0:06

Welcome to the NFL Player Second Acts

0:08

Podcast.

0:09

I'm Peanuts Tillman.

0:10

Gandalf the Gray. What's up, baby, it's my guy, Romanhopper

0:13

right here.

0:13

Man, this is the name of the week, I

0:15

guess, and I appreciate it. So let's

0:18

just get right into this thing. First and foremost, let's thank

0:20

all of our listeners and all of our viewers out there. Wherever

0:22

you pick us up on your podcast, whether

0:24

it's Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio

0:27

app make sure you always give us

0:29

a review, five stars, thank you,

0:32

review comment. Also hit that follow,

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but leave a couple likes in there too.

0:36

Man, appreciate it, man, and peanup. And I'm

0:38

really excited about this one. I

0:40

think it's all dbs, but clearly it's

0:43

only one dB on the show

0:45

today. And then we got two corners, So we're

0:47

gonna separate this thing and we're gonna get down to

0:49

it. Let's tell you exactly why, because I

0:51

didn't know up until this point that

0:53

corners are born and

0:56

DB's I guess, we just are made and

0:58

later on in life.

0:59

So here we go.

1:00

He was once known as and probably

1:02

still is as the Ageless

1:05

Wonder. He's one of the greatest cornerbacks

1:07

to ever play the game. He played twenty

1:10

years in the NFL, all with the

1:12

team that is currently known as the

1:15

Washington Commanders. He was inducted

1:17

into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in two thousand

1:19

and eight. He's the associate athletic

1:22

director at George Mason University

1:24

and he has impacted thousands

1:27

upon thousands of youth and young people

1:29

through his Darryl Green Youth Life

1:32

Foundation. Everybody, let's give

1:34

a warm welcome to mister Darryll

1:37

Green.

1:41

That's why I wanted him to do the intro because I wouldn't didn't

1:43

know you did that

1:45

was that was so good. That's

1:47

what DB's do. That's what

1:50

DB's do. Now

1:54

quarters Yeah.

1:55

I didn't know what DB's do, but now I know.

1:58

See there it is.

1:59

I'm glad I was able to get you guys

2:01

to understand you.

2:02

I appreciate we do.

2:03

I would like to know this before we go to the real

2:06

questions. All right, Daryl,

2:08

you gotta explain to me. All right, So how are corners

2:10

born and DB's

2:12

are or not?

2:13

Because I like this.

2:14

I like there's certain things

2:16

that just are uniquely God

2:18

given, uh in

2:20

their expression, and you can't

2:22

just go and make that. You know you just

2:25

can't go. Oh, I want to make Let me make one now,

2:27

the real cornerbacks with

2:31

the footwork and the different Actually,

2:34

i'll give you one that people could probably identify

2:36

with. You're in New York,

2:40

Oakland. They're all Oakland, Philadelphia.

2:44

They are not the city of brotherly

2:46

love in that stadium, they're

2:48

not. They are the city of you. Better put

2:50

your hat on, you better

2:54

stay away from these people. Okay.

2:56

So when you're dealing with

2:59

with that and the guy caught the

3:01

touchdown in the end zone, spent the ball, everybody's

3:04

screaming. They send

3:06

stuff to you, not nice

3:08

stuff, and you you you walking

3:10

out of that and you

3:13

have to come back out on that field

3:17

and then guess what they might do it again. You

3:21

have to be born. There's something on the inside of

3:23

you that just just just it

3:25

only lasts till I got to the sideline,

3:28

don't I don't remember that. You

3:31

can't. I can't train you for that. I

3:33

can't train you for that. There's something about they

3:35

gonna kick your behind and

3:37

you come back and you kick theirs

3:40

nine more times. But so

3:42

and then the footwork and the mentality,

3:44

the real, the real cornerbacks and my humble

3:47

opinion, I'm five eight and three quarters,

3:49

thank you very much, and I do want

3:51

my three quarters. And uh,

3:55

you know I was I was drafted first round, twenty

3:57

eight pick. It was twenty eight teams back then, and

4:01

so you know, they probably wouldn't

4:03

pick me today. You know, all you're too little,

4:06

you can't play. I don't know what they would say, but they said

4:08

a lot of that before when I was a kid. But

4:10

at the end of the day, when I came out there and played,

4:13

I didn't play accord into their thinking. I

4:15

didn't play according to what the coach had

4:18

in mind. I played what you call

4:20

result nique because I couldn't

4:22

play the technique. What's the technique,

4:25

coach, ah Man, I tell you what. Let's

4:27

just let's do this. Let's go with

4:29

what's the end result? Bible says,

4:31

run the race to win, running a card into the rules. I'm

4:33

not gonna hold his jersey, not gonna pull his face

4:36

mask. But I probably won't be doing it in

4:38

the technique that you say, but

4:40

I'll do it in the result nique that

4:42

you want. And so that's why I

4:44

think that you know, for me, I knew that I

4:46

wasn't made by somebody.

4:49

I wasn't a prototypical

4:51

size or whatever whatever, And so

4:54

I think I was born in a way that even

4:56

if you do get me, I'm still good. I'll

4:59

see you the next play. Yeah, I

5:01

feel like I can get it done. I'll get

5:03

it done. If you beat me a thousand times, I'm still gonna

5:05

come back. And I'm not embarrassed and

5:08

I'm not scared. So that's a little

5:10

bit of you know, and I think that's for some other

5:12

people in places and different skills,

5:14

and but that's how I've always

5:16

kind of been.

5:17

I think that's like the David and Goliath mentality

5:19

to know. And what I mean by that is if

5:21

if David fought Goliath like straight

5:25

on, head up, David.

5:26

Probably would have lost. It's fair to say, right, but

5:29

what.

5:29

David did he did something completely outside

5:32

the box. He was thinking outside the boxes, like I got

5:34

this.

5:34

Little slang thing.

5:35

I'm a sling this thing really really hard in

5:38

today's world. That's like he shot

5:40

him and he brought a knife to a gunfight any

5:42

one because he had he had his gun right,

5:44

So kind of like what you what do you call it?

5:46

Result resultanti that's

5:49

kind.

5:49

Of in my opinion, the five ay three quarters, Like

5:51

that's how you think, Like, I'm

5:53

not gonna do it your way. I'm gonna do it within

5:55

the scheme. I'm gonna do it my way and we're gonna get

5:58

some results.

5:58

That's I think. That's I like that. I like

6:00

that.

6:00

And no, and it's not in a negative

6:03

connotation. No, No, I'm not gonna do

6:05

it your way. It's just this is

6:07

how I do it. Yeah, this is how.

6:09

We do.

6:12

Shout out to my tell I love that guy.

6:16

I want to know about this though, because and I

6:18

don't want you to stay humble, Darryl.

6:19

Okay, this ain't the

6:21

time to be humble. I don't want you to be humble. Okay,

6:24

I want it s ain't humble. Yeah, yeah, hold

6:26

on, yeah, I don't want you to be Let's

6:29

go.

6:30

Is it really true you ran a four four three at fifty

6:32

because you you.

6:33

One hundred percent? And it's

6:36

true. When I was in my eighteen season at forty,

6:38

I ran four four to two for

6:40

I ran for.

6:41

Two four for two four Yeah at

6:44

eighteen season.

6:44

Yeah, I did all that at my eighteenth of twenty.

6:48

But you got to keep in mind, I mean you.

6:50

But you know something, I couldn't

6:52

show up at four five. I made

6:54

three quarters.

6:55

He was like Willie Maids, Willy Mays Hayes

6:57

from Major League. He just woke up and he woke

7:00

up outside. They was gonna cut him, and his bell was

7:02

on the lawn and then he woke up and he saw people running.

7:04

That's that's what your mommy and William mas hay

7:07

just running all the time, just straight

7:09

speed.

7:09

Well that's also I think one of the the most

7:12

one of the more interesting facts. And I don't know if

7:14

you would know this because it's not going to show

7:16

up on Google or anything, but this is what you knew

7:18

if you knew Darryl Green's career, was that you

7:20

always played kickoff because

7:23

you were the real safety. You were like the first real

7:25

safety on the kickoff team, and you

7:27

were out there just because.

7:28

You were as fast all I was out there for you.

7:31

So if anybody breaks, Darrell, go

7:33

get him, you know what.

7:34

Then to have to credit Richie pettiball On, my defense

7:36

coordinator, and Joe Gibbs, of course I heard coach.

7:38

They they had the mindset

7:40

like me. You know, I don't know if I don't

7:42

know if I've helped them with it, but they had the mindset

7:45

like me. We would we would go and create

7:47

stuff, you know, in the dirt, like you

7:49

know, I'll let you play what you can play, and

7:52

we can build that defense around that. So, in other words,

7:54

if I can actually truthfully shut

7:57

this receiver down who called

8:00

eight last week two hundred and twelve and

8:02

two touchdowns or three touchdowns, if I

8:04

can actually hold him to three

8:07

for seventy no touchdowns,

8:10

and I do it the way I want to do it.

8:12

Yet, in the context of our scheme, we're

8:15

gonna win this game. They wasn't stupid.

8:18

We're gonna win this game. And so you

8:20

know, okay, let him Dodd. That's

8:23

not how left foot up, right foot

8:26

up, coach, whatever, foot up? You know, you

8:29

know. And when I bumped and run, I didn't.

8:31

I didn't. I didn't. I wasn't trying to grab nobody.

8:34

Yeah, I was trying to move and so I worked my feet,

8:37

you know. And the other thing, too, is going back to your speed

8:39

thing. I

8:41

don't hate this, but it took me many

8:43

years to overcome my own

8:46

appreciation for being fast because

8:48

I my first game, I chased out my good

8:51

friend Today Tony Darcet

8:53

and it made me famous. I was riding

8:55

on Tony death since fame that

8:57

I chased him down.

8:59

Yeah, he went nine to nine.

9:00

Yeah, And he and I are great friends and we

9:02

travel speak to youth all over the country and we talk

9:04

about that. How y'all saying you're trying

9:06

to belittle him, Well, I'm riding

9:08

on his shoulders. If he ain't, if I caught

9:11

you, it wouldn't mean nothing. So we're

9:13

good friends. But for

9:16

me being recognized as

9:18

this fast guy, I despised

9:21

it in the early years. It's like, man,

9:23

I'm shutting receivers down. Y'all talk about how

9:25

fast I am. My speed

9:27

is a part of it, and I'm grateful for that, But dude,

9:29

I'm moving my feet, I'm playing

9:32

the ball. Guys ain't not

9:34

catching balls on me. I'm

9:36

not just a fast dude. I'm not going

9:38

to Pro Bowl to run one hundred meters. I

9:40

want a pro bowler to go and the coverties wide receivers.

9:42

So but it took me a long time

9:44

to mature and realize. Man, I thank God for that.

9:47

I'm grateful for my speed, but

9:50

in reality, my speed and my technique

9:52

and my mind and all the scheme, everything

9:55

was a part of my success.

9:56

How long do you think it took for the

9:58

league or for everyone else for fans

10:00

to realize that, like damn and

10:03

he can shut this guy down.

10:04

They still have Yeah, I don't

10:06

think. I don't think people really have. I don't think they

10:08

really get it. I agree with I was being fast.

10:10

I mean, dude, I chased down some guys. I

10:12

won the fastest Man. You

10:15

know, I probably have most of the

10:17

the majority of the iconic rundowns

10:20

in the NFL's Faster Man, the old NFL's

10:22

Fastest Man, and in uh in

10:24

Palm Spring, California, where it was eight guys

10:27

and they broke off two go to to two,

10:29

then four dours two. I'm

10:31

undefeated and three

10:34

Olympians was in that and some

10:36

legitimate guys that were in those races.

10:38

And I never lost. And these are one on one,

10:41

these are mono in the backyard. You

10:44

y'all you know this was no eight guys.

10:47

This is this me and you. Then

10:49

I beat you, then I raised Johnny.

10:52

You know, so I'm undefeated.

10:54

Yeah, do y'all know that I'm under.

10:56

And what was the distance? Sixty sixty

10:58

yards sixty like that. That means you open up

11:00

to your Yeah you got it.

11:02

Was good distance. Yeah, but you had

11:04

to you know, sometime

11:06

I got out late sixty honest,

11:08

you got to do something.

11:09

I saw the well you and herschel.

11:11

And that's also the forty. Sometimes

11:14

guys get a not as good of a start. The

11:16

forty you don't get out, but sixty

11:18

you gotta hold it through the forty all

11:20

the way through.

11:21

So I know I'm the

11:23

reigning undefeated in the

11:25

real NFL's fastest man. I

11:28

want them all. Everyone that I went to,

11:30

I won, and I chased down the iconic,

11:33

incredible athletes that I have great respect

11:35

for. The guys Eric Dixon, who's a

11:37

great friend of mine. I don't belittle him

11:39

that I called him. He's he

11:41

he's he enhances me because

11:44

he was great. Yeah, And so it ran

11:46

down a lot of guys and played a

11:48

long time. Ran for two at eighteen at

11:50

my eighteen season, forty years old, and

11:53

ran for three at fifty.

11:54

That's a big that's a big deal to be proud

11:57

of.

11:57

A lot of work, a lot of work.

11:58

We went outside right What you running

12:01

me and you was was racing what you think you do in

12:03

Detroit.

12:04

If we was a race, yeah, and this weather, yeah,

12:07

Cols it is.

12:07

Yeah, bro, I'm probably like Foe six eight

12:10

because I refuse to go to four seven. Refuse,

12:13

refuse, I'll never

12:17

all right, but.

12:18

I even I even

12:20

show, I even lift you up more and say i'd

12:22

have y'all have to catch me in July, so

12:27

you win. I'll see you in July.

12:29

I went through.

12:30

I want to know this though, Darryl. And and this

12:32

is because I truly don't know. But I watched

12:34

you a lot of times in your career,

12:37

and that is because it

12:40

was because all I remember them always talking

12:42

about was how fast you were. But what

12:44

do you say, technique wise? Is what made

12:47

you better? Was it more you more of a pressed the

12:49

man guy. I know you love shadowing

12:51

guys because you you know, you whoop them with your

12:53

feet, catching with your hands. That's what I was taught,

12:56

especially pressed man and man coverage. If I whoop you

12:58

with your feet and I'm staying in front, dude,

13:00

I can catch him with the hands.

13:01

That's easy.

13:02

Where a lot of people trying to be so quick handsy.

13:05

Now it's feet work first early or

13:07

footwork footwork early? You know, I got

13:09

two feet though, so it

13:12

or were you more of an off man guy off

13:15

coverage, which one would you

13:17

like?

13:18

The key would be for

13:20

me because you weren't the biggest either.

13:22

Yeah, I problemself in being great in both.

13:25

I don't want to be a disadvantage. If I'm playing

13:27

off on the left side, on

13:30

on the right side, off on the right side, I

13:33

want to play you because I covered

13:35

the man, so he can line up in the

13:37

slot left, slot, right,

13:39

outside, left, outside right. It doesn't matter.

13:41

I got you all day, so

13:44

whatever the route, wherever you line up, so

13:46

I'm prepared for that. From a footwork standpoint,

13:49

From a mental standpoint,

13:52

speed quickness, mental toughness, and conditioning.

13:55

Speed quickness, mental toughness and conditioning

13:58

is a very important thing that I worked on.

14:00

But my footwork. I work my feet every day.

14:03

I had a concept about my arm, my arms.

14:06

You say, well, what about your arm? My arms had

14:08

three jobs. Help me run if

14:11

he get really up on me too, clothes, hey, push him

14:13

off me, help me get away from him because

14:15

I don't want that much space, and then go

14:18

back and start running. And then when the ball comes, try

14:20

to play the ball. So if my arms

14:22

grabbed you or did

14:24

something. I'm like, excuse

14:27

me, I don't think

14:29

I asked you to do that. You don't

14:32

grab him, you don't push him,

14:34

you don't just put yourself like

14:36

this young kid put his hands on the guy's shoulders.

14:39

For what why you put your hair? You

14:41

should be helping me run and move my feet,

14:44

because really, at the end of the day, you

14:46

have to be where you are

14:48

in position to play the ball. You're

14:51

not just trying to you're out here just running

14:53

and jacking around. For example,

14:55

if you line up in the press and

14:57

they throw the ball, you should make the play. I

15:00

mean if you're right there with So I want to really

15:02

be right there, thirty yards

15:04

down the field. So I may get

15:07

I'm start off in position, I might

15:09

get out. How do I get back? My feet

15:11

get me back. I might get out again, my

15:13

feet, get me back, and then when the ball shows

15:15

up, I'm back where I wanted to be. But

15:17

that was a lot of work, a lot of technique, a

15:19

lot of focus, a lot of understanding,

15:22

a lot of understanding. And I will say this, I

15:25

watched a lot of film, but

15:27

I watched seventy five,

15:31

seventy five, twenty five, twenty five him

15:34

seventy five me because I got

15:37

something that I'm planning to do that I've been

15:39

working on that is important to me that

15:41

i think will help me beat you. And

15:43

I'm going to focus on that a lot. I'll

15:46

get you. Okay, his routes, his

15:48

speed, his quarterback, you know

15:50

that. I got that. That's what they

15:52

do. Now let's

15:55

focus on what I do. All right,

15:57

Dude, you're faster, you're quicker, you

15:59

mentally tell for arms, y'all know what y'all

16:01

got to do. Now, I don't do that. Now if you, hey, you get get

16:03

him off of me. Okay, good, got you, come on, let's go back.

16:06

So everything there's a real technical I

16:08

never really talked about that. But I wasn't

16:11

just some goofy fast guy running

16:13

out there. I can't do that play twenty years

16:15

against these big old guys quarterbacks throwing

16:17

bbs. So now it was people

16:20

don't realize what it really

16:22

was.

16:22

Yeah, I wanted to know that,

16:24

That's why I wanted to.

16:25

Yeah, it was definitely for me. I'm not I'm not speaking

16:27

for anybody else. Yeah, and I wasn't.

16:29

I'm not telling that. I'm not knocking. I wasn't a

16:32

cover two corner. Yeah, you know, you

16:34

play cover three, I play cover four. I can play

16:36

cover one, cover zero. I

16:38

like zero and one, you know, And

16:41

that's kind of what I did. And I played some guys

16:43

I played, you know. I did this jokingly

16:46

at the Hall of Fame last year, like to

16:48

some of the wife sayd y'all know why I'm here because

16:51

I covered all of y'all. I

16:55

like that they can see they can

16:58

cover the second and third get covered. I

17:00

was the second, third and first, second and third

17:02

guy. I was only dealing with the one

17:04

guy.

17:04

Yeah.

17:05

So, and I wasn't going to joke, but it was

17:07

kind of true, like in the Hall of Fame,

17:09

because.

17:10

I covered against all y'all. Yeah, I appreciate

17:12

you'll thank you. Yeah.

17:14

So twenty twelve, my

17:16

number got retired when I went to UH, I went

17:18

to Losing a Life. Yet they retire my number. And I

17:20

remember my family being there and it was this great,

17:24

great ceremony, awesome, awesome deal.

17:26

The Washington commanders announced that they're going

17:28

to retire Jersey.

17:29

So, first off, congratulations, right, no

17:31

doubt, that's a huge honor. Good job crowd in the background,

17:34

good job on me. Wrong, that's what I'm talking about because they

17:36

don't. I don't. I feel like they don't.

17:37

Do that a lot, you know, and that's rare.

17:40

How are you feeling that they're retiring

17:42

your number? How does that make you feel?

17:44

Oh? Man, I've cried a lot of thousand

17:47

people that have texted me have cried. It's

17:49

it's a real honor and

17:52

and I think that people appreciate.

17:55

You know, I was in one team for twenty seasons.

17:57

Yeah, and I was on the strike, and

18:00

now God told me not to go to another team. I don't

18:02

know if a lot of people even know that, but if

18:04

you think about it, I mean, people say,

18:06

well, man, why don't you go Reggie White?

18:08

The guys who free agent free agency

18:11

and started playing bead You're

18:13

like, why didn't dryl Green ever go? Well, I didn't

18:15

go and tell the word. God told me not to go, you

18:18

know, like yeah, right,

18:20

yeah, but he did, and so he

18:24

protected me. I didn't get hurt, it didn't break my neck,

18:26

and the people didn't get rid of me. But

18:28

I was really impacting that city. Trying to impact

18:30

the city. Part of my church, part of my

18:32

learning centers, faithful

18:34

marriage. Thirty nine years. My kids raised

18:36

up there. All my kids are married now, my grandkids

18:39

and stuff. So I tried to live a

18:41

right I tried to live a right life.

18:43

You know.

18:44

The way I positioned myself is oh, and by the

18:46

way I played football. The

18:49

primary is, man, I'm a great dad, a great

18:51

husband, a great man, you know, brother,

18:53

friend, love God. And by

18:55

the way, I'm an NFL player. So

18:57

I think the people that know me reason

19:00

while we cried because we appreciate that.

19:05

The people appreciated it. And I think it's

19:07

more than football. And maybe I'm wrong,

19:09

but I'm humbled by that.

19:11

I came there and gave my whole life there, met

19:16

my wife there my rookie year, and been

19:18

faithfully married all those years, and didn't

19:20

chase the women, didn't chase the money, went out

19:22

there hoarding around and crap. I went

19:25

to work, brought my butt home, cut the yard, ride

19:27

the bikes and served

19:29

and did what I was supposed to do. And to

19:31

come back and they say, man, you're one of the greatest

19:35

players and community guys. Dude,

19:38

I mean, it's not just

19:40

that I played corner. Yeah, I don't

19:42

see this as that. I think it's more,

19:45

and I believe it's more and I'm

19:48

humbled by that. This team was the last

19:50

team to get African American

19:53

player Bobby Mitchell. I met him. He's

19:55

the Jackie Robinson. When I came

19:57

there and sat down with him, it was

19:59

a real to come to Washington, d C. And

20:02

play in this shadow

20:04

of his beginning the

20:07

story team. And

20:10

then as we went on, we had Doug

20:12

Willis, Winner's super old Wiseman. You

20:15

know, we went to Super Bowls. Joe Gibbs

20:17

was a great man, great community. We

20:20

had some very special so I'm very I'm

20:22

humbled by this new ownership.

20:25

You know, Josh, Josh

20:27

Harris and Mitch Rail's

20:30

got we right in his backyard. Maggie

20:32

Johnson, you know these guys and

20:35

people don't know. I've had nothing to do with the

20:38

Commander's Redskin Commanders since

20:41

I retired. So these new

20:43

guys come in and said, hey, wait a minute. Darryl

20:45

Green and fortunately they were

20:47

from that area. Josh

20:50

moved to Philadelphia in

20:52

that area, but the other guys are local.

20:54

I know, all the guys have been doing magic thirty five years.

20:57

So these guys appreciated

20:59

Daryl Green and and

21:02

here I am, I'm disconnected from the

21:04

team and not

21:07

in a bad way. I mean, I work with youth,

21:09

so I'm all over the country. I'm everywhere, So

21:12

I mean, I got a life. They have a life. But

21:14

to bring me back and acknowledge that, man,

21:17

I'm.

21:18

You're one of the core faces of the franchise. Are

21:20

like, that's that's gotta that's got to mean something. I

21:22

know you might not.

21:25

Affiliated with them, probably since retirement, but.

21:27

True hall of famer you you know, like you

21:29

you you're a pillar in the community, like you represent

21:31

them well. So I think that's that

21:34

speaks for itself, like you're you are

21:36

only.

21:36

Different, is only in your one

21:38

hundred percent right. I'm not gonna go

21:40

and tell you if

21:43

you don't acknowledge it, I keep rolling, I

21:46

keep rolling. But I am. I'm humbled, and I am

21:48

grateful that that they do. They

21:50

just got here. They say, man, look what about first things

21:53

we're gonna do. We're gonna acknowledge you. I

21:55

mean, so I'm very grateful.

21:57

For Where were you at when when you cut when you heard

21:59

the news?

21:59

So y'all don't know the whole story. So my wife

22:01

and my son was interacting with them for

22:04

the last three months, so they were in on

22:06

it was yeah, and we

22:08

almost got divorced though talking

22:13

on the phone. And

22:19

then the day I was supposed to go over to the facility,

22:22

Uh, I was like, hey, I got something I'm going

22:24

on. She said, no, you gotta go over here, Like

22:26

I ain't going nowhere. I gotta go.

22:28

I got a meeting to go to.

22:29

So so thank

22:31

god she didn't let

22:34

me break her and say, don't

22:36

forget this. We're trying to surprise

22:38

you, you know, like dad, forget it Dan.

22:40

We were trying to surprise you any can

22:43

you.

22:43

Miss it all?

22:43

Oh my gosh, man, I was so glad.

22:46

I say, Honey, I love you to depth. You're the best.

22:48

It was the greatest moment. All my

22:51

kids were there, Oh that's awesome. And

22:54

so they came and the

22:57

grandkids were there, and it

22:59

was it was special's and

23:02

I say all my kids just in case my daughter

23:04

in Houston is listening to this, It wasn't all

23:06

my kids. Her and their husband and their kids weren't there

23:09

and and so but anyway, yeah,

23:11

it was That's how they told me. But

23:13

they worked for months working

23:15

on this and then uh, it

23:17

was just yeah, I was totally hummed.

23:19

So they tell you at the stadium or.

23:21

Was it we were at the facility. So

23:23

I'll tell you how they did it, and you can find it because

23:25

it's probably out there. I went and

23:28

they were telling me to present to do a video

23:31

for these draftees draft, and

23:34

so I'm going to do. I'm going to say to them, you know,

23:36

the Lords, the Redskins,

23:39

the commanders, Washington, d C. You

23:41

know, just say, hey, this is a big deal that you

23:43

worked all your life for this. And so I'm reading through

23:46

it. How is that you know you're reading the tailor prompt?

23:48

Then they prompt.

23:50

Then they said, okay, that's good. He just

23:53

got one last one, hit, this hit, this next one,

23:55

and we should be good. And I read

23:57

that.

23:58

I'm going to be and

24:00

I did you finish reading?

24:02

Or yeah?

24:06

It was really I have to give them credit. It was And

24:09

again, dude, they put a lot of thought,

24:12

yeah, and energy and a lot of people.

24:14

So I was humble. I was. I was. It brings

24:17

me to tears in a lot of people as well, and I appreciate

24:19

that because people know who I am,

24:21

they'll know what I'm about. I'm not I'm

24:23

not that dude, you know, I'm just a guy

24:26

down the street. It's grateful to be alive,

24:28

have a family, and and you

24:30

know, just to digress football.

24:33

I started football eleventh grade on JB. I

24:35

made divarsity. I walked on that Texas

24:37

are and in AI. I left

24:40

after one semester. After started the last game.

24:42

My buddy got killed. In correct. I was supposed to be in that car.

24:45

I left, went home, no grade, zero grades.

24:48

A year and a half later, I came back, but I got

24:50

twelve hours in community college. New

24:53

coach let me walk on again. Three

24:55

years later, I was the first round draft

24:57

pick that weekend. I got drafted. The next weekend,

25:00

Clem Greenwood hung itself. The guy

25:02

that got in the car that was my second best friend. His name

25:04

was Connelle Green. Clem Greenwood with my

25:06

second best When my parents got divorced in sixth grade,

25:09

I met them at the new school and

25:11

knew them all my life. One gets killed, I was

25:13

supposed to be in the car. One dies and hangs

25:15

itself when I hung itself when I got drafted, So

25:18

my life wasn't all just peachy cream. And

25:21

we grew up in the project, food stamps all that

25:23

stuff, and so I came from that broken

25:25

home all that stuff. And so next thing, no,

25:27

I'm in Washington, Like you

25:29

think you surprised, I'm surprised. How

25:31

did we'll I get to be in the NFL draft. Yeah,

25:34

I didn't even I wasn't all that, you know. Now, we

25:36

won the state in the MA relay my senior year.

25:38

I ran tracking the eleventh twelfth grade and

25:41

I ran track in the tenth grade. I played football

25:43

eleventh grade JV, and I played football my senior

25:45

year. So we won the state. So I had

25:47

some success in that. I

25:49

think I made all district at corner even as

25:52

a one year player. But I wasn't somebody's

25:54

you know hot, you know hot hot

25:57

item. So but I walked on and

25:59

had fun. But that tragically,

26:01

tragic happened, and I just went back.

26:04

I had no clue I was gonna be in the NFL.

26:07

I didn't dream about it. I didn't dream about

26:09

it, think about it. It's not even real. I

26:13

never even thought about it. Wasn't real or not. It

26:16

wasn't real. I didn't thought about it. So next

26:18

thing, you know, I was in the NFL. And

26:20

then as a Christian, I could hear God speak,

26:22

and then when he told me not to go to another team. Fine,

26:26

I'm gonna stay here. Next thing. I know it's twenty years,

26:29

but it's pretty crazy, man. And then, but I got

26:31

a great family, great marriage, great wife.

26:33

So I'm humble by that.

26:34

We're gonna take a short break and we'll be right back.

26:49

About those twenty years. I

26:53

want to know if you're aware that, which I think

26:55

you may be, that you're

26:57

on hold the record for the

27:01

seasons with an interception at nineteen

27:04

Yeah. Yeah, and the only one you didn't get was your very

27:06

last one. How close were you getting one or

27:09

your last year?

27:10

And how much do you still hold on to this?

27:12

Oh? No, I hold on to it. And what's funny about

27:14

it is a guy named

27:16

Mitchell. He was a linebacker and

27:19

I seen my last game. I wasn't

27:21

starting, but I was. I was playing there. I was in there,

27:23

I remember, and I got an interception and

27:26

here it comes, knocked

27:29

the crap out of me, and he caught it. Here's

27:31

a bad part about it. He

27:34

died a little bit after that. I

27:37

was at his house with his family. That

27:40

painted ball was on the on the thing and

27:44

I looked, oh my god, that's

27:46

my Yeah.

27:49

Yeah, that was crazy, crazy story, man,

27:51

that's the crazy story. But yeah, I would have got it.

27:54

I would have got an interception. One

27:57

interception for twenty years. But even

27:59

nineteen it's still it's still a great

28:03

Is that a record?

28:04

Yeah? Yeah, okay, yeah, Corners

28:06

ain't playing twenty years.

28:08

Yeah, so that was pretty cool.

28:09

Manty, he played twenty years when the NFL was

28:12

real. Yeah, probably you probably

28:14

would have played about you to play longer.

28:16

How long the time

28:18

twenty something, but I think I think

28:21

probably just the way they don't practice

28:24

and don't hit and stuff.

28:26

He knocked out twenty I

28:28

think you could have not because I quit.

28:30

I didn't get cut. Yeah, I didn't, you know, I was

28:32

still playing. Here's what I want to know. The

28:35

very first game I ever started, it's

28:38

my fourth game of the season. We played Oakland. My

28:40

coach comes over to me. It was like, Peanut, that was my

28:42

rookie year. He goes, Peanut, you

28:45

starting this week. You're going against two

28:47

future Hall of famers. You're going against Jay

28:49

Rice and Tim Brown. Now don't

28:51

be in there fing up. And he walked

28:53

away and I was like, all

28:56

right. And then as soon as he walked away,

28:58

I was like and

29:02

it was this great feeling for me, right, what

29:04

I want to know, Give

29:07

us a story about some of the greatest battles

29:09

you had with Jerry Rice and some of the you

29:11

know, the Michael Irvin's and some of these all

29:13

the.

29:13

Big time receivers that I grew up watching. Andre

29:16

Reid. Philadelphia had

29:18

two of the boys back in the day.

29:20

Quick.

29:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

29:25

Number one Michael six eight taller

29:28

than me and started off against him. Uh,

29:31

well, it started off Monday night. I'm

29:33

from Texas.

29:34

Yeah.

29:34

We planned the Dallas Cowboys on

29:37

Monday night. My Redskins at

29:39

the time had just won the Super Bowl.

29:42

They beat Dallas in the championship game.

29:45

Just you know, a few months before, and

29:47

we're gonna kick off. I'm the new

29:50

guy. I'm on the field. I'm

29:53

thinking that week now. They told me on Monday

29:56

that I was starting. We had a training camp. Hey

29:58

were starting on Monday night. You starting,

30:02

So the previous Monday they telling me, oh

30:04

my gosh, I'm starting the

30:07

Cowboys. I want

30:09

to get Drew Pearson's autograph, the

30:11

receiver that I'm matching

30:13

up with him. Tony Hill was on the other side,

30:15

Drew Piers. Tony Hill was a number one.

30:17

That's so funny y'all having these heroes

30:19

and all of a sudden we play them.

30:21

Dude, it's crazy.

30:23

It's crazy. So I'm thinking

30:26

Monday, I want to get this autograph. Tuesday,

30:29

I want to get his autograph Wednesday.

30:31

I hate him. They didn't. They didn't. Don't

30:34

see. This is back and this is where we're going

30:36

to get back to Commanders. We are going to get back

30:38

to that where the Cowboys

30:41

beating the Cowboys mean something, where half

30:43

the team, half the fans are not Cowboy

30:45

fans in our stadium, half the players

30:48

are not from Philadelphia, in the stands,

30:50

half the Giant. It's gonna be us in

30:52

our own stands. I'm telling my people

30:55

that I hope they listen to y'all show. Y'all

30:57

better be DMB.

31:00

I hope you will. Yeah, we're gonna

31:02

be taking our place back anyway.

31:05

The Cowboys I didn't

31:07

know. I knew nothing about a rivalry. I'm from Texas.

31:09

I don't know anything, so

31:12

they baptized me in this. I

31:15

don't want to get nothing from this. Dude. Forget

31:18

him. You know he

31:20

got in the Hall of Fame about three years ago. Yeah, yeah,

31:22

I told him. The Stewart and got an autographed from him.

31:25

Oh, I had never talked to him.

31:27

That was gonna be my next question Hall

31:29

of Fame. Now, so did you did you ever? You

31:31

held this for thirty

31:33

years?

31:34

I told him, I told him the whole story.

31:37

What was this reaction.

31:39

Well, he told me that I busted his lip

31:41

of nose in the game. I don't remember that.

31:44

And he also told me something this is bad to say. I'm

31:46

say it anyway because we all love

31:48

if you all anybody have to do with the

31:50

NFL, you love Tom Landry. But he said

31:53

Tom Landry kind of blamed him

31:55

for me chasing down Tony dar Sat wouldn't

31:57

get the block. Come on, man, you couldn't

31:59

block. I'm going I'm

32:03

not running everybody on the field. So

32:06

I don't know, I don't know you did tell me that, but but

32:09

yeah, that was a really unique thing. We went

32:11

fourteen and two that year, my rookie year,

32:13

and we lost in the Super Bowl. But it

32:16

was a fun year. But I

32:18

got introduced to the Cowboys receivers

32:22

Philadelphia, as I said, Mike

32:25

Quick, Roy Green, and because

32:28

Arizona St.

32:31

Louis, Yeah, St. Louis Cardinals

32:34

was in our league at that time. So I

32:36

don't know if they draft me for these guys, but I messed

32:38

up on all these guys, Roy,

32:42

Mike Quick, Tony Well.

32:44

I ultimately went to Tony here, but I was on Drew

32:47

John's didn't have anybody. They didn't have they

32:49

didn't have a premier receiver. But I

32:52

started off pretty much early on matching

32:54

up with people. Definitely the second

32:57

year matching up with the guys, and so, you

32:59

know, was a lot to me. I

33:02

had a tough I had a lot of fun when

33:04

I played. I had I was a fun guy. I

33:06

didn't I wasn't cussing and screaming. And

33:09

let me just tell you this, Jared Rice. You mentioned, Jared

33:11

Rice, the attributes

33:14

of wide receiver, rot, running, hands,

33:19

heart, speed. You

33:21

know, those are the things that are important. And

33:23

you start to say, well, who has the highest

33:26

number calculated number of you

33:28

know, I got it. He's a ten, he's a seven,

33:30

he's a six, he's a four, and then oh well

33:32

he's a seven and nine and nine and a six.

33:35

So the numbers add up. So

33:37

Jared Rice equals out the highest

33:39

numbers. To me, he's a low speed,

33:42

but rot running, he's high hands, he's

33:44

high uh and uh and hard

33:47

he's high, Mike girvs his hands

33:49

heart way up here, speed he's

33:51

low. Uh. And then you got to

33:53

add their quarterbacks to So that's

33:56

how I looked at him, you know, And I say so, I

33:58

would give him the odd

34:00

for that, but just the privilege

34:02

of being able to say, uh,

34:04

that I played against these guys and maybe have

34:07

you ever had Jared Rice on the show. We

34:09

have no, Okay, So I'm gonna get him to come on the show

34:11

to rebuttle this. So

34:14

so so Jared right,

34:17

So I'm really, I'm really, I'm

34:20

just a dude. I mean, if I'm playing

34:22

against you, hey, man, what's up? What how you doing?

34:24

Man? Your mama and Nail and everybody good. When

34:27

we get in the game, trust me, we're gonna be competing.

34:29

We ain't competing right now, and I know how

34:31

to go into competition and separate

34:34

that from Hey, what's up? Bro? I ain't I

34:36

ain't mad at nobody. I don't hate

34:38

nobody. I ain't screaming at nobody.

34:41

When we competing, it's competition and

34:43

skill against skilled. If you did it good,

34:45

hey, dude, good man, dude,

34:47

those a route. That's how I played

34:50

the game like, you know, if you did it, you did

34:52

it. If you did it and got

34:54

me, you really did something. I ain't

34:56

mad. I'm really like, man, dude, I gotta give it

34:59

to you. J Rice wouldn't

35:01

speak to me before the game, would't

35:03

speak to me during the game, won't speak to

35:05

me after the game. So

35:08

one day I did something that was out of my character.

35:12

I said to the media. I said, you know what burns

35:14

me up. I've been you know it's

35:16

green on Rice. You know, all these years, y'all

35:19

won't shake my hand, say what's up? Boom

35:21

boom boom. So I said

35:23

that to them there, I

35:25

said that to them, and you remember

35:28

this story. So we get to the Pro Bowl

35:30

in Hawaii. I'm coming off you name

35:32

it, he coming off America. You know, we meet.

35:35

Hey, damn, I knew what he was talking

35:37

about. Yeah, man, what up?

35:39

Man? You? I said, Man, huh? I actually I ain't

35:41

know what he was talking about. And then I said,

35:44

man, you know what, Yeah, you're right, I said, man,

35:46

But one day we're not gonna be in the NFL

35:49

and you can't shake my hand, you don't

35:51

say hi, you don't, dude.

35:54

We donna compete either way, I'm

35:56

gonna compete hard against you rather I

35:59

like you or not like you. You say nice things, but

36:02

we should be able to be Hey, man, what's up, how

36:04

you doing, how your mamae? And whatever? And

36:07

he said he was superstitious, and he gave some answers

36:09

for it, and I

36:12

just I never liked that, dude. I

36:14

want to be friends with my quick when the game

36:16

is over. That ain't gonna take nothing

36:19

off It ain't gonna take nothing off me. I'm gonna

36:21

hit you hard and try to you know, Michael

36:23

or whoever it is. That's just the way

36:25

I am. I don't hate my team, my

36:28

opponent. I don't you know. I'm

36:30

not gonna try to kill dude. This is

36:32

a skill. You got a

36:34

quarterback throwing these balls, You running precise

36:37

routes, and I'm trying to stop you. That's a competition,

36:40

for sure. That's not something for us to be

36:42

mad and fighting about. It's like either you can

36:44

or you can't. When you're playing me, you

36:47

can either beat me or you can't.

36:49

I think it's interesting because you

36:51

probably played in the wrong era. Because nowadays

36:54

everybody knows each other because of social media.

36:57

Most of these players are.

36:58

Friends with others and they try to

37:00

get the jerseys and then take the jersey

37:02

and they're doing all the other When

37:04

you were playing nobody talk to nobody.

37:06

You ain't know nobody else on the other team. You usually

37:08

hated that person.

37:10

I didn't.

37:11

Ye're different.

37:12

I probably have a couple more dollars in my pocket if I played

37:14

in this era. Hunh you will. That's interesting

37:17

you saying that, because I

37:20

truthfully, I don't. I don't

37:23

know if I'm agree with you with everybody after the game

37:25

with the with the jerseys that

37:28

I don't know if I would go that far every

37:30

week. I look, we're doing that, yeah, but

37:33

there's a level of causal respect

37:36

and hey, what up, dude? Are you doing? Man? Good to see you.

37:39

You know, dude, we've been around. We played eight years

37:41

together, nine years, but you're in the NFC.

37:43

He some I'm playing you every year. You

37:46

don't have to invite me to your house and be

37:48

my best friend. But you got to be causial

37:51

and I'm not cussing and fighting and stuff

37:53

because at the end of the day, like I said, you

37:56

awesome if you can beat me, because

37:58

I put in a lot of work and I want

38:00

to see my skills against your skills. And

38:02

I'm fortunate too because I'm probably one of the only guys

38:05

got the match up in an

38:07

era and the deal came later. But

38:09

a lot of the other greats they didn't match up. No,

38:12

I don't think Woodson matched up, and I don't

38:15

Nias may have matched up a little bits.

38:17

Also transitioned to the slot too.

38:19

Yeah, went to safety as well as

38:21

you went to safety in this that's

38:27

my guy. But but no, you

38:30

know, it was a unique It was kind of you know, as I played,

38:32

and I'm you know, I'm kind of a guy. I'm not I'm

38:35

not really famous since I don't I'm not out there.

38:37

I'm not as popular a lot of people. But uh,

38:40

you know, people don't really know what I how

38:42

and you guys are getting a little bit of it out of me. But yeah,

38:45

the way I thought about the game, where I approached

38:47

it, what I thought about the players

38:49

and the companies that I had.

38:51

You know, when I played Randy Moss, you know, I was

38:54

scared of Randy Moss. You know, he was that's back

38:56

when he's Moss and people, you

38:59

know, Randy is incredible.

39:02

But I'm pretty good too.

39:04

You gotta play the man. You gotta guard the man,

39:07

not his reputation.

39:08

Exactly exactly of something, Gil Bird gil

39:10

Bert, that's that's my draft class. Yeah.

39:13

Gil Gill coach me in Chicago, and

39:15

that's one thing he used to always say, you gotta you gotta

39:17

guard the man, not his reputation. Don't

39:19

be scared to play anybody.

39:21

Gills, that's my guy.

39:22

Was a good player San Diego too. Yeah, you

39:24

used to drop those those gyms San

39:26

Diego.

39:27

Speaking of the draft, San Diego had like

39:29

three first round draft picks, Gary

39:32

Anderson I think his last name was Anderson,

39:35

Billy Ray Smith linebacker, and

39:38

Gil in nineteen eighty three draft

39:40

and you can look that up. I think I'm right. Three

39:42

first round picks in the draft when I came

39:44

out of and Gil. I think Gil was one of

39:46

those. Yeah, that's my guy.

39:48

That was Yeah. Gil was a good dude.

39:51

I want to answer a question real quick though, So I know

39:53

you had a George Mason University assistant

39:56

athletic director.

39:57

I'm so sociated. I thought, excuse me, apologize.

40:00

What's been one of the most gratifying feelings

40:03

you've had having that job, being around

40:06

the youth and other young athletes.

40:08

That's really all I'm really interested in, you

40:10

know, as young people. That's what I do have

40:13

my life. But I'm more you know, I'm

40:15

a really from elementary

40:18

school through college. But unfortunately

40:23

it's a lot of business trying to raise money and so

40:25

forth. But I do get a chance to participate

40:27

and interact with young people. That's

40:31

my life. That's what I love, you know. And

40:34

it's really tough because

40:37

everybody wants you to be the next this and

40:39

next that, and I'm gonna be this, I'm gonna be that, and sometimes

40:42

people forget about just really living

40:45

just how do you live? What is it like

40:47

to be a man, just to

40:49

be a friend, be a son, you

40:52

know. And so I enjoy

40:54

it from that bandness point the

40:57

other parts of it, you know, people like me can

41:00

have, you know, but but I do enjoy

41:02

that. And you get with young people and you and

41:05

they want to know, you know, how a

41:07

man, how can you do it? What do I have to do? And

41:10

then sometimes they don't want to know you

41:12

know it, and it can create a lot of problems

41:15

for people. And and sometimes

41:17

the problem not my brother, you know, I had a brother who

41:20

I think he died a drug overdose. I'm not sure,

41:22

but you know, my

41:25

father was an alcoholic and all that stuff. They

41:27

got divorced. I lived in all that stuff.

41:29

And so I'm really more passionate

41:31

about young people of all all

41:33

types of young people having a chance

41:36

to be successful. Give him a shot, give

41:38

him a chance, give him a chance to

41:40

win, you know, and you

41:42

know, don't lock him up, don't kick him

41:45

out, give him a shot. Let's talk

41:47

to him. So I'd like to be the guy that I that they

41:49

talk to.

41:50

Do you feel that you're you're a wisdom

41:52

that you have this, you've

41:57

got life experience. Do you feel

41:59

that the youth and what you give

42:02

them their receptive to receiving?

42:04

Yeah? I think so. Now what I do as a company

42:06

I work with called centen CE and T

42:08

and E. They're a large managed care in the

42:11

company in this country and we partner with

42:13

the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and so we're

42:15

we're all over the United States every

42:17

week every month. You know, I just got back from Ohio

42:20

with youth and so I

42:22

call my gold jacket a key. And

42:25

what do you do with your key? You open your door and

42:27

then as you walk into your house, what do you do? You throw

42:29

your key? So I take my jacket off, I throw it down. So

42:32

I'm here, I'm here home. So when i'm

42:34

when, i'm when my key gets me in front of them.

42:37

And what's unique about it? Rather it's media. Rather

42:39

it's that gold jacket. I'm not sure. But it's

42:42

not like I have a generation

42:44

gap. I'm in once

42:47

I get in, and then now when I start talking

42:50

my story, they find familiarity

42:52

in it, because really there's nothing new

42:55

under the sign. Oh I grew up over

42:57

here. I grew up man, we did too, you know, So come

42:59

on, trust me. I don't care if you rich or poor, black,

43:01

yellow, trust me. If you're breathing the human

43:04

you got the same experiences.

43:05

Yeah, we all. We all got

43:07

some struggles in there.

43:08

We got some struggles. I don't care how rich you were,

43:11

how great you were where you went to school.

43:14

If you're alive, your headache

43:16

is just like my headache. You need

43:18

and an aspirin just like I do.

43:21

You got you get stump your toe just like I can

43:23

stump mind. So that's the privilege

43:25

that I get, is that I get to use that key,

43:28

this childhood game that I played,

43:30

that gave me this level of recognition to

43:33

access these young people and adults

43:36

on many levels. And then from there,

43:38

if you got something to say and some wisdom, then

43:40

it works.

43:41

We're gonna take a short break and we'll be right back.

43:56

All right.

43:56

Tell me this key that you keep

43:58

talking about. I think it's opened up and it's continued

44:00

to pour into so many others, and that

44:03

is through your Darryl Green's Youth Life Foundation.

44:06

How did you come up with it first and foremost?

44:09

And then what was your initial goal

44:11

or thoughts that you thought you'd do? And

44:14

then tell me one thing that you're

44:17

like, I know, but like I'm

44:19

trying to build the whole pressure. But it's

44:21

like I want to know how you know, how

44:23

it came about, what you initially

44:25

wanted it to be, and then what it's turned

44:28

into.

44:28

All right, So I

44:31

got to Washington, d C. I would drive

44:33

over to DC. We live in Virginia. I

44:35

drive into d C. What I learned

44:37

through through time and knowledge is that if

44:40

you support and volunteer and help people

44:42

as a child, you'll do it as an adult. So

44:45

we did it. I did it cause my mama, grab

44:48

my ear, take that food over that of these people,

44:50

we will pour it too, like take that over that, like

44:52

you get over that here. But even if you're

44:54

forced to do it, you'll do it as an adult. It's

44:57

just it's in you. So I'm

44:59

indeed, you see, I'm trying to work with kids. I

45:02

actually joined the recreation department.

45:04

They didn't pay me. I just I'm on the team. We're

45:07

doing all this stuff, Christmas events, all

45:09

these different things, and you're getting to meet all these

45:11

little kids. Man, he needs

45:14

a diaper, he needs a jacket.

45:16

Man, he you know that

45:18

ladies man like she's been drinking, you know. So you

45:20

I'm out there, yeah, out there, even

45:23

though I came from it. You don't see it when you're in it. But

45:26

I'm out there, like, wow, this is crazy.

45:28

So one night I drove home a road called

45:30

George Washington Parkway. I

45:33

just started crying. It was Christmas time. That

45:36

kid didn't have the right clothes on. He

45:39

needed to dipeer, you know, all these you

45:41

know, And we got a little Hey,

45:43

did you get a piece of cake? Did you get a little

45:45

toy? And so God

45:48

said to me, he said, Daryl, I mean, what are

45:51

you doing. I'm

45:53

going out here. I wouldn't. I knew

45:55

I wasn't doing nothing. I ain't doing nothing. Ain't

45:58

no real I'm going back to the suburbs.

46:01

That kid ain't he met Darryl Green. I

46:03

just not changed his life, not one bit

46:06

in reality. I called an attorney,

46:08

said, man, I want to start the foundation. I can't spell

46:11

foundation. I'm gonna do something.

46:13

I don't know what. If I started

46:15

a foundation and I started doing food, clothes

46:18

and paying light bills. I had an office

46:21

and I had a little those you know the

46:23

cassette tape beeph

46:25

mister Green, this missus Johnson. You know

46:27

that I would try to fix it if I could. Can

46:30

I pay her bill? Can I help us some get out of

46:32

prison? Can I, you know, buy

46:34

this food? And we just did that over and

46:36

over there. I bought a van, we delivered food edenberg

46:39

bread. I remember now we able to get food from

46:41

bread from them. And then ultimately

46:45

I had a teammate named Dexter Manley, and

46:47

Dexter was reported and this is public

46:50

that he couldn't read. It's my teammate.

46:53

Like man, so I'm thinking when

46:56

I was in school, kid couldn't read. Go

46:58

up to the blackboard that day the teacher

47:00

is going to put us to the blackboard. That

47:03

kid start screaming in

47:06

creating a problem, throwing spitballs,

47:08

kicking pull of girls hair. Because

47:12

if they say that you're so

47:15

silly, it's better than you so

47:17

dumb. Because when I go up there, see

47:21

Mike Man, you dumb, but

47:23

you being something silly that's cute. So

47:26

I start thinking about the academic side. Then

47:29

I thought about the fact

47:31

that we want food stamps, free lunch, free

47:33

housing. So I'm thinking about

47:36

academics, education, I'm

47:38

thinking about provision. Now

47:41

I'm thinking about morals.

47:44

I'm Christian. I understand biblical

47:46

processes and principles, so

47:49

now I understand how to live. And

47:52

so at the end of the day, you think about homeschool,

47:54

church and government. The home really

47:56

can do it all. You can teach your kids,

47:59

don't even go to school. They can be homeschool,

48:01

they can provide for them. You can

48:03

either and then you can go to church or you can do church

48:06

at home. And then so

48:09

when I looked at that, I saw the deficiencies

48:12

in these children where the

48:14

government is saying, you know, I

48:17

remember I think it was George Bush,

48:19

you know, welfare of work, you

48:21

know, But I grew up where people

48:24

lived in the projects for three generations,

48:27

poor generations, and so

48:29

I was on food stamps, and

48:32

my mom and them provided the love and nurture.

48:35

So that's what it is, is love and nurture provision.

48:38

That's government school, that

48:40

school, and in the church. That's

48:43

really the four institutions that support

48:46

pretty much human beings in American

48:48

soul. And when there's a deficiency,

48:51

then one take more than it came. The government

48:53

take over more, the church might do

48:55

more. Well. I am with the learning

48:58

centers. Now I create these centers, say I want

49:00

to get the kids in here, and I

49:02

want to be able to manage that. So I'll

49:04

try to. I'm gonna marry mom and

49:06

be the other provision that she give

49:08

the love and nurture. We'll give the provision.

49:11

We'll give the academics. We'll teach them.

49:13

We'll teach them biblical principles and

49:15

will help raise this generation back

49:18

up. So that's how I created the Youth Life

49:20

Learning Centers. Presently, the learning

49:22

centers are in Richmond, Virginia, not

49:24

in the DC area, which I'm sad

49:27

to say, uh, and in some

49:30

parts of North Carolina. Uh. Maybe

49:33

one still left in Tennessee used

49:35

to be Florida. But the other other

49:37

bad part about it is it's very hard to raise

49:40

resources for poor people because

49:45

they're trying to say, what do I get out of it? What

49:47

do I get out of it? Sometimes the sponsors won't

49:50

help you, and they will very hard on

49:52

me, just say and scrutinize me about

49:55

how I gave or if I spent

49:57

too much money on them. I won't spend

49:59

the money on them. All of these

50:01

people need this, they need that. And then well,

50:03

you went across the budget, so you're not gonna

50:06

give it to me. I'm not putting

50:08

it in my pocket. I'm just trying to help these people. So I

50:10

live with a lot of frustration. But I did that my

50:12

whole adult life, So

50:15

yeah, you know, I just I just took

50:17

advantage of the revelation of

50:19

respond to the revelation that I had going down GW

50:22

Parkway. Didn't really know what I was

50:24

doing. But then when I pull it all together

50:26

with this concept, it's a human concept.

50:29

Mom and dad for love and nurture, government

50:32

for food and provision, roof

50:34

over your head, church help you learn

50:36

morals, and the school support you academically.

50:39

That's like alphabets ABC.

50:42

That ain't no brain surgery stuff. That was a

50:44

revelation that I had. That's how I created a learning

50:46

centers.

50:47

Who would you say would be

50:49

on your personal amount rushmore of

50:52

success? So you've had this amazing life,

50:54

marriage, kids, grandkids, amazing

50:57

football career, hall of fame, seen

51:01

some stuff, you know, I don't want say a rough

51:04

childhood, but you saw some things. You

51:06

know, You've

51:09

had some friends, things like that, You've had a

51:11

very blessed life. Who would be who

51:13

would be the four people that would

51:16

be on your personal amount rushmore of helping

51:19

you become the person you are today?

51:23

And not saying, of course, obviously

51:25

the Lord has done it all God, but

51:28

I'd say my dad, my dad didn't know his

51:30

dad he

51:34

was. He became an

51:36

alcoholic through his childhood

51:38

trauma. Yeah, married, my mama, had

51:40

seven kids, and just you

51:43

know, in the Arab born in nineteen thirty three

51:46

in America and all the stuff he faced. So that was that

51:48

was. But I always loved him and I

51:50

always appreciated him. I

51:54

always and I've been pretty

51:56

good at this my whole ad dope life. I can

51:59

stand in your shoe, you

52:01

know, you come in in a restaurant

52:03

and you want to get an autograph or whatever whatever,

52:05

I can stand in your shoe. I don't feel like it, but

52:08

you know, as a professional athlete, you should

52:10

be able to be really good at standing another

52:12

person's shoes. Now, because you always

52:15

stay from your band, well you believe him, Well,

52:17

won't you stand in his shoes and see

52:20

it from his vantished point. So I've been

52:22

good at that. So my dad loved him. He

52:24

was he was the best, really sharp dude,

52:27

really highly intelligent,

52:30

highly intelligent. Uh,

52:32

so he'd be first. And

52:35

then any people who have really

52:37

helped me for what we call in christiandom

52:40

discipled me. Helped me become more like

52:42

God, help me to learn

52:44

to follow Jesus. You know, Uh, Colonel

52:47

Melendez and uh and his

52:49

wife Jeanie invited me to their home in college.

52:52

Doug Taff was the one that introduced

52:54

me to them. I got to Washington, d C.

52:56

I met Brett Fuller, who's a pastor and a

52:58

bishop and the every nation

53:00

church world. And

53:03

then even I go beyond that and say that

53:06

that my my son, and my wife

53:08

and my girls have

53:11

helped me really

53:14

material, you know, really kind of realize,

53:18

realize my life, you know. In other words,

53:20

I'm out here working and and all

53:22

that. I appreciate all the fans. Fans love me.

53:24

I've been respected and they have

53:27

a role. But but my

53:30

my thing with them is I'm more trying to

53:32

serve them in terms of a

53:34

model of goodness. And

53:37

I didn't know. Man, come on, you think

53:39

I knew I was gonna play twenty years.

53:40

Well, no, you didn't even know you're gonna go to the NFL.

53:43

So so I think that for me, I

53:46

never really kind of weirded out on that. I

53:48

just felt like, Okay, man, this is a great opportunity.

53:51

This is a It's not only an opportunity, but

53:53

it's a responsibility. So I've

53:55

had a good sober of my sober kind

53:58

of a sober mindset about stuff.

54:00

But primarily my dad and the

54:03

people will have helped me because at the

54:05

end of the day, what has really made me great is

54:07

God and the revelation of who he is.

54:11

I would have never been faithfully married. I mean, I'm

54:13

not from that world. You know. I

54:15

had all of the eight kids my dad

54:17

had, we all had kids out of wedlock.

54:19

We're from the projects, you know,

54:22

we don't do good. It's not my

54:24

history, and so I would

54:26

have been changed, not by football, the

54:28

money or people screaming my name. I've

54:30

been changed by God. So I'm

54:33

faithfully married to one woman thirty nine years

54:35

and that ain't my history. My dad don't even know his

54:38

dad and they would divorced. So I'm

54:40

more grateful for that. I'm more humble by

54:43

that. And those are

54:45

those that's what affected me, you

54:47

know, that's what mold me, should

54:50

I say, and mold my decision making to

54:52

marry her. I only knew her for I met

54:54

her on Christmas Eve. We got engaged in June, so

54:58

you know, you know, for me to the faith

55:01

in God, the confidence, and you

55:03

know, and people said, hey, you're gonna get a prenup.

55:06

You know, I can't even spell that, you

55:08

know, so I'm trying to. You know, I'm

55:10

really I'm grateful because my real

55:13

whole me is my faith

55:15

in God and he is really he leads

55:17

me, not so much some

55:20

other hero that did something. Because when

55:22

I was ten, I knew what I wanted to be. I

55:25

still don't know what I want to do. And that's

55:27

what we get it mixed up at We think that

55:29

I do is our bee? For

55:31

example, if I'm covering this guy, I'm

55:35

doing this move, that move

55:38

is not my bee. That's what I did.

55:41

But we get celebrated for what we did, and

55:44

everybody just looks right over the bee. Well

55:46

who is he? Though you ain't see that

55:48

movie made? Now? I said,

55:51

who is he? Is he

55:53

somebody you want to go to dinner with? Are

55:55

somebody you want to get to just get an autograph from and

55:58

go to dinner with. I'm more

56:00

interested in that guy, and

56:02

I appreciate that move he did. Who

56:06

is he? Who is he being? What

56:09

does he do? And we get really

56:11

clouded with that.

56:12

Yeah, yeah, that

56:15

dope.

56:17

I got one question that's completely

56:19

off topic because I don't know how many times

56:21

I'm going to have Darryl Green here

56:23

to actually hear his opinion. And this

56:25

is something This is almost like being in the bottle

56:28

shot and the goat conversation

56:30

comes up. So I gotta know, who

56:33

are your top three to four corners in

56:35

the NFL history.

56:37

Top three or four corners in his say four, just

56:40

top three to top four? Well

56:42

you can say three.

56:44

Three, it's three three, Okay.

56:48

This is this is a conversation that could

56:50

go all type of way.

56:52

I thought about this the other day because I was like,

56:54

if I had to have a defensive

56:57

back situation, who would I be?

56:59

Like?

56:59

Who would I get? I think I got one corner,

57:01

I think I know then I think I know this

57:03

corner. But now I was like, man, I might need a nickel,

57:06

So who would be the third?

57:08

And so this is I

57:12

appreciate you putting me in your top three.

57:17

Keep in mind it's

57:19

it's dated. It is it's

57:21

Darryl. It's not you, him

57:24

or him. So this is Darryl. And this is

57:26

what I This is what I saw when

57:29

I came into the league. I saw

57:31

Mike Haynes, so he was

57:33

one of my guys. Actually I had

57:35

him when I moved into

57:37

my position. I saw me okay,

57:41

and then the guy that was the take the

57:43

handoff, Dion Sanders.

57:45

He was in there for me.

57:46

I'm not telling you one, two or three. I'm just telling

57:49

you this is how I saw it. He came in Mike

57:51

Haynes, then me as

57:54

I grew into it. Then Dion

57:57

came in behind us. And then

58:00

now you may know this or may not know this,

58:03

but I trained because I was

58:05

just with him. I don't take credit for his career. But

58:07

I was with Champbailey for four years. I

58:10

remember I watched film with him in the mornings

58:12

twice a week and on run

58:15

on runky days when

58:17

they went to Runkys, Coach

58:19

said, take him. We went down the other end of field.

58:22

We can talk about airplanes, birds and chickens

58:24

what we want to talk about. But he was mine. Yeah,

58:27

I don't take credit for his career.

58:28

That's beautiful, like,

58:31

hey, I got the super guy here.

58:34

Take got him. Well,

58:36

the great thing is that his humility and ability.

58:40

He received it.

58:40

Yeah, the first battle of Hall of Fame. I ain't

58:42

taking credit for him, but I'm saying, and

58:45

this is not before. He's not knocking my

58:47

boys uh Anias and

58:50

and Rod and and Derel.

58:52

And I hadn't, I might have put As

58:54

at the slot.

58:55

I was thinking, yeah, but they Whatever

58:57

we say is not to belittle agree.

59:00

I'm just telling you me how I came in. Man,

59:02

Mike Kynes, that's my guy. Then I felt

59:04

like I moved right in. And then I feel

59:06

like DM moved right in. Now somebody can say,

59:08

well, okay, well put he's first, He's I don't really

59:11

care it doesn't matter. But that's me.

59:13

But all a lot of great corners, Well,

59:16

I take that back. There's not a lot of great corners in

59:18

the history. There's not a lot of great corners

59:21

in the history that really play because that position.

59:23

That's why I said, and

59:26

your unique position. It is not a defensive

59:28

back. It's a cornerback. It's

59:31

a real life job. And they

59:33

can make it different. If they just gonna play

59:35

Cover two and three and

59:38

four, then okay, it is a little bit different. You know, it's

59:40

not the same. I don't feel the same

59:42

pressure I feel if you call Cover three, if

59:45

you call Cover zero zero,

59:48

you're telling me zero it's zero,

59:51

that he's zero.

59:53

I like Cover one and Cover zero because

59:55

that means you're gonna go hit the quarterback and

59:58

I just got my guys.

59:59

I didn't like Cover one because sometime it's

1:00:01

safe, they're gonna knock the crap out of me. I

1:00:03

didn't like that. I

1:00:06

didn't like that. Man, open your eyes.

1:00:08

Man, god.

1:00:11

Man, you hit me in the back. And then

1:00:13

a lot of them used to steal my interceptions. I'm

1:00:16

fighting myself to death, and he

1:00:18

come over and get the tip I'm trying to I've

1:00:21

got played with him. I tipped it. I'm trying to

1:00:23

go get boom me knocked me out. He just like with

1:00:25

my boy Mitch. Miss got that pick.

1:00:28

Now, I should have oppressed, you know, approached

1:00:30

the ball better. But I was forty.

1:00:32

I was thirty days from my forty

1:00:35

third birthday when I walked. When that last game,

1:00:38

in that game, Champailey gave me a reverse

1:00:40

double reverse on punt

1:00:43

and that's a record of thirty five yards

1:00:46

for the oldest punt return in

1:00:48

the NFL history.

1:00:49

That's awesome.

1:00:50

That is probably not going to change now.

1:00:52

That's also why you have

1:00:54

the record tied with Jerry Rice.

1:00:56

Because this is what we do, is teach on this show as

1:00:59

the most concessive years with a touch

1:01:02

in the NFL as well, because

1:01:05

you got it for twenty years because you had nineteen

1:01:07

interceptions, but then you got the reverse that

1:01:09

counted as a touch.

1:01:11

So that's how you have to it for twenty years

1:01:13

as well. There we go, so that it's

1:01:16

all full circle on this show, because this is

1:01:18

what we do. Another feather in the cat. Look at that there

1:01:21

it is. See we're teaching you something there.

1:01:23

If y'all can see his face writing, he is like

1:01:25

well, I be dang, I like

1:01:27

that.

1:01:28

I like, no, what thing that came to my mind, which

1:01:31

I appreciate now, like, hey,

1:01:34

I can catch my own punt. Why I got to run a reverse?

1:01:38

But I will say this is this true story. So

1:01:40

after the game later on, when

1:01:42

I go into the locker room, it's my last game, everybody

1:01:45

we've been in staying for a few hours saying

1:01:47

goodbye. It was really neat of course send off. And

1:01:50

I'm watching it. I'm watching the footage as I'm

1:01:52

doing my interviews and I see the reverse.

1:01:56

I'm like, man, I'm retiring

1:01:58

right on time because I

1:02:00

still play. But yeah, dude, that would have been

1:02:03

a touch And as you get

1:02:05

older, what is eighty which

1:02:08

is satisfactory to play? But

1:02:11

for you it's struck? You know, Yeah, eighty

1:02:14

is good? You you good?

1:02:17

But I can't live with myself.

1:02:19

Yeah that's not If I hadn't saw

1:02:21

that, fam, I was like, oh

1:02:23

my god, that should

1:02:26

have been a touchdown. Dude.

1:02:28

They I jumped over that

1:02:30

guy like I was old man like, but

1:02:32

it was good enough. Thirty five yards

1:02:35

thirty five should have.

1:02:36

Been And Darryl, I will be honest

1:02:38

with you before we get out here, I mean you were

1:02:40

an old man at the time, you were forty two

1:02:43

playing football.

1:02:43

It's beautiful.

1:02:44

I mean, you're one.

1:02:45

You're the only cornerback that's done it that long. So

1:02:47

hats off to you, man, and thank you for blessing

1:02:50

us.

1:02:50

Man.

1:02:51

This is awesome, great. You

1:02:54

know, I didn't know what to expect and

1:02:56

I was storoughly, thoroughly blown away with your

1:02:59

humility, your stories, your

1:03:01

your ability to reference God

1:03:04

and how he's led you, how

1:03:06

he's spoken to you, how he's continued to lead

1:03:08

you, your beautiful wife, your kids, your family,

1:03:11

the things that really are important to you, the children

1:03:14

in the communities that you serve. Like

1:03:16

we hear that, we felt that, and

1:03:19

we appreciate that because so often, this

1:03:21

is why we talk about this on this podcast and

1:03:23

the NFL Player second Acts, is that man,

1:03:26

like, we only know you so much through what

1:03:28

we've heard through the TV, what we knew

1:03:30

outside that helmet, but really getting to

1:03:33

sit sit down with you and let you be in your

1:03:35

own comfort zone. You got your shirt

1:03:37

tucked out, You're telling us great stories, you

1:03:39

jigging doing your thing.

1:03:40

Man.

1:03:41

I appreciate that. Man. I got a brand new

1:03:43

light shining down on.

1:03:44

You so, thank you. Appreciate that I've

1:03:46

really seen I haven't seen your show, but your show

1:03:48

is going to be a part of our life now. Thank you, man,

1:03:51

wife and family. So we're going

1:03:53

to be watching

1:03:55

d C, d C, d mvuh.

1:03:59

What's an the show?

1:04:00

NFL Player Second Acts Podcast, NFL

1:04:03

Players Acts Podcasts

1:04:06

Podcast.

1:04:07

NFL Players Second Acts

1:04:10

Podcast is my

1:04:12

show from now. So y'all let's check

1:04:14

this out.

1:04:18

We needed I like it.

1:04:20

Hey, thank you for blessing us. Hey, thank

1:04:22

y'all for tuning in and listening. I'm

1:04:24

Peanut. That's room the Ageless wander

1:04:27

Like, Share, Subscribe, Follow,

1:04:29

Apple Radio, iHeartRadio, Apple

1:04:32

Podcast. Excuse me, I apologize. Hey, make sure

1:04:34

y'all tune in. Hey, this is the NFL

1:04:37

player Second Acts Podcast.

1:04:38

I'm Peanut. Hey, that was

1:04:40

it. That's a wrap, Franko,

1:04:44

that's it. Let's ride