops when there's

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Speaker 1: a man motionless on the field. You see something like that,

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Speaker 1: you just start praying. You know, this is a physical game,

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Speaker 1: and you know we want to come out and hit

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Speaker 1: and play hard, but you never want to see anything

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Speaker 1: like that. So that right then we're like, yep, you know,

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Speaker 1: hopefully he's all right, please get up, and you're praying that,

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Speaker 1: you know, long term health, he's okay. Before there was

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Speaker 1: a draft, you get sized up a cowboy by three

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Speaker 1: proud to be on the field with America's team. Find

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Speaker 1: The Cowboys Way, where sixteen Hall of Famers and five

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Speaker 1: I just remember thinking I just wanted him to get up,

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Speaker 1: But it's like I just wanted to kind of I

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Speaker 1: wanted to just go in locker room. I kind of

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Speaker 1: wanted to just be away. And I knew all these

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Speaker 1: dudes are screaming at me, and I was like, I

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Speaker 1: don't even care. I don't care about you, just like

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Speaker 1: I'm just watching him, okay, see okay, blah bah blah.

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Speaker 1: I'm waiting. Yeah, I'm waiting to hear from our trainers

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Speaker 1: or from anybody here. Was just down for so long,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, what could be? I mean, it

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Speaker 1: was terrifying. Unbeknownst to Jeff Heath, who was in the

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Speaker 1: locker room. Ricardo Lockett had sustained a severe concussion, but

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Speaker 1: that was the least of it. The force of the

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Speaker 1: hit nearly disconnected Lockett's skull from his spine. The only

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Speaker 1: thing keeping his head on his shoulders were the ligaments

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Speaker 1: in his neck and the skin around it. A fair

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Speaker 1: catched by the Cowboys on the play probably saved Lockett's life.

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Speaker 1: Had he been moved, shifted, fallen on, or even patted

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Speaker 1: on the helmet by another player, he would have died

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Speaker 1: right there on the field. This story is told from

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Speaker 1: Jeff Heath's memory on a terrible day of football for him.

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Speaker 1: But we wanted to read you something that Ricardo Lockett

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Speaker 1: wrote for The Player's Tribune in July of two and sixteen.

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Speaker 1: You know what it felt like. Have you ever experienced

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Speaker 1: sleep paralysis? Imagine you wake up from a dream early

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Speaker 1: in the morning, and you can hear everybody in your

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Speaker 1: house making breakfast and talking and laughing, but you can't

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Speaker 1: move no matter how hard you try. You can't actually

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Speaker 1: get up. You're stuck in between being asleep and being awake,

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Speaker 1: so you just lay there, trapped inside your own body.

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Speaker 1: While the world goes on around you. And that's exactly

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Speaker 1: what it felt like, except I wasn't in bed. I

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Speaker 1: was a fifty yard line of AT and T Stadium,

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Speaker 1: surrounded by ninety thousand fans, and I said to myself, Lord,

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Speaker 1: just helped me. I know I'm here for a reason.

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Speaker 1: If you help me off this ground, I'll change lives.

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Speaker 1: It was the second time I had ever said that

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Speaker 1: to myself. I've never spoken about this before, but the

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Speaker 1: first time I made that promise was in college. I

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Speaker 1: was talking to a young lady when her boyfriend came

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Speaker 1: up and pulled a gun on me. It was a revolver,

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Speaker 1: so I could clearly see the bullets in the chamber.

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Speaker 1: I didn't know whether I was going to live or die,

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Speaker 1: and in that moment, when I was looking at the chamber,

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Speaker 1: I said, Lord, please help me. I promise I will

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Speaker 1: change lies. The guy put the gun down and we

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Speaker 1: talked it out. At Cowboys Stadium, I found myself asking

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Speaker 1: God to save me again. You can read all of

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Speaker 1: Ricardo Lockett's article at the Player's Tribune dot com. Please

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Speaker 1: excuse the ambient noise here, but we were in Oxnard, California,

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Speaker 1: with the Cowboys at training camp when we got the

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Speaker 1: rest of this story from Jeff. I've never done this

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Speaker 1: other than this one time. But I went into the

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Speaker 1: locker room because I was read before halftime, and I

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Speaker 1: actually looked at my phone. I knew my parents were

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Speaker 1: watching the game. I knew they were probably really concerned,

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Speaker 1: and I just I knew my dad was gonna text

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Speaker 1: me to say, like, you're it wasn't that bad, or

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Speaker 1: you're fine, and sure enough you did. So. Then once

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Speaker 1: I saw that, I was kind of felt a little

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Speaker 1: better about it. Obviously, I still felt the same way

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Speaker 1: about the outcome. Is. I was sick for him, just

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Speaker 1: because he's trying to make a living just like I am.

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Speaker 1: He's got a wife just like I do. Like he's

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Speaker 1: got kids, you know, all this stuff. And I knew

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Speaker 1: that it was like potentially really bad. It happened so fast,

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Speaker 1: and I knew going into the play like, well, I

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Speaker 1: don't think that was dirty, like he saw me coming

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Speaker 1: it was in front. It was everything, but their reaction.

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Speaker 1: I was like, man, that might have been I didn't

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Speaker 1: know what it looked like, you know, I didn't know

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Speaker 1: if it looked terrible, if it if I if he

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Speaker 1: completely blindsided him or whatever. So um, he kept communicating

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Speaker 1: with me and letting me know what he's okay. And

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Speaker 1: I said, there's there's a lot of people you're worried

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Speaker 1: about you right now, and said, once you get some indication,

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Speaker 1: let everybody know you're okay. And that's when you see

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Speaker 1: in the victory him break the candle, his arms excuse me,

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Speaker 1: his arm up. Let anybody know that I M from

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Speaker 1: You know I'm did okay. Lockett was finally stabilized and

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Speaker 1: carried off the field after the amazing MS medical staff

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Speaker 1: safely got him onto a flatboard and then a guarney,

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Speaker 1: and he was carried off the field. He finally managed

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Speaker 1: to muster enough strength to raise his hand and form

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Speaker 1: an l shake with his index finger and thumb, a

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Speaker 1: representation at the time of Seattle's Legion of Boom, the

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Speaker 1: name the secondary was given in two thousand and ten.

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Speaker 1: The next day, the Seahawks announced that he'd be undergoing

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Speaker 1: a surgery that hopefully would allow him to walk again,

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Speaker 1: but most likely would end his NFL career. When when

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Speaker 1: something like that happens, you know the game. The outcome

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Speaker 1: of the game seems pretty small in the grand scheme

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Speaker 1: of you know, this this is this guy's not only job,

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Speaker 1: but this is his life. And uh that that type

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Speaker 1: of injury when you don't know, um, like whether you

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Speaker 1: can play your football or not is irrelevant, whether he

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Speaker 1: can walk or not, whether he can provide for his

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Speaker 1: family in other ways. You know, it's just so all

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Speaker 1: that stuff that's going through my mind. And you know

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Speaker 1: I knew, um I knew going into you know, whence

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Speaker 1: the game was over and we went to locker room,

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Speaker 1: I knew I was just gonna be I knew I

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Speaker 1: was gonna have to answer tons of questions. Did you

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Speaker 1: feel like it was a cleaning up? They said it

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Speaker 1: was a blind side hit. You know, he didn't even

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Speaker 1: facing each other. It's not that I didn't want to

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Speaker 1: answer the questions, but I just didn't want to. I

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Speaker 1: didn't want to talk about the playoffs. I really wanted

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Speaker 1: to hear about him. And then our trainers told me

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Speaker 1: before we even went into the locker room that he

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Speaker 1: had started moving all his extremities and they had him

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Speaker 1: in the hospital and that he was doing I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: say he was in good condition, but he wasn't in

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Speaker 1: as bad as condition as I thought he might have

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Speaker 1: been in. Jeff was obviously very concerned for Lucket's well being.

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Speaker 1: But the conundrum is Jeff as an NFL football player,

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Speaker 1: and he knows injuries happen. Guys leave the field of

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Speaker 1: battle every single game with injuries. He gets reminded the

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Speaker 1: game doesn't stop. Talk to our special games coach, coach Besacha.

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Speaker 1: I guess he saw the replay and so he was

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Speaker 1: kind of he comforted me a little bit and just said,

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Speaker 1: you know, whatever you have to do. I don't know

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Speaker 1: how to tell you. Whatever you have to do to

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Speaker 1: get out of your head. We still have a whole

401
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Speaker 1: nother have to play, and you're gonna be out there.

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Speaker 1: So the game's gonna go on, you know, whether you know,

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Speaker 1: no matter how it hurt, the guy is, a game's

404
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Speaker 1: gonna go on. I'm a football player. I knew how

405
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Speaker 1: he like. I knew he wasn't mad at me. Well,

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Speaker 1: I didn't know that, but I figured, I'm like, that's

407
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Speaker 1: the type of guy he is. I think he's gonna

408
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Speaker 1: know it wasn't a dirty play. I think those guys,

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Speaker 1: once they see the play, they'll know it wasn't a

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Speaker 1: dirty play. It was just a football play. So I

411
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Speaker 1: was trying not to be like, well, I don't really,

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Speaker 1: I'm being sensitive to the fact that, you know, this

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Speaker 1: guy is severely injured. At the same time, it's like,

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's my job. I was just doing my job.

415
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Speaker 1: The Cowboys went on to lose that game thirteen to

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Speaker 1: twelve with the Seahawks, and in truth, I don't think

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Speaker 1: jeffer lely cared. A man's life was attached to a

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Speaker 1: play he was involved in and it was hanging in

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Speaker 1: the balance. I went home, and you know, I was

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Speaker 1: had an answering text from a lot of you know,

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Speaker 1: family and friends and just kind of they're all really encouraging,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I thought about it a little bit

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Speaker 1: more that night. It wasn't I wouldn't say it was

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Speaker 1: like weighing on me, because at that point I knew like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: he's not dead, he's not paralyzed, he's in he's in

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Speaker 1: the hospital, so he's in get hands. Then I was like, well,

427
00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:45,320
Speaker 1: crap an hour or two and sit, you know that.

428
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 1: So all that comes in have another week, Like we

429
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,719
Speaker 1: gotta go to watch film. It's gonna be a tough

430
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,879
Speaker 1: film session, you know. So you're kinda onto the next

431
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,200
Speaker 1: and then, um, I remember I went when we went

432
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 1: in the next day and I talked to our trainers

433
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,080
Speaker 1: and I said he was to have surgery. So that's

434
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:13,639
Speaker 1: when I shot him a text. It's not at all

435
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,720
Speaker 1: unusual for today's players from rival teams to reach out

436
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,720
Speaker 1: to each other. Between players getting released in free agency

437
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,240
Speaker 1: and trades and everything that happens in an NFL career,

438
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,200
Speaker 1: there is no doubt a fraternal bond conformed between players,

439
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:30,680
Speaker 1: even players on opposing teams. The truth is, nobody understands

440
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: what really goes on during an NFL game on that

441
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:41,919
Speaker 1: field other than the men who strap it on. I

442
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,760
Speaker 1: just said, I'm praying for you. I hope you know.

443
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,000
Speaker 1: It wasn't my intention to hurt you. You know, I

444
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: hate the way that the play turned out, but I

445
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:52,840
Speaker 1: have a ton of respect for you, and I'll be

446
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,880
Speaker 1: thinking about you and you know, wish him well speed recovery.

447
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 1: And then he just responded, and it's basically long lines

448
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,720
Speaker 1: of I don't expect an apology, like you know, you're

449
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,359
Speaker 1: just doing your job, your warrior, just like I am.

450
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: He understood, he's a war he's a football player. You

451
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:10,960
Speaker 1: can just kind of tell by watching the guy play

452
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,600
Speaker 1: the type of character that people have, so I kind

453
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: of knew that's how he would react. Hi, I'm Click

454
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:26,960
Speaker 1: Tillison w Man. I'm Jay Novachek, and we're both with Turf,

455
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Speaker 1: the official tractor provider of the Dallas Cowboys. So if

456
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,200
Speaker 1: you need a tractor to bail some hey, I'm more

457
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Speaker 1: to cut some grass or a gator to get some

458
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,840
Speaker 1: chores done, Get a John Deer at unantag in Turf

459
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,640
Speaker 1: and then let's get to work. Hey Jay, that's my line, Well,

460
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 1: not today, get to work with a John Deer tractor

461
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Speaker 1: package that's just right for you in your budget. Visit

462
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 1: unantaginturf dot com. The Cowboys Way, We're sixteen Hall of

463
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,480
Speaker 1: Famers and five championships, shows us what success looks like.

464
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: Where turkey is always the second best part of Thanksgiving Day,

465
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,280
Speaker 1: where we are all defined by one single thing, the star,

466
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,480
Speaker 1: where we as fans know it's our job to keep

467
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: the tradition going. Bank of America is proud to be

468
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 1: the official bank of the Dallas Cowboys and to support

469
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 1: the quest of living life The Cowboys Way copyright twenty twenty.

470
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,200
Speaker 1: Bank of America Corporation want to use what the pros use.

471
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 1: How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys,

472
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Speaker 1: Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter,

473
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Speaker 1: a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just

474
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Speaker 1: ten bucks with free shipping. The Starter includes four Jack

475
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Speaker 1: Black skincare favorites plus a full sized and tense therapy

476
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Speaker 1: lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com slash

477
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Speaker 1: Cowboys and use the code word team JB. That's get

478
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Speaker 1: Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys the Jack Black Starter,

479
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Speaker 1: ten bucks free shipping. Honey, big news scary are you? Okay? Oh?

480
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,439
Speaker 1: I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. What see? I

481
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,560
Speaker 1: want the latest smartphone, but the best deals are only

482
00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,600
Speaker 1: for new customers. So to get a new customer deal,

483
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,040
Speaker 1: I change mo nind Jackie Flash. Okay, but the best

484
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,760
Speaker 1: smartphone deals at AT and TA for everyone, new and

485
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 1: existing customers. That's huge. Then guess who's getting a deal.

486
00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,840
Speaker 1: Is it Jackie Flash, Jackie Flash? It's not complicated at

487
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,560
Speaker 1: AT and t our best smartphone deals are for everyone.

488
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:23,360
Speaker 1: Restrictions apply. Is it att dot com for details. Ricardo

489
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 1: Lockett underwent nearly twelve hours of surgery the day after

490
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,439
Speaker 1: the game. He stated at Baylor Medical Hospital in Dallas

491
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: for just four more days before heading back to Seattle.

492
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,480
Speaker 1: He survived, and he recovered from his injury enough to

493
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: be able to walk, stand, run, and to hold his kids,

494
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,920
Speaker 1: but he retired from the NFL shortly after his recovery

495
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 1: process began. The writing was certainly on the wall. He

496
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:58,919
Speaker 1: would never and should never play NFL football again. A

497
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,520
Speaker 1: note from this store regarding the spirit of Ricardo Lockett.

498
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: On the fifth day after the play that ended Ricardo

499
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 1: Lockett's NFL career and changed the path of his life,

500
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:10,879
Speaker 1: he was finally being driven away from the hospital in

501
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,560
Speaker 1: Dallas and the people that saved him. In a car

502
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,080
Speaker 1: headed to the airport. Not far from the hospital, he

503
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:20,280
Speaker 1: witnessed a large contingent of homeless people looking forlorn and hungry.

504
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,760
Speaker 1: He asked the driver to go to a local fast

505
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 1: food restaurant, where he bought roughly one hundred cheeseburgers and

506
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,880
Speaker 1: Lockett neck brace, holding his injured head onto his neck,

507
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 1: and his father, who was escorting his son home, passed

508
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,959
Speaker 1: out those cheeseburgers to those hungry homeless people of Dallas, Texas.

509
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: The MS technician John but you know, I had a

510
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 1: chance to meet him and him in the fiance at

511
00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 1: the time of been Seattle, he was a dreadness as angels,

512
00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 1: you know, And I really don't feed that way I

513
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:49,919
Speaker 1: did as a person I've been trained to do and

514
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,840
Speaker 1: I love my job and you know, just do what

515
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,600
Speaker 1: I do. And but listen to him speak in Seattle,

516
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,080
Speaker 1: and well, I really had hit me right there. And

517
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,120
Speaker 1: then going up and back, take his hand and he's like, no,

518
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,120
Speaker 1: I ain't shaking your hands. Let me give you a hug,

519
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,520
Speaker 1: you know. And one chapter hands another begins, you know,

520
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,760
Speaker 1: and that's what that's just happening him and he's taking

521
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 1: it and he's gone, he's gone, leaked and bounds with it,

522
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 1: you know. And what he's done and you know, promoting

523
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,160
Speaker 1: the final injuries and working with people and let them

524
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 1: know that you know, there's a positive end to everything.

525
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 1: You know that one way or another, you know we'll

526
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 1: get we'll get you back on your feet. And that's

527
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 1: what he did. He got back on the steet. In

528
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,080
Speaker 1: the end, Jeff Heath spent nearly two hours telling us

529
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 1: his story, and at the end of it all, I

530
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:40,360
Speaker 1: had to know whether or not any of it to

531
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,280
Speaker 1: move the needle. How did this change him? What did

532
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 1: it all mean? After November first, twenty fifteen, was Jeff

533
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:51,880
Speaker 1: Heath and he's different. Playing the NFL specifically is something

534
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 1: where it's no one's gonna hold your hand. If you're

535
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,320
Speaker 1: not cut off for the job, they just will get

536
00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 1: rid of you because there's so many guys that are qualified.

537
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 1: You know, I had him a chair really fast in

538
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,960
Speaker 1: that way. Realize that I personally control whatever is going

539
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:08,959
Speaker 1: to happen to me in this final work. It's all

540
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 1: under my control. Ricardo Lockett has gone on to work

541
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 1: as an advocate for spinal cord injury research with the

542
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 1: Seattle Science Foundation. He is also one of seven coaches

543
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 1: for his ten year old son's football team. Jeff Heath

544
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,760
Speaker 1: is still playing football in the NFL. His last year

545
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 1: with the Cowboys, as we told you it was twenty nineteen.

546
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,120
Speaker 1: He played for the Raiders in twenty twenty, and now

547
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,720
Speaker 1: as a member of the New Orleans Saints, his ninth

548
00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 1: year in the league. Pretty good for an undrafted, undersized

549
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,880
Speaker 1: safety from Saginaw Valley State in University City, Michigan. Pretty good.

550
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: Jeff and his wife Page live in New Orleans with

551
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,800
Speaker 1: their son Everett, and two bulldogs, eminent Herschel, but Jeff

552
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 1: Heath will always be a Dallas cowboy. Thanks Jeff for

553
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,480
Speaker 1: telling us a story in your or cowboy life