WEBVTT - 20. Logan + Ashley Ryan - Mom behind the Man 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:05.480 What's going on everybody? Logan Ryan here back with the 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.160 NFL Player podcast. Man, it's been a little minute since 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.360 I made one of these. Uh had a lot go 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:14.520 on in life. Obviously made a move down to the 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:17.759 Tampa Bay Bucks. Excited about that I actually have a 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:22.280 home um down in Florida and it's gonna work out, 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.959 I think for my family especially and myself and be 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:27.960 able to play with a really good team and have 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:31.120 super Bowl ambitions. And it just shows you how quick 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:34.560 things can change in the NFL. Never did I expect 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.560 to see that coming or expect to see me playing 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:39.239 for the Bucks this season, but that's just kind of 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:40.720 how it shakes out. And was trying to make the 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:46.560 best the situation that was put in, and that's football talk. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.560 That's what this podcast is about. But it's also about 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.320 my journey and our journey of NFL players to show 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.720 that we're more than just football players. And what makes 0:00:55.760 --> 0:01:00.440 this world go around is all the beautiful mother's out there. 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:02.800 And I have a special guest to guests that I 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.679 know really well, and I better say it's my favorite guest, 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:10.480 but my wife, Ashley Ryan is joining us today and 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:13.240 she's gonna spend a couple of minutes with us, and 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:17.199 we're gonna talk about what it's like to be married 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.119 to me and when I'm like off the field and 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:24.320 some of my quirks and not the well put together 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:26.520 a professional that you guys might hear see all the 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:31.160 time kind of with the real and cut wrong me is, So, 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:34.360 what's going on up? Yeah, there's there's a lot about 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:37.160 logan you may not know, but we make it work 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.200 and we're I'm happy to share. So me and you, 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:47.440 we we met at Rutgers University. Ashley played short stop 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.520 for the softball team. Can we hear a little bit 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:54.360 about you know, your you were a highly talented player 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.240 at Rutgers, I will say that. And you were a 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:00.400 lot bigger deal than me at Rutgers when we first 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:02.400 got there. So let's talk a little bit about your 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.760 your softball journey and how you ended up getting the 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.920 Rutgers and how we are a world aligned. Yeah, for 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:10.919 you to say a softball player is a big deal 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:15.120 is pretty cool. You know you don't hear it often. Um, 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:18.839 I didn't hear it often at Rutgers, but nonetheless, so yeah, 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:20.800 I mean I played softball my whole life from the 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.040 time I could, the same story as you. The time 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:24.880 I could was old enough to pick up a ball, 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.520 I did, and that was the sport I chose. My 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.000 dad played baseball. I never really had a huge interest 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.840 in other sports. That I was just what I always 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.440 wanted to do. Knew it early on, so played my 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:38.880 whole life. I played baseball with the boys until they 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.480 petitioned the league and told me I wasn't allowed to anymore, 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.920 and switched over to softball. I think I think I 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:47.600 was pretty good. How do you feel about that? How 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:50.639 do you feel about when you're a girl and you're 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:54.560 playing baseball with the boys and then they put a 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.239 petition in the league to essentially kick you out of 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:58.720 the league? Probably could you're kick in the boys? But 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.359 how does that make you feel? What do you think? Yeah, 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:03.320 I mean nowadays you would never get away with that. 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.799 It was something back in the day that maybe it 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.239 wasn't a big deal. I don't really see. I don't 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.080 think I was dominating. I was I'm still small. I 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:13.960 was small. I was holding my own but I think 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:15.639 it made me a lot better, and I enjoyed playing 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.680 with the boys. But yeah, I don't I don't think 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:20.280 you could get away with it. Now, I don't know 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.160 why it happened. Back then, I was super upset at 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.600 the time. I remember crying to my parents, Um, this 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.440 is kind of silly, but I didn't want to play 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.200 softball because I saw how the pictures through and I 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.440 thought that everybody had a throw like that underhand, underhand, 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:38.119 So that was that was my idea of softball back then. 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:40.040 So I fought it for as long as I could, 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:44.240 but I end up switching over. Um, I think baseball 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.440 really prepared me to be one of the better softball players, 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:51.280 and I stuck with it, played through high school, won 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.360 a state championship, and then ended up, you know, on 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:56.280 a on a pretty good travel team and committing to 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:01.240 Rutgers my junior year in high school. Okay, so you 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.880 you come from the dominant state of Delaware, which I 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:08.480 which I joke on a lot, I'm from New Jersey. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.760 Sports are a lot better in Jersey than they are 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:15.600 in Delaware. Shout out Chris Godwin, shout out there on 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:21.240 Harmon my boys, Shout out Della Don Darnell Savage. So 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:23.239 you and Darnell Savas went to the same high school. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.600 We did not at the same time. But yeah, shout out. 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:29.440 So you guys, Chris Godwin, you may not listen to this. 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:31.320 You may be a guest probably in the future. Not 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:33.760 you're my teammates. We should get them on here on 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.400 your podcast. That's something. But you guys, are you guys 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:38.360 are putting some respect on Delaware. I have been joke 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:40.359 on it for a lot of years. So let's just 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:42.880 say we met at the age of one. It might 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:44.640 have been twenty. Let's just say twenty one. Let's just 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.000 say we were at a party and I might have 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:52.520 snuck a cheap vodka into a expensive Great Goose bottle 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:54.880 to try to do the best I can on my 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.800 college budget. And we met at a party, we met 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:00.520 in class that we met at a already. We ended 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:04.080 up hitting it off um and been together ever since. 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:10.080 And that's ten years ago, right, ten years And then 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.240 you know, I'm a red shirt junior and I decided 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.840 I'm gonna go play pro football, and we're dating, and 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:19.440 we had a decision to be made when I got 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.480 drafted in New England Patriots, And it's kind of a 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:25.279 decision of hey, we've been dating for a year or two, 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.919 I'm going pro. Are you coming with me, are you not? 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.520 I know you were a criminal justice major, So what 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.760 were your plans in college? Yeah? You know, so I 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.200 did major in criminal justice and psychology. As many athletes feel, 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.560 I didn't really know where I wanted to go with 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:46.039 any of that. I had an interest in it, but 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:50.200 I wasn't sure. But my plans pre logan were to 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:54.080 go back to Delaware and my home state, and I 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.599 was going to coach. I was gonna do some stuff 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.840 with my high school. I had an outline of a plan. 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.240 Nothing major, um, but I had a good little setup. 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.320 I had plans with the local software organization, and then 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.799 you came into the picture and turned my my plans 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.000 upside down. I throw a little wrench in it. I 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:13.880 throw a little wrench in it, and we couldn't backtrack. 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:15.360 When me and actually met, I was on the bench. 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.400 I might have talked about this many times in this podcast, 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:20.560 but true story, I literally was like the sixth string 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.159 corner on the bench and we started dating, and I 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.080 wanted to transfer, and I actually stayed for the spring 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:31.200 because of me dating actually meeting her and want to 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:32.600 see where that went, and to say, you know, let 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.920 me just stick to it. I'm not a quitter, and 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:36.640 let me just see if I can make this work. 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.359 And we had a coach named Jeff Hapley who's the 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.039 head coach at Boston College now come from pitt and 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:49.760 he recently coached Derrell Reevers and that right there, you know, 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:51.800 his coaching of Derrell Reeves and seeing what type of 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:53.960 player Dearrell Revers was one of my favorite corners at 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.080 the time. But this guy spoke so much positivity and 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.280 confidence in me that I just didn't have. And I 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.640 feel like I always had the work ethic and the drive, 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:04.520 but I just didn't have the confidence at the time. 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.760 You really need that to play defensive back at a 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:11.320 college level, at the NFL level, and him come and 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.960 really changed my career. And I went from being on 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:19.520 the bench talking to the shortstop on a full ride 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.480 on the softball team to you know, declared for the 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:25.240 NFL Draft in a year or two. So it's a 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:27.400 really a quick turnaround with Jeff Hafley gets a lot 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.880 of credit, actually gets a ton of credit, a lot 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:31.880 of tough nights talking to her figure out about this 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:35.200 football journey, end up getting draft in New England Patriots 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.160 in the third round. Actually makes a decision to come 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:42.640 move up with your boy, and we ended up going 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.120 to New England. And I know there was a tough 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.160 time at first for you. It was very it was 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.440 two different stories, are two different chapters. I would think 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.440 at that point. I think a lot of people don't understand, 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.360 you know, the NFL journey. It's not all rainbows and unicorns, 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:01.400 as we know about life, but so talk about you know, 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.040 the two different chapters that we were on maybe trajectories 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:06.640 or whatever that may be. Yeah, So we moved up 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.200 to New England. It was it was exciting. I mean, 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.600 it's a huge moment for the logan. Um. You know, 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.200 I was on board. I was ready to, you know, 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:16.800 do what it took. I was gonna make my own 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:18.680 way up there and figure it out. But what I 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:22.840 didn't realize it was how tough the post athlete transition 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.480 would be. Um. And I think that softball was my 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.000 life for a really long time, and it's it was 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.680 a lot of who I was, and I wasn't so 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.520 sure who I was without it. So moving up there 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.800 and I'm watching you live your dream. You get to 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:39.520 continue playing your sport, you get to potentially make millions 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.520 playing your sport, and I was supportive and I was 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:44.640 a little at the same time envious, like I wish 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:45.960 I could do that, and I'm going to be here 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:47.800 and support you through it. But I had to figure 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:50.640 out what the heck I'm gonna do next. So I 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.240 dabbled in some things. I did some personal training. I 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:58.480 settled in coaching and doing private lessons up there, and 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.080 I really loved and enjoy did that, but it wasn't it, 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:05.160 you know, it wasn't the It just didn't fulfill everything 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:07.800 that I needed to fulfill at the time. So yeah, 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.680 we were on really different paths, and eventually I was like, 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:13.480 you know what I got I have to figure this out. 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.440 And I ended up taking a job at Problems Animal 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.840 Rescue League, and I didn't tell them who Logan was. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.760 I didn't want to be Logan Ryan's girlfriend, no friends. 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.000 I loved being Logan Ryan's girlfriend, but I didn't want 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.679 that to define who I was. So I took that job. 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.320 Nobody there really knew who you were an animal shelter. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.040 An animal shelter, yeah, what our life was like outside 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.720 of that. So I was cleaning kennels and changing letter 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:43.200 boxes and doing really the dirty work. To grunt work 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.760 at the shelter, and what was your income? Oh, I mean, 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.760 I want to say, like twelve to fifteen bucks an hour, 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.760 Like it was minimal, very minimal. And that's animal welfare. 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:55.680 It's still the case that you don't make much in 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:58.040 this field, but you do it because you love it. 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.200 And I think I can hear and the viewer might 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.080 not know this, but it's that's why I love you 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.280 so much. As you said something how you refused to 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:08.600 be just Logan Ryan's girlfriend and you took a job 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:13.640 at an animal shelter at starting salary, not telling anybody 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:18.280 who you were. Why that independence? Why the where does 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:20.640 that come from? Where you don't want to be defined 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.760 as just my girlfriend? You know, I just always I 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.640 wanted to make my own way, and I appreciated what 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.000 you did and I was super proud of what you 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:34.440 did and who you were. Um, but you know, actually 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.240 is cool too, Actually works hard to you know, I 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.720 have my own thing and I wanted it to stay 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.360 that way, and that's something I want. I'm still in 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.560 our kids and and anybody I'm around just that. Like 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:46.280 you know, you are great as well. You can do 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:47.840 your own thing, You can make your own way. I 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:51.520 don't need to rely on Logan being the superstar athletes 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.520 still too, you know, carve my own path. So that's 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:57.640 that's kind of what I was trying to do. And 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:00.400 I don't know, it's just something that's been always been 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:02.520 really important to me to know that I can rely 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.680 on myself and have a supportive partner and have this 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:09.320 relationship at the same time. But it wasn't everything. I 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.520 paid the rent, but you paid all your own bills. 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.480 I know, we had separate, separate cell phone bills, separate 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:20.240 that separate that car. I mean, she wouldn't take nothing 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:22.360 from me, Honestly, she literally was going to pay our 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:26.240 own way. We were like two individuals living together like roommates. 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:28.600 We look and we were also not engaged. We're also 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.280 not married. It was still you know, we've been together 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:33.040 for a couple of years at the time, but we 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:36.240 still weren't exactly sure where. You know, we thought, we hey, 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.160 we want to be together, we want to stay together, 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.480 but we didn't know what our future was like. And 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:42.600 with this huge change, I didn't want to be so 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.560 stuck relying on your income and your career and who 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.840 you are in my own life. That say, we decided 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:51.719 to go separate paths. I had to be able to 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.240 make it on my own too. Now, did you feel 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:59.480 like you, as a college athlete or a person who's 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.520 very into pendant, doesn't want to live off of my name, 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.000 doesn't want to tell people who we even date, kind 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:06.480 of want to go onto the radar and just kind 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.480 of go about life and and find your own path 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.640 and your own reason. Did you find that tough getting 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.280 into the world of NFL wives, the hierarchy of some 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.080 veterans and their wives. Tell me how that made you 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:23.559 feel as a rookie girlfriend coming into the New England Patriots, 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.360 the top of the top, um, you know, the NFL 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.360 wide hierarchy, how that goes? Yeah, I can't lie. I 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.839 had a hard time with it. Um. I think there 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.360 was so much expectation from I don't know where it 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.280 was from. You know. I think people hear NFL girlfriend, 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.160 NFL wife, wag, all these titles, whatever you wanna call it, 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:46.440 and expecting me to look and act a certain way, 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.480 and I did not look or act that way. You know, 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.360 the stereotypes. I don't really believe in them, and I 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:56.280 don't think I think some people love to do those things, 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:59.080 but I didn't. And you know, if you want to 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.080 dress in those and we're makeup and you know, care 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.199 about these certain things, that's great and some people love 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:05.960 it and and that's who they are, but it wasn't 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.800 who I am, and it kind of felt like maybe 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.679 that I didn't belong. So you come in, you don't 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.199 really I feel like you fit in. You're in a 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:20.480 truly a slow moving place. Not slow moving, but I'm 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:24.360 not a lot going on in Foxborough, mass a lot 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.000 of grace. Guys. It's pretty gloomy, working at an animal slter, 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:33.199 working at it, working on an animal shelter, chearing your boyfriends, 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.160 starting on the New England Patriots on Sunday, that no 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.800 one even knows you know who you did. So I 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:41.320 kind of felt it was a very isolating time for you. Yeah, 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.320 it was a transition. I just didn't know, you know. 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:45.360 I was going through my own transition of trying to 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:47.800 figure out who I was, what I wanted to do, 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:50.840 what our relationship was, where that was going, and you 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.960 throw the NFL on top of that, and looking back 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.480 on it, I think it was a little bit unfounded. 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:01.000 I don't think I needed to feel those expectations so much, 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.719 and all of those women from New England, I'm still 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.760 friends with so many of them, people who were very 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.000 much like me and people who are complete opposite of me. 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:13.120 So I think a lot of that expectation came from myself, 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:14.880 and then I thought I had to be something, but 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.000 that really probably wasn't the case. And I think that 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.520 my first you know, two three years in the as 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.840 an NFL girlfriend wife, would have been much easier if 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:30.680 I just released that expectation and just would have been me. Yeah, 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:32.880 you know, as we get into the next story here 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.280 that we're gonna tell, and we fast forward, I'm a 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:39.200 New York Johan and I signed up miss off training camp. 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:42.240 I signed a week of the season, and it wasn't playned. 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:44.080 I wasn't trying to skip training camp or anything. He 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:47.520 literally just they had a young safety's Aver McKinney, who 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.920 was a stud end up breaking his foot during training 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.520 camp and they needed another player, and Joe Judge brought 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:56.920 me in and U and brought me into lead and 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.280 brought me into show these guys what I can do. 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.000 And I really had a good time in that role. 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:05.040 I really enjoyed that leadership position. I really enjoyed the 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:10.240 young guys, and I think our world shifted upside down. 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.720 It's Monday Night football. We're playing Tom Brady, my old 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.360 friend from the Patriots. I intercepted him for Tennessee and 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:18.680 beat the Patriots. He ends up going to Tampa. He's 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.400 in Tampa. I'm in the Giants, and everything's completely different 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.800 from our lass encounter. And I'm playing him on Monday 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.640 Night Football and I'm part of the game planning. I'm 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.840 trying to run everything to make his life difficult. Um 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:32.840 from everything I learned in practice, everything he taught me, 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:34.360 I'm trying to use against him to the best of 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:37.720 my ability. And it's a really tight game. It's a 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.560 really close game. We have a very important vote in 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:45.480 our country at that time, right and during COVID we 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.440 hadn't moved to Florida because we knew we weren't coming 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.320 back to Tennessee, and we bought this dream house in 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.600 Florida in Tampa, and we really wanted to say, hey, 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:56.400 we're a tight unit. It's very tough leaven Nashville at 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.080 the time. I don't know if I want to live 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:01.200 here if not a tighten I'm really recognizable in the city. 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.280 I get a lot of love, but it kind of 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.960 hurts not playing here. Let's go somewhere fresh, Let's go 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:10.680 somewhere together us. We picked Tampa, Florida. Plan was something unrelated, 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.520 unrelated to football, which makes us a little ironic. Now 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:17.200 wherever where I'm going to retire one day and and 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:22.920 live life after football, warm sunshine, tax free beaches. There's 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.200 no beaches in Tennessee and close to Disney World. We're 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:31.080 big Disney people, So that was all in it. Um 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.440 so as she's down in Florida to go vote. And 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.000 while I was important for you to go to Florida 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.800 and vote, it, honestly, I wanted to vote in Florida. 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.080 I know Florida was somewhat of a swing state at 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:45.920 the time, and um, the election was really important to me, 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.360 and I wanted to go vote in person and make 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.520 my vote count to the best of my ability. So 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:52.320 I wanted to be there. I wanted to do it, 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.360 and I wanted to check on our house and maybe 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.960 get a little warm weather in the process. Right, So 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:01.200 this is right around Halloween. I believe you're in Florida 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.080 with your sister. You're going down at the check on 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.320 our house to go vote. I'm gonna go play this 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:10.080 game this Monday night football against Tom Brady. Our kids 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.240 are down with my parents down in soft chairs. He's good. 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:15.840 Benefit of playing for the Jags. My parents are. I 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:20.399 grew up an hour fifteen minutes from the stadium. She always, 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:22.920 she always does this thing where I like, don't even 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:29.880 he underestimated. Yeah, so it's not fifty minutes our She'll say, 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.760 our thirties hour fifteen minutes. Um, So we're good. Our 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.560 kids are here, she's there, I'm there. My parents gonna 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:38.120 bring the kids to me. The day after the game. 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:40.600 I'm gonna watch him, so she gets back cool. We're 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.919 all good. So we remember we like trick or treated 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.400 all that. We go do our thing at the house 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:51.359 because it was good, Yes, in house tricker treating, and 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:56.160 I remember it's the it's the late night game. Tom 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.720 Brady does the seam ball. I'm in cover three on 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.960 the post SFET. I have a big hit with Tyler Johnson, 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:05.639 I believe, and bam, I hit him. He hits me 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:07.560 right down the scene and it's a tough spot for 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:08.879 a city because I don't want to hit him in 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.880 his head. Because that's appenalty. I don't want to cut 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:14.240 his knees out because I'm just not that type of guy. 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.119 So I hit him right in his trunk, in his 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.520 midsection where all his weight is, and I took the 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:23.320 brunt of the hit. Honestly, I think I I got 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.760 a knee to my thigh. I had the worst ive bruise. 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:28.439 I went to the I went to the tent. They 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:30.480 checked me for a concussion. I didn't have a concussion. 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:32.800 I come back in the game. I'm literally playing on 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:35.840 one leg. A couple of players on out. They score 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.760 a touchdown. Mike Evans catches a touchdown and win the 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.720 game on that play. We played him really well, we 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:46.240 played him really tight um, but we lost. I go back. 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.880 I'm in the training room. It's again, it's probably midnight 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.240 by the time the game gets done. I'm in the 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:58.320 training room, and that's when I get a call from you. Yeah. 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.920 So I was home. I think this was the day 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.600 before I was going to vote UM, laying in bed 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:09.040 and I had felt stomach pain. It felt like crampy 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.760 at first, and it would come and go, and I 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:13.520 wasn't I didn't think much of it. I took some 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.200 times and I was like, all right, I'm good. But 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.040 by the time your game was over and it was 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.640 time for us to talk, it had gotten really bad. 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:21.680 And it was intermittent, so it will come and then 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.480 it will go. But the pain had become closer together, 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:26.360 and I was like, man, this doesn't feel right. I'm 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.440 on web MD. I'm diagnosing myself with all kinds of stuff. 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.320 But unlike most people who diagnosed themselves, I was kind 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:34.199 of under diagnosing. I'm like, oh, I think I have 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:38.639 kidney stones. Like I had no idea, And it was 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.000 one o'clock in the morning, probably by this point, and 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.879 I didn't want to get up and go to the 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:47.600 e R. I didn't feel that emergent until it did. 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:50.439 And after both kids you had kidney stones, I didn't. 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.439 So we were used to you having kidneys and it 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.199 was painful and it was terrible, and you called me, 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.240 you said, your stomach is killing me. I'm walking out 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:03.000 of the park a lot with Justin meyern and who's 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:05.440 a trainer for the Giants, and he had just take 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.200 care of my thigh Brews. He just took care of 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:09.879 all my bumps and bruise. I'm the last player to 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:12.399 leave the facility. I really stayed to get my body 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:14.560 right to play in a short week. The next week, 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:16.560