WEBVTT - Player Storytelling: Whitney Mercilus 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:07.600 Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:13.240 the players, by the players. Here's your host, fourteen year 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:23.280 NFL veteran and Hall of Famer A Nius Williams. Hello, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.759 and welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I'm a Nieus Williams. 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:33.120 Today we're joined by Houston defensive end Whitney Merciless, who 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.200 has midway through his ninth season with the Texans. Whitney 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:41.240 is the founder of whitt Mercy, an organization that provides 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:46.360 advocate services and support to families of children with disabilities 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.200 and special needs. And he also has a new cooking show. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.840 That's Right, Football Players Do Cook is a cooking show 0:00:55.040 --> 0:01:00.960 on i G TV. Welcome Whitney, appreciate it, thanks for 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.279 having me on here, and yeah, definitely looked throw down 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:08.440 a little bit and kitchen to We're recording this before 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.319 week eight of the season, and I want to talk 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.399 about how this season a season like no other in 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:20.520 NFL history. What are the challenges of COVID The first 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.760 question with me, what adjustments you're and your family have 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.760 had to make? Yeah, man, it's uh, it's been a 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.080 learning year, Uh, with this whole pandemic and all that, 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.759 so me and my family had to make some major adjustments. 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.399 My parents are you know, in their fifties and sixties, 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.760 so that's a very huge concern with covid um affecting 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.480 the older population, so that I had to take that 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.720 into account, especially going to practice and being around guys, 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:48.680 and then you hear these flare ups of covid throughout 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.840 the league. And also my my sister and her husband 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.200 are down here and they just had their first firstborn, 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:56.480 just knew born last year. She's one years old and 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:58.520 all that, so I want to make sure that they're 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:02.320 protected as well too, So stressing because I want to 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:04.400 see my family, and I got to make sure that I, 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.720 like my sisters, claimed from COVID before I even see them. 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.480 And uh, you know, we have we understand the fact that, 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.680 you know, being distanced in the time. It's okay. We 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:17.080 love each other and all that. And then once things, 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.760 once this thing gets corrected, we'll we'll be just fine. 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:25.760 How's it all to your training and your game, prip Man. 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:28.880 So uh let's go back to like March. I mean, 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:33.119 so I had made a trip back from Chances did 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.360 and then uh man, and that as soon as I 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:38.200 made it back home. That's when Kovie hit and the 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:42.560 lockdowns happened. So at that moment, because I didn't I 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:44.600 was gonna head to Arizona to go training. Guess usually 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.440 where I go train out every single year. So that 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:49.240 got cut out because Arizona is another hot spot. So 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:52.720 the training facility out there I got shut down quickly. 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:55.799 So everything, I mean everything in Houston as well too, 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.040 So I'm like, okay, what am I gonna do for training? 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.959 And all that. Literally I was in the backyard and 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.600 pushed up stood ups like old fashioned, well I had 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.080 I had a propane tank get the back so even 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:12.040 that hit some of some crutches, some abs, you know, 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.600 curl that thing. Um you know. I mean, I'm using 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:18.200 everything inside the house at that moment. And uh, by 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:19.760 the grace of God, honestly, was like one of the 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:22.680 guys you used to work in the Houston, Texas when 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:24.760 he was around in my neighborhood and whatnot and was 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:26.600 training some of some of the guys from the Texans 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:30.240 and whatnot. So man just linked up with him then 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.519 started working with him like privately, like out in the 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.360 open field and stuff like that. Because no, there was 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.480 no Gems open and whatnot. So we were just doing 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.320 like positioned drills, just doing some conditioning and stuff like that. 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.680 So I had to really just do that for a while, 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.640 and that not until like non essential businesses could be 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.600 back open, like gyms, so I found them to go 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.480 work out at, but still couldn't really travel, you know, 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:55.760 because the Arizona even though they kind of open back up, 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.320 they shot right back down again. So it was really difficult. Also, 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.800 people don't know. It's like, you know, the NFL was 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.160 trying to uh, you know, put together a game plan 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.040 with the union. Uh as far as okay, are we 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.360 gonna have a season? Isn't gonna get pushed back? So 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.520 guys really didn't know, all right, do I need to 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:16.120 train this hard right now or do I should I 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.240 like ease off and so that my body doesn't peak. 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.720 So it was really hard to really gauge that during 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.640 that time because we didn't really even know for months 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:27.919 on end whether we were going to start on time 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:30.640 or we were or we weren't gonna have a season. 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:33.680 You know, thank you wouldn't. We may have missed the 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.400 golden opportunity with the with the Legends community, because when 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.000 you guys not having all your up to data medities 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.440 and being at home. Just as you said, we could 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:44.560 make you guys with some of the veeditans who didn't 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:46.680 have all this, and they could have given you some 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.200 regiment of some of the things they did man when 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:51.400 they were at home. Right, all right, I could have 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:52.960 taped man. Shoot, I should have hit up some of 0:04:52.960 --> 0:05:00.719 my guy. That's what I said. It did. Man, let's 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.720 transition into the cookie show. Man. I'm still I'm still 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:06.960 thinking about cooking man. Man, Man that plays ball, that 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.880 could cook his own meal? Man, looking on, where's these 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:18.080 with with that? Did that evolve from your new normal? Man? Yes, 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.920 yes it really did. So me and my girl. My 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.599 girl was at down here. She's from Chicago, so she 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.680 was stuck down here with me. I had to deal 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.120 with me for all the months, and so that was 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:33.600 that was a whole thing to do. Man. Yeah, pretty much, 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:35.160 we've just thrown down to the kitchen and all that. 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:37.720 So I'm getting updates from a manager as far as 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.839 like you know, went through the foundation, Like, okay, are 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:43.920 events are being canceled so we're gonna have to say 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.360 change it up? Stuff like that? And also how are 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.800 partners Foundation partners doing stuff. So all the while like 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:54.280 hearing about the families, what's going on with them as 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.640 far as like you know, increasing domestic violence stuff like that. 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:02.360 Also kids, you know, regressing back, you know from all 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:05.120 the treatments and the therapies and stuff like that. So 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:06.760 I kind of wanted to come up with something constructed 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:08.200 because me and my girl, we were just thrown down 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.719 in the kitchen like just about every single day. I 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:14.000 probably packed on like a good COVID team or something 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:19.040 like that. So so man, I said, I want to 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:20.600 do something for the kids. And I was like, man, 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:22.159 you know what, let me start this thing out and 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.679 just do some simple dishes for you know, these kids 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.279 to you know, make a pbn J sandwich or like 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:32.000 a grill cheese sandwich from that man. Okay, So one 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.359 day I did. And so one day I did like 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.760 a pizza bagel. That was cool. Everybody was like, all right, 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:38.640 all right, okay, okay, I'm gonna have to try that, 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:40.960 you know, a nice easy light snack. So the next 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.320 time I did it on Wednesday, Uh, it was a 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.280 grill cheese sandwich. There was a lot of people who 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.920 disagree with my cookie skill, with some real cheese, sam 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:54.680 ConA tell you that right now. I got blasted for 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:57.040 all the day, like, are you serious You're gonna put 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.000 on some grill tee sandwich? Man, I thought you could, 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:03.600 man at that moment. At that moment, I said, man, 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.080 I'm done. All right, here we go. And I got 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.159 pretty much the internet bully men pretty much, uh, you know, 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:11.760 showing that I could actually cut, I could actually cook. 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:13.760 I know my spices, I know my cuts and meat 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.760 and stuff like that. So pretty much. Uh man, I 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.720 forget the first one. I think I did, like something 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:22.640 like pasta, um squidding pasta. I did that. I did duck. 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:26.000 So it literally there was there was no there was 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.720 no gray area. Literally and went from simple grill cheese 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:33.119 sandwich straight up to duck and fog water. So you given, 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:37.760 you given, you give a social media the credit for 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.000 this passion that was birthed to you through some of 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.320 the people that was hating doing it. Yeah. Man, So 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.960 really I already had an innate, uh like thing in 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.160 me where I just love to cook. Um. I was 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.040 very curious always and stuff like that. So I had 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:53.840 a lot of time during COVID in order to you know, 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.360 really you know, try it out perfect some things and 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:58.200 stuff like that and really try out things that I've 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:00.720 seen over the number of years that I've into restaurants 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.000 or see my mom doing the kitchen. It's already, it 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:07.560 was definitely there already. I just got bullied by the 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.720 internet or I and they all know who they are too. 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:18.880 If we transition back to football Houston, the texts you 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:23.120 guys are having the challenges season has been been fired? 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.240 How have you been able to stay focused? Um? You 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.800 know the courzy thing is uh like this change that's 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.360 going on. And besides COVID with a coach being fired, 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:35.840 this happened to me before in my career when I 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:37.920 first got drafted to the juson Texans. I was with 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:40.640 Kubiak for you about two years and then to the 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:43.400 third team. Was a terrible year for us, and so 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:45.240 he got fired at towards the end of the season 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.199 and Way Phillips said took over as the interroom head coach, 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:53.839 and so I I already went through that transition once before, 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:57.360 and once it happened again this past year, I was like, oh, okay, 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:59.160 I've been here before. I know what to do, I 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.400 know what to expect, how to play these games and 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:05.080 all that. Now. You know, what people don't see is 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:09.080 how taxing it can be mentally, because there can be 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:13.480 some instent well, there's instability, if you will, And that's 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:18.000 no surprise to any to anybody, that's just that. Of course, 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.320 you got to concentrate on the season and everything and guys, 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:22.400 that's what guys are doing and just keeping the whole 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.839 group together like this and just worrying about these games 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.040 right now. You're not worry about the future. But the 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.439 instability that's there is because you know, once a new 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.280 person comes in, whether it's GM, like they find a GM, 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.520 they find a head coach, then that culture, that previous 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:38.840 culture that when everybody once knew is going to be 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.760 you know, removed or you know, some people may stay, 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.320 some people may leave. And also guys are in last 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.760 years of the contracts and you know they were seeking 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:51.160 to because they knew the culture uh that once here 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:53.800 there and they don't know what's gonna happen next year. 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.720 I am I gonna be let go stuff like that, 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:58.320 you know, and a lot of guys, I mean, you 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.000 tack that on with COVID, you tacked that on with 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.040 like us going through the season, right now guys are 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.600 mentally weighed down a hundred percent. So for me, I'm 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.000 like I had that experience before, so I know how 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.040 to keep my mind very focused and stay in the 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:15.160 present moment and try to mentor a lot of the 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.960 other guys who hasn't who haven't gone through it um 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.200 in order to say, just stick together, don't think about 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.200 too much about the future, just think about right now 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:26.040 and try to stay in the present moment. Now, did 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.360 you get opportunity to share with the entire team. Have 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.480 you done an individual as relationship your prior experience going 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.520 through a transition like this, Yeah, you know. The thing 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:38.800 is I I think coaches have already addressed it. So 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.680 as for me, I work better with talking to guys 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:44.280 like individually or as like you know, a little groups here, 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.760 a little group there, or whatnot, especially a lot of 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:48.920 young guys, you know, some of them, like you know, 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:50.839 they're better in settings where like it's more of like 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.160 a one on one setting or or you know, maybe 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.040 it's two year better and stuff like that, and we 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.000 can all sit into like a little small group and 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.199 just talk about you know, what they expect he she's 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.560 are from here on out, and just draw from me 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.640 is for whoever is willing to listen. So it's a 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.600 it's that That's how I've been able to handle it. 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.920 As far as teaching other guys. Let's talk about your 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:19.120 foundation with mercy, sir. You've always been active in your communities. 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:24.120 What drives you to be active in your community? You know, 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.400 it really steps from my family, my mom especially because 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.680 every time I like, it's me, my sister, and my brother. 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:33.920 She always taught us that, you know, no matter what 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.319 we got, you gotta at least give something back. And 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.080 my parents are immigrants from Haiti, so she always like 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.360 anything that she had, she would you know, she would 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.560 send back to Haiti to some family. Um also any 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:47.760 time in their friends who needed help. You know, over 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:49.560 the years that I was growing up, she would help 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:51.280 him out. She literally would take it the clothes off 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.720 her back and just give it UH to anybody who's 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.320 in need. So seeing that in her, cultivating that UH 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.200 in all of us, that's why I'm so active in 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.800 the community US. And then the day I'm blessed, regardless 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:04.320 of a position, whether I made it to the NFL 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:06.920 or not, I was blessed at the time I came 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.560 into this world, So why not be able to be 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.240 a blessing towards others? That's what that's all really what 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:14.760 I want to be. It's just to be able to 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:19.120 help that next person who needs help, whether it be mentally, spiritually, 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:23.560 or monetarily. So there's a good question, why have you 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:29.560 chosen children with disabilities as a focus of your foundation? Yeah? Yeah, 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.600 worst shot start all right. It goes back to my 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:35.280 family again, is they've always been in a health care 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:39.480 field for a while. So my my father, my mother 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.640 works in nursing homes when as nursing assistance when I 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.559 was growing up, and then my sister went to it 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.040 and went to school for medicine and she's general practitioner 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.720 herself down here in Euston. So all the while, like 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.839 she's in school, my parents are doing that at the 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.080 nursing home. As I'm growing up, it was already in 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:00.960 my blood. It's in my d and they had servitude 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:03.079 and all that, and uh, you know, I just really 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:06.839 empathize with people and really, uh you know, I think 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.040 about people first before I think about myself. When I 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:11.080 was growing up as well too, so it was already 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:15.920 there and and it's been taught so when I got 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.920 to college, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.760 I was in communications for a little bit, and then 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.480 I got into community health. And community health there was 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:29.240 a concentration which was disabilities and rehabilitation. So I was learning, uh, 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.560 this book or reading this book throughout one of these classes. 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.720 It was called ds M or a less like all 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.560 the different disabilities and stuff like that, and uh, this 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.319 class pretty much encompassed like, all right, how to structure 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.959 somebody's home living, how to structure you know, the transportation 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:45.920 if they're dead, you know, if they're just a you know, 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:48.360 work environment, X y Z, if the list goes on. 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:51.679 So I caught it really pretty much. That caught my eye. 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:53.720 And after that I was like, man, yo, this is 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.040 really interesting. I like this a lot. And so I 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.480 wanted to before I went to the NFL, I started 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.280 branching into pre met. I said I didn't want to. 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:04.720 When I first got I said, I want to do nothing, 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:10.600 nothing medicine at all. Nothing. And then like four years later, 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.080 I'm trying to get trying to get in a premante 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:18.480 crazy right, So then I get into the NFL, and man, 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:20.600 it's a long story, but like yeah, this is the 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:25.280 last part I promised. But but I get to the 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.720 NFL and pretty much I started working with kids a lot, 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:29.960 you know, whether it be like play sixty all that, 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:32.360 and visiting a lot of kids in the hospital and 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.840 just seeing really how stressful it is on the families 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:41.920 monster monetarily, emotionally, physically all that. So that really tugged 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.240 on my heart as well too, and I wanted to 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.280 come up with foundations, but I didn't know exactly what 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.000 I wanted to do, and I didn't want to just 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:50.600 put slap something out there that I was gonna care about. 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.400 So if I don't care about it, then any donor 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.400 that's gonna give to it, then that's not building their 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.440 trust in order to say I'm passionate about this and 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:01.280 making sure it that your dollars are doing exactly what 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:04.640 it does. So it took me about five years or 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:06.760 four years, and when I was in illegal whatnot. So 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.240 that's where in two that's sixteen, that's when I created 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:12.800 with Mercy with my manager and UH put together with 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.920 Mercy to UH to really help that the community. I 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:18.680 just read like I love working with kids. Also just 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.720 putting it together what I studied in uh college, and 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.600 that's how it came to be. What does the main 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:28.000 benefit in your life that comes from working with people 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:36.200 who are either physically or developmentally disabled. Yeah, so you know, 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.960 the most rewarding thing about it is and whether you're 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.760 religious or not. And for me, I I am it 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:47.400 teaches the basic, key basic principles in life as far 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.840 as loving one another, no matter why how different with you, 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.920 we may be being really patient with one another as 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:57.280 well too, empathizing with one another and being there for 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:01.680 one another as well too, and understanding that man, just 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.640 truly how blessed we are too. Kind of some capacity, 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:08.240 we all have a special special thing about us that 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.440 guy gave us to impart on this world. And somebody 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.760 with someone with disabilities or myself who's able body to 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:16.240 be able to go out there and go play, we 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.120 all have this innate gift in order to provide the world. 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:21.880 And uh, I think that's one of the things that 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.080 has been rewarding as far as working with individuals such 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:28.000 as those, because that's something man, they got some of 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.720 the most beautiful and greatest smiles ever. And I'm like, 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:35.480 I may have crappy day at practice, um man, I 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:37.920 just got cussed out by the coach about five coaches. 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:40.960 Then I go work with uh some of the kids 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:44.400 uh here in Houston, Uh some who I made like 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.080 great friends over the last a couple of years. And 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.040 I see they smile, and you know they really you know, 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:51.680 they know if they have a disability and all that, 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:53.400 but they don't let that get them down. They know 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.600 they they're special. Man. At the end of the day, 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.320 when I lay up see them and I interact with them, like, man, 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.040 my day. Really it wasn't that bad. Now, how is 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.280 your work in the kitchen tied to your foundation? Well, 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.920 cooking in the kid cooking in the kitchen with developed 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.960 into something a whole like into a whole different beast 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:16.399 for sure. So recently we had a foundation event and 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.760 usually this is called done with mercy, so you're done 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.359 with me, Like pretty much we would set up the 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:23.800 event at like some like some restaurant that I really 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:25.440 wanted to go to, something like that, and we create 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.000 a deal and have some of our biggest donors go there. 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:30.440 So I couldn't do that, so we had to be 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:34.440 very very creative and how we bring these donors on 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.080 to at least raise some money for the kids this 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.480 year or Whatnotuh, so we didn't take a loss or 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:43.280 anything like that. So pretty much it was a great 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.879 idea for in the kitchen will win on Wednesdays and 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:50.320 take that and actually make it into a foundation event 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.600 where I brought two chefs to cook with me and 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.679 pretty much have the entire gre and pretty much I 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.080 was sitting there just looking pretty I ain't go a 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:05.399 lot to you, didn't you the challenge of the two cooks, 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:08.080 nothing like that? Oh no, it wasn't. So they were there, 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.639 they were providing it. So we provided a class like 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:14.560 a class. So so pretty much it was like so 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:19.359 this event had steak, potatoes and spinnach, right and the 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:23.760 in your head you're like, man, that's just too simple. 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:27.240 But the way the chef did it, I would have 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:28.840 never been able to do it the way no, I 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.359 mean the meat just melted in your mouth and had 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.280 like this garlic sauce on top. I'm telling you, like 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:37.600 he killed it. He killed it. And then we had 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:41.960 a pastry chef come in and did like this very 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:48.400 holiday cake and had like cinnamon start these ginger all 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:50.680 within the cream frosting and stuff like that, and it 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.760 was really good. It was light, it was fluffy, and 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:57.440 it just tasted absolutely immaculate. So it was just pretty 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.560 much basically a cooking class that everybody paid for or 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:05.440 towards the foundation, and uh, we were close to we 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:07.240 were close to our goal as far as fifty thou 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:13.040 which is which is uh absolutely a blessing, especially coming 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:17.679 out of COVID. Yeah, so that's that's pretty much how 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:19.720 it started the foundation. Everybody had a great time. I 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:22.240 was cracking jokes all day long. Come on, man, you 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:25.840 got me hungary already, Man to make the trip to Houston. Man, 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:33.280 check out? Good, good, that's all right. I want to 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:36.800 close out. Let's talk about the mask you wear. Yeah, 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:41.600 tell me what the mask is and who honors African 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:46.680 America's with disabilities who were slain by police? The mask 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.639 that I wear, Zoe, of course, we got it. So 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:53.440 and this is this ties into a whole another well 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:55.280 not a whole another thing, but like the same thing 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.760 as far as how many responsibilities we all have, like 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:03.199 on the profes on the athlete level, because COVID not 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:05.520 understanding whether we're gonna, like, you know, play or not, 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.840 then we have you know, our coach firing also voting 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:13.080 stressing them for people to vote to get change done, 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.600 and then also black lives matter. You know, there a 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.760 lot of the uh uh you know, social injustices and 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:21.520 stuff like that, and supporting that as well too, and 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.600 having strategic plans individually and collect as a collective group. 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.439 So there was a lot mentally this year. Uh, just 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:30.040 go back to earlier. It's how you know, players are feeling. 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:32.400 We needed to come up with playing like what we're 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:35.320 gonna do for the first game with Kansas City. I 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:40.240 mean it was gonna be us so and I'll get 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.240 around about to how it came to be white. Why 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:45.480 I wear those maps? So we were the first game, 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:47.360 So there was a black national anthem, and then there 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.439 was the national anthem as well. Now the thing is, 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:53.040 we all know like it should be. Everybody should know 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:56.880 wrong from wrong and right from right, and so as 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.719 a collective group, we didn't want to stand for one 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:01.919 day them and then not the other, so that we 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:05.399 gave other people, like the entire country fuel. You know, 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:07.520 why are you gonna stand for this anthem not this one? 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:09.960