1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: the players, by the players. Here is your host, four 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: team year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer a Enius Williams. Hello, 4 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: and welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I am a 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: Nius Williams. Today we sit down with an NFL legend 6 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: to discuss his call to action for social justice on 7 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: NFL and total access and how players can and should 8 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: use their platforms to combat systematic racism. With us today 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: is my fellow Hall of Famer Ladanian Thomason. LT. Played 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: eleven seasons as a running back with the Charges and 11 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: the Jets. He is a five time pro bowler, Walter 12 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: Payton Man of the Year Award winner and an NFL 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: Network analyst. LT. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks to this. 14 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: I'm glad to be on with you talking about this 15 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: important um subject. Obviously in light of what's going on 16 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: today in our country. It's amazing that we can have 17 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: this discussion in the middle of a global pandemic and 18 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: then be face with dealing with the challenges in our 19 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: country with the civil unrest. I remember just listening to 20 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 1: your Hall of Fame speech. We'll talk about a little 21 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: bit later in this broadcast, and then I'm almost sure 22 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: I didn't ask Chimp Bailly this, but when Champ did 23 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: his speech, I wondered if what you shared kind of 24 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: inspired him to be bold in his induction speech as well. 25 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: But I'll ask you that a little later. LT. Tell 26 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: us about your exchange with Andrew Siciliano on Total Access. 27 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: In it, you referenced the NFL dot com article you 28 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: wrote calling players to action towards social job this. Can 29 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: you describe what inspired you to write the article and 30 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: what is about When I sat down in this and 31 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: really thought back over the last seven eight years actually 32 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: since I retired UM two thousand and twelve, I thought 33 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: about all the things that had transpired since then. And 34 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,519 Speaker 1: we see our players right now taking the stand there protesting. 35 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: They're out in their communities protesting. UM. They're also years back. 36 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: Colin Kaepernick led the protests, as we all know, when 37 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: he kneeled and you know, to be quite honest with you, 38 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: and he is. That is what started my Hall of 39 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: Fame speech. You know, when when all these things started transpiring, 40 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: you know the death of Trayvon Martin, and you know, 41 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: Michael Brown and countless others. I started to think about 42 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: what I wanted to say in my Hall of Fame speech, 43 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: because at that time I knew that I needed to 44 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: say something. I needed to make a statement because I 45 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: didn't get to do that during my playing career. And 46 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: so as I reflected back on my career, thinking to myself, man, 47 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: why didn't I do more when I played? Why didn't 48 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: I stand up more? Why didn't I have my own 49 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,679 Speaker 1: call to action? I knew what was going on in 50 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,119 Speaker 1: my own community, but selfishly, I guess I was too 51 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: entrance with trying to be the best player that I 52 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: can be. And in this article, I just wanted to 53 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: be totally transparent with the younger generation. I wanted to 54 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: explain to them my reasoning and when I played, why 55 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: I didn't do more which I should have, and then 56 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: the opportunity that they have gone forward. And so with 57 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame speech, all these things was running 58 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: through my mind as I was preparing that speech and 59 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: is and you know, at that point, I felt like 60 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: it became bigger than me. This would be a message 61 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: that will resonate throughout generations. I foresaw that you can 62 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: call it the spirit and God and me talking through 63 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: me of what I needed to say. And I believe 64 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: that wholeheartedly that that's the way I was lad. But 65 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: you know, I think it did inspire God's like Champ 66 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: Bailey to speak up and say something, you know, because 67 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,679 Speaker 1: quite frankly, it's our duty to We're in the public 68 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: eye and a lot of people look up to us, 69 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: and it's really our job to be a great example 70 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 1: for the younger generation. And now we're talking about the 71 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: players that are playing today. So in that article, I 72 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,919 Speaker 1: just wanted to cover a multitude of things that I 73 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,040 Speaker 1: thought was important for them to understand. And then your 74 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: Hall of Faming speech back in two thousand seventeen, how 75 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: important and what impact did your grandfather have on on 76 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: America's team. Let's not choose to be against one another, 77 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: Let's choose to be for one another. My great great 78 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:05,280 Speaker 1: great grandfather had no choice. We have one. I pray 79 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: we dedicate ourselves to be the best team we can be, 80 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: working and living together, representing the highest ideals of mankind, 81 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: leading the way for all nations to follow. Well, uh, 82 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: it had a great impact on me. And and here's 83 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: the thing, I never met my grandfather, and that's why 84 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: it had a great impact on me because all the 85 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: stories that I heard about my grandfather from on my 86 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,799 Speaker 1: mom's side and my dad's side, just the great stories 87 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: of the type of men that they were. They were 88 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: community leaders back then, you know, they they fall for 89 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: what was right back then, for equal rights back then. 90 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,919 Speaker 1: And so even though I never got to meet my grandfather, 91 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: his spirit, I felt it. It was inside of me 92 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,919 Speaker 1: as I was preparing my speech, and certainly on that 93 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: that August night uh delivering that speech at the Hall 94 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: of Fame, Man, there was no spirit like like my 95 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: grandfather and my father who have who has passed away. 96 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: It was inside of me that night, and in fact 97 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: a lot of people don't notice. And this is after 98 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: I delivered that speech and I walked off the stage 99 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: in the in the back, I became overwhelmed with so 100 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: many tears. And you talk about a spirit that you 101 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,480 Speaker 1: feel from your ancestors, I directly felt it. I mean 102 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: I felt every moving party went throughout my body and 103 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: I couldn't I couldn't stop crying because I knew the 104 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: impact that they had made, and I knew I felt 105 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: like I had done my my grandfather, you know, my 106 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: great great great grandfather George, who I talked about in 107 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: this speech. I had done them proud. I had done 108 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: what they always wanted to be done, which was stand 109 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: up and say something about injustices that are happening in 110 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: our country. And then your speech, your call to unity. 111 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: What do you mean by America's team? Yeah, so you 112 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: know when you when you think about a team, and 113 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: you know, you and I grew up playing team sports, 114 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: and so the idea of a team is we have 115 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: one common goal, all of us, and we're not gonna 116 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: let anything get in the way of us accomplishing that 117 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: common goal. And that means not the color of your skin, 118 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: not your background, not the culture you come from, your 119 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: ideology if you will, None of that matters because we 120 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: all have the same goal and that's still accomplished, winning 121 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: and winning the championship. Well, I wanted to take that 122 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: concept of a team and applied to the ideas that 123 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: are America needs to have moving forward, you know, meaning 124 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: we need to before each other, all of us, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, 125 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: all of us make up America. And if we all 126 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: have the Team America concept and ideas of unity and 127 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: inclusion and diversity and equity and all those kind of things. 128 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: If we have that concept, imagine a nest if if 129 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: that if that concept was adopted throughout this country. In 130 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:36,719 Speaker 1: Corporate America, we're talking about our major sponsors are American 131 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: made brand sponsors. Imagine if they adopted Team American philosophy. 132 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: Imagine if our politicians in Washington adopt a Team America 133 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: policy and idea instead of being Republicans and Democrats. To 134 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: make this world a better place, we all have to 135 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: think as a team because at the end of the day, 136 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: what we all want, no matter what color you are, 137 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: you want a better life for your for your kids, 138 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:10,959 Speaker 1: all of us. Yeah, and so that was the idea 139 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: in saying Team America. It's to build bridges, you know, 140 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: of unity across all religions, ideologies, cultures throughout the country. Recently, 141 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: you said that your foundation Team America aims to lead 142 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,959 Speaker 1: our nation to a new standard of tolerance. What did 143 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: you mean by that and how has it been instrumental 144 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: in turning the tide against social turbulence in our country? Well, 145 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: you think about that statement, a new standard of tolerance 146 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: where we can argue the tolerance um. For so long 147 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: we haven't had much tolerance, you know, to be quite honest, 148 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: it's been you against me for the most part, and 149 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: I won't. I wanna accomplish more than you, and I 150 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: gotta make sure I stay ahead of you. And so 151 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: a new standard tolerance is simply means acceptance, you know, 152 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: from everyone, as long as you work hard and you 153 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: have you know, the ideas that you're gonna be a 154 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: great citizen and uplift your fellow man, uplift your neighbor. 155 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: That's the new standard of tolerance because at the end 156 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: of the day, like we talked about, you know, it's 157 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: about the younger generation and what we want for them. 158 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: So aiming for a new standard of tolerance, meaning everybody 159 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 1: understanding that we have to have a new, a new approach. 160 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: We can no longer sit here and and try to 161 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: downgrade one community of people. And we have seen it 162 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 1: for a long time. There are certain programs, in my opinion, 163 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: that that we need to bring back into some of 164 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: these communities, especially in education, you know, for communities of 165 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: of color to feel equal again, to feel like they 166 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,760 Speaker 1: have an opportunity at that American dream. And until we 167 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 1: understand when you say a new standard of tolerance, hey, 168 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: I may not come from where you come from. But 169 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: I understand you're willing to work hard for a piece 170 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: of that that you know American pie sort of speak. 171 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,559 Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, that's all we want. 172 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: And that's why, you know, Team America I talked about 173 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: aiming to lead this nation into a new standard of 174 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: tolerance and again and this this is I'm aiming at 175 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: corporations that need to adopt this philosophy. Well, you know, 176 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: we all need to have that that idea going forward. 177 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: Let's focus on your call to action, on total access 178 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: you wait in, on the struggle you experienced while doing 179 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:17,959 Speaker 1: more towards social justice. Touch on that and how how 180 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,679 Speaker 1: that made you feel? Well, sometimes I think you you 181 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: you have setbacks obviously, you know, there are some things 182 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: that quite frankly, you you don't have the door open 183 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: to you. You know, you might want to. You know, 184 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: for example, I've been wanting to do a town hall 185 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: meeting in my own community with the mayor and local politicians, 186 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:49,839 Speaker 1: city council members, um, some community leaders and and and 187 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: that's been slowed to happen. And and part of it, 188 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: I will say, is because of this pandemic of the 189 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen that were that we're experiencing. But at the 190 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: same time, these issues are not going away. And and 191 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,679 Speaker 1: and I think in order to understand each other, we 192 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: simply have to communicate more. But beyond communicate more, you 193 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: have to understand and be friend people that don't look 194 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: like you. You know, if I want to understand my 195 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 1: fellow white brother, I'm gonna be friend him and get 196 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: to know him, understand how he was raised, his background, 197 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: and love him for who he is. And so when 198 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: you talk about trying to bring people together, sometimes, you know, 199 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: it's slow to happen. People have other ideas of the 200 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: way it should happen. But I tell you what, I 201 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: haven't stopped my team. We've been talking a lot about 202 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: making this happen, making this town hall meeting what we 203 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: would call a workshop. Actually, we're gonna make it happen, 204 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: and we're gonna have community leaders. We're gonna have the 205 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: mayor there. Um you know, we're gonna have our local 206 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: politicians there along with a lot of our our youth 207 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: in these communities to talk about um, culture and grace 208 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 1: and and all these kind of things that we desperately 209 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,439 Speaker 1: need to be talking about, because at the end of 210 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: the day, it does start in your own community. I 211 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: can't go outside my community and try to help some 212 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: some other community if I haven't taken care of my 213 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: home first, if I haven't made this community better. And 214 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: so we're working hard to try to try to make 215 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: these things happen. And doing your interview on Total, that's us. 216 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: You spoke about players. You utilize that their platform to 217 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: come back systematic racism. Why is that important? Health? More 218 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: than ever and throughout history, the players today, Um, they 219 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: have the ability to be seen by so many more people, 220 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: to be heard by so many more people because of 221 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: social media it you know, their Facebook pages and the 222 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: Twitter accounts and all these types of things, and so 223 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: they can speak up about certain issues, um, and they 224 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: will be heard. You know. I said in that piece 225 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: that those players, our players have the biggest microphones in 226 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: their own communities. So whatever communities they come from, they 227 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: have the biggest microphone for so when they talk about 228 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: some of these issues that are happening in their community, 229 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: people listen. You know, just as we were a miss 230 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: those kids, now they're the heroes in their communities. All 231 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: those folks in their communities look up to those these 232 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: kids that are in the league, and so it's it's 233 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: their obligation to say something about injustices and things that 234 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: are going on that needs to change. Because as I mentioned, 235 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: when they speak, people will listen. I mean, we we're 236 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: seeing that today more prevalent than than it ever has 237 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: been with so many guys. Um. You know, when you 238 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: talk about developing the guys developed the player's coalition, and 239 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 1: they have been to the White House and talked to 240 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: politicians about legislation, that is incredible stuff. You know. They 241 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: they are entrenched in this fight. And I say that 242 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: I need to remind these guys that it's it's not 243 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: a sprint this fight. It's a marathon. This is a 244 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: lifelong fight that you will forever, you know, be fighting 245 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: for because, um, throughout time, we have we have slowly 246 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: come along, you know, we slowly have come to more 247 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: equal rights and more civil rights. Um. But obviously, as 248 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: we talk about, there's so much more to go, and 249 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: this younger generation, UM, they're gonna be the ones to 250 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: do it. And and here's the other reason it is 251 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:09,479 Speaker 1: is I see a lot more of our white brothers 252 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,199 Speaker 1: and sisters joining the fight. And even in the National 253 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 1: Football League, you see a lot of our our white 254 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: brothers joining the fighting and speaking up about you know, 255 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: these injustices and and really making a stands and this 256 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: is this needs to change, and that's what we need 257 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: more of. That's why it's gonna be That's why it's 258 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: gonna be them, this generation that really makes strides, uh 259 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: in in changing in the quality that we desperately seek. 260 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,680 Speaker 1: In a recent article, you praised a video released by 261 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: the collection of players calling on the league to condemn 262 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: racism and the systematic oppression of black people as being 263 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:59,360 Speaker 1: quite powerful. You went on to say seeing a superstar 264 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: like Pat Mahomes say I am to mirror rights was 265 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: powerful to you as it tapped into a direct, heartbreaking 266 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: reality that we as black men have to deal with 267 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: our society. Talk about that reality that black men must face, 268 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: and how have you experienced that reality personally? Well, it's 269 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: a um you know you talk about reality is something 270 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:34,160 Speaker 1: that you live every single day. Um. You know when 271 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: I get up in the morning, I can't I can't 272 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: take off black skin, you know, like it's clothes and no. 273 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 1: But your Hall of Famer you want to TCU it 274 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: should be different, right, Huh? You know that's and you 275 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:51,200 Speaker 1: know it needs to your point. A lot of people 276 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,160 Speaker 1: think that a lot of people think it should be different. 277 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: And in that article, I told the story about pulling 278 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: up to a a station. I was going hunting with 279 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: a group of my friends, both black and white and 280 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: um and that we took two cards. In the car 281 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: ahead of me was my white friends, and I followed 282 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: behind them, and we stopped at the gas station, and uh, 283 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: I quickly recognized that there was a a police officer 284 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: sitting over to the side, just watching traffic, you know, 285 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 1: watching what goes on and see that's you know, subconsciously, 286 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: that's how we're that's how we're a program as as 287 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 1: certainly as black males to pay attention to police or 288 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: law enforcement when they're in the area, just to watch them, 289 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: you know, because it's a natural You get nervous, you 290 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: know that it's it's natural. And you mentioned being a 291 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. It doesn't matter. I get nervous when 292 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: an officer gets behind me because he may not know me. 293 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,639 Speaker 1: He may not know that I'm a Hall of Famer, 294 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: you know. And so what happened in this particular situation, 295 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: as we got gassed up and started to hit the highway, 296 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: my friends pulled off in front of me. I followed, 297 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: and I see that the police officer cranks up his 298 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: car and starts to follow me. And so we get, 299 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,120 Speaker 1: you know, maybe a mile up the road, and sure enough, 300 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,640 Speaker 1: he cuts on his headlights and pull pulls me over, 301 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,439 Speaker 1: and my friends, probably you know, just a bit ways up, 302 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: they pull over as well to wait on me. And 303 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: so he walks up to the car and he said, hey, 304 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: I noticed that you guys were conversing back and forth, 305 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 1: you with that car that was in front of you. 306 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: I said, yes, sir, I am man. He said, well, um, 307 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: what were you guys doing, because there's a lot of 308 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 1: drug activity, you know, that happens in this area. I said, sir, 309 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,640 Speaker 1: we're going hunting. I said. And here's the thing. You 310 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: pull over the black man instead of trying to pull 311 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: us both over the to ask questions, why why do 312 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 1: you put over the black man? And that's what you 313 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:11,879 Speaker 1: call unconscious bias. It's just subconscious bias that you know 314 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: on that side right a wrong. They're ingrained sometimes to 315 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: just think negative and trouble when you see a black person. 316 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,640 Speaker 1: And we have to get away from that because more 317 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: often than not, that is so far from the truth. 318 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: All of these things has happened to us. But the 319 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: thing to think about and to understand is how do 320 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: you deal with these situations? You know, is it right 321 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,880 Speaker 1: to get all mad and and and start screaming at 322 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: the That's that's not the right way to handle it. 323 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: And quite honestly, you know, having a having a young 324 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,120 Speaker 1: son who just turned in, I'm now starting to talk 325 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: have those conversations with him, and so that's the tough 326 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: thing about it is having those conversations of you know, 327 00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 1: the way you should act and the right thing, the 328 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 1: things that you should do when you are addressing law enforcement, 329 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: and knowing that at the end of the day, the 330 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: objective is to get home. Final question healthy from from 331 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,440 Speaker 1: your call to action towards social justice to a united 332 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: front on the Team America. You've done a great deal 333 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: for our communities. Here we go, tell me and tell 334 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 1: us what's next in your journey to inspire change? Well, um, 335 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: that's a good question. I mean, I think there's a 336 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: number of things that I would love to see happen. 337 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: You know, I recently read article about Atlanta and um, 338 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:50,639 Speaker 1: some of the things that they had done in the 339 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: past that created this UM Citizens Review Board, and is 340 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: that we're talking about police reform now. And I think 341 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: that's one area that I would love to to tap into, 342 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: is is police reform. I'm not for um, you know, 343 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: defunding the police. I have a number of great police 344 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: officer friends, you know that are great officers. We have 345 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: a lot of great officers. But I do think we 346 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: need police reform in terms of how are we training 347 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 1: these guys, you know, we we need you know, better 348 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: diversity training and and all these kinds of things. So 349 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,600 Speaker 1: I would love to tap into police reform. And the 350 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,439 Speaker 1: one thing I was just mentioned about Atlanta is what 351 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: they did with their Citizens Review Board, is they gave 352 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: you know, community leaders some some power at the table. 353 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:53,480 Speaker 1: They created this board UM consisting of community leaders, mayor 354 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: appointed mayor officials. So the mayor had an opportunity to 355 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: appoint somebody, you as city council members who appointed someone 356 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: and they all you know, this board was there to 357 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: review um, the police law enforcement records, you know, and 358 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 1: they would go out throughout the year. If a law 359 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: enforcement had a complaint, they would review it and if 360 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 1: the complaint was serious, then they would move forward and 361 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 1: so forth and so forth. But the idea is transparency 362 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: in the community. You know that our officers surveying our 363 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: community needs to feel safe when the when our officers 364 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: go into these communities, they need to feel like they 365 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: can have a conversation with them. And a lot of 366 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: times they don't feel like that. They feel, like I 367 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: just mentioned, they're scared, they want to get away from them, 368 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: you know, And it shouldn't be like that, because we 369 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: know what law enforcement is there for. They're there to 370 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 1: protect us and and make sure that we have the 371 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,880 Speaker 1: quality of life that we should have. And so that's 372 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: one area UM A nears amongst another is what I 373 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: talked about earlier is definitely creating that town hall meeting 374 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: UM where we can get together and communicate a little 375 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,640 Speaker 1: bit more about what's going on in our communities and 376 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:23,160 Speaker 1: how our law enfor enforcement can better serve our communities. UM. 377 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:29,199 Speaker 1: But again, you know, considering what's going on UM in 378 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: our country with with with COVID nineteen, who knows when 379 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: we're gonna be able to to get out and do 380 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 1: more UM at the grounds level. Right now, we're just 381 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,679 Speaker 1: having a lot of conversations and quite frankly, I'm ready 382 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 1: to turn those conversations Man into Action Action LT. This 383 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: has been an amazing podcast. Thank you so much for 384 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: joining us, Thanks for listening in the best is yet 385 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:07,439 Speaker 1: to come. M This has been the NFL Legends podcast. 386 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: To provide feedback or request a topic for discussion, email 387 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: us at NFL Legends at NFL dot com. M H.