WEBVTT - Getting Open with John Randle 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:10.240 Hey, everybody. My name is Lindsay Young, and I'm a 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:13.600 staff writer and assistant editor here with the Minnesota Vikings, 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.079 and I'm so thrilled that you are joining us for 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.520 a segment of our Getting Open series, which focuses on 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.520 all things mental health. The series has been going on 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:24.560 for a while now and we have been able to 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:29.280 talk to general manager Rick Spielman, Chief operating officer Andrew Miller, 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:33.400 several players including Eric Hendricks and Adam Feelin and others 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.120 as well that are connected to the organization who have 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:41.280 personal or maybe indirect stories around mental health journeys, possibly 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.239 how their foundations focus on the area, how it's affected 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:46.959 their lives or their families in some way. Really, our 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.800 mission is just to break down the stigma around mental 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:54.120 health and normalize this conversation. Today, I'm really excited to 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:57.800 sit down with none other than Vikings legend John Randall. 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:00.560 Now I really don't think he probably he needs much 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.800 of an introduction. I'm sure that most listeners know that 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:06.760 John is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.280 was a seven time Pro Bowl participant and was named 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.679 First Team All Pro six different times. He was the 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:17.000 NFL SAX leader in nineteen ninety seven, and he was 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.880 named to the NFL nineteen nineties All Decade Team as well. 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.600 But what you may not know about John is that 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.280 currently in his life post football, he actually serves as 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:31.600 one of five directors within the NFL Legends community, and 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.679 he is really passionate about working with other former players 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.640 who are kind of transitioning into this next area of 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.520 their life, and mental health plays a big part of that. 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.960 So it's a very important topic to him. So I'm 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:44.920 excited for you to hear what he has to say 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:54.520 around this issue. So John, super super pumped to have 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.240 you here today. Throughout this Getting Open series, we've talked 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:01.720 to some current players, we've talked general manager Rick Spielman, 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.160 but you are the first Vikings legend to be on 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:07.360 this series, and I think that's going to be a 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:11.000 great conversation. We'll start it out kind of generally, I guess, 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.600 why do you think that mental health is an important 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:20.200 topic to cover, especially within the NFL. Probably one of 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:24.880 the biggest reasons for about mental health. I think it 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:33.000 is for most guys's minds, especially during the season, because 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.480 I know myself personally, I was it was a very 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:42.200 stressful game and I've had this conversation in different manners 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.520 with current players and former players. And I remember Jerry 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:50.839 Rice telling me that he wanted to grade out from 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.400 a game. He wanted a hundred, and he said he 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:57.480 could never get a hundred. And he was talking about 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.000 all the pressure he put he put up on himself 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.400 up trying to get that grade of a hundred. And 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:08.200 I know as a former player that the things you 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:12.160 go through through that week of practice, coaches are coming 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:14.720 up to you and tell you they're depending on you 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:16.919 to do this, They're depending on you to do that. 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:21.760 Then you got your family meeting you to do certain 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.880 things we got mean for their family or for you 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.200 to do as a husband a significant other. Then you 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.880 got guys dealing with say they've got may have a 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.280 car payment, they may be taking care of the parents, 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.520 they may be having this thing. So there's a lot 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:42.520 of pressure on you as a player and you trying 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:45.800 as your own expectations are to have a great season 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.120 because your contract may depend on it. And there's a 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:54.920 lot of stress on a current player, and sometimes that 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.280 can get to guys. And I know back when we 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:02.440 were playing, we used to do from the NFL players association. 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.200 They would come in and do the role reenactments of 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:11.840 a player dealing with his family, coming in and say 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.680 that a player and a significant other or having issues, 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:19.240 and how would he perform on the field knowing that 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:24.240 his personal life wasn't all straight And so, you know, 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:27.880 I remember going through things like that and having guys 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:31.360 come in and all of a sudden a coach telling them, hey, 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.320 you know what, you're not starting this week, or you 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.400 know what we're potentially looking at, maybe putting you in 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:41.360 a backup role, and just being around guys. I knew 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:45.480 about the pressure. I dealt with it, and some guys 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.400 just don't know how to deal with it. And you know, 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:53.000 in high school and college, you're just you're playing a game, 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.160 and you get to the professional level and it's more 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.440 of a business and you know, your contract depends on it, 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:03.120 or you say, your your pay depends on it, and 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:07.280 there's so many different meritives that can change it. So 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:09.720 for me, I see, it's a lot of fresh on 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.000 those guys. I love that you brought that up, John, 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:16.640 because I think sometimes people kind of don't understand all 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:20.520 of these stressors that do affect professional athletes, right. They 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:23.120 tend to think about the money that you get for 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.680 the sport or kind of the fame, but they don't 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.280 think about those additional stressors and things that really weigh 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.359 on athletes, you know, from week to week. And so 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.280 let's talk a little bit about You mentioned that when 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.839 you were playing, you mentioned some of those scenarios and 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:42.320 things that that you would go through. How have you 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:47.240 seen the topic of mental health be brought more to 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:51.520 the forefront in the days since your playing career. Well, 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:56.120 I think one of the ways that it's became more 0:05:56.160 --> 0:06:02.680 of a focus point is impact that mental health has 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:10.200 become and it's not necessarily just the guys, but the families. 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:14.880 Um My god. I was thinking about when, uh, when 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.920 Agan Peterson got kept from the Vikings and he went 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:25.480 to Arizona and from Arizona to New Orleans, and I 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.800 was just sitting there talking with some guys and they 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:30.560 were just like, oh, man, he's moving around. He's he's 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:32.800 going from this team to that team. And I'm like, yeah, 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.800 but are you thinking about his family now? He's got 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.680 to move and and and and change around. And I 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:42.960 think I mean things like that, as you know, having 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:46.560 to move from Minnesota to Arizona, and Arizona to New Orleans. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:50.520 I think the NFL and the NFL Players Social Association 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:56.039 now feed how stressful it can be for the guys. 0:06:56.240 --> 0:07:01.640 And and now it's twenty twenty one, and the guys 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:06.680 deal with so much. And one of the things, or 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.800 one of the ways that guys do then is by 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.280 going on social media. And we've got several guys that 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:18.120 come out there. You know, they just just or let's 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.640 say react, They just instantly want to post it what 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.360 they're going through or talking about it. And you know, 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:28.200 then our fans see it, and it affects our fans, 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:30.680 and then it gets back to our teams. And so 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:35.680 to me, mental health it's a focal point because it 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:40.880 affects our players, it affects us as fans, and it 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:44.320 affects the team. And so it's it's so many ways. 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:50.640 It's it's can cause suicide, it can cause um from 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:54.720 from from guys having wat problems, guys uh having fatigue. 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.040 But they're there's so many different ways that mental health 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.280 can affect us now and that we know about. So 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.600 that's one of well some of the reasons why I 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:07.280 believe it's so important and I'm glad that we're focusing 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.640 and focusing in on it because it used to be 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.600 where guys really didn't want to talk about it, and 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.240 now we're making it, We're putting it out there, we're 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.200 telling people it's okay to talk about it. And I'm 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:23.480 thrilled about that. I love that. And you mentioned that 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:27.840 when you were playing and still today. But some people 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.160 maybe I know you mentioned men, but I think everybody 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.040 in society, some people can handle these things maybe a 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.080 little bit easier than others, or they know kind of 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:38.040 how to handle these feelings and these emotions. For you, 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.840 how did you handle kind of the stressors of the NFL. 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.280 I mean, you had such a long career, very successful, 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.400 but obviously there's always going to be ups and downs. Yeah, 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.000 one of what that I did it was kind of unusual, 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:55.040 but after the season, I would get in my car 0:08:55.200 --> 0:09:00.080 and drive from Minnesota two taxes and it's such a 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:03.200 long drive, but it's a drive that kind of gave 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:08.240 me a chance to just kind of relax and kind 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:12.080 of get at ease about the season and say, fence, 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:15.320 if we didn't have a good season like ninety eight, 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:19.079 I would definitely drive and take my time getting home 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.320 and go and see my mom and it would just 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.880 kind of relieve the stress as as I drove back home. 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.199 But I also got to say that for the Vikings, 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:34.200 you know, we had a Bible study which allows a 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.719 lot of us to talk to the pastor. I think 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.600 the name was Tom Lampeer who would who would allow 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.520 guys to come in and talk about what was going 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.719 on in their lives. And I gotta say maybe not 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.000 a lot of other teams were able to do that, 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:57.160 but being on the Vikings and having that Bible studies 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.240 really took a lot of stress off guys. Has that 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.040 faith aspect kind of continued to play a part in 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:08.680 your life, you know as you navigate post career stressors 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.720 and different things that come up. Well, for me, I've 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.079 got my family, my wife, I who was my best 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:18.080 friend who I talked to about almost anything that I 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.800 have going on besides golf. But she's a person that 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.680 I confide in. And a lot of guys who are playing, 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.600 you know, they don't have that significant other, So I 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.160 think sometimes they may find other resources, and it may 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:37.440 not be good resources to put their problems into. It 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.520 may be drinking or whatever. But you know, guys, some 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:44.920 guys don't have that and it may lead to just 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:50.200 wrong things. But for me, it's it's the religious part 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.560 is still there, but having my wife who I can 0:10:53.600 --> 0:11:00.760 talk to. But for me also, the transition was a 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:05.760 little bit easier because for me from football to back 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:10.280 to say being normal, playing fourteen years in the National 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.760 Football League, I think I had the option of saying 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.760 that I wanted to retire my own terms. Well, a 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.880 lot of guys don't, and you know, sometimes that can 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:25.840 lead to guys to some guy's mental health problems too. 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.600 And I think that's a really great segue into my 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:32.040 next question. You're currently working as a director for the 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:35.080 NFL Legends community. Can you just tell us a little 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.120 bit about what that looks like, what that means. Actually, 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:41.679 I'm wanting the director. We have five others directors. I'm 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.480 the Central North, so I kind of handle the Midwest. 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.920 But what we try to do is engage our former 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:53.080 players and what we actually where we started off was 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.600 engaging them and trying to figure out if there's anything 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.520 that we can help them with through the transition from 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:04.319 football and that maybe getting into college coaching that maybe 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:07.280 all of a sudden, say you want to go back 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.640 to get your college degree or you you're thinking about 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:14.560 getting into radio or television. That's what we started out 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:19.600 trying to do, but we've have say blossom into also 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:23.960 being involved with the NFL combine, the NFL Draft, the 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.319 Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl. We also do the Senior Bowl. 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:33.479 But we also find ourselves in our community trying to 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.800 help our maybe our trans players, but our former players 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.840 and anything that they have gone on. And like, for instance, 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:46.760 for myself, I worked with Willie Howard when Willie Howard 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.800 was trying to build a new weight room for his 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.400 high school. I was able to find him some connections 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:57.520 to make that work out and actually we got Adam 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:01.560 feeling involved in it well. He also donated to the 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:05.040 completion of Willie Howard's weight room. And what has that 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.160 been like for you to kind of transition into being 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.839 on the quote other side of the game, I guess 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:15.400 what way the most about this role? Oh my God. 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.440 For me, on a personal note, I love doing this 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:25.160 because to me, being in the National Football League first 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:27.920 of all, was an honor and a pleasure to play 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:32.200 a game that so many people which they could have played, 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:37.280 And for me to play this game I looked up 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:42.680 to so many guys that came before us. That's the 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:48.400 Randy White, the Howie Long, the Alan Page, the Jim 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:52.640 Marshalls who made this game what it is today. So 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.400 this allowed me to give back to other former players 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:00.960 who've done so much for this game. And so being 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.960 around these guys, to me, it's like, I see it 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:09.080 as twenty two thousand former players in a huddle and 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.680 allow me to be in a huddle and to assist 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:16.040 those guys to finding ways to make their transition of 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:20.080 their second career better. And uh, you know, I get 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.240 the chance to go to different parts of the country, 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:28.240 to being involved with golf tournaments, to being involved with charities. 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:32.360 Uh I do Joe Namath March of Dimes in New 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.400 York or we raised a million dollars in one day. 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.040 And so that's one of the things of being in 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.560 the Legend community. It allows me to do it just 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.760 to give back and to be part of things that 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:49.280 were say the league office can't do, but on a 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:53.480 personal we can do it myself for Chad Pimington, Leonard Wheeler, 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:57.000 and it's it's it's a great role, it's a fun role, 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.480 and it allows you be a part of NFL but 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.240 just in a different capacity. Yeah, that's incredible. I mean 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.120 the impact sounds just fantastic. Those different things that you 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:09.480 were mentioning. I want to go back to one thing 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:11.440 that you mentioned a little bit earlier, and you were saying, 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:14.520 how you know, there are different things that may be 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:19.960 former players encounter, whether that's looking for a new career path, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.480 they might be struggling with some level of depression, they 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.360 might turn to substance abuse. What are I guess some 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:32.960 resources that are available within the Legends community to support 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:36.440 those men that may be facing those different things. Well, 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.440 one of the things that we've started is we started 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.640 an app for former players where they can go upon, 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.840 which is the players dot NFL dot com where they 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.680 can sign up and they basically get information of what's 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.240 going on with the National Football League and also the 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:55.560 NFL Players Association. But there's different things that you can 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:59.360 get that can give you information. We have info Lifeline 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.320 or where you can go on there and if you're 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:06.600 having mental health issues, a guy can get on there 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.960 and as very private and talk to many other people 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:12.880 who can help you through this mental health. But we've 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:19.040 got several people. We've got Kenyaka, who I talked to 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.120 every year, me and other guys in the legismate where 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:25.000 we sit with her for two hours and we've go 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:28.680 through questioning and figuring out different ways of trying to 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.640 figure out if we are going in the right direction, 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.320 if we personally have any issues. But it's a great 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:38.640 thing to talk to her because she's the vice president 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:43.160 of Wellness and Clinical Services put the National Football League. 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:45.680 And one of the things that we've talked about a 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.160 lot throughout this series is just how it seems like 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:54.640 mental illness is something that impacts probably everybody's life at 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.000 one point or another and in some way or another. 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.320 And I know you've talked a little bit about your 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:01.440 personal express already, so don't want to put you on 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:03.240 the spot, but is there anything else that you'd like 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.640 to add just about how this topic has affected your 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:11.960 life personally, either directly or indirectly. Directly, it really hasn't. 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.919 But I know from talking to Kenyaka from the NFL 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:21.160 office that mental health usually affects one out of five Americans, 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:27.720 and so I think that's for me looking at those numbers, 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.280 it's going to affect somebody that I know. And since 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.720 I do talk to a lot of former players. I'm 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:39.119 usually talking either talking to a guy who's either dealing 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.440 with it or somebody in his family is dealing with 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:49.200 mental health. And so for me, if there's somebody who's 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.720 played in National Football League that I can try to 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.840 reach out to and try to make it better, then 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.359 I'm gonna reach out to him, because, like I said, 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.880 for me, the NFL isn't just a game. It's a family. 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.160 And if there's somebody's hurting and I want to reach 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:05.840 out there, I'm want to try to do something for 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.720 them because it's taking care of mean personally, I see 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.840 it's taking care of our own and doing so much 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.440 better because I always saw it as charity starts at home, 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:18.760 and so for me, they don't follows home, and so 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:20.320 I want to try to do as much as I can. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.960 That's awesome, And I think lastly, John just kind of 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.000 from a big picture perspective. As we continue this series, 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:30.640 you know we've talked to guys like Eric Kendricks, Jalen Holmes. 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.840 We did a segment with the Feelings here recently. Now 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.280 we're talking to you, what kind of impact do you 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:39.760 think this can have when you know these people who 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.159 are well known athletes are well respected by people are 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.480 willing to open up and talk about some of these 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:49.120 difficult things. Oh man, that's you know, that's so easy. 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.200 I think it shows the rest of the world that 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.920 they're human, that they have problems just like everybody else does. 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:01.639 And I mean that's for every athletes who's played to 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:05.200 play from sports. That's one of the questions I know 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:08.919 I get asked all the time about is little things like, hey, 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.159 how are you doing? Are you you know, I know 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:13.080 you played in that shoal league, say you're doing this 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.879 and that I'm like, no, you know what, I'm at 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.360 home because my wife says I have to be here 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.840 at certain times. I have to do this. So I 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:25.320 think for guys who can talk about it, that's to 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:28.400 me that that puts those athletes on a higher pedestal 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.359 because you can talk about your personal problem, you can 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.240 talk about things you have going on. You can say 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.760 that that you cry, you can say that you get emotional, 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:41.320 you can say that that your day isn't perfect. And 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:43.200 because that's one of the biggest things, they believe that 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.960 athletes are perfect, and you know, for me, I'm not. 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:49.840 If I did, I would have a great golf game. 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:54.119 But uh, I think that's that's what makes it true, 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.560 is that guys are vulnerable, and especially when it's twenty 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.320 twenty one, you you've got to let people know that 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:05.600 you're normal. And uh, you know, mental health is so important. 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.160 And like I said, it may not affect you are, 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.800 but it affects someone that we know that we care about. 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.280 And if we could do something to help support our 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:18.280 friends and families, why not why not be truthful and 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:21.920 and and and tell them that you got something that 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:24.879 either you got something going on what they do. I 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:27.200 honestly don't think that there's a better way to wrap 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:30.040 this up, John, But thank you so so much for 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:32.639 for taking time out of your day, time out of 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:38.680 a possible golf day. I'm not sure for no. Any 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:41.280 time I get a chance to talk to some some 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:44.719 vikings who who love who love it to you as 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:47.920 much as I do, then scold I can do golf 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:52.199 another day. I love it. Thanks so much, John, You're welcome. 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:58.639 Huge things to John for hanging out with us and 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:00.960 just sharing some of his thoughts in his heart around 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:03.560 this very important topic. I know for me it's really 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:06.000 cool just to see kind of another side of him 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:09.119 and how he's so passionate about working with the NFL 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:13.119 Legends community and around this area. Thank you guys as 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:15.879 well for tuning in and listening to another episode of 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:18.159 Getting Open. I invite you to keep an eye on 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.680 Vikings digital platforms, as we do have another couple episodes 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:22.199 coming up.