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Speaker 1: What's up, fateful Welcome to the forty nine Ers You've

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Speaker 1: Got Mail Podcasts presented by Delta Dental. I'm Lindsay Polaris.

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Speaker 1: Today I am joined by a very special guest for

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Speaker 1: an alumni edition of the pod. We have former forty

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Speaker 1: nine Ers tight end, Super Bowl fifty champion, actor, producer,

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Speaker 1: and newly published author Vernon Davis.

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Speaker 2: Did I get all those titles right there?

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Speaker 3: You get it?

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Speaker 2: As you know, this is the.

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Speaker 1: Quietest time of the year for most NFL teams. Most

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Speaker 1: of the off season workout programs are done. Players coaches

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Speaker 1: are sneaking in a little time away before everything gets

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Speaker 1: going again. As a former player, what do you remember

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Speaker 1: most about this time, the summer break right before training camp.

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Speaker 4: Well, it was something that I was always looking forward

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Speaker 4: to because you have an opportunity, opportunity to spend time

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Speaker 4: with your family, take care of the things that you

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Speaker 4: need to take care of, and.

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Speaker 3: Just handle things that you need to handle.

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Speaker 4: But there was also an opportunity to continue to get better.

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Speaker 4: I never stopped training and never stopped working because I

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Speaker 4: was always looking forward to the season and having a

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Speaker 4: trying to have a great season both as a team

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Speaker 4: and individually. So this is definitely the time that I

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Speaker 4: would take to really make sure I can handle certain things.

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Speaker 1: Now that you're retired, it seems as if you have

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Speaker 1: no downtime. You have been full go as a producer, actor, artist,

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Speaker 1: and now a published author post playing career.

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Speaker 2: What drew you to all these creative avenues.

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Speaker 4: I feel like when I was a kid, I was

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Speaker 4: always interested in so many different things, and it probably

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Speaker 4: just transferred over as I continue to get older and

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Speaker 4: just figured the world out and I started to become

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Speaker 4: just fascinated with just the world of art. I was

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Speaker 4: a criminal I was a criminal justice major, but then

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Speaker 4: I switched over to become an art studio major. Then

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Speaker 4: from there, when I arrived in San Francisco, San Jose,

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Speaker 4: I opened up an art gallery and after the art gallery,

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Speaker 4: I took a class at the Shelton Theater of Art

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Speaker 4: downtown San Francisco, and that really that was the catalyst

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Speaker 4: for me to be able to tap into the different

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Speaker 4: different avenues of creativity from acting, television, film, just being

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Speaker 4: creative in general.

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Speaker 3: And I didn't stop. I just continued to pursue it.

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Speaker 1: How did you manage that balance of being a professional

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Speaker 1: football player but still, you know, maybe quietly not so quietly,

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Speaker 1: pursuing these other passions of yours.

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Speaker 3: Well, I feel like when you're playing football, whatever you're doing,

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Speaker 3: if it's.

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Speaker 4: A craft or something that you're truly in love with

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Speaker 4: and you you have to be in order to be great,

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Speaker 4: you have to put the town.

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Speaker 3: And that's how I felt about football.

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Speaker 4: I didn't let anything take me away from what I

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Speaker 4: was trying to accomplish in football. But there's the time,

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Speaker 4: like we just talked about, there's those gaps in between

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Speaker 4: off season for OTAs and and.

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Speaker 3: Postseason.

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Speaker 4: There's there's that space that you can really take time

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Speaker 4: to get better at another craft, right, but then when

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Speaker 4: football comes back into the equation, you.

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Speaker 3: Have to really make sure that you balanced the two.

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Speaker 4: And know how to put certain things on hold, you

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Speaker 4: know what I mean. So you can you can still

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Speaker 4: give time and energy to certain things, but you always

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Speaker 4: want to focus on whatever it is that you're really

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Speaker 4: trying to accomplish, because you can't. It's hard to really

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Speaker 4: do both for a long period. For that period of

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Speaker 4: time its given. So as long as you have that

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Speaker 4: in mind, you know the direction.

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Speaker 1: At what point did becoming an author end up on?

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Speaker 1: Your list of goals to accomplish.

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Speaker 4: Well, it never really being an author never really crossed

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Speaker 4: my mind, never really.

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Speaker 3: Crossed my mind.

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Speaker 4: But I'm big on just taking advantage of today, and

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Speaker 4: I feel like, if tomorrow's I promise, I should really

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Speaker 4: leverage and make sure that I can bring into fruition

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Speaker 4: the things that I really want to happen for myself. So,

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Speaker 4: you know, a lot of people was coming to me

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Speaker 4: and they were saying, Hey, why.

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Speaker 3: Do you want to put a book out now?

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Speaker 4: You should probably wait because there's a lot of things

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Speaker 4: that are going to happen in your life that you're.

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Speaker 3: Not going to expect.

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Speaker 4: I was like, yeah, I understand that, but maybe I'll

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Speaker 4: do another book after that when that happened.

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Speaker 3: But right now, I just want to follow my.

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Speaker 4: Heart, my gut and give inspiration hope to those who

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Speaker 4: need it.

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Speaker 1: That debut book, your memoir Playing Ball Life Lessons from

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Speaker 1: My Journey to the Super Bowl and Beyond, is to

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Speaker 1: release in mid August. So how long has the project

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Speaker 1: been in the works.

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Speaker 4: Oh, the project has been in the works for maybe

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Speaker 4: a year year and a half. It's definitely a tedious process,

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Speaker 4: and I say that because there's so many different things

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Speaker 4: that you have to do when you're writing.

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Speaker 3: You have to go back into your memory book.

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Speaker 4: And face some of the situations that you have to

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Speaker 4: face that you don't want to face, but you have to.

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Speaker 3: You have to relive those moments.

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Speaker 4: Not only that, but you have to there's the editing,

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Speaker 4: there's the there's the.

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Speaker 3: Final draft, there's.

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Speaker 4: The forwards, and you have to think about all the

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Speaker 4: people that you want to get thanks to. And my

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Speaker 4: most memorable experience when writing this when I was writing

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Speaker 4: this book was my experience with Mike Singletary. It was

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Speaker 4: supposed to be a forward, but it ended up being

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Speaker 4: an introduction. He was very It was amazing just hearing

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Speaker 4: from him. I haven't heard from him in a while,

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Speaker 4: but to hear his side of the story of some

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Speaker 4: of the things, the challenges and the great times moments

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Speaker 4: that we had together.

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Speaker 3: It was great to hear and see, especially see it

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Speaker 3: come about in the book.

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Speaker 1: That press conference with Mike Singletary was kind of infamous

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Speaker 1: in its time, but when you look at it with

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Speaker 1: the lens of you know, a decade later, more than

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Speaker 1: a decade later, how does that situation play out a

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Speaker 1: little differently now in twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I've talked about it so much.

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Speaker 3: I've talked about it.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, a lot of people remember it, and then there's

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Speaker 4: some people that, Well, there's people who remember it vividly,

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Speaker 4: and then there's some people who vaguely remember, but when

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Speaker 4: you bring it back into the forefront, they're.

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Speaker 3: Like, oh, yeah, I remember that. I remember that.

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Speaker 4: But that moment was a special moment for me because

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Speaker 4: every young athlete coming into any situation, and for me

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Speaker 4: it was coming into the NFL, I needed that father figure.

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Speaker 4: I needed that that mentor, and Mike Singletary was that

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Speaker 4: mentor for me, and I did see a significance improvement

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Speaker 4: in my play and my ability to be able to

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Speaker 4: help lead the team after we had after we had

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Speaker 4: that moment, that moment, and I'm very related to have

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Speaker 4: had that because I feel like it was that was

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Speaker 4: the that was something that really helped me find myself and.

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Speaker 3: I can always relive it.

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Speaker 4: I can go back to that moment, and I was

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Speaker 4: able to take something from it.

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Speaker 3: And what I took from that is how to be

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Speaker 3: able to.

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Speaker 4: Become self blessed right, And that's what That's what I

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Speaker 4: take with me and everything that I do in business

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Speaker 4: and acting, just everything.

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Speaker 3: So I'm very grateful for that moment.

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Speaker 1: That's definitely one of the big moments that is more

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Speaker 1: public in your career. But as you mentioned, you're re

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Speaker 1: examining a fourteen year NFL journey as you were walking

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Speaker 1: down memory lane, what else did you rediscover?

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Speaker 2: What other big moments?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think just reliving those moments just

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Speaker 4: just take me back to just the glory days of

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Speaker 4: you know, during my time with the forty nine ers,

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Speaker 4: because you go from well not just the glory days,

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Speaker 4: but the moments where we struggled so much. I mean,

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Speaker 4: we were just trying to find a way to be

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Speaker 4: able to win, and we just we just didn't get there.

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Speaker 4: But we had faith. We knew that at some point

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Speaker 4: we were going to have a breakthrough. And that breakthrough

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Speaker 4: came when our coach Harbaugh came on board. And I

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Speaker 4: remember when we played the same and that catch I

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Speaker 4: made to catch three. Some call it the burning posts,

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Speaker 4: but those tiers that I shared were those were the tears.

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Speaker 4: Those were tiers of joy.

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Speaker 3: You know, all the.

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Speaker 4: Sacrifice, the hard work, the dedication being drafted and coming

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Speaker 4: into the NFL and go and having the moments with

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Speaker 4: coach Singretary, losing so many games and.

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Speaker 3: Trying to figure it out.

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Speaker 4: But that moment, that catch, that game winning catch, was

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Speaker 4: what it was about, you know it was It was

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Speaker 4: just a great feeling being able to find a way,

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Speaker 4: not just for me, but for the fans, for the

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Speaker 4: for the for the organization, for my family. It just

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Speaker 4: meant so much. So that's what those tears are. So

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Speaker 4: it made me go back to those those days and

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Speaker 4: just reminiscing, reminiscing and just just ponder on those special

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Speaker 4: moments for.

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Speaker 1: Our viewers and listeners. It may not have seen that

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Speaker 1: in real time. It was third and three four, two

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Speaker 1: seconds left on the clock. Alex Smith throws you a ball,

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Speaker 1: catch it in the end zone. Where does that catch

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Speaker 1: three rank in your list of memorable plays?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 4: The catree, Oh the castree is probably the most memorable

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Speaker 4: moment that I've ever had. I'm taking that with me

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Speaker 4: for the rest of my life. I'm taking it to

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Speaker 4: my grave, like I love it.

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Speaker 3: I love it.

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Speaker 4: It's just it's just such a highlight, major highlight of

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Speaker 4: my life, and it's something that I always talk about

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Speaker 4: and share.

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Speaker 3: I share it with my kids.

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Speaker 4: They'll relive that moment and they'll use it as motivation

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Speaker 4: for themselves.

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Speaker 3: So it's a great thing.

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Speaker 2: Did you get to keep the game ball from that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I got the game ball. I got everything. I've got

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Speaker 4: highlights in the basement.

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Speaker 3: I got it all. Now I got all kinds of stuff.

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Speaker 2: Love that.

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Speaker 1: Just one more question about playball. It's got a little

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Speaker 1: bit of everything, right, reflection, advice, it's a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a tell all. What's one thing that you hope

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Speaker 1: readers walk away with after finishing your book.

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Speaker 4: Well, I hope readers see that it wasn't even though

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Speaker 4: I was, even though I was at the top of

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Speaker 4: Even though I was, I did some great things in football, right,

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Speaker 4: but all there was also challenges that I had to

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Speaker 4: face a lot of challenges, not just not just having

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Speaker 4: to get better, right, but there was also moments in

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Speaker 4: my life where I felt like I was.

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Speaker 3: I just couldn't do it anymore.

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Speaker 4: Right, There's many moments in the book where I just

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Speaker 4: couldn't do it anymore. But I was able to stand

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Speaker 4: strong and keep my faith in and believe in myself.

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Speaker 3: Like, without belief, you have nothing.

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Speaker 4: And I want people to know that, Like, if you

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Speaker 4: don't believe in yourself, and you don't have just a

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Speaker 4: little bit of faith, you're not going to succeed in anything.

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Speaker 4: And a lot of people fall short because they lose that.

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Speaker 4: And I want them to see that who I am,

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Speaker 4: I'm just like them. There's no difference between human beings

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Speaker 4: when it comes to being low and trying to get

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Speaker 4: back to that high point. So we all found ourselves

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Speaker 4: there at some moment, some point in time, but we

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Speaker 4: all need the motivation. And that's what my book is

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Speaker 4: all about, showing them that I'm just a normal human being,

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Speaker 4: just like them.

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Speaker 1: Kind of working in tandem with your personal story, was

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Speaker 1: like you mentioned this build up for the Niners from

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Speaker 1: the late two thousands to the twenty tens. How did

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Speaker 1: that group really come together in twenty eleven, twenty twelve,

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Speaker 1: twenty thirteen to have that heyday of that decade.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, if you look back, like a lot of the

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Speaker 4: players that we had when we were losing, when I

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Speaker 4: first came in in two thousand and six, we had

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Speaker 4: some of the same players, Like there's Patrick Willis, Joe

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Speaker 4: Staley and my Brooks, Justin Smith, Frank Gore. I mean,

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Speaker 4: I can keep on name it, but a lot of

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Speaker 4: those players were still there. I think we just what

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Speaker 4: happened was is when you find there's different ways coaches

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Speaker 4: have different ways of being able to get to the

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Speaker 4: players and get them to put everything in there one

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Speaker 4: hundred and ten percent right, and they create an environment,

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Speaker 4: a culture where we're expected to do the right thing

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Speaker 4: all the time. We're expected to be a family, we're

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Speaker 4: expected to hold each other accountable, right, And sometimes you

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Speaker 4: need that conductor and a coach to change the narrative

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Speaker 4: and to change like the perspective of what we're trying

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Speaker 4: to do and what we're trying to accomplish. And when

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Speaker 4: that happens, all of the players, I mean, we had

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Speaker 4: some great players, but unless you have those little details

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Speaker 4: and those little piece, those little fun pieces, you can't

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Speaker 4: tell your story and the way you want to want

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Speaker 4: to tell it right. So when that happened, we were

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Speaker 4: able to put it all together and become that team

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Speaker 4: that we were destined to be.

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Speaker 3: That's what you saw.

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Speaker 1: You talk about that culture being established, that really big

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Speaker 1: attention to detail. I'd argue that's very similar to what's

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Speaker 1: currently happening at the Niners. What similarities do you see

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Speaker 1: between those amazing teams of the early twenty tens to

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Speaker 1: really the last five years in recent history of this organization.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, So the teams that I see right now, I mean,

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Speaker 4: these guys you can tell that they're family, that they're

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Speaker 4: playing together, they're one, they're happy, they're excited to get.

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Speaker 3: Up in the morning go into that building.

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Speaker 4: Like it's a different story when you wake up in

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Speaker 4: the morning, you don't want to go into go to work.

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Speaker 4: Like these guys there, you could tell they want to

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Speaker 4: go to work, they want to put the time in

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Speaker 4: to be a great team.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you can see it. You know.

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Speaker 4: I played on teams where I mean you walk, I

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Speaker 4: mean it was like you just didn't want to be there.

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Speaker 4: I mean, the energy was just so negative. But these

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Speaker 4: guys that they're happy, they're excited, and they're playing to win,

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Speaker 4: and they're taking it one day at a time. And

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Speaker 4: that's and that's what you want. That's what I see

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Speaker 4: out of these guys. That's why they're having success, that's

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Speaker 4: why they're being consistent. And the organization, the upper management there,

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Speaker 4: they're perfect. They're perfect, they're they're line perfectly. Jay York

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Speaker 4: did a wonderful thing putting all those those different, putting

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Speaker 4: all the different people together to make something whole.

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Speaker 3: So I love it.

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Speaker 1: Last couple of years in particular, have been very good

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Speaker 1: for the forty nine ers offense, top five offense in

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Speaker 1: the league back to back years. What else do you

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Speaker 1: see ahead of them for twenty twenty four. In order

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Speaker 1: to continue to evolve and stay at.

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Speaker 3: The top, I think you don't think. I don't. I

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Speaker 3: don't think you changed.

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Speaker 4: I mean, of course you always want to change and evolve,

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Speaker 4: But I mean whatever it is that they're doing and

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Speaker 4: they've been doing, it's there.

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Speaker 3: It's just right. So all they need to do is

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Speaker 3: just build on what they have.

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Speaker 4: Like if they can do that, guys can have the

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Speaker 4: same attitude, same approach, and continue to stay selfless and

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Speaker 4: play as a team offensively, defensively, special teams. I think

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Speaker 4: they can really continue to pull some great things off,

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Speaker 4: especially when it comes to to winning a championship. I

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Speaker 4: mean they've been very close numerous times. So it's all

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Speaker 4: about just adding bringing more players in playmakers to add

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Speaker 4: to what they already have. I mean, they got a

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Speaker 4: great nucleus. Just continue to stay consistent and play together

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Speaker 4: play to win.

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Speaker 1: One of those key playmakers happens to be a tight end.

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Speaker 1: Where's your former number eighty five, George Kittle? Just how

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Speaker 1: proud are you to see just that tight end position

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Speaker 1: continuing to be prominent in you know, this twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: era and just another star really putting the Niners on

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Speaker 1: the map for great tight ends.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I love George.

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Speaker 4: I think you know, I've spent a great deal of

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Speaker 4: time with George and he's just a He's a wonderful

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Speaker 4: human being. I think he's the He's the ultimate pro

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Speaker 4: just in the way that he when I when I

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Speaker 4: look at players, I look at you know. You know,

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Speaker 4: I played fourteen years and I never had surgery. I've

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Speaker 4: always taken care of my body and that's the biggest

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Speaker 4: thing that like, that's that's how you achieve an ample

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Speaker 4: amount of success, is when you're able to stay on

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Speaker 4: the field and stay away from the doctor, right, And

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Speaker 4: he's doing that. I mean he does yoga with his dad.

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Speaker 4: I mean, he's always he's big about taking care of

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Speaker 4: When I'm talking to him, like, wow, this guy's just

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Speaker 4: like me. He's doing everything that I did well and more.

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Speaker 4: I Mean he's big on taking care of his pipe.

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Speaker 4: And that's why he's having a success that he's having.

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Speaker 4: He understands the importance of self care right when it

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Speaker 4: comes to body and being able to be there for

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Speaker 4: the team. So, you know, I'm proud of them, happy

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Speaker 4: for them, and I wishing nothing but the best. He's

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Speaker 4: doing a heck of a job.

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Speaker 1: He's the head of a tight end room that got

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Speaker 1: a decent amount of restructure the soft season, reagent additions

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Speaker 1: and undrafted for agents have been added. What's the key

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Speaker 1: in bringing a really young new group together like that

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Speaker 1: when you've got one strong better at anchor.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it.

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Speaker 4: Makes it easier when you have a strong anchor just

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Speaker 4: from the tight end tight end standpoint, or any position,

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Speaker 4: because the younger guys can come in they have something

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Speaker 4: to look look to. It costs a lot of It

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Speaker 4: would cost a lot of money for someone to be

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Speaker 4: able to get information and pick the brains of a

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Speaker 4: player like that. Right, That's that's expensive. So they have

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Speaker 4: something that's right there in front of them. I mean,

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Speaker 4: it's low hanging fruit. So why not absorb that information?

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Speaker 4: Why not use that to really add to your craft

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Speaker 4: and continue to get better. It's great, you know, and

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Speaker 4: those younger guys.

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Speaker 3: They're the future.

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Speaker 4: So as George continues to grow and as he gets

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Speaker 4: older and he winds down on his career, those guys

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Speaker 4: can step in and feel the board. But it's gonna

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Speaker 4: be a huge boy for them to feel because you know,

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Speaker 4: he's a heck of a player.

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Speaker 1: Like I said before, Vernon, before we get to our

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Speaker 1: fans submitted questions, We've got a word from our sponsor, Niners.

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00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,600
Speaker 1: Protect your teeth and your budget with dental plans from

368
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:30,200
Speaker 1: Delta Dental. Get fumble free dental coverage today. So, Vernon,

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00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,679
Speaker 1: We've got a few fan submitted questions for you, and

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Speaker 1: that's kind of how we do this last portion of

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Speaker 1: the podcast. This one's from Carlos Hutchinson. He said, so,

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Speaker 1: how did you adjust to your first year out of

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Speaker 1: the league after a fourteen season career?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, my first year? So what I did?

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Speaker 4: I was already I was pretty much prepared for some

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Speaker 4: of the things that I wanted to do, and which

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Speaker 4: was having an acting career. I knew right right away

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Speaker 4: the direction that I wanted to go. So I was

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Speaker 4: as soon as I retired and I knew I was

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Speaker 4: walking away, I stepped right into the next thing. So

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Speaker 4: I think it's I think it's imperative to know to

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Speaker 4: do the things that you want to do. Like I

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Speaker 4: was talking about doing the off season on that space,

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Speaker 4: that you have to start doing those things because you

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00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,240
Speaker 4: can roll right into it when you're done playing. Have

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Speaker 4: something that you know you could be passionate about, or

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Speaker 4: something that you want to do, so that you don't

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Speaker 4: have to have to play a game of guessing, Okay,

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Speaker 4: what do I do next?

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Speaker 2: Stay busy, stay right, stay busy.

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Speaker 3: That's right, that's right.

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Speaker 1: This one's from Janet and Santa Clara. How great is

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Speaker 1: it to see your former teammate Patrick Willis set to

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Speaker 1: enter the Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 4: I'm so excited for Patrick. Patrick deserves it. Playing with

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Speaker 4: that guy for so many years. It's just to see

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Speaker 4: the hard work and dedication he put into the football field,

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Speaker 4: and too just being great. It's an honor to be

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Speaker 4: able to say that I was his teammate. So I'm

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00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 4: extremely happy for he. If anybody deserves it, he deserves

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Speaker 4: it for sure.

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Speaker 1: And burning your first year of eligibility is coming up

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Speaker 1: in a year, So what would the significance of a nomination.

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Speaker 3: Be to you? Yeah, being nominated for Hall of fame.

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Speaker 3: It's cool.

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Speaker 4: I mean you, you know, I just think it's it's everyone,

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Speaker 4: well not everyone, but it's just one of those things,

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Speaker 4: being recognized for your work that you put in.

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Speaker 3: It's always great.

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Speaker 4: And my grandmother used to tell me all the time,

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Speaker 4: she said, always be grateful for the little things. So

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Speaker 4: whether I get in or not, it's always you always

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Speaker 4: be thankful for those things because bigger things will always

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Speaker 4: come for you.

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Speaker 3: And whatever it is.

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Speaker 4: But it's just, you know, I'm related to be able

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Speaker 4: to be in that consideration.

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Speaker 1: Forty nine ers talk had one and this is the

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Speaker 1: last one. Who is your favorite player on the current roster?

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Speaker 3: Oh? My favorite player? I'm gonna have to say, George

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Speaker 3: kill That's my guy. I like people. I like people.

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Speaker 4: I like Deepo, Samrews though he's a he's ad awesome playmaker.

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Speaker 4: Trip Williams is my guy because we played in Washington together.

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Speaker 4: But I love Trent, but George is my guy.

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Speaker 5: Is there anybody on the defensive side of the ball

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Speaker 5: you would hate going up against? Yeah there's a few, probably.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, there's a lot of I don't pray Boson.

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Speaker 2: Yeah that's a tough one.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, that's a tough. I don't want to go

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Speaker 3: against him. Yeah, I'm not going against that guy. Man,

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Speaker 3: that guy. Wow, I didn't like going up against Yeah.

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Speaker 4: I didn't like going up against those guys on the

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Speaker 4: on the front line like that.

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Speaker 3: That was Yeah, something about those guys. They gotta good tough.

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Speaker 2: Well, thank you, thanks so much for your time.

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Speaker 1: Vernon faithful to be featured in the next episode of

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00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:04,679
Speaker 1: The forty nine Ers.

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00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 2: You've Got Mail Podcasts presented by Delta Dental.

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00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,240
Speaker 1: Submit your questions to forty nine Ers YouTube community page,

440
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,119
Speaker 1: and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on Apple

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00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,359
Speaker 1: Podcasts and Spotify so you can be

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Speaker 2: The first to listen to our latest episodes.