WEBVTT - The Dave Pasch Podcast - Jason Wright 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:05.560 Here we are with another edition of the Dave Pash 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:09.639 Podcast with me, Dave Pash, ESPN play by play announcer 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.040 and voice of the Arizona Cardinals. We are presented by 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.400 bet MGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.800 Cardinals and the Heila River Hotels and Casinos. You can 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:24.880 follow us on Twitter get updates on upcoming guests, relive 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.120 some of the best moments from previous guests at pash Pod. 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.280 You know, I often get asked who are your favorite 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.519 all time Cardinals that you've covered, and my answer usually 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:37.640 starts with the players you would expect, like Kurt Warner, 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.280 Larry Fitzgerald, and Quan Bolden and Adrian Wilson. But I 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:44.519 have a couple other players that I often bring up, 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:47.320 not necessarily because of what they did on the field, 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.000 but because of the type of people they are. One 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:53.159 of those is the late Quami Lasseter. My first year 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.360 as the Cardinals announcer was two thousand and two and 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.200 I hosted The Big Red Rage and Quami was my 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:01.080 co host and was back when the Cardinals weren't a 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:05.000 great team nowadays, especially during the playoff run in two 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:07.520 fifteen in the Super Bowl run in two thousand and eight, 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:10.080 Big Red Rage would be live and fans would be 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.800 lining up to see the announcers and get autographs from 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.160 their favorite player. But back when Kwamy and I were 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.600 doing the show, we were sitting in a restaurant at 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.479 a corner table, just the two of us. I think 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.559 people just wondered, what are those guys doing over there? 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.600 So Kwamy and I became good friends, and we stayed 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.280 that way until his untimely death in two nineteen at 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:33.920 age forty nine. Another player that's high on the list 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.440 is Jason Wright. Jason came to the Cardinals in two 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.840 thousand and nine from the Cleveland Browns and he served 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.280 as a team captain. Right was the perfect signing to 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.959 boost locker room leadership, and it paid dividends as the 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.360 Cardinals accomplished a rare feat that year. If you recall 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:55.160 back in two thousand and nine, not many teams had 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.800 made the playoffs, even made the playoffs the year after 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.240 losing the Super Bowl, But the Cars accomplished that feat 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:03.800 in two thousand and nine, and Wright's leadership was a 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:08.560 big reason why. That leadership led to some unique opportunities 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.799 in the business world. Once Wright retired and Jason now 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:16.959 runs one of the biggest brand names in all of sports, 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.880 the Washington Football Team. So Jason talks with us about 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:24.600 his path from an NFL player to an NFL team president, 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:27.240 the timing of when we can expect a new name 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.280 for the team, his fondest memories of being a cardinal, 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.840 and his skills as a singer, which nobody knows about. 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.080 So here's the president of the Washington Football Team, the 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:39.760 groundbreaking President. More on that in just a second with 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:48.480 Jason Wright on the Day Pash podcast. Jason is so 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:50.360 great to catch up with you, man. I'm such a 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.240 big fan. You're one of my all time favorite players. 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.560 When I get asked a lot, hey, who's your favorite cardinal? 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:56.880 I have a long list, but you're up there, man, 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.160 not just because of you as a player, but you 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.480 as a person. And we'll get into that a little 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:04.359 bit later. But the first thing I want to ask 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.240 you is how did being a player prepare you for 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:11.880 being a president? Well, first, thanks for having me, and 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:14.080 thanks for having me on the list, because you probably 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.280 get a bunch of cricket eyes when you mentioned me 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:21.560 on the list of partners like ooh, but I appreciate 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:27.040 that there's myriad ways that being a player prepared me 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.120 for this. I actually think that being a player prepared 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:33.320 me for business written large, and then that's applied to 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:34.960 being the president of the team, which is, you know, 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.880 running the business operations of the team. And I think 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.320 there's a couple of things that are really critical that 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.720 I carried over into my business career. The first was 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:48.560 just the ability to have hyper focus when needed. It's 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:52.840 something that happens uniquely in high level college and professional athletics. 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.200 I think entertainers and musicians can get in this space too, 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.760 and pretty much any profession can, but it happens a 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.280 lot in pro football. Is that for a finite amount 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:07.040 of time, whether it's training camp or a lead up 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.320 to a game where you're playing a particularly new or 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.680 a different role, it requires your ability to quickly learn 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.880 something really new, very quickly, completely immerse yourself into something 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.600 and almost be able to tune out all the other 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:23.040 noise outside of you and have that space of hyper focus. 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:24.640 And I think it's a really hard for a lot 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.840 of people to do, to work with that intensity at 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.760 a sustained level, but it's something that athletes develop and 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:34.039 can do and so that's helped me a ton coming 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:38.560 into this role. I think probably more importantly is as 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:42.200 a pro athlete, you learn how to fail and maintain 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.760 your confidence. You know a lot of people when I 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:46.839 went to business school and when I started at a 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:50.479 professional services firm, a lot of those folks had been 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:54.120 a students their whole lives. They had always been great 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.839 at everything they've done, and they never measurably failed at anything. 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:58.720 You know, I can think back to when I was 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.640 with the Cardinals and tried to pick up a kickoff 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.320 against the Seattle Seahawks. That hit my toe, went thirty 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.560 yards in front of me and got recovered by the Seahawks. 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.280 And you know, I don't think our fans were that 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.680 happy with that, the coach were happy with that, and 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.520 it cost us some moments him in the game. You know, 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.800 I have failed on a big stage in a very 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:23.760 overt way. But I came back from that reminding myself 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.480 that I was good, that I belonged, that I had 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:28.600 the capability to do it, and the next time I 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:30.080 got out there to do it, I did it right 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:32.120 and I did it well. And I think that's a 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.960 muscle you build working in professional athletics that you don't 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:37.920 build other places, and so those of both helped me 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.520 a ton. You sound like a president. I mean, you 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.279 sound exactly. I remember when you got the job and 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.599 I was telling you. Probably remember my partner Ron Wolfley. 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:51.080 I was telling Wolf, Yeah, Jason Wright, who was that 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:54.520 I was telling? I was telling Wolf, Jason writes a 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:56.800 new president and washing football team. He looks like, hmm, 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.760 Jason Wright. Interesting and then he thought of goes, wait 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.680 that Jason Wright like he couldn't wrap his mind around 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.000 the fact that basically you went from being an NFL 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.960 player and within a decade to running an NFL team. 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.640 I'm curious how much do you talk football versus how 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:21.000 much do you talk business? Yeah? I talk business ninety 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.279 eight percent of the time. I think, you know. I 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.120 have a weekly touched point with coach Rivera, and most 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.680 of the time I'm talking to Ron about business stuff 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.000 as well. And thankfully I have a head coach who's 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.960 actually very business savvy as well, the general manager, Martin Mayho. 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.880 It's very business savvy. So when I have campaigns and 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.400 things I need to pitch to them, investments that I 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:42.520 need to ask them about, they get it. And they 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.320 speak the language. You know. Every once in a while 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.239 Ron might ask me about a running back, but most 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:52.039 for the most part, I'm talking business. But it does 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.040 being a player and having a lens for football does 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:57.560 inform some of the decisions we've made. You know, we 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.360 have practice fields here that you know, in my opinion, 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:04.360 probably needed renovation many years ago, but for whatever reason 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:06.920 in the budgeting process could never make it above the line. 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.560 It took me all of ten minutes walking the field 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.840 with Rob Rogers, one of the spts on coaches side, 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.640 to see that after rain it was just saturated to 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:19.840 a level where I wouldn't be comfortable playing at full 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.360 speed as a player. I could see there being a 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:26.120 higher proportion of injuries. I could see timing being off 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.800 because guys aren't practicing at full speed, more time on 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:31.400 the indoor during the year, because you don't want to 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.000 be on that field when it's wet and that has 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:35.520 wear and tear on guys bodies. And so for me, 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:38.160 I was able to do the return on investment calculation 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:40.640 really quickly in my head and say, what you're going 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.440 to get back from player productivity well outweighs a couple 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.120 million dollars that we're going to spend on this so 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.640 greenlight that and same thing with our field at FedEx Field. 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.960 So there are things that my experience as a player 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.600 does inform on the business side. But I'm not talking 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:58.880 about the roster ebber as coaches will House. We had 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:02.040 Michael Bidwell on the podcast recently and we were talking 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:07.080 about the transformation of the Cardinals and what that looked 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:10.720 like from an organizational standpoint, and the stadium was a 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:13.600 big reason why and getting that revenue to be able 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.920 to compete at the highest level every single year. I'm curious, Jason, 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:22.000 because obviously before you took over, even though the Washington 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:27.680 football team had great history an iconic franchise in the NFL, 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.880 there were obviously there was a lot of negativity surrounding 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:36.559 the team. So what were and are some of your 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:40.400 biggest challenges that you've had to face in terms of 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:44.520 changing the perception of the Washington football team. Well, I 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.439 think the first thing that we had to address was 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:50.360 who do we Who do you have in the boat 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:54.040 growing with you to your destination? Right? We had to 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:57.720 look around and be very objective, not in any sort 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.680 of personal way, but look at what we want to accomplish, 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:02.840 which would become the best place to work, not just 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.280 in the NFL, but of all media, sports and entertainment, 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.680 So a very healthy organizational culture. We want to become 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.120 a top financial performer in the NFL, and in order 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:13.640 to do that, short of having a new venue, you 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.319 need some really innovative thinkers that probably come from outside 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.920 the NFL, cross pollinated with people who do have sports 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.679 experience to get that done. We want to be data 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.439 first and digitally oriented, so that means we need investment 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:28.720 in technology and innovative thinking. We need something that's a 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.800 local and authentic game day experience, so you walk into 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.040 our venue or you interact with our team, and you 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:37.120 don't feel like it's interchangeable with any other team. And 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:38.800 so when you think and we need to find a 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.360 new venue to be a new home that opens up 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.520 in twenty twenty seven, and so as you think about 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.520 our big business goals, it really comes down to the 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.480 people that you have on the leadership team and the 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:51.640 layers below that who are going to get you there. 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.520 And so a ton of my focus was on getting 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:58.080 the right diverse set of perspectives in the room that 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:01.120 would allow us to get to those goals. And diverse 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.400 demographically is very important because when you do have gender diversity, 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:08.720 racial diversity, sexual orientation diversity, you get two better decisions 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:12.160 because people bring unique perspectives from those backgrounds. But also 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.560 I want a vocational diversity. I wanted people from outside 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.959 of sports. I wanted people who had come through different 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.520 educational backgrounds so that we have real cross pollination of 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:24.560 thinking here. And once you get the people in and 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.480 they have shared values day, then they start to set 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.559 the culture and the transformation on your behalf, and then 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:32.680 we can get all these major projects done, including the 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:36.120 most near term one, which is a major rebrand. Speaking 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.440 of that, what is the timing, Jason on the naming 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.680 of the team. Yeah, we will announce our name and 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.240 brand and identity and all of that in early twenty 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:50.920 twenty two. Okay, any hence on finalists that you can 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:56.520 share that nobody else knows? And I figured, man, and 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:58.920 I'm sure you haven't gotten any emails or calls or 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:03.560 texts from fans, friends, colleagues with suggestions. I'm sure you 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:06.720 never get that. No. Literally, walking down the street in DC, 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:10.200 people yelling their favorite name or telling me to release 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:14.360 the name or asking me what the name is? Literally 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.480 what happened? That's my life right nowadays. How rewarding was 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:20.640 last season? I remember texting with you after the game 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.280 against Tampa Bay and the playoffs, and look, you guys 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:28.760 were in that game. How rewarding was twenty twenty given 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.120 that it was your first year in the role, what 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.640 you were tasked with doing in terms of changing the 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.240 perception of the franchise and making the postseason, it was 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:41.400 incredibly rewarding, not because of anything I did, but because 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.760 of the benchmark that coach set by showing what's possible 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.640 in a short amount of time in transforming culture and 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:51.640 the performance of an organization. You know, Coach had a 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.400 clear plan that was focused on people and values and 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.680 bringing in the right folks and letting the other folks 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:00.120 walk who don't fit that vision and being bold about that, 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:04.480 and it paid dividends way earlier than expected. You saw 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:06.800 young guys play at a very high level. You saw 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.040 culture coalesce, and even right now when I watched them practice, 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:12.040 David reminds me of the best teams I was on, 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.160 including my first year there in Arizona. You know, the 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.000 year after the Super Bowl where you'd feel like you 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.120 have a cohesive culture, guys are competing very well in practice, 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.920 the pace of practice is high, and Coach was able 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:24.920 to do that really quickly, and so it was rewarding 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:26.840 in the sense that not only did we get to 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:29.600 see the payoff for Coach in a particularly challenging and 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:34.200 inspiring year for him personally, but it also inspired and 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.360 galvanized my team to say, no, you can see results soon. 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.440 This doesn't have to be a three to five year journey, 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.360 even though you know our results will probably come in 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:44.960 that timeframe. We can see change now, and I believe 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:46.520 we've done that. On the business side, you know, it 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.400 feels like a very different organization now than it did 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.440 a year ago, and that's something for us to be 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.559 very proud of, and Coach sort of set the mark 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.600 for that in as well as the team did. Is 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.800 really representative and emblematic of who we want to be 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.160 as the rest of the business. You mentioned two thousand 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.000 and nine when you came to the Cardinals. What were 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:05.840 you thinking after the team had gone to the Super 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.800 Bowl and what was that year like Because the Cardinals 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:12.680 were one of very few that lost a Super Bowl 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.400 and made it to the playoffs the next year. I mean, 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:17.160 there a been a lot of teams that had done that, 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.600 unto Arizona did that. No nine, No, that's right. I'll 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:22.079 tell you what I thought go on Arizona was like, 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:23.880 I'm gonna get me a super Bowl rank. I'll tell 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.199 you that. That's what I thought. That was what was 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.160 in my mind. Now that I did not pan out, 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:31.640 but that was my goal was to go to a 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:35.720 team that was at the CUSS. And you know the 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.640 way that coach Wiz and the team, you know, articulated 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.400 my role and it panned out this way is look, 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.480 there's there's a spot role for you to play as 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:45.720 a third down back. We want you to be a 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:47.760 leader on special teams, but we want you to be 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:49.960 a leader in a stabilizing force in the locker room. 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:51.679 And you look at the way they constructed that team. 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:56.880 Lots of great young talent and then veteran leaders strategically 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:01.720 placed across different rooms in that organization where needed. And that, 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:06.600 you know, for me, was the most enjoyable experience that 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:09.319 I had because it actually, as much as I want 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.520 to say I was a baller on the field, it 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.600 actually played to my strengths more than anything, you know, 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.280 to be a visible leader, to help guys with their 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.240 off the field stuff so they could be focused on 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.800 the field, to be a stabilizing and calming force end game, 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:27.040 which just hitting the fan. And I really really enjoyed 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:33.280 the leadership mandate that Coach Coach Ways, Coach Spence and 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.160 the rest of the folks gave me. Speaking of leaders 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.960 you got to play with Kurt Warner in his final season. 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.360 It ended unceremoniously, of course, in the bounty Gate game 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.440 in a playoff game in New Orleans. Was there any 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:49.040 particular takeaways Jason you have from your time being around 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:53.640 Kurt Warner? Yeah, being around Kurt, I mean it transforms 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.520 you know this spending time with Kurt. You don't you 0:14:56.560 --> 0:15:00.440 don't leave the thing after having interacted with them. And 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.960 I It's hard for me to articulate, but the way 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.640 that I've described it to people over the years is 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:09.680 that there are a few people who actually are who 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:14.200 they say they are in every setting, and the level 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.600 of authenticity that exists with Kurt from what he says 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.120 in an interview to how he is at church, to 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:22.000 how he is with his kids, to how he is 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.080 on a pick up basketball game to how he is 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:27.880 walking down the street. There is no shift or shadow 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:32.720 with him. I can't say that about me. I'll adapt 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:36.880 to my environment to survive. Kurt doesn't have that bone 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:39.400 in him. He is who he is. And that level 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.560 of authenticity is inspiring because it requires confidence. It requires 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:44.960 deep belief in who you are and what you think 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.920 to be able to be that consistent. And I think 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.080 if we all did that, we'd be a better society 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.080 rit large. And I think what that brought to the 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:56.800 team at the time was a bit of a standard 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:00.000 setting measure that ensued we were always going to be 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.200 of the highest quality, of the highest excellence. Because Kurt 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.280 wasn't going to play with you on the field, even 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.800 though he's gonna love you off of it. You've got 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.120 to play with Larry Fitzgerald in the prime of his career. 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.200 He was coming off the greatest postseason a receiver had 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:18.480 ever had. What was that like playing with Larry at 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:23.160 the height of him being Larry. Well, if you talk 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.360 about someone who is when I was talking about earlier, 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.440 that ability to be hyper focused and to completely invest 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:32.640 in your craft, I haven't seen anyone do that to 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.560 the degree that Larry has. You know, people talk about 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.680 quarterbacks being the people first, people in, last, people out, 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:41.520 most dedicated to the details of their craft. I mean, 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:45.320 Larry worked harder than anyone else, and he's the rare 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:50.960 combination of where high talent, high work, ethic, and the 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.280 personal integrity to back it all up all come together. 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.000 You usually get people that spike on one of those, 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:02.240 but not all three. And playing with him was inspiring 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:03.920 when never got I mean we were the same draft class, 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.600 although I was undrafted, let's be clear, we're the same 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.840 year coming out of college. And so to see someone 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.679 of his caliber perform at that level and do the 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:15.879 things that he did in practicing out of it just 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.159 kind of in awe of it, and you knew you 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:22.280 were witnessing something very special. And I'm most proud of 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.000 the man that he's become over time because all that 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:27.920 time that I watched him playing and watched his play 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.159 elevate on the field, I also watched him evolved as 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:34.879 a person and developed new thoughts and ways of thinking 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.240 and ways of living. And he's just he's a remarkable 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.160 man that we should all be proud played for the organization. Well. 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.040 One of the reasons I mentioned earlier that you're high 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.199 on my list when people ask me favorite cardinals is 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:46.639 because you know, I got to know you on a 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.919 personal level, enjoyed spending time with You're You're just a 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.320 great dude, and I remember. So I don't talk about 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:55.160 this publicly, but one of the things that Ron Wolfley 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.159 and I do every year, although we haven't able to 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.640 do it with COVID, is we go do prison ministry 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.560 down in Florence with a church group, and you came 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:07.280 with us at least once. And I remember you gave 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.240 your testimony, which was incredible. But also you would sing. 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:14.119 You would be singing warship songs. Did people in Washington 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:18.040 know that you're probably the best singer in the nation's capital? 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:22.000 They do. Not. You gotta bust it out, man, sing 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.600 the national lanthem or something so everybody can see it. Nope, nope, 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.680 no need, Nope, dope, We're good. We have enough going 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:31.760 on here. No, thank you, but seriously, though, thank you, 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.120 thank you at the same time. But that's something though 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:37.280 I know that you're very skilled at When did that start? 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.840 How did that come about? Your ability to sing? Well? 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:44.119 I actually started out before I was an athlete. As 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:49.240 a musical theater kid. My parents had put me in 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.959 you know, singing and acting lessons when I was young 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.159 because I expressed an interest and I was good at it. 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.880 And I actually from age about six to about twelve, 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:02.600 I traveled with the musical theater company down in southern California. 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:04.919 And so singing has always just been a way that 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:09.000 I felt like my true self and expressed myself and 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.360 actually helped me become a good athlete because the pressure 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:13.080 of performing on stage and this is like, you know, 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.200 paying adults, you know, go into these plays. I was 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.840 like the kid role in an adult play. You know, 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.120 paying adults. You know, they want they want their money's work. Okay, 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.040 so you got to you gotta be on point. And 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:27.520 so it taught me how to be disciplined while still 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:31.040 expressing something that's an artistic craft that comes from your talent. 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:33.760 And and as that evolved over the years and I'm 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:37.560 pivoted away from that and into athletics, it became the 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.600 main way that I love to express my faith and 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:41.719 express my creativity. Every once in a while, I just 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:43.359 catch me singing at the top of my lungs in 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.280 the house, and I feel like my full self in 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:48.640 those moments, so it's a good thing. Last question, I'll 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:50.600 let you go because I know you have presidential things 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:53.840 to do, but you're the first black president in the 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:57.520 history of the NFL. Most players think about coaching or 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:01.320 going into upper management. There are players nowadays, especially in 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.240 the NBA, that have so much money that they're becoming owners. 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:07.880 They're becoming owners, why while they're still playing like Jannis 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:10.800 just did with the Brewers Chris Paulas talked about doing 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.960 when he retires. Do you think we will see more players, Jason? 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:18.040 Do you think that maybe you have started something players 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:22.840 going into the business world and becoming presidents of NFL 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:27.680 teams NBA teams. Yeah, I do think role modeling matters. Right. 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:29.679 As much as I wanted to downplay this when I 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:31.399 first took the role, I do think you're right. I 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:35.600 do think it will open up people's aperture, and maybe 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:37.600 not necessarily the players, because maybe the players have always 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:40.040 thought about it, but it'll open up the eyes of 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.000 decision makers in so far as I do a good 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.320 job here to look at a different profile than they 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.080 might have looked at before and when filling these roles, 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:51.680 And you know, I felt emboldened to take this role 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:55.000 because I had visible role models, in particular black male 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.119