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Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for

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Speaker 1: the players, by the players. Here is your host, four

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Speaker 1: teen year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer Anius Williams. Hello,

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I am Anius Williams.

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Speaker 1: Doing super Bowl Week in Minneapolis, the NFL gathered a

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Speaker 1: collection of national Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year

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Speaker 1: award winners for a discussion about social responsibility. The form

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Speaker 1: was hosted by two thousand seven NFL Man of the

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Speaker 1: Year in Hall of Famer Jason Taylor. Let's listen in

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Speaker 1: thank you very much good the evening. Our next panel

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Speaker 1: is going to be titled Commitment to Service. It's an

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Speaker 1: open discussion. Feel free to hog to mike past the mike.

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Speaker 1: So our first top is gonna be the journey, you know.

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Speaker 1: It's it was really unique to the NFL players and

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Speaker 1: a lot of athletes in general, is when we get

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Speaker 1: drafted or start our careers in a city, it's typically

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Speaker 1: somewhere we're very unfamiliar with. We're we don't know anybody

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Speaker 1: there outside of our teammates. As we get to know them,

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Speaker 1: we've all done it. We've kind of started a new community,

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Speaker 1: but then found a way to find that cause. So

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Speaker 1: I want to tell me about your journey, a little

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Speaker 1: bit about your journey and kind of why you chose

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Speaker 1: what you chose as your cause for your charity. Sorry,

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Speaker 1: Chris Well. I think that UM in the National Football

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Speaker 1: League is a great legacy and the irony too. I

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Speaker 1: grew up in Middletown, Ohio, just right up the road.

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Speaker 1: There was a great player plan in Cincinnati named Anthony Munyos,

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Speaker 1: and he said, a great example in that community. And

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Speaker 1: then I happened to be drafted by Philadelphia. One of

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Speaker 1: his colleagues are great brother Reggie White. He led the

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Speaker 1: locker room there, so that helped me get started. I

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Speaker 1: had great examples in the league. He was he was

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Speaker 1: my hometown team, so he said, a great example. Drafted

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Speaker 1: by Philadelphia. And then when I came to Minnesota, Dennis

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Speaker 1: Green he had Tuesdays was not called off day, it

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Speaker 1: was called community Day. And he said that we would

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Speaker 1: not take checks from this community and not make a

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Speaker 1: deposit on Tuesdays, and you don't have to come here,

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Speaker 1: but you do have to go somewhere in the community

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Speaker 1: on Tuesday. So I had great examples um, they really

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Speaker 1: got me started. Well, when I talked about journey, I

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Speaker 1: gotta talk about where I was from and where I

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Speaker 1: was brought up. And that's one of the things when

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Speaker 1: I have a chance to speak to individuals, I say,

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Speaker 1: don't ever forget where you come from. Don't forget the

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Speaker 1: circumstances that you come from, the adversity you go through,

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Speaker 1: because that's what makes you who you are. And I

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Speaker 1: have to go back to growing up in Ontario, California,

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Speaker 1: about forty miles east of Los Angeles, where my mom

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Speaker 1: raised five of us by herself. I mean, she'd worked

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Speaker 1: two and three jobs for to provide for five kids,

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Speaker 1: and all we had to do was watch her. She

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Speaker 1: didn't have to say a whole lot, and we learned responsibility,

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Speaker 1: work ethic. And I was looking for that male role

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Speaker 1: model because my dad was in and out of prison.

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Speaker 1: Never met the guy. To this day, it never met him.

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Speaker 1: He passed away, but several people stepped in and became

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Speaker 1: that male role model that I never had. And Uh,

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Speaker 1: I met a gentleman when I was seven years old.

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Speaker 1: When Chris talks about legacy, there was a mentor that

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Speaker 1: jumped into my life and other young men's life that

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Speaker 1: didn't have dad's UH, and he was ahead of parts

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Speaker 1: and recreation. Baseball is my first love, and I knew

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Speaker 1: I could meet him at the park at seven in

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Speaker 1: the morning in the summer and play two three games.

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Speaker 1: And then I found out he was the new varsity

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Speaker 1: baseball coach at the high school I would attend. And

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Speaker 1: this coach became a mentor, not only with the great

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Speaker 1: baseball mind, but teaching us how to do things the

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Speaker 1: right way. And that was that male role model I

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Speaker 1: was looking for as a kid growing up because I

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Speaker 1: didn't have one at home. My mom was mom dad coach, uh, disciplinarian,

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Speaker 1: I mean, she was the boss. So we learned a

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Speaker 1: lot from her. And that's basically what started me on

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Speaker 1: that route of saying, Okay, this gentleman is a great

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Speaker 1: baseball coach, but he wants us to do with character, integrity,

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Speaker 1: not cut corners. Do it the right way. And not

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Speaker 1: that I did it right all the time, but I

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Speaker 1: kept reflecting to that through high school, through college and

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Speaker 1: UH and through my NFL career. So that's where it

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Speaker 1: started for me. UH as far as appreciating what I

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Speaker 1: went through, not having a whole lot growing up and

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Speaker 1: appreciating those that stepped in and fill those voids that

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Speaker 1: I had in my life as a young man. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I would say my journey, my philanthropic journey started through

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Speaker 1: Coach Dungee. At that particular time, I was a rookie

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Speaker 1: UH in Tampa in n and he challenged myself and

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Speaker 1: other rookies to get involved and be a part of

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Speaker 1: the community. And you know, my passion at that time,

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Speaker 1: I had no idea what I was passionate about. But

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Speaker 1: I thought about the things that I've been through in

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Speaker 1: my life, and that was my mom and and her

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Speaker 1: sacrifice about a statement environment for myself and my brothers

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Speaker 1: and sisters. And nine seven started a program that I

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Speaker 1: wanted to help single mothers become first time homeowners and

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Speaker 1: it's give them a five thousand dollars down payment and

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Speaker 1: fully furnishing their homes. So how's my journey. And I

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Speaker 1: definitely got pushed by Coach Dungeon to do that. And

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Speaker 1: I think it interesting as I hear all you guys

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Speaker 1: talk that there was somebody that came along the way

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Speaker 1: that showed us the path, and it was no different

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Speaker 1: for me. I dreamed of becoming an NFL player from

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Speaker 1: the time I was so big, And I was fortunate

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Speaker 1: to have two coaches when I was growing up, and

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Speaker 1: both of them played in the league, you know, for

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Speaker 1: a couple of coffee. But at that time, when a

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Speaker 1: guy's coaching you and he was in the league period,

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Speaker 1: you're like, oh, man, I want to be like that guy.

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Speaker 1: And those two guys gave back and invested in me.

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Speaker 1: They taught me from the time I was young. Another

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Speaker 1: one taught me when I was in middle school. So

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Speaker 1: I saw that first and foremost when I was growing

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Speaker 1: up and I was playing the game, and I'm like,

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Speaker 1: so these guys played, and now they're coming back and

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Speaker 1: giving back to me. And then I grew up in Iowa,

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Speaker 1: so we didn't have a pro sports team. So the

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Speaker 1: closest team to us was the Chicago Bears, and so

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Speaker 1: I grew up watching Walter Payton as well, and obviously

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Speaker 1: the award named after him, But I watched him as

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Speaker 1: a player, and you say, man, that's how you want

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Speaker 1: to play the game, but you also saw him as

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Speaker 1: a person. Another person that's won this award, Roger Starbuck.

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Speaker 1: We didn't have a team, so the Cowboys were America's team.

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Speaker 1: They were on TV every Sunday afternoon, so he grew.

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Speaker 1: I grew up with him as my idol. And it's

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Speaker 1: another guy that you watch him and man, I had

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Speaker 1: said to myself, I can't wait to meet this guy.

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Speaker 1: But I held him in such high esteem because great player,

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Speaker 1: Hall of Fame player, but also a great person. And

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Speaker 1: you get a chance to meet those guys and they

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Speaker 1: are what I saw growing up, what I wanted to emulate. Um.

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Speaker 1: And that's where the inspiration came from. And then when

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Speaker 1: you talk about where did our cause come from, so

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Speaker 1: many of mine and my and my wife causes came

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Speaker 1: from things that we experienced. UM. You know, whether it

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Speaker 1: be you know, watching a coach give back to us.

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Speaker 1: Now we go out and we do things where we're

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Speaker 1: coaching people. My wife when I met her, was a

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Speaker 1: single mom, uh that was never had owned a home,

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Speaker 1: and so we adopted works Home for the Holidays program

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Speaker 1: because we wanted to give back to single parents that

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Speaker 1: we're trying to gain homeownership. We have a twenty nine

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Speaker 1: year old son that suffered a traumatic brain injury when

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Speaker 1: he was four months old. So we do things with

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Speaker 1: make a wish and different hospitals. So everything that touched

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Speaker 1: us that we were a part of, that we felt

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Speaker 1: we could feedback into someone else's life. So we look

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Speaker 1: back and say, our experiences really shaped who we are

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Speaker 1: and where we went and what we decided to do

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Speaker 1: with our foundation. That's awesome. And more. We spent some

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Speaker 1: time last week in or Lando with the Pro Bowl,

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Speaker 1: and and I hate to sing with you out here,

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Speaker 1: but tell us some more about the Home for the

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Speaker 1: Holiday's program. I was blown away by I knew you

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Speaker 1: were doing it when I was playing and we were

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Speaker 1: compete against one another, but I didn't realize how much

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Speaker 1: it had grown, how far had gone on. So tell

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Speaker 1: tell the folks more about the program you do with

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Speaker 1: single mothers in their homes. Yes, so right now, um, well,

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Speaker 1: the program hosts on holiday is what we do is

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Speaker 1: we assist single parents, or now we assist parents who

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Speaker 1: are becoming first time home markers and as given them

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Speaker 1: five thousand dollars down payment, and we fully furnished at

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Speaker 1: homes with food, furniture, Lanta's going to TVs, computers all

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Speaker 1: the way down to the toothbrushes. And now when fifteen markets,

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Speaker 1: nine states and we're up to a hundred and fifty

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Speaker 1: nine single parent families that we've helped over twenty years.

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Speaker 1: So it's uh, it's been to market. And let me

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Speaker 1: let me just add to that because again we took

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Speaker 1: inspiration from you and what you do to this program.

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Speaker 1: And the coolest thing about this program is, you know,

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Speaker 1: Habitat always says it's not a handout, it's a hand

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Speaker 1: up because these people invest in building their homes and

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Speaker 1: you see the pride on on their faces when they

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Speaker 1: bring their family and they're gonna get the home for

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Speaker 1: the first time. But the coolest part is, as he said,

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Speaker 1: he fully furnishes home. And we've talked to so many

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Speaker 1: families that we as we've done it, that are so

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Speaker 1: excited to get into their home, but they tell us

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Speaker 1: I had no idea how I was going to fill it.

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Speaker 1: You know, it was bitter sweet because I knew I

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Speaker 1: were getting I was getting my family into a home,

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Speaker 1: but I was thinking, where are my kids going to

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Speaker 1: sleep tonight? You know, how how am I gonna feed

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Speaker 1: my kids? And they walk in and you have the

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Speaker 1: homes fully furnished for them so they can truly take

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Speaker 1: that step forward. When you know, it was almost like

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Speaker 1: a burden because I gotta get into the house and

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Speaker 1: then I got to figure out how to feel the house.

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Speaker 1: You give them a true push forward. It's it's pretty incredible. No,

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Speaker 1: it's uh, it's it's really amazing that we get all

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Speaker 1: the way down to degrade the mom's room and her

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Speaker 1: favorite color. So we try to do a lot of

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Speaker 1: personalization to the homes as well. But this whole idea

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Speaker 1: came about because it was my mom's dream, right, And

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Speaker 1: the reason that I could be passionate about is because

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Speaker 1: growing up, my mom only made thirty six thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: and to understand what it meant to go out and

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Speaker 1: work not just line to five, but day and night,

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Speaker 1: to provide a roof over our head and just just

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Speaker 1: for rent, so she couldn't afford the down payment, and

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Speaker 1: of course we couldn't afford furniture if we got at home.

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Speaker 1: So I was just pretty much with this program at

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Speaker 1: night settlers, just living on my mom's dream through other

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Speaker 1: single parents, and for me that was like therapy. And

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Speaker 1: you know, to see the expression of mothers, even fathers

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Speaker 1: and the kids, for me, that's life changing, and you know,

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Speaker 1: that keeps me going because I don't know as a kid,

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Speaker 1: I didn't have a place that I can call my own.

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Speaker 1: I didn't have a place that I can develop memories.

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Speaker 1: So we're trying in in our program, we're trying to

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Speaker 1: transform lives, you know, not just for today but for tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: and not just the mothers of the parents, but the kids.

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Speaker 1: We have to set a foundation for those guys to

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Speaker 1: have a better future. Well, it's amazing. And you know,

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Speaker 1: part of what we get to do playing the National

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Speaker 1: Football League is you know, we get to affect people's

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Speaker 1: lives in so many ways because of the platform that

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Speaker 1: the NFL provides us. And I want you guys to

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Speaker 1: talk about the platform a little bit and the importance

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Speaker 1: of using that platform for good, the importance of protecting

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Speaker 1: that platform and preserving the integrity of it. And then

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Speaker 1: also if you can think of if there's a time

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Speaker 1: and at the back of your mind that where you

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Speaker 1: looked at someone and you really you really felt the

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Speaker 1: power of that platform and how you really affected and

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Speaker 1: changed that that one particular person's life. Or maybe it

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Speaker 1: was maybe it was a smile, maybe it was it's

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Speaker 1: here somebody said, or or that woman at one moment

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Speaker 1: you really felt, let's start with you, Anthony one. I'm

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Speaker 1: thinking about that's a that's a great topic. The platform.

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Speaker 1: It's something that I take very seriously. I've always taken

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Speaker 1: very seriously. Um through my college days at USC and

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Speaker 1: I talked about my journey, but then the appreciation um

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Speaker 1: and then get into college and really not knowing what

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Speaker 1: was gonna happen after I played college because I went

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Speaker 1: through some adversity, three knee operations in four years. But

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Speaker 1: the support group I had at USC, and I knew

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Speaker 1: it was gonna work out even if I didn't play football.

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Speaker 1: It worked out. The Bengals drafted me and I got

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Speaker 1: a chance to utilize that platform as an NFL football player.

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Speaker 1: So I saw I went back and it's really kind

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Speaker 1: of twofold. I wanted to pay it forward with the platform,

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Speaker 1: but also honor those that poured into my life. My mom, my, coach,

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Speaker 1: you know, teachers that I had growing up. Uh So

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Speaker 1: it's something that I've always taken very seriously because I

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Speaker 1: know we can use that platform either in a positive

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Speaker 1: way or a negative way. And because of the way

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Speaker 1: I was mentored, in the way I was taught, in

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Speaker 1: the desire that God gave me in my heart was

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Speaker 1: to have a positive impact on young people. So that

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Speaker 1: I took that platform and I wanted to take at risk,

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Speaker 1: underserved kids kind of a similar to you know where

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Speaker 1: I came from, because I knew if I grabbed these

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Speaker 1: kids and really they would look at the NFL career.

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Speaker 1: But if I shared my journey with them, what I

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Speaker 1: went through, I could get an instant connection with them

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Speaker 1: and have that impact. So I used that platform him

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Speaker 1: you know, when I was playing, and even after I retired,

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Speaker 1: when I started the foundation, through education, leadership, and character

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Speaker 1: and like I said, using the platform to serve underserved,

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Speaker 1: at risk kids. With our mentoring program, we have overnight

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Speaker 1: character camps, we have leadership seminars, and then we give

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Speaker 1: scholarships anywhere from eighteen to twenty three scholarships every year

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Speaker 1: with kids that are very talented. I mean, these kids

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Speaker 1: are performing in the classroom, sometimes in athletics and community service,

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Speaker 1: but they're overcoming adversity. A lot of these kids moms

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Speaker 1: and drug addict dads in prison there. Some of them

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Speaker 1: have lived homeless at time. Grandma's raised him because both

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Speaker 1: parents are locked up. But they're like, you know, great students,

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Speaker 1: great community individuals, and then they're doing so many other

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Speaker 1: things that we assist them with scholarships. And you know,

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Speaker 1: just one example, we have a young lady that's in

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Speaker 1: her second year at med school and at Harvard Med School.

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Speaker 1: She's from Hamilton's. She's about four eight. She came in

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Speaker 1: as we interviewed her and she knew exactly what she

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Speaker 1: wanted to do is she was graduating. She said, I

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Speaker 1: want to go to grad. I want to go to college,

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Speaker 1: graduate premed, go to UH med school, be a doctor,

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Speaker 1: come back to Hamilton's and be have an impact in

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Speaker 1: the community. And we're like, she deserves a scholarship. We

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Speaker 1: gave her a twenty dollar scholarship through she went through

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Speaker 1: Northern Kentucky University four point oh Premed, got accepted by

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Speaker 1: Michigan Med School, Harvard Med School, Saint Side, and I

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Speaker 1: Med School. She and there's one other one I forget,

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Speaker 1: but she's in her third year at Harvard Med School

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Speaker 1: and I know she's gonna become a doctor and come

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Speaker 1: back to the community and help out. And and it's

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Speaker 1: amazing because they have nothing, and she's come from adversity,

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Speaker 1: overcome a lot of hurdles. But that's the platform that

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Speaker 1: we can utilize and impact these young people, not by

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Speaker 1: ourselves but with the team. And it's fun for me

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Speaker 1: when we use that platform and these young people come

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Speaker 1: up and say thank you and your foundation, and I

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Speaker 1: can say, don't thank us, We're gonna thank you. We're

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Speaker 1: just helping in a small a way because you've done

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Speaker 1: all the work. So that's the impact that we can

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Speaker 1: have if we choose to use that platform in a

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Speaker 1: positive way. I think Anthony does a great job of

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Speaker 1: describing what a lot of us go through. UM myself,

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Speaker 1: it became very very important what the National Football League

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Speaker 1: provided for me. I I really, I really enjoyed when

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Speaker 1: Charles Barkley said that I'm not a role model, because

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Speaker 1: I really thought the opposite way. It's everything that my

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Speaker 1: mom ever taught me that people that are given extraordinary

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Speaker 1: gifts being athletically, intellectually too much as given much as

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Speaker 1: required of their life. And I've just had people that

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Speaker 1: wanted to pull that out of my life. I don't

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Speaker 1: all didn't always see it. So once I got to

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Speaker 1: the National Football League and having great role models and

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Speaker 1: seeing people involved, I became a little upset with the

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Speaker 1: NFL because every time that the community direct or would

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Speaker 1: come into the locker room or ask someone to volunteer. Um,

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Speaker 1: I have to be honest with you. Most of the

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Speaker 1: charities and things they were involved with had nothing to

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Speaker 1: do with kids who I grew up with and kids

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Speaker 1: that looked like me. They were white charities. They had

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Speaker 1: to do with white communities and had to do with

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Speaker 1: white kids. And I challenged the Vikings that come in

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Speaker 1: here with some charities with kids that look like me,

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Speaker 1: kids that have a story like me. So they didn't

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Speaker 1: have it. So I had to develop my own program

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Speaker 1: South Minneapolis Lake Street Street. You leave Minneapolis, get on

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Speaker 1: the highway and you'll see it. Any brothers need a haircut,

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Speaker 1: you need a haircut, go there. So I was able

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Speaker 1: to develop a program with kids that looked like me,

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Speaker 1: grew up like me, and were like my friends. Because

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Speaker 1: I really believe that kids visualize what they want to do,

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Speaker 1: but in a lot of instances there's not minorities that

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Speaker 1: they see. And it's so nice that when they see that,

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Speaker 1: man I can be that and we present it to them.

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Speaker 1: So we brought many guests into them. Also, I utilized

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Speaker 1: the platform of the league. I made the Vikings provide

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Speaker 1: them with with tickets to the game. I wasn't gonna

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Speaker 1: pay for him. These kids, they watched the vikings on TV.

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Speaker 1: They've never been to the Metrodome, so we started by

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Speaker 1: exposing them to that. So the platform of the National

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Speaker 1: Football League, it's very, very powerful. And as far as

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Speaker 1: the example, there's no better example than the example I

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Speaker 1: have and a kid who grew up in South Minneapolis.

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Speaker 1: He went on to win the award in two thousand

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Speaker 1: and sixteen. He's a good friend occurred and his name

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Speaker 1: is Larry Fitzgerald. I started mentoring he was fourteen years old,

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Speaker 1: and I was able to see the things that I

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Speaker 1: was doing in the communities where he lived, and I

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Speaker 1: was able to see him go on to mature and

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Speaker 1: be responsible and then finally win this award. So the

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Speaker 1: platform of the National Football League is bigger than we

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Speaker 1: ever imagine, and the things that we do and the

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Speaker 1: impact that we have on people, We're not only going

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Speaker 1: to the next generation, but the generation even after that.

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Speaker 1: So we shouldn't take that for granted. And I think

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Speaker 1: that the people before us, Anthony and the icons of

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Speaker 1: the game, Reggie Whitenham, they really said a great example

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Speaker 1: of what the platform in the National Football League National

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Speaker 1: Football League means especially for those who are believers. Well, Chris,

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Speaker 1: I can I can tell you when when I got

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Speaker 1: from I first, when I got started, I didn't care

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Speaker 1: about the platform. I didn't want the notoriety. I didn't

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Speaker 1: want to be out front. And I just think it's because,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I was still dealing with a lot. We're

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Speaker 1: losing my mom at eighteen years old, just being depressed,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I did the program for five years

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Speaker 1: and I didn't tell anybody. And once I started the

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Speaker 1: charity in two thousand two, they told me you need

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Speaker 1: to be out front, and I didn't want to do that.

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Speaker 1: But what really gotten over to HULP was going to counseling.

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Speaker 1: And once I started going to counseling and realized that

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Speaker 1: I can make a bigger impact and the communities that

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Speaker 1: I served, and I thought about my mom's struggle, but

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Speaker 1: also thought about the city of bed Rouge, how they

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Speaker 1: stood up for my family and I to be able

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Speaker 1: to pay bills every day. And I just felt like

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Speaker 1: I needed to utilize the platform that I have with

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Speaker 1: the National Football League and really go out and promote

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Speaker 1: what I'm doing. But also the other guys on my team.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't just it wasn't just about what I was

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Speaker 1: doing in the community, but helping other guys raise more

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Speaker 1: awareness to to talk about all the positive things in

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Speaker 1: the community instead of all the negative things. And when

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Speaker 1: I took that, I became much more grateful. I'm just

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Speaker 1: thankful that over the years, you know, I got up,

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Speaker 1: I got out of my own way to think about

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Speaker 1: the families that, yeah, I can impact, the lives that

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Speaker 1: I can change, and a lot of people already know that.

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Speaker 1: You know, one of those families was DeShawn Watson's, Like, well,

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Speaker 1: if if I would have not utilize the platform that

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Speaker 1: I've had with the line of Foul, because at the time, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's the family that I would have missed out on.

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Speaker 1: A great kid that has really grown into Blossman to

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Speaker 1: become a superstar in this league hopefully in the future.

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Speaker 1: So I'm definitely thankful for taking advantage of that. But

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Speaker 1: it's not always, I guess Roses. When you first start off,

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Speaker 1: we all have a journey that we go through, and

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Speaker 1: my journey was definitely overcoming being depressed and going to

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Speaker 1: counsel and to help myself to get to the point

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Speaker 1: where I can utilize the platform to do something positive.

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Speaker 1: And for me, when we talk about the platform, it

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Speaker 1: is amazing how big that platform is. Uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: when you're growing up in your dream of playing and

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Speaker 1: even when you say I want to make a difference,

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Speaker 1: I don't think you understand what kind of platform we've

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Speaker 1: been given to me. The coolest thing is that our

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Speaker 1: platform breaks down every barrier and crosses every line. It

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Speaker 1: doesn't matter if I go into a school with young

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Speaker 1: black men or you know, young white man, or girls

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Speaker 1: or boys, or old or young. And that's the beautiful

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Speaker 1: thing is that we have a chance to inspire and

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Speaker 1: encourage people, whether it be the young kids through our

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Speaker 1: programs or the older kids that we get a chance

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Speaker 1: to talk to. I mean, I just think of J. J.

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Speaker 1: Watt this year. I mean he he got on social

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Speaker 1: media and made a plea to anyone and everyone to

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Speaker 1: help him make a difference, and he raised thirty five

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Speaker 1: million dollars by encouraging other people just like us, other

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Speaker 1: people in different walks of life that have a platform,

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Speaker 1: that have an opportunity to just give to just step

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Speaker 1: out to just do something. And that to me is

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Speaker 1: what's so cool about this is we have the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to create our own programs and impact those people in

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Speaker 1: the program, but we also have a chance to impact

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Speaker 1: those people that watch us every day. That way, it

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Speaker 1: may not ever touch a program that we're in, but

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Speaker 1: see us on TV, see us up here, or stand

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Speaker 1: and see us speaking to a young group of kids

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Speaker 1: to say, man, I need to get involved, I need

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Speaker 1: to do something more. And that is the thing that

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Speaker 1: that I have been amazed with and I continue to

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Speaker 1: be amazed with it because I mean, for me, I've

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Speaker 1: been retired for eight years now and we're running programs

431
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,560
Speaker 1: that we did when I played, and they're even bigger

432
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,600
Speaker 1: and they're greater now than they were when I played.

433
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,399
Speaker 1: I thought, okay, I'm done, everything's gonna stop. But you

434
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:28,320
Speaker 1: talk about the platform, and you talk about understanding the

435
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:30,760
Speaker 1: position that we're in, you do it the right way,

436
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,200
Speaker 1: you represent it the right way. People want to be

437
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 1: connected to that. That's great stuff you got. You guys

438
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,240
Speaker 1: are really good because as you start to talk, you

439
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,480
Speaker 1: just you end up flowing into my next topic and

440
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,720
Speaker 1: you just ruined the whole setup of the next topic,

441
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 1: so as you did with the platform. And now again

442
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,120
Speaker 1: I keep hearing this word toss around and I heard

443
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:49,760
Speaker 1: it when I played, and I've used it, and I

444
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:51,800
Speaker 1: would like you guys that kind of explained it, maybe

445
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:56,600
Speaker 1: in Layman's terms, paying it forward. We always hear about it. Um.

446
00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:58,359
Speaker 1: I think a lot of guys in this room, guys

447
00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:00,080
Speaker 1: that are part of the part of the multipating the

448
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 1: film Man of the Year award, do a great job

449
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,919
Speaker 1: of paying a forward. But how can you explain it

450
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 1: simply to somebody, and how can you encourage somebody to

451
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:11,199
Speaker 1: pay it forward, whether it be financially with time with

452
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 1: a smile and an airport to a young kid that

453
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,360
Speaker 1: changes his life that he remembers it twenty years later,

454
00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,720
Speaker 1: to doing what companies like Nationwide are doing and paying

455
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,679
Speaker 1: it forward in local communities. Yeah, I think it's awesome.

456
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,720
Speaker 1: I'll just start just because I remember when I got

457
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,119
Speaker 1: my first contract in the NFL, and my wife and

458
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,879
Speaker 1: I had trouble accepting my first contract because it was like,

459
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,399
Speaker 1: I don't know if I deserve I just want to

460
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,480
Speaker 1: play football, you know, And it's a lot of money

461
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 1: and I'm not really sure if we deserve this much money.

462
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,120
Speaker 1: We really struggled with that, and I remember we sat

463
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,800
Speaker 1: down with a pastor, and he said, okay, you need

464
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,560
Speaker 1: to step back and and receive the blessing and understand

465
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 1: that it's been given to you because and again being

466
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: a man of faith, that God trusts us with it

467
00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 1: to be able to will use the term pay it forward,

468
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,359
Speaker 1: to be able to use that blessing and find a

469
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,159
Speaker 1: way to impact the next generation as that generation or

470
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:12,200
Speaker 1: the previous one impacted you. And that became our idea

471
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,199
Speaker 1: of paying it forward. That it was given to us

472
00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:17,640
Speaker 1: to give to someone else. It was presented to us.

473
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:19,840
Speaker 1: It was a blessing to us so that we could

474
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 1: be a blessing to others. And that's really how we

475
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:28,360
Speaker 1: came to accept the platform, the position and decided, okay,

476
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,919
Speaker 1: how do we do this. You know, we're trusted with this.

477
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:33,400
Speaker 1: We got to make sure that we do the right

478
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: things with this and have as great an impact as

479
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 1: we possibly can moving forward. And that to me is

480
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 1: simply what it meant is that it was given to me,

481
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,640
Speaker 1: not so I could hoard it and keep it and buy,

482
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,200
Speaker 1: you know, a big house or a lot of cars.

483
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:50,520
Speaker 1: It was given to me to be able to take

484
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 1: that and use that and feed into the next generation.

485
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,120
Speaker 1: And it's all encompassing. I've got seven kids at home.

486
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,560
Speaker 1: You know, every program that we run through our foundation

487
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 1: is a family oriented program that my kids are involved in,

488
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,920
Speaker 1: every single one. So they come to understand the position

489
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,600
Speaker 1: that we've been given, we're to bless somebody else with it. Well,

490
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,840
Speaker 1: I would tell you, just looking back on my life,

491
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:18,320
Speaker 1: it's the people who have come in and out of

492
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,160
Speaker 1: my life. I think over the years, I've met people

493
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 1: who have done things for me and never expected anything

494
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,159
Speaker 1: in return. And over the years, I've learned so much

495
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: about just being selflesh It's not about me, it's about uh,

496
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,200
Speaker 1: the other individuals. And today, I mean, I think that's

497
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,439
Speaker 1: how I lived my life on a daily basis, is

498
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,639
Speaker 1: that I would do things for other people and I

499
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,199
Speaker 1: don't expect anything in return. And the way that I

500
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 1: was taught is that I treat people the same way

501
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 1: that I want to be treated. I mean, that's how

502
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: I was raised and and from my upbringing, I just

503
00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,240
Speaker 1: felt like if I can speak to some want to

504
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,679
Speaker 1: sign an autograph, take a picture, if I'm want to go,

505
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: if I'm an airport running or whatever, I could make

506
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 1: a change in this person's life that can change them forever.

507
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,200
Speaker 1: When I was seventeen year old. Was a seventeen year old.

508
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,440
Speaker 1: That's the first time I ever heard of someone say

509
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 1: pay it forward. It was just something that was very

510
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 1: foreign to me. It was a legendary coach what he hayes.

511
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: I sat in his office at Ohio State, and he

512
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,080
Speaker 1: wasn't trying to win me to go to Ohio State.

513
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 1: He was trying to let me know that was the

514
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,719
Speaker 1: model to his life. And he began to explain to

515
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,479
Speaker 1: me things that he had done through coaching and in

516
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,480
Speaker 1: his life that people never knew about. And he every

517
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,919
Speaker 1: time he said something, he would say, you pay it forward.

518
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,200
Speaker 1: So in my life I've always tried to do that,

519
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 1: and I think that your life is the best example,

520
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,359
Speaker 1: especially being an athlete. I'm so blessed. I've always wanted

521
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:52,560
Speaker 1: to be an athlete, and when I was in school,

522
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:56,040
Speaker 1: I only read books about athletes. The dreams of my

523
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 1: life were only about things athletic. Um. I've never had

524
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 1: a job before. I've never I've never felt out an application.

525
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,080
Speaker 1: At fifty two years old, I played sixteen years in

526
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 1: the National Football League, no formal education, no degree, and

527
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,480
Speaker 1: I've been sixteen years as a broadcaster. So I've tried

528
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,399
Speaker 1: to pay it forward in those areas mentor and I

529
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 1: mentor at least six to twelve guys in the league.

530
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,560
Speaker 1: Right now, I probably have twelve guys planning Division one football. Also, Jason,

531
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 1: like yourself, was a coach at St. Thomas Aquaintas, helping

532
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,600
Speaker 1: people in a trade and a skill that I know

533
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,080
Speaker 1: something about. So I think that my path in life

534
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: through sports, I've tried to pay it forward so that

535
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 1: guys can live out the same dream, the same aspiration

536
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 1: that I have. And I think it's very, very important

537
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 1: that we continue the great legacy that we have in sports,

538
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,359
Speaker 1: and it's up to us to continue paying things forward,

539
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 1: paying it forward. I think it's something that I didn't

540
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,359
Speaker 1: hear until late in my life, you know, just last

541
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,280
Speaker 1: several years. Um, But I have to look back to

542
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,000
Speaker 1: those that again poured into our lives, like we're all

543
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,520
Speaker 1: talking about it. It was that uncle that picked me

544
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,399
Speaker 1: up from my little league baseball game, that took me

545
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 1: and bought me that second pair of pants for the

546
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,840
Speaker 1: school year. It was a coach that saw my laces

547
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:17,679
Speaker 1: on my glove falling apart and he didn't want me

548
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,240
Speaker 1: to miss the groundballs at third base so he bought,

549
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 1: you know, bought me a new baseball glove that was

550
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,520
Speaker 1: amazing that had the name Brooks Robinson on it, and

551
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,240
Speaker 1: I dreamt my whole childhood of having a baseball glove

552
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,960
Speaker 1: with my name in on the glove. So it was

553
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 1: those type of individuals that poured into my life. And

554
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,080
Speaker 1: then as I hear those terms pay it forward, I'm

555
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: thinking those individuals were paying it forward before those terms

556
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 1: were popular. And you know, having a chance at usc

557
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 1: through the injuries I went through through adversity is going

558
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 1: into the inner city and say, okay, I have plenty

559
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: of extra time, so I'm gonna go to these young

560
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 1: people and just kind of share my journey, try to

561
00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 1: help them out and what they're doing. And it didn't matter.

562
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:04,080
Speaker 1: Again We've talked about it didn't matter what neighborhood it was.

563
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,320
Speaker 1: It could have been a brown neighborhood, black neighborhood, white,

564
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 1: but just going and taking the advantage of paying it forward.

565
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,200
Speaker 1: And then once I got into the league, you know,

566
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 1: I started to learn. I got married my sophomore in

567
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:18,360
Speaker 1: college and my wife we both again Kirk mentioned meeting

568
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 1: with the pastor is learning. You know that you look

569
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 1: at your checkbook, and you can tell by the checks

570
00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,720
Speaker 1: you write where your heart is. And to me, that

571
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,640
Speaker 1: was paying it forward. If our checkbook was about you know,

572
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 1: the nicest clothes, the nicest is, that's not where my

573
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 1: heart needed to be and was if it was right

574
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 1: and checks. When I was playing the different organizations before

575
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 1: I started my foundation, then I knew my heart was

576
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 1: going in the right direction and I knew that that's

577
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 1: where the Holy Spirit was directing me. How stating job

578
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 1: big right of the plause for these guys up here

579
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 1: to night, Chris, Santhony, Warren Kurt, thank you guys for

580
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 1: being here. Thanks a lot of guys. This has been

581
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,800
Speaker 1: the NFL Legends podcast. To provide feedback or request a

582
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: topic for discussion, email us at NFL Legends at NFL

583
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 1: dot com. Yeah,