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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's your host, four team

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

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Speaker 1: and welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I'm a Nius Williams.

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Speaker 1: At the start of the NFL's one hundred season, NFL

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Speaker 1: Networks Steve White hosted a luncheon with Bears legends Devin

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Speaker 1: Hester and Charles Pena Tilman. Let's listen in. Well, we're

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Speaker 1: finally here September. It's real football. We have the oldest

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Speaker 1: rivalry in the NFL. We have too great Chicago Bears

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Speaker 1: to talk about the history of this game, on off

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Speaker 1: field stuff and what's gonna happen in this twenty nine season.

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Speaker 1: So please help me in. Welcome me first to off

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Speaker 1: Devin Hester, Chicago Bears, the all time return leader, four

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Speaker 1: time Pro Bowl at four time All Pro and Charles

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Speaker 1: Peanut Tilman, longtime Bears cornerback trying Pro bowlard ma could

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Speaker 1: punch the ball out of any type. See. But you know,

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Speaker 1: before we get started, Charles is joining us just a

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Speaker 1: couple of days after this a fantastic fundraiser where he

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Speaker 1: raised more than a hundred thousand dollars for pediatric cancer

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Speaker 1: research and Peanut. You know, we've seen some of the

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Speaker 1: coverage on but why don't you just just let everybody know

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Speaker 1: about your your Gilligan's Island row here so um a

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Speaker 1: buddy of mine, Jake Beckley, we built a rowboat starting

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Speaker 1: in January from scratch. We built this boat ourselves, did

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Speaker 1: everything to it and uh we finished building it in June. June,

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Speaker 1: and last Sunday we set off to row sixty miles

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Speaker 1: across like miss again and we started in St. Joe,

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Speaker 1: Michigan and ended at the thirty first Street Harbor downtown Chicago.

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Speaker 1: And it was about sixty six Yeah, took about twenty

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Speaker 1: five hours. And yeah, it's it's it's good. It's great experience.

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Speaker 1: But we raised a lot of money for it. Well,

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Speaker 1: that's awesome. And as we know, Charles is a former

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Speaker 1: Walter Payton Man of the Year winner as well, So

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Speaker 1: this is nothing out of the ordinary, even though it

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Speaker 1: was an extreme and just awesome event. To congrats on that,

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Speaker 1: all right, Devin, as we as we kind of entered

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Speaker 1: the one hundred season of the NFL, So let's take

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Speaker 1: it back to when you were a kid growing up,

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Speaker 1: what do you remember like being a team, being a player,

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Speaker 1: being a play that really stuck out and made you say,

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Speaker 1: you know what I want to do that one day,

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Speaker 1: I would say, growing up, my father was a Dallas

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Speaker 1: Cowboy fan, so of course I had to be a

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Speaker 1: Cowboy fan too. Um, I would say, one of the

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Speaker 1: place when Dallas went to the Super Bowl and wanted

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Speaker 1: and just had the caffetti and everything was fall in,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, wow, it's a great honor, alright,

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Speaker 1: Peanut I was. I was a Barry Sanders guy. Bear

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Speaker 1: was a shorter. I was a peanut. I was a

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Speaker 1: shorter nickname, and uh, I just liked how he ran

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Speaker 1: the ball. And it was like we're talking about this

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Speaker 1: back in the in the production meeting. It was just

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Speaker 1: like you were playing tag and it was as if

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Speaker 1: people were trying to touch him and he was just

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Speaker 1: and you know, like I was a huge Barry Sanders

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Speaker 1: fan and having the opportunity to talk to him one

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Speaker 1: day at We're playing golf and I was like, w

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Speaker 1: t f this Barry Sanders. Oh my god. You know,

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Speaker 1: even though I'm a player, like I'm still a huge

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Speaker 1: fan of a lot of the NFL legends that we have,

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Speaker 1: and it was just it was just an honor. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And I'll just never forget being in my last year

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Speaker 1: college and school Washington d c UM when Doug Williams

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Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl, becoming the first black quarterback to

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Speaker 1: win a Super How much that really shaped a lot

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Speaker 1: a lot of thinking. Um, Okay, so now you both

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Speaker 1: you both excelled on the field in the NFL as well,

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Speaker 1: and Piano, I start with you. Just one of the

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Speaker 1: most memorable things that that you were part of being

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Speaker 1: a teammate be at Super bowls. Um, just something that

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Speaker 1: you can really that that's always gonna be there with you. Well,

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Speaker 1: I think being that it's like the NFL one hundred

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Speaker 1: and you saw like some of the most iconic plays,

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Speaker 1: right Like you can all remember and care about your age,

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Speaker 1: but you can all remember the plays that we just

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Speaker 1: saw in in my lifetime, I wasn't a part of

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Speaker 1: none of that. But what I what I remember is, uh,

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Speaker 1: this man right here the Super Bowl forty forty one,

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Speaker 1: whatever it was, he returned the opening kickoff. So the

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Speaker 1: only thing about that I'm mad I wasn't on the

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Speaker 1: field because I didn't do kick return. I wasn't on

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Speaker 1: a kick return. If you look at a lot of

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Speaker 1: Devon plays, I'm like one of your blockers, right, and

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Speaker 1: I love pint return because I knew what time it was.

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Speaker 1: I was so damn mad that I was not a

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Speaker 1: part of that because I'm like, man, I you see it.

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Speaker 1: I got to see it, but I wanted to be

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Speaker 1: on the field blocking for it, like it was fun

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Speaker 1: blocking for him. I I truly enjoyed it. I remember

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Speaker 1: the first one was Green Bay and I'm running with

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Speaker 1: my god, I'm like, oh he oh he right there.

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Speaker 1: I'll just you know, like that was, and it just

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Speaker 1: became a recurrent thing. We just kept doing it over

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Speaker 1: and over again. So I was it was. It was

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Speaker 1: a lot of fun. But yeah, that's that's That's an

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Speaker 1: iconic play when you think of a hundred hundred years

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Speaker 1: of football, Like, come on, man, that speaks volume. It

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Speaker 1: speaks for itself. What about that, DEVI, Because you know

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Speaker 1: I've seen an interview You're saying, hey, we were told

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Speaker 1: that they weren't even gonna kick the ball to me,

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Speaker 1: that they were going to keep it away. And it

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Speaker 1: was right there was near your hometown, right right there

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Speaker 1: near Miami. So just kind of walk us through that,

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Speaker 1: and like you said, it's an iconic moment the NFL.

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Speaker 1: It was truly. UM. Just leaning up to the Super Bowl.

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Speaker 1: You know, we had faced a lot of advarsity as

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Speaker 1: far as team kicking away from us UM and so

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Speaker 1: we knew that the coach special team unit cover union

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Speaker 1: was poor that year. Coach they told he just wanted

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Speaker 1: to I would say, film newspaper junkie, like he studies

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Speaker 1: that and the best special team coach, the best bestial

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Speaker 1: team coach, hands down, UM. But he's was getting inside

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Speaker 1: scoop on their special team and what the Tony Dungeon

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Speaker 1: was saying about the upcoming weekend. It would be like, here,

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Speaker 1: come to me in price like money, black man. I

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Speaker 1: just read and I just seen that Tony Dungeon not

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Speaker 1: kicking the teeth. And then two is here come what

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Speaker 1: they slightly changed their mind? And then when it come there,

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Speaker 1: they they're thinking about doing that Friday. Come here like

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Speaker 1: now they're not kicking to you, then they're the game.

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Speaker 1: He say, what I just found out from inside school.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna try you the first time, so make the

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Speaker 1: best of it. And you know, I just knew then

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Speaker 1: I was gonna get the opportunity. But like I said,

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Speaker 1: Peanuts said that supermot moment, but I would have to

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Speaker 1: I would say for me, my rookie year had to

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Speaker 1: be the Arizona game. I think that right there really

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Speaker 1: defined no season and the character and the true players

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Speaker 1: and the leaders that he had on that team. And

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Speaker 1: from me speaking from you guys not knowing, but we

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Speaker 1: went into the half, I want to stay down twenty

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Speaker 1: some point and I can remember sitting my locker and

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Speaker 1: then uh hearing Old and Crew bringing everybody up, and

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Speaker 1: it was like something I've never seen for Like it

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Speaker 1: was like old and like coach lovely y'all because we

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Speaker 1: have them moaning with the players. I don't want any

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Speaker 1: coaches in here. He pretty much cleared all the coaches

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Speaker 1: out and he brought us together like, hey, listen, we're

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Speaker 1: gonna hit them in him all. We're gonna fight, and

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Speaker 1: we listen that we do what we're gonna do. When

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Speaker 1: we play the way we play, we're gonna win this game.

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Speaker 1: And to see that and to see how our team

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Speaker 1: come out that second half and play, it was like wow,

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Speaker 1: and nobody was scared. It was just like confidence, like

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Speaker 1: down nothing, Yeah, whatever, we're gonna win this game. Like

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Speaker 1: it was just it was just like true, it was

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Speaker 1: true confidence. It was like when he spoke man, it

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Speaker 1: just really really just built life into everybody, like we

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Speaker 1: really believe what was gonna win that game. Like regarded

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Speaker 1: we could have been down for the points, but the

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Speaker 1: way we came in our locker room from just is

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Speaker 1: hearing from Oland and then those leaders talking about how

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Speaker 1: we're gonna come back with we un like really felt

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Speaker 1: like we's gonna win it. That's kind of cool hearing

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Speaker 1: you guys tell a perspective because most of us know

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Speaker 1: there's gonna cardin, goes Dennis group. We let him off

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Speaker 1: the hunk. They are who we thought they were, and

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Speaker 1: you're like, no, we're better than who you thought we were.

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Speaker 1: Exactly had first half. That's all. So you you talk about,

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Speaker 1: you know, being members of the Bears, and we know

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Speaker 1: the reason why the NFL is kicking office one hundred

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Speaker 1: seasons because the Bears packles rivalry. The Bears were an

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Speaker 1: original franchise in the NFL. What does it mean Like

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Speaker 1: the first time you guys both drafted here, but the

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Speaker 1: first time you understood the history and the legacy of

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Speaker 1: this franchise when you walked in Hollis Hall, and when

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Speaker 1: did it really hit you? Like, wow, I mean this

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Speaker 1: is you know, I'm playing for a legendary play thing.

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Speaker 1: For me. It happened in oh three, so that was

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Speaker 1: the year that they rebuilt the stadium and first game

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Speaker 1: of the season it was against Green Bay and I

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Speaker 1: was and you know, everyone made a really big deal

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Speaker 1: about playing green Bay and it's a new stadium and

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Speaker 1: it's Monday night football. No no, no no, And I'm like,

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Speaker 1: it's just a game, Like I didn't. And then you

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Speaker 1: see people tailgating and you see you know a lot

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Speaker 1: of Bears fans having the Wisconsin you know, the It's

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Speaker 1: worst state ever shirt. I saw a lot of that.

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Speaker 1: Um yeah, I was just like Dan, this I ain't

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Speaker 1: never seen someone hate another team so much before. This

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Speaker 1: is this green Bay Bear, Chicago, This this is real Okay.

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Speaker 1: And I think, yeah, that was like me getting in

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Speaker 1: doctrine into the Okay, this is Bears and Packers like

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Speaker 1: we this is this is it. You know, it's like

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Speaker 1: bloods and crips. And you played twice yere, I mean

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Speaker 1: did you played twice? And Bloods the crips, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: or Romeo and Juliet whatever their last name was CAPITALT

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Speaker 1: in montagoose like they hated each other. So it was

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Speaker 1: was it was it like that every time he played.

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Speaker 1: It was like that man and UM for me coming

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Speaker 1: to to to the to the organization, UM get drafted

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Speaker 1: by the Bears. Like all I can remember was Coach

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Speaker 1: Levey saying one thing we're gonna do in Chicago is

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Speaker 1: beat green Bay went out of the vision and I

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Speaker 1: think win the Super Bowl in that order. That was

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Speaker 1: the order. Like he didn't he didn't care. We went

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Speaker 1: seven and nine long, we made the playoffs and we

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Speaker 1: beat green Bay's way. That was That was That was

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Speaker 1: pretty much how I was walking into the organization. That's

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Speaker 1: what I was talking like, regardless of we play, we

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Speaker 1: hate the Packers. Wow. I mean, and it's interesting you

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Speaker 1: can't see you got embarrassed jerseys. We see some stuff

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Speaker 1: you can't go on like a Bears fans Facebook page.

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Speaker 1: You'll never look in their bio it'll say Bears fan,

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Speaker 1: Packers hater. Yeah, I mean it is, or Packers fan

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Speaker 1: Bears hater. There's there's one Packer fan out there. I

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Speaker 1: see him on his phone. Yeah, he's proudly. There's probably

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Speaker 1: some Closet Packers fans here too. It might be it's

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Speaker 1: crazy because it it built a anger Noes and and

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Speaker 1: the Bearers, because like I fought one of my teammates

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Speaker 1: from college because he played for the parag that we've

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Speaker 1: actually fought in the game. It was like we played

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Speaker 1: together and cause it's like I was like, wow, well

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Just when you played the page,

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Speaker 1: you just rented a fight. So again, these are some

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Speaker 1: of the original franchises here. As you're going to hundred seasons.

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Speaker 1: I don't know the dollar amount that the clubs are

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Speaker 1: purchased for, but we know it was a lot less

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Speaker 1: than what they worked like two dollars two dollars in

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Speaker 1: the newspaper. So do you so when you look, when

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Speaker 1: you think, let's let's just kind of take ours as

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Speaker 1: back in the time capsule. And then now, if those

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Speaker 1: original owners can see what the NFL has become, what

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Speaker 1: do you think would be the one thing where they're like, well,

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Speaker 1: I didn't quite expect this to happen. Let me sit

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Speaker 1: back and think about that. One. I'd probably say for

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Speaker 1: us to for the NFL to have their own day

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Speaker 1: of the week, like they have their own channel, their

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Speaker 1: own day of the week. Like everyone Sunday. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's it's a holiday to Sappa and all that. I

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Speaker 1: get it. But during the fall, like Sunday is it's

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Speaker 1: all right, we're going to church the morning and we

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Speaker 1: got to be home by noon because it's kickoff, right,

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Speaker 1: like to have your own day Sunday. And then the

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Speaker 1: way the NFL has taken over playing games in London.

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Speaker 1: For sure, I don't think George House is like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna play a game in London and smoking a cigar,

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Speaker 1: Like I don't think he thought that when he bought

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Speaker 1: the teams, like yeah, I hope when I'm long gone

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and ten, we're gonna play a game

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Speaker 1: in London. Like I don't think that wasn't on his mind, right,

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I think they really tripped out on London games.

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Speaker 1: For me, I think it's um the exposure to advertise

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Speaker 1: that these guys get, like they're going pretty much on

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Speaker 1: every commercial from Piece of Hunt to everything endorsement wise,

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Speaker 1: like marketing wise, I don't think they knew that it

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Speaker 1: was going to be that much exposure, Like when you

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Speaker 1: turn on like Gillette, you know what I mean, Sam

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Speaker 1: Pools like everything. They pretty much the NFL pretty much

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Speaker 1: is only everything now. I would think they would say,

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Speaker 1: I'm paying a quarterback thirty million dollars a year. That's

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Speaker 1: probably a part of it. Let's let's kind of transition

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Speaker 1: to the legends aspect of us, because you guys are

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Speaker 1: former players now and we know the NFL is doing

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Speaker 1: a fantastic job of bringing you and other former players

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Speaker 1: into the fold and establishing relationships with current players. And

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Speaker 1: so I'll start with you, Devin. When you when you

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Speaker 1: think about when you were when you were playing, like

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Speaker 1: what what veteran or a former player really reached reached

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Speaker 1: out to you and said, hey, man, here's here's something

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Speaker 1: I could you really need to do. Here I can

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Speaker 1: help you with this, or here's a path you need

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Speaker 1: to follow to really become the best you can be.

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Speaker 1: I would say for me, um had to be uh

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Speaker 1: Dion Saunders. We built a relationship I want to say,

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Speaker 1: like mine going into my sophomore year in college and

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Speaker 1: he really really just took over the mentorship with me.

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Speaker 1: Foll the way down from time management to preparing you

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Speaker 1: know what I mean, Meal prep and uh, focusing, you

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Speaker 1: know what I mean, things like that, and then it

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Speaker 1: really just educated me to have that mindset of where

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Speaker 1: I was in college. But I was thinking like a

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Speaker 1: pro athlete, you know, when it comes to, like I said,

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Speaker 1: the management part, when I get to the lead, what

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Speaker 1: they expect far as meetings, taking care of your body.

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Speaker 1: It's one of the most important things to film watching,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean, because it's it's so hard

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Speaker 1: as younger guys to grow into the league. And had

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Speaker 1: that mindset of saying that, you know, I'm in the league,

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Speaker 1: but I want to think like a pro. How does

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Speaker 1: that relationship starting. That's Florida State against Miami. It's a

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Speaker 1: Florida thing. You know, we're both from Florida, so it

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Speaker 1: kind of just Florida just meshed. We drank from the

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Speaker 1: same water. Uh. Dwayne Joseph, he was our player development.

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Speaker 1: I think that it's player engagement now, but Dwayne Joseph was.

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Speaker 1: He was a former player. He played for the Bears.

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Speaker 1: Now he's the assistant a manager for the for the Raiders.

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Speaker 1: He was a guy that just kind of sat me

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Speaker 1: down and just took an interest in me and really

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Speaker 1: just kind of showed me how to be a professional,

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Speaker 1: how to be a pro, how to study, what to

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Speaker 1: look for when you watch film, what the league was about.

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Speaker 1: He kind of just prepared me for it. And you know,

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Speaker 1: how to save your money. Here's how you be a pro.

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Speaker 1: Here's how you um represent yourself when you go to

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Speaker 1: an appearance. You know, don't wear a hat. Here's what

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Speaker 1: you do. You know, he taught me really how to

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Speaker 1: build a brand. You know, he talked about the Michael

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Speaker 1: Jordan brand. And now you're the president of and the

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Speaker 1: CEO of Charles Timan Incorporated. Well, what do you want

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Speaker 1: your brand to be? Do you want it to be

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Speaker 1: something sloppy? Or do you want it to be powerful

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Speaker 1: like the NIKEE or the NFL logo or you know something.

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Speaker 1: So he really kind of he put me on that

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Speaker 1: that business, that grown man and representing your brand. And

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Speaker 1: I was like all right, and I took interest in.

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Speaker 1: You know, I was very grateful for it. You guys

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Speaker 1: have been there. I mean a lot of young guys

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Speaker 1: don't listen to that. They hear it, right, but they

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Speaker 1: don't listen to her. I mean, how how important was

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Speaker 1: it for you to say, Okay, this guy is really

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Speaker 1: trying to help me. Okay, he's not just talking to me.

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Speaker 1: I need to listen to him. Like when Dion came

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Speaker 1: to you and said that stuff, how important was it? Like?

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Speaker 1: I better listen to what the honest tell them. I

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Speaker 1: think the reason why I really really stuck to me

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Speaker 1: because he was where I wanted to be. So when

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Speaker 1: whenever you're you're trying to do something life, build, doctor, lawyer,

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Speaker 1: or anything, and you get advice from somebody that's already

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Speaker 1: done it and successful that I think you can go

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Speaker 1: wrong with, that's because they always gonna tell you their

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Speaker 1: mistakes that they made. That way you won't make the

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Speaker 1: same mistakes. You can oversee those mistakes and you know,

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Speaker 1: skip those mistakes and kind of mark what they're doing

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Speaker 1: to try to be just like and how important was

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Speaker 1: if you want you were the veteran player or for

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Speaker 1: him to reach back. I mean, do you still do

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Speaker 1: it now? I mean I know you've've I've talked. I've

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Speaker 1: spoke with many current players just about um certain technique,

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Speaker 1: how to how to punch out of football, things like that,

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Speaker 1: or if I'm just at a high school game. I

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Speaker 1: went to a high school game the other day and

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Speaker 1: I was talking to the player's dad. I was like, look, man,

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Speaker 1: if he tell them, tell him come out of crib,

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Speaker 1: I can I can show him something that will make

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Speaker 1: him just a step faster or to get up the field.

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Speaker 1: And I'm I'm I'm always I like, I feel like

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Speaker 1: it's selfish if you have all this knowledge and information

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Speaker 1: and you don't want to share with other people because

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Speaker 1: somebody was unselfish. There were selfless and they shared that

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Speaker 1: information with me. And I've been pretty successful. I think

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Speaker 1: I've been pretty successful. And my goal I wanted, Hey,

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Speaker 1: I got a lot of stuff up here and I

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Speaker 1: want to use that. So I have no problem. Uh go.

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Speaker 1: I went to Carolina one year. Coach Rivera flew me

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Speaker 1: down and spent two days with the DBS and we

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Speaker 1: just talked about how to create takeaways and force takeaways.

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Speaker 1: So I'm I'm, I'm all for it. Uh I love

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Speaker 1: the league. I love the current players. I'm a fan

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Speaker 1: of the league. And if there's some way I can

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Speaker 1: help them out and create takeaways or help you do whatever,

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Speaker 1: I'm all for it. Stuff. What about off field stuff,

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Speaker 1: especially being a Walter Payton Man of the Year ward winner,

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Speaker 1: telling people the importance of giving back, but also the

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Speaker 1: element of Okay, you're from Texas, whatever, but you're you're

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Speaker 1: playing in Green Bay or you're playing in San Francisco.

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Speaker 1: How to become part of that community that you may

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Speaker 1: know nothing about? I mean, how do you how do

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Speaker 1: you convey that to it? And because the teams telling

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Speaker 1: the players, hey, you know you gotta do stuff, you

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Speaker 1: have to be part of the community. Do but I

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Speaker 1: also think it has to speak to you. You don't.

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Speaker 1: Don't just do it just because the team tells you

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Speaker 1: to do it, Because if if, if that's why you're

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Speaker 1: doing it, you're doing it for all the wrong reasons.

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Speaker 1: You should really want to do it because you truly

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Speaker 1: want to help another person. And everyone in this room,

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Speaker 1: in the league, we all made it to where we

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Speaker 1: We wouldn't have made it to where we wanted to

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Speaker 1: without getting help from somebody somewhere along the way. Like

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Speaker 1: I'll be the first too, the man I had a

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Speaker 1: lot of help. I had a lot of people help

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Speaker 1: me get to where I am. So for me comingto

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Speaker 1: a city not knowing a lot about some of the areas,

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Speaker 1: I was like, Yo, how can I help? I'm gifted.

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Speaker 1: I've been blessed. I've truly been blessed, and I wanna

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Speaker 1: reach out and give to the next Charles Tillman who

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Speaker 1: has the idea of thinking that they can play in

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Speaker 1: the NFL. Well, if it takes me sitting here talking

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Speaker 1: to you, reading a book, shaking your hand, building a playground,

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Speaker 1: building a house, habitaff whatever, and if in that process

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Speaker 1: we have a communication and I happen to say something

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Speaker 1: and it sparks an interest in you and you go

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Speaker 1: on and succeed in lifefull, then hey, I've done something right.

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Speaker 1: You know. I feel like we all have guides and

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Speaker 1: our journey in life, and our job is to figure

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Speaker 1: out who that guide is. And maybe I'm a god

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Speaker 1: for the day, for this, for this person, and I

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Speaker 1: just might share what's on my heart, what's on my mind,

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Speaker 1: and if they listen, hey, so bit hopefully they do,

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Speaker 1: and they could, you know, go on and do great things. Well,

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Speaker 1: you know, we're on a tight schedule here. Thank you

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Speaker 1: so much for kicking off the one season with us.

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Speaker 1: You've really appreciate it. Let's enjoy the rest of the day.

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Speaker 1: M M. This has been the NFL Legends podcast to

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Speaker 1: provide feedback or request a topic for discussion, Email us

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Speaker 1: at NFL Legends at nfl dot com, m