A Hall Of Famer, Brian Dawkins, really opens up about how his faith saved him on and off the field. Dawkins gets personal on how he was able to compartmentalize his emotions to be a better player and husband.
UP On GAME Presents Conversations With A Legend. LaVar Arrington is sitting down with the best from the field, the stage, and beyond. These are intimate conversations and storytelling with legendary humans about their lives and successful careers. In this episode, LaVar Arrington talks with NFL Hall Of Famer Brian Dawkins.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I love that your story has always been pure, raw
and uncut. Like it's so funny because I think back
to Takio talking about the moment he's you know, he
hit the gallant that side, like, thank you Jesus, Takis.
I was some that whatever he got. That's I was
(00:21):
some of that. You talked about the balance of the
passion that you play with the compassion that's in your heart,
and how that plays into your spiritual faith and belief system.
How do you balance that? How did you balance that?
Because control rage in some cases controlled aggression, however we
(00:44):
want to label it. Because I was one of those
controlled aggression guys. I was. I was one of those
guys that you know what I mean. I let my emotions,
you know, and that passion drive what I did, how
you control it pulled up made my appearance. You can't
(01:09):
sit with us without clearance, that lame shoot. Never let
it nearest your grilla. Choose my team because you're still
living with your parents, flexing on the Graham with your paycheck.
Stop showing up them bills you ain't pay yet. Coutur
one o one, This ain't made yet. My game never
played like we came off the same jet. I'm gonna
(01:30):
need a section because we're trying to make what up everybody.
It's LeVar Arrington here. It's up on Game Presents conversations
with a legend. I got the Wolverine the man I
used to do them. But you know what awesome God.
You know they saying fly egos fly a whole lot
when I was on the field because of the plays
(01:51):
that this man was making. I got my man beat
Doc Brian Dawkins with me, man Hall of Famer. It's
a pleasure to have you. Thank you for having me. Brother.
Let's start here. Jesus is going to the super Bowl
this ye, He's gonna make an appearance. Now, I said,
if Jesus is gonna be there, then we already know
(02:11):
who the MVP of the game is going to be. Ultimately, Yes, okay,
talk to me about that, because our viewers out there
are asking themselves, what is LeVar talking about right now?
To the goat of goats that played the position. So
first of all, make sure you go to he gets
Us dot com. And so the thing one of the
things that I want to do with this is to
(02:31):
give you the human experience through my eyes and how
Jesus has blessed me to live the life that I live,
the way that I live it for taking the example
that he gave of how to do this human thing
and lived it out so compassion, living a life with passion.
So the passion that you see me displaying on the field,
you know, those are gifts, right, Those are things that
I can then use. But also you know, one of
the things that I also show people is that I
(02:53):
had tremendous anger issues going up. I mean I was
scoring the fits and rags and all those things. And
so understanding that now I can look at an example
that he gave of how to you can be angry
but not but send not. That also taught me that
I can do the exact same thing. So now if
I then live my life the way that he lived
his life, to bless other people, to always do things
(03:15):
in such a way as to uplift people. Even when
I help you and hold you accountable, it's always from
a place of love. So all of those things is
the main reason for me and my salvation. That's ultimate.
But in this human experience, he taught me how to human.
He taught me how to human. That's deep. Yeah, I
love that your story has always been pure, raw and
(03:39):
uncut like it's so funny because I think back to
Takuio talking about the moment he's you know, he hit
the gallant de side, can't you Jesus? Was that whatever
he got? That's I was some of that you talked
about the balance of the past. Shouldn't that you play
(04:01):
with the compassion that's in your heart and how that
plays into your spiritual faith and belief system. How do
you balance that? How did you balance that? Because control
rage in some cases controlled aggression, however we want to
label it. Because I was one of those controlled aggression guys.
(04:22):
I I was one of those guys that you know
what I mean. I let my emotions, you know, and
that passion drive what I did. How you control it?
So how do you find the balance? So here's the thing. First,
recognizing that that aggression, that all that stuff that you
talk about is a gift. It's a gift. And spending
(04:43):
time with the Lord in the morning and throughout the day,
just meditating on his word is extremely important. And I've
done that and I continue to do that. So what
that does is that it helps me utilize that energy
in a positive way. I can use that same energy
in a bad way. I can go into fits of rage.
I can throw something across the room. I can do
something that I did that forced my wife and my
(05:06):
defensive coordinate the Emmet Thomas at the time to help
me get help. I can run my head through a wall,
which I did, right, So I can use it that way,
but I can also use it in a positive way.
And so but it's really the fact that I recognize
that I'm not my emotions. I have emotions, I'm knocked them.
My emotions are not always correct. They may be telling
(05:27):
me something, but it's information. How I perceive it and
how I use it is up to me. And because
I can then go into that peaceful place of prayer
in just a moment's time, the Holy Spirit will help
me then make better decisions with that energy than I
would if I just stayed in that angry place. Just so,
in that place, I'm gonna fight. We're gonna fight, We're
gonna do something that's gonna be destructive, and it's gonna
(05:49):
be done done to somebody I might even love, and
I would have to say I'm sorry for the thing
that I did. I say it's best to be a
warrior that's in the garden rather than a gardener that's
in the war. It's a warrior's mentality with what you're
speaking of, and that's ultimately I think that that's that's
something that you know, probably very few comprehend to that
(06:11):
degree that that you're you're stating it. Let's talk about
you know, everything is so rooted in your faith and
your belief. Was it always like no? When did that? Like? Okay,
so walk me through. Because you you were a stone
cold high school player, was dope at Clemson, comes into
(06:35):
the league, was dope in the league. At what point
did you find yourself having that transition or that evolution
and to what you've become you know now? Yeah, So
I accepted Christ into my life in the eleventh grade, okay,
going into my senior year, and it was really from
a place of fear instead of a place of love.
(06:57):
I accepted it in my life in the place of fear.
So he began to truly work on me as I
began to go to Bible studies and FCA's and all
those things. Um, but that transition was it was not easy.
And then when you except first to step Christ It's
not like you all of a sudden become this completely
new person. Your spirit is a new work, but your body,
your mind is still the same as it was. Yeah,
(07:18):
it's to say so, it's it'll take some time for
you to mature, but you but you still have to
spend like like I said earlier, you have to spend
time praying, You have to spend time reading. Um, I'm
not gonna label the point. So I was not the
high school star you thought you thought I was. You know,
I may have been like a one star athlete, right,
you know that's big time though. Yeah, I just gotta
(07:38):
tell you. You know, getting a star is a big deal,
by the way, but go ahead. Yeah yeah, but but
you know in the way that things are five star
right yeah, yeah, the five star world. So Clemson wanted
my teammate Patrick Sapp and he basically told them if
I come to Clemson, don't got to come with me.
That's how I got to Clemson. Wow, I did not
know that at the time. I found this out, maybe
twenty years ago, right, but in my mind, pretty cool,
(08:01):
you feel me so, But but it's not what you
it's not how you get the opportunity it's what you
do with that dog, right, So I absolutely kill that.
And then when I got to the Eagles, life itself,
me not being someone to talk about my emotions, it
began to implode. And that's when no fits of rage happened.
So that's when I went and got that help. So
that was the transition to me just completely given myself
(08:21):
completely over to the Lord and say listen, and I'm
gonna be blunt and honest when I say this, either
I'm coming to you God, I'm not gonna be here
no more. Right. And that's that's that's the place. That's
the place that I was for towards my life. Right.
So if I had made that decision on that temporary emotion,
we would not We would not, and we would not
None of my daughters would have been born, and I
(08:42):
would not have had the career that I've had if
I made them a permanent decision on a temporary emotional
or if I did that. Yeah, Yeah, that's deep man,
all right, I got, I got. I got two more
questions for you. One, what's your take on the Super Bowl?
Obviously you you have your team and the Super Bowl. Um,
what's your take on the Super Bowl and knowing that
(09:04):
your former head coach is on the other sideline, when
that's the thing I'm so happy for. First of all,
I'm so happy for Andy. Okay, I'm so happy that
he's going from one place that Um and May and
maybe people thought that it was just a fluke that
he did with with us, and and I don't see,
I don't see how to deal with it every year.
I don't see how five NFC Championship games it was
(09:26):
a fluke. But maybe it was a fluke. But now
you see him going to the coach, I mean the
coach Um the Kansas City and doing the exact same thing.
And then some in some areas y'all couldn't win because
we could do that, couldn't win it. He couldn't finish
the doping. So obviously he's learned some things. He's doing
things up better, right, and then he's empowering his players, man,
(09:50):
And that's all. That's one of the things I always
used to love about Andy is he would always say,
let your characters show. Don't be bottled up and thinking
that you need to do something. I think that somebody
else thinks, no, let your let your characters show. And
I love that about him. So I'm so happy that
the fact that they're in the game. And it's not
just him. Spagnolia was my defensive back coach for a while,
(10:11):
his defensive coordinator, you know, I know, so I know
pretty much a lot of the coaches are steal there
because they were coaches in Philadelphia. But the Eagles are
in there. The Eagles are in there, so so as
much as I love that coaching staff, yea, man, it's
about it's about to me Eagle's brother. That's Brian Dokins,
the great Brian Dockins. Make sure you go to give
(10:34):
me the website he gots. He gets us dot com.
He gets us dot com. Make sure you check that out.
Support and man, I'll tell you what, it's humbling when
when you're around greatness. It's even more humbling when you're
around a great person on the inside. So I appreciate
you coming on with us. This is up on Game
Presents Conversations with a Legend, brought to you by Base
(10:56):
and Batty. We'll be right back, I know, but I'm
gonna make it because I need. She was feeling like Sean,
I'm the done. She was h
I love that your story has always been pure, raw
and uncut. Like it's so funny because I think back
to Takio talking about the moment he's you know, he
hit the gallant that side, like, thank you Jesus, Takis.
I was some that whatever he got. That's I was
(00:21):
some of that. You talked about the balance of the
passion that you play with the compassion that's in your heart,
and how that plays into your spiritual faith and belief system.
How do you balance that? How did you balance that?
Because control rage in some cases controlled aggression, however we
(00:44):
want to label it. Because I was one of those
controlled aggression guys. I was. I was one of those
guys that you know what I mean. I let my emotions,
you know, and that passion drive what I did, how
you control it pulled up made my appearance. You can't
(01:09):
sit with us without clearance, that lame shoot. Never let
it nearest your grilla. Choose my team because you're still
living with your parents, flexing on the Graham with your paycheck.
Stop showing up them bills you ain't pay yet. Coutur
one o one, This ain't made yet. My game never
played like we came off the same jet. I'm gonna
(01:30):
need a section because we're trying to make what up everybody.
It's LeVar Arrington here. It's up on Game Presents conversations
with a legend. I got the Wolverine the man I
used to do them. But you know what awesome God.
You know they saying fly egos fly a whole lot
when I was on the field because of the plays
(01:51):
that this man was making. I got my man beat
Doc Brian Dawkins with me, man Hall of Famer. It's
a pleasure to have you. Thank you for having me. Brother.
Let's start here. Jesus is going to the super Bowl
this ye, He's gonna make an appearance. Now, I said,
if Jesus is gonna be there, then we already know
(02:11):
who the MVP of the game is going to be. Ultimately, Yes, okay,
talk to me about that, because our viewers out there
are asking themselves, what is LeVar talking about right now?
To the goat of goats that played the position. So
first of all, make sure you go to he gets
Us dot com. And so the thing one of the
things that I want to do with this is to
(02:31):
give you the human experience through my eyes and how
Jesus has blessed me to live the life that I live,
the way that I live it for taking the example
that he gave of how to do this human thing
and lived it out so compassion, living a life with passion.
So the passion that you see me displaying on the field,
you know, those are gifts, right, Those are things that
I can then use. But also you know, one of
the things that I also show people is that I
(02:53):
had tremendous anger issues going up. I mean I was
scoring the fits and rags and all those things. And
so understanding that now I can look at an example
that he gave of how to you can be angry
but not but send not. That also taught me that
I can do the exact same thing. So now if
I then live my life the way that he lived
his life, to bless other people, to always do things
(03:15):
in such a way as to uplift people. Even when
I help you and hold you accountable, it's always from
a place of love. So all of those things is
the main reason for me and my salvation. That's ultimate.
But in this human experience, he taught me how to human.
He taught me how to human. That's deep. Yeah, I
love that your story has always been pure, raw and
(03:39):
uncut like it's so funny because I think back to
Takuio talking about the moment he's you know, he hit
the gallant de side, can't you Jesus? Was that whatever
he got? That's I was some of that you talked
about the balance of the past. Shouldn't that you play
(04:01):
with the compassion that's in your heart and how that
plays into your spiritual faith and belief system. How do
you balance that? How did you balance that? Because control
rage in some cases controlled aggression, however we want to
label it. Because I was one of those controlled aggression guys.
(04:22):
I I was one of those guys that you know
what I mean. I let my emotions, you know, and
that passion drive what I did. How you control it?
So how do you find the balance? So here's the thing. First,
recognizing that that aggression, that all that stuff that you
talk about is a gift. It's a gift. And spending
(04:43):
time with the Lord in the morning and throughout the day,
just meditating on his word is extremely important. And I've
done that and I continue to do that. So what
that does is that it helps me utilize that energy
in a positive way. I can use that same energy
in a bad way. I can go into fits of rage.
I can throw something across the room. I can do
something that I did that forced my wife and my
(05:06):
defensive coordinate the Emmet Thomas at the time to help
me get help. I can run my head through a wall,
which I did, right, So I can use it that way,
but I can also use it in a positive way.
And so but it's really the fact that I recognize
that I'm not my emotions. I have emotions, I'm knocked them.
My emotions are not always correct. They may be telling
(05:27):
me something, but it's information. How I perceive it and
how I use it is up to me. And because
I can then go into that peaceful place of prayer
in just a moment's time, the Holy Spirit will help
me then make better decisions with that energy than I
would if I just stayed in that angry place. Just so,
in that place, I'm gonna fight. We're gonna fight, We're
gonna do something that's gonna be destructive, and it's gonna
(05:49):
be done done to somebody I might even love, and
I would have to say I'm sorry for the thing
that I did. I say it's best to be a
warrior that's in the garden rather than a gardener that's
in the war. It's a warrior's mentality with what you're
speaking of, and that's ultimately I think that that's that's
something that you know, probably very few comprehend to that
(06:11):
degree that that you're you're stating it. Let's talk about
you know, everything is so rooted in your faith and
your belief. Was it always like no? When did that? Like? Okay,
so walk me through. Because you you were a stone
cold high school player, was dope at Clemson, comes into
(06:35):
the league, was dope in the league. At what point
did you find yourself having that transition or that evolution
and to what you've become you know now? Yeah, So
I accepted Christ into my life in the eleventh grade, okay,
going into my senior year, and it was really from
a place of fear instead of a place of love.
(06:57):
I accepted it in my life in the place of fear.
So he began to truly work on me as I
began to go to Bible studies and FCA's and all
those things. Um, but that transition was it was not easy.
And then when you except first to step Christ It's
not like you all of a sudden become this completely
new person. Your spirit is a new work, but your body,
your mind is still the same as it was. Yeah,
(07:18):
it's to say so, it's it'll take some time for
you to mature, but you but you still have to
spend like like I said earlier, you have to spend
time praying, You have to spend time reading. Um, I'm
not gonna label the point. So I was not the
high school star you thought you thought I was. You know,
I may have been like a one star athlete, right,
you know that's big time though. Yeah, I just gotta
(07:38):
tell you. You know, getting a star is a big deal,
by the way, but go ahead. Yeah yeah, but but
you know in the way that things are five star
right yeah, yeah, the five star world. So Clemson wanted
my teammate Patrick Sapp and he basically told them if
I come to Clemson, don't got to come with me.
That's how I got to Clemson. Wow, I did not
know that at the time. I found this out, maybe
twenty years ago, right, but in my mind, pretty cool,
(08:01):
you feel me so, But but it's not what you
it's not how you get the opportunity it's what you
do with that dog, right, So I absolutely kill that.
And then when I got to the Eagles, life itself,
me not being someone to talk about my emotions, it
began to implode. And that's when no fits of rage happened.
So that's when I went and got that help. So
that was the transition to me just completely given myself
(08:21):
completely over to the Lord and say listen, and I'm
gonna be blunt and honest when I say this, either
I'm coming to you God, I'm not gonna be here
no more. Right. And that's that's that's the place. That's
the place that I was for towards my life. Right.
So if I had made that decision on that temporary emotion,
we would not We would not, and we would not
None of my daughters would have been born, and I
(08:42):
would not have had the career that I've had if
I made them a permanent decision on a temporary emotional
or if I did that. Yeah, Yeah, that's deep man,
all right, I got, I got. I got two more
questions for you. One, what's your take on the Super Bowl?
Obviously you you have your team and the Super Bowl. Um,
what's your take on the Super Bowl and knowing that
(09:04):
your former head coach is on the other sideline, when
that's the thing I'm so happy for. First of all,
I'm so happy for Andy. Okay, I'm so happy that
he's going from one place that Um and May and
maybe people thought that it was just a fluke that
he did with with us, and and I don't see,
I don't see how to deal with it every year.
I don't see how five NFC Championship games it was
(09:26):
a fluke. But maybe it was a fluke. But now
you see him going to the coach, I mean the
coach Um the Kansas City and doing the exact same thing.
And then some in some areas y'all couldn't win because
we could do that, couldn't win it. He couldn't finish
the doping. So obviously he's learned some things. He's doing
things up better, right, and then he's empowering his players, man,
(09:50):
And that's all. That's one of the things I always
used to love about Andy is he would always say,
let your characters show. Don't be bottled up and thinking
that you need to do something. I think that somebody
else thinks, no, let your let your characters show. And
I love that about him. So I'm so happy that
the fact that they're in the game. And it's not
just him. Spagnolia was my defensive back coach for a while,
(10:11):
his defensive coordinator, you know, I know, so I know
pretty much a lot of the coaches are steal there
because they were coaches in Philadelphia. But the Eagles are
in there. The Eagles are in there, so so as
much as I love that coaching staff, yea, man, it's
about it's about to me Eagle's brother. That's Brian Dokins,
the great Brian Dockins. Make sure you go to give
(10:34):
me the website he gots. He gets us dot com.
He gets us dot com. Make sure you check that out.
Support and man, I'll tell you what, it's humbling when
when you're around greatness. It's even more humbling when you're
around a great person on the inside. So I appreciate
you coming on with us. This is up on Game
Presents Conversations with a Legend, brought to you by Base
(10:56):
and Batty. We'll be right back, I know, but I'm
gonna make it because I need. She was feeling like Sean,
I'm the done. She was h
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