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Some don't want to be mentors, but KJ Wright is not one of those. His NFL career is all about giving the knowledge he has learned from his life. KJ talks with LaVar about the four most influential men in his life, plus how he implements the Mamba Mentality in his daily life. Plus, Wright learned a lesson about bigotry when he was ten years old. These stories and more are on this impactful podcast.
UP On GAME Presents Conversations With A Legend. LaVar Arrington is sitting down with the best from the field, the stage, and beyond. These are intimate conversations and storytelling with legendary humans about their lives and successful careers. In this episode, Arrington talks with Super Bowl Champion From The Seattle Seahawks KJ Wright
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
It presents conversations with the legend around here, and we
hustle for living around here, round here, and we ground
for round round here. We hustle for living round here
round here, we running for a living alright, everybody, I'm
you know, the thing seems to continue to grow with
(00:27):
what I'm doing on conversations with the legend. Yet again
another legend, and yet again another LB. Now this LB
is more special and more than one way. And one
of the ways that I'll give you is that he
was part of the legion of Boom. All right, you
(00:48):
haven't seen it since. For everybody that talks about b wags,
you gotta talk about this man that's coming all right now,
my man, kJ, Right, what's happening, my guy? What's good? Man?
What's good? Hey man? This conversation is with a legend,
and it's on up on game presents. And I appreciate
(01:09):
you coming into the place and into the spot to
have a conversation about you, you know, thank you, thank
you indeed. All right, So first off, first out the gate, obviously,
you know what's what's going on with kJ. Now where
you got going on? I know the whole you you
(01:30):
getting to that point of where it's one ft in,
it's one ft out. It could possibly be two ft in,
but it could possibly be two feet out. What's the
latest with kJ Damn? So we about we were, I'm
gonna say we one ft in, one ft out? Okay.
I want to I want to do the Dame thing.
I want to do it. I want to fall. But
(01:53):
as you know, the way that I've done in my
whole career been with a team O T A S.
Laying down the foundation, go to training camp, get my
mind and body right. I didn't have the opportunity to
do that last year because you know, with the whole time,
didn't have a job right now, still a free agent,
(02:13):
and it's looking like it may be the same story.
And I'm I'm not a fan of that. I don't
I don't roll like that. So if a team comes,
comes correct, comes in time, then I'm all for it.
But to me just get up off the couch week one,
week three of the regular season, I cannot see myself
doing that. So what how are you approaching approaching that?
(02:36):
Clearly you're you're staying in shape, you look physically, you
look good like you're ready to go, But how do
you approach that from the mental emotional side, because for
every person that's had an amazing career, you got a
super Bowl, you know you you you were able to
do it really in one place for the majority of
(02:58):
your career. There's that I that's coming out of college,
that's unrestricted, unsigned free agent, that's facing the situation you're facing.
There's that guy that made one or two years in.
They're facing the same situation you're facing. How do you
how are you mentally approaching what what it is that
(03:20):
you have going on with your career. Yeah, but for me,
I went through all the anxieties, all the stress of
maybe not playing again. I'm gonna do that. Last offseason
I was I'm gonna be honest, I was going through
the damned that I honestly played my last football game
in Seattle when we lost to the Rams, and that
was that was tough with me. The process. Um like,
I still got ball left at me. I still can play.
(03:43):
So I went through all the drama last year and
as I proposed this year play with the Raiders. I'm
at peace. I'm content with the career I put together.
I'm I'm gonna I'm content with the plays I made
the Super Bowls, the probos that I got. I'm in
a really good place, you know, you know, thank God
for that. And so whatever comes, if it comes, it's
alve greaty if it doesn't, and I'll be good. When
(04:04):
you say you're good, You'll be good. Have you have
you thought about what's next? Four kJ right? Is it coaching?
Is it? Have you worked on anything business wise? Do
you have charity foundations? What what are you doing as
the person outside of the game. I'm gonna I'm gonna
take my time to figure out for me. I know
(04:27):
I want to stay around ball. I do know that.
I love talking ball, I love you know, sports media.
I love I love coaching. I don't want to be
a coach. Then let's get it on this side. I
don't want to be a coach, but I want to
be something that can assist the coach itself with the
game plan, but not in the building from sun up
to sundown. Okay, so we're more like a consultant. More
like a consultant. So I love the business side. I
(04:48):
love the managing side of help building, you know, finding guys,
bringing in talent like let me, this guy is a
person round town. Let me bring him on myself, maybe
a scout, scouting consultant or l Okay, well, you know that,
you know you'll learn, You'll learn this. You're gonna have
to go through the stage, is my g you know
(05:09):
what I mean. They're gonna make it. They're gonna make
you a quality control They're gonna make you a scout.
You're gonna have to stand in the rain. You're gonna
see mosquitos. You play that Mississippi, You're gonna have to
see mosquitoes as big as the one you used to
see when you was growing up. I mean, they're gonna
send you through the ranks. Now I would assume you know.
But and then, and that's part of it. You gotta
(05:29):
you gotta learn. You gotta learn what what it what
it takes you learn what they see, what they're looking for.
It's I'm all for for working and learning, you know, climbing,
climbing their letter talk about that man, because climbing the ladder.
No matter if you're highly recruited, highly talented, or obscure,
we all have to climb through the ranks to be
(05:50):
able to make it to the next level out of
high school, you know, make it out of the level
of college to the next level of the pros. Growing up?
What was that like for you going through the ranks?
How how did things unfold for you, you know, on
this journey to making it to the league and where
you are now. For me, I felt like I never
(06:11):
had that. I feel like I never had that respect.
I feel like I never had people putting me up,
you know with the five star four So I was
always a guy that had to earn it, and you know,
was drafted mid round. And so even I even had
coaches telling me, you know, I don't know if you
can be able to play with the big dogs when
you get up to the next level. I had had
coaches telling me that. So I always had to prove myself.
(06:34):
Leavar always had to put my head down and go
to work, go to work, go to work when dudes
out there doing the other stuff, going to work, going
to work. And so there was someone that always, you know,
I had to chip on my shoulder when I was
when I was you know, high school cause and in
the pros. Did you start at linebacker and stay out linebacker?
How did that evolved for you? Started in linebacker. Then
(06:55):
my senior year we had a new staff and they
put me at d N. I hated d N. I'm
I'm a off the ball linebacker. And so it's funny
when I was getting recruited in college that has some
people crew me at d N, some people crew me
at linebacker. And the two the two teams are cruity
as linebackers Mississippi State in South Carolina. So we came
down to them too for me. Um, you know the
(07:16):
rest is seriously, I chose coach Crum with Misissippi State. Sure,
Now were you there with smooth You're a little younger,
a little younger than Smoothie? Yeah? Um, because you what
you you came into the league, got two thousand fourteen.
I'm two two and eleven eleven eleven. Yeah, we yeah,
we were. We were well in there. Yeah, he's well
(07:38):
older than you. Who would you have been there with?
Who else was there with you? Booby remember Booby Dixon?
Booby Dixon? Yeah, I was with Fletching. I played by
with Fletching Cox. Uh yeah, Jonathan Banks, you know winners.
So I had some dogs in my scooter. Okay, all right,
So it was always linebacker for you. Tell me about
(08:01):
where you come from? Is that is that a mentality
of the culture where you're from. Was it just something
that you fell into? Like how how did the Because
for me, I'm from Pittsburgh, so you see I got
my Penstate shirt on. Like linebacker is literally the culture
that I grew up in. You grew up still curtains.
(08:23):
So it's either d line or your linebacker, like and
that's what we wanted, Like, oh, you're a good running back.
Now I'm cool. I want this LB thing like I'm
trying to thump you know what I mean? So how
what played a part in you choosing? Because that's a
special that's a grown man's position at at any level,
(08:45):
that's a grown man's position to choose the one to
be a part of what went into that thought process?
That that fits my style, that fit my personality. I'm
a guy that, oh here is where I made my money,
My my intellect, my skill set, my seeing the stuff
before it happened, my getting guys lined up when they
don't know what the hell they're doing. That's that's what
(09:06):
my skill set. And so I'm a linebacker. I'm off
the ball, I'm going sideline to sideline, covering, running back
to tight ends. I'll come downhill on you as well.
And so if it my skills said perfect, I didn't
want to be isolated to just right here on the
left side. Rational quarterback, you know, that's that's what they
get paid. They're good at it. That's that's that's not me.
(09:27):
So I was like, I'm a lineback in your heart.
This is what I do and I'll make my living.
Now here's what's interesting you said here right If that's
that's where that's where it worked for you, is mentally leader,
getting people where they're supposed to be and and just dictating,
you know, make sure that you're the one that's dictating it.
(09:51):
You have four interesting faces behind over your shoulder. The
King you got, you got the President, you you got
the X, and you got Mandela. Is that just? Is
that just a placeholder in your in your house along
(10:11):
with with what I'm assuming is a game warrn helmet
and obviously a a a trophy of what you got
going on with your jersey. All right, So you got
mamba batality up there, So tell me how does that
apply to kJ kj's face is right next to the
(10:32):
King's face right now. So you got the King, you
got the President. You got the X and you got
that got Mandela who you know, we all know about
apartheid and everything that. If you don't know about Nelson Mandela,
look him up. Uh how does kJ right fit into that?
Because I see your face right next to theirs. How
(10:53):
does he fit? One thing that all these dudes have
in common is that they paid the way they put
them They put other people before, they put themselves right,
and they made a sacrifice for you, for myself. And
these dudes are are legends. These dudes are legends. And
(11:14):
so for me, what I what I guess I can
correlate myself to them is that I played this game
and I I gave my you know, my brain, my knowledge,
my my effort to pay the way for my teammates,
to help my teammates become better, to help the young
rookies to be better. Right when when some guys come in,
they don't share what they know with with the young bucks.
(11:37):
They like they keep it all to themselves. And I'm
not to get minds. These dudes right here cared about
the future and what was to come. And so I
mean talking about Kobe Bryant. Let's I talked about Kobe
all day. You know, tell us every all time favorite player.
But what I loved about him was saying thing with
(12:00):
his mentality. You've seen this dude play through injuries. You
see this dude when it's clutched time, He's not a scared,
He's not afraid of the moment. He go go for
He go go for it, and just his grid, his
his his intensity, his clutchness, Like this dude is. He
was everything to me growing up and I watched them.
I saw his practice hasens and I was like, how
(12:22):
can I model him? What can I do to be
when I do at the moment and challenge So he
was everything when it came to my career. When you
talk about that mamba mentality in your mind, do you
view that the same way heading into the rest of
your life. Hell yeah, that's that and that's the truth,
(12:44):
and that's the truth. Oh. Football has been a part
of my life since I was in middle school, playing
the game about to be done. You know, here eventually,
how can I attack? How can I attack this next
phase of my life? You saw what Kobe was doing
basketball ended man was winning oscars and making films. Um
(13:04):
Hardy started academies. I plan on starting um a community
center back in my hometown. How how can I be
special in this in this next phase? Advice? What else
can I do to still be impactful in the community.
How can I make people feel great about themselves even
though I'm not playing football on Sundays? Yeah, that's that's
That's the next step for me. Love that alright. So
(13:27):
talking about everything that has evolved and continued to develop
the n i L. Now, the n i L has
in the Transfer portal have created free agency and professional
uh professionalism pro athlete at the college level effectively immediately
(13:53):
upon its arrival. First tell me what what do you fit? Like?
What's your feeling on the n i L and the
transfer portal? And then tell me what would kJ right
have been doing in the n i L Transfer Portal
era of college football? Let me tell you when it
(14:14):
When it first came out, I was like, this thing
is about to be a mess. I'm like, I'm I
was like, I'm not a fan of. I'm not a
fan of. And if you see what it's becoming now,
I'm out for guys getting paid. I'm out for guys
getting money in college because I know for me, they
gave us the car where you swiped your car and
got your food on campra. Let thing run out around
October November, and you can't go off campus either. You
(14:36):
gotta make your last whole semester. So that's completely unacceptable.
That's that's unacceptable. Dudes need to be fed, and dudes
need to have the rank covered and all that stuff
and need to have some money in they pocket. I
get that. What it's becoming now is what you're seeing
is guys are are using it as a bidding war,
as a reading word. Like they got to say, I'm
enter the transport portal and what it's happened? Okay, I
(14:58):
give you torge it that, like you throw us the thousand.
But for me, it's like what's your focus as as
an athlete? Is it money or is it ball to
really get the millions and the big bucks. So when
it came about them like these dudes focus is not ball,
it's not school. We're not we're not gonna say that
(15:18):
educational important because because because a lot of these dudes
won't make it to the proach, let's let's remember that.
And so what's your focus going into school? And so
when it when it came about like this, this is
about to get out of hand. M hmmm, So what
do you what are you saying now? What is your
is your thoughts confirmed in terms of it's gonna get
out of hand? Is it out of hand? It's out?
(15:41):
They can get worse than what it is now, what
it worse? It's gonna get worse. It can't get worse.
And and I want these guys to be I want
these guys to be good. But what what how is
it reankulate? How is it regulated? Is it being paid
out right? Then? And there? Let's say these guys get
twentre of thousand dollars to go to school and they
don't paying out, they got to pay the money back?
(16:02):
Or you know what is what does it look like?
And so I just wish you could be more regulations
to to where how these guys get their money transfer portal.
Obviously that gives guys the opportunity to go. You know,
something were to happen, you can't play because you're just
not good enough. If you had a family emergency take place,
(16:24):
you want to be closer to home. There are some
real valid reasons and and everybody has used coaches get
to do it, you know, as as you know, justification,
but the transfer portal accompanied with the n I L
is basically a guy's way to create and generate free agency.
(16:44):
What for you when you were in school, was there
ever a moment? Because I know I did, and I
know a lot of the guys I played with UM
and you know, when you're sitting around and we have
our conversations, there was a moment where I was not
happy where I was at. There was a moment where
I didn't like where I was on the depth chart.
(17:06):
There was a moment in time where I questioned, am
I even good enough to get onto the field? Oh
should I leave? Where should I go? Um looking and
if I'm giving full disclosure, there was a moment in
time where I actually even went and visited the school
that I was thinking about transferring to because my homeboy
(17:29):
I was from Pittsburgh. I was looking to go back
home to Pittsburgh, and I was actually on campus looking around,
like wondering if I would, you know, possibly transfer out.
But the fair of failure in my heart and and
the things that I had already accomplished and overcame up
(17:49):
to that point didn't allow for me to give in
and give up and take that route. I stood in
there now for every time that somebody does, and it
worked out the way it did for me. There's a
lot of times where it doesn't work out, and I
could have been that guy that stayed too long or
whatever it may have been. Did you have did you
(18:10):
ever have any moments? And if you had the portal?
What did that spoken to you? What? What did that
been messing with you? Like Jay Jay right there? Man?
For me, I never had that moment. I played as
a freshman, and so I was, I was, I was
gonna looking. I played as a freshman, played special teams.
They sprinkled me in and they're on defense. So started
(18:32):
as a sophomore and the rest of his history. And
for me, when it comes to the transport portal, you
look at our society, it's like everyone is looking for
the instant gratification. What can I get right now? Whatever
happened to taking the steps? Let me work, let me grind,
let me compete, let me go take somebody's job. What happened?
(18:54):
What happened to that? Let me go be better? Let
me take what I want? Did that? Just that just disappears.
It looks to be scarce. These days, sir, what happened?
Though I committed to this. I'm gonna go work, I'm
gonna go grind, and i'm gonna let I'm let it happy.
You see some guys they start, they see a year
become a first round draft pick. I need three years
(19:15):
to be a starter. All you need is one solid
year to go ball and make it happen. And so
when it comes to this, oh it's not good enough.
Oh you're not playing me, coach on the end of
the transport portal? So what's bad when you when you
get to the next place, you gonna do the same
damn thing. Oh you're not playing me. I'm gonna in
the tank. By by time you transfer, you don't get
to do it twice. You get one time to do it.
(19:38):
That time, they're gonna part of you. They're gonna spank
you for you get one time. And so man, for me,
it's really it's it's just hardening to see because you know,
you old school. I feel like I got a old
school mentality to where I'm gonna work, I'm grind and
that if you're in front of me, I'm gonna do
what I can to go take what's mine. That's all
(19:59):
makes sense, all right when when giving advice, because everything
that you've said and how your answering is a vice
driven and I really I really appreciate that. Was there
any was there any defining moments for you in terms
of your approach like this, like you mentioned Kobe and
(20:21):
the mamba mentality, the leaders that are sitting on your
your mantle. Was there any defining moments for you growing up?
Was it something about how your mom did things, or
your dad or an uncle or your grand or a coach.
What what was the most critical or or maybe most important,
(20:44):
you know, aspect for you and developing the mindset that
you have right now. Yeah, it's funny. It's funny. Both
my parents had them. You know, a mom and dad
have big impact on my life. And it's funny. They
were teaching me stuff like not just specifically with football,
but really more around me, Like my mom was teaching
me finances when when I was a kid, right and
(21:07):
my dad was teaching me toughness when I was playing
baseball and I remember I got kicked out of the
baseball game and my dad was teaching me, hey, keep
put your head up. It's all right. Like we go
we go come back and go come back the next
day and we go crush it. And so I had
something adverse when I was a look kid had I
got kicked out of another basketball game. Gotta tech and
(21:29):
there's some boys and I should got kicked out of
that one. Tell me, tell me about it. What happened?
I see, I need to I need to understand what
happened to get to where the idea of perseverance or
or or get in my mind right what what happened?
So we grew up in the Deep South in Mississippi,
UM putting against a bunch of white boys. My team
(21:50):
a bunch of white boys, and it's two black duds.
And you could tell LaVar you know, I was I
was killing them. I was killing them. But you could
tell like these folks was out. They was out to
They was out to not have us win. There was
not to hap us not win. And so we was
in a tournament and UM idea something we gotta check comined.
(22:10):
I'm like ten years old, and what they said was
he cannot play the rest of this game. Nor can
you play the rest of this tournament. My dad was living.
My dad was my coach, and we was like, oh no,
my grandma was there. We stormed and left and left
the building. We saw him and left out. And then
(22:33):
my dad just told me, he was like, son, this
is some stuff that you may have to face growing up, right,
but we're not gonna let this, this bigotry, you know,
keep us from from from going. There's some stuff that
you have to hurdle as as a young black man,
you know, in Mississippi or in the world. And so
they were just always teaching and life lessons that I
(22:54):
gotta overcome and just and just just have a nap
get through life, man. And that's powerful because you mentioned
instant gratification being a part of society and culture. Now,
the minimizing of of what you just talked about, based
(23:14):
upon the sensationalizing of it these days bothers me. It
bothers me that that the idea of of getting ahead
and life, or or the lack thereof, is totally rooted
in my skin color. I I have experienced the same
(23:39):
and I experienced a story similar to that in high school.
And and it was very very interesting how that all
played out because it was a white dude on an
all black inner city basketball team and he was racial
slurry me and and and I spank them and and
(24:02):
I'm at the foul line at the and you know,
the the victory free throws and and I'm I'm listening
to the dude still heckle me in the game. And
he says to me while I'm at the free throw line,
You'll always be a grimace face m hm, trigger right, Yeah,
(24:24):
You're gonna always be a ugly grimace face black trigger right.
Let's shoot him, make the baskets that of that we
win the game. I know a couple of dudes on
the team from football, from summer basketball, this that another.
We're tapping up and he walks past my face and
as he's walking past, just remember what I said, always
(24:45):
a trigger, right, serious? I rocked him k J. And
he's on the teamle of black Dudes, inner city team
from Duke Kane P eight Inner City Black Score Urban School.
And he hit me. He hit me like I was
in Mississippi, right, And they were just sitting there. They didn't,
(25:10):
they didn't hear it. They didn't, they didn't, they weren't.
I'm gonna tell you it was crazy. They was ready
to shoot me. He was ready to shoot your boy.
They had to escort as out police escorts because they
were trying to follow us. Because I didn't punch the
dude in the face, right, I rocked him. I rocked him.
(25:32):
I rocked him like that last that last moment where
you hit me with the just remember which you just
remember what I said, always a trigger, right, and I
just I blanked out, like I blacked out when I
came back through his face was was was falling apart,
you know what I mean. Um, Well, not proud of
(25:52):
the way I handled it, but I don't play it.
I didn't play that way, you know what I mean.
So so when I look at the things that people
have to overcome, m hm, you can you can state
what the conditions are. You can talk about and feel
(26:13):
the pressure and the pinch and the disappointments of of
maybe not getting done what you wanted to get done.
And it could very well be based off of the
color of your skin. But what I don't like about
where we're at right now is instead of honkering down
(26:36):
and gutting up and figuring it out and finding a
way and creating a way and creating those opportunities and
plugging away and going through the process and returning, like
your dad said, come back again tomorrow, do it again,
make yourself an undeniable person of value. We blame it,
(26:58):
we we get the excuse. We look for public, We
look for the public to support us. I can't do this,
I can't make it. I can't get there because I'm black.
I can't do this because of my race. I don't
get the opportunity because of my race. I don't. I
hate the fact that we've allowed that to become a
(27:21):
narrative that is not used as motivation and inspiration. It's
used as justification. And I don't like that. You know,
how do you how do you approach because the same
pressures that you're gonna deal with, when you dealt with
that attend you're going to have levels of experiences where
(27:43):
you feel like, maybe this person is being looked at differently,
Maybe they are being judged differently based upon different variables
connected to who you are. How is K J. Wright
going to tackle that and handle that? Let me let
me speak of it from a different angles. It comes
to black people. That's when it comes to black people.
(28:05):
We have to be aware of the systemic, op precious
systemic racism that we face since since the beginning, since
we came to America. Gotta be aware. You know the
gym crow, laws of the you know of our school system,
you know segregation, bad book, you know, bad school system,
all all that, all this stuff. We gotta be aware
of the stuff that we have been faced against, that
(28:25):
we still are faced against today. However, that's that's that
there cannot be a reason to why we cannot climb
the ladder like this this. You know, this man back here,
I never thought in my in my lifetime, we'll see
a black president if we if we had that mentality,
it will still be the same stuff. So we gotta
(28:46):
keep gotta keep pushing, gotta be aware of what we're against,
keep climbing that ladder, Keep climbing ladder. Look at the
NFL right now with with the with the limit amount
living amount of black coaches, black black gms, the ones
we were getting there, we're getting there. We gotta keep
keep climbing. And so we can't use that Oh they
don't want me in there. It's just a good old
(29:08):
boy club. No, if you have their mentality, then the
same stuff will continue to happen. Find a way network
create you know, create friends to get to to where
you gotta go and climb that letter. There are a
lot of people out here and they ain't black, and
they could be black, but there are a lot of
(29:29):
people out here that look to support people, they see
the value and people, you know, and you just can't.
You can't focusing on on the boogeyman that that doesn't
like your race of people. You just can't. You just
can't live in the shadows or look waiting for the
boogeyman to come out. Just doesn't work that way. Yea,
(29:52):
and so or you be in the same situation you're in,
and so that we you know, those days are over
where we use that as an excuse. But let's let's
be conscious of it. Let's be aware of you, let's
keep pushing. Indeed, all right here, here's my last question, man,
I do truly appreciate you coming on. Got kJ right
obviously played for Seattle, played for Oakland briefly, but known
(30:14):
as one of the key members of the Legion of
Boon with with Bobby Wagon and with with obviously Sherman
and and and Calm and and and you know, just
the earl. It's just one of the most legendary units
of of all time within the game, um, and speaking
of the legacy of all time in the game, when
(30:38):
it's all sit and done, kJ I asked this at
the end of every podcast I every show I do
interview I do at the end when it's all sit
and done, and your loved ones and the people that
admired and respected and we're fans of kJ Wright show
up to pay their respects. The I can see that
(31:00):
you leave behind. What is it that you would want
people to remember you by? And what is it that
while you listening to what they're saying about you and
you're not there, What is it that you would hope
that they say is the legacy of who kJ Right is?
I would say. On the field, and he was a
(31:21):
bad man. He would knock the shoot out of you.
He can cover you, he can make t f fails,
he will scream master. That man can do with all
on the football field. And when it comes to this generation,
he was one of the best. That's that's on the
that's on the football field. But something you know, he's
you're bad dude. Um. You know. As far as my teammates,
(31:42):
I would say, I would like for my teammates to say, man, kJ,
I feel like kJ loved me. I feel like kJ
invested into me. I feel like kJ respected the game.
And you know when when it's off the field, he
taught me how to you know, invest his money. He
taught me, you know, how to be a family man
and balance and balance his life with kids and wife
(32:03):
and football. You know that, you know, he just connected
with me out that my teammates definite said about me.
And so what did your wife say? What do your
kids say? What? What are they gonna? My wife was,
oh no, let me see some of my kids. My
kids would say, you know, you know, Daddy was you know,
Daddy was daddy. You know when Daddy came home, he
didn't come home reading this iPad and you know, going
(32:23):
to work when Daddy came home and Daddy was president
and Daddy you know, chackled me on the bed when
we played, you know we're playing a little pick up
football and um and all that stuff. And my wife
would say that he worked his tell off. You know,
he battled, you know, he put you know something, he
had to make sacrifices for this family, put us in
a financial position that we're in and to um, you know,
(32:45):
just just give us a life that we didn't have
growing up. And so um, you know, same with my wife.
When I came home, then bring work home. I couldn't
put it off at the door. That's why I went early.
I cut up at the door. And so yeah, man
and my family home back in Mississippi. Life. This man,
he gave us a time about life. We traveled across
(33:05):
the world. We've been to Pittsburgh, California, Florida, place we
ain't ever been, went to London, and you know, you
you blessed us, you know, through football, you blessed us
to experience the world. So they had the time of
their life as well. When when I was playing the ball,
I appreciate you, bro. No enjoyed it. Man. It's kJ right, y'all.
(33:26):
Make sure you check him out. Anything you promote where
you at on on social media's real quick, a real quick.
I'm having my alumni game, all of French Charity Alumni
game June twenty four, and all the branch Mississippi tickets
are going on sale thirty days before, so that's May
twenty four. You can go to my social media bomb
online and you're in the city. If you're in the area,
(33:47):
come kick it. It's gonna be a good time. What's
social media happened? kJ Underscore right thirty four, Instagram and Twitter. Bam.
All right, we're gonna put that out there and make
sure you go subscribe, check out the podcast. If you
met anything, check out priors. We we keep the amazing
guests coming on and coming through. His up on Game
(34:08):
Presents Conversations with a legend. That's kJ Wright. I'm LaVar Arrington.
It's a rat, y'all until next time. Whallat you now
appreciate it.
It presents conversations with the legend around here, and we
hustle for living around here, round here, and we ground
for round round here. We hustle for living round here
round here, we running for a living alright, everybody, I'm
you know, the thing seems to continue to grow with
(00:27):
what I'm doing on conversations with the legend. Yet again
another legend, and yet again another LB. Now this LB
is more special and more than one way. And one
of the ways that I'll give you is that he
was part of the legion of Boom. All right, you
(00:48):
haven't seen it since. For everybody that talks about b wags,
you gotta talk about this man that's coming all right now,
my man, kJ, Right, what's happening, my guy? What's good? Man?
What's good? Hey man? This conversation is with a legend,
and it's on up on game presents. And I appreciate
(01:09):
you coming into the place and into the spot to
have a conversation about you, you know, thank you, thank
you indeed. All right, So first off, first out the gate, obviously,
you know what's what's going on with kJ. Now where
you got going on? I know the whole you you
(01:30):
getting to that point of where it's one ft in,
it's one ft out. It could possibly be two ft in,
but it could possibly be two feet out. What's the
latest with kJ Damn? So we about we were, I'm
gonna say we one ft in, one ft out? Okay.
I want to I want to do the Dame thing.
I want to do it. I want to fall. But
(01:53):
as you know, the way that I've done in my
whole career been with a team O T A S.
Laying down the foundation, go to training camp, get my
mind and body right. I didn't have the opportunity to
do that last year because you know, with the whole time,
didn't have a job right now, still a free agent,
(02:13):
and it's looking like it may be the same story.
And I'm I'm not a fan of that. I don't
I don't roll like that. So if a team comes,
comes correct, comes in time, then I'm all for it.
But to me just get up off the couch week one,
week three of the regular season, I cannot see myself
doing that. So what how are you approaching approaching that?
(02:36):
Clearly you're you're staying in shape, you look physically, you
look good like you're ready to go, But how do
you approach that from the mental emotional side, because for
every person that's had an amazing career, you got a
super Bowl, you know you you you were able to
do it really in one place for the majority of
(02:58):
your career. There's that I that's coming out of college,
that's unrestricted, unsigned free agent, that's facing the situation you're facing.
There's that guy that made one or two years in.
They're facing the same situation you're facing. How do you
how are you mentally approaching what what it is that
(03:20):
you have going on with your career. Yeah, but for me,
I went through all the anxieties, all the stress of
maybe not playing again. I'm gonna do that. Last offseason
I was I'm gonna be honest, I was going through
the damned that I honestly played my last football game
in Seattle when we lost to the Rams, and that
was that was tough with me. The process. Um like,
I still got ball left at me. I still can play.
(03:43):
So I went through all the drama last year and
as I proposed this year play with the Raiders. I'm
at peace. I'm content with the career I put together.
I'm I'm gonna I'm content with the plays I made
the Super Bowls, the probos that I got. I'm in
a really good place, you know, you know, thank God
for that. And so whatever comes, if it comes, it's
alve greaty if it doesn't, and I'll be good. When
(04:04):
you say you're good, You'll be good. Have you have
you thought about what's next? Four kJ right? Is it coaching?
Is it? Have you worked on anything business wise? Do
you have charity foundations? What what are you doing as
the person outside of the game. I'm gonna I'm gonna
take my time to figure out for me. I know
(04:27):
I want to stay around ball. I do know that.
I love talking ball, I love you know, sports media.
I love I love coaching. I don't want to be
a coach. Then let's get it on this side. I
don't want to be a coach, but I want to
be something that can assist the coach itself with the
game plan, but not in the building from sun up
to sundown. Okay, so we're more like a consultant. More
like a consultant. So I love the business side. I
(04:48):
love the managing side of help building, you know, finding guys,
bringing in talent like let me, this guy is a
person round town. Let me bring him on myself, maybe
a scout, scouting consultant or l Okay, well, you know that,
you know you'll learn, You'll learn this. You're gonna have
to go through the stage, is my g you know
(05:09):
what I mean. They're gonna make it. They're gonna make
you a quality control They're gonna make you a scout.
You're gonna have to stand in the rain. You're gonna
see mosquitos. You play that Mississippi, You're gonna have to
see mosquitoes as big as the one you used to
see when you was growing up. I mean, they're gonna
send you through the ranks. Now I would assume you know.
But and then, and that's part of it. You gotta
(05:29):
you gotta learn. You gotta learn what what it what
it takes you learn what they see, what they're looking for.
It's I'm all for for working and learning, you know, climbing,
climbing their letter talk about that man, because climbing the ladder.
No matter if you're highly recruited, highly talented, or obscure,
we all have to climb through the ranks to be
(05:50):
able to make it to the next level out of
high school, you know, make it out of the level
of college to the next level of the pros. Growing up?
What was that like for you going through the ranks?
How how did things unfold for you, you know, on
this journey to making it to the league and where
you are now. For me, I felt like I never
(06:11):
had that. I feel like I never had that respect.
I feel like I never had people putting me up,
you know with the five star four So I was
always a guy that had to earn it, and you know,
was drafted mid round. And so even I even had
coaches telling me, you know, I don't know if you
can be able to play with the big dogs when
you get up to the next level. I had had
coaches telling me that. So I always had to prove myself.
(06:34):
Leavar always had to put my head down and go
to work, go to work, go to work when dudes
out there doing the other stuff, going to work, going
to work. And so there was someone that always, you know,
I had to chip on my shoulder when I was
when I was you know, high school cause and in
the pros. Did you start at linebacker and stay out linebacker?
How did that evolved for you? Started in linebacker. Then
(06:55):
my senior year we had a new staff and they
put me at d N. I hated d N. I'm
I'm a off the ball linebacker. And so it's funny
when I was getting recruited in college that has some
people crew me at d N, some people crew me
at linebacker. And the two the two teams are cruity
as linebackers Mississippi State in South Carolina. So we came
down to them too for me. Um, you know the
(07:16):
rest is seriously, I chose coach Crum with Misissippi State. Sure,
Now were you there with smooth You're a little younger,
a little younger than Smoothie? Yeah? Um, because you what
you you came into the league, got two thousand fourteen.
I'm two two and eleven eleven eleven. Yeah, we yeah,
we were. We were well in there. Yeah, he's well
(07:38):
older than you. Who would you have been there with?
Who else was there with you? Booby remember Booby Dixon?
Booby Dixon? Yeah, I was with Fletching. I played by
with Fletching Cox. Uh yeah, Jonathan Banks, you know winners.
So I had some dogs in my scooter. Okay, all right,
So it was always linebacker for you. Tell me about
(08:01):
where you come from? Is that is that a mentality
of the culture where you're from. Was it just something
that you fell into? Like how how did the Because
for me, I'm from Pittsburgh, so you see I got
my Penstate shirt on. Like linebacker is literally the culture
that I grew up in. You grew up still curtains.
(08:23):
So it's either d line or your linebacker, like and
that's what we wanted, Like, oh, you're a good running back.
Now I'm cool. I want this LB thing like I'm
trying to thump you know what I mean? So how
what played a part in you choosing? Because that's a
special that's a grown man's position at at any level,
(08:45):
that's a grown man's position to choose the one to
be a part of what went into that thought process?
That that fits my style, that fit my personality. I'm
a guy that, oh here is where I made my money,
My my intellect, my skill set, my seeing the stuff
before it happened, my getting guys lined up when they
don't know what the hell they're doing. That's that's what
(09:06):
my skill set. And so I'm a linebacker. I'm off
the ball, I'm going sideline to sideline, covering, running back
to tight ends. I'll come downhill on you as well.
And so if it my skills said perfect, I didn't
want to be isolated to just right here on the
left side. Rational quarterback, you know, that's that's what they
get paid. They're good at it. That's that's that's not me.
(09:27):
So I was like, I'm a lineback in your heart.
This is what I do and I'll make my living.
Now here's what's interesting you said here right If that's
that's where that's where it worked for you, is mentally leader,
getting people where they're supposed to be and and just dictating,
you know, make sure that you're the one that's dictating it.
(09:51):
You have four interesting faces behind over your shoulder. The
King you got, you got the President, you you got
the X, and you got Mandela. Is that just? Is
that just a placeholder in your in your house along
(10:11):
with with what I'm assuming is a game warrn helmet
and obviously a a a trophy of what you got
going on with your jersey. All right, So you got
mamba batality up there, So tell me how does that
apply to kJ kj's face is right next to the
(10:32):
King's face right now. So you got the King, you
got the President. You got the X and you got
that got Mandela who you know, we all know about
apartheid and everything that. If you don't know about Nelson Mandela,
look him up. Uh how does kJ right fit into that?
Because I see your face right next to theirs. How
(10:53):
does he fit? One thing that all these dudes have
in common is that they paid the way they put
them They put other people before, they put themselves right,
and they made a sacrifice for you, for myself. And
these dudes are are legends. These dudes are legends. And
(11:14):
so for me, what I what I guess I can
correlate myself to them is that I played this game
and I I gave my you know, my brain, my knowledge,
my my effort to pay the way for my teammates,
to help my teammates become better, to help the young
rookies to be better. Right when when some guys come in,
they don't share what they know with with the young bucks.
(11:37):
They like they keep it all to themselves. And I'm
not to get minds. These dudes right here cared about
the future and what was to come. And so I
mean talking about Kobe Bryant. Let's I talked about Kobe
all day. You know, tell us every all time favorite player.
But what I loved about him was saying thing with
(12:00):
his mentality. You've seen this dude play through injuries. You
see this dude when it's clutched time, He's not a scared,
He's not afraid of the moment. He go go for
He go go for it, and just his grid, his
his his intensity, his clutchness, Like this dude is. He
was everything to me growing up and I watched them.
I saw his practice hasens and I was like, how
(12:22):
can I model him? What can I do to be
when I do at the moment and challenge So he
was everything when it came to my career. When you
talk about that mamba mentality in your mind, do you
view that the same way heading into the rest of
your life. Hell yeah, that's that and that's the truth,
(12:44):
and that's the truth. Oh. Football has been a part
of my life since I was in middle school, playing
the game about to be done. You know, here eventually,
how can I attack? How can I attack this next
phase of my life? You saw what Kobe was doing
basketball ended man was winning oscars and making films. Um
(13:04):
Hardy started academies. I plan on starting um a community
center back in my hometown. How how can I be
special in this in this next phase? Advice? What else
can I do to still be impactful in the community.
How can I make people feel great about themselves even
though I'm not playing football on Sundays? Yeah, that's that's
That's the next step for me. Love that alright. So
(13:27):
talking about everything that has evolved and continued to develop
the n i L. Now, the n i L has
in the Transfer portal have created free agency and professional
uh professionalism pro athlete at the college level effectively immediately
(13:53):
upon its arrival. First tell me what what do you fit? Like?
What's your feeling on the n i L and the
transfer portal? And then tell me what would kJ right
have been doing in the n i L Transfer Portal
era of college football? Let me tell you when it
(14:14):
When it first came out, I was like, this thing
is about to be a mess. I'm like, I'm I
was like, I'm not a fan of. I'm not a
fan of. And if you see what it's becoming now,
I'm out for guys getting paid. I'm out for guys
getting money in college because I know for me, they
gave us the car where you swiped your car and
got your food on campra. Let thing run out around
October November, and you can't go off campus either. You
(14:36):
gotta make your last whole semester. So that's completely unacceptable.
That's that's unacceptable. Dudes need to be fed, and dudes
need to have the rank covered and all that stuff
and need to have some money in they pocket. I
get that. What it's becoming now is what you're seeing
is guys are are using it as a bidding war,
as a reading word. Like they got to say, I'm
enter the transport portal and what it's happened? Okay, I
(14:58):
give you torge it that, like you throw us the thousand.
But for me, it's like what's your focus as as
an athlete? Is it money or is it ball to
really get the millions and the big bucks. So when
it came about them like these dudes focus is not ball,
it's not school. We're not we're not gonna say that
(15:18):
educational important because because because a lot of these dudes
won't make it to the proach, let's let's remember that.
And so what's your focus going into school? And so
when it when it came about like this, this is
about to get out of hand. M hmmm, So what
do you what are you saying now? What is your
is your thoughts confirmed in terms of it's gonna get
out of hand? Is it out of hand? It's out?
(15:41):
They can get worse than what it is now, what
it worse? It's gonna get worse. It can't get worse.
And and I want these guys to be I want
these guys to be good. But what what how is
it reankulate? How is it regulated? Is it being paid
out right? Then? And there? Let's say these guys get
twentre of thousand dollars to go to school and they
don't paying out, they got to pay the money back?
(16:02):
Or you know what is what does it look like?
And so I just wish you could be more regulations
to to where how these guys get their money transfer portal.
Obviously that gives guys the opportunity to go. You know,
something were to happen, you can't play because you're just
not good enough. If you had a family emergency take place,
(16:24):
you want to be closer to home. There are some
real valid reasons and and everybody has used coaches get
to do it, you know, as as you know, justification,
but the transfer portal accompanied with the n I L
is basically a guy's way to create and generate free agency.
(16:44):
What for you when you were in school, was there
ever a moment? Because I know I did, and I
know a lot of the guys I played with UM
and you know, when you're sitting around and we have
our conversations, there was a moment where I was not
happy where I was at. There was a moment where
I didn't like where I was on the depth chart.
(17:06):
There was a moment in time where I questioned, am
I even good enough to get onto the field? Oh
should I leave? Where should I go? Um looking and
if I'm giving full disclosure, there was a moment in
time where I actually even went and visited the school
that I was thinking about transferring to because my homeboy
(17:29):
I was from Pittsburgh. I was looking to go back
home to Pittsburgh, and I was actually on campus looking around,
like wondering if I would, you know, possibly transfer out.
But the fair of failure in my heart and and
the things that I had already accomplished and overcame up
(17:49):
to that point didn't allow for me to give in
and give up and take that route. I stood in
there now for every time that somebody does, and it
worked out the way it did for me. There's a
lot of times where it doesn't work out, and I
could have been that guy that stayed too long or
whatever it may have been. Did you have did you
(18:10):
ever have any moments? And if you had the portal?
What did that spoken to you? What? What did that
been messing with you? Like Jay Jay right there? Man?
For me, I never had that moment. I played as
a freshman, and so I was, I was, I was
gonna looking. I played as a freshman, played special teams.
They sprinkled me in and they're on defense. So started
(18:32):
as a sophomore and the rest of his history. And
for me, when it comes to the transport portal, you
look at our society, it's like everyone is looking for
the instant gratification. What can I get right now? Whatever
happened to taking the steps? Let me work, let me grind,
let me compete, let me go take somebody's job. What happened?
(18:54):
What happened to that? Let me go be better? Let
me take what I want? Did that? Just that just disappears.
It looks to be scarce. These days, sir, what happened?
Though I committed to this. I'm gonna go work, I'm
gonna go grind, and i'm gonna let I'm let it happy.
You see some guys they start, they see a year
become a first round draft pick. I need three years
(19:15):
to be a starter. All you need is one solid
year to go ball and make it happen. And so
when it comes to this, oh it's not good enough.
Oh you're not playing me, coach on the end of
the transport portal? So what's bad when you when you
get to the next place, you gonna do the same
damn thing. Oh you're not playing me. I'm gonna in
the tank. By by time you transfer, you don't get
to do it twice. You get one time to do it.
(19:38):
That time, they're gonna part of you. They're gonna spank
you for you get one time. And so man, for me,
it's really it's it's just hardening to see because you know,
you old school. I feel like I got a old
school mentality to where I'm gonna work, I'm grind and
that if you're in front of me, I'm gonna do
what I can to go take what's mine. That's all
(19:59):
makes sense, all right when when giving advice, because everything
that you've said and how your answering is a vice
driven and I really I really appreciate that. Was there
any was there any defining moments for you in terms
of your approach like this, like you mentioned Kobe and
(20:21):
the mamba mentality, the leaders that are sitting on your
your mantle. Was there any defining moments for you growing up?
Was it something about how your mom did things, or
your dad or an uncle or your grand or a coach.
What what was the most critical or or maybe most important,
(20:44):
you know, aspect for you and developing the mindset that
you have right now. Yeah, it's funny. It's funny. Both
my parents had them. You know, a mom and dad
have big impact on my life. And it's funny. They
were teaching me stuff like not just specifically with football,
but really more around me, Like my mom was teaching
me finances when when I was a kid, right and
(21:07):
my dad was teaching me toughness when I was playing
baseball and I remember I got kicked out of the
baseball game and my dad was teaching me, hey, keep
put your head up. It's all right. Like we go
we go come back and go come back the next
day and we go crush it. And so I had
something adverse when I was a look kid had I
got kicked out of another basketball game. Gotta tech and
(21:29):
there's some boys and I should got kicked out of
that one. Tell me, tell me about it. What happened?
I see, I need to I need to understand what
happened to get to where the idea of perseverance or
or or get in my mind right what what happened?
So we grew up in the Deep South in Mississippi,
UM putting against a bunch of white boys. My team
(21:50):
a bunch of white boys, and it's two black duds.
And you could tell LaVar you know, I was I
was killing them. I was killing them. But you could
tell like these folks was out. They was out to
They was out to not have us win. There was
not to hap us not win. And so we was
in a tournament and UM idea something we gotta check comined.
(22:10):
I'm like ten years old, and what they said was
he cannot play the rest of this game. Nor can
you play the rest of this tournament. My dad was living.
My dad was my coach, and we was like, oh no,
my grandma was there. We stormed and left and left
the building. We saw him and left out. And then
(22:33):
my dad just told me, he was like, son, this
is some stuff that you may have to face growing up, right,
but we're not gonna let this, this bigotry, you know,
keep us from from from going. There's some stuff that
you have to hurdle as as a young black man,
you know, in Mississippi or in the world. And so
they were just always teaching and life lessons that I
(22:54):
gotta overcome and just and just just have a nap
get through life, man. And that's powerful because you mentioned
instant gratification being a part of society and culture. Now,
the minimizing of of what you just talked about, based
(23:14):
upon the sensationalizing of it these days bothers me. It
bothers me that that the idea of of getting ahead
and life, or or the lack thereof, is totally rooted
in my skin color. I I have experienced the same
(23:39):
and I experienced a story similar to that in high school.
And and it was very very interesting how that all
played out because it was a white dude on an
all black inner city basketball team and he was racial
slurry me and and and I spank them and and
(24:02):
I'm at the foul line at the and you know,
the the victory free throws and and I'm I'm listening
to the dude still heckle me in the game. And
he says to me while I'm at the free throw line,
You'll always be a grimace face m hm, trigger right, Yeah,
(24:24):
You're gonna always be a ugly grimace face black trigger right.
Let's shoot him, make the baskets that of that we
win the game. I know a couple of dudes on
the team from football, from summer basketball, this that another.
We're tapping up and he walks past my face and
as he's walking past, just remember what I said, always
(24:45):
a trigger, right, serious? I rocked him k J. And
he's on the teamle of black Dudes, inner city team
from Duke Kane P eight Inner City Black Score Urban School.
And he hit me. He hit me like I was
in Mississippi, right, And they were just sitting there. They didn't,
(25:10):
they didn't hear it. They didn't, they didn't, they weren't.
I'm gonna tell you it was crazy. They was ready
to shoot me. He was ready to shoot your boy.
They had to escort as out police escorts because they
were trying to follow us. Because I didn't punch the
dude in the face, right, I rocked him. I rocked him.
(25:32):
I rocked him like that last that last moment where
you hit me with the just remember which you just
remember what I said, always a trigger, right, and I
just I blanked out, like I blacked out when I
came back through his face was was was falling apart,
you know what I mean. Um, Well, not proud of
(25:52):
the way I handled it, but I don't play it.
I didn't play that way, you know what I mean.
So so when I look at the things that people
have to overcome, m hm, you can you can state
what the conditions are. You can talk about and feel
(26:13):
the pressure and the pinch and the disappointments of of
maybe not getting done what you wanted to get done.
And it could very well be based off of the
color of your skin. But what I don't like about
where we're at right now is instead of honkering down
(26:36):
and gutting up and figuring it out and finding a
way and creating a way and creating those opportunities and
plugging away and going through the process and returning, like
your dad said, come back again tomorrow, do it again,
make yourself an undeniable person of value. We blame it,
(26:58):
we we get the excuse. We look for public, We
look for the public to support us. I can't do this,
I can't make it. I can't get there because I'm black.
I can't do this because of my race. I don't
get the opportunity because of my race. I don't. I
hate the fact that we've allowed that to become a
(27:21):
narrative that is not used as motivation and inspiration. It's
used as justification. And I don't like that. You know,
how do you how do you approach because the same
pressures that you're gonna deal with, when you dealt with
that attend you're going to have levels of experiences where
(27:43):
you feel like, maybe this person is being looked at differently,
Maybe they are being judged differently based upon different variables
connected to who you are. How is K J. Wright
going to tackle that and handle that? Let me let
me speak of it from a different angles. It comes
to black people. That's when it comes to black people.
(28:05):
We have to be aware of the systemic, op precious
systemic racism that we face since since the beginning, since
we came to America. Gotta be aware. You know the
gym crow, laws of the you know of our school system,
you know segregation, bad book, you know, bad school system,
all all that, all this stuff. We gotta be aware
of the stuff that we have been faced against, that
(28:25):
we still are faced against today. However, that's that's that
there cannot be a reason to why we cannot climb
the ladder like this this. You know, this man back here,
I never thought in my in my lifetime, we'll see
a black president if we if we had that mentality,
it will still be the same stuff. So we gotta
(28:46):
keep gotta keep pushing, gotta be aware of what we're against,
keep climbing that ladder, Keep climbing ladder. Look at the
NFL right now with with the with the limit amount
living amount of black coaches, black black gms, the ones
we were getting there, we're getting there. We gotta keep
keep climbing. And so we can't use that Oh they
don't want me in there. It's just a good old
(29:08):
boy club. No, if you have their mentality, then the
same stuff will continue to happen. Find a way network
create you know, create friends to get to to where
you gotta go and climb that letter. There are a
lot of people out here and they ain't black, and
they could be black, but there are a lot of
(29:29):
people out here that look to support people, they see
the value and people, you know, and you just can't.
You can't focusing on on the boogeyman that that doesn't
like your race of people. You just can't. You just
can't live in the shadows or look waiting for the
boogeyman to come out. Just doesn't work that way. Yea,
(29:52):
and so or you be in the same situation you're in,
and so that we you know, those days are over
where we use that as an excuse. But let's let's
be conscious of it. Let's be aware of you, let's
keep pushing. Indeed, all right here, here's my last question, man,
I do truly appreciate you coming on. Got kJ right
obviously played for Seattle, played for Oakland briefly, but known
(30:14):
as one of the key members of the Legion of
Boon with with Bobby Wagon and with with obviously Sherman
and and and Calm and and and you know, just
the earl. It's just one of the most legendary units
of of all time within the game, um, and speaking
of the legacy of all time in the game, when
(30:38):
it's all sit and done, kJ I asked this at
the end of every podcast I every show I do
interview I do at the end when it's all sit
and done, and your loved ones and the people that
admired and respected and we're fans of kJ Wright show
up to pay their respects. The I can see that
(31:00):
you leave behind. What is it that you would want
people to remember you by? And what is it that
while you listening to what they're saying about you and
you're not there, What is it that you would hope
that they say is the legacy of who kJ Right is?
I would say. On the field, and he was a
(31:21):
bad man. He would knock the shoot out of you.
He can cover you, he can make t f fails,
he will scream master. That man can do with all
on the football field. And when it comes to this generation,
he was one of the best. That's that's on the
that's on the football field. But something you know, he's
you're bad dude. Um. You know. As far as my teammates,
(31:42):
I would say, I would like for my teammates to say, man, kJ,
I feel like kJ loved me. I feel like kJ
invested into me. I feel like kJ respected the game.
And you know when when it's off the field, he
taught me how to you know, invest his money. He
taught me, you know, how to be a family man
and balance and balance his life with kids and wife
(32:03):
and football. You know that, you know, he just connected
with me out that my teammates definite said about me.
And so what did your wife say? What do your
kids say? What? What are they gonna? My wife was,
oh no, let me see some of my kids. My
kids would say, you know, you know, Daddy was you know,
Daddy was daddy. You know when Daddy came home, he
didn't come home reading this iPad and you know, going
(32:23):
to work when Daddy came home and Daddy was president
and Daddy you know, chackled me on the bed when
we played, you know we're playing a little pick up
football and um and all that stuff. And my wife
would say that he worked his tell off. You know,
he battled, you know, he put you know something, he
had to make sacrifices for this family, put us in
a financial position that we're in and to um, you know,
(32:45):
just just give us a life that we didn't have
growing up. And so um, you know, same with my wife.
When I came home, then bring work home. I couldn't
put it off at the door. That's why I went early.
I cut up at the door. And so yeah, man
and my family home back in Mississippi. Life. This man,
he gave us a time about life. We traveled across
(33:05):
the world. We've been to Pittsburgh, California, Florida, place we
ain't ever been, went to London, and you know, you
you blessed us, you know, through football, you blessed us
to experience the world. So they had the time of
their life as well. When when I was playing the ball,
I appreciate you, bro. No enjoyed it. Man. It's kJ right, y'all.
(33:26):
Make sure you check him out. Anything you promote where
you at on on social media's real quick, a real quick.
I'm having my alumni game, all of French Charity Alumni
game June twenty four, and all the branch Mississippi tickets
are going on sale thirty days before, so that's May
twenty four. You can go to my social media bomb
online and you're in the city. If you're in the area,
(33:47):
come kick it. It's gonna be a good time. What's
social media happened? kJ Underscore right thirty four, Instagram and Twitter. Bam.
All right, we're gonna put that out there and make
sure you go subscribe, check out the podcast. If you
met anything, check out priors. We we keep the amazing
guests coming on and coming through. His up on Game
(34:08):
Presents Conversations with a legend. That's kJ Wright. I'm LaVar Arrington.
It's a rat, y'all until next time. Whallat you now
appreciate it.
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