LaVar sits down with 2020 Hall of Famer Cade McNown to discuss how he got to UCLA, getting into his first game against Ray Lewis and the Miami Hurricanes plus what football has meant to him and how the NFF has helped him give back to the sport he loves so much.
Key Topics:
Cade's journey from high school to UCLA Overcoming adversity: the emergency appendectomy The transition from football to finance The role of the National Football Foundation Life lessons from the game
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I got lucky to get some number two position by
the time we opened the season against the University.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Of Miami Boys, and you know, ray Lewis.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Is their middle linebacker and there are some other terrific
players on that team.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And coach Donaghue just said, you know you're in there
like go, just go. You know, there was no there
was no uh, you know, hard to heart.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Or hey, everything's gonna be okay, they're gonna die.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Get in there.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Welcome into another exciting edition of Good in the Game.
I'm LeVar Arrington. I'll be your host on this journey.
Today we're gonna talk to a guy, really, really super
special guy by the name of Kay mcnapp. That's right,
went to u c l A was a quarterback, played
for years. He's done some pretty extraordinary things. And you
(01:04):
know what the game, the game played a part and
why this man is so extraordinary. We're going to jump
into this interview and we're going to talk. We're gonna
have a great conversation. So many things to touch on,
his mom being a part of his childhood. He went
into finance after he was done with the game of football.
He had his appendix removed. SSH talk about dealing with adversity,
(01:28):
and it happened his junior year of high school, which
is one of the most important years to get recruited
to a college. How did he overcome those things? You'll
find out. Stay tuned right now here we go three
two one, good in the game, and obviously everybody knows
without any introduction being needed to be made, this is
(01:51):
Kate McCown UCLA, great Chicago Bear. We won't you know,
we won't go to all the other teams, but you
know you are College Hall of Famer class of twenty twenty.
Had a brilliant career. In fact, your career is so
brilliant that your passing yards record still has yet to
(02:12):
be eclipsed by any UCLA quarterback. And by the way,
there have been some pretty dog going good UCLA quarterbacks
in the history of the school, so to hold that
record is tremendous and amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
You are twelfth overall pick.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
And now you're in finance and which I'm going to
be interested to hear more about what you've done off
the field than some of the things that we will
touch on on the field. But you know, appreciate you
coming on. Excited to have this opportunity to talk with you.
And let's start off with this. You're born in Oregon,
(02:55):
you end up playing ball in California and California Hollister,
I believe, if my memory serves me correctly. Uh, whereas
it's sand San Mark Marta, Mark Margarito saying there's a
old there's so many of them out here. Oh my gosh,
there's so many out here. But you played well in
(03:18):
in high school. You get to u c l A
and you did something that no one has ever done.
You started, You started all four years and you beat
the rival of the crosstown rival all four times that
you were there, which is man, if you were to say,
(03:39):
somebody is going to do that to USC and it's
u c l A at this point, I think people
would would debate that fiercely.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Kay, So let's start there.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
High school leads you into a place where you clearly
must have felt you were confident enough to come into
u c l A and win the job. Walk us
through that.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Well, yeah, it starts back at as you as you
referenced San Benito High School San in Hollister, California, also
known as Hollister High School. But uh, you know It's
kind of an interesting journey for me to even to
get to U c l A. Because I managed to
earn the starting quarterback position running a wing t offense
(04:26):
at Hollister my junior year, but just a few games
into my junior year, I actually ended up having an
emergency appendectomy, which UH, which ended up eliminating the balance
of my season.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So I was really.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You know, looking forward to that as you know, that
junior year is a big one when you're looking to
h to play at the next level and too to
be going into an operating room a few weeks into my.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Junior year and and get get cut on.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I remember, I remember getting getting the procedure UH and
asking if I was going to be okay to play
the game later that week, and the doctor, I remember,
kind of laughed at me. He's like, no, no, you
and I and I cried my eyes out. I was,
I was, you know, pretty devastated, but UH managed to
(05:21):
kind of get myself back on the recruiting map in UH.
In the spring that year, there was a rebok combine
up in h at Saint Mary's College in Maraga, California,
and ended up going there, and there are a lot
of UH recruiters there for from various universities and and
(05:43):
I performed okay, but but ultimately I ended up moving
up to Oregon that's for my senior year and having
to kind of start all over.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
But but managed to have a pretty good season. We're in.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
We we made it to the state semi finals that year,
and really what kind of happened is you know, you know,
you know it better than I do nowadays the way
kids get recruited. I mean, everybody's got their own videos,
and you know, it's all digital and you could just
send it to anybody. And I actually was lucky that
I've got a brother who's four years older than me,
(06:18):
who went down to the local cable station that recorded
all the games and he worked with somebody there to
kind of highlight reel. I put it on a VHS tape,
and oh, I sent it to five different schools, and
they were all schools I was interested in attending. The
(06:40):
only one that I sent it to that that would
not take me seriously, not that they weren't taking me seriously,
but they'd already committed to another player was Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I'd actually gone there also for football camp.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
You know that was back in the days when when
you know, Rudy was coming out and a lot of
people were paying attention to note And I'm going going
back and spending a week in South Bend.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
That would have been Paulus when you were in your time, right, Romish.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, he was there and and you know, Lou Holtz
was the coach, and and I remember going back there
and and and being really interested in going, but they
had already committed to somebody. So the other schools that
I sent it to all expressed interest kind of late.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I mean, this was going out, you know, kind.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Of in December of my senior year, and I ended
up getting offers to UH.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
For visits, and my first visit was to u C.
L A. And UH. The other schools that I had,
I think I sent.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
That tape to were Stanford, UH, Washington and Oregon and
you know, and then you start getting the recruiting letters
and all that sort of stuff. But but my first,
my first official visit was to U C. L A.
And Terry Donahue UH towards towards the end of my
(08:06):
visit invited me into his office and said, hey, listen,
I'm interested in in two quarterbacks and if you say
you're coming, I'm not interested in the other And I.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Said, I stood up and I shook his hand and
he said, along cooming. You see, so I was I
was an easy I was an easy guy for them
to get.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Ultimately, I liked what I saw and I heard it
from coach Donahue and I said, well, I'm coming.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So that's that's what That's what ultimately got me to
U c l A.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I ended up making that commitment on on you know
national you know.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Letter of inten day, I think February first in nineteen
ninety five. And yeah, never never looked back.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I was I made the right decision, and I was
thrilled to get down there and and and compete. I
was not certainly offering any sort of starting job or
anything like that. I just I just wanted to go
to UH, a great university with a great academic profile,
and a place ultimately where I could also where I
(09:10):
felt like I had a chance to be on a
winning team where we could win the Pac ten title.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Well, I'll first start off by saying, when you have
a coach that believes in you and believes enough in
making that type of bold proclamation. I'm with you there
one hundred percent on ye take that.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
And that's one funny side note before.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I sure it's kind of kind of amusing talking to
a Penn State guy about it, but I remember getting
a recruiting letter from Penn State thinking to myself, boy,
you know that that Joe Paterno, he's he's pretty old.
You know, I don't know if he'll be around much longer.
And and Terry Donnie who was so young, and you
(09:55):
know he'll definitely coach Donnie who left after one year,
and Paterno stuck around for.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
About about fifteen twenty more so. And now that would
have been Carry Collins when you were when you were
coming in, right, it would have been Collins. And then
what Wally Richardson would have been a quarterback.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, you guys played actually the Penn State, I believe
the Penn State Oregon. Yeah, that is just on the
Rose Bowl field in the nineteen ninety five game.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
When I went and visited the Rose.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Bowl to wow about that Penn State paint and the
Oregon paint.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
We had a different outcome for that game that year
than we did this year in the Big Ten championship.
But it's not about Penn State. This is about Cave Now.
Obviously the u c l A. Brewing great the quarterback
that that did some amazing things. So you did go
through some adversity in your recruitment getting the surgery done with.
(10:58):
You know, you said your appendix right avdect toy. That's uh, yeah,
that's that's I had to do in a hernia surgery.
So anytime they got to go into your your core
like that, man, that's always like, that's a thing talk
to me about the The name of this show is
Good in the Game, all right, And there's the level
(11:21):
of high school and to college, college to pro pro
into real life and then we're now old enough to
be real life. It's it's removed really so much from
any really you know kind of what we can say.
We still relate to the game, but we're really in
(11:41):
real life of our lives. So there's different phases of
what Good in the Game has represented for us foundationally speaking.
How did you did you play for a long time?
Were you a few years player? Did you develop coping mechanisms?
What was a part of your experience as as a
(12:04):
football player at the younger age, you know, whether it's
high school, whether it's even beyond before that, leading up
to having to deal with some of the adverse situations
to even get the opportunity to get a scholarship. Just
walk me through a little bit of what like, what
do you remember vividly in terms of how the game
(12:27):
was good for you?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah? Well, as you know, it is a it is
a tough game.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
And I get asked a lot my parents, you know, gosh,
you know, what do you would you let your kids
play football? And and all this kind of stuff, and I,
you know, my answer is is always the same.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
If your kid likes to hit, please let them play football.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
If if your kid doesn't like to hit, don't make
them play football, because you're either the bug or the
windshield out there, and if your kid doesn't want to
be the windshield, he will be the bug.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And right, And I loved hitting. I mean I could not.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
I My parents didn't want anybody, any of us, any
of the two boys playing football till high school. But
my brother, who's four years older than me, got to play.
And I threw a fit in the fifth grade and
somehow managed to get them to uh to acquiesce and
allow me.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
To play pop orner football.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
But I got started playing offensive guard tackle, you know,
detackle because I was a bigger kid, and then slowly
moved my way into like full back linebacker, you know,
eventually kind of outside linebacker, running back, and then and
then ultimately into this sort of free safety quarterback on
(13:46):
both sides.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And you know, but but to.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Your question about some of the things, I remember vividly
and and you know, just take for a second the.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Difficulty of the game.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And then kind of later on, I remember hearing uh,
an inspirational speaker come to our high school one year,
and one thing that I took away that day was,
you know, it's it's not what you do when the
coach is looking, it's what you do when the coaches
aren't looking that really makes the difference. And I remember
taking that very very literally and seriously, to the point,
(14:20):
when the coach wasn't looking, I would run harder, I
would I would push myself more.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I was.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I was kind of kind of crazy about that, and
and and and as you know, sometimes when the quarterback
who's not as fast as everybody else is beating everybody
else in in wind sprints and everything else else, it
doesn't always make people happy.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Whether you like it or not, you got to step
it up, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So I always, you know, and I always felt like,
you know, regardless of the leader, you never ask the
people that you're trying to lead to do something you're
not willing to do yourself. And you know, I was
just I was very serious. I love football. I loved
playing football. I mean I played a lot of sports,
(15:07):
and I loved really whatever was in season quite frankly,
but but football was always my favorite sport.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And uh, I just I just remember, you know, you know,
very early on, you know, all the all the work
that goes into the game.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I mean, the game is kind of you know, that's
that's really the fruit that comes out, but all the
all the hard work is what is what.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Gets you into that position to have success.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
And I took it very seriously and and all the
way through through college, I was. I was a very
dedicated UH teammate, a very dedicated UH player. I just
I just never wanted to look back at any moment
in my in my life, just kind of knowing even
then as I got older, I never wanted to look
(15:54):
back and think, Gosh, I wish I.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Would have prepared more I could. I could have tried harder.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I wish I didn't go out that night, and I
you know, I could have done better.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I just I just never wanted to have those regrets
and and and I don't.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I mean, I always joke, you know, I didn't you know,
I didn't drink you know anything when I never drank
alcohol when I was in college, you know, not that
you can or can.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I just I just chose not to.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I figured I was I wasn't talented enough to be
able to do that and then still still be a
performer on Saturdays. And so I I just I avoided
all that and I was, uh, I was just super
dedicated and I love it. And I look back and
you know, both good and bad, whatever came of it,
it wasn't for a lack of effort or preparation or
(16:46):
anything that I could control that, you know, something maybe
maybe a bad decision was made or in a game
or we lost a game or something. I never have
to look back with with any regrets in college football
that I wasn't all in and prepared and giving one
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
So I was pretty lucky to have that mentality. I
guess what did.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
All in look like for you. I know you mentioned
not drinking. I know you mentioned running the wind sprints hard.
But give me, do you have an example of what
all in represented?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
It?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Was there a moment in particular that represented all in
for you? I know for me when I was in
high school, my all in moment was I played against
Woodland Hills my freshman year and they beat the breaks
off of me and I quit during the game. I quit.
I took my helmet off on the sideline. I sat
(17:45):
on the bench and I said, I quit. I'm done.
I'm not going back in, and I'm never going to
play ever again.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I quit.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
And my quarterback, thirty three, the greatest football player I've
ever seen, no matter what, I don't care what it is.
He's the reason why I want to stay. Title the
only title I've ever had in my entire life. I
had a quarterback and thirty three comes up to me.
Eric Kasparovitch comes up to me and he tells me
(18:15):
that your special. Your special, and everybody knows it. And
you're either going to gut up and you're going to
deal with what comes with being special, or you can
bow out right now.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Now.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I could say in the moment like now after everything
has happened. That was the magical moment in that moment,
but I was resistant to it. But he planted the seed.
It was the most impactful moment of understanding what adversity was.
(18:53):
Then I started paying attention to him running the wind
sprints faster than everybody. I started paying attention to him
and how he was breaking down the film. I started
paying attention to little things like how how the coaches
responded and communicated with him. If he didn't want to
do something, they talked about it and they would not
(19:14):
do it. And I got to a point in my
young stage where I said, I want that to be me.
I don't I don't play quarterback. I don't want to
play quarterback, But who he is and what he represents
to this team, I want that to be me. And
I started to evolve after that. Do you recall any
(19:36):
type of moments that kind of hit you in a
way where it made you see that there was something
more for you, It made you realize that you could
be more than what you even thought you could be.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Gosh, that's a great, great question.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I mean, I feel like I had some of those
conversations with some of my teammates the way.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
You're guy did with you, that's for sure. I would say,
I would say a lot of.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It, you know, for me, the probably the moment that
I sort of believed I could. I don't know that
I I mean, I was probably incredibly naive and and
I was. You'd probably be hard pressed to find people
(20:26):
to tell you that I didn't believe in myself.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
I might have. I might have overly believed in myself
at times.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
But uh, you know, I'll credit that to my mother
and father for for drilling that into into my head.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So talk about it, talk about it.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
It's all. It's all relevant. It's all again, it's all relevant.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
It is.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I mean, you know, I give a lot of credit
to uh, you know, certainly to my mom. My mom
you know, has a very has like rose colored glasses.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Everything's everything, everything's good, and maybe.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
And really believing, you know, and saying to me, like
you know that I'm you know, probably better than I am.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So you know, I probably had an.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Overly inflated, uh view of my capabilities. But but I
would say, but I would say, you know, with my
my freshman.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Year at U c l A.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
You know, I I just kind of got lucky to
get into the position to be the number number two guy.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
You know, when I got there, there were probably.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Five or six quarterbacks on the depth chart, and being
a true freshman, I you know, certainly wasn't you know,
shooting up very quickly. Yeah, exactly, I'm I'm in the
back of the line. But through you know, I think
it was just through at some level performance, but also
(21:56):
some injuries to other guys ahead of me, you know.
And that's that's another thing I try to remind people
before they want to, you know, transfer schools or you know,
go here, go there. It's like you're one play away,
maybe two plays, right, I mean, people get hurt all
the time.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
So I got lucky to get to the number two position.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
By the time we opened the season against the University
of Miami, and UH our starting quarterback ended up getting
knocked out of the game literally.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
And it was some boogie monsters out there when you
played against them.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah, so I and you know, Ray Lewis is their
middle linebacker, and there are some other terrific players on
that team. And and I'll never forget the you know,
it was a big nationally televised game and everything, and uh,
you know, I'm three months out of my lunch line
in high school and you know, I'm standing on the
sideline at the UCLA football game. I mean I just
watched them play uh, Nebraska the year before from a couch,
(22:59):
so this is this is a big deal.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And all of a sudden, our guy gets knocked out
and coach Donahue just said, you know you're in there,
like go just go. You know, there was no there
was no uh you know, heart.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
To heart or hey, everything's gonna be okay, they're gonna die.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Get in there.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Let's just get in there.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
And and I said okay, and I was and I
and I remember his whether it was real or fake,
you know, his confidence, at least from what I perceived
his confidence and not even not even talking about anything,
just get the play and get in there.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
I was like, well, this is let's go.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I mean, I'm getting you know, I get I get
chills thinking about it still.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
So it was really it was. It was great.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
And I ended up you know, I think it was
probably five plays we picked up a first down and
then we ended up kicking a field goal and then
the guy went you know, the starter went back in
but that was that was that was a moment for
me where I was like, Okay, I'm here.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
And the next week he gets knocked out again, and
this time I have to finish the game.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
And ended up having a really good game and against
BYU and Provo and and UH ended up starting the
third game because you know, at that time, back to
back weeks of concussions, you were you were considered out
for at least a week. So I started the next
game and we ended up losing a heartbreaker on the
(24:32):
last play of the game. We had a chance to
beat Oregon at home and ended up losing. And and
you know, he started the next week, and I played
half the game, and at that point it was like,
who knows what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
We were I think, uh, you know two and two
at that point.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
And there was a big lead up to that week
against Fresno State my my freshman year, and we were
both sort of taking in an even an even amount
of apps during the week with the with the first team,
and coach Donahue did not tell anybody who was going
to start UH that week and until right before kickoff,
(25:11):
and he walked over to me that game he said
you're you're in and and so that I started every
game from there till the end of my college football career.
And and and just I always felt like having the
confidence of of my coaches, Uh, that belief and and
sort of empowering me to to to go out there
(25:34):
and and you know, have have the team in my
you know, in my hands, was a very powerful statement.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
And I took it very seriously. I knew it was
a it was a.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Privilege to be out there. I didn't ever for a
minute feel a sense of entitlement. You know, from my
freshman year to my senior year, I always felt very
very lucky and privileged to be playing for UCLA and
and being the starting quarterback at a at a university
(26:04):
that had seen you know, many many incredible players over
the years, not not just quarterbacks but.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Across the board. And you know, I took I took
it very seriously.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
And but that was certainly early on, uh, encouraging for
me to go out there and have.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
The support of my coaches. I love that.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
How did it play a part? You're a cerebral dude
like I would have I would have enjoyed playing against
you in college, not so much pros because they they
used me differently. But you're cerebral, so I would have
been looking at you and I would have been trying
to read you and figure out what you're communicating to
your your players. You're a communicator, I can tell, and
(26:45):
you're very It's it's there now makes me wonder about again.
You brought up the academic aspects of what it is
U c l A is an amazing, tremendous school for academics.
How did this mindset you take it very seriously and
opportunities that were being created and coming your way in football,
(27:07):
how did you balance that out with being a superior academic,
you know, a student athlete at the time of trying
to balance out all of the athletics as well.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
LeVar, First of.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
All, I'd love to tell you I was a superior
student throughout my years at UCLA.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I cannot say that.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I probably carried closer to a three point zero average
in college, although I did not have enough credits completed
at the end of the fall of my senior year,
so I ended up having to come back years later.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
I finished my degree for you, I didn't have the.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Pressure year, but I will say when I came back
and I did not have the full time job that
is being a college football player. My my results in
the classroom, we're far better.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I say, all you got to do is get up
and go to class and take tests.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Go figure, right, it's not that hard, right. You got
to be there, you got to be present. That's really
all it is.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And I tell my four kids, I say, listen, school
is not that hard.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
You go in, you listen to what they say, you
repeat it back to them in the form of a
test or whatever else. And you know, if you're listening
and you're doing what you're supposed to do, you're probably
going to do pretty well. Where it gets challenging is
when you've got a you know, pick your number of
hours a week job, like you know, being a college
football player and having to meet all those expectations and
(28:38):
then balance that. That gets a lot more challenging. So
during the season certainly much more challenging. But even in
the off season, you're training a lot, your body's tired.
You know, when your body's tired, it's hard to get mentally,
you know, up to task. And so it's it's it's
always a challenge. And I don't think you can really
do it well out without being all in and fully committed.
(29:03):
You know, I would say my my social uh focus
was was minimal uh in college and so but that
was very intentional. I just knew those four years were
going to come and go, and you know, whatever the
average age that you know we may live is going
to be for four years is very very small, and uh,
(29:28):
I just I just did not want to let any
opportunities slip by, uh where I could have been been
better about making sure that that they happened.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Yeah, I mean it's a great piece of advice. I
hope everybody out there listening and watching right now hurt
what what you just said. Sometimes the sacrifice of now,
you know, is you doing what you have to do.
You are doing what needed and what must be done
that ultimately put you in position to do what you
(30:02):
want to do. And and that is is definitely a
tremendous piece to all of it. Kaye, talk to me,
Talk to me about you know, you're connected to the
National Football Foundation. Obviously, talk to me about what that's
meant to you, that that connection and you know, obviously
understanding that the balance of what the NFF represents is
(30:27):
such an important piece to to everything that that takes
place for us within our own community is being great
in the community, being great and in the you know,
in the classroom, being great on the field, being great
as people. You know. That's that's been my experience since,
you know, joining and being a part of the NFF,
(30:48):
the National Football Foundation. What's your experience been, Well.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
It's it's just been an incredible experience.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
And the National Football Foundation and what it stands for
and what it promotes are are just incredible values promoting
the game of football. Uh and and really all the
(31:17):
all the life lessons football instills in us. It's it's
it's it's just really really important for kids to get
to experience that if they can. And you know, as
you know that the game is always shifting and changing.
(31:37):
You know, when we grew up, it seemed like there's
a Pop Warner team in every town, you know, many
many teams in some cases. And I would say in
some of the bigger cities, especially I live in Los Angeles,
I would say it's not as popular as as it
used to be. Certainly the NFL and the attention at
(31:59):
the high level is there, But I would say that
at the younger levels. There's a lot more flag football,
there's lacrosse. There are all sorts of other sports that
are popping up that.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
People are paying attention to.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
And and you know, when we were growing up, it
was kind of a rite of passage and it was
something you just needed to do. You had to be
on the football team. I don't know that that's necessarily
the case anymore in certain areas. In other areas, it's
continued and grown tremendously, you know, certain.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
States throughout the South, the Midwest, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
But the values that we get to learn and understand
and be a part of because we've got to play
football are so important. And the fact that the National
Football Foundation is out promoting that across the country is
something that I just would not want to miss out
(32:52):
on at all. So to be a part of this
in some small way is something I'm very proud of,
very thankful for.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
In fact, one of the things I've gotten involved in over.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
The last ten years was something started by my old coach,
Terry Donahue called the California Showcase, where he basically put
together a combine for kids to be able to be
seen by lots of other colleges and universities around the
country that aren't necessarily the one a top one hundred schools,
(33:24):
but have scholarships to give, you know, in football, and
sort of just providing a venue to allow those recruiters
to see these kids. And what's been great is they're
not out raising money. The scholarship dollars are already there.
They're just creating the combine to make that to bring
(33:45):
the money and the kids in need together and have
been able to give out or actually connect well north
of ten million dollars in scholarships over the last you know,
several years, and it's just a it's a terrific venue.
So being asked to be a part of that by
the late great Terry Donahue was a pleasure. I still
(34:07):
I still help out, and you know, I try to
be helpful in in in a number of ways around
the game, and including being visible with the with the foundation,
obviously coming back and getting to participate in the College
Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony like we did this
past week. And continuing to be a part of that
(34:29):
and finding ways to add value in.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Whatever way I can is something I'm interested in doing.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
So you went to finances, so clearly you know finances numbers.
Numbers are like a school of fish to me, Kate,
like I can keep them in a school for a
little bit, then they start going every which direction. Man,
you know what I mean? Like, numbers are crazy. They
give me, give me motion sickness at times. And that's
(34:59):
o hey, because we all have our strengths, we all
have our weaknesses. Clearly it was a strength for you.
You're working for a prestigious advisory group right now, talk
to me a little bit about what you have going
on now, and just for us to wrap it up,
how did your time as a football player play a part,
(35:20):
How major a role is that and what it is
that you do now and if you could tell us
how that is, that would be great too.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well Listen, I won't I won't make this a pitch
for what I'm doing now, but I will say that
that what I am doing now is something I'm very
excited about. It's it's a little bit of a culmination
of many of my life's experiences when I when I
first got out of football, I found my way into
uh into finance through the wealth management channel. I went
(35:52):
to work for for ubs briefly, and then JP Morgan
in the private bank, spent some time there, and ultimately
got myself into a uh, a business that helped advise individuals.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
On their.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
You know, on their wealth, so kind of a wealth
management business within an independent framework, and ultimately got myself
into a into a business that does private equity and
private credit investing across.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
A range of of of industries. You know.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
It's it's sort of been a long journey, but ultimately
I now, UH about six months ago, joined a firm
called Redbird Capital h that interestingly invests in sports, media
and entertainment and financial services.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
It's a private equity.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Firm, and and we're doing, believe it or not quite
a bit in collegiate athletics, we're doing in partnership with
the NFL, and then and and doing various things around
media and entertainment as well.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
So it's really if you if you.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Took a ven diagram of sort of my my life
experiences and overlay it with our.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Investment portfolio, it would look very very they'd look very similar,
which is fun.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
I get to have some some level of subject matter
expertise around around you know, what we're investing in, which
is really fun.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
That's awesome, And so looking at that and being competitive,
how does it compare? How does how does doing what
you do now compare to Because you're a competitor. I
mean I can see it, and I can see the
intensity in you and and the feelings that you feel
in talking and discussing the things that we're talking about.
(37:47):
How does that intensity play a part in what you're
doing right now? How does it compare?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (37:53):
I know, in fact, just just earlier we were talking
about you know, uh, some of the things we endure
in college and setting us ourselves up for later in life.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
And I'll I'll.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Never forget every great football team had a great uh
training group and and a and a strength and conditioning
program and those people in there that that push you.
That's that's when you're really forming yourself. And and I remember,
uh my my junior year are strength and conditioning coach
(38:25):
yelling at everybody saying, guys, we are going to make
you do the things you don't want to do so
you can be who you want to be. And what
you realize when you get out of football that now
I have to make myself do the things I don't.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Want to do. To be who I want to be.
And that's another that's another challenge. But but but you
do it.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And in my business, you've got to be patient, but
you've got to be persistent. And you know that's that's
no different than than the long term nature of of
of building yourself in the game of football.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
You know, it starts when you're young. You're developing yourself.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
When you started playing in junior high school or high school,
you weren't ready to play in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
It takes time. Your body's got to develop, your mind's
got to develop.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
And what you realize what you get into the NFL,
especially your rookie year, is that guy who's in that three.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Technique across from you, he might have been.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
In that three technique now for twenty years between the NFL,
college football, high school. You know, that free safety, he
may have been doing these these tricks for twenty years. Right,
I'm fresh meat, and so you got to you got
to understand that even though you're all on the same field,
some are just far, you know, much further ahead than
(39:42):
you are. And so for me to start in a
career where many of my contemporaries in my career started,
you know, in college and then right out of college,
I you know, I started much later.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
So so having a balance of sort of expectations around
my ability to perform, you know, based on my age,
and then you know, being realistic about all the knowledge
that I need to ultimately gather and the experience that
I need to have to be effective is something that
(40:16):
you just got to.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
You got to wrap your head around, and it takes
time you don't get.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
To And I think I think that was that for me.
The silver lining in you know, hurting my shoulder. I
had a shoulder separation halfway through my second year with
the Bears.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
They try to try to come back, ultimately got traded twice.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
I mean I was damaged goods when the Dolphins got me,
and even more damaged by the time I got to
the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
But yeah, but if you're fortunate, you've been there.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, but but the silver the silver lining getting out
of professional football at twenty.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Six is still young. You're still young, still young. I
could I could start, I could sort of start that
ernie at a time that.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Allowed me, within reason to be you know, a grunt,
you know with other brunts that might be younger than me.
But you know, that's the challenge when you get out,
you know, you get into your thirties, you know.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
And then you want if you want to go down
another path, it's very very challenging.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Now Ideally at that point you've also financially done quite
well and set yourself up hopefully to be in great
shape for a long time.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
But for me, recognizing that I had to start all over.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Again at twenty six was to me more manageable than
trying to do that, you know, six, seven, eight years later.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
And I'm happy. I mean, look, I'm very happy with
how things turned out. If I could have rewritten it
what I've loved.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
To play ten twelve, fifteen years, absolutely I wanted to
go and win championships and do all that that stuff.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
But I'm still very happy with how things have turned out.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
And I feel very lucky, especially at forty seven today,
with many many years ahead of work and raising kids
and you know, there's a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I feel like I'm on.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
A very sustainable, manageable path that will allow me to
grow in my business life tremendously well.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
So love that, love that answer, because that's really what
good in the game represents. Is being able to have
that humility, being able to have that self awareness that
you know, start over and if you're starting over, you
don't start at the pro level, and just knowing that
(42:47):
you got to trust the process, learn the process, do it,
do it from every angle you mentioned. It goes back
and I'll close out with this. It goes back to
your statement in the beginning, got into the game and
you didn't even play the position you ended up playing.
Isn't that a lot like how life is. You start
out and you end up playing this position, you play
(43:09):
that position, you play this position, then it's over there,
that's way out there, But hey, I'm gonna do it,
and you learn all of these different positions, and ultimately
it's teaching you the game. Right now, you understand the game.
You understand what those guys got to deal with that
are in front of you. You understand what they're thinking
on the other side of the ball or out there
(43:30):
on the outsides, whatever it may be. And that was
something that I've made very clear with my kids and
how I raise them. Don't be resistant to when somebody
asked you to do something that you didn't want to do.
Maybe you did want to be a receiver, but they
put you at tight end. Maybe you want it to
be a tight end, but they put you at d line.
(43:50):
You know. The bottom line is is that learn learn
what it is that they're doing, so that if you
do get that opportunity to do what it is that
you want it to do, you'll have an appreciation for
what other people are doing. And that's a lot like
how business is. You know, you learn it, you know,
and that you know a lot of us we could
stand to learn that lesson of be the donut guy.
(44:13):
Rookie year, you're the donut guy, you're the breakfast sandwich guy.
You got to learn how to be the donut guy,
you know, And that's that takes some humility. But it's
also why I believe our game is so amazing because
that's a lesson that some people don't get to learn
in real time when they're growing up. It's certainly a
lesson we do in playing this game. So kay, I
(44:36):
appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Man.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Let me tell you something as impressive as it gets.
And yeah, I mean I appreciate you coming on and
giving us some of your time and obviously continued success
with everything that you're doing and Yeah, just just humbled
to head opportunity to talk with you men and hear
your thoughts on on what this game has meant to
(45:00):
you and how.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
It's shaped your life.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
So appreciate the time, my guy.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Thanks LeVar.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Well listen, if you ever get a chance to get
yourself interviewed, I want to.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Do it, all right, Okay, we'll do it, because I
will do it. I got a lot of questions for you.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
All right, all right, everyone, that was Kate McNown I'll
tell you what he is. As advertised, he had a
lot of great things to say, a lot of information,
a lot of wisdom, and a lot of experience. I
enjoyed speaking with this man. He's from my era. As
you heard in the interview, he's got it. He's got
(45:39):
it together. He's a sharp guy. And just being able
to listen to the things that he's experienced and the
things he's overcoming, the things that he has achieved, ultimately
serves the purpose as to why we do this show
good in the game, Kate McCown, you are what's good
about the game, and you are ultimately good in the game.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (46:03):
Thanks to the National Football Foundation, and thank you for listening.
All right, stay tuned in, subscribe, check us out, and
I'll talk to you soon. All right, Slavar Arrington, I'm
signing out.
I got lucky to get some number two position by
the time we opened the season against the University.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Of Miami Boys, and you know, ray Lewis.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Is their middle linebacker and there are some other terrific
players on that team.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And coach Donaghue just said, you know you're in there
like go, just go. You know, there was no there
was no uh, you know, hard to heart.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Or hey, everything's gonna be okay, they're gonna die.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Get in there.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Welcome into another exciting edition of Good in the Game.
I'm LeVar Arrington. I'll be your host on this journey.
Today we're gonna talk to a guy, really, really super
special guy by the name of Kay mcnapp. That's right,
went to u c l A was a quarterback, played
for years. He's done some pretty extraordinary things. And you
(01:04):
know what the game, the game played a part and
why this man is so extraordinary. We're going to jump
into this interview and we're going to talk. We're gonna
have a great conversation. So many things to touch on,
his mom being a part of his childhood. He went
into finance after he was done with the game of football.
He had his appendix removed. SSH talk about dealing with adversity,
(01:28):
and it happened his junior year of high school, which
is one of the most important years to get recruited
to a college. How did he overcome those things? You'll
find out. Stay tuned right now here we go three
two one, good in the game, and obviously everybody knows
without any introduction being needed to be made, this is
(01:51):
Kate McCown UCLA, great Chicago Bear. We won't you know,
we won't go to all the other teams, but you
know you are College Hall of Famer class of twenty twenty.
Had a brilliant career. In fact, your career is so
brilliant that your passing yards record still has yet to
(02:12):
be eclipsed by any UCLA quarterback. And by the way,
there have been some pretty dog going good UCLA quarterbacks
in the history of the school, so to hold that
record is tremendous and amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
You are twelfth overall pick.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
And now you're in finance and which I'm going to
be interested to hear more about what you've done off
the field than some of the things that we will
touch on on the field. But you know, appreciate you
coming on. Excited to have this opportunity to talk with you.
And let's start off with this. You're born in Oregon,
(02:55):
you end up playing ball in California and California Hollister,
I believe, if my memory serves me correctly. Uh, whereas
it's sand San Mark Marta, Mark Margarito saying there's a
old there's so many of them out here. Oh my gosh,
there's so many out here. But you played well in
(03:18):
in high school. You get to u c l A
and you did something that no one has ever done.
You started, You started all four years and you beat
the rival of the crosstown rival all four times that
you were there, which is man, if you were to say,
(03:39):
somebody is going to do that to USC and it's
u c l A at this point, I think people
would would debate that fiercely.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Kay, So let's start there.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
High school leads you into a place where you clearly
must have felt you were confident enough to come into
u c l A and win the job. Walk us
through that.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Well, yeah, it starts back at as you as you
referenced San Benito High School San in Hollister, California, also
known as Hollister High School. But uh, you know It's
kind of an interesting journey for me to even to
get to U c l A. Because I managed to
earn the starting quarterback position running a wing t offense
(04:26):
at Hollister my junior year, but just a few games
into my junior year, I actually ended up having an
emergency appendectomy, which UH, which ended up eliminating the balance
of my season.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So I was really.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You know, looking forward to that as you know, that
junior year is a big one when you're looking to
h to play at the next level and too to
be going into an operating room a few weeks into my.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Junior year and and get get cut on.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I remember, I remember getting getting the procedure UH and
asking if I was going to be okay to play
the game later that week, and the doctor, I remember,
kind of laughed at me. He's like, no, no, you
and I and I cried my eyes out. I was,
I was, you know, pretty devastated, but UH managed to
(05:21):
kind of get myself back on the recruiting map in UH.
In the spring that year, there was a rebok combine
up in h at Saint Mary's College in Maraga, California,
and ended up going there, and there are a lot
of UH recruiters there for from various universities and and
(05:43):
I performed okay, but but ultimately I ended up moving
up to Oregon that's for my senior year and having
to kind of start all over.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
But but managed to have a pretty good season. We're in.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
We we made it to the state semi finals that year,
and really what kind of happened is you know, you know,
you know it better than I do nowadays the way
kids get recruited. I mean, everybody's got their own videos,
and you know, it's all digital and you could just
send it to anybody. And I actually was lucky that
I've got a brother who's four years older than me,
(06:18):
who went down to the local cable station that recorded
all the games and he worked with somebody there to
kind of highlight reel. I put it on a VHS tape,
and oh, I sent it to five different schools, and
they were all schools I was interested in attending. The
(06:40):
only one that I sent it to that that would
not take me seriously, not that they weren't taking me seriously,
but they'd already committed to another player was Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I'd actually gone there also for football camp.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
You know that was back in the days when when
you know, Rudy was coming out and a lot of
people were paying attention to note And I'm going going
back and spending a week in South Bend.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
That would have been Paulus when you were in your time, right, Romish.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, he was there and and you know, Lou Holtz
was the coach, and and I remember going back there
and and and being really interested in going, but they
had already committed to somebody. So the other schools that
I sent it to all expressed interest kind of late.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I mean, this was going out, you know, kind.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Of in December of my senior year, and I ended
up getting offers to UH.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
For visits, and my first visit was to u C.
L A. And UH. The other schools that I had,
I think I sent.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
That tape to were Stanford, UH, Washington and Oregon and
you know, and then you start getting the recruiting letters
and all that sort of stuff. But but my first,
my first official visit was to U C. L A.
And Terry Donahue UH towards towards the end of my
(08:06):
visit invited me into his office and said, hey, listen,
I'm interested in in two quarterbacks and if you say
you're coming, I'm not interested in the other And I.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Said, I stood up and I shook his hand and
he said, along cooming. You see, so I was I
was an easy I was an easy guy for them
to get.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Ultimately, I liked what I saw and I heard it
from coach Donahue and I said, well, I'm coming.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So that's that's what That's what ultimately got me to
U c l A.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I ended up making that commitment on on you know
national you know.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Letter of inten day, I think February first in nineteen
ninety five. And yeah, never never looked back.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I was I made the right decision, and I was
thrilled to get down there and and and compete. I
was not certainly offering any sort of starting job or
anything like that. I just I just wanted to go
to UH, a great university with a great academic profile,
and a place ultimately where I could also where I
(09:10):
felt like I had a chance to be on a
winning team where we could win the Pac ten title.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Well, I'll first start off by saying, when you have
a coach that believes in you and believes enough in
making that type of bold proclamation. I'm with you there
one hundred percent on ye take that.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
And that's one funny side note before.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I sure it's kind of kind of amusing talking to
a Penn State guy about it, but I remember getting
a recruiting letter from Penn State thinking to myself, boy,
you know that that Joe Paterno, he's he's pretty old.
You know, I don't know if he'll be around much longer.
And and Terry Donnie who was so young, and you
(09:55):
know he'll definitely coach Donnie who left after one year,
and Paterno stuck around for.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
About about fifteen twenty more so. And now that would
have been Carry Collins when you were when you were
coming in, right, it would have been Collins. And then
what Wally Richardson would have been a quarterback.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, you guys played actually the Penn State, I believe
the Penn State Oregon. Yeah, that is just on the
Rose Bowl field in the nineteen ninety five game.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
When I went and visited the Rose.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Bowl to wow about that Penn State paint and the
Oregon paint.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
We had a different outcome for that game that year
than we did this year in the Big Ten championship.
But it's not about Penn State. This is about Cave Now.
Obviously the u c l A. Brewing great the quarterback
that that did some amazing things. So you did go
through some adversity in your recruitment getting the surgery done with.
(10:58):
You know, you said your appendix right avdect toy. That's uh, yeah,
that's that's I had to do in a hernia surgery.
So anytime they got to go into your your core
like that, man, that's always like, that's a thing talk
to me about the The name of this show is
Good in the Game, all right, And there's the level
(11:21):
of high school and to college, college to pro pro
into real life and then we're now old enough to
be real life. It's it's removed really so much from
any really you know kind of what we can say.
We still relate to the game, but we're really in
(11:41):
real life of our lives. So there's different phases of
what Good in the Game has represented for us foundationally speaking.
How did you did you play for a long time?
Were you a few years player? Did you develop coping mechanisms?
What was a part of your experience as as a
(12:04):
football player at the younger age, you know, whether it's
high school, whether it's even beyond before that, leading up
to having to deal with some of the adverse situations
to even get the opportunity to get a scholarship. Just
walk me through a little bit of what like, what
do you remember vividly in terms of how the game
(12:27):
was good for you?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah? Well, as you know, it is a it is
a tough game.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
And I get asked a lot my parents, you know, gosh,
you know, what do you would you let your kids
play football? And and all this kind of stuff, and I,
you know, my answer is is always the same.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
If your kid likes to hit, please let them play football.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
If if your kid doesn't like to hit, don't make
them play football, because you're either the bug or the
windshield out there, and if your kid doesn't want to
be the windshield, he will be the bug.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And right, And I loved hitting. I mean I could not.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
I My parents didn't want anybody, any of us, any
of the two boys playing football till high school. But
my brother, who's four years older than me, got to play.
And I threw a fit in the fifth grade and
somehow managed to get them to uh to acquiesce and
allow me.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
To play pop orner football.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
But I got started playing offensive guard tackle, you know,
detackle because I was a bigger kid, and then slowly
moved my way into like full back linebacker, you know,
eventually kind of outside linebacker, running back, and then and
then ultimately into this sort of free safety quarterback on
(13:46):
both sides.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And you know, but but to.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Your question about some of the things, I remember vividly
and and you know, just take for a second the.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Difficulty of the game.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And then kind of later on, I remember hearing uh,
an inspirational speaker come to our high school one year,
and one thing that I took away that day was,
you know, it's it's not what you do when the
coach is looking, it's what you do when the coaches
aren't looking that really makes the difference. And I remember
taking that very very literally and seriously, to the point,
(14:20):
when the coach wasn't looking, I would run harder, I
would I would push myself more.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I was.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I was kind of kind of crazy about that, and
and and and as you know, sometimes when the quarterback
who's not as fast as everybody else is beating everybody
else in in wind sprints and everything else else, it
doesn't always make people happy.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Whether you like it or not, you got to step
it up, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So I always, you know, and I always felt like,
you know, regardless of the leader, you never ask the
people that you're trying to lead to do something you're
not willing to do yourself. And you know, I was
just I was very serious. I love football. I loved
playing football. I mean I played a lot of sports,
(15:07):
and I loved really whatever was in season quite frankly,
but but football was always my favorite sport.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And uh, I just I just remember, you know, you know,
very early on, you know, all the all the work
that goes into the game.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I mean, the game is kind of you know, that's
that's really the fruit that comes out, but all the
all the hard work is what is what.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Gets you into that position to have success.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
And I took it very seriously and and all the
way through through college, I was. I was a very
dedicated UH teammate, a very dedicated UH player. I just
I just never wanted to look back at any moment
in my in my life, just kind of knowing even
then as I got older, I never wanted to look
(15:54):
back and think, Gosh, I wish I.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Would have prepared more I could. I could have tried harder.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I wish I didn't go out that night, and I
you know, I could have done better.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I just I just never wanted to have those regrets
and and and I don't.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I mean, I always joke, you know, I didn't you know,
I didn't drink you know anything when I never drank
alcohol when I was in college, you know, not that
you can or can.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I just I just chose not to.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I figured I was I wasn't talented enough to be
able to do that and then still still be a
performer on Saturdays. And so I I just I avoided
all that and I was, uh, I was just super
dedicated and I love it. And I look back and
you know, both good and bad, whatever came of it,
it wasn't for a lack of effort or preparation or
(16:46):
anything that I could control that, you know, something maybe
maybe a bad decision was made or in a game
or we lost a game or something. I never have
to look back with with any regrets in college football
that I wasn't all in and prepared and giving one
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
So I was pretty lucky to have that mentality. I
guess what did.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
All in look like for you. I know you mentioned
not drinking. I know you mentioned running the wind sprints hard.
But give me, do you have an example of what
all in represented?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
It?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Was there a moment in particular that represented all in
for you? I know for me when I was in
high school, my all in moment was I played against
Woodland Hills my freshman year and they beat the breaks
off of me and I quit during the game. I quit.
I took my helmet off on the sideline. I sat
(17:45):
on the bench and I said, I quit. I'm done.
I'm not going back in, and I'm never going to
play ever again.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I quit.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
And my quarterback, thirty three, the greatest football player I've
ever seen, no matter what, I don't care what it is.
He's the reason why I want to stay. Title the
only title I've ever had in my entire life. I
had a quarterback and thirty three comes up to me.
Eric Kasparovitch comes up to me and he tells me
(18:15):
that your special. Your special, and everybody knows it. And
you're either going to gut up and you're going to
deal with what comes with being special, or you can
bow out right now.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Now.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I could say in the moment like now after everything
has happened. That was the magical moment in that moment,
but I was resistant to it. But he planted the seed.
It was the most impactful moment of understanding what adversity was.
(18:53):
Then I started paying attention to him running the wind
sprints faster than everybody. I started paying attention to him
and how he was breaking down the film. I started
paying attention to little things like how how the coaches
responded and communicated with him. If he didn't want to
do something, they talked about it and they would not
(19:14):
do it. And I got to a point in my
young stage where I said, I want that to be me.
I don't I don't play quarterback. I don't want to
play quarterback, But who he is and what he represents
to this team, I want that to be me. And
I started to evolve after that. Do you recall any
(19:36):
type of moments that kind of hit you in a
way where it made you see that there was something
more for you, It made you realize that you could
be more than what you even thought you could be.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Gosh, that's a great, great question.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I mean, I feel like I had some of those
conversations with some of my teammates the way.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
You're guy did with you, that's for sure. I would say,
I would say a lot of.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It, you know, for me, the probably the moment that
I sort of believed I could. I don't know that
I I mean, I was probably incredibly naive and and
I was. You'd probably be hard pressed to find people
(20:26):
to tell you that I didn't believe in myself.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
I might have. I might have overly believed in myself
at times.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
But uh, you know, I'll credit that to my mother
and father for for drilling that into into my head.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So talk about it, talk about it.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
It's all. It's all relevant. It's all again, it's all relevant.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
It is.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I mean, you know, I give a lot of credit
to uh, you know, certainly to my mom. My mom
you know, has a very has like rose colored glasses.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Everything's everything, everything's good, and maybe.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
And really believing, you know, and saying to me, like
you know that I'm you know, probably better than I am.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So you know, I probably had an.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Overly inflated, uh view of my capabilities. But but I
would say, but I would say, you know, with my
my freshman.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Year at U c l A.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
You know, I I just kind of got lucky to
get into the position to be the number number two guy.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
You know, when I got there, there were probably.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Five or six quarterbacks on the depth chart, and being
a true freshman, I you know, certainly wasn't you know,
shooting up very quickly. Yeah, exactly, I'm I'm in the
back of the line. But through you know, I think
it was just through at some level performance, but also
(21:56):
some injuries to other guys ahead of me, you know.
And that's that's another thing I try to remind people
before they want to, you know, transfer schools or you know,
go here, go there. It's like you're one play away,
maybe two plays, right, I mean, people get hurt all
the time.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
So I got lucky to get to the number two position.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
By the time we opened the season against the University
of Miami, and UH our starting quarterback ended up getting
knocked out of the game literally.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
And it was some boogie monsters out there when you
played against them.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah, so I and you know, Ray Lewis is their
middle linebacker, and there are some other terrific players on
that team. And and I'll never forget the you know,
it was a big nationally televised game and everything, and uh,
you know, I'm three months out of my lunch line
in high school and you know, I'm standing on the
sideline at the UCLA football game. I mean I just
watched them play uh, Nebraska the year before from a couch,
(22:59):
so this is this is a big deal.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And all of a sudden, our guy gets knocked out
and coach Donahue just said, you know you're in there,
like go just go. You know, there was no there
was no uh you know, heart.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
To heart or hey, everything's gonna be okay, they're gonna die.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Get in there.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Let's just get in there.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
And and I said okay, and I was and I
and I remember his whether it was real or fake,
you know, his confidence, at least from what I perceived
his confidence and not even not even talking about anything,
just get the play and get in there.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
I was like, well, this is let's go.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I mean, I'm getting you know, I get I get
chills thinking about it still.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
So it was really it was. It was great.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
And I ended up you know, I think it was
probably five plays we picked up a first down and
then we ended up kicking a field goal and then
the guy went you know, the starter went back in
but that was that was that was a moment for
me where I was like, Okay, I'm here.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
And the next week he gets knocked out again, and
this time I have to finish the game.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
And ended up having a really good game and against
BYU and Provo and and UH ended up starting the
third game because you know, at that time, back to
back weeks of concussions, you were you were considered out
for at least a week. So I started the next
game and we ended up losing a heartbreaker on the
(24:32):
last play of the game. We had a chance to
beat Oregon at home and ended up losing. And and
you know, he started the next week, and I played
half the game, and at that point it was like,
who knows what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
We were I think, uh, you know two and two
at that point.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
And there was a big lead up to that week
against Fresno State my my freshman year, and we were
both sort of taking in an even an even amount
of apps during the week with the with the first team,
and coach Donahue did not tell anybody who was going
to start UH that week and until right before kickoff,
(25:11):
and he walked over to me that game he said
you're you're in and and so that I started every
game from there till the end of my college football career.
And and and just I always felt like having the
confidence of of my coaches, Uh, that belief and and
sort of empowering me to to to go out there
(25:34):
and and you know, have have the team in my
you know, in my hands, was a very powerful statement.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
And I took it very seriously. I knew it was
a it was a.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Privilege to be out there. I didn't ever for a
minute feel a sense of entitlement. You know, from my
freshman year to my senior year, I always felt very
very lucky and privileged to be playing for UCLA and
and being the starting quarterback at a at a university
(26:04):
that had seen you know, many many incredible players over
the years, not not just quarterbacks but.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Across the board. And you know, I took I took
it very seriously.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
And but that was certainly early on, uh, encouraging for
me to go out there and have.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
The support of my coaches. I love that.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
How did it play a part? You're a cerebral dude
like I would have I would have enjoyed playing against
you in college, not so much pros because they they
used me differently. But you're cerebral, so I would have
been looking at you and I would have been trying
to read you and figure out what you're communicating to
your your players. You're a communicator, I can tell, and
(26:45):
you're very It's it's there now makes me wonder about again.
You brought up the academic aspects of what it is
U c l A is an amazing, tremendous school for academics.
How did this mindset you take it very seriously and
opportunities that were being created and coming your way in football,
(27:07):
how did you balance that out with being a superior academic,
you know, a student athlete at the time of trying
to balance out all of the athletics as well.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
LeVar, First of.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
All, I'd love to tell you I was a superior
student throughout my years at UCLA.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I cannot say that.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I probably carried closer to a three point zero average
in college, although I did not have enough credits completed
at the end of the fall of my senior year,
so I ended up having to come back years later.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
I finished my degree for you, I didn't have the.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Pressure year, but I will say when I came back
and I did not have the full time job that
is being a college football player. My my results in
the classroom, we're far better.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I say, all you got to do is get up
and go to class and take tests.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Go figure, right, it's not that hard, right. You got
to be there, you got to be present. That's really
all it is.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And I tell my four kids, I say, listen, school
is not that hard.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
You go in, you listen to what they say, you
repeat it back to them in the form of a
test or whatever else. And you know, if you're listening
and you're doing what you're supposed to do, you're probably
going to do pretty well. Where it gets challenging is
when you've got a you know, pick your number of
hours a week job, like you know, being a college
football player and having to meet all those expectations and
(28:38):
then balance that. That gets a lot more challenging. So
during the season certainly much more challenging. But even in
the off season, you're training a lot, your body's tired.
You know, when your body's tired, it's hard to get mentally,
you know, up to task. And so it's it's it's
always a challenge. And I don't think you can really
do it well out without being all in and fully committed.
(29:03):
You know, I would say my my social uh focus
was was minimal uh in college and so but that
was very intentional. I just knew those four years were
going to come and go, and you know, whatever the
average age that you know we may live is going
to be for four years is very very small, and uh,
(29:28):
I just I just did not want to let any
opportunities slip by, uh where I could have been been
better about making sure that that they happened.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Yeah, I mean it's a great piece of advice. I
hope everybody out there listening and watching right now hurt
what what you just said. Sometimes the sacrifice of now,
you know, is you doing what you have to do.
You are doing what needed and what must be done
that ultimately put you in position to do what you
(30:02):
want to do. And and that is is definitely a
tremendous piece to all of it. Kaye, talk to me,
Talk to me about you know, you're connected to the
National Football Foundation. Obviously, talk to me about what that's
meant to you, that that connection and you know, obviously
understanding that the balance of what the NFF represents is
(30:27):
such an important piece to to everything that that takes
place for us within our own community is being great
in the community, being great and in the you know,
in the classroom, being great on the field, being great
as people. You know. That's that's been my experience since,
you know, joining and being a part of the NFF,
(30:48):
the National Football Foundation. What's your experience been, Well.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
It's it's just been an incredible experience.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
And the National Football Foundation and what it stands for
and what it promotes are are just incredible values promoting
the game of football. Uh and and really all the
(31:17):
all the life lessons football instills in us. It's it's
it's it's just really really important for kids to get
to experience that if they can. And you know, as
you know that the game is always shifting and changing.
(31:37):
You know, when we grew up, it seemed like there's
a Pop Warner team in every town, you know, many
many teams in some cases. And I would say in
some of the bigger cities, especially I live in Los Angeles,
I would say it's not as popular as as it
used to be. Certainly the NFL and the attention at
(31:59):
the high level is there, But I would say that
at the younger levels. There's a lot more flag football,
there's lacrosse. There are all sorts of other sports that
are popping up that.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
People are paying attention to.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
And and you know, when we were growing up, it
was kind of a rite of passage and it was
something you just needed to do. You had to be
on the football team. I don't know that that's necessarily
the case anymore in certain areas. In other areas, it's
continued and grown tremendously, you know, certain.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
States throughout the South, the Midwest, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
But the values that we get to learn and understand
and be a part of because we've got to play
football are so important. And the fact that the National
Football Foundation is out promoting that across the country is
something that I just would not want to miss out
(32:52):
on at all. So to be a part of this
in some small way is something I'm very proud of,
very thankful for.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
In fact, one of the things I've gotten involved in over.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
The last ten years was something started by my old coach,
Terry Donahue called the California Showcase, where he basically put
together a combine for kids to be able to be
seen by lots of other colleges and universities around the
country that aren't necessarily the one a top one hundred schools,
(33:24):
but have scholarships to give, you know, in football, and
sort of just providing a venue to allow those recruiters
to see these kids. And what's been great is they're
not out raising money. The scholarship dollars are already there.
They're just creating the combine to make that to bring
(33:45):
the money and the kids in need together and have
been able to give out or actually connect well north
of ten million dollars in scholarships over the last you know,
several years, and it's just a it's a terrific venue.
So being asked to be a part of that by
the late great Terry Donahue was a pleasure. I still
(34:07):
I still help out, and you know, I try to
be helpful in in in a number of ways around
the game, and including being visible with the with the foundation,
obviously coming back and getting to participate in the College
Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony like we did this
past week. And continuing to be a part of that
(34:29):
and finding ways to add value in.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Whatever way I can is something I'm interested in doing.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
So you went to finances, so clearly you know finances numbers.
Numbers are like a school of fish to me, Kate,
like I can keep them in a school for a
little bit, then they start going every which direction. Man,
you know what I mean? Like, numbers are crazy. They
give me, give me motion sickness at times. And that's
(34:59):
o hey, because we all have our strengths, we all
have our weaknesses. Clearly it was a strength for you.
You're working for a prestigious advisory group right now, talk
to me a little bit about what you have going
on now, and just for us to wrap it up,
how did your time as a football player play a part,
(35:20):
How major a role is that and what it is
that you do now and if you could tell us
how that is, that would be great too.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well Listen, I won't I won't make this a pitch
for what I'm doing now, but I will say that
that what I am doing now is something I'm very
excited about. It's it's a little bit of a culmination
of many of my life's experiences when I when I
first got out of football, I found my way into
uh into finance through the wealth management channel. I went
(35:52):
to work for for ubs briefly, and then JP Morgan
in the private bank, spent some time there, and ultimately
got myself into a uh, a business that helped advise individuals.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
On their.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
You know, on their wealth, so kind of a wealth
management business within an independent framework, and ultimately got myself
into a into a business that does private equity and
private credit investing across.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
A range of of of industries. You know.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
It's it's sort of been a long journey, but ultimately
I now, UH about six months ago, joined a firm
called Redbird Capital h that interestingly invests in sports, media
and entertainment and financial services.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
It's a private equity.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Firm, and and we're doing, believe it or not quite
a bit in collegiate athletics, we're doing in partnership with
the NFL, and then and and doing various things around
media and entertainment as well.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
So it's really if you if you.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Took a ven diagram of sort of my my life
experiences and overlay it with our.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Investment portfolio, it would look very very they'd look very similar,
which is fun.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
I get to have some some level of subject matter
expertise around around you know, what we're investing in, which
is really fun.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
That's awesome, And so looking at that and being competitive,
how does it compare? How does how does doing what
you do now compare to Because you're a competitor. I
mean I can see it, and I can see the
intensity in you and and the feelings that you feel
in talking and discussing the things that we're talking about.
(37:47):
How does that intensity play a part in what you're
doing right now? How does it compare?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (37:53):
I know, in fact, just just earlier we were talking
about you know, uh, some of the things we endure
in college and setting us ourselves up for later in life.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
And I'll I'll.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Never forget every great football team had a great uh
training group and and a and a strength and conditioning
program and those people in there that that push you.
That's that's when you're really forming yourself. And and I remember,
uh my my junior year are strength and conditioning coach
(38:25):
yelling at everybody saying, guys, we are going to make
you do the things you don't want to do so
you can be who you want to be. And what
you realize when you get out of football that now
I have to make myself do the things I don't.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Want to do. To be who I want to be.
And that's another that's another challenge. But but but you
do it.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And in my business, you've got to be patient, but
you've got to be persistent. And you know that's that's
no different than than the long term nature of of
of building yourself in the game of football.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
You know, it starts when you're young. You're developing yourself.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
When you started playing in junior high school or high school,
you weren't ready to play in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
It takes time. Your body's got to develop, your mind's
got to develop.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
And what you realize what you get into the NFL,
especially your rookie year, is that guy who's in that three.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Technique across from you, he might have been.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
In that three technique now for twenty years between the NFL,
college football, high school. You know, that free safety, he
may have been doing these these tricks for twenty years. Right,
I'm fresh meat, and so you got to you got
to understand that even though you're all on the same field,
some are just far, you know, much further ahead than
(39:42):
you are. And so for me to start in a
career where many of my contemporaries in my career started,
you know, in college and then right out of college,
I you know, I started much later.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
So so having a balance of sort of expectations around
my ability to perform, you know, based on my age,
and then you know, being realistic about all the knowledge
that I need to ultimately gather and the experience that
I need to have to be effective is something that
(40:16):
you just got to.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
You got to wrap your head around, and it takes
time you don't get.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
To And I think I think that was that for me.
The silver lining in you know, hurting my shoulder. I
had a shoulder separation halfway through my second year with
the Bears.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
They try to try to come back, ultimately got traded twice.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
I mean I was damaged goods when the Dolphins got me,
and even more damaged by the time I got to
the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
But yeah, but if you're fortunate, you've been there.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, but but the silver the silver lining getting out
of professional football at twenty.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Six is still young. You're still young, still young. I
could I could start, I could sort of start that
ernie at a time that.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Allowed me, within reason to be you know, a grunt,
you know with other brunts that might be younger than me.
But you know, that's the challenge when you get out,
you know, you get into your thirties, you know.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
And then you want if you want to go down
another path, it's very very challenging.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Now Ideally at that point you've also financially done quite
well and set yourself up hopefully to be in great
shape for a long time.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
But for me, recognizing that I had to start all over.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Again at twenty six was to me more manageable than
trying to do that, you know, six, seven, eight years later.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
And I'm happy. I mean, look, I'm very happy with
how things turned out. If I could have rewritten it
what I've loved.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
To play ten twelve, fifteen years, absolutely I wanted to
go and win championships and do all that that stuff.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
But I'm still very happy with how things have turned out.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
And I feel very lucky, especially at forty seven today,
with many many years ahead of work and raising kids
and you know, there's a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I feel like I'm on.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
A very sustainable, manageable path that will allow me to
grow in my business life tremendously well.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
So love that, love that answer, because that's really what
good in the game represents. Is being able to have
that humility, being able to have that self awareness that
you know, start over and if you're starting over, you
don't start at the pro level, and just knowing that
(42:47):
you got to trust the process, learn the process, do it,
do it from every angle you mentioned. It goes back
and I'll close out with this. It goes back to
your statement in the beginning, got into the game and
you didn't even play the position you ended up playing.
Isn't that a lot like how life is. You start
out and you end up playing this position, you play
(43:09):
that position, you play this position, then it's over there,
that's way out there, But hey, I'm gonna do it,
and you learn all of these different positions, and ultimately
it's teaching you the game. Right now, you understand the game.
You understand what those guys got to deal with that
are in front of you. You understand what they're thinking
on the other side of the ball or out there
(43:30):
on the outsides, whatever it may be. And that was
something that I've made very clear with my kids and
how I raise them. Don't be resistant to when somebody
asked you to do something that you didn't want to do.
Maybe you did want to be a receiver, but they
put you at tight end. Maybe you want it to
be a tight end, but they put you at d line.
(43:50):
You know. The bottom line is is that learn learn
what it is that they're doing, so that if you
do get that opportunity to do what it is that
you want it to do, you'll have an appreciation for
what other people are doing. And that's a lot like
how business is. You know, you learn it, you know,
and that you know a lot of us we could
stand to learn that lesson of be the donut guy.
(44:13):
Rookie year, you're the donut guy, you're the breakfast sandwich guy.
You got to learn how to be the donut guy,
you know, And that's that takes some humility. But it's
also why I believe our game is so amazing because
that's a lesson that some people don't get to learn
in real time when they're growing up. It's certainly a
lesson we do in playing this game. So kay, I
(44:36):
appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Man.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Let me tell you something as impressive as it gets.
And yeah, I mean I appreciate you coming on and
giving us some of your time and obviously continued success
with everything that you're doing and Yeah, just just humbled
to head opportunity to talk with you men and hear
your thoughts on on what this game has meant to
(45:00):
you and how.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
It's shaped your life.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
So appreciate the time, my guy.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Thanks LeVar.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Well listen, if you ever get a chance to get
yourself interviewed, I want to.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Do it, all right, Okay, we'll do it, because I
will do it. I got a lot of questions for you.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
All right, all right, everyone, that was Kate McNown I'll
tell you what he is. As advertised, he had a
lot of great things to say, a lot of information,
a lot of wisdom, and a lot of experience. I
enjoyed speaking with this man. He's from my era. As
you heard in the interview, he's got it. He's got
(45:39):
it together. He's a sharp guy. And just being able
to listen to the things that he's experienced and the
things he's overcoming, the things that he has achieved, ultimately
serves the purpose as to why we do this show
good in the game, Kate McCown, you are what's good
about the game, and you are ultimately good in the game.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (46:03):
Thanks to the National Football Foundation, and thank you for listening.
All right, stay tuned in, subscribe, check us out, and
I'll talk to you soon. All right, Slavar Arrington, I'm
signing out.
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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