Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for
Speaker 1: the players, by the players. Here is your host, fourteen
Speaker 1: year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer Enius Williams. Hello,
Speaker 1: and welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I am Enius Williams,
Speaker 1: and today we're telling draft stories that cover diverse experiences
Speaker 1: from successful legends, and I have a couple of them.
Speaker 1: To Hall of Fame legends were radically different stories about
Speaker 1: draft day and the expectations that went along with it. First,
Speaker 1: we have Orlando Pace from the Ohio State University, who
Speaker 1: was just this a little scrappy draft pick, barely made
Speaker 1: it through the first round. That's right, the first number
Speaker 1: one overall draft pick. That's right, my former teammate. Uh
Speaker 1: started the greatest show on turf and I later joined
Speaker 1: him in St. Louis. And then we have this guy
Speaker 1: named John Randall that I must say talked the whole game,
Speaker 1: who went undrafted out of the University of Texas, that's right,
Speaker 1: not not Austin, Texas at Kingsville in but still made
Speaker 1: it to Caton, Ohio. Welcome guys, so glad to have you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for sitting down talking to us. About the draft.
Speaker 1: All right, so give our players and alleges and idea
Speaker 1: of the difference. Take us through each each of your
Speaker 1: draft days. What was it like, John, come on with it. Uh,
Speaker 1: draft day was you know back then? Back then it
Speaker 1: was like what three days, three or four days? Was
Speaker 1: sitting around, you know, waiting for the phone ring. So
Speaker 1: I was sitting there waiting cell phone. No just check, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: you're at the house. Phone bick your phone, sitting there waiting.
Speaker 1: Nobody called. First day. Okay, but who's in the house.
Speaker 1: We gotta set the tone man. Nobody just me by yourself, myself?
Speaker 1: No interested? Yeah, because this this journey, basically it was
Speaker 1: my journey. There's something where for me, I was saying
Speaker 1: that I wanted to try to play in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. I didn't really set out to do that,
Speaker 1: but I said, my brother played, you know what, I
Speaker 1: want to give a try. I remember when I ran
Speaker 1: my forty I ran my forty grass party was about
Speaker 1: I felt like and like three ft high because you
Speaker 1: couldn't even see his shoe. Said again, so so guys
Speaker 1: like I wouldn't call her name Orlando Pace, who has
Speaker 1: never experienced high grass. But you're gonna ask this a
Speaker 1: scout here here at the combine, We'll run into him.
Speaker 1: We'll asked him about he was there. He goes man,
Speaker 1: you even running that company at that forty? I go yeah,
Speaker 1: he goes man, that grass so tall we couldn't see shoot.
Speaker 1: Go what did I ring it? I think he ran
Speaker 1: like a eight something like that, like okay that you know. No,
Speaker 1: it was back in the day. It was long and
Speaker 1: slow process. But its process that I went through on
Speaker 1: my own. They sit around the old day watching TV,
Speaker 1: you know, turn the TV on. Watch Uh, I'm talking
Speaker 1: about it. Nobody called every once. Somebody checked the phone?
Speaker 1: Makes your phone working? Where's everybody? Nobody? Nobody really, I
Speaker 1: mean nobody really thought that I was gonna make it,
Speaker 1: you know really. Yeah, That's why I said this process.
Speaker 1: But I always kind of was on my own something
Speaker 1: to join you. I went down because and I'm coming
Speaker 1: out of vision to school. I'm undersize. I'm only six too.
Speaker 1: I'm two forty. You know, I'm not the typical uh
Speaker 1: deepen linemen. Back then, everybody wanted you to be six
Speaker 1: five six six. You had real g was six six five,
Speaker 1: and then he had liked you. Clyde Simmons. Man, you
Speaker 1: had these guys that were just just huge. Wait or
Speaker 1: they were like to seventy five on one up and
Speaker 1: I'm coming in at two forty six two leading two
Speaker 1: is cool. And they were like, you know you underside,
Speaker 1: nobody really thinks that you're going to be the guy
Speaker 1: that it'sbody gonna take a chance on. So I sit
Speaker 1: around for three days, man, wait somebody to call me.
Speaker 1: Then soon the draft was over, I got a call
Speaker 1: from Restking was like, hey, think about making a linebacker
Speaker 1: And I was like, no, I'm not a linebacker. I'm
Speaker 1: a defe line When they was kind of laughed at
Speaker 1: the end of the phone call, you know, doing a
Speaker 1: phone call. But so nobody's draft you. Now they're talking
Speaker 1: about put you in lineback and defensive tackle. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: just pounds and so to them all makes sense. This
Speaker 1: too small. So from that standpoint, it wasn't gonna happen.
Speaker 1: So my brother was playing at Tampa. I went down,
Speaker 1: had your brother been drafted? My brother got drafted. My
Speaker 1: brother got drafted in the third round for Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 1: So this is like the late eighties. So I go
Speaker 1: down of Tampa and they were trying to make me
Speaker 1: a linebacker. You had Roderick Thomas down there, and you
Speaker 1: had another uh linebacker who's from Alabama, and they were like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you could be mic linebacker. We could put you on
Speaker 1: like like a little practice squad. And I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not lined back and defense lama. So then they
Speaker 1: put me in the medium room, trying to show me
Speaker 1: that what I was playing against guys to name two
Speaker 1: d pounds, they were six to one, got six three.
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I'm still a defeens a lama, And
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden they were showing me the
Speaker 1: front which they had their three man front and they
Speaker 1: were basically running to me. Their defense up front was
Speaker 1: you know, had Alex and Alex on the left of
Speaker 1: the left hand and in for the right end. And
Speaker 1: they go, yeah, it's taking like two days and figures out.
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, left hand is Lex right in and land? Okay,
Speaker 1: what else we need? And so all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: if you want to leand that's the inside guy going first, Lex,
Speaker 1: I mean outside guys going first, and it's Lex, then
Speaker 1: you're gonna land. That's inside guy Rex outside in going
Speaker 1: first and ran inside guy going first like Okay, I
Speaker 1: got this and maybe like nah, it's just not gonna
Speaker 1: work out. So I leave there and uh go down
Speaker 1: to the land. So you still have signed. These are
Speaker 1: teams you're visiting, yep, visiting. So so hold that thought.
Speaker 1: I want to go through the teams that you're going
Speaker 1: through this process, because you you you're talking about the
Speaker 1: free agent experience, which is very unique to Orlando's experience.
Speaker 1: You know, Atlanto sitting there, he's hearing around Will talk
Speaker 1: about high grass. I went to the Southern University and
Speaker 1: here Orlando first pick in the draft. First question I
Speaker 1: want to know is where you're in New York. I
Speaker 1: was in New York. Uh. My story is a little
Speaker 1: different than John's. Obviously y'all can't see my hands right now.
Speaker 1: I mean it's like from how far from the south right? Y? Yeah? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: So Actually give me this real quick. What goes through
Speaker 1: your mind as you hear John, Like, man, that's you know,
Speaker 1: even to hear that story, like, man, I didn't realize,
Speaker 1: you know, I know, guys that waited a couple of days.
Speaker 1: But just going through the process of visiting teams and
Speaker 1: being a free agent and kind of that whole experiences
Speaker 1: is different. It's really respect to him to be a
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, to start off that his journey that
Speaker 1: way by in the in the house, by itself, and
Speaker 1: then end up being a Hall of Famer. Man, that's
Speaker 1: that's incredible. Man. So so who I was in New
Speaker 1: York with you, So for me, my draft day kind
Speaker 1: of you know, you know, obviously I was projected to
Speaker 1: go number one pick. So I flew my entire family
Speaker 1: out there, so mom, dad, you know, since their uncles.
Speaker 1: So we're out there having a good time. I think
Speaker 1: I I started I started off in the league in
Speaker 1: the hole, just just based off that experience. But the
Speaker 1: funny thing about it, when I think about draft day,
Speaker 1: it really started off in panic for me. And the
Speaker 1: reason I say that is obviously you got Taylor's making
Speaker 1: suits for you and all these different things. And I'm
Speaker 1: a big guy. This happening in New York and New
Speaker 1: York draft day morning, so you got a whirlwind. I
Speaker 1: got a whirlwind, and you know, I'm worried about getting drafted.
Speaker 1: So my my tailor shipped my suit to me, but
Speaker 1: he didn't have a shirt, something like, I can't walk out.
Speaker 1: I don't have a shirt, and I'm a big guy
Speaker 1: in New York. So I'm like, somebody needs to I
Speaker 1: need to go find me out at the next a
Speaker 1: football player who has to have helmet, shoulder pass jersey pans.
Speaker 1: Your tailor makes your suit and does not send the shirt,
Speaker 1: does not send the shirt. So you were in New York,
Speaker 1: the first player drafted, and you were thinking about a shirt,
Speaker 1: a shirt. You know, obviously I'm sitting there because you know,
Speaker 1: obviously everybody want to kind of bean walking state like
Speaker 1: I've been visiting this whole thing my entire career, like
Speaker 1: the first and I'm like, I'm running around New York
Speaker 1: for like somebody had a guy running around New York
Speaker 1: for like two hours trying to find a shirt that
Speaker 1: fits me. So that it was a little bit of panic.
Speaker 1: They're a little disarray, but uh, you know, we end
Speaker 1: up working it out. It worked out, and so so
Speaker 1: sitting in the green room there in New York, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously being the first pick, and you kind of hear rumblings.
Speaker 1: And a week before that, I talked to coach Dick
Speaker 1: for Mill. He said, hey, we're gonna take you with
Speaker 1: the number one pick. But that was the last time
Speaker 1: I heard from him. So you're sitting in the green
Speaker 1: room and they used the entire clock. So in my head,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there thinking, no, I don't know. So don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong. Fifteen minutes compared to your two days
Speaker 1: is a little different. But you're still I'm like, hold up,
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna aren't gonna make a trade. They're gonna
Speaker 1: do something different. And then uh. And then obviously they
Speaker 1: made that pick with the number one pick, and it
Speaker 1: was a great It was a goal of mine, and
Speaker 1: everybody kind of rushed the stage and it was really
Speaker 1: a dream come true for me. Did you cry? You
Speaker 1: know what? The funny thing I think I cried. I
Speaker 1: had an opportunity that night before and me and my
Speaker 1: mom was in the hotel room. We had a chance
Speaker 1: to reflect a little bit, and she just couldn't believe it.
Speaker 1: Obviously your parents are emotional, and she couldn't believe it,
Speaker 1: and it was just kind of it was an emotional
Speaker 1: time for us all because we knew where we came
Speaker 1: from and now all of a sudden, to be the
Speaker 1: first pick in the draft was it was a special
Speaker 1: time for us. So from that standpoint, sharing that moment
Speaker 1: with family was awesome for me. Wow. Yeah. So you
Speaker 1: hear your name called, you go up to the podium
Speaker 1: the commissioner was it absolutely so as you walk on
Speaker 1: that platform right with Paul with that number one jersey on,
Speaker 1: what are you thinking on the stage? Wow? And I'm
Speaker 1: looking out and you see all these flashing cameras and York.
Speaker 1: It was in New York, So you see all these
Speaker 1: these cameras and you're like, you're a little bit and all.
Speaker 1: You're like, man, this is really happening. And you're shaking
Speaker 1: his hand and we didn't do the hugs like they
Speaker 1: do now at the draft day, but you know, obviously
Speaker 1: he's like, oh, you're lifting up your caps, so give
Speaker 1: me a cap. Yea. They gave me a cat that
Speaker 1: was a little worried. I'm like, dude, this this cat fit.
Speaker 1: I know when I wanted to drift. I see their job.
Speaker 1: I like, is this cap? Because what I'm saying, like,
Speaker 1: y'all know, I get drafted to make sure y'all makes
Speaker 1: of adjustment. But John is hoping to get a call
Speaker 1: this man thinking about yeah, yeah, so so that's my draft. Obviously,
Speaker 1: after you after you meet the commissioner, for me, it
Speaker 1: was a whirldwind from that point on because then you know,
Speaker 1: you do your interviews and then and then they put
Speaker 1: you on and obviously St. Louis wanted to see me,
Speaker 1: you know, as soon as they could. So we get
Speaker 1: on a flight and head to St. Louis and you know,
Speaker 1: they roll out the red carpet, leave you that part.
Speaker 1: They put you on the flight, see that. See I
Speaker 1: know they do private jets. Now I was on a
Speaker 1: commercial fla like, hey, we got a four o'clock flight,
Speaker 1: you can make it. So but it was first class
Speaker 1: and I was like perfect, this works. But you know,
Speaker 1: obviously I get off the plane, didn't have to go
Speaker 1: through the airport, you know, they had a limo waiting
Speaker 1: there for me, and then you know, go to facility
Speaker 1: and yeah, so yeah, so it was it was a
Speaker 1: pretty cool experience. So yeah, yeah, you know, John, getting
Speaker 1: back to you, you started saying us already, it's so
Speaker 1: much our rookie experience, how we treated the stems from
Speaker 1: you know, teams and how they invest in us. So
Speaker 1: you start off telling us about your visits were they
Speaker 1: were even trying to figure out what position you're gonna play.
Speaker 1: Tell us real quick. How you ended up in Minnesota? Okay?
Speaker 1: So I worked out. I went and worked out of
Speaker 1: Tampa and then so like journey continued on to Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Foul because with Jerry Glanville, it's one of the assistant coaches.
Speaker 1: It's like lett m'clock in the morning in Atlanta, and
Speaker 1: he's got me out there running around doing all kinds
Speaker 1: of stuff. He's got me running the mall. Then he
Speaker 1: got me backpaling, He's got me going up the hill,
Speaker 1: down the hill, and all of a sudden, he just goes,
Speaker 1: he gets done. I might be stopped. He goes, and
Speaker 1: I'm I've been working out every day, seven days a week,
Speaker 1: and he goes, you know, out of shape. I'm like,
Speaker 1: what I mean? I just mad you got me back down.
Speaker 1: I'm like, if this was the maing football all about, Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm not the right guy for this. I'm sitting
Speaker 1: there and I'm all sudden, I just go, you know what, huh,
Speaker 1: I'm going home. So I go to the airport and
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there. I'm waiting for my flight to go
Speaker 1: back to Texas, and you know that some time to kill.
Speaker 1: So I grabbed one of those football magazine and I'm
Speaker 1: thinking looking at the magazine, gonna, man, I guess it's
Speaker 1: where my dream ins there. You know this is where
Speaker 1: it's done. I'm just yeah, can you track teams? Bring team?
Speaker 1: Only going you? Nobody else? Some say, look at the
Speaker 1: magazine and I'm going through it. I'm looking at different
Speaker 1: defensive lineman. I'm going, man, I belong in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. I know it. So there's a higher power
Speaker 1: telling me that. So I'm looking at the defensive lineman
Speaker 1: and I go to Minnesota. Minnesota had the smallest defensive line.
Speaker 1: They had Henry Thomas, Chris Dolman. Doan was like to
Speaker 1: sixty five. Henry Thomes was two sixty. Al Noga was
Speaker 1: like two. And I'm two forty. And I'm like, I
Speaker 1: can make this team. I can make this team. I
Speaker 1: called my agent and I go, hey, it's Minnesota. Interested
Speaker 1: go yeah, Minnesota wanted team. I go, man, I want
Speaker 1: to go to Minnesota. I changed my ticket. I go
Speaker 1: to Minnesota. I get there that night and like eight
Speaker 1: o'clock at night, I'm leaving Atlanta. It's hot and I
Speaker 1: just look. When I left school, uh, Kingsville, it was
Speaker 1: like palm trees, beautiful day at land in Minnesota's nighttime
Speaker 1: and snowing. I'm in the hotel room looking at the window, going,
Speaker 1: oh my god, is this the right decision? And like
Speaker 1: then then I go, yeah, it is. This is part
Speaker 1: of my journey Atlanta. Yours different coming from a big
Speaker 1: school first pick. Different pressure. John is trying to select
Speaker 1: the right team and obviously got to make a team.
Speaker 1: But yours tell us about the different pressure that comes
Speaker 1: from the expectations. Wow. So being an offensive line and
Speaker 1: being selected number one pick, normally fan bases are looking forward,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, quarterbacks to change that helped change
Speaker 1: their franchise around. So the pressure of going number one, uh, like, hey,
Speaker 1: can an offensive lineman really change our fortune? Like the
Speaker 1: Rams have probably won the average of two or three
Speaker 1: games a year prior to the second worst team of
Speaker 1: the decade of the night. Absolutely So obviously a couple
Speaker 1: of years prior to the the team had just moved from
Speaker 1: l A to St. Louis, and obviously they were looking
Speaker 1: for a winner. Coach from mill had just got there.
Speaker 1: They had drafted Lawrence Phillips the year before, and they're like, dude,
Speaker 1: why are they getting this offensive line? But Tony Banks
Speaker 1: had been getting beat up at the time, So you
Speaker 1: know that was a gamble for dicker Mill to draft
Speaker 1: me number one from that standpoint, because everybody wants that
Speaker 1: big name quarterback to come into place. But you know,
Speaker 1: obviously I was. I was one of those key pieces
Speaker 1: that kinda that they brought in and they drafted well
Speaker 1: during free agency, bringing Marshall Falk and all these different
Speaker 1: guys in. But but that that the expectations to be
Speaker 1: you know, for me to be the number one pick
Speaker 1: was big because everybody's looking, you know, I've done. I
Speaker 1: had a great college career, so everybody's looking for those
Speaker 1: same results and that so the microscopes on you how
Speaker 1: good is this kid? Is he gonna be what he
Speaker 1: was in college? But you know that was not put
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure on myself at the time too.
Speaker 1: But it was very different from winning you know, ten
Speaker 1: games a year to that first year, I think we
Speaker 1: won three games and you started looking like, man, hold on,
Speaker 1: is this the league? Like I would like we would
Speaker 1: lose a game in college and it's almost like the
Speaker 1: world and it and I hear, guy, you probably experienced
Speaker 1: this when you first walking the league, that national people
Speaker 1: are like they lose a game, they get beat by
Speaker 1: thirty guys in the locker room. Trouble. Hey, where we're
Speaker 1: hanging out to night. I'm like, dude, hanging out, I'm devastate.
Speaker 1: I'm devastated off these glosses, you know what I mean. So,
Speaker 1: but you know, obviously that was a big difference, but uh,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, you know, it was a great time
Speaker 1: for you know, we developed that some chemistry over the
Speaker 1: next couple of years and ended up winning the championship.
Speaker 1: And maybe I'm not remembering as Orlando the big elephant
Speaker 1: in the room. Did you sign right away? Oh? Here,
Speaker 1: we got it. That's a big He didn't bring this
Speaker 1: up as a rule, bringing this up just for the
Speaker 1: legends that listened to this, got a big elephant in
Speaker 1: the role to bring it up. Well, I knew. I
Speaker 1: knew Orlando through the Post Brothers more at his agent exactly,
Speaker 1: so very quick, and I'm glad you brought that up
Speaker 1: in there, so as as I'm twenty one at the time,
Speaker 1: and you learn so much about business, right because you
Speaker 1: think you're just gonna you get drafted. You walk into
Speaker 1: a situation and then all of a sudden you're like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm the number one pick. Let's, you know, let's get
Speaker 1: this deal done. You think it's gonna be a very
Speaker 1: simple process. Hey, you guys wanted me. You're drafted me
Speaker 1: number one. Hey, let's open up the you know, let's
Speaker 1: let's back in the brinks truck a little bit and
Speaker 1: let's get this thing done. And and that's when business
Speaker 1: kind of hit you in the face, like, hold on,
Speaker 1: there's some things we gotta work out here and iron
Speaker 1: out here. And being a young kid, you kind of
Speaker 1: obviously you want to get the most you can get.
Speaker 1: And then my agents were all about that. The Posting
Speaker 1: brothers and the Rams weren't so much about that, you know,
Speaker 1: because the negotiations, so we're going back and forth. It's
Speaker 1: probably held out three weeks. So I didn't come out
Speaker 1: to deal with that. Now man first, Piggy ready to
Speaker 1: get rolling. We had to dream mom and I crying, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get my money, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: like three weeks. Yeah. So so it's funny because the
Speaker 1: more you I'm last guy to sign in the first round, right.
Speaker 1: So I've seen all my buddies getting these contracts and
Speaker 1: getting these deals, and I remember calling my agents saying,
Speaker 1: just get the deal done. I'm tired of it. Just
Speaker 1: get it done. I'm tired of holding I want to
Speaker 1: play football. And he was like, no, hold on, hold on,
Speaker 1: we're really close, We're really close. Three weeks later, I
Speaker 1: don't get the camp. So it was one of those
Speaker 1: things where it's like, man, the pressure, because I was
Speaker 1: going through, all right, I want to, I want to,
Speaker 1: I want to get this big contract. Then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, it was all right, I just want to
Speaker 1: play football because the pressure is like, okay, where's the
Speaker 1: Orlando page. He's just and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: that deal didn't get done and there so so I
Speaker 1: walked into St. Louis and it was kind of bitter sweet.
Speaker 1: I think some people were happy to see me, but
Speaker 1: there was a lot of fans and the organizations like, dude, like,
Speaker 1: you just wasted almost wasted your rookie year based on
Speaker 1: the fact you missed the entire training camp. So you
Speaker 1: know you're going you're going into that situation. So I
Speaker 1: didn't know if people liked me, if they didn't like me,
Speaker 1: or what happened, because you know, just the psychology we're
Speaker 1: talking about earlier, all of a sudden you didn't want
Speaker 1: to psychologist where most people think. Then you're first pick
Speaker 1: in the draft. Yeah, and then on your mind. Now
Speaker 1: you introduced to the business. Then you got fans who
Speaker 1: bitter sweep who's this dude? Or the locker room. So
Speaker 1: you walk into the locker room and you see all
Speaker 1: these vets and they're like, dude, what is this dude about?
Speaker 1: Can he play? Can he not play? Wi? Is he
Speaker 1: holding out? And then you start making more money than
Speaker 1: other guys. You gotta and then you gotta come in
Speaker 1: and really show your worth or prove your worth because
Speaker 1: guys are and I probably done that to look man,
Speaker 1: is he really that good? How is it? Can you play?
Speaker 1: But you gotta earn your respect when you walk in
Speaker 1: that locker room because guys are looking at you like
Speaker 1: you're making big money. Now let's see if you can fly.
Speaker 1: You know. One of the things that that Orlando told
Speaker 1: me the prior conversation was his coach Jim Haniffon and
Speaker 1: why don't you share with the legends with Jim told you, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a couple of things. So when I that's
Speaker 1: the great thing and I owe a lot to coach
Speaker 1: Hadding and what he's done for which is your de
Speaker 1: line coach? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So so what happened
Speaker 1: is uh so, first of all, when I came in,
Speaker 1: it was he was probably the most uh well, he
Speaker 1: helped me out the most for the simple fact he said, hey,
Speaker 1: I know you've you've done great things in college. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna put you on the on the field until
Speaker 1: you're absolutely ready. So I didn't start into my seventh
Speaker 1: game in the International Football League because he's like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, the first overall picks. So it was a
Speaker 1: little you have to be patient because it was almost
Speaker 1: like learning how to ride the bike again. Like in college,
Speaker 1: you physically stronger than everybody, but then in the league
Speaker 1: you gotta have some technique. You have to learn techniques.
Speaker 1: So he said, hey, you know, I don't care what
Speaker 1: the news media says. We're gonna put you out there
Speaker 1: when you're absolutely ready. Once we got into that process,
Speaker 1: he said, hey, if you're not in the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame by the time your career is over, then you know,
Speaker 1: it's nobody's fault. But you're all that's that's really good
Speaker 1: because you know, some coach you could have just fet
Speaker 1: you to the wolf. Yeah, absolutely, so you probably can
Speaker 1: see how sometimes even high picks, yeah end up short
Speaker 1: career is because someone not knowing how to manage it early.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so that's exactly what he said. Coach. They
Speaker 1: were all on board. They were like, hey, we're gonna
Speaker 1: get this guy ready. You know, we're not just gonna
Speaker 1: throw them out there week one and see what he
Speaker 1: can do. So, you know, ironically, here's the joking place.
Speaker 1: So I'm drafted third round. So I'm in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: I'm waiting. I could have gone from first to five.
Speaker 1: So I'm sitting. The family all around, were in New
Speaker 1: Orleans seventeen with a Holly Grove baby. We're having fun.
Speaker 1: So don't get my name called. Don't hear it until
Speaker 1: the second day, which was the second the third round started.
Speaker 1: Third round, and and remember the Cardinals and the Cardinals
Speaker 1: ironically it was the only team that said they probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't draft there one of their scouts and end up
Speaker 1: drafting never heard of Phoenix. Like, man, I'm being drafted.
Speaker 1: I didn't care, just to get the opportunity. And what
Speaker 1: made me bring my story up is you hold you
Speaker 1: held out three weeks. I'm a third round draft pick.
Speaker 1: I held out. I didn't know that I had out
Speaker 1: for two weeks, man, I held out for two weeks
Speaker 1: coming out of Southern coming out of the Southern universities.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't see that that I was watching
Speaker 1: this story. You I didn't hear that about two weeks man.
Speaker 1: And then uh, I end up starting from day one
Speaker 1: when I got there. Yeah, it was crazy. The funny
Speaker 1: the one to ask you, guys, is there anything um,
Speaker 1: guys earlier in their careers you can recommend that to
Speaker 1: help alleviate the unnecessary pressure. It's already gonna be to
Speaker 1: performing and play. But is there anything you can say
Speaker 1: two guys that early in their careers that could possibly
Speaker 1: alleviate what I call the unnecessary pressure? I would say
Speaker 1: for a young guy to um, just when you when
Speaker 1: you are a player, it's just focus on being a player,
Speaker 1: not focus on I mean they try to tell you
Speaker 1: about you know, the media and this and all that.
Speaker 1: If you just go out and do your part of
Speaker 1: playing football, everything else would take care of yourself and
Speaker 1: you know, and just that part of it. Because I
Speaker 1: think when a young guy comes in there, he's trying
Speaker 1: to pay attention to so much stuff that he gets
Speaker 1: caught up and all that, and he loses focus on
Speaker 1: what the agenda. And your main agenda is to play
Speaker 1: football and be the best football player you can be.
Speaker 1: Not trying to focus on Twitter or all this other stuff.
Speaker 1: Just focus on being a player you first year and
Speaker 1: do that. Don't try to hang out with the veteran guys.
Speaker 1: Just you as a young guy, go to work, put
Speaker 1: in all the time you need to do to do
Speaker 1: your job. And the closer with your hand. Want to
Speaker 1: think about the shirt in New York, the hat holding out,
Speaker 1: the posters everybody. How did you finally get to get
Speaker 1: to doing what you needed to do as a player
Speaker 1: to be successful. Wow, I think it's to piggyback a
Speaker 1: little bit. What John said is just be be a pro.
Speaker 1: You know, learn understand this isn't college anymore, this is
Speaker 1: this is actually your job, this is your dream, This
Speaker 1: is what you really want to focus on in life.
Speaker 1: And and I always always tried to gravitate when I
Speaker 1: walked into a locker room, Try to gravitate to somebody,
Speaker 1: a mentor somebody who's doing it right. And for me,
Speaker 1: Isaac Bruce was one of those guys where you looked
Speaker 1: the way he worked and he very quiet and you
Speaker 1: know that. But the way he worked, like dude, that
Speaker 1: he's a true professional. And you gotta you gotta try
Speaker 1: to figure out during the course of that locker room atmosphere,
Speaker 1: you know who's that guy? Can you get behind? And
Speaker 1: then you got you gotta earn those You gotta be
Speaker 1: earned that respect in the locker room. You don't come
Speaker 1: in and try to be disruptive. You try to come
Speaker 1: in and be a key piece of that and just
Speaker 1: do your job by by how hard you work. I
Speaker 1: think that's the that's the kid. Well, you guys have
Speaker 1: heard man, thank you for this incredible podcast. We've learned
Speaker 1: some more about each other. So glad and a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, any legends want to read up on the
Speaker 1: posting Brothers and day saka contract. You guys had these contacts.
Speaker 1: I probably had like they gave me a contact. He
Speaker 1: was just like, hey, this up. You know, I've learned
Speaker 1: some valuable information today about it and this is gonna
Speaker 1: be trouble about holding out for you. I had no idea. No, man,
Speaker 1: what's your degree in? Like account? Yeah? Count let me
Speaker 1: close out this podcast. Anybody, y'all were having so much
Speaker 1: fun we're trying to go over time. Man, this five que,
Speaker 1: this your boy, and yes Williams. Has been great. Thank
Speaker 1: you John, thank your land though. Hey, thank you guys
Speaker 1: for listening to this podcast. This has been the NFL
Speaker 1: Legends podcast. To provide feedback or request the topic for discussion,
Speaker 1: email us at NFL Legends at nfl dot com.