June 26, 2025 • 17 mins
Stephen Gostkowski joins the show to discuss his induction into the National Polish Sports Hall of Fame, as well as his legendary NFL career playing for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oftentimes in sports, Squee encourage people to experience different things,
see different places. I'm really upset at myself that it
took me as long as it did to experience the
Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in Troy, Michigan. It's
a beautiful display of accomplished athletes in a number of
(00:20):
different sports. It doesn't have to be the four major sports.
And this year there are five inductees, including Steven Gotzkowski,
who won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots
and was a hell of an athlete. And he'll be
inducted and has his speech ready for tonight and he
joins us here on Exus and Boroughs. Stephen, thanks and
appreciate the time this morning. You congratulations to all your success.
(00:44):
How are you today, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me,
you bet. Absolutely. It's amazing to me that in today's
society we have so many people channeling kids in one
sport instead of a broader area. You played a lot
of different sports growing up. You're a hell of a
baseball player, you're an elite soccer player, and you're a
(01:05):
world champion three times over as a football player. Why
was it important for you to experience so many different sports,
and how did it help you in other sports playing
those sports.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I appreciate the question. That's a great question. You know.
I just if there was a ball, or if there
was something I could throw, or I could hit or
I could run after I was obsessed with it when
I was a kid, and it's all I wanted to do.
I'll either play catch or go hit or kick the
soccer ball around. And I just I loved team competition.
(01:37):
I loved, you know, everyone working together to achieve the
same goal. And honestly, the kind of kid I was,
if I would have tried to play one sport in
year round, I would have gotten board with it. Like
I love to change the scenery, I love to change
the competition. And the longer I played more sports, the
more it helped me out. As far as you know,
(01:59):
good footwork in soccer leads to good footwork in other sports.
And how you handle yourself in a pressure situation in
baseball helped me out a lot with kicking or you know,
like when I played baseball in college, Like you know,
you get one start a week as a pitcher. If
you don't do well, you've got to wait a whole
(02:19):
week to get another turn to pitch again. And that's
a lot like playing kicker, Like you don't you don't
get an opportunity but once a week, and you know,
just the hard work, the dedication to practice. I just
I loved it all, and I like the minute one
season was over, I jumped right in the next and
never asked for a break. I just I wanted to
keep going and going and going.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Pretty special when you convert eighty six percent or better
in your career, in a fifteen year career in field
goal attempts, you score close to two thousand points, you're
a three time champion, you're a three time or four
time pro bowler in a three time All Pro and
yet it's not the sport you wanted to be a
professional act You wanted to be a professional baseball player.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Why well, just baseball was my was my first love,
and it's probably what I was the best at right away,
and I just did nothing. Nothing made me feel more
alive than pitching. Just having control, being able to go
out there and strike people out and you know, try
to do what it takes to because when you're the pitcher,
you're like the quarterback of the team. It's it's your day.
(03:25):
It's your team for that day. And I mean I
loved playing center field and hitting this stuff too, but
that was just that was my dream. I didn't really
get into kicking until my freshman year of high school,
and it kind of just fell into my lap. And
it's not nothing I went out to go do. They
just you know, I went out for football, and then
(03:46):
they just asked anybody kick, and I knew I could
kick a soccer ball pretty well, and you know, kind
of fell into my lap to where the first time
I kicked in high school, you know, they I kicked
like five kicks and they asked me to stay after and
I kicked like, you know, twenty kicks in front of
the varsity coach as a I guess I was fourteen
years old, as a ninth grader, and then you know,
(04:09):
I did so well. I was making fifty five yarders
the first time I ever tried to kick. And then
I was playing in the varsity game that Friday night.
So being a freshman on the varsity football team as
a ninth grader and a school with you know, god,
I don't even know how many people at our school,
but we graduated like six hundred people in our class,
(04:29):
so almost two thousand kids big school. I mean that
that was a pretty big deal at the time. So
it started off with a lot of excitement, and you know,
it just it stuck right away. And you know, I
tried to I tried to quit a few times, but
I had a lot of people that that encouraged me,
encouraged me not to. I mean, I was still probably
(04:52):
baseball was still number one, and then soccer was number two,
and then slowly soccer got kind of fizzled out. Then
baseball was one, and football is too. And you know,
the beauty of football in college when I played before
they started getting paid, is you know, if you can
get a scholarship, it's a full, full academic or full ride,
where baseball you only get partial scholarships. So I was
(05:16):
going to play baseball either way. And I got a
you know, a bunch of baseball offers, but you know,
none of them were close to one hundred percent scholarship.
And if I wanted to go to college and not
have to have a ton of money that have to
pay back when I was done, I wanted to play football.
And a lot of people encourage me to continue to
try to play. So that's what I did, and things
(05:38):
just happened to work out a little better. In football.
My kickstop curving and then my curveball stopped curving about
the same time.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I'm sure the Patriots and all the football the decision
for all of Massachusetts and Memphis happy that you chose football.
Because a three time Super Bowl champ Steven Gotzkowski joining us.
He will be inducted into the Polish American Sports Hall
of Fame in Troy later on today. You could argue
that that soccer might have been your best I mean,
you tried out for the US Olympic Development program. Should
(06:08):
have made that team, scoring three goals in front of coaches.
Why didn't you make that team?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, so it was the thing like you make the
team for your state. So I was in the state
of Mississippi, and then you go play against all the
other states in your region. I guess there's like four
or five regions, and then they pick a regional team,
so there's like five regional teams. Then from that that's
how they picked like the national team. So I made
the state team and then I went to go play
(06:36):
in the regional tournament and from that they made the
regional teams and I played the best I'd ever played there,
a bunch of goals. You know, I was playing lights
out on defense and I thought for sure I was
going to make it and end up not getting my
name called for that regional team. And my club soccer
coach was really really upset and was trying to figure
(06:57):
out why, and they pretty much said that I wasn't
dedicated enough of soccer that they wanted guys that soccer
was their number one sport, and I guess they knew
that I had other other things going on, so that
kind of That's one one time where playing too many
sports hurt me. But I think it worked out for
the best. You know, I think there's just something natural
(07:17):
about kicking a football, whether I liked it or not.
Then I had a talent that was undeniable that I mean.
It took a hell of a lot. It was hard
work to get consistent at it, but the natural talent
I had right away was undeniable. So I mean it
worked out in my favor. And also like put another
chip on my shoulder about like having to prove people
wrong all the time, so you know, every little situation
(07:40):
isn't always as dire as it seems.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Fifteen years in the National Football League, I don't care
what position you're playing. That's a hell of a run, right,
You played for Bill Belichick in New England. What was
What are some of the most valuable lessons you learned
winning and losing in big games under a guy like that.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, I mean, well, number one, you just learned how
to be a pro. When I walked in that building,
you know, the core of the team had already won
three Super Bowls with Brady Bruski, Vrabel, Troy Brown, Kevin Falk.
I mean there's countless guys Rodney Harrison that had just
perennial winners, and it was just very easy to just
(08:22):
fall on line. And you know, Bill makes it pretty clear,
like you know, this is the way we do it,
this is our culture, and you just kind of fall
in line. And you know, the position, like mine, you
want to be seen and not heard. So me, I
just tried to show up every day and I proved
my worth, improve my value that I was I could
be dependent on and I could be an asset. And
(08:45):
I never wanted to let them see me get you know,
like too full of myself and I never wanted to
let them see me get too down to myself when
when things went bad. And the thing I appreciate most
about playing for coach Belichick is he has respect for
every position on the field, not like some coaches where
you know, they think special teams is you know, an
(09:06):
afterthought or something that they just have to do, which
you know, the Patriots tried to use special teams as
an advantage as a weapon, whether it was getting every
yard you can on kick off, getting every return yard
you can get. I mean, they had they put so
much into it, and it was evident because we were,
you know, on top of the NFL and probably the
(09:27):
top five almost every year that I was there, which
was was awesome because you know when when when the
coach like that respects you, it trickles down to the
team and they can tell that you're working hard and
that you're provide value to the team, and then they
treat you with more respect. So the crazy thing is
I got the most respect, you know, as a as
(09:47):
a placekicker in the NFL compared to like high school
and college where you know, I got guys, I got
guys like trying to make fun of me when I'm
in high school and I was a you know, all
stayed in three different sports. I'm like, dude, if I
wanted to go play wide receiver over you, I would,
I just no longer want to. I want to play baseball.
So it was it was cool and in that aspect
(10:08):
that you know Bill is. You know, he was just
so smart and such a good leader that everybody listened
to what he had to say every time he had
to say it. And you know, his respect for the
kicking game is unmatched.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I think in the NFL, I'm always amazed not just
the physical attributes of those who play at the highest
level like you did, but the mental fortitude as well.
What goes through your mind when you're lining up a
kick in a Super Bowl or even a kickoff, which
can be a little unnerving for some What do you
think about? Where does your mind go to make sure
(10:43):
you're at ease and you're not feeling those butterflies?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Well, I mean I think you think, I think you
feel butterflies, No matter what I mean. The lead up
to the Super Bowl is very intense, and it's it's
it's two weeks compared to just waiting a week to play,
and you know, even you know, even guys like Tom
Brady getting nervous for the game. And it's I think,
I think you have to be a little more worried
(11:08):
when you feel nothing, because then you're just not focused.
But you know, when you practice so hard and you
you know, dedicate your life to doing the same thing
over and over again, you know that that can give
you a sense of confidence that hey, if I go
out there and I kick five thousand kicks over a
(11:29):
span of a month and I make ninety to ninety
five percent of them when I practice, that should translate
over to the game. So you just have to like
tell yourself, okay, you know that you are you know
you belong to be there, and it's to me, it
was just like a mindset and you know, using pressure
as a privilege, but you have to learn through you know, experience,
(11:51):
like I you know, well, I had a great career.
I still had some mishaps and you know, mishaps and
times where I wouldn't want them to happen, But that's
just life, that's just sports. The things that I'm probably
most proud of in my career is anytime I did
falter or had a you know, a bad kick or
a bad game. I always bounced back, and I usually
(12:13):
bounce back stronger, which you know, sometimes I wish I
didn't put myself in that situation, but I was always
able to mentally find a way to move on, move
past it, learn from it, and you know, just attack
the next play without letting it just completely ruin my confidence.
So I think that's probably what I take the most
(12:34):
ride out of because I mean, it's one of the
easiest jobs in sports when you're doing well, and it's
probably one of the hardest jobs in sports when you're not.
So the tough times you got to really man up
to get over. And I felt like that was probably
the key to me being able to play for as
long as I was, my ability to mentally compartmentalize, you
(12:58):
know the scenario, how much pressure is on you and
you know, me playing for the you know, the one
of the greatest teams in the history of sports for
so long. Like the good part of that is is
you're winning all the time. The bad part is you
never get a break. I mean, it is like high
flying intensity year in year out, and it's it's a
(13:19):
very good problem to have, but you have to have
a lot of a lot of mental and competitive stamina
to keep up with it. And that's you know, that's
what makes you know Brady so special, Like you know,
he won seven Super Bowls and I'm sure if he
could play, he'd want to win eight and then you
want to win nine, and just he never was was
so relentless and never never gave into the complacency of like, oh,
(13:39):
I I've done it, I've made it, I'm a pro bowler,
I'm a champion. Like he would show up the next
day like he had something to prove to everybody, and
that was that was something that kind of the whole
team was like, you know, kind of a bunch of
you know, very well performing underdogs, if I know, kind
of like.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
That you are a one of five and duck these
into the Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in Troy tonight.
What's it mean to you? And why was it important
that you bring your lovely mother who tells some great
stories about her travels and the pride that she has
in you.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Well, I appreciate that, I mean it is it is
very cool. You know, I didn't play sports to win awards.
Like individual awards, while when you get them there they're
they're great. I mean this is a little bit more
unique because it is has to do with you know,
your name, your heritage, which brings a lot of you know,
(14:34):
family pride especially, you know from you know, my aunts,
my uncles, my grandparents, the the people who have Polish
lineage in it. You know, every fan that I met
that was Polish was always like the nicest person in
the world. And you know, I was ever a Patriots
(14:55):
fan and I saw you play and now I'm a
huge fan, or you'd get fan mail, or you get
all the people and just the nicest, most warm, welcoming, funny,
tough people. And to be able to represent them as
a as a Polish American and get honored for a
career that I had is especially And it's a lot
(15:15):
easier to enjoy it now that I'm not playing, and
now that I don't have to worry about, you know,
the next game. I can kind of sit back and
enjoy some of my athletic you know, achievements without feeling like,
you know, weird about it. So I just think it's great.
I feel a lot of gratitude that they would think
(15:36):
of me, and you know, it's hard to grow up
with the name last name like Gaskowski and not people
and people not know you know you're Polish, and especially
living down and moving down to Mississippi where I was
probably the only Polish kid down there where I lived,
you know, you kind of used to picking out in
that way. And I just think that anytime you're in
(15:57):
a sense of community or sense of you know, and
a place where you know people want you there, it's
hard not to want to do it. And this is
a very special event. Everyone that we met last night
was super excited. The other inductees were, you know, we
were all having a great time sharing some stories, and
it was it was a special night last night, and
(16:18):
it's going to be a special night tonight. And I'm
very honored that, you know, the board thought of me
to get me and vote me in, And you know,
I'll gladly accept this honor.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Well, it's well learned, had a hell of a career.
You can understand why they've chosen you and your family
because of you are you represent that Polish American heritage
so well. Genuine is the word that comes to mind
when I think of all the people from last night
and talking with you. Congratulations on all your success, not
(16:50):
just professionally, but family wise as well with your four
beautiful children. Good luck tonight, have some fun and thanks
for the time this morning, Stephen. Have a good day.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I appreciate. Thank you very much
Oftentimes in sports, Squee encourage people to experience different things,
see different places. I'm really upset at myself that it
took me as long as it did to experience the
Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in Troy, Michigan. It's
a beautiful display of accomplished athletes in a number of
(00:20):
different sports. It doesn't have to be the four major sports.
And this year there are five inductees, including Steven Gotzkowski,
who won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots
and was a hell of an athlete. And he'll be
inducted and has his speech ready for tonight and he
joins us here on Exus and Boroughs. Stephen, thanks and
appreciate the time this morning. You congratulations to all your success.
(00:44):
How are you today, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me,
you bet. Absolutely. It's amazing to me that in today's
society we have so many people channeling kids in one
sport instead of a broader area. You played a lot
of different sports growing up. You're a hell of a
baseball player, you're an elite soccer player, and you're a
(01:05):
world champion three times over as a football player. Why
was it important for you to experience so many different sports,
and how did it help you in other sports playing
those sports.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I appreciate the question. That's a great question. You know.
I just if there was a ball, or if there
was something I could throw, or I could hit or
I could run after I was obsessed with it when
I was a kid, and it's all I wanted to do.
I'll either play catch or go hit or kick the
soccer ball around. And I just I loved team competition.
(01:37):
I loved, you know, everyone working together to achieve the
same goal. And honestly, the kind of kid I was,
if I would have tried to play one sport in
year round, I would have gotten board with it. Like
I love to change the scenery, I love to change
the competition. And the longer I played more sports, the
more it helped me out. As far as you know,
(01:59):
good footwork in soccer leads to good footwork in other sports.
And how you handle yourself in a pressure situation in
baseball helped me out a lot with kicking or you know,
like when I played baseball in college, Like you know,
you get one start a week as a pitcher. If
you don't do well, you've got to wait a whole
(02:19):
week to get another turn to pitch again. And that's
a lot like playing kicker, Like you don't you don't
get an opportunity but once a week, and you know,
just the hard work, the dedication to practice. I just
I loved it all, and I like the minute one
season was over, I jumped right in the next and
never asked for a break. I just I wanted to
keep going and going and going.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Pretty special when you convert eighty six percent or better
in your career, in a fifteen year career in field
goal attempts, you score close to two thousand points, you're
a three time champion, you're a three time or four
time pro bowler in a three time All Pro and
yet it's not the sport you wanted to be a
professional act You wanted to be a professional baseball player.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Why well, just baseball was my was my first love,
and it's probably what I was the best at right away,
and I just did nothing. Nothing made me feel more
alive than pitching. Just having control, being able to go
out there and strike people out and you know, try
to do what it takes to because when you're the pitcher,
you're like the quarterback of the team. It's it's your day.
(03:25):
It's your team for that day. And I mean I
loved playing center field and hitting this stuff too, but
that was just that was my dream. I didn't really
get into kicking until my freshman year of high school,
and it kind of just fell into my lap. And
it's not nothing I went out to go do. They
just you know, I went out for football, and then
(03:46):
they just asked anybody kick, and I knew I could
kick a soccer ball pretty well, and you know, kind
of fell into my lap to where the first time
I kicked in high school, you know, they I kicked
like five kicks and they asked me to stay after and
I kicked like, you know, twenty kicks in front of
the varsity coach as a I guess I was fourteen
years old, as a ninth grader, and then you know,
(04:09):
I did so well. I was making fifty five yarders
the first time I ever tried to kick. And then
I was playing in the varsity game that Friday night.
So being a freshman on the varsity football team as
a ninth grader and a school with you know, god,
I don't even know how many people at our school,
but we graduated like six hundred people in our class,
(04:29):
so almost two thousand kids big school. I mean that
that was a pretty big deal at the time. So
it started off with a lot of excitement, and you know,
it just it stuck right away. And you know, I
tried to I tried to quit a few times, but
I had a lot of people that that encouraged me,
encouraged me not to. I mean, I was still probably
(04:52):
baseball was still number one, and then soccer was number two,
and then slowly soccer got kind of fizzled out. Then
baseball was one, and football is too. And you know,
the beauty of football in college when I played before
they started getting paid, is you know, if you can
get a scholarship, it's a full, full academic or full ride,
where baseball you only get partial scholarships. So I was
(05:16):
going to play baseball either way. And I got a
you know, a bunch of baseball offers, but you know,
none of them were close to one hundred percent scholarship.
And if I wanted to go to college and not
have to have a ton of money that have to
pay back when I was done, I wanted to play football.
And a lot of people encourage me to continue to
try to play. So that's what I did, and things
(05:38):
just happened to work out a little better. In football.
My kickstop curving and then my curveball stopped curving about
the same time.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I'm sure the Patriots and all the football the decision
for all of Massachusetts and Memphis happy that you chose football.
Because a three time Super Bowl champ Steven Gotzkowski joining us.
He will be inducted into the Polish American Sports Hall
of Fame in Troy later on today. You could argue
that that soccer might have been your best I mean,
you tried out for the US Olympic Development program. Should
(06:08):
have made that team, scoring three goals in front of coaches.
Why didn't you make that team?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, so it was the thing like you make the
team for your state. So I was in the state
of Mississippi, and then you go play against all the
other states in your region. I guess there's like four
or five regions, and then they pick a regional team,
so there's like five regional teams. Then from that that's
how they picked like the national team. So I made
the state team and then I went to go play
(06:36):
in the regional tournament and from that they made the
regional teams and I played the best I'd ever played there,
a bunch of goals. You know, I was playing lights
out on defense and I thought for sure I was
going to make it and end up not getting my
name called for that regional team. And my club soccer
coach was really really upset and was trying to figure
(06:57):
out why, and they pretty much said that I wasn't
dedicated enough of soccer that they wanted guys that soccer
was their number one sport, and I guess they knew
that I had other other things going on, so that
kind of That's one one time where playing too many
sports hurt me. But I think it worked out for
the best. You know, I think there's just something natural
(07:17):
about kicking a football, whether I liked it or not.
Then I had a talent that was undeniable that I mean.
It took a hell of a lot. It was hard
work to get consistent at it, but the natural talent
I had right away was undeniable. So I mean it
worked out in my favor. And also like put another
chip on my shoulder about like having to prove people
wrong all the time, so you know, every little situation
(07:40):
isn't always as dire as it seems.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Fifteen years in the National Football League, I don't care
what position you're playing. That's a hell of a run, right,
You played for Bill Belichick in New England. What was
What are some of the most valuable lessons you learned
winning and losing in big games under a guy like that.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, I mean, well, number one, you just learned how
to be a pro. When I walked in that building,
you know, the core of the team had already won
three Super Bowls with Brady Bruski, Vrabel, Troy Brown, Kevin Falk.
I mean there's countless guys Rodney Harrison that had just
perennial winners, and it was just very easy to just
(08:22):
fall on line. And you know, Bill makes it pretty clear,
like you know, this is the way we do it,
this is our culture, and you just kind of fall
in line. And you know, the position, like mine, you
want to be seen and not heard. So me, I
just tried to show up every day and I proved
my worth, improve my value that I was I could
be dependent on and I could be an asset. And
(08:45):
I never wanted to let them see me get you know,
like too full of myself and I never wanted to
let them see me get too down to myself when
when things went bad. And the thing I appreciate most
about playing for coach Belichick is he has respect for
every position on the field, not like some coaches where
you know, they think special teams is you know, an
(09:06):
afterthought or something that they just have to do, which
you know, the Patriots tried to use special teams as
an advantage as a weapon, whether it was getting every
yard you can on kick off, getting every return yard
you can get. I mean, they had they put so
much into it, and it was evident because we were,
you know, on top of the NFL and probably the
(09:27):
top five almost every year that I was there, which
was was awesome because you know when when when the
coach like that respects you, it trickles down to the
team and they can tell that you're working hard and
that you're provide value to the team, and then they
treat you with more respect. So the crazy thing is
I got the most respect, you know, as a as
(09:47):
a placekicker in the NFL compared to like high school
and college where you know, I got guys, I got
guys like trying to make fun of me when I'm
in high school and I was a you know, all
stayed in three different sports. I'm like, dude, if I
wanted to go play wide receiver over you, I would,
I just no longer want to. I want to play baseball.
So it was it was cool and in that aspect
(10:08):
that you know Bill is. You know, he was just
so smart and such a good leader that everybody listened
to what he had to say every time he had
to say it. And you know, his respect for the
kicking game is unmatched.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I think in the NFL, I'm always amazed not just
the physical attributes of those who play at the highest
level like you did, but the mental fortitude as well.
What goes through your mind when you're lining up a
kick in a Super Bowl or even a kickoff, which
can be a little unnerving for some What do you
think about? Where does your mind go to make sure
(10:43):
you're at ease and you're not feeling those butterflies?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Well, I mean I think you think, I think you
feel butterflies, No matter what I mean. The lead up
to the Super Bowl is very intense, and it's it's
it's two weeks compared to just waiting a week to play,
and you know, even you know, even guys like Tom
Brady getting nervous for the game. And it's I think,
I think you have to be a little more worried
(11:08):
when you feel nothing, because then you're just not focused.
But you know, when you practice so hard and you
you know, dedicate your life to doing the same thing
over and over again, you know that that can give
you a sense of confidence that hey, if I go
out there and I kick five thousand kicks over a
(11:29):
span of a month and I make ninety to ninety
five percent of them when I practice, that should translate
over to the game. So you just have to like
tell yourself, okay, you know that you are you know
you belong to be there, and it's to me, it
was just like a mindset and you know, using pressure
as a privilege, but you have to learn through you know, experience,
(11:51):
like I you know, well, I had a great career.
I still had some mishaps and you know, mishaps and
times where I wouldn't want them to happen, But that's
just life, that's just sports. The things that I'm probably
most proud of in my career is anytime I did
falter or had a you know, a bad kick or
a bad game. I always bounced back, and I usually
(12:13):
bounce back stronger, which you know, sometimes I wish I
didn't put myself in that situation, but I was always
able to mentally find a way to move on, move
past it, learn from it, and you know, just attack
the next play without letting it just completely ruin my confidence.
So I think that's probably what I take the most
(12:34):
ride out of because I mean, it's one of the
easiest jobs in sports when you're doing well, and it's
probably one of the hardest jobs in sports when you're not.
So the tough times you got to really man up
to get over. And I felt like that was probably
the key to me being able to play for as
long as I was, my ability to mentally compartmentalize, you
(12:58):
know the scenario, how much pressure is on you and
you know, me playing for the you know, the one
of the greatest teams in the history of sports for
so long. Like the good part of that is is
you're winning all the time. The bad part is you
never get a break. I mean, it is like high
flying intensity year in year out, and it's it's a
(13:19):
very good problem to have, but you have to have
a lot of a lot of mental and competitive stamina
to keep up with it. And that's you know, that's
what makes you know Brady so special, Like you know,
he won seven Super Bowls and I'm sure if he
could play, he'd want to win eight and then you
want to win nine, and just he never was was
so relentless and never never gave into the complacency of like, oh,
(13:39):
I I've done it, I've made it, I'm a pro bowler,
I'm a champion. Like he would show up the next
day like he had something to prove to everybody, and
that was that was something that kind of the whole
team was like, you know, kind of a bunch of
you know, very well performing underdogs, if I know, kind
of like.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
That you are a one of five and duck these
into the Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in Troy tonight.
What's it mean to you? And why was it important
that you bring your lovely mother who tells some great
stories about her travels and the pride that she has
in you.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Well, I appreciate that, I mean it is it is
very cool. You know, I didn't play sports to win awards.
Like individual awards, while when you get them there they're
they're great. I mean this is a little bit more
unique because it is has to do with you know,
your name, your heritage, which brings a lot of you know,
(14:34):
family pride especially, you know from you know, my aunts,
my uncles, my grandparents, the the people who have Polish
lineage in it. You know, every fan that I met
that was Polish was always like the nicest person in
the world. And you know, I was ever a Patriots
(14:55):
fan and I saw you play and now I'm a
huge fan, or you'd get fan mail, or you get
all the people and just the nicest, most warm, welcoming, funny,
tough people. And to be able to represent them as
a as a Polish American and get honored for a
career that I had is especially And it's a lot
(15:15):
easier to enjoy it now that I'm not playing, and
now that I don't have to worry about, you know,
the next game. I can kind of sit back and
enjoy some of my athletic you know, achievements without feeling like,
you know, weird about it. So I just think it's great.
I feel a lot of gratitude that they would think
(15:36):
of me, and you know, it's hard to grow up
with the name last name like Gaskowski and not people
and people not know you know you're Polish, and especially
living down and moving down to Mississippi where I was
probably the only Polish kid down there where I lived,
you know, you kind of used to picking out in
that way. And I just think that anytime you're in
(15:57):
a sense of community or sense of you know, and
a place where you know people want you there, it's
hard not to want to do it. And this is
a very special event. Everyone that we met last night
was super excited. The other inductees were, you know, we
were all having a great time sharing some stories, and
it was it was a special night last night, and
(16:18):
it's going to be a special night tonight. And I'm
very honored that, you know, the board thought of me
to get me and vote me in, And you know,
I'll gladly accept this honor.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Well, it's well learned, had a hell of a career.
You can understand why they've chosen you and your family
because of you are you represent that Polish American heritage
so well. Genuine is the word that comes to mind
when I think of all the people from last night
and talking with you. Congratulations on all your success, not
(16:50):
just professionally, but family wise as well with your four
beautiful children. Good luck tonight, have some fun and thanks
for the time this morning, Stephen. Have a good day.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I appreciate. Thank you very much
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