Hour 1- September 18, Marc Lunsford

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on
Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services Insure
your most prized possessions.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good afternoon, everybody, Welcome to I on the Ball here
on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Roberta, and today
with me is Ricky Hunley from the Honley Huddle.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
I do Ricky good, Steve good good. I'm doing fine.
He's gonna find out that you're here. I was a
little scared you were getting running up against the time,
but I had no doubt you would make it. You
never failed to fail to to finish a job or
start a job. We got Kobe in early.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Time, late late, that's forgotten.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
That's that's about right, that's about We got Kobe man
on the boards today. We have Mark Lunsford here. In
the first hour. You did not play for him, right
or with him?

Speaker 5 (00:53):
He was on staff. Oh oh under Staffah.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, okay, Now he has just gotten out then maybe
eighty ish nine.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
Yeah, okay, so we have him.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
I figured you guys got his coach, well his player
with uh with last week's guest Tom, because I guess
he coached Tom in a way. So we'll go back
to back in the day, uh and see what he
says about all this time and what's going on. You're
you're busy, and we don't have anything for the four
seventeen hours. So maybe we get some calls, and I

(01:22):
hope you don't mind, Maybe get some calls to talk
about your career. Say, it's how you doing what you
went up to? Uh, what's your role now we'll go
with that, all that, all that stuff too. And you're busy,
You're kind of busy.

Speaker 5 (01:34):
I am busy.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, right, well that's what you'd like to do better,
to be not busy.

Speaker 5 (01:40):
You know, someone else said ten toes down is a
good day.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Usually you're mister philosopher here, mister philosopher. You spend a
lot of time, uh, scouring the web and the news,
and you send me a lot of stuff. The world
that we live in is crazy. In the NC double
A just yesterday you send me a couple of things.
I was I think the the Vanderbilt quarterback suing the
n C double again and whether he comes back or not,

(02:07):
but he's suing him again for more time.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
Yeah, obviously some lawyer has told him that. You know,
you have a case, and you know, he has an
opportunity to explore another year to see if he can.

Speaker 5 (02:20):
Get paid again.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Right, And that's pretty much why it's being done, right
to get paid again?

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, because well you can't once you're out of college, you.

Speaker 5 (02:27):
Know, you know, they the money drives up.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
And you really have to be a legitimate NFL player,
right right, And if they're not, they're not, they're not
going to make the millions that they're making right now.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
You know what, I don't blame them. I don't know
your thoughts. I don't blame them. I mean, you only
have that small wind of opportunity.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
And if the if the law says that you're you're
entitled to it.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
M h, more power to you. You're a little older
than me.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I would have never ever imagined this happening ever, twenty
years ago, thirty years ago, whatever tenures ago.

Speaker 5 (03:00):
Would you.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
Well, it's just like when you're a little kid and
your mama told you don't leave the porch. You wouldn't
have ever imagined leaving that leaving that port. You do
the consequences, you know, because they they had us believing that, hey,
if you.

Speaker 5 (03:14):
Accept the meal, if you accept.

Speaker 4 (03:16):
The gift, your your forfeiture, you know, eligibility as far
as being an amateur. Yeah, and uh, you're ineligible to
play football. And your whole goal is to go to
college and be able to play, right, And so they're
going to take the thing away from you that you
want the most.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
So when you got your scholarship here, I'm sure, and
you had the chances to go some great places, including here.
When you got the scholarship, you're like, God, thank god,
I'm not gonna help. My mom's not gonna have to
worry about me, right, And now that's not enough anymore.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
Well, it's all relevant, you know, because they said, well
there's more of the gift.

Speaker 6 (03:50):
Mm hm.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
You know, like someone put you in a boot with
money and said take you know, it's gonna fly around,
get as much as you can. But you only got
thirty seconds. Yeah, yeah, why you apologize. I'm gonna give
you another minute.

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, you're not gonna say, okay, well I'm sorry, I'll
taking the money. No, no, no, you're entitled to it.
Yeah yeah, no, I guess, I guess.

Speaker 5 (04:09):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
When you're you're not a recruiter, right, you're not a recruiter,
but you're a handshaker, and you're a facilitator and you're
a suit sayer with the people here. Do people ask people?
Do parents and maybe the students say what's in it
for me?

Speaker 4 (04:26):
Well, all I know about what's in it for you
is you know what was in it for me?

Speaker 5 (04:31):
That's room, board, book, suition, and fees.

Speaker 4 (04:34):
Now, the law states that you can be you're giving
money through revenue year. There's a whole different department that
handles that. They have a lawyer, they have a legal team. Yeah,
you know, they have a general manager. You know, they're
coaches and they decide you know what those people get.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
I know you're not you're not coaching. You'd like would
you like to be coaching? Well, this body can't handle
coaching right now. Okay, yeah, yeah, you know because in
these but but to me, some of the toughest jobs
are a d having It's like a taxi attorney.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
The change, the rules change every other day and you
have to keep up.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Not that that's a difficult thing, but they're changing so often.
You said, what's good, what's not good, what's right, what's
not right? And that's constant.

Speaker 5 (05:16):
Uh. And for coaches, just like where do I go?
What do I do and how do I do it?

Speaker 7 (05:21):
Well?

Speaker 4 (05:22):
I think that's why they have a whole compliance department
to help keep coaches up to speed on the changes.
It's constantly changing. It's like a lava lamp. It's always moving.
It's never the same. You're pretty good with the analogies.
Who'd you come up that one?

Speaker 5 (05:34):
That was a good one. My daughter was good with
fall No, and that I got your You're full of information.
I'll use information as the word.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
But you sent me that chicken soal that you just
came up with a few hundred words for your for
your not life, but your thought process.

Speaker 4 (05:52):
Well, chicken Soup for the sports. Yeah, no, that that
that was a book that.

Speaker 5 (05:58):
Chicken Soup puts out right like a book.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
And then your story wasn't that long? No, no, no,
It's a book of a bunch of short stories. And
I was asked to write a story. So I was
talking to one of the authors and then he was
asked me about football in my career, and uh, he
was asking about you know guys that quit, you know,
and we start talking and I said, well, you know
I had my coach or Ali Jobbers, and uh, you

(06:23):
know I was going to quit the baseball team. And uh,
this was yeah.

Speaker 5 (06:29):
This was like in little school, high school, like I
was my sophomore year. I was high school.

Speaker 4 (06:34):
But I was gonna quit the baseball team summer ball
because I wanted to, uh get a summer job. Like
some of the other guys. They had money, you know,
the money to go out and get a hamber and you.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
Growing up in Virginia just a picture.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
We lived in the projects where we didn't have much.
We just had love and family and each other. And
so you know, I wanted the opportunity to be able
to just have a little extra money in my pocket
and go to the movie too.

Speaker 5 (06:59):
And so my friend Keith White, he introduced me to.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
His manager over at the Ramada Inn and he said, Hey,
you can come in and wash dishes for two dolls
and fourteen cent an hour.

Speaker 5 (07:08):
And you're thinking, wow, I'm like, yeah, that was a lot.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yeah, because I mean to fourteen an hour and you're
there twelve hours a day slopping around washing dishes. True,
and at the end of the week, man, you got
forty fifty dollars, right, it's fifty more than you didn't
have before. Yeah, but that didn't sit well with my
baseball coach, because you know when I told him that,
you know, I didn't show up for practice. And then
I told him I wasn't coming back. I was going
to work this job. And he pulled me into his

(07:33):
office and he said, let me tell you something, your
big dummy. Every time I do something stupid, he always
referred to me as big dummy. He said, you know,
I played baseball. I was at East Carolina and I
gave up my dream to play a game and I
started working as a teacher. And he said, you got
all your life to work. We only got a little
time to play. And you're like fifteen sixteen now, he said,

(07:54):
you want to play as long as you can play.
He say, you're here, here's two dollars, go get your
damn hamburger.

Speaker 5 (07:59):
And so you were so you were nil before nil?

Speaker 4 (08:03):
Was that il?

Speaker 5 (08:04):
You kind?

Speaker 4 (08:06):
But you know I had a few dollars to get
me a hamburger and go to the movie, and I
kept playing baseball.

Speaker 5 (08:12):
You must have been good. He needed you.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Yeah, But the guy from Tickets for the Soul, it
was one of the guys who wrote a book for them.
He approached me and he said, man, that's an incredible
story because you know, you went on, you became a
professional football player, you got drafted, you had a signing bonus,
and he said you were going to forfeit that you
were going to forfeit that one point for me and
those chance, that chance to make two dollars and fourteen

(08:37):
cent hour.

Speaker 5 (08:37):
And so you know, we titled it the Price of
a dream.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, no, no, that's that's a good title and it's appropriate.

Speaker 5 (08:43):
It's accurate.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yeah, right, and more people, more athletes were thinking, or
do think like you were worth thinking.

Speaker 5 (08:50):
Back in the day, I got to get mine now. Yeah, well,
you know it's like all money ain't good money. You know.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
I remember when I when I got drafted out of
high school by pirates. I was offered a lot of money.
It was twenty six rounds. It was a late round,
straight to eight a ball, and so they send me
to Bradington, Florida.

Speaker 5 (09:11):
So go to Brandon, Florida.

Speaker 4 (09:13):
Oh actually you said yes, and you went, well, you
got seventy two hours to go and try out to
see if you want to do it, because you will
forfeit your legion eligibility, so your amateur status would be gone.
If you past seventy two hours. So they put me
on a plane. They flew me to Brandon, Florida, and
I go down there with my illuminum bat and I'm
smashing them.

Speaker 5 (09:32):
Well, can I ask your size back then? Oh, let's see.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
I was about six foot and three quarters of an
inch and it was probably one ninety eight. So good
hit that crap out of the ball. I mean, I
hit a ball Steve's so hard. One time it was
a line drive, almost killed someone basement.

Speaker 5 (09:49):
Yeah it went, but it never stopped riding going out
of the park. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:52):
And but with me, it was either home run or strikeout.
It wasn't no in between. I'm swinging for the fancy.
I covered just the debate.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
I went to I was, you would say today in
nineteen eighty nine, and I flew to Tyler, Texas, and
there was a guy a lot like you. He looked
like Bo Jackson and hit my monster home runs. He
got picked by the Saint Louis Cardinals. I think maybe
sixth overall, and he reminded when you talk about that,
he was just just a monster of a guy and
a football player and he didn't pan out. But it's

(10:21):
same type of thing. You know, just all that potential
home run or nothing.

Speaker 5 (10:27):
Yeah. So okay, so you went for seventy two hours. Yeah.
And the guy who drafted me was branch Ricky Junior. Wow.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
His daddy huge name, Jackie Robinson. And so he offered
me a contract. He called me and he's and I
had to This is the first time I'm forced as
I'm sure he had to make a decision for myself. Yeah,
and they put a contract in front, and you're seventeen eighteen.
I was eighteen, Okay, I turned eighteen. Can you say
the number? No, I was seventeen. Yeah, yeah, it was

(10:55):
forty thousand dollars and that's like eight hundred.

Speaker 5 (10:57):
Thousand to day, you know.

Speaker 4 (10:58):
And but I only had to stay for four weeks
because there was only four weeks left in the summer
and I still could play football. Oh, come here and
play for But I was scared to death, Steve, and
not because of the ball, with the competition, but all
the kids were there were from the Dominican Republican. Nobody
spoke English but me and I just felt so alone.
I mean, I'm from a family of ten seven boys,

(11:20):
three girls, and forty five foster brothers and sisters, and
you know, and you're in your hometown of seventy five thousand,
and everybody knows everybody, sure, but to be in a
place where people don't speak to English, all you do
is laugh and cry to say, yeah, it was scary, right,
And so I just say I'm going home.

Speaker 5 (11:38):
Did you take the full seventy two hours? Yep? And
we said no. I said, what did your mom say?
What did your brother say?

Speaker 4 (11:45):
Well, she didn't know that I turned them down, so
you know, but I mean I never had money, so
I didn't.

Speaker 5 (11:51):
Think I was missing it. You know, I just knew
how I felt.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
So okay, so you turn them down, you go back home,
You're ready to come here now, right to University of
on At any point, did you say, man, I should
have done that, because you would have gotten the money
and you would have been able to still play football. No.

Speaker 4 (12:07):
I was still excited because when I came here, they said, yeah,
Tony Mason had already told me that, you know, you
don't have to wait until your sophomore year to play baseball.

Speaker 5 (12:16):
If you're good enough, you can play now.

Speaker 4 (12:18):
So he let me play in my freshman year, and
Jerry Kendall let me walk on, and I walked on
and I was on the jv and they but he
would bring me up to pinch run on the varsity.
But that was the extent of it, and so I
was kind of getting burned out with just being.

Speaker 5 (12:32):
A pinch sure.

Speaker 4 (12:32):
Sure, but other guys, you know, they they paid their
dues at Kevin Ward and Kenny Loughlin and they went
on and played Major League baseball. Yeah, you know, And
I could throw the ball from the centerfield fist on
one stop when when skipped to the home.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Oh yeah, I'm sure you said six five yeah, six
wow wow wow wow.

Speaker 5 (12:51):
But it was one ninety. But then, uh so when
I got here.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
That freshman year, after just playing JB and pinch running,
you know, occasionally on the boshley when they were killing
the team.

Speaker 5 (13:05):
I made All American as a freshman playing football.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Oh yeah, because you were already finished the year and
the guy got hurt.

Speaker 5 (13:11):
I forget the name Jack.

Speaker 4 (13:13):
How they got hurt and then you you had to
start and you never stopped and played everything right? Right, No,
you you made the right decision. Yeah, but I always
think about it. I mean, baseball was my first love,
and I always think that you.

Speaker 5 (13:24):
Know how did how did how much time we got time?
Oh we got about you? And how did you find
the glove? Which position? Did you play? Center field or something? Uh?

Speaker 2 (13:34):
Left field? Left field? See out, roaming fast and other?
How did you find the love of that because of baseball?

Speaker 5 (13:40):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (13:41):
Oh, the kids knocked on the door and they need
an extra player. But you just didn't show up, and
you were good. I showed up and I was fast
and I could throw the ball hard when I was
a little kid. I mean yeah, that was the first
four I played was baseball. Okay, And my mom actually
played softball. She was like, oh yeah, she was the
best neighborhood soft So then, yeah, all of us get our.

Speaker 5 (13:59):
Athletic ability because my dad was not an athlete.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
Okay, so yeah, you found somebody to kind of mentor
you or whatever you.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
Saw her and we had an uncle who was a linebacker,
and we started playing on that.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Okay, it makes sense, it makes sense. Okay, we'll get
more to that. I want to more know what this
because I have an idea for you. Let's take a break,
come back with Mark Lunsford on the other side.

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Down all the xys at ohs. This is I on
the Ball with Steve Rivera on Blox Sports fourteen fifty.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here on
Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In today with
me is Ricky Hunley. Now on the phone. We have
Mark lunch performer, you of a quarterback back in the day.

Speaker 5 (18:59):
Mark, How you doing?

Speaker 7 (19:01):
I'm doing good, Steve.

Speaker 12 (19:02):
What's up? Ricky?

Speaker 5 (19:03):
Coach? How you doing?

Speaker 7 (19:04):
Brother? I'm good man. I'm getting ready to try to
find some football. Get ready for further weekend.

Speaker 5 (19:11):
Oh you're going out there and warm that armor?

Speaker 7 (19:15):
Uh, I haven't. I haven't thrown the ball in a
long time, man. You know you still got to be
able to grip the dang You've got to be able
to grip the damn ball to throw it. You know, No.

Speaker 5 (19:29):
On holda ball so you can. Hey, Mark, your name
came up. Last week.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
We had a ton of cliff On with the Hunley
Huddle and uh, you know, I guess you were ga
helping him back in the day.

Speaker 7 (19:41):
I was a g A and uh student assistant and
I was a wide receiver coach for that group. Yeah, Tom,
Tom was a good, good guy and a great quarterback,
great wildcat.

Speaker 12 (19:55):
Tell me when you're high school?

Speaker 5 (19:58):
Which high school?

Speaker 7 (20:00):
I want to say, Burroughs in Burbank?

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Okay, yeah, because he's back home now, right, he's back
in Burbank. Yeah, Okay, what do you what do you
remember of the Huntleyes? Well?

Speaker 7 (20:10):
Do I remember the Hunris Yeah, two great players man,
the Petersburg brothers and Bob Polson. Can't believe it was
Ricky if I'm not mistaken, and and uh.

Speaker 4 (20:23):
They were the guy who they were Bob Palsk. I
think Bob Plser came in the picture after the next year,
because the guy who recruited me to Arizona was Tony
Mason and Bob Davey.

Speaker 7 (20:34):
Bob Davey, there you go, Bob, notre dame Bob. Yeah, okay,
I was thinking it was Paulsik for some reason.

Speaker 12 (20:45):
He might have recruited your brother.

Speaker 4 (20:47):
No, Chuck out recruited Lamont, chuck him onto these great names, man,
these great names Axemen came up last week too, all
these famous names from back to the day.

Speaker 5 (20:57):
Willie P. You know, I had a lot of great
great Bobby great coaches. How many years of Bobby a coaching?

Speaker 12 (21:04):
Alan, Tom Rogerman Ruth.

Speaker 7 (21:06):
Wasn't that your one of your coaches? Ricky was Rogy
Rogy was.

Speaker 4 (21:10):
My linebacker coach after Chuck Moato those Chuck left us
after yeah year, went to North.

Speaker 7 (21:16):
Carolina State, I think too.

Speaker 5 (21:18):
He went to Florida State.

Speaker 4 (21:20):
He came from back to came from North Carolina State,
went to Florida State, and that's where he finished up
his career. Okay, and then he became the head coach
of North Carolina State later from Florida State, right right, Okay,
your memory is a.

Speaker 7 (21:35):
Little bit better than mine. I remember the rogue Rogy
was about his intensive He was always intense like that.
Oh yeah, whether it was game time or a meeting time.

Speaker 4 (21:45):
Yeah, you better be ready to match his intensity.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
Oh.

Speaker 5 (21:49):
He would kneel you at.

Speaker 12 (21:53):
He didn't pull no punches.

Speaker 7 (21:55):
He was a chuck Chuck. Chuck was a great coach man.
You got god coach by some great guys man, great memories.

Speaker 12 (22:04):
How was she.

Speaker 7 (22:08):
Well, I was thinking about acts. Yeah, I don't know
a lot of people don't know this. When he retired
and he was living in Phoenis, he somehow got hooked
up with the high school that Rock Perdy played at
and Steve Steve coached him as a volunteer coach for
two years. So his junior and senior year of high school,
he was coached by an ultimate professional man and he

(22:31):
was coached by a good a coach.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
How can I say this? This has been forty years
forty five years ago. Can you talk about your career
and what did you think about it? What did you
make of it?

Speaker 7 (22:46):
Of my career?

Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yeah, and I'm gonna go into because I think you're
important in the transition from the Smith era to the
to the Tony era.

Speaker 7 (22:53):
But your career, well, I was, I was playing. I
was rooted by Jim Yell and his staff Bob Backroth,
and I was Jim. I was the backup quarterback to
Bruce Hill for two years and never never read shirt
even though I asked him any times? Can I read shirt?

(23:14):
Because I knew I knew this was just going to
be a clean up at Canada game and then I
waited two years to play, and we opened the state
We opened the new stadium with the upper deck, and
we beat the Alburn Tigers soundly. That that would have

(23:35):
been seventy six. And in game two, we were in
the coliseum and we were beating UCLA at halftime before
our holder decided to pick up a bad snap and
throw it to somebody, and it was somebody was on
the other team, and he ran right by our bed

(23:57):
about one hundred yards for a touchdown, and I got hurt.
I got hurt right before that, I tore my knee up.
And then I finished the game, and then I set
out a week and I played the remaining seven or
eight games on one leg and had surgery the day

(24:18):
after the season. So I waited two years to play
and ended up met some my kney up. So if
I that's what my memories are, I bought a great
memories of teammates and and just being there. And then
then Mace Mace was there and he got caught with
some illegal stuff, and and yeah, it isn't isn't it?

(24:47):
That's crazy too? But I think about, hell, we were lucky, Ricky,
if we could get a free pizza or Hamburger somewhere. Man,
you know they say it was a biol like that
was just the way it was. And when I finished,
I was.

Speaker 12 (25:04):
A student assistant.

Speaker 7 (25:05):
Because I hadn't graduated. And then I graduated and accepted
the position with Coach Young back at Purdue, and I
went back and coached to quarterbacks Mark Herrman, and then
I helped recruit Jim Everett. And then I was in
the process of getting ready for a spring ball and
Coach Smith got hired as the head coach here and

(25:29):
he offered me a job, and my wife to be,
Maggie was they were carrying on a long distance relationship
and I ended up coming back here and twenty years
of it. Man, it was the best years of my life.

Speaker 5 (25:45):
I didn't know that well. I had. I had Sony
from Albuquez.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
I had coach Gonzales who grew up in Albuquerque, and
I told him Monday because he was on the show.
Then I said, the best quarterback I saw in high school,
and this is you know whatever, It was Jim Everett
in Albuquerque, So you must have gone there to see
him times.

Speaker 7 (26:01):
I went there a bunch of times, and then we
brought him. We brought him to his visit at Purdue,
and Coach Young had a bright idea, like he always did.
We had, we had we invited all the top Purdue
quarterbacks back for a basketball game. We honored him at halftime.
That was Bob Greedy and Lenny Dawson and Gary Danielson

(26:25):
and just a whole bunch of a bunch of great guys.
And I'm forgetting people, but there was quite the event.
And Edward had a hard time because those were all
his his heroes. He grew up all of the guys
and Dawson, Lennie Dawson was my hero growing up as
a kid. So it was we were all There were

(26:46):
a lot of starry eyed guys there seeing all these dudes.
And but Jimmy Everett was an excellent high school quarterback
at I want to say alamagordo.

Speaker 12 (26:57):
Or yeah, thank my memory. So let me ask you.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
So you went from there to Smith and then you
were the transition, I think the only transition right between
Smith and Tony.

Speaker 5 (27:12):
You were the holdover.

Speaker 7 (27:14):
Yeah, I was the only one to stay. Maggie's dad
was dying of cancer, and she she didn't want to
leave if she at least so her dad died, and
so I honored that and I talked to coach, to
mister Livenhood or mister Dempsey, I forget who it was
at that time. And he he said, Mark, I can't

(27:36):
promise you you'll get you'll get held over, but if
you take over the recruiting for the next month while
I'm trying to get us the new head coach, I
promise you I'll do the best to get you hired.
And he hired Dick Tomy. Ironic thing about the Dick
Toby hire Steve. I was on my way to the

(27:58):
National Coaches convincing I checked him my hotel room and
walked down, walked to the elevator and got down and
it stopped about two floors below my ten floor or whatever.
The door opens up and there's big toll me. He
walked in the elevator. He knew me because he's from me.

(28:18):
In the end, he was more than the same hospital was.
But you know, we got to talking and and he was,
you know, asking me a bunch of questions. And I
didn't know that he at the time was going to
be end up being the top choice now because Earl
Bruce had decided not to not to take the job,

(28:40):
and they were scrambling to find somebody, and coach told
me was their guy.

Speaker 12 (28:45):
Yeah, bless him.

Speaker 7 (28:46):
He was great, his great coach. Great man.

Speaker 5 (28:49):
How soon after that did he how soon after that
did he call you? Yeah?

Speaker 7 (28:56):
Well, you know why I was. We had a he
got hired, and Dwayne and all Hawaii guys came with
him from Hawaii while he was putting the staff together,
and we had we had a recruiting weekend that I
had set up, and and we got to talking about
things and and he said, Mark, why don't you just

(29:18):
would you be willing to travel and work for me
for this first year and then I'll try to get
you on the field. So I was ended up the
recruiting coordinator, and I was traveling all over the plates
going seeing JD players, and then uh ended up you know,

(29:38):
being able to hire me all full time was either
the running backs or receiver. I forgive this one.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
That was.

Speaker 5 (29:44):
But the rest of the history day.

Speaker 7 (29:50):
We had some great coaches on that staff too. Man,
I ain't gonna I ain't gonna lie bunch, Pat Hill,
Ronnie Brian, Oh my god, what a great guy. Ronnie was. Yes,
Bobby April was still here with Jim Duff and what
Willie had leapt him? Was it with NC Chiefs with

(30:12):
maca it?

Speaker 2 (30:13):
Yeah, yeah, no, those good old days. Good you doing okay, yeah, okay, okay.

Speaker 7 (30:21):
Every day the challenge something.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yes, Well, it's good to talk to you, Mark. Good
back to the good old days. That's what the show
is about most of the time, talking about the good
old days.

Speaker 5 (30:30):
Always good to hear you.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Thanks for having me, Yeah, thank you, yeah, yeah yeah Mark,
Good to talk to him, Good to talk to him, Gunslinger.
I'm understanding a great arm, kind of like a don't
mess with me, like a tough dude, you know, like
a strop him up for this gold baby.

Speaker 5 (30:50):
Most of those undersized guys.

Speaker 13 (30:53):
Are like that.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, Chip on the shoulder. Tom was
like that, you know, yeah, he just raised Tom. It's
funny because we'll talk about this more on the other side,
But like Tom, do people recognize Tom? I think he's
probably not recognizable when he's up to you know, because.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
Tom was in yes, bullhead, curly hair. I saw pictures.

Speaker 4 (31:12):
I saw pictures, clean face, clean shaven, right now, you
wouldn't recognize.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
But a dude, our guy Chris, Chris here, saw you
have Tom Tod. They gotta get a picture, You gotta
get a picture. He's my boy, who idle blah blah blah.
But like you, I'm sure you walk around you and
your brother kind of you know, walk around You're Ricky?

Speaker 5 (31:28):
Yeah, can I say? Can you say they say you're Lamon?

Speaker 2 (31:31):
Oh yeah, yeah, they misidentify you. Yeah, okay, Sure, let's
take a break and come back and reminisce somewhere.

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Speaker 1 (35:37):
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Speaker 5 (35:46):
This year you got to gender.

Speaker 12 (35:52):
Thank me everybody.

Speaker 5 (35:53):
Welcome back to the eye of the ball.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Here. I got Ricky, he's bigger than me. Would like
to run faster if I can just get over the corner.

Speaker 5 (35:59):
Here, not quite.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
I won't be able to You're probably you.

Speaker 5 (36:06):
Know, I know I won't get by you. You're there
with the ball. I will get you. Got to get
to me to get to the You need some water,
go get it for you. You know, no free pass. Hey,
what's going on? You have something going on at U of.

Speaker 4 (36:17):
A Soon it's it's still in the planning stages, but
we're probably about a month out and we're gonna do
a football for women class football one on one, and
you know, it's kind of a brainstorm idea that uh,
we kind of stole from Cheryl Smith and she used
to have a football women class.

Speaker 5 (36:33):
I remember that. It was funny.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
Last week we were having lunch and uh, and I
walk in the building and this elderly woman she's there
and she's looking at me, and she's staring at me,
and I go over to say hello to her, and she.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
Said, I remember you. You were in that football class.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
And you were standing there in your shorts, and Cheryl
had you dress up in all the football games because
all that was great short. So then they had to
put the whole uniform. Yeah, yeah, you put the jock on,
the socks and the you know, the paths in the
shoulder pads and their homet and she remembered, that's so clear.

Speaker 5 (37:08):
She's oh, I would love to come to that.

Speaker 4 (37:10):
How long ago, years.

Speaker 5 (37:14):
Ago, you were happy to do it.

Speaker 4 (37:16):
Yeah, well yeah, you know head coach's wife saying do this,
you do it? So is it gonna be like that?
What's what's gonna entail? Just a basic football knowledge? Personnel groupings,
what they mean? What plays come off of personnel groupings?
You know some down and distant Tennessee. So maybe even
get on the field and run through a few drills.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
You know what you're doing. You're creating more critics. Hey,
what what should have been doing this? Should have been
doing that? I just learned that last week. Nobody cares
about wide receiver. Should have you know, made the drills?
You know, they cut back.

Speaker 4 (37:51):
They deserve to know what's going on on the field
than just cheering when everything and many of them do
you don't know that they're they're playing the flag football?

Speaker 5 (38:00):
Yeah, I love it. I love the girls flag football. Yeah, athletic.
That's gonna be awesome.

Speaker 4 (38:05):
Yeah, that may be a full scholarship support by.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
Yeah, they're gonna have it. Well, you know the in
the Olympics. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (38:13):
So we had a young lady here in Tucson who
just missed the cut by two people.

Speaker 5 (38:16):
Oh did they already determined? Yeah? Yeah, Abby Rustands she
missed it. Oh okay, I didn't know that that was
a Warren rest Stands granddaughter. Oh really, Eric Restands daughter
to do? What? What was the what was it on
the team? For which team? The flag football?

Speaker 12 (38:29):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (38:29):
Are they already determined that? Yeah? I thought they were
still Yeah, they had the process in North Carolina.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
Oh wow, okay, Yeah, mister rushtand man famous name in
this town. Yeah, well look at you all up to
date with your new information. I've been knowing Warren since
I was sure sure a very smart man. It's like
going to the library talking to him. Oh my god,
he's so so smart, so smart and just a just
a nice man too.

Speaker 5 (38:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
Yeah, Okay, let's go kind of go back so to
your tier time since we don't have the time. Anybody
want to call police?

Speaker 13 (38:56):
Do?

Speaker 5 (38:56):
Who wants to? Maybe?

Speaker 2 (38:57):
As a bricky question. By the way, she didn't send
the W two. It wasn't included. Just fy, it wasn't
if don't call her? No, no, no, no, I'll show you.

Speaker 12 (39:10):
I'll show it.

Speaker 5 (39:11):
No, don't know.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
Uh, anybody want to call five two four one, six
seventy four forty?

Speaker 5 (39:17):
Uh, asked Ricky a question? Maybe you know remember his
days of playing.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
Uh, it'll be a cool just kind of a Q
and A here now that we have time and we
can do this in the second hour or two because
we don't have a scheduled guest at four seventeen.

Speaker 5 (39:29):
But we have time now.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
Uh. You know, so football did you? Did you learn
how to play football first? Or baseball first? And then
what what age did football come in? Because your uncle
played Let me see baseball? It was six and seven
for baseball? Oh both, yeah, Okay, one.

Speaker 4 (39:48):
Was started in the summer and another one carried on
it because the same guys.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
Who knocked on the door to complay Oh yeah, right right.
Neighborhood dudes neighborhood guys. You want to come and play, yea,
and you, but you're still at baseball.

Speaker 4 (40:01):
And I violated the house rules because you're not supposed
to leave home when moms at work. And so I
went out and this guy, and then I hide my
equipment under the bed. But did you hear about it?
Eventually she had to have yeah, you know, she found
out knocking on the door. I love my brother, but
he might have to taste them.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
He probably wanted to play too. Yeah, she was too young. Yeah, okay,
And then when did you realize you had something?

Speaker 5 (40:31):
Yeah? Football football wise.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
M when I only really played one year of high
school football? Really your senior year, my senior year? Wait,
wait a second, you you learn at a young age?
You said, yeah, so you didn't play junior high and
our our school system, seventh and eighth grade was junior high. Right,
so I played seventh and eighth grade, Okay, Then high
school I was on the team as a freshman.

Speaker 5 (40:57):
It's a sophomore, no freshman, because.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
Ninth grade it as freshman, right, you didn't play as.

Speaker 5 (41:01):
A freshman then, no, okay, so.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
Then your sophomore year, right, that's your first year in
high school, right, So I was on the team, but
I played again behind two all state linebackers.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
Okay, So you played, you practiced, I was practiced, okay,
and then you you had easier here than it was
in high school. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (41:18):
Then I tore a muscle in my back pitching junior year. Yeah,
that summer to junior year. So I missed my junior
year baseball and football until I got healthy. So were
you still the same year with six one?

Speaker 2 (41:33):
I was like one seventy didn't So you must have
had a fantastic senior year because if you had Ohio State, Arizona, Virginia. Yeah,
I can't remember the other one way you want the
state championship, Okay, So a lot of eyes.

Speaker 4 (41:46):
It was a lot of eyes because during that year
it was the first time they had merged five schools
into two. So there were five schools in Richmond, Thomas, Jefferson,
hugen Art, George With in one school Jeffson here and
up with.

Speaker 5 (42:02):
We had to play that school and we beat this.

Speaker 4 (42:05):
Then the other schools were Marshall, Walker, Maggie Walker, and
John Marshall.

Speaker 5 (42:11):
Maybe became one.

Speaker 4 (42:12):
School and we tied that school, so we got out
of the district, and once we got out of the district,
we won everything.

Speaker 5 (42:18):
Yeah, because it was probably tougher in that not area
before state. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Yeah, and then you got your eyes obviously, coaches saw
you play. A bunch of bunch of guys must have
been taking got a call.

Speaker 5 (42:29):
We gotta call. Okay, we got a call. Hello, you're
on the airline of the ball.

Speaker 12 (42:32):
Who's this? I just called Cole to have them been listening?
Did you cover it on breaking news?

Speaker 7 (42:38):
I just heard that Kershaw's gonna retire.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yes, he's going to retire after this year. He's gonna
pitch Friday Friday, his last regular season home.

Speaker 5 (42:47):
Game game against the Giants.

Speaker 7 (42:49):
Wow.

Speaker 12 (42:50):
Good, So what else is going on?

Speaker 5 (42:52):
Nothing? You did you follow Ricky Huntley when he played here?

Speaker 7 (42:57):
You know what, remember I collected.

Speaker 12 (42:58):
Sports cards and at the time, my aunt.

Speaker 7 (43:02):
Was married to a uh.

Speaker 12 (43:05):
Two times police officer, and they gave out all the cards,
so I had Ricky.

Speaker 7 (43:11):
You know, they gave their own. They made him printed themselves,
you know, the U of A. And Ricky Huntley was
one of in those cards that year.

Speaker 12 (43:19):
Those were like in the eighties.

Speaker 5 (43:21):
Yeah, I remember those guy, Yeah, Yeah, okay.

Speaker 12 (43:26):
Yep, I had some of them in the basketball.

Speaker 7 (43:30):
And a lot of the football.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
Yeah. Well he's my guest here today. He's my guest
in the house.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Cool.

Speaker 12 (43:35):
Cool, that's great.

Speaker 7 (43:37):
That's great because his Laman is the guy that does
yet we always had you always have Lamana on his brother.

Speaker 5 (43:44):
Yeah, but cool. Okay, Well, thanks Howard for calling.

Speaker 12 (43:47):
All right, ye see you.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Yeah, so you had a bunch of guys probably get
scholarship offers from those teams.

Speaker 7 (43:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:56):
Our running back was one of the tops in the country.
His name is Brian's and man, he was six two twenty.
He could fly, and he had offers from Notre Dame,
Ohio State, Nebraska. He didn't have grades. He had to
go to junior college. And they came back and they
offered him again. And then he got Homesicky went home,

(44:18):
girlfriend got pregnant.

Speaker 5 (44:19):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
And how many times have you heard that story? He
transferred to Virginia Union. Imagine, I say this all the
time to kids. When I talked to kids at the
younger you know, lower levels who loved the game and
want up play and they want to be you know,
the next Michael Jordan or whatever.

Speaker 5 (44:33):
Ricky Hunting.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
He says, well, guess what imagine if if Michael Jordan
had didn't have grades or gave up on the sport,
no would know who the heck he is. And you've
seen those stories. You just told me one that it happens,
and not so much the girlfriend, although that happens a lot.
If you don't take education seriously, you're not going to
be anywhere.

Speaker 5 (44:52):
No. Well, we you remember her named Moses Malone. Yes, Moses.
You know he went to high school, he finished high school, graduated,
got his degree.

Speaker 4 (45:00):
Well, Moses was not the best basketball player in our
town out of in Virginiasburg High School.

Speaker 5 (45:07):
Okay, I did.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
I don't know why I didn't know that. Okay, A
guy name was Jimmy Snake. Jimmy Snake was six eight,
he was about three to twenty. He could pitch, play baseball, basketball, anything.
But Jimmy Snake was partying and drinking and didn't go
to school and never made it out.

Speaker 5 (45:22):
Of the city. Wow. Well this is seventy seventy, seventy eight,
seventy nine. Wow.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
You see see, you don't hear those stories because well
they didn't turn out to be anybody. But I mean
they're they're all over, without question, without question.

Speaker 4 (45:39):
I mean I remember admiring these guys I was growing
up playing ball against them with that, I mean, they
were phenomenal.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
Yeah, but you know.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
School was not or they or they didn't take the coaching.
You're not going to tell me what to do. You know,
you're not going to tell me what to do, so
I'm not going to do it. Yeah, well then you're
not coachable.

Speaker 5 (45:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
Did you run into people like that when they got
to the schools that you were in? Many schools you
don't have the name names, but Zuri, you will see
you know what I'm saying. Did you when they got
there they were not I don't cann't need to listen
to your coach, did you. Well, there's always you know,
a one off everywhere on the pro level, college level,

(46:21):
for they knew more than you, they think they know more,
and or they just can't get out of their own way,
they can't get out.

Speaker 4 (46:27):
Of their feelings. It's like you said, I mean, everybody's
not perfect. You know, you've got some kids that need
medication and don't take it. But no, no, no, I
hear you so and and and a lot of times
when kids come to college, your parents expect you to
fix them.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
You know.

Speaker 4 (46:42):
I don't can't tell you how many times when I
was coaching FBU camps out of parents used to just
can you get him to pull his pants up? I'm like, yeah,
come here, boy, I take that tape and I wrap
it around his pants. Don't take it off. You want
to play, don't take it, yes, sir, Yeah, because they
wanted to play because I knew one thing I was
in control of the thing that they wanted the most,

(47:02):
and they wanted to play.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
Football, right right. I'm sure the parents appreciated that. But
you know, college at any level is is I got
my boy here, Kobe here from New York. But you
go to college for a few reasons, you know, to
get an education, but you learn how to live on
your own, make friends, wash your own clothes, get your
own dinners. If that's what the case is, you know,

(47:24):
it's time to grow up because you're away from home
or whatever. And there's fun and games too, but there's
a reasonable time for funny games and you're doing it
now because you're you're kind of the mentor of the group.

Speaker 5 (47:37):
Is that true? That makes sense?

Speaker 4 (47:39):
Yeah, kids come off as every day and you know
it's just it's always some kind of life lesson with somebody.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
No, I was just going to say that, I'm not
sure I want you to say what they are. But
over the last ten years, if not more, I think
the number one problem is is just mental.

Speaker 5 (47:57):
There's a word for it. I just lost it.

Speaker 2 (47:59):
But uh, it's just the pressure of being just a
student because you you got a lot of pressure from
your parents in school and you have mental awareness, is
you know you emotional stuff like that. I can't come
up with a word right now, but we're it's too
much for some people. The stress is too much.

Speaker 4 (48:20):
Well, there's a lot of stress and pressure with playing
big time sports. I mean, I mean, you just look
at how much mental health I'm sorry, mental health, how
much the administration has grown. I mean, when you come
into the building, you got team doctors, you got two
sports psychologists, you got mentors, you got tutors, academic specialists,

(48:42):
you got coaches, you got everything sure, everything under the sun. Sure,
And in most cases you're just trying to keep them
in the building because you know when they're in the building,
you know where they're at.

Speaker 5 (48:54):
Because really the facility that they have is like the
best country club that you have. You know one of
the things that we talk about.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
You don't hear much anymore, people failing grade wise or
being on suspension back in the day.

Speaker 5 (49:05):
You can't play an next specially because he wasn't anything.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
You don't hear that anymore. Got another call, great, let's
get take the call. Hello, you're on the air and
one of the ball who's this?

Speaker 12 (49:14):
Let me see if y'all can guess his voice?

Speaker 2 (49:17):
Oh, man, is this j John. No, you gotta talk
so we can guess it. Ricky Bob Elliott it is. Yeah,
do that too, goo goo.

Speaker 12 (49:34):
It's the way I said.

Speaker 5 (49:35):
Ricky.

Speaker 12 (49:35):
He was like, so, have you been listening to it?

Speaker 7 (49:41):
Yes?

Speaker 12 (49:41):
I have.

Speaker 16 (49:41):
And you know what, Ricky gave me the wrong number, man,
you gave me a four to one five online four
one six.

Speaker 7 (49:49):
I'm good.

Speaker 16 (49:49):
Yeah, I've been listening to Hey, y'all first had on
Mark Longsford. Mark was a was a serious QB for
us here at Arizona. I agree, serious QB.

Speaker 5 (49:58):
Yeah, yeah, you were.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
You know, you were one of the I don't want
to say an exceptions because you were a smart dude, academic,
all American. Where you're talking now about, you don't hear
about people feeling in school. But I'm sure back in
the day they weren't going to class or they weren't
doing stuff like now it's almost impossible to fail.

Speaker 16 (50:16):
Well, you know, they've got that nice Jenny clements a
study areas from Michale, and you know.

Speaker 4 (50:24):
If you know that's just a building, it's you know,
they got a lot of people inside that building that's
pushing buttons and make sure they show up on time.
And they you know, they you know, the thing is
if you don't show up and you don't go to
your academic meetings and you don't get good grades, you
don't play period.

Speaker 12 (50:42):
Right, Yeah, yeah, that's the thing.

Speaker 16 (50:44):
You know, you got the building that you put the
people inside to provide the service and that to help guys.
You know, a lot of guys when they come out
of these high schools are not really prepared to go
to college.

Speaker 12 (50:57):
You know, as an.

Speaker 7 (50:58):
Athlete, you're you're the cream of the crop, and and.

Speaker 16 (51:01):
You can go play athletically, but academically if you weren't
the cream and the crop, the kids in.

Speaker 12 (51:07):
Height and college are the cream of the crop.

Speaker 7 (51:10):
So all of a sudden, you're throwing yourself.

Speaker 12 (51:12):
Into a situation where you know, you've got to sit
there and compete with you know, the nerds, and that's.

Speaker 10 (51:21):
Not how you were.

Speaker 4 (51:22):
Right.

Speaker 2 (51:23):
Let me ask you both real quick. We have a
couple of minutes. Uh and and you've got both of
that great lives. You went to the NBA, you went
to the NFL. But back your college time, was that
some of the best times.

Speaker 5 (51:32):
Of your life?

Speaker 12 (51:35):
Oh, no question, no question.

Speaker 16 (51:37):
Yeah, And as Ricky knows, so, so I got real
smart after my sophomore year and got married and and
and married Ricky's sister as she as he called her,
and that made I married up big time.

Speaker 7 (51:53):
Okay, let's make no doubt.

Speaker 12 (51:54):
Let's make no doubt about it, Ricky, your life it was.

Speaker 4 (52:02):
And you know, in those early years, I was really
having the time of my life, because I mean I
almost flunked out of school, so you I was done. Hey,
I had senior guys telling us, Hey, take this class
from this this teacher. He loves football players and you
won't even have to go to class, like really, So
I took the class. I made sure I wanted to
introduce myself to that teacher, and then I didn't show

(52:23):
up until finals. And then at final, he flunked me.
I'm like, what, it was an easy class. I mean,
take the class over and I got an A. And
you know, but there were some tough classes like I'll
never forget finite math.

Speaker 5 (52:35):
I hated finite math.

Speaker 4 (52:36):
Because we always had a teacher that spoke with a
dialect that you couldn't understand. And so I had to
take that class three times. And the third time I
took it that pema and finally passed it. But uh,
you know, and then I realized if there was a
year and a half, I got like a three point
zero or better three semesters in a row. And I said,

(52:58):
you know, if I get it another semester, I could
be an academic all American.

Speaker 5 (53:04):
But Bob was Bob was, you know, he was good
at all that stuff.

Speaker 12 (53:08):
Hey, Ricky, Hey, one of my favorite.

Speaker 16 (53:10):
Stories of you guys in college is about our guy
Joe Drake. Oh and y'all were over at the house
and Bev made all these pans of lasagna.

Speaker 7 (53:21):
We had all these loads of bread. Now Joe was
like what six five, three twenty.

Speaker 12 (53:26):
Or something, three thirty, Yes, he was three thirty. So
Joe takes a.

Speaker 16 (53:32):
Pan of lasagna a loaf of bread and looks at
my wife.

Speaker 12 (53:38):
And says, missus E you got him die dietop.

Speaker 4 (53:44):
That's true because Joe used to always, you know, the
McDonald's over there by Babcock, right Joe. Joe would pull
up to the window and he would order six big max,
four orders of fries and.

Speaker 5 (53:57):
A diet co.

Speaker 16 (54:01):
I tay you that I will never forget that because
I looked, I said, did he really just say that?

Speaker 5 (54:07):
Bob? He would get back in that car.

Speaker 4 (54:09):
He had a little Capri and when he get inside
the car, that car would just shift.

Speaker 12 (54:18):
Oh that's funny.

Speaker 5 (54:19):
That's funny.

Speaker 7 (54:20):
Hour at least coming.

Speaker 16 (54:21):
Yeah, I wanted to call in. Uh, you know, Joey,
I'm just waiting for Jody's basketball game to start. So
go watch my man ball great, great ball.

Speaker 5 (54:31):
And he scored fifty a game.

Speaker 12 (54:34):
Nobody's hey, no, no, but you know to think that
that was football, This is basketball.

Speaker 5 (54:40):
Yeah, okay, he gets every rebound.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
Hey, Bob, we gotta take the break here at the
top of the hour, thanks for trying.

Speaker 5 (54:46):
We're gonna get your phone, all right. Man, y'all thinking,
well we gotta go. We already way over, so let's
go