0:02

This life was all I ever wanted. I'm

0:07

not leaving, not yet. I

0:09

was hoping you say that you gotta

0:12

hit the streets, make some money, maybe

0:16

like us, let's destroyed, Maybe

0:18

like Captain by

0:21

call up get

0:27

showtime free at showtime dot

0:29

com.

0:42

Man, welcome back to a special edition.

0:44

Man, I

0:47

never I never interrupt your introduction,

0:50

but let me do it. You got it. You

0:52

gotta Jack my guy a

0:54

mentor to me. Somebody I'll look up to. Somebody's

0:57

been giving me the game and the fam Hall

0:59

of Famer been motivating me on this media side.

1:01

Somebody I look up to, my brother,

1:04

the o G big homie, Uncle

1:06

Shannon Sharp Man Man thanks

1:08

for having me on and

1:12

has a boisterized like Jack. We just had a little

1:14

we just had a little pre shooting discussion.

1:17

So he asked for some low like people see everything

1:19

on the internet. Asked me for some hand

1:21

us some jerks. He said, Mat, you got this bullshit? I

1:25

mean, I mean it fit's my complexion that he needs

1:27

something a little stronger from people. What

1:30

you used I did? I did use that

1:32

jerking like water. And then he had

1:34

to me some criscos find

1:41

somewhere in the middle. But Man, thank you for being

1:43

here. Man. We appreciate who's

1:45

he is. It is. It is Shannon Sharp, the

1:48

Fox Sports analyst. Here, uncle here.

1:50

It all depends. I

1:54

just hope at the end of the day with this

1:56

air is at some point time because I know it's gonna

1:58

air, I still help, but listen

2:05

to keep Let's get into it. So we

2:08

were talking to before. I mean, you were a Hall

2:10

of Famer obviously Superstar before

2:12

Superstars win the fish Bowl. So

2:14

now you're a lot of people don't

2:16

know how great of a football player. They know

2:18

you for what you're doing on undispute it to talk

2:21

about that a little bit. It is because I meet people

2:23

a lot of time, and people who walk up

2:25

to me and ask me, how do I know so much

2:27

about football? And I just like, you

2:29

know, I studied the game a lot. I don't. I don't, I

2:31

don't. I don't tell them that I actually playoffs,

2:33

Like I studied the game a lot. You know, I watched football,

2:36

and you know I've been around it for a long time.

2:38

But it is, I mean, most of the people don't know me

2:40

because I've been retired sixteen years now, and

2:43

so people don't sixteen years

2:45

a long time, considering that everything

2:47

now got people are watching it on their on their phone,

2:50

they get all their information from different But

2:52

for me, I don't really know how I would

2:54

have handled it because everything

2:57

under microscope. You look at

2:59

guys Lebron and k D or

3:01

you look at Brady and everything is critique. We

3:03

have all these debate shows where we talked about

3:06

every move, every drible, every possession is

3:08

critique. I don't know how I could have handled

3:10

because I you know, I like my

3:12

privacy. I've never been

3:14

a guy that liked to be out in the public side. Um

3:17

I only went to one party in college.

3:20

Um, I didn't hang out really. I went out maybe

3:22

once every other month when I wasn't and then

3:24

when when I was played. So I kind of like,

3:26

you know, being to myself and I don't want cameras

3:28

in my face all the time and knowing everything

3:32

that you say now and what I

3:34

tell guys now when you leave your home

3:36

sometimes being your home, you gotta automatically

3:40

believe that you're being filmed, you're being recorded,

3:42

and so you must be on your behavior at

3:45

all times. How do you think that would

3:47

have changed? Though, like you said, it wasn't only in

3:49

your profession on the field, but it was in your personal

3:52

life, to day to day grocery store trips, whatever.

3:54

But how how do you think that would have affected

3:56

you, especially seeing you wanted to be so private.

3:59

Man, it's been tough because

4:01

I told a lot of people know I didn't want to sign

4:03

up. And that's one of the reasons why I never lived in the

4:05

city where I played, because I

4:08

wanted some privacy. I didn't want to be Shannon Sharp

4:10

all the time. I didn't want to go to the grocery

4:12

store and ask anything about what the Bronco

4:14

is gonna be like this season, or winning

4:17

the Super Bowl. I just wanted to go and sometimes

4:19

could go because I moved to Atlanta and some

4:21

people, if you were really die hard fan, they knew

4:23

who I was early on. But as

4:25

we started to win, more started going to Super Bowls.

4:27

I was on TV. I became a better player, people

4:30

started to recognize me. But the

4:33

way I explained myself to people, guys,

4:36

I said, I'm a normal guy with an extraordinary

4:38

job, and people that know me, that

4:40

see me behind off

4:42

the camera, they see how, like, dude,

4:45

you're really normal and I am,

4:48

um, and I like it like that

4:50

but to have a camera and everything

4:52

to get fatigued and analyzed. I'm

4:56

glad. Can you imagine if

4:58

we had cameras like when growing up in high

5:01

school? Because tweets that guy

5:03

said five ten years ago, it's

5:05

coming back to bite them in the book. So now

5:08

you just you learned from others

5:10

mistakes. And they say, you know why

5:12

a wise man learned from other mistakes who

5:14

learned from its own? So you see what has

5:16

gotten people into trouble and then you try to stay

5:19

clear that Yeah, you know, I like that. What was

5:21

did you see yourself talking

5:23

about football post career? Like when did

5:25

you start getting into the endless space? Because

5:27

we know you was always a talker. I was

5:30

the Look if we didn't play good,

5:33

I say we didn't play good, we were terrible. I was

5:35

bad the office and live was bad. Receiving

5:37

what bad. Defense was bad. But that they

5:39

did they did. People don't want to hear. Look,

5:42

they don't want to hear that normal coach. Now, I understand

5:44

you gotta sometimes you gotta be politically correct,

5:47

but it's at some point in time you got to tell

5:49

the truth. Today, we just weren't

5:51

good, Shannon just worn't good.

5:53

You know I didn't. I couldn't hold onto the ball.

5:56

I missed these blocks at the point of attack. Just

5:58

be honest and and people

6:00

appreciate that now. I think that's what kind

6:02

of made me a very good leader, because I

6:05

think for leadership also, you

6:07

have to know each guy. You know, basketball,

6:09

You've got twelve guys in the locker room. Every

6:11

guy's different. They come from different backgrounds, and so

6:13

different things will motivate them, Different things will

6:15

tick guys off. Some guys you can

6:17

confront. Some guys you confront, they're

6:19

gonna bust you in the mouth. Yeah, some guys

6:21

you gotta pat them on the back. Some guys you gotta

6:23

be funny Joe Willer and so for

6:26

me, And that's kind of how it was in the locker room.

6:28

But I think the media kind of like, you

6:31

know what that guy's gonna give us, coaches, still,

6:33

let's go as she was gonna tell us. And

6:36

I would, I would, I would be as honest as I possibly

6:39

could. And you know a couple of times about

6:41

like you can't be like, well,

6:43

they watched the game, they with us all that week, suthing so

6:46

did ever caused problems in the locker room with your teammates.

6:49

Just you're so fun coming in your honesty, it

6:51

really cause a problem. But they know I was on it. But I would

6:53

tell the guy, but you tell you steal it. Yeah,

6:57

you would tell them to their face. Yeah, you have

6:59

yourself for kind of but you leave by example, so it's

7:01

easy to do that. It is. And

7:03

the guys saw how hard I work. But

7:06

for me, when I played those

7:08

fourteen years, nothing else mattered. Football

7:11

was the most important thing other than

7:13

breathing. Football is most important.

7:15

Not family, not kids, not brother,

7:18

not mom, not sister. And I make no apologies

7:21

for what I was able to accomplish in my fourteen years.

7:27

Nah. And then he looked. During

7:29

my Hall of Fame speech, I told my kids, you know, because

7:31

I would get the kids would come a couple

7:34

for a couple of weeks during the summer, and I promised

7:36

I'd take them to the amusement park and you know, six

7:38

Flags. And I had every intentions

7:41

of doing that. But after running

7:43

for two hours on the track, after lifting

7:45

for another two hours, I was exhausted.

7:48

And and I know at the time they didn't

7:50

understand. All they know is that Daddy had just

7:52

told me another lie. He said he was gonna take it,

7:55

and I didn't. But as

7:57

they got older, hopefully they understood

8:00

it. This is how you go to college.

8:02

This is why you got the car. That was all

8:05

that. There are sacrifices you have to make. And

8:07

I tell people, the greater the player, the

8:09

more selfish that he is. So if you

8:11

think, oh, man, he ain't, no, no, not, Oh

8:13

he's a team guy, Okay, he might be. He's

8:15

a team guy. But there are things you have

8:18

to miss. You have to miss some recitals,

8:20

you have to miss some Black football games. You

8:22

got practice, you got meeting. You gotta work

8:24

on your craft, and that requires you

8:26

to be selfish. And a lot of people don't

8:28

understand that. But I don't make any apologies

8:30

for what I was able to accomplish because my whole

8:33

focus with my brother and I was growing up.

8:35

We grew up in a thousand score foot send a block home

8:38

cement floored. The floors was just like what we have

8:40

in this here, no paneling,

8:42

and I could look up at night and I can look through

8:44

the tin roof and I could see the stars. And

8:47

my whole purpose was my brother and I was

8:49

to get my grandmother out of that environment. That was

8:51

the only thing that battered to me. It wasn't about you

8:53

know, Shan, if you make a lot of money, you'll be famous. I didn't

8:56

care anything about fame, and I don't really care

8:58

to this day. I don't care about money. I love

9:00

what money gives me access to. That's

9:03

what I love about money, Not the money itself, the

9:05

tangible product that money. I love

9:07

what it allows me to do, it what it was allowed able

9:09

to allow me to do for my family. So because

9:11

for my grandmother to go to bed for sixty

9:14

six years and have it rain and not

9:16

get wet, that was my whole

9:18

focus. That drove me, That drove

9:21

my brother, and so all the things that we

9:23

talked about. Man, we gotta get Granny out

9:25

of here. We gotta do this all the time that I'm

9:27

in college, and you know, she

9:29

was sending had my sister to wrap it up five

9:32

bucks in newspaper and send it to me. In

9:34

nineteen eighties. I left my grandmother's house in eighty

9:36

six UM and I had

9:38

two bags, two grocery bags, Pigli wiggly

9:40

bags, um from my luggage.

9:43

I didn't have a suitcase, had two bags

9:45

with all my belonging, and I was going to Savanna

9:47

State, and and and uh

9:50

nineteen eighty seven, I was a sophomore. And I remember

9:53

because we had community phones, I didn't have a phone in my

9:55

room. And I remember walking down in the hall. It was

9:57

all quiet. I said, you know what, I'm gonna call my grandmother. Nobody

10:00

here, so I get on the phone. Call

10:02

collect operator comes on the phone. Yes,

10:04

I said, I like the place. A collect call to Mary Porter

10:06

from Shannon Sharp. Operator comes

10:08

on. Uh, this is a collect

10:11

call to Mary Porter from Shannon Shark. Will

10:13

you accept? My grandmother said

10:15

no, she said I can't pay the fifty dollar

10:17

phone. But I got right now and hung the phone

10:19

up. I remember walking down

10:21

the hall and tears started to roll up in my eyes.

10:24

Roommates in the room, so I can't let him see me cry.

10:26

And I'm just let go let on the bed, and I'm

10:28

looking up at the scene and I'm just staring now.

10:30

Remind you, my grandmother got on the

10:34

at seven months old. My grandmother got on the train,

10:36

come get me from Chicago. Two months old.

10:39

Three months excuse me, my dad came and got

10:41

me back. At seven months Grandma

10:44

came and got me back at two. So was that his

10:46

mom or my mom my mom's mom.

10:50

So from from the two years

10:52

on, my grandmother was

10:54

everything. I slept with the very

10:56

bed with my grandmother until I was fifteen.

10:59

I didn't get out of my grandmother's bad until my

11:01

brothers left and went to college. So I

11:03

had slept with my grandmother. So I know it

11:05

broke her heart to tell me no, because

11:08

when my brother went to school, my my sister's eight

11:10

years older than me. My sister's dating. It's

11:12

just me and her. It's just her and I and

11:14

my nephew at the time, my sister's son.

11:17

And so we play a game, all my other

11:19

friends going out. I'm going home to take care of Granted,

11:21

we play a basketball game, my friends going out on

11:24

Saturday Friday night. I'm going to take care of granny.

11:26

So I know what that

11:28

did to her to tell me no.

11:31

I can't accept this call because I got a fifty dollar

11:33

phone bill I can't pay right now. So

11:36

I'm laying and I'm thinking. The only thing that

11:38

I'm thinking, well, I'm leaving. I'm

11:41

I'm going to NFL. I'm

11:43

gonna take it us. That was the

11:45

only thing that mattered, and

11:48

when I got to the league, the only thing

11:50

that mattered was football,

11:53

not women. And it was like, look,

11:55

can you be number two? Can you help me be a number two? Everybody

11:58

says they can handle being numbered too, until

12:00

you actually you are number two. It sounds

12:03

good. Man. You know, Shannon Sharp is interested to me

12:05

and he's gonna be you know, we're gonna date. Okay,

12:08

but just so you know, practice

12:11

studying tape, working out

12:13

the way I eat. Yes,

12:18

yes, and he couldn't

12:20

handle it. Okay, no

12:22

harm, no file, I'm not mad at you, but please

12:25

don't be mad at me for the way I am upfront

12:27

and honest. Talk to us about

12:30

your grandmother. Seemed like she was everything. And I saw

12:32

a quote that kind of summarized and you learned

12:34

everything good and bad for me, either your grandmother

12:37

or your brother. Talk to us about that, man, my

12:39

grandmother. Man, Look, my

12:42

grandmother had nine kids, so

12:44

she raised her nine and raised

12:46

my mom's three. And I can

12:48

assure you she loved my mom three

12:50

more than she loved her own kids. So

12:54

I remember when my grandfather

12:57

died in nineteen seventy seven, my mom

13:00

um, I wanted to take my brother

13:02

my sister was. My sister was seventeen, so my sister

13:04

was able to make her own decisions. She wanted to take

13:07

my brother not back, and my grand said

13:09

no. She said, I've

13:11

raised them this far. I got it now

13:14

for me. I

13:18

remember, it's funny

13:21

how I'm playing this back in my mind. My grandfather

13:23

died. I was eight years old. I can tell you everything

13:25

he's ever said to me, berbad him. My

13:27

grandmother lived four. I was forty three years

13:30

old when my grandmother passed. I can tell you almost

13:32

everything Burbad and what she's ever told me in my

13:34

forty three years of existence. I can tell

13:36

you every time she was happy, every time she was mad,

13:38

everything my

13:40

grandfather tould tell my brother. Now he says, boys, I don't

13:42

care. He and you know, oh, in the South, they call

13:44

you boy. They didn't never call you by your name. Say boy,

13:46

I don't care what you've become. Just never have

13:49

to look at me and your grandma say I'm sorry. So

13:52

for me, I

13:54

never wanted to have I wonder

13:56

where Shannon Hills, I wonder where Sterling

13:58

Ills. That was our mind said, never

14:00

do anything to cause my grandmother pain

14:03

because he was going through enough pain living

14:05

to an environment that she lived in, raised

14:07

in us how she raised us um

14:10

And so for me, man,

14:12

we spent I

14:15

spent many a night thinking, because

14:18

when you like, when you win, you in the environment that you're

14:20

in, you're like. I never thought,

14:22

is anybody else living like this? I just thought it was

14:25

natural that I drank well

14:27

water. I thought that was natural. I thought it

14:29

was natural that that I

14:31

had to go outside to go to the bathroom. Until

14:34

I was twenty, I didn't know that

14:37

everybody else had a shower, everybody

14:39

else had out there like because

14:42

everybody I knew that was the same thing.

14:44

I never spent the night at someone

14:46

else's house until

14:49

I was probably until I was grown

14:51

out on my own. I

14:53

never had anybody come stare at my house other than

14:55

family. Never spend never spent the

14:57

night because they couldn't afford to take another person. Novel.

15:01

The thing was that we didn't have we didn't have a bathroom.

15:04

And so for me, you know, I ragged everybody just

15:06

like I racked. But now can you imagine if

15:08

that would have got out that I didn't have getting on plement

15:11

I had, I had never made it here because I'd have been

15:13

fighting every day you

15:22

got no bathroom, take

15:26

that with you. And so to watch

15:28

her and how she worked every single

15:30

day going to work from seven

15:33

or three. She worked at the nursing home. My grandmother worked at

15:35

the very nursing home. She's

15:37

the last couple of years she lived at the very nursing

15:39

home. That provided a lot of the income

15:42

that we had growing up. And one of the

15:44

women, the ladies that she was taking

15:46

care of, she ended up being a roommate

15:49

man. She taught

15:51

my brother now, she taught us hard work. She taught

15:53

us discipline. You know. We had a saying down

15:55

south and said, you work from Kank to kan. When

15:58

you left to go to work, you can't see the sun

16:00

ain't up, and when you got home the sun was

16:02

already going down. You can't see. But

16:04

working those twelve hours a day, I mean I

16:06

got a W two from

16:09

nineteen seventy seven. I

16:11

was working from the time I was like five or six years

16:13

old, working twelve hours a day. I

16:16

remember working we work. I

16:18

made five bucks a day, made

16:21

two fifty for working a half a day on

16:23

on on Saturday, for twelve

16:25

hours. I'm six seven years old.

16:28

I don't know very many six seven years old right now

16:30

that their parents would even think about letting them

16:32

go out there and work in the field and do manual

16:34

labor. But from cropping the backup, picking

16:36

up peak cans, clipping to onions

16:39

tomatoes, I did it all bill

16:41

Hey, and people look at me like, so

16:44

that's where this body came from. But

16:46

it hardened me. I tell

16:48

people all time, the easiest job I ever had was

16:50

playing professional football. They're

16:53

gonna hold on. First of all, you're gonna

16:55

give me a scholarship to go play

16:57

a sport, and then

17:00

you tell me I can make millions of dollars. Try

17:03

working on the field for five dollars

17:05

the day and didn't tell me if

17:07

you like that. So she

17:09

taught us hard work. I mean, my grandmother

17:11

loved the fish. Um. One

17:14

of the worst weapons I got in my life is

17:16

that we were going fishing. All my cousins

17:19

were coming over, that they were over, and

17:21

so me I went went the ditch,

17:23

found his great spot. So I was digging baits base.

17:27

We called nightcrawlers jump whatever you want to call him.

17:30

Yeah, they call works. We got we got some name

17:32

from we gotta jumping jacks. Jumping

17:35

jack. He looked up jack. So

17:39

I'm one of the worst weapons I got in my life. So I

17:43

um milk jug had cut the top of it off,

17:45

and um man, it was loaded.

17:48

My grandmother got home from work and my grandfather

17:50

loads us up in the truck, all me, my brother,

17:52

my cousins, and we go fishing. We're

17:54

going fishing. And she said, Shannon, let

17:57

me get them baits left. Not

17:59

my ain't I don't know. I was the only one that really

18:02

they were bull driving crab. I said,

18:04

no. I told my grandma noe told

18:08

I could have been no more to bout seven, babe.

18:13

Look my my grandfather.

18:15

Really, my grandfather was disciplined.

18:17

But if you really wanted to tell your brot up let

18:20

my grandma say, Bernie them

18:22

boys man

18:26

stacks, I said, And

18:28

my grandma said, Barney that boys

18:30

said, he ain't gonna give me them baits. Lord,

18:34

have mercy? Was it? What was it? The belt?

18:36

Extensive card man? You know they

18:40

hit you with whatever switch my

18:43

grandfather was having him. My grandfather wasn't that tall,

18:46

but he was like my grandfather was probably like five

18:48

maybe five a five nine, but he like sixty

18:51

solid wide. Back I

18:56

needed a cell phone back then, so I could have called them

18:58

folks. Was

19:01

it was very different. But after that,

19:03

after that point that was

19:06

that was that you know, they

19:08

didn't you know, people like maybe you could

19:10

look at it like that, but I didn't. I don't ever think

19:12

I got a whipping that I didn't deserve. Some

19:16

of the stuff, A lot of stuff I blamed

19:18

on my brother, you know, and he would get whip because

19:20

he was the oldest. So he's supposed to know better, he's

19:23

supposed to keep me from doing it. And I was like, okay,

19:25

you know, if I break this glass

19:31

three years he's three years older now. And

19:33

then my brother, we got a very unique

19:35

relationship because it's really not like brother brother.

19:38

He's more like my father, and

19:40

so he I really never

19:42

looked at him like my brother to

19:45

this day, still still to this day,

19:48

is that we don't have like a typical brother

19:51

brother relationship. It's more like father

19:53

son. And so anything

19:55

any decision that I've ever needed to make,

19:58

I've always talked to him. Um

20:00

he was in school, he would come back

20:02

and see because the decision at first,

20:05

Um, I was property eight the first year property

20:07

hit nineteen six, UM, and so

20:09

I was gonna go to the military. I was going down

20:12

the next day to go take the tests for the airports airports.

20:14

I was going to the military. My brother left

20:16

school at the University of South Carolina and he came

20:18

home. He said, Uh, the Savanna State still

20:20

have that scholarship. I said, yeah. Coach Davis

20:22

told me. Um, he said, if I ever you know,

20:25

if I ever want to come to Savantal State, he says,

20:27

go. He says, uh, go

20:29

to Savantal State for one year. And

20:31

if you don't like it, Um,

20:34

you could always say, hey, I went in college. Wasn't

20:36

from me, He says, no, I'm not asking

20:38

you to go, I'm telling you to go. So

20:40

that was really the first time that my brother that at this

20:43

junk, I'm seventeen year of age.

20:45

Uh, he's twenty. That was really the first time

20:47

that he had raised his voice at me since

20:49

we got like you know, and

20:52

uh so I could tell, but it was it

20:54

was hurting him because he knew how much

20:57

talent I had, and he's like, he

20:59

about go squandered this talent going to

21:01

the military. Um, and somebody's

21:04

gonna miss out on the great opportunity. And it was the great

21:06

and so every decision that I've made since

21:08

there is that I've always run it by

21:11

him to this to this day. You

21:13

know I'm serious about you. Uh,

21:15

it's not if you meet my mom. You

21:18

need to meet my brother. You need to meet my sister.

21:20

Now, my sister, I I might

21:22

be closer than my brother. I I talked

21:25

to my sister every day. I've talked to my sister every

21:27

day on the phone since nine every

21:29

day. If I don't call her, if I

21:31

don't call, if I don't call about three o'clock,

21:34

she'll call me if everything

21:36

okay. Just hadn't hear from me all day. I was just

21:38

you know, making sure everything's okay. Little sister

21:40

and big sister. I'm the youngest, she's the oldest,

21:43

she'll be. She she's eight years older than me, five

21:45

years old than my brother. My brothers three years older than me. So

21:49

we're close. We're we're

21:51

very very close. Um.

21:54

It wasn't always like that, because you know, I was

21:56

annoying my sister's age. You know, you want to date

21:59

and I want to know everything and see what's going on. Because

22:01

I would tell that was that was my that was my leverage

22:04

because see my grandfather knew I would tell

22:07

so he always wanted to push me to go along

22:09

with him because, yeah, I

22:12

would tell if they did something they weren't supposed

22:14

to be doing. So my aunts learned early

22:16

on we could bribe Shanna

22:20

get him. My

22:23

sister didn't learn that, so when

22:25

she wouldn't give me what I want, I would tell

22:28

to tell my grandmother. Livy came and chick,

22:30

that's oute of school today. We used the stage bro, so

22:33

she got the whole day. So

22:36

I would tell I would I would

22:38

listening to the door. I hear my aunts because

22:40

at the time it was like ten of us in a thousand square

22:42

foot so I had, you know, for my

22:44

four aunts, my sister, my brother,

22:47

not my grand my brother, myself, my grandparents.

22:49

So I'll beat to the door to listen to be talking about boys.

22:53

Mm hm oh, somebody

22:55

gonna try to sneak out, Okay, so I

22:57

go. Nobody,

23:01

put your hand down. Let

23:04

me tell you if y'all

23:06

don't like us, now you talk about real.

23:09

Matter of fact, my

23:11

grandfather don't bulled joy. He wasn't

23:13

all about that. Um.

23:16

I was about five and

23:19

we're on the front porch and my grandfather cause the front portraits

23:21

like right here, and my grandfather bed

23:23

and the bedrooms right there, and his

23:27

brother thump me. Now,

23:29

my grand there there are certain things you don't know about

23:31

that. There are certain things my grandfather

23:34

didn't like. My grandfather didn't like for you to thump

23:36

somebody on the head and said that you make them thick head

23:38

and they wouldn't learn. So he kept

23:41

yeah, that's my grand They believe that, you know, old people

23:43

believe that he

23:45

throwed me again. And I oh, stop,

23:48

I said, stop, Uncle

23:50

Oliver. He thought me again. I

23:54

heard my grandfather get about the bed. My

23:58

grandfather came out there and looked tan as

24:00

I. He said, if you thought that, boy, at one more time,

24:02

I'll blow your brains out. My

24:05

grandfather my uncle got in the car and

24:07

never came back. When my grandfather

24:10

died, he wouldn't even go into church. Wow,

24:14

my grandfather was a matter of fact. He didn't play. He

24:17

didn't all that joke in and Kiki kid. He

24:20

wasn't about that. Um.

24:23

And I think that's where like you

24:25

know, where you're staying with me? You know, I wonder

24:27

I wouldn't have shadow like me. I wonder you

24:30

know you you know, for

24:32

the most part, if you don't know. I'll tell

24:34

you. I don't fool with you. Like

24:37

when I first met stats Well

24:40

and him talking not so much on came

24:42

off camera. I can rock with him, I

24:44

said, because he really like me. Ain't

24:46

all about that Kiki kid all about that? Then

24:48

for the camera to being bro, if I don't mess

24:51

with you, I don't mess with you. I won't put on a great

24:53

show for the camera. But wants the camera click on

24:57

his phone, Yeah, on my phone. If

24:59

I with you, I'm gonna carry on the conversation. I'm

25:01

gonna be in a agent. But if I don't, I don't. So

25:04

that's that's kind of how we grew That's kind of how

25:06

we grew up. Is that just be honest

25:08

with someone. Um.

25:10

And then my grandmother, like I said, raising to

25:12

do what she did, to take raise her nine

25:15

and then take my mom's three and to get

25:17

us out. And because the greatest

25:19

compliment that my grandmother it wasn't

25:21

that she had two boys, two grand boys

25:25

that played in the NFL. The greatest compliment

25:27

my grandmother got received is

25:30

that Mary, you did an unbelievable job with those boys.

25:33

That was her greatest That was her crowning achievement, not

25:35

getting to the NFL, but the way

25:37

how amiable work. Yes, sir, no,

25:40

sir, yes, ma'am, No, ma'am sure, Mary,

25:42

I saw them boys and it's still yes, ma'am.

25:44

No, ma'am. Here were you know? And

25:47

it's funny is that when when people, when

25:50

old, people get things in their head, they can't let

25:52

it go. My brother and I we're in the

25:54

NFL and we're at the height, we're making millions.

25:57

We were getting my grandmother money and she

25:59

would still having us used to go buy stuff on credit.

26:01

Mm hmm. I'm like, granted, why,

26:04

but that's how she was conditioned. She never had

26:07

enough money to go to pay for everything in full,

26:10

so she got used to even that. Granted,

26:13

you got a thousand dollars and you put fifty

26:15

dollars on credit. Why, But that's

26:17

what she knew. That's all she knew. And so

26:20

for me to go home and

26:22

I'll be leading, you know, I would like, I was like, I would always

26:24

tell her couple after I got old enough, I would get

26:26

a hotel room. She's like, because I stayed

26:28

to my groom even I was in the NFL. I

26:30

had kids, I had a ferrari had

26:32

a Mercedes, I had everything. Part

26:35

I was remember laying there, I was, I was live in the bed one

26:37

night, I was just laying them like, man,

26:39

I got kids, I got a Ferrari,

26:42

I got a Mercedes. And

26:44

I was staying in the room and I ground my house. I

26:47

don't make no sense. Your

26:49

mass up out of here and go get me a house.

26:51

I called me and said, man, look here, I'm moving to Atlanta.

26:54

I said, you need to have a real estate agent

26:56

to meet me up there. Uh so I

26:59

can find me a place. But just

27:01

to go home. I mean. I would remember I would come

27:03

home and she'd be laying in the room.

27:06

I wouldn't tell I'll tell live, don't tell grand I'm coming

27:08

home, because if something came up, she

27:10

would get really worried if I wasn't able to make us. I don't

27:12

tell Grant I'm coming and I come in, old

27:14

man, she would get It was just such

27:16

a great it was. It

27:19

was. It was. It was a wonderful relationship because

27:21

iould just go back and I laying the room and laying the bed

27:23

with her, like get your big old self out of my

27:25

bed, you gonna break my bed down. And I pretear

27:27

like, yeah, I'm gonna break it down, but you're gonna

27:29

buy a new one. But we just had an

27:32

unbelievable relationship. And I

27:34

tell people this. When

27:37

she died, a part of me died too, because

27:40

I'm I'm I was, I'm never I

27:42

was never the same after that. You know, it's funny

27:44

to say that because I was grandmother baby

27:46

too, and I didn't know we had so much in comment. So my grandmother

27:48

had nine kids and she took my mama three,

27:50

me and my two sisters and raised That's the same way. And

27:53

my only goal and only on

27:55

the two houses I've ever built was from one

27:58

from my grandmother and one from my mama. So I noticed

28:00

feeling feeling. There's

28:02

nothing like people like, do you feel

28:05

you know a lot? I've got na Do you feel your

28:07

mom, you know, neglected you and you said the best

28:09

things you ever did. You gotta

28:11

make a decision. You're living

28:13

on the South Show of Chicago with two boys. Do

28:16

you think they have a better chance being with your grandparents

28:18

and rule South Georgia or with you having to work

28:20

every day and they're gonna have to be home alone. What do

28:22

you think? You gotta make

28:24

a decision something. Sometimes the

28:26

best decision does not involve you,

28:29

and it takes a real it takes a real person to understand

28:32

that that was the best. The

28:34

best decision that my mom possibly

28:36

could have made was to send us to rule South

28:38

Georgia. She knew he was gonna get you

28:41

know, we're gonna be eating no steak or anything

28:43

like that. We're gonna be eating a lot of you know, a lot

28:45

of possum and a lot of rad coup. But that's over. That's

28:47

a cool suit. Yeah, you

28:50

have to make that thing. You have to get you know something. You

28:53

get your baker, you know, and cut him

28:56

up. Get you some Bill Pepper, some onions. You know. You

28:58

make that thing. Not the right put

29:00

him in the oven. About the hoy would

29:02

half two hours?

29:05

She supposed to make it fall off the bone right now? Tastes

29:08

like she

29:10

got one of the freezer. Right now.

29:13

It's game. It's

29:16

like, yeah, yeah, it's game.

29:18

But you grow up and you don't you know, you eat

29:20

that, You eat uh turtle

29:23

and you eat turtle legs. I mean, yeah,

29:26

roll kill man. If we hear a raccoon

29:28

or squirrel or a rabbit or something home,

29:32

Oh you think you're gonna die in the ditching.

29:35

The clean him up. My

29:40

grandma ain't a boy. Y'all

29:42

need to go out there and get a messal squirrel. You know that's what they

29:44

talked. It wasn't a mess. Oh,

29:47

we called him mess of fish today. Boy,

29:49

you know, y'all need to go out that. My brother go get

29:51

that get that gun. And you

29:53

know, if you're from the South, you hand a gun. It was never

29:56

it was nothing. You know. It never dawned

29:58

on me that you weren't spoke to leave a loaded

30:00

gun around until I got grown in like

30:02

you know, that was a no note. Every

30:04

gun in my grandfather's house was loaded. It

30:07

never man, do you imagine if you grab

30:09

that gun. I wish you would.

30:12

I wish It never dawned

30:14

on me that guns weren't supposed

30:17

to be loaded around kids. All

30:19

the guns were loaded, and we knew what every

30:21

last one of them was, but it never donned

30:23

on us to go touch it. It never

30:25

done. When my grandfather

30:28

passed away, my brother would go hunting

30:30

and shoot raccoon, shoes, squirrels. Man,

30:32

that was some of the best eat my grandma father things

30:34

up mother frown man,

30:37

that was some good old band. That was some good old

30:40

speaking of speaking of your brother, though I

30:42

know I know how much you mean to you, Like

30:44

what did what did you feel in the pressure, Like your

30:46

brother was one of the best to ever

30:49

do it. Did you feel any pressure in his shoes?

30:51

I welcomed it. Every every everybody.

30:54

Everybody can't handle that. Now now I have a

30:56

son. He wanted no parts of that. He

30:58

didn't want to comparison because he tried

31:00

to play football and your dad with a call that or

31:03

you're not he

31:06

don't want he didn't want that. See,

31:08

I didn't live in my brother's

31:10

shadow. I embraced it because I

31:12

thought, like you said, he was like a father.

31:15

It never dined on me because he was three years

31:17

older than but I could not run him,

31:19

or I couldn't. I couldn't beat him in basketball

31:22

one on one. Yeah, yeah, that

31:24

was there. But I also knew, Okay,

31:26

I'm playing against somebody much older than me. The

31:28

kids my age and a couple of years older,

31:31

they stood no chance. There's no

31:33

chance of beating me at anything. And

31:36

so for me, like I tell people,

31:38

I didn't live in him, my brother's shadow. I embraced

31:40

it, and so everything he was the target

31:43

because okay, you did that, Okay I'm gonna do

31:45

I'm gonna do more. You did this, I'm gonna do better.

31:47

And that was the whole thing. Even when I got to the NFL.

31:50

Now, he was a much better player

31:52

football, And I tell and people don't believe this.

31:54

Football was my worst sport in high school. I

31:57

was a much better in basketball and track,

32:00

been football. But I only played football

32:02

because my brother played so and

32:04

I wanted to be like him. I had. I

32:07

was like that stack here we go. I

32:10

was the other way. I was better at football than basketball

32:12

and basketball for launch and said, he was

32:14

nice and nice, Duncan

32:17

you know what was your compare your games? Compare

32:20

your high school game to someone in the NBA right now,

32:22

No, don't don't do that. I

32:28

was doing. Yeah

32:35

I was. You know, look, I'm from

32:37

a class A school, a small school, um,

32:39

and so you didn't have positions

32:42

back then. Whatever

32:44

you I could jump the highs, so

32:47

I jumped him. Yeah, you know,

32:49

six ft tall, six one hey

32:53

country strong. I

32:55

was. I was always always still

32:58

goddamnit, I've

33:02

always I've always had had this body.

33:04

Now I feeled it out, but I've always was lean,

33:07

and was chiseled and man, so I'll

33:10

get that. Get them board. A thirty

33:12

one nine team was nothing. Twenty seven

33:14

twenty seven games stack was nothing.

33:17

We need to see the archives for telling

33:20

about the drunk contest dunk. Before

33:22

I tell you this, you know who beat me out? Was

33:25

it my senior Michael Jordan's No, no,

33:28

no, no, I think it's my

33:30

senior might have been my junior year for beat

33:32

me out for player of the Area, player of the year. You never

33:34

guess who beat me out? Yeah,

33:38

he looked up and got

33:39

it. He

33:42

looked him and got you nic.

33:45

It was nice. But we're on the team together.

33:48

Yeah, yeah, who's the late score? No,

33:50

he was. I went on his team. He went

33:52

to He went to a big but the mare

33:54

fact that I went to a class say, and he went

33:56

to quality which was the biggest classification at the

33:58

time, and were on the same thing. Yeah,

34:04

Hey, I'd have been more like Oak with

34:07

a better all around game. Bruce

34:10

people up. He wouldn't get see I'm gonna let that thing fly.

34:13

I ever thirty my senior year. Before the three point

34:16

there was no three puarterback then feedted

34:21

two in three quarters like and nothing that

34:25

before the three they handled three when I played

34:28

those stacks, That's what I'm saying. I got third in the hard way.

34:30

Can you imagine. But

34:34

then you know, I was like, you know, I wanted to I wanted

34:37

to be big, big, you know, start like that

34:39

basketball and my brothers all

34:41

the time. When I got to college, I started lifting, started

34:43

getting three good meals. You know they feed good at college.

34:46

I started lifting, running track, and

34:49

I know once I got to college, all at the football,

34:51

just all I did with football

34:54

and do my school work. Because see when I

34:56

got to Savanto State, I was prop forty eight,

34:58

So I was in all me your classes,

35:01

all remedial classes. And there are a lot

35:03

of other guys that as Avantle State that like the

35:05

spaceship football players, but they didn't want to go to class

35:07

because they were embarrassed. Embarrassed

35:12

because get some of the finest girls that the school was

35:14

running. But

35:18

I had had Dr Jorge

35:20

mc lamore. She was my reading teacher. I

35:23

was reading in class one day. Next

35:25

day I read. She gave us some assignment. I turned

35:27

in first, and turning in she came to me.

35:29

She always called me to this day. She called

35:32

me Mr Sharp. She said, Mr sharp, I don't

35:34

want to see you here. The next quarter, she said, you got

35:36

no business in this class. She said, you're

35:38

way too smart to be in this class. Man,

35:41

I got a bottom thing. I got all

35:44

the remedial classes because I was in all

35:46

of them, got all out of all of

35:48

them in two quarters, and started

35:50

and graduated in four and a half years.

35:54

Look, I'm getting up bout it. I was in

35:56

the front of the class, answered all the questions. I was

35:58

doing my girlfriend home work while y'are bumping. I

36:03

did her work. Yeah, yeah,

36:08

real quick. Though, before we leave the

36:10

situation with your brother, what was your thoughts

36:12

seeing him his trajectory

36:14

to me, I'm a football head, so he was on the way

36:16

to the Hall of Fame. There's no question to sustain

36:19

a career ending neck injury.

36:21

What was the thoughts on that, saying that's your big bro, your

36:23

hero, your dad in some sorts. Man.

36:25

That broke me. Man, I

36:28

remember getting the call and

36:30

I was talking to him. He said, yeah, because

36:33

I saw the week before they played the Falcons

36:35

and he had you know, he had a little he had a little

36:37

injury and he seemed like he would like struggling to get

36:39

up. But he ends up getting up and walks off

36:41

the field. He didn't come back in the game. But

36:44

I figured everything was gonna be okay. You had a stinger.

36:47

And then the next week he played,

36:49

he played Tampa. He has seven

36:51

for like a buck thirty buck forty two touchdown.

36:54

Yeah, and so I remember saying,

36:57

you know, and he barely he barely

36:59

mean the I grazed him with his forearm across

37:02

the front of his helmet, and he said he couldn't

37:04

get over. He said he was trying to get up, but he couldn't.

37:06

He said, he tried to roll himself over and he couldn't.

37:09

And I'm like that little hit, he

37:11

said. But they sent me to the doctor for some tests.

37:15

Man. He called me. That

37:18

was I was talking to him that Sunday night. He called

37:21

me that Tuesday night. He

37:24

said, man, I'm never playing again. I

37:27

said what he said, No,

37:31

he said, the doctor told me said I got very lucky.

37:34

He said, another hit, I

37:36

could probably be paralyzed. Man,

37:39

I cried, Man, you thought somebody

37:42

died. Because everything that he

37:45

was I wanted to be. What did he get? Seven eight years

37:47

and seven He got seven years and years seven

37:49

years to one case season when

37:51

that was unheard. He was three time

37:54

first team All Pro, led the league and

37:56

receive and had the Triple Crown. He was a monster

37:58

and man that and not hurt me. Man,

38:00

that hurt me so bad. That's still because

38:05

I always think whatever right would

38:08

have been one of the greatest because

38:10

he he, he and Jerry were

38:12

right there were they were nicking neck and

38:16

it just it was tough. It

38:18

was tough. I still think about what and I

38:20

still to this day I would. I would greg

38:23

gladly giving

38:25

him my career, say no, now, hey

38:27

God, hey giving me healthy, Nick,

38:30

let me take this. Man.

38:32

It's just because because every everything

38:34

that I was able to accomplish, there's no way I'm

38:37

accomplishing this without him. Everything

38:40

the way the way he pushed me.

38:42

He could I could hear his voice. We're

38:45

playing in a basketball game to Jim crowded.

38:48

I can hear his boys do it

38:50

like this, Hey, Doc, stop

38:52

playing with him, take it. I

38:55

can just hear his boys. We track, we go

38:57

to the state track meet, and I can just hear

38:59

and says, Okay, this is what we need to do. He

39:01

said, get your warm up, get good and warm because

39:04

I didn't jump a whole lot I jump one time. He was over

39:06

me one time. See

39:08

I go and put it out there like for their feet and

39:11

I'm done. Yeah, I gotta say, but I gotta

39:13

run later, so I ain't got to put all them jumps on

39:15

my legs. So it was just mat

39:17

that hurt man. I still because,

39:20

like I said, knowing how

39:23

hard he worked. See, the difference was I

39:25

wasn't always the hard worker that I became

39:27

back. I was just naturally God

39:29

gave me more, God giving ability to him.

39:32

So you showed me something, okay, anything,

39:35

Okay, I got it out. But

39:38

he was working hard. He didn't. He worked hard

39:40

in school. He didn't didn't win in school, and

39:42

I'm like, later for school, I'm here to play

39:44

sports. It's cool. And I thought, you know, I

39:46

thought football, basketball and track. Okay,

39:48

their school. He was the opposite.

39:51

He did good on his S A T s. He got

39:53

aids and bees. You know, I like,

39:55

hey, they passed people with season d's too,

39:58

so hey, that mean I ain't gonna take

40:00

no home. I took one book

40:02

home in four years of high school, and

40:04

that's because the teacher told me he was gonna check

40:06

my locker, and

40:07

I read

40:12

yeah, but man, man,

40:15

but for when when that happened, like I said, it was

40:17

like, that's still

40:19

probably one of them. That's still one of the two or

40:21

three saddest days of my career when he told me, say

40:23

it's over for me. But so he's like, he

40:26

told me, it's on you now. And so

40:29

we get to the Super Bowl and nineties seven

40:31

and we're doing an interview with NBC and

40:33

we're sitting down talking. I was like, yeah, I'm

40:35

gonna give him the Super Bowl ring and he

40:37

looks at me. He liked, he

40:39

had no no, he had no idea that I was gonna do that

40:42

when we win the game, and he's I'm sure

40:44

he's thinking, that's the most prized

40:46

possession. That's what you played for. That's why you lift

40:48

all those weights and all the dedication and

40:50

all the reciters and all the things that you missed,

40:53

you miss for that moment because

40:56

that's the culmination, that's crescendo

40:58

of your particular sport. Super Bowl in football

41:01

and you sport. You know, the NBA Finals, you

41:03

win that ring. But for me,

41:06

that's not possible without him.

41:08

And so the only way I could say, brother,

41:11

thank you for everything that you've done. Thank you for

41:13

being in my corner, and thank you for doing everything,

41:16

for being the man because when Papa

41:18

died, there was no dominant male figure

41:20

in the house and you took that role and you

41:22

made sure your baby brother had

41:25

everything. Thank you. That was

41:28

like for me, the journey was

41:31

what I what I because I got to live that.

41:34

I got the bus ride, I got the plane rides

41:36

and go into the stadium and being in the arena.

41:38

That's what it was for me. That's what it's always been.

41:40

That's why I don't win. That's why I don't win the ring for

41:43

me, the ring,

41:45

it symbolizes something different

41:48

for everybody, but for me, I

41:50

wanted him to have that ring

41:53

because it would mean more to him than

41:55

it ever would for me. So to

41:57

give him that ring and see the joy on his face

42:00

that he got that, because I believe there's

42:02

no question in my mind he would have gotten it had

42:04

he continued to play. But man,

42:07

I wouldn't. But all that, I

42:10

think it took all that for the way how we

42:12

were brought up and my brother going through that to

42:15

get me here, to get to meet to where I got to

42:17

to where I am today. Yeah, but you got two more

42:19

chips after that, I did,

42:20

I did, and and all you know, people, which

42:23

was the more special? Look, they're

42:25

all special for different reasons. Everybody you

42:27

gotta I don't care. If you've got ten kids, you got

42:30

a favorite, Yeah, you got a favorite.

42:32

And they spanled to know that, but they

42:34

know

42:39

I ain't say it, but I gotta favor my

42:42

grand mother. Like yeah, sometimes I just

42:44

I just find myself thinking, man,

42:47

what could have been? How how good?

42:49

How good could you have been? Thousand?

42:52

Catch up with a foregone conclusion because

42:54

he had five sixty five and seven years, he

42:56

was twenty nine, forced to retire twenty nine

42:59

called eighteen touchdowns is last year over

43:01

a thousand yards ninety four catches

43:03

and never played another down. Both of y'all

43:06

still ended up. Well,

43:08

we're trying to get him in because man,

43:10

he's a Hall of famer. Ain't no trying. He's

43:12

a Hall of famers. But it's

43:14

great. And then you know he watched He's like, okay,

43:16

bro, I watched the show today. Man, you you put

43:19

in that work so I can tell you did your homeworkers?

43:21

That that that the proud that's that's

43:23

the pop stamping. That's him man, I mean, like

43:25

I said, that's the type of relationship. Like I

43:28

said that, we've never had a brother. Now we

43:30

fought what I was like early on,

43:33

we fought. I ain't looked at him like that. I

43:37

fight the breaks off. We didn't fight the brother. You

43:39

got to, Yeah, you got to. You make me

43:41

mad. I'm picking up whatever I can find. My ain't

43:43

home. So it's me and you tell and getting

43:46

in the middle of if you do beat me too

43:48

bad, I'm telling. I'm

43:51

telling it always come back to that. I

43:53

would tell

43:54

that. Uh.

43:57

I remember we were playing played

43:59

with acts and I ended up setting a field

44:02

on fire. So he telled me to go home

44:04

and tell Papa. Somebody said the field on fire.

44:07

I run home. Now, mind you if

44:09

dry it's

44:12

gone the fire. But I'm running

44:14

fast. I could run through the I'm coming through coming

44:18

somebody said. Somebody said the field on fire.

44:20

He said, ain't. Ain't. Nobody'd been nothing it but

44:23

you two fellas somebody

44:26

one of you ain't. But

44:28

you too, feelas spaky

44:30

did it

44:33

under I told to me like man, I

44:35

was like, what you want to be? Do you wanted to kill it? I

44:37

didn't, even though I did do

44:39

it. You want me to say that,

44:41

though I couldn't do that, so

44:45

but that but that was that. That was I mean, man,

44:47

our relationship, man, it's just like and

44:50

I think the thing is that when he left, I

44:52

was I was gonna be a sophomore in high school. That

44:54

was the first time that

44:56

he was gonna be away and he wasn't

44:58

gonna be around. So who's gonna

45:00

watch it with my little brother? Who's

45:02

gonna who's gonna watch him now? Because

45:06

I'm not around. But but at

45:08

that time, you know, hey,

45:10

I didn't get it out. Yeah, I've earned

45:12

my stripes out for me and people like man,

45:15

you said little, I said, I've never ever

45:17

started a fight. I don't go for bad. I

45:19

don't bother anybody. I

45:21

don't bother nobody, I said. I don't even know if I'm

45:23

tough, I said, but don't make me find out hot

45:26

to fight. Yeah, I

45:28

said that, That's all. That's all I'm saying. I

45:30

said, I don't bother nobody. I don't get

45:32

that. You know, we talked barbershop but all that.

45:35

But everybody's gonna keep their hands to this sale

45:37

and we're gonna disagree. We're gonna agree to disagree,

45:40

but there's gonna be no push. It ain't gonna be no shilling,

45:42

it ain't gonna be none of that. Like y'all,

45:44

but y'all different. I watch y'all, some of them guys

45:46

like Stacks, And I was talking

45:48

about this today, Matt when uh

45:50

tray Young put the ball through Trevor reads a leg

45:53

and trip. We did the

45:56

same thing. But I'm saying, what if

45:58

he did if you put and he put your

46:00

push you into yet like that? It was a fight off

46:03

top off, top off top

46:06

What I said,

46:08

Oh dude, I don't care. Like the

46:11

one thing, let me tell you what our value. I value

46:14

this over trust, lord

46:18

is respecting. Ain't

46:20

buy that because if I respect

46:22

you, I can trust you and you'll be loyal

46:25

to me. But see, if you don't respect

46:27

me, you're gonna feel you can do it. And never

46:32

got kids, got kids

46:36

kids like that, that's not for perpetuity. Now

46:38

he's gonna have kids and they're gonna say, Daddy, you didn't

46:41

like that. Yeah, And I

46:44

was trying to explain us, like, look, Trade

46:46

was six ft tall. Now, he'd been small

46:48

basically his whole life. So he's trying

46:50

to he had to find a way to navigate and get

46:53

the ball to the basket. So he

46:55

did that, you're gonna shive him. Look, if you

46:57

play a sport, you're gonna get embarrassed. I

46:59

don't care. I don't care. If you're the best office of linement,

47:01

somebody gonna runn move on you and get the quarterback.

47:04

If you're in the wide, receive what. Trust me, I don't

47:06

got cracked the unt of the chin. It was sprawled

47:08

out. If you play hoop, you don't got

47:10

dump. Don't you got crossed over? You

47:13

don't have something happened trip over the three point

47:15

line and falling stands, And

47:19

I got like, ain't nobody I say trait? See

47:22

from that, I get both get

47:26

I get it, but I get both sides. I'm not mad at Trade

47:28

for trying it. I'm not mad at Tred for doing that, because there's

47:30

some people I'm not I'm not having that, you know what

47:32

I mean. And I'm not mad at him, like he said, being little,

47:34

being crafty. I love the fact that he pushed the limits

47:36

and could do stuff like that. So it's whatever. But like

47:38

I said, it's different if after some

47:41

people that's a fight off top and

47:44

no question. As soon as he did that,

47:46

the ball up. So,

47:51

seventh round pick out of Savannah to

47:53

a Hall of Fame, three times super Bowl

47:56

champ. Talk to me about l Way, McCaffrey,

47:59

Rail David's talk me about those Super Bowl

48:01

winning Bronco teams. I remember

48:04

going to when I got drafted, going to the Broncos.

48:06

I remember I was like, man, I was thinking myself, said, man, John,

48:08

they'll wait my quarterback. First

48:10

thing, my sister said, Shannon, don't go

48:12

out there bull driving with no John Elway. You

48:15

don't know that man like that. What I do,

48:19

that's just that's here. And

48:21

for some reason, guys, he

48:23

took a liking to me. Maybe

48:25

maybe because you know, I joke and I kept

48:27

the locker room. I mean, I'm a seventh round

48:30

draft pick. They gave me the number one, So

48:32

basically, I'm just a camp body. That's

48:34

what that's That's what I'm supposed to be. And I just remember

48:36

my brother saying, look, just

48:38

know what you're supposed to do when you get

48:40

your opportunity. He said, Now, john always gonna

48:42

be looking for you because

48:45

he knows big bro. Yeah, he was like, Johnny, we're

48:47

gonna be looking for just be ready. So I'm

48:50

trying to cramp, and so they got

48:52

me learned that I'm fulloed to learn Z I'm supposed to learn

48:54

to slot. I gotta learn all these positions, and I'm

48:56

struggling. And I remember

48:59

asking a guy. I said, at what I got on this play?

49:01

Right here? He said, run this, I

49:03

run it. It's the wrong route.

49:08

Now, yes,

49:10

yes, here, And I'm fighting

49:13

for the same job. So if

49:15

I he could get me out of the way. But I

49:17

swore to myself, I said, I would never ever

49:20

do that to somebody. I said, if I'm

49:22

secure in who I am and what I am,

49:25

I don't need to be little for me to

49:27

shine. And so I've always

49:29

went out of my way. But when I got to Denver,

49:32

I was seventh round draft pick. I was a tight

49:34

end, and it just so happens every

49:36

tight end on the roster got hurt. Now

49:38

I'm the biggest receiver, so I go

49:40

in. I'm like one. So by

49:43

the time they moved me to the tight end halfway through

49:45

the season, I'm two oh five, So

49:47

I don't playing tight end at two oh five. Man,

49:49

they ragged all of me. They're throwing me all around

49:51

in practice and so I'm thinking to myself,

49:55

I remember all this, how they throwing me around.

49:58

So guess what happened after the run blocking, real

50:01

pass catching drills. Oh,

50:04

now let's see who wants to go, because everybody

50:06

did. Nobody wanted to go and give class k ors

50:08

and Mobili because they were great run blockers.

50:11

So now I'm looking. I said, all you guys

50:13

that was counting, didn't want to go against c k

50:15

and Orson. Y'all need to see me at the land

50:18

whom killing

50:22

Wade Phillip to the defensive coordinator. So they

50:24

started practicing me. So what I would be

50:26

I would be the tight end from the opposing

50:28

team, so Scott Scott team.

50:31

So I'm not tight end. I'm cooking. You

50:35

throw the ball, throw

50:37

the ball up in the world. I'm putting the football. All

50:39

of spacking

50:43

the ball, I'll do with everything. Wade Phillips

50:45

blows the whistle. He's a dan. Put

50:47

his asser in the game, and let's see if they can cover him,

50:50

because we can't damn

50:52

put in the game. And as they

50:54

say, the rest is as far along was that. This

50:58

was my this was my rookie year. This is my rookie

51:02

Wait tell us wait till us come on the first

51:04

team? Are comments sense? Because I say, you got the comment

51:07

sense and that's what and that's and that's what, and

51:09

that's what happened. That's kind of how my career started

51:11

off. And then I

51:14

just started building this this relationship with John.

51:16

Every tough you know, every tough

51:19

catch that needed to be made to make

51:21

it in practice, because you

51:24

you can't get that trust in the game if he doesn't

51:26

trust you in practice. So and

51:28

then I started sitting next to him during

51:30

the meeting. I said, okay, well, okay, how you

51:32

want me to how you want me to run this rout? I said

51:35

this saying, go you know twelve, the four team,

51:37

he says, and he would tell me, He's

51:39

like, okay, let's try twelve, knowing

51:41

that come game time you're gonna be a teen.

51:44

So don't shorten the practice because they'd be shorten

51:46

that much in practice, you're just gonna be I'm not gonna

51:48

be ready to throw. And so that was the hardest

51:50

thing is that learning

51:52

how to control the speed a tight end because

51:55

they moved me from wide receiver, so I'm

51:57

faster than all the tight ends. And so I

51:59

was wondering I'm winning in practice, but he's not throwing

52:01

me the ball. And he says, it

52:04

doesn't do you any good to win if I'm not ready to throw

52:06

you the ball, because now by the time I'm ready to throw

52:08

you the ball, the guy you you covered

52:10

again. So now you have to understand.

52:13

So he's talking to me, he's talking through it, what he's

52:15

seeing, what he wants me to do, how he wants me to

52:17

run certain routes, and so I

52:19

don't know if I can go to any of the cause he's

52:21

very patient with me. So they put me in the

52:24

game. They moved they moved me to a tight

52:26

end, so they put me the guy. I don't know nothing, So I'm

52:28

struggling trying to learn why receiver plays. So

52:31

they put me in the game. They put

52:33

me in motion the entire game in

52:35

Denver. As I run by

52:37

ailway, he would turn around and timber what I got.

52:40

So I go by in motion. He telled me out

52:42

round, go back to

52:44

the huddle, so he called to play. Put me

52:46

in motion again, run a corner block

52:49

the end. So he did that for an entire

52:51

game. I don't know how many guys would

52:53

have had the kind of patient because not only he's

52:56

telling me what I need to do, he also got

52:58

to go through the reads. He got to worry about a defense

53:00

they're running where he's gonna go with the football.

53:03

But he took enough time and said, so you know what, So

53:06

that just got okay. Now I need to get on top

53:08

of this. And so I got more. I started watching

53:10

more and more take. I wanted to know as much

53:12

as information as he did, and

53:15

so it just got where were just like it was like

53:17

second nature. So he

53:19

had a large part to do with my success

53:21

because he was very, very patient with me. I

53:24

had coaches. Dan drafted

53:26

me, Dan Reives, he drafted me um

53:28

in the seventh round. But he said, look, his

53:31

brother is an all pro. It's got I

53:33

mean, gotta be something. We're

53:35

gonna find something. We got a lot of something. So

53:38

I was on all the special teams, you know,

53:40

which was at the time wide receivers didn't play

53:43

a whole lot. I was gonna ki man,

53:46

head, bustle man. It's

53:48

that. Look here

53:51

he was laying people. I

53:53

was. I was going on the punt. It's

53:56

over. They couldn't do anything with me. I let they

53:58

put they put the double out there to put him

54:00

head up. I break through that incredible

54:02

hole, getting

54:05

the horses, get him get

54:07

But you know it's different now, you don't really

54:09

try to for me, I was looking, I was looking at that,

54:11

I was looking at that kills. Yeah,

54:14

it's different. And that's why it's that's why

54:16

it's so hard to evaluate guys, because

54:19

back when I played, they

54:22

were trying to put there, trying to twist you.

54:25

You run that seven route like guys,

54:27

I've never seen to run a one step

54:30

slant Robert. But you know why

54:32

because they're not worried about that kind of punishment

54:34

that there was doling out back then. What

54:37

you're running one step slam right, it was over. It

54:40

was over. But now,

54:43

so that's why it's so hard for us to evaluate. When

54:45

they said, well what about this guy? What about that guy? The

54:47

rules have been changed so

54:49

much. The way they attacked the quarterback,

54:52

the way that our defensers receiver, like,

54:54

what is the defenseless receiver he got

54:56

on him? And show the pass he not defens

54:59

Yes, you on the football field, you should

55:01

expect to get hit. But and

55:04

then and then you know ed came

55:06

later to real came later. And

55:09

then We started Mike Shanahan with

55:11

my offensive coordinator when I first got there. He leaves

55:14

comes back as the head coach, and

55:16

then Mike was

55:18

tough. The expectations

55:21

that he placed dog and that's what I That's

55:23

what I like. He expects you to make every

55:25

play, no excuses. He

55:27

came in, you catch a pass finished forty

55:29

yards, So he was way down the

55:31

field, so we had to catch I might catch a five yard

55:34

route taken, but I had to run forty yards

55:36

because that's what Jerry Rice did and

55:38

so that's what that was. Came

55:41

from San Francisco, so that was

55:43

our mentality, is that get

55:45

home. We were always trying to hit our head on the gold

55:48

post. And he brought the mentality

55:50

of how we practice, how we met, Uh,

55:53

the expectations, have fun.

55:56

But the thing was I just remember he's always

55:58

saying, okay, eighty four, get him going, because

56:00

that was you know in in training camp, we're

56:03

gonna hit it, hey coaches,

56:06

uh profits according to Gary Kubiak, in my

56:08

position coach, he's an eighty four. We

56:10

need you to strike up the band to day. So now

56:14

I'm talking eight

56:20

fo get somebody today. Somebody gonna

56:22

get it. Got today. They don't want to see eighty for y'all

56:24

don't want this. Y'all don't want the kind of problems.

56:27

And man, we it would get it would get

56:29

going because and that that's that's that's

56:31

what it was about. I mean, I

56:34

got you. Guys have been on teams. All

56:37

teams aren't equal. You're closer

56:39

on some teams than others. We

56:41

did things together. We go to the movies,

56:44

we went out to eat, we go bowling, we

56:46

you know, we played cars, We rolled dip. That's

56:49

officially actually how club started.

56:52

Club Sha started back in nineteen

56:56

in Greely, Colorado. It was

56:58

my teammates room. They

57:00

had to play station. They had all. It

57:02

wasn't my room because I'll be wanting to go to bed.

57:06

Yeah, So like how

57:09

you name a club and it's not even

57:11

your room. Guy to be playing

57:14

play station playing all these games. We're

57:16

rolling dice, we're playing cards, beer,

57:19

all that. And

57:21

so John would come up, guys would come

57:23

up, and we'll be all time of the night. So the

57:25

coach coming from bed check you look and see, okay,

57:28

so we're staying up. We got privtice the next morning,

57:30

but we're staying up one two o'clock in the morning, three o'clock

57:32

in the morning. Yeah,

57:34

because we've we've in the dorm. We're in the dorm doing

57:37

training camp. But they know I

57:40

will be ready. I'm gonna be ready to Hey, I'm gonna be ready

57:42

to glow. And then club there

57:45

you go that rolling

57:47

die al right? Bad? We had it. We had a crunk up

57:49

in there. So that's the club started. That's what

57:51

club started back at nineties. I

57:55

named it, how how

57:57

are you gonna give a dame somebody else room?

58:00

I think because y'all don't know where to go to bed and

58:03

I'm not I'm not going to have y'all in my room

58:05

to the three o'clock in the bowling so I could

58:07

come go and come as I please. And

58:10

I've been at my homeboard was talking about it here,

58:12

one of the assistant coaches at the charges,

58:14

and we were talking about He's like, you know what, man, I was just thinking

58:16

about that clubche

58:18

It wasn't even your room. I

58:21

said, I know that was down.

58:25

It was going down. It was great. But like I said, guy, you

58:27

guys have been on team where you're really really

58:29

close, and we were really

58:32

really close. Everything we did, we bowled.

58:34

You know, like I said, we go go bowling together. We

58:36

went to the movies together. We did almost

58:38

everything together. The training camp, you know,

58:41

John, like I said, John would come up. Guys would come up

58:43

and they might not even roll. Were just

58:45

just show the show the face. And you

58:47

don't understand how important chemistry is. Those are normally

58:50

championship quality teams. At least you have the

58:52

ability to win a championship those kind of teams.

58:54

You know, I was fortunate enough to play on the team that one.

58:57

I was on the team that I thought we had the talent, but

58:59

we just didn't. We didn't vibe like our chemistry

59:01

wasn't like that. So I tell people all the time, it's

59:03

more people, Oh, chemistry, that's a class

59:05

that you're taking high school in college. Nor it's

59:07

not not no no,

59:09

no, no,

59:12

no, you can't. You guys gotta believe, sincerely

59:14

believe that that guy has

59:16

my best interest and he got to know that I have

59:18

his best interest and the common goal. Like

59:21

and I tell you know, when I talked to young guy, I said, look,

59:23

whatever you want to do, I got no

59:26

problem with that. If you want to be go to

59:28

the pro bowler, you want to be all this. So you want to be

59:30

m v P, be that, but not a

59:32

the expense of the team. Yeah not

59:35

because if you want to be that, I know you're gonna put the time

59:37

in. I know you're gonna put the effort in. You're gonna put the training

59:39

in, You'll put the studying in it. But

59:41

not at the expense of the team. Team

59:44

is there and there they have been locked. And

59:47

that's mainly what I butted head with guys. What

59:50

I know all they cared all that, Yeah, all

59:52

they cared about with staff. They cared nothing about

59:54

the team. That That rubbed me the wrong way. I

59:57

don't I don't want no part. I don't know. We

1:00:00

didn't we wouldn't have any So y'all need to see y'all

1:00:02

had no enforces. So y'all need somebody on that block,

1:00:04

like to like your boy your

1:00:06

bad. He could have helped us out. Hey,

1:00:09

he tried. He tried to post me up. Tell

1:00:11

them what happened? You try to post me up? So this happened.

1:00:14

It wasn't a basketball involved. What was off

1:00:16

set? And I told him I can handle him, and I

1:00:18

told him I could post him up. And I tried to back him down

1:00:20

here. I couldn't move him right there. But I don't have a basketball.

1:00:27

I tried to back up. That is what I have on dress.

1:00:30

You dress, you go

1:00:33

the way, but I just figured it out.

1:00:35

I gotta go around.

1:00:42

I imagine

1:00:45

that for him. Tell me what it was like. So after

1:00:47

you you and John get your chemistry, tell me it was like

1:00:49

playing with the one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

1:00:52

And he had a cannon too. It

1:00:54

was great. It was unbelievable because,

1:00:56

like like I said, he was a guy. John

1:00:59

was all about respect. You see some of

1:01:01

these guys where they don't get the ball, they throwing

1:01:03

water coolers and they're stomping. Don't do him

1:01:05

like, don't don't show him up. He would

1:01:08

never show you up. You run the wrong route,

1:01:10

you timp a pass and he gets him accepted.

1:01:13

He's never gonna show you up. If if

1:01:15

you did something that he didn't agree with, he's

1:01:17

gonna talk to you on the sideline, or you're gonna wait

1:01:19

till the next day and he will talk to you behind.

1:01:22

That's what I spect. Don't don't show

1:01:24

me up because don't don't let that

1:01:26

fool you. Don't think because now you more

1:01:28

high profile to me, I eat your ass up

1:01:30

out here, because at the end of the day,

1:01:33

the one thing Mary Port and Mary

1:01:35

Port and Barney Porter talk me. When you go somewhere,

1:01:37

you're a man. When you leave there, you be a man.

1:01:39

So don't talk to me sideways. He

1:01:42

gave me that respect, and I mean he didn't

1:01:44

have to do that because he had. He

1:01:46

was John Elways. He was already in the m v

1:01:48

P. He was already a Super Bowl. You know, he

1:01:50

gonna even though he hadn't won, So he had already

1:01:53

built up his credentials. He showed

1:01:55

a young kid respect and

1:01:58

so for me, okay,

1:02:00

whatever you need. Like I

1:02:02

said, there are a lot of great quarterbacks.

1:02:04

And I went to the Pro Bowl with with with

1:02:07

Marino Play, Warren Moon, Joe

1:02:09

Montana, my last Pro Bowl, Peyton

1:02:11

Manning, and Tom Brady with my quarterbacks.

1:02:16

I didn't look here. I would learned it for a vacation.

1:02:19

I didn't tell about it. I

1:02:22

looked at the pro guy looking at it and trying to win the

1:02:24

car win m VP vacation. I

1:02:27

did everything I need to do to get over here, and

1:02:29

I ain't trying to win the m v P over here. Na

1:02:32

na, but man, he man,

1:02:34

look here of the superstars that I

1:02:37

had, Like I said, I didn't play with him, give

1:02:39

me sever because the way he

1:02:41

treated me. I love the fact

1:02:43

that he didn't show, you know, show up. He yelling

1:02:45

at the screaming on the sideline. I ain't all about

1:02:48

that yelling and screaming at all about that. All

1:02:51

my coaches I've always told him. I said,

1:02:53

you could correct me in front of anybody,

1:02:55

but you can't curse me. I

1:02:58

say, Mary Porter, who

1:03:00

gave me everything but life, never

1:03:03

cursed me. So now if you want, you will

1:03:05

see me at the food called

1:03:08

me a mo fol and then you're

1:03:11

gonna have to deal with me, so I might have to leave. So

1:03:14

I never had a confrontation with a coach. I

1:03:17

never really had no confrontation with a player. Really,

1:03:19

I think I got you know, it wasn't really no fight. He

1:03:21

was it was cold one day, uh

1:03:24

and I remember this, like, yeah it was and

1:03:26

we were doing walk through and it was cold.

1:03:28

I mean, I was bummed up up and this

1:03:32

guy named he told the story. So I go ahead and tell it

1:03:34

to Reggie Rivers and

1:03:37

he I threw him the ball,

1:03:39

you know, I you know called the pass that I threw in the ball

1:03:42

and he threw the ball back and hit me in the face

1:03:44

with it.

1:03:47

Yeah, we we have no heaven a

1:03:50

walk through, and so he you know, I threw you

1:03:52

know, I threw in the ball and he showed the ball hit

1:03:54

me back in my face. You

1:03:57

started, I threw

1:03:59

him the ball. I'm like here here bro after

1:04:02

like you don't know. But he was just scout. You're

1:04:04

just on scout team. So it wasn't like the defense.

1:04:06

He was just he was an offensive player too, but

1:04:08

just so we would walk through like offense, and

1:04:11

so we have level offensive players. We have the

1:04:13

rest of the offensive players playing the defense. So

1:04:16

you know, you know what I mean, I

1:04:18

threw him the ball. All he could even

1:04:21

say just dropping let it into the ground, but

1:04:23

don't throw it back and let me hit it hit me in the face.

1:04:26

So I just I just walked up. He's

1:04:30

like, yeah, that

1:04:32

that was it. So and

1:04:35

that that was that was That was the only time

1:04:37

I've never even come close, uh to getting

1:04:40

into it with somebody in the NFL. Now, that

1:04:42

was the only time. Only got one fight in college

1:04:45

um with a defensive lineman. You know, we joaning

1:04:47

you know what I mean. Guy, you go to a black college.

1:04:49

It's all about joaning. It's all about if

1:04:51

you come in late, you come into cafeteria late, whatever

1:04:54

you got on, we're gonna make fun of. I'm

1:04:57

gonna light you up. And so you know

1:04:59

I'm lighting him up now, remind you all

1:05:01

the up. You know, senior the juniors there. But he's

1:05:03

a freshman like me. But he's a d lamber. So

1:05:05

I locked him up. You got the table crying,

1:05:08

everybody laughing. So

1:05:11

guess what he gonna do. He gonna come and try

1:05:13

to take it out on me. So you know, uh,

1:05:16

I think I had like a sandwich or something, and

1:05:18

so I had some mayonnaise in the bowl.

1:05:20

Dude took the mannaid out the bowl and just put

1:05:23

it on and threw it on me. Wa

1:05:26

wah wah. Walk. That wasn't just one you

1:05:28

gave my whole boy,

1:05:31

I gave a piece extra

1:05:34

crism. He say,

1:05:38

I don't I don't even remember how having but

1:05:41

I just remember the next that coach, they goddamn

1:05:43

shop, what you're

1:05:45

doing that cold to dude through Man,

1:05:47

that's on me for no. Everybody was laughing.

1:05:50

You must have been frying him though, you had to be fried.

1:05:52

I love I love him. I

1:05:55

loved I loved it because you know, when they're getting

1:05:57

mad, they pick out the one person that didn't say nothing

1:06:00

like what you're laughing because

1:06:02

I was a freshman like he was, but I was you know, I

1:06:04

was a wine receiver. He was a defensive labman. So

1:06:07

all the other people laughing was bigger than you. Yeah,

1:06:10

but I got it quick. See, that's what you gotta

1:06:12

do the moment you first, because

1:06:15

like I said, now, if if I fired all these

1:06:17

couple of these things and you still standing,

1:06:20

yeah

1:06:22

something right right? Yeah

1:06:25

yeah, but I don't know to take

1:06:28

the thing these first three damn.

1:06:30

So that was it. But for the moment when I get long,

1:06:33

you know, I'm joking Stacks No. When

1:06:35

he first came on, I'm Joe

1:06:38

was a good time man. You come on the show. You know

1:06:40

how we are. We were laughing, were joking, we carried

1:06:42

on, and that's kind of how my persona

1:06:44

was. My personality was in the locker room, laugh,

1:06:46

joke, have a good time. Hey, it

1:06:49

wasn't It wasn't no jokes me. I was chasing that ring.

1:06:51

No when you no no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm about

1:06:53

no. No, no, no, no, I'm I'm trying to win.

1:06:56

No no, no, but bulld driving not on my watching right

1:07:00

there. The type like stretching. When we go out to

1:07:02

practice and we're stretching, that's the last

1:07:04

time before that. We don't

1:07:06

get all the joke in aside because once Mike

1:07:08

blow that whistle, lock

1:07:10

in, that's it, that's

1:07:12

it. I'm a. I'm all about A. I'm

1:07:14

trying to put that work in. And I had I

1:07:17

had great teammates because as I'm practicing,

1:07:19

I'm like, I'm asking the guys, uh,

1:07:21

Dedrick Dodge, I'm asking Ronnie brad for the man,

1:07:24

Tony Beelan, Okay, you cover this

1:07:26

rock? Am I tipping my rocks? Because I need

1:07:28

feedback because if I'm tipping something, I'm

1:07:30

giving something of I need to know. Let

1:07:32

me know what's going on. Hipping me and showing the deefend

1:07:34

of your round. I'm sure I'm leaning into a rite

1:07:36

or I'm doing something. I never never

1:07:38

forget Dedrick Dodge, who one of one of

1:07:40

my best teammates. He probably one of the guys that helped

1:07:43

me the most. He said, I noticed something. I

1:07:45

said, what you're talking about He said, when you get ready to break

1:07:47

out, you start getting up on your toes, get

1:07:49

inside it. He says, don't

1:07:51

do that. He says, because every time you do that, I'm gonna dry

1:07:53

that route. So that

1:07:55

told me, okay, I gotta yeah

1:07:59

what that means? D what do you mean? Come

1:08:02

up with the press it through it? I

1:08:04

need he

1:08:09

gonna drive aroute. And so you you start,

1:08:12

you know, because I need Like I said, I need feedback. Now

1:08:14

remind you it's eaven for it

1:08:16

got to cover you in practice because he sees

1:08:18

you every day. He knows all your

1:08:20

moves. He knows and he

1:08:23

when he starts hearing things if John Audible's

1:08:25

he knows what that is. So but a

1:08:27

guy that only sees you once a week and just watching

1:08:29

you on tape, he is not gonna be able to

1:08:31

get all those subtleties. So I just need to make sure

1:08:34

I'm not tipping it enough that he can see it come

1:08:36

game time. Now he's seen this route

1:08:38

year after year after year after year. What

1:08:41

is man? It gets difficult to be the guy

1:08:43

when you're going against him every day in practice, year

1:08:45

after year after year. But come game time, it

1:08:48

was it was a piece of cake. I see, I

1:08:50

kind of feel like you were something like you said, you started

1:08:52

that receiver once you came in, moved into tight end.

1:08:54

But I kind of think you reigned

1:08:56

in the era of athletic tight

1:08:59

end. They could have played receiver, but you were tied

1:09:01

end. So guys like Tony Gonzalez, Gates

1:09:05

today, Kelsey Kittle, you

1:09:07

were them and played like that

1:09:09

before it was real Titanus just blocker.

1:09:12

Yeah that's it. Yeah. Um

1:09:14

when I first when I got to the league, you wanted

1:09:16

to tight into the extension of your offensive lines. Those

1:09:19

guys were like six five

1:09:21

six, six to eighty five, almost

1:09:23

three hunders because everybody wanted to run the football.

1:09:26

They're like, if you ring you, if you gotta run game

1:09:28

and the defense, you can win the championship. All of a sudden,

1:09:31

they throw me out there and like, I'm

1:09:33

a mismatch because if you

1:09:35

walk your you walk your safety.

1:09:37

I'm a bulliant. You walk your

1:09:39

linebacker, I'm gonna run around here. So

1:09:42

now, okay, how do we do that? So I

1:09:44

started in the AFC West, and guess what

1:09:47

happened. They go draft Tony Gonzalez, they

1:09:49

go draft Freddy Jones at the charges.

1:09:52

Don't go get Ricky Dudley. Not everybody

1:09:54

is starting. Okay, they won't, they

1:09:56

won't, but but see what they didn't understand. I

1:09:58

was small. Who Leo Jones

1:10:00

is bigger than I am right now he's playing wide

1:10:02

receiver than when I played it tight end. But

1:10:06

well, I locked out on the stacks that I

1:10:08

put his five hunting on them stack that

1:10:11

we're going to where I get the right Hey, I get you right

1:10:13

here,

1:10:15

just driving. So so you're you're blocking,

1:10:17

had a lot to do what you're making them. No,

1:10:19

No, that's

1:10:22

all I was trying to say that the

1:10:24

thing when you're blocking, just the way

1:10:26

I look at it, I was more

1:10:29

of an asset in the passing game than I was

1:10:31

a liability in the run game. You see,

1:10:34

you let everybody's look at trade trade trade trade.

1:10:36

You don't don't playing the defend, but he's licking you up and

1:10:38

getting your thirty on offense. So that's a great

1:10:40

trade of James Harden. James Harden ain't

1:10:42

sitting in the chair in front of anybody, but when you like, you

1:10:44

up for forty and

1:10:46

so that was my thing. I blocked

1:10:48

well enough. I mean, somebody

1:10:51

got two dollar yard running behind me g

1:10:55

D, M v P D looking at

1:10:57

them files Yard Russias, I blocked for and now they weren't

1:10:59

playing with team. Now I'm not saying I'm

1:11:01

I'm George Kettle, I'm drunk.

1:11:03

You did what you did. But I

1:11:05

got to weight. So two

1:11:08

Super Bowls and and uh, Denver

1:11:10

and you go to Baltimore with

1:11:13

want to arguably one of the greatest defenses.

1:11:15

They say you were there, but talk to

1:11:18

me about being able to go over there and play, play with Ray

1:11:20

Lewis, play with that team and win. Man. I didn't

1:11:22

want to leave Denver Um, but

1:11:24

but it was a decision. You

1:11:26

went from Hollywood to company. I

1:11:29

didn't want to leave, but

1:11:31

it's kind of like a situation where I just didn't

1:11:33

think I was getting the respect that I deserved.

1:11:38

Your teen um and here I am

1:11:40

seven. I had gone to seven Pro Bowls.

1:11:43

I was First Team All Pro four times, two Super

1:11:45

Bowls, and all of a sudden, I guess because

1:11:47

John was no longer there, they didn't think I could play.

1:11:50

But they had started to use me differently. Ed

1:11:52

has started well a. Rod Smith had started

1:11:54

to become the number one receiver, so they started throwing him

1:11:56

a little more. I can still do the same things,

1:11:58

but I just wouldn't get in the same opportunities. And

1:12:01

so it was like Baltimore.

1:12:04

When Baltimore came, I was like, all

1:12:08

themore what they were eight and eight a year

1:12:10

before. I mean, I knew a little bit about Baltimore

1:12:12

of the Rabys because we had played him in nineties six. Never

1:12:15

in my wildest imagination that I ever think I was gonna

1:12:17

get out of Depper, you know, I was always thought

1:12:19

like, but then you know, you see Joe

1:12:22

Montana didn't finish his career, and you know, so I'm

1:12:24

like all these guys started.

1:12:26

Bruce Smith was was all of a sudden gonna

1:12:28

be was going to Washington and

1:12:31

then talking

1:12:33

to Ozzie on the phone. Um

1:12:35

I saw as a matter of fact, that was the nine nine

1:12:37

nine. I saw Ray in Atlanta. He said,

1:12:40

Man, if we get you, we

1:12:42

can win the Super Bowl. He said, because we got

1:12:44

it on defense, we got it on lock. We

1:12:46

just need a veteran guy man to get

1:12:48

them guys ready. Man. So

1:12:51

I go to Baltimore and

1:12:54

I'm we're practicing against him.

1:12:56

Now I know what good defense is. And

1:12:59

I'm remember going the back room and I'm like, they

1:13:02

don't realize how good they are. They

1:13:05

yeah, I say, this might not be

1:13:08

nobody's ever seen anything like this. They

1:13:10

could fly, they were I

1:13:13

mean it was it was tough for us to get a couple of yards

1:13:15

here and there. And then

1:13:18

you watch it. You're standing on the

1:13:20

sideline and you're watching it, and

1:13:22

you watch the physicality and you

1:13:24

watch the relentlessness in which

1:13:26

they attack people. I

1:13:29

don't think very many of those guys could play today because

1:13:31

it was just they were knocking people out. They were knocking

1:13:33

the quarterback out. They're not gonna receivers out, they were not

1:13:35

going running back. They're putting everybody out of the

1:13:37

game. And then everything just

1:13:39

started to click. Now we weren't

1:13:41

that good offensively. It was your quarterback. We

1:13:44

started with Tony Bankers, and then

1:13:46

they moved Triff came

1:13:48

in there, and then basically the

1:13:51

way we started playing, we

1:13:53

felt if we could get seven on you, we get

1:13:55

Temple, we get ten points, and we

1:13:57

didn't turn the ball over, you

1:13:59

could be you couldn't beat us. So

1:14:01

now we're playing for we're playing for one

1:14:03

play. Hence that that's what they called me Big

1:14:06

Place Shade because I was the guy who's gonna get the big

1:14:08

play. We get that one place, we get that early,

1:14:10

and we didn't turn the ball over. It's

1:14:12

over you, it's curtains. So once we gotta leave,

1:14:14

we got to the playoffs, and once we gotta lead,

1:14:18

and I'm like, man, we're going to the super Bowl. We're

1:14:20

going to the super Bowl. And it once we got

1:14:22

to the super Bowl, I'm like, I'm looking at the

1:14:25

jazz, I'm looking at the warm up. They're

1:14:30

gonna be looking. I said, they'll be looking to get ten points.

1:14:33

Literally, I know they was only

1:14:35

get seven and they got that on the kick off. But

1:14:39

that defense, no, that was that

1:14:41

was a special unit. And when you know,

1:14:43

you look back at it and you're like, compare

1:14:46

defenses. It's kind of hard to do. But I

1:14:48

don't know if they've been a better defense than the eighty five

1:14:51

Bears in the two thousand Ravens. Now, I'm Vias because

1:14:53

I happen to be there. But when you give up a hundred

1:14:55

and sixty five points in sixteen

1:14:57

games, and you don't let

1:14:59

you to give up, you go sixteen games and

1:15:02

all the teams combined don't rush for

1:15:04

a thousand yards that's impressive.

1:15:06

That that that's that's impressive. And

1:15:09

so it was. It was. It was different

1:15:11

because Brian Billy didn't care. We didn't have curfew.

1:15:14

I we went to super Bow to matter. We could

1:15:16

sue, but we didn't have curfew. He had one

1:15:19

simple rule. Brian Billy had our head coach.

1:15:21

He had one rule. He said, guys, I want

1:15:23

you to ride the bus to and

1:15:25

from practice. That was his only rule.

1:15:28

And then we get guys that the young guys

1:15:30

to my man, my mom, here, I think I'm gonna ride back.

1:15:32

I said, here you a I think cold just

1:15:35

gave was one rule. We don't have curfew. Now

1:15:37

you boy the here and you're gonna mess that up. I wish you

1:15:39

might. It's always it's

1:15:42

always somebody that you

1:15:44

can do right. They want to do role for no

1:15:46

reason, no reason, it's not now. So

1:15:49

we we got that. That was. That was a great time.

1:15:51

I got to meet some great friends, ray Rod

1:15:53

Wilson, guys that I'm friends with to this

1:15:56

day. It was a great opportunity. Um

1:15:59

no it and there when I was no. No. Eight,

1:16:03

Yeah, way younger than me. Ed came in

1:16:05

maybe my

1:16:08

I think my last year I think everybody

1:16:11

came in my last year. Yeah, I played. I played against him,

1:16:13

against him because you went back and you you retired

1:16:15

in Denver, went back to Denver. Tell

1:16:18

me how important that was to you. Well, we

1:16:21

won the Super Bowl. I

1:16:24

leave the team in receiving and they

1:16:26

drafted tighten in the first round. So what

1:16:28

they're telling me? So

1:16:31

so me. Now my thing is to

1:16:33

get him ready to play. See people

1:16:35

look at like, what it's not my job. Actually it

1:16:37

is my job because what if something happened

1:16:39

to me during the season and he's not ready to play.

1:16:43

Now my job is getting ready to play. Beyond

1:16:46

how you practice, how you study, take

1:16:49

what's expected of you. That's my job

1:16:51

to prepare him, to get him ready to go back.

1:16:53

Going back to Denver Um,

1:16:57

talking to Mr b who is the owner at the time. Um,

1:17:01

he's like, I should never let you go. Said,

1:17:04

I'm sorry for that, but you're

1:17:06

coming back. You're coming back home. I want

1:17:08

you to finish in the Broncho uniform. And

1:17:11

then I talked to Mike. Uh because

1:17:13

Mike and I my first goal around, we weren't that

1:17:15

close. Because I don't think he

1:17:17

he thought that. He just looked at

1:17:19

me and just catching, but there were so many other things

1:17:21

that once I left, he started to see that the

1:17:23

locker room, how guys, how practice,

1:17:26

how he held guys accountable. Then

1:17:29

you start to see sometimes you don't realize

1:17:31

the value things until it's gone. So

1:17:34

having a conversation for him and I was

1:17:36

like, yeah, it's the right thing to do, you know. I went to Seattle,

1:17:38

but that was too far. My kids were young.

1:17:41

Then I was like, nah, they don't even be getting on the plane

1:17:43

coming thirteen hours. Uh. I

1:17:45

meant six hours to come see me flying

1:17:47

from Atlanta to Seattle, visited

1:17:50

the Raiders, but it just didn't It didn't feel

1:17:53

right. It didn't feel right. It was it was meant

1:17:55

for me to start my career in Denver, have

1:17:58

a brief interruption, and finish my career

1:18:00

in Denver. And that was the best thing that ever

1:18:02

happened, because the fans embraced me coming

1:18:04

back. They always love me because they saw how

1:18:06

hard I worked, and it meant something to me.

1:18:08

Winning meant something to me. Losing

1:18:11

hurt me um, and I

1:18:13

just wanted to make sure I didn't. I got the taste of

1:18:15

losing out of my mouth as quick as possible, but

1:18:17

I think they appreciated the hard work that I put into

1:18:20

it. That's what's up so coming

1:18:22

before you came from you know, thousand

1:18:24

square foot, sent a block

1:18:26

place, bunch of whole bunch

1:18:28

of whole bunch of kids too, a

1:18:31

successful career, three Superpols,

1:18:33

and being inducted in the Hall of Fame in two thousand eleven.

1:18:35

What does that mean? Did you ever see? That? Was ever

1:18:37

a dream? No? Um,

1:18:41

the Hall of Fame, I mean it was so

1:18:43

far Um, that's

1:18:47

the NFL heaven. Yeah, that's

1:18:49

where the grates go to rest and

1:18:52

to be thinking of twenty five thousand

1:18:54

men that will be either coach, played

1:18:57

or been in front office in the NFL.

1:19:00

I was two hundred and sixty seven member

1:19:03

member in the prop By Hall of Fame. Skinny

1:19:06

kid from Glennville, thirty undred people

1:19:08

to traffic lights, graduating

1:19:11

class of sixty in high school. To

1:19:13

go here, it

1:19:16

seemed like a dream.

1:19:19

But if

1:19:23

people knew how hard I worked, and

1:19:25

I spoke about it, I remember, you

1:19:28

know, in my senior year, you get a senior

1:19:30

book. Every

1:19:33

girl side my book, Janna, when you

1:19:35

go to the NFL, don't forget me, Channa. When your famous,

1:19:37

don't forgive me every single one of them because

1:19:40

I told him I'm playing the NFL. I'm

1:19:42

going. They couldn't believe

1:19:44

because nobody had ever gone really done

1:19:46

anything. They could.

1:19:50

Yeah, I said, you ain't

1:19:52

going to NFL. They're playing on TV.

1:19:54

They make thousands thousands. Ye

1:19:57

that's me. That's gonna be me. And

1:20:00

I just everything that

1:20:03

I did was

1:20:05

preparing me for that. Not a Hall of fame now

1:20:07

the NFL. Yeah, I wanted to go to the NFL. I

1:20:10

wrote down in my memory in my book, I said, I'm

1:20:12

gonna go to the NFL. I'm gonna go to Pro

1:20:14

Bowl, I'm going to Super Bowl. I ain't put

1:20:16

a Hall of Fame in there because I in my mondy wouldn't

1:20:18

even let me something you might would even let your

1:20:20

dream, won't even let your fathom, but all

1:20:22

the other stuff, and

1:20:25

sometimes I still I still pinch

1:20:28

myself to think, damn, I'm one

1:20:30

of the best to ever do this, Like

1:20:33

wow, you

1:20:35

don't really it doesn't really dawn

1:20:38

on you like when you do. When you

1:20:40

do it when you can, you're not

1:20:42

doing anything. Man, I'm going to the Hall of Fame. I'm going to all of

1:20:44

fame. You just want to be the best you possibly

1:20:46

can. You want to just do everything you possibly can

1:20:48

to help your team win. That's all I want

1:20:51

to do. I wanted to be about I was always about the team

1:20:53

and to see where I came

1:20:55

from, working in those fields in

1:20:58

South Georgia. Uh,

1:21:02

Savannah Stay seventh

1:21:04

round draft pick. That this it doesn't

1:21:06

even seem it doesn't even seem real,

1:21:09

It doesn't even seem like

1:21:11

it's possible. But it

1:21:13

happened. I made it happen. I was

1:21:16

very fortunate. I had a

1:21:18

mom that made a decision that the best

1:21:20

thing for my brother, my brother's sister, myself

1:21:22

was to go stare at my grandmother and grandfather.

1:21:25

My grandmother and grandfather taken us in teaching

1:21:28

us to discipline being because their expectations

1:21:31

you work, you know, my my ground.

1:21:33

The first time the guy came by, Joe

1:21:35

Tatum came came by the day before

1:21:38

and told us he wanted he wanted uh to

1:21:41

work for it. My grandfather come

1:21:43

back in the house. He said, I want everything

1:21:46

big enough to stop, sir up to hit

1:21:48

that truck to Marrow because

1:21:50

you know, back then we roll in the back of the truck everything.

1:21:54

So I'm five six years old. I get

1:21:56

in the back of the truck going to work too. And

1:21:59

that's why I tell people that either this job

1:22:01

I ever had was playing in the NFL. He

1:22:03

said playing, it's playing he was working. Yes,

1:22:07

yes, that's working. People

1:22:09

don't know what it's like. The bell Hey living

1:22:11

them big old bad see stack. See if you had

1:22:13

that SE's da got your right. You couple

1:22:16

that and I hey you

1:22:19

pek. Yeah

1:22:24

we hate fig when eight

1:22:26

there. But you know what all

1:22:29

that background because everybody goes through some adversity.

1:22:31

It's hard. You tell me a person

1:22:34

that has not gone through anything, and I tell you person that hadn't

1:22:36

conference anything. So no matter

1:22:38

who there, you look at Lebron situation,

1:22:40

he's you know, he comes from a singing you know, single

1:22:42

mom um, teenage

1:22:45

mom, moving around. He came

1:22:47

through something most of us over

1:22:49

had to overcome adversity. So

1:22:51

we're used to playing

1:22:54

basketball. Ain't't coming over adversity,

1:22:57

especially when you grow up like we grew up. That's

1:22:59

overcoming adversity.

1:23:01

So to be to play a professional

1:23:04

sport, yes, obviously you have to

1:23:06

be talented, but you had to have

1:23:08

to go through something

1:23:11

to get to that point. And the more

1:23:14

you go through the more hardened,

1:23:17

determined dog it dedicated,

1:23:19

you become to your craft, and then

1:23:22

the sky's the limit, the sky's delimit. You

1:23:24

just gotta put the work in and say what's important

1:23:26

to me. And what was important to me was making

1:23:28

sure my grandmother never had to work another

1:23:31

day in the life, making sure my kids

1:23:33

because I knew there's no way

1:23:35

my kids could live one hour

1:23:39

where you came from the end of day that I

1:23:41

had let alone a minute. So

1:23:44

that was my you know, to try to get

1:23:46

them to go to college, take care of them

1:23:48

in college, and give them a head start because

1:23:50

you know, I started from the ground floor.

1:23:53

At least I can put them on the second floor

1:23:55

so they could could start them the cause they can start

1:23:58

them their own. Yeah. I mean, as a as

1:24:00

a real true football fan, I'm glad the week because

1:24:02

we don't hear too much about you on

1:24:04

this on this side of you reflecting

1:24:06

you in this line and as a true football fan, and really

1:24:08

appreciate everything you accomplished,

1:24:10

not only in your career as a player, but now

1:24:12

what you're doing in journalism and analysm and you're

1:24:15

one of the few people that have a very respected,

1:24:17

real voice. You know, so talk

1:24:20

to me what it's what it's like working with

1:24:23

uh Skip on

1:24:25

your show. It is one of the biggest shows. UH

1:24:27

talk to us about that. Skip is unbelievable.

1:24:30

Legend, shout up, Skip, Skip is unbelievable.

1:24:34

Skip is dripping drip. It's

1:24:37

kind of hard to explain it because people see

1:24:39

his brash, they see you no, they see his

1:24:42

his tough exterior, and he

1:24:44

just like, but man, he

1:24:46

is. I remember the first

1:24:49

time I met Skip and I'm looking at him, I'm like, damn

1:24:52

me small and I'm looking

1:24:54

at him and he's talking. We in production and

1:24:56

he's saying some of the things and I'm like,

1:24:59

I heard him say those things on TV. He

1:25:01

really believed that. He

1:25:04

really believed that Braun ain't that good. When

1:25:08

Skip left ESPN to come here,

1:25:11

he wanted me to work with him.

1:25:13

But Fox and I f it's one they wanted

1:25:15

another journalist guy because they

1:25:18

said, Okay, yes, Shannon can talk about football, but

1:25:20

can you talk about other sports? Because

1:25:23

before me, all the guys

1:25:25

that did this daily, if you look at all the other shows

1:25:27

that all journalists background, They've covered

1:25:30

baseball, they covered football, they covered basketball,

1:25:32

Olympics and so forth and so on. So

1:25:35

I was the first athlete to do

1:25:37

a daily debate talk show that talked

1:25:39

about other other things other than

1:25:41

the sports that they played. And it was like, well skilled, we

1:25:43

really thank Skips says, no, I want him.

1:25:46

Well, Skip, let's let's see the Skip says

1:25:49

no. Skip says, I don't want to interview

1:25:51

with anybody. I don't want to do anything. I want

1:25:53

him. That's the guy. I've done my

1:25:55

whole work on him. I know what everybody

1:25:57

said about him, hard work, He'll put the work

1:25:59

in it. So Skip went the bat for me.

1:26:03

Let's just say, everybody wouldn't

1:26:05

have done with Skip done everybody

1:26:08

because a lot of people and they said, well, you know, we

1:26:11

really want you to like, okay what I

1:26:13

tried, but you know they, you know, they wanted to go in

1:26:15

a different direction. So this is what we did.

1:26:18

Yeah, yeah, Skips, Yeah exactly it. Skip

1:26:20

says, no, I want him.

1:26:23

And so my job

1:26:25

now is to make

1:26:27

Skip right, to

1:26:30

put the time in, to put the effort in, to put

1:26:32

the work into study to know what

1:26:35

I'm talking about. So for me,

1:26:38

man, I do I'm here because of skill.

1:26:41

I never wanted to live in l A. I

1:26:43

like it now. But I never wanted to live

1:26:45

in l A. Never thought. I mean

1:26:47

like, I never thought a million years I

1:26:50

was spending anything more than a day in l A. Come

1:26:53

visit, you know, not even gone.

1:26:56

I live in l A. It's

1:26:58

not my home, man.

1:27:01

And being on the show and being able

1:27:03

to meet guys like yourself, uh,

1:27:06

athletes and other athletes and entertainers.

1:27:10

Man, it's great that the best job. Look, people

1:27:12

don't understand how fun that is, how

1:27:15

it because I look at it like when

1:27:17

we talk we come on the show, I met the barbershop,

1:27:19

Kurch worry. Yeah, that's where we are.

1:27:22

And that's what I tell me if I was like, bro, I met the barbershop,

1:27:24

and the conversation that we have

1:27:27

that we're discussing is that,

1:27:29

And that's what people. That's what people. That's why people

1:27:31

watch these shows because they're having the same discussion

1:27:33

that we're having. Exactly, Man,

1:27:37

y'all is better than Lebron and Lebron vicks.

1:27:39

Stop are you lying? Man? Game?

1:27:42

Exactly, So we're having those

1:27:44

same discussions, but we just

1:27:47

don't lie television to see you guys,

1:27:49

how you guys talk about your sport and how

1:27:51

things are and then have a football

1:27:53

player coming in and talk about it, or baseball player

1:27:56

or actors, and things still about

1:27:58

respect, still about working met your

1:28:00

craft and that's what it's about. And

1:28:02

then this now, I just work at

1:28:04

it. Now I'm not obsessed like

1:28:06

I was was because when I came out,

1:28:08

when I first got here and I got the job, I

1:28:10

would do the show and then I would go home

1:28:12

and rewatch the show in this entirety.

1:28:16

And I was just doing that over and over

1:28:18

and then over and over. I was rewatching it,

1:28:20

like, rewatched the show like four hours.

1:28:23

And my agent said, Yana, you're gonna burn out. You can't

1:28:25

do that. He said, you gotta do something.

1:28:27

I mean, I mean I wouldn't go in anywhere. I

1:28:30

mean the first year I was here,

1:28:32

I put two thousand miles in my car, I

1:28:35

went to work, I went to work out, and

1:28:37

I came up. I didn't do anything. That

1:28:40

was it. All the things was just focused, like focus,

1:28:42

this focus, just focused, just focused. It's

1:28:44

like, Yanny, you can't do that, say

1:28:46

you burn yourself. Yeah, he said,

1:28:49

you gotta. He said, you gotta pace yourself. He said, if

1:28:51

you want to do this, he said, at this pace, you

1:28:53

last a couple of years, and so I

1:28:55

started to pull back out of like, okay, but

1:29:00

it's a lot of work. To be good at anything, you gotta

1:29:02

work at it. I just sit here and imagine

1:29:06

battle off with you and skip

1:29:08

against Stephen then Max Kellerman, how

1:29:10

do you think that would go? And they don't stand

1:29:12

a chance. You

1:29:15

think you gotta you know, you know, I'm I'm putting you know, I'm

1:29:17

putting you with Stephen A then right?

1:29:26

You don't two

1:29:28

on to debate. That should be like an All Star debate

1:29:30

game or something like that. They just go off topics

1:29:33

that we

1:29:36

could make this happen.

1:29:40

I'm under the smokes and we'll do it. I'm

1:29:42

all for that. But I always tell

1:29:44

people about our relationship. I

1:29:46

respect you and how I ask you questions,

1:29:49

um about about the business and advice

1:29:51

you give me. People always ask about our relationship.

1:29:53

I say, like a big brother, you know, he all

1:29:56

he always give me the right advice, even when he sees

1:29:58

something that I've done on said

1:30:01

on Instagram when I he might not say

1:30:03

noting that day, but when you see me, you're addressing

1:30:05

and tell what doing. I remember one time in the story,

1:30:07

Um, it was something that happened recently about

1:30:09

Kobe, and I was about to address it, but

1:30:12

it was it wasn't It wasn't a fine line where

1:30:14

I was second guesting myself and out of

1:30:16

all the people I know, I d

1:30:19

M him and I asked him how should I respond?

1:30:21

And he gave me the best advice. You know what I'm

1:30:23

saying. I responded the way So I just you know, this is

1:30:25

just a question. I mean, people want

1:30:27

to know our relationship, but it's just me telling them,

1:30:29

you know, little little situations that I said work and how

1:30:32

we became so close. I appreciate that, you

1:30:35

know, I was you You watch

1:30:37

people and you watch Lebron, and Lebron

1:30:39

like, oh he too, buddy, buddy. The

1:30:42

thing is we got to get out of that, out of our

1:30:44

community because we look

1:30:46

at the old that's a side of weakness. Well,

1:30:48

such a arch wouldn't have done that. Well that probably explains

1:30:51

whether or not more people like him

1:30:53

because he didn't give the information that he could have. What

1:30:55

good his information if you're not willing to share. That's

1:30:58

what Kobe said. He wanted to enhanced people.

1:31:01

And that's the thing. I look at Lebron.

1:31:03

Here is a guy that Okay, if you're not

1:31:05

talking next to the nose, you

1:31:07

don't want to know that bad business.

1:31:10

You don't want to know how this man built the brand from

1:31:13

a single mother and akron and he's one of the most

1:31:15

popular athletes, one of the most popular

1:31:17

people in all the world. You wouldn't

1:31:19

want that information. Oh

1:31:22

no, that that's a sign of weakness. No

1:31:26

eat, each one, teach one,

1:31:29

pass that information on. What good

1:31:31

is all that information? If you're hoarding it? Look

1:31:34

my thing the way I look at it. There's enough food I

1:31:36

want everybody, And if you can't

1:31:38

eat right now, you can eat off my plate. Our

1:31:41

communities, man, we gotta get away from that because

1:31:45

I'm talking about us and that black community.

1:31:47

We quick to say, Man, I wouldn't why

1:31:50

that. We got to get out of that craft syndrome.

1:31:52

Well, it was like this westead

1:31:55

of guy

1:31:58

when they come and ask me, so, okay, I

1:32:00

explained to him. I talked to him. I said,

1:32:02

okay, now, you can't not say anything

1:32:04

because a lot of time guys want to get in this profession

1:32:07

where they don't want to talk while they're playing. Well,

1:32:09

you gotta give people a glimpse. You gotta give people

1:32:11

a little insight into what they could possibly be

1:32:13

getting. That's why some guys

1:32:15

do better on television than others,

1:32:18

because all of a sudden, like that's

1:32:22

but people knew what they were getting. For me, there's like if

1:32:24

he's anything like some of the snippets

1:32:26

and sound bait me calling the National

1:32:28

Guard or me doing things on the sideline

1:32:31

that gave them a glimpse into

1:32:33

kind of like how I was and who I am. And

1:32:36

I think the thing is that one

1:32:38

of the things that really helped is win the cap situation

1:32:41

kind of feeling that lap because as soon as

1:32:43

we went on the air, that was it. And

1:32:46

you know, it's

1:32:48

kind of like a situation that's going on right

1:32:50

now. You couldn't straddle the fence

1:32:52

on it. You get you your a. It's

1:32:56

kind of like what's going on right now? You either with

1:32:58

this government or you ain't. No, Well,

1:33:00

you know there's something that's

1:33:03

simple as that for the very first time, there's

1:33:06

not a whole lot of subjects that forced you

1:33:08

to pick a side. It's like when you're growing

1:33:10

up, you're back, Okay, who you with? Okay,

1:33:12

I'm with the skins, I with the shirt outside of you

1:33:14

on it can't it doesn't matter to

1:33:16

me. Nah, pick a side. So

1:33:19

and that feeling. And I think when when people

1:33:21

have heard me articulate my thoughts

1:33:24

on that situation and give a little

1:33:26

background in the context, I think people

1:33:28

like, Okay, I'll tune and I listen a little

1:33:30

more, and they because I kind of try

1:33:33

and approach it. Yes,

1:33:36

I'm a as an athlete, But

1:33:38

how about some of this common sense? How

1:33:41

about just come on. Now, you're on your job

1:33:44

and somebody does that to you, You're okay with

1:33:46

it? Nah, well he

1:33:48

should take a pay cut. Okay, they come to you on

1:33:50

your job and to say what they need an extra fifteen

1:33:53

thousand for caring an hr? You

1:33:55

cool? They're cutting you're paying Nah? Hell no, okay,

1:33:58

why you on him? Is easy for

1:34:00

you to tell someone else to take a pay cut? Kind of ain't

1:34:02

your money? But there't nobody

1:34:04

else want to give up? Why they give up

1:34:06

money so somebody else can make money? But you're gonna

1:34:09

take money for me. So

1:34:11

when you start, if you put things

1:34:14

and people where people could, Like I

1:34:17

said, you gotta put it on your scale, I say, it's

1:34:19

easy. Yeah. If you're making a

1:34:21

hundred thousand and someone's telling you you

1:34:23

can make fifteen million, but you gotta give a million

1:34:25

back make fourteen Yeah, you do that, but you gotta

1:34:27

do it in your terms. You're making a hundred

1:34:30

thousand. Somebody said, you gotta give up fifteen

1:34:32

thousand, or you gotta give up ten thousands.

1:34:34

So somebody so we can hire somebody else, but

1:34:36

I gotta do with me. You're

1:34:38

hiring somebody else is taking food out of my table.

1:34:42

So I think that's the biggest thing. Is I

1:34:44

just try to use logic. I try to put things in as

1:34:46

simply terms as I possibly can to help

1:34:48

people understand why I say

1:34:50

what I said. Why I said it. Uh.

1:34:53

I don't take no shots in anybody because I know how hard

1:34:56

it was to be an athlete. I would love and respect

1:34:58

everybody. It's never gonna be going

1:35:00

back and forth because you gotta take a shot

1:35:02

at me. Bro, if you took a fis to what

1:35:04

I said, I'm sorry, that wasn't my attention.

1:35:06

I'm just doing my job because I think you

1:35:08

know you at a professional athlete.

1:35:11

I know what you're going through. Maybe not to

1:35:13

the scale, but I understand what it's

1:35:15

like to be a professional athlete. And I'm not gonna get

1:35:17

looked bro. A lot of you guys, I'm going to be their

1:35:19

dad, don't. I don't think at this point I'm

1:35:21

saying I think people passed taking

1:35:24

stuff that you and Stephen they say,

1:35:26

because we kind of look at your the leaders of our culture

1:35:28

with this. So if anybody taking

1:35:30

it that way at this point and they're just

1:35:33

being hated at this point, but now you

1:35:35

know, but and the thing else for me, and they're like, well

1:35:37

you hate we gotta get out of this notion

1:35:39

if stax. If I say I like apples and oranges,

1:35:42

you can't say, oh, you hate bananas, and great

1:35:46

you gotte I

1:35:48

said, why why I just can't I like

1:35:50

apples and orangins I didn't say anything about

1:35:52

it. That don't mean I just like I didn't do

1:35:54

that with COVID. Yes,

1:35:58

there there's enough eating this And

1:36:01

just because I choose one of the other doesn't mean

1:36:03

I like it. Okay. If I say, if I say Lebron

1:36:06

was better than KOBD, that doesn't mean I disliked Kobe.

1:36:08

But but people don't really know I

1:36:11

used to cape for Kobe harder than

1:36:14

what I cape for Lebron. Didn't

1:36:16

know that. Finally, admitting it. You finally

1:36:19

admitting it on the show what that

1:36:21

you used to go harder for Kobe? Thank

1:36:24

you, Thank you people that people that nobody

1:36:26

knew that my friend

1:36:29

was telling the guy that cuts my hair. He

1:36:31

said, here's the funny thing, and nobody

1:36:33

who's gonna ever believe this? He wasn't

1:36:35

harder for Kobe than he ever did for Lebron.

1:36:39

Kobe with my guy, Kobe,

1:36:42

Kobe was my man. You

1:36:44

couldn't tell me nothing. So

1:36:47

I had so this I was. I had Kobe.

1:36:49

Kobe was my guy. He liked Lebron,

1:36:53

so I said, okay, Kobe, So we

1:36:55

got Kobe. I got Kobe, you got Lebron.

1:36:58

We can never change players. You

1:37:00

gotta stay with Kobe. I gotta stay with Cobe,

1:37:02

but you gotta stay with Lebron. He from

1:37:04

d C. He know about this

1:37:07

kid named Kevin Durant, so

1:37:10

he wont KD. I'll

1:37:12

say, I'll tell you what, I make you a deal. Let me get

1:37:15

get me getting James. Okay,

1:37:21

with Katie came when Katie came to the

1:37:23

NBA, I got Lebron. He

1:37:26

took k D. So now I got Kobe

1:37:28

and I got Lebron. So y'all see y'all

1:37:30

doing y'all own little bab shop trade, and that's

1:37:35

how it happened. But but but

1:37:37

that's the thing is I think that's the hardest thing for me

1:37:39

is to try to get the people to understand

1:37:42

because I talked positive about someone

1:37:45

else doesn't mean I gotta talk negative about somebody

1:37:47

because you understand that you don't have to ship

1:37:49

on nobody else to make yourself look good. It's

1:37:52

too many people these days feel like they got to be little

1:37:54

somebody to make themselves. And that's

1:37:56

one thing we take a point on our show speaking to

1:37:58

everybody in here. We know how to get people on our

1:38:00

show disagree with them, but don't disrespects.

1:38:04

Well. My thing, I think we both transitioned, all

1:38:06

three of us transitioned, and we so

1:38:08

we know the players side, and now we know the analyst side

1:38:10

as well. And I think one thing I really take

1:38:13

offense to, and I took offense to Nick Wright,

1:38:15

who works for Fox, was if you've

1:38:17

never really been in these trenches and done what we've done,

1:38:19

Like there's a whey for you not to necessarily agree or

1:38:21

like the style or play or whatever, but

1:38:24

you don't have to be disrespectful because

1:38:26

keep it real, you're doing this because

1:38:28

you weren't good enough to do that, you know, I mean, you

1:38:31

wanted to be an athlete and you you came

1:38:33

and you settled for journalism. So to

1:38:35

me, I think it really bothers

1:38:37

me when analysts that or

1:38:39

journalists that have never been in the trenches,

1:38:42

can't you gum and dribble at the same time,

1:38:44

like disrespect players like

1:38:47

you said earlier, because you know how hard it is

1:38:49

to be in no shoes when

1:38:51

you know what gets somebody upset? And look,

1:38:54

you cover the game. You look, if you cover the game

1:38:56

long enough, you should have an idea what you're talking about.

1:38:58

I get upset when I see analyst say

1:39:01

things that actually played the game. I said, if

1:39:03

it was that easy, why didn't you do it while you played

1:39:05

exactly exactly? Like

1:39:08

why don't wait a minute, you're saying that's easy, Well,

1:39:10

you had an opportunity to do it. Why didn't you do it? So?

1:39:15

And look, everybody has a job to

1:39:17

do, and my thing is, I'm not trying to disrespect

1:39:19

anybody. I'm just trying to make a point. And yet

1:39:21

sometimes I get upset when when guys do certain

1:39:23

things are like, Bro, why do you put yourself in the home while

1:39:26

it's coming from from your place

1:39:28

stuff? Because you've been there and you know what the

1:39:30

roadblocks should be avoiding it exactly. I mean,

1:39:32

if I see the guys, I don't see a whole lot of guys because I don't

1:39:34

go know what sta. But if I want to see you guys,

1:39:37

I would dat the guys blow. I ain't got no beet with

1:39:39

him. Man, you don't like I said.

1:39:41

I love k D, but Kate

1:39:44

you should be above or burn account. That's

1:39:47

what I told him. I was like, I don't like that you burn, I said, motherfucking

1:39:49

text them straight from your phone. Yeah, if

1:39:53

you got something to say safe, I ain't

1:39:55

hide behind nothing there. Like, Man,

1:39:57

I can't believe you said that. I said, Well, I can't believe you say

1:40:00

what you said to me. So you just

1:40:04

say whatever. Yeah, don't

1:40:07

he don't let them sue. You know, right

1:40:10

you're talking to me. Yeah,

1:40:12

I can't let you talk to me. Crazy But you know, like

1:40:14

I said, But after, for the most part is

1:40:16

the guys. When I see the guys and

1:40:19

having been on this show, the respect that they

1:40:21

showed me, Man, that makes me feel so good.

1:40:23

I'm like everybody now, they

1:40:25

don't nobody call me my name. Everybody called me una.

1:40:28

I mean in

1:40:30

d Wade, I'm like bad because

1:40:32

you're speaking for us to Yeah, you know, you're

1:40:35

speaking for us to do when you're open up doors. And

1:40:37

that's what we continue to try to do is just letting

1:40:39

people know. I mean, there's other ways you can touch the game

1:40:41

and the game be a part of the game. And for your transition

1:40:44

to be, like you said, you're one of the only maybe

1:40:47

that that covers all sports and you were a

1:40:49

professional football player, so that takes a lot of hard work

1:40:51

and dedication. So we appreciate

1:40:53

that. We love that. But I wanted to also talk kind of

1:40:55

a two part question here, the thought on Tony

1:40:57

Romo's transition to being shipped the highest

1:40:59

paid but then also a two part question

1:41:02

how NFL players are reacting to him

1:41:04

making that kind of money and some NFL players

1:41:06

don't make that kind of Yeah, they're looking at the guy, the guy

1:41:08

that talks about the game is making more

1:41:10

money than the guys that actually played the game. But

1:41:15

it's about it's not what your worth, it's what you negotiate

1:41:19

to Romo clearly he

1:41:22

got him. Yes,

1:41:26

that's the way it works. So

1:41:29

if you keep taking, if somebody like, well,

1:41:32

here, just take that. If all somebody do is

1:41:34

give you this water and their solda and

1:41:36

you just keep taking the water, whether the solda is never

1:41:38

an option, what if you just keep

1:41:41

if you're not willing to fight. Tony

1:41:43

Romo was willing to risk leaving

1:41:46

CBS, and they understood that,

1:41:49

so they had to pay it. What is value? You're

1:41:52

not willing to risk game checks? So

1:41:54

the owners, No, you're not willing to risk game checks.

1:41:57

So they said, we're here, take this and

1:41:59

I the core player. Look, there's a one

1:42:01

percent. Everybody

1:42:04

is not gonna be in that one percent. Guys, they're

1:42:06

guys that's never gonna make thirty million. So

1:42:09

this seems to be a lot of money

1:42:11

for guys that say, the core guys making six hundred

1:42:13

maybe six hundred two million dollars, So extra

1:42:15

hundred thousand dollars of a lot of money. But

1:42:18

okay, for that extra

1:42:20

game, what else are you getting? How much

1:42:22

long are those medical benefits gonna be because

1:42:25

five years if the average NFL careers

1:42:27

three years, So let's just say you're done with football

1:42:29

by the time you good

1:42:32

as medical insurance is your thirty one and

1:42:34

is done. Everybody

1:42:36

is not gonna be like a Shannon Sharp and get

1:42:38

a job in television, or be Michael straighthand

1:42:41

or be Tony Romo. So what about

1:42:43

those guys? So

1:42:46

I don't think you gotta be willing. You gotta be willing

1:42:49

to risk something in order

1:42:51

to gain something. And so right now

1:42:53

the guys are not willing to risk checks

1:42:57

to miss and so I

1:42:59

don't Yeah, I don't understand what the rush

1:43:01

is because here's the thing. Owners

1:43:03

don't want to negotiate contract with players. What

1:43:06

are your left on the contract? But they want to do this

1:43:08

deal a year before it's up exactly.

1:43:14

But look, it's not easy when

1:43:16

you got a lot of overhead. You

1:43:18

got a lot of responsibility because

1:43:20

you know, if you got kids in private school, you

1:43:22

know you gotta pay for your house. You've got mama house.

1:43:25

You know. The thing is

1:43:27

about the ownership is that they're

1:43:29

lending. Uh. People

1:43:33

will give them a break, says okay, knowing

1:43:35

that it's gonna resume, but the NFL

1:43:37

cut checks for them in March. You

1:43:39

don't get your money until you play, so

1:43:42

they will put somebody else on the field and

1:43:44

people will watch it. So

1:43:46

that's what happened in eighty seven when they struck. They

1:43:49

put what they call scals, and people

1:43:51

watched and guess what happened.

1:43:53

Some of the biggest stars you wouldn't believe across

1:43:56

the picket line and went back out there. So if

1:43:58

a guy that's

1:44:01

a superstar, superstar going

1:44:03

across the picket line and go play, what chance

1:44:05

to do a guy another game that's barely

1:44:08

that he might get he might get cut with

1:44:10

that good? Is he that good? Though? I like him? I

1:44:12

think you know, I've never heard Tony wrong or do a game

1:44:14

because I don't watch the game with sound because

1:44:17

see, they will influence what you might

1:44:19

say exactly. See for me, I know the hell

1:44:21

I'm looking for. I did play the game,

1:44:24

so I'm looking as

1:44:26

Tony has talked. What Tony might be talking about. See,

1:44:30

I don't watch the game looking for touchdowns