March 20, 2024 • 43 mins
Join us for a special seven-week series of "Off the Edge with Cam Jordan," where we're featuring some of the standout interviews from Season 1.
This week, Cam is revisiting his conversation with his former teammate Manti Te’o. Manti opens up about the profound impact Cam had on him when he joined the Saints, highlighting a life-altering invitation to a Jay-Z concert. Reflecting on his time at the University of Notre Dame, Manti shares the significance of those formative years and how they shaped his journey both on and off the field.
The conversation delves into Manti's personal struggles, including the infamous catfish incident that garnered widespread attention and affected his NFL career. Despite challenges, Manti discusses how he has dedicated himself to his family and is discovering purpose through his business ventures.
The Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Radio.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
What's up people, it's your boy, Cam Jay back with
another episode of Off the Edge with Cam Jordan. Now,
as we gear it for another exciting season, I wanted
to reflect on some of the incredible guests I had
the pleasure of sitting down with last season. But hey,
don't worry, though, I got you new episodes coming your
way real soon. Relax, I got you. But in the meantime,
(00:24):
in between time, let's rewind and play back some of
my favorite interviews from season one. This week, I'm bringing
you a heart to heart interview I had with the
Notre Dame legend man Tito, the Saints' former player, as
he shares with me his journey of overcoming adversity and
ultimately inspiring millions. So sit back and take a listen.
(00:54):
Super excited bro that you're even tapping in. It's my dog,
you know, my but up, my oos my man didn't
walked over to the house and left some food on
while we was playing, you know, back in the gap.
But when I tell you, I'm excited to have you
on the podcast, Bro, like strictly because you know, one
we were teammates, but two because you're you're an honest,
positive force to be reckoned with, Bro, and like you,
(01:17):
I feel like you don't get enough flowers as it is,
and you probably do, like I'm not sure. You know
you out Utah. You rolled down your window and it's
probably snowing outside. You know, I'm not meant for the snow.
But ooh, I say, uh manti tal. You know, Bro,
everything that you did in college over at Notre Dame
was spectaclar. You know you played there. You were should
have been in my mind, a Heisman Trophy winner. You
(01:38):
had a Heisman push. You know, I'm saying a runner
up if you will. But the the things that you
did in college were absolutely special.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
You know you look down and you were gonna have
accolades for days. You talk about the Maxwell Award, you know,
the Walter Camp Award, you talk about the Lot Award,
the Chuck I can never get the that Linebacker Award,
Merik Award. Bro. Like what in college there was no
no reward untouched that you didn't have. Bro, You're a
unanimous All American. Like I say, you you should in
(02:06):
my mind, you should have been a Heisman Trophy winner.
But you know, it just is what it is.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You get drafted in the second round to the San
Diego Chargers. Does that feel weird that you know it's
not San Diego no more? Are you ready? Ye, La Chargers?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I know I always rep San Diego's you know, you know,
you know how it is. You know, even even when
I was playing, you know, with New Orleans, I was
still living in San Diego. I would send you the
pictures of my tacos at oscars, you know. And so you,
you and the family are supposed to come out many
at times. And then we moved and you refuse to
come out here in the cold snow, So we're gonna
(02:40):
have to link up in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I'm I'm gonna get out there.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Are you out outside of City Park where you at somewhere?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
We're in Lehigh right between Propo and South Lake, And yeah,
we gotta take you on the slopes. I know, you know,
you know, you got the elite level of athleticism. The
only lineman, know, the only d lineman that I know,
leads the conditioning and the half gasser, so you definitely
could make it down the hills.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I look see that, but I'm not I'm not conditioned
for snow film.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
We played that one game in Cleveland, and it changed
my like it solidified my perspective on nobody should play
in colde games. But it also changed my life in
terms of I was like, I can't be in America anymore.
I left it and we lived in Spain this off season.
Because of that Cleveland game. I said, I was like, Babe,
pack it up, take off, We're taking all four kids,
are your homeschooling, and we're leaving.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
See just a little a little cam slight flex right there.
I decided I'm going to go to Spain. Pack your
stuff up. See a lot of us can't make those
type of decisions, bro, you know, so.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
You packed up a mood of utah. You were like
this breeze feels too good.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yo, okay, okay. But my decision was it was because
of living purposes. It was like, I don't have the
cam type of tax brackets, so we got to get
out of these high taxes and go to a lower
I did. I didn't just say let's go to Spain.
You know, yeah, we're not there yet.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Freeze like I frolt.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It was.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It was negative twenty eight. It was the coldest game
in Saint's history. The second coadest game for Cleveland, and
I said, wait, the fact that it was the second
coadest game for Cleveland, I should not be here.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Well, you remember I went to college. Oops. You know. Yeah,
the negative temperatures, you know, it's ridiculous. Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Learned close that you chose. You're like, ooh yeah, no, no, no, anyway, bro,
So let's let's just say. You know, you got drafted
to the San Diego Chargers. We just moved past that,
you know, get us to the Saints.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You you come on to the team. What year was it,
twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, twenty seventeen, Yeah, there was seventeen.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
To twenty nineteen. Bro, you're on the Saints for a
few years. Bro, you come in and you bring automatic
juice like I've never seen. I've never seen somebody come
in and mold so well with the team. You know,
like it was like you just like coming off of
a fresh team whatever that was. You came on to
the team and everybody just fully embraced you, and or
(05:06):
you embraced us. Yeah, and bro, what was that like
the first day, the first day that you came in there,
I said, right next to you, I was like, all right, bro,
me give me the real story.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. And you know, honestly, like
you said, I brought the juice, but honestly, the team
brought the juice back to me, you know what I mean.
So that was what was so beautiful about being in
New Orleans. It was it was the locker room. It
was the personal relationships that I had with you, with Craig,
with Alex you know. And then came in the next year.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Detroit right now, Davis is that guy you know, Craig
Robinson used to bring that juice bro, You and him.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yah, yeah, you know, And so it was, it went,
It went both ways. You know. I'm forever grateful to
all my brothers over there at New Orleans for kind
of helping me to resurrect my career because I played
some I played the best spall that I played in
New Orleans. And I had everything to do with, you know,
the the pat that I took personally to get back
(06:09):
to where I needed to get to, but the people
that I surrounded myself with the people in that locker
room that helped me to you know, once once you
sat next to me, we had that conversation I remember
I was sitting in my locker. We had that conversation.
It was like all right, it was like, oh, let's
go play ball, you know what I mean. And that's
that's where the first time that I felt that people
saw me as a teammate, you know, and not just
(06:31):
a news clipping, you know what I mean. And my
play was able to raise from there, and man, I
had I had the most fun playing over there in
New Orleans, and especially that we got we got to
go back to California during the preseason and we played
you know, we had a joint practice against the Chargers and.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
You might as well like hit your hit your Hoker film,
and like I was like, all right, this clearly meant
something to him.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, well, I think it was a It was a
benefit because then we got out of that humidity, you know.
And I remember man Sean was trying to make he
was trying to make a point, you know, that that year,
and I was just like, I remember thinking to myself,
I was like, so the year that I signed here,
you decided to bring the team back to New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
We had just done like three off seasons in Northern
Virginia with all those training camps with Northern Vidia where
it was like sixty five and Sonny seventy sunny, and
we had like three years of back to back, back
to back to back losing seasons of seven to nine,
seven and nine, seven and nine, and he was like,
you know, the older kid down was like, this is
the way you guys want to play. Tom Benson came down,
was like this is the way you got. You'll never
(07:37):
go back to Virginia again. And Sean Payton was like,
you heard what he said, Now let's double down.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And I was like Jesus that you came in. Bro.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
He came in and like we went days of straight hitting.
You know, we had to run off the practice field
because were running out of time at practice in that
training camp. So by the time we hit Cali Bro
for that joint practice, everybody was like, how this it?
This all you guys? Do you only have thirty plays?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Come on? No? I remember I remember who was it.
He came off the edge and just thumped the running
back and I remember thinking like Mark and I know
it was Marcus remember, and there was like a whole
little ruckus that broke out, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
They were upset, like Marcus that comes off hills this
running back and George's are like, this is not how we.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Practice like this how we practiced. So no idea, but
it was that I have that level of confidence that
because of what we went through, like you stand no chance,
you know what I mean? And that's what I felt like.
It helped us to get into that mentality of man, like,
there's no way that you guys went through what we
(08:48):
went through, Like having thirty forty plus people. I remember
after practice, like forty of us in there with Ivy's
just it looked like a scene from a movie.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
And I walked by everybody like I'm you know, I
don't cramp up, bro, So I just walked everybody. I'm like, weakness, yeah,
you know. I was like, look at you, you and
your ivs.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You're like you're you're taking two bags? My guy? What
was that was the name? Devaux whatever? Devro's got like
three bags in bro. There's there's guys hurting everywhere. I'm
just like, weakness, can't do it.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It went from it went from a fashion statement, you know,
like everybody coming in with advisors on. By day two,
the advisors are.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Off sleeves everywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
It's just trying to survive. You know, you took out
two pairs of cleats, three pairs of socks, like at
the at the second like special teams period, everybody was
switching out their socks, switching out their cleats, like switching
out gloves. You know, it was to switch out those fleets. Bro.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Like a training a training camp in New Orleans when
it's it's like ninety eight degrees one hundred percent humidity,
You're you're practicing for two and a half hours, Bro,
an hour in your shoes like you're stepping in it
feels like you gotta puddle your shoes. You bring two
or three pairs of codes to practice, just so like conditioningwise,
you're not moving under water. But Bro, that's crazy. But
(10:02):
I really want to start off with, first of all,
congratulations on you know, all your success, bro, starting with
Notre Dame of course, Polynesian Hall of Fame. You know,
it's like even even your high school, isn't the force
Buckner from your high school too out in Hawaii? Like
you know, I can't. I'm not even going to attempt
to say your high school prep school. There you go,
(10:24):
you got it in there in there, Bro, But like,
I just want to how does it feel, Bro, to
to know that you become an all time great at
Notre Dame?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Bro?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Like everything that you did, Bro. You know, you throw
the stats out there and there's a reason why, you know,
four years, four hundred and thirty seven tackles, you know,
ranked third all time and in the in history there, Like,
how does it feel to know you put such a
phenomenal college crew together to even have a chance to
go to the league, Like that's always been a dream
of mine.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So for you, well, I think it goes back to
the saying, like you always want to leave the place
better than when you found it, you know, And for
me to be able to do that in my way
and the fashion that I did it. Obviously, Notre Dame
is one of the most stored football programs in the country,
and I just literally went in there to you know,
continue the dominance that my father Thomas, since I was little,
(11:15):
to you know, really stick to my routines and you know,
hopefully the result would be what I wanted it to be.
I mean, the result was always success just based off
of the work ethic. And so for me to do
that and to have an impact on people off of
the field was exactly what I would want my career
(11:36):
to be like while I was at Notre Dame, and
it's a special place. And it's nice now because we
literally just got back from South Bend this past weekend.
I took my wife and my babies out there. And
you know what's nice is my wife didn't know the
Notre Dame me. You know, she knew the NFL ME
and you know, unfortunately the NFL ME didn't it didn't
reach the heights of the Notre Dame ME. And so
(11:58):
when we go back to South Bend, she gets to
see like the plaques, the murals that all of the
trophies and.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
College there's not many people reached that level of success,
not like there's there's only a few cats, you know,
like not too many of you. You heard what I said,
third and third in all times the tackles.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Now, like yeah, yeah, it was, it was it was
up there. It was like that that was what we
like to as a summit. You know what I mean
when people when people talk about reaching the summit, like
in my life for that time, like that was the
summit of college football. You know what I was able
to achieve and attain on a personal level and on
(12:38):
a team level, you know, to to make it to
the national championship. You know. Obviously we got whooped up
on by by Alabama, you know, and you know, I had,
I had, I had. I had a bad taste of
Alabama for a long time. And then I met Duce
Stews and and you know, just to know Mark and
I'm like jeez, and then you know, too went there
and so it was one of those things, honestly to
(13:00):
have my family experience it with me, to people to
know my name, my last name, and to recognize my
family in public, Like that's for a kid growing up
in a small town in Hawi. That was everything that
I wanted it to be, to have that type of impact.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, I still don't understand this whole. Like I was,
I'm from Hawaii, and then I lived in San Diego
and then I moved to Utah. I'm like, I'm gonna
talk about this forever, like nothing but nothing but breeze
and views of ocean, and like now you're.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Like yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, when the milk goes from
twenty dollars a gallon in hoy and you come over there,
and as five dollars, You're like, yeah, you know, the
the temperature I could deal with, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
My duck is a stretch. It a lot farther.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, bro.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So let's talk about the Polynesian Hall of Fame, bro,
because like now there's there's you're part of the living legends.
That's that's in there now. Palmalu would probably be the
first name to come to my mind, and now.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
The second name is gonna be Man Thanks.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Like you know, I'm just saying, like when you're when
you're when you're in that same breath Polynesia Hall of Fame,
Like I said, I'm a joke, but like, well the
Rocks in there too. But but in terms of football,
Troy Palus, you him, you know you're probably up next
is probably Marcus Mariota, like you know, the four probably
(14:37):
you know, it's gonna be Eavy Company.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, DFO is definitely going to be in there, Tour
is definitely gonna be in there. Tlana is definitely gonna
be in there. You know, obviously there's still careers are
still going but to be in the Polynesian Hall of Fame,
it's a big deal because now life comes full circle.
You know, Like when I was a little kid, Troy
was my example of oh, I could do it, you
(15:00):
know what I mean, Like to see Troy play at
play at USC and for him to be drafted to
the Stealers and watch his career you know, go as
it went and you know, hall of Famer, you know,
Pro Football Hall of Fame. For me growing up as
a little kid, and I look up to those type
of individuals, you know what I mean, like, man, if
Troy can do it, I can do it. You know,
there's a way to do it because he's he's kind
(15:21):
of blazed that path. For me now to be in
that position and understanding that, you know, there's there's kids
back at home, there's kids around the world that's looking
up to me and say, hey, man, Ti, I did it.
I could do it. And I think, you know, for
for like to come full circle that way just goes
to show that all the hard work and the sacrifices
that myself and my family you know, put in, you know,
(15:43):
it all paid off. And hopefully, you know, we'll be
able to push the script with allowing younger the younger
generations to say, hey, we can do what he did
and more. You know what I mean, Let's let's take
it higher, let's take it further, and then hopefully the
next generation comes around and pushes that even further. And
that's kind of what that Polynesian Hall of Fame means
(16:04):
for me. It's it's it's a it's a celebration that
all the hard work was was was worth it. But
at the same time, it's just another flag up there
to tell those kids that's behind me, to say, hey, bro,
like you could do the same thing, they'll take it further,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Big legacy. Yeah, it's legacy.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, yeah, you know, And that's what it's all about,
you know. So you know we all can relate, you
know with that is like when we die, like obviously,
the only thing that stays here is our names and
the stories that people tell about us, and you know,
their interactions with us, you know what I mean. And
so I always wanted those interactions and those stories to
be positive, you know, to be like, man, my life's
better because I met mantime, my life's better because I
(16:48):
met Camp and I and you know, you know how
I feel about you. You know, you know that the
impact that you've had on me and my family, and
you know, when a document documentary came out, like it
was one of the first that I text, you know,
just say hey, it's like I wouldn't be where I'm
at if it wasn't for you personally, you know, like
taking all of us to the jay Z concert, Like
(17:08):
you have no idea. So I like, how much that
concert changed my life, Like where I was at that time,
and you invited me just being around the fellas, I
was like, okay, cool, like getting to know my teammates.
But then the spiritual journey that that concert had on
me because obviously jay Z was going through his stuff
with Beyonce, and you know, he had a lot of
(17:29):
people like saying this about him. And I remember he
started off the whole thing with his dialogue and the
narrative and he went through to kill jay Z stuff
and I remember like just thinking about it and listening
to him, and I'm like, man, those are some of
the things that go on in my head, you know
what I mean. And then when he ended it with saying,
you can't heal what you don't reveal, like bro, that
was just it was mind blowing to me. And I'm
(17:49):
like bro, Like, that's what I got to do. And
so from that moment on, it was like my whole
life kind of took a one eighty of Man, I'm
looking about I'm looking at this the whole the wrong way,
you know what I mean. And it had everything to
do with that concert. And then you look at how
I played ball that year and look at you know,
and everybody would come to me, it's like, man, that's
(18:09):
a Notre dame man titness playing. I was like, well,
in order for me to get here there there are
events that needed to take place, you know what I mean,
in order for me to get to display this this
the space mentally and emotionally, and that concert that you
took me to had it was a big, big part
of that healing. And so like again, it was like,
I never forget the people that was there for me,
(18:30):
and you was obviously one of those one of those people,
and that's why I had to I had to pay
my respects to you. And you was the you know, like,
like I said, one of the few people that I text.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
That's what I'm saying, Bro. You you hit me and
I didn't even know the impact, you know, Like I'm like, yeah, bro, Like,
you know, like if I'm in if I'm in a
Switeen D line and the suite A, you know, the
defense is always welcome. We even open it to the
office sometimes, you know, Like I'm all about that defense
camaraderiecause I think that makes the team better when you
know what your brothers are going through, you know, like
we bleed together. Why would I not you know, why
(19:01):
would I want not want to know more about you
as a person. You know. So it's always it's always
that idea of building family, But just that how did
you even navigate? Like, bro, Like why do those words
hit you so hard that when you when you when
that documentary came out earlier this year, Like how did
you navigate that emotional aspect of sort of having to
relive through everything? Right?
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Yeah? Yeah, Well, you know it goes back to that
saying that jay Z said, you can't heal what you
don't reveal, you know, and there's a lot of healing
that occurs when you can verbalize things, you know what
I mean. I didn't realize how heavily I was I was.
I was holding everything in and you can't heal it
when the poison is inside of you. You know, you
have to bring that poison out. And the amount of
(19:42):
healing that I did all the way up to that
point was enough for me to be comfortable in certain
certain circles. You know. There there was a time where
I wasn't comfortable in public. Like I literally would just
go to work, do what I had to do, come
home and just be a hermit. Like I didn't want
to be around anybody.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I just must have because like is looseid I know
in New Orleans, big people person, big heart.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Person, you know what I'm saying, Like, but but what
you need.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
I'm here for you. I got you some food at
your front door. I knocked on your door, like.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
You And that's that's the that's the evolution of it all,
you know what I mean. Like that was who I
am at my core. I'm a guy who I love people,
I love, you know, having great experiences with my friends,
creating memories with my friends. You know that the hermit,
that's not me, you know. But in order for me
(20:34):
to get from the hermit to the guy who was
just you know, love was excitement, was just enjoying the
process and being grateful for the day. Like there was
a transition, and and and and a journey that that
I had to go on, and a lot of it
had to be done by myself, but there are key
moments where I needed somebody to be there with me,
(20:56):
you know what I mean. And so like you're one
of those guys, Craig is one of those guys. Alex
is one of those guys that I really leaned heavily on.
And you said something that that that was so real.
You said, you, I want to know I had all
of these experiences, You would have all of these experiences
with the team, the defense to to know what they're
(21:16):
going through, right. I think what took it a step
further was you don't even you didn't even know the
impact that you were making. You didn't even know what
your teammates are going through. But because you had them around,
you were doing healing form that you didn't even know
you were doing. You know what I mean. That's the
quality of a great leader, you know what I mean,
(21:37):
Just somebody that understands that what happens on the football
field is just a result of all the things that
we've done together at dinners, you know what I mean,
all the things that we've done on the on the
practice field. Man, you guys would play. You would play
Smash Bros. Like for hours. Bro, Like I remember, like
your nigga gonna call and I'm your neighbor, So yeah,
(21:58):
you gotta go out there.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Can't go home before you broke with the boys, Like
after I need I need that.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, she's gonna see my truck in the driveway and
she'd be like cavade home yet like something he he
still plays Smash Bros. Yeah, So it was. It was.
It was a special transition. It was a special journey,
and it was a journey that you know, made me
into who I am moves to to really appreciate genuine relationships,
(22:31):
appreciate good people and bro. Like again, our locker room
was special, bro, you know and that's what I always
tell people, Like the locker room in New Orleans is
what made the success of our team, you know, like
how close we were and so and now I always
watch my boys, always watch the guys on Sundays, and
I'm like, they gotta have fun again, you know what
(22:52):
I mean, You have fun, celebrate you know what I mean,
just bring that energy. Got so we was like we
were like I don't care what nobody says we was
the one who started that turnof for sure, I.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Think I think that's just that's that's already known, like
the same started that. I don't know, but like that
happened from from us. Yeah, but you know, Craig Robertson,
we out there with the big bucket of flowers, Like yeah, flowers,
you know what I'm saying. We get an interception and
like running in and everybody rallied behind it, and that
for sure is the same thing. Like they still do
(23:26):
it as long as it's to a close end zone.
I'm with the jog, Like if you're the thirty and
we go to the you know, we go to the
end zone. Beat if we had the thirty and you
turn around and you jogged seventy no no no, no, no, no,
no no no. I see what sideline?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
You know what? That reminds me of Remember when we
had that goal line stand against Atlanta and I recovered
that fumble. I remember we're on the goal line twenty seventeen.
That happened, that's twenty seventeen. That was a second. That
was the second Atlanta game. Remember I picked the ball
off and I started to run. I ran to the
opposite side of the field. Remember as I'm running, I
(24:01):
remember watching the clip and your face was like, ooh,
so would love I'm with your dog. But right later, yeah, yeah,
that probably was a bad, bad decision for me to
run to the opposite.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
You want to go, you want to go ninety seven yards?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
We're still the conditioning testing now. Yeah, this thing.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
You talked about emotional intelligence, you talk about just the
quality of of knowing who you are.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
You found that over the years, But like, how did
how did that come about? Or what is it now
that you have a unique perspective on what it is
to be because you've lived at the highest peak of
what the athlete is when everybody's looking up at you.
You're still balling everything about it too. You've had setbacks whatever,
you know, the whole the whole cat fit situation to
coming back and we're getting drafted second round two playing
(24:54):
your type of your brand of football here with it
or here previously with the with the normans saying like
what did that all take it to you? And how
do you look at the status of mental health now?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Well, mental health to me, right is when you're mentally healthy.
It's I like to think that there's not a lot
of voices in your head. You know, those that are
that are mentally unhealthy, it's because they have so many
voices in their head. They're kind of they kind of
get lost, they get lost in the source of like
man like whether it's they're they're they're at a certain peak,
(25:27):
right and they think that there's something that they're not
or they're at a valley and there's so many critics
in their head that they can't just they can't seem
to shake it. And so I've been at both right
right now. The journey has allowed me to identify all
of those voices, identify the sources of those voices, and
get them out right. But now that the only voice
that I hear is mine, and when my.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Voice is like social media, your girl, your family, you
know what. Oh I got to take care of my parents. Oh,
like I need to be I need to be this
nicole of a player for me to be accepted. Yeah,
you know, there's there's all types of pressures that are
equal voices in the head. You said, you said voice.
It made me think about the first time we ever
had a conversation. I was like, all right, before you
(26:11):
before you be a mic and call these plays girlfriend
imagination or was she like that? That's they So, yeah,
the voices are surrounding you.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, well they're they're pressures and and they're also they're
the critics, and they're also the fans, you know what
I mean, because when you're living extreme, Yeah, whether they're
dragging you or whether you have just like ten sacks
one game and they're like telling you the greatest thing ever. Yeah,
like both both extremes are dangerous, you know what I mean,
(26:45):
especially if it's not the beliefs that you have in
your head, like the fact that I know who I
am to a point where there's nothing that the praise
or the criticism can sway me.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
That is why I mean, like men mental health and
you being so sure of what your identity is, who
you are as a person, that you're not swayed either way.
Like that's you know where I feel I got to
that I that I know who I am. There's nothing
that you could tell me that's going to sway that.
(27:17):
Because I was swayed a lot, and when I kept swaying, swinging,
eventually I felt face flat, you know, and so I
had to literally pick myself back up and figure out,
you know, from score one, and build myself up from
score one from Brooke one. And again I had to
do a lot of it by myself, but there were
people that helped me to to to to to build that,
(27:37):
you know, whether it be my family and my parents,
my siblings, my friends like yourself, my wife, you know,
my kids now you know. So it's a journey that
everybody must take. It's a journey that you know, I
hope that it doesn't take people as long as it
took me. But the journey is is what you know
creates and it modes, and you know, you'll be happy
with the final product. And I'm definitely happy with with
(28:01):
you know, who I came up to be as a man.
You know. So for anybody that's going through mental health issues,
in order for you to be the best version of yourself,
you need to be internally the best version of you
because what happens outside is just a reflection of what's
going on inside, you know. And so that's that's kind
of my piece on that.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying. But you never know,
you never know, Like even talking about it, bro who
you're affecting or you know, it feels like it's a
sermon at times, bro, Like that's just a message somebody
may need to hear, you know, in this in this
day and age, well, you know, we're starting to under
understand this EQ or this even like I call twenty
(28:41):
like I call twenty twenty im like the error to
be soft, right, and and I sort of chuckle about it.
But it's literally like, you know, everybody's worried about other
people's opinions. Everybody's worried about everybody's you know, how I
affecting the next person over? Or how are they affecting me?
Or social media does this and all in all these
other circumstances, it's like, bro, know who you are and
(29:02):
stand on it, you know, like like live live your truth,
live your life, and you know, be blessed. Like there's
so many ways it can go. Life can always be
worse and life can always be better. You know. It's
just like watching you after a game football film, you'd
be like, Bro, I played terrible game. Film is not
going to be as good as you think it is,
and you're not going to be as bad as you
(29:23):
think it is. Those games you're like, oh I killed them.
I half four sacks that couldn't touch me, and you
walk on like, dang I got locked up like three
or four times, bro, like that or are you close?
It could have been a seven sack game and all
I left was with three or four you know.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Like that's a great analogy. That is actually a great
analogy of of of how life is right, you know,
And like I never thought of that analogy, but now
that you put it that way, that's actually the perfect
analogy for it. It's never as bad as you think
it is, and it's never as great as you think
it is, you know. So like again, to stay grounded
in it all, to be grateful for it all, because
(29:55):
at the end of the day, like like life happens
for you, doesn't happen to you, you know, And so
you have the ability and the power to make life
what you need to make it. You know, you could
make it great. You could also make it a living hell,
you know what I mean. So you have that power
like people who let things happen to them and say, oh, man,
like I'm the victim, and I was like, no, bro,
you're the only You're only the victim of your decisions,
(30:17):
you know, because no matter what you do to me,
I still have the ability to filter it and perceive
it the way that I need to perceive it in
order for me to progress. Like I'm never gonna let
anybody do anything to me, say anything to me that's
going to cripple me, and you know, you know, stunt
my growth as a person. And the reason why I
know that is because I used to let that do it,
do it, do it to me, you know what I mean?
And so that's what you know for me? Mental health,
(30:40):
I think it's it's it's something that's important. I think
some people look at it as uh as a reason
to do the things they do. No, that's not what
mental health is, you know what I mean. Mental health
is you understanding who you are, the best version of yourself,
the best form of yourself, and you're doing all that
you can to get there. You know. It's not an
excuse to do stupid things, you know what I mean.
That's not what it is, you know what I mean.
Like I don't like when people say, oh no, no, no, bro,
(31:02):
that's not what this is. It's understanding where I'm at
and where I need to get to and the things
that I need to do in order to get there,
you know. And so that's that's what I that I
think mental health is. It's it's it's for me to
be the best version of me to do the most good.
You know what, what can I what version of me
brings out the most good? What what what version of
(31:23):
me brings out the most production? That's that's what I
need to do. That's that's the person to bless me?
Speaker 1 (31:28):
How can I be a blessing to others?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Brother, I'm still breathing, I'm still standing. Bright you I said,
(31:52):
you're a fan of man. Now that you know, I
can't say like football is over because I don't think
football ever leaves the blood. Now, you've got a legacy
if you're own.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
But like I said, Mary, my dog got two kids. Now,
you know what I'm saying. Jit with the at the end,
you know what I'm saying, what was it not? Because
there's no off season now? You know, like me, off season,
I'm flitting. I'm like, man, what else can I do?
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
What's what's next for you?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Bro? Like you?
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Now, now you don't drop the documentary, you probably got
to executive produce your credit out of there, you ep things? Now,
what what what else is it in Utah for you?
Speaker 2 (32:23):
You know? What's what was amazing was when when you know,
every parent will we'll understand this, when my kids came
into my life, especially with my son, when my daughter came,
like I went to the dad phase that dad bought
to gain a whole bunch of weight. And you know
I didn't realize that the baby girl, Yeah, my daughter's fault, bro.
Like you know, my princess softened me up, you know.
(32:45):
But then when my son came and with both of them,
immediately life took a turn from you. I immediately wanted
everything great in this world for my kids. I wanted
everything that was great in this world I wanted for them.
But the person that the first thing that needed to
happen was I needed to be great. You know. I
(33:05):
needed to be the greatest version of me because my
kids aren't going to remember what I tell them, but
they're going to remember what they saw me do. They're
going to remember how they saw Daddy work, how he
saw how they saw me walk through this life. And
so it was I was two ninety five, Yeah, Jenny,
first that day teat that for I was yes, Yeah.
(33:32):
So my wife decided. She told me, she was like, hey,
when I'm done giving birth to this boy, I wanted
to do a fitness show. I said, okay, cool, she
did fitness shows before, so I was like, all right,
what a perfect what a perfect opportunity for me to
get back to shape. So she and I went on
this fitness journey and my goal was to get back
down to my plane with two thirty seven. I hit that,
(33:53):
and so it was all way of getting back to
the best version of me. Now. Throughout that process, doing
a lot of public speaking. Since the documentar came out,
I met with a lot of a lot of successful
people and they just happened to be in the private
equity world, and they're telling me like, why aren't you
(34:14):
doing what we're doing. He's like, there's no reason why
you shouldn't be doing what you know we're doing. You know,
you have the network, you have the abilities. You just
need to make those decisions for yourself. And I'm sitting
over here in Utah and I'm like, Okay, Like we're
living a comfortable life, but we're not living the off
season go to Spain life, like Cam, you know what,
I mean like I want to. I want to. I
want to give that to my kids, you know what
(34:35):
I mean. I know Tony is out here in Utah
and I watch him how he moves and it inspires me.
I'm like, man, he's on a private jet everywhere, you know.
I mean, he just came back from the F the
F one race over there and in Vegas. You know,
I'm like, man, I want to do that. You know,
how can I do that? Well? I started, I started
to contact a lot of people, talk to a lot
of people, and you know, so we're in the process
(34:56):
of getting into the private equity work world. And that's
that's where I know that I can do everything that
I want to do. One, I can be present in
my in my kid's life the way that I want to. Two,
I can be the example to them of what I
want life to be for them. And three I can
build generational wealth. I can I can introduce my children
(35:16):
and my children's children to a thinking and a mentality
and an approach to life that it's gonna get them
to a place you know where Okay, daddy got the
private jet. Now what you're gonna do? You know what
I mean? So that's different. You know what I'm saying.
But that's the envelope that I'm trying to push, you
know what I mean. Why not? Like why not? You
(35:36):
know what I mean, Like, it's all up to me,
you know what I mean. So it's up to me.
Then you know I'm gonna take it as far as
I can take it. And then, son, I taught you
everything that I could learn and everything that I've done.
Now you got to take it, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
What I mean. I can get you so far. Bro,
I took I took the Family of Spain, and Tank
was like, oh, we could do that again. No, no, no, baby,
I took you to Spain for a reason. We lived
out there this all season because one I want to
introduce you to a different world. Two I wanted I
want you to be inspired to learn Spanish, and three
I want you to understand when you talk to your friends,
not everybody gets to live in Spain for two and
(36:10):
a half three months, you know, Like when you like,
it takes it takes a certain way of working, take
a certain lifestyle to get to where you are. So
you can't just be like, oh, I'm just gonna live
off my dad. No, baby, Like when why spout turn off.
I'm gonna tell you what my daddy told me. Hey,
I'm doing okay. I don't know how you're gonna live,
(36:31):
but I'm always gonna live, like yes, and that's that's
me shout out to pops like Steve Steve Jordan. I
was like, I remember, bro I used to, you know,
have a TJ Max budget. I had a checking book
that I had to and I was like, I'm living
in a big house, you know, five six fifty three
fifty four hundred square feet, which is huge to me.
You know, I'm going to all my friends places and
they're sitting on you know, a thousand square feed or
(36:52):
twelve hundred square feet, tw twenty two hundredquare feet. I
don't know. I got a big house, you know what
I'm saying. And they're in Jay's and they're in you know,
Koogie back in the Gap and they rocking, you know.
Louis Batan felt, hey, like I'm over here. I came
to my dad at like twelve, thirteen years old, once
I understood what materials things were, and I was like, man,
are we broke? I was like, Dad, you play leave
(37:12):
for thirteen years? And he looked at me and was like, nah,
I'm doing really good.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Actually.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
I was like, I'm an engineer. You know, I got
my degree from Brown. I'm still an engineer. I played
the lead for thirteen years, like I'm doing really well. Actually,
but you son, you're broke. And I was like, and
that stuck with me.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Bro But that's but that's the power of parenting, though,
you understand, because Dad could have took taken a totally
different way. He could have had you dressed to the
nicest things and enabled you. You know. And that's one
thing that I told my wife is I'll never do
is I'm never going to enable my kids like I'm
going to do with what you just said, Cam. I'm
going to take them around the world. I'm going to
give them those experiences. I'm going to open up their
(37:53):
eyes to see, like, hey, man, like your dreams. I'm
going to show you what your dream looks like. I'm
not just gonna tell you write it on a paper. No,
you want to do this, cool, I'm going to take
you over there so that you can be in the buildings,
you could see the environments, you could talk to the people,
you could smell, you could taste you could feel, you know,
because then it becomes a reality for you. Now it
becomes a goal. Now you know what it looks like.
Now you could picture yourself in those places, you know.
(38:14):
And I made a post a few months ago when
we was in in Vegas. We stayed at the Palms
at one of their huge suites, Bro that just overlooks everything,
and it was it was a humbling experience for me
because I remember my dad and my mom worked their
butts off. You know, we was one of those kids.
We grew up in the three bed, one bath house,
no A c you know what I mean. So when
(38:36):
dad would take us to the inn at at you know,
in our hometown, or we would be able to go
to one of the hotels in Waikiki, like, it was
a it was a huge solution for us, you know, like, oh,
smokes like we're here, well now a few months ago,
we're over there at in this executive suite, bro. Like
it was just stupid, bro like the amenities, you know
(38:58):
what I mean. We had a butler bro that bringing
us food. Like, and there was a picture that I
posted as my baby girl and she's looking out right
and I literally sat there, Bro just grateful. I was like,
and I made a post that saying, you know, grand Grandpa,
Grandpa got us to the hotel, Daddy got us to
the to the penthouse. Right now, what you're gonna do?
Speaker 1 (39:18):
You know what I mean to take me to the
private jet? Come on, now, take that to the next level.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, So that's what it's all about. For me. It
was like, you ask me, what's next, Well, what's next
is the top? Okay, now we get to this summit
of this mountain. Well, there's always another mountain to climb.
Let's get to the top of that one. There's always
you know, and it never stops. It never stops. And
I don't ever want it to stop from my kids,
and and I'm always going to learn from you. I'm
always gonna learn from your dad. You know, your dad's
(39:44):
one of the best humans I ever met. Man. Every
time he saw me, he always said what's up, always
asked how I was doing. And you never if you
ever ran into your dad, you never knew that he
played in the league as long as I had had
that success. You'll never know because he's just so down
to earth. And you meet you, You're like, oh makes sense,
you know it makes sense because you was raised by
that guy, you know what I mean? Like your you
(40:07):
run into The only way you would know that your
professional athlete is because you look like one. If you
talk to can't.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
You can't hide these shoulders fail. I'm not even in
the camp camp frame now.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yeah, either either know that or you know that camera
professional athlete because his big selfie coming out of the
small some small car sometimes, remember he was rolling the
suv sometimes and he was parking the parking lot you're
supposed to not park at. You know, I was the
only camp can park over there, you know what I mean?
But you know you never know, right, And that's what
I feel is the best thing that somebody could tell you, Like,
(40:38):
is my interactions with you was on a human level
one of the best interactions that I could ever have.
And they had nothing to do with your social status,
you know what I mean. And so all of those
people that I've met that's in this private equity world
that's pro billions, Like when I'm met a dude who
he runs a two hundred billion dollar firm, bro like
with a bee can walking in with Louis Bouton everything,
(40:59):
like I thought I was stunning with some Travis, some Trevors.
Scott's like, I was like a boy came in some
Louise left in a Lambeo truck. But like the conversations, bro,
human and human right, and he's just like, how can
I help you? How can well, man, Clay, I want
to do that, you know, I want to get to
that level so I can turn back around and say, hey, bro,
how can I help you? You know, how can I
(41:21):
get you here? You know what I mean? Because that's
that's what I want to see everybody win, bro, And
that's what you know, there's people that helped me to win.
I mean, I want to see everybody win. So yeah,
that's that's what's next. That's what we're working on. That's
what's current. You know. That's that's the current events for
the Tetle family right now. Future events. Hopefully my son
goes to Notre Dame. You know, he already got a
(41:41):
verbal offer this weekend, so he's ten months old, can't
you tens old? Coach Coach Freeman came over, He's like,
you have an offer. I was like, all right, coach,
I'm gonna make make sure he read now he ain't
gonna play linebacker. You gonna play quarterback because autumn autumn
rules and football right now, protecting that boy like you
can't land on You can't hit him above the shoulder.
(42:01):
You can hit them below the knees, and.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
Once he releases, you better not touch them.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
You better not touch them, said Sons, You're gonna play quarterback.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
I appreciate you tapping in, Bro, I'm gonna get you
out of here. I try and keep it around thirty five,
but I love having great people on here. Bro. It's
been nothing but a pleasure keeping you on off the
edge with me. Bro, it's my ted tell you know
what I'm saying always, Bro, I appreciate you for everything
that you are.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
I'm gonna tap in shortly. I love you brother always.
So there you have it. It's a round. I just
want to say a huge thank you to all my
awesome listeners for rocking with me. I've got a whole
locker room full of my favorite interviews from season one
(42:51):
coming your way. But before I go, you know the drill.
Come on now. Make sure to drop us a five
star rating or review and hit that followup button on
Apple podcast, II, Heart Radio app or wherever you can
get your podcasts. You can also catch us on YouTube
on the official YouTube page of the NFL. Until next time,
I'm out.
What's up people, it's your boy, Cam Jay back with
another episode of Off the Edge with Cam Jordan. Now,
as we gear it for another exciting season, I wanted
to reflect on some of the incredible guests I had
the pleasure of sitting down with last season. But hey,
don't worry, though, I got you new episodes coming your
way real soon. Relax, I got you. But in the meantime,
(00:24):
in between time, let's rewind and play back some of
my favorite interviews from season one. This week, I'm bringing
you a heart to heart interview I had with the
Notre Dame legend man Tito, the Saints' former player, as
he shares with me his journey of overcoming adversity and
ultimately inspiring millions. So sit back and take a listen.
(00:54):
Super excited bro that you're even tapping in. It's my dog,
you know, my but up, my oos my man didn't
walked over to the house and left some food on
while we was playing, you know, back in the gap.
But when I tell you, I'm excited to have you
on the podcast, Bro, like strictly because you know, one
we were teammates, but two because you're you're an honest,
positive force to be reckoned with, Bro, and like you,
(01:17):
I feel like you don't get enough flowers as it is,
and you probably do, like I'm not sure. You know
you out Utah. You rolled down your window and it's
probably snowing outside. You know, I'm not meant for the snow.
But ooh, I say, uh manti tal. You know, Bro,
everything that you did in college over at Notre Dame
was spectaclar. You know you played there. You were should
have been in my mind, a Heisman Trophy winner. You
(01:38):
had a Heisman push. You know, I'm saying a runner
up if you will. But the the things that you
did in college were absolutely special.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
You know you look down and you were gonna have
accolades for days. You talk about the Maxwell Award, you know,
the Walter Camp Award, you talk about the Lot Award,
the Chuck I can never get the that Linebacker Award,
Merik Award. Bro. Like what in college there was no
no reward untouched that you didn't have. Bro, You're a
unanimous All American. Like I say, you you should in
(02:06):
my mind, you should have been a Heisman Trophy winner.
But you know, it just is what it is.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You get drafted in the second round to the San
Diego Chargers. Does that feel weird that you know it's
not San Diego no more? Are you ready? Ye, La Chargers?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I know I always rep San Diego's you know, you know,
you know how it is. You know, even even when
I was playing, you know, with New Orleans, I was
still living in San Diego. I would send you the
pictures of my tacos at oscars, you know. And so you,
you and the family are supposed to come out many
at times. And then we moved and you refuse to
come out here in the cold snow, So we're gonna
(02:40):
have to link up in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I'm I'm gonna get out there.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Are you out outside of City Park where you at somewhere?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
We're in Lehigh right between Propo and South Lake, And yeah,
we gotta take you on the slopes. I know, you know,
you know, you got the elite level of athleticism. The
only lineman, know, the only d lineman that I know,
leads the conditioning and the half gasser, so you definitely
could make it down the hills.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I look see that, but I'm not I'm not conditioned
for snow film.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
We played that one game in Cleveland, and it changed
my like it solidified my perspective on nobody should play
in colde games. But it also changed my life in
terms of I was like, I can't be in America anymore.
I left it and we lived in Spain this off season.
Because of that Cleveland game. I said, I was like, Babe,
pack it up, take off, We're taking all four kids,
are your homeschooling, and we're leaving.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
See just a little a little cam slight flex right there.
I decided I'm going to go to Spain. Pack your
stuff up. See a lot of us can't make those
type of decisions, bro, you know, so.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
You packed up a mood of utah. You were like
this breeze feels too good.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yo, okay, okay. But my decision was it was because
of living purposes. It was like, I don't have the
cam type of tax brackets, so we got to get
out of these high taxes and go to a lower
I did. I didn't just say let's go to Spain.
You know, yeah, we're not there yet.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Freeze like I frolt.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It was.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It was negative twenty eight. It was the coldest game
in Saint's history. The second coadest game for Cleveland, and
I said, wait, the fact that it was the second
coadest game for Cleveland, I should not be here.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Well, you remember I went to college. Oops. You know. Yeah,
the negative temperatures, you know, it's ridiculous. Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Learned close that you chose. You're like, ooh yeah, no, no, no, anyway, bro,
So let's let's just say. You know, you got drafted
to the San Diego Chargers. We just moved past that,
you know, get us to the Saints.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You you come on to the team. What year was it,
twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, twenty seventeen, Yeah, there was seventeen.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
To twenty nineteen. Bro, you're on the Saints for a
few years. Bro, you come in and you bring automatic
juice like I've never seen. I've never seen somebody come
in and mold so well with the team. You know,
like it was like you just like coming off of
a fresh team whatever that was. You came on to
the team and everybody just fully embraced you, and or
(05:06):
you embraced us. Yeah, and bro, what was that like
the first day, the first day that you came in there,
I said, right next to you, I was like, all right, bro,
me give me the real story.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. And you know, honestly, like
you said, I brought the juice, but honestly, the team
brought the juice back to me, you know what I mean.
So that was what was so beautiful about being in
New Orleans. It was it was the locker room. It
was the personal relationships that I had with you, with Craig,
with Alex you know. And then came in the next year.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Detroit right now, Davis is that guy you know, Craig
Robinson used to bring that juice bro, You and him.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yah, yeah, you know, And so it was, it went,
It went both ways. You know. I'm forever grateful to
all my brothers over there at New Orleans for kind
of helping me to resurrect my career because I played
some I played the best spall that I played in
New Orleans. And I had everything to do with, you know,
the the pat that I took personally to get back
(06:09):
to where I needed to get to, but the people
that I surrounded myself with the people in that locker
room that helped me to you know, once once you
sat next to me, we had that conversation I remember
I was sitting in my locker. We had that conversation.
It was like all right, it was like, oh, let's
go play ball, you know what I mean. And that's
that's where the first time that I felt that people
saw me as a teammate, you know, and not just
(06:31):
a news clipping, you know what I mean. And my
play was able to raise from there, and man, I
had I had the most fun playing over there in
New Orleans, and especially that we got we got to
go back to California during the preseason and we played
you know, we had a joint practice against the Chargers and.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
You might as well like hit your hit your Hoker film,
and like I was like, all right, this clearly meant
something to him.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, well, I think it was a It was a
benefit because then we got out of that humidity, you know.
And I remember man Sean was trying to make he
was trying to make a point, you know, that that year,
and I was just like, I remember thinking to myself,
I was like, so the year that I signed here,
you decided to bring the team back to New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
We had just done like three off seasons in Northern
Virginia with all those training camps with Northern Vidia where
it was like sixty five and Sonny seventy sunny, and
we had like three years of back to back, back
to back to back losing seasons of seven to nine,
seven and nine, seven and nine, and he was like,
you know, the older kid down was like, this is
the way you guys want to play. Tom Benson came down,
was like this is the way you got. You'll never
(07:37):
go back to Virginia again. And Sean Payton was like,
you heard what he said, Now let's double down.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And I was like Jesus that you came in. Bro.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
He came in and like we went days of straight hitting.
You know, we had to run off the practice field
because were running out of time at practice in that
training camp. So by the time we hit Cali Bro
for that joint practice, everybody was like, how this it?
This all you guys? Do you only have thirty plays?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Come on? No? I remember I remember who was it.
He came off the edge and just thumped the running
back and I remember thinking like Mark and I know
it was Marcus remember, and there was like a whole
little ruckus that broke out, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
They were upset, like Marcus that comes off hills this
running back and George's are like, this is not how we.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Practice like this how we practiced. So no idea, but
it was that I have that level of confidence that
because of what we went through, like you stand no chance,
you know what I mean? And that's what I felt like.
It helped us to get into that mentality of man, like,
there's no way that you guys went through what we
(08:48):
went through, Like having thirty forty plus people. I remember
after practice, like forty of us in there with Ivy's
just it looked like a scene from a movie.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
And I walked by everybody like I'm you know, I
don't cramp up, bro, So I just walked everybody. I'm like, weakness, yeah,
you know. I was like, look at you, you and
your ivs.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You're like you're you're taking two bags? My guy? What
was that was the name? Devaux whatever? Devro's got like
three bags in bro. There's there's guys hurting everywhere. I'm
just like, weakness, can't do it.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It went from it went from a fashion statement, you know,
like everybody coming in with advisors on. By day two,
the advisors are.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Off sleeves everywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
It's just trying to survive. You know, you took out
two pairs of cleats, three pairs of socks, like at
the at the second like special teams period, everybody was
switching out their socks, switching out their cleats, like switching
out gloves. You know, it was to switch out those fleets. Bro.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Like a training a training camp in New Orleans when
it's it's like ninety eight degrees one hundred percent humidity,
You're you're practicing for two and a half hours, Bro,
an hour in your shoes like you're stepping in it
feels like you gotta puddle your shoes. You bring two
or three pairs of codes to practice, just so like conditioningwise,
you're not moving under water. But Bro, that's crazy. But
(10:02):
I really want to start off with, first of all,
congratulations on you know, all your success, bro, starting with
Notre Dame of course, Polynesian Hall of Fame. You know,
it's like even even your high school, isn't the force
Buckner from your high school too out in Hawaii? Like
you know, I can't. I'm not even going to attempt
to say your high school prep school. There you go,
(10:24):
you got it in there in there, Bro, But like,
I just want to how does it feel, Bro, to
to know that you become an all time great at
Notre Dame?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Bro?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Like everything that you did, Bro. You know, you throw
the stats out there and there's a reason why, you know,
four years, four hundred and thirty seven tackles, you know,
ranked third all time and in the in history there, Like,
how does it feel to know you put such a
phenomenal college crew together to even have a chance to
go to the league, Like that's always been a dream
of mine.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So for you, well, I think it goes back to
the saying, like you always want to leave the place
better than when you found it, you know, And for
me to be able to do that in my way
and the fashion that I did it. Obviously, Notre Dame
is one of the most stored football programs in the country,
and I just literally went in there to you know,
continue the dominance that my father Thomas, since I was little,
(11:15):
to you know, really stick to my routines and you know,
hopefully the result would be what I wanted it to be.
I mean, the result was always success just based off
of the work ethic. And so for me to do
that and to have an impact on people off of
the field was exactly what I would want my career
(11:36):
to be like while I was at Notre Dame, and
it's a special place. And it's nice now because we
literally just got back from South Bend this past weekend.
I took my wife and my babies out there. And
you know what's nice is my wife didn't know the
Notre Dame me. You know, she knew the NFL ME
and you know, unfortunately the NFL ME didn't it didn't
reach the heights of the Notre Dame ME. And so
(11:58):
when we go back to South Bend, she gets to
see like the plaques, the murals that all of the
trophies and.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
College there's not many people reached that level of success,
not like there's there's only a few cats, you know,
like not too many of you. You heard what I said,
third and third in all times the tackles.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Now, like yeah, yeah, it was, it was it was
up there. It was like that that was what we
like to as a summit. You know what I mean
when people when people talk about reaching the summit, like
in my life for that time, like that was the
summit of college football. You know what I was able
to achieve and attain on a personal level and on
(12:38):
a team level, you know, to to make it to
the national championship. You know. Obviously we got whooped up
on by by Alabama, you know, and you know, I had,
I had, I had. I had a bad taste of
Alabama for a long time. And then I met Duce
Stews and and you know, just to know Mark and
I'm like jeez, and then you know, too went there
and so it was one of those things, honestly to
(13:00):
have my family experience it with me, to people to
know my name, my last name, and to recognize my
family in public, Like that's for a kid growing up
in a small town in Hawi. That was everything that
I wanted it to be, to have that type of impact.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, I still don't understand this whole. Like I was,
I'm from Hawaii, and then I lived in San Diego
and then I moved to Utah. I'm like, I'm gonna
talk about this forever, like nothing but nothing but breeze
and views of ocean, and like now you're.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Like yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, when the milk goes from
twenty dollars a gallon in hoy and you come over there,
and as five dollars, You're like, yeah, you know, the
the temperature I could deal with, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
My duck is a stretch. It a lot farther.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, bro.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So let's talk about the Polynesian Hall of Fame, bro,
because like now there's there's you're part of the living legends.
That's that's in there now. Palmalu would probably be the
first name to come to my mind, and now.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
The second name is gonna be Man Thanks.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Like you know, I'm just saying, like when you're when
you're when you're in that same breath Polynesia Hall of Fame,
Like I said, I'm a joke, but like, well the
Rocks in there too. But but in terms of football,
Troy Palus, you him, you know you're probably up next
is probably Marcus Mariota, like you know, the four probably
(14:37):
you know, it's gonna be Eavy Company.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, DFO is definitely going to be in there, Tour
is definitely gonna be in there. Tlana is definitely gonna
be in there. You know, obviously there's still careers are
still going but to be in the Polynesian Hall of Fame,
it's a big deal because now life comes full circle.
You know, Like when I was a little kid, Troy
was my example of oh, I could do it, you
(15:00):
know what I mean, Like to see Troy play at
play at USC and for him to be drafted to
the Stealers and watch his career you know, go as
it went and you know, hall of Famer, you know,
Pro Football Hall of Fame. For me growing up as
a little kid, and I look up to those type
of individuals, you know what I mean, like, man, if
Troy can do it, I can do it. You know,
there's a way to do it because he's he's kind
(15:21):
of blazed that path. For me now to be in
that position and understanding that, you know, there's there's kids
back at home, there's kids around the world that's looking
up to me and say, hey, man, Ti, I did it.
I could do it. And I think, you know, for
for like to come full circle that way just goes
to show that all the hard work and the sacrifices
that myself and my family you know, put in, you know,
(15:43):
it all paid off. And hopefully, you know, we'll be
able to push the script with allowing younger the younger
generations to say, hey, we can do what he did
and more. You know what I mean, Let's let's take
it higher, let's take it further, and then hopefully the
next generation comes around and pushes that even further. And
that's kind of what that Polynesian Hall of Fame means
(16:04):
for me. It's it's it's a it's a celebration that
all the hard work was was was worth it. But
at the same time, it's just another flag up there
to tell those kids that's behind me, to say, hey, bro,
like you could do the same thing, they'll take it further,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Big legacy. Yeah, it's legacy.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, yeah, you know, And that's what it's all about,
you know. So you know we all can relate, you
know with that is like when we die, like obviously,
the only thing that stays here is our names and
the stories that people tell about us, and you know,
their interactions with us, you know what I mean. And
so I always wanted those interactions and those stories to
be positive, you know, to be like, man, my life's
better because I met mantime, my life's better because I
(16:48):
met Camp and I and you know, you know how
I feel about you. You know, you know that the
impact that you've had on me and my family, and
you know, when a document documentary came out, like it
was one of the first that I text, you know,
just say hey, it's like I wouldn't be where I'm
at if it wasn't for you personally, you know, like
taking all of us to the jay Z concert, Like
(17:08):
you have no idea. So I like, how much that
concert changed my life, Like where I was at that time,
and you invited me just being around the fellas, I
was like, okay, cool, like getting to know my teammates.
But then the spiritual journey that that concert had on
me because obviously jay Z was going through his stuff
with Beyonce, and you know, he had a lot of
(17:29):
people like saying this about him. And I remember he
started off the whole thing with his dialogue and the
narrative and he went through to kill jay Z stuff
and I remember like just thinking about it and listening
to him, and I'm like, man, those are some of
the things that go on in my head, you know
what I mean. And then when he ended it with saying,
you can't heal what you don't reveal, like bro, that
was just it was mind blowing to me. And I'm
(17:49):
like bro, Like, that's what I got to do. And
so from that moment on, it was like my whole
life kind of took a one eighty of Man, I'm
looking about I'm looking at this the whole the wrong way,
you know what I mean. And it had everything to
do with that concert. And then you look at how
I played ball that year and look at you know,
and everybody would come to me, it's like, man, that's
(18:09):
a Notre dame man titness playing. I was like, well,
in order for me to get here there there are
events that needed to take place, you know what I mean,
in order for me to get to display this this
the space mentally and emotionally, and that concert that you
took me to had it was a big, big part
of that healing. And so like again, it was like,
I never forget the people that was there for me,
(18:30):
and you was obviously one of those one of those people,
and that's why I had to I had to pay
my respects to you. And you was the you know, like,
like I said, one of the few people that I text.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
That's what I'm saying, Bro. You you hit me and
I didn't even know the impact, you know, Like I'm like, yeah, bro, Like,
you know, like if I'm in if I'm in a
Switeen D line and the suite A, you know, the
defense is always welcome. We even open it to the
office sometimes, you know, Like I'm all about that defense
camaraderiecause I think that makes the team better when you
know what your brothers are going through, you know, like
we bleed together. Why would I not you know, why
(19:01):
would I want not want to know more about you
as a person. You know. So it's always it's always
that idea of building family, But just that how did
you even navigate? Like, bro, Like why do those words
hit you so hard that when you when you when
that documentary came out earlier this year, Like how did
you navigate that emotional aspect of sort of having to
relive through everything? Right?
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Yeah? Yeah, Well, you know it goes back to that
saying that jay Z said, you can't heal what you
don't reveal, you know, and there's a lot of healing
that occurs when you can verbalize things, you know what
I mean. I didn't realize how heavily I was I was.
I was holding everything in and you can't heal it
when the poison is inside of you. You know, you
have to bring that poison out. And the amount of
(19:42):
healing that I did all the way up to that
point was enough for me to be comfortable in certain
certain circles. You know. There there was a time where
I wasn't comfortable in public. Like I literally would just
go to work, do what I had to do, come
home and just be a hermit. Like I didn't want
to be around anybody.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I just must have because like is looseid I know
in New Orleans, big people person, big heart.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Person, you know what I'm saying, Like, but but what
you need.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
I'm here for you. I got you some food at
your front door. I knocked on your door, like.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
You And that's that's the that's the evolution of it all,
you know what I mean. Like that was who I
am at my core. I'm a guy who I love people,
I love, you know, having great experiences with my friends,
creating memories with my friends. You know that the hermit,
that's not me, you know. But in order for me
(20:34):
to get from the hermit to the guy who was
just you know, love was excitement, was just enjoying the
process and being grateful for the day. Like there was
a transition, and and and and a journey that that
I had to go on, and a lot of it
had to be done by myself, but there are key
moments where I needed somebody to be there with me,
(20:56):
you know what I mean. And so like you're one
of those guys, Craig is one of those guys. Alex
is one of those guys that I really leaned heavily on.
And you said something that that that was so real.
You said, you, I want to know I had all
of these experiences, You would have all of these experiences
with the team, the defense to to know what they're
(21:16):
going through, right. I think what took it a step
further was you don't even you didn't even know the
impact that you were making. You didn't even know what
your teammates are going through. But because you had them around,
you were doing healing form that you didn't even know
you were doing. You know what I mean. That's the
quality of a great leader, you know what I mean,
(21:37):
Just somebody that understands that what happens on the football
field is just a result of all the things that
we've done together at dinners, you know what I mean,
all the things that we've done on the on the
practice field. Man, you guys would play. You would play
Smash Bros. Like for hours. Bro, Like I remember, like
your nigga gonna call and I'm your neighbor, So yeah,
(21:58):
you gotta go out there.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Can't go home before you broke with the boys, Like
after I need I need that.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, she's gonna see my truck in the driveway and
she'd be like cavade home yet like something he he
still plays Smash Bros. Yeah, So it was. It was.
It was a special transition. It was a special journey,
and it was a journey that you know, made me
into who I am moves to to really appreciate genuine relationships,
(22:31):
appreciate good people and bro. Like again, our locker room
was special, bro, you know and that's what I always
tell people, Like the locker room in New Orleans is
what made the success of our team, you know, like
how close we were and so and now I always
watch my boys, always watch the guys on Sundays, and
I'm like, they gotta have fun again, you know what
(22:52):
I mean, You have fun, celebrate you know what I mean,
just bring that energy. Got so we was like we
were like I don't care what nobody says we was
the one who started that turnof for sure, I.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Think I think that's just that's that's already known, like
the same started that. I don't know, but like that
happened from from us. Yeah, but you know, Craig Robertson,
we out there with the big bucket of flowers, Like yeah, flowers,
you know what I'm saying. We get an interception and
like running in and everybody rallied behind it, and that
for sure is the same thing. Like they still do
(23:26):
it as long as it's to a close end zone.
I'm with the jog, Like if you're the thirty and
we go to the you know, we go to the
end zone. Beat if we had the thirty and you
turn around and you jogged seventy no no no, no, no, no,
no no no. I see what sideline?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
You know what? That reminds me of Remember when we
had that goal line stand against Atlanta and I recovered
that fumble. I remember we're on the goal line twenty seventeen.
That happened, that's twenty seventeen. That was a second. That
was the second Atlanta game. Remember I picked the ball
off and I started to run. I ran to the
opposite side of the field. Remember as I'm running, I
(24:01):
remember watching the clip and your face was like, ooh,
so would love I'm with your dog. But right later, yeah, yeah,
that probably was a bad, bad decision for me to
run to the opposite.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
You want to go, you want to go ninety seven yards?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
We're still the conditioning testing now. Yeah, this thing.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
You talked about emotional intelligence, you talk about just the
quality of of knowing who you are.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
You found that over the years, But like, how did
how did that come about? Or what is it now
that you have a unique perspective on what it is
to be because you've lived at the highest peak of
what the athlete is when everybody's looking up at you.
You're still balling everything about it too. You've had setbacks whatever,
you know, the whole the whole cat fit situation to
coming back and we're getting drafted second round two playing
(24:54):
your type of your brand of football here with it
or here previously with the with the normans saying like
what did that all take it to you? And how
do you look at the status of mental health now?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Well, mental health to me, right is when you're mentally healthy.
It's I like to think that there's not a lot
of voices in your head. You know, those that are
that are mentally unhealthy, it's because they have so many
voices in their head. They're kind of they kind of
get lost, they get lost in the source of like
man like whether it's they're they're they're at a certain peak,
(25:27):
right and they think that there's something that they're not
or they're at a valley and there's so many critics
in their head that they can't just they can't seem
to shake it. And so I've been at both right
right now. The journey has allowed me to identify all
of those voices, identify the sources of those voices, and
get them out right. But now that the only voice
that I hear is mine, and when my.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Voice is like social media, your girl, your family, you
know what. Oh I got to take care of my parents. Oh,
like I need to be I need to be this
nicole of a player for me to be accepted. Yeah,
you know, there's there's all types of pressures that are
equal voices in the head. You said, you said voice.
It made me think about the first time we ever
had a conversation. I was like, all right, before you
(26:11):
before you be a mic and call these plays girlfriend
imagination or was she like that? That's they So, yeah,
the voices are surrounding you.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, well they're they're pressures and and they're also they're
the critics, and they're also the fans, you know what
I mean, because when you're living extreme, Yeah, whether they're
dragging you or whether you have just like ten sacks
one game and they're like telling you the greatest thing ever. Yeah,
like both both extremes are dangerous, you know what I mean,
(26:45):
especially if it's not the beliefs that you have in
your head, like the fact that I know who I
am to a point where there's nothing that the praise
or the criticism can sway me.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
That is why I mean, like men mental health and
you being so sure of what your identity is, who
you are as a person, that you're not swayed either way.
Like that's you know where I feel I got to
that I that I know who I am. There's nothing
that you could tell me that's going to sway that.
(27:17):
Because I was swayed a lot, and when I kept swaying, swinging,
eventually I felt face flat, you know, and so I
had to literally pick myself back up and figure out,
you know, from score one, and build myself up from
score one from Brooke one. And again I had to
do a lot of it by myself, but there were
people that helped me to to to to to build that,
(27:37):
you know, whether it be my family and my parents,
my siblings, my friends like yourself, my wife, you know,
my kids now you know. So it's a journey that
everybody must take. It's a journey that you know, I
hope that it doesn't take people as long as it
took me. But the journey is is what you know
creates and it modes, and you know, you'll be happy
with the final product. And I'm definitely happy with with
(28:01):
you know, who I came up to be as a man.
You know. So for anybody that's going through mental health issues,
in order for you to be the best version of yourself,
you need to be internally the best version of you
because what happens outside is just a reflection of what's
going on inside, you know. And so that's that's kind
of my piece on that.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying. But you never know,
you never know, Like even talking about it, bro who
you're affecting or you know, it feels like it's a
sermon at times, bro, Like that's just a message somebody
may need to hear, you know, in this in this
day and age, well, you know, we're starting to under
understand this EQ or this even like I call twenty
(28:41):
like I call twenty twenty im like the error to
be soft, right, and and I sort of chuckle about it.
But it's literally like, you know, everybody's worried about other
people's opinions. Everybody's worried about everybody's you know, how I
affecting the next person over? Or how are they affecting me?
Or social media does this and all in all these
other circumstances, it's like, bro, know who you are and
(29:02):
stand on it, you know, like like live live your truth,
live your life, and you know, be blessed. Like there's
so many ways it can go. Life can always be
worse and life can always be better. You know. It's
just like watching you after a game football film, you'd
be like, Bro, I played terrible game. Film is not
going to be as good as you think it is,
and you're not going to be as bad as you
(29:23):
think it is. Those games you're like, oh I killed them.
I half four sacks that couldn't touch me, and you
walk on like, dang I got locked up like three
or four times, bro, like that or are you close?
It could have been a seven sack game and all
I left was with three or four you know.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Like that's a great analogy. That is actually a great
analogy of of of how life is right, you know,
And like I never thought of that analogy, but now
that you put it that way, that's actually the perfect
analogy for it. It's never as bad as you think
it is, and it's never as great as you think
it is, you know. So like again, to stay grounded
in it all, to be grateful for it all, because
(29:55):
at the end of the day, like like life happens
for you, doesn't happen to you, you know, And so
you have the ability and the power to make life
what you need to make it. You know, you could
make it great. You could also make it a living hell,
you know what I mean. So you have that power
like people who let things happen to them and say, oh, man,
like I'm the victim, and I was like, no, bro,
you're the only You're only the victim of your decisions,
(30:17):
you know, because no matter what you do to me,
I still have the ability to filter it and perceive
it the way that I need to perceive it in
order for me to progress. Like I'm never gonna let
anybody do anything to me, say anything to me that's
going to cripple me, and you know, you know, stunt
my growth as a person. And the reason why I
know that is because I used to let that do it,
do it, do it to me, you know what I mean?
And so that's what you know for me? Mental health,
(30:40):
I think it's it's it's something that's important. I think
some people look at it as uh as a reason
to do the things they do. No, that's not what
mental health is, you know what I mean. Mental health
is you understanding who you are, the best version of yourself,
the best form of yourself, and you're doing all that
you can to get there. You know. It's not an
excuse to do stupid things, you know what I mean.
That's not what it is, you know what I mean.
Like I don't like when people say, oh no, no, no, bro,
(31:02):
that's not what this is. It's understanding where I'm at
and where I need to get to and the things
that I need to do in order to get there,
you know. And so that's that's what I that I
think mental health is. It's it's it's for me to
be the best version of me to do the most good.
You know what, what can I what version of me
brings out the most good? What what what version of
(31:23):
me brings out the most production? That's that's what I
need to do. That's that's the person to bless me?
Speaker 1 (31:28):
How can I be a blessing to others?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Brother, I'm still breathing, I'm still standing. Bright you I said,
(31:52):
you're a fan of man. Now that you know, I
can't say like football is over because I don't think
football ever leaves the blood. Now, you've got a legacy
if you're own.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
But like I said, Mary, my dog got two kids. Now,
you know what I'm saying. Jit with the at the end,
you know what I'm saying, what was it not? Because
there's no off season now? You know, like me, off season,
I'm flitting. I'm like, man, what else can I do?
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
What's what's next for you?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Bro? Like you?
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Now, now you don't drop the documentary, you probably got
to executive produce your credit out of there, you ep things? Now,
what what what else is it in Utah for you?
Speaker 2 (32:23):
You know? What's what was amazing was when when you know,
every parent will we'll understand this, when my kids came
into my life, especially with my son, when my daughter came,
like I went to the dad phase that dad bought
to gain a whole bunch of weight. And you know
I didn't realize that the baby girl, Yeah, my daughter's fault, bro.
Like you know, my princess softened me up, you know.
(32:45):
But then when my son came and with both of them,
immediately life took a turn from you. I immediately wanted
everything great in this world for my kids. I wanted
everything that was great in this world I wanted for them.
But the person that the first thing that needed to
happen was I needed to be great. You know. I
(33:05):
needed to be the greatest version of me because my
kids aren't going to remember what I tell them, but
they're going to remember what they saw me do. They're
going to remember how they saw Daddy work, how he
saw how they saw me walk through this life. And
so it was I was two ninety five, Yeah, Jenny,
first that day teat that for I was yes, Yeah.
(33:32):
So my wife decided. She told me, she was like, hey,
when I'm done giving birth to this boy, I wanted
to do a fitness show. I said, okay, cool, she
did fitness shows before, so I was like, all right,
what a perfect what a perfect opportunity for me to
get back to shape. So she and I went on
this fitness journey and my goal was to get back
down to my plane with two thirty seven. I hit that,
(33:53):
and so it was all way of getting back to
the best version of me. Now. Throughout that process, doing
a lot of public speaking. Since the documentar came out,
I met with a lot of a lot of successful
people and they just happened to be in the private
equity world, and they're telling me like, why aren't you
(34:14):
doing what we're doing. He's like, there's no reason why
you shouldn't be doing what you know we're doing. You know,
you have the network, you have the abilities. You just
need to make those decisions for yourself. And I'm sitting
over here in Utah and I'm like, Okay, Like we're
living a comfortable life, but we're not living the off
season go to Spain life, like Cam, you know what,
I mean like I want to. I want to. I
want to give that to my kids, you know what
(34:35):
I mean. I know Tony is out here in Utah
and I watch him how he moves and it inspires me.
I'm like, man, he's on a private jet everywhere, you know.
I mean, he just came back from the F the
F one race over there and in Vegas. You know,
I'm like, man, I want to do that. You know,
how can I do that? Well? I started, I started
to contact a lot of people, talk to a lot
of people, and you know, so we're in the process
(34:56):
of getting into the private equity work world. And that's
that's where I know that I can do everything that
I want to do. One, I can be present in
my in my kid's life the way that I want to. Two,
I can be the example to them of what I
want life to be for them. And three I can
build generational wealth. I can I can introduce my children
(35:16):
and my children's children to a thinking and a mentality
and an approach to life that it's gonna get them
to a place you know where Okay, daddy got the
private jet. Now what you're gonna do? You know what
I mean? So that's different. You know what I'm saying.
But that's the envelope that I'm trying to push, you
know what I mean. Why not? Like why not? You
(35:36):
know what I mean, Like, it's all up to me,
you know what I mean. So it's up to me.
Then you know I'm gonna take it as far as
I can take it. And then, son, I taught you
everything that I could learn and everything that I've done.
Now you got to take it, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
What I mean. I can get you so far. Bro,
I took I took the Family of Spain, and Tank
was like, oh, we could do that again. No, no, no, baby,
I took you to Spain for a reason. We lived
out there this all season because one I want to
introduce you to a different world. Two I wanted I
want you to be inspired to learn Spanish, and three
I want you to understand when you talk to your friends,
not everybody gets to live in Spain for two and
(36:10):
a half three months, you know, Like when you like,
it takes it takes a certain way of working, take
a certain lifestyle to get to where you are. So
you can't just be like, oh, I'm just gonna live
off my dad. No, baby, Like when why spout turn off.
I'm gonna tell you what my daddy told me. Hey,
I'm doing okay. I don't know how you're gonna live,
(36:31):
but I'm always gonna live, like yes, and that's that's
me shout out to pops like Steve Steve Jordan. I
was like, I remember, bro I used to, you know,
have a TJ Max budget. I had a checking book
that I had to and I was like, I'm living
in a big house, you know, five six fifty three
fifty four hundred square feet, which is huge to me.
You know, I'm going to all my friends places and
they're sitting on you know, a thousand square feed or
(36:52):
twelve hundred square feet, tw twenty two hundredquare feet. I
don't know. I got a big house, you know what
I'm saying. And they're in Jay's and they're in you know,
Koogie back in the Gap and they rocking, you know.
Louis Batan felt, hey, like I'm over here. I came
to my dad at like twelve, thirteen years old, once
I understood what materials things were, and I was like, man,
are we broke? I was like, Dad, you play leave
(37:12):
for thirteen years? And he looked at me and was like, nah,
I'm doing really good.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Actually.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
I was like, I'm an engineer. You know, I got
my degree from Brown. I'm still an engineer. I played
the lead for thirteen years, like I'm doing really well. Actually,
but you son, you're broke. And I was like, and
that stuck with me.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Bro But that's but that's the power of parenting, though,
you understand, because Dad could have took taken a totally
different way. He could have had you dressed to the
nicest things and enabled you. You know. And that's one
thing that I told my wife is I'll never do
is I'm never going to enable my kids like I'm
going to do with what you just said, Cam. I'm
going to take them around the world. I'm going to
give them those experiences. I'm going to open up their
(37:53):
eyes to see, like, hey, man, like your dreams. I'm
going to show you what your dream looks like. I'm
not just gonna tell you write it on a paper. No,
you want to do this, cool, I'm going to take
you over there so that you can be in the buildings,
you could see the environments, you could talk to the people,
you could smell, you could taste you could feel, you know,
because then it becomes a reality for you. Now it
becomes a goal. Now you know what it looks like.
Now you could picture yourself in those places, you know.
(38:14):
And I made a post a few months ago when
we was in in Vegas. We stayed at the Palms
at one of their huge suites, Bro that just overlooks everything,
and it was it was a humbling experience for me
because I remember my dad and my mom worked their
butts off. You know, we was one of those kids.
We grew up in the three bed, one bath house,
no A c you know what I mean. So when
(38:36):
dad would take us to the inn at at you know,
in our hometown, or we would be able to go
to one of the hotels in Waikiki, like, it was
a it was a huge solution for us, you know, like, oh,
smokes like we're here, well now a few months ago,
we're over there at in this executive suite, bro. Like
it was just stupid, bro like the amenities, you know
(38:58):
what I mean. We had a butler bro that bringing
us food. Like, and there was a picture that I
posted as my baby girl and she's looking out right
and I literally sat there, Bro just grateful. I was like,
and I made a post that saying, you know, grand Grandpa,
Grandpa got us to the hotel, Daddy got us to
the to the penthouse. Right now, what you're gonna do?
Speaker 1 (39:18):
You know what I mean to take me to the
private jet? Come on, now, take that to the next level.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, So that's what it's all about. For me. It
was like, you ask me, what's next, Well, what's next
is the top? Okay, now we get to this summit
of this mountain. Well, there's always another mountain to climb.
Let's get to the top of that one. There's always
you know, and it never stops. It never stops. And
I don't ever want it to stop from my kids,
and and I'm always going to learn from you. I'm
always gonna learn from your dad. You know, your dad's
(39:44):
one of the best humans I ever met. Man. Every
time he saw me, he always said what's up, always
asked how I was doing. And you never if you
ever ran into your dad, you never knew that he
played in the league as long as I had had
that success. You'll never know because he's just so down
to earth. And you meet you, You're like, oh makes sense,
you know it makes sense because you was raised by
that guy, you know what I mean? Like your you
(40:07):
run into The only way you would know that your
professional athlete is because you look like one. If you
talk to can't.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
You can't hide these shoulders fail. I'm not even in
the camp camp frame now.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yeah, either either know that or you know that camera
professional athlete because his big selfie coming out of the
small some small car sometimes, remember he was rolling the
suv sometimes and he was parking the parking lot you're
supposed to not park at. You know, I was the
only camp can park over there, you know what I mean?
But you know you never know, right, And that's what
I feel is the best thing that somebody could tell you, Like,
(40:38):
is my interactions with you was on a human level
one of the best interactions that I could ever have.
And they had nothing to do with your social status,
you know what I mean. And so all of those
people that I've met that's in this private equity world
that's pro billions, Like when I'm met a dude who
he runs a two hundred billion dollar firm, bro like
with a bee can walking in with Louis Bouton everything,
(40:59):
like I thought I was stunning with some Travis, some Trevors.
Scott's like, I was like a boy came in some
Louise left in a Lambeo truck. But like the conversations, bro,
human and human right, and he's just like, how can
I help you? How can well, man, Clay, I want
to do that, you know, I want to get to
that level so I can turn back around and say, hey, bro,
how can I help you? You know, how can I
(41:21):
get you here? You know what I mean? Because that's
that's what I want to see everybody win, bro, And
that's what you know, there's people that helped me to win.
I mean, I want to see everybody win. So yeah,
that's that's what's next. That's what we're working on. That's
what's current. You know. That's that's the current events for
the Tetle family right now. Future events. Hopefully my son
goes to Notre Dame. You know, he already got a
(41:41):
verbal offer this weekend, so he's ten months old, can't
you tens old? Coach Coach Freeman came over, He's like,
you have an offer. I was like, all right, coach,
I'm gonna make make sure he read now he ain't
gonna play linebacker. You gonna play quarterback because autumn autumn
rules and football right now, protecting that boy like you
can't land on You can't hit him above the shoulder.
(42:01):
You can hit them below the knees, and.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
Once he releases, you better not touch them.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
You better not touch them, said Sons, You're gonna play quarterback.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
I appreciate you tapping in, Bro, I'm gonna get you
out of here. I try and keep it around thirty five,
but I love having great people on here. Bro. It's
been nothing but a pleasure keeping you on off the
edge with me. Bro, it's my ted tell you know
what I'm saying always, Bro, I appreciate you for everything
that you are.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
I'm gonna tap in shortly. I love you brother always.
So there you have it. It's a round. I just
want to say a huge thank you to all my
awesome listeners for rocking with me. I've got a whole
locker room full of my favorite interviews from season one
(42:51):
coming your way. But before I go, you know the drill.
Come on now. Make sure to drop us a five
star rating or review and hit that followup button on
Apple podcast, II, Heart Radio app or wherever you can
get your podcasts. You can also catch us on YouTube
on the official YouTube page of the NFL. Until next time,
I'm out.
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