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Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, and welcome to the latest edition of

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Speaker 1: the Falcons in Focus podcast presented by Ticketmaster, recorded in

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Speaker 1: the Ticketmaster studios.

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Speaker 2: I'm Scott Barr.

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Speaker 1: That's Tory mcallaney, as you know, man of the hour

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Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons left guard Matthew berger On, who hails from Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada.

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Speaker 2: A rarity.

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Speaker 1: There are not a lot of American sports figures that

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Speaker 1: come from that area. And we're going to break down

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Speaker 1: the entire journey and kind of what it's meant to

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Speaker 1: you to get here. There's so many great topics. But

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Speaker 1: before we get there, we are interrupting Falcons in Focus.

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Speaker 2: For a French one on one with Tory mcallaney.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, because we sort of figured lots of people are

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Speaker 1: are are down at NBS and they're and they're cheering

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Speaker 1: you on. Right, what's a way to get Matthew to

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Speaker 1: hear what they're saying? Yeah, then to say it in

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Speaker 1: his native language.

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Speaker 3: Well, something that comes up I hear you know, artists

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Speaker 3: when they're on stage, it's like you always notice the

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Speaker 3: people who aren't moving, aren't dancing, or just sitting there.

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Speaker 3: So we're kind of like trying I'm trying to help people.

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Speaker 3: If they're trying to get like get a hold of

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Speaker 3: you on the field, this is what they should do.

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Speaker 3: I also am from Chickamauga, Georgia.

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Speaker 4: Our listeners know this.

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Speaker 3: So the French language fascinates me. I'm I don't think

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Speaker 3: I'm ever going to be able to pronounce things correctly.

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Speaker 3: I know this about myself, but I wanted to. I

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Speaker 3: have a few phrases that I want us to be

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Speaker 3: able to learn together. So the first one is simple.

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Speaker 3: It's just welcome to Atlanta. How do you say that?

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Speaker 3: So welcome avenue?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, Avenue two Avenue in Atlanta, Atlanta. Yeah, if you

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Speaker 5: want to be real fancy Atlanta.

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Speaker 3: Okay, all right, all right, that was that was a

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Speaker 3: good one. How do you just say like falcons in French?

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Speaker 5: In French, well we we we say falcons because that

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Speaker 5: does the name of the team, but like like a

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Speaker 5: real falcon, you will say falcon. No, okay, no, it's

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Speaker 5: not no hold on you mixed up.

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Speaker 4: That's the thing is like by.

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Speaker 5: I forgot, I will cut that point.

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Speaker 4: Okay, dirty birds, it's time to rise up?

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Speaker 5: All right, Well we'll say dirty birds, right, okay, time

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Speaker 5: time rise up?

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Speaker 1: See exactly, So everybody take notes and then if you're

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Speaker 1: sitting on the home sideline, then it's time to say

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Speaker 1: those things.

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Speaker 4: Okay, yeah, so give me rise up again. Let's rise

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Speaker 4: up to Levy to Levy. Okay, that's great.

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Speaker 5: I love this.

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Speaker 4: This is so fun.

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Speaker 2: So we so we've we've got our basics on.

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Speaker 1: If you're a Matthew Berson fan, of which I have

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Speaker 1: seen number sixty five multiple times at multiple home games,

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Speaker 1: you have a little crew.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I think I think, to be honest, like,

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Speaker 5: since we don't have a lot of like NFL players,

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Speaker 5: you know, from Quebec, I think like people's people were like,

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Speaker 5: all right, we're not going to cheer for a team,

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Speaker 5: We're gonna cheer for somebody from home. Sure. So yeah,

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Speaker 5: that's that's pretty cool. And I think New York I

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Speaker 5: think always gonna be the game where a lot of

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Speaker 5: people go. Now, I know, I got a lot of family,

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Speaker 5: family and friends that are coming down, So I think

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Speaker 5: it's gonna be a lot of Matthew birds run Jersey

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Speaker 5: in this thing.

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Speaker 2: And you're a long ways from home. But what does

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Speaker 2: that support mean to you?

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Speaker 1: Whether you see it at the home stands, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you hear it a lot from you on on on

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Speaker 1: social media.

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Speaker 2: What does that mean to you to kind of represent that?

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Speaker 5: Well, I think it means a lot, you know. It

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Speaker 5: means like all the hard work that I put in.

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Speaker 5: I think like people saw that and kind of got

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Speaker 5: like attached to it and like, all right, this guy

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Speaker 5: is representing not only Quebec, but Canada as a whole,

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Speaker 5: and just having that type of support, you know, when

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Speaker 5: whenever I have a bad play or bad day, I

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Speaker 5: just got to remember that, like I got a whole

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Speaker 5: country and the whole you know, province behind me. So I,

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Speaker 5: you know, grateful to be in this position. Not a

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Speaker 5: lot of people can do that because like there's a

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Speaker 5: lot of football players from Georgia, like you know what

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Speaker 5: I'm saying, Like, so not a lot of people have

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Speaker 5: that type of support that have, So I'm definitely grateful

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Speaker 5: for it.

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Speaker 4: I love that.

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Speaker 5: Now.

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Speaker 3: I wanted to go back in time a little bit

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Speaker 3: because obviously I feel like hockey is the main sport

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Speaker 3: of not just Canada but probably Quebec if I'm assuming correctly.

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Speaker 3: For you, when was the first time that you really

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Speaker 3: wanted to like start playing, Like what was your introduction

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Speaker 3: to football.

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Speaker 5: It was kind of random. Like in my hometown, Victoriaville.

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Speaker 5: I don't know if they still do it, but back

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Speaker 5: in the day used to get like a like a

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Speaker 5: sheet through the mail like all the you know, the

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Speaker 5: sports provided throughout the summer. And my mom was like,

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Speaker 5: you want to do a sport, blah blah blah. I

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Speaker 5: think you should should get moving. I was a little chubby,

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Speaker 5: kind of lazy. She's like, man, you should try something,

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Speaker 5: you know, yeah, right, and you know, obviously football is

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Speaker 5: a sport that you know, anybody from any shapes and

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Speaker 5: sizes can find can find a place in football. So

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Speaker 5: she she signed me up. And at first I hated it,

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Speaker 5: like I never played another position in the office in

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Speaker 5: lineman my whole life, all right, So like at first,

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Speaker 5: when you played office in line, like this is boring,

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Speaker 5: like you always get yelled at, like it's always your fault.

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Speaker 5: You're sweat, you get hit and all your friends and

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Speaker 5: you know they making touchdowns, they make it tackle but

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Speaker 5: they make up. But like with Tom, I just got to,

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Speaker 5: you know, love the position. And you know, obviously in

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Speaker 5: the locker room you can says that people will have

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Speaker 5: a lot of respect for you know, the office and line.

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Speaker 5: I think that's what beautiful thing about it, just just

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Speaker 5: working in shadows and you know, having to respect your teammates.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I love that you bring that up because I was

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Speaker 3: doing research for this podcast and there was a quote

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Speaker 3: that you had where you called playing offensive line like

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Speaker 3: that it's a beautiful position, And I thought that was

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Speaker 3: so cool because you're exactly right, like this is not

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Speaker 3: a position that this is one of those things that

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Speaker 3: it's like the mundane goes so far in this position

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Speaker 3: and it's not flashy, and you're like what you say,

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Speaker 3: you're not getting your name called. But like, why for

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Speaker 3: you was it like this position that you've played your

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Speaker 3: entire life. Why is it to you that it's like

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Speaker 3: a beautiful position of the game.

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Speaker 5: I feel like, just like I said earlier, just just

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Speaker 5: working in the shadows and like people people in the

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Speaker 5: locker room knowing they're like all right, like without you guys,

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Speaker 5: like nothing that just happened. And also I love kind

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Speaker 5: of the grimy aspect of the office in line, the physicality,

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Speaker 5: like you know, and posting your will on somebody and

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Speaker 5: just and just you know, putting somebody down like that.

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Speaker 5: That was really you know, what kind of got me

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Speaker 5: into it. Once I fell in love with you know,

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Speaker 5: office in line. I was just like, man, I love this.

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Speaker 5: I love putting people on the ground. I love being physical.

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Speaker 5: So uh yeah, that's what made me fall in love

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Speaker 5: with it.

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Speaker 3: Did you ever want to play another position? Like, was

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Speaker 3: there ever a point in time You're like, coach, come on,

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Speaker 3: just like put me in as like a tight end

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Speaker 3: or something.

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Speaker 6: Man.

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Speaker 5: So we had to play in the Syracuse. It never

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Speaker 5: got called. I was supposed to catch the ball. Yeah,

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Speaker 5: I never got called to know that it's there. It's there,

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Speaker 5: It was there, It was there on the game plan.

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Speaker 5: So during the week we called it like on Tuesday,

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Speaker 5: and I dropped it.

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Speaker 4: I can't put it in.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I know.

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Speaker 5: Coach Barber's is like, yeah, I think it's gonna happen.

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Speaker 5: And then we called it back on Thursday and I

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Speaker 5: caught it, and I don't know it was in the

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Speaker 5: game plan, never got called. But I feel like if

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Speaker 5: I've been a little bit you know, skinnier, faster, but

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Speaker 5: obviously a lot faster, I think I've been a receiver.

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Speaker 5: I would, you know, love to be receiver. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So when when when you're just playing this game and

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Speaker 1: you're realizing that you have a passion for it. At

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Speaker 1: what point do you start dreaming about, Oh, where can

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Speaker 1: this take me or what can I do? Like like

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Speaker 1: where does that enter your head?

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Speaker 2: And when did that start happening?

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Speaker 5: See for us for like for us back home, Like

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Speaker 5: to be honest, like until my second year or third

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Speaker 5: year Eyracuse, I didn't think like playing and felt football

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Speaker 5: was possible for me just based off my background. Like

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Speaker 5: you know, I only had one, you know offer out

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Speaker 5: of high school, out of Canada, I only had one

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Speaker 5: offer and it was Syracuse and I kind of got

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Speaker 5: there and people like really weren't sure like what it was.

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Speaker 5: I was kind of like a project or whatever you

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Speaker 5: called it. Like I showed up at a camp that like,

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Speaker 5: oh this kid tall, big, you can move, all right,

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Speaker 5: we'll offer. So I showed up in Syracuse not really

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Speaker 5: knowing what, you know, what was my future because like

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Speaker 5: growing up, there weren't a lot of people from my

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Speaker 5: hometown making it through college football and you know, baking

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Speaker 5: it through the NFL. So for me, I was just like, right,

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Speaker 5: I'm gonna enjoy this. And then you know, seeing my

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Speaker 5: teammates a Syracuse Andre Cisco, uh Mela far news. Those

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Speaker 5: guys making it to legal. I was all right, if

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Speaker 5: those guys you know made it, I could make something

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Speaker 5: with it. And uh, you know, thout the years, my

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Speaker 5: confidence got higher, and now I'm here, So I love that.

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Speaker 3: And now for you, I actually was reading something and

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Speaker 3: something along the lines of like that your mom around

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Speaker 3: the time that you were like fourteen years old, that

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Speaker 3: you and your mom would go.

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Speaker 4: To Now this is where the pronunciation is not going

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Speaker 4: to happen.

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Speaker 5: Let's do it.

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Speaker 4: Games.

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Speaker 5: It's a you don't pronounce the tea makes a A.

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Speaker 4: Okay.

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Speaker 5: So that was my dream school, Like okay, that's tell

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Speaker 5: us more about what that is. Yeah, so that was

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Speaker 5: my dream school. So basically that's college football in Canada.

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Speaker 5: So it's not as big, you know obviously on this

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Speaker 5: side of the board that we don't know about it

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Speaker 5: because it's there's not a lot of media kind of

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Speaker 5: into it. But that was that was college football back home,

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Speaker 5: and that's where I dreamed of, you know, growing up

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Speaker 5: playing football. So I thought my future was there. And

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Speaker 5: when I got the offers Syracuse, obviously you know, free

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Speaker 5: tuition and all that playing into it because there's not

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Speaker 5: scholarships for college football back home. So you know a

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Speaker 5: lot of my friends have to work, go to school,

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Speaker 5: play football. So it's it's it's a hard grind. I

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Speaker 5: respected a lot, and you know, I'm blessed to have

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Speaker 5: the opportunity to be here. You know, went to Syracuse

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Speaker 5: and be here.

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Speaker 3: Now, let's talk about Syracuse because my favorite thing is

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Speaker 3: that when you were talking about that camp that that

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Speaker 3: you went to, I believe summer of twenty eighteen.

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Speaker 4: If that's yeah, research tryild.

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Speaker 3: But for for that trip, something that I think I

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Speaker 3: remember reading that you said somewhere was you called it

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Speaker 3: like a road trip just to see American football.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that's what it was. Yeah, it was like a

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Speaker 5: six hour trip, right, Yeah, So we took the bus,

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Speaker 5: We hopped on a bus, drove i think with like

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Speaker 5: six seven hours. A bunch of guys were just happy

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Speaker 5: to go down in the United States, you know, get

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Speaker 5: to learn American football and also compete and you know,

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Speaker 5: test our skills and you know obviously learn from coaches

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Speaker 5: from you know, college football, which we don't have back home.

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Speaker 5: So it was it was a learning trip for us.

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Speaker 5: So for me, I just took it all right. I'm

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Speaker 5: down here road trip, my boys on the bus, having fun.

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Speaker 5: We get to sleep at the hotel Free Trade. It

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Speaker 5: was cool. So I get I get to the camp

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Speaker 5: and I'm like, hold, all right, I can't hank with

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Speaker 5: those guys, like they're not you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 5: So so my confidence got, you know, I grew and

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Speaker 5: then I just started bodying people. And after practice, Coach

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Speaker 5: Babies was impressed and he offered me, and then you

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Speaker 5: know that that was it. That's all she wrote.

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Speaker 1: You know that doesn't happen very often. Yeah, a camp

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Speaker 1: and they're like, here's a scholarship. I mean, give us

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Speaker 1: the story, but but behind that, I don't. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: that was the farthest thing from your mind.

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Speaker 5: Yeah. And the crazy thing is like I didn't know

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Speaker 5: what a scholarship meant, Like wow, I didn't know what

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Speaker 5: it included. You know, you hear scholarship all the time,

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Speaker 5: but you don't know like the details of it. Like

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Speaker 5: so when when Coach Berbers told me, I was like, what,

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Speaker 5: school's free, Like you're gonna take care of me? Like

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Speaker 5: he's like, yeah, I sai, all right, I'll be here.

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Speaker 5: He's all right. You just enrolled, you know, next year,

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Speaker 5: I said, A right, perfect, So went back to high

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Speaker 5: school for UH for the year and then rose Syracuse

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Speaker 5: twenty nineteen. That was my freshman year. So that's kind

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Speaker 5: of how it happened. Like it just kind of happened,

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Speaker 5: you know what I'm saying. I was learning through the

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Speaker 5: process because you know, nobody around me had to experience that,

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Speaker 5: you know, going through college football. So I just went

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Speaker 5: in there blind, Like you know what I'm saying, What.

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Speaker 2: Was your mom's reaction to everything that happened there?

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Speaker 1: Because your mom is such a huge part of your

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Speaker 1: life and then all of a sudden you're talking about playing.

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Speaker 4: You know, American football and then now you're.

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Speaker 1: On scholarship going to Syracuse, Like what was her reaction?

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Speaker 1: What was your family's reaction to such huge news?

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Speaker 5: Right? Right? I mean they were extremely proud, but I

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Speaker 5: think like tho key like that didn't really know what

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Speaker 5: was going on. Yeah, like didn't really know what's going on.

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Speaker 5: But they's supporting me the whole way. And obviously there

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Speaker 5: was kind of steps to it, Like I had to

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Speaker 5: get do a certain class in Quebec to you know,

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Speaker 5: be able to go to school here in America. So

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Speaker 5: I had there were some you know, steps that I

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Speaker 5: had to go through just to be able to come

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Speaker 5: down and go to school here, and she's supported me

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Speaker 5: thought the whole way, and like I said, like thought

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Speaker 5: that whole year. We was just learning as days went

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Speaker 5: on and figured it out. And you know, now you know,

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Speaker 5: I'm in a position where you know, kids from Quebec

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Speaker 5: like they can hit me up and I can help them.

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Speaker 5: You know, you know, go through that process because I've

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Speaker 5: been through it. Now there's a lot more Quebec players

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Speaker 5: in college football now, so it's great to see. For you.

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Speaker 3: You talk about going to Syracuse and kind of just

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Speaker 3: like figuring it out as you go along. A part

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Speaker 3: of that too, I believe from conversations that we've had before,

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Speaker 3: was obviously French is your first language, and you had

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Speaker 3: taken classes to learn English like growing up and everything.

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Speaker 3: But really and truly like this was more the first

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Speaker 3: time when you get to Syracuse and you get to

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Speaker 3: college that year around people who are speaking English twenty

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Speaker 3: four to seven.

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Speaker 4: What was kind of that experience like for you?

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Speaker 5: That was funny, Like I wish we could have some

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Speaker 5: of my teammates for my freshman year here with me,

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Speaker 5: Like in tweenying nineteen, Like I couldn't have had a

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Speaker 5: conversation that we're having right now.

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Speaker 4: Like that's wild because you're so you're so well.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it was just like I had the basics, Like

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Speaker 5: you know, you guys learned Spanish right Like if I

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Speaker 5: would saying you like to Mexico right now to go

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Speaker 5: to school, to go to college, like it'd be kind

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Speaker 5: of a shock. That's that's what it was for me.

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Speaker 5: I just kind of learned, like I have philosophy classes

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Speaker 5: that like I was just in there, like what is

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Speaker 5: going on? Like teachers speaking fast? I got to take note,

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Speaker 5: and like I just figured it out. As the days

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Speaker 5: went on and my English got better, and you know,

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Speaker 5: COVID happened and I had to stay in the US

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Speaker 5: for a whole year because the borders were closed, and

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Speaker 5: I feel like that's really when my English kind of

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Speaker 5: got better because I was around English speakers all the time.

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Speaker 5: And my girlfriend she's an English speaker as well. She

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Speaker 5: I mean, she's American, so kind of having her with me,

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Speaker 5: I mean, English got better. So yeah, and you know

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Speaker 5: it's funny because like I used to ask my teammates, say,

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Speaker 5: what does that word mean? Like what do you say?

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Speaker 5: Like repeat that like and they used to make fun

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Speaker 5: of me and all that, but they were great. You know,

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Speaker 5: they helped me a lot, and it's just you know,

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Speaker 5: part of my story and I'm just blessed going through

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Speaker 5: what I'm going through.

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Speaker 6: I'm saying, there's no accent, no yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 6: I lost it and something do like you got to

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Speaker 6: care too, you know what I'm saying, Like I learned English,

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Speaker 6: but I was I care about how you know, pronounced

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Speaker 6: word and how I have conversation with people and like

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Speaker 6: you know, the verb past sense and you know, I

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Speaker 6: care about that stuff.

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Speaker 5: So it was it was important for me to learn

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Speaker 5: because I think it's iportant for me to you know,

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Speaker 5: express myself, be able to express myself and you know,

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Speaker 5: have conversation with people because I'm a social person.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, I love that too. And I think another

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Speaker 4: part of this too is like learning the football language.

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Speaker 3: Like you're you're trying, you're actively like trying to get

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Speaker 3: better at English and conversing in social settings, but you're

347
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Speaker 3: also all the while learning the language of football and

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Speaker 3: understanding like what certain play calls are and everything. What

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Speaker 3: was that process, Like, did you have to because the

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Speaker 3: reason I asked this is because young Waiku has been

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Speaker 3: on this podcast and he talked about how football was

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Speaker 3: actually a way that helped him one make friends and

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Speaker 3: make connections, but also kind of learning English because he

354
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Speaker 3: would like ask another player like, hey, what did they say?

355
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Speaker 4: And what does this mean? And was able to like

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Speaker 4: within the playbook understand it. Did you have something similar?

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Speaker 5: No doubt, Like I feel like my teammates are the

358
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Speaker 5: the reason why, like my English is so good now

359
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Speaker 5: because I used to go, you know, go to them,

360
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Speaker 5: ask them question. I feel like without them, I wouldn't

361
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Speaker 5: be able to, you know, pronounce some word. And obviously,

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Speaker 5: like when you don't have to speak the language, like

363
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Speaker 5: you you're kind of a little shy and have it

364
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Speaker 5: a football Having your teammate was kind of, you know,

365
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Speaker 5: ease the transition. Obviously the football that was that was tough,

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Speaker 5: like learning different terms because you know, obviously back home

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Speaker 5: it was in French. Yeah, so I kind of had

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Speaker 5: a transition that too. But I think that the veterans

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Speaker 5: that year that took care of me, and obviously they

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Speaker 5: saw how I cared and how I really wanted to

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Speaker 5: figure it out. They kind of took me under their wing. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And as you're going through your college experience, right then

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Speaker 1: you get to a point where I think it was

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Speaker 1: week seven, I believe you're getting readied as a freshman

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Speaker 1: to play Florida State.

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Speaker 5: Yeah. So that was that year. So everything happened.

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Speaker 2: Everything happened.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, so it was my true freshman year. So I

379
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Speaker 5: was the second tackle. I was like the six man

380
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Speaker 5: up right, and the right tackle at the time just

381
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Speaker 5: quit the team. I don't know what happened, he just quit.

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Speaker 5: So I could I go to practice expecting, like, you know,

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Speaker 5: just playing my role, you know what I mean. So

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Speaker 5: I get bumped up with like first team and like

385
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Speaker 5: with two practices in the week, ready to go play

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Speaker 5: Florida State. They're like yeah in.

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Speaker 6: Florida States, like yeah, you gotta go, you know what

388
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Speaker 6: I'm saying.

389
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Speaker 5: So the old reliable how to figure it out, you

390
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,080
Speaker 5: know what I mean, get thrown in the fire, you know,

391
00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:37,960
Speaker 5: you get thrown the pool, you got you gonna figure

392
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Speaker 5: out how to swim. So you know what I'm saying

393
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Speaker 5: that that's what happened, and uh, you know, I'm grateful

394
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Speaker 5: for it, and I think, like the biggest thing for

395
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Speaker 5: me then was just you just got to survived. You

396
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Speaker 5: can't mess up. So that that was my mentality when

397
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Speaker 5: I first got thrown in there. And then you know,

398
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Speaker 5: as the years went on, I got more and more

399
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:57,520
Speaker 5: confidence and the football side kind of slowed down, so

400
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Speaker 5: I was able to see things better and you know,

401
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Speaker 5: be more comfort to boil the position.

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Speaker 3: What do you remember about that day and kind of

403
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,400
Speaker 3: leading up to that first start? You know at Florida State.

404
00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:09,560
Speaker 3: That's I mean a lot of people know how how

405
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,280
Speaker 3: big of a deal that is, especially for that to

406
00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:16,159
Speaker 3: be your first start away, and really and truly, I

407
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,200
Speaker 3: feel like it's almost like the quintessential like American football moment.

408
00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:24,200
Speaker 3: Everybody knows Florida State. Yeah, So what about that day

409
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:25,439
Speaker 3: do you really like recalling?

410
00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,000
Speaker 5: I remember like everything, So the night before I can eat,

411
00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,480
Speaker 5: I went to the bathroom b like five times. So

412
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Speaker 5: we get to the stadium and then you know how

413
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,760
Speaker 5: Florida State they do the little yeah yeah yeah. And

414
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Speaker 5: then so we're in the locker room, a lot of

415
00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,160
Speaker 5: here is like a pound like and I'm like, oh lord,

416
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,320
Speaker 5: it's rocking. So so we get out of the tunnel

417
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Speaker 5: and it was just spectacular, like the whole thing, the

418
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Speaker 5: whole crowd. It would sell out, and like, I don't

419
00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,480
Speaker 5: remember anything from the first drive, Like I was just

420
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Speaker 5: trying to hold on for dear life. And I feel

421
00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,439
Speaker 5: like I did kind of good job. You know. As

422
00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,560
Speaker 5: the game went on, I got one more comfortable and uh,

423
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,960
Speaker 5: they had a pretty good you know, Floridas, they always

424
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,480
Speaker 5: had some pretty good defensive line. So it was a

425
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:07,560
Speaker 5: good learning experience.

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Speaker 1: That's just to enter, like, and and then you you

427
00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,720
Speaker 1: just kind of took over right from that point, you

428
00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:17,280
Speaker 1: felt like you were in the flow of that. It's

429
00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:19,960
Speaker 1: so interesting you hear about all these things where you think, oh,

430
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,159
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's not really in the realm of

431
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,440
Speaker 1: possibility for me to play American football, and then you

432
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:26,760
Speaker 1: get a scholarship and then.

433
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Speaker 2: It's not, you know, and then you just kind of

434
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:33,680
Speaker 2: keep moving yourself time and time again, which I just

435
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,920
Speaker 2: think is so fascinating.

436
00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,679
Speaker 1: How does your kind of confidence level move throughout all

437
00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:42,600
Speaker 1: these processes. Is this something where even back to the camp,

438
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:44,560
Speaker 1: you're like, okay, like I can play with these dudes,

439
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,920
Speaker 1: where is your confidence at through these moments slowly getting

440
00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:49,159
Speaker 1: bigger and bigger.

441
00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:51,600
Speaker 5: I think it was just keep getting bigger and bigger.

442
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,960
Speaker 5: Like once you do it, once you prove yourself to

443
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:55,840
Speaker 5: do it, that's when like it clicks for me. Once

444
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:57,399
Speaker 5: I prove myself that I can do, like, all right,

445
00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:59,280
Speaker 5: now I can hang with these dudes. I can and

446
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,639
Speaker 5: that's when my call, let's get bigger and bigger. And

447
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,080
Speaker 5: you know, Florida State was a great learning experience, and

448
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,520
Speaker 5: I feel like one of my biggest accomplishment that you know,

449
00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,520
Speaker 5: hold on is like I held on to that spot,

450
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,480
Speaker 5: you know what I'm yeah, right, I started, you know,

451
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,800
Speaker 5: I went in there week seven started, and I didn't

452
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,040
Speaker 5: get taken off, like you know what I'm saying. I

453
00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,760
Speaker 5: held on that spar for forty nine straight games after that,

454
00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:21,800
Speaker 5: and so that that I think, like personally, that like,

455
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:23,159
Speaker 5: that's my biggest accomplishment.

456
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:27,960
Speaker 3: You brought up the pandemic in COVID nineteen and not

457
00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:30,040
Speaker 3: being able to go back home.

458
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,200
Speaker 4: For essentially a year for you. What was that year

459
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:33,600
Speaker 4: like for you?

460
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:35,440
Speaker 3: Because I imagine you weren't able to see your family

461
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:37,240
Speaker 3: either because they're back in Quebec.

462
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,080
Speaker 5: Yeah. So so Syracuse is like five hours from my

463
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,480
Speaker 5: house in Quebec. So my family was there every home

464
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,520
Speaker 5: game in twenty nineteen and then twenty twenty borders shut

465
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,720
Speaker 5: down like you had to if you went back home,

466
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,200
Speaker 5: you had a quarantine for two weeks, like the rules

467
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,359
Speaker 5: were right. It was great, pretty intense in Canada. So

468
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,080
Speaker 5: so coach didn't want me to take no chances, you know,

469
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,399
Speaker 5: be getting stuck over there. So I just stayed, uh,

470
00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,600
Speaker 5: went through the season. We went one and ten, So

471
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:04,919
Speaker 5: that was that was a tough year. And I couldn't

472
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:06,760
Speaker 5: see my family like that. That was that was a

473
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,520
Speaker 5: long year. But you know, I'm blessed to have you know,

474
00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,399
Speaker 5: to have technology and be able to FaceTime, and my

475
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,960
Speaker 5: teammates played a great part in that, just keeping me

476
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,240
Speaker 5: up there. That kind of became my family. And that's

477
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:18,680
Speaker 5: how I became so close with those guys.

478
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,520
Speaker 2: And you're you have three siblings and your mom right

479
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,160
Speaker 2: and this and we're talking.

480
00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,960
Speaker 5: Tight yeah yeah, yeah, pretty tight. Yeah yeah.

481
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,119
Speaker 1: How much you know, like have your siblings We already

482
00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,200
Speaker 1: talked about your your your mother to a certain extent,

483
00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:38,399
Speaker 1: but having that kind of core group to always be

484
00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,160
Speaker 1: behind you and you supporting them, Like how important has

485
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,040
Speaker 1: that been to everything? That that that that you've done,

486
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,200
Speaker 1: that you have that foundation, you have that bad job

487
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:48,639
Speaker 1: there for you.

488
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,320
Speaker 5: I mean, it's the most important thing. Like playing football,

489
00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,160
Speaker 5: You're gonna have your ups and downs, your hugs and lows,

490
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,040
Speaker 5: but the only opinion that matters is their opinions. Like

491
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,639
Speaker 5: there they four group of people right there, or my family,

492
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:00,240
Speaker 5: Like that's the only thing that matters to me. So

493
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,360
Speaker 5: whatever is going on, if I have a good game,

494
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,800
Speaker 5: room back game, like I kind of keep it like

495
00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:06,959
Speaker 5: you know, like a flat line, and I don't get

496
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,240
Speaker 5: too high, too low, whatever happens, Like, I know my

497
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,720
Speaker 5: family's going to be there for me. And just having

498
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:13,919
Speaker 5: that support was incredible, and I know I'm blessed now

499
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,399
Speaker 5: that people have that and we move as one, like

500
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,439
Speaker 5: they come in as many games they can. Right now,

501
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,720
Speaker 5: my little brother started playing football. He's the left guard,

502
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,600
Speaker 5: so I'm trying to teach him a little bit and

503
00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:29,879
Speaker 5: it's just great, mom. I love that.

504
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,040
Speaker 3: Now, top, before we really wrap up, I want to

505
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 3: go back to the night that you were drafted, And

506
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:37,960
Speaker 3: that's one of my favorite videos and phone calls is

507
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,119
Speaker 3: hearing you know, you talking to Terry font know about

508
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,200
Speaker 3: the opportunity and everything. But as I was going back

509
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,080
Speaker 3: and doing research, there was a quote that you had

510
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,920
Speaker 3: when you committed to Syracuse, and you said committing to

511
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,720
Speaker 3: Syracuse was exciting not only for me and my family,

512
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,000
Speaker 3: but also my province in Canada. As you're kind of

513
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 3: talking about, you know, your your siblings back home and

514
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,800
Speaker 3: other people back home and Quebec or just any part

515
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,440
Speaker 3: of Canada. I mean, how much in that moment of

516
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 3: being drafted are you sitting there even like consciously thinking.

517
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,160
Speaker 4: Wow, this is pretty dang cool that someone from.

518
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,280
Speaker 3: Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada is sitting here on the phone with

519
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,200
Speaker 3: the Atlanta Falcons about to go play in the NFL.

520
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean that that meant everything. And just being

521
00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,760
Speaker 5: able to be back home for that event, like that

522
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 5: was the biggest thing. To be able to be in

523
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 5: Victoriaville where it all started from, with my family and

524
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:29,920
Speaker 5: friends and a lot of you know, a lot of

525
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,639
Speaker 5: guys have different ways to do it, and for me,

526
00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,480
Speaker 5: like I wanted the media from back home to be

527
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,720
Speaker 5: there so like kids can see that, you know, it's possible,

528
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:39,040
Speaker 5: you know what I'm saying that like if you put

529
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,600
Speaker 5: the work in, like don't believe that, Oh, if you're

530
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:43,600
Speaker 5: not from the US, you can't make it happening, Like

531
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,840
Speaker 5: that that was the biggest thing for me, and you know,

532
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,240
Speaker 5: I'm grateful to be in this position, and you know,

533
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,639
Speaker 5: I just I just want to be a good example

534
00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 5: for those kids and keep putting on for Quebec.

535
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, you kind of you know, blaze that trail

536
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:00,920
Speaker 1: so people can understand, all right, like here, like here's

537
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:02,560
Speaker 1: the way that you can do it if you're you know,

538
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,520
Speaker 1: put in work. And this is something that Tory mentioned

539
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,440
Speaker 1: during our conversations and maybe I'll let you kind of

540
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,720
Speaker 1: take it from here, just in what Tombo said and

541
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:12,879
Speaker 1: what Oh yeah, I think it's an important term.

542
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:13,240
Speaker 4: Yeah.

543
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 3: So when you were drafted, I do this thing where

544
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,639
Speaker 3: I have conversations with some of the scouts and about like,

545
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,560
Speaker 3: you know, why you draft these guys, why you care

546
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:22,720
Speaker 3: about this one guy?

547
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 4: And what really stood out?

548
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,680
Speaker 3: And I was having conversations with Coach led as well,

549
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,879
Speaker 3: and every conversation that I had with scouts, they're like,

550
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,399
Speaker 3: this is a guy who is self made. He is

551
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,119
Speaker 3: everything that he has gotten, he has earned. And I

552
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,080
Speaker 3: think like just seeing that through your story step and

553
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,440
Speaker 3: step in step, it's like, Okay, this is a guy

554
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,679
Speaker 3: who just decided like let's go play football. That seems interesting,

555
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:45,960
Speaker 3: and then you go and just happen to go to

556
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,680
Speaker 3: this camp at Syracuse and it's like here's a scholarship,

557
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:50,239
Speaker 3: and then you're a starter, and then you don't let

558
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,399
Speaker 3: that go, and then it's like you're in the NFL draft,

559
00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,640
Speaker 3: a guy who didn't have had one offer from Syracuse

560
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 3: coming out of high school in Canada. Do you almost

561
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 3: feel a sense of that like self madeens?

562
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I feel like I carried that self made

563
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,480
Speaker 5: mindset like with me, Like being drafted was great, but

564
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:12,439
Speaker 5: like the way I see it, it's not the end

565
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 5: of the road, Like they're so much more than I

566
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 5: want to accomplish, you know, not only for myself, but

567
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,960
Speaker 5: for the football back home and obviously for the city

568
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,600
Speaker 5: Atlanta because they gave me the opportunity at this level.

569
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,760
Speaker 5: But like I keep that mindset, like I'm not satisfied

570
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,359
Speaker 5: just being drafted and playing in the NFL. Like I

571
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 5: want to want to be great at what I do,

572
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 5: so I put my head down at work and just

573
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,320
Speaker 5: keep that same mindset. They're gonna be high as lows.

574
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 5: You just gotta keep pushing.

575
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 1: I love this story, you know, and I think self

576
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 1: made is it's just such a. It's a perfect term

577
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 1: for it, and when you keep hearing it over and

578
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 1: over and over, it totally kind of makes sense. Now

579
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 1: we're on to the rapid fire portion of our podcast.

580
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 1: Everybody gets the same five questions. There are no right or.

581
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 4: Wrong answers, but we will judge the answer.

582
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:04,680
Speaker 1: Oh be ready, Okay, your favorite play of your career,

583
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: high school, college, youth, It doesn't matter your favorite play.

584
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 5: It was a screen of Virginia Tech and I just

585
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,120
Speaker 5: drove this guy down the field and just dumped him

586
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,440
Speaker 5: and we and we ended up winning that game on

587
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 5: last play the game. So Virginia said, love that.

588
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:24,560
Speaker 2: I love how how quickly and decisively that it comes

589
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:25,080
Speaker 2: to the mind.

590
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 4: That's how you know it was a good play, all right.

591
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:31,080
Speaker 4: Who was your favorite player growing up?

592
00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,159
Speaker 5: So he was a Quebec player, Lauren demanetard If So,

593
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 5: he was an office in Lineman. He was a guard

594
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 5: and he was a doctor. So and he was from Quebec.

595
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,440
Speaker 5: So I was. I got his jersey back home still

596
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,560
Speaker 5: and he was the person that you know, looked up to.

597
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,879
Speaker 4: Have you ever gotten a chance to We talked.

598
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,240
Speaker 5: You know, over social media and everything, but with the

599
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,920
Speaker 5: whole process, the drafts has been a lot crazy, and

600
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:57,400
Speaker 5: you know, hopefully an off season we get a chance

601
00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 5: to meet that.

602
00:25:58,280 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, things slowed down after your rookie.

603
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:05,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a long year, but yeah, he's such an

604
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:11,399
Speaker 1: inspiring story too. Helped so many people and been a

605
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,080
Speaker 1: darn good football player as well. Yeah, for a long time,

606
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 1: a movie or TV show that you're binging or that

607
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 1: you recommend.

608
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 5: Like like in a month, and I'm like, damn, Like

609
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 5: right now, I'm kind of lost. I'm kind of I

610
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,480
Speaker 5: don't know what to watch because I wanted to match

611
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:37,200
Speaker 5: like the level level. Yeah, how good it was. I'm like, damn,

612
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 5: I might just be watching because it kind of reminds

613
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:40,400
Speaker 5: me of my group of friends.

614
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 2: So I love That's perfect.

615
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:42,440
Speaker 5: I love it.

616
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,359
Speaker 3: Okay, when you were younger, like before football was ever

617
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,359
Speaker 3: in the realm of possibilities, what did you want to

618
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:48,199
Speaker 3: be when you grew up?

619
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 5: Man, that's a good question. I don't know, to be honest,

620
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:55,159
Speaker 5: I really don't know.

621
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:59,520
Speaker 4: I think it was like football was that like when once.

622
00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:01,880
Speaker 5: You what's figured it out? Football? Was it? Right? Yeah? Yeah,

623
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 5: you're like yeah, at first was like NFL. I didn't

624
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 5: think it was possible. So for me, it was CFL,

625
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 5: Like I got to make it the CFL. You know

626
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 5: what I'm saying. So yeah, I say football cool, love it.

627
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:14,800
Speaker 2: What is your favorite food from back home?

628
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:15,480
Speaker 5: Poutine?

629
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:16,360
Speaker 4: Putin?

630
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 2: That was a quick one.

631
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 5: It poutine, French fries, cheese, gravy, and then you can't

632
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 5: add whatever.

633
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:22,960
Speaker 2: I mean, there's nothing wrong with that.

634
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,480
Speaker 3: No, I think that's a great great I mean, I

635
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 3: don't know what else there is besides poutine, but like.

636
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,960
Speaker 5: That that makes sense, no doubt. And I had So

637
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 5: I've been in America for like what since twenty nineteen,

638
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,680
Speaker 5: and I've had the best poutine in America like two

639
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 5: days ago here. Yeah. So it's about this person, right,

640
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:44,480
Speaker 5: It's company is the food.

641
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 6: I like.

642
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,119
Speaker 5: So he kind of just catering stuff. He comes to

643
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,399
Speaker 5: your house expression stuff. So I have my family over

644
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,080
Speaker 5: and he came and I was like and he was like, yeah,

645
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,640
Speaker 5: you're from Quebec, Like you want me to try some poutine?

646
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,639
Speaker 5: At first, like a man, if you're not going to

647
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 5: eat it, got it gotta be good. Yeah. I was

648
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,159
Speaker 5: a little skeptical, but like when it came out, he

649
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 5: got the Chiefs from Wisconsin, so it was that it

650
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:08,680
Speaker 5: was great. So yeah, shout out.

651
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:11,359
Speaker 4: Honestly, he should come to the facility and he.

652
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,520
Speaker 5: Definitely should, definitely should. So he did an on line

653
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 5: that's how I men did dinner and ot as and

654
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 5: this is good food.

655
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: What a note to end on about the Yeah great,

656
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 1: all right, Matthew berger On, thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: joining us on the Falcons in Focused podcast.

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Speaker 2: I love hearing these stories.

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Speaker 1: Right, it's just I mean, it's inspiring even as you're

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Speaker 1: doing the research for it.

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Speaker 2: This was another great one. Uh.

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Speaker 1: So happy to have you on the program, and so

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Speaker 1: happy for the entire Falcons fan base to really be

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Speaker 1: able to hear you know about this guy that they watch.

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Speaker 2: Every single Sunday.

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Speaker 1: So everybody do what you do, rate, review, and subscribe

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00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 1: to the Atlanta Falcons podcast network and subscribe to our

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00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,280
Speaker 1: YouTube YouTube page. Why don't you if I can say

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Speaker 1: that right, And next week we will be back with

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Speaker 1: you with another great asked See you