Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are in Nashville, Tennessee. All right, all right away,
bring the.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Juice, Todd.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
It's been a long time coming, a long time coming.
Maybe we got a lot of things to get into,
but we want to talk ball, and you got it
tatt it on you.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I wore the hoodie today. Let's just get right into it.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
That walk on mentality, Yeah, I want to know your
journey first coming out of high school, you decide, Hey,
I'm going to go take this walk on spot ye
at Michigan State.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah, for me, it was a family conversation. I had
other options.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What was your story?
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah, so I literally had so from the smallest town
in Michigan, we had like bring your traptor to school
day you plash So just like you know.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Love that, you could probably relate to that. Love that. Yeah.
So my dad went to.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Michigan State, huge fan, to the point where he helped
work in the recruiting office mail letters after a cruise
when he was there. Grew up going to games, but like,
no one from my talent had ever even played Division
two for ball.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You know, so, uh, this is new will dream like
saying it has a dream come true.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
It's like it's not even it wasn't implosive dream because
like I was compared to like being like I'm going
to be the CEO of Microsoft.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, it's like not even in the realm of possibilities.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
So I was gonna go to the no Division two offers,
no Division one offers, was gonna go to Division II
school and try to play football and baseball.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Baseball was probably better sport, but love football.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
And then literally May of my senior year, right, so
I'm going to school in four months or whatever. Uh.
I called down to the office, right and Division three
coaches came all the time. Called down to the office,
and it's Missigan State's offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And I looked down and I.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Was like and literally it was a new staff, Like
coach Santonio was new and so actually I didn't recognize him.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
And he had like a Spartan helmet on, and I'm.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
In my head, I'm like, well, spartan logos like common, Yeah,
a lot of people obvious like compute Division three. Still
I don't know about it, you know, And he's, you know,
he's like, you know, we got set here by Jackson
High's head coach. Whoes that's the biggest school in Michigan,
and you know, we have a couple of preferred walk
on spots open and I was, I was like, I
(02:17):
took second mistake wrestling, and they coached to Antonio loved
wrestlers because like gritty of course, you know.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And like Michael Chandler walk on like they kind of
he was a wrestler.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Wrestler kind of relate to that. So that's the only
reason I got the opportunity. Opportunity what's crazy is the
only reason they did that. Jackson High kach saw me.
I played guard on offense and I played linebacker on
defense because I was chubby until my senior year, Like
I was non good shape, and I just started crutching
the weights and then I got wore really good shape.
(02:47):
But then I still didn't know how to play any
other position.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And so our tight end didn't show up.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
And I just went to like hang out with the
guys through seven on seven in the summer and we
play all the big schools. Tight end doesn't show up
and I jump in there all of a sudden, I'm
like way more athletic than I used to be. And
I made a couple of one hand and catches and
Michigan State shut up with Jackson and either like, do
you have any guys like for to fill these walkout spots?
And he was like, if you talk to anyone, go
(03:14):
talk to Timing and sitting in the pull land. So like,
if I wanted to just like come to hang with
the team, yeah, like you like you know, you're your
your one conversation meeting one person, one to any.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Away from changing your whole life.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I look at like the decision just to go
with that singular seven and seven for no reason, Like
my life would be vastly different if I did, I
would be sitting here, I would like so many things
wouldn't happen. So you know that's why I like, I'm
sometimes I'm guilty of saying yes to too much stuff
because I really think, like you never know that thing
(03:46):
that's going to change everything for you. Of course, So
so anyways they recommend me, I'll you know, go back
and forth and I'll never forget, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
End to may I get a call that.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
They're gonna offer me to prefer a walkout spot. But
you know, at that point still they're like, I'm so
far out of my element thinking about even going to
Michigan State.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I wasn't that good.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
I was nervous about it, and it wasn't a for
sure thing. Like it was like, you know, everyone in
my town is like's.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Not gonna make it.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I can only imagine this stuff I didn't hear, but right,
and so I remember I had and I still have
it to this day. My mom My mom was a
kindergarten teacher at the time, my parents above teachers. We
made a pros and cogs list stuff with the Division
three school in Michigan State and it was dead even
like the amount of pros and cons. And then the
last thing, the one thing that put it over in
(04:41):
Mischigan State will like will you regret this? And it
was like, you know, when I'm seventy, just heaving the
what if in my head, like I don't think to
live with that. And it's funny because like that's and
I don't know if it's intentional or not, But when
I think about every big decision I've made in my life,
that seems to be the question I always ask myself
because I think, think, if if you can look back
(05:02):
and something doesn't work out anything, you can live with it.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
But the worst is just single.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
What if I gave it up, give me a shot exactly.
And so this seems all really fun and positive up
to this point, and then it came first.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Day of camp, right did you show up in fall camp?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
So everyone's first you know, training all summer even you know,
he guys come in, the recruits come in and fren
and I wasn't like physically good condition, you know, because
I was like more out of nervous energy of just
like I don't want to show up non shape, but
man like driving from my house to slam thing and
(05:41):
I'm the only child and my parents knew kind of
you know, the car.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Rock is sat like the type it's just like nervous
will like shut down.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
And I remember, like I got out of the car.
You know, I started with tackle. He was walking in.
He's got long hair and he's six, Like yeah, and
there's a big difference f an eighteen year old kid
a twenty three year old dude.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
And it was like going through a Division one program.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
And I, you know, throughout the first week, I quickly
realized why I didn't have any offers, Like it's very
apparent these guys are good. Yeah, not only was that
like not as like skilled. I didn't know football, Like
I didn't know schemes. I didn't know coverages. I didn't
understand anything beyond where I should line up.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
And like what I do?
Speaker 4 (06:26):
You know, I didn't have like a broad scope.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah, I didn't know what other people were doing on
the field.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And so the fourth day I called my mom and
I'm like I'm a transfer to the point where they
were like getting transcripts around, you know, like, oh well,
it was rough, and that to this day mentally, that
that first.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Camp was like probably the hardest thing I've ever done,
just because.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Yeah, I hated every day, probably the whole first semester.
You know, like I was like a top ten kid
at school. I did approbation, you know, waking up at
five minm. The lits like it was just a mess.
I was just like I was just not good enough
to be there. But I mean I think the thing
that really like give me confidence was the weight room
(07:12):
and I would just put in an extra time. And
when I got there, we had a pretty bad culture,
Like we had Jonald Smith. We were disaster. They recruited
guys out of pure talent culture, you know. Character was
not like the highest priority, and when I got there
it was almost like, how do we go out the most,
how do we work the least amount we can? And
then by the time we left it was a complete opposite.
(07:34):
Yeah and yeah it was cool. And then so by
the time spring came around out and they moved me
to the end, I was like, oh, I did I
think I can actually like play to the point where
I went from like almost quitting and then coming into
my red shirt. You know, my second year, my retro
presh year coach d came out to me before It's like,
we're gonna give you a chance to like get a
(07:55):
wrap shit and like potentially start. Like I was like,
it's spring Ball was pretty great for me and I
ended up getting hurt the next three years in a row.
So I told my quad, which if you want to
see for it's to this day or with petic surgeons
are like it's gnarly.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So yeah, oh forever you got that on a camera
Like yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
So literally, like we're in summer conditioning. I pulled my quad.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
It wasn't a big deal, and you know, normal pull,
no big deal.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
A couple of weeks out, week before week before camp,
I get out of the shower with I already have
a pull quad.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I slip in like a hurdle stretch position. Just go
boom and slip in the shower. Yes, in my house.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Oh god.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So now I'm like, okay, I'm going into camp. I
want to get a scholarship. Do you an walk on?
I'm like, I'm not gonna tell it. I didn't tell anything.
I've been there to show up. The first day camp,
twenty half gas or tests, right, which is for you know,
twenty times crossfielding back. You know he's seventeen seconds and
you had a thirty five second rest. So we had
(09:03):
a really bad condition. There was tough condisi yeah, and
the muscle I torus my wrecktors to Morris. It's the
only quad that crosses your knee and your hip, so
if I bent over just a little bit, it would
alleviate some of the stress. And I ran the whole
thing and I woke up the next day in my
leg was blue from my hip to my my foot
(09:27):
and had to go tell the training visit. They had
to buy the first paranormaltech buts they're like twenty grand
because they were so afraid it was gonna get blood
clots because this it was crazy and.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Like they didn't even know it was torn like that
because it was so swollen. Wow. And so that was out.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Next year, come back, I'm starting on like our third
down package at the end, pop off, some corligion might
nate knee surgery like the week before camp. And so
three years in Awrow, I just never thought I was
going to play.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
At the point where.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
I was literally walking down the hall with Perk and
I remember it looked at him and being like, you know,
I think I'm gonna have to be done. Yeah, and
like I'm gonna give it one more shot and springball
and you know, Kirk was I mean, Kirk's the best,
and he's like, you know, I'll be praying for you
next practice.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
My knees killing me. I couldn't really like do much.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
And I hit, I hit like this big tackle and
my leg was straight, just want like fang like crap.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I'm like, that's it. That's it, dude, that's that's the end.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
And the kind of hurt it was at the end
of practice, wait up the next day and go to
warm up paint free, like completely pain free. It was crazy,
and so what actually happened is it turned out. The
reason I noticed now is I had a two centimeter
chunk of bone floating at my knee and it was lodging.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
A bad spot.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
And two years ago I had to get it taken
out because it came dislodged. But it just happened to
like go somewhere than affected and ended up from that
moving full back, ended up starting.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
It was like a great point.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Trus backtrack a little bit. I think, first of all,
first camp has a walk on.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It's hard.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I didn't get to do summer training. I got thrown
in first state of fall camp. And me I walked
in there one hundred and forty six pounds, shaved head,
no facial hair at all. Everyone thinks I'm like a
new kicker. And I'm in the receiver room. Everyone's looking
at me. I was the only white boy wide receiver
my whole IVY.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I'm a full back.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So it's like white voice, make noise, my voice, make noise.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
That's my family's credo.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
But like going in and you're doing a drill that
everyone else has been doing, and like we're gonna it's
called patent, you know, pat catch the ball high and
outside I get it, and I'm catching it right here in.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
The coat first rep.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I catch everything.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
And I don't know how they treated the walk Ons,
but like when I started there, the walk Ons were
very disrespected.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
And but and I think you know this, it's kind
of like when you are a walk on and.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Become a dude and earn that scholarly and get respected. Yes,
all you want is respect, as men always wants respect.
So once you could be like, okay, yeah, I'm I'm
I'm the smaller guy in the room. I'm maybe I'm
the white boy whatever, but like, okay, this guy's cooking
a few guys.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
He can hold his zight, can kind of run block it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Now it's like everyone wants not to say be your friend,
but I'm a sociable guy and being a hometown boy.
Like my parents they went eleven years straight having one.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Of their sons playing president State.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
So they'd host Christmas, there'd be ten guys, Thanksgiving there'd
be fifty guys.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Eastern fourth of July. Don't go anywhere, you're going to
the Dlaina household.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
And like they'd always host and a lot of time,
these guys they won't get a home cooked meal for
a long period of time, so this dynamics continue to
grow and grow.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
But that first of all, camp as a walk on
is very tough.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
And if I go to air I'm going to airport.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Later, If I'm at the Chili's bar and I meet
a guy he tells me he played college ball out
of the gate, my respect level that's a neutral goes
up a little bit because I know.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You went through a fall camp. You must have some
sort of right, dude.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, it's tough, it's it's yeah. I mean it's also
back then, man, you.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Know, to to day what you're what you're do, graduated
and two days, yeah, twenty nineteen, but I had two
days my first two years.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Yes, it was like the combination of like one trying
mine the playbooking genial. Like so it's not only like
you're worse than everyone, you're smaller, you don't know anyone,
like iood one black guy in my high school. Also
not walking in mister state, I'm like WHOA, Like this
is different.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And then uh, you know, just like.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
The mental fatigue of like and it basically like just
exhausted because then you run scouts, you know, you're running
off on twenty kickoffs, a.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Practice, yellow cap all that. Yeah, I was definitely homesick,
you know, like I was. It was a grind, but.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Camp and he said, okay, the physical side of its tough.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Second practice of the day, putting pads on, a cleats.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
On, they're still wet.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
It's the worst walking back down to the field with
wet pads.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
But the cleats might have been worse, so bad blisters.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I need a fresh pair of socks, I need something.
But the mental side and they don't really talk about
camp because okay, you got your meeting. You've got meetings
after that second practice and then it's like, oh, we
have a guest speaker at nine pm tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
And by day I always hold you like my Buddi's
in me joke that played ball? Yo, how's warp right now?
I'm like, it's feeling like day eleven. A fall came.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
It's feeling like day feel like day eleven.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Our running back coast would come up every day on
the board and he was cool because he would have
like called out he drew like a phenomena, right, and
he'd be like, all right, where are you to give
either Every day everyone would put the line of.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Like how much they give it because some days you
were like it was surviving.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Well, you your beat and it's hard, but once you're
through it, it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
And I think there's a lot of coaches that are like, hey,
this is probably better to take care of our guys.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Like we were a very good team.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
One deep, maybe one in a few positions too deep,
but that's espresso state for you.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Right.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
So there was a lot of waste of energy of
just like you know you you you're so like mentally
burned out that like you think you don't get much
out of those practices when nobody's like dial then so
I do not.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
People like do you miss like you miss it? I'm like,
I don't. I don't miss camp. Nothing about camp nothing. See,
I'm opposite.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I'm psycho. I you mentioned the weight room earlier.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I knew my edge was the weight room and conditioning.
I loved having a high, really good recruited guy come
in and being like, yo, while you in the why
you while you back in the line on the gas
for ladder in this or we would do winter ball
like competitions, tuggle war.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So I'm like, hey, we're up, let's go home.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
On right, now me and you and the kind of
having that like you're not gonna make me tap.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
There's six three and they run a four to fourth,
so what are you gonna do? But it's always about
controlling the controllable. And I do believe that.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
You know, people say it's eighty percent physical twenty percent
or eighty percent mental twenty percent physical.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I think it's more like ninety five five.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, oh yeah, I mean in the great because well
you can't have one without the other, like of.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Course, like like you gotta be good even if.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
The mental's ten, it's a ten percent that if it's
if it's not there, it's you're done, you're dood.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It's almost like a Burier entry exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
The my senior year, you know, like dudes would always
go out and stuff. Usually my senior year, our weight
room culture was like so heavy that we did a
weight room crawl, so like Kirk, like all the all
the guys instead of doing a bark all.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
We got all these protein drugs shakes.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
We went to every single weight room and gym in
these plans, thing like ten different ones and when it
did a different body part of every plunging between Yeah,
that we went to the i M buildings had ass
jam like every single gym and we recorded it and
it was like the sickest day.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Through the injuries, people don't understand, like there's two sides
to an injury.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Okay, you you're caught up. That sucks.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I gotta do rehab. I'm out. But it's the mental
side where.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
You go in and uh, hey, I'm gonna walk on.
It's my time to shine. Coaches are talking good about me.
I had a good spring ball all this, and it's
like it's very hard. You go through some we call
it our our dark days, our dark days, and like
I'd have some some dark days where you know you're
(17:49):
climbing up the depth chart and things are looking good
and coaches are talking about scholarships and you played special
teams last year and it's like this is your time
to get reps.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
But now all of a sudden, your hamstrings.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
To the view and you try to push and push
and push. But there is a difference between being hurt
and being injured, and eventually you hit a point like
being a.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Fat I had to rely on my speed, Like if
I don't have speed, I'm nothing. I'm nothing, and like,
I think.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Learning how to cope in my injuries of I'm sidelined,
I need to stay positive, I need to get my
mentals right. I learned a lot about myself at ages
eighteen through twenty two because those situations came up.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
We had a coaching change, and the new coach came in.
He cut twenty six players.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Scholarship walk on, it didn't matter, so you got to
We had the season. We had our season at one
and eleven, worst ever in the program history. Coach comes in,
We go through spring and he's cutting these new players.
He's cutting twenty six guys.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
I'm meetings are lined up Monday through.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Friday, seven am to six pm. My appointment is Friday
night at six pm. I'm the last meeting. Everyone's coming
out crying ahead of me. I got my meeting.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Was at seven.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
I got there at six. There are fifteen minute increments.
Everyone comes out crying, cut, cut cut. I'm like, I'm done,
I'm done right.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
And I go all right, this is it. This sucks.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
And at this point I'm just thinking, like, what is
my how am I gonna sell myself right?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
What's my rebuttal gonna be?
Speaker 1 (19:29):
I sit down. Coach Tedford, great guy, love the man.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Where's there now? Retired?
Speaker 3 (19:35):
He had a he coached Rogers. Marshall Lenz who's at
cow Forever, came to Fresco State where he played football.
We destroyed and he's retired. He has some hard stuff whatever.
So I sit down, as I told you, my family's
owned farmers. He goes, so, uh, Frankie, how's the family?
And I'm like, they're good, you know. And at this point,
(19:58):
my youngest brother, my middle brother, is getting recruited. He's
way better at football than I am.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
And I'm like they're good. Yeah, yeah, they're good.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
He's like, so you guys form onions right. I'm like, yes,
I've brought him onions. I always bring the coaches onions.
He's like, why do people plant palm trees in between
their fields? Sometimes that's something they do in California.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
No idea why? I have no idea the answer to
this question. With that question, well, on his drive to
his beach house, I think he passes them a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
So I'm like, I really don't know, coach.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
He sits there for about ten seconds, he goes, he goes,
we need you hereues, we need you he goes, I'm
not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
You're probably the guy we.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Should cut, but we need you your culture.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
You're a glue guy. You're great in the locker room,
you have opportunities, you're a good football player. You represent
our culture that we want to enable here. Keep doing
what you're doing. You're gonna stick around ever, right, And
you know, immediately after.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
That and my freshman year, I played as a freshman,
I'm bald, and I was promised to scholar you the
coach got canned, and coach told me like, hey, you know,
I can't give you your scholarship.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You need to show me something. He needs to show
you something. Well, I ended up coming back.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I had a good year, and he reimbursed me for
the year that I was supposed to conspecial.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I bet my wife's I bought my wife's wedding ring
with that twelve thousand dollars.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
It was awesome, right, But going through those mental sides
of being hurt and climbing the depth chart and now
it's not only you hurt and sideline, it's someone else
is getting your reps.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
They're taking your spot, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
And it's hard because when you're in a position room.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
They actually moved me over in front of my roommate. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Yeah, they're your usually your friends.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Yeah, and it's not yeah like NFL, it's like it's
a business. But in that setting is a lot of overlapping.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
A lot of overlap.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
You're your boys, these are your guys, man, So tell
me about the mental side, Like what got you through
those injuries? What did you lean on, what did you
what did you kind of implement?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
What's a tool you put in toolbox? Man?
Speaker 4 (22:04):
I never forget like my worst moment, like my you know,
the year I was going to play a lot I had.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I had knee surgery three days before the first game, and.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
I wanted to come to the game right but they
didn't want me to stand up that long and I
couldn't be on the sideline during the game if I
got hit sure, and so I ended up they were like,
you should go home. So I came, came from warm
ups and I had to leave. And never forget, like
my parents came to me up. But like I was,
you know, crutching away from the stadium as kifftop happened,
(22:36):
and I could hear it by myself, you know, outside
of the stadium. I game day, it's just a ghost
town because everyone's in and it was like a movie.
I remember like crushing away and hearing everything and like
I'm like, I'm never gonna play it, you know, like that,
like it's been three years and then the everyone's run
in the mouth and it was just so heavy. But
(22:57):
you know, in some sense like yet, like I don't know, man,
Like I just think that up until that point, going
through so much and being a walk on and kind
of feeling like every single step is like per people along,
it was almost like there was never a thought of
not continuing to press it it. I don't know, I
just never went to a place of like I'm gonna stop,
(23:20):
or like this isn't worth it.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It was.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
I think it's because it meant so much like when
you're something that you like, you'll data field, you know.
So my wife is an Olympic swimmer, and they did
a study. It was like seventy percent I don't know,
maybe eight son Olympians would if they knew they were
going to die within the next five years, they would
they would take a gold medal as a trade of that,
(23:43):
ye Like, so I think it's rare in life where
you found something that like you're willing to do anything
for it.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
If that happens, I don't you know, you will do anything.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
I don't think it actually like it's it's hard looking back,
but like when you care about something so much, you
just nothing really is like derails you. One thing I
did do, which was it turned out to actually be
like really helpful. Is I like, you know, from a
culture perspective, I tried to get super involved and so
I actually asked if I could, if I could do
(24:13):
the defensive signals. So instead of like just sitting around
there practice, I ended up being like a live signal
call where I literally dressed up in full coaches gear,
which I don't even know if it was legal or not,
but like I was the guy doing all the defensive
signals and I learned so much.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
About the game. Oh my god, Yeah, I goes.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
I heard some crazy stuff on the headsets already said
that I'm like, you would be cancer, you would be
fired tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
I love this coach I do. He was now a fit,
but he said he was wild. But yeah, I think
like just I.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Don't know, man, like, like as hard as it was,
I think having the right guys around you, and like
being part of the team.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
People pick you up without even like being aware of it.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And if you're in the right environment, you just keep
pushing forward and you want to be part of it.
And and so I think sometimes like even post sport,
it's like trying to find something that you care about
it not for it happens like that, it doesn't be
really because if you don't care that lock, Like like
if I didn't really care about playing Michigan State, like
if it wasn't my dream to play there, right, they
would have probably been a different story.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah, like same probably with you.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I might like I said that was the goal.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Yeah, our coach was like thinking about that, you're crying
in the or not everyone crying.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
In the meetings?
Speaker 4 (25:27):
Go stant Downy was like the most intimidating dude. Like
my like I would be, we'd be nervous to like
walk down the hall like like for test years because
he came in and had to like reset the culture.
And then like so my sophomore year, I remember, did
you guys have redlock like get red locked? So we
(25:48):
called it getting red locked if you got suspended, they
would literally put a red lock on your locker and
you couldn't get your stuff and like you're when you
were suspended. So like I came in, uh my third year,
and I had a red lock on my locker, me
and my roommate and they said and there was a
(26:08):
letterhead Coach Antonio see Coach Antonio twelve pm sharp.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
And I was like, first off, I'm like I had
the same letter, same thing.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
We're like we do like we're walking on, we do
everything right, you know, Like what then you start thinking like, well,
I went to that one party or I went to
the ball you know what.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Did I do? Someone take a picture and someone's like
it's April fool. Stay, someone's probably messing with you. And
I'm like, okay, we'll see.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
And then coach Enos came in, who was like a
running backs coach, and we're like, hey, it's like coach d.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Like what's going on.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
He's like, uh, He's like I'm done Coach d Antonio
for a long time and that's found that and he
was like that's his handwriting for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
And I was like, dude, am I about to get
kicked off the team?
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Right? And so we we go up to his office
and he's like, all right, guys, come in. He's like
sit down, and we're like okay. And we were known
as like the meatheads. Yeah, we would lift all the time.
We took all the supplements for the strongest guys. He
was like, guys, there's a lot of accusations going around
campus about performance enhancing drugs and steroids and all this stuff.
(27:13):
So we're gonna suspend you guys for Spring Bowl. We're
gonna get you drug tested. I'm gonna do a press
conference about it, and then if everything comes back clean,
you'll be good to go.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
And I was like.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
What, Like, well, from who is that people that I
am west that you know? People you know, like there's
a lot of noise around campus and we have to
look about it. And I'm like, so, I'm gonna call
your parents so I know what's going on. I'm like
so to my my roommate kind of starts freaking out
like like and not like kind of like like nervous.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I d started to get like, I'm like, you're gonna
call our parents. We're getting accused of like my steroids.
What are you are you talking about?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
People just say stuff and you have to like and
he's like I'm gonna call your parents and let him
know what's going on, and like super starn and I
was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So he gets up and walks behind.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Now later he tells me that he was trying to
stop laughing because our senior fullback had set this whole
thing up, like all the coaches think about it.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And so he comes back and he's like nothing else
to say.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
We'll get the drug tests up this week and we'll
see We'll see, you know, in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And so we leave and we're like, oh my gosh, dude,
this is like what what do we do?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
And so my roommate calls his dad and his dad's like,
go back, I want to talk to you know, cas Antonia.
When we walk in and all the coaches staff, he's like
cracking up, and I was like, you guys suck. The
worst is that, Like those ten minutes were like like
I couldn't.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Oh you're only two hundred yeah, and uh yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
He set the whole thing up, and like he and
he's the last coacher we ever played, Joe Benny, So
it was just like out of left field.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, So I was my April Fools. So I text
him every April Fools that I thought he was gonna
say he was gonna give you a scholarship. Now, how
the scholarship happened pretty low key.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Yeah, I was like, you know, starting on our some
packages and then they just called me in like two
days four first game, and hey, it was kind of
before like social media, so there wasn't.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Like a Floyd to God.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
There wasn't like a big like I feel like now
people recorded and.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
They try to make it like fun, and it wasn't
really it. He's just awesome.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
He's just like he's like it's game week, like we're
not gonna mess around with that stuff.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
But he did some.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Crazy he was he would do like some fun motivational stuff.
I mean, the craziest story. It never really got out,
and I don't know how. But my senior year, we
played Georgia in the Capitol One Bowl and the whole
week he was playing the Muhammad Ali speech.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
It's like I wrestled now he I will right like
over and over.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
He used to do like funny like motivational stuff kind
of and the whole way we're playing this set, we'll
play the same.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
And luckily we had a couple of injuries.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
So this it was our last practice, last practice ever,
actually my last college practice ever. And so no media
was allowed in because of the injury, thank god. And
so he plays the speech one more time and we
all bring together stand the practice. He was like, what's that.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
We look over in the field next to us.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
There's like a twelve foot alligator in the field.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Next alligator. We're in Tampa, Florida.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
Now they hired this is set up yeah out there,
which no, that was that was after our videos after that.
But so this guy takes off at the field with
a helmet on shoulder pass.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
It was the out there.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
It was a guy they hired take off and we
all kind of chased after him, and we kind of
catch on like, oh, this guy's on our team. He's
gonna go grab this alligator. Gets up to the alligator,
grabs its tail like whips, his tail slips, Elliot turns
round smashes his knee, clam like damn on his knee.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
The dude's knees in the alligators. Now we're all around.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
This is not scripted, not no, this was not supposed
to happen. Like Bluzz's running down this guy's leg. The
other guy that came with him like jumps on, puts
these like things around his teeth and is trying to
like pry open the mouth, and he was stuck there
for like five minutes.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
He's just washing calm.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Because if the thing starts rolling, it's whipped his leg off.
So we're all like standing there, nobody knows what to do.
Like everyone's like kind of panic but just watching and
we had to just literally five full minutes.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
And eventually the thing let go.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
So he gets up, bluzz running down his leg right,
and he's like, oh, I'm good whatever whatever.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
So we go in the locker room. It's crazy.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
This guy's like, we know we have six docks on staff.
They're like you want us to like stitch you up
or whatever, because like there's a huge gases. He's like
he's like he literally worked for it, and it's like I fight, mma,
this is no big deal.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Some bleach and it.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Cutes it or were like disinfected spray. So he takes it,
dips it in this disinfectant and he like goes to
clan out and it like literally like goes like into
his knee, passes out, smashed his head on the ground,
full ambulance had to come go to the hospital, Like
and nobody, no news story, I ever picked it up.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Your coach, it's like the alligator out there as a prank.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Though, no, it was he hired an alligator wrestler and
it was wrong.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
And the alligator wrestler he said he'd never done it
on dirt before, and so he slipped and he's it's
never happened for and yeah, he almost got eaten in
front of the Vesigan State football the whole Yeah, there's
have to practice.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
And it was if the media would have been there,
like it would have been insanity. That's crazy video of it. Yeah,
it was nuts. And but I don't know, like it
didn't seem like a bigger deal of the time.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
But after talking to because after he was like pooking
his pants because he was like if this guy like dies,
what are we gonna do? You know, like we don't
just look bad, look so we gave him like sideline pass.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
He's like chubs from how he get of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I love that. Yeah, wow, wow,
We are in Nashville, Tennessee. All right, all right away,
bring the.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Juice, Todd.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
It's been a long time coming, a long time coming.
Maybe we got a lot of things to get into,
but we want to talk ball, and you got it
tatt it on you.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I wore the hoodie today. Let's just get right into it.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
That walk on mentality, Yeah, I want to know your
journey first coming out of high school, you decide, Hey,
I'm going to go take this walk on spot ye
at Michigan State.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah, for me, it was a family conversation. I had
other options.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What was your story?
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah, so I literally had so from the smallest town
in Michigan, we had like bring your traptor to school
day you plash So just like you know.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Love that, you could probably relate to that. Love that. Yeah.
So my dad went to.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Michigan State, huge fan, to the point where he helped
work in the recruiting office mail letters after a cruise
when he was there. Grew up going to games, but like,
no one from my talent had ever even played Division
two for ball.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You know, so, uh, this is new will dream like
saying it has a dream come true.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
It's like it's not even it wasn't implosive dream because
like I was compared to like being like I'm going
to be the CEO of Microsoft.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, it's like not even in the realm of possibilities.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
So I was gonna go to the no Division two offers,
no Division one offers, was gonna go to Division II
school and try to play football and baseball.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Baseball was probably better sport, but love football.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
And then literally May of my senior year, right, so
I'm going to school in four months or whatever. Uh.
I called down to the office, right and Division three
coaches came all the time. Called down to the office,
and it's Missigan State's offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And I looked down and I.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Was like and literally it was a new staff, Like
coach Santonio was new and so actually I didn't recognize him.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
And he had like a Spartan helmet on, and I'm.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
In my head, I'm like, well, spartan logos like common, Yeah,
a lot of people obvious like compute Division three. Still
I don't know about it, you know, And he's, you know,
he's like, you know, we got set here by Jackson
High's head coach. Whoes that's the biggest school in Michigan,
and you know, we have a couple of preferred walk
on spots open and I was, I was like, I
(02:17):
took second mistake wrestling, and they coached to Antonio loved
wrestlers because like gritty of course, you know.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And like Michael Chandler walk on like they kind of
he was a wrestler.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Wrestler kind of relate to that. So that's the only
reason I got the opportunity. Opportunity what's crazy is the
only reason they did that. Jackson High kach saw me.
I played guard on offense and I played linebacker on
defense because I was chubby until my senior year, Like
I was non good shape, and I just started crutching
the weights and then I got wore really good shape.
(02:47):
But then I still didn't know how to play any
other position.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And so our tight end didn't show up.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
And I just went to like hang out with the
guys through seven on seven in the summer and we
play all the big schools. Tight end doesn't show up
and I jump in there all of a sudden, I'm
like way more athletic than I used to be. And
I made a couple of one hand and catches and
Michigan State shut up with Jackson and either like, do
you have any guys like for to fill these walkout spots?
And he was like, if you talk to anyone, go
(03:14):
talk to Timing and sitting in the pull land. So like,
if I wanted to just like come to hang with
the team, yeah, like you like you know, you're your
your one conversation meeting one person, one to any.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Away from changing your whole life.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I look at like the decision just to go
with that singular seven and seven for no reason, Like
my life would be vastly different if I did, I
would be sitting here, I would like so many things
wouldn't happen. So you know that's why I like, I'm
sometimes I'm guilty of saying yes to too much stuff
because I really think, like you never know that thing
(03:46):
that's going to change everything for you. Of course, So
so anyways they recommend me, I'll you know, go back
and forth and I'll never forget, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
End to may I get a call that.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
They're gonna offer me to prefer a walkout spot. But
you know, at that point still they're like, I'm so
far out of my element thinking about even going to
Michigan State.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I wasn't that good.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
I was nervous about it, and it wasn't a for
sure thing. Like it was like, you know, everyone in
my town is like's.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Not gonna make it.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I can only imagine this stuff I didn't hear, but right,
and so I remember I had and I still have
it to this day. My mom My mom was a
kindergarten teacher at the time, my parents above teachers. We
made a pros and cogs list stuff with the Division
three school in Michigan State and it was dead even
like the amount of pros and cons. And then the
last thing, the one thing that put it over in
(04:41):
Mischigan State will like will you regret this? And it
was like, you know, when I'm seventy, just heaving the
what if in my head, like I don't think to
live with that. And it's funny because like that's and
I don't know if it's intentional or not, But when
I think about every big decision I've made in my life,
that seems to be the question I always ask myself
because I think, think, if if you can look back
(05:02):
and something doesn't work out anything, you can live with it.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
But the worst is just single.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
What if I gave it up, give me a shot exactly.
And so this seems all really fun and positive up
to this point, and then it came first.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Day of camp, right did you show up in fall camp?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
So everyone's first you know, training all summer even you know,
he guys come in, the recruits come in and fren
and I wasn't like physically good condition, you know, because
I was like more out of nervous energy of just
like I don't want to show up non shape, but
man like driving from my house to slam thing and
(05:41):
I'm the only child and my parents knew kind of
you know, the car.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Rock is sat like the type it's just like nervous
will like shut down.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
And I remember, like I got out of the car.
You know, I started with tackle. He was walking in.
He's got long hair and he's six, Like yeah, and
there's a big difference f an eighteen year old kid
a twenty three year old dude.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
And it was like going through a Division one program.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
And I, you know, throughout the first week, I quickly
realized why I didn't have any offers, Like it's very
apparent these guys are good. Yeah, not only was that
like not as like skilled. I didn't know football, Like
I didn't know schemes. I didn't know coverages. I didn't
understand anything beyond where I should line up.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
And like what I do?
Speaker 4 (06:26):
You know, I didn't have like a broad scope.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah, I didn't know what other people were doing on
the field.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And so the fourth day I called my mom and
I'm like I'm a transfer to the point where they
were like getting transcripts around, you know, like, oh well,
it was rough, and that to this day mentally, that
that first.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Camp was like probably the hardest thing I've ever done,
just because.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Yeah, I hated every day, probably the whole first semester.
You know, like I was like a top ten kid
at school. I did approbation, you know, waking up at
five minm. The lits like it was just a mess.
I was just like I was just not good enough
to be there. But I mean I think the thing
that really like give me confidence was the weight room
(07:12):
and I would just put in an extra time. And
when I got there, we had a pretty bad culture,
Like we had Jonald Smith. We were disaster. They recruited
guys out of pure talent culture, you know. Character was
not like the highest priority, and when I got there
it was almost like, how do we go out the most,
how do we work the least amount we can? And
then by the time we left it was a complete opposite.
(07:34):
Yeah and yeah it was cool. And then so by
the time spring came around out and they moved me
to the end, I was like, oh, I did I
think I can actually like play to the point where
I went from like almost quitting and then coming into
my red shirt. You know, my second year, my retro
presh year coach d came out to me before It's like,
we're gonna give you a chance to like get a
(07:55):
wrap shit and like potentially start. Like I was like,
it's spring Ball was pretty great for me and I
ended up getting hurt the next three years in a row.
So I told my quad, which if you want to
see for it's to this day or with petic surgeons
are like it's gnarly.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So yeah, oh forever you got that on a camera
Like yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
So literally, like we're in summer conditioning. I pulled my quad.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
It wasn't a big deal, and you know, normal pull,
no big deal.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
A couple of weeks out, week before week before camp,
I get out of the shower with I already have
a pull quad.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I slip in like a hurdle stretch position. Just go
boom and slip in the shower. Yes, in my house.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Oh god.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So now I'm like, okay, I'm going into camp. I
want to get a scholarship. Do you an walk on?
I'm like, I'm not gonna tell it. I didn't tell anything.
I've been there to show up. The first day camp,
twenty half gas or tests, right, which is for you know,
twenty times crossfielding back. You know he's seventeen seconds and
you had a thirty five second rest. So we had
(09:03):
a really bad condition. There was tough condisi yeah, and
the muscle I torus my wrecktors to Morris. It's the
only quad that crosses your knee and your hip, so
if I bent over just a little bit, it would
alleviate some of the stress. And I ran the whole
thing and I woke up the next day in my
leg was blue from my hip to my my foot
(09:27):
and had to go tell the training visit. They had
to buy the first paranormaltech buts they're like twenty grand
because they were so afraid it was gonna get blood
clots because this it was crazy and.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Like they didn't even know it was torn like that
because it was so swollen. Wow. And so that was out.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Next year, come back, I'm starting on like our third
down package at the end, pop off, some corligion might
nate knee surgery like the week before camp. And so
three years in Awrow, I just never thought I was
going to play.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
At the point where.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
I was literally walking down the hall with Perk and
I remember it looked at him and being like, you know,
I think I'm gonna have to be done. Yeah, and
like I'm gonna give it one more shot and springball
and you know, Kirk was I mean, Kirk's the best,
and he's like, you know, I'll be praying for you
next practice.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
My knees killing me. I couldn't really like do much.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
And I hit, I hit like this big tackle and
my leg was straight, just want like fang like crap.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I'm like, that's it. That's it, dude, that's that's the end.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
And the kind of hurt it was at the end
of practice, wait up the next day and go to
warm up paint free, like completely pain free. It was crazy,
and so what actually happened is it turned out. The
reason I noticed now is I had a two centimeter
chunk of bone floating at my knee and it was lodging.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
A bad spot.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
And two years ago I had to get it taken
out because it came dislodged. But it just happened to
like go somewhere than affected and ended up from that
moving full back, ended up starting.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
It was like a great point.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Trus backtrack a little bit. I think, first of all,
first camp has a walk on.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It's hard.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I didn't get to do summer training. I got thrown
in first state of fall camp. And me I walked
in there one hundred and forty six pounds, shaved head,
no facial hair at all. Everyone thinks I'm like a
new kicker. And I'm in the receiver room. Everyone's looking
at me. I was the only white boy wide receiver
my whole IVY.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I'm a full back.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So it's like white voice, make noise, my voice, make noise.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
That's my family's credo.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
But like going in and you're doing a drill that
everyone else has been doing, and like we're gonna it's
called patent, you know, pat catch the ball high and
outside I get it, and I'm catching it right here in.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
The coat first rep.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I catch everything.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
And I don't know how they treated the walk Ons,
but like when I started there, the walk Ons were
very disrespected.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
And but and I think you know this, it's kind
of like when you are a walk on and.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Become a dude and earn that scholarly and get respected. Yes,
all you want is respect, as men always wants respect.
So once you could be like, okay, yeah, I'm I'm
I'm the smaller guy in the room. I'm maybe I'm
the white boy whatever, but like, okay, this guy's cooking
a few guys.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
He can hold his zight, can kind of run block it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Now it's like everyone wants not to say be your friend,
but I'm a sociable guy and being a hometown boy.
Like my parents they went eleven years straight having one.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Of their sons playing president State.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
So they'd host Christmas, there'd be ten guys, Thanksgiving there'd
be fifty guys.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Eastern fourth of July. Don't go anywhere, you're going to
the Dlaina household.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
And like they'd always host and a lot of time,
these guys they won't get a home cooked meal for
a long period of time, so this dynamics continue to
grow and grow.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
But that first of all, camp as a walk on
is very tough.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
And if I go to air I'm going to airport.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Later, If I'm at the Chili's bar and I meet
a guy he tells me he played college ball out
of the gate, my respect level that's a neutral goes
up a little bit because I know.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You went through a fall camp. You must have some
sort of right, dude.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, it's tough, it's it's yeah. I mean it's also
back then, man, you.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Know, to to day what you're what you're do, graduated
and two days, yeah, twenty nineteen, but I had two
days my first two years.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Yes, it was like the combination of like one trying
mine the playbooking genial. Like so it's not only like
you're worse than everyone, you're smaller, you don't know anyone,
like iood one black guy in my high school. Also
not walking in mister state, I'm like WHOA, Like this
is different.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And then uh, you know, just like.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
The mental fatigue of like and it basically like just
exhausted because then you run scouts, you know, you're running
off on twenty kickoffs, a.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Practice, yellow cap all that. Yeah, I was definitely homesick,
you know, like I was. It was a grind, but.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Camp and he said, okay, the physical side of its tough.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Second practice of the day, putting pads on, a cleats.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
On, they're still wet.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
It's the worst walking back down to the field with
wet pads.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
But the cleats might have been worse, so bad blisters.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I need a fresh pair of socks, I need something.
But the mental side and they don't really talk about
camp because okay, you got your meeting. You've got meetings
after that second practice and then it's like, oh, we
have a guest speaker at nine pm tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
And by day I always hold you like my Buddi's
in me joke that played ball? Yo, how's warp right now?
I'm like, it's feeling like day eleven. A fall came.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
It's feeling like day feel like day eleven.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Our running back coast would come up every day on
the board and he was cool because he would have
like called out he drew like a phenomena, right, and
he'd be like, all right, where are you to give
either Every day everyone would put the line of.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Like how much they give it because some days you
were like it was surviving.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Well, you your beat and it's hard, but once you're
through it, it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
And I think there's a lot of coaches that are like, hey,
this is probably better to take care of our guys.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Like we were a very good team.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
One deep, maybe one in a few positions too deep,
but that's espresso state for you.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Right.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
So there was a lot of waste of energy of
just like you know you you you're so like mentally
burned out that like you think you don't get much
out of those practices when nobody's like dial then so
I do not.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
People like do you miss like you miss it? I'm like,
I don't. I don't miss camp. Nothing about camp nothing. See,
I'm opposite.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I'm psycho. I you mentioned the weight room earlier.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I knew my edge was the weight room and conditioning.
I loved having a high, really good recruited guy come
in and being like, yo, while you in the why
you while you back in the line on the gas
for ladder in this or we would do winter ball
like competitions, tuggle war.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So I'm like, hey, we're up, let's go home.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
On right, now me and you and the kind of
having that like you're not gonna make me tap.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
There's six three and they run a four to fourth,
so what are you gonna do? But it's always about
controlling the controllable. And I do believe that.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
You know, people say it's eighty percent physical twenty percent
or eighty percent mental twenty percent physical.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I think it's more like ninety five five.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, oh yeah, I mean in the great because well
you can't have one without the other, like of.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Course, like like you gotta be good even if.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
The mental's ten, it's a ten percent that if it's
if it's not there, it's you're done, you're dood.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It's almost like a Burier entry exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
The my senior year, you know, like dudes would always
go out and stuff. Usually my senior year, our weight
room culture was like so heavy that we did a
weight room crawl, so like Kirk, like all the all
the guys instead of doing a bark all.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
We got all these protein drugs shakes.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
We went to every single weight room and gym in
these plans, thing like ten different ones and when it
did a different body part of every plunging between Yeah,
that we went to the i M buildings had ass
jam like every single gym and we recorded it and
it was like the sickest day.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Through the injuries, people don't understand, like there's two sides
to an injury.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Okay, you you're caught up. That sucks.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I gotta do rehab. I'm out. But it's the mental
side where.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
You go in and uh, hey, I'm gonna walk on.
It's my time to shine. Coaches are talking good about me.
I had a good spring ball all this, and it's
like it's very hard. You go through some we call
it our our dark days, our dark days, and like
I'd have some some dark days where you know you're
(17:49):
climbing up the depth chart and things are looking good
and coaches are talking about scholarships and you played special
teams last year and it's like this is your time
to get reps.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
But now all of a sudden, your hamstrings.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
To the view and you try to push and push
and push. But there is a difference between being hurt
and being injured, and eventually you hit a point like
being a.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Fat I had to rely on my speed, Like if
I don't have speed, I'm nothing. I'm nothing, and like,
I think.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Learning how to cope in my injuries of I'm sidelined,
I need to stay positive, I need to get my
mentals right. I learned a lot about myself at ages
eighteen through twenty two because those situations came up.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
We had a coaching change, and the new coach came in.
He cut twenty six players.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Scholarship walk on, it didn't matter, so you got to
We had the season. We had our season at one
and eleven, worst ever in the program history. Coach comes in,
We go through spring and he's cutting these new players.
He's cutting twenty six guys.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
I'm meetings are lined up Monday through.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Friday, seven am to six pm. My appointment is Friday
night at six pm. I'm the last meeting. Everyone's coming
out crying ahead of me. I got my meeting.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Was at seven.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
I got there at six. There are fifteen minute increments.
Everyone comes out crying, cut, cut cut. I'm like, I'm done,
I'm done right.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
And I go all right, this is it. This sucks.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
And at this point I'm just thinking, like, what is
my how am I gonna sell myself right?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
What's my rebuttal gonna be?
Speaker 1 (19:29):
I sit down. Coach Tedford, great guy, love the man.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Where's there now? Retired?
Speaker 3 (19:35):
He had a he coached Rogers. Marshall Lenz who's at
cow Forever, came to Fresco State where he played football.
We destroyed and he's retired. He has some hard stuff whatever.
So I sit down, as I told you, my family's
owned farmers. He goes, so, uh, Frankie, how's the family?
And I'm like, they're good, you know. And at this point,
(19:58):
my youngest brother, my middle brother, is getting recruited. He's
way better at football than I am.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
And I'm like they're good. Yeah, yeah, they're good.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
He's like, so you guys form onions right. I'm like, yes,
I've brought him onions. I always bring the coaches onions.
He's like, why do people plant palm trees in between
their fields? Sometimes that's something they do in California.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
No idea why? I have no idea the answer to
this question. With that question, well, on his drive to
his beach house, I think he passes them a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
So I'm like, I really don't know, coach.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
He sits there for about ten seconds, he goes, he goes,
we need you hereues, we need you he goes, I'm
not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
You're probably the guy we.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Should cut, but we need you your culture.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
You're a glue guy. You're great in the locker room,
you have opportunities, you're a good football player. You represent
our culture that we want to enable here. Keep doing
what you're doing. You're gonna stick around ever, right, And
you know, immediately after.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
That and my freshman year, I played as a freshman,
I'm bald, and I was promised to scholar you the
coach got canned, and coach told me like, hey, you know,
I can't give you your scholarship.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You need to show me something. He needs to show
you something. Well, I ended up coming back.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I had a good year, and he reimbursed me for
the year that I was supposed to conspecial.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I bet my wife's I bought my wife's wedding ring
with that twelve thousand dollars.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
It was awesome, right, But going through those mental sides
of being hurt and climbing the depth chart and now
it's not only you hurt and sideline, it's someone else
is getting your reps.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
They're taking your spot, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
And it's hard because when you're in a position room.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
They actually moved me over in front of my roommate. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Yeah, they're your usually your friends.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Yeah, and it's not yeah like NFL, it's like it's
a business. But in that setting is a lot of overlapping.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
A lot of overlap.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
You're your boys, these are your guys, man, So tell
me about the mental side, Like what got you through
those injuries? What did you lean on, what did you
what did you kind of implement?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
What's a tool you put in toolbox? Man?
Speaker 4 (22:04):
I never forget like my worst moment, like my you know,
the year I was going to play a lot I had.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I had knee surgery three days before the first game, and.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
I wanted to come to the game right but they
didn't want me to stand up that long and I
couldn't be on the sideline during the game if I
got hit sure, and so I ended up they were like,
you should go home. So I came, came from warm
ups and I had to leave. And never forget, like
my parents came to me up. But like I was,
you know, crutching away from the stadium as kifftop happened,
(22:36):
and I could hear it by myself, you know, outside
of the stadium. I game day, it's just a ghost
town because everyone's in and it was like a movie.
I remember like crushing away and hearing everything and like
I'm like, I'm never gonna play it, you know, like that,
like it's been three years and then the everyone's run
in the mouth and it was just so heavy. But
(22:57):
you know, in some sense like yet, like I don't know, man,
Like I just think that up until that point, going
through so much and being a walk on and kind
of feeling like every single step is like per people along,
it was almost like there was never a thought of
not continuing to press it it. I don't know, I
just never went to a place of like I'm gonna stop,
(23:20):
or like this isn't worth it.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It was.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
I think it's because it meant so much like when
you're something that you like, you'll data field, you know.
So my wife is an Olympic swimmer, and they did
a study. It was like seventy percent I don't know,
maybe eight son Olympians would if they knew they were
going to die within the next five years, they would
they would take a gold medal as a trade of that,
(23:43):
ye Like, so I think it's rare in life where
you found something that like you're willing to do anything
for it.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
If that happens, I don't you know, you will do anything.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
I don't think it actually like it's it's hard looking back,
but like when you care about something so much, you
just nothing really is like derails you. One thing I
did do, which was it turned out to actually be
like really helpful. Is I like, you know, from a
culture perspective, I tried to get super involved and so
I actually asked if I could, if I could do
(24:13):
the defensive signals. So instead of like just sitting around
there practice, I ended up being like a live signal
call where I literally dressed up in full coaches gear,
which I don't even know if it was legal or not,
but like I was the guy doing all the defensive
signals and I learned so much.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
About the game. Oh my god, Yeah, I goes.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
I heard some crazy stuff on the headsets already said
that I'm like, you would be cancer, you would be
fired tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
I love this coach I do. He was now a fit,
but he said he was wild. But yeah, I think
like just I.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Don't know, man, like, like as hard as it was,
I think having the right guys around you, and like
being part of the team.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
People pick you up without even like being aware of it.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And if you're in the right environment, you just keep
pushing forward and you want to be part of it.
And and so I think sometimes like even post sport,
it's like trying to find something that you care about
it not for it happens like that, it doesn't be
really because if you don't care that lock, Like like
if I didn't really care about playing Michigan State, like
if it wasn't my dream to play there, right, they
would have probably been a different story.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah, like same probably with you.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I might like I said that was the goal.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Yeah, our coach was like thinking about that, you're crying
in the or not everyone crying.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
In the meetings?
Speaker 4 (25:27):
Go stant Downy was like the most intimidating dude. Like
my like I would be, we'd be nervous to like
walk down the hall like like for test years because
he came in and had to like reset the culture.
And then like so my sophomore year, I remember, did
you guys have redlock like get red locked? So we
(25:48):
called it getting red locked if you got suspended, they
would literally put a red lock on your locker and
you couldn't get your stuff and like you're when you
were suspended. So like I came in, uh my third year,
and I had a red lock on my locker, me
and my roommate and they said and there was a
(26:08):
letterhead Coach Antonio see Coach Antonio twelve pm sharp.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
And I was like, first off, I'm like I had
the same letter, same thing.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
We're like we do like we're walking on, we do
everything right, you know, Like what then you start thinking like, well,
I went to that one party or I went to
the ball you know what.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Did I do? Someone take a picture and someone's like
it's April fool. Stay, someone's probably messing with you. And
I'm like, okay, we'll see.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
And then coach Enos came in, who was like a
running backs coach, and we're like, hey, it's like coach d.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Like what's going on.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
He's like, uh, He's like I'm done Coach d Antonio
for a long time and that's found that and he
was like that's his handwriting for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
And I was like, dude, am I about to get
kicked off the team?
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Right? And so we we go up to his office
and he's like, all right, guys, come in. He's like
sit down, and we're like okay. And we were known
as like the meatheads. Yeah, we would lift all the time.
We took all the supplements for the strongest guys. He
was like, guys, there's a lot of accusations going around
campus about performance enhancing drugs and steroids and all this stuff.
(27:13):
So we're gonna suspend you guys for Spring Bowl. We're
gonna get you drug tested. I'm gonna do a press
conference about it, and then if everything comes back clean,
you'll be good to go.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
And I was like.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
What, Like, well, from who is that people that I
am west that you know? People you know, like there's
a lot of noise around campus and we have to
look about it. And I'm like, so, I'm gonna call
your parents so I know what's going on. I'm like
so to my my roommate kind of starts freaking out
like like and not like kind of like like nervous.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I d started to get like, I'm like, you're gonna
call our parents. We're getting accused of like my steroids.
What are you are you talking about?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
People just say stuff and you have to like and
he's like I'm gonna call your parents and let him
know what's going on, and like super starn and I
was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So he gets up and walks behind.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Now later he tells me that he was trying to
stop laughing because our senior fullback had set this whole
thing up, like all the coaches think about it.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And so he comes back and he's like nothing else
to say.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
We'll get the drug tests up this week and we'll
see We'll see, you know, in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And so we leave and we're like, oh my gosh, dude,
this is like what what do we do?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
And so my roommate calls his dad and his dad's like,
go back, I want to talk to you know, cas Antonia.
When we walk in and all the coaches staff, he's like
cracking up, and I was like, you guys suck. The
worst is that, Like those ten minutes were like like
I couldn't.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Oh you're only two hundred yeah, and uh yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
He set the whole thing up, and like he and
he's the last coacher we ever played, Joe Benny, So
it was just like out of left field.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, So I was my April Fools. So I text
him every April Fools that I thought he was gonna
say he was gonna give you a scholarship. Now, how
the scholarship happened pretty low key.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Yeah, I was like, you know, starting on our some
packages and then they just called me in like two
days four first game, and hey, it was kind of
before like social media, so there wasn't.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Like a Floyd to God.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
There wasn't like a big like I feel like now
people recorded and.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
They try to make it like fun, and it wasn't
really it. He's just awesome.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
He's just like he's like it's game week, like we're
not gonna mess around with that stuff.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
But he did some.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Crazy he was he would do like some fun motivational stuff.
I mean, the craziest story. It never really got out,
and I don't know how. But my senior year, we
played Georgia in the Capitol One Bowl and the whole
week he was playing the Muhammad Ali speech.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
It's like I wrestled now he I will right like
over and over.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
He used to do like funny like motivational stuff kind
of and the whole way we're playing this set, we'll
play the same.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
And luckily we had a couple of injuries.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
So this it was our last practice, last practice ever,
actually my last college practice ever. And so no media
was allowed in because of the injury, thank god. And
so he plays the speech one more time and we
all bring together stand the practice. He was like, what's that.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
We look over in the field next to us.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
There's like a twelve foot alligator in the field.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Next alligator. We're in Tampa, Florida.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
Now they hired this is set up yeah out there,
which no, that was that was after our videos after that.
But so this guy takes off at the field with
a helmet on shoulder pass.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
It was the out there.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
It was a guy they hired take off and we
all kind of chased after him, and we kind of
catch on like, oh, this guy's on our team. He's
gonna go grab this alligator. Gets up to the alligator,
grabs its tail like whips, his tail slips, Elliot turns
round smashes his knee, clam like damn on his knee.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
The dude's knees in the alligators. Now we're all around.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
This is not scripted, not no, this was not supposed
to happen. Like Bluzz's running down this guy's leg. The
other guy that came with him like jumps on, puts
these like things around his teeth and is trying to
like pry open the mouth, and he was stuck there
for like five minutes.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
He's just washing calm.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Because if the thing starts rolling, it's whipped his leg off.
So we're all like standing there, nobody knows what to do.
Like everyone's like kind of panic but just watching and
we had to just literally five full minutes.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
And eventually the thing let go.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
So he gets up, bluzz running down his leg right,
and he's like, oh, I'm good whatever whatever.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
So we go in the locker room. It's crazy.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
This guy's like, we know we have six docks on staff.
They're like you want us to like stitch you up
or whatever, because like there's a huge gases. He's like
he's like he literally worked for it, and it's like I fight, mma,
this is no big deal.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Some bleach and it.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Cutes it or were like disinfected spray. So he takes it,
dips it in this disinfectant and he like goes to
clan out and it like literally like goes like into
his knee, passes out, smashed his head on the ground,
full ambulance had to come go to the hospital, Like
and nobody, no news story, I ever picked it up.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Your coach, it's like the alligator out there as a prank.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Though, no, it was he hired an alligator wrestler and
it was wrong.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
And the alligator wrestler he said he'd never done it
on dirt before, and so he slipped and he's it's
never happened for and yeah, he almost got eaten in
front of the Vesigan State football the whole Yeah, there's
have to practice.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
And it was if the media would have been there,
like it would have been insanity. That's crazy video of it. Yeah,
it was nuts. And but I don't know, like it
didn't seem like a bigger deal of the time.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
But after talking to because after he was like pooking
his pants because he was like if this guy like dies,
what are we gonna do? You know, like we don't
just look bad, look so we gave him like sideline pass.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
He's like chubs from how he get of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I love that. Yeah, wow, wow,
Popular Podcasts
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.