WEBVTT - The Dave Pasch Podcast - Ron Wolfley 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.040 Hey everybody, and welcome to the fiftieth episode of the 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:08.959 Dave Pash Podcast. I'm your host, Dave Pash, ESPN and 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.840 Arizona Cardinals broadcaster. We are certainly grateful that you've listened 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:15.440 to the previous forty nine episodes. We wanted to do 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:18.520 something a little bit different for what we consider a 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.680 special episode the fact that they haven't taken us off 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:22.680 the air yet and we've made it to fifty, so 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:24.400 I wanted to bring in one of my great friends 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:29.080 and longtime broadcast partner on the Arizona Cardinal Games, Ron Wolflee. 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.400 For those of you that may not know, Wolf was 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:35.040 a very good NFL player, four Pro Bowls in ten 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:39.000 NFL seasons. Wolf will talk about his playing days, why 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.360 he decided to get into broadcasting, and we'll also go 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:45.200 a little bit more in depth on Ron Wolflee the man. 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:47.920 There are people that listen to the games and listen 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:50.120 to Wolf on the radio and have an idea about 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:54.040 who Ron Wolfley is at his core. This episode, we'll 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:55.760 go a little bit deeper with Wolf and you'll get 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.760 a greater appreciation for who Ron Wolfley is as a person. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.080 I went out under the football field. That's Spring, the 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:06.920 spring where my dad was lying in bad dying, and 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.240 I said to myself, at one hundred ninety eight pounds, 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.360 you know what, I don't care if I'm one hundred 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:15.440 ninety eight pounds. I don't care how big you are. 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:17.560 I don't care how bad you are. I don't care 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.760 about any of it. I'm gonna make you feel what 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:25.640 I feel. We'll also bringing our longtime producer Jim Mhundro 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:29.000 to play some clips that have never made air before, 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.720 some behind the scenes stuff between Wolf and I during 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:37.360 game broadcasts and frankly, it's kind of embarrassing. Dude, Wolf Wolf, 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:42.240 Just dude, Yes, believe it, man, No, cannot believe. We're 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:44.800 gonna be doing a game next week to play for 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:49.040 the Super Bowl. Oh my gosh, I'm not even talk 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.160 about not being able to move my jar right now. 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.680 I'm gonna be locked up, baby. That's coming up as well, 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.000 along with some talk about Wolf as a broadcaster, Wolf 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.120 as a player, and much more coming up here on 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:04.720 this edition to the Dave Pash Podcast. We are presented 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.800 by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:11.080 and by Hila River Resorts and casinos. The bet MGM 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.160 Touchdown Boost token is here increase your payout. With every 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.200 Cardinal's touchdown. You'll receive an extra ten percent boost off 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.880 every Cardinal's touchdown, and your boost can be used on 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:23.200 the following week's game only at BETMGM, the king of 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:26.160 sports books and the official partner of the Arizona Cardinals. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.640 Visit betmgm dot com for terms and conditions. Twenty one 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.639 years of age or older to wager Arizona only. All 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:37.559 promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Please gamble responsibly. 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:41.280 Gambling problem called one eight hundred. Next step All right, 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.200 Time to hear from my long time broadcast partner on 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.160 the Arizona Cardinal Games, the one the only Ron Wolflee. 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:58.720 Guests number fifty. So before I actually introduce you, Wolf, 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.560 let me just go ahead and list off the previous 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.360 forty nine to just give you a sense and perspective 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.840 of the kind of company that you're in here. Here 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:12.840 are previous forty nine episodes. Kurt Warner, Buddha Baker, Cliff Kingsbury, Medichime, 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.519 Steve Levi and Bryan Greasy, Michael Bidwell, James Rode, Scott Hansen, 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:20.400 Jason Wright, Kirk, Herbstreet, Frank Kelly, Endo, Steve Kim, James Jones, Mike, 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.760 Rico Vans, Joseph, Jeff Van Gundy, Adam Shine, Colt McCoy, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:27.560 Bill Walton, Chris Spielman, Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton, Al McCoy, 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.799 Adrian Wilson, Christian Kirk, mckel Bridges, George Kleoff, Cough, JJ Reddick, 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.640 Andrew Jeremiah, Quentin, Harris, JJ Watt, zach Ertz, Justin Pugh, 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:39.880 Cliff Kingsbury again, James Connor, Jeff Rogers, Dusty Divorchek, Jason Light, 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.960 Dabbos Sweeney, Charles Davis, Marcus Spears, Damian Lillard, Kevin Clark, 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.640 Greg Olson, Mike dj Humphreys, Greg Sanky, Scott Van Pelt, 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:52.480 Bobby Hurley, Jim Nance, and Ron Wolfley as guest number 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:55.280 fifty for several reasons, because, first of all, it brings 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:56.960 back memories of the time that you and I went 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.760 and got fitted for suits and the guy came out 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:05.360 and said, we got a fifty. They had to find 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.000 a special suit. Okay to you and your guest number fifty, 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:09.839 And you and I've been doing this together for eighteen years, 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.560 so I wanted you to be on this very special episode. Well, David, 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:15.400 I really do appreciate that. But my goodness, you read 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:17.640 those names off and all I can think of is, 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.560 which one of these is not like the other? Oh, 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:26.000 my goodness, that's pretty astounding. Well, this is the first 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.080 one that I have not written anything down. Normally I 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:29.960 write out all the questions. But I figured you and 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:31.840 I would just kind of riff, oh, I say, because 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:33.920 we get a lot to talk about, ye and we're 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:38.160 not really going to talk football because you're on sixteen 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:43.360 hours a week on Arizona Sports. You're on multiple platforms 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.120 talking constantly about the team. So I figured, let's talk 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.960 about something else. Let's actually give people saying I'm overexposed, David. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.719 Let's give people an inside look at Ron Wolfley and 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:55.720 our dynamic two in the booth, because I do think 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:57.920 there are people that find that interesting. It is it's 0:04:57.960 --> 0:04:59.880 been eighteen years. I remember the first time I met 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.320 you was when I got the job in two thousand 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.360 and two. I came in and after the interview process 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.279 and got the job. At the time, John Missler was 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.760 the analyst, and they said, we really liked John, but 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.120 we want to hear how you sound with other analysts, 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.880 because it's not definite that John's going to be back, 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:19.640 so let's go ahead and bring in all these other guys. 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.680 So ten people came in and we called the same game. 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.360 You were one of the ten. We did Raiders Cardinals 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:27.359 from two thousand and one, and I remember, like I 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.680 by the end of it, I was delirious because it 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.800 was the same game over and over. I started making 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.880 up names or you know, calling guys George Bolttnikoff, just 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:40.440 to change it up. And you stood out above all 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:42.839 the other guys. You stood out. It was it was 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:46.760 clear that you were very gifted. And you know, John 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:48.760 was still the guy at that time, and John was 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.640 great and did a few more years, and then you 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.039 got the job. And here we are eighteen years later, 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.160 and obviously we've been through a lot. We've seen a 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.200 lot of losses. We've also seen a lot of great moments, 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.400 including the Super Bowl. And I'm just curious, wolf from 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.680 somebody who played ten years in the NFL and played 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:06.440 at a high level. I know I joke with you, 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:08.920 but look, you went to the Pro Bowl four times. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:12.400 You were a legit dude in the NFL. Did you 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:14.520 know then that you wanted to not just be in 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:19.279 broadcasting but do games, because I think there is there's 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:24.080 a different type of former player coach that can do games. 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:28.240 It's not for everybody. Studio is much easier than to 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.120 talk really quickly and react to something on the fly 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:33.760 and do it over and over again for three hours. Yeah. No, 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:38.159 you know what, Honestly, I did know that I wanted 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:41.560 to get into broadcasting. And it wasn't my own idea. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:46.080 It was Jude Lacava, you know, Jude Lacava, right, Jude Lacava, 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:51.960 local news anchor here, of course, Jude Lacava legend. Jude 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:53.800 was the guy who said, Wolf, you ought to get 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:56.920 into you ought to get into broadcasting because I always 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:01.120 had a vocabulary and I'd like to use my vocabulary 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.520 and I like to speak. I love English, I love it. 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.839 So he said you should get into broadcasting, you know 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.320 what's And I said, hey, you know what, that sounds 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.080 great because I could tell stories. I could sit around 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:15.800 and talk about what it was like. You know, it's 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.920 kind of like you, David. I have a writer's brain, 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:24.040 Like I look at people and I imagine something that 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.640 I could write. In a novel or something like that. 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:28.880 And the first time, it's amazing you you bring up 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.840 the first time we met. The first time I met you, Matt, 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:36.160 you actually had hair. You had hair right there ahead 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.040 and seriously, it was a bush. I don't know what 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.960 happened since, but you got more hair on your nose 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:44.360 than you do on your head right now, Buddy, used 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.520 to be a bush. And that's what's truly amazing. You know, 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.960 time does go by, does it not. You still have hair, 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:54.520 it's gray and it's spiked. Yeah, you also have teeth 0:07:54.560 --> 0:08:00.160 because yesterday or Sunday, Wolf had lost a tooth. Yeah, 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.000 eating something on the way to the game. But you 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.160 got that fixed that you were not supposed to. You know, 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:06.400 the rule was since the Cardinals won, you were supposed 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.280 to hold off until they lost again before you get that. Yeah. Well, 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.200 you know what. I hang in there because dinner tonight, 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.680 I'm sure if I bite into something a little firm, 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.080 it might come out again. That's what the dentists said. 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.600 So well, if people are drawn to you, I feel 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:24.040 like that's something about your personality and your character. It's 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.920 clear off the air just watching when you and I 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:29.240 always go down to the field before the game. Every 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.360 game we do, and in particular State Farm Stadium when 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.080 we do it, everybody Wolf Wolf, Hey Wolf, And You're 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:40.360 always responsive and kind And is that something like will 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:42.319 you like that as a player? Did people love you 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.840 as a player? Yeah, for the most part, David, I always, 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.920 I always made that connection with the common man in 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:53.200 the stands. And the reason why I say that is 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:56.360 because they looked at me at six foot two hundred 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.520 and eighteen pounds and said that could be me. I 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:04.559 could be that guy. They knew that I wasn't very talented. 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.200 They knew that nobody was going to hand me the 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.760 ball and say go run the ball. Nobody was going 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.040 to try to throw me the ball. They knew that 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:15.680 I was out there to do one thing and one 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.640 thing only, and that was to give damage and take damage. 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.679 And I think that appealed to a lot of guys. 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.960 Especially when I went to Cleveland in front of the 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:33.440 Dog Bond, they absolutely adopted me as their own. And yeah, 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.880 I just think I made that connection with a common 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:38.760 man because they thought, man, that could be me if 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.120 I got a break. So along those lines, you talked 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.560 about your height and your weight, and first of all, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.680 there aren't many fullbacks anymore to begin with, and not 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:52.160 many Ben Skarnik, who we just saw off of the rams, Yeah, 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.240 you know, he's not a fullback yet. I think he's 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:58.240 even bigger than you. Yes, or at the time, How 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:00.400 did you survive? How did you make it years? How 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.480 did you go to the Pro Bowl four times? Yeah? 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:05.240 You know, that's that's great. Thank you, Lord God from 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:09.320 what you have done for me, because honestly, I was 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:13.319 two hundred eighteen pounds, like I said, and they drafted 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:15.840 me in the fourth round one hundred and four overall. 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.760 Never forget the number that you were drafted, David, never 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:24.160 one hundred and four overall. And then whenever you find 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:28.080 somebody who's drafted after you, you just rapped them mercilessly. 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.079 You're one hundred and five. You've got to be kidding me. Anyways, 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.400 I digress. First of all, didn't one of the coaches 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.320 on the Cardinal staff think that you were the wrong person? 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:39.000 They drafted you and thought, actually you were somebody else. No. 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:43.520 I kind of suspected that when I showed up, because 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:45.320 they looked at me. They walked up to me and 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.080 looked at me and said, I thought you were bigger. 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:49.559 I mean here, I am six foot two hundred and 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:53.000 eighteen pounds. In an era in the National Football League 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.360 where every fullback was two forty five two fifty plus. 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.080 Didn't they ask you what number you wore? Yea, they 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.240 did the watch? Were they watching the wrong guy? And 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:05.680 take it. There was a guy that was forty six 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.560 and I was thirty six. John Gay number forty six. 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:13.200 He was a tailback behind me, but he actually outweighed me. 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:16.120 He was two hundred and twenty five pounds two hundred 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:19.760 and thirty pounds. I was two hundred and eighteen pounds 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:23.360 when I was a senior. They moved me to fullback 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.320 when I was one hundred ninety eight pounds. Once again, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.400 we're talking about in an era where every fullback was 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.520 two hundred and fifty pounds. In David, it was hammer 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:35.520 and nail. Hammer and nail. That's all it was. There 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.280 was none of this zone scheme or anything like this. 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.200 It was run as fast as you can through the 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:43.960 bee gap. And oh, by the way, there's gonna be 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:46.320 another human being and he's gonna be running in the 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.760 opposite direction through the bee gap as well. And the 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:54.280 two shell meet somewhere at the line of scrimmage. It was. 0:11:55.080 --> 0:12:02.240 It was brutal and it was beautiful or brutiful as 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:07.840 I like to say, Who was the toughest football player 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:12.040 that you ever played against? Oh? Have you heard of 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:16.040 Bill Boy Bates? Special teams legend for the Dallas County. 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.040 Without a shadow of doubt, the toughest Bill Bates was 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:22.280 the toughest Bill Boy Bates was. He was tough. Now, 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.280 once again, when you say tough, I'm not talking strength. 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:31.480 We're talking toughness. Toughness is the ability to endure damage, 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:36.640 to give damage, and to absorb it. And Bill Boy Bates. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.360 You go against Bill Boy Bates one on one on 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:43.400 a punt return, whether you're the guy that's on the 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.120 return team or whether you're on the punt pro team, 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.600 and he was trying to keep you from running down 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.319 and covering the punts. I could promise you right now 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.319 abandon all hope ye who enter here, because he would 0:12:56.360 --> 0:13:00.720 never quit. You could take a metaphorical bullet and stick 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.520 it in his head, and I'm just telling you he 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.160 would get off the ground. He would never quit. He'd 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:10.120 fight you tooth and nail all the way down the field. 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.720 As a matter of fact, there were times where Bill 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.760 Boy Bates and myself running down the field. This is 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:19.040 my rookie year. We just run down the field side 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:22.160 by side, and I'd be punching him in the face 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.480 and he'd be punching me in the face on a 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.319 punt return running down the field. And I remember, David 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.680 I used to get I mean, this was Bill Boy Bates. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:35.480 They started sending a human being to the Pro Bowl 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:39.720 for special teams because of Bill Bates, because John Madden 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.440 saw him and said, oh my goodness, look at this 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.439 madman covering these kickoffs and these punts. So all of 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.920 a sudden, because Madden would start highlighting him, the NFL said, 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:52.400 we ought to send a guy to the Pro Bowl 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.800 every year. And it was Bill Bates who started that, 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.200 and I knew he started it, and he had beat 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.760 me two years into the league, and all of a sudden, 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.160 I'm in the league and he's like year three and 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.480 I'm punching him, and all of a sudden, I'd stop, 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.360 the whistle would blow, and I'd look at him and 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:13.480 I'd say, Bill, you created me, Bill, you created me. 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:16.559 Now your better has come in. He would look at 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:21.280 me like shut your mouth, but he never said a word. 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:25.000 Bill Bates would never say a word. He'd punch you, 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.480 he'd fight you tooth and nail, but he'd never speak 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:36.200 to you. Interesting, speaking of punching and fighting, how many 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:40.840 fights were you in on the field? Forget off because 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.280 it's funny, Wolf. I hear these stories about you, and 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:46.400 obviously I've been around you a lot over the last 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:50.040 two decades, and the guy that you talk about that 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:52.240 you were, I don't see I see somebody different. You 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.400 remind me in a lot of ways. We talked about 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.960 this off the year, but for folks that maybe listen 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.120 to the podcast or want to go back and listen 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.080 to the podcast I did with Chris Spielman, who's now 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.280 one of the top executives with the Detroit Lions. I 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.360 worked with Chris at ESPN for a long time, and 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.880 there were there was an in there was a an 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:13.160 intensity underlying intensity with Chris and with you, that's there. 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:17.520 But you treat people. You've got a big heart, but 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:20.600 mess with it a little bit, poke the bear a 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.040 little bit, and I could see the beast coming out. 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.560 So obviously you use that as a football player. You've 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.720 talked a lot about that you turned you you went 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.680 into an altered state of consciousness to play football. Yeah, 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:39.440 so that beast fought how many times on the football field. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:44.440 I don't even know dat two hundred? I I want 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.280 to say, no, I don't want to exaggerate here, but 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:53.200 I would say between college and the NFL. Yeah, Um, 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:59.640 I would say probably seventy seven. It really is a lot. 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.200 But you gotta remember, I was a poor kid that 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:05.800 grew up in a rich town, David end. You know, 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.280 I grew up on a dead end street as you know, 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:13.720 that emptied into a gravel pit. And I never had 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.240 the right shoes. I never had the right jeans on. 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:20.160 I never had the right clothes because we had seven 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.920 people living in my house, and you know my parents. 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.040 My mom didn't work, of course, my dad was a 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:30.000 truck driver. We didn't have a lot of money, man, 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.800 we didn't and growing up in that rich town filled 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.080 with doctors and lawyers, even though we were at the 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:42.600 other end of the street, so to speak metaphorically. But man, 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:45.120 I can tell you, David that it was hard because 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.800 kids would just be so mean to you and tease you, 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:51.640 and you didn't have the right genes on and sometimes 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.320 when you were twelve years old and they tease you 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.920 for your faith. Oh, you believe in Jesus. You believe 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.400 in Jesus, And they would mock you for believe eving 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.280 in Jesus. You know what, I'd beat the dog hut 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.600 of that, can I just tell you. And I didn't 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.560 care how big he was. I didn't care at the time. 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.040 I'll never forget my mom coming in and the principle saying, 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:18.600 you know, your son esther. Your son got in another fight, 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:22.119 and it was because they were mocking him for his faith. 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.400 And I said, yeah, that's right, Mom. You know I'm 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.920 not gonna and she would say, Ronnie, you know you can't. 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.359 You can't allow that to happen. You cannot. That's not 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.480 what Jesus wants you to do. And I came to 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:37.320 an age where I realized that. But on the football field, 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.600 once you stepped in between those white lines, the entire 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:45.920 paradigm was changing, and it changed to a point where 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:51.160 you could just knock the dog out of somebody. It's 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.280 one of the most wonderful things. And I thank God 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.639 for this, David, I really do. So you could change 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:59.120 You're saying you could channel all that all bit and 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.480 put it into hurting somebody else on the football field. 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:05.640 Not the intent to hurt, but to play the game 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.439 at the highest level, because that's what you brought to 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.560 the table. And it got me into a lot of trouble. 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.200 It would get me into fights because I would fight 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.640 you tooth and nail. I do it legally. I'd never 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:18.720 cheap shot you either. I do it legally, but I 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.080 would fight you to the bitter end, tooth and nail. 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:24.480 And it got me in a lot of trouble on 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.879 the football field because I was not going to back down. 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.200 And I need to tell you this story. I learned 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.879 to play the game of football because my dad was 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:38.520 dying of leukemia when I was eighteen years old. Okay, 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:40.760 I went through high school and everything else. I thought 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:43.920 I was O. J. Simpson. Pitch me the ball. I'll 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.000 run and I'll know I'm running a four six forty. 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.600 I'm one of the fastest kids in my high school. 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.160 Pitch me the ball. I'm a running back. Day three 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.920 of going to West Virginia, they recruited me. Of course, 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.760 I signed my letter of intent. I signed I was 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.199 a mountaineer. Day three of being in training camp, my 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:06.240 freshman year, they said, getting a three point stance. Suddenly 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:09.040 they moved me to fullback. I weighed one hundred and 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.800 ninety eight pounds and they moved me to fullback my 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:16.159 freshman year. I went out that spring. That spring, my 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:20.399 dad was dying back at my house. Forty five Hodson wrote, 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.359 google it, go ahead and look at it. In our 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:29.280 living room. He was in a hospital bed dying of leukemia. David, Yes, 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:31.720 I grew up poor, there's no doubt about that. Yet 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:33.560 at the same time, I can tell you that there 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.080 was a lot of love in that house as well, 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:46.359 and I love my dad a lot, even to this 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:50.120 day when I think about him. But I went out 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:53.640 under the football field that's spring, the spring where my 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:58.399 dad was lying in bed dying, and I said to myself, 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:00.560 at one hundred and ninety eight pounds, you know what, 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:03.760 I don't care if I'm one hundred ninety eight pounds. 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:05.640 I don't care how big you are, I don't care 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:08.080 how bad you are. I don't care about any of it. 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:14.200 I'm gonna make you feel what I feel. You want 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.280 to talk about, psychological, you want to talk about I'm 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:19.600 sure somebody would have loved to have put me on 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:22.400 a couch at that point in time and throw some 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.840 questions at me. But I was like, literally, any pain 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:28.760 that I felt didn't matter to me. I was going 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:33.159 to transfer everything that I was feeling inside onto you. 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:39.479 And that meant running full speed into whoever the end 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:41.919 man on the line of scrimmage was, or whoever the 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:45.320 mic linebacker was in the middle running an io, or 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:47.560 whoever was in a wedge, and I was going to 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:51.040 be the wedge buster on special teams, busting it up 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.600 whatever it was. Where When I got the opportunity to 0:20:54.680 --> 0:21:00.920 run full speed into somebody, I never hasated. I never 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:04.359 broke stride, I never gathered myself to hit him. I 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.200 ran full speed. Look, I was running into a wall 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:13.840 without breaking stride, and the collisions that were happening at 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.000 one hundred ninety eight pounds, I was getting killed. It 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:21.919 was nineteen eighty one, okay, And that's the way that 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:26.680 it was back then. I cannot tell you how brutal 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:30.240 that spring was for me, but I will tell you 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:33.119 four years later when I left there and Paul Crossula 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.200 was still the running back coach there. When I got 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:39.280 drafted in the fourth round one hundred and four overall. 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:42.720 I went in to say goodbye to coach Crsula and 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.040 I said goodbye. When we had a great conversation. I 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:49.320 turned to walk out and he said, hey Wolf, and 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:53.440 I turned around and he said, you remember spring of 0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:57.680 your freshman year. I was like, do I remember? How 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:01.480 could I forget the way that you treated me? He said, 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:05.680 I did not because I loved you and I saw 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:08.640 something in you and I knew I needed to bring 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:15.119 it out. Are you kidding me that that was the 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:19.360 way that it was hard coaching back then? Man? It 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:21.320 was a beautiful thing. And I know I'm all over 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:24.240 the place, David, but you opened this can or weren't. 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:29.760 Look it's it gives people that are curious about you. 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:33.359 I get asked all the time about two analysts, you 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:36.840