Speaker 1: I am just like JB. Smooth and those Caesar's commercials
Speaker 1: that are everywhere right now. When it comes to the Mannings,
Speaker 1: Cooper is my favorite now, nothing but respected. Admiration for
Speaker 1: his legendary father is two younger superstar brothers, but I've
Speaker 1: always admired Cooper his outlook on life, the way he
Speaker 1: has shown acceptance without lingering anger or resentment of a
Speaker 1: diagnosis that ended his football career before it began at all,
Speaker 1: Miss spinal stenosis, forcing him to pivot to change his
Speaker 1: expected life path to reinvent himself, and we talk all
Speaker 1: about that. I also like the Cooper doesn't take himself
Speaker 1: too seriously. There are great stories about growing up manning
Speaker 1: the volatile full house in New Orleans with three very
Speaker 1: competitive brothers. But I also like how Cooper is maintaining
Speaker 1: the Manning tradition of families loving and supportive, but also
Speaker 1: gives you this space to find your own way, which
Speaker 1: Cooper is doing now as the dad of the next
Speaker 1: General Manning star quarterback. Well, Cooper, it's good to see it.
Speaker 1: Thanks for taking time. We were talking the other day offline.
Speaker 1: We were involved in a radio show. We were both
Speaker 1: very young long ago mysterious origins. Remember remember, not very
Speaker 1: well by either one of us. But I do remember
Speaker 1: we did a radio show. You were fresh out of
Speaker 1: old mess. You've been a broadcast major. Right there you
Speaker 1: are on the air in New Orleans and we're doing
Speaker 1: a radio show about football. Beyond that, it's all gray
Speaker 1: area for me. I remember this vaguely, Chris. I know,
Speaker 1: I was in fresh in New Orleans and out of school.
Speaker 1: And then there was a kind of a local um legend,
Speaker 1: Buddy Delaberta, who had massive following on w w L
Speaker 1: eight seventy, the clear channel fifty giant. You could listen
Speaker 1: to it in Michigan on a you know, on a
Speaker 1: cool night, and he had had a heart attack. And
Speaker 1: so they said, oh, Cooper's in. It was a broadcast guy.
Speaker 1: He can host a radio show. And they said, if
Speaker 1: you host the radio show. I had not hosted anything.
Speaker 1: I barely knew how to you know where the microphone was,
Speaker 1: and and they said, oh, you could be hosting a
Speaker 1: couple of nights, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from eight
Speaker 1: to ten, calling show whatever you want to do. And
Speaker 1: I remember you were a hero of mine from scholastic
Speaker 1: sports American days, so I said, why not reached out
Speaker 1: to Chris se if you'll join the chaos, And I
Speaker 1: appreciate you bailing me out because I didn't know what
Speaker 1: the heck I was doing. Well, you're a young kid
Speaker 1: in her room and doing a radio shows a weird sensation.
Speaker 1: You're alone in this room, maybe one guy there. You
Speaker 1: get a microphone, but fifty thousand watts heard everywhere, and
Speaker 1: you're you're sitting in for a legend. You don't know
Speaker 1: what you're doing, and they say you can do whatever
Speaker 1: you want. But those shows can feel long and scary
Speaker 1: if you don't have a clue. It's very lonely, and
Speaker 1: especially um if you say something that you think it's
Speaker 1: kind of funny, and it's just like this is work.
Speaker 1: I remember I even got my dad to come on
Speaker 1: as a guest, and I was like, uh. He even
Speaker 1: came physically down to the station and we're talking and
Speaker 1: I was like, Dad, I appreciate being on. I thought
Speaker 1: you would have worn a shirt tonight. And it's a
Speaker 1: little you're a little casual, and he's like, you know,
Speaker 1: he's just nodding, like expect to be able to laugh,
Speaker 1: and no one laughs, and he's like him or shirt
Speaker 1: you know, you know, so anyway you can definitely feel
Speaker 1: like you're throwing you know, no hitter out there. It's lonely.
Speaker 1: That's funny. Well, you've done a number of different media
Speaker 1: things which we can get to, but you're everywhere, along
Speaker 1: with your brothers and your dad on these uh, these
Speaker 1: Caesar's spots which you cannot turn the TV on without
Speaker 1: seeing Caesar's. And it's because it's you know, sports betting
Speaker 1: is exploding a lot of places. We just see him
Speaker 1: a lot here in the New York area. Next question,
Speaker 1: aren't you Is this your first meeting with Caesar and Cleopatra?
Speaker 1: We met mom in two thousand seven. Ah, the helmet kids,
Speaker 1: Actually that was two thousand and eighty. Things Miami was
Speaker 1: Peyton's first super also great, but not as great as
Speaker 1: the helmet catch. I wouldn't hit him with the numbers. Probably,
Speaker 1: who cares? We all? Caesar's am all right, keep it, Cooper,
Speaker 1: He's my favorite. Happy Holidays everyone, We all, and the
Speaker 1: man is awso Caesars. Those look like funny experience if
Speaker 1: you shot commercial. Sometimes they're not fun, but but JBS move.
Speaker 1: Academy Award winner Halle Berry you're sitting there around this room.
Speaker 1: Take us through that, how those were created and how
Speaker 1: fun they were. Well of Chrise. First of all, we
Speaker 1: were all Caesar's. I think that's fair to say out
Speaker 1: of the gates. Um, you know, I think this thing
Speaker 1: had been in the works for a while. I was probably,
Speaker 1: as always, kind of the last got to find out,
Speaker 1: you know, Peyton and he probably running the show. And
Speaker 1: Dad's like, all right, we gotta go to Vegas. Shoots
Speaker 1: of Caesar's commercials jump on. And the shooting of this
Speaker 1: was in Las Vegas. As a matter of fact, we
Speaker 1: got dressed. Our dressing room was the room from Rainman
Speaker 1: where Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoppin we're you know, we're
Speaker 1: hanging out. So there was a lot of nostalgia there.
Speaker 1: And I'm a movie buff, so I was kind of
Speaker 1: appreciated the the historical references there. But it was so loose,
Speaker 1: like I had no lines for any of this, and
Speaker 1: Um and JB. I had worked with him one of
Speaker 1: the time. He had come on The Manning Hour one
Speaker 1: time and we had again no script for him. You
Speaker 1: just you just give a general theme of what to do.
Speaker 1: And he is so clever and so fun, and we
Speaker 1: just hit it off and just started and the cameras
Speaker 1: just roll and the and the directors were kind of like,
Speaker 1: you know, JB O going and if you feel a direction,
Speaker 1: just send him that way and he'll go that way
Speaker 1: and we'll document everything and it'll all, you know, it'll
Speaker 1: all shake up pretty in the end. But it was
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. I'm not sure a lot of
Speaker 1: those still don't know that was Hallie Berry, Like that
Speaker 1: was a pretty woman right there, you know who what?
Speaker 1: And I'm like having oh And I don't think my
Speaker 1: dad knew it was until about three four through, Like, Dad,
Speaker 1: that's you know, oh yeah, yeah, I didn't know the
Speaker 1: first time watched the spots because she doesn't have a
Speaker 1: lot of lines. He basically just kind of looks annoyed
Speaker 1: at JB. Smooth. But that what a process, though, man,
Speaker 1: to have no lines to just riff and then I
Speaker 1: don't know how long the cameras roll, but you gotta
Speaker 1: get this thing down to a thirty second commercial. They're
Speaker 1: so tightly edited and you got all this material. How
Speaker 1: did you talk your way into getting some lines? Because
Speaker 1: when you should you're gonna go to Vegas when you're
Speaker 1: just gonna be background while your brothers are talking and
Speaker 1: your dad talking. To mean, come on, I know, a couplet,
Speaker 1: play with the play with the glasses, look at the glasses.
Speaker 1: And during anytime a break, I would always just ask
Speaker 1: j B stuff or just comment on things and try
Speaker 1: to make him laugh a little bit. And finally, out
Speaker 1: of the blue, he starts talking about, oh, you know,
Speaker 1: you might, you know you might? You look fabulous? You know,
Speaker 1: I get do they look fabulous? And started I'm like,
Speaker 1: but at the end, I swear we got done. I
Speaker 1: didn't think there was any way. I thought I was
Speaker 1: just gonna be kind of a you know, the third brother,
Speaker 1: just a pud. You know, I figured up where a
Speaker 1: coach and time probably look a little bit better than
Speaker 1: everyone else. But he has definitely helped my name recognition
Speaker 1: on especially during these football games because it's that commercial
Speaker 1: runs a lot. Well, he calls you you're my favorite
Speaker 1: Manning and you you are mine too because you are
Speaker 1: known as the fun one, and and you don't take
Speaker 1: yourself all that seriously. And I think people connect with
Speaker 1: certain parts of your story. But were you always quote
Speaker 1: the fun one growing up? I think I was. I mean,
Speaker 1: my dad always says, they found me on the doorstep.
Speaker 1: So I always like to just, I don't know, kind
Speaker 1: of take it the easy way and have fun and
Speaker 1: grasses green right where I am. And Peyton was a
Speaker 1: little you know, wired a little differently, and we um
Speaker 1: were you know, kind of combative and fought a little bit.
Speaker 1: And then Eli was just so laid back and didn't
Speaker 1: care about anything. It was kind of and I think
Speaker 1: my parents did a really good job of like not
Speaker 1: trying to make either one of us or anybody in
Speaker 1: a certain way like that's the way it is. Let
Speaker 1: him roll. You know. They're having people over for cocktails
Speaker 1: one night, and they like, bring in the entertainment. Here
Speaker 1: comes cook, you know, and it could, you know, dance
Speaker 1: for us, young boy. You know. It was like that
Speaker 1: sort of deal. So he had a lot of time
Speaker 1: to perform. I'm sure the guests thought it was horrible
Speaker 1: and boring and who is his kid? But your parents
Speaker 1: parents were kind of proud of of how everybody was
Speaker 1: wired differently and and uh embrace that. So it's kind
Speaker 1: of worked. H I can relate to that. I was
Speaker 1: trying it at a cocktail parts I didn't I certainly
Speaker 1: didn't didn't sing or dance, but I was asked to
Speaker 1: recite certain things. And my dad was a theater director
Speaker 1: and they are both in the arts, so I had
Speaker 1: some of that, and I was asked to perform in
Speaker 1: front of guests, and you know, pretty mortified I could
Speaker 1: do it as a young kid. Then they got very shy,
Speaker 1: probably traumatized subconsciously about doing But like your your dad
Speaker 1: had the video camera out. It seems like for everything,
Speaker 1: I mean, in the Book of Manning, it's a great documentary.
Speaker 1: There's all these home movies which are really cool to have.
Speaker 1: But was he just you know, doing everything you guys
Speaker 1: were as a family. He's got a recording of it.
Speaker 1: I guess it was such a new technology at the time.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think he always really prouded himselves
Speaker 1: on you know, spinning timeless he's playing football et center.
Speaker 1: But so time outside of that was in the yard,
Speaker 1: shooting hoops, playing football. But Payton still, you know that
Speaker 1: documentary he paid complains about. It's like, look, there's Cook,
Speaker 1: he's six, I'm four. He's kicking me in the stomach.
Speaker 1: But no, Dad, make sure you don't don't check on
Speaker 1: the young boy. Just document this in case it's ever.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna be a These boys turned out
Speaker 1: to be quarterbacks. If people want, you know, see it
Speaker 1: and read about it, don't don't come tend to your child.
Speaker 1: So that thing weighed about two hundred pounds. It was
Speaker 1: that you actually had. It was like carrying a full
Speaker 1: VHS machine and the camera. So, uh yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1: It's funny. Archie the documentary, he'd be the guy that likes, uh,
Speaker 1: got his phone out. Way of building is burning. It
Speaker 1: is not calling nine one one, He's just capturing the video.
Speaker 1: I'm impressing you how to do I mean right now? Still,
Speaker 1: it's like he barely knows how to you know, press
Speaker 1: sin on it. We've talked about a text message and
Speaker 1: now the emojis are his favorite thing. But he's he's
Speaker 1: not exactly technologically advanced. So I'm glad he was able
Speaker 1: to document that because it is, you know, it's funny.
Speaker 1: So I'll see people in an airport, you know, I'll
Speaker 1: be the milk in Philadelphia. The guy come in and go, oh,
Speaker 1: I saw that document. I was you know, I was
Speaker 1: in that. I was playing again jaell on that two
Speaker 1: on two games. I lived down the block. I mean
Speaker 1: it just we uh, we had a good neighborhood of
Speaker 1: football and Dad got it all all on tape. That's awesome.
Speaker 1: He had an interesting neighborhood. I want to get to
Speaker 1: that in a minute. But the relationship between brothers, it's
Speaker 1: so close to me. I got a younger brother, Drew's
Speaker 1: two and a half years younger. I did an entire
Speaker 1: podcast on partarily relationships of the guys in Kings of
Speaker 1: Leon Patrick and John mckinnar. I just think that the
Speaker 1: way brothers interact, that the unique strength of the bond,
Speaker 1: the love, but also the ability to get under each
Speaker 1: other's skin and fight and claw. I think it's hard
Speaker 1: to understand if you didn't grow up around that, but
Speaker 1: that little documentary and the clips give a kind of
Speaker 1: a window into what you guys sort of were like
Speaker 1: growing up. It seemed like a handful of in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: I think, you know. I think it also depends on
Speaker 1: how close you are. Peyton are two years on the
Speaker 1: on the dots, So when that means typically until you
Speaker 1: get to about a certain age, you're competitive. But the
Speaker 1: older brother has got an advantag mean two years when
Speaker 1: you're ten at eight is a big gap. So he
Speaker 1: was fiery. Didn't like to lose. We played a lot
Speaker 1: of sports and competitive adn't like to lose it. We
Speaker 1: just it just never ended very pleasant. It was always
Speaker 1: blood or crying or running and and I know Peyton
Speaker 1: things in that in that show that he was documented
Speaker 1: as just like this whiny baby, but really he is
Speaker 1: getting abused by, you know, an older brother a couple
Speaker 1: of years older him. But it was a fun way
Speaker 1: to grow up in. Eli was later and kind of quiet,
Speaker 1: and I think I think probably Peyton beat up on
Speaker 1: Eli a little bit more kind of trickle down economics
Speaker 1: right there. And you were guilty of that too. According
Speaker 1: to the documentary, you guys took turns getting to see
Speaker 1: who could make Eli cry first. We take a lot
Speaker 1: of credit for him playing all those games in a row.
Speaker 1: And you know, it was funny. This week, my son
Speaker 1: had his first m R I. This a little m
Speaker 1: R I. He was complaining about it and I called Eli.
Speaker 1: Eli said, he checked. He just didn't a medical deal
Speaker 1: during his NFL career. He had eighty one m r s.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, get ready here they come. I mean nothing,
Speaker 1: you know, I think he wound up being Okay, but
Speaker 1: you know it's part of the deal. Yeah, that's part
Speaker 1: of Eli's mythology, never missed a game, because how could
Speaker 1: he not be tough with you two guys, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, beating up on him. By the way,
Speaker 1: tell your son to check out his grandfather, your dad's
Speaker 1: records about playing them. You know, the Gator Bowl with
Speaker 1: a broken left forearm, and that was that's when football
Speaker 1: was tough, man. I mean, the mrs didn't exist, and
Speaker 1: the trainers would just like put a litt duct tape
Speaker 1: and throw it back out in the field and those days. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know, I think just that era is just he
Speaker 1: also talks about, you know, at halftime they're they're trying
Speaker 1: to wave the cigarette smoke or whatever. You can see
Speaker 1: what the second half plan was. I mean, different era, Oh,
Speaker 1: I know, but growing up, I mean obviously your dad
Speaker 1: in Mississippi and ran he was like Elvis, So you're
Speaker 1: growing up as the the oldest son of of Elvis
Speaker 1: basically that kind of fame and folklore. Anything he did
Speaker 1: it was pretty special. But then it got magnified and
Speaker 1: retold and and and you know what what was that?
Speaker 1: Like everybody had a story about Archie, right, and so
Speaker 1: you you you either have to listen to it or
Speaker 1: get to listen to it or get tired of it,
Speaker 1: or whatever your perspective is on that. Yeah, I guess, Uh,
Speaker 1: it was always fun, you know, be in the son
Speaker 1: of a quarterback, especially you know, New Orleans was kind
Speaker 1: of a new franchise and he was the first pick,
Speaker 1: and they weren't very good, but it was you know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't He signed a lot of autographs and he
Speaker 1: was kind of people. People were pretty kind to him.
Speaker 1: I think that's the one thing after all this is
Speaker 1: that he was well liked and so you were proud
Speaker 1: that he was your dad. And uh, he took us
Speaker 1: place as we didn't need to go. I mean we
Speaker 1: went to every Saturday practice. He would stick us with
Speaker 1: the trainers and you know, we get taped and put
Speaker 1: pads on and probably in the world of the NFL
Speaker 1: today you can't do. And then you go back to
Speaker 1: Mississippi and it was even more. You know, he was
Speaker 1: just you know, kind of a legendary guy, but but
Speaker 1: just a real humble guy and and fun to be
Speaker 1: around and had great friends and it was a it
Speaker 1: was a lovely way to grow up. Yeah, and by
Speaker 1: all accounts, you guys talked about this in documentary what
Speaker 1: a what a caring, loving present father, uh he was,
Speaker 1: and how important that is. But when you're sort of
Speaker 1: following his path and you're playing football as Archie's kid,
Speaker 1: I mean there was a pressure involved in that, right
Speaker 1: or did you manage to sort of, um, keep that
Speaker 1: out of the equation as much as you could? You know,
Speaker 1: he he did a good job of just making sports fun.
Speaker 1: He thought, play everything. You know, play basketball, football, baseball,
Speaker 1: I don't play tennis, play golf. And then if you
Speaker 1: you know, as it got a little we got older,
Speaker 1: he was really big on if you want to do
Speaker 1: this more seriously, I'll help you, but you have to
Speaker 1: ask for the help. I'm not saying all right, you
Speaker 1: better stay after and you know, hit some more ground
Speaker 1: I'll hit some more ground balls to you. It's like that,
Speaker 1: can you can you throw me a couple more? Can
Speaker 1: you feed me while I'm shooting hoops? Can you, you know,
Speaker 1: hit me some flyballs? It was you had to ask
Speaker 1: for it, and then you know, you loved it. It
Speaker 1: was not it would never seem like work. But he
Speaker 1: would sometimes say, hey, you know, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you're gifted enough to just kind of show up at
Speaker 1: the beginning and you know, practice over hit the road.
Speaker 1: You even have to do some extra work if you
Speaker 1: want to really do what you're saying. And so you
Speaker 1: kind of got the hint. I mean, we went. We
Speaker 1: didn't go on a ton of fancy vacations, right, And
Speaker 1: then we go down to Florida and I've been down
Speaker 1: to desk in or maybe you know something involved in
Speaker 1: the NFL. I always brought my cleats and brought my football.
Speaker 1: We got we got our workouts in. It was just
Speaker 1: kind of part of the deal. But it wasn't a duty.
Speaker 1: It was just it was just the way it was.
Speaker 1: It was fun growing up in that area. We talked
Speaker 1: about this. The Garden District of New Orleans one of
Speaker 1: the unique places on Earth. I love New Orleans as
Speaker 1: a city. It's it's got a culture in a history
Speaker 1: unlike any place in America or the world. And the
Speaker 1: Garden District has these beautiful old homes at day back
Speaker 1: and you guys are growing up there. Everybody knows where
Speaker 1: the Mannings live. But but there's Anne Rice, you know,
Speaker 1: Vampire Chronicles, globally famous author Uh, I'm a huge nine
Speaker 1: inch nails fan. So Trent Resner growing up right, I
Speaker 1: think he's behind you, gut. I mean, what an incredible neighborhood.
Speaker 1: I don't know how conscious you were as a kid
Speaker 1: of these kind of stars in very different arenas that
Speaker 1: we're living right around you, guys, Chris, that the neighborhood
Speaker 1: changed a lot when those two uh moved in. This
Speaker 1: was kind of a little old ladies touring the Garden District,
Speaker 1: maybe a few busses and they you know, tell a
Speaker 1: little story, and all of a sudden, I'm like, these
Speaker 1: weren't little ladies walking about. These were people dressed as vampires.
Speaker 1: And you had some uh kind of some grungy looking
Speaker 1: metal heads going. Do these people really care about this
Speaker 1: Garden District architecture? So it was cool. It was added
Speaker 1: a whole new dimension to the UH, to the Garden
Speaker 1: Distire tours. But you know, Peyton and I would always
Speaker 1: well be out there in the front yard a lot throwing,
Speaker 1: and they'd have these tours going and and every night,
Speaker 1: and then we just say, all right, let's let's get
Speaker 1: him a little something, and we you know, start yelling
Speaker 1: at each other and then just get into a full
Speaker 1: wrestling match, just faking it. You know, I'm on there.
Speaker 1: Just people are going, sir, can we get some some
Speaker 1: help here? But wait a minute. Wait, if you guys
Speaker 1: are putting on a show for it, I'm just imagining
Speaker 1: like these open air tour buses that are coming. Buy
Speaker 1: is that what it is? Yes, exactly right. Just you know,
Speaker 1: garden dish tours come by and two kids, you know,
Speaker 1: screaming and yelling in the front yard. It was like,
Speaker 1: that's what, you know, that's what fifteen year old and
Speaker 1: thirty year old was supposed to as opposed to, you know,
Speaker 1: short cheating your bed. We're entertaining these you know, poor
Speaker 1: souls and walking by the street. It's funny. Did you
Speaker 1: ever wander down the block and knock on the vampire
Speaker 1: ladies door or were ever curious about what what her
Speaker 1: vibe was like? She was pretty, you know, she was pretty. Uh,
Speaker 1: you didn't see her much. I went over there at
Speaker 1: one time. Her her son was younger than me but
Speaker 1: at moving with me in school, and some girls were
Speaker 1: over there to kind of babysitting. We walked over there
Speaker 1: and we didn't last long, and he said go ahead
Speaker 1: and move on. And I never saw Trent. Trent. I
Speaker 1: mean he was there for several years, um, but I
Speaker 1: mean a little his backyard backs up right, and you
Speaker 1: never heard you never heard nine H. Nail's music or
Speaker 1: they were working through stuff coming through the walls or anything.
Speaker 1: I think he's got some pretty soundproof system over there.
Speaker 1: It was. And then shure enough he moves out in
Speaker 1: John Goodman, the actor by buys that house. So it
Speaker 1: went from you know, a lot of characters garden districts,
Speaker 1: really cool place to grow up fund. My parents lived
Speaker 1: in that house for forty years and just sold it.
Speaker 1: And uh and Peyton being kind of the nostalgia guy
Speaker 1: and gets, you know, gets caught up at everything. He said,
Speaker 1: all right, we gotta all go back to New Orleans
Speaker 1: for one night before they move out and have a
Speaker 1: you know, just just the family of dinner, spend the
Speaker 1: night there. He gets, you know, he sucks that. Everything
Speaker 1: starts going through his old you know, drawers and closets
Speaker 1: looking for you know, just flashback material to talk about
Speaker 1: the good old days. And you're not that metal. You're
Speaker 1: just rolling your eyes as he's going through this, you know,
Speaker 1: I think and I kind of look at each other,
Speaker 1: are you going to this? Okay, find I'll go to this.
Speaker 1: Just don't even You know, when you don't live in
Speaker 1: the same city, you try to just avoid any sort
Speaker 1: of like it's not worth it, you know, too much
Speaker 1: struggle to get into a hoop. Lo. Let let him.
Speaker 1: We'll have some fun with it and just but it
Speaker 1: was fun. It was cool, it was great, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it was a house where kids, kids ran.
Speaker 1: Marty Gros was a big part a huge backyard, so
Speaker 1: it was kind of grand grand central for for a
Speaker 1: lot of teenage boys coming and going swimming pool. Um.
Speaker 1: I think everybody tried to did something for the first
Speaker 1: time in that backyard over on the first rate. So
Speaker 1: it was I'm trying to do this anything. I woke up,
Speaker 1: you know, Sunday morning at my house and I'm like
Speaker 1: doing a I usually do my body camp by how
Speaker 1: many pairs of shoes or downstairs? I saw their fourteen
Speaker 1: shoes down and I'm like, I got seven boys upstairs
Speaker 1: somewhere sleeping. It's just it's just kind of the way
Speaker 1: it is. And then I know it gets quiet quickly,
Speaker 1: so I'm enjoying it while it's actually packed. That's kind
Speaker 1: of cool, You've recreated that. I'm just trying imagining. You know,
Speaker 1: your your your childhood house during a Marty Gras, which, um,
Speaker 1: you know you had people doing stuff before they're legally
Speaker 1: allowed to do it. But jazz Fest. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: just what was it like to be a kid around
Speaker 1: around that household during Marty Gros? You want floats? You're
Speaker 1: doing the whole parade thing, are you? We would you know? Okay?
Speaker 1: You know even in in New yorle In in seventh
Speaker 1: grade at school went to Newman, it is the first
Speaker 1: year the whole grade rides in the float. So you
Speaker 1: learn how to ride and the float at a pretty
Speaker 1: early age. And then some people love it. I got
Speaker 1: friends who ride in four parades. You know. Peyton wants
Speaker 1: to ride and parade this year. It's like, I don't
Speaker 1: think we're riding to parade. Throw some beads to my children,
Speaker 1: like you can light it up here we go. Come on,
Speaker 1: I'm not I didn't grow up with it. I've done that.
Speaker 1: It's fun. Steve Walsh, the former Saints quarterback, we were
Speaker 1: on a float. It was a good time. I don't
Speaker 1: know about four four is a bit much, but yeah,
Speaker 1: people think of it's like big on stage at a concert,
Speaker 1: like everybody's just cheering and yelling for you. It's good
Speaker 1: for the ego. Some people need that. Um Peyton obviously
Speaker 1: clearly still needs that. He wants a round on the float,
Speaker 1: so he'll he'll, I'm sure you'll pack. You'll probably get
Speaker 1: someone to send him, you know, a hundred NFL balls.
Speaker 1: It'll sign them and be throwing him on canal streets.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to knock out windows. It'll be fun. Well,
Speaker 1: the summer you were a mask, maybe he would make
Speaker 1: sure he's not unmasked and everybody knows who he is.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Yeah, he's he's pretty good at Halloween.
Speaker 1: I think he loves he walks around and as wears
Speaker 1: a mask and you know, no one ever knows. But
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, Chris, that's something about being in New
Speaker 1: Orleans and you kind of have a house. You just
Speaker 1: you make friends and it's like, hey, can we come
Speaker 1: over and you know, can we use your bathroom? Can
Speaker 1: we come get a beer? Can we you know? And
Speaker 1: these are my fourteen friends from Colorado, St. Louis, you know,
Speaker 1: Houston and Dallas. Can they come on in and and
Speaker 1: it's just kind of I've met so many people that
Speaker 1: were just in town that you know, stumbled into our
Speaker 1: yard and uh you wind up sitting on the front
Speaker 1: porch or sitting on the stoop and just visiting and
Speaker 1: and uh, you know they've become friends forever. So you know,
Speaker 1: open house just just kind of roll with it. In
Speaker 1: New Orleans is that kind of place that's cool. Uh.
Speaker 1: Back to football. So now you're your senior year at
Speaker 1: high school. It's Peyton sophomore year, your receiver. You're already
Speaker 1: established guy in the team. Here comes younger brothers are
Speaker 1: already a pretty good quarterback. But talking about playing that
Speaker 1: year together in high school football because I've heard Peyton
Speaker 1: said that's his favor for a year in football, and
Speaker 1: he's had some pretty good ones. I think it was
Speaker 1: really special with my parents, to both of us being there,
Speaker 1: and high school football is just so special and pure.
Speaker 1: I mean, you do something great and everybody's excited to
Speaker 1: do something wrong, and you know, and talks about it.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just kind of one of those things.
Speaker 1: You drop the touchdown passing and you wide opening game
Speaker 1: and you drop it. Everybody just it's not in the
Speaker 1: paper and out on the coach. They're not, you know,
Speaker 1: and so it's just, uh, it's still fun. And selfishly,
Speaker 1: I love being you know, Friday nights right now we're
Speaker 1: in the thick of that. But it was really fun
Speaker 1: playing with Payton. We threw so much in the front
Speaker 1: yard and just had such a chemistry that to finally
Speaker 1: get to do it on Friday night when it mattered,
Speaker 1: when it counted, was really fun. And it was kind
Speaker 1: of the era of when throwing the ball was still
Speaker 1: a little bit taboo. People were still kind of running
Speaker 1: and you know, throwing eight times a game, and we
Speaker 1: were throwing twenty five or thirty and he was a sophomore.
Speaker 1: I think it's always kind of funny. I think some
Speaker 1: people were looking at my film as like, Okay, this
Speaker 1: kid can you know, play football? But who is this
Speaker 1: little skinny sophomore putting it right here every time? So
Speaker 1: I think, uh, it was any question that Peyton was
Speaker 1: going to go on and do great things just by
Speaker 1: by maybe scouting his older brother and you saw, you know,
Speaker 1: a hundred and sixty pound quarterback that had a lot
Speaker 1: of potential. The receiver quarterback relationship, the communications interesting on
Speaker 1: and off the field, what is the veteran receiver communication
Speaker 1: like with the with the young first year starting quarterback,
Speaker 1: who who quarterback's role obviously just to kind of run
Speaker 1: the show? Was it? Was it peaceful, combative, you know,
Speaker 1: as you know Chris, receivers are open every time. So
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, I don't think he threw
Speaker 1: me a lot of footballs and my dad and I think,
Speaker 1: you know, it was a way too many of a
Speaker 1: percentage of the of the routes going to me. I
Speaker 1: don't think my my parents were kind of embarrassed walking
Speaker 1: by the parents of those other receivers who were just
Speaker 1: kind of catching a few and they were probably wide open,
Speaker 1: and Payton still throwing and the kind get a break
Speaker 1: over here. I know he's your brother, but I'm it
Speaker 1: was it was. It was just as fun as it
Speaker 1: could be. And uh, you know, as you kind of
Speaker 1: have to, you kind of have to step back and say,
Speaker 1: all right, you're a quarterback. You know it's your show.
Speaker 1: He can't be running the show as a receiver. So
Speaker 1: I think in some ways, even now, while I am
Speaker 1: the older brother of Peyton, we are far more I mean,
Speaker 1: it may have been reversed or definitely more peers than
Speaker 1: I go. You know, it's kind of harder. He doesn't
Speaker 1: he doesn't take you know, I guess, uh older, too old,
Speaker 1: you don't take my advice very well and less unless asking.
Speaker 1: Let's put it that way. I tell what you're you're
Speaker 1: being careful in saying it, but I know I know
Speaker 1: exactly what you mean, like, but it doesn't shift. S
Speaker 1: does you get older? I mean my brother and I
Speaker 1: both in our our fifties and in my late fifties,
Speaker 1: and yes, there's I do. I wouldn't. I wouldn't want
Speaker 1: advice from him. Too off, and I think he's wiser
Speaker 1: and some areas he could give it, but it's just
Speaker 1: not not in the in our relationship that he would
Speaker 1: do that much. Yeah. The really the one Peyton does
Speaker 1: lean on me and I'm grateful this because I love
Speaker 1: it is when he's doing comedy, uh this this past
Speaker 1: weekend he was supposed to be on He's on Saturday
Speaker 1: a lot, and he said, well, you read this and
Speaker 1: tell me because sometimes he doesn't even always get it.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, yeah, if you were doing you know,
Speaker 1: we can talk about it. And I guess sometimes when
Speaker 1: it's uh, you know, on a on a close uh,
Speaker 1: you know, a close call or down to the wire.
Speaker 1: He'll lean on me and I can either say I
Speaker 1: don't think I do this, and I think he does
Speaker 1: actually value my opinion. But that's that's probably as qualified
Speaker 1: as I get. No, you guys seem like natural performances,
Speaker 1: and Payton Peyton shocks people when you get out there
Speaker 1: and be pretty uninhibited and commit fully and start dancing
Speaker 1: and doing stuff, or or firing a football off a
Speaker 1: kid's head in a skin. I mean, what was that?
Speaker 1: Just something that was innate with you guys to sort of,
Speaker 1: I don't know, be free to try to be funny
Speaker 1: or take a risk or be performers. You know. Chris,
Speaker 1: I think we were the oldest to grandchildren, so I'm
Speaker 1: the oldest, paid the second oldest, so we always, I think,
Speaker 1: had a pretty big audience. My parents on the couch,
Speaker 1: my grandparents there, and some uncles who didn't have children yet.
Speaker 1: So we're, you know, surrounded by a bunch of people saying,
Speaker 1: let's let's show us how you learn how to do
Speaker 1: a push up, do the jump ro do the pogo stick.
Speaker 1: We'll put you in a figure four leg lock, just
Speaker 1: you know, and then dance, tons of music, always on,
Speaker 1: just dancing, you know, like John Travolta Saturday Night Fever.
Speaker 1: Show us your moves, show us your new move. Uh,
Speaker 1: Peyton was doing and he was showing off his three
Speaker 1: step drop since he's been three years old. So I
Speaker 1: don't think being in front of a crowd, whether it
Speaker 1: be you know, in Paint's case, you know, a stadium
Speaker 1: full of people, much less an audience was was a
Speaker 1: big deal. And I think my dad also, he always
Speaker 1: kind of a lot of public speaking after after football
Speaker 1: and even during so he always kind of made a
Speaker 1: big deal like it's really good if you could talk
Speaker 1: in front of an audience and be comfortably. Kind of
Speaker 1: wanted that to be something that came natural to us
Speaker 1: and kind of, you know, pushed us towards that a
Speaker 1: little bit if there was ever a chance to acceptable
Speaker 1: or don't just get up there and you know, thank you,
Speaker 1: it's great to be here. Really, you know, use it
Speaker 1: as a time to kind of practice and own your skills. So, um, No,
Speaker 1: Payton's really I mean he is. He is super comfortable
Speaker 1: and I've done some public speaking things with him. He's excellent.
Speaker 1: He's excellent and prepared and that's nothing. He can be prepared.
Speaker 1: He didn't like a lot of all right, let's see
Speaker 1: what happens, which I love, just you know far away.
Speaker 1: I did a deal with Kirk herb Street one time
Speaker 1: and he goes, I was filling in for my dad,
Speaker 1: and I go, how do you want to do this?
Speaker 1: He goes, Peyton likes everything scripted, and he goes, I
Speaker 1: don't like the descript I go, I don't care what
Speaker 1: the questions are. Let's do it. And we had a blast.
Speaker 1: So it's just how you're wired. Yeah. I like the
Speaker 1: ad lit part. I remember that anything you do with Peyton,
Speaker 1: it's pretty well known you're not You're not supposed to
Speaker 1: go off the page too much. He wants to know
Speaker 1: what's coming, what the play call is, structure, and so
Speaker 1: you get that message if you're gonna work. I like
Speaker 1: the I like to wing it a lot better. It's
Speaker 1: a lot more fun. Yeah. We I do some mode,
Speaker 1: some do the moderator for him sometimes on some corporate
Speaker 1: speaking sometimes and I love just every nine and then
Speaker 1: just pull one out and he's like, that's not all
Speaker 1: the script, you know, Like, no, it was on my script.
Speaker 1: I don't know. So yeah, I saw Eli's show, and
Speaker 1: you went on there and roasted him for for being
Speaker 1: unqualified to be a talk show host. I thought that
Speaker 1: was funny because I guess, unlike you guys, public speaking
Speaker 1: didn't quite come as naturally to him. Eli was so shy.
Speaker 1: I don't think he spoke till he was like sick.
Speaker 1: I don't think he went outside till he was like ten.
Speaker 1: He was just you know, being five years younger than
Speaker 1: and we just he was just kind of sheltered. So
Speaker 1: it has been such a phenomena to see him so
Speaker 1: comfortable on the Monday night football gig and just sit
Speaker 1: back there and kind of let it come to him
Speaker 1: and Peyton's going on a hundred poules an hour and
Speaker 1: him just picking his spots to make fun of him.
Speaker 1: He is uh. I love seeing how comfortably he is
Speaker 1: in his own skin. And he's always been comfortable. It's
Speaker 1: just he's just been comfortable saying nothing. So now he's
Speaker 1: got some stuff to say, which is uh. I love
Speaker 1: seeing him succeed, you know, kind of outside football. Of course,
Speaker 1: Eli went to Ole Miss you did too, and you know,
Speaker 1: and following your dad's footsteps and going to that school
Speaker 1: and and taking all that on. I mean, I'm sure
Speaker 1: you grew up loving All Miss, but what was the
Speaker 1: recruitment process? What was your selection process like? Because people
Speaker 1: don't realize this when when Archie went to Ole Miss,
Speaker 1: he didn't get a whole lot of offers. They sent
Speaker 1: a graduate assistant as the as the legend has it
Speaker 1: down to sign him, not even the head coach. And
Speaker 1: he shows up in Oxford. He's like, there's like six
Speaker 1: quarterbacks or seven quarterbacks on the roster and he's grinding
Speaker 1: their way in the freshman team getting destroyed. So what
Speaker 1: was it like for for you to, you know, get
Speaker 1: recruited by by the Rebels. Well, yeah, I've grown up
Speaker 1: going to Oxford a bunch and going to the Grove,
Speaker 1: but just being fond of of Ole Miss and the
Speaker 1: then you know, it was my parents both and my
Speaker 1: mom was a homecoming queen. Dad was kind of the
Speaker 1: star quarterback. See that just the the times, they're the
Speaker 1: fun and all their friends were all Miss folks. So
Speaker 1: it was it was kind of something you talked about
Speaker 1: on those road trips to Oxford five hours back in
Speaker 1: the day they had this to it just it seemed
Speaker 1: like a great place to be in Oxford's a wonderful town.
Speaker 1: But uh they came and offered me out of the
Speaker 1: gates Billy Brewer as a head coach and was one
Speaker 1: of the first offers I ever got, and they stuck
Speaker 1: with me, and uh, I had some other opportunities to
Speaker 1: go to Virginia and Texas. It wasn't hugely recruited, but
Speaker 1: it was a it was a great fit for me
Speaker 1: and um, I love Oxford, still have a place there,
Speaker 1: and we'll always have a special place in Hart. You
Speaker 1: can you can kind of separate the two sometimes, Chris,
Speaker 1: as you know, you can love all miss and then
Speaker 1: love Oxford and not. You don't have to love them
Speaker 1: both to enjoy both. Vote well, I love Oxford, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. And and being in the Grove is one
Speaker 1: of the great experiences you can have as a sports fan.
Speaker 1: You don't even have to be a college football fan
Speaker 1: or or even know what football is, but just being
Speaker 1: there and and taking that in is really cool. But
Speaker 1: obviously you're you're set to go there, Cooper, and you
Speaker 1: get the diagnosis after a process where you you're trying
Speaker 1: to figure out what's going on right with your with
Speaker 1: your arm and your dad is increasingly concerned and and
Speaker 1: take us through that when when um, you finally arrive
Speaker 1: at a diagnosis of spinal syenosis before you even get
Speaker 1: to All Miss to play a freshman season, and and
Speaker 1: and how tough that was. It was challenging because you go,
Speaker 1: you know, you're still an athlete. You're up at You're
Speaker 1: up at All Miss. You go through two and aged,
Speaker 1: you're you're practicing, all your friends are in the locker
Speaker 1: room and in the athletic norman on the team, and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, finger work they were kind of
Speaker 1: numb and it wasn't working and just didn't feel right.
Speaker 1: As a receiver, one catches the ball like I want
Speaker 1: to and the athletic trainer said, something doesn't match up here.
Speaker 1: Let's go, let's go see some folks. It started to go,
Speaker 1: went to the Mayo clinic, went out to the Baylor
Speaker 1: UH to just get different diagnosis. And when it came
Speaker 1: to and they said, look, this is not good. You're
Speaker 1: you're one hit away from you know, being in a wheelchair.
Speaker 1: Football is the last thing you need to be doing.
Speaker 1: It's just heavy because your your eighteen, your this is
Speaker 1: kind of what you got your heart set until You've
Speaker 1: worked so hard for it, and all of a sudden
Speaker 1: they're just gonna take it away. And you don't feel terrible,
Speaker 1: but they just said you can't play anymore. And that
Speaker 1: was that was tough. You kind of had to, um,
Speaker 1: I don't know, reinvent yourself. So I gotta find some
Speaker 1: other things that I care about, I like about, I
Speaker 1: like to do because you used to, you know, be
Speaker 1: in the routine and having running and lifting and practice
Speaker 1: every day. It was that was it was a challenge.
Speaker 1: They're experts, but still as a kid, it's hard to
Speaker 1: believe that. Wait, Abu, I've taken a lot of hits
Speaker 1: in football. What do you mean? What do you mean?
Speaker 1: I'm a hit away, I've taken punishment. I'm a tough guy.
Speaker 1: And and it doesn't seem real because you're you're in
Speaker 1: the present right and you're not thinking about the close
Speaker 1: calls you may have had before that. You're thinking about
Speaker 1: what's taking if you're in the moment. And also, you
Speaker 1: probably had your identity was probably tied up in football
Speaker 1: and being a football player, and that's what you thought
Speaker 1: your future was going to be, right and off to
Speaker 1: the NFL at some point. That's kind of the way
Speaker 1: you know, most eighteen year olds to go off to
Speaker 1: school do think, and so yeah, it was it was tough.
Speaker 1: Parents were great. I think it. I think it rocked
Speaker 1: Peyton a little bit. You know, he was there, he
Speaker 1: is in high school, sixty and seeing his older brother
Speaker 1: and his teammate all of a sudden, you know, he's
Speaker 1: he's fine, but he's he can't play anymore. I think
Speaker 1: kind of made him appreciate every play could be your last.
Speaker 1: And I think that's how we're doing it. You know,
Speaker 1: at home right now, he'st you gotta you gotta have
Speaker 1: a have a few backup plans in your hip because
Speaker 1: this this is a tough game and doesn't last forever.
Speaker 1: And uh shoot, Chris, I didn't get to find out
Speaker 1: you do it. You can do a lot of things
Speaker 1: in college when you don't have to be at the
Speaker 1: training room at seven getting taped up. You know, I
Speaker 1: utilize that time. I had a lot of fun. I
Speaker 1: went to all these schools and went to go to
Speaker 1: travel and see other friends that were at you know,
Speaker 1: it's nothing to go see Georgia for a week and
Speaker 1: go to TUSA looser and go to Knox spool and
Speaker 1: got to see Peyton play and all kind of fun
Speaker 1: college site. So I took advantage of it, but I
Speaker 1: certainly missed not playing. One of the things that I
Speaker 1: admire about you is the just the notion of accept
Speaker 1: in life, acceptance of what the universe deals you. That
Speaker 1: you can't control acceptance without being bitter or angry about
Speaker 1: it or resentful about it, because that's not true acceptance.
Speaker 1: I mean, how however you wrestled with that Cooper. Obviously
Speaker 1: you've got two very famous brothers playing phenomenal careers. That
Speaker 1: was part of your identity to I mean, how did
Speaker 1: you arrive at that or was it just was it
Speaker 1: easy for you to accept that right away the way
Speaker 1: you did an adulthood I think a couple of things.
Speaker 1: I think my parents were They were not super strict,
Speaker 1: but we were not allowed to complain. You know, it
Speaker 1: was not a place you could just complain. You gotta
Speaker 1: whatever whatever happened was was gonna happen, and you deal
Speaker 1: with it and you put a slide on your face
Speaker 1: to make the best of it. And I think, um,
Speaker 1: I was certainly um. I wouldn't say I was ever
Speaker 1: jealous of Peyton. Me last career, but I was certainly
Speaker 1: I was envious they were getting to do it, but
Speaker 1: I was the biggest supporter of it. And I think
Speaker 1: it also stems from my parents doing a good job
Speaker 1: of not making any of us more important the other.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, hey, Payton's gonna play this game.
Speaker 1: We want to go. We're both fighting our fingernails and
Speaker 1: you know, and grinding it out and sad when we lost,
Speaker 1: and thrilled and hugging when we won. So he did
Speaker 1: a really good job, you know, in a guy in
Speaker 1: a in a in a way that it could very
Speaker 1: easily you could have felt like, boy, this is I'm
Speaker 1: kind of a third wheel here that sitting it sitting
Speaker 1: as fun as it should be. I was so a
Speaker 1: part of the whole situation. And uh, I mean kindly,
Speaker 1: I cried after some games. It didn't sleep after we
Speaker 1: lost the super Bowl and and didn't sleep and had
Speaker 1: more fun when we won one. So it was I just, uh,
Speaker 1: the way he handled that, it's given me a lot
Speaker 1: of lessons to me. Now, I'm in a situation now
Speaker 1: where I've got one son getting way too much attention
Speaker 1: and the other ones are kind of and you gotta
Speaker 1: it's it's a delicate balance. I'm trying to make sure
Speaker 1: everybody knows that this is everybody's even here. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: easy to say you can't complain. As a parent, that's
Speaker 1: a good lesson and and that's you'd love your kids
Speaker 1: to to listen to it. But this is not whining
Speaker 1: or complaining about some homework, right, This is something that's
Speaker 1: that's bigger than that. How is that ability to sort
Speaker 1: of have acceptance and in such a dramatic way as
Speaker 1: a young person shaped you throughout life when you have
Speaker 1: the the ups and downs and the obstacles that that
Speaker 1: are inevitably gonna come up. Well, I just I just
Speaker 1: have a pretty cheery disposition. I don't like being around
Speaker 1: a lot of seriousness. Maybe that's good or bad. I
Speaker 1: like the good stuff, and I don't take myself too serious.
Speaker 1: I don't. I just I just really, uh, I feel
Speaker 1: pretty fortunate to be where I am. I mean, hey,
Speaker 1: it took what It's one thing I can't do is
Speaker 1: played football. I get calls all the time, Chris, from
Speaker 1: parents and kids who wind up they look on the
Speaker 1: internet and I must be the first thing that shows
Speaker 1: up next to spinals to knowes it because people get
Speaker 1: it and you don't. You're not necessarily you know, hurting.
Speaker 1: You just say, hey, you got a little ding here,
Speaker 1: and it shows you shouldn't play football anymore. And I
Speaker 1: get calls and I talked to tons of parents about, look,
Speaker 1: this is a chance for you to now do some
Speaker 1: things you probably never whatever thing to do. You know.
Speaker 1: I had a great I had this. I had this
Speaker 1: mother called me about her son. He was alignement in Ohio,
Speaker 1: big kid, and uh founded, he can't play a senior
Speaker 1: he was. He was really struggling. They were, you know, crying,
Speaker 1: and I told him, look, he needs to try to
Speaker 1: do something else. Play the guitar, learning how to play golf,
Speaker 1: go out for the school, play, just go do some
Speaker 1: crazy stuff. And they called me. They were crying and
Speaker 1: laughing because he had gone out for the men's volleyball
Speaker 1: team and he was terrible, and they were they were
Speaker 1: so excited that he was out there and they were laughing,
Speaker 1: but they were crying. And I stayed in touch with
Speaker 1: a lot of kids and a lot of their parents
Speaker 1: that have gone through the same thing, and it's just
Speaker 1: it's just hand your debt. You can't do anything, and
Speaker 1: if you're gonna dwell on it, you're gonna bring yourself down,
Speaker 1: their bails down. It's I don't, I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: have time for that. You don't have time for that.
Speaker 1: It's time to move on and make the best of
Speaker 1: it and keep living life. Well. I think it's an
Speaker 1: awesome philosophy. Sometimes easier said than done. But to be
Speaker 1: able to be a messenger to a lot of kids
Speaker 1: who don't know what that at that moment, what they're
Speaker 1: gonna do, but their identity is that's kind of neat, man,
Speaker 1: that's kind of neat to be able to use a platform.
Speaker 1: And and yes, your your name does come up when
Speaker 1: you google that. Um people perhaps are relieved to find
Speaker 1: that you're not struggling with paralysis or something else, because
Speaker 1: that that can happen with with that and and so
Speaker 1: I know you you wake up feeling lucky about your
Speaker 1: your lot in life. I'm a lucky guy. I've got
Speaker 1: I've got to do all kind of fun things and
Speaker 1: I'm I'm enjoying every day. I really am. I'm excited
Speaker 1: to get to talk to you. Well, you you're in
Speaker 1: the hotel business. The graduate hotels are it's an awesome idea.
Speaker 1: I've stayed on a bunch of them around different college
Speaker 1: towns are themed to that school. Um, you go to
Speaker 1: UH graduate in in Eugene, Oregon, your room key might
Speaker 1: be Phil Knight's student. I d that's a that's a
Speaker 1: cool little thing. And there's ducks all over the wall.
Speaker 1: But what a cool project. You can do all sorts
Speaker 1: of things in in finance, what you've done and investing
Speaker 1: in real estate, but when you get to do something
Speaker 1: like that that that's connected to sports and has a
Speaker 1: unique personality, that's neat. You guys, just keep building these hotels.
Speaker 1: Now it's it's in the UK as well, right, Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: we're you know, this is two sec guys. My business
Speaker 1: partner Ben Weapond, and it's just so smart and thoughtful
Speaker 1: and creative. And I think he thinks I am smart
Speaker 1: and creative and I'm not. But as long as he
Speaker 1: thinks that we got a good relationship. We have these
Speaker 1: cool college towns, and I love college towns. Nothing better
Speaker 1: in the world than going to a college town and
Speaker 1: find it out. Where is the best barbecue joint and
Speaker 1: where is the best place to get a cold beer
Speaker 1: or you know, or late night you know, where does
Speaker 1: everybody go? I just I just love all that. So
Speaker 1: now to be able to create an element of hospitality
Speaker 1: and Chapel Hill and Oxford and Athens and ann Arbor
Speaker 1: and Berkeley and Richmond and just be a part of
Speaker 1: that is is really fun. And then and then to
Speaker 1: be creative, like we're doing something in Madison, Wisconsin, and
Speaker 1: all we do is start talking about, well, you know,
Speaker 1: back to School with Rodney Dangerfield was filmed in Madison.
Speaker 1: What you know, my favorite quote in the world is,
Speaker 1: you know, look out for number one, but don't step
Speaker 1: at number two. But Thornton Mellon, I mean, why is that?
Speaker 1: How in the world was that ever gonna come in useful?
Speaker 1: Coming playing at a business meeting? And sure enough with
Speaker 1: the graduate everything's everything's green light. That's cool at college town,
Speaker 1: spending a lot of time there and and liking to
Speaker 1: wander the campuses and maybe uh yeah, wander into a
Speaker 1: saloon or to any that those are fun environments, which
Speaker 1: I think about, how can we do a property that
Speaker 1: Wisconsin fans are could connect with when when you know what,
Speaker 1: you could have jump around playing in the lobby, I guess,
Speaker 1: But I mean that's that's pretty cool. That's different than hey,
Speaker 1: let's make a generic business hotel attached to a conference
Speaker 1: center somewhere. And Chris is what I like about it
Speaker 1: more is that you know, an opposing team can come
Speaker 1: to Indiana and appreciate the hotel in Bloomington if you're
Speaker 1: an Iowa fan and not feel like you're in you know,
Speaker 1: bart stars room. It's not in your face like repentance
Speaker 1: and posters. It's more storytelling and uh and cool stories
Speaker 1: that are layered into that community to that college. And
Speaker 1: so I love that they stay at one and they
Speaker 1: want to go to stay at the other one. So
Speaker 1: it's really a really fun project. Creative people, smart people.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm kind of tickled to be a part of it.
Speaker 1: You mentioned your son arch name for your dad, which
Speaker 1: I think is cool unless there are other archies before
Speaker 1: him and the family, you know, being a quarterback. He's
Speaker 1: still got another year of high school. But the recruiting
Speaker 1: is is pretty crazy. It's pretty insane and maybe even
Speaker 1: to the level that Peyton experienced or more. I mean,
Speaker 1: what's it like, you know, being a dad and trying
Speaker 1: to guide him through that as best you can. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's yeah, everything starts so early now, Chris, I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't you know, Peyton probably didn't get his first
Speaker 1: letter until he was, you know, maybe a sophomore junior.
Speaker 1: Then you you know, you're filling out your height and weight.
Speaker 1: Now everything with social media and internet and just um,
Speaker 1: it just gets accelerated. So and he got off to
Speaker 1: a fast start and getting to play as a freshman.
Speaker 1: So now with the even people are gonna be like, no,
Speaker 1: he's not, he can't be a senior. He's been playing
Speaker 1: for seven years. By it it seems like, you know
Speaker 1: it's gonna last forever. Um. But he's getting a lot
Speaker 1: of tension. But I think he's handling it really well.
Speaker 1: Arch is a sweet kid and got a good good
Speaker 1: head on his shoulders and loves his friends and loves
Speaker 1: his teammates, and and uh, I think he's real. I
Speaker 1: get I get nice. You know, I told Arch a
Speaker 1: long time ago, you're gonna you're gonna get a lot
Speaker 1: of attention both ways. And so if you can utilize
Speaker 1: this platform to be kind to people, you're gonna get
Speaker 1: a lot of credit for it. And I get a
Speaker 1: lot of people say, oh, you know, Art was overcame
Speaker 1: over inself he's nice to my you know, son is
Speaker 1: in eighth grade, and so I think he's got a
Speaker 1: good um. Yeah, he's a good person, and I think, uh,
Speaker 1: we'll see how the football works happen. He's kind of
Speaker 1: trying to enjoy the process. Yeah. What something else that's
Speaker 1: changed in the last few years is college athletes being
Speaker 1: paid for name, image, and likeness. And some have played
Speaker 1: the game very well, and some guys were able to
Speaker 1: take care of their families while they were in college.
Speaker 1: And I have to wait for a pro contract, which
Speaker 1: is awesome, and many people think it's longer for do
Speaker 1: the players sharing it. But at the upper end of it, man,
Speaker 1: it's pretty crazy. There's there's a website that estimates the
Speaker 1: n i L value of prospects guys who haven't even
Speaker 1: signed yet. Your son is right there with a a
Speaker 1: n i L valuation of one point six million. I mean,
Speaker 1: are you aware of that? Did you see that? What's
Speaker 1: your thoughts about that? I mean, I think that's I
Speaker 1: don't know who came up with that number. I'm sure
Speaker 1: it's some twenty five year old recruiting coordinator goes, let's
Speaker 1: throw a number. I don't that means, you know, squat.
Speaker 1: So look, we're just we're just trying to you know,
Speaker 1: pass chemistry and uh keep him out of the you know,
Speaker 1: keep him out of jail during marti gras. Those are
Speaker 1: our two goals in life right now. Well, I know
Speaker 1: it's as a parent you want to be grounded, but listen,
Speaker 1: as a young football player these days, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: certainly a part of the recruitment process. It's a part
Speaker 1: of the transfer portal process. I mean, you're very aware
Speaker 1: of what's going on in the sport, and it's just
Speaker 1: a whole other world. I mean, it's layers that focusing
Speaker 1: your era and certainly not your dad's there had ever
Speaker 1: had to deal with it, are now a part of
Speaker 1: being a sought after prospect in a college football environment. Now, yeah,
Speaker 1: the whole, the whole game of college football seems to
Speaker 1: have changed in the last three or four months, just
Speaker 1: with the coaches moving around a lot, a lot more
Speaker 1: frequently um and then the element of these big signing
Speaker 1: bonuses and classes and recruiting and people moving around, not
Speaker 1: a lot of no one, No one sits around and
Speaker 1: because I'm gonna be a backup, I'm gonna work for
Speaker 1: it for two or three years, everybody's onto the next thing.
Speaker 1: So um, we're trying to just keep it. We're trying
Speaker 1: to do the things. It's probably a little bit like
Speaker 1: they used to be done back and you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know fifteen years ago. Just try to, you know,
Speaker 1: go pick a school that you like, the coaches that
Speaker 1: you liked, a place you think you'd be happy if
Speaker 1: you weren't playing football, and get a good education, make
Speaker 1: friends and and uh and try your best. So I
Speaker 1: know that sounds kind of simple and how do you
Speaker 1: do to you? But I think sometimes people can get
Speaker 1: a little ahead of themselves and we're just you know,
Speaker 1: these are eighteen year old boys that you're trying to
Speaker 1: just turning two men. And uh, I think whoever uh
Speaker 1: can do that the best is probably gonna get the guy.
Speaker 1: I think being ground that is almost essential given the environment.
Speaker 1: I mean, your dad being an all mislegend, that's where
Speaker 1: you chose stead of his pretty simple choice. Then your
Speaker 1: dad takes a lot of crap when Peyton doesn't go
Speaker 1: to All Miss and goes to another SEC school. I mean,
Speaker 1: we won't even joke about it. It It was some there
Speaker 1: was some serious ugliness that we don't have to get into.
Speaker 1: Then Eli goes to all mess and all is right
Speaker 1: in the world. But now people are expecting Arch to
Speaker 1: know it's it's just a lot of family history, a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of stuff in there that if
Speaker 1: you allowed it, if he allowed it, could could make
Speaker 1: the process fraught, right, pressurized. I think still if you
Speaker 1: really get into that. But I think, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to raise children to make decisions that are the
Speaker 1: best themselves. And I mean, I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: where he's going. I don't really care. I just thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, I think he'll want him to make a
Speaker 1: decision and live with it. And it's not gonna be easy.
Speaker 1: All these places you go, whether you're playing sports or not,
Speaker 1: you have you know, I don't like my chemistry teacher,
Speaker 1: and he do. I've got to see, hey, deal with it. Ghost,
Speaker 1: you know, this is this is I like to try
Speaker 1: to think I'm gonna make these kids tough and resilient
Speaker 1: and deal with the hiccups and the curveballs and and
Speaker 1: the speed bumps that come along the way. And football
Speaker 1: has more of them than any of them. So um,
Speaker 1: he'll he'll figure it out. Do the do the deligence
Speaker 1: we're just trying to gut him along the process, and
Speaker 1: we'll cheer for him and and uh and pick him
Speaker 1: up when things don't go right. Perfectly said, you want
Speaker 1: to give seminars to other parents who have hot prospects,
Speaker 1: because that is that is the best way to the
Speaker 1: no complaining family motto seems to be getting passed down
Speaker 1: to another generation by you. Yeah, I just I was
Speaker 1: like that even in this If I don't mind a complaint,
Speaker 1: but let's have a solution. Don't just come in and
Speaker 1: say you know so and so's you know, I just
Speaker 1: don't have I don't have time for that sort of nonsense.
Speaker 1: If you got it, you got it all fixed up
Speaker 1: before you're gonna you know, something's broken and we're gonna
Speaker 1: get it fixed. Great, But don't just tell me it's broken.
Speaker 1: You know, come fix this. It doesn't work. It's just
Speaker 1: too tight. I don't you know, I don't have I
Speaker 1: don't have time for that nonsense. So that's one thing
Speaker 1: in high school. I wonder how you're gonna handle being,
Speaker 1: you know, a parent when he does go off to college.
Speaker 1: You seem to be pretty chilled, but you say you were,
Speaker 1: you were invested at heavily invested when your brother's careers.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you know, being a parents like another level.
Speaker 1: But uh but that that'll be another interesting experience for you.
Speaker 1: You know, Yeah, I wish I could have the temperament
Speaker 1: of my My mother is just the coolest of all.
Speaker 1: And she's I mean, she's been to six Super Bowls
Speaker 1: and countless horrible baseball tournaments and crappy towns across the country,
Speaker 1: and you know, win, lose or draw, she just gotta
Speaker 1: always had the right perspective. Dad, it's over there with
Speaker 1: bloody fingernails, you know, pacing Giants stadium, looking for a
Speaker 1: lucky spot next to him, hot dog vendor that they've
Speaker 1: got a first down, so he's gonna stay there a
Speaker 1: little longer. So I'm hoping I could get somewhere in
Speaker 1: between there and have a little bit of balance. I'm
Speaker 1: a little animated at times, um and uh so I'm
Speaker 1: trying to figure it out as the stakes get higher.
Speaker 1: We'll leave it with football. You talked about you know
Speaker 1: what it meant to you, And I know you've spoken
Speaker 1: about what you what you missed when you weren't able
Speaker 1: to play, But but what is it about the game
Speaker 1: and relationships and the bonds that are formed because of
Speaker 1: the challenges and the obstacles that that you think is special,
Speaker 1: that you you witness firsthand as a player, as a brother,
Speaker 1: and now as a parent. What is it about the game, Chris?
Speaker 1: I think I even saw a lot of that back
Speaker 1: at the Whole of Fame this summer in camp. You know,
Speaker 1: you can see Peyton, see these guys who you know,
Speaker 1: certainly I got to know the Marvin Harrison's and the
Speaker 1: Reggie Waynes, and you see guys who played against their
Speaker 1: Ray Lewis. I got to go to some Pro Bowls.
Speaker 1: Peyton and Eli were kind enough to always kind of
Speaker 1: have me in the loop. And uh, they all just
Speaker 1: they all had to sacrifice. You know, you skip a
Speaker 1: lot of fun things in college and pro to to
Speaker 1: to get there at the highest level. The extra work,
Speaker 1: the stuff you do when no one's looking, and and
Speaker 1: just tough guys who were unselfish and uh and love
Speaker 1: the game and and loved each other. And you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes they got there. Sometimes sometimes they want and none
Speaker 1: of they lost, but they they left it all out there.
Speaker 1: And I think that it's kind of a neat fraternity
Speaker 1: for uh, you know, retired players too. Sure it's fun
Speaker 1: and sent back there and listen to the glory days
Speaker 1: and the great stories. But I think it's uh, just
Speaker 1: a mutual respect for across you know, and they across
Speaker 1: the entire landscape of football players, whether it's your career
Speaker 1: ended in eighth grade or with the high school whatever,
Speaker 1: bus rides and homecoming and cheerleaders and the band, and
Speaker 1: it's just it's just Americana, and it's just a great
Speaker 1: thing to be a part of. And I again, I
Speaker 1: I suggest, I know football sometimes it's had a few
Speaker 1: little hiccups lately on on safety and concussions and what
Speaker 1: have you. But I'm a big advocate of everybody. If
Speaker 1: their son is debating whether the go foot play football
Speaker 1: or not, I don't care if they play or not.
Speaker 1: But being a part of a team and practicing and
Speaker 1: sweating and two days and getting yelled at and uh,
Speaker 1: you know and persevering is a part of and sometimes
Speaker 1: far more valuable than any touchdown or winning kick. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's uh, it helps you the long run. We
Speaker 1: talked about the radio show at the top. Is there
Speaker 1: any creative outlet or avenue which the the manning brothers
Speaker 1: performance skills could come to Bears. It is a three
Speaker 1: man Broadway show in the works. Is there you know
Speaker 1: a little singing and dancing and storytelling? Have you have
Speaker 1: you work with any producers on some kind of project
Speaker 1: like that that could bring you guys together in that way? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we're really working on like an Oklahoma or
Speaker 1: a Pippin or Joseph in the Technicolor dream Coat. I
Speaker 1: don't know, you can you can you give me in
Speaker 1: touch with someone on Broadway. I think I've got big
Speaker 1: plans for us three. You know, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: weird stuff getting pitched. I mean, we could just add
Speaker 1: that to the uh. I know, I got a lot
Speaker 1: of people ask me when when I was gonna be
Speaker 1: on the Monday night broadcast. I told her I was
Speaker 1: holding out for overtime every time, but it never happened. So, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I think we're probably gonna see some weird stuff.
Speaker 1: It's fun to entertain it. I think it's good for
Speaker 1: all this to kind of stretch, like your boundaries and
Speaker 1: do some things you're not spoke do. Whether it's right
Speaker 1: or wrong, it's still you know, sometimes the things that
Speaker 1: go bad. Chris as you know, are always the greatest story.
Speaker 1: No one still wants to talk about the perfect weather
Speaker 1: and the boat was on time, and you know, I
Speaker 1: got just the right amount of sun before I got sunburned,
Speaker 1: and they want to hear about the boat broke down,
Speaker 1: sunburn Peyton, I got in a fight, the wives hating
Speaker 1: each other, the kids are crying, and you know, and
Speaker 1: we had made a land in Sacramento and stay there
Speaker 1: for eight hours. Those are the best stories. And that's
Speaker 1: another thing I really like about Cooper. You can always
Speaker 1: find the funny, something that a lot of us could
Speaker 1: do a little bit better job of. Speaking of funny,
Speaker 1: we'll keep an eye out for that Manning Brothers Broadway musical.
Speaker 1: Grateful to Cooper and then my co executive producer Jennifer
Speaker 1: Dempster and A. Jason Whitehill for his editing skills. I'll
Speaker 1: talk to you soon.