Speaker 1: Welcome to good Game of Sarah Spain, where I'm walking
Speaker 1: into my local bookstore pointing to my book and bragging
Speaker 1: to anyone who walks by. Hey, I wrote that. It's Tuesday,
Speaker 1: June third, and on today's show, we're doing something a
Speaker 1: little bit different and I got to address the elephant
Speaker 1: in the room. And we're not talking about Ellie here.
Speaker 1: I wrote a book about a man, and for that,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. There are women in the book, though, So
Speaker 1: if you could stand to listen to a whole episode
Speaker 1: that isn't about women's sports, I actually think you'll really
Speaker 1: enjoy it. To celebrate the release of my book Runs
Speaker 1: in the Family, an incredible true story of football, fatherhood
Speaker 1: and belonging, I sat down last week with my co
Speaker 1: author and the subject of the book, Raiders running backs
Speaker 1: coach Dylan McCullough. We talk about the sometimes uncomfortable act
Speaker 1: of excavating year past, the reactions of his friends and
Speaker 1: family to the book, his emotions as launch day approached,
Speaker 1: and the serendipitous and almost unbelievable circumstances of his new
Speaker 1: job with Pete Carroll and the Raiders. Spoiler alert, y'all.
Speaker 1: We've talked openly about the big reveal in this book
Speaker 1: ever since our first story and e sixty feature ran
Speaker 1: on ESPN a few years ago. But if you haven't
Speaker 1: already heard it and you want to read the book
Speaker 1: without knowing the twist, wait to listen to this episode
Speaker 1: until after you've read or listened.
Speaker 2: To the book.
Speaker 1: My chat with Dylan, plus a WNBA reset, roster movement galore,
Speaker 1: and how to switch teams but not owners is all
Speaker 1: coming up right after this welcome back slices. Here's what
Speaker 1: you need to know today. Let's start with the WNBA.
Speaker 1: We're two weeks into the regular season, so let's take
Speaker 1: a minute to step back and admire the standings and
Speaker 1: the gap that's already emerging. At the top of the league,
Speaker 1: you got the New York Liberty and Minnesota Links, both
Speaker 1: undefeated through seven games. Then the middle of the PAC
Speaker 1: teams including the five and two Atlanta Dream and Phoenix
Speaker 1: Mercury anyone else surprised to see Phoenix all the way
Speaker 1: up there. Then all the way at the bottom, we
Speaker 1: got the one in six Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun.
Speaker 1: Worth noting that the tough start has inspired a roster
Speaker 1: change for the Sun Already On Monday morning, the team
Speaker 1: announced it had waived Robin Parks and signed Jalen Brown. Brown,
Speaker 1: a six to one guard forward, played for the Dallas
Speaker 1: Wings last season before getting traded to the Indiana Fever,
Speaker 1: who waved her ahead of the regular season. So the
Speaker 1: Sun already trying to make moves to improve things. Obviously,
Speaker 1: still a lot of basketball to play this season, but
Speaker 1: so far, it does look like Minnesota and New York
Speaker 1: are gun in for that WNBA Finals rematch. More hoops,
Speaker 1: The Golden State Valkyries may not be winning games yet,
Speaker 1: but their fans are enjoying Balhalla. The new expansion team
Speaker 1: is two and four, but the fans are showing up
Speaker 1: and showing out. All three of their home games today
Speaker 1: have been eighteen thousand plus person sellouts, including Sunday's eighty
Speaker 1: six seventy five loss to the Minnesota Links, where they
Speaker 1: made a real good run before coming up short down
Speaker 1: the stretch. More WNBA. After all those injuries we mentioned yesterday,
Speaker 1: it's not surprising we've got some hardship contract news to
Speaker 1: report today down at Phoenix, Wherecalia Copper is still out
Speaker 1: after arthroscopic knee surgery and alyssa Thomas is sidelined with
Speaker 1: a calf injury. The Mercury signed Hayley Jones to a
Speaker 1: hardship contract on Sunday. Drafted sixth overall in the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three WNBA draft after four seasons at Stanford, Jones
Speaker 1: played forty games for the Atlanta Dream last season, but
Speaker 1: was waved back in May. Meantime, in Indiana, is Caitlin Clark,
Speaker 1: Sidney Colson, and Sophie Cunningham are all sidelined. The Fever
Speaker 1: signed Airy McDonald to a hardship contract after wrapping up
Speaker 1: her college career at Arizona in twenty twenty one. McDonald
Speaker 1: played three seasons for the Dream, then spent twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four with the Los Angeles Sparks before getting waved heading
Speaker 1: into this season. Despite the circumstances, it's good to see
Speaker 1: both of those players back in the w Can you
Speaker 1: believe it even more? WNBA Los Angeles Sparks tweener Rakia
Speaker 1: Jackson has missed her squad's past two games for quote
Speaker 1: unquote personal reasons, and it's got some folks cyebrows. Race Jackson,
Speaker 1: the number four pick in last year's draft, average over
Speaker 1: thirteen points per game. In twenty twenty four. She's been
Speaker 1: coming off the bench for new head coach Lynn Roberts
Speaker 1: team lately, and her average is down to seven points
Speaker 1: per game. On Sunday, an eagle eyed social media user
Speaker 1: claims Rakia unfollowed the Sparks on Instagram and took mention
Speaker 1: of the team out of her bio. We haven't confirmed this,
Speaker 1: but we do know that Roberts was asked about Jackson
Speaker 1: in a press conference on Sunday and had this to say,
Speaker 1: per an ex post from John W. Davis of the
Speaker 1: Long Beach Press Telegram response to Rakia, Rikey's a big
Speaker 1: part of our organization and our team, and.
Speaker 2: She's taking personal time.
Speaker 1: And we support her and we're excited to get her back.
Speaker 2: When she's ready to be back.
Speaker 1: We'll keep you updated on this situation as it unfolds. Meantime,
Speaker 1: I do want to shout out a bright spot on
Speaker 1: the Sparks roster, Odyssey Simms. She shined on Sunday, putting
Speaker 1: up thirty two points in her LA Sparks eighty five
Speaker 1: eighty loss to the Mercury. It was sim first thirty
Speaker 1: plus point game in six seasons. To Soccer Washington's spirit
Speaker 1: coach Jonathan Heraldez is departing the team to take the
Speaker 1: recently vacated head coaching position at French club Oel Lyon
Speaker 1: both teams, the Spirit and oel are owned by Michelle
Speaker 1: Kang's company Kiniska. Heraldez was hired by the Spirit last
Speaker 1: January as one of the most sought after managers in
Speaker 1: women's soccer after leading FC Barcelona Femini to two Women's
Speaker 1: UEFA Champions League titles. He joined the Spirit Midsummer, and
Speaker 1: his short time in Washington was highlighted by a runner
Speaker 1: up finish in last year's NWSL championship game and a
Speaker 1: Challenge Cup win to start the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 1: Spirit assistant coach Adrian Gonzalez, who served as the team's
Speaker 1: interim head coach last season before herald has arrived, will
Speaker 1: take over again as official head coach once Heralda's tenure
Speaker 1: officially concludes in July. This is the sixth coaching change
Speaker 1: since Kang became Washington's majority owner in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: To the PWHL, today's the day that teams have to
Speaker 1: submit a list of three players that they're protecting for
Speaker 1: the upcoming Expansion Draft. Starting tomorrow, the five day exclusive
Speaker 1: signing window begins. That's when Seattle and Vancouver will be
Speaker 1: allowed to start negotiating with unprotected players. Both Vancouver and
Speaker 1: Seattle will be allowed to sign five players each during
Speaker 1: this period. Then on June ninth, it's the Expansion Draft,
Speaker 1: where both teams will be able to build their rosters
Speaker 1: out to include twelve players each. Like we said before,
Speaker 1: only being allowed to protect three players from the jump
Speaker 1: is wild. We're trying not to get too deep into
Speaker 1: internet rumors and speculation about our favorite players getting snagged
Speaker 1: and relocated. I don't know if I could say the
Speaker 1: same for the players on those teams. If I were them,
Speaker 1: I would be googlin' up a storm. Finally, some cool
Speaker 1: news out of Chicago. The Chicago Color Neutral Stars formerly
Speaker 1: Red Stars, may be losing most of their games, but
Speaker 1: the team's president, Karen Litzo, is winning in the Illinois
Speaker 1: General Assembly. Per release from the Stars, the Assembly quote
Speaker 1: voting to pass House built twenty seven to seventy two,
Speaker 1: a bill backed by the Chicago Stars that a men's
Speaker 1: the Illinois Sports Facility Authority Act, known as the Equity Amendment.
Speaker 1: This legislation ensures that if conversations are had regarding public
Speaker 1: funding for sports facilities through ISFA, that women's professional sports
Speaker 1: teams are to be considered, effectively securing women a seat
Speaker 1: at the table, the bill will be sent to the
Speaker 1: Governor's desk for his consideration. End quote. Now, if you
Speaker 1: listen to the show, you know I often mentioned taxpayer
Speaker 1: funds and city assistants as one of the many benefits
Speaker 1: enjoyed by men's pro leagues but historically denied to women's leagues.
Speaker 1: It feels like there's finally a push in a couple
Speaker 1: different places to start demanding equal support and financial assistance
Speaker 1: for women's stadiums and facilities too, which we love to see.
Speaker 1: So shout out Chicago. We got to take a quick break, y'all.
Speaker 1: When we come back, it's a big day for me
Speaker 1: and my co author, Delan McCullough. Our chat is coming
Speaker 1: up next joining me. He's one of football's premier running
Speaker 1: back coaches, helping nearly twenty backs to one thousand plus
Speaker 1: yard seasons. A five time national finalist for Top running
Speaker 1: Back Coach, he played a key role in the chief
Speaker 1: Super Bowl win helped Notre Dame get back to the
Speaker 1: National Title Game last season and just join the staff
Speaker 1: of the Las Vegas Raiders. He and I wrote a
Speaker 1: book together about his incredible life. It's Delan McCullough. Hi, Delan, Hey,
Speaker 1: how you doing.
Speaker 2: Thank you? Thank you.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to just chat about this book. We're
Speaker 1: doing lots of interviews together, but me getting to interview
Speaker 1: you is very fun and I want to spend most
Speaker 1: of our time just you know, talking and not rehashing
Speaker 1: the book. So I'm going to give a brief synopsis
Speaker 1: so people kind of know what we're talking about, but
Speaker 1: the goal is to get people to buy the book,
Speaker 1: so we're not going to give all the good stuff. Basically,
Speaker 1: you grew up. You were adopted Youngstown, Ohio, post industrial collapse.
Speaker 1: So you had a young radio DJ and his wife
Speaker 1: who adopted you, and when you were two years old,
Speaker 1: the DJ decided to leave. Now you've got a single
Speaker 1: mom with you and your brother Damon. In a pretty
Speaker 1: tough time in Youngstown, she dealt with a turbulent divorce,
Speaker 1: subsequent relationships that weren't always all that great. There was
Speaker 1: some abuse, there were some drugs, and during all of
Speaker 1: this you're just trying to figure out what your identity
Speaker 1: is as both an adopted kid and as a person
Speaker 1: who do I want to be? What do I want
Speaker 1: to become? You find football. Football becomes a sanctuary. You
Speaker 1: become a great player. Get recruited to play for Miami
Speaker 1: of Ohio by a fellow Youngstown guy, Sherman Smith, who
Speaker 1: had made it big in the NFL and came back
Speaker 1: to recruit for is alma mater was coaching there, brought
Speaker 1: you there. You break a bunch of records. Things are
Speaker 1: going great. You think you're going to be in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Injuries hit the NFL. Dream doesn't happen. You bounce around football.
Speaker 1: You get into teaching. You get into coaching. You're making
Speaker 1: a name for yourself as a coach, all while being
Speaker 1: mentored by a handful of your coaches, including Sherman Smith.
Speaker 1: You have four sons, and every time you have to
Speaker 1: tell them, I'm just not sure what my history is.
Speaker 1: I don't know my birth parents, I don't know my
Speaker 1: medical history. And final in your early forties, the laws
Speaker 1: change and you're able to find your birth certificate. You'll
Speaker 1: find your mom within two days on Facebook. Turns out
Speaker 1: she was a sixteen year old honor student who was
Speaker 1: sent away to have you in private, went back to
Speaker 1: school with no one. The wiser only told her parents,
Speaker 1: and her cousin didn't even tell the dad because he
Speaker 1: was already off to school and she didn't want to
Speaker 1: disrupt his life. And you find her on Facebook and
Speaker 1: ask her about her life. It turns out she was
Speaker 1: in Youngstown, right down the street from you, but you
Speaker 1: never knew. And you asked, you know who my dad is?
Speaker 1: And she says, your dad is a man named Sherman Smith.
Speaker 1: So it turns out your college football coach and mentor
Speaker 1: of nearly thirty years was your dad all along. Now
Speaker 1: it sounds like we're giving away the story, but I
Speaker 1: promise you there is so much good stuff in this
Speaker 1: that it's not really about the twist. It's about everything else.
Speaker 1: So Deilan, I just want to ask you were just
Speaker 1: a few days out from the official launch date of
Speaker 1: the book. How are you feeling? What are the predominant emotions?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: I'm excited, you know.
Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to every getting a resonated message of
Speaker 4: hope and overcoming adversity and searching for who you really
Speaker 4: are and overcoming whatever it takes to find out those answers,
Speaker 4: So I'm excited about it. There was some trepidation for
Speaker 4: a little bit, of course, but I'm past that and
Speaker 4: I'm excited about the message that the book.
Speaker 2: Is going to say.
Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear that. I was worried about the trepidation.
Speaker 1: I was trying to make sure I was supportive during that,
Speaker 1: because it's tough to tell the whole world your story.
Speaker 1: It's tough to unearth some of this stuff. But I
Speaker 1: knew once we got to the end, it would not
Speaker 1: only serve you and your family, but so many other
Speaker 1: people who are going to read it. And I wonder
Speaker 1: that trepidation. What was the toughest part for you in
Speaker 1: figuring out, Okay, I'm opening up my life and my
Speaker 1: family and my friends, not only to Sarah to tell
Speaker 1: the story, but soon to the world.
Speaker 4: I'm a really quiet person, so I'm really reserved and
Speaker 4: to myself, you know. But I think the story says
Speaker 4: this that when I open up and let people in,
Speaker 4: that there's things that people can learn from me. So,
Speaker 4: you know, just just doing that kind of opening myself
Speaker 4: up to other people. But again, I think the thing
Speaker 4: that was overwriting for me is what people can learn
Speaker 4: from this, and it was therapy in this for me too.
Speaker 2: I mean, it just.
Speaker 4: Really was was immensely therapeutic for me, kind of going
Speaker 4: through having these conversations, writing these things down, having it written.
Speaker 4: At least that first draft was pretty hardcore, man, and
Speaker 4: I was like, whoa, this is something. You know, when
Speaker 4: you get it back the way that you got it back,
Speaker 4: you don't realize how tough it is, you know, and
Speaker 4: it makes you look yourself in the mirror. But once
Speaker 4: we got through, we did kind of smoothed out some edges,
Speaker 4: but not taking away the true flavor for what the
Speaker 4: book is going to be.
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see what people get from Yeah.
Speaker 1: I remember I was sitting with my friends at dinner
Speaker 1: getting ready to go see Madonna, and that was the
Speaker 1: first text I got from you after I sent the
Speaker 1: first draft. And a lot of people as they're writing book,
Speaker 1: they're sort of like checking in chapter by chapter. But
Speaker 1: I knew a lot of my interviews with you and
Speaker 1: your family would cause me to revise things and go
Speaker 1: back and change the order of things. So as we
Speaker 1: were doing the interviews and talking, I was like, all right,
Speaker 1: he's going to get the one big first draft and
Speaker 1: then we'll work on it together. And I was so
Speaker 1: nervous about what you might say, and you were super positive,
Speaker 1: which I loved. But you also said I learned a lot.
Speaker 1: And I said that to my friend. I was, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm so glad he said he learned a lot. She's like,
Speaker 1: it's his life, what does he have to learn? And
Speaker 1: I'm like, girl, I read like nine books to prep
Speaker 1: for this so I could make sure it wasn't just
Speaker 1: about him but about all of us and how we
Speaker 1: all get to make these choices about ourselves and our family.
Speaker 1: And I was also really happy that throughout your brother
Speaker 1: and some other members of your family were reading it
Speaker 1: and really saying, you got me, you understood me, and
Speaker 1: you told my story right. I wonder now that you've
Speaker 1: shared the book with more of your friends and family,
Speaker 1: were you surprised by anyone's reaction or feedback?
Speaker 4: Not really, you know what it was overall, it was
Speaker 4: very positive. So what I sent to an array of
Speaker 4: people now, like hey, friends from long time ago, recent
Speaker 4: you know obviously you know, longstanding friends, people in my family,
Speaker 4: different things like that.
Speaker 2: Who I knew I would get the truth from. And
Speaker 2: you know, at one point.
Speaker 4: I thought, I mean, I would get maybe one of
Speaker 4: my cousins say, hey, this ain't a good idea.
Speaker 2: Hey chapter six or chapter fifteen, this is going to
Speaker 2: be a problem. But everyone was so supportive.
Speaker 4: Everybody, and I went into it and loaded it's saying, hey,
Speaker 4: tell me the truth, tell me where you think it's
Speaker 4: going to be some hot spots, just give me your
Speaker 4: perspective on it.
Speaker 2: And it's been overwhelmingly positive. I didn't hear anything about
Speaker 2: any issues or things like that.
Speaker 4: And I know it's not perfect, but it's going to
Speaker 4: be pretty perfect in how it hits people's hearts and
Speaker 4: hopefully it gives them some insight that can help elevate
Speaker 4: things that they have going on in their own lives.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm so glad to hear that. It is scary
Speaker 1: to tell stories, and we all have our own memories
Speaker 1: of things. We all remember things differently. And one of
Speaker 1: the most powerful things you said to me is you
Speaker 1: were telling me these stories of your past and your
Speaker 1: childhood and growing up and all these other things. Is
Speaker 1: a conversation you had with your adoptive mom Adele. And
Speaker 1: you said, listen, Ma, like I get that this is
Speaker 1: how you remember this and I get that you're giving
Speaker 1: me context that I didn't know as a kid about
Speaker 1: why you made these choices or why these things happened.
Speaker 1: But I was a kid and I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: So this is how I took it then. And that's
Speaker 1: the part we have to share, is not the revised
Speaker 1: version of now I understand looking back, but how it
Speaker 1: felt for you as a kid as a teen to
Speaker 1: go through some of the tough times. And that was
Speaker 1: really powerful. And I think that's why it's so useful
Speaker 1: to really get your story out. When it lives in
Speaker 1: your head, you can just keep editing as you go,
Speaker 1: but there's something about putting it down and really being
Speaker 1: honest about what it was. You know, one of the
Speaker 1: big parts of this book is choice. You have been
Speaker 1: very clear since the beginning that life did not happen
Speaker 1: to you. You chose the person that you are. You
Speaker 1: didn't let a tough childhood hold you back. You didn't
Speaker 1: want to repeat the behaviors of some of the toxic
Speaker 1: parents or parent figures that you had. Where do you
Speaker 1: think you found that strength throughout your life to be
Speaker 1: resilient and choose your own path, Maybe not the path
Speaker 1: that would have been handed to you.
Speaker 2: That's a great question.
Speaker 4: I don't know, just just sitting there and hearing some
Speaker 4: of the things that I heard, some of the things
Speaker 4: I experienced, you know, just it was like a switch
Speaker 4: was flipped and I was just saying, you know what,
Speaker 4: I sat up one night and it's an argument or
Speaker 4: whatever going on, and again, not being.
Speaker 2: Disrespectful to anything, I just said, you know what, this
Speaker 2: is not how my life is going to be when I.
Speaker 4: Grow up and I'm in a position to have influence
Speaker 4: or I have my own family, that it won't be
Speaker 4: like this. So I took a lot of those lessons
Speaker 4: that I learned to kind of reverse them, because you
Speaker 4: would say, well, shoot, those are some bad things that
Speaker 4: you've seen.
Speaker 2: Why didn't you mimic them or what?
Speaker 4: Or they were things that you could end up kind
Speaker 4: of falling victim to as far as your decision making,
Speaker 4: And I said no.
Speaker 2: I looked at him as the reverse and said, look,
Speaker 2: I'm glad.
Speaker 4: I said, I'm glad that I had these experiences because
Speaker 4: it moted me into who I am, and I wanted
Speaker 4: to be the opposite of let lesson.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a through line something that your mom told
Speaker 1: you when you were young, which was God gives you
Speaker 1: a choice. You know you can. God gives you let's
Speaker 1: you see good and bad, and you get to choose
Speaker 1: what you want to be. And it feels like you
Speaker 1: kept doing that. You know, it's really a book about you,
Speaker 1: but about all of us and all of our families,
Speaker 1: both birth and found families, and you know, I wanted
Speaker 1: to be sure to write about it, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to really understand how interesting it is to be handed
Speaker 1: stuff via blood that's very obvious, DNA and genes, but
Speaker 1: also what were handed via family messaging and lessons and traditions.
Speaker 1: And it's so easy to sometimes take those things as
Speaker 1: fact after you hear them over and over, the things
Speaker 1: your parents always say, or the kind of throwaway lines
Speaker 1: that they don't even recognize their repeating, and you start
Speaker 1: to internalize it and you're like, well, that's how it is.
Speaker 1: But I wanted folks who read it to consider that
Speaker 1: while their genes are decided, they get to choose what
Speaker 1: they passed down to their children. They get to choose
Speaker 1: what they continue with their siblings, even with their parents.
Speaker 1: You can go back and heal backwards. If you decide
Speaker 1: something that you have with your family isn't serving you.
Speaker 1: Did the book help you have some of those tough
Speaker 1: conversations with your family? Did it bring up some stuff
Speaker 1: through reading it that made you want to talk to
Speaker 1: them about some of those choices.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean it's interesting when you look back and you
Speaker 4: talk about the habits or the tendencies you pick up
Speaker 4: just based on how you were raising. I mean, and
Speaker 4: I was aware of those things, you know, to a
Speaker 4: degree as we went through the book, and I thought about, hey,
Speaker 4: as a young you know, as a young person and
Speaker 4: an young adult, just the way the structure of our
Speaker 4: home was.
Speaker 2: And it wasn't anything wrong. A lot of people raised
Speaker 2: like this. You didn't question authority, You didn't question some
Speaker 2: things you didn't. You just kind of went with the flow.
Speaker 4: And I talk to people about the books, you know
Speaker 4: right now, shoot a couple hours ago.
Speaker 2: That resonates with people.
Speaker 4: They say, look, I still do that today for me
Speaker 4: in my home, I just said, look, I wanted people
Speaker 4: to understand the why, you know.
Speaker 2: This is what we're doing this for. Here's why this
Speaker 2: is happening.
Speaker 4: And it was an open form where guys can have
Speaker 4: a conversation about being so I didn't want it to
Speaker 4: be a situation where hey, I'm grown, you just do
Speaker 4: what I say do and all these different things, and
Speaker 4: the same thing with my coach, and I'll try to
Speaker 4: get the guy as the why and give them a
Speaker 4: little bit of a voice and empower them to a degree. So, yes,
Speaker 4: the book was therapeutic because it pulled all those layers.
Speaker 2: Back and it also revealed to me a bunch of
Speaker 2: things that I'm.
Speaker 4: I ain't I ain't closed the gap on yet, I
Speaker 4: got I still got some things.
Speaker 2: I'm like, Wow, there's issues.
Speaker 4: There's things that were that are in the book to
Speaker 4: make me say, I still need a whole lot of
Speaker 4: things that I need to overhain.
Speaker 1: Yeah, are there new questions that you now have? Are
Speaker 1: there things that you answered a lot about yourself and
Speaker 1: where you came from, But now as you continue to
Speaker 1: be a part of this new blended family, are there
Speaker 1: new questions or goals that you have?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I just want to continue to grow
Speaker 2: in my communication.
Speaker 4: You know, as I said here, I sent this to
Speaker 4: one of my friends and they had asked, have you,
Speaker 4: guys the people in the book have we addressed through counseling,
Speaker 4: et cetera. Some of those things, and I said, no,
Speaker 4: we haven't. And that was an interesting thing just to
Speaker 4: think about. Like I'm kind of doing therapy in real
Speaker 4: time like with the world, like people going get interviewed
Speaker 4: and different things, and I say, how did you overcome this?
Speaker 4: So how do you think about that? I'ma say, I'm
Speaker 4: still figuring it out. Yeah, you know, and look, I'm
Speaker 4: inviting you guys into that process that's going on right
Speaker 4: now and just trying to work my way through it,
Speaker 4: but again being as transparent as possible, and you know,
Speaker 4: letting you know, bearing my scars in the process and
Speaker 4: hopefully people learn from them because I'm still learning from
Speaker 4: them right now.
Speaker 1: I love that there are a lot of people that
Speaker 1: want to wait till they're at the quote unquote finished product,
Speaker 1: but there is so much benefit to letting people see
Speaker 1: the messy middle. I think you're past the middle. I
Speaker 1: think you're further down the way the road than the middle.
Speaker 1: But you're definitely not a finished product. None of us are.
Speaker 1: I learned a lot about myself and my family by
Speaker 1: doing this book, and I really took so much joy
Speaker 1: in doing the research. All the books I read about
Speaker 1: family systems and generational trauma and emotional DNA and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. And I got to play therapist a little
Speaker 1: in my desire to understand each person in the book
Speaker 1: and why they made the choices they did and be
Speaker 1: empathetic and intentional about why they became who they are.
Speaker 1: And that's one of the things I think when you
Speaker 1: get far enough in life and you realize that people
Speaker 1: are the way they are because of things that happened
Speaker 1: to them, things that happened around them, you tend to
Speaker 1: be a little more empathetic. Even if they're jerk offs.
Speaker 1: You tend to feel like they're they're that way because
Speaker 1: of something, and could you help them through it instead
Speaker 1: of just coming, you know, being at odds with them.
Speaker 1: I wonder what's been the best part of the journey
Speaker 1: of finding your birth parents Just.
Speaker 2: That connection, you know.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, the conversations I have with my
Speaker 4: dad and the conversations I have with my mom.
Speaker 2: I mean, those are like like.
Speaker 4: They complete a circle for me, you know, because forever,
Speaker 4: especially on the father's side, I never had that dad
Speaker 4: who I can just talk to about anything.
Speaker 2: I never had, you know, we had these figures, but
Speaker 2: they weren't good figures.
Speaker 4: They definitely weren't figures that I would say, Hey, I
Speaker 4: need to run something by you and have a conversation.
Speaker 2: I never had.
Speaker 4: So I just think about the type of person I am,
Speaker 4: how quiet I am, different things like that. Maybe having
Speaker 4: that person outside of my brother that I felt like
Speaker 4: I could just speak too freely, you know, it could
Speaker 4: have helped me bridge some gap and maybe prevented some
Speaker 4: things that happened in my early childhood as far as
Speaker 4: some of my decision making. But all those are part
Speaker 4: of the grand plan, you know, to get me where
Speaker 4: I am.
Speaker 2: So but I do know the relationships I have.
Speaker 4: With my mom and my dad, and obviously my stepmom,
Speaker 4: my brother and sisters and all the extended family has
Speaker 4: been outstanding, and I just want to keep building on that.
Speaker 1: What's been the toughest part about finding your birth parents
Speaker 1: and adding them into the mix, I.
Speaker 4: Don't know, just not feeling like I'm slighting the family
Speaker 4: that did everything, laid the foundation for everything. You know,
Speaker 4: the family that you know eighty percent of the book
Speaker 4: is about, you know that I that I grew up
Speaker 4: around in my friends and those guardian angels that we
Speaker 4: referred to in the book. You know, I don't want them,
Speaker 4: and I sent message. How about it is, I send
Speaker 4: messages to all of those guys. This is just a
Speaker 4: lot of people in there, and they were just blown
Speaker 4: away with I just.
Speaker 3: Sent the message to them, thank you and here's what's coming,
Speaker 3: and you were mentioned and different things like that, because
Speaker 3: I don't want anybody to feel like, Wow, he got
Speaker 3: to this point and all he's talking about is you
Speaker 3: know what happened when his birth records.
Speaker 2: Weren't you know.
Speaker 4: I don't want anybody to feel like I forgot the
Speaker 4: impact that they had on me when I was ten
Speaker 4: years old, eight years old, nineteen years.
Speaker 2: Old, thirty years old.
Speaker 4: So it's important to me that everybody feels respected during
Speaker 4: this whole process.
Speaker 2: So the toughest part is making sure that and it's
Speaker 2: not tough, but I got to be intentional. Yeah, well,
Speaker 2: letting those guys know how important they are to me.
Speaker 1: I'm really excited for you. The impact you're going to
Speaker 1: have on some people in your life when you talk
Speaker 1: about them in the book. That's so meaningful to people.
Speaker 1: And I think even though we try to sometimes we
Speaker 1: forget to tell people how we feel in the moment,
Speaker 1: or we feel uncomfortable really expressing to people just what
Speaker 1: they meant to us or our lives. And for those folks,
Speaker 1: those Guardian Angels and a couple others in the book,
Speaker 1: I think they're going to be really moved by the
Speaker 1: impact they had on you. You're talking to me from
Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Raiders facility. Your dad coached under Pete
Speaker 1: Carroll with the Seahawks. You did a coaching internship with
Speaker 1: the two of them way back when before you ever
Speaker 1: knew that Sherman was your dad. Now you're coaching under
Speaker 1: Pete Carroll with the Raiders. How has it been working
Speaker 1: with Pete now that you both know the truth about
Speaker 1: you and your dad?
Speaker 4: It's a real because he'll look and you just you'll
Speaker 4: look across the table and you'll start laughing, like, man,
Speaker 4: I feel like I'm looking at Shirm right. So it's
Speaker 4: been great, you know, just the synergy between us. I think,
Speaker 4: you know, the way he approaches things on a very
Speaker 4: humanistic level, relationship level with.
Speaker 2: Guys that really marries up with.
Speaker 4: My philosophy and the way that our attempt to build
Speaker 4: football players and more importantly create positive young men and adults.
Speaker 2: Obviously, you know.
Speaker 4: So, I mean it's been real cool, you know, right now,
Speaker 4: just getting to know the guys and getting ready.
Speaker 2: For the season.
Speaker 1: Well, I can't wait for people to read the book
Speaker 1: and really understand how wild it is that you end
Speaker 1: up coaching for Pete after your dad did that. You're
Speaker 1: repeating so much of what he did in his life. Again.
Speaker 1: I'm just really excited for the book to be out there.
Speaker 1: I know you're older than me, but I'm proud of
Speaker 1: you dealing for doing this and for being brave enough
Speaker 1: to do it, and for all the people's lives you're
Speaker 1: going to touch. I remember the first story we did
Speaker 1: for ESPN, people coming to send us messages about their
Speaker 1: stories of adoption or their wild ways that they learned
Speaker 1: that someone in their life was part of their family.
Speaker 1: And even the folks to message and said that they
Speaker 1: looked for their birth parents and it didn't work out
Speaker 1: well and it wasn't joyful, and what it meant to
Speaker 1: them to see how things turned out for you. I
Speaker 1: just think that's going to happen twenty fiftyfold with this book,
Speaker 1: and I'm very excited for you to see what an
Speaker 1: impact you can have on other people with just the
Speaker 1: person that you are. I know it wasn't always easy
Speaker 1: every step of the way, especially when you were sending
Speaker 1: me your edits via text message and it was like
Speaker 1: Chinese water torture, all debt boop boop boop. But that's
Speaker 1: the process, and I'm really proud of us that we
Speaker 1: did it, and I'm really excited for the book to
Speaker 1: come out. So thanks for chatting with me.
Speaker 4: No, and I definitely want to say you know everybody,
Speaker 4: I mean, you did outstanding and this the research, putting
Speaker 4: everything together, the interviews, dealing with the text messaging, I
Speaker 4: mean I was copying screen texts and send me all
Speaker 4: these things.
Speaker 2: And just the fact that you had a vision.
Speaker 4: I mean, yes, we put we put everything in this blender,
Speaker 4: but you put it out and kind of laid it
Speaker 4: out in it's accinct manner that there's no I wouldn't
Speaker 4: have thought about writing this on my own anyway, but
Speaker 4: I couldn't think of a better person, especially as we're
Speaker 4: going through the process, and now we are we I.
Speaker 2: Guess we get into the finished line, but maybe the
Speaker 2: starting line.
Speaker 1: Is just the beginning.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the beginning.
Speaker 4: We're ending one part but opening up another. I'm excited
Speaker 4: to see where this thing goes. But I just wanted
Speaker 4: to tell you. I'm just honored and full of pride
Speaker 4: that I had the opportunity to do this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm so grateful to you in your family. They
Speaker 1: were so honest and welcoming and trusted me, and that's
Speaker 1: a really big deal. All right, get back to work
Speaker 1: and also leave work soon. What do you what do
Speaker 1: you do? It's still at work.
Speaker 2: Come on, I'm about to get up out of here
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 1: Man. Even after several years of working together, I'm still
Speaker 1: surprised and intrigued by Delan's perspective on this whole journey.
Speaker 1: So I love talking to him and hearing the emotions
Speaker 1: that the book inspires and being reminded of how many
Speaker 1: folks might be deeply affected by it. So grateful to
Speaker 1: him for joining the show and for trusting me with
Speaker 1: this story. We got to take another break, slices. When
Speaker 1: we return, it's time to pull your cameras out. Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too. So here's our
Speaker 1: good game play of the day. When you get your
Speaker 1: copy of Runs in the Family, since you already ordered it, obviously,
Speaker 1: send me a photo of you reading the book. I
Speaker 1: want to see you slices in your booknooks on your
Speaker 1: picnic blankets, and atop your cozy couches, digging into what
Speaker 1: Dylan and I worked so very hard on. You audiobook folks,
Speaker 1: have someone take a photo of you listening with the
Speaker 1: book on your screen. I'm going to make a big, old,
Speaker 1: gorgeous collage of slices reading and post it on my
Speaker 1: social media, So make sure you make the cut. We
Speaker 1: always love to hear from you, so hit us up
Speaker 1: on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or leave
Speaker 1: us a voicemail at eight seven two two o four
Speaker 1: fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe. Rate and review
Speaker 1: It's real easy watch piece of shit degenerates who heckl
Speaker 1: and harass athletes because they can't manage their gambling habits.
Speaker 1: Rating five out of five or straining orders review. Over
Speaker 1: the weekend, five time Olympic medalist Gabby Thomas competed in
Speaker 1: Philadelphia at the third Grand Slam track meet of the season.
Speaker 1: While she was warming up and while she was competing,
Speaker 1: she was subjected to verbal abuse and the culprit is
Speaker 1: apparently bragging about it online. After the meet, Thomas, who
Speaker 1: finished fourth in the one hundred meter and second in
Speaker 1: the two hundred meter at the meat, wrote on social
Speaker 1: media that while she didn't get the results she hoped for,
Speaker 1: she was grateful for all the support she received. Entered
Speaker 1: the aforementioned piece of shit degenerate, who replied to Thomas's post, quote,
Speaker 1: I made Gabby loose by heckling her, and it made
Speaker 1: my parlay win. End quote. He went on to post
Speaker 1: a video of the meet in which you can hear
Speaker 1: someone yelling you're a choke artist. You're going down, Gabby,
Speaker 1: along with two screenshots of bets. And it gets even worse.
Speaker 1: Gabby replied to the post, writing quote, this grown man
Speaker 1: followed me around the track as I took pictures and
Speaker 1: signed autographs for fans, mostly children, shouting personal insults. Anybody
Speaker 1: who enables him online is gross end quote. Absolutely disgusting
Speaker 1: behavior from that dude, but good on Gabby for calling
Speaker 1: him out. There's absolutely no excuse for harassing athletes based
Speaker 1: on the bets that you make. Now it's your turn.
Speaker 1: Rate and review slices. Give us five stars, tell us
Speaker 1: you love us, Thanks for listening. See you Tomorrow. Good Game,
Speaker 1: Delan Good Game writing a book you feelings of anxiety
Speaker 1: about book reviews like I just said, give us five stars,
Speaker 1: tell us you love us. It applies to the show
Speaker 1: and the book, folks. Good Game with Sarah Spain is
Speaker 1: an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Speaker 1: Sports and Entertainment. You could find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
Speaker 1: and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer. Our associate producers Lucy Jones
Speaker 1: and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.