1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,440
Speaker 1: And I remember my coach is pulling me to the

2
00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:09,760
Speaker 1: side and saying to me, particularly D'Angelo fields, don't cheat

3
00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:15,480
Speaker 1: your opportunity. You have a responsibility beyond yourself. And this

4
00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,280
Speaker 1: is more than a game. This game can take your places.

5
00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:18,560
Speaker 2: Right.

6
00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:24,200
Speaker 1: So football to me was from that moment on, was

7
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:25,160
Speaker 1: more than just a game.

8
00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:26,640
Speaker 2: It's been life or death.

9
00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,960
Speaker 1: And I like the fact or I appreciate the fact

10
00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,120
Speaker 1: that I get to work for the business every day

11
00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,640
Speaker 1: that changed my life, and for the players every day

12
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:41,160
Speaker 1: that changed my life.

13
00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,040
Speaker 3: What's up, everybody, I'll peanut to me and this is

14
00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,159
Speaker 3: the NFL Player's Second Acts podcast, and with me, as

15
00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,360
Speaker 3: always is my trusty co host, Roman Harper.

16
00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:55,440
Speaker 4: That's it. That's all. I got nothing.

17
00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,200
Speaker 3: You're not gonna okay serious mode right now, So you're

18
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,120
Speaker 3: you're right, yeah, go to our next all right, our

19
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,600
Speaker 3: next guest. He played for the Steelers and the Cardinals.

20
00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,000
Speaker 3: He is now the executive director of the Trust Ladies

21
00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:10,160
Speaker 3: and Gentlemen's Mere Cop.

22
00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:11,199
Speaker 4: Welcome to the pop.

23
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,760
Speaker 2: Yes, thanks for having.

24
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:17,360
Speaker 4: Thanks for coming on. Appreciation you.

25
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:19,560
Speaker 3: I mean you literally just arrived like you haven't even

26
00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,000
Speaker 3: been in your room and you came right down. So man,

27
00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,920
Speaker 3: I thank you for coming here and just wanting to

28
00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:26,200
Speaker 3: get this thing right right to it.

29
00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,040
Speaker 2: We appreciate you, no, thank you, thank you for having.

30
00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,040
Speaker 4: Where was you where'd you come in from?

31
00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,080
Speaker 2: D C hometown? Now?

32
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,800
Speaker 5: When you say DC, like because like d C that

33
00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:38,760
Speaker 5: that's a lot is it Virginia?

34
00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,280
Speaker 2: Is it? Like? Yo? No? No, no, no, truly like

35
00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:47,559
Speaker 2: in DC? So the indigenous folks, d C is d C. Okay, yeah, teach,

36
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,200
Speaker 2: When I say d C, I mean the city of Washington.

37
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:52,240
Speaker 6: Okay.

38
00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,000
Speaker 2: So but you may hear d m V.

39
00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:55,680
Speaker 6: Yeah that's yeah.

40
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,040
Speaker 2: Where Ken, okay, brothers and now but you're in it.

41
00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,480
Speaker 2: But I'm okay, all right. I like that.

42
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,520
Speaker 4: Ken. That's country talk right there.

43
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:05,400
Speaker 6: That is kind of country talk.

44
00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:06,840
Speaker 4: No, ain't no kind of it is.

45
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,280
Speaker 5: We can well, you know everybody got cousins, but we

46
00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,360
Speaker 5: say but we say kim folk though, like it ain't

47
00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,040
Speaker 5: just you can say kim folk.

48
00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,160
Speaker 4: That's what that's. That's some country right there.

49
00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,320
Speaker 2: It might be country cousins.

50
00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:19,600
Speaker 6: There we go. I get it.

51
00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,480
Speaker 5: I respect it, Samir. Do you remember this past that

52
00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,320
Speaker 5: happened in training camp two thousand and four? I guess

53
00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:30,959
Speaker 5: it was a deep pass from Ben Roethlisberger It was

54
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,440
Speaker 5: a write up, an article about it, and it said

55
00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,160
Speaker 5: that you caught it for a touchdown, and this was

56
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,160
Speaker 5: the play that showed the news and possibly that team

57
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,079
Speaker 5: that like man, I think Ben Ben, maybe Big Ben

58
00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:43,880
Speaker 5: may be our answer or the future.

59
00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,040
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can say I remember that

60
00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,800
Speaker 1: play vividly or specifically, but I remember many plays where

61
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,880
Speaker 1: Ben did that. That training camp, yes, also rookie mini camp.

62
00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:57,600
Speaker 2: That mini camp.

63
00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:59,600
Speaker 6: So tell me, tell me a couple of them.

64
00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:01,160
Speaker 5: I want to hear, Like, at what point, because big

65
00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,280
Speaker 5: being going for coming from Miami of Ohio, everybody had questions,

66
00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,160
Speaker 5: small school guy, but he had the body, he had

67
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,399
Speaker 5: the arm, and he literally made Miami Ohio good. So

68
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,720
Speaker 5: what were some of the things that happened early on

69
00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:14,799
Speaker 5: in camp that you were.

70
00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:19,040
Speaker 1: Like, Yeah, I would say confidence, charisma, you know, and athletics.

71
00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:20,360
Speaker 2: We call it the it factor.

72
00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:26,320
Speaker 1: He walked with a city swag, so stepping on the field,

73
00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,679
Speaker 1: I think he brought up I think he raised the

74
00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,560
Speaker 1: level of the offense and the team, and then his

75
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:39,760
Speaker 1: talent was apparent immediately. So he helped actually helped me

76
00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,120
Speaker 1: make a name for myself in short order, feeding me

77
00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:48,240
Speaker 1: plenty of boss that would eventually lead to me quickly

78
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,280
Speaker 1: moving up the depth chart. So I would say it

79
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,800
Speaker 1: was it was early, and it was often that he delivered.

80
00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,280
Speaker 5: Here's the question that we like to ask most of

81
00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,160
Speaker 5: our guests, but what was your welcome to the NFL moment?

82
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,240
Speaker 2: My welcome to the NFL moment?

83
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,000
Speaker 1: It was actually that that training camp Cheety who's now

84
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,360
Speaker 1: a scout for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a corner

85
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,360
Speaker 1: at the time. I beat him on the deep ball

86
00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,400
Speaker 1: and the ball was underthrown. But I was confident that

87
00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:21,400
Speaker 1: he was not going to get to this football. It

88
00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,600
Speaker 1: was no way he was behind me. I shielded him,

89
00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,880
Speaker 1: did all the technical savvy things. The brother went over me,

90
00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,120
Speaker 1: and I mean reached over me, picked the ball off.

91
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:34,640
Speaker 1: I said, this is a different level of athletics out

92
00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,480
Speaker 1: you know, could never be comfortable.

93
00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,359
Speaker 2: So I got too comfortable that play. But that was

94
00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,200
Speaker 2: my welcome to the NFL moment.

95
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,360
Speaker 1: He was shorter than me. I mean by all measure.

96
00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:47,520
Speaker 1: He wasn't supposed to get to that ball. No way

97
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,880
Speaker 1: he's supposed to get to that ball. And he got

98
00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,159
Speaker 1: to that ball. And to this day, I'm trying to

99
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,400
Speaker 1: figure out this brother got some game his vert must

100
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,280
Speaker 1: have been forty six. Yeah, Brod must have been a

101
00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:00,560
Speaker 1: ten to four because he got up there.

102
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:02,800
Speaker 2: So that was my welcome to the NFL moment.

103
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:04,760
Speaker 3: So that two thousand and fourth season, you guys went

104
00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,320
Speaker 3: fifteen to one. You lost AFC title game to the Patriots.

105
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,960
Speaker 3: But that year Ben Roethlisberger, he was Rookie of the Year,

106
00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,600
Speaker 3: Officers Rookie of the Year, Hines Ward, drowing better say

107
00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,279
Speaker 3: all made the Pro Bowl. Three defensive guys made the

108
00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,680
Speaker 3: Pro Bowl. Talk about how special that season was.

109
00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,479
Speaker 1: So for me that season in it relatively early for me.

110
00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,920
Speaker 1: I had actually broke my leg just before the season started,

111
00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,599
Speaker 1: but I stayed with the team. Yeah, that whole season

112
00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,760
Speaker 1: watching film, so I got to see all, yeah.

113
00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:36,840
Speaker 2: All of the players.

114
00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,920
Speaker 1: Yeah that it would eventually lead to all of the

115
00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,960
Speaker 1: accolades that you just mentioned. What I recall from that

116
00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:48,480
Speaker 1: season was just being amazed by the collection of talent,

117
00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:53,120
Speaker 1: but more so how that collection of talent operated as

118
00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,440
Speaker 1: a family or team. And I think it really showed

119
00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,160
Speaker 1: the leadership from the coaching staff standpoint front office, as

120
00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,680
Speaker 1: well as the players in the locker room. I mean

121
00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:05,600
Speaker 1: when you walked in the locker room, it was no

122
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:07,920
Speaker 1: question that this was a veteran team.

123
00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:09,320
Speaker 2: You would there to win, you would there to get

124
00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:10,320
Speaker 2: a job done.

125
00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,080
Speaker 1: So what you eventually saw in the field, I think

126
00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,880
Speaker 1: came through hours of bonding and hard work before they

127
00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:19,480
Speaker 1: got out there.

128
00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,200
Speaker 3: Talk about you alluded to it earlier when you when

129
00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,280
Speaker 3: you answered the question, when you first started talking about

130
00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:27,440
Speaker 3: the question you got you got injury broke to let

131
00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,920
Speaker 3: how was it dealing with that injury and still being

132
00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,360
Speaker 3: with the team, But you're really not I don't want

133
00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,560
Speaker 3: to say a part of the team, but you're you're

134
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,480
Speaker 3: not out there with your brothers and you're seeing they

135
00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,320
Speaker 3: have success, but you want to be out there knowing

136
00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:44,440
Speaker 3: that you contribute.

137
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:45,440
Speaker 4: Like, how did you do with that?

138
00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:45,920
Speaker 2: Mentally?

139
00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:47,080
Speaker 6: That was?

140
00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:47,799
Speaker 2: That was tough.

141
00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,440
Speaker 1: It's probably the one of the most difficult challenge of

142
00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,520
Speaker 1: challenges of my lifetime for sure. I think the team

143
00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,000
Speaker 1: first and foremost did their best to make me feel

144
00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,040
Speaker 1: at home. The week after I broke my leg. No

145
00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,840
Speaker 1: mind you, I'm on a team with Hall of famers.

146
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,680
Speaker 2: Man All pros, Pro Bowls.

147
00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:11,560
Speaker 1: Was just the minimum you can do on that team, right,

148
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:14,640
Speaker 1: And the week out that broke my leg, they actually

149
00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,360
Speaker 1: hung a photo that I have in my home of

150
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,920
Speaker 1: me on the wall and all the players laughed. They

151
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,360
Speaker 1: was like, man, you break your leg and you know

152
00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:24,160
Speaker 1: you get posted.

153
00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,800
Speaker 2: On the wall, you know. And then during the season.

154
00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,160
Speaker 1: They did like a local news segment like catch Up

155
00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,160
Speaker 1: with Zamir Cobb. Now they had won probably ten games

156
00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,120
Speaker 1: in row this time. I remember hy as Ward laughing

157
00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,240
Speaker 1: at me, like, man, we all here winning games and

158
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,760
Speaker 1: they interviewing you. So you know, so I was in isolation.

159
00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,280
Speaker 1: The isolation was tough, but I think the team and

160
00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:50,680
Speaker 1: the players did their best to make me feel like

161
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:51,480
Speaker 1: I was a partner.

162
00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:52,600
Speaker 2: Went a long way. You know.

163
00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,600
Speaker 5: It's so I tore my acl my rookie year, so

164
00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:57,760
Speaker 5: I get what you're saying. My team went to the

165
00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,040
Speaker 5: NFC Championship game that year, trying to stay engaged when

166
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,200
Speaker 5: you know, you still got rookie duties, so there's still

167
00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,840
Speaker 5: certain things that have to be involved in you're trying

168
00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,240
Speaker 5: to stay engaged as much as you can. For me,

169
00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,280
Speaker 5: I thought the experience was so different because when they

170
00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,040
Speaker 5: have to like travel on road games, I don't do that,

171
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,840
Speaker 5: so like I was just in the city, so I

172
00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,400
Speaker 5: kind of became like a normal person, you know. But

173
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,360
Speaker 5: I don't have the same lifestyle as everybody else. What

174
00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,320
Speaker 5: was that lifestyle like in Pittsburgh for you, because Pittsburgh's

175
00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,480
Speaker 5: already a very unique city. I was in New Orleans,

176
00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,800
Speaker 5: but I always like to hear people's ir experience as well,

177
00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:34,480
Speaker 5: especially on a team that's doing well.

178
00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I got married young.

179
00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,640
Speaker 1: So I was married as a after my second semester

180
00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:42,480
Speaker 1: of college.

181
00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:43,800
Speaker 6: Freshman year.

182
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:44,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, my freshman year.

183
00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,120
Speaker 1: My wife was actually still in high school, so she

184
00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:52,040
Speaker 1: was in the twelfth grade. She graduates, I go watch

185
00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:53,960
Speaker 1: her graduate, she rock across the stage.

186
00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,440
Speaker 2: And then we had Temple University. So my wife and

187
00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:56,960
Speaker 2: I went.

188
00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,920
Speaker 1: To school together, study together, have our first child maybe

189
00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:07,040
Speaker 1: a year after marriage. So throughout college, I mean, you

190
00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,240
Speaker 1: know what the vision one sports is like, man, all

191
00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,160
Speaker 1: your time is accounted for. So I got very little

192
00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,480
Speaker 1: time with my family. Actually, so that year that I

193
00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:18,680
Speaker 1: was injured, it was actually time for me to catch

194
00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,200
Speaker 1: up with my wife and kid after practice because I

195
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,080
Speaker 1: would go to practice, I would watch film, but I

196
00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,080
Speaker 1: didn't have all of the other obligations as the rest

197
00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:29,880
Speaker 1: of the team. So I actually used that time to

198
00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:30,960
Speaker 1: catch up with my family.

199
00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,440
Speaker 6: For sure, you might be the youngest guy.

200
00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,040
Speaker 5: First of all, you are the youngest guy we've had

201
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,520
Speaker 5: on here that was married that young. That is actually

202
00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,400
Speaker 5: an amazing stat. I didn't know that. Congratulations. I mean,

203
00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,920
Speaker 5: so when y'all are studying together, like who doing the homework?

204
00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,400
Speaker 1: We were you know, my wife was was a high

205
00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,760
Speaker 1: school athlete, so we would compete, okay, hey, because she

206
00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,520
Speaker 1: always everything's competitive yah yeah, yeah. She always hit me

207
00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:57,800
Speaker 1: with the you just here because you could catch you know,

208
00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,200
Speaker 1: so I would try to show up. You know, I

209
00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,600
Speaker 1: got my keeping the classroom, you know. But I would

210
00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:06,600
Speaker 1: be remiss if I didn't admit that I had a

211
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,000
Speaker 1: you know, a good a good study party.

212
00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:14,880
Speaker 2: Definitely helpful brother.

213
00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:17,559
Speaker 6: Hey, stay strong.

214
00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:27,760
Speaker 5: Yeah, two thousand and four, you had a Bill Coward

215
00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:31,240
Speaker 5: was your coach? What was he like for a coach?

216
00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,320
Speaker 5: I actually got to talk to him. He did not

217
00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:34,080
Speaker 5: let me down.

218
00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:41,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, tough but fair. Tough but fair man. I was.

219
00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,800
Speaker 1: I was an undrafted free agent. But you know Larry

220
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,480
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald and I were both first team All Big East.

221
00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:49,360
Speaker 2: I was honorable mention All American.

222
00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,320
Speaker 1: Unfortunately I don't get drafted, but I go into Pittsburgh

223
00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:59,840
Speaker 1: as an undrafted free agent. Plexico holds out and uh many.

224
00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,480
Speaker 1: I think up to training camp that year, so I

225
00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,080
Speaker 1: had a tremendous opportunity to get more reps. And by

226
00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,599
Speaker 1: the second press preseason game, I was fourth on the

227
00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:14,520
Speaker 1: depth shot. So I say, Man, he honors results, no

228
00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:16,520
Speaker 1: matter how you get him, where you come from, he

229
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:23,040
Speaker 1: honors results. I've seen fourth rounders get cut. I've seen

230
00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,959
Speaker 1: first rounders make their way to the bench. Yeah, at

231
00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:28,360
Speaker 1: the end of the day, as you mentioned, you're on

232
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:32,000
Speaker 1: the team with all pros and Hall of Famous results

233
00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,960
Speaker 1: was the only thing that matter. So tough, but fet Man,

234
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,320
Speaker 1: he was a tough coach, but he was fair and

235
00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:38,240
Speaker 1: I appreciated that.

236
00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:40,679
Speaker 3: I want to know a little bit more about, like

237
00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,240
Speaker 3: the transitioning and getting comfortable with your second act. When

238
00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,280
Speaker 3: did you know that you could have success after.

239
00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:48,440
Speaker 4: Football was done.

240
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:53,720
Speaker 1: I was injure my sophomore year of college, and we

241
00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:55,960
Speaker 1: now know it as a sports hernia, and it's like

242
00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,480
Speaker 1: a routine surgery, right, But when I got it, it

243
00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:00,920
Speaker 1: wasn't aine surgery.

244
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:01,959
Speaker 2: I'd actually had.

245
00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:03,520
Speaker 1: It for maybe a year and a half, two years

246
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,040
Speaker 1: before they actually could diagnose it, so I was misdiagnosed,

247
00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,079
Speaker 1: went in as a promising freshman, but due to injury,

248
00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:16,640
Speaker 1: that outlook at sort of dwindle. During that time, I

249
00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,840
Speaker 1: ingratiated myself with like the world of scholarship and being

250
00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:26,560
Speaker 1: an actually student right, and my professor, doctor Mechannadora, actually

251
00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:31,240
Speaker 1: became one of my closest friends and mentor. And one

252
00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,880
Speaker 1: day we were just talking and he said, man, one

253
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,960
Speaker 1: day you'll realize that you're more than just pigskin and air.

254
00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,720
Speaker 1: What a shallow man to be, right, And I took

255
00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,680
Speaker 1: that as a challenge. It was then where I started

256
00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:49,440
Speaker 1: to be more complex. I think, to appreciate deck sturdy,

257
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:55,600
Speaker 1: you know, create multiple forms of myself. I interned my

258
00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,520
Speaker 1: sophomore in senior year, I'm literally the only Division one

259
00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,840
Speaker 1: athlete that I've knowed actually had a true internship. My

260
00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,440
Speaker 1: senior year of football, I worked sixteen hours a week.

261
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,880
Speaker 1: And it wasn't like you go in and sign your

262
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,560
Speaker 1: name and they give you hours.

263
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:10,680
Speaker 2: No.

264
00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,360
Speaker 1: I worked, and I worked at the U Study Center,

265
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,320
Speaker 1: which was the detention center for the city of Philadelphia.

266
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,080
Speaker 2: Did I did real work.

267
00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,600
Speaker 4: I did the same thing I worked at the Cincter

268
00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:22,600
Speaker 4: in life.

269
00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:24,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I did real work.

270
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,680
Speaker 1: So it was then I discovered that I could be

271
00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,800
Speaker 1: successful beyond the game. I just didn't expect to apply

272
00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:30,760
Speaker 1: it as soon.

273
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,400
Speaker 5: As First of all, how did you get hooked up

274
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,559
Speaker 5: with that job? And maybe kind of tell me about

275
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,080
Speaker 5: your scheduling because you have this twenty hour you know,

276
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,679
Speaker 5: you said in college you're athlete. Your day's booked up, done,

277
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:48,840
Speaker 5: And so when did you find in time to go

278
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,720
Speaker 5: to work? And what was your mentality because you also

279
00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,840
Speaker 5: had a wife and a family too, Like your mindset's

280
00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,040
Speaker 5: already completely different than every other teammate.

281
00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,000
Speaker 2: You have husd cent.

282
00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,720
Speaker 1: So just in terms of work, it was actually a

283
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:03,760
Speaker 1: part of my major.

284
00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:05,439
Speaker 6: What was your major?

285
00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:10,120
Speaker 1: Social work? So you have to have some field hours

286
00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,960
Speaker 1: or hands on work. Well, we called it a practical

287
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,480
Speaker 1: right where you practically apply to theories that you're learning

288
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,200
Speaker 1: in the classroom.

289
00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:24,520
Speaker 2: No no, no, no, no, all good.

290
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,600
Speaker 1: So my sophomore year, my coach actually wanted me to

291
00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:33,720
Speaker 1: change my major, and the dean of my of the

292
00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:40,120
Speaker 1: School of Social Work actually called my head coach and said,

293
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,560
Speaker 1: most Temple students work or go to work and go

294
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:49,000
Speaker 1: to school. What makes me any different? Either he continues

295
00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,400
Speaker 1: as major or he's not playing football. So it actually

296
00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,560
Speaker 1: my school stood up to my coach the whole time.

297
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,840
Speaker 1: I'm caught in the middle, but I appreciate it in

298
00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,120
Speaker 1: the lower Yeah, I appreciated lower.

299
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,480
Speaker 2: So it was actually a part of my.

300
00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,440
Speaker 1: Academic requirements to achieve my degree that I work my

301
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:10,840
Speaker 1: sophomore in senior year.

302
00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,720
Speaker 5: Yeah, that didn't happen to a lot of SEC schools.

303
00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,720
Speaker 5: That Yeah, where the school can stand up to the coach.

304
00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:20,160
Speaker 3: I don't think it happens that any SEC school. I

305
00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:21,560
Speaker 3: put that out there on the record.

306
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:21,880
Speaker 2: It does.

307
00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:23,760
Speaker 4: That doesn't happen at SEC.

308
00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:28,560
Speaker 3: You're here to play football second, and you're here for

309
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:29,760
Speaker 3: an education first.

310
00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:32,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, we used to get we used to get we

311
00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:33,200
Speaker 2: used to get that speech.

312
00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,080
Speaker 4: But that's high speech closed.

313
00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:38,920
Speaker 1: But when you're not winning, it's just words. You don't

314
00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,520
Speaker 1: have that level of pool. Yeah with the university when.

315
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:43,880
Speaker 4: The same speech.

316
00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:50,080
Speaker 5: But yeah, okay Alabama. So the football thing is kind

317
00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,000
Speaker 5: of doing what it's doing. You signed with the you

318
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,440
Speaker 5: wanted to keep playing, but you had injuries your first

319
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:56,000
Speaker 5: couple of years.

320
00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:02,040
Speaker 1: So yes, So I ended up getting us going to

321
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,240
Speaker 1: a specialist doctor myriers just before my.

322
00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:14,040
Speaker 5: Crazy he was down the street, down the streets.

323
00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:20,080
Speaker 1: So I had hernia surgery and I was like, look, Doc,

324
00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:21,560
Speaker 1: this ain't doing nothing.

325
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:23,320
Speaker 2: I still feel this pain.

326
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:29,960
Speaker 1: So before my senior season, my training at the time,

327
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,160
Speaker 1: Dwight Strandsbury said, we got we got one more option.

328
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,760
Speaker 1: It's a specialist uh at Honeyman Hospital. Ironically, that's when

329
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,080
Speaker 1: my son was My first son was, my first child

330
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:40,520
Speaker 1: was born.

331
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:45,560
Speaker 2: So I go, man. He examined me for like five minutes.

332
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,720
Speaker 2: He was like exactly. Yeah. He was like saying, you

333
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,520
Speaker 2: gotta have this surgery. So I haven't.

334
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:54,280
Speaker 1: And within six weeks, Man, I feel like a chance.

335
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,560
Speaker 5: Well you can get to max speed and not like

336
00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:58,160
Speaker 5: because it's just the governor.

337
00:16:59,080 --> 00:16:59,760
Speaker 6: What did it feel like?

338
00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,000
Speaker 5: It's hard to describe, like it doesn't hurt all the time,

339
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,000
Speaker 5: but it's like you'll be running.

340
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,600
Speaker 6: And all of a sudden you're about to limit.

341
00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:07,120
Speaker 2: Yeah.

342
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is just especially as a wild out when

343
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:11,040
Speaker 1: you got stop and go.

344
00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:12,280
Speaker 6: Yeah. I couldn't imagine.

345
00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,240
Speaker 5: I also like laying in the bed like I'd be good,

346
00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,760
Speaker 5: I'd cough make that feel it, or like I roll

347
00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:20,160
Speaker 5: over and you're like, oh what is that?

348
00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,600
Speaker 1: So So my junior year, I didn't practice the whole season.

349
00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,840
Speaker 1: I took vajos before games and that's how I made

350
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,119
Speaker 1: it through my my junior year. Then I go into

351
00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:37,240
Speaker 1: my senior year, I have the surgery, and I'll tell you,

352
00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:41,000
Speaker 1: after the first seven days of training, cat my coaches

353
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,200
Speaker 1: shut me down. They said, if we want the DBS

354
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,199
Speaker 1: to have any confidence during this season, man, you cannot practice.

355
00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:50,760
Speaker 2: So I knew I was back then.

356
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, And after the first six games my senior year,

357
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,520
Speaker 1: Larry and I were actually neck and neck in every

358
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:02,399
Speaker 1: national stat and every stat WI receiver stat nationally. So

359
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:06,560
Speaker 1: it was pretty strong senior season. It was literally my

360
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,560
Speaker 1: only healthy season.

361
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:10,080
Speaker 6: It's banana.

362
00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:13,280
Speaker 5: And so you go to the league league a couple

363
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:15,960
Speaker 5: of years, you've been signed at the Voodoo, I saw you.

364
00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,240
Speaker 1: So I did three years in the league, uh, And

365
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,720
Speaker 1: then everybody wanted to see if I could sort of

366
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,199
Speaker 1: recapture who I was before I broke my leg and

367
00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:32,720
Speaker 1: injured my knee. So I get to uh the Voodoo.

368
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,359
Speaker 1: I must have had.

369
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,360
Speaker 2: Three or four good practices.

370
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:42,440
Speaker 1: They think they got the next Cadillac that nobody's ever seen.

371
00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,680
Speaker 1: Then I think I ended up starting to drain my

372
00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,880
Speaker 1: knee again because I started getting bone on bone.

373
00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:50,080
Speaker 2: It's funny.

374
00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,679
Speaker 1: The broken leg definitely slowed me up, but I was

375
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,520
Speaker 1: able to just regret get back from that. But the

376
00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,440
Speaker 1: bone on bone, it wasn't no, there's no really, they

377
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,639
Speaker 1: start draining. It was like every day they started draining

378
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,520
Speaker 1: my knee and it was it was a wrap from.

379
00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:08,359
Speaker 4: That wrap from there.

380
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,200
Speaker 5: So now you feel your's wrap. So then you reach

381
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:12,879
Speaker 5: out to the trust or how does this hold?

382
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,119
Speaker 2: No, no, actually going back.

383
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,000
Speaker 5: Because I want everybody else to hear how these things

384
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:18,680
Speaker 5: get started.

385
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,399
Speaker 1: So that internship I told you about UH and having

386
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:25,240
Speaker 1: to go to class at Temple, you had to go

387
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,560
Speaker 1: to every class bro they checked. I mean you had

388
00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,000
Speaker 1: a class checker and if you didn't show for that class,

389
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,320
Speaker 1: you had that morning wake up. I'm smiling because like,

390
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,720
Speaker 1: I went to class, So I realistic say I never

391
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:37,920
Speaker 1: had a morning wake up.

392
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,480
Speaker 2: I don't want to give myself too much credit.

393
00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,919
Speaker 1: I can't say I was that committed to class, but

394
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,240
Speaker 1: I was surely committed to not getting up before in

395
00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,720
Speaker 1: the morning and running wrong class right.

396
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:50,760
Speaker 2: So it definitely served its purpose.

397
00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:56,360
Speaker 1: Once I got injured, the two internships I had, they

398
00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,160
Speaker 1: actually reached out to me first and they were like, hey,

399
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,159
Speaker 1: so you hurt, as soon as you need us, let

400
00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,760
Speaker 1: us know. And that segue into my first job I

401
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:11,040
Speaker 1: started as a case manager man in Philadelphia program called

402
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:15,600
Speaker 1: Adolescence Violence Reduction, working with the one hundred youth in

403
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,520
Speaker 1: Philadelphia that would more likely to kill or be killed.

404
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,359
Speaker 1: I've actually testified over one hundred and fifty times in

405
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:29,159
Speaker 1: court on behalf of adolescence. Well, we called them youth offenders, right.

406
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,560
Speaker 1: I've only had one kid held, had the lowest recidivism

407
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,919
Speaker 1: rate of any one with a case load. Quickly escalated

408
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,520
Speaker 1: to upper management and I ended up managing two forty

409
00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 1: thousand square foot community centers in Philadelphia, one in North Philly,

410
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,960
Speaker 1: one in West Philly they called the Bottom. From there,

411
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,960
Speaker 1: I transitioned back home to my hometown of DC, where

412
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,280
Speaker 1: I was a director of a local nonprofit. I was

413
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,560
Speaker 1: looking for support for a camp I was doing in

414
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:06,080
Speaker 1: my neighborhood, Emry Heights Playground, and I noticed that the

415
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:10,679
Speaker 1: NFLPA was in DC. Didn't know that, so I reached

416
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,520
Speaker 1: out to him, and they came with a bowload of

417
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,959
Speaker 1: equipment and volunteers and you know, helped me put on

418
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,480
Speaker 1: the first camp at my childhood playground. Yeah, and I

419
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,520
Speaker 1: was actually living in the back, living in the neighborhood

420
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,160
Speaker 1: at that time, so it kind of sort of resparkle

421
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,639
Speaker 1: per my interests of getting back in sports, kept my

422
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:37,400
Speaker 1: out on the job openings of the PA. Saw they

423
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:42,600
Speaker 1: were launching the Trust, looked at the PD or position description.

424
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,000
Speaker 1: I mean it literally read like my experience. Yeah, it

425
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,440
Speaker 1: was actually a step back from a title standpoint or

426
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,119
Speaker 1: position standpoint, but I've always been mission driven up position driven,

427
00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:56,639
Speaker 1: and it was sort as a calling for me.

428
00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:58,919
Speaker 4: What actually does the trust do?

429
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 1: We provide an ecosystem of support, comprehensive system of support

430
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,120
Speaker 1: to help former players thrive post career, and.

431
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,000
Speaker 3: We'll be right back and what are some of the

432
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 3: things in that ecosystem.

433
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,320
Speaker 1: I'll start with one in which I think we should

434
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,159
Speaker 1: socialize and we should all do, is the brain and

435
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:28,560
Speaker 1: body assessment. Players have obtained to date over four thousand assessments.

436
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,720
Speaker 1: So if you haven't done it, players, you're behind right,

437
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: So any player with two or more credited seasons, it's

438
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:40,199
Speaker 1: eligible or are eligible for the benefit. That benefit includes

439
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:44,840
Speaker 1: your travel, your accommodations meals if needed. Your spouse can

440
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 1: travel with you as well, although she's not a part

441
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,399
Speaker 1: of the assessment. The assessment is over three days. I

442
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,680
Speaker 1: mean it's gonna be the most extensive physical you ever

443
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,119
Speaker 1: have in your life, head to toe. You have that

444
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,560
Speaker 1: once every five years for your lifetime. So the first

445
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 1: thing we need to be for our families in our

446
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,600
Speaker 1: community is present, right. And what better way to be

447
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:08,879
Speaker 1: president than to be healthy?

448
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:09,240
Speaker 2: Right?

449
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,840
Speaker 1: So I think we start there. I think all of

450
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,200
Speaker 1: us we need to start there. We need to socialize

451
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:21,000
Speaker 1: that as you transition, of course, you're gonna wonder what's next.

452
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,879
Speaker 1: It's a very complex scenario. You're gonna wonder what's next.

453
00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: What's next is gonna be different for all of us.

454
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 1: So we help with the resume, the cover letter, the

455
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 1: LinkedIn profile, the interview skills. You have a one on

456
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,720
Speaker 1: one coach to walk you or walk along with.

457
00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 2: You in that process. You're never alone.

458
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,960
Speaker 1: You're gonna have a skill assessment, a personality assessment, whether

459
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: you're pivoting in a career or you're entering a career.

460
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 1: Our educational advancement or our scholarship is twenty thousand dollars

461
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,800
Speaker 1: per calendar year for your lifetime. You don't come out

462
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 1: of pocket. We pay the school, or the benefit pays

463
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 1: the school directly. It's undergrad grad, PhD. Whatever it is

464
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,959
Speaker 1: of your choosing To date, we're roughly eleven hundred completed

465
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:17,880
Speaker 1: degree programs, and over fifty percent of those are graduate degrees.

466
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: Players can also take advantage of a certificate up to

467
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,200
Speaker 1: five thousand a year for your lifetime.

468
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 2: So those are three that I.

469
00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,199
Speaker 1: Would definitely keep in mind if you're looking to have

470
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:29,160
Speaker 1: a good time with the.

471
00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,200
Speaker 2: Family, like like I. You know I am, and.

472
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 1: You got a big household like we do. You know,

473
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,480
Speaker 1: my wife and I we have five kids. YMCA is

474
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: good for everybody. We just added swim to the YMCA benefits.

475
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,120
Speaker 1: So brothers, if you don't know how to swim, learn

476
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 1: how to save yourself and save it life. We got

477
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,480
Speaker 1: all right you could take it depending with you as well.

478
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,040
Speaker 6: So it's a lot of things. I appreciate that.

479
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:55,920
Speaker 2: Those are just a couple.

480
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,440
Speaker 4: So I've done the braining, the bringing brain body.

481
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 3: I did mine in the Cleveland Cliny Okay, so yeah

482
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:02,920
Speaker 3: I'm in Cleveland.

483
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, did in Cleveland.

484
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 3: I did it like around COVID. So I think I'm

485
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,240
Speaker 3: due in like twenty twenty six. Is when twenty five

486
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:15,879
Speaker 3: twenty I gotta check, But I'm I don't worry. We

487
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,240
Speaker 3: know we'll call you before I think we keep, we keep,

488
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 3: I'm about doing. My five years is just about up.

489
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,200
Speaker 3: So I'm I think I'm ready for my next skin.

490
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:27,920
Speaker 2: Because you're a good example of what we all.

491
00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:29,720
Speaker 4: And it was cool for three days.

492
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,640
Speaker 3: I think I found out I have a sleep avenue,

493
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,360
Speaker 3: but I don't sleep with the machine because it's it's

494
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:37,600
Speaker 3: very annoying and loud.

495
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:41,160
Speaker 1: But so have you tried the pillar surgery?

496
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 4: No, I don't. I don't think I'm gonna do any surgeries.

497
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,560
Speaker 2: But so how are you treating your apney? Brother? If

498
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,080
Speaker 2: you don't know me, ask you. Let's go there.

499
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 4: I'm sleeping. I'm sleeping good.

500
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,160
Speaker 2: You come over, you come.

501
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 4: I'm just saying we can you know I'm sleeping good.

502
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 4: I'm six and a half hours in, like I'm still.

503
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,240
Speaker 2: Because we helped with the follow up. Now, yeah, brother,

504
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:03,840
Speaker 2: we got you.

505
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 3: I feel So I tried it. I'm not gonna I

506
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:07,959
Speaker 3: tried it and I woke up and it was like

507
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 3: a damn desert in my mouth, like it was just dry,

508
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:17,399
Speaker 3: and so it's it definitely takes some you some It

509
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,399
Speaker 3: took me a minute to get used to it, and

510
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 3: I never got used to it.

511
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:22,800
Speaker 4: So I just was like, I think I'm with you.

512
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:24,440
Speaker 2: I think I think I'm Yeah.

513
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 1: I tried it in my and my kids said it

514
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 1: looked like I was going to the moon at night. Yeah,

515
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 1: so I couldn't I had, I wouldn't have had the surgery.

516
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 3: So they put Yeah, so that's the I don't know

517
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:39,000
Speaker 3: what what is this surgery?

518
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:43,280
Speaker 1: Hold talk just a pillar. I had a pillow put

519
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:47,480
Speaker 1: in my throat. It's helped reduce my storing and I

520
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 1: can sleep and everybody that lives in my house now

521
00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:52,200
Speaker 1: can sleep because I don't.

522
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:57,880
Speaker 4: Yeah, right, isn't there an app that you can track

523
00:26:57,920 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 4: it with an app?

524
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,359
Speaker 3: There's something there's there's some type of a device that

525
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,880
Speaker 3: it can connect to with an app and it will help.

526
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 4: It helps with the Yeah.

527
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,479
Speaker 1: We'll talk a little bit about that treatment.

528
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 4: My kids are just like that.

529
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 3: You you sound like you're gonna die, And I was like,

530
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,520
Speaker 3: I've but I slept fine.

531
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 4: I feel good, like I'm good. But yeah, well we'll

532
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,439
Speaker 4: talk offline after this.

533
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,240
Speaker 3: But yeah, you got to do the brand and I'll

534
00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 3: be telling you to do this stuff, but you won't

535
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 3: be trying to listen to your boy.

536
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 5: Yeah, because I don't want them to tell me I

537
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 5: can't have bacon no more. I'm sorry, I.

538
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,399
Speaker 2: Don't think that. You know, don't limit yourself over bacon.

539
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 2: I know.

540
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:32,919
Speaker 6: I agree.

541
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,159
Speaker 5: As a matter of fact, the price of bacon is

542
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 5: going up so much. I stopped so I've gotten out

543
00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:39,160
Speaker 5: of it.

544
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,879
Speaker 1: So just remember as the Arab benefits, so you're leaving

545
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 1: money on the table.

546
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 6: I agree.

547
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,399
Speaker 5: This is something I talked to my wife about this

548
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 5: morning that I'm this is two things.

549
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:49,199
Speaker 2: They committed to it.

550
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 6: I'm gonna do it. Yes, I gotta continue to commit

551
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:51,880
Speaker 6: to it.

552
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 5: What about all the answers that you felt that after

553
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 5: you joined the trust that maybe got answered for yourself

554
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:01,840
Speaker 5: when you finally committed to it.

555
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:03,640
Speaker 6: You're going into it. I think you said.

556
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 5: The first two questions asked before making a career move

557
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,200
Speaker 5: is number one, can I maximize impact? And number two?

558
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 5: Can I amplify the mission? You already told me that

559
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,600
Speaker 5: you're a mission driven person. I wrote that down. I

560
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 5: actually love it. It's mission driven, not position driven. And

561
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,800
Speaker 5: then if you can do that, if there's a third,

562
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,600
Speaker 5: can I do those two in a deeper way that

563
00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:31,360
Speaker 5: I can already accomplish in my current role. So all

564
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,400
Speaker 5: these questions, what did the Trust help you in answering

565
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:35,800
Speaker 5: those questions, I.

566
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,360
Speaker 1: Would say, you know, going a bed and waking up

567
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:45,160
Speaker 1: with the weight of can we improve the lives of

568
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 1: former players and their families? I think it's an honor

569
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 1: and a half. It's a discussion that's normal, normal in

570
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 1: my household. What can we do? What are we not doing?

571
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,440
Speaker 1: How could we look at our family as a reflection

572
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 1: of the other family to be productive? How could I

573
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:11,080
Speaker 1: look at myself introspectively, right, my strengths, my weaknesses, my toils,

574
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 1: my tears, you know, in a way that can be

575
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,840
Speaker 1: reflected out on what we do. But greater than that,

576
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 1: as a program manager, I was able to serve over

577
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: five hundred players in a role of program manager in

578
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,960
Speaker 1: that sense, helping players figure out or empowering players to

579
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 1: figure out their what's next. And it's the collection of

580
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 1: those experiences that I think has helped me amplify our mission.

581
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: I think going into the trust, which I was created

582
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:56,160
Speaker 1: by players for players, in collaboration with various subject matter

583
00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 1: experts as well as NFLPA staff, there was a core

584
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 1: of services that remain our core today, but there were

585
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,960
Speaker 1: also gaps, and I think my past experience helped me

586
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:11,880
Speaker 1: and the others that I was working with at the

587
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:16,680
Speaker 1: time see those gaps and feel them in a way

588
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 1: that players could appreciate. We didn't start the trust with

589
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 1: the ability to go impatient, so we literally can go

590
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: from basic counseling to impatient services. Player pays no costs.

591
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 1: We didn't have that when we first started, right, So

592
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,440
Speaker 1: when you talk about being mission driven, it's always the

593
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 1: what's next. It's always questioning what we do, turning over

594
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 1: what we do, how can we think differently about what

595
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 1: we do to make it better on behalf of players.

596
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,440
Speaker 1: The YMCA didn't come with the trust. That was again

597
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 1: a gap that we saw that we were able to feel.

598
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,360
Speaker 1: We didn't have the free agent program, which, if you

599
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 1: don't know, every active player with two or more credited

600
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,760
Speaker 1: seasons who is not on the roster, we pay for

601
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 1: them to train up to twelve months at Bambar Rito

602
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:14,160
Speaker 1: Exos DSA and Atlanta Yo Murphy Sports in Tampa up

603
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: to twelve months.

604
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 2: We didn't have that. We saw a guy.

605
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,160
Speaker 1: We know players want to get back in the game first,

606
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 1: so we start there. But that also creates a natural

607
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 1: road to the transition because, as you guys know, you've

608
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 1: a power clean front squad, realize you're not getting a

609
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,479
Speaker 1: call and you move on to what's next. So we

610
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: want to be right there when the player makes that decision.

611
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,200
Speaker 1: So we talk about being mission driven, amplifying the mission.

612
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 2: Those are some of the things that I've been able to.

613
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,000
Speaker 1: Do along with or create along with the team of

614
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:49,840
Speaker 1: the Trust that I think players are benefiting from today.

615
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:49,959
Speaker 2: Now.

616
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:50,480
Speaker 4: Fulfilling?

617
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:52,320
Speaker 3: Is it to do that though, knowing that you came

618
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 3: here or you're a former player, you step into you

619
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 3: step into this position, and you've just filled all these gaps?

620
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:00,080
Speaker 4: Fulfilling?

621
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 2: Is it?

622
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:04,080
Speaker 4: Do you ever just sometimes sit back as Blake hey Man,

623
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 4: we we did that.

624
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:09,120
Speaker 3: We I know I'm not benefiting from some of these things,

625
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 3: but I made the game better for this next group

626
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 3: of guys.

627
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:20,040
Speaker 1: Like absolutely, there were seven of the There were seven

628
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,479
Speaker 1: of us when we first launt the Trust. Of the seven,

629
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:29,120
Speaker 1: three remain myself, Andrew Zink, who's our director of Ops,

630
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 1: and Danielle Foreman, who's our director of Service. Those two folks,

631
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 1: along with the folks who have served the organization in

632
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:42,200
Speaker 1: the past and continue to serve the organization today. Those

633
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,239
Speaker 1: folks are heroes and I'm just a part of a

634
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,360
Speaker 1: team of heroes and our service team.

635
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:49,480
Speaker 2: I would go a step further.

636
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 1: I call them superheroes without capes because the things they

637
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: do on behalf of players, the unseen that they do

638
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,960
Speaker 1: on behalf of players every day, you wouldn't believe how

639
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,840
Speaker 1: it benefits us. Right, So it's fulfilling for me as

640
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 1: an individual, but it's even more fulfilling knowing that I

641
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:14,360
Speaker 1: have a team of committed individuals that drive the train.

642
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:16,800
Speaker 2: For players every.

643
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 4: Day and we'll be right back, all right.

644
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:22,200
Speaker 5: So you say it's only three of you guys that

645
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,720
Speaker 5: have been there since the beginning, and you happen to

646
00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:28,520
Speaker 5: be one of those guys. At what point did you realize, like,

647
00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:32,000
Speaker 5: you know what, I think I'm not just a person here,

648
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,560
Speaker 5: but I think I'm ready to move up and take

649
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:35,040
Speaker 5: on more.

650
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:37,040
Speaker 6: Of a leadership. Bro, what was it you are?

651
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,760
Speaker 5: You're a manager, a program manager to player director, then

652
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 5: you went managing director, now the executive director. So like

653
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:46,640
Speaker 5: you know, I look, I'm not I haven't had a

654
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,479
Speaker 5: whole bunch of jobs where I know what those exact

655
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,040
Speaker 5: terms mean. But sounds like you're moving up the last

656
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 5: When did that start to hit for you?

657
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:55,080
Speaker 6: Like, man, this is.

658
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 5: What I think my calling is, and this is my mission,

659
00:33:58,040 --> 00:33:59,440
Speaker 5: I might as well be the best at it.

660
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:05,120
Speaker 1: So I started as a program manager on the Trust side,

661
00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:10,760
Speaker 1: But the Trust and the NFLPA are distinctly different organizations

662
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:16,520
Speaker 1: legally distinct organization. The Trust is a collectively bargain benefit

663
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:21,080
Speaker 1: and our board members are made up of equal NFL

664
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,920
Speaker 1: trustees equal NFLPA trustees.

665
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:25,880
Speaker 2: But we're located.

666
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:31,200
Speaker 1: Within the nflpa's sort of infrastructure building per se or space.

667
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:37,640
Speaker 1: So naturally the work I'm doing on my floor is

668
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:43,920
Speaker 1: reverberating throughout the building for lack of better terms, So

669
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,279
Speaker 1: that gave me the opportunity to serve players in the

670
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 1: role lists player director. So I was a program manager

671
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,440
Speaker 1: for two and a half years. Then I go with

672
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:56,680
Speaker 1: Player Director on the NFLPA side for roughly five years

673
00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 1: through the twenty twenty Collective Barney Agreement larger responsible for

674
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:07,520
Speaker 1: engaging in educating players writing them to bargain. Right after that,

675
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,400
Speaker 1: I go back to the Trust as managing director for

676
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,319
Speaker 1: roughly three years, so I get to see sides of

677
00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:16,640
Speaker 1: the business that I was familiar with but didn't have

678
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,960
Speaker 1: my hands in, such as our operations, how we pay

679
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,040
Speaker 1: our bills, how we pay the scholarship, how we pay

680
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:29,360
Speaker 1: for medical costs. Took that collective experience and then became

681
00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,040
Speaker 1: executive director. The way I describe it is, I've always

682
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,400
Speaker 1: been on good teams. Good teams allow you to excel

683
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 1: as an individual, no doubt, made multiple promos and all

684
00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:44,480
Speaker 1: pro teams allowed me to escalate. And I'm still celebrating

685
00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:45,200
Speaker 1: with my team.

686
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:46,839
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I like that. I like that.

687
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:48,880
Speaker 3: So this is a question we like to ask all

688
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 3: of our guests. You have had an amazing life, high school, college,

689
00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:59,040
Speaker 3: you know, NFL, now post life, your transition to where

690
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,239
Speaker 3: you are right now, vinize the director, if you had

691
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:06,680
Speaker 3: four people to pick from that help you turn you

692
00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 3: into the menu are today right now, sitting right here

693
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:09,920
Speaker 3: in this chair.

694
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,440
Speaker 4: Who would those four people be? And we're putting them

695
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,000
Speaker 4: on your own personal amount rushmore.

696
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:15,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent.

697
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:21,760
Speaker 1: So I'm not gonna say in order, because if it's ordered,

698
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:23,240
Speaker 1: you know, wife is premium.

699
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:28,360
Speaker 2: Order, Yeah, wife is premium. But my four is easy.

700
00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,680
Speaker 1: Uh you know, I call them my holy you know,

701
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: my holy trinity, just to spind off, not to be

702
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:41,800
Speaker 1: disrespectful of any religious belief. Uh, my mother, my grandmother

703
00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: and my great aunt. Those are the folks that that

704
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,480
Speaker 1: got me to my wife. And once I got to

705
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,200
Speaker 1: my wife, she took it over from there.

706
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:54,120
Speaker 3: Now, why all three, you know, mother and grandmother and

707
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,000
Speaker 3: your auntie, Ye, why.

708
00:36:55,840 --> 00:37:00,160
Speaker 1: Each as a team. They raised me and they raised us,

709
00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:04,160
Speaker 1: meaning my siblings, my cousins, we were all. My cousins

710
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:09,239
Speaker 1: are like my brothers and sisters. My extended family is

711
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,400
Speaker 1: like my nuclear family. Because they kept us all close.

712
00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:18,759
Speaker 1: Sunday dinners, Easter Sundays, Christmas dinners, all those times at

713
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:22,560
Speaker 1: the table, all those times enjoying those moments allowed us

714
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 1: to I think, have a heightened level of fondness for

715
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:29,799
Speaker 1: each other. It's helped us as children, has helped us

716
00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,880
Speaker 1: as an adult, and I think they turned over a

717
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,799
Speaker 1: good man to my spouse and we've been able to,

718
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 1: i think, carry on many of those traditions that she

719
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,680
Speaker 1: came with from her family, but particularly as you asked me,

720
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,240
Speaker 1: that I came with from those three individuals.

721
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 3: Hey, I appreciate you coming on the pot man. Thank

722
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,080
Speaker 3: you for blessing us and giving us a little bit

723
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:57,839
Speaker 3: more education and understanding of what the trust actually does

724
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:02,399
Speaker 3: for former players. But I'm definitely looking to the thing.

725
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,600
Speaker 3: We'll talk a little bit about it. We're gonna get

726
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:06,759
Speaker 3: room hooked up of just getting the brain and mindy skin.

727
00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 6: Can you can? You can do it in l A.

728
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:10,160
Speaker 4: You don't it, don't have.

729
00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 6: To do I love l A.

730
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,319
Speaker 4: Like, let's let's go to LA and we.

731
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 2: Can get it done on the beach and your hotel

732
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:17,120
Speaker 2: in l A is on the beach.

733
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 6: There's't got nothing to do with you.

734
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 5: This is this guy always trying to talk me into

735
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:27,160
Speaker 5: doing something, and I'm just like very hesitant.

736
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 6: You on the other end, number one, very mature.

737
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,080
Speaker 5: I can tell by your journey, your path, the way

738
00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:38,319
Speaker 5: you speak, how much your knowledge is and everything that

739
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:41,920
Speaker 5: you spoke about. You don't talk unless you know what

740
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:45,000
Speaker 5: you're talking about. You can tell, uh, and so that

741
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,680
Speaker 5: means you you listen extremely well. But I do want

742
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,560
Speaker 5: to know one more thing, and maybe it's a little

743
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:53,440
Speaker 5: bit of insight, and I.

744
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:54,919
Speaker 6: Want to know just a little bit more about who

745
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:55,239
Speaker 6: you are.

746
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,480
Speaker 5: And I'll probably pick up on it, but it's like,

747
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,840
Speaker 5: at what point are like what about your football career

748
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,560
Speaker 5: from whether you were playing from you were little high

749
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:09,720
Speaker 5: school temple to where like that led you to this point?

750
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:11,960
Speaker 5: What did you learn or what all did you take

751
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,040
Speaker 5: from football in your life that has helped you grow

752
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 5: to exactly where you are, And it's just mature wealth

753
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:22,000
Speaker 5: of knowledge that's really leading a group and really serving

754
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:23,240
Speaker 5: so many people.

755
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:28,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I hate to get so serious on this one,

756
00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:30,320
Speaker 1: but no, don't.

757
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:30,799
Speaker 2: Turn Yeah, my.

758
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 1: Little league coach di'angelo Phelds was the second round draft

759
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:38,319
Speaker 1: pick and.

760
00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:40,120
Speaker 6: He grew so you saw NFL in front of you.

761
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:44,520
Speaker 1: So he grew up about two blocks away from me

762
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:50,120
Speaker 1: in my neighborhood. He's Jerry Porter's second round draft pick.

763
00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:52,200
Speaker 1: He grew up about a couple of blocks away from me,

764
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:57,120
Speaker 1: Vernon Avante Davis. We also have a superstar agent who

765
00:39:57,160 --> 00:39:59,600
Speaker 1: would go unnamed. We all grew up on the same playground.

766
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:03,360
Speaker 1: It was a he's the ones that went to the league,

767
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:08,840
Speaker 1: but particularly that a year nineteen ninety two ninety three,

768
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: it was a very difficult year for my city DC.

769
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:17,160
Speaker 1: We were at the height of the crack epidemic. Violence

770
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:22,040
Speaker 1: was rampant, and I remember my coaches pulling me to

771
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:29,200
Speaker 1: the side and saying to me, particularly D'Angelo Fields, don't

772
00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 1: cheat your opportunity. You have a responsibility beyond yourself. And

773
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,359
Speaker 1: this is more than a game. This game can take

774
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:41,319
Speaker 1: you places right in football, Although I enjoyed it, from

775
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:44,480
Speaker 1: that moment on it took on a more serious form.

776
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,200
Speaker 1: You know, I saw it as my obligation to be

777
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:51,200
Speaker 1: the best I could be. I saw as my obligation

778
00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: to be the best I can be and transform that

779
00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 1: in a way that can support my family and my community.

780
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:03,120
Speaker 1: So football, to me, he was from that moment on,

781
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:05,359
Speaker 1: it was more than just a game. It's been life

782
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 1: or death, and I like the fact or I appreciate

783
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:11,680
Speaker 1: the fact that I get the work for the business

784
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:15,239
Speaker 1: every day that changed my life, and for the players

785
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:18,120
Speaker 1: every day that changed my life because it was the

786
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:19,520
Speaker 1: Lts of the world.

787
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:21,399
Speaker 2: It was the Jerry Rices.

788
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,080
Speaker 1: Of the world, the Montanas of the world that I

789
00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 1: saw that allowed me to dream, to see what's next,

790
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,719
Speaker 1: what I could accomplish, and what those accomplishments can do

791
00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:30,080
Speaker 1: for me.

792
00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 6: Excellent answer.

793
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:33,239
Speaker 2: That's why I love it.

794
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,080
Speaker 5: Thank you, and I appreciate it for you to continue

795
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,960
Speaker 5: to serve and all that other stuff. I knew you

796
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,360
Speaker 5: were gonna have some great words, and it's just really

797
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,239
Speaker 5: cool because when you see greatness in front of you,

798
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:45,879
Speaker 5: and when they say something to.

799
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:46,839
Speaker 6: You, you hold on to it.

800
00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:50,040
Speaker 5: I bet that coach probably had no idea that that

801
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:52,280
Speaker 5: was gonna stick with you, but it's a very vivid

802
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:55,319
Speaker 5: memory in your life. I can tell you remember, like

803
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,360
Speaker 5: bro it from there on, football was no longer just

804
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:02,279
Speaker 5: a game. Way of life is a way providing and

805
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:04,040
Speaker 5: you didn't even know what future we're going to have,

806
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:07,040
Speaker 5: but I needed this to to be a part of it,

807
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:09,520
Speaker 5: So I appreciate it. Man, thanks for everything that you're doing.

808
00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:12,480
Speaker 5: Thank you, and man for all of our listeners and

809
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:15,040
Speaker 5: viewers out there wherever you pick up your podcast, whether

810
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:20,879
Speaker 5: it's Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio app Man, leave a like, subscribe comment, Man,

811
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,239
Speaker 5: hit that follow button, and you can also check us

812
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:25,960
Speaker 5: out on more episodes on the NFL pages YouTube channel

813
00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:28,440
Speaker 5: and Peanut Man get us out here and don't be weird.

814
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,320
Speaker 4: Hey, pre chut, y'all tune it in. I'm Peanut Tubman.

815
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:34,520
Speaker 3: This is my guy Roman Harper NASAMir and this is

816
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,279
Speaker 3: the NFL Player's second act podcast.

817
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:53,200
Speaker 4: We out