Nnamdi Asomugha: The NFL's Renaissance Man

Steve Wyche and Jim Trotter are joined by former all-pro cornerback turned critically acclaimed actor, Nnamdi Asomugha. Never imagining that he would star in a play, Asomugha describes his journey from football to acting (19:39). The conversation covers a wide variety of topics, including Asomugha's role in 'Sylvie's Love', (29:58), his post-football relationship with the NFL (38:56), and his ACTS program that connects youth to college opportunities (42:30). Having retired two years prior, he reflects on how he thinks he may have reacted following Colin Kaepernick's protests against racial inequality (47:11). Plus, Steve and Jim break down the complex situation with the Houston Texans with QB Deshaun Watson asking for a trade just one day after hiring David Culley as their newest head coach (2:10). Huddle and Flow is part of the NFL Podcasts Network.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
All right, we are back at the Huddle Full Podcast
present to Body into It, the proud makers of Turbo Tax,
Quick Books and Mint. I am Steve White's here with
my brother from another mother. Oh wait, that podcast is
already taken. Here with my brother Jim Trotter. We got
our man, Thomas Warren. He's still out on the sideline.
Was in the love and prayers his way, j T,
j T. What's up? And we're good man. Yeah, we

(00:36):
don't want to lift um. We don't want to infringe
on those copyright uh trademarks for our brothers, you know,
Michael Holly and Michael Smith. So it's all good man,
but just happy to be here. We got one more
week to go in this season and we got a
lot going on, so let's get to it. What you
gotta let's get to it. And we got a special guest, Jim.

(00:56):
You know one thing that you you really talk about
a lot is player trams transition from football to life
after football. And today we have a great success story
with no the awesome waw people forget man like awesome.
I'm so glad what did that out? Because it was
like not be awesome one? And so we we've already

(01:17):
recorded this and Namdie set the record straight. Of course
post career, but this is what happens. He's Hollywood now,
so he wants he wants to add, he wants to
add another syllable. Right, Oh no, No, I say this
truthfully and had always been there. But you have sometimes
you say it's just easier to let it go than
to try and correct everybody. And that's kind of how

(01:38):
he was. But I was a little playfully p like, man,
I known you a little bit here. You could have
told me I was saying it wrong. You know, Oh
it's all You've only known your boy for like, oh
a decade or more. But is fantastic because he was
transitioned to becoming just a fantastic actor. You've heard Jim
and I talked about Sylvie's Love. Just a great movie

(02:00):
be starring Namtie and Tessa Thompson that's out on prime video.
Also movie Crown Heights that released a couple of years
ago when its film debut, Another great movie we can
recommend with Namtie. We'll chop that up. But Jim, let's
bring it back to the NFL because the big news
got bigger, uh this week, and it was two pronged.
Deshaun Watson, the trade request from the Houston Texas get

(02:21):
me out of here. It has been issued. Apparently it
was issued a while ago, but it just became public.
But what's crazy is the day it was issued was
the day after they announced David Culley to be their
new head coach. So clearly it was a strategic missive
uh to say, yeah, he hired this guy, nice guy.

(02:41):
Hope he does well, but I don't want to be
part of it. But Jim, let's let's address the Deshaun
Watson Houston Texans party. We're not gonna play the game
where he's gonna land all this and that. But just
what got us here? Because we don't see this often
in the NFL, especially when it comes to a young
star quarterback. No, I think clearly there was a breakdown
and trust between the two sides. And look, Deshaun Watson

(03:04):
is one of these stand up guys in the NFL,
and you can go back over not just his career
but his life in terms of how he has conducted himself,
how he's handled his business, all those sorts of things.
So for him to reach this point, it had to
be a significant breach of trust between the two sides.
I will say this though, Steve, I know him. It's

(03:24):
a lot of fun to say, where is he going
to land? Um? But the one thing no one's talking
about is he may not land anywhere because the Texans
control this, you know. Um. If they decide they're gonna
hold onto him, they don't have to move him. And
here's the other thing that that's not being talked about.

(03:45):
Why would the Texans keep Tim Kelly as offensive coordinator
unless they thought they were going to get de Shaun
back into the fold. Because one way it's been explained
to me is, look, they know Deshaun is upset, and
they know that he may stay out in the off
season and he may skip training camp. But if he decides,

(04:05):
as many players do when they make threats, decides to
come back week one, what they want is to have
an offense in place that he knows he's comfortable with
and he's comfortable with the person calling the plays. So
to me, that says that some of what's been done
here is with the mindset that they are going to
try and bring him back. I'm not saying it's going

(04:25):
to happen, but I'm saying that's what it looks like.
What they're doing is saying, look, we know he's upset.
We'll give him his time to cool down. We'll try
and show him that we have a plan in place,
and if ultimately we decided to keep him and he
wants to play, whenever he does come back, everything is
in place for him to pick up where he left off. Yeah, jem, Look,
a final straw on the game of chicken. If he

(04:47):
gets to this point that you just described and that
we think is probably gonna play off, is will he
decided to shoot out here? Will he go left bell
and say I don't have to play a year. I've
already got the contract, I don't have to worry about
free agency tolling. Um, I've got my tenure, so to speak.
That is the ultimate play right here. And so you know,
ownership always banks on players. At some point, they're gonna

(05:07):
say I'm not gonna give up thirty million dollars on
That's money you'll never recoup. So again, if they want
to play that game, it's probably there. But you know
I want to I want to talk about this and
really pick your brain on this. We're looking at the
short term right, we're looking at what happens since kal
McNair has taken over his owner from his father Robert.
We're looking at Jack Easterby and you know his role

(05:30):
in this. But let's go back to Dwayne Brown, right,
Dwayne Brown, after after kal mcnear's father, Bob and here
talked about the inmates running the prison, he was like, oh, no, no, no,
and we've heard things before about this. You better get
me out of here because I'm not I'm not taking
this anymore as a black man, as a grown man.

(05:50):
This type of attitude is unhealthy for me. And of
course he gets traded to Seattle. Next thing. You know,
last year, Bob mcnaire's health is waning, but of course
still the same culture. DeAndre Hopkins gets moved. He's happy
as hell in Arizona. Him. Indeed, Shawn Watson are cool, like, yo, bro,
you gotta get out of there because life outside of

(06:11):
Houston's pretty damn good. And all of a sudden, Shaun
Watson is like, I'm stuck here. Everybody else is going. Now,
we got all of this craziness added on to what
was already here. Do you think the roots in this
are deeper than just kind of what we're talking about
with the easter B cal McNair situation, Steve, It's about culture,

(06:31):
and culture starts at the top, as they say, you know,
fish rocks from the head down, And cal McNair is
somebody who was born with a silver spoon. He was
born on third third Day. And just because you grow
up with a father who owns an NFL team doesn't
mean that you know the NFL. And clearly the way
that he has handled this team, in my opinion, shows

(06:53):
that he does not understand NFL culture. Um, he does
not understand the players. Um, he doesn't understand what it
takes to truly be successful. And how Jackie Easterby got
so much influence over this owner, because look, I'm not
gonna put it on the table yet and get something confirmed.
But when you go back how the situation was held

(07:15):
from the very beginning with Omar Cohn and Jim Caldwell
um to where it ultimately got to, there's a lot
of fishy stuff that went on a lot, and so
we were a lot about it. We can't we can't
necessarily disclose, but yeah, well so so from my standpoint, um,
just the way they do their business is not good.

(07:37):
They have They now have a reputation, and it's only
going to grow when the story is about what actually
went on. Get out there. Because look, even up until
the end, and I'm talking about Wednesday night, which is
when this story about UM their coaching search being finalized
started to break, they were still calling position coach us

(08:01):
and asking them not about UM David, who they hired,
but asking them about Josh McNown and what do you
think of Josh mcdown McCown. I'm sorry, UM, like, I
don't know Josh, Um. What do you think of him?
How would he fit in? What would he do for
the culture, all these sorts of things. And of course

(08:24):
we know that Josh is staying on on staff, And
so as I look at this, this is all this
is for me, is this is a chance for them
to get a couple of years out of a guy
in place and then to promote Um Josh into that position.
And that's how I see it. Will it play out
that way, I don't know, but that's how I see it.
And the unfortunate part again is there are so many men,

(08:47):
black and non black, who have grinded their way through
this process trying to do everything they can to get
an opportunity to be a head coach, and they're gonna
get jumped over again. And I just find that to
be unfortunate. And one of those men whos ground this
way was David Culley, the guy who got the job.
You know that. You know, we saw him interview Leslie

(09:09):
Fraser and you know, Eric b Enemy and all these
other people. Um, but look, this is a guy who's
been in the league for well thirty years. He's paid
his dues, he is sixty five years old. He comes
over from the Ravens. A lot of people have spoken
highly of. But he's somebody who kind of came out
of nowhere right that nobody was really talking about. And
it seems it seems like this this kind of sucks

(09:31):
from I'm happy he got the job, but this is
a job where Jim it seems like it's set up
where a year or two into this, they're gonna like, Okay,
let's maybe make Dad move to m account or whatever.
Thanks for getting things calmed down while we didn't have
any draft picks or cap space, somebody had to take it.
We appreciate you. You know, you're gonna get a nice compensation, audios,

(09:52):
thanks for being the good soldier. And again I'm hoping
he doesn't play out like this. I mean, I remember
when I was in Atlanta, it was out to the
Michael Vick dog fighting scandal. That franchise was scorched earth,
and I hired Thomas de Mitroff and Mike Smith, two
guys no one's ever heard of, and they build it
back quickly. But see, they had the number three overall pick,
they had cap space. They can get Matt Ryan, they
can get Michael Turner. They could go out and get

(10:14):
off right, they could go out and get job. You
know all these players, you know, Lawyer Mulloy, all these
guys um and so the Texans are in that situation.
I'm just I'm keeping my fingers crossed for David Culley
because again, I want him to succeed. I want all
these new coaches to succeed. But it just seems so bad.
And then Deshaun Watson, I'm with you. I mean, I

(10:34):
think every team in their right mind is gonna line
up and try to make a play to gain him.
But I just don't think. I don't think they're gonna budge.
I think he's gonna end up staying there because I
don't see an offer that's gonna blow them away when
you've got the one piece on your team that every
team needs. I think they're gonna test his conviction. I
really do, because we often hear from players who say

(10:55):
they're not happy being franchise tax so they're not going
to report or something like that. And also many they
end up reporting before the deadline, so they get in
a crude season. I think the Texans are gonna test
Deshaun's conviction about just how serious he is about not
wanting to be there. And here's the thing, and I

(11:15):
have nothing to basis on except history. I know that
when owners start feeling that players are getting feeling themselves
a little too much, they kind of get together and say,
you know what, we need to get this under control,
and we need to put some folks in their place.
And it's just a sneaking suspicion on my part. Are

(11:37):
we getting to that point now where owners are gonna
say what's going on here? Are we starting to let
the players dictate terms? And are we getting to a
point where there is going to be a butting of
the heads here? I don't know. And I would this wager.
I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I
would wager that there is going to be pressure on

(11:58):
kil McNair put on Kial McNair from other our owners
that say, do not move him. You do not want
to set that precedent. It's just a guess. Oh, so
we're going we're basically going back to the plantation with Django. Um.
If we're talking with that type of theory, this is
this is the this is the franchise that talked about

(12:18):
inmates running the prison, right or what was it? You know? Yeah,
So I'm just saying, and then here's let's not forget this.
McNary came out later and apologized for that statement, right,
but then after that he came out and said apologizing
for that stake. Yeah, I'm just saying, these are facts.

(12:40):
These are not opinions here, these are facts. This is
what happened. So if you're looking at that as an outsider,
you're saying, what is the culture within that organization? And
some questions are being raised, well, and then legit questions. Well,
we'll see if that plays out. Well, Jim, you know,
we we've got some time on this. But let's let's
move on to Amdi because, um, I gotta tell you, man,

(13:03):
this is one of the favorite interviews that that we've
done Jim, because um, he was a great player. People
forget how great he was. You look, you look through
his bio. There's like four years where he was only
targeted like twenty times. He was that good. And people
he didn't have the numbers and had like fifteen pictures career, Well,
they don't throw your way. That's what happens. And when

(13:25):
you hear this interview, and I think I even say
it in here, like we we don't even talk about
him as a football player because he's such an interesting
guy and his post career is is so fantastic and Jim,
you know him, Well, this is a great conversation. So
let's get to Namti. Awesome wah, and then we'll circle
back back. Awesome, Thanks Jim, Thanks Jim. Alright, Jim, Now

(13:54):
we are joined by our special guest, Namti Awsoma. What's
the NFL know legends and everything. But I mean he's
he's got like the big bright light that the oscars
are on the way and everything, so Hollywood legend. Now
I'm the awesome wa Hollywood. So now I gotta do that.

(14:14):
I gotta do this to you first. So all those
years that I knew when you were playing and whatnot,
you never corrected me on how I said your surname.
And because I always just said, like, uh, I'm the
awesome one, but it's awesome Oa. You never corrected me.
Why no, no, no, listen in in Like it's it's

(14:37):
funny because I always know where someone knows me from
based on how they pronounced my last name. So if
they do say Smoa, then I know that there before football,
like that's elementary school or like they know me and
like some sort of closer sort of world. But for
some reason, in football, it's been awesome wa and that's
like gone across the country. So that's what it's. I

(14:59):
didn't correct because that's what it was. I mean that
I'm fine with with either. You could have gone Dorset, Dorset,
you know you could. You could have fixed it. That's right,
that's very true. I like I like Ostoma. I'm good
with it. But I do know if someone says, now
I'm the Awesoma, they know me from football, all right,

(15:20):
when I'm first off, I haven't talked to you and
forever man and and Steve and I both want to
congratulate you on your success. You look the exact same
as you did the last time. I said, you know,
you know what they you know what they say about
black now right, come on, But but um so I

(15:42):
just want to ask you, you know, how are you
doing and and how's everything going in the COVID world.
How are you personally? Um, family wise? Everything, Yeah, COVID
world has been has been tough, m just because it's
I mean, as you guys know, it was much more
than just the COVID world, you know, I think COVID

(16:03):
sort of And I was actually thinking about this yesterday. Um.
I was at the Sundance Film Festival last year when
Kobe passed, and that was January. It felt like the
toughest sort of thing that you could possibly go through,
you know, and I'm I'm sitting there trying to get
through the day, and I just figured, all right, you know,

(16:25):
it's not gonna get much worse than than what's going
on right now. And I think it was like a
month later, a month and a half later, everything started
shutting down. It felt like Kobe was the start of
for me personally, what was gonna be just a very
difficult year. Um, but you know it's I think at

(16:46):
this point, family wise and personally, I think we're into
a groove and and sort of moving along with it.
But yeah, it was tough. Was tough. I feel you're
still tough man twenty twenty one. We keep saying we
hope it gets better, but it's still feeling to I know,
you know, because I I well, I want to get

(17:08):
out and see a movie, you know, outside of the
home or a play. Right. Yeah. Yeah, it's been that's
been the main thing. And especially with the kids, it's
just like trying to get out and and find creative
things to do, just out there and not just locked
up in the house the entire time. So it's been
it's been tough on that front. But I think we've

(17:29):
been we've been figuring it out. Hey, none Jim was
saying he wanted to go out and see a movie. Um,
but in this world of COVID, I mean, what's happened
with Disney Plus and Prime and Netflix and everything, we're
all quite comfortable watching great movies like your movie, Sylvie's Love,

(17:50):
if you know, while sitting on our own couches sit
in a glass of wine. Do you think when when
this COVID eventually goes away, that the movie theater industry
is going to be the same. No, No, there's no
way it can be the same. You know, it's but
this is this is you know, part of evolution. You know,

(18:11):
things are always changing, and I think once Netflix started
streaming in the first place, it was never going to
be the same, and then this just catapulted everything into
the next and in sort of the next fear. But no,
I don't, I don't. I don't think it will be
the same at all. I think people are getting very
comfortable at home, um seeing what I think Warner Brothers did,

(18:34):
uh making this announcement that all of their films this
year we're gonna be on HBO Max. So even if
theaters opened up, the films are also going to be
on HBO Max. So theaters are going to take a
hit from that. You know, the world is changing, but
that's what this is what happens. You know, there was
a time when it was just black and white movies.

(18:54):
You know, there's a time when when no one spoke
in movies. You know, it's just continues to evolve. For
you what's what do you prefer the dark in theater
with the fresh popcorn and all of that, or sitting
on your couch watching the movie. No. I grew up
in the eighties. You know, we didn't have you know,

(19:14):
you guys know, we didn't have internet. We couldn't just
you couldn't just dream something. So I grew up in
a time where you go to the movies, you get
the popcorn, you sit down, you know, the lights go off,
and then you start to get excited to see what happens,
you know, and just the sound and the whole experience
that there's needs to it that I that I really love.

(19:35):
So I've definitely missed that. But you forgot the most
important part is going to see a movie in a
black theater, right, Like, don't go there, turn on the light.
You know what you got people, that's the best part
of going to the cinema. Listen, let me tell you.
Let me tell you. Try doing a play that is

(19:57):
full of black people. So the same thing it happens
in the theater when you're watching a movie was happening
to us on stage. When I was doing a play
on Broadway, it was it was majority black cast and
people were screaming and yelling in the audience, which never
happens in plays, by the way, but that's you know,
that's what we bring. That's what we bring to it.

(20:21):
How was that for you? The experience overall, I mean,
the experience overall was just I mean, it was great.
It was you know. I never thought in my wildest
dreams that I'd be doing a play of all things,
you know what I mean, like on stage, acting in
front of people. Um. And I got the opportunity a

(20:44):
couple of years ago to do off Broadway play in
New York, and I just jumped at it. People are like, yeah, sure,
go do it. See how it feels, you know, And
I just jumped at it and did it and I
fell in love with it. And then getting an opportunity
to do this one on Broadway really just took to
the next level. So it was great. It was exciting,
you know. No. I wanted to say back when when

(21:05):
you were playing, and I actually got that opportunity, um,
when you allowed me to shadow you on one of
your college tours. Your foundation was putting on for kids,
and I always saw it there even that that as
good as you were in football and you were two
time All Pro, three time Pro Bowl or all of that,
that there was something more for you, And I was
always curious to see when you were done what that

(21:27):
was going to be. Did you know, even as you
were playing or late in your career that this was
the path you were going to go go down in
terms of acting. I never, I actually didn't. It's crazy
for me because sometimes people see things in me or
I don't know if this is the same in your life,

(21:48):
like people see things in you that you don't see
in yourself. So even as you say that, and I've
had heard people say that in the past, I didn't
know that there was more for me. Obviously my life
wasn't gonna end when football ended. But I just couldn't
see that far. I was, so I was so sort
of into what I was doing. I remember sometimes when

(22:11):
when you, uh, when you would get on TV and
you would mention that I was acting, and I'll be like,
and I would like reach out to you, and I say,
hold on, you can't. There was this thing that we
used to tell the rookies, and we used to tell him, uh.
We used to tell him, don't give him a reason.
And that meant don't give him a reason to get

(22:34):
rid of you. You know. It was the same stuff
that they told us when we were rookies. Don't give
them a reason. So that meant don't show up late,
you know, show up on time, get all your work done,
you know, work out, make sure that you study. But
it also meant do nothing off the field, because if
you're doing something off the field, the management will see
that as you not really focusing on football. And so

(22:57):
that was always sort of ingrained in my head. So
even as I started to dabble in acting and whatever
it was during an off season, there was still sort
of this fear that I had, like, oh, I can't
really do much else, right, It's just football for me, right,
that's you know. So I was fighting at um throughout. So, no,

(23:19):
it wasn't it wasn't necessarily a plan, but I wanted
to keep I wanted to keep my options open. You know,
when you play long enough, you start to see that
it can end at any moment, and so I wanted
to keep those options open and see what I could
do afterwards. And and then it ended up working out
in this way. When when it ended for you, when

(23:41):
did you know this is where I'm going or was
there something else you were even thinking about? There was
So when I was playing, I knew I wanted to
try something in front of the camera. But for me,
in order to do what I just told you, in
order to sort of stay in the good graces, for me,
that meant talk about a ball. So what I would

(24:02):
do was I would go into the ESPN, or I'd
go the NFL Network or do something or NBC Sports
and I just talk about football. So that's what I
That's what I wanted to do. And I remember I
did a commercial, a Nike commercial, and the director afterwards
just said, you should really go into acting when you're

(24:23):
done playing. He was like, this is I. He was
telling me about the players that he had just done
commercials with. He was saying how it was just a
terrible experience that he was like he just didn't have
a lot of up there, but being able to work
with you like this, like I can see that you've
got a level of talent in this and so, and
he ended up putting me in his show Friday Night Lights,

(24:46):
and I just started to gain confidence from that. So
I think there was something that said, let me try
this when I'm done, but I didn't. I didn't know
that it would end up being the thing, so to speak.
I've got so many questions. I don't want to I
don't want to hog this interview. I gotta let Steven
here something too. But I got a lot of questions. Well,

(25:07):
I mean, you know to to that point now. I
mean a lot of people, because a lot of athletes
do think, Okay, I was a really good interviewer, our interviewee.
I should say when I was a player, I was
entertaining people as came to me, it's gonna be easy
for me to transition into doing television. And then they
get here and do it and they're like, oh, that's difficult.
How much work did you have? How much work did

(25:28):
you have to put in to become the actor that
you've become, Because I can't imagine how difficult because it's
not just the acting part. You've got to learn the language,
you've got to learn lighting, you've got to hit spots,
there's different things that go into it. You're filming out
of sequence. I mean, how much did you have to
really study to get to where you are now? And

(25:49):
and really having no true idea of what I was doing.
I mean, when I came into the NFL, I was
a safety in college, and remember Davis wanted to move
me to corner and I I kind of fought that
a little bit my rookie year. But but it was
also a situation where I didn't know exactly what I

(26:09):
was doing. So I had to sort of go back
to the lab and just focus specifically on this one thing,
no matter how long it was gonna take. Uh, And
I saw the good. The good thing for me is
I saw that work out. So I knew that I
had a frame of reference from my past that if
I start something brand new, there's a chance that can

(26:32):
work out. Um. And so when I finished playing, I
dove right into acting and I kind of it was
kind of tough because I had to. I had to
sort of distance myself from other things. So I didn't
I wasn't taking the football offers to come speak, and
I wasn't doing that certain things because I really had

(26:52):
to hone in on this one thing. I just remember,
I remember what I did my rookie year, and it
was just I blocked everything out and I was trying
to figure this thing out. So I just repeated that.
So you go to classes, you trained you, I mean
hours and hours and hours of work to try to
make it look like you're not doing any work. Um,

(27:15):
and I continue to do that, but it's been it's
been very difficult, and it's been a long road, and
you there are sacrifices that you have to make. But
it's you know, I think even for a player that's
coming into the business that you guys are in, there's
a level of sacrifice if you want to be good
at it. You know, there are certain things you have
to put away, and there's a focus and attention, and

(27:37):
you have to study the history and the people that
came before you and how did they do it and
what worked for them and what didn't and all those
sorts of things if you want to be good at it.
And so that's sort of what I what I went
through is very very tough, and what I'm going through actually, well,
you're very good at Steve and I both loved Sylvie's Love.
I mean, I just I thought it was so well done,

(28:00):
what a great film, acted, scripted, all of it. Man,
I'm curious, how does a project like that come to you? Yeah,
I went I did a project before that, this is
how it. This is how this one specifically came to me.
I did a project called Crown Heights, UM, the film

(28:21):
about the guy that was wrongfully convicted of murder and
sentenced to life in prison. And that went to the
Sundance Film Festival, which is a huge festival for filmmakers,
and we won you know, the audience award there and
we were getting celebrated and my performance was getting celebrated.
And so the director and producer of Sylvie's Love reached

(28:43):
out to me after that and said, hey, we want
you to play this part um. And that's how it
all started. And I fell in love with the script
and I became a producer on it, and uh and
and we were able to make it. But that's how
it came, and the producing of it, the producing of it,
which I which I now really love. UM. The producing

(29:05):
of it came because I wanted to act, but I
didn't want to do the basic roles that that they
were given that you would think the football player is
going to do. So I would get those roles of
like you know, the security guard or um or the

(29:25):
or playing myself. You know, I'm the guy at the
party and I've got like a beer and I'm like yeah,
and they're like, no, I'm deed, guys, let's go. You know,
I like, I don't want to do that. So but
that's all that was coming because in this in this world,
people don't really know football, so they didn't really they

(29:45):
just saw football in my title. And so that's what
was thrown at me. And I knew that if I
wanted to actually do work that I want that I
appreciate it, I would have to make my own work.
So I started producing and became a producer that way.
You know, what's that interesting? I saw a lot of
you in that role in Sylvie's Love, just in terms
of sort of them. How do I say this that

(30:09):
there's sort of a a regal nous um, a professionalism, um,
a steadiness, all of that and the things that I
knew in you when you played I saw in that role.
Did you see that character to be much different from
you personally? I did see the character to be Um,

(30:33):
very different. But but when I was working with a
coach on it, my coach said, bringing as much of
yourself to the role as possible, Um, And the director,
even in talking with him, he would say certain things
like I wanted to be nuanced. I wanted to be subtle.
I don't want this character to be showy, you know.
I want him to to feel like my parents. I

(30:56):
want him to feel like my uncle's you know, that
sort of thing. They weren't show in any sort of way,
and so I went along with that. But I think
in any role that you do, it doesn't matter what
it is. You have to find the piece of you
that connects most with that part and bring that to
the table. I think that's the only way you make
it real. And we have, you know, thousands of different

(31:20):
parts of us. So even if you're playing, um, Godzilla,
I just saw Godzilla trailer. Even if you're playing Godzilla,
whatever part of you can connect to that is what
you have to bring. As silly as that sounds, um
so yeah, So I brought that in and it came through.

(31:41):
I saw in l a Times headline that said, um
and describing Sylvie's love, It's said a black romantic drama
for the ages, And I wonder for you, as an actor,
do you prefer to have that ask just a romantic
drama for the ages, or is it important for you
to have a black romance drama for the ages. Boy,

(32:03):
that's a that's such a great question, um, because the
answer is a little bit of both. So it's it's
it's sort of hard to pin down. I mean, I
think you want it's a romantic drama and you want
everyone to relate to it just because love is universal,
you know, that's ah, it's a universal language. Um, so

(32:24):
you wanted to be a romantic drama for the ages,
but it but we also know that we don't have
many stories like this that center around people that look
like us, and we want to take some pride in that.
You know, we want the generations that came before us,
you know, that are still alive and their descendants all

(32:47):
to feel some sort of So this movie Boomerang, you
know Boomerang right with Eddie Murphy. So so the movie
Boomerang was for me. I mean, it's the reason why
I majored in UM finance and marketing in college was

(33:08):
because I fell in love with the character that Eddie
Murphy played. And so that would have never happened if
I didn't see someone on screen that looked like me.
You know, I know he was doing some crazy things
and that might have been the real reason why I
liked his character. But but but but you have to
see someone doing it for you to have that inspiration,

(33:31):
someone that looks like you. And so we wanted we
want that for the people that for black people that
see this film. So it's a tough question because it's
a little bit of both for me in my opinion. Yeah, well,
I mean I love that answer because you know, I
did this because Bryan Gumble was the only you know,
him and earth Cross back of the day were the
only black people I saw talking about sports coming up,

(33:52):
and you know, so I love hearing that. But also
with the with the movie, you know what you just said,
and I'm just to see it's the opening scene that
you guys circle back with with Tessa Thompson standing in
the hallway of the theater and she she sees you
looking at the small sign the poster. But just the manners,
the way you addressed you know, I can imagine like

(34:13):
my grandfather, you know, speaking to you know, my grandmother
that just in terms of the politeness because we as
black people, know, I mean, we we were beholden to
manners and things like that back in that way, like
don't you don't you speak out of Turn, and I thought,
you guys nailed that. But I want to go to
Crown Heights, the first movie you spoke about, because I

(34:35):
love that movie. It was a great story about Colin Warner. Um.
You know, it was wrongfully imprisoned Trinidadian guy in Brooklyn.
And first of all, I'm married, my wife is Jamaican. Okay,
you're accident. It was very good, she said, she said,
was West India. It could be trendy, Beijian Jamaican. She said,
you kind of crossed where you nailed it. So yeah,

(34:57):
So so I wanted to how hard did you have
to work? You and you know, Lakis Stanfield, I to
work because being authentic is very important. And I mean
it was such a fantastic film and so such a
great story. But the acting of it, I was like,
look at nab to do this. Yeah, it's that was one.
And especially for that one because it was so it

(35:20):
was my first one after playing in the NFL, where
I really didn't want anything to feel like NFL in
any sort of way. And and I think the authenticity
on that one was important because these guys came from Trinidad.
They moved to America thinking that they were going to
live the American dream and had it upended. So I

(35:45):
so I'm just thinking about the accent. So dipping into
the accent was very important, just so that we can
sort of bring someone coming in from one world into
the other and and and try to see how that
can sort of affect the circumstances. So we worked on
the accent, I would say, for six weeks, five days
a week, because we you know, we didn't have a

(36:06):
ton of time, even though that's a lot of time. Um,
we only had six weeks, but we worked on it
for five days a week, spent time with Colin, spent
time with Carl, got their mannerisms, got you know, just
the way that they acted, the way they laughed, the
way they ate, whatever it was, and tried to bring
that to to the screen. But it's always again, when

(36:28):
you're playing a real life person that's that's alive, but
people don't really know them. You've got a little bit
of leeway sort of to do what you want. I mean,
we I wasn't playing MLK, and you know, I wasn't
playing whoever Obama or someone like that, you know what
I mean. So it took a lot of work. It

(36:50):
took a lot, It took a lot of work, but
it was good to bring myself to that as well.
I could say I could see you playing Obama. Actually
I could do that. I can't see that at all.
Oh no, I can see that. Just remember what you say.
People see things that you you don't see in yourself.

(37:13):
I can see. And um, what's it like the emotions
of let's say when you sit down in that seat
for an opening versus let's say when you sit down
in your seat as a player on a Monday after
a game and they pop on the film from the
previous days games similar differently, No same thing, because the

(37:39):
same thing, because you well, here's the difference, here's the
only difference. And I don't I don't really have that
difference because I'm also usually the producer on the projects,
so I do know what's going in. In football, you
remember the play, so you every single play you remember,
it doesn't matter what it is. So when you get

(37:59):
to day, you know when a play that you did
well is coming up, and you know when a play
that you didn't do well is coming up. Um, So
it's those those emotions are always there. Um. In acting,
if you're not the producer. If you weren't in the
editing room, you have no clue what's coming up. Because
you've done a take or a play ten times, you

(38:23):
don't know which one they're gonna choose, you know. So
there's you might even be more sort of nervous and
and unsteady as an actor. Um. But because I've been
able to produce, I know what's coming because I was
part of the process of getting it in there. So
there is a similar Oh I know this one, didn't
I couldn't. I couldn't couldn't quite get this scene. Yeah

(38:47):
here comes that scene, you know, or or oh I
remember this scene, this one, this one felt pretty good. Um,
you know. So it's the same thing in that regard
from watching tape. You know what fascinated me listening to
the interview you did with Trevor Noah was he had
asked you which would you want? A super Bowl or
an Academy Award, And the funny thing was you had

(39:09):
mentioned the super Bowl because you're done playing and all that,
so you know, it's something that you can't attain now.
But what I also found interesting is that you talked
about you still follow the NFL and for whatever reason,
I thought that when you were done playing, you would
just be done with it and that you would move on.
I don't know why I thought that, but I did.

(39:30):
Um So, so why is it? What is it about
the game that you still follow on? How closely do
you follow it? I mean, it's the it is the
I can't say it's the first love, but it is
the love of my life. It's the it's the love
of my life that worked out, you know, Like there

(39:52):
were other things that I wanted to do, you know,
I want to play for the Lakers. I wanted to do,
but you know what I mean, like whatever random things.
This was the thing that worked out that I completely
fell in love with. And so you can't separate yourself
from that. You know, when that relationship breaks up, that

(40:12):
you're still trying to hold on to memories, you know
what I mean. And so for me, it's not that
I'm that I watch every game or anything like that.
You know, I watched I watched highlights more than games now,
which I think is actually really funny because I hated
when people watch highlights when I was playing. I wish
that they would watch the game. Um, but I watched

(40:33):
highlights now, So I I keep up with it in
that way. Um, but I still love the game. I
missed the game, you know what I mean, Like I
don't I missed the guys. I missed being able to
go out and and yeah, I mean it's you're sort
of in your own world. It's like almost like college.

(40:53):
It's you know, and you just don't. You don't have
that anymore, So I do. I definitely missed that. I
missed running out on for the field, um um, the wins,
the losses, and still having to come back as a
family and try to figure out how you move forward
with the next game and all of that stuff. And
you can't do it for that long and not miss

(41:16):
miss it in some regard, And so yeah, I still
follow it. I can't tell you who the top anything's
are in the league or like what happened, and you know,
but I'm I'm watching like I'm watching highlights all the
time and and checking him. Is the is the camaraderie

(41:37):
on a set similar to the camaraderie of a locker room. No, No,
I mean you get your your spurts of it, But
I think no, because with football it's it feels much
more like a family. You know, it's like you're you're
gonna leave, You're gonna come back. Some of you may

(41:57):
not come back, but but you're in a battle, you
know what I mean, Like you're you're battling every every day,
practice games. I mean, here on a set, I might
see there might be a hundred actors in it. I
might see one of them my entire time, you know,
because the rest were shooting in different scenes and you

(42:18):
never see them, so you don't get there. I'd say,
on a stage doing a play, that's the closest it
gets because it's the same group every single day. You
see them all and you're really in at that way.
But yeah, I'm fascinated by this interview because you know,
we knew Namies this great player right eleven seasons, one

(42:39):
of the best cornerback and we've barely talked about it,
like we're talking about you know, you play. But you know,
I'm just saying. I'm just saying, because you're your acting
career and everything you in your in your your second life,
it's really taken on. It's it's really blossoming. So well,
it's just like, man, I mean, this guy was one
of the best players of his era. He was an

(42:59):
all day game player. And we haven't really touched on
it that much. And I think it's fascinating because I
think you you're somebody you know who's just like so deep.
Because I want to almost skip over that part two
because and Jim knows this well. Your your ACTS program
while you were a player. You know, you used to
take every summer takes students to visit universities in New

(43:20):
York or d C. Or Chicago or wherever, Indiana or whatever.
And I always thought that was so great. Do you
hear back from any of those students now who you
who maybe have gone through that I went to universities
and and what are maybe some of the success stories
that you hear and what does that mean to you?

(43:42):
That's everything I mean when I talked about loves of
my life. You know, there's football, there's this Acts program.
You know, that's that's another one of them, and really
the one that brings me the most sort of fulfillment.
And and thank you to Jim because a lot of times,

(44:03):
you know, when you nominated me for Sports Illustrative Sportsman
of the Year, um, that just was like, what, you know,
no one looks at a cornerback for that type of thing.
You know, it's like it's either the quarterback or it's
you know this the guy that plays tennis or the
guy that plays god, you know what I mean, Like
you just you don't really do that. And I remember that,

(44:25):
and I remember you coming on one of the trips
and all just everything that you all of that was
really special to me. It felt like, you know, a
brother reaching out to another brother and lifting them up
in a in a certain way. So I just wanted
to to say that. But that is the We have
success stories all the time where I keep in contact

(44:47):
with them all the time. I still do it to
this day. Last year was the first time in fifteen
years we didn't get to do a college tour and
that was because of COVID, And this year we're trying
to figure out a way around that um to still
do something. But yeah, I've done it. I've done every year.
Still we're still in contact with all that. I mean,

(45:08):
students have now married and had kids and make you
feel really old, you know, but it's it's a it's
a beautiful thing. I mean, I can't if you take
a kid, that's who's whose dad killed his mom and

(45:28):
was raised by his grandma but abused by his uncle,
then became I mean, just like horror story, would have
never thought about college but always gets good grades. And
then we end up taking a trip to u c
l A. And this kid is like, oh, I've never

(45:50):
I would have never imagined this ends up getting into
u c l A and graduating from u c l A.
And then moving on with that. I mean, you can't.
It's just that stuff means the most to me, you know,
And those stories are there are hundreds of them from
our program just because they're coming from the inner city.
So I mean that brings me a lot of joy.

(46:12):
And I appreciate you bringing it up, and and Jim
you had to you just just thank you for even
covering it way back when, and and and putting it
on a national sort of level. It was it wasn't
about me, man, it was about you. And that that
was the thing that was so beautiful to me, is
that you were changing lives. Because when you get with
these students who and Nambi mentioned some of the things

(46:35):
some of them have gone through, they might not have
even had had aspirations or going on to college or
that sort of thing. So for him to do that,
I thought was just tremendous And that's one of the
reasons I wanted to highlight it. And I'm curious now,
I'm this doves tail dovetails into today because you know, UM,

(46:57):
one of the things you talked about with your production
company or what's it's mentioned in the mission statement, UM,
is that it's there to to create entertainment that illuminates
important social issues and influences social change. I wonder if
you were a player today after Colin took a knee
in two sixteen, what might that have looked like for

(47:19):
you in terms of trying to make change in dealing
with some of the issues that we're dealing with today
as a player. Yeah, I wonder too. I mean it
was like right after I maybe it was a couple
of years or three years, yeah, left, Yeah, when well
to Colin two years? Right when you unders in fourteen

(47:44):
and Colin and that was fourteen, Colin was sixty. I
wonder too. I mean I I thought about it a lot.
You know, I've had conversations with Remember one time I
was in the hotel with Vick and Woodson, Charles Woodson
and we were just talking about it and like, what

(48:05):
would you do? You know? Um? And I think from
the outside, it's easy to be very supportive. And I've been,
you know, vocally supportive of what Colin did and what
everyone has done to support that. In the NFL. UM

(48:25):
in the NFL is a different story, like what because
now you actually have to make something happen. You know.
It's one thing to to join the demonstrations, but for me,
I think it would have been like, okay, so let's
be a part of the coalition to to continue this

(48:46):
and and create change in a certain way. Um. But
I can't say I don't even want to, Like, it's
tough to even say because I'm not I wasn't there
and I'm not in it, you know. So I've just
been able to support it, um while not being a player.
But they've asked people have asked me all the time
like would you have you know, you've been right there kneeling,

(49:08):
would you have been And I would say, yes, yes,
of course I would have been kneeling. I would have
been doing this. But it right from the start, you know,
right when Colin did it, and I would have been
the first game, you know. But it's like, wait, would
you you know, like what the players that didn't kneel,
why didn't they kneel at first? And why did they
start kneeling later? You know what happened. So I just

(49:29):
I don't know, I don't know, but I've applauded it, um,
you know, since he started doing it. What do you
think about now? Social activism among athletes crossing all sports. Really,
as a former athor, I love it because, like I said,
and some guys have also said this, there was a

(49:51):
time where you know, players were silent, but again there
was that sort of fear of like, oh, you're gonna
lose your job or you know, you'll be in bad
standing with the with ownership. But today it's not even close,
Like that's not even you can tell that that's not

(50:12):
even a thought with the players. And I just love that.
I love how younger people affects change more than the
people that came before them. It just continues to have
in all walks of life. That's just how it goes.
The younger folks are always thinking on like the next level,

(50:32):
and it's I think it's been been great to watch,
it's been great to be a part of and and
and support well kind of transitioning to the entertainment industry. Um,
you know, we're seeing a lot of black folk sports
wise take their own their own lives, you know, into
their creating their own narratives or whatever. But we're also
saying even you know what you're doing as a producer,

(50:53):
you know, Um, we're seeing Regina King, Shonda Rhymes, you
know with the biggest hit with Britain, you know, the aries.
I mean, what about you know, so many, so many
of black voices and black people now taking ownership showing
that they can do this and getting opportunities by the
film industry to show what they can do. It's across

(51:15):
to me, it's across all sectors. You know, it doesn't
matter what the job is. I mean. Once here's the
tricky thing though. It happens like this sometimes, you know,
like I remember either in or there was a wave.
Remember there was a wave. You know, if I talked

(51:36):
to people, they'll say, yeah, I remember in two there
was a wave, you know, and then and then the
wave goes away. And so I remember this past summer,
everything happened with George Floyd, and it was like this
is what we've been trying to say, and you know,
we have to work so hard to just be you know,
on the same level and consider on the same level,

(51:59):
And you do wonder is this just a wave? You know?
Obviously the goal is to put everything on the table
and make sure that people see you as as human
beings and people that are adequate enough to get across
the same point that you're trying to get across in

(52:20):
your work. Um, that we can make beautiful art. Um.
But you hope that it's not something that's going to disappear,
especially in the entertainment in all industries, but I know
in the entertainment industry for certain, there has been it's
been a beautiful wave of opportunity for people of color,
UM and people that are coming from marginalized communities just

(52:42):
to be able to put out work that really speaks
to where you're from and have those same opportunities, uh
that others have been afforded since the dawn of time,
you know what I mean. You know, we talked to
James Lopez earlier this year or not this year, but
during the course of the season about doing films that

(53:02):
particularly connect with the black community. I wonder, from your standpoint,
how difficult is it to get those films done, Films
that are universal but have people that look like us,
um that we can connect to like this, like Sylvie's Love,
for instance. I mean, even before I ever saw it,

(53:23):
it had already taken seven years of nose. But the
writer just kept working, just kept working, And then I
got it, and and I had enough relationships to take
it to some higher places. And there were still all knows.
It was just no, no, no, no no, no matter
what you know, and and and that always happens. And

(53:45):
the next thing that happens is everyone says, all right,
we gotta drop it. Let's do something else that's never
gonna work. The difference in this one was myself and
my producing partner said, if we dropped this film, no
one will make it. You know, this film is gonna disappear.
And it's such a beautiful story. And so we went

(54:07):
in and said, we're gonna make it. But this happens
all the time. Find any film. But it's not just
films with people of cold it now, those ones that
take forever. I mean, but you can find any film
and ask them and ask how long did it take
to make? It's just tough to make a film in general,
but films with people of color. Ask those people. I mean,

(54:28):
even just this year. I mean you've seen, uh, Spike
Lee has put at work and and George Wolf has
put out work, and and there's a movie Judice in
the Black Messigh, and there's Billie Holiday film coming out,
and there's you know, I can name a handful of films.

(54:48):
Ask all of them how long to get mad? I
guarantee they'll tell you it took, you know, more than
five years. Everyone's saying no. One person finally said okay,
and we cobbled money together and we finally made a film.
But then you could also watch some nonsense film on
some random channel that has nothing to do with anything,

(55:09):
and it was like, yeah, we were oh yeah, we
just you know, the studio said they loved it and
it was all good. It was we were good to go.
So how much more satisfaction do you get now when
you read the reviews on Sylvie's Love and everybody talking
about what a great film it is, knowing that for

(55:30):
almost a decade it was strictly no, no, no, no no.
I have to I have to check myself on that
because I tend to move on and like everything feels
like work to me, and I have to and and
people in my life are the ones that tell me, like,
slow down, look what you've accomplished, you know what I mean, Like,

(55:53):
look at the the barriers that you had to go
through to get this and where it's landed. And those
are the moments where it sinks in um. But in general,
it's something I have to work on. Thank you for
this therapy session. But I do have to start to
embrace better come in my life a little bit more

(56:15):
smell the roses rather smell the roses. That's right. I
have questions right for you guys. I have a question who.
First of all, when did you guys start doing this?
Because I had no idea that you guys are doing it?
And whose ideal was it? Because I think it's a
great concept for a show. I'm just curious, Jim, do
you want to you want to go to the to
the to the to the true Genesis? Go ahead. I've

(56:38):
been I've been hogging this interview, so I'm gonna let
you go ahead. So so now I'm actually actually about
about two years ago, Jim and I approached NFL Media
about doing a podcast and and it was an unapologetic presentation.
It's going to be very black, it's going to touch
on a lot of issues. We're going to keep it real.
This and that we were laughed out of the room.

(56:59):
So it's very much like a lot of projects laughed
out of the room. So then in the summer, the
summer of enlightenment of everybody kind of okay, out of nowhere, Hey,
you guys do want to do that podcast? Okay, and
we're ready, So in September. In September, right, it's the season,

(57:19):
you know, so you know, we we we got the
podcast started, um, and we were kind of kind of
initially figuring out what we wanted to do, and then
Jim realized we're good interviewers, So let this be an
interview driven podcast instead of all speke, you know, talking
sports talk. That's the interview. Let's talk to the real people.
And that's why we have people like you on, you know,

(57:39):
to to give a different perspective. You know, you're a
former great athlete who's transitioned into this great world of Hollywood.
You're bringing joy to so many lives from your Acts
program to making great movies. UM, So to have the
opportunity to bring you on on a podcast like this,
and then the forum that we have. I mean, Jim
and I couldn't be more thrilled. Yeah, it's just really

(58:02):
it's really about trying to illuminate the issues and the
people that we want to illuminate um and talk to
and talk about. So it's not just football. It goes
in the culture, It goes into movies, and it just
goes into people who are making a difference and hopefully
trying to make a positive impact too. So when I
saw Sylvie's Love, the first thing I said, I think

(58:25):
I texted Steve and I said, we gotta get an
omdon you know. So I had to had to jump
through some circles because you know, you're so big. Now
we can't we can't just call you up like we
used to and say, hey, nah, come on, you know,
I gotta I gotta give him the rundown on what
the shows about the topics are about. Man, he's up

(58:50):
there now, so yeah, you know, not now we were
we We're gonna have to call Abara, you know, pull
a little futurings. You know, by the way, the fact
you gave him an he got an EP credit on
Sylvie's love. That was nice too, very great. I love that. Yes,
good for him. I mean he came in and helped
us really and like the final hour, so he was great.

(59:11):
I'm gonna tell you this now. I'm one day when
I'm when I'm done with this or or I have
an off season offer something, I want to come and
I'll work for free. I just want to be like
a what do they call him, a runner or a
grip whatever something like that or whatever sounds to something,
work on the set of a movie, just to see
how it's all done, because it just looks phenomenal. You know,

(59:33):
Um yeah, team, Yeah, I think it's great. I think
the thing that that is missing for me in like
in this space is just being able to talk about
you know, it's great to talk about sort of all
the successes and everything, but I ain't. But there are

(59:57):
dark periods that I feel like don't get talked about enough.
And I feel like those periods would help athletes that
have left whatever sport they played in because we all
went through a similar thing. And you know, some of
us have found that next thing, some haven't, but we
all went through that period of um, what is my identity,

(01:00:22):
you know what I mean, and so, and I think
it would be helpful for those players to hear sort
of that we're all going through it. Here's here are
some ways that we've moved on. Um, just because I
know I felt it, but I usually am talking about
all of the great things, and it seems like it
was like overnight and it was like, oh yeah, just

(01:00:45):
you finished football and went straight in and it hit
you know what I mean. But but I think there's
a there, there's space for that to to be discussed. Uh,
you know, at some point, Well I'll say this and
we can wrap on this. One of the things it
got me when I spent that time with Nambie in
New York with the kids and whatnot, is I remember,
you haven't understand he comes from a family of very

(01:01:06):
high achievers, academic high achievers and whatnot. And I'll never
forget the line he said to me. Now here's a
guy who's an All pro at the top of his
game everything else, And he said, I almost feel like
the black sheep of the family, you know, because his
sister and brother and everybody else, they're all doing these
incredible academic things and here he is playing football. It
was almost like he was apologizing for quarterbacks in the NFL.

(01:01:30):
So it was funny to me. But still no, no, no,
family like they're like, oh, good right for you? Yeah? Nice?
Nice movie. Yeah nice. That was a nice new movie. There.
You well done. Yeah, Ni's gonna walk home with it

(01:01:52):
with an oscar and they'll be like, I just put
it over there, you know, like, no big deal. So no,
but we HD yeah, we appreciate you coming on. Man,
it's been a blast. It's nice to catch up with you. Man.
I'm so happy for your success. Thank you, guys, not
be really great. Thanks so much, Steve. I told you

(01:02:16):
beforehand this was this was one of This was someone
that I really enjoyed covering during the time that he
played because you always knew with him. It wasn't you
just based on his family background and everything else that
you knew there was just more to him and there
would be more from him after he was done playing.
And he is not disappointed at all. And for anyone

(01:02:38):
out there who has not seen Sylvie's Love, I can't
recommend it more highly than to check it out. Beautifully shot,
beautifully acted. Um a love story. Uh, it's just it's
it's worth your that way, and Jim, you're right, you said,
you know, there's so much of Namti, the real Namti

(01:02:59):
in his character. And then like even the way he walked,
I was like, dang, that's a no. They used to
walk on the field, you know, high pockets going out
there and doing his thing. I mean, it was, it was.
It was so good. But I gotta tell you, one
of my favorite things about the interview was hearing him
talk about the success story from his ACTS program, right
the students that he helped introduce to college. You know,

(01:03:19):
when he told the story of a young man who
had all this tragedy his life, went to u c.
L A. And now he's he's doing great things. We
always hear about programs that people are involved in, and
we hear like, hey, the league is doing this, and
these players are doing that. But the people who benefit
from this great act, that's the real is he said,
That's that's the real reward. And I just loved hearing

(01:03:40):
him talk about that, knowing the effort he put into it.
You covered it greatly back in the day, and just again,
I can only imagine being in issues saying so many
people he said they were hundreds of people who calm up,
I'm doing. I just cannot imagine having that type of
impact on that many people's lives. No, Steve, the thing

(01:04:02):
that and I don't mean to minimize at all the
people who give money to certain causes and whatnot, But
the thing that's more valuable than money is time. And
even in the middle of an all pro career, he
would take the time to spend several days or more
with these kids, some of whom in their family they
would be the first to go to college, taking them

(01:04:24):
around the country to visit universities and allowing them to
dream big and to see what was possible. Um, that
was big. So I was kind of surprised when he
said he was surprised that I nominate him for sportsm
another year that one year, because I'm like, no, what,
what could be more impactful or more powerful than allowing
young people to dream and to show them what's possible.

(01:04:46):
So I've always respected that about him and his family
and um, just just a great dude man, you know,
And I'm sure he's probably happy to we didn't ask
him about his wife, and and uh, you know, you
had to be the first people to not ask about
being Mr Garry Washington. So I'm sure he was sky
I over that because he's doing his own thing. And

(01:05:09):
and I'm glad. I'm glad. You know we got to
recognize you. I'm just so glad we got to spend
that time with him. All right, Jim, I want you
to bring his home. Yeah. Once again, we thank you
for listening, We thank you for subscribing. Please leave us
your comments, tell us who you'd like to hear from,
what you'd like to hear about. In that way, we

(01:05:29):
can give you more of what you're funking for. Well,
that's right, Jim, we'll go all love again to our
man on the ones and two is Thomas Warren, to
him and his family. Appreciate everybody who's pinch hitting. And
again we are the hut On Flow Podcast presented by
Into It, the proud makers of Turbo Tax Quick Books
and Meant for my Man, Jim Trotter, Steve White, and

(01:05:52):
we are out. Don't t