Speaker 1: It's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends
Speaker 1: Christian Balboni, Will Bryant, and Darren Gap And welcome to
Speaker 1: the Happy Half Hour podcast for super Bowl Week. And
Speaker 1: I would ordinarily say it's two thirds less happy because
Speaker 1: both Kristen Balboni and Will Brian our own special assignment
Speaker 1: this week. I think Will's out trying to get himself
Speaker 1: on the Swiss Olympic team or something at the moment.
Speaker 1: But we got special guest baby, and they are special. Indeed,
Speaker 1: I have called in the big guns for Super Bowl Week,
Speaker 1: none other than Panthers legend Brad Hoover. Brad, how are you? Man?
Speaker 1: I'm all right right out of the top. When you
Speaker 1: walk through the Harris teeter, do people see you and go?
Speaker 1: Who know? Most people have no clue, which is great.
Speaker 1: I found that impossible to believe. I mean, somebody who
Speaker 1: played here as long as you did, you know, to
Speaker 1: to be able to walk around in anonymity is that
Speaker 1: a real thing? It is? Uh. What's even funnier is
Speaker 1: my my oldest daughter had jersey Day yesterday and I
Speaker 1: asked her how it went. She wore my my old jersey,
Speaker 1: and nobody believed that I was her dad, which is
Speaker 1: even funnier. Oh man, this man had a long NFL career.
Speaker 1: How many years? Ten years? I mean, that's one of
Speaker 1: the most amazing things, Brad. I mean, when the average
Speaker 1: and length of a career is less than four seasons,
Speaker 1: to be able to get ten out of it is
Speaker 1: just amazing. I mean, and you know, a testament to
Speaker 1: your work ethic to your talent as well. And I
Speaker 1: kind of tease you a lot of times about that talent.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're you're still one of Jackson County Community
Speaker 1: College's greatest athletes of all time. Um, that's Western Carolina
Speaker 1: for you if you're not familiar. But Brad all So
Speaker 1: has the great distinction in Western Carolina football history of
Speaker 1: actually beating Appalachian State one time. So it didn't happen often,
Speaker 1: but Brad made it happen. So now it was a
Speaker 1: good time. You're right, it doesn't happen very often, but
Speaker 1: I got to enjoy it one time, and uh, I
Speaker 1: have a lot of time memories of it, no doubt,
Speaker 1: no doubt. Well, listen, no one had start off the
Speaker 1: show just kind of talking to you about your role
Speaker 1: and your your title here with the Panthers. Alumni affairs
Speaker 1: in turn. And I mean, just if you could kind
Speaker 1: of walk us through a how you came to be
Speaker 1: back with the organization and be what you do in
Speaker 1: the alumni affairs department. Uh, well, how I got back
Speaker 1: to the organization. UM, I really didn't think I would
Speaker 1: probably step back in this building, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: other than visiting. And um, you know, between Riley Fields
Speaker 1: and David Monroe, which is two guys that have been
Speaker 1: around here for a long long time and that I
Speaker 1: have good relationships with, they kind of proposed this idea
Speaker 1: of you know, bringing a player back in to help
Speaker 1: with the alumni fair side of of the table within
Speaker 1: the organization, and you know, I thought about it for
Speaker 1: a little while, and you know, I was like, I
Speaker 1: could do this. I mean, I've got a lot of
Speaker 1: good connections with guys not that I play with, but
Speaker 1: also guys before me and a few guys after me.
Speaker 1: So like, uh, trying to bridge that gap between you know,
Speaker 1: as a former player, of bringing guys back, keeping guys
Speaker 1: in the loop. And uh, you know, it's nice to
Speaker 1: be back in the building and it's been really nice
Speaker 1: to catch up with some guys. What what kind of
Speaker 1: stuff are you trying to keep guys connected for Because
Speaker 1: I was having a conversation with Steve Smith's several weeks
Speaker 1: back and he talked about when he went to Baltimore,
Speaker 1: he realized, then, Okay, you see old guys walk through
Speaker 1: the building. You see former players always there, and it
Speaker 1: makes a difference in terms of not just the business
Speaker 1: side and keeping fans engaged and that kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: but really even down into the locker room, I mean,
Speaker 1: what do you what do you guys hope to do.
Speaker 1: What's kind of the goal of keeping guys connected? Well,
Speaker 1: I think the big thing is is for me is
Speaker 1: just to re engage with these guys and let them
Speaker 1: know that A I don't want anything from you. All
Speaker 1: I want to do is be able to help you
Speaker 1: and whatever way being able to help you. I know,
Speaker 1: for me personally, when I've kind of retired from football
Speaker 1: and walked away, you know their benefits out there and
Speaker 1: and stuff that the league does, but you have no
Speaker 1: clue of what it is. And for me, I had
Speaker 1: no no one to really rely on. So it was
Speaker 1: just kind of through trial and there that I found
Speaker 1: a lot of these things and so really sharing that
Speaker 1: experience of you know in in the league, the different
Speaker 1: programs that the NFL has and two former players and
Speaker 1: that could benefit former players falls in a lot of
Speaker 1: buckets now, whereas there there weren't maybe ten twelve years
Speaker 1: years ago. And so you know, just keeping people and
Speaker 1: you know informed and bolbed and just know that I'm
Speaker 1: here as a liaison to try to help guide them
Speaker 1: on the right path. I've never claimed to have all
Speaker 1: the answers, nor am I ever going to, but like,
Speaker 1: if I can help in any way, that's kind of
Speaker 1: my role here, right, That's cool. How many guys would
Speaker 1: you say, in a regular week you have contact with
Speaker 1: our email or talk to on the phone. Ah, It varies.
Speaker 1: It really depends on what we're trying to get accomplished.
Speaker 1: I mean, if it's a low week, I'm I'm just
Speaker 1: trying to check in on guys. You know, it might
Speaker 1: be in season or an off season that we're looking
Speaker 1: for guys for events. So I'm definitely having more contact
Speaker 1: to try to get them to commit to something. But
Speaker 1: I don't say there's a set number. It's just it's
Speaker 1: just good to connect when we do connect, right, And
Speaker 1: I know I mean, for instance, I mean Greg Olsen
Speaker 1: is always around here doing events, you know, charity events.
Speaker 1: He's one of the more visible alumni around here. And
Speaker 1: I know it's great having a guy like Greg around
Speaker 1: the organization. And I mean, what are you kind of
Speaker 1: what's the goal in your mind in terms of keeping
Speaker 1: these guys connected. I mean, is it you know, just
Speaker 1: showing the community, keeping everybody mindful of the guys who
Speaker 1: used to be here, reaching out. What's what's kind of
Speaker 1: your vision of it. I think it's a little bit
Speaker 1: of both. Uh, you know, guys who have spent all
Speaker 1: you know, i'd say a good portion of their careers
Speaker 1: here in some way somehow, and uh, just showing that
Speaker 1: that there's somebody with this organization that has been in
Speaker 1: their same spot, you know, in a locker room and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, on a game field and just say hey,
Speaker 1: I'm here to help. And you know, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of guys that call Charlotte home and you know, do
Speaker 1: a lot of good things. And so it's it's just
Speaker 1: trying to keep communication lines going. I don't think we
Speaker 1: won't anything from these guys other than hey, how can
Speaker 1: we help you? What can we do to kind of
Speaker 1: facilitate things between the wordization than you and just you know,
Speaker 1: just be there as a liaison to help them in
Speaker 1: some way. Got so cool. And like I said, I
Speaker 1: do think it's it's neat for an organization, you know,
Speaker 1: to realize that it is beyond the scope of one
Speaker 1: season or any any particular. You know, seasons are gonna
Speaker 1: go up, seasons are gonna go down. But you know,
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers are always going to have a Brad Hoover.
Speaker 1: The Carolina Panthers are always going to have a Steve
Speaker 1: Smith or a Checked Along and those kind of guys.
Speaker 1: And and I think it's cool having that connection because
Speaker 1: it does bridge the generations and you know, their kids
Speaker 1: growing up. We've kind of hit the point where there
Speaker 1: are generations of Panthers fans and people who grew up
Speaker 1: watching Brad Hoover, you know, and that's pretty cool to
Speaker 1: think about. You know, really when the organizations as young
Speaker 1: as this one is. Yeah, and I wouldn't say I mean,
Speaker 1: I know we're still young, but we're over twenty five years.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's hard to believe back. You know, I
Speaker 1: started my career two thousand five years in so I
Speaker 1: mean the organization, John, I'm old you're You're slightly less
Speaker 1: old than me, Brad, but still very still occupying a
Speaker 1: vital role. I think here in the organization, it's cool
Speaker 1: having you back in the building. It's it's just neat
Speaker 1: being able to walk down the hall and seeing intern
Speaker 1: Brad as I like to tease him, you know, sitting
Speaker 1: at his desk. I mean, it's it brings back a
Speaker 1: lot of memories on a regular basis. Speaking of memories,
Speaker 1: it's Super Bowl week. You played in one of those,
Speaker 1: didn't you. I did. I did have fund memories of
Speaker 1: the OH three you and really OH four super Bowl,
Speaker 1: so pretty cool. I was mentioning this in in a
Speaker 1: piece I've written for the mail Bag that we're gonna
Speaker 1: run later on today, which you should absolutely read on
Speaker 1: Panthers dot com. But I talked about how in that game,
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati team right now kind of reminds me of
Speaker 1: you guys, because a you weren't supposed to be there.
Speaker 1: Be you had kind of struggled a couple of years
Speaker 1: leading into it and turned things around quickly. But I
Speaker 1: remember in OH three, there was there was no sense
Speaker 1: among you guys that you weren't supposed to be there.
Speaker 1: There was kind of an earned confidence that you guys
Speaker 1: build up along the course of that season. When was
Speaker 1: the moment when you kind of figured out, hey, this
Speaker 1: team might actually be pretty good. Huh, that's a good question. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I I think for us, we it
Speaker 1: was a combination a lot of things. I mean, and
Speaker 1: I look at each NFL season like, you have to
Speaker 1: stay healthy, you gotta be a little lucky, and you
Speaker 1: gotta be good. Um. And in particularly that team probably
Speaker 1: wasn't the most talented team I've ever played on, but
Speaker 1: we kind of hit that. You know, there's three things
Speaker 1: at the right time. And uh, you know, I think once,
Speaker 1: I think it's like every year, once you get into
Speaker 1: the playoffs, you got a chance. And for us, it
Speaker 1: was just yeah, because I was on you know, a
Speaker 1: two thousand team that would it was okay, oh one
Speaker 1: team it was horrible. Um, and I don't mean horrible
Speaker 1: in a lot bad way before horrible from a record standpoint,
Speaker 1: one fifteen that counts bright and and then two thousand
Speaker 1: two you're kind of building to it, and then two
Speaker 1: three we just took off. And I'd say about halfway,
Speaker 1: a little over halfway through the season, you starting to
Speaker 1: feel Okay, we're starting to put this together. Uh, and
Speaker 1: then it just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling. Then
Speaker 1: you get into the playoffs and you win pivotal games
Speaker 1: and you're like, holy smokes, were good. We just gotta
Speaker 1: keep it going. And we we wrote it all the
Speaker 1: way to the Super Bowl. Yeah, one of the things
Speaker 1: that happened along the way. And and I wanted to
Speaker 1: kind of get your memories of it because it was
Speaker 1: such a kind of cornerstone moment for the franchise before
Speaker 1: that Dallas playoff game when when Sam Mills gathers the
Speaker 1: team up out on the practice field day before the
Speaker 1: game and of the speech, the keep pounding speech. I mean, hey,
Speaker 1: what do you remember about that day? And be did
Speaker 1: you realize what you were hearing when you heard it?
Speaker 1: I think looking back now you appreciate it more. At
Speaker 1: the time, you're just kind of going, Okay, I know
Speaker 1: what this. You know this guy, that um, that coach Mills,
Speaker 1: And that's how I respond to him. But that as
Speaker 1: a player and a coach for us, what's going through
Speaker 1: We knew what he was going through, but not to
Speaker 1: the extent of you know, the keep pounding matra and uh,
Speaker 1: kind of that mantra become the rallying cry for this organization.
Speaker 1: At the time, I don't think you experienced that, but
Speaker 1: looking back, you go, holy smokes. You know, I got
Speaker 1: to sit in firsthand on an experience that not many
Speaker 1: people got to experience, and uh, you know, I really
Speaker 1: think that was kind of the the rallying cry for
Speaker 1: us that year, was you know, fighting now only for
Speaker 1: ourselves and professionally, but also for an organization. And then
Speaker 1: coach Mills and himself um to motivate. And one of
Speaker 1: the things players who were there have told me was
Speaker 1: that they were kind of impressed. I mean, Sam Mills
Speaker 1: is continuing to coach while going through cancer treatments and
Speaker 1: you guys knew that. It wasn't a secret or anything.
Speaker 1: But several guys have told me over the years that
Speaker 1: Sam's big thing was he never wanted to make it
Speaker 1: about himself. And and how do you how does that
Speaker 1: come across? I mean, how is that delivered in terms
Speaker 1: of you know, here's what I'm going through, put and
Speaker 1: putting it into the context for the team to become
Speaker 1: kind of a motivational message as opposed to poor me,
Speaker 1: and I don't you know, for me I look back
Speaker 1: at it, and it's it's just Sam being real. I mean,
Speaker 1: just you know, because I I look at football teams
Speaker 1: like extended families. I mean, we're around each other more
Speaker 1: than we are our family sometimes, and you know, he
Speaker 1: was just being honest with us and upfront with us,
Speaker 1: and you know, and and really telling us how he felt,
Speaker 1: and for us as family members or team members to
Speaker 1: kind of rally around that. That's that's what I remember
Speaker 1: about it is you know, you never saw him walking.
Speaker 1: You never saw him philossur for himself. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was running somewhere. He was always positive, and you know,
Speaker 1: I've never met a guy that was kind of going
Speaker 1: through the situations that he's going through. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I would feel that way. I would, you know.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say I feel sorry for myself,
Speaker 1: but I don't know if I would be in a
Speaker 1: jovial mood all the time. And you never saw him not.
Speaker 1: He cared more about others than he did himself sometimes,
Speaker 1: And I think that's important to be recognized. Is in
Speaker 1: society this day and age, that doesn't always happen. No,
Speaker 1: it does not. And that was a special time, you guys,
Speaker 1: thus inspired continued that run all the way to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl. We're down in Houston, it's Super Bowl thirty
Speaker 1: eight and here come the New England Patriots. Are Are
Speaker 1: there things that stand out in your memory now that
Speaker 1: about the week leading up to the game, the setting,
Speaker 1: the scene, all the extra stuff that goes with being
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl. H I mean, it's just foreign
Speaker 1: to a lot of us at the time. That's you know,
Speaker 1: whereas uh, you know, New England and had already kind
Speaker 1: of cause you know, they've been there, so they had
Speaker 1: some experience with it. For us, it was just it
Speaker 1: was kind of like going on I don't want to
Speaker 1: say a field trip, because it wasn't it was a
Speaker 1: business trip, but like it was just new fun experience
Speaker 1: and we were kind of you get caught taking it
Speaker 1: in sometimes. Um, you know, just how the Super Bowl structured.
Speaker 1: You know, you go from N season, preseason, n season
Speaker 1: to even playoff games. You're you're I have have one day before,
Speaker 1: two days before, depending on location, super Bowl, you're there
Speaker 1: a week until you're living there. You're you know, it's
Speaker 1: a different environment. Media's constantly involved, where you don't you
Speaker 1: you dealt with media on a daily basis. Uh, in season,
Speaker 1: but you know, you weren't dealing in national media. It's
Speaker 1: one thing having me wandering around the locker room. It's
Speaker 1: another thing having a couple of thousand of my friends
Speaker 1: coming with me. Bra Yeah, yes, sabotage, right, But I
Speaker 1: mean it was a cool experience. It's just it's just
Speaker 1: it's a break or where all creatures that have it.
Speaker 1: So like the players, I think we like consistency, and
Speaker 1: that breaks it for you, you know, because it brings
Speaker 1: in a different environment. As far as the game itself,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think as time passes and you look
Speaker 1: back on it now, you realize if you were there
Speaker 1: or you saw that game, that was one of the
Speaker 1: great Super Bowls ever. I mean, people might not necessarily
Speaker 1: think about the Carolina Panthers being involved one of the
Speaker 1: NFL's all time games, but that was a great game.
Speaker 1: Back and forth, scoreless first quarter, slow starting, boom slow,
Speaker 1: third quarter boom, and that fourth quarter was just back
Speaker 1: and forth. What's it like for you guys when you're
Speaker 1: in the middle of it and going through that game
Speaker 1: against a guy who has done it before, and Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: well he's done a lot a lot after that, so
Speaker 1: you know, it's hard to say, but you know, for me,
Speaker 1: I've never been a person who has got real nervous
Speaker 1: about games. And I remember that game specifically like almost
Speaker 1: hyper ventilating the whole first quarter. I mean, you just
Speaker 1: right that there's that much of an emphasis put on this,
Speaker 1: and it could change the way this team was viewed,
Speaker 1: the way you, as a player of his viewed, you know,
Speaker 1: have winning one and you know, just being extreme and
Speaker 1: nervous and then you kind of settle, in which I
Speaker 1: think that's how the game played out. It is kind
Speaker 1: of how we were riding the high or dealing with circumstances,
Speaker 1: uh that we were all kind of nervous and then
Speaker 1: had to calm down. And when we calmed down, it's
Speaker 1: kind of when we hit our stride. And it was
Speaker 1: back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and
Speaker 1: unfortunately at the very end it was just wasn't our time.
Speaker 1: But I felt like that day it could have been
Speaker 1: coin flip. It could have gone either way, and unfortunately
Speaker 1: we didn't. What one more minute on the clock, a
Speaker 1: little more time, you know, any anything. There were so
Speaker 1: many points in that game where it could have broke
Speaker 1: either way, and and it does. It does amaze me
Speaker 1: sometimes when you think back on it, just how close
Speaker 1: you guys were too pulling off not what would have
Speaker 1: necessarily been an upset because the way we think about
Speaker 1: the Patriots now, it wasn't necessarily that way then. But
Speaker 1: you know, looking back on it now, after that guy
Speaker 1: stacks up another five super Bowls after that one. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just insane to realize, but one of one of
Speaker 1: the classic games of all time. Are there any other
Speaker 1: memories you have of whether it's that we can Houston
Speaker 1: the game itself, that are always going to stand out
Speaker 1: to you? Uh, there's always parts of my career that,
Speaker 1: um you know, somebody asked me what are the three
Speaker 1: things you remember about your career? And you know, definitely
Speaker 1: Super Bowl is is one of those. I have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to play in the Super Bowl and I had,
Speaker 1: you know, come close to playing another, but I only
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to playing one, and I remember that. Um,
Speaker 1: then it's how on my list? Um? Yeah. The other
Speaker 1: one is probably my rookie season, the Green Bay game.
Speaker 1: That's probably one thing that good or bad. I think
Speaker 1: it kept me around for my career. And uh so
Speaker 1: it's when I remember a lot and kind of look
Speaker 1: back on. And the third is the year that both
Speaker 1: Jonathan and D'Angelo both went over eleven or yards. Those
Speaker 1: are kind of my three highlights of the career. Was
Speaker 1: Super Bowl being the one up top. Pretty good highlights.
Speaker 1: Pretty good highlights for an undrafted rookie who defied every
Speaker 1: odd to get I mean, and I do, I I
Speaker 1: say this, and and we kind of joke about it sometimes, Brad.
Speaker 1: But the most impressive thing to me is a guy
Speaker 1: who can play in the league in ten years or
Speaker 1: four ten years, because anybody can have talent, but you
Speaker 1: can be unlucky, you can get in a bad situation.
Speaker 1: But no matter if you're a first round pick, a
Speaker 1: seventh round pick, undrafted, to make it in the NFL
Speaker 1: ten years is an incredible testament. And I think your
Speaker 1: work ethic and what you put into the game and
Speaker 1: your passion for it is a lot of that. I mean,
Speaker 1: nobody was more passionate on the sidelines, nobody, and nobody
Speaker 1: was more prepared, and nobody worked at it the way
Speaker 1: you did. But uh, it's an incredible achievement. Um. Wanted
Speaker 1: to take us out on a little bit lighter note.
Speaker 1: Wanted to ask you Super Bowl questions? Do you have
Speaker 1: parties to watch the Super Bowl? Are you a guy
Speaker 1: who watches the game by yourself? I don't say I'm
Speaker 1: I'm a big party guy. Um, I have been, and
Speaker 1: I don't say I'll watch it by myself. But I've
Speaker 1: always watched football differently than maybe a fan watches for
Speaker 1: so I'm watching the little things that make difference. So
Speaker 1: even when I'm watching the game, even if people are around,
Speaker 1: I'm kind of glued in. I might be paying attention
Speaker 1: to a conversation, but I'm still looking at it and
Speaker 1: and viewing it in a different light than maybe other people.
Speaker 1: What's the perfect football food for Brad Hoover? Ah, that's hard.
Speaker 1: I don't't say the perfect football food, but like, uh,
Speaker 1: the food I what I love my wife to fit.
Speaker 1: So I call it liquid gold. But it's twice baby
Speaker 1: tatoes and just it's it's on fire when she doesn't.
Speaker 1: So anytime I can sweet talker into making something to
Speaker 1: that that extreme, I'm on. That's the go to recipe.
Speaker 1: I think it's good to lay down a good starch
Speaker 1: base for a good Super Bowl Sunday, and that's important. Uh.
Speaker 1: And here's the last thing I got for you in
Speaker 1: terms of Super Bowl memories? Did you realize Janet did
Speaker 1: that we had no clue until after the game, and
Speaker 1: that it just adds to the mistake of the game
Speaker 1: we played with super Bowl thirty eight. But no, I
Speaker 1: had no clue until after the game was over. And
Speaker 1: not only do we have Janet Jackson flashing America during
Speaker 1: the halftime show, there was a streaker during that game too.
Speaker 1: Were you on the field for that? I was not
Speaker 1: on the field, but I remember kind of chuckling when
Speaker 1: the Patriot got tackled and it took him down. But
Speaker 1: it's kind of funny. It is wild. That game had
Speaker 1: it all. It had Janet Jackson, it had a streaker,
Speaker 1: and it had Western Carolinas on Brad Hoover. How cool
Speaker 1: is that? Oh? Yeah, I never in years thought I'd
Speaker 1: even be playing in the NFL. But also to play
Speaker 1: as long as I was able to play and then
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to play as to both. So I'm
Speaker 1: extremely blessed. Yeah, and we're blessed to have you back
Speaker 1: in the building on a regular basis. That is Panther's legend,
Speaker 1: Western Carolina great tenure, NFL star Brad Hoover Brad, thanks
Speaker 1: for dropping by the Happy half hour. Man, I appreciate
Speaker 1: you filling in. This is pretty good. Don't tell Will,
Speaker 1: but uh we may have replaced him. I don't know
Speaker 1: this good. I could easily see this turning into a
Speaker 1: regular thing. I appreciate all of you guys dropping by.
Speaker 1: That's the Happy half Hour for another week. We'll see
Speaker 1: you on the other side. I'm