WEBVTT - Finding Yourself Off the Field 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.640 Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:12.799 the players, by the players. Here is your host, four 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:23.800 team year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer, Enius Williams. Hello, 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:27.760 Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. My name's Ennius Williams. 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:32.160 This podcast goes out to NFL legends, and today we're 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:37.400 talking about finding yourself off the field, your passion, the 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.720 thing that makes you who you are far more than 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:46.720 just an NFL legend. Joining us today are two great defenders, 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:53.720 one that talked the whole game on real fellow Hall 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:58.160 of Famer as well, defensive tackle Minnesota Vikings, the great 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:02.360 John Randall. Then we also have a guy I thought 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:04.479 was always one of the smooth guys I see them 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.280 on film. The guy look cool. I don't think I 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:11.319 ever saw Donnie Edward's linebacker for Kansas City Chiefs in 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:15.040 charges Pro Bowl linebacker. I don't know if I've ever 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:17.319 seen you sweat man. You look like you want to smooth. 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:22.160 This cool as guys that I saw play the linebacker position. Welcome, gentlemen, 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.759 thank you, thank you. Let's have some fun. So tell 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:29.080 me how important is it to find that thing that 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:34.640 excites you that keeps you moving forward. Come on with it, Donnie. 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.080 It's passionate. You gotta find something in life that you're 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.319 passionate for. I mean, doesn't matter what it is. I mean, 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.959 obviously we're very passionate about the game that we love 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.200 and we played for so long, but there needs to 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.000 be something outside of that as well that you love 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.480 that you're passionate for. I've been very fortunate to have 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.160 passionate a number of things outside of football. That's that's 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.680 been really beneficial to my life. I'm very passionate for history, 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:02.080 World War two, military history, traveling. I love seeing the 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.720 world and that kind of stuff. And why World War Two. 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.680 You know, my grandfather, Maximilio Rouso, he was like, he's 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.800 apache Indian and he was a pro harbor survivor. He 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:15.440 was in the army and survived the sneak attack by 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.480 the Japanese December seven one, and he was very proud 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.000 of his service. First generation American is very proud of 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.600 his service and growing up without a father, he was 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.560 kind of like my father figure in my childhood. I 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.880 used to hang around him and all of his friends, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.880 you know, down at the VFW and the Kawana's and 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:35.959 all this kind of stuff. It always resonated me. He 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.079 was very proud of his service and always like had 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:40.280 the uniforms and was teaching me about it when I 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.640 was a young kid. And before he passed away in 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:44.560 two thousand and five, he said, don't let them forget 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.840 about what we did. And I, you know, read a 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.400 lot of World War Two history. I watched Law of 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.560 TV and then I started doing living history like reenactment. 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.280 That kind of blossom into meeting with World War Two 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.799 veterans because at our events, we used to bring World 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:01.919 War Two veterans to the events and there was a 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.560 chance for us to connect with the guys that did 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.080 this history and it was great. You know. One thing 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.360 led to another and I was talking about, you know, 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:11.320 have an opportunity to go to Normandy, and one of 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.080 the veterans that was a Normandy veterans said, I'd love 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.040 to go to Normandy. I'm like, why don't you go. 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:19.320 He's like, I'm tool, I don't have the money, I 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.320 can't do it. I'm like I was thinking, and this 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:23.359 is like, I don't know, maybe my tenth year in 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.119 the league, so I'm still playing football at this time, 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:26.919 and I'm like, well, I'll take you. You know, I 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.679 can't take you during June because I got mini camp, 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:31.560 but i'll take you any other veterans like I want 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:33.639 to go too. So before you know it, like I 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:35.040 was like, hey, you're taking those two, I want to 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.840 go to the first year back in two thousand five, 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:41.080 end up taking six World War Two veterans back to 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:45.200 to Normandy and also to Holland as well, and which 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.600 was like remarkable because ever since two thousand five, every 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:50.760 year I've been taking World War Two veterans not only 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:55.000 to Normandy and to Germany it's a Holland, but to Iwa, Jima, Okinawa, Sai, 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.320 Pantini and Guam and all over where we fought during 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.200 World War Two. And it's a it's a great legacy 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:04.080 and tuschment to my grandfather that I do this, and 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.760 you know, and don't forget about these these World War 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.320 Two veterans, you know, in their twilight years at of life, 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.600 to be there to be with them and given us 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.480 an opportunity for them to go back one last time 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.480 to pay their respects to their brothers that never had 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.839 a chance to live a full life. And it's important 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.159 to them and it's it's been wonderful. And I know 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:24.120 I share this with John a few times about some 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:26.960 of the events that I've done, and it's been incredible. 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.640 You start doing this while playing the game. How do 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.920 you think it impacted you and how you approach the game. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.080 I think it helped me more with life, you know, 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:38.680 because spending a lot of time with these men and 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:40.800 and I mean these guys are all in their nineties 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.240 and for someone who's at the time it was in 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:47.479 my thirties, and trying to understand where they are in 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.400 their life and what they've seen, the wisdom, the experience 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.120 that they had in their life, and the stories that 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.760 they say, and just talking to them and like what's important. 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.560 What's important to me right now at this age that 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:03.240 I don't know that you know now at ninety looking back? Yeah, yeah, 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.160 because like think about your nineties old you can look 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.599 back to someone like look, kids, you know you should 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.240 do X, Y and Z. And I just think the 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.040 things that they helped me, I guess seeing the world, 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:16.400 seeing seeing life and understanding it, you know, I mean. 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:18.480 And the one thing that I took away from all 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:22.839 this is like, it's not about what you ascertaining your life. 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.240 It's about what you do for other people and and 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.599 sharing and and serving and giving back. Especially for me 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:32.359 a kid from San Diego, from challenging upbringing and not 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.240 really having much nine kids in our family and and 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:37.840 not having any food and things like that. I mean, 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.680 but people came and they gave and they gave me 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:44.039 an opportunity. You know, guys like Martin Bayliss who came 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.880 to my high school and and spoke to us about 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:48.880 you know how you know, if we do X, Y 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.680 and Z, we can you know, just just really positive message. 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:53.320 People taking a time out of the day and they 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.760 don't understand the impact that they had on this young kid. 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.039 You know, things like that like that's really helped me. 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.640 And on top of other people providing opportunity money or 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.040 gifts during Christmas time so we can have a Christmas 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:06.039 and things like that. I mean, people don't have to 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:08.280 do that, but that changed my life. I'm an example 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:12.360 of what you know, service and giving back could help someone. 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:14.200 And then now that I'm in a position of my 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:16.480 life to you know, to get back and to serve, 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.320 and I feel very grateful and honor to to to 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.719 get back and to share my you know my time 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.520 and my effort with with our military, with our World 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.440 War two veterans now, and I want to transition to 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.240 John and for those legends that are listening to this podcast, 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:33.960 we talked about what how did you find what excites you? 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.640 It's the same thing. I'm the same way. I'm always 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:40.200 want to learn and just meet new people because you 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.840 just never know what will come from it. It just 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.200 all of a sudden you meet. Like I was always 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:51.000 believe that life isn't about the destination, It's about the journey. 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:54.080 So my journey all the different people I have met 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:56.839 gotten to know, and it's just all of a sudden, 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:00.719 I'll meet somebody and then just just finis out down 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:03.280 in Dallas one day, playing from golf talking to this 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.800 guy and next thing you know, he goes, I'm like, 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.000 so what do you do? He goes, I'm the vice 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:12.120 president of Dr Pepper Cool. Next thing you know, he 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:16.280 tells me we exchanged numbers and he meets a Dallas 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.920 cowboy I think it was Jones. So he talks and 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.240 he goes, yeah, he says it say he knows you yeah, 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.520 blah blah blah. So from that conversation we started talking 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.160 about the guys from the Ladies Potato Chips. So from 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.200 the Ladies Potato Chips, the conversation goes to a guy 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.800 who works at Tyler's golf Balls. And that guy from 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:37.360 Tyler's golf Ball lives in Albany, New York. So I 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:40.520 get invited to Albany, New York, where I meet people 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.960 from Ronald McDonald house and Albany, New York. From that conversation, 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.600 just from the Dr Pepper guy, just from talking to 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:51.560 just from talking to meet someone you and I think 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:53.680 they're saying because my wife always told me, Okay, we're 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:57.760 gonna go here, no talking. Yes, that sounds like my wife. Yeah, 0:07:58.000 --> 0:07:59.480 because I think we're all kind of the same. We 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:04.000 love but we love life. And like I mean, there's 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.200 always some type of connection with someone you just never 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:08.640 know you open your mouth. It's like the same thing 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:11.080 with life. Man, if you just don't like open yourself 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:13.160 up to learning new things, you're just gonna be sitting 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.480 here and not really growing. I mean, does that's for 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.160 life is constantly growing. I mean, you know, on't you're 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.080 here for a short time, and I want to increase 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.480 that capacity to learn. That's so true because you know 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.760 when you go in the locker room. Every year the 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.920 locker room changes. Somebody comes in there, a new guy 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:30.880 and what do you gotta do? Hey, how you doing? 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.679 What are you from? And you never know what this 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:35.840 guy is from? You never you never know that he 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.800 may know somebody that you play with, or you know, 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.280 just vice first, and you never know. That's what was 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.679 so cool about to me. The locker room was like 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.960 a soap oper It was like Young and Restless. I'm 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:55.120 coming in Hold John, like a soap opera. It's playing 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.520 what I mean in the locker room, it's fifty three 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.760 guys in there, and you can go, all of a sudden, 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.920 go what you do last night? He go? Nothing? What 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.559 you do? Nothing? What you do? Here's what I did? 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:09.720 This guy all of a sudden starts conversation. You're like, 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:12.640 where let you go? And all of a sudden it goes. 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.520 That conversation could could continue for the next two to 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.680 three weeks. When it comes down to meeting people. What's 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:23.240 happening now in our our country right now right a 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.280 lot of tension and you have people, you have maybe 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.880 African Americans and thinking that, oh up, John, you need 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.120 to do that because you play ball, right, but we 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.400 also know that legends listening right now who don't do it, 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.200 who don't leverage their relationships, that don't do just what 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:42.800 you guys are talking about doing. So the reason why 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:45.600 I wanted to stop for a moment to to have 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.839 you have both of you guys share as too as 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.439 an African American. Let's take let's let's go this angle 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.640 for a second. Because I mentioned this in a prior podcast. 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:56.520 My dad makes the statement and says, son is not 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.319 what people don't know that hurt them is what they 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.960 do know. That's not true. And when you enter into 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.720 these environments and there's a Tennessee to people thinking, well 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.880 all many of a different inessity or they're Caucasians, they're 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.320 not really, I don't care, You're just a player. But 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:15.520 you're saying something totally different in these relationships. You know, 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.719 one of the great things about football. I guess you 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.880 can say basketball, baseball, but not much as football. Fifty 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.360 three people in that locker room, and those people are 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.120 different colors. And you know, I've talked to some uh 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.800 from you, Danny from who had this conversation. Now I've 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.000 learned from talk to military guys and they said the 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.560 same thing. It doesn't matter what color you are. It's 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:38.839 the guy who's wind up next to you, or it 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:41.840 is the guy that's you know, that's next to you, 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.840 and you you become your your friends, and it doesn't 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:46.600 matter what color you are. It don't matter. It doesn't 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:48.319 matter at all. I wish a lot of people in 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.040 the world played football because they can understand that it 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:53.880 doesn't matter what color you are. You just open the 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.800 meeting people, or a lot of like are open to 0:10:56.840 --> 0:11:00.400 meeting people. You know. I still I can see a 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:05.679 guy I hadn't seen in ten years, and like As 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:07.960 and I played next each other and we won't see 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:09.600 each other for a year or two, but we're set 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.920 there in that conversation can strike back up like that. 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:16.120 And that's the part of Donnie that I don't think 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.600 we get the narrative because sometimes with our game we 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:22.440 hear about the inherent challenges that come with the game 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.720 from a physical standpoint. I don't think we set the 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:28.920 narrative of our own story of what are the benefits 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:32.480 of playing this great game? What has been like that 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:36.080 you not that you're you're out of football. In this 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:40.199 camaraderie where we were in locker rooms with differentness. It 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:44.040 is Jonson, people from all over. We had these conversations 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:46.800 and we were able to have a common goal together 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.600 even though we saw life many times from a different 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.840 perspective because how we grew up. How have you part 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:59.160 lay that now as a legend. Yeah, well, it's definitely life. 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:01.320 I mean you think about someone like myself that's made 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:03.800 up of three different ethnicities, I mean, who am I 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:06.480 and I mean like I'm I'm I'm inter racial three 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.640 times and trying to understand like who I am and 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.600 trying to connect with you know, on a football team, 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:13.680 you think about that because a lot of times it's 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.280 you know, we have the African Americans on one side, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.040 I get the whites on one side, and then you 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.160 have a maybe a couple of some moments in the 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.640 middle or something. That's how it's always normally been on 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:24.839 the teams that I've been. And then there's like someone 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:29.400 like me, you know, and everyone was like, what are you? 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:32.800 I'm like, were you aware of this? Oh? They'll tell 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.360 me straight up. It's interesting. I think if you're open 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.439 to it to try to like understand and see where 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.000 other people come from, if you have that time to, 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.679 you know, and that's a great thing about Like you know, 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.760 when I was playing like always like made the landbackers, 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.319 all the linebackers. We get together, you know, every Thursday 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.120 night we're getting together some we're going to dinner, we're 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:53.320 doing something. So we get to know each other, you know, 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.520 and we're like became family like bonds, you know what 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.120 I mean. Like I was talking to Derek Johnson yesterday, 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:00.920 DJ from Kansas City, thinking back, like that was like 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:04.800 a good time, you know, exactly that bond, it's that brotherhood. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:06.720 And that's what I think that I really loved about 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.959 it because we took the time off the football field 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.400 to spend time to get to know each other. And 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.080 and all of a sudden, like you were talking about 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:17.880 the way you were raised, like wow, that's crazy, Like, well, 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:19.880 you know I was raised this way, you're raised that way. 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:21.720 You came from this one, And all of a sudden, 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.800 like we have the understanding you can see it through 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:26.480 their eyes. We have that empty where we can kind 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:28.240 of like see it, you know, and then we have 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.800 that compassion for each other versus like not really talking 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:33.400 to each other in the locker room. And then like 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:37.440 Victor Ronnie comes to me, like, who are you? What 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:44.000 are you? What? I might like, you're black, Mexican, you're white? 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.920 What are you? You're something? You Samoan, I'm like, just me, man, 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.360 I'm just me. You know. So we just it was 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.200 just different. But you know, we never really got that 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.199 opportunity to sit down and talk. You know. It was 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.000 a little contentious a little bit, but you know, and 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:00.480 it's just how it is sometimes. Unfortunately, then the game 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.200 because part of this conversation gets spur a conversation just 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:06.800 within our society. Because when we did tell each other 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:11.320 our backgrounds, it didn't separate us, correct, right then, it 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.400 didn't say okay, I'm moving my locker. Yeah. It literally 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.920 like you knew your teammate and then in the locker 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:19.680 room it was always shots fired, right. See, But you 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.240 have to be open to it, right, so they have 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.840 that openness, right, you have to have that mentality where 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.080 openness were I want to meet them and try to 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.240 like find out who they are what they are. I mean, 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:31.040 that's the way that I think you and I think 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:32.560 we all kind of turned that way. That's why we 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:33.960 kind of like we're in lock froom that way. But 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:38.600 there's some guys unfortunately come from a very uh small area, 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:43.080 small group like life where it's kind of homogeneous. I 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.240 guess it doesn't really like have that multicultural deal where 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.080 they're interacting with other, you know, different types of people 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.160 around the world, and they're a little probably closed off 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.240 a little bit. And I can see like a little 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.880 bit of problems with that if you don't have that 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.320 openness to go out there and try to meet someone. 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.280 I mean, but I never really had very many issues 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.680 like that in the locker room. You know, now, John, 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:10.200 the transition into all of us, if you play this game, 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:13.440 the one per centers in the NFL that came out 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.320 of high school, you have fire. We had to have 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:21.560 a fire. How did you find your fire away from 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:26.480 the game when you're transition? For me, uh, it was 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:29.760 one of my things. I love working out, I like 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.640 trying to be healthy was one of the things. But 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:37.880 beat me on the little challenge, the challenge what what 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:41.680 kind of challenge of the steps? I try to catch 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:43.360 you man? I was like, what are you doing? Like 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:49.120 what steps? We go ahead? We do these steps something 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:55.160 that challenge like steps every day? So for me, I 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.480 like I get up in the morning like a Tuesday, 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.000 fancy twoes and Thursdays in the summertime. I would get 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.920 up and I would go to workout, and I probably 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:09.440 burned about maybe god like eight thousand steps because I 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.680 was walking the treadmill offense and I walked. I I 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.520 try to get five miles on treadmill. Then after that 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.400 I make my shake, and after my shake, I go 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:21.880 walk eighteen holes on the golf course and that's probably 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:25.200 about ten thousand steps right there. I just like doing that. 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.600 That was one of my things, is working out standards. 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:31.760 It's not so sometimes when legends started thinking about Okay, 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.840 find your passion, that's just a basic yea, it's just 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:37.920 h yeah. But also, my wife, who's my best friend 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.440 you are talking about earlier. My wife's my best friend, 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.320 and so she was always telling me, you know you 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:48.440 you she's basically my wife is the the driver. I'm 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.640 the end. I mean, I'm the car. So she was 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.320 always telling me that you gotta find something that motivates you. 0:16:54.440 --> 0:17:01.200 So for me, Minnesota is my community and got around here. 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:06.880 I meet just everyday people. So when you're meeting everyday people, 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:10.639 you kind of go out of your way of finding 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:14.280 people that made need a little bit of push. A 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.800 friend of mine, Fancy, he was working at at a 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.280 cigarette shop. Kid was kind of like, you know what, 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:22.000 this is it for me? He kind of was just 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.520 like we probably have thought you saw him, probably thought 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:26.959 he was at the edge of his life. And so 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.639 I started talking to him one day and I was 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:33.320 doing a fantasy football and all of a sudden, I 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:38.320 found out this guy who went this scraggly hair plasy 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.800 like just closes, he just slept in the night before 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.560 was a guy that didn't really care about life, sleep 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.240 in his bed, didn't put a blanket down or anything. 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:50.359 So I found out he's got a new football and 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.560 started talking to him, and we end up talking about 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:55.679 him because he liked movies. Were not talking about a 0:17:55.680 --> 0:18:00.119 movie called good Will Hunting, and I told him, I'm 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.159 gonna coming to cigarette shop and you're not gonna be 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:06.600 here coming around. Football player ex football player Mike Morris 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:10.080 the Center was doing a radio show, so he asked 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:11.600 me to do the radio show. I brought my buddy 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.800 down and so my buddy had a weird nickname, nickname 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:20.040 meet Sauce. So I'm bringing Sauce down and I told 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.080 him I'll get me ready to let Sauce get on. 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:25.600 Sauce gets on now. Sauce is on this radio show 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.240 now number on radio show in Minnesota. Sauce is the 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.280 guy that was my buddy who was working at the 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:37.600 cigarette shop with Sauce, Sauce, Meat Sauce, and now he 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.119 has the number one radio show here in Minnesota. And 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.480 you spoke to him that it wasn't going to be 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:45.840 just like for me, it's like finding people like in 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.560 the locker room who need a little bit of motivation something. 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:51.160 You said, I'm gonna come to it because you mentioned earlier, 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.040 how did your wife become your best friend? Oh? That 0:18:55.160 --> 0:19:00.119 was easy because she's one I would talk to. We 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.199 just have that relationship just I can't really explain it, 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.040 but she's when I talked to about everything. And as 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.600 we're recording his podcast, Donnie has his beautiful wife see 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:17.920 right here and tell us Donnie in terms of John 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:19.920 has just says his wife being his best friend. I'm 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:23.520 almost sure you said the same words earlier. Yeah, and 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.359 how did how did she become your best Yeah? I did? Actually, 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.000 I mean it's pretty interesting for me. In my life 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:30.119 is kind of crazy, So I never really loved anyone 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:31.560 in my life. My mom never told me that she 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:33.960 loved me. Knowing in my life ever told me that 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.040 they loved me. So I didn't even know what love was. 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.400 It's kind of like a basic thing to have when 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:41.040 you're a child, so I never knew exactly what it was. 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:44.439 And you know, as I was growing up and going 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:46.600 through high school and college, I mean, you know, I 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:51.560 always run away from, you know, relationships out of fear 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.560 maybe of being vulnerable. I guess I just never allowed 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.760 myself to get there. And when I met my wife, 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:01.320 I mean, it was like instant connection. It was like 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:07.399 she was like the the void that I needed in 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:10.440 my life that I was missing my whole entire time. Yeah, 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:13.600 it's like because like I wanted to love, but I 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.200 didn't want to give my love to someone who wasn't 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.920 appreciativic and like damage it and then I will never 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:21.760 go back there ever again. So I'm very very fortunate 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:24.520 that early on, like I mean, it was just like 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:27.480 love at first sight, and then like she was committed 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:30.440 to me as I was committed to her, which is 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:32.159 very important, you know what I mean, because like in 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:35.560 any relationship, you need to have like two people pulling 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:37.480 the same way to bring it together or someone who's 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.000