WEBVTT - Secrets of Excellence - Part 1 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.640 Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:13.000 the players, by the players. Here is your host, fourteen 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.200 year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer A Nius Williams. 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.080 Hello and welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I am 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.680 A Nisus Williams. We have maybe our most accomplished panel. 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.319 I have three of my Hall of Fame brothers and 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:32.880 one soon to be. That's right, we're speaking to ahead 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.920 of time. He's a sack master. We're talking about him later, 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.280 and we're talking about secrets of excellence. First, we have 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:44.559 the NFL's all time leading Russia. He rushed on my 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:48.879 defense at least a hundred yards each game. That is 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:56.480 the great Efant Smith, sorry Arroganzon the Cardinal teammates. Secondly, 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.600 we have one of the greatest passers and leaders of 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:04.240 all time, Jim Kelly. Next we have the ultimate monster 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:09.360 of the midway linebacker Brian Erlacker. What a full head 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:16.400 of hair. And lastly, one of the greatest pass Russias 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.320 of the twenty one century, the Marcus ware. Welcome, gentlemen, 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:25.520 so glad to have all of you have accomplished so 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.520 much on the football field, But what is the one thing, 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:34.920 and don't sugarcoated it. Don't try to be modest. What's 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:40.640 the one thing that you yourself see as your legacy 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:46.160 in it? Well, you know, first of all, and Neil's 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.440 thank you for having us, Uh, to be honest with 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.000 you when you start thinking about the legacy. Now, I'm 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:53.560 turning fifty this year, so I look at the legacy 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:55.440 a little bit differently now than I did when I 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:59.040 was actually playing the game of ball. Um, it's actually 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.040 it lies within my family. Uh at the end of 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:04.600 the day. Uh, you know, the football is something that 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.640 I did. It's something that I absolutely loved and was 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:10.799 very very passionate about it. But when you peel back 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:15.520 the onion and you really get down to really life itself, uh, 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.200 you know, football has come and gone. My family is 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:22.080 still here, so you know, and I'm just because I 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.680 have these records and so forth, people remember some of 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.240 the things that I've done. But every day I wake 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.040 up and I put my funeral ground, I walk in 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:32.520 my house, I see my kids, I see my wife, 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:34.880 I see all the things that are really really, really 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.800 truly important and uh, and so to me, that legacy 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.000 is right there. Because I lost my mom two years ago. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.600 Just lost my father in law in December day after 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.560 his ninety first birthday. And when you're putting people in 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.840 the ground, man, you start to realize that life is 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.800 much broader than just that East Smith twenty two on 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:58.080 the back of a jersey. And so I look at 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:02.120 the Legacy a little bit differently. Now, real quick you 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.960 saying that to to this players that will hear this podcast, 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:10.400 What were you thinking? You know Legacy, because you mentioned 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:12.280 it's different. Now, when were you thinking when you play? 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.360 I think when I was playing, Legacy was all about 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:17.760 winning Super Bowls and leaving the mark on the game 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:21.880 got you, which is a true statement. But you start 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.120 to realize that as you start to creep to that 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.720 age above thirty and you know that the end is near, 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.000 and you start thinking about what's next, um and and 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:35.120 what life would be like beyond the game. Uh, then 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:37.440 you really start to look at the little ones in 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.960 the eyes. I mean because I had two daughters, uh, 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:43.640 and and one of my sons, my youngest son, my 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.120 oldest son. Now, when I was playing, I was going 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.600 into thirty one day when I was probably thirty one 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:52.120 years old, and my kids was on the side of 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.480 the the guarney as it was getting to push me 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.680 back right before they took me out, and I can 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.200 see them, and it just changed. Everything changed the way 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.080 I approached the game, changed the way that I actually 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.120 thought about playing her. It changed a lot of different 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.400 things now because I had people that really were counting 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.360 on me to be there for the rest of their 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:17.400 lives and so h you know, the game itself as 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.360 a beautiful game, and we played the game because we 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.040 love it number one, And I'm so thankful that fans 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.800 and so forth get a chance to enjoy the talent. 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.280 I'm more concerned about the fans because they really don't 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.920 enjoy the talent. They look at the performance and the performances. 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.159 That's it. They don't know nothing about the individuals that 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.200 are out there on the football field. I like that. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:42.640 What about you, Jim, what's your legacy? Wow? Um, I 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.839 mean hit on a lot, uh From the standpoint of me, 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:49.120 I remember even growing up in a little small town 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:52.360 of Pennsylvania and looking at the team that I lives 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:57.040 and players like a Terry Bradshaw Raser Steeler and thinking 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.680 of my legacy being able to take care of mom 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.160 and dad and have them look back on life and 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.920 think that, uh, you know what, these dreams do come 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.480 true with the work ethic. But as I get older, 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:12.440 I never realized in a million years that the things 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.520 that I've been through in my life, um, I wouldn't 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.480 have to endure them, from standpoint of them telling me 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.760 I would never play football again, to standpoint after you know, 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.120 going to one super Bowl thing you might even go back, 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.280 and then wind up going to four super Bowls in 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.160 a row, and thanks to him he ended those with 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.320 three and four with a loss, but uh but being 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:37.200 but going four years in a row. And then after 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.640 I retired, having a son born on my birthday on 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.960 Valentine's Day, and the dreams I had, and then as 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:45.240 I fast forward to the things I've been going through 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.960 now having kids for three times, and and then traveling 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:53.520 to the country speaking and realizing how many people not 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.320 just uh, you know, adults, but kids coming up to 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.960 me and tell me how I've been an inspiration to 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:03.440 their their father, their mother, or even themselves, saying that, 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.120 you know, they looked at life a little differently now 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:08.760 after hearing some of the things I went through that 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:14.039 they think all professional athletes have, you know, have a 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.960 good have to have everything they wanted to know, the money, 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.360 the fame, the fortune, you know, the bright lights. And 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.840 it's not always like that for everybody. But the thing is, 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.440 it's your attitude that you have being able to make 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.280 sure you make it difference for others. And I know 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.800 the life I'd be given and I would never wish 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.360 upon anybody. But I also look back and say, you 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:35.880 know what, I remember those days, how much fun I had, 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.240 the people I had as my teammates, the love that 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:41.559 I have on that team, to love that I still 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.240 have with the players that I have right now, but 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:46.880 right now knowing that I am making a difference out 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.800 there for so many other people that um, if they 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.160 had to do it over again, they would totally take 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.080 it a different way. And I came up with the saying, 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.200 make a difference today for someone who was fighting for 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:01.480 their tomorrow. And that's legacy I would love to leave. 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.560 You know, everybody will go through that, But you know 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.240 what I live eaching every day I enjoyed myself. The 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:09.880 good Lord decides to marrows my day, well, I'm going 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:11.600 out with a smile on my face and a pulled 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.240 drink on my other hand, and I'm going I'm smile, 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:19.920 so we'll leave with that. I'm enjoying each and every day. Now, well, 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.200 I can tell you this gym for all of us, 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.920 just seeing your fight and seeing your resilience, it's it's 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.440 obviously the Lord at work, but it also takes a 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:32.840 man departner with him and not quit. I've had I've 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.600 had um great leadership from my father who raised ship's 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.160 boys were probably more of a leader and then anybody 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.600 would ever think. And that was my son who lived 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:44.160 to be eight and a half years old. He never 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.040 spoke a word, but he changed my life for the good. 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.280 And yeah, I'm like everybody. You know your dream about 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.160 teaching and coaching your little boy, you know, growing up 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.440 and raising a son. But good Lord had different plans 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.240 from me, guys, to make a difference for others, and 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.800 through my Shun, even though he never spoke for she 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.240 has made a difference for so many people out there. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:08.960 And number one his daddy, Thank you, Jim. You know, Brian, 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.480 I remember seeing you in college. How much you wait, 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:18.920 But I remember returning punts just crazy, that's how bad 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:22.320 we worked, returning to kick off some punts. I mean, 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.760 everybody else to put back there. So that's how that's 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.840 how bad our team was. Even as you've heard Jim, 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:31.200 you've you've heard him, what what do you think is 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.280 your legacy? So mine is on the same lines as 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.240 you know as I I've been retired for six years now, 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:37.840 I think as you're playing, you kind of have your 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:40.240 your legacy and minded what you think you want to be, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.040 what you want to leave behind as a football player. 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.440 And immediately after I retired, it was it all changed 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:47.840 right away because you know, football was great, like it 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.520 was so good to me. I love football. I enjoyed playing, 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:52.840 I love being My favorite thing on football is bear 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:54.600 on my teammates all day. Man. I love going to 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:56.360 work every day. I love being around those guys. I 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:58.640 love being in the locker room. I didn't like meetings, 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:00.840 but they were fun. I didn't like going because you're 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:02.480 in there for four hours a day. Man, it's old. 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.959 But hold up. Send it to the high schoolers. Yeah 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.720 who think? Okay? Let me Yeah, So we go to 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:11.480 the meetings or four hours a day on on a 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.240 short day, and they're not fun, but our coaches made 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.079 them fun. So I love going to work. I love 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:17.520 being the way were I love being a practice with 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:21.880 my teammates. Um, I think my legacy as a player 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:23.400 was to be good. I want to be a good thing, 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:24.760 that's all all. I want to be remembered this as 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:26.680 a good teammate. And I said that all of Fame speech, 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:29.000 But I don't remember that as a football player. I 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.760 want to be remembered as a father, as a role model, 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.160 as a guy who does other things outside of football. 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:35.720 You know, my kids, and I said this in my 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:37.640 speech as well, my kids in my legacy. You know, 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.079 they were sitting down the front row there as I 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.640 was up there giving my speech. And you see it 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:43.480 more and more. The further are you you are removed 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.240 from football, the more you realize that. I feel like, um, 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.240 and it's been great since I've been out, it's been great, 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:51.079 you know, because when you're playing, you're so into you 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:52.719 and football and what you need to do to get 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:54.880 better and how you're gonna help your team win. You are, 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:56.439 You're good. You're still a father, don't get me wrong, 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:58.160 You're still father. But you can't put your hands on 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.800 like not like in a physical I'm just saying you can't. 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.520 I can't mold your kids. You can't mold your kids 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:05.200 the way you want to because you're not there as 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.199 much as you want to be. So now that when 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.360 you retired, you're there all the time. It's been great, 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:11.520 you know. I've had so much fun with them, Um, 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:13.880 coaching my son and you're in football. Just being around 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:15.959 my daughters and being able to be a part of 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.400 everyday life, taking the school, you know, picking up whatever 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:19.480 I need to do, I can do it. It's just 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:21.800 nice to be a part of that. And the biggest 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:23.600 thing to me is that they are my legacy. In 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.240 my opinion of football was great, loved it fun, but 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:27.599 I don't I don't want to be remembered as I 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.599 don't remembered as a father of my three children. What 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.040 the thing is, you know, for me, it's it's something 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.559 that didn't even have anything to do with football. The 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.160 same thing you're saying about your son, you're saying about 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:43.040 your family and kids. You're saying about your family and kids. 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.040 And what we're trying to really get people to understand 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:48.679 is that football is great. There was something that we 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:52.320 did and it was amazing, But to everyone in this world, 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.640 the main thing and what's the most important thing is family. 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.000 Family is the most important thing that is, and that's 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.440 the legacy that all of us always wanted. It wasn't 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.000 the money, it's not the watches, it's not the crazy 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.240 stuff that you can go buy whatever you would, you 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.400 would you you know, make it from football, but it's 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:12.080 something that you strive for and uh, when you think 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.600 about like little intangible things of the impact that you make. 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.719 We were great because we knew how to fight. We 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:20.720 knew how to fight. Jim Kelly know how to fight. 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:23.240 You knew how to fight. Everybody had some type of 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.760 fighting them and we talked each one of those guys 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:30.280 on our team. And so now even when you guys played, 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.560 if it was guys that you played with, you see 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.720 them and you see what you talked them. But you 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.600 also taught them how to fight. And that's a legacy 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:44.400 that we as everyone here, we've left for everyone in 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.480 the NFL is like we have that mentality of fighting. 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:50.320 But also to the normal fans, the fans look at 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.520 us as role models because they're going through a lot 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:56.040 of the things in their lives and they also want 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.760 to fight, and they sort of branch themselves onto us. 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:02.320 But because that's what we do, right, But then we're 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:05.280 normal too, because family is the most important thing that 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:10.599 drives each one of us. So for me, legacy and 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.360 having that mentality of being able to fight, because when 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.000 I watched every one of you that came before me, 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:18.640 I've seen the fight in your eyes when y'all come 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.400 out of that tunnel every week. I've seen that fight 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.360 in the locker room, you guys leading, And I said, 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:26.400 I want to be that guy. I want to be 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.200 that guy that's doing it because he's impacted me. And 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.680 I'm a young child right now, but I can become 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.400 just a smige it of that guy right there. I 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.040 can almost do the same thing that he's been doing. 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.800 And the question, based on what you accomplish on the field, 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:48.120 how has it helped you in what you're doing now, Well, 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.240 I think football teaches you so much. I'm just how 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.680 did there's so many ups and downs in football? You know, football, 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.040 game practice, your career, the injuries, whatever it is you 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:57.600 gotta go through to get to the game on Sunday. 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:59.680 I think life's the same way. Not everything is gonna 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.360 be perfect all the time. I think football teach you 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.199 to deal with that and get through it. Um lean 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:07.240 on people if you need to. You've got friends, family, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.800 wherever you lean on, and also look inside yourself, you know, 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.160 to see how how mentally tough you are, how physically 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:16.160 tough you are to get through these situations. Um, post football, 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.640 I mean it was it was a change because you 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:21.840 don't have those guys ever there to to talk to, 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.720 to lean on, your coaches to talk to, or the trainer, 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:29.760 whoever it is to lean on. Exience, Yeah, you gotta. 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.760 Then you turn into your wife, you turn into your kids, 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.240 your brother. It's a different people you lean on. Because 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.040 I don't care how tough we think, we all need. 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:38.760 We all need to help. And I think that's what 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:40.880 I realized the most when I retired, is that I'm 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.679 gonna need some help making this transition from football, from 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.000 a football player to a regular person and doing things 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:48.679 that normal people do all the time. So that was 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.640 the hardest thing for me. Um, you know, I still 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.319 haven't done a whole lot since I retired. I'm still 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.160 enjoying being a father and I haven't got bored yet. 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:57.439 My big things when I got bored you, but it 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:01.679 finds something to do. I haven't got two I turned 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:03.800 for to you last year, So I still got some times. 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.120 I got some time to get bored still, So my 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.200 kids will be, you know, off in college, and in 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:14.680 five years I'll have all three of them out of 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:16.720 the house. So then I'm as something I'm gonna get bored. 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.920 So and here and Brian hit it right on. It's 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:24.480 the people you're around, um she attitude that you surround 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.760 yourself with. You talked about family. We all talked about 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:31.440 families through this. I had five brothers, and with my 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:35.160 five brothers and my wife and my two daughters, those 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:38.480 were amazing people in my life. Even though I talked 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.040 a little bit more about what my life has been 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:44.840 since I retired, but I would not be here if 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:46.640 it wasn't for the people I had in my life 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.160 and my brothers not one time today or have a 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:51.160 you know, the frown on their face when they saw 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.120 what their brother was going through. Were my wife or 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.880 my daughter or Bruce and Thurmon and all those guys 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.720 that I played with always have been in there for me, 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:03.920 and we're there for each other all the time. And 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:08.200 I think by what we went through as a team 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.840 um Fighting. We were in the a f U Championship 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:12.960 game five out of six years we went through the 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.200 four Super Bowls in a row we didn't win. It 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.960 was almost preparing some of us for what we had 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:20.840 don the road in life and how are we going 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.200 to come together as a team after we get downe 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:27.360 playing the game of football. And I learned so much 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.360 through that. And I learned that, you know what, as 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.840 I traveled and I looked, I don't have it that bad. 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.200 There's so many people have what work shan I do? 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.040 Just keep fighting and keep surrounding yourself with good quality 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.960 of people with great attitudes. And for all those kids 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:45.000 out there that are listening to this, they're gonna We're 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.360 all gonna go through tough times for life. When you're young, 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.360 you're gonna go through times. But you're like, I can't 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.960 believe that's happening. Trust me, it's your attitude that you're having. 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.560 How are you going to make that situation better? Because 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.000 we all go through it, and we all went through 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.160 And the thing, who do you strong yourself with? Who's 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.520 going to change your attitude to make sure you make 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.760 that better for somebody else that's watching you. And that's 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.640 how I've learned throughout my trying times. And I even 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.480 know that there's still times that I have ahead of 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.280 me that I'm gonna go through. But as long as 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.680 I continue to strong myself with the family I have 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.280 and those whacker doodle teammates your mind, I'm gonna be 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:27.640 all right. Right Well, I mean Brian said he touched 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.200 on something, uh, and I think the Marcus and Jim. 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.800 You know, when you're in the locker room, there are 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.120 so many guys that you have so many things in 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:40.200 common with, and when it comes down to that fight 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.520 or having to run that extra five one teams or 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.000 whatever it may be, and you're struggling and you got 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.360 your team, it'll come on. Do you can make it? 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.560 Make it? And they're pushing you to that. But when 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.680 it comes to life, you look around and you find 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.200 yourself in a tough situation. You look around and say, 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:02.000 who's who's in his fox with me? And sometimes you 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.040 feel like you and there by yourself because you don't 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:08.000 have no one I can turn to my wife. My 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.199 wife probably doesn't know where it liked for me to 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:12.960 be in a foxhold like this. She could probably turn 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:14.640 to me and say, well, you don't know what it's 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:22.760 like to deliver a baby. I have no clue. But 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:25.800 it's you're right. It is the fight. It's the fight 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:30.440 to continue to survive. It's the fight to continue to persevere. 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.879 It's the fight to get on the other side of 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:37.439 whatever this is that's resisting us at this particular moment. 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.600 It's the understanding of the attitude of the fight that's 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.560 saying that this too shall pass at some point. I mean, 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:45.920 because you know, you're not in the every super Bowl, 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:52.800 and you're not having winning seasons every year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.520 there is an exception, but but then you also have 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:01.200 those times when there is dry seasons because it and uh, 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.120 I mean you're going six and ten and you're going 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.320 four in the four in twelve and stuff like that. 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.320 It just doesn't feel good. But yet you have to 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:13.480 finish the season, and you have to prepare every week 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.320 as if you're going out to win. And so I 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.440 think it's that fight, uh, that we we look to 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.240 at times and we find ourselves in corners by ourselves 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.840 because we're not in that locker room any longer. And 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:28.400 and and so whether or not you're able to pick 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:30.199 up the phone and call one of your boys and 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.080 have a sit down conversations because he is going to 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.760 doing his thing, and you're doing your thing, and everybody 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:39.000 spread out now during their things. So the communication lines 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.560 are not as natural as they once were, and so 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:47.320 things have changed dramatically. But the beautiful thing about it 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:50.960 is we do have those fundamentals that have taught us 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:55.920 those things, how to survive, how to uh persevere, how 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.239 to stand on your own two feet and become your 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.720 own leader. I mean, amongst a bunch of alpha dogs, 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.080 obviously there's one that emerges up, or two that merges up, 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.040 or three or four that merges up in every locker room. 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:09.960 And that doesn't mean that the others in our alpha 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.520 dogs neither. It's just the fact that leadership has to 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:15.560 yield to somebody at some point and allow this thing 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:18.560 to shape, take shape, so it can be so the 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.600 ship can be driven in the right direction. Say that again, 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.800 leadership sometimes has to be you have to yield. Everybody 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:28.280 can't be the chief. You have to have. You gotta 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.199 have some Indians. And so at the end of the day, 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.919 whether that quarterback is designated as that guy and he 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.119 earned the right to do that, or if it's that 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.840 wives or that linebacker on the defensive side the ball, 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:41.920 or if it's that running back or combination, because performance 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:48.240 also dictates who's leading without even speaking, because when it 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.280 comes down the net cut of time, some people turn like, hey, hey, 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:56.119 I need you to make it. So what you're saying 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:59.320 is performance has its own voice. Yes, performance definitely has 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:01.240 its own voice. But I think the thing that we 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:06.159 all turn to is that consistency in our lives. I 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.359 think that's where stability comes at. It's a key word 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.639 in the in the consistency in our lives. Those things 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:16.520 that stay consistent in one's life you can hold on 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:19.960 to like this. It's the things that up and down 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.679 like yo yo's that give you pause, things that says 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.320 I don't know if I can really trust that because 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:29.080 it's inconsistent. And I think that's what we all have 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:33.880 built our careers upon, is being consistent for thirteen, fourteen, 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:39.800