Jonathan Vilma finds redemption in his NFL second act, relives his role in the famous "Beastquake" run, talks the almost Saints dynasty

On the latest NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, Super Bowl champion Jonathan Vilma joins Peanut Tillman and Roman Harper for an honest, insightful, and wide-ranging conversation about leadership, controversy, redemption, and what comes after an NFL career.

Vilma opens the episode reacting to a special surprise — hearing Jimmy Graham and D.J. Williams place him on their personal Mount Rushmore. He shares why being a team captain meant everything to him, and Roman recalls the famous 2009 defensive meeting where Vilma called out the entire unit and set the standard for a championship run.

Vilma also dives deep into Bountygate, discussing how he handled being the public face of the scandal, why he never felt pressured to defend himself publicly, and how the ordeal unexpectedly opened doors for him in broadcasting with ESPN and FOX. He also shares stories from the 2009 Super Bowl season, the heartbreaking 2011 playoff loss, and his final attempts to return to the NFL before realizing his playing days were over—while watching training camp on TV at a Dave & Buster’s.

From his leadership style, to playing at Miami, to his ventures in finance, real estate, and the restaurant world, Vilma breaks down the full arc of his second act. The guys close out with Vilma’s personal Mount Rushmore and a few hilarious stories from his playing days, including Roman’s memory of getting run over and discovering Vilma speaks German.

The NFL Players: Second Acts podcast is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Media.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
To be very frank. We were.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
We were brainwashed, and Roman, you know what I'm talking about.
We were brainwashed defensively because we only knew one speed.
When I say one speed, it wasn't like, oh, go
hard speed, it was go until someone tries to fight
you because you're going way too hard speed like that
type of speed.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
And I said, somebody else will pull you back. Somebody
will pull you back. And I want you to go.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Live on the edge, play on the es, but do
not hurt the team. But go over the edge. Go
I'll you somebody pull you back.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
So it started in training camp when we went against
our offense, and man, we had so many fights we had.
We had so many fights that Sean Payton made us
run until we stopped fighting like that. That's so many
fights we had because we couldn't get through practice.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
What up, everybody.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm Peanut to him, and this is the NFL Players
Second Acts podcast and with me as always as my
trust he co hosts. Roman, I am Gray up top, Harper.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
I appreciate that, Peanut. Look, I'm just really excited for
our next guest. He's one of my best friends.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
I want you to I want you to do the
intro for this guy. Oh, you want me to do
it because I gotta read a couple of things. But
I feel like it's so natural when you just say
it off the cuff, because you should know all this.
If he's one of your best friends, were gonna test
if you know some of this stuff if he just
he not just saying it, just to say it. So
I want you to introduce one of your best friends.
All right, Well, let's start it from the from the top.

(01:35):
The original Wark husband wife, Yeah, the second. He's the
president of Coral Gables himself. He went to the U
all right, he was a twelfth overall pick.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Don't look at a two thousand and four draft. I
didn't know what number he was. I knew he went
to the New York Jets. He played ten seasons with
the Jets and then also with the New Orleans Saints,
whereas now he's the Saints Hall of Famer. He's a
three time Pro bowler, and he's also Super Bowl champion,
shout out, you know, I mean super Bowl forty four, my.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Guys, super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
And he's now a color commentator for on Fox, covering
all NFL games on Sundays, and you can watch him
shout out to my boy, Jonathan Willma, then we go,
John Boy.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
That was an intro.

Speaker 5 (02:19):
Man.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
I appreciate it, no doubt.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
I probably would have did it better. All he did
was look, I could have did that. I thought you
was just going off the cup.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Buddy, No, because I didn't know all the numbers specifically,
and I don't want to mess up on my guy.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
You know what I mean. That's is like, then we
have beef throughout the whole thing. We can't have. Yeah,
we know. I've had beef with him before and it's
not as fun. Don't worry. I told that story. Yeah,
that's the truth statement.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
So jab you know, we we do this podcast has
been doing it for a couple a while now, and
since we've been here in Miami, we've had a couple
of guys on and we always like to ask him
this question about Mount Rushmore, about who's this person of
influence and things of that nature.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
And I want you to just look at this. I
want you to listen to it. Yeah, that to listen.

Speaker 5 (03:08):
To one of the bigger influences on myself and my career.
Really it's hard to split them up. But Jonathan Vilma
my last day my rookie year, Jonathan Vilma says, you're
gonna be back in Miami. I said yeah. He's like, well,
I start working out in the week, and if you
follow me, I'll get you paid. So you fast forward

(03:30):
to when I sued the NFL. Jonathan Villma he told me,
he said, listen, I told you that if you follow me,
I'm gonna get you paid. So I'm gonna finish what
I started. So until you get paid, I'm gonna work
out with you every day. So he worked out with
me every day for six months and then retired after
I got paid.

Speaker 6 (03:44):
I'm gonna go with Jonathan Vilma because to I'll probably
get goosebump luck to see somebody that worked hard every
day and crusting, grinded and obtained something like he deserves
every accolade, everything that he's ever gotten.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah. Just uh brought tears. Yeah. How does that make
you feel? Though?

Speaker 4 (04:10):
Like that your former teammates they feel that strongly about you.
They get four picks on their mouth rushmore, and you
are one of the four picks that they picked each
and each dude that that wasn't playing. That's that's just
pure organic love for.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
You uh man, that's uh. That that was pretty cool man.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Got me a little choked up, only because you know
when I when I think back, and he just talked about,
you know, the love of your teammates. That was That's
what I was given to them. I just love my teammates.
I wanted to see, genuinely see the best for them.
And you know, you don't do it for that right.
You don't do it to get the recognition. You do

(04:50):
it because you you really love your teammates, you really
want to see them be great, and so you know,
it was always I always said being the captain was
was the the funnest thing yet the hardest thing, because
it was always all right, I'm a captain, and some
people don't necessarily take that role as seriously.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
As they should.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
And what I mean by that is, if you're voted captain,
you have this tremendous responsibility to do what's best.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
For the team.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
That is it right, It's supposed to be as black
and white as that, and that means that you have
to pour yourself and give everything you have for the
betterment of the team, which means doing what I said
for Jimmy Graham, working out with them, even when I
didn't have to work out, be there at six am
with them, when I didn't have to be for DJ.
The same thing and for all my teammates, and Roman

(05:40):
knows this. If anybody had an issue or we needed something,
it was the captains. Captains have to step up, period, right,
That's for the betterment of the team. So you know,
when you're in the moment, you don't. I never would
think of it that way as them looking at me
and saying, man, we appreciate that. I always looked at
it as I'm doing what's best because they trusted me

(06:04):
with this role, with this leadership, this responsibility.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
I can't fail. I can't do them wrong.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
I can't all of a sudden be late or you know,
mess up and then try and turn around and then
tell them what they should be doing.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Right. So I really appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
You know, this being being there brings back some great memories,
some nostalgia because those guys were they were.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
They were great athletes, great players in their own right.
I didn't do much besides just being a great teammate.
That's it. That's all I really did. Just be a
great teammate.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
And you know, glad to see it was nothing but
success for them for our team when the Super Bowls.
So you know those memories I have, love it, enjoy it,
and truly appreciate that they still think of me or
regard me in such a high manner.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
I think it's so funny because you talked about just
being a great teammate and how much pride you took
and being a captain. You would always tell me, like, dude,
I've been a captain on every team I've ever been
all my life.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, that's just who you are.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
And DJ said it the other day is like, dude,
he's the best leader of men I've ever been around.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
It's just who you are. I agree with that wholeheartedly.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
And you know, I will never forget in two thousand
and nine, and maybe you can help kind of bring
up this story or finish it up for me.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
We were undefeated.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
I think we're five and oh six and oh, and
it was like we were the angriest team I've ever
been around in my life. JV calls a defense only
meeting players only. We're undefeated too, like six and o
seven and oh and literally everybody got cussed out, like
he threw a clicker against the wall. It was like,

(07:49):
I thought we were playing pretty good, and it was like, no,
like Roman, I missed this tackle. But he's like, I'm
not even mad at Roman, I'm mad at everybody else
because he shouldn't. It shouldn't be just a one on
one tackle, and so calling everybody out and continue to
push when everybody else would maybe let off the gas
a little bit. I think that is why we all
hold you in such high regards, is because like, you

(08:12):
held us to a certain standard, and I think it's
a higher standard than what we all thought we could
get just on ourselves.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, so I do remember that, and so taking it back,
if going back to the team, if you recall we
were putting up forty points easily, right, and then the
games were being won like forty one, twenty seven, you know,
forty five thirty something, right, And I was like, man,

(08:41):
how again, going back to being a captain, how can
I sit here and say I'm the captain of the defense.
Yet if we lose with the reason, right, it's not
going to be because of the offense with a reason right.
So I always looked at it as again my responsibility
to make sure that we need to hold up into
the bargain. And that's why I had that that defensive

(09:03):
meeting or players only meeting, because I'm like, what one,
we clearly have the talent. We we're six and oh
seven zero, we clearly have the talent to be great.
And then we fast forward went to the super Bowl.
But I was like, if we don't stay on our
p's and q's, if we don't, and it's always the
little things, man, because just to take a step back,

(09:23):
I was never the most athletic. I was never the
gifted guy. I ran a four to three or four four,
two hundred and forty pounds or none of that. So
I was always a guy that had to outwork everybody.
And so with that, I knew I can beat a
lot of people if I just outwork them. We can
beat a lot of people if we just outwork them.

(09:44):
And that was always my mentality. So that really stemmed
from that meeting, stemmed from reminding us that we need
to make sure we outwork everyone. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
we rest walked through. You know, you know the drill.
P Sunday comes around, We've already won, and when we win,
it's going to be because of us, as opposed to

(10:06):
in spite of us. That was always my thing. So
you know, taking that approach, if you you know Roman.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
We had, we had. We weren't the most talented.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
We had talent that wasn't even our best team, right,
that wasn't even our best team, right, we had better teams.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
But when you turned on our film, boy did we play?
Did we play? And that that made me feel good
because I'm like, again, I'm the captain of this is
the product of what I've now tried to force put
out there, et cetera. And so that was the reason
for it, because we couldn't. This were too good, man,

(10:45):
We're too good to slip up.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Too good.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
And so I want to talk to you about this
another subject here and I don't think me and you've
ever really gotten into it. And so I want to
talk to you about how you felt about the public
perception of Jonathan Vilma once you retired, because the public
perception of Jonathan Wilma is different than what the video
we just saw, like that's the team, that's the people

(11:07):
that know you. Yeah, we love and regard you, But
the public perception was he was the face.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
Of bounty, your bounty gate, right, like the.

Speaker 3 (11:16):
Sports Illustrated You're on the front cover, and so maybe
kind of talk about that, your whole field on that thing,
and what that perception of you was and how you've
had to deal with that.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
That is that's a great question, bro, man, that was
he did your homework. Man, that's a great question. So
I never I never thought about it from only the
public side, the public perception side. I always thought about it,

(11:46):
or frankly, ninety five percent of time only thought about
it as how.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
Good of a teammate was I? Right?

Speaker 2 (11:54):
So fortunately, and you know this about me, I can't
remember the last time I posted on Instagram, right, I
don't even have a Facebook account. Back then Twitter was big.
Now it's X. I don't even have an X account.
So at that time I only used it during the
trial for the all the nonsense. But once it was

(12:17):
done for me, I'm done, right, Like I'm not trying
to live in the fame of social media or try
to win the votes of the public, and you know,
try to I guess, clear my name or anything like that.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
I don't care and doesn't bother me. I was a
great teammate.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
I won a super Bowl, like life is good over here,
like my daughter's good, family's good.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
Life is aoka.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
And then consequently, what was interesting about it was that
I gained you know that saying any publicity's good publicity, right,
I gained more recognition from the espns of the world.
That's where I was prior to Fox and in the
Fox because before that, I was just a.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Good player, right.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
I was a good linebacker, made a couple of Pro Bowls,
win a Super Bowl. But I was just a good
player on a good team with a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
Then all of a sudden, it's oh, who is who
is this guy? Bounty gay guy? Oh he's a terror
blah blah blah.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
And I was like, if you say so, Like cool, whatever,
if if that's what you think, right, And that actually
got me more attention, And so it was intriguing for ESPN.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
Fox.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
He'd be like, all right, well, who is this guy? Right,
Let's let's bring him in. Let's let's figure out what's
he about.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Right.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
And then now I'm at ESPN doing tryouts, et cetera,
and they're like, oh.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
He's pretty damn good, this guy, all right, and then
talk to him. They talked to me a little more
like he's he is actually pretty awesome. We don't know
about bounty gate.

Speaker 2 (13:48):
We're gonna just gonna take whatever they said, but he's
pretty awesome. Fox the same thing. They're like, damn JV,
you're pretty cool. Like yeah, pretty cool. Like I'm not
whatever you thought that perception was. So you know, I
know ever thought about that, and I still frankly don't care.
I actually find it funny, especially like if I'm calling
a Vikings game. I was in Minnesota calling the Vikings.

(14:09):
Oh it's still bad. Oh they're still so but hurt
so but her. So I always wear my ring when
I'm calling games, so you know, the booth is here,
and then you have the fans that are right around
the booth, and then you have something that are in
the suite, and so once they figure out like oh
John's calling the game, they're looking and then I'll kind

(14:32):
of look over at it's a TV time out of commercial,
and then you just see what I'm saying. I'm just
looking at laughing, and I'm like, right, so you know,
we have fun with it. Right, they're still but her.
We have fun with it. Then all the fans Vikings
fans at my DM on Instagram. That's so funny. They're

(14:56):
just all about you know what was this now fifteen
years ago?

Speaker 1 (14:59):
Right?

Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah, they still still can't let it go. They're still mad.
Jared album was still mad. I saw I'm at the
Hall of Fame. Still mad. It's like, dude, the chance
I had still maybe.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
Maybe if you didn't turn the ball over five times
you might have won.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
Maybe you know something to be said about something. I
don't go ahead, no, no.

Speaker 4 (15:20):
I had a question, but the way you answered it,
I don't because my question was going to be like
if I was on the cover and everyone thought I
was this terrible part, like it could be.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
A stressful time for a player if they just would
have just read the news, read all the social media
stuff and just like man, they think I'm bad, and
it could have really put you in a dark place.
Because my question was going to be like, how did
you get through that to portions?

Speaker 4 (15:46):
But you was just like, man, I won my case,
it was over. I moved on and went on to
the next thing. So like, I applaud you having the
ability not to just get sucked into this deep dark
hole and allowing all the negativity to creep in and
doubt yourself, in doubt the person that you are. I'm
glad you just like, hey, I won my case, water
down the back of my neck, It's on to the

(16:06):
next one.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, I would say it cuts both ways, right, Even
when we won, I never was like, oh, we're on
top of the world, or I'm bigger than you know,
the next man.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Right.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
So for me, I've always been pretty grounded and Roman
knows a big on family. I'm very close with my parents,
very close to my sister. Yeah she's great. She don't listen,
but she's great. So big on family.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
My daughter she was like two years old at the time,
two three years old. So for me, even when.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
The highs of the highs, I always had a foundation
and the lows are the lows, I still had that
same foundation. So I was always very grounded from whatever
spectrum you want to look at. And so that's why
it just never really bothered me because football is what
I do. It's not who I am, right, it's not
my whole idea. I got way more things. And like

(17:02):
I said, I don't do football. I still got a
great family. Life is good for me, right, So you know,
that that part was always probably the not probably, it
was always.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
The rock that I'm good right there.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
And because I had that, it wasn't even necessarily a
support system like I didn't. I didn't need to, you know,
necessarily vent to them or anything like that, or need
to need consolation or anything like that. It was just
we're good, We're good, I go home. Life is good
Man twenty thirteen.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
All right, injury year, Yeah, and then you finish up well, dude,
it was all whatever, like we were so banged up,
hurt me and you both. We spent nine weeks, ten
weeks together in the training room that ye. Yes, actually
had a lot of fun. It sounds like some good times.
It was shot in there too.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
He was in and out. Remember I got hit in
the Bucks games. Yeah, broke his leg. He was on
that scooter, right, he was on the scooter.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yes, this guy Sean was crazy in the trading room. Yes,
but that that's a whole nother segment.

Speaker 4 (18:09):
That's the post podcast, tell them stories.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
And so that kind of ended your career.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
But why didn't you retire officially till like a couple
of years later.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
I mean, Jimmy touched on it, right, It was Jimmy.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
Jimmy was having his breakout years right, there was a
time where and pinat you could attest to us he
was the best tight end in the right that anytime
that people had to now scout our offense, it was
Jimmy Graham. Obviously Drew Brees, but Jimmy Graham second, and
then everybody else around. And I kept working out with him.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
He was right.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
I kept working out with him, and I was like,
you know what, I'm gonna keep working out. I'm not
going to officially retire, only because if the Saints I'm
calling back or somebody comes calling, I may take a shot.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
See how it goes.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
But more importantly, I was like, let me just focus
on working out with Jimmy being I'm not his team teammate,
but being a great friend and still doing that. So
that was really, to be honest, that was just frankly
didn't get around to it. More more concerned, I shouldn't
say concerned, but more cognizant of Jimmy situation, because that's

(19:26):
when now it was time for him to get paid, right,
and then all of a sudden he was getting flexed
out seventy percent of the time. But they want to
call him a tight end, and da da da da.
I'm back and forth. So you know it was. It
was the first time because I would tell Jimmy also,
the business of the NFL, it really forces you to
suppress your emotions.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
You've got to really just be as.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Stoic as you can so you can kind of think
through this because as much as it feels personal, it's
not just a business. It's just a business. And so
I would I would tell Jimmy. I was like, Jimmy, yes,
you flexed out seventy seventy percent of the time. As
great of an athlete as you are, you don't move
like a wide receiver, right, That's that's the truth. You

(20:12):
six seven jump out the world fast, is all get out,
But you don't get in and out of your breaks
like a like a wide receiver does. So I would
always just I'm saying this to just say I was
playing purposely, playing Devil's advocate. I want the man to
get paid as much as he can, but I was
trying to just bring him down to notch right, and
and so we had it was working out, but it

(20:33):
was also working out. Grab lunch, grabbed, dinner, grabbed breakfast talk,
just talk right, just talk through some things, man, And
that that was actually for me. It was a fun
time for me because I wasn't in a scenario. So
I'll tell you a quick story of why, and I'll
circle back to why I was in this, you know,

(20:54):
nice little mindset. When Sean let me go or they
say not renewing my contract, whatever, it's all the same.
I was like, man, what am I gonna do? Like, man,
I really want to play ball. I still got some
in me, right, That's what we all think. I still
got a little.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
In me, right, So working out with Jimmy.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
He goes to training camp now, right, So fast forward,
training camp starts and I remember I was like, a
couple days before camp, I'm like, man, I think I'm
gonna be really sad because I was one of the
few that actually enjoyed training camp because that's where you
can kind of work on your craft, get a little
better before the season starts. So I was like, man, man,
I'm gonna be really sad. So I'll never forget. I

(21:35):
went grab some food. I was over at Dave and
Busters grab some food over there, and I'm sitting at
the bar and I'm looking up and I'm watching how
ESPN would go like around the nation to the teams
and show training camp. And so I looked up and
I remember I'm watching it was an Eagles training camp
they were talking about, and I.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Was like, this sucks. Oh that looks hot.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
I don't want any part of anything going on in
that training camp. I was like, I don't want to
do training camp. I'm good, right, And so that was
the first time I actually, instead of feeling all this
way to feeling down.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Actually was relieved.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
I was like, I feel great, I don't have to
be doing that. That looks tiring. I don't want to
do any of it right. And at that moment, that's
when I knew I gave the NFL, gave playing football
everything I had right. I didn't leave anything on the
table right, Because most times you have players, they have
a little regret if I had done more right, and

(22:38):
they want that opportunity to make up for that one
time that they didn't do whatever it was, work hard
enough or whatever it is right. I didn't have that.
So fast forward, because you ask me why didn't retire.
For a couple of years, I'm working out with Jimmy
and the offseason again, and that's when we were going
through like this whole contract and stuff. And for me

(22:58):
it was pretty peaceful because I had no interest anymore
and really playing. I was just like, I love working
out obviously, love hanging with Jimmy, want to see him
get paid.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
But for me, I was like, if someone calls cool,
if not, I'm aoka.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
And that kind of moment of clarity watching the Eagles
training camp, realizing I wanted no part of that and having,
you know, a sense of relief knowing that I did
everything I could when I played.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
That was it, man, That really was it. That's why
there was no rush. It was all good. Okay, I
called it.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
You say, when you're working out with them, now, I
would I beg the different I would. I would say,
you were being a good teammate even though you have yeah,
they released you or they weren't renewing your contract. Would
I would say, no, that's you're being a good teammate,
being on the team or not. I think you were
being a good teammate and that just what makes who
the person.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
Who you are. And we'll be right back. I've been
in two Super Bowls.

Speaker 4 (23:55):
I've been in two really good teams. One in Carolina
for Super Bowl fifty and one in Super Bowl forty one.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
With the Bears here right out here. Yeah that was right.

Speaker 4 (24:04):
Yeah Yeah, great team, great locker room. We had chemistry,
all the good things that make you have a really
good team. Two thousand and nine, you guys a Super
Bowl run?

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Right?

Speaker 4 (24:16):
What made that team so special? With leadership and talent.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
The first part of what made us so special. We
genuinely liked each other. Off the field. We had if
you remember Rome, remembering the offseason, we actually would just
hang out. We go watch the NBA finals, have a
great time. Any any chance or opportunity we had outside

(24:43):
of football to just hang out, we would. And it
had been so I came from the Jets. It was
not like that, right, And I'm not going to talk
bad about about the Jets. It's just that the the environment,
the culture was different. And so when I got to
New Orleans the first year kind of just filling it
out right, O. Wait, and then nine that's when we're

(25:05):
actually just hanging out having a great time. I'm like, man,
this reminds me of my um days. Because we genuinely
liked hanging.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
Out with each other. So that was the first say.
The second is to be very frank.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
We were we were brainwashed and Roman you know what
I'm talking about. We were brainwashed defensively because we only
knew one speed. When I say one speed, it wasn't like, oh,
go hard speed, it was go until someone tries to
fight you because you're going way too hard speed, like
that type of speed.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
And I say, somebody else will pull you back. Somebody
will pull you back.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
And I want you to go live on the edge,
play on the es, but do not hurt the team,
but go over the edge.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Go I'll pull you back, somebody pull you back.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
So it started in training camp when we went against
our offense, and man, we had so many fights we had.
We had so many fights that on Payton made us
run until we stopped fighting like that. That's how many
fights we had because we couldn't get through practice and
the fights were stemming from us going.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
Hardcoret hard court.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
I forget one hundred miles an hour, we're at like
two hundred just going going right in practice, in practicousand percent.
He's not in practice. So I mean and Sean people.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
Were flying around the quarterback.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
Sean is not like like that, did anybody ever hit
Drew didn't?

Speaker 1 (26:27):
We got closed.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
We were we were We were definitely kind of trading
the line there.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
But the backup quarterback, oh, he had no shot. That
was Chase chasing Mark Burnell.

Speaker 2 (26:38):
Had no shots. Were like I said, we're brainwashed. Just
go right. And so that carried over to our first
what do they call the practices with the other team
in our in the squad or whatever it's called, right,
that was Houston.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
Wasn't Houston. It's always fights when you do them right.
But so this is what happened. We had a bunch
of fights.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
But the fights weren't because of guys you know, doing extra.
The fights were and they admitted this to us after
the fact. They were trying to protect himself, like they
they had not had a practice amongst each other where
the guys went that hard. And so we'll take I'll
give you a great example. We go and we were

(27:20):
taught you hit the running back, but you run your
feet so he stops his forward progress and then you
let him go right. So we but a lot of
teams they would just kind of just tap off, right.
So we go to practice against them, and we go
and bo. We hit the running back. We're not trying
to take him down. He just he just didn't realize, like, oh,

(27:41):
this is how they practice. So then he throws a
ball us. He's mad at us, like we did something.
We're like, we're just doing well. We've been taught, brainwashed
right on how to practice is.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
All we know.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
Not only one person would do it, but like most
every people, everybody right, because run to the ball, right,
that's good defense.

Speaker 1 (27:57):
The same thing.

Speaker 4 (27:57):
It was literally the same thing Chicago. Yeah, the same
exact thing. This is right up the proper thud. You
got to thut them up, don't let them just run
through exactly exactly.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
So we took that to heart, right, So I give
that example because that started a fight. The old line
things we're trying to tackle their guy. Well, I we're
not trying to do that same thing on the offensive side. Shocky,
he was used to the way that we were thudding up.
So he's running through the Texans defenders and they think
that he's trying to run them over, and he's like, no,

(28:27):
this is what we've been doing for the past two
weeks with in our camp. So this is where I'm
used to. That started a fight. So long story short,
we beat the brakes off of them right in the game.
It was like thirty eight nothing right, We just beat
the hell out of them. And afterwards they were like,
now we realize what it is, because then we go
on to win the Super Bowl. So the next time
we had that inner squad the next year, they're like,

(28:49):
now we realize what it is to really practice and
take it to the next level. So that was my
long winning answer saying that was the second thing that
made us really good, And the third thing that made
us really good was Drew Brees.

Speaker 4 (29:04):
There.

Speaker 2 (29:04):
I don't know what I can say that people don't
know about him, besides the fact that he was everything
you would hope for in a great player. We had
a bunch of really good players. We had a bunch
of good players, and really good players. He was a
great player, and he was everything we could have hoped
for because he was a guy when you talk about

(29:25):
having a rock foundation all these things, he was a
guy that he wasn't just consistently good, he was consistently great.
And knowing you can fall back on that, that gave
us defensively all the confidence you need in the world,
where we'll go all out blitz. If we don't get there,
we give up a touchdown. We got drew right, like

(29:45):
how many? That was our job that get the offensive
ball back?

Speaker 1 (29:51):
Right. I didn't want to say anything luxury. We didn't
have that.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
Like we had some really good defenses my time in Chica.
We had some great possibly the three Hall of Famers
on our defense, and but our our message in Chicago
was like I remember, Lovey. Lovey came in to the
to the to the defensive meeting room one day and
we had just gotten Pep and he was like, all right, guys,
you know we're playing we're playing the Saints. Hey, defense,

(30:23):
we gotta score some points. We got to shut them
out and we gotta score. We gotta score. We gotta
score maybe twice. And yeah, it was.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
It was something like that.

Speaker 4 (30:34):
And Pep goes, you know, so we go, love he
has this message, he says what he says. Then Love
he leaves and Pep goes.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
Hey, yo, nut, what about the offense? Yo?

Speaker 4 (30:47):
They get the ball like we got a quarterback and
a receiver and a runner back in the line, Like
they's a postal score. That's why it's offense. And I
was just remember saying. I was like, bro, welcome, It
is all about the Defense's the midway, Like, get used
to this. I don't care who we have this this

(31:07):
town loves defense. They love us no matter who are
always this whole town is just built on defense. This
whole team is built on defense. Yeah, we gotta score.
But he was like, but they got an offense, we
have offensive players. I was like, I know, but it
ain't like that right now, bro, Like it's just.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yeah, it sucks for you. And that's what he was like.

Speaker 4 (31:29):
He was like, no, this is not normal, Like you
gotta have an offense. I was like, I know, but
that's just that's just how it is right now. Brod
just you just gotta roll with the punches there. So
I'm jealous of the fact that y'all was like, now,
just get back to the offense. Get a ball, back
to the offense.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
That that that's really the way we looked at it,
and we didn't care. Ju could throw three interceptions. We
didn't care. He was gonna find a way to get
us to a w Right, That's that's just what it was.
So those three things and then obviously a little love. Right,
you gotta have a little luck in the league. We
had that that year. But you know, I think back

(32:06):
to that Vikings game NFC Championship. We got the five takeaways.
That's obviously the reason why we won that game. But
I remember they had when I say, Pro bowlers on
top of Pro bowlers, right from the d tackles that
they had to Jared Allen right to offensive. They had
Brett Fahrv He's playing his best ball to the O line,

(32:28):
Adrian Peterson, and I remember Washingidney Rice was Sydney Rice.
Remember that Percy Harvin had made the Pro Bowl. But
I remember we're, yeah, exactly right, So he was a monster.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Different, Yes, special player. Yes.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
So I remember we're on the sideline, we're you know,
we're locked in trying to figure out how to stop
far And I remember there was a point where their
defense was just giving it to offense, right, which is expected.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
They're a good team.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
And in my head, I'm like, damn, they got guys
at every level, like how are we going to put
points on the board? And then sure enough, you just
see Drew just find a way, right, You just see
Drew just duca Jared Allen bro make a throw that
we needed, right, it's a third and seven, he gets
eight yards. It's always just whenever we needed the great

(33:20):
Drew Brees to come out, he did right. And then
even on the last drive, remember we needed it was
we run four on fourth. I don't know if you remember,
but it was like fourth and short. And when I said,
we got it by like the narrowest stuff, narrowest margins,
and I was like, true right, I'm like, Drew gotta

(33:41):
love that guy.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
And then we end up winning.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
So that was it, man, That was our formula, to
be honest, Not not much there besides camaraderie, hard work
and a great quarterback.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
It literally you just described Chicago and six and then
you described Carolina in twenty fifteen, like the really good
team hang out outside of football, whether it's going to
a bar, watching a having a drink, having dinner, going bowling,
just going over someone's house, paintballing, just finding something to

(34:13):
do outside of the facility. And I think those players
or those teams, those players on those teams that do that,
they have the most success.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
I'm not surprised to hear that story at all.

Speaker 3 (34:25):
Yeah, you know, I was always twenty fifteen was a
very unique year for me, you know, giving my so
much to.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
The city of New Orleans, right, loving that place. Yeah,
we called you a trader.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
How much fun we had, and then going to Carolina
and all of a sudden having that type of success.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
I'll never forget.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
In twenty fifteen, as we're like ramping up and going
through the playoffs, you called me and we're like, dude,
He's like, I'll be interested to see you guys gonna
go win the super Bowl because we were like killing everybody.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
Wasn't even close, wasn't that cam one? Yeah? Yeah, Like we.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Were destroying everybody that year, walking away with it, and
you're like, dude, you guys gonna win the super Bowl. Like,
I'm very interested to see if you retire with them
or you come back with us.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
That's right, Like it was like a big deal.

Speaker 2 (35:12):
You're like it was because you had you had, I mean,
equally good years I did, right team, So I was like, man,
and then that's when I started calling you a trader.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
So I had the guilt him of coming back to
New Orleans, man, Like that.

Speaker 4 (35:29):
Is there a play that sticks out in your I
think there's probably one play that I would love to
have back, But is there a play that you would
like to have back as a defensive player, Like damn,
I wish I could have made that tackle, or I
wish I would have called a different defense out of it.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
Okay. So I'll give you a not so serious one
and I'll give you a real one. Okay. So on
the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Run, we're playing the New England Patriots at home Monday
night football. We're smacking him. We crushed him. First time
I ever saw Brady get pulled out of the game early.
And they had Lawrence Maroney if you if you remember him,
and he's they ran like a little draw play. I

(36:15):
come up to make the tackle. He gives me a
little wiggle. I miss. Roman goes to make the tackle.
Roman gets run over and then everyone's like, ooh right,
they see you get down.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
But he went down. Yeah, he tackled me. Went down.
He trucked on me.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
He tackled him, and I felt so bad. I immediately
went to Roman and I was like, my bad man,
I helped it. I felt so bad because I make
that tackle nine out of ten times. Yeah I missed
that one. And then now my dog gets run over
because I missed the tackle. I was felt bad, man,
and I still remember it to this day. So I

(36:52):
was like, my bad room. He's like, oh, it's all good,
but I like really felt bad.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Because I run at full speed and then when he
shakes vilma, now I gotta stop because I can't just.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
Tea you off now, and I'm like, then I just
got to accept it.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
When he just dropped, yeah, my bad, just like boom, well,
it was like oh and then I just called him
and he just whole crowd with whatever.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
So imagine I'm watching it from from the back end,
like damn it. Yeah, I'm damn man made the tackle,
but on a serious one two thousand and twelve divisional
game versus the forty nine ers in San Francisco. It's
the last their last scoring drive. And I'll never forget

(37:37):
this man. We are in cover two. We played Cover
two as well as anybody played Cover two all season long,
and he was throwing to and you know, you can
kind of feel it during the series, like where he
wants to go? He was throwing to, who's our man
the tight end? Vernon Davis, Vernon Davis, everything in me?

(38:00):
The on paper, I'm supposed to turn Cover two on
the middle of the field, wearing the red zone the road.
It's really just turned my hips. I gotta go to
the two receiver side. Everything in me said, bro, just
turn to Vernon Davis. Everything in me, But I was like,
I gotta in that unlikely event he goes to the
two receiver side. I can't be the one that is

(38:23):
messing around, turning this way, turning the wrong way, right
in a divisional game. So I turned to the two
receiver side. Sure enough, Smith, Alex Smith zips it. When
I say, he zips it right behind me, and I
couldn't turn flip my hips fast enough to make a
play on it. Vernon Davis catches it touchdown. We lose
a game that was a team that, to a man,

(38:45):
better than our O nine team, we would have won.
We would have won the Super Bowl again, or let
me rephrase that we had. If you remember there's the Giants,
they end up going to Super Bowl winning it. We
had played them like four weeks prior. Remember that Roman
we beat the breaks off on man. We just sent
them pack, sent them pack, and we beat them boy
like twenty whatever it was. So we couldn't wait to

(39:06):
play them again. And I'll never forget that play because
I was like, if I just you know, you just
trust your gut, and most times you trust your gut.
And I was like, but I couldn't be the guy
that in the event he did throw it the other
way that everyone says, damn, John, you turned the wrong
way and cover two like in the red zone. But

(39:30):
he ripped that ball right behind me, and I was like, God,
I knew what. Yeah, that one hurts. That one hurts.

Speaker 4 (39:36):
I think the one for me that I would love
to what play I would love to see back again
is the one in twenty ten Beast Quake.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
Wait, you're not on this? What are we doing? How
do you allow Peanut to do this?

Speaker 1 (39:50):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (39:50):
Yeah, I just I want this play back? So I
would just love like I want this play back.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
Get out of here.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
Alex Brown missed the tackle twice. I don't know what
you're doing.

Speaker 1 (40:01):
Let me touch a clean given effort though.

Speaker 4 (40:05):
Home you just like touch a clean life. So let
me tell you what's up with this one?

Speaker 1 (40:11):
All right? So, first of explain, you're the world the
Fox commentary on this.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
You are the world's biggest hitter. So let's let's make
sure that that gets out there. In the commentary, Okay,
on that play. First of all, not to make any excuses,
Marshawn was already running like a beast before that.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
Let's just start there. Now you're asking where I was.
It was a power I boxed it.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
I boxed it back to my linebacker, Scott Shanley, and
I'll never forget. You'll see me right, Oh ye, Land
Shanley had made this tackle lord knows how many times
in the season. And I was with Shannon what six years?
That was his tackle and he made that so many times.
While I'm getting blocked, I'm like, great job, Shanley, because

(40:58):
I already assumed he made the tackle, and I'm over
here setting the That's all exactly, That's all we had
to do, right And so oh.

Speaker 1 (41:04):
He's boxed then he it ain't nowhere to go, right,
So what is gaps? Right there? Shanley has made that tackle.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
If you just watched Shanley's film, he made that tackle
so many times before he even like started engaging attack.
I said no, no, no. I didn't say damn it, Shanley.
I was like, I did, that's me. I can hate No,
that's my team, man. Because look, everybody was like I'm
sitting there like, all right, Shanley, all right, and then
I'm watching mar Shawn kind of break from like oh man.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
And after that, I mean it was a rap bron.
I don't know. There's nothing to comment on him.

Speaker 4 (41:39):
He's so what I would like to do is start
this play from the beginning, and I want to hear
the Fox play by Playboy play.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
Can you do that right now?

Speaker 2 (41:49):
All right, let's see here, big hater, prenut tillman, this
is a big play in the game. Here. See what
happens at second and ten. They're running a power and
oh it's a mistackling. You know, you're still a hater.
I hate you for having us have this play again.
But he's going, Marshawn, Marshawn, He's going. He stopped Alex
Brown too soft. Can't do it. Roman Harbor, don't know

(42:10):
what you're doing. But we still hate Peanuts. Something touchdown,
Marshawn Lynch.

Speaker 4 (42:17):
I love it anytime I can throw shade at the Saints,
especially with Rome. I do it every chance I see that.
He doesn't to me, So it's like it's it's a
love hate thing. He does it to me all the time,
and he does it, especially with my university. He hates
on lafy hat is so bad. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
Why they have a football. Oh my god, I quit.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
You know.

Speaker 3 (42:42):
The real funny thing though, JV is like I remember
going out to Seattle. We get out there early, we
were way too confident. Our team was beat up, we
were injured a lot.

Speaker 1 (42:51):
Yeah, we had down like our fourth running back. Yeah,
and like we got off to a good start. Then
all of a sudden things crumbled. Yep.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
I gave up a touchdowns double move. Didn't like to
fall down play. I didn't even That was the first
time that had ever happened on me before.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
Ye.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
And I just remember like middle of the game, you
like looking like no Rome, like tighten up, dog like
let's not there's no doubt, Like we're still gonna go
do this. And we made a run back at him.
But ultimately, is there a thing as a super Bowl hangover?

Speaker 1 (43:27):
Good question?

Speaker 2 (43:32):
The way that I gotta give a long when it answered,
Actually all give you a short I'll say no to start,
and then I'll give a long answer.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
The way that we want we won the Super Bowl.
The way that we.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
Worked out that offseason mini camp, training camp, we faced
the Texas again. As as we mentioned, we we did
not let up, or we didn't at each other let up.
So I felt like our workouts were very hard, very competitive.
I felt like mini camp, training camp. All that was

(44:08):
very hard competitive. What happened was we lost a game
of attrition. We ended up man. We were not even
on our corners. We were down guys, our running backs,
we were down guys wide receiver. So, as I mentioned,
when we won the Super Bowl, you got to get
a little lucky, right. Health is part of it, and
we had so many guys down we had to bring

(44:29):
in Julian Julia Julius Julius Jones.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
We had to bring in Julius Jones off the street.

Speaker 2 (44:36):
So I would say at that time, because we beat
Seattle early in the season, but at that time you
had a team from Seattle that was very confident. They
were obviously doing very well, started to they were on
like this trajectory, and we, frankly weren't on that trajectory.
Like you, you tell me the last time you've seen

(44:57):
a team winn a Super Bowl with their four team
running back? Right, when's the last time you've seen the
Super Bowl team win with two cornerbacks off the street
or or offensive lineman, whatever it is, right, Like, you
need your guys, you need your guys.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
We didn't have our guys. So I don't think it
was a super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (45:14):
I want to and I know we gotta get I
want you to. We're gonna get to your second act
here in the second. But I do got to know this.
How great was your Miami draft class?

Speaker 2 (45:25):
Guess no better? My draft class? We had six in
the first We had one who would have been a
Hall of Famer rest in peace, Sean Taylor. We have
Vince Wilfork, who's probably gonna be a Hall of Famer.
Everybody played at least nine seasons from the guys that

(45:47):
got drafted. I mean, you talk about as talented as
it gets, that's what we had. And if you want
to talk about the year prior, you already got hall
of famer out of that class, and Andre Johnson the
year prior to that, you already got Hall of Famer
and Ed Reid out of that draft class. Right, so
we had a stretch where we were I don't even

(46:08):
understand the argument anymore.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
When people try.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
To bring up other programs, I'm like, I don't even
understand what you're trying to argue.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
Man, it's nothing. You can't it's nothing to argue.

Speaker 4 (46:18):
Y'all had y'all had a stretch where y'all was just
y'all were it. Y'all were the team. I had a
chance to play with your center Brat Romberg another there's
a white guy, kind of slim.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
He was a d N.

Speaker 4 (46:32):
Matt Walters play with him in the hula ball. And
we had Larry Coche was our coach and just I
only was there were week with him, but he seemed
like he was just like the chill us dude and
just he just lets y'all play, Just let you be
who you were, as long as you respected the team
and you were a part of.

Speaker 1 (46:50):
The team, like I got from coach Coker. Yeah, we had.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
It was a group of alpha is on top of alphas,
if that makes sense right, And so Cocher was smart
enough to recognize, I don't need to mess with this.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
They'll police themselves. We literally did police ourselves, like if.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
Someone was late, we would have them do the crab
five hundred yards or run sprints or whatever it is.
We didn't need Coker. No offense to coch Cocher was
a really good coach, but we didn't need him to
police our culture. It was we're gonna go, we're gonna grind,
we're gonna work. And yeah it was when I say,
alpha's on top of alphas. Man, we had some big,

(47:32):
big personalities that would not let anything slide. I say nothing,
would not let it slide. And that's how it played
out in the games.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
It definitely showed and it worked. We'll be right back.

Speaker 4 (47:47):
I want to get into the second act. Do you
think having a first off, I didn't know you were
a finance guy. So you graduated from the U with
a three point five GPA in finance, you have this
amazing career in the NFL, and it's time to get
into your second act.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (48:07):
How does it feel knowing that you got this degree,
you had this amazing career. Was that able to help
you kind of transition going through your second act, like
kind of getting into commentating?

Speaker 1 (48:19):
Yeah? I did? In what way?

Speaker 2 (48:23):
So football one? I love team sports, but we're talking
specifically football. When I was at the University of Miami
and I was doing finance, football was great in all
the other aspects that you need to be successful in life.
It was great at forcing me to make sacrifices. It

(48:46):
was great at time management. It was great at identifying
what's important, what's not important? What am I going to
pay attention to or put my attention towards. And then
it was great or the discipline. I'll go through a day, right,
a spring day was up at five, get whatever work

(49:07):
I needed done for school, work out at seven, get
some breakfast, go to class, get the rest.

Speaker 1 (49:13):
Of my work done, then get ready for springball.

Speaker 2 (49:16):
After that dinner, whatever work I need to get done,
do it all over again. Right, And when you start
to have won a routine and the discipline and the
sacrifice of I can't go out on a Wednesday night
while everyone else is going out on a Wednesday night.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
Right, it's Thursday's a big college night. Can't do it.
I got things to do. And so that part I.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
Really loved, enjoyed because that's now helped me in my
time now where I can plan my whole schedule. Right,
I give time to what is important. I don't give
any time to what's not important. Hence the wasn't paying
attention to any of the stuff about Bounty, gay right
and social media, so everything about football, team sports, and

(50:01):
then wanted to be successful there.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
All of those have carried over to life now.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
The biggest one, which I should have mentioned is working
with people that you may not have worked with otherwise.
Right there, come from different backgrounds, different cultures, whatever it is,
but you still have a common goal.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
And I always.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
Appreciated that about football, where you had the guys that
are uber religious, right, church every three days, right, And
then you had guys on the other spectrum they just
coming out of college want to party, have a great time.
And then you have all walks of life only like
country music only, like rap music, right, or something in between.
And that was always great because I'm like, all right, cool,

(50:44):
you're different, you're different.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
We all want to win and play football, so we'll
figure this thing out.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Doesn't mean we all have to be kumbaya, buddy, but
we're gonna argue. We had fights when we won the
Super Bowl that run. We had about three fights, four
fights in the locker room. But it never got past that. Right,
That's what brothers do. Brothers fight, move on and go.
So the teamwork dealing with dealing with people that you
wouldn't normally deal with, especially now that I really appreciate that.

(51:13):
That's probably one of the best, best things, biggest things
I tell from it.

Speaker 1 (51:16):
You know, I noticed about you personally.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
I know you've done restaurants, real estate, You've done a
ton of other things. Maybe kind of walk us through
that path how you kind of got involved in that
and then ultimately how long did it take you before
you got into this TV deal?

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Yeah, So the the finance was always the prerequisite for
the foundation. I needed to be an entrepreneur, right, I
needed to I need to know my numbers. So that's
where I started in the restaurants and in real estate.
The restaurants they are very, very time consuming, so especially

(51:56):
on the weekends, and that that was a period where
my daughter would three four years old. I was like,
I want to hang with my daughter more than I
want to be in a restaurant on a Saturday Sunday.
So as good or as lucrative as those that business
can be or that industry, the time was not a

(52:16):
conducive for what I wanted my lifestyle that I wanted
real estate I have been doing since I was playing,
so I was more I was more passive obviously when
I was playing, became more active as I retired, and
then again that's the beauty of it is it's a
numbers game, right, It's just black and white, like either
deal pencils. The deal doesn't pencil right, and you go

(52:37):
to get lending, it's the exact same thing. They just
want to see what does it look like on paper?
What do the numbers say? And then you.

Speaker 1 (52:43):
Can't really, you know, jigger those numbers. It is what
it is.

Speaker 2 (52:49):
So that's what I've always liked about it, that it's pure.
It's black and white and that's what it is. And
you can make the deal work.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
Great.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
If you can't, so be it, move on to the
next deal. So that that's where the real estate side
came in. Really enjoy it still do it? Really enjoy it?
And then what was the next part?

Speaker 1 (53:08):
TV? TV?

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Yea, So all the while I was always doing TV
and this is what nobody knew. That's what nobody knew,
and just goes back to like put your head down
and work. When I was with the Saints, I did
every year except my first year.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
I did local TV.

Speaker 2 (53:26):
I did the Fox eight after the game, sports cast,
you know, whatever they call it. And I did it
because if if I wanted to get into TV, you
gotta do it the right way. You gotta put some
time into it, you got to actually work right And
so many guys they just think, oh, I played, so
I'm just gonna now jump into TV, and that's it.

(53:48):
It's a completely different skill set and you got to
practice it. You got to get better at it. So
I did that. Every Sunday after the game, I would
go do the postgame report and then I would work
all my craft and from there I also built up film.
So it's like having what a resume, right, same thing.
So with that, with that, I went my agent gave

(54:13):
it to ESPN NBC. At the time, ESPN didn't have
an opening. NBC did, so I did a year of
Notre Dame football pre game, halftime postgame. After that year,
ESPN had an opening, so that I went to ESPN.
I did studio with ESPN for five years, did ESPN

(54:35):
and ABC in Bristol, in Bristol, cold cold.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
Oh so good.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
Don't get me started. Don't get me started. And then
from there I'm now with Fox. Been with Fox for
five years, six seasons. Michael Jordan quote.

Speaker 4 (54:51):
I have the obligation to the game of basketball, not financially,
I'm okay.

Speaker 1 (54:57):
I wish I.

Speaker 4 (54:57):
Could take a magic pill, put on the shorts, go
out and play the game of basketball today, because that's
who I am.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
I miss it.

Speaker 4 (55:05):
Michael Jordan, My question to you is are you still competitive?
And how much do you miss the game of football
being that you're so connected to about calling games during
the season.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
I'm very competitive, very very competitive.

Speaker 2 (55:20):
I will turn anything into a competitive sport. Whatever we
can do to get some fun out of it, I'm
gonna do that. I don't miss the game at all.
As far as playing. The difference maybe, but I'm pretty
confident that this is a big difference basketball. Football takes

(55:43):
a different toll on your body than basketball, and especially
for linebacker positions safety corner, when you had to come
up and stop the running cover two all day, right,
you start to think about, which is what I do now.
Anytime I look at the game and think about, oh
can I play again, I think about the training room.
I think about Wednesday being sore, Friday being sore, trying

(56:07):
to get back to just one hundred percent just to
beat your body up all over again on Sunday, Right,
It's crazy. And then do that for eighteen weeks right,
four and a half months. I want no part of that,
like none, none at all. So from that perspective, I
don't miss it. From the competitive side, of course, but

(56:28):
I'm now in a place where I am attached to
the game as much as I want to be without
taking up all of my time. And I'd say that
because the coaches, you got to have a lot of
respect for them. Many they put in hours, so I
can never do it. They put in hours, and I'm
talking going back to sacrifice. They don't see their kids' games, right,

(56:51):
they miss events, and even when it's the off season,
they still are in there. When we're off and we're
chilling and having a good time, they're still in there
grinding and working, right, And that is that is a
life where you have to really love the game a
different way than the way we love the game. We
love the game from afar. We appreciate it, we're knowledgeable

(57:13):
about it, we know it, but we would never commit.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
You just said it, right. I wouldn't do it either.
I know Rome won't do it.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
I would never commit the hours that the coach is
put in right now and then miss family time. Just
seeing my daughter's volleyball game. I want no part of that,
right and so for me, I respect the hell out
of the coaches for that sacrifice that they make and
to be successful. And remember, don't feel sorry for him.
Think about all the fans as soon as as soon

(57:41):
as a player or a coach. Look at Aaron Glenn
right now, he went from the darling decordinator to he
doesn't know football, he can't coach, he don't know anything.
He's a Jets head coach, he doesn't know anything. Don't
feel sorry for him right the time. Effort everything to sacrifice,
so I don't miss it from that perspective by doing
is it from just the normal all right?

Speaker 3 (58:02):
Number one shout out to Joevit. JV is his favorite players.
I just to him like two weeks. Yeah, that's our
linebackers coach, used to be assistant head coach. Yes, he
literally would give up his own son for John Lan
and he.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
Has openly admitted that.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
To his own son, Joey, dude, I take John all right.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
That shout out to Joevit. Number two, j V.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
I want you to tell because we got great stories together.
Yeah we don't have to tell any stories from New Orleans,
but I do have to share with the world that
could you share with the world about the time that
I learned that.

Speaker 1 (58:43):
You speak Yeah vos.

Speaker 3 (58:49):
So I've known this guy for years. Up until this moment,
I had no idea. Please share play.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
So we are in Amsterdam. We are celebrating romans about
to get married. So we're celebrating uh in Amsterdam bachelor party.
And for the record, we only went to red light
district like one time.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
It wasn't even all that so we were doing like
local stuff. Yeah, we're actually stuff.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
Yeah, So for anyone thinking like we were just going
crazy red light district, that didn't happen. So we're doing
all the local stuff. And then we got there on
a Monday. Unbeknownst to us. Everyone from other countries they
go in on like a Thursday for a long weekend, right,
So it's similar to how we do the Vegas in America.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
All Right, So.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
Friday now comes around, we grabbed dinner, we go to
one of these local spots that had a little lounges
club kind of mix and it was cool. And so
now we're we're we're seeing everybody, but we're hearing all
these different languages. Were like French, like literally French, Spanish, German, everything, right.
I was like, wow, okay, this is this is cool.

(01:00:00):
So we end up meeting this group of women. They're
from Germany, and I always like to just ear hustle
when i'm when i hear German being spoken, right, So
I'm just listening to them, and you know, they're just
talking about our group of guys, and they're like, oh,
these guys, they seem fun, they're cute, blah blah blah,
all this stuff, and I'm just listening. I didn't say

(01:00:22):
one word, and Roman is trying to have a conversation
with them. Right, So they knew English, they knew enough
to be dangerous. But when they wanted to like talk
talk about one of us, they would speak in German.
So Roman would talk to them, they would answer in English,
and then they wanted to say something about our group,
they would talk in German. So I'm just listening to

(01:00:43):
the whole thing. So now it go. It's it's two
of the girls. So the girls were basically like, all right,
we like Roman, we like John. We're gonna hang out
with them and go to another spot. And then the
other girl stayed and then I don't even know where
those guys ended up, but.

Speaker 3 (01:01:00):
No, Ronnie and that we just ended up in the
car and then like Stephano and Ronnie and yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah they end up.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
It was a little bit later. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:01:08):
Right.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
So now in the car, I'm sitting in the front
and then Roman is in the back with the with
the two ladies. So they're Roman is trying to talk
to him, and then one of them says in German, Oh,
he's nice, but he's talking too much. So I said, hey, Rome,
be quiet, and Rome was like huh, and then they
kind of perked him, like wait a minute. So they

(01:01:30):
they asked themselves like does he know German? And so
I said, yes, I know German. But they said it
in German to each other like does he know German?
So I was like, yes, I know German.

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
Rome. They're saying, you're talking too much. Be quiet.

Speaker 2 (01:01:43):
So Rome he's looking at me, he's looking at them
and he's like wait, like what's going on. So I
tell him in German like yeah, it's it's for stea Deutsch.
It's vice fastus os right, and so they're like and
then they started to talk faster.

Speaker 1 (01:01:58):
So I tell him in German. You can talk faster,
I still can understand you. Right, So Roman is just
completely out of his mind.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
Now he's mind blown. Yeah, he's just like, what is
going on, JB. You know German? Why did you tell
me that? He's mad at me? Because I've never told him.
I was like, Roman, when was I ever going to
speak German? You want me to call a play in German?

Speaker 4 (01:02:20):
Like?

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
When was I ever going to speak German to you? Right?

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
He's like, Man, I can't believe you know German. This
is crazy, this is crazy. So he completely ignores the
two ladies.

Speaker 1 (01:02:28):
Now they are nothing to me. Yeah, completely, like.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
We just dropped them off, move on, And all Roman
wants to talk about is me speaking German. He's like,
I can't believe you held this from me, Bro, I've
known you for seven years.

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
How did you not tell me you speak German?

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
And then the next day he tells everybody, so I
had to actually like speak a little German so everyone knows,
like I understand German, I understand and speak it. And
he went, I mean that was just it was like
the bee's needs for this dude. For the of the
rest of the trip, Bro, it was hilarious.

Speaker 1 (01:03:01):
You should call a game in German? Can you call it? Plan?

Speaker 2 (01:03:04):
One thousand percent will call it? I would if they
let me, I'll call it in German.

Speaker 6 (01:03:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:03:08):
Could you explain to the people how you learn German?
Because I think that's also interesting. Yes, so also the
unintelligent one in your family, because everybody speaks more language.

Speaker 2 (01:03:18):
Yeah everyone, Yeah, everyone speaks three at least I only
speak two.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
Yeah. Yeah, you're right, Thanks for calling me an idiot.
Appreciate it, so set them.

Speaker 2 (01:03:29):
Yeah, you're right now, Now I get it. Now I
get it. So my my uncle, my uncle and my aunt.
I'm of Haitian descent, so they lived in Haiti. They
went to Germany because you can go to medical school
for free in Germany. So they both went to medical
school in Germany, became doctors. They met their significant others,

(01:03:53):
and instead of coming back, they stayed in Germany, had kids,
the whole nine. So my cousins living in Germany, my
knowing in my family knew German. So my dad was like,
you're going to learn German in school. So I learned German.
Usually people just learned Spanish, especially down here in Miami.
I learned German. In school, and then in the summers

(01:04:15):
when my cousins would come down or I go visit,
I would talk to them only in German. So I
had been fluent in German, I don't know, probably like
nine years old, and so I would always, like anytime
we go a lot of Germans would come down. I
just kind of listen, you know, just ear, hustle and
maybe speak maybe not. And ever since then, like now
when I go to Germany, I'm trying to teach my daughter,

(01:04:38):
but she's not learning it. She's learning Spanish in school,
so it's a little it's a little different. But I
always talk in German when I go there. I try
to talk to them periodically on the phone, just to
keep my German fresh.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
So yeah, that's how that's how it happened. I like that.
I'll learn that.

Speaker 4 (01:04:55):
Our last my last question for you, Sir Mount Rushmore,
we asked a lot of our guess is question. Yeah,
you get four picks of people that have had some
type of an influence that have shaped molded you into
the man you are today on the field, off the field,
with football, not football sports, just for people that have
had great influence on you as the man you are.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:05:18):
The first one is my dad. He Fortunately, he was tough,
big on discipline, big on. He would only get mad
if I didn't give my best effort. Win, lose, draw,
Just give your best effort. So that would be the

(01:05:40):
first one. Definitely molded me into the man I am today.
My second would be Andrew Swasee. He was my strength
coach at the University of Miami. I think Rome you've
heard me talk about him before I had.

Speaker 4 (01:05:56):
He was my dB coach in high school. Yeah, we'll
talk about it later, but I want to interrupt you,
but yeah, keep going on.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
Your so and Andrew sways he was. It was frankly
if I if I was already here as far as
like discipline, sacrifice, et cetera. He put me over the top. Yeah,
so much so. The first time I worked out with him,
he made me throw up. After I threw up, he

(01:06:26):
made me finish the running and he was like, and
you better come back tomorrow and do the same thing
all over again. And so that that guy, he got
me right, He got me right. Third, it's gonna be
my favorite coach.

Speaker 1 (01:06:44):
Joevitt. Joe Vitt was.

Speaker 2 (01:06:47):
A guy that he he knew how to inspire you.
He knew how to get the best out of He
knew how to make you feel like a million bucks.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
And Rome knows what I'm talking about. He when when
you need that little pick.

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
Me up, you know the season is long and you
need just a little pick me up. Joe was that guy.
Joe was that guy, and he was also coach. I
had never met a coach up until that point that
was more loyal to not just me, to the players.

Speaker 1 (01:07:18):
And he would.

Speaker 2 (01:07:19):
When I say he would go to bat for you,
he would fight for you. Never met a guy, never
met a coach at the time. Great human. And then
we talked about Remember I said, like nobody cares about
the coaches and what they go through. Joe's has two
times now, testicular cancer, beat it twice, had torn achilles.

(01:07:41):
Never once, stop coaching, never once, and never once had
an attitude or anything like that. He would come in
and it was like you would never know that he
had anything going on. Best coach, great energy, and that
he coaches tough. He coaches tough. So you know that guy.

Speaker 3 (01:07:59):
He he's ever had another job, no besides coaching football
coach thousand like, yes, that's your job at like twenty
something and.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
He's saw straight through.

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
The Dolphins tried to get him to do a little
front office stuff, No chance. He's a coach through and
through great inspiration. Man, he he's you know when it's like,
what is it? What is it to be a man?

Speaker 1 (01:08:24):
That? That's a guy? That's a guy.

Speaker 2 (01:08:26):
That's a guy, right, because you you can have bad days,
but when people are depending on you, they don't care
about your bad day. They need the best from you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
That was him.

Speaker 2 (01:08:33):
That was Joe number four. Man, it's gonna be Randy Shannon.
He was my defensive coordinator University of Miami. And it's
Randy because he was He was the first coach to
force me, literally forced me.

Speaker 1 (01:08:55):
I'll tell you why.

Speaker 2 (01:08:56):
I forced me to use my brain and not just braun.
And I'll never forget he wasn't he didn't recruit me.
So Greg Cianna recruited me. He came in the next year.
When he comes in, he's watching all the film from
the prior year. I had gotten freshman all Americans, so
I thought I was hot shit right, And so he

(01:09:16):
comes in and he has me come in and watch
film with him, and he's literally like, why are you
doing this? Why are you doing this? Why are you
doing that? He was like, don't you have a three
point five? Yeah, He's like, why do you play so dumb?
I had no answer for it. And he was like,
you too emotionally charged up for these games. He was like,

(01:09:38):
you need to bring it down, because he was like,
I need you to think, I need you to call
my players, I need you to make my checks. You
need to be me on the field. So you need
to bring it down a notch. And he literally was
the one that told me I had to I was
too emotionally repped up.

Speaker 1 (01:09:53):
For a game. I had to take it down. Learn
the game.

Speaker 2 (01:09:57):
He taught me the game, taught me what it is
to look at formations, tendencies, O line, O line splits
everything everything right. So because of him, now my sophomore, junior,
senior year, instead of me just being a guy running
around crazy, it was, oh, this guy knows football. And
I took that into the NFL and I got a

(01:10:19):
Rookie of the Year because it was it was I mean,
obviously my teammates with the Jets and stuff, but I
remember I took so much of what he taught me
on how to watch film on on a daily basis.
The tendencies all carried over and because of that, I
always would tell him, Man, he taught me to be
a smart football player before I was just a dumb
guy just running around.

Speaker 1 (01:10:40):
Yeah. I like that.

Speaker 3 (01:10:43):
Yeah, Man, you got to learn how to be uh.
You can't be Hulk smash you sometimes you got to
be Bruce Banner.

Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
Yeah yeah, Bars, good god Bars.

Speaker 3 (01:10:52):
Well we'll be back in a minute, JV. Man, it
was a pleasure, Bro. I'm glad I got to see you.
I'm glad we got to have you on. Man, this
is an honor. It's gonna be one of my favorite
ones because you know you're my guy. So you're my guy.

Speaker 5 (01:11:04):
Room.

Speaker 1 (01:11:04):
I appreciate it, no doubt. Man. You ready, I've been ready.

Speaker 3 (01:11:07):
All right, man, let's get it. You got to get
out of three oh five. Man, So thank you man
for always tuning in and listening wherever you pick up
your podcast with It's iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts. Make sure you
give us light superiah, subscribe, leave a couple of comments.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
Pean up, man, get us out of here.

Speaker 4 (01:11:24):
Make sure you tell a friend to tell a friend
and check us out on the NFL's YouTube channel, and
you can check us out on that show or on
this show.

Speaker 1 (01:11:32):
I'm peanut timing. That's wrong.

Speaker 4 (01:11:34):
That is my guy JV. And this is the NFL
Player's Second Act podcast and we are out, and we
out Peace,