Speaker 1: Hey, welcome back for another episode of our Pats from
Speaker 1: the Past podcast. Matt Smith and Brian Morey are pleased
Speaker 1: to welcome as our guests for this episode, former Patriots
Speaker 1: running back Tony Collins. Tony is joining us on the
Speaker 1: Pats from the Past podcast that has brought to you
Speaker 1: by who but W. B. Mason your one stop shop
Speaker 1: for all of your business needs. Tony, thanks for joining
Speaker 1: us today.
Speaker 2: Not a problem, man, I love to do it.
Speaker 1: So I think first things that I think Patriot fans
Speaker 1: and a little primmer maybe for the younger bunch out there.
Speaker 1: And Brian and I unfortunately can't consider ourselves that because
Speaker 1: we watched you play. But Tony's Patriot's career was from
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one to nineteen eighty seven. But we're now
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, Tony, and we're in very different times
Speaker 1: here in twenty twenty. But if you would let the
Speaker 1: fans know what you're up to.
Speaker 3: Today, Well, right now, I'm retired and having a great
Speaker 3: time with my grandkids. I have a foundation that I
Speaker 3: do a golf tournament every year. Unfortunately with the coronavirus
Speaker 3: who got canceled this year. But one of the things
Speaker 3: that I do. I help athletes and also help kids
Speaker 3: get off to college in my little small town back
Speaker 3: in Pinanne. So with my foundation and with my grandkids,
Speaker 3: I'm keeping real busy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, because for a while you were working with a
Speaker 4: company that does help with high school athletes with recruiting.
Speaker 3: Right right in CSA, a company out of Chicago. We're
Speaker 3: doing a lot of doing a lot of good work
Speaker 3: with those guys, and no longer working with them right now,
Speaker 3: but still just just trying to help out as much
Speaker 3: as I can with high school athletes, giving them advice
Speaker 3: and stuff like that.
Speaker 4: You know, So, Tony, you know, let's go back to
Speaker 4: the early eighties or late seventies. Even you're at East Carolina, Okay,
Speaker 4: East Carolina University where you ran for twenty two hundred
Speaker 4: yards average six yards of carry, and the Patriots make
Speaker 4: you their second round pick forty seventh overall the nineteen
Speaker 4: eighty one NFL Draft. I also drafted one of your
Speaker 4: high school teammates that year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, crazy.
Speaker 4: But so tell me what your first thought was about
Speaker 4: being selected by the Patriots and what you knew about
Speaker 4: New England at that time.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, Well, actually, you know, coming out, you know,
Speaker 3: going to the Combines and everything. A lot of the
Speaker 3: scouts were telling me, and my agent was telling me
Speaker 3: I was gonna probably get drafted in the fourth or
Speaker 3: the fifth round.
Speaker 2: So you know, that was good.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter to me. I just wanted to get drafted.
Speaker 3: I didn't really care who I went with with either either.
Speaker 3: So and when New England picked me, it was it
Speaker 3: was great, man, it was fantastic. I really didn't know
Speaker 3: too much about New England. I didn't really know. I
Speaker 3: knew they were in Boston somewhere, but I didn't know
Speaker 3: exactly what town the stadium was at.
Speaker 2: And they flew me in and.
Speaker 3: Put me up in the I think was the Red
Speaker 3: Fox in or something like that.
Speaker 1: The end zone still exists, still exists, Yeah, yeah, yeah
Speaker 1: it does.
Speaker 2: It still exists.
Speaker 3: Put me up in the in that hotel, and I
Speaker 3: met up with Brian Holloway. He got drafted number one
Speaker 3: with the Patriots that year, and I got drafted number
Speaker 3: two and became friends with him and we're still friends today.
Speaker 3: But it was a great time, man, You know, to
Speaker 3: not expected to be in to be drafted in the
Speaker 3: second round. Uh, but uh, it was great when I
Speaker 3: got here. You know, Horace Ivory was here and Vegas Ferguson.
Speaker 3: Ferguson was here and most of the tupuol real great
Speaker 3: great friend of mine was was there as well, and
Speaker 3: it was a great time.
Speaker 5: Sam was still here, right, Sam cunning.
Speaker 2: Sam Cunningham was here, still there too.
Speaker 3: I got to play, got the opportunity to play with
Speaker 3: Sam Bam cunning Man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure did so, Tony at the time. That's
Speaker 1: ron Earnheart was your first coach in the NFL.
Speaker 3: Correct, Ronni Head was our head coach. And we went
Speaker 3: two and fourteen my rookie season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, how different.
Speaker 1: How difficult was that, Tony?
Speaker 2: It was tough, man, it really was.
Speaker 3: You know, coming from a winning program of East Carolina
Speaker 3: and Houston winning. You know, you you went in high
Speaker 3: school and I was winning in college, and you know,
Speaker 3: you get to the pros where you where that's where
Speaker 3: you want to be at any any anyway, and uh,
Speaker 3: you know, to go to and fourteen and when you
Speaker 3: go back and I remember some of the games. We
Speaker 3: were in a lot of the games that year.
Speaker 5: Your largest loss was fourteen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we never got blown out.
Speaker 3: We were in a lot of games, but it was
Speaker 3: always something that would come up at the end, and
Speaker 3: then we got we got into a little stick where
Speaker 3: we were figuring out, you know, how we're going to lose.
Speaker 2: And we just kept losing and kept losing and kept losing.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: It was a tough year, man, It really was a
Speaker 2: tough year.
Speaker 1: And I think for Patriot fans. You know, Brian is
Speaker 1: the director of the Hall of Fame here. You look
Speaker 1: at some of the people that were on that team, Tony,
Speaker 1: you mentioned Brian Holloway, Okay, John Hanna is on that team. Nelson,
Speaker 1: Steve Nelson's on that team. Steve Grogan is on that team,
Speaker 1: Seem Cunningham, Steve. I mean, you look around as you're
Speaker 1: a rookie in the NFL, You're seeing guys and going,
Speaker 1: we've got some I'm not trying to put this on
Speaker 1: the coaching staff by any stretch of the imagination, but
Speaker 1: you look around. You had some pieces back then, didn't you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had we had a lot of talent. Man,
Speaker 3: We had we had talent at the receiver spot. We
Speaker 3: had Russ Francis at tight end.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 3: I mean, we had a we had defensive places. Julius
Speaker 3: Adam was a defensive vent. Steve Nelson, we had Rick Central,
Speaker 3: we had uh, Mike Gaines.
Speaker 5: And we're coming off a ten and six season the
Speaker 5: year before. It wasn't like that.
Speaker 4: It wasn't like that all of a sudden. I mean
Speaker 4: this was kind of all of a sudden. It was
Speaker 4: a two and fourteen year. And did you, guys ever
Speaker 4: feel like you were overmatched though? Did you just it
Speaker 4: was just like I said, kind of snake.
Speaker 3: We never felt felt like we're over matched. We're in
Speaker 3: every game, but we just it would always seem at
Speaker 3: the end of the game we would find a way
Speaker 3: to lose the game. And then we, like I said,
Speaker 3: we got into a rut where, you know, and I
Speaker 3: hate to say this, but you know, it was fourth quarter,
Speaker 3: I think against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think we're in Buffalo or whatever, and they won
Speaker 3: the game at the end of the game with a
Speaker 3: heil Mary pass or something like that.
Speaker 2: But before they threw the hail Mary pass.
Speaker 3: Uh, you know, I'm sitting on the sidelines and you know,
Speaker 3: guys are talking, you know, Okay, how we're gonna lose
Speaker 3: this game. And that's how that's how our mindset was.
Speaker 3: That's we're losing so much. We couldn't we could never win,
Speaker 3: We could never put it together. And sure enough they
Speaker 3: threw the hair Mary and they beat this in that
Speaker 3: game as well.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put you on the spot here for a second.
Speaker 1: You're a rookie. You're not a wide eyed rookie second round.
Speaker 1: Pick your talent, you know what that is, and you
Speaker 1: believe in yourself and you're here in the NFL. But
Speaker 1: when you were a rookie, and we mentioned a lot
Speaker 1: of these names that are on that team, is there
Speaker 1: a particular player Tony that you saw that really impressed you?
Speaker 2: And what number one?
Speaker 3: I mean there were a lot, you know, I could
Speaker 3: I could call out a lot of guys, Steve Rogan,
Speaker 3: standing Morgan, but the number one guy was John Hannah.
Speaker 3: You know, I got the opportunity to to start as
Speaker 3: a rookie, you know, uh uh Horse Ivy gets heard
Speaker 3: and Vegas Ferguson gets hurt, and and I get the
Speaker 3: opportunity to play in the first game because the Baltimore
Speaker 3: Coats and and just watching and running behind John Hannah. Man,
Speaker 3: it was it was. It was a thing of beauty.
Speaker 3: I think I almost had a thousand yards that year.
Speaker 3: Got Rookie of the Year for New England, and it
Speaker 3: was just a pleasure, man. But the intensity not only
Speaker 3: during the game, but the intensity uh at practice with him,
Speaker 3: And that's one of the things that I kind of
Speaker 3: picked up from him, that he was he was going
Speaker 3: all out in practice and and that's one of the
Speaker 3: things that I kind of picked up from him with
Speaker 3: that where you know, you know, you know far as
Speaker 3: how how well he practiced and being being there and
Speaker 3: being behind him and watching him work hard, and it
Speaker 3: kind of rubs up on you. And as a rookie man,
Speaker 3: it was like for me, you know, you see all
Speaker 3: these guys you know coming up, you know, even you
Speaker 3: know John Hannah, he was he was here three or
Speaker 3: four years before because I was watching John Hannah before
Speaker 3: I got to college, and so, uh it was.
Speaker 2: It was fun, man, it was. It was.
Speaker 3: It was a great time for me just as a player,
Speaker 3: individual player could to say, but as a as a
Speaker 3: team player, you know, we're losing game, So it was
Speaker 3: kind of frustrating.
Speaker 5: I'm always curious.
Speaker 4: So you came in you know Vegas Ferguson had set
Speaker 4: a rookie record the year before for rushing because Sam
Speaker 4: had sat out that season, held out all season in
Speaker 4: nineteen eighty and then you came in and you mentioned
Speaker 4: the Vegas got hurt, but you kind of ended up
Speaker 4: taking over the lead role all season and then you set.
Speaker 5: The rookie record for rushing.
Speaker 4: Was there ever any tension between you and and other
Speaker 4: running backs based on that because the new guy comes
Speaker 4: in and just kind of takes the lead.
Speaker 3: You know, absolutely not. Vegas Fergus was a good guy,
Speaker 3: great running back.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: One of the things that you know, some of the
Speaker 3: things that I.
Speaker 2: I just got drafted. The year before I got drafted,
Speaker 2: he was he was their guy, the first round pick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so they they really just got drafted the
Speaker 3: year before I got drafted. He was he was their guy,
Speaker 3: the first round pick. Yeah. And so they they really drafted.
Speaker 3: And so they they really drafted me to return kicks.
Speaker 2: You know, I did.
Speaker 3: I did some kickoff returns in college, and so they
Speaker 3: really drafted me to return kicks, and it was my
Speaker 3: number one thing. So when at the beginning of the season,
Speaker 3: I was starting and returning kicks at the same time.
Speaker 2: And so but my mindset.
Speaker 3: Was, you know, you know, my my coming into training camp,
Speaker 3: you know, Vegas. Fergus is the number one pick. I
Speaker 3: mean it was the number one back. Horace Ivy was
Speaker 3: a number two back, and I was the number three back.
Speaker 3: But I had a mindset man that you know, you know,
Speaker 3: I watch these guys practice and during training camp, and
Speaker 3: I'm saying.
Speaker 2: You know, these guys aren't better than me. I mean
Speaker 2: I can.
Speaker 3: I'm just as good as these guys. So one of
Speaker 3: my main things was, you know, I wanted to learn
Speaker 3: to learn the playbook. Learn the playbook, don't make mistakes,
Speaker 3: and when I get the opportunity to play, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: don't make any mistakes and you just you just just
Speaker 3: do your best. And it came down for me, well,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm believing and I'm working hard. One of
Speaker 3: the things that I did my my rookie season, I
Speaker 3: was you know, watching John Hannah in the beginning, uh,
Speaker 3: and just going off of him. You know, I was
Speaker 3: the first one on the field, last one off the field,
Speaker 3: first one in the weight room, last one out of
Speaker 3: the weight room. And one of the things that I did, man,
Speaker 3: I said, you know, you know, you know, during training camp, you.
Speaker 2: Know, the guys would go down to the to the
Speaker 2: little bar and.
Speaker 3: Uh, and Rhode Island and parent, Yeah, frank College, that's it.
Speaker 2: And so but I was stay in my room, learned
Speaker 2: that playbook. Man.
Speaker 3: I had to get that playbook because I didn't want
Speaker 3: to make any mistakes, and so I wanted to be mentally.
Speaker 2: Prepared as well as physically prepared.
Speaker 3: And the opportunity came, and it's just like you know,
Speaker 3: you know, you don't wish anybody to get hurt, but
Speaker 3: you know, I know what my opportunity. Whenever I got
Speaker 3: a chance to practice or cance to play, I couldn't
Speaker 3: make any mistakes. And fortunately for me, you know, Horace
Speaker 3: Aubrey goes down the second week of training camp and
Speaker 3: then Vegas goes down the last week of training camp,
Speaker 3: and so I really I'm the only healthy, healthy running back.
Speaker 3: I think it was me and Andy Johnson back then,
Speaker 3: and so they I got. I got the start, man,
Speaker 3: I just kept it the whole year.
Speaker 1: I mean that rookie year. You were the clear leader
Speaker 1: in rushing attempts your rookie season. But there was a
Speaker 1: little bit of a running back by committee feel with
Speaker 1: Ferguson and Sam Ben and Donnie Calhoun, and so then
Speaker 1: a coaching change comes about after your rookie year and
Speaker 1: here comes Ron Meyer fresh out of SMU, and then
Speaker 1: to be coupled with that is a strike. But did
Speaker 1: you get a sense, as crazy as that second year was, Tony,
Speaker 1: the things were being you know, that it was becoming
Speaker 1: more of you, your position at running back, that you
Speaker 1: were going to be the number one back as you
Speaker 1: entered into your second year. How did you look at
Speaker 1: it going into your second.
Speaker 2: Year and going into my second year?
Speaker 3: Man, I you know, I had already made up in
Speaker 3: my mind that I was going to be the man.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm not going to give my position up.
Speaker 3: I worked my bat off during the off season. Uh,
Speaker 3: and once the training camp started, I was ready. I mean,
Speaker 3: I want to be that guy. And I can't remember
Speaker 3: what happened with Horace or what happened with Vegas, but
Speaker 3: you know, my second my second year, I think Robert
Speaker 3: Weathers came in and.
Speaker 2: He did very well, and a couple of.
Speaker 3: Running backs came in, and before you know it, Vegas
Speaker 3: was gone and Horace Ivy was gone, and you know,
Speaker 3: and and I'm the guy now, you know, And like
Speaker 3: I said before, it was really just understanding, you know,
Speaker 3: the playbook and understanding you know, what I had to
Speaker 3: do to be prepared. And you know, you know they
Speaker 3: talk about you talk about the football game and and
Speaker 3: you know the off season. You know, really your off
Speaker 3: season is as a month and maybe January and February
Speaker 3: and that's that's that's all the months we took off
Speaker 3: back then. And I'm pretty sure the guys are working
Speaker 3: all the year around now, but uh.
Speaker 2: There is no off season.
Speaker 3: You know, you if you wanted to be one of
Speaker 3: the best best players in the NFL, you had to
Speaker 3: work year round and get your body right for for
Speaker 3: training camp.
Speaker 4: And that obviously was a nine game season. You guys
Speaker 4: ended up being in the playoffs that year. They kind
Speaker 4: of tweaked the format a little bit. Yeah, and did
Speaker 4: that feel like a taste of playoff football for you? You
Speaker 4: guys went to Miami for the playoffs. Obviously it was
Speaker 4: a division opponent, but you know, did it actually feel
Speaker 4: like a playoff atmosphere?
Speaker 2: You know, you know, playing the nine games, you know,
Speaker 2: you just.
Speaker 3: It did, but it didn't because you know, you you
Speaker 3: you didn't play the whole season. You didn't know what
Speaker 3: you know, what the outcome was gonna be, or or
Speaker 3: how everybody was gonna go with it. But uh, you know,
Speaker 3: as a football player, you know you're playing the game,
Speaker 3: so you know, you play to win.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, we we had the tools, we had, we
Speaker 3: had what we wanted, but there was there was some
Speaker 3: things missing uh in it. And you know, Ron Myers
Speaker 3: was a great coach. I got to give it to him,
Speaker 3: but you know, he was a college coach, and you know,
Speaker 3: you got you got guys like Stanley Morgan and John
Speaker 3: Hannah and Pete Brock and and and you know, Steve Nelson.
Speaker 3: You know, they're they're not really kind of used to
Speaker 3: that college atmosphere. And then Rob go get him, go
Speaker 3: get him thing. And uh, I think that's that's one
Speaker 3: of the things that kind of hurt Ron when he
Speaker 3: was here, because you know, you know, there's a big
Speaker 3: difference in coaching college as kids, and there's a big
Speaker 3: difference in coaches grown coaching grown men.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Pats from the Past podcast presented
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Speaker 1: Nobody does it better than who but W B. Mason
Speaker 1: and so Tony after that strike season and you get
Speaker 1: a real sense of what business is like in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Here we go in nineteen eighty three, and to help
Speaker 1: maybe remind Patriot fans personally, that was your best year
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl season, still the franchise record holder for
Speaker 1: single for yards in a single game. How would you
Speaker 1: look at that nineteen eighty three season, Tony?
Speaker 3: As as as as individual individually it was great, But
Speaker 3: as a team, you know, we still didn't, you know,
Speaker 3: reach the point where we wanted. We didn't make the playoffs.
Speaker 3: We I can't remember. I don't know if you were
Speaker 3: even eight and eight then eight?
Speaker 5: Yes what you were? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, but it wasn't a sense of of of
Speaker 3: of success as a team. But as an individual, you know,
Speaker 3: making it to the Pro Bowl is one of the
Speaker 3: things that you know, every every player wants to experience
Speaker 3: and to achieve. And I got that opportunity to do that,
Speaker 3: and you know, I got to give it to my
Speaker 3: offensive line. I was running behind Johnhannah and Brian Holloway
Speaker 3: and Ron Mooon. You know, these guys peep Rock. These
Speaker 3: guys were some good, some good. I had a good
Speaker 3: line in front of me and mostly the two pool
Speaker 3: was was was there blocking and it was a great
Speaker 3: time for me that that year individually.
Speaker 5: So okay, so let's talk about the game.
Speaker 4: We went for one hundred, two hundred and twelve yards
Speaker 4: September eighteenth, nineteen eighty three against the Jets. Twenty three carries,
Speaker 4: two hundred and twelve yards, three touchdowns. You had six
Speaker 4: carries of ten plus yards, five of those went for
Speaker 4: twenty plus yards.
Speaker 2: What was it?
Speaker 5: Just like the red seeds opening up.
Speaker 3: You know, it's one of those days like you know
Speaker 3: the basketball players say when you when they're shooting in
Speaker 3: the rims, the rim looks like it's just twelve inches
Speaker 3: wide or something like that. Every hole was just huge, man,
Speaker 3: during that game, and everything just clicked. You know, you
Speaker 3: you you always, you know, you visualize, you visualize something
Speaker 3: like that. You visualize you're going through the hold and
Speaker 3: rushing for touchdowns after touchdowns, and that's something that.
Speaker 2: It was a special day for me that day.
Speaker 3: You know, I tell the story when I do. I
Speaker 3: used to do a lot of talking, you know, I
Speaker 3: said that, you know, I still hold the record two
Speaker 3: hundred twelve yards for the Patriots, and it's over almost over. Well,
Speaker 3: it's over. It was over thirty years now. And I said,
Speaker 3: as long as Tom Brady is there, I'm not even
Speaker 3: worried about my record being broken.
Speaker 2: But Tom Brady's gone now, so.
Speaker 1: Now you gotta be worried.
Speaker 3: Not to get that ypportunity to break my record now.
Speaker 1: So not to make it feel old, but it's actually
Speaker 1: thirty six years. Wow, thirty six years. And if you
Speaker 1: think about where the franchise was when you did that
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty three and where the franchise is today,
Speaker 1: it's got a surprise. You guys like Curtis Martin, who
Speaker 1: is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You know
Speaker 1: that record still stands. That's got to make you feel
Speaker 1: pretty proud, doesn't it?
Speaker 2: Yeah? It does, it does? It really does. You know.
Speaker 3: I'm really proud of that because there were some great
Speaker 3: backs to come out of there, out of New England,
Speaker 3: and there are probably going to be some more good
Speaker 3: backs coming. They got a good one right now. But yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, it feels good. It feels good to hold
Speaker 3: a record like that. And you know, like I said,
Speaker 3: the records are meant to be broken. So I'm looking
Speaker 3: forward to it being broken now. You know, I think
Speaker 3: I've held it long enough, but so I would love
Speaker 3: to see somebody else break it and take that ring
Speaker 3: for me.
Speaker 4: So nineteen eighty four rolls in, and that's kind of
Speaker 4: a a strange season, but probably at that point in
Speaker 4: our team history, maybe not so strange, maybe just par
Speaker 4: for the course.
Speaker 5: But you guys go nine and seven.
Speaker 4: Ron Meyer gets fired halfway through the season, after firing
Speaker 4: Rod Russ, Raymond Berry gets hired. He's not even working
Speaker 4: in football at the time. He brings Rod Rust back
Speaker 4: and goes four and four, and you had a quote.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna you can tell me if this is accurate.
Speaker 5: I read this quote.
Speaker 4: Raymond Berry earned more respect in one day than Ron
Speaker 4: Meyer earned in three years.
Speaker 7: I said, yeah, I mean it's true, man, you know,
Speaker 7: and not talking taking anything from Ron Myers.
Speaker 4: Hold on, Tony. So I'll just give you a quick
Speaker 4: Ron Meyers story. And you know, may he rest in peace. Obviously,
Speaker 4: may he rest in peace. But when I was doing
Speaker 4: radio and Providence, we used to have him on. He
Speaker 4: was working for like a gambling site and would have
Speaker 4: him on every week to talk about football.
Speaker 5: And I don't know what it was.
Speaker 4: I think it was like, I don't know whether it
Speaker 4: was something to do with Billy Sullivan and he said,
Speaker 4: he said to me, oh yeah, I lined up to
Speaker 4: piss on that guy's grave.
Speaker 5: I was like, damn, coach, geez. So I don't think
Speaker 5: we need to worry about offending him in heaven. So
Speaker 5: go ahead.
Speaker 3: You know, Raymond Berry is is a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 3: He's played the game with the best. And when he
Speaker 3: came in, man, he just you know, it was like, Okay,
Speaker 3: this is the Raymond Berry that that that has done
Speaker 3: what we want what we want to do as as individuals.
Speaker 3: And the way he the way he helped he went,
Speaker 3: he went about practice, it was totally different. When he
Speaker 3: came in. He had he helped practice in a different
Speaker 3: way than than I've ever seen it. You know, he
Speaker 3: had offensive lineman catching passes, he had offensive linemen uh
Speaker 3: picking up fumbles. You know, everybody had to everybody had
Speaker 3: to learn how to to recover a fumble.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: That I think that year we let the the NFL
Speaker 3: uh in turnovers or something like that, and we're up
Speaker 3: there very high. But it was the way he went
Speaker 3: about himself and the way he went about the way
Speaker 3: we went about practice, and we started believing that we
Speaker 3: could win. And and that's what it all. That's when
Speaker 3: it all turned around.
Speaker 2: Man. We we actually started believing that we could win.
Speaker 4: The other thing that happened that year was Craig James
Speaker 4: came into the mix, and you know he was Ron
Speaker 4: Meyers guy from college, right, so, and he kind of
Speaker 4: took over you. You saw your carries go way down.
Speaker 5: What was that like for you?
Speaker 3: I mean it was it was kind of frustrating, But
Speaker 3: at the same time, you know, you know, I'm a
Speaker 3: team player, so you know, I understand. And I don't
Speaker 3: know if people knew this, but Craig Jane, Craig Jane
Speaker 3: was the fullback and I was the half back.
Speaker 1: Can you believe he's listed as a fullback? I was.
Speaker 1: When we were looking into this, I said, I said,
Speaker 1: that's got to be a typo, and then I looked
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 2: Craig fullback.
Speaker 5: That's I mean, I never would, right. He certainly wasn't
Speaker 5: a lead blocker, right.
Speaker 3: And see, that's that's the way Ron Myers, because Ron,
Speaker 3: I'm not sorry, Raymond Barry, he wanted He wanted me
Speaker 3: and Craig on the field at the same time, coach.
Speaker 3: So yeah, and so, but the problem was that Craig
Speaker 3: couldn't block and so true story. And so he was
Speaker 3: at the fullback position and I was at the running
Speaker 3: back position. But I could block, and so he would
Speaker 3: he would get most of the carries. Now, Craig is
Speaker 3: a good it's a good football player. He's a good runner,
Speaker 3: but he just couldn't he wasn't he wasn't that blocking back.
Speaker 3: And and but uh, coach very wanted us the field
Speaker 3: at the same time. So uh, he moved Craig to
Speaker 3: fullback and up and I played the running back position.
Speaker 3: And I didn't get a lot of carris because she
Speaker 3: couldn't block. But at the same time, what what what
Speaker 3: I took a role of catching the ball out of
Speaker 3: the backfield. I think I think I called about sixty
Speaker 3: three passes that year or something like that. I'm not sure.
Speaker 3: I think it was in the sixties or something like that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, and so my role my role was is
Speaker 3: to block catch passes running when when they get give
Speaker 3: me the ball and and and and I didn't I
Speaker 3: didn't mind that because you know, I want to win.
Speaker 2: I wanted to make it to the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: But but when you were saying that Craig couldn't block Tony,
Speaker 1: I think all your teammates and a stute fians knew
Speaker 1: you could block name. What was what was your nickname?
Speaker 2: Tony?
Speaker 3: They called me the Blade because I wouldn't cut him down.
Speaker 3: I had a great time. I know, we were playing
Speaker 3: against the Jets one day and uh, I was blocking
Speaker 3: you know one of the one of the plays when
Speaker 3: they would toss the ball to trag uh in the
Speaker 3: fullback position, and and my man was Mark Casino. He
Speaker 3: was the guy I had to block Mark Gasino. So
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna hit Mark GASONO. I
Speaker 3: I'm gonna cut Mark Gastino. And man I was cutting him.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: That's the when I got the name the Blade. After that,
Speaker 3: because you know, we we we ran the we showed
Speaker 3: the practice, uh not the practice, but the film after
Speaker 3: the game. And I must have blocked him about six
Speaker 3: or seven cut him about six or seven times that day.
Speaker 3: He was he was pretty pissed at man. Yeah, he
Speaker 3: really was. And every time and every time I would
Speaker 3: cut him in, I said, Man, I had to go low,
Speaker 3: and because she's so big, I kept trying to be
Speaker 3: friendly with him, well might.
Speaker 4: And I heard that he got pretty cautious because you know,
Speaker 4: he knew you would coming low, and so he had
Speaker 4: to be he had to be mindful of that.
Speaker 2: There was there was one play man.
Speaker 3: It was so funny where I'm it's like maybe in
Speaker 3: the fourth quarter and I'm getting ready to cut him again,
Speaker 3: and I think, like I'm gonna cut him, and I
Speaker 3: don't cut him, and he just backs up and he
Speaker 3: wallows out and he just takes hisself all out of
Speaker 3: the play.
Speaker 2: As a football player, you have to see it.
Speaker 3: And you know, when you see that other film, it's like,
Speaker 3: this guy does not want to be cut no more
Speaker 3: for the rest of his life, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So so, Tony, you talked about, you know, how you
Speaker 1: gained you as a team, gained so much confidence with
Speaker 1: Raymond as you were winding out that eighty four year.
Speaker 1: In eighty five, how did that How did that feel
Speaker 1: as you guys started training camp and you started the
Speaker 1: eighty five season. Could you feel that confidence building?
Speaker 2: So? Absolutely?
Speaker 3: Man, We we didn't know, you know, you know, one
Speaker 3: of the things that that Raymond taught us was you know,
Speaker 3: believe yourself, worked hard, you know, you get on the field,
Speaker 3: you know, give everything you got, and that's something that
Speaker 3: we just we just took it on the field. But
Speaker 3: the confidence that we had, I'm not really sure how
Speaker 3: many games we ran and we won in a row
Speaker 3: that year, but we were confident. And I think we
Speaker 3: were confident because of because of what we knew we had.
Speaker 2: We had. We had some great talent. I think we
Speaker 2: drafted Irban Friary that year, and.
Speaker 3: You know we had you know, Stanley Morgan, you know
Speaker 3: Lynn Dawson at a tight end, and we were just
Speaker 3: stacked all over Man Andre Tipping on one end, down
Speaker 3: Blackman at the other end. We had Raymond clay Born,
Speaker 3: Ryan Lippett, Rowland James on defense, Fred Marion. We we
Speaker 3: had a great team and we just had to put
Speaker 3: it all together. And so we were really confident. But
Speaker 3: more confident I think the more thing, the more common
Speaker 3: because of who Raymond Barry was and the way he
Speaker 3: the way he was teaching us and teaching us to win.
Speaker 4: You know, they always say, like when there's a quarterback
Speaker 4: controversy on a roster, if if you have if you
Speaker 4: have two quarterbacks, you have none kind of thing. But
Speaker 4: you guys, you guys used both Tony Easton and Steve
Speaker 4: Grogan that year. You know, both suffered injuries at different
Speaker 4: points in that season and still were able to go
Speaker 4: eleven and five, make the playoffs, and and become the
Speaker 4: first team to win three road playoff games to reach
Speaker 4: a Super Bowl. Can you talk about your perspective of
Speaker 4: the Easton Grogan dynamic.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, Steve Grogan was my guy. You know,
Speaker 3: that's you know, I'm just you know, I'm I'm I
Speaker 3: like Tony Easton. I haven't seen him in years now,
Speaker 3: so I don't know even what he's doing right now.
Speaker 3: But Steve Grogan was my guy. I mean, he was
Speaker 3: the guy who I looked at as a as a leader. Uh,
Speaker 3: don't get me wrong. Tony was a great player. He
Speaker 3: did well. You know, it's you know, one of the
Speaker 3: things that I had to say about Tony when he
Speaker 3: got into a kind of a tough game, you know,
Speaker 3: he would kind of kind of shy away a little bit,
Speaker 3: and you definitely wasn't going to get that from Steve Grogan.
Speaker 3: But one thing great about Steve Grogan man that you know,
Speaker 3: I really found out that, you know, a lot of
Speaker 3: guys thought that he he was our guy. And but
Speaker 3: you know, Tony Easton did some things. You know, when
Speaker 3: Steve went down, Tony came in, he played well. Uh
Speaker 3: and but Steve never you never you never see you
Speaker 3: never seen Steve put about anything or he would always
Speaker 3: be trying to help Tony in any way he could
Speaker 3: when Tony was starting and Steve was the backup. And
Speaker 3: that's one thing that I admired about about that with Steve.
Speaker 3: But but you know, Steve was my guy.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's really unbelievable. On a team that
Speaker 1: had that kind of a year, that won those games
Speaker 1: on the road, that had to win those games of
Speaker 1: the road in order to get to the franchises for
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, a quarterback controversy can te team apart.
Speaker 1: It's done it, you know, countless times in the history
Speaker 1: of the NFL. But it did with you guys. And
Speaker 1: to the point that this play I always remember is
Speaker 1: watching is Easton finding you at the Orange Bowl in
Speaker 1: the AC Championship game. That touchdown gave you guys a lead,
Speaker 1: and you never looked back in that game. I mean,
Speaker 1: to me, that that was just a good time of
Speaker 1: him waiting and waiting and waiting and finding you and
Speaker 1: hitting you. And that put you guys in the lead,
Speaker 1: and you never relinquished the lead.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, like I said, Tony was a
Speaker 2: good player man.
Speaker 3: You know, if you you if he had his confidence
Speaker 3: going and and everything was going well for him, you know,
Speaker 3: he was going to get the ball to you. And
Speaker 3: and like I say, it was at that point, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, making the playoffs and and everything was just
Speaker 3: kind of clicking our way. I think one of the
Speaker 3: biggest things that that that people and I'm pretty sure
Speaker 3: everybody knows that our defense was was was crazy, crazy
Speaker 3: good that year. We i think we led the NFL
Speaker 3: and turnovers and you know, we we would always I
Speaker 3: mean we we went into games thinking that we're gonna
Speaker 3: get turnovers. As a as an offensive player, I'm waiting
Speaker 3: on the sidelines, I mean we're you know, thinking we're
Speaker 3: gonna get a fumble or or interception or something. That's
Speaker 3: and that's how we're thinking. And I think that was
Speaker 3: the that that had to do a lot with coach
Speaker 3: Barry Man. Coach Barry was you know, he he he
Speaker 3: did a lot of different drills, but at the same
Speaker 3: time he would talk to you in a way let
Speaker 3: you know what to expect and what you should what
Speaker 3: you should expect and that that was one of the
Speaker 3: biggest things that I took from Coach Barry was the
Speaker 3: mindset of the game and how you got to get
Speaker 3: your mind thinking that you can win, thinking that you
Speaker 3: can beat that guy across from you, thinking that you know,
Speaker 3: this is how this play is gonna go. And and
Speaker 3: then you know you you do what you you got
Speaker 3: your steps, you do your steps, you do what you're
Speaker 3: supposed to do.
Speaker 2: And one of the things that.
Speaker 3: I admire about coach Coach Barry is you know, you
Speaker 3: never see him get upset.
Speaker 2: You never see him him lose it.
Speaker 3: You never see him uh, I never see I never
Speaker 3: even heard me yell any time, unless he's just yelling
Speaker 3: for fun or any something like that. Never seen him
Speaker 3: yell out. A guy always come up to you and
Speaker 3: tell you what you need to hear and get back
Speaker 3: in there. You know, he didn't baby us at all,
Speaker 3: but he showed us and he taught us how to win.
Speaker 4: So Tony, you guys obviously break that eighteen game losing.
Speaker 5: Streak at the Orange Bowl.
Speaker 4: You go to the Super Bowl and we all know
Speaker 4: what happened there. But and as a fan, you know,
Speaker 4: we were all hyped up. I had my Bury the
Speaker 4: Bear shirt on. And then after the Super Bowl that
Speaker 4: big story breaks in the globe about a drug scandal,
Speaker 4: and as a fan, we were like, here we go again,
Speaker 4: this is just typical Patriots, right, Yeah, so you were
Speaker 4: involved in that. You've since written a book called Broken Road,
Speaker 4: Turning My Mess into a Message. Can you kind of
Speaker 4: take us back into kind of how that all transported
Speaker 4: and what it was like in the nineteen eighties that
Speaker 4: because it wasn't just the Patriots that had these problems.
Speaker 5: What was it like, you know in the eighties, what
Speaker 5: was that culture? And then how did it kind of
Speaker 5: bubble up here in New England?
Speaker 2: Well, I can.
Speaker 3: I can tell you my experience and my experience, you know,
Speaker 3: like I said, my rookie season when I came in
Speaker 3: and I took Vegas Ferguson's job, and Horace Ivey was
Speaker 3: a back up and he got hurt and Vegas got
Speaker 3: hurt and I got the opportunity to play my fourth
Speaker 3: season in the league. The beginning of the season, I
Speaker 3: got crack ribs. And I don't know if you guys
Speaker 3: have read crack ribs before.
Speaker 2: It's something really painful.
Speaker 1: People say it's one of the most painful things that
Speaker 1: you can ever experience.
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, it is.
Speaker 3: And so here's my predicament right now. So I got
Speaker 3: the opportunity, so I can either sit down doing doing
Speaker 3: training camp.
Speaker 2: You know, Robert Weathers was there. We had a couple
Speaker 2: of other backs that were there.
Speaker 3: You know, these guys are hungry and ready to go. Uh,
Speaker 3: So I can either rest up my ribs or take painkillers.
Speaker 3: Those are my choices, you know, to stay, to stay
Speaker 3: on the field. So I chose painkillers because I wanted
Speaker 3: to stay on the field. You know, I'm a team player.
Speaker 3: I want to win, I want to play. And so
Speaker 3: I started taking painkillers in eighty four and uh, I
Speaker 3: got addicted to painkillers. You know, I was taking painkillers
Speaker 3: that whole year because my ribs really never really never
Speaker 3: healed up.
Speaker 2: Because you know, if I got hit in my.
Speaker 3: Ribs, because I would I would take courtisan shots before
Speaker 3: the game and courtison shots at halftime along with the painkillers.
Speaker 3: So you know, during the game, you know, if I
Speaker 3: get hit, I don't even feel it until after the game.
Speaker 3: And so uh got got what got with the painkillers?
Speaker 2: Man, and they just let the other things.
Speaker 3: Uh leed to marijuana because you know, I was that
Speaker 3: type of kid coming up as a as a kid,
Speaker 3: my mom and dad, we went to church, man, every Sunday.
Speaker 3: I didn't drink, I didn't smoke. I didn't do anything, man.
Speaker 2: And until nineteen eighty four, and so it was it
Speaker 2: was for me.
Speaker 3: It was it was like, you know, the pain, you know,
Speaker 3: the painkillers was something that they would just give us.
Speaker 3: You know, everybody was doing it, and everybody was taking
Speaker 3: painkillers because everybody wants to play. Everybody wants to stay
Speaker 3: in the field. You know, you you you get, you
Speaker 3: get your bell ring, they gave you the smelling sauce.
Speaker 3: You get back in the game. Yeah you got a concussion,
Speaker 3: but you know you're still playing. And that's how it
Speaker 3: was back then. Everybody's taking painkillers. Everybody's doing this and
Speaker 3: doing that. Well, I got so addicted to painkillers where
Speaker 3: I had to start smoking marijuana because I was getting
Speaker 3: sick after painkillers. And so that that led to that,
Speaker 3: and you know, you know, it's just a fact where
Speaker 3: everybody was doing it. You know, I'm not saying that's
Speaker 3: an excuse, but that that's the that's the way I
Speaker 3: got into it. But one of the things that I
Speaker 3: tell kids all the time, you know, I truly believe
Speaker 3: that the experience that I had going through those different
Speaker 3: things that I went through, that I can help somebody else.
Speaker 3: And that's why I wrote the book to, you know,
Speaker 3: to help to help encourage kids, you know, not to
Speaker 3: not to start with the painkills, not to do this,
Speaker 3: not to go down this road. I went down the road.
Speaker 3: I show you how, show you how bad it was,
Speaker 3: and so you don't have to go that route. And
Speaker 3: I really wrote it for that. But fortunately for me,
Speaker 3: it was great that other people really loved the book,
Speaker 3: and uh and so a lot of people got the book,
Speaker 3: and you know, I'm doing a lot of great things
Speaker 3: with that now as far as schools getting schools to
Speaker 3: get also get the book as well.
Speaker 1: So Tony, that that path that you went down ultimately
Speaker 1: led to the end of your football playing career. Was
Speaker 1: there a moment in time or can you remember something
Speaker 1: as it crystallized in your mind where you hit what
Speaker 1: you would maybe describe as a low moment that said,
Speaker 1: I got to stop this now, I got to turn
Speaker 1: my life around. Do you remember when.
Speaker 3: That was that that that wasn't until after, you know, after,
Speaker 3: you know, I think I just wanted to want to
Speaker 3: tell you guys this how how crazy life could be.
Speaker 3: And and I talk about choices all the time, you know,
Speaker 3: making good choices. One of the things that I talk
Speaker 3: about was the right choice. You know, sometimes you think
Speaker 3: it's the right choice, but it's not the right choice.
Speaker 3: I thought it was the right choice for me to
Speaker 3: to take those painkillers to stay on the field. I
Speaker 3: thought that was the right choice. And it wasn't. It
Speaker 3: wasn't the right choice. It was the wrong choice. And
Speaker 3: so you know, things happened in New England and they
Speaker 3: actually released me, and so I got released. I got
Speaker 3: picked up by the Indianapolis coach. Ron Myers was there.
Speaker 3: Ron Myers picks me up and I go to Indianapolis
Speaker 3: and man, I'm I'm you know, I'm playing well. I'm
Speaker 3: in the backfield with ridicters and Eric Dickersons was on
Speaker 3: the team at the time, and and you know, first
Speaker 3: on the field, last one off the field for some
Speaker 3: of the way, last on out the weight room. Uh,
Speaker 3: this is nineteen eighty seven, nineteen eighty eight season, and
Speaker 3: so everything's going great. Man, I'm I'm doing I'm doing fantastic,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, taking my drug tests every every
Speaker 3: every every day, every day their their drug testingmy and
Speaker 3: so I'm taking my drug tests every day. And and
Speaker 3: and about the third week of training camp, I go
Speaker 3: to a party. There's just a little little house party,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, just drinking. They're drinking beer and stuff.
Speaker 3: I'm not even I'm not even drinking. I'm just there.
Speaker 3: But I knew at this little house party there was
Speaker 3: gonna be some marijuana smoking going on. But you know,
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna smoke marijuana because I got to take
Speaker 3: a drug test the very next morning. I know I
Speaker 3: can't do anything. So I get to the party. Sure enough,
Speaker 3: they're smoking marijuana, doing whatever. But I'm chilling. I'm I'm good.
Speaker 3: And so the very next day, you know, I wake up,
Speaker 3: go take my drug tests, and go out and practice,
Speaker 3: have another great practice. And next day Roy Maris cast
Speaker 3: me into his office and he says, you know, we
Speaker 3: got a little problem. You've been tested for the third
Speaker 3: time for marijuana. And I was like, man, you know,
Speaker 3: I didn't didn't even do any marijuana. But I remember
Speaker 3: I'm in the room with marijuana smoking, and so I
Speaker 3: get I get caught for secondhand smoke by going to
Speaker 3: that party, and I get suspended for a whole entire
Speaker 3: year because I made a choice to go to a party.
Speaker 2: And if I would have.
Speaker 3: Stayed home, stayed in my dorm and not go to
Speaker 3: that party, you know, I probably I probably wouldn't have
Speaker 3: been suspended for that whole entire year. But I made
Speaker 3: that choice to go to that party, and it kind
Speaker 3: of like put me in a in a place where
Speaker 3: football was taken away from me. And that was probably
Speaker 3: the one of the most saddest things, uh that I
Speaker 3: had to go through in my life, and it was
Speaker 3: really a really dark place for me.
Speaker 2: Then.
Speaker 3: Man, sometimes I don't even like thinking about it. But
Speaker 3: it was a choice that I made. And that's one
Speaker 3: of the things that I talked about in my book.
Speaker 3: I talk about to kids all the time. You got
Speaker 3: to make good choices.
Speaker 4: So, Tony, who would you say ended up being your
Speaker 4: biggest support system as you try to recover from addiction.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you this. I went through.
Speaker 3: I went through after I got I got a league
Speaker 3: of ninety. I came back, I got reinstated. That played
Speaker 3: my last I played my last season with the Dolphins.
Speaker 3: And it's still just I felt. I felt like a failure, man,
Speaker 3: I really did. I felt. I felt that I let
Speaker 3: my family down. That I know I could have had
Speaker 3: a longer career. I know I could have played longer.
Speaker 3: I know I could have been more productive as a
Speaker 3: father and as a husband, and I wasn't. And I
Speaker 3: went to a dark place for about eighteen years. Man,
Speaker 3: So at night, I think in two thousand and five,
Speaker 3: two thousand, two thousand and six, I think it was
Speaker 3: I'm not sure the exact time. I met this woman
Speaker 3: over the phone and I'm in Miami and she's she's
Speaker 3: in San Antonio, Texas. And uh, you got to read
Speaker 3: the book, man, you got to read the book. And
Speaker 3: that was that was my support system. She kind of
Speaker 3: changed my life. She changed my way of thinking. And
Speaker 3: and and when I always think about that, I always
Speaker 3: think about Coach Barry as well. When Coach Barry came in,
Speaker 3: he changed our way of thinking. And when I met
Speaker 3: my wife, who is my wife today, she changed my
Speaker 3: way of thinking. Because I was this negative guy for
Speaker 3: all these years and you're just thinking negatives, kind of
Speaker 3: really living through my son.
Speaker 2: My son was going off to the.
Speaker 3: University of Pittsburgh to play football, and kind of living
Speaker 3: through him, making sure he doesn't make mistakes like I
Speaker 3: made it. And uh, just not really living, just existing.
Speaker 3: And she came into my life and she changed my
Speaker 3: way of thinking. Man, And that's that's I really owe
Speaker 3: her a lot. I really think that, you know, God
Speaker 3: looked down on me and blessed me with this beautiful woman.
Speaker 3: And she made me feel like I'm this special guy
Speaker 3: and and uh, and I've been with her ever since. Man,
Speaker 3: in life is fantastic. You got the opportunity to wrote,
Speaker 3: to write a book, started a foundation, and started speaking
Speaker 3: all over the country. And man, life is great. Man,
Speaker 3: I can't I can't complain about anything. I'm in Louisiana
Speaker 3: right now, just having a great time. Man, everything is fantastic.
Speaker 1: Well that sounds awesome, Tony. I guess I would ask
Speaker 1: you this. You know that you've got you have perspective
Speaker 1: in your life, is what it sounds like. And maybe
Speaker 1: your life has helped give you perspective. But I guess
Speaker 1: i'd want to ask you is what kind of joy
Speaker 1: do you receive in seeing young people being able to
Speaker 1: talk to one people and the ability maybe to even
Speaker 1: if you just affect one kid when wherever it is
Speaker 1: that you're going, that that he gets the fact that
Speaker 1: I need to make good choices. As you talk about
Speaker 1: how much joy do you get out of the do
Speaker 1: you get out of that?
Speaker 2: Tony? That's that's that's what I live for. Man.
Speaker 3: If you, if you ever get a chance to read
Speaker 3: my book, man, you you should tack into that, because
Speaker 3: you know, I went through some things, and I truly
Speaker 3: believe God allowed me to go through some things where
Speaker 3: I really shouldn't be here today.
Speaker 2: I really should be dead, and I'm not dead.
Speaker 3: And so my perspective was, Okay, why am I still alive?
Speaker 3: And there's other people that you know, done some of
Speaker 3: the things that I've done, or even not even as
Speaker 3: worse as I've done, and they're not here anymore? Why
Speaker 3: am I still alive? And I had to understand that
Speaker 3: I have a purpose. It wasn't just to play football,
Speaker 3: you know. Football was was part of my purpose, but
Speaker 3: my purpose now as a human being, as a as
Speaker 3: a man, is to to tell my story to let
Speaker 3: kids know to understand you know, this is this is
Speaker 3: the road that I went down and and so I'm
Speaker 3: here now so I can tell you not to go
Speaker 3: this way. And Uh, I've we we've had a great
Speaker 3: time with the Foundation where we help high school uh
Speaker 3: not just players, but high school students go off to college.
Speaker 3: We give out scholarships and we you know, we're not
Speaker 3: not at the level as as Lebron James or anything
Speaker 3: like that, but we do as well as much as
Speaker 3: we can to help these kids, understanding that you know,
Speaker 3: going off to college is the first step that you
Speaker 3: guys need to go get an education, work hard, and
Speaker 3: and you know, have those have those morals where you
Speaker 3: know you're trying to help somebody. And one of the
Speaker 3: things that we teach kids is it's all about helping.
Speaker 3: You want to you want to love, You want to
Speaker 3: love love people. You want to help people, because it's
Speaker 3: gonna all come back to you. Uh, whether you believe
Speaker 3: it or not. Man, when you give, you're gonna always receive.
Speaker 3: And I truly believe.
Speaker 2: That's a law. That's what I was brought up as
Speaker 2: a Christian.
Speaker 3: My mom and dad taught me that and some of
Speaker 3: the things that that I've learned as a man and
Speaker 3: as a football player, when you work hard, you're gonna
Speaker 3: get rewarded. When you when you give, you're going to receive.
Speaker 3: And when you love, you're gonna you're gonna get loved back.
Speaker 3: And and and that's the thing that you know, I'm
Speaker 3: really proud of seeing.
Speaker 2: You know, my kids.
Speaker 3: You know, I have a big, big family, have a
Speaker 3: uh you know, we have like eight kids between my
Speaker 3: wife and myself and about eleven grandkids now and uh,
Speaker 3: and just teaching them the same things.
Speaker 2: But like I said, it's so it's so rewarding to see.
Speaker 3: And everybody's not gonna get and I know that everybody's
Speaker 3: not gonna get it.
Speaker 2: But when I get that call.
Speaker 3: One of the things that that I do with my
Speaker 3: wife always gets on me to tell me to stop doing.
Speaker 3: I would when I would go speak to schools, I
Speaker 3: would give these kids my phone number. And she said,
Speaker 3: you know I would and I would be getting all
Speaker 3: these calls. But but you know, you know, I want
Speaker 3: to help man. I just want to help kids, and uh,
Speaker 3: and I would give kids my phone number and we talking.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, whenever you know, you get this kid that
Speaker 3: you know, you know, afraid to go to his mom
Speaker 3: and dad or something.
Speaker 2: For some reason, He's gonna come to me.
Speaker 3: And if the situation is to a point where I know,
Speaker 3: you know, I got to I got to tell your
Speaker 3: mom and dad this, and we got to do this.
Speaker 3: And so, you know, it's just a great feeling to
Speaker 3: see a kid turn his life around and be successful.
Speaker 2: And we have a lot of kids now we've.
Speaker 3: Been doing we've been doing our tournament now for about
Speaker 3: for about twelve years, and you know, see kids growing
Speaker 3: up and having kids, and they come back to you
Speaker 3: and thank you, and it's it's.
Speaker 2: It's more rewarding than scoring any touchdown.
Speaker 4: Believe me, that's incredible. It sounds like you have an
Speaker 4: awesome impact I have. I have one final question. It's
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go back to football here for a second,
Speaker 4: because I feel like as I look at today's game
Speaker 4: and particularly the Patriots and the offense they run here,
Speaker 4: but you would still very much fit because you could block,
Speaker 4: you could catch out of the backfield, and you were
Speaker 4: a good runner. So I guess my question is do
Speaker 4: you feel like you would still be a great running
Speaker 4: back in today's game? And maybe who would you compare
Speaker 4: yourself to in today's game as a player.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: Man, there's a lot of great players. Man, but I
Speaker 3: feel that I would I would love to play now
Speaker 3: the way you can't get hit as hard as I
Speaker 3: would love to play now. Man, those guys got the
Speaker 3: name man. But uh, yeah, I think I would fit
Speaker 3: pretty good coming out of the backfield and you know,
Speaker 3: being able to do some of the things that I
Speaker 3: would do. And you know, I'm thinking about somebody that
Speaker 3: that that's.
Speaker 2: Playing now, and I remember, I can't even think of
Speaker 2: my man's name.
Speaker 3: He wrote number thirty three for the Patriot, but he's
Speaker 3: in the Patrios Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: Was this guy's name, Kevin Kevin Funk? When Kevin Falk
Speaker 2: was playing, man, I used to root for him so bad.
Speaker 1: Uh, that's a good comparison, that's an interesting comparison.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he wore he wore the same number as me.
Speaker 3: And uh, great guy too. I got it opportunity to
Speaker 3: meet him and talk to him a lot. He's coaching
Speaker 3: down the l s U now and and uh but uh,
Speaker 3: I think really just seeing him doing the things that
Speaker 3: he did, and you know, I can't really put my
Speaker 3: finger on some of the guys that are that are
Speaker 3: in it. But there's a lot of great running backs
Speaker 3: that are playing the game right now.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: And and uh, like I said, Man, they got it
Speaker 3: made in the shade.
Speaker 2: Man, they can't get hit in the head no more.
Speaker 2: We used to get knocked out. Man. I must have
Speaker 2: been knocked out about four or five times, Uh, doing
Speaker 2: my career.
Speaker 1: That's great, Tony. Well, our guest has been former Patriots
Speaker 1: running back Tony Collins. I'll tell you what football fans
Speaker 1: and Patriot fans out there, I'm going to make a
Speaker 1: recommendation to you that Tony said for himself about a
Speaker 1: couple of times. The name of the book is Broken Road,
Speaker 1: Turning My Mess into a Message. And you want to
Speaker 1: read a good inspirational story about a guy who's turned
Speaker 1: his life around, let me tell you should read that book. Tony,
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us today and all the best
Speaker 1: would be well.
Speaker 2: Thank you guys. You guys have a great one. Thanks
Speaker 2: Thanks Tony, Thanks safe.
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