Speaker 1: Are you ready for this? Jean Merriman a one hand
Speaker 1: ef back. Boom boom boom, out go the light. This
Speaker 1: is Lights Out with Sean Merriman. What's up? Guys? Were
Speaker 1: back again with another Lights Out podcast with me Shawn Merriman.
Speaker 1: And today is a special one for me because it's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, one of my former teammates and also one
Speaker 1: of my closest friends still to this day. Um. You
Speaker 1: guys know him as you know, the mighty almighty darren
Speaker 1: spros Um just found out. I thought he was finished
Speaker 1: up eight on all purposes actually number five on all
Speaker 1: purpose UM yards in the NFL. He should be up
Speaker 1: for the Hall of Fame, but he did also just
Speaker 1: getting the College Football Hall of Fame first time around,
Speaker 1: got the monkey off his back. So um, one of
Speaker 1: the hardest working dudes I know. Uh. We we talked
Speaker 1: about signing with the same agent coming out of college,
Speaker 1: moving here to l A for the first time and
Speaker 1: working out two or three times a day and get
Speaker 1: ready for the combine and some funny stories and that
Speaker 1: with myself pac man. Uh. Travis Johnson was also a
Speaker 1: first rounder and UM in our legendary late agent Gary
Speaker 1: with Shard. So we got some cool stories here, some
Speaker 1: fun times. Uh derren spros. Hey, yo, So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: start this thing out. Congratulations my dog on the College
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame. Man, that's that's huge. Man. How
Speaker 1: did you How did you hear about it? Though? Who
Speaker 1: did you find out through? Did they call you first
Speaker 1: or did you find out like when everybody else found out?
Speaker 1: But so they called me on Saturday. Yeah, they called
Speaker 1: me on Saturday. It was uh, it was a zoom call, um,
Speaker 1: like my college head coach that called me. Whatever. So
Speaker 1: we're talking and that's when they told me. When they
Speaker 1: told me, man, you're talking about hYP man. Man. They
Speaker 1: could tell me nothing after that. Like, so, did you
Speaker 1: even know that you were up for it? Like what
Speaker 1: you know? Did you kind of because I know they
Speaker 1: had the finalist and they got the process or did
Speaker 1: they just go ahead and start selecting? See I knew, um,
Speaker 1: it's my first year like being up for it. Yum,
Speaker 1: Like I knew that part um, but I really didn't know.
Speaker 1: Like you know what I'm saying, like that I'm actually
Speaker 1: gonna get in yeah because you know a lot of
Speaker 1: cash though they but when they when you're up for it.
Speaker 1: Then you're around for a couple of years and then
Speaker 1: you finally end up getting in, so that that ship
Speaker 1: was a big deal for you, you know, getting up
Speaker 1: the first time around. Man, that's like the monkey off
Speaker 1: your back, right off the top, right right. Uh. And
Speaker 1: this is what I tell people. I tell people, Um,
Speaker 1: like my whole college career, man, I played my whole
Speaker 1: college career man at one eighty. So you can't tell
Speaker 1: me like you know what I'm saying, like you gotta
Speaker 1: be big and all this to uh to have a
Speaker 1: um to have a good like college career. No, you
Speaker 1: you don't, man. So so I wanted it for the
Speaker 1: people that don't know. So when we came out and No.
Speaker 1: Five together and we end up signing with the same
Speaker 1: agent with the late great Gary with Shard Man, iverna
Speaker 1: tell you that there's no there was no better hype
Speaker 1: man than Garrett than than Gary Man. Garry Gary Man,
Speaker 1: if he sat in your living room he called, he'll
Speaker 1: call you before games, He'll I mean, he'll hype you
Speaker 1: up like no other man. So you missed miss Gary
Speaker 1: with Shard. But um, so we came out and me myself,
Speaker 1: Darren spros uh pac Man Jones, and Travis Johnson. They
Speaker 1: end up getting drafted first round, picked to other Houston, Texas.
Speaker 1: We all signed with Gary with Shawnson. I don't we're
Speaker 1: meeting each other for the first time, and we're also
Speaker 1: in l A for the first time too, because I've
Speaker 1: never been to I don't know if you have, but
Speaker 1: I've never been to the West coast. So they so
Speaker 1: they put us up. We all got we were in
Speaker 1: the kind apartment building, put us up in the Marina
Speaker 1: Dale Ready at the oak Woods, and we're practicing and
Speaker 1: working out twice a day right here, morning at night
Speaker 1: or morning in the afternoon. And so that's our first
Speaker 1: time we got a chance to meet each other. So
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, that's my first time. Senior person, I
Speaker 1: was like, Yo, this isn't This is the same guy
Speaker 1: who was cutting up in college, you know, because you know,
Speaker 1: somebody talked about it being you know, the smallest and
Speaker 1: I'm like, nah, man, But I was shocked, dude. I
Speaker 1: was shocked. And I was like, you know what you
Speaker 1: did in college and the numbers you put up. I
Speaker 1: was like, man, and then you end up getting drafted
Speaker 1: doing the same thing. Man, How how crazy? Was that
Speaker 1: man that transition because we all came in the same
Speaker 1: time and was working like it's still probably I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna watch you still probably one of the funnest times
Speaker 1: because that I had made even throughout my professional career,
Speaker 1: right that's um um. What was crazy to me was
Speaker 1: was like was like when we worked out, we worked
Speaker 1: out together, and we both got drafted to the same team,
Speaker 1: like you know what I'm saying, Like that was a
Speaker 1: big thing, like, um, like for me wise and then
Speaker 1: and then like to see the way you work like
Speaker 1: that always made me work harder, like you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So so I feel like like with us
Speaker 1: going to like the same team, like we was able
Speaker 1: to like work together, like you know what I'm saying. Ye,
Speaker 1: God working crazy ways, bro, because I had we had
Speaker 1: no idea that we were gonna end up playing with
Speaker 1: each other at some point in time. So right, hey, lights, hey,
Speaker 1: tell the people what happened to you. You was going there,
Speaker 1: Hold up, tell the people what happened to you when
Speaker 1: you got on that Mindo track for the first time.
Speaker 1: We had told you, Graig had told you don't get
Speaker 1: on this track, Like you know what I'm saying like
Speaker 1: like this track is different, Like you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: you must have gotten that track and pull your hamstring
Speaker 1: and your quald listen. So we at there, so you
Speaker 1: mind you your Darren Spros, pac Man Jones and you
Speaker 1: know they out there running on the track. I think
Speaker 1: we was at Santa Monica College, right, was at Santa Monica,
Speaker 1: And you know, they had already kind of told me before,
Speaker 1: like hey man, this track is different. You know, I
Speaker 1: don't know if it was faster or the grip of
Speaker 1: it or whatever it was. So I'm feeling froggy. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm feeling good. You know, I got my type someone.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling I'm feeling speedy that day, and they told me,
Speaker 1: they said, hey man, you watch out for this track
Speaker 1: because it's different. So I go out there on the
Speaker 1: track and I'm, you know, I'm going around turning the
Speaker 1: corner and I'm I'm feeling good. I'm feeling that. So
Speaker 1: I started to dig a little bit. Man. I pulled
Speaker 1: my hands tringing my car, and I felt like I
Speaker 1: pulled it straight off the bone. But life, but life, man,
Speaker 1: we told you though, I know, we told you, man,
Speaker 1: I know, and you know what, it was a lot
Speaker 1: worse because it was the injury was a lot worse
Speaker 1: than what I what I told y'all because I didn't
Speaker 1: want you all to laugh because before I went, y'all say, hey,
Speaker 1: watch out, was it deed with it? Darren who who
Speaker 1: was Yeah? Yeah, Darren. Darren willis one of one of
Speaker 1: the best trainers on the West coach Man. We trained
Speaker 1: all of us for the combine, and so y'all then said, man, listen, lights,
Speaker 1: watch what you're doing on when you go out there,
Speaker 1: because that that track is different. So when I pulled,
Speaker 1: I pulled my hamstra. I pull my uh hamstring a
Speaker 1: little bit, but I really pulled my quad before this
Speaker 1: is this is three weeks before the combine, and I
Speaker 1: snatched that sucker right up and so it got better whatever.
Speaker 1: But I did end up repulling it again during my
Speaker 1: pro day because it was it was like a week
Speaker 1: after that. So but that was funny. But this, no,
Speaker 1: this is the story I'm gonna tell people. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let me know and I'm gonna throw myself
Speaker 1: onto the bus. So we were all, like I said,
Speaker 1: we signed, We signed with Gary wish Are we all
Speaker 1: got the same major. We're working out in l A.
Speaker 1: None of us been in l A for the first
Speaker 1: time being out there, were at the Gold gym and
Speaker 1: out there and um muscle bet and I wasn't Marinda
Speaker 1: that already technically yeah, And so I just got off.
Speaker 1: I was sick. I had to flu, right, I had
Speaker 1: to flew for boy, I'm telling you, I had the flu,
Speaker 1: and I was sick, and I dropped about six or
Speaker 1: seven pounds, right, So I come in there and mind
Speaker 1: you every day, Like these spros said before, we're challenge
Speaker 1: challenging each other. Pac Man. It was was sitting there
Speaker 1: talking and working. It was and Travis Johnson never stopped talking.
Speaker 1: Trat would never stopped talking. So so they baited me
Speaker 1: in in the gym one day. So we I think
Speaker 1: we put three sixty five on the bench. We're done
Speaker 1: bench your incline. So we put three it was bench,
Speaker 1: so we do. We got three sixty five when they
Speaker 1: were six five pounds, and I just got im sick.
Speaker 1: So I know, I don't want to bait into this conversation,
Speaker 1: but you know the spros is telling me, hey, I
Speaker 1: can out lift you. I can do this I can
Speaker 1: do that, I said, Man, in my head, something told
Speaker 1: me not to do it, and I'm I'm saying, and
Speaker 1: then you poked me for the last time and that
Speaker 1: that's when I'm going on and jumped in it. And
Speaker 1: so there are spros. He did the three sixty five
Speaker 1: I think six or seven times. I think only gout
Speaker 1: it like four or five times. So I got outlifted.
Speaker 1: I will I will say that. I will say that
Speaker 1: because but you know what, I knew. I knew I
Speaker 1: shouldn't have done it. And I was sitting there like
Speaker 1: I know it. I know it, and you pranked out
Speaker 1: like another one or two. Mand I was sick, so
Speaker 1: you I'd never tell you. I'm laughing about it now.
Speaker 1: But that whole week that you thought that flu was sick. No, no,
Speaker 1: I was sick. I was pissed off. But life but life.
Speaker 1: But like man, we want to remach and not now
Speaker 1: let's go and get the rematch. You you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. You can redeem yourself. You know now now now, No, sir,
Speaker 1: I was that three sixty was that three? Ain't no way? Man?
Speaker 1: But you know it's it's different now, man, because you
Speaker 1: know when you were TYINGT and I mean you're just
Speaker 1: getting done. So I think you're still mentally and physically
Speaker 1: closer to the game. But you know, after two years, man,
Speaker 1: like being out the game, your mind off, your mindset
Speaker 1: changed already because you you know, playing for three D
Speaker 1: that with three different organizations, has your mind set kind
Speaker 1: of changed walking away from it now? Yeah? Um uh,
Speaker 1: because my thing was like when I was younger, um,
Speaker 1: like my old heads, there's a on me, like like
Speaker 1: when we retired, we retired, like you need to keep
Speaker 1: on working out. So I always got their mind framing. Uh.
Speaker 1: And the thing is like that's what I've been doing, Like,
Speaker 1: that's what I do. So you know, you know what
Speaker 1: one thing I always wanted to ask you though, because
Speaker 1: so we came in, oh five, we played together or
Speaker 1: was it was it five years or five years? Five
Speaker 1: years right? Five years six or six? Six years? Six? Yeah? Six?
Speaker 1: And so you so you left and went to another Onegnans,
Speaker 1: You went to the Saints. I end up going and
Speaker 1: playing for Buffalo, and then you also played with Philly.
Speaker 1: You know how tight we were, man? Was it? This
Speaker 1: was it the same way when you went to the
Speaker 1: Saints in Philly or It is nothing like when when
Speaker 1: that because we came in we were young, so you
Speaker 1: kind of grow different relationships with other dudes. But when
Speaker 1: I see you post some time on your Instagram about
Speaker 1: mark Ingram and all these uh other people, like you
Speaker 1: still you was tight with everybody. Yeah, like like what
Speaker 1: we have uh with the Chargers, that like that was special,
Speaker 1: like you know what I'm saying. Uh, But like the
Speaker 1: closest thing though, like with the Saints, like that was
Speaker 1: like that's the family over there, Like you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like like differ than football, Like you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Uh, Like we are still close like
Speaker 1: right now, like you know what I'm saying. Just like
Speaker 1: with the Charters, like you know what I'm saying, Like
Speaker 1: we still talk all the time, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So like with the Saints that that's they all close still. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So that because I always tried to figure it out,
Speaker 1: like and you were still playing at the high level.
Speaker 1: Like by the time I got the Buffalo my achilles,
Speaker 1: my knee I had, you know, I was like, man,
Speaker 1: I'm only gonna play two more years. I'm in and
Speaker 1: out there. And even though the like the organization was great,
Speaker 1: Uh to me. The teammates you know a lot of
Speaker 1: them casts if they're cool as hell. It wasn't insane
Speaker 1: for me because I I kind of knew I was
Speaker 1: on my way out anyway. I was about to hang
Speaker 1: it up. But um, I just I just feel like
Speaker 1: when you walk into the locker room, you twenty For me,
Speaker 1: I was twenty years old at the time two and
Speaker 1: you see you know lt and low Nil and Phiel Gays, Big,
Speaker 1: Jamal Williams, um Donnielle was Randall Godfrey, you know all
Speaker 1: these older casts or Keenamcardel. Yeah, so you you're walking
Speaker 1: in man and you never For me, I just never
Speaker 1: had that shock again, like you like, wow, you're in
Speaker 1: the NFL. So even I was close with with the
Speaker 1: guys in Buffalo, like I just it was never really
Speaker 1: the same. So I was actually that because I see
Speaker 1: on your Instagram stories like your mark ingram and you know, dude,
Speaker 1: you play with you know what I'm saying. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that I feel like I feel like to like when
Speaker 1: we came to the to the Charges, we had some stars,
Speaker 1: like you know what I'm saying, Like like real stars,
Speaker 1: they're like, you know what I'm saying, uh, and then like, um,
Speaker 1: we go to other places like sometimes day like that,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. But but like in the rookies,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, Like when we came into
Speaker 1: the league and we came to the Charges, like, man,
Speaker 1: we had Drew Brees, Philip you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like we have some real stars. No, we we did.
Speaker 1: But if you if you look around in NFL, we
Speaker 1: we had just we had more star power than anybody.
Speaker 1: You know, you had had a paid Manny or you
Speaker 1: had Eli Manning, had Tom Brady. But as far as
Speaker 1: stars like bonus five dudes that can go anywhere in
Speaker 1: the country and somebody can point them out and say, hey,
Speaker 1: that's that's such and such a place for the Charges
Speaker 1: like still like still to this day. And that's why
Speaker 1: for me it was a shock because you know, you
Speaker 1: you started planning planning that in that in that circle
Speaker 1: and you get remembered like with some of the other
Speaker 1: great players and some of the other great times we had.
Speaker 1: So like that was cool for me. So what which
Speaker 1: because are you are you gonna you should be up
Speaker 1: for the Hall of Fame for for the NFL, though
Speaker 1: because your numbers would Um, yeah, I'm bringing it up
Speaker 1: absolutely because you were seven or eight on on the
Speaker 1: all purpose right five. So I don't know, like you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like that's my next you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, That's where I want to be. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. Did you envision that though? Because
Speaker 1: I remember we had I don't know if you remember though,
Speaker 1: but I came to your camp and Kansas was in Kansas,
Speaker 1: right was came to your camp in Kansas. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know what year was, man, the old five
Speaker 1: oh six or seven? Was it? Somewhere somewhere around there,
Speaker 1: And we had a we had a brief conversation just
Speaker 1: about you know, we wasn't really talking about stats, but
Speaker 1: just talking about what we was playing on doing and
Speaker 1: what she was gonna do. Has that have you this
Speaker 1: always thought about? That? Is that like a real possibility
Speaker 1: of you from where you came from And I got
Speaker 1: a chance to here her first hand, and you've been
Speaker 1: back at the crib with all you know, the kids
Speaker 1: and everybody and everybody respecting you to not only now
Speaker 1: get in the College Hall of Fame, but now potentially
Speaker 1: the NFL Hall of Fame. Did I ever cross your mind? No,
Speaker 1: it didn't, Like you know what I'm saying. Uh, Like
Speaker 1: when I first came to the league, like I only
Speaker 1: thing I wanted to do was play football, Like you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like that's the only thing that
Speaker 1: was on my mind. You know what I'm saying. But
Speaker 1: but but like now that I'm finished, Like, um now
Speaker 1: that crossed my mind now, like you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like the reason you play this game? You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like you want to be in the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame. You know what I'm saying. You want that
Speaker 1: yellow jackie? Yeah? So what so what's next? Man? You want?
Speaker 1: Because I always people ask me all the time, and
Speaker 1: I know I bullshit around on like social media and
Speaker 1: I'm always playing around because it's you know, all that's
Speaker 1: just funny to me anyway. But are you are you
Speaker 1: thinking about getting a coaching or something, you know, getting
Speaker 1: back into the game and some capacity or nothing nothing,
Speaker 1: none of that. Um like right now, right now, I
Speaker 1: want to do like a scouting park, like you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. But like like you on the on
Speaker 1: the player personnel side, yeah yeah, okay, But not being
Speaker 1: a coach, like no, no, but too many hours in No,
Speaker 1: I don't want to do that. But the scouting park,
Speaker 1: like you know what I'm saying, like finding talent, that's
Speaker 1: what I want to do. Yeah, that you're like one
Speaker 1: of the first ones I heard say that because they
Speaker 1: see they people want to coach or they don't want
Speaker 1: to coach. The first thing that I always say that
Speaker 1: for what you just said, there's no way in hell
Speaker 1: I was too long. Money is not enough and you
Speaker 1: and you live, you living and dining in the year
Speaker 1: the year based on how your team do. And I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm good on that. I'm straight. You know, I'm retired, man,
Speaker 1: I got other stuff going on. Man, so all adult, man,
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna let you go. But but yeah, I
Speaker 1: gotta get you in that in that gym. So I
Speaker 1: already offered these pros to coming and do so do
Speaker 1: a few of my m m A workouts, And somehow,
Speaker 1: some way he keep on disappearing. So I can't I
Speaker 1: can't really catch up to him. But it's gonna happen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we ulluh, we're gonna get in there. We don't get
Speaker 1: in there, man, Uh, let's go ahead. And spark Man. Listen,
Speaker 1: see so I can put these hands on. All right, boy,
Speaker 1: I'm out man, alright, appreciate you coming on, dude, Thank
Speaker 1: you problem Okay, thanks, thanks guys. I appreciate it once
Speaker 1: again for listening to the Lights of podcast for me.
Speaker 1: Sean Merriman and uh, it's so funny, man Like. It's
Speaker 1: one of the things for me that I love competition.
Speaker 1: I love competing. It's one of my funniest things to doing.
Speaker 1: It's always great when you have other guys rounded the
Speaker 1: challenge the hell out of you and even know, you know,
Speaker 1: you got the small dinner spros. Uh. That was a
Speaker 1: true story. You guys just heard. He did outlift me
Speaker 1: in the gym one day. Uh, you know at uh
Speaker 1: in Marina del Rey at the Goals gym. He did
Speaker 1: do that. I had to flew. I'm a stick with that.
Speaker 1: I had to flew and uh but anyway, man, he
Speaker 1: just I'm really proud of him and and um really
Speaker 1: honored to be his teammate because he's come a long
Speaker 1: way with a lot of different things, and you know,
Speaker 1: look look forward to see him on somebody's team and
Speaker 1: possibly a pro scout or something like that. So thank
Speaker 1: you guys for tuning in. I appreciate it. UM means
Speaker 1: a lot, man. We I think we're well over tuning
Speaker 1: the thousand downloads and doing extremely right well right now,
Speaker 1: all because of you. So keep telling it, leaving, leaving
Speaker 1: us those great reviews, and uh we'll be back next
Speaker 1: week with another big one