Lots to Say: Fmr NFL WR Eric Decker

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is
a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcasts.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
We got lots to say, we got.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Lots to save.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
What the Becker here and we hope you stay because
we got lost to say, Yeah we got lost.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Just say here's.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Bobby Hey, welcome back, Mattcastle, Bobby Bones and Eric Decker.
Eric good to say, Buddy, Yeah, you're the first athlete
I think that I've known ahead of you getting here.
Using Matt just shows up with somebody, that's the truth.
It's like, I don't know, uh me and my friend
Randall cob Hey, Randall all right, Yeah, I thought he

(00:53):
was you at my front door, and there's some resemblance. Well, no,
you just kind of suck it following through to tell
people where to go. I think, well, I told him
the address.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I figured he would text me when I said, didn't
I say, text me when you get here?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Didn't I say, Well, that's my I was in the
middle of texting. He's usually late to things.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I just know this from him was extremely early. Yeah, shockingly, yeah, shockingly.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
And I thought it was you at the front door,
and I said, hey.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
Just where's the address for today. You can get there
at twelve forty five and we'll start at one.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Nothing else. Find your way wherever you know, smell smell
the studio.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Well, I saw him through the window and I just
did a whoo like a finger whip. How is he
to know what that means?

Speaker 3 (01:30):
I thought it was you, And I've never come to
your front door.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
You've probably thought I had to go to the bathroom
and you're like, no, bro, you got to go in
the back.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, so goot to see it.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
We made it.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, yeah, we've You and I have been together in
different circumstances, never like a sports show, always something more
pop culture or country music.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Right, Yeah, when did you guys first meet?

Speaker 1 (01:51):
The summer of sixty two? We would love the young gentleman.
Did you guys ever play together?

Speaker 2 (01:55):
We did for the Tennessee Titans for two years, two
years of the greatest years of my life.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
One year? But who's one year? Yeah, seventeen right, that's
what I meant. Yeah, one year?

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Did you guys?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
What was that year for?

Speaker 1 (02:06):
You?

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Guess? Actually? We went to a playoff.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
We went to the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
We beat the Chiefs, the Chiefs in the first round,
and then we went to New England and kind.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Of got beat down a little bit, but it was
overall a successful year for us. And that was my
second year. That was Mariota's third season, right, it was.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, a lot of coaching changes, I think, but I
got a great story from that year between me and Cass.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I'm here for it.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
I'm like the I'm like the girlfriend who wants to
hear all the stories about there before. Yeah, that's kind.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Of a weird.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Now, Yeah, this is why I love matth though, because
you know there's you know, there's no boundary.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
I guess.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
Well, anyways, it's like week eight nine. We're in Pittsburgh
Thursday night, I think, or it's a it's a primetime game,
and I had these packages leading up, and so my
story was I was kind of hurting training camp and
then try to like come along and just kind of
struggled really all season, to be honest, but that that game,
I felt like I had more packages for me and
then we never got to them on a side on

(03:05):
the whole time it's third down going quick, you know,
and then.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Are you playing on the inside, We're playing the slot more?

Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yeah, that point playing slot more. We had some injury
so I was kind of moving around a little bit.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
Sharon Matthews played outside for the most part. I was inside. Well,
it's the fourth quarter, two minutes rail and I'm like,
you know, sensimentally checked out. I'm like, well this this,
this didn't go how I thought I was going. And
the receiver coach is like, all right, get in, Yeah,
young guys need to come out. You get in, like
the no, no, keep the young guys in there. You
want then play all game? Keep them in there and

(03:35):
if someone gotten castles here.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
So he came up to me and he goes, hey, Cash,
you got to help me out.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
He's like, Decker, Decker won't go in the game.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
I said what I was because because I'm sitting there
and look, I'm just one of those guys. I was like,
what do you mean he won't go in the game, right,
because in my my point of view was Marcus was
banged up.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
He had the ac joint, which a lot of people
didn't know.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
And it's the fourth quarter, we're grinding away, we're getting
beat pretty subtly.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
But then I go over and I'm in a race.
You're not in the game.

Speaker 3 (04:02):
I'm not even in the game.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
They come to you on the sideline to say because
they know, like.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Look, I've I'm a veteran guy, I've got and he's
a veteran. So I go up and I blow a gasket.
I literally go up and sit. I'm in his face.
I said, I can't believe you wouldn't go in the
game right now? Are you kidding me? You're quitting on
and look, I didn't know all the circumstances. I just
was in a rage. Then he comes back at me.
We got to get separated on the sideline. Oh this

(04:26):
is real, like we're going to go fist a cuff.
So then this is at the end of the game, right,
So we go in. I'm hot, and so I get
back on the bus. I'm always on the third bus.
I'm sitting in the back and we've got the Bears
back there, we got Ben Jones, we got the group and.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
Deck usually sits what about the middle or so.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
So he's walking to the back of the bus and
I'm sitting down and I was like, oh no, I'm
getting up for this because we're about to go, because
I thought he was coming back to confront me and
we're about to go to blows and so I get
up and I stand up in the middle of the thing.
And so now I'm looking like, is he gonna swing
on me? What's he gonna do? And I'm getting ready
to go, and he sticks out his hand, he goes, cash,
you were right.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
And I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
And then literally we sat down together and had a
full conversation for about twenty thirty minutes about it and
gave both of our point of views a better understanding
for what each of us were going through at that point.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
And that got squashed, but it made us closer.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
Is that the only time you've ever got into it
with your own teammate on the sideline?

Speaker 3 (05:22):
No, for sure.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
No.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
I was one of the biggest ones though, because you know,
it was a critical time of the game, but we
were kind of blowing out and like young guys were
into the whole game, like just keep them in there.
And so when he came over, I was already I
already pissed off all the game was going, and so
we just yea, we were exchanging but there's.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
You weren't mad at him, You're a mad situation. He
was just a person that was going to suffer from you.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, I was the messenger and I was mad.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
You has been like the enforcer, though, what did't you
I look at you different now.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well, I was a guy that could absolutely I didn't
shy away from confrontation, and I'd let somebody know where
they would stand. And I think that's what people appreciate
about me too. I wouldn't I wouldn't hold back my
feelings or emotions or anything like that. But at the
same time, if it was go time, they would know
that I'm ready to go.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
I've often talked about how when I see people fighting
with each other, how if they keep their helmets on,
you can actually do a lot more fighting with a
helmet on, especially if you're just verbalizing it, because we
can't tell. Like, if you keep the helmet on, you
can say whatever you want, as aggressive as you want,
because we can't tell because of the mask. And basketball
and baseball you can't do that because there is no mask.
So I feel like there's probably a lot of these

(06:31):
type of situations without us knowing because you're not touching
each other and you can't scream at each other if
you leave the helmet on. Would that be accurate?

Speaker 3 (06:39):
I think so.

Speaker 4 (06:40):
I mean, it depends out the season too, Like training camp,
you got that all the time, and it's usually offense
defense kind of back and forth, just because you're tired,
you're banged up, and just it's hot and just like
ready to be done with what you're doing. And so
there's been plenty of times that it's gotten into a
physical altercation, but a lot of times it is, you know,
chattering back and forth. And you know, especially the sideline TV,

(07:02):
we're all competitors and so you know, we want to win,
we want we think things should go a certain way
when you know communication, you know, in a sense of
the warriors, like you're gonna come full force aggressiveness, and
so that just it comes off that way. But at
the end of the day, I mean, like I love
casts and our confrontation was like a growing moment for
us because we're able to overcome it. You're right, And
I think that happens a lot throughout the league and

(07:22):
teams go ahead.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
No, I was like I was gonna touch. No, you
definitely get into like.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
I want you to fight now. Like I'm just like
training camp.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Training camp is awesome for a quarterback because all the
big guys and even wide receivers DBS. It's so competitive
and it gets just so methodical day in and day
out going up against each other. They know your offense,
you know their defense, and then guys get scrappy. But
from a quarterback perspective, when they get in a fight,
it almost is entertainment because I'm sitting there like should
I break this up?

Speaker 1 (07:48):
Or should I watch these guys go?

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Kind of you know, I'm not gonna go get in
the mix and like throw blows or anything. But it's
an entertaining part of camp and it happens every single year,
but usually you get more verbal altercations than anything else.
I do remember one scrap though. During training camp. I
was with kNs City and we had Thomas Jones and
Jonathan Ball Jonathan, uh it's not Baldwin, Maybe it is Baldwin.

(08:11):
Jonathan Balin he was our first round pick. And so
he's sitting there and Thomas and him start mouthing off
back and forth, and we're throwing medicine balls off of
like the blocks, and so you sit down and throw
out and so finally he got to a point and
Thomas Jones had enough and he was a full veteran guy,
like twelve years in, didn't take it off anybody. He

(08:32):
turns around and chucks this medicine ball into Jonathan's face
wam from point blank range, and they go full scrap
in the weight room, and I was like, what is
going on right now?

Speaker 1 (08:42):
No pass by the way lifting.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Jonathan of course throws a blow, hits him, breaks his
thumb out for the first six weeks this season. So
it's like one of those where you're like, look, guys,
we got to know when to get in these things
and when not to.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
But if it hurts the team, that's when it becomes
a bat to Gino Smith broken jaw in the locker.
Oh yeah, were you there for that?

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (09:04):
Oh man, Well it was over nonsense. So I forget
the defensive player's name, but he was invited to Gino's
camp that summer for kids, and he decided not to
show up, and so Gino is mad. Gino's yapping him
actually the all the way around. Excuse me, this defensive
player is having a camp for kids. Gino's supposed to come,
he din he canceled well in training camp. It was

(09:26):
an issue, I guess, And so all of a sudden
they're apping away and Gino comes over and says something.
He turns around and clocks him in the jaw where
I mean he had surgery, closed jaw.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
He was out.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
We had Fitzpatrick come in. That kind of changed the
season for US twenty fifteen New York because we had
a successful season with Fitzpatrick. But man, just like stupid stuff,
like you're saying, well, that was that's pretty extreme.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, I can't believe you didn't come to my camp.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
It does make sense just the environment of you've got
competitive people. Obviously you've got a lot of testosterone. You've
got people that are not only you're competing against each
other the first part of the year too, Like I
can see where you could really the weather sucks almost
everywhere everywhere, So with that, I can see that there
are probably a lot of fights. But with you both
of you guys, was it always It's gonna happen, but

(10:13):
let's make sure it stays inside the locker room. We
don't share this outside of the locker room one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
And nowadays I think that it's probably more open just
because of social media. Somebody says one thing or tells
an agent and it gets out, especially if somebody's hurt
like in Geno circumstances, there's no hiding that he's out.
For the first part of season, there was no hiding
Jonathan Baldwin breaking his thumb hitting somebody and that comes out.
But for the most part, I've been in the locker
room where there's been altercations and blows thrown and all

(10:41):
that stuff. Where it's in house, it's handled in house.
There might be some kind of fine conduct detrimental something
like that, but usually it's not released out into the
media unless somebody squeals and somebody says something which you know,
then the coach is gonna identify it or try to
identify it and address it before it gets out of control.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
I was talking to yesterday PJ flak head coach Row
the Boat, Row the Boat, So and like that guy,
you like him.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
He's elite.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
Obviously you have a at least an emotional Relationship's where
you went to school, right, Yeah, I was trying to
convince it to come down to Darkansas lead a coach.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
Now.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
I was just I was letting him know what the
weather's like a little more temperate. The fall colors are beautiful,
and I think it's pretty happy up there. Minnesota, though, Man,
that's cold, and everybody that comes into play, especially even
with Castle playing in Kansas City, I just stay and
talk about how cold it is, Like that's a different
kind of cold right when it gets later in the.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
Year, it is. I mean, I grew up there, so
it'd be a wide receiver too.

Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yeah, but you know, I mean when you when you
live there, you're raised there, you don't know any better.
My vacations were Wisconsin, South Kotina.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
Like that you stayed.

Speaker 4 (11:43):
I didn't leave the Midwest. I didn't know there was
not a beach or weather in the South. But no,
you're right, I mean it definitely six months of the
year now is unbearable for me. Like I could never
live there or raise my family there. It's a beautiful
place in the summer, but it does get really tough.
I think it maybe speaks to the character of those
that survive, Like my parents are in there having these

(12:06):
and they're still and then I'm like, you choose to
be here, but it's their community, you know. I think
it just it builds the character and happy for them.
But I could never do it.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
What do you think about him? You know?

Speaker 4 (12:18):
Yeah, yeah, I love Pji you know, he I was
down here recruiting last year. We had dinner, and I'll
get up to a game every like once a year.
Usually I'll try to make up there for the fall.
But I love just his character, his story. You know,
he gets the most out of his guys. In Minnesota
is kind of like a farm system, I feel like
for the Big ten, like it's hard to keep really
good players, and so he really does suck the most

(12:40):
of his guys and he gets some good athletes. You know,
We've had skilled guys over the last five years, and
usually it's not hard to get big guys in Minnesota,
but just fun to see them play. And I think
his energy is so infectious. It's it's kind of spread
throughout the whole campus really, and so I'm happy for
his success. You know, not much expectations for Minnesota because

(13:02):
of the Ohio States and the Michigan's USC now Oregons,
but what they're doing at the Minnesota has been incredible.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
He just had a big win though against Nebraska, seven
and one against Nebraska.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
He did say there was like one to seventy as Iowa. Yeah,
they said to be fair that he might own Matt role,
but he gets owned by Iowa experience and yeah, they're
gonna play this week. When you guys played Iowa, I
mean was that you guys biggest rival was Wisconsin?

Speaker 4 (13:28):
Wisconsin? Iowa were the biggest. I beat Iowa once and
never beat Wisconsin. So what were you guys playing for?
What was the trophy?

Speaker 1 (13:34):
It was.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
Iowa game. Yeah, then the acts for the Wisconsin game.
But the pig, Yeah, for the Iowa was huge. I remember,
you know, I think weighs probably three hundred pounds too.
So the first time he won.

Speaker 1 (13:46):
It, it's like, wait, it was three hundred pounds.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
I felt like a but he lifted up by arm
overhead process.

Speaker 4 (13:54):
I think the golf car was brought over just to
throw it on it, but no, it was Uh. Those
games are fun because it makes it more special. You know,
it's a big rivalry, and to have something to play
for in showcase, you know, in the facility is cool.

Speaker 3 (14:06):
So in growing up in high school, you were a
three the three sport athlete.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
What was the cooldest that you played in high school
in a football game?

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Because you guys are playing obviously, Yeah, when the weather starts.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
To turn, yeah, I think we kind of ended well,
state tournament was in November, but that was in the
measure dominos around Oh real, we were inside then. But
I would say a game in Fergus Falls, which is
like northern Minnesota, late October, you know, just kind of
like probably New England where it was single digits maybe
zero degrees with the windshiel of you know, negative ten,

(14:38):
negative fifteen.

Speaker 3 (14:38):
You probably didn't have the equipment like.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
A New England. You're getting paid and they have they've
got equipment.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
People that will be like, hey, dude, where are these
three sleeves, and you'll actually.

Speaker 3 (14:47):
Beat the benches.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah, you know, anybody that's ever lost a tower or
finger in that conditions.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
Luckily, No, that's a good question, right, Yeah. Whenever, why'd
you go to Minnesota? Was it easy?

Speaker 3 (14:58):
Well, it was only Scotip I got. So.

Speaker 4 (15:01):
My plan was from a small town, rural Minnesota, was
to go to a Division three school. Saint John's was
a big program at the time, and uh, you know,
I was kind of a home body, didn't go to
any camps, didn't really showcase myself, but got invited to
one day go for camping like that, I want to,
I'll go down. So I went down and on the
Spotland Mason offered me a scholarship.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
Was like, I'll take it.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Like, I mean, I had nothing else, but what about
basketball or baseball? I assumed that three or baseball unless
it's like, yeah, Ross or something. I don't know did
three sports?

Speaker 3 (15:32):
Baseball and basketball? Baseball?

Speaker 4 (15:33):
You know, women, they didn't have full time I mean,
excuse me, a full scholarship at the time. Basketball, you know,
maybe Division two, Division three type offers. You know, there
was always lower tier offers. I was like, you know what,
I'm just gonna stay close to home. That was That
was kind of always the mindset. I wanted to play
all three sports in college, so that felt like that
was the route.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
I wanted to go.

Speaker 4 (15:53):
And you know, I'm happy that I really changed the
tracking and went to Minnesota because it obviously changed my life.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
When did you start actually catching balls? Because you have
the record there right for receptions at Minnesota? Yeah, I
think I still do. I know, Tell Johnson was catching
up somewhere. Were you looking to this first and second?

Speaker 3 (16:09):
First in reception?

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Second yards?

Speaker 3 (16:11):
Okay, receptions, let's go.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
When did you start catching balls? Freshman year?

Speaker 3 (16:15):
Freshman ye year?

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Did you play immediately?

Speaker 4 (16:17):
I read shured. So I red shared my first year.
I actually was close to getting in. So my receiver
coach made me leave my helmet in the locker room
because he didn't want me.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
To burn my.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
We need you down the road.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
It was once you played one one down, yere.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
That's crazy.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
Was it one down back then?

Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (16:33):
I thought it was three games.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Right, yeah, right, you have to reach before the third
game if you haven't played yet.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, that's why.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
It was like we were ranked my rusher year close
to the top ten, top fifteen, but we were playing
Penn State at Penn State and uh we got wrecked.
But it was kind of in that time range where
he wanted to throw me in. Luckily I didn't. But
it was good development that first year because I mean,
I want to changed the pace from high school to college.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Talk about the development that go you went through from
coming in as a freshman probably a little bit raw,
and then this is big time football and the development
from what year one to year two and then as
you advanced through those years.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah. Yeah, that first year was tough. Uh.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
First of all, I put on fifteen pounds because the
buffets are in training camp are phenomenal so I thought
I had asthma's I'm not just fat. But it was,
you know, the grind of practices and then balancing the
school as well. There was a time after the season,
because I've read shired. It wasn't playing. I was my
practice Dumby and it was five degrees outside. We had

(17:37):
five o'clock workouts. I had a mope pet I'm there
with my snow bill helmet on and my snow Seriously, yeah,
I lived the half a mile from the facility, maybe
a little further than that, but I'm riding like what
am I doing? Like what do I really want this?
And I was questioning if, like this was my future
and so I had kind of a coming Jesus moment
and uh man, it was it was just like grind

(17:57):
in the office. It was so hard, like I'm just
gonna stick with a stick with a stick with and
I stuck with it. So my rest shirt year, I
started to play a special teams, started to play receiver,
had kind of a position and had success. And at
that point I was like, you know what, I think
I can play with these guys and started to build confidence.
And I had a lot of older guys that were
great mentors. Matt Spaith played in the league and won

(18:18):
a championship at Pittsburgh. Logan Payne was an old receiver
who kind of took me under his wing, and so
those guys were really helpful and just my development early
on of building confidence and understanding, you know, what it
takes to be a football player in the Big Ten.
And so as the years kind of chugged along, I
just had more confidence that Okay, I can play. I
can play, and I built my strength up, I got
a little faster, did some offseason workouts with Layerson Gerald,

(18:42):
and like just being around that environment was like, I
love this, this is what I want to do.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
At what point did you realize that if you set
a goal to play the next level it was possible.

Speaker 4 (19:06):
Probably my resture sophomore year there was you know, pro
caliber DB's on other Big Ten teams and I was
having success against them. I was like, I can play
with these guys. I think I can make it for
the next step up. So that was kind of like
the lead into the confidence. That's everything about an athlete

(19:27):
is just having confidence in your ability and performing.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
At a high level.

Speaker 4 (19:32):
So that was probably the turning point halfway through my
sophomore year when I was having success.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
And then you also played baseball on college, right, and
how did that work with off season training?

Speaker 3 (19:41):
And yeah it was awesome.

Speaker 1 (19:42):
Yeah, did you get out of it?

Speaker 3 (19:44):
I got. I played one year in college.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
I was like, this is amazing.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
No springball, No spring ball. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
So we played always, like in the New Year's Eve
Bowl for football. So after that, I'd take a week
off and then go right into baseball. And then our
season kicked off like February, we started playing games so outfield,
center field, and then so March around April, we're out
there just you know, batting practice, throwing some balls, doing

(20:11):
a couple of catching drills, and you hear the music
pounding because the football practice facility is right next to
our baseball stadium, and so man, just I'm like, thank
you got them out over there.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Did you ever feel like you were losing that competitive
battle not being in spring ball as a young guy
like growing up feeling.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, well, man, I'm playing baseball.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
They're they're grinding right now. Is that gonna hurt me
in the depth chart or am my playing ability?

Speaker 3 (20:33):
I didn't know.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
I thought it was pretty confident and where I was
out of us in that particular room with receivers. But
I think I just enjoyed. It's such a different challenge, right,
I mean, baseball is such a different challenge. It's a
different mentality, it's just a different environment. And I was
thriving in that because it just was fun and it
wasn't as physical, It wasn't as you know, it was

(20:56):
a mental game for sure. Playing sixty plus games in
the year is a lot with baseball, but it just
the mental part of like having to recover from injuries
all the time and trying to like you know, get
through every day to get to Saturday for the game.
So I didn't have the like, oh crap my behind
or am I trailing someone. I was like, I'm gonna
be present. I'm gonna enjoy this baseball and then when

(21:17):
summer comes around, I'm gonna get back on the grind
and earn me.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
It was like a mental release too, like getting away
from the grind of the concept where am I on
the depth chart, you know, the grind of spring ball
I'm competing constantly, where you go out and you play
a game that you love. It was almost like a
reset button. So then when you came back to football,
it was like, Okay, I'm ready to go for the
fresh Yeah, you're refreshed and mentally you're ready to go.

Speaker 4 (21:41):
That's my biggest thing, you know, with my kids too,
and my oldest is actually a specialized athlete. But like,
playing multiple sports is such a nice balance because not
only does it challenge different skill sets and you got
to learn leadership or teamwork within different teams in sports.
But it's like it is reset button. It's you know,
you're focusing on football in the fall, then you go

(22:02):
to basketball in the wintertime and then baseball, and it's
like otherwise you get burnt out. That's scarcely. Part of
it is like, you know, who can last playing one
sport for years unless you're getting paid a bunch of money,
which now college athletes are. But that that was my
struggle was just like I felt like I would get
burnt out coming summertime, like, oh spring balls are start work.

(22:22):
We're just getna break and you know it just back
to the workout.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Was there a consideration to keep playing baseball after college
versus football?

Speaker 4 (22:30):
I had a conversation. I just wasn't as developed, I
think as a hitter, so I was not sure I
wanted to take that path. And also I loved football
because it was more structured. You know, you played one
one game a week. You're at home. You know, you
traveled maybe a couple of days, three days of the most.
Or baseball you're on the road a lot, and you
may not ever make it to the major leagues. You know,
you get caught in the minor leagues. You're on the bus,

(22:51):
you're just the lifestyle is completely different, and I always
knew I wanted the family. Again, I'm a home body guy.
I like consistency, I like structure, so football kind of
gave me that. But I did go through the draft
process of baseball and talk to teams and I just
felt like, you know, this probably isn't for me, because
they wanted me to play summer baseball and get more
at bats and kind of just work that craft. And

(23:13):
I wasn't willing to do it.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
But you got drafted right twice I did. Yeah, I
mean fifty rounds. You're gonna you know, hey.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
You got drafted a bus ticket and a free meal
ticket to Cracker Barrel.

Speaker 3 (23:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:24):
Oh, after I asked for like guaranteed money like football
in the second round. They're like, I'm like, okay, but yeah,
Twins Milwaukee Brewers.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
So it's pretty cool. I mean, the hometown team get
to draft you.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Are you just a magnet of cold places? And it's like, yeah,
let's look, let's look across the board. Who do best
in cold weather? Well, Decker plays everything, so let's just hockey.
They're they're trying to draft me in the NHL. We
can develop that skill set. What was the pre draft
process like in football for you?

Speaker 4 (23:51):
Well, my my senior year in football, I had a
list Frank's brain so it's like a mid foot tear
of the metatarsal, so I had hardware put in. I
was out this is December. I had surgery, so I
was out for eight months. So I was out during
UH combine. I was out during kind of the whole
Pro Day and draft process. I did a bunch of

(24:13):
you know, obviously going to Pro Day, doing the interviews
and doing kind of the mental part of it. But
it was nerve racking because I'm a white guy from
Minnesota playing a skilled position that you know, there's not
a lot of us, so I didn't know what to expect.
I visited a lot of teams. There was a lot
of interest, but all I had to do was just
kind of focus on getting healthy. And that's where actually
I was in Arizona training. I met Demarus Thomas. There's

(24:35):
a group of us training down there, and he all
of a sudden tore his fifth ment of tarsel during
during workouts, and so we really bonded through kind of
that process of being in the athletic training room and
having to do our rehab and PT and just kind
of get back on the field in the sense. So
I think when I look at it, it.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
Was something I needed. I needed a break. I was
burnt out from playing.

Speaker 4 (24:58):
Football baseball for the two years in college, and I
just was like, oh man, I go right into training now.
So it kind of gave me a break to kind
of re you know, configure my brain on like what
kind of the goal was next for me.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
And it sounded like you studied for the Wonderlicks test
because you got like what one of the highest tests,
i mean test scores ever on the wonder Lick.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
That's so annoying, that's unbelievable. But it's also it's like
both of you, both of you just I mean, I
leave some for everybody else like athlete, good looking guys
like you playing multiple sports. I'm over here like gotta
do quiz bowl like it sucks. Never never got a
girl until late, like leave some for the rest of us.

Speaker 3 (25:40):
I think Bobby's doing just fine.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
You crushed the wonder Lick, dude.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah, I think I got forty something.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
I don't know if it has it right here, And
I was like, what I mean, I've spent a lot
of time with you, just never took you for an intellectual.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
I scored the seventh best Wonderlick.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
Test of all time during his pre draft process with
forty three?

Speaker 1 (26:04):
Was it? Did you did you study? I took the
act I crushed it. Yeah, but I studied how to
take the test more so than trying to learn everything
that the test might have taught me. Did you prepare
for the wonder Lick or just walk in and go?
I kind of got.

Speaker 3 (26:17):
I mean, they gave us some like you know, practice
questions and stuff, but really unless have been really good tutors.

Speaker 4 (26:25):
But I remember, like, you know, spending hours on like
how to take the Wonder of the leg that they
give us advice, Like all right, you know you're gonna
waste a lot of time reading the full paragraph, kind
of read the first sentence in the last ence and
figure out, you know what you're trying to solve.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, picks be. You guys had different tutors. I think
the best when I.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Came in, I was late to showing up because they
didn't tell me what time I had to be there.
Set around nine. Well, they're already taking the test. We
had like twenty minutes left in the pest or whatever.
And the guys like, okay, yeah, you're not really on
my list, but go in there.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
And take the test. Start writing. I don't have any
idea what I.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
Got, But as like, I have no idea, I told
you don't know.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
You still I really don't know. I think we can
probably find great castle.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Get forty seven, one of the lowest nineteen ninety three drafting.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
You being like a white guy though, like you know,
high motor, sneak, sneakily, athollician technical.

Speaker 3 (27:24):
You kind of had to get Cruden's grinder somewhere. I
got that award.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, what did you do? Interviews? Like the pre draft
interviews and how did those go?

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Everything went great, I mean the interviews went great, and
that's why.

Speaker 4 (27:36):
I think leading up to the draft, I thought I
had a lot of opportunity And where were.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
They telling you that you might go if you go
first overall?

Speaker 4 (27:45):
First of hell, yeah, I think you know, it was
kind of in the second round.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
Like that was like the window like someone in the
second round.

Speaker 4 (27:54):
Yeah, because there was teams that were looking for a
skill position in early and so not a first round
draft pick the second round, especially being injured, you know,
I thought that was kind of high as well. But
that was my expectation. So anyways, it was like Denver
was on the list, they moved up, got to Marius Seattle,
got Golden Tate, and it just went on the list.

(28:16):
There was like nine or ten teams all picked receivers
that I thought I was going to. I'm like, so
all of a sudden, mid third round came around. I'm like,
I got one hundred and fifty people at my house.
I'm like, expectations were high. I'm like, oh man, I
just got out of the house to go walk down
the road, like this may not happen for me. What
do I tell my family and friends? Like, can you
guys just please go, or you know, can we come

(28:36):
back and try.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
This hell out of here. Yeah, let me have a moment.

Speaker 4 (28:39):
And so there's a lot of nerves, you know. There
was obviously the anticipation, the excitement, and then all of
a sudden it was like the anxiety and the unknown
feelings that were kind of setting in middle of the
third round. It was day two at the time. And
finally got a phone call there towards the end of
the third round and.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
It was it.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
It was Denver person was it was?

Speaker 4 (28:56):
It was josh Um Daniels coach Y Daniels, and just
I remember where I was. I was in the back
porch with a couple of friends, having a few beers
and trying to you know, cool that a little bit,
and uh yeah, it was like a three or three
number popped up like hello and changed my life.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
Was that the year?

Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (29:15):
First pick?

Speaker 3 (29:17):
Yeah, Thomas both in the first round. Oh so you
were there during the Tebow years? I was, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
Because right, because Kyle Wharton came in that year. Yeah, right,
Kyle Wharton was there. He started, But all the chatter
around everything was Tim Tebow because he's such a figure.
Everybody knew him from Florida and what he did the
national championship, and he went about things a little bit
differently and just his personality and who he was.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
But talk to us about that.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
And when.

Speaker 4 (29:45):
I mean my first year I played with Kyle and
I still say to this day, like Kyle Orn throws
like the best, the best ball, just a perfect spin,
so catchable. And Tiba came in towards the end of
the year because McDaniel's got fired, and so there's just
the obviously transition going on with that second year Kyle stars.
But yeah, from the first mistake to bow and it

(30:07):
was it was hard in the locker room because there's
some division, you know, between the quarterbacks and you know,
guys that want to choose who was their guys just
like let's just go and play football, you know, but
you can't really do that. So come week three, maybe
week four, and I was having a great start of
the season. I had like four or five touchdowns the
first three games with Kyle, like we were kind of
had a connection, and but the San Diego game, we

(30:29):
just were struggling in the first half of like Tim
go in and Tim comes in the game second half
and marches down for like one of those that game
just hell, Mary.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
Finishes, and that's what the season was.

Speaker 4 (30:41):
Though we had eight wins of overtime, like like Crater
kicked a sixty five yarder and Tebow ran for like
sixty yards one time. Mayor and Barbara fumbled it like magically,
and we scooped it up and scored, just like all
these things like interdi It was an intervention.

Speaker 5 (30:58):
Intervention, you guys, Yeah, yeah, yes, that well.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
How about about that year you guys came to Kansas City.
So I'm in Kansas City. The Yeah, We're playing at Arrowhead.
They threw two passes in the game, rushed the ball
forty so it was like sixteen to ten late in
the third.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
That was the game.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
I broke my hand yep, and then you guys ended
up puinting. I think you caught a touchdown pass that game,
didn't you.

Speaker 4 (31:28):
Oh the two balls I caught, it was he was
three four eight, uh, And I caught one of them
for like a fifty yard touchdown. But we ran the
ball sixty times. It was unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
So watching that season and seeing all those miraculous things happen,
it seemed game after game, but it's happening to you
in the locker room. Are you guys even like what
is happening?

Speaker 3 (31:52):
And also did you start going to Bible study?

Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, Like it was it weird for you guys to
to keep winning games like that?

Speaker 4 (31:57):
Oh, of course it was. I mean it was just
it was the talk of the town. But then it
was it was chattering the locker room as well. Like,
as long as we got tim, something's gonna happen miraculously
in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 3 (32:06):
And it really did. I mean a week after week
after week.

Speaker 4 (32:09):
And what was crazy is we got towards the end
of the season and the parking lot for the players
you had to walk outside through the tunnel to get
down to the locker room, and people would kind of
you know, stand around astro autographs or take pictures. Well,
all of a sudden, these churches started coming and they're
singing homilies and they're like, you know, like praising Tebow
in a sense. And so playoff game against Pittsburgh Steelers,

(32:33):
first round, I mean there was four hundred probably people
singing homilies.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Dude.

Speaker 4 (32:38):
It was a wild But he was so polarizing, you know,
and like I think he really transformed the fan base
for what he accomplished on the field, but more so
kind of who he is obviously in his character. So
it was like one of the there's books written about
it that season because it was just wild. You never
see it again, but it was a fun, fun journey

(32:59):
to be a part of.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Was he polarizing though in the locker room or was
it just what was happening outside?

Speaker 4 (33:04):
I think more so just the outside and and kind
of what noise I guess is being created. I mean,
Tim's a great guy. Like what you see is what
you get. He's just he's super energetic, he's super positive,
he works really hard.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
You know.

Speaker 4 (33:17):
One thing I say about your quarterbacks is like you're
able to like hang out off the field. He didn't
do that as much.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
You know.

Speaker 4 (33:24):
That was that was one thing where we strugled with
was like, well, who's who's really Tim? You know, we
had never got that that time outside of the locker room.
But in the locker room he was a leader. You know,
he was a guy everyone leaned on and and fouled.
So a lot of respect for what he's accomplished in
his football career, but more so.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
Who he is. Okay, so then Peyton comes in, Is it.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Familiar with this guy Who's just who's that guy?

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Peyton Manning?

Speaker 1 (33:52):
He comes in?

Speaker 3 (33:52):
What the year after? So yeah, two thousand and twelve,
he came.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
In twenty twelve. Now what was that transition?

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Like?

Speaker 1 (33:59):
Who was everybody? Just let's go well.

Speaker 4 (34:02):
I remember, yeah, being being uh at my apartment and
our receiver coach at the time, Adam Gaze, called me, Hey,
Payns in town. He's come to the facility, just pop by.
I said, share, yes, okay, and so kind of had
to like find an excuse to get to the facility
because I mean the media was just waiting out there
was tens.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Because every was wondering where he was going to go.
Was it San Francisco? Was it like there was the
few teams they thought he would go to.

Speaker 4 (34:28):
Cameras follow him everywhere, right, and so stuck into the
facility got to meet him. You know, I think what
really sold him was probably the young talent that we had,
you know, I mean no Sean Moraine at the time
in the running back room to marry us obviously uh myself.
You know, he brought in Wes Welker and Brandon Stokely. Uh.

Speaker 3 (34:47):
For two consecutive years, I.

Speaker 4 (34:48):
Had, you know, young Julius Thomas tight end, good offensive line,
so I think he felt comfortable with kind of where
the team was heading. And uh, you know, he brought
his own system in for the most part. But I
really think Damarius is probably a big factor in.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Why he chose Denver.

Speaker 4 (35:05):
Our deep this was really good at the time too,
so he knew we didn't have to do too much
though we did, so it was it was a It
was a fun time because you know, yes, we went
to the playoffs. We had this like Morocco year with Tebow,
but more so this was like football that I'm used
to having a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
You're never gonna say no, how much of the offense
change from the point that he got there to when

(35:41):
the season started, was that he implemented everything that he
knew of And was there subtle changes at first or
was it a wholesale change.

Speaker 4 (35:49):
Well, you know, Michael coy was the offensive coordinator, so
we originally kind of had a similar style offense, and
then when Teba came in, we started going to like
wing tea.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
I felt like, again, you're watching films in Navy or the.

Speaker 4 (36:04):
It was some option, for sure, we ran some option
till it changed little bit. So when we went back
to I guess the original offense, I think more of
the verbiage probably changed. A lot of the formation stayed
the same. I think some of the line calls stayed
the same. But yeah, he kind of put his touch
on everything. So it was a lot of work, you know,
from the point that he signed and the off season
started of implementing the offense to getting on the field

(36:27):
and walking through it. I mean it changed dramatically to
training camp and we started playing fast. Being in Denver
having kind of that advantage with the altitude, we had
a value menu, so it was like one through ten
and we went to the line and we just played
super fast and we went quick, and everyone knew what
their routes were. Receivers, tight end state on one side, so
we just kind of flipped him so we could just

(36:48):
just go and man, it was a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
Yeah, you scored a lot of Fantasy points for players
in Denver, Like it just seemed like you were getting
the ball a lot. Is that when you felt like
the most fluid, like we were thriving the most. Was
that a few years with Peyton and Denver.

Speaker 4 (37:02):
Yeah, I mean of course I was younger, I was healthy,
and then you know, just it was just not easy,
but it felt easy in a way because we would
just play so fast and he spread it out. I mean,
we have still, I think all the offensive records from
that twenty thirteen season, but you got to think Damarius
Thomas had ten plus touchdowns. I had ten plus touchdowns,

(37:23):
Wes Walker had ten plus touchdowns, Julius Thomas had ten
plus touchdowns. No Sean Moreno had ten plus. So the
ball was spread out. But we just played so fast
and we had like seventy five I think offensive plays
on average, you know, which is pretty high. It got
to eighties and nineties sometimes in certain games. But like
Peyton just knew, you know, what the defense we were

(37:44):
doing at that time and could put us in the
right position and so all you do was just get
get to your spot. And man, we practiced so much
as well during the week with certain nuances.

Speaker 3 (37:57):
Yeah, right, Nan, at least it wasn't a spelling Yeah.
I can't talk, but I can use this.

Speaker 4 (38:09):
Yeah, But like the resonant stuff, you know, like we
practiced the resident third down so much where we were
just we're just automatic.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
And Welker told a great story about when you and
he pranked. Oh yeah, Peyton, go through that story because
it's it's a good one.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
It's phenomenal. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
So there was a cover sports Delitary cover in training camp.
We were shooting it and so it was Peyton, myself,
Da Marius, and Wes Welker, and so the idea was
just to get I guess you know us in our uniforms.
But we wanted to kind of spice it up a
little bit. So we told our uh meaty guy at
the time to kind of put some cameras in. We're like, hey, listen,
we're gonna come in and say we want to do

(38:46):
the Bo Jackson style picture shoulder pads, you know, no Jersey,
let's show some skin off. Let's let's make this risky.
And so we get him on board and he goes,
all right, Payton, here's kind of what they want and
he shows an example of it.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
Peingos. He goes, here's what is this? Is this a
playgirl or something? He just like brought him to the side.

Speaker 4 (39:10):
It just started and we got a video of all
of it and he catched the vocals a little bit.
But so we sat there for about ten minutes, just
trying to sell it, like, let's just get one pictures.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
I'm not taking the.

Speaker 4 (39:22):
So we got a picture of us with our shirts
all like being a silly and stuff, and he's there
like pissed off. And then you know, Wes is just
like the biggest scoofball, so he just he was the
one that lead the charge, and we felt like we're
just like these rookies in a sense to Peyton. So
like Wes was a developed or a veteran at the point,
just like he's he's he can do every once and

(39:43):
so we're just gonna follow his lead. And man, he
uh he let us down a fun path there for
that break.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
Could you hang with Peyton outside of the locker room,
you know, you talk about t but was difficult because
that really wasn't his thing. Was Peyton a little more
like that.

Speaker 4 (39:56):
He was he was Yeah, he was just the man's man.
So on the field, I mean he was a sheriff,
he was you know, very everything had to be perfect.
But off the field, he was a lot of fun.
He did a good job of getting guys to go
to dinner, spending time outside of the facility, and that's
what I appreciated about him is, you know, Peyton's just

(40:19):
just a good old boy in a sense, and so
I learned a lot on the field with him, but
I also enjoyed and learned a lot with them off
the field.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
So you go from Denver, you got Peyton Manning, things
are rolling, and then you become a free agent.

Speaker 3 (40:32):
And you decided to go to the Jets. What went
into that decision?

Speaker 2 (40:34):
Where there are other opportunities and what was that transition
like going from where you were? Yep, with everything kind
of going in the right direction, but then.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
You go to the Jets. Talk to us about that.

Speaker 4 (40:44):
Yeah, yeah, that was tough. I love Denver. That was
kind of where my heart was and again home body.
I felt like I kind of started my community and
that's I had my first child, and that's where I
wanted to be. And I was willing to take you know,
a haircut on my contract and just to stay in
Denver because again I love the community.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
But it's just it didn't work out with the.

Speaker 4 (41:04):
Team and John Elway and so, uh as I was
shopping around, you know, that draft class is really good,
so I don't think teams are jumping at receivers. I
talked to Cleveland for a little bit. I thought actually
was going to Jacksonville.

Speaker 3 (41:18):
Warm Weather. Warm Weather could have could have done it,
but you know, New.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
York's it was just repulsed by I can't go somewhere
where it's over seventy in.

Speaker 4 (41:25):
The north, in the North, and New York probably had
the most interest of time, and so I went there.
You know, I was in this this headspace, just had
a new baby, didn't know what to expect. I loved
the idea of New York. I thought Gino was that
like it was actually a player too, you know at
that time. And what I learned was, you know, as

(41:46):
he matured, he became a player, but he wasn't there yet.
So it was it was a crazy transition because when
you show up, expectations are so high. And John Iasick
was the GM at the time, and he's like, listen,
we got eighty million dollar cap. We're gonna go and
spend it. And I'm like, awesome, I'm on board for that.
Like I'll sign and be part of this team and
end up signed really no one else. And I'm to

(42:09):
be honest, not a number one receiver, you know, I'm
not a Demarus Thomas or Julio Jones or you know,
any of those guys at the time. So I'm like, well,
I need, you know, my batman, you know, I mean,
my guy that I'm going to play with. And they
didn't bring anyone in. I really no skill guys they
brought in. So it was a tough transition, but it was,
you know, a growing experience for me just to be

(42:31):
part of a new team with some veteran guys in
the line and defense that have been there for ten
ten years. But uh yeah, I love Dever. I would
have stayed there my whole whole career, but it's part
of the game.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
Did you feel like the media in New York Did
you feel immediately that it was.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
Different, tremendously different.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (42:48):
I mean we had Tebow and the polarizing experience that year,
Peyton comes into the town again, media frenzy, but it's
a different type of media than it is in New York.
And obviously Page six or the press that New York
can garnish was was different for sure. And at that point,
went I had a reality show for a couple of years,
and so that was, you know, another pop culture. They're

(43:10):
going to pull from and try to ruffle the feathers
a little bit.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
You started that when you're in New York. So no,
that was in Denver.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
You started reality television show and you know I had
a show with Jesse. Yes, I remember that.

Speaker 4 (43:23):
I didn't know it was my last year up to
our wedding, well our wedding and to having Vivi. You
know what's so crazy about reality TV is so the
super Bowl year we were filming, but we stopped filming
like January February playoffs and super Bowl and we had
to go back and film like we're like me and
de Marius went and acting like.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
We're going to the super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (43:45):
We had a film like we're.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
Gonna get this done. Oh man. So it's just like
how did you do that? I mean, it's just a job.
You show up when you go let's let's do it.
So there's some acting involved in that and that type
of reality for sure, there is, yes.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
And even if there's even if it's real, just from
my experience doing a few things, it's set up in
a way of even if you're not acting, they're putting
you in a place that they want you to be.
So they're getting a result that they want.

Speaker 4 (44:13):
Yeah, I mean it's very structured. We actually just fired
the first production team because they were like, let's let's
try to like crate some fights here, and like, no,
that's not the story that I want to tell. But
leading up to a wedding, you're gonna get your you know,
food tasting, your venue spot, you know, flowers, you can
do all the things that lead up to a wedding.
Well that's why they put us in the spot and

(44:34):
everything within that. It's organic and they pay for that.
They pay for all of the Yeah, thank you. Yeah,
but it's definitely like a job. You show up and
you kind of got a sheet like all right, we're
gonna hit you know, one, two, three, four things today
and ready.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Got to finish it in time so you can get
to the next thing. Yeah, so they can set up.
You should get your show. It's fun. Hell no, you
don't want to show you don't there to just show.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
Me in the spur van picking up kids. Good in
who do you want the conflict with today?

Speaker 1 (44:58):
Don't worry conflicts versus each other with their forty two kids.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Yeah, like my oldest son's got my other son a
headline don't stop it.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
I would feel if I were in New York, or
if I were anywhere and I was led to believe
that I was coming in and they were going to
give put weapons around me, and they did not put
weapons around me, I would feel there would be resentment
building in me from the beginning, even if I didn't
want it to be. If they were like or if
I were like they were like, hey, we're going to
build you a podcast studio, and we're going to invest
all this money in you, and they gave me one microphone,
I'd be like, no, no, you promised me all this technology.

(45:28):
I feel like I would be resentful of that. Did
you feel that a bit in New York?

Speaker 3 (45:32):
Why?

Speaker 4 (45:32):
I would say, you know, it was disappointing, Like Rex
Ryan again was the reason why I went there. Rex
is an awesome guy, and I think he's a player's coach,
and you know, he kind of was handcuffed that year.
I mean, so he got he got fired, and I
think that was like, did I make the right choice
kind of conversation, And you know, I'm a loyalist. I'm

(45:53):
sticking to the decision I made. But definitely with disappointment,
not necessarily resentment, but disappointment and thinking like, hey, well
you say one thing, do what you say. You know,
that's just one person kind of leading the charges GM
and everyone else doesn't really have much say in that.
So year two, you know, we had regime change. Todd

(46:14):
Bowles come in. I love Todd, and you know, we
started to build the team up. We had a great
defense at the time, so we always were in games.
Just that we needed some skill players and started spending
a little bit more on the skilled guys. Brandon Marshall
came in, uh, and you know, we made kind of
the changes that were supposed to happen the year prior.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Was brand Marshall one of the more intimidating human beings
you've ever met in your life.

Speaker 1 (46:35):
Oh man, because.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
I see him and he is a man, he had one,
but too he's got the personality like I don't want
to take this guy out.

Speaker 4 (46:44):
He's he's a beautiful person because initially I was intimidated
and scared of him because you know, which is read
from prior and just you know, kind of his stature.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
He's a big guy and he can carry.

Speaker 4 (46:57):
Himself in a kind of like whoa you know, polarizing way,
but he's super deep, like he is, like he knows
who he is. He's done a lot of work on himself.
He's very smart, and we had so many good conversations
in the receiver room. So we bonded and had a
really good relationship. But initially I was definitely scared of him.

(47:19):
And he plays that way on the field. I mean
he he has a screw loose, I'm sure, but you know,
he goes crazy and it's fun to be on his
side and not on the other side.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
How'd you end up in Nashville, Tennessee.

Speaker 4 (47:32):
Yeah, so with the Titans, well, New York. Let's see
my third year going in my fourth year, I was
there all the way through mini camp and so I
had season any injuries with my hip and my shoulder,
I had surgery on and so I recover. I get
to end of kind of off season workouts, mini camp,

(47:52):
and all of a sudden, Lee Johnson decides he wants
to cut everyone over the age of thirty. So it's
like June fourteenth, fifteenth, somewhere in that range, and we
all get canned, and like, Gray, that's that's awesome. So
talked to my agent, like, where are the options where
can I go? And Tennessee was home at the time.
We've been in Tennessee since twenty eleven, so this is

(48:15):
twenty seventeen. I'm like, it'd be great to play close
to home. Well, John Robinson was with the Patriots, who
you know at the time originally was looking to draft
me in twenty ten, and we just kind of hit
it off. It worked out they had needed the extra receiver,
and so I talked to you a few different teams,

(48:35):
but that was kind of who I was focusing on
because I wanted to be close to home.

Speaker 1 (48:39):
That feel good to be able to play here at home.

Speaker 4 (48:41):
It was and that was awesome. I mean I was
actually feeling the best I've felt for a long time,
probably since the Super Bowl year physically, and then you know,
just the excitement of being home, sitting in my own bed,
my own house, and be able to you know, go
to work and kind of have that balance. And then
you know, a lot of familiar faces in the locker room.
We're really helpful in that transition, especially late, because it's

(49:03):
just I jumped right into training camp and then you know,
unfortunately again got hurt in training camp. Was like the
story of my life towards the end of my career,
so it was like a very volatile year for me.
I mean, it was tough, probably the worst year I
ever had in terms of life performance and stuff. But
just it was great to be again around a lot
of guys that I'm friends with life now because we

(49:25):
have kids the same age and kids go to school together,
and so I got to share life in the locker
room with these fellows.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
You know, it's crazy about that season.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
Like you said, you get hurt going in training camp,
and a lot of people don't understand how tough that
is for especially skilled players and wide receiver in particular,
just from conditioning all that. But I will remember remember
the first game, I think it was the first game,
and so we used to do this thing where if
it was even numbers, whether it's protection, say it was
sixty four, it was seventy four, whatever it might be.
Or if it's a run, say it's the thirties, thirty eight,

(49:54):
thirty six, that's all on two.

Speaker 3 (49:57):
If it's an odd number, it's on one.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
So we get up there and it's early in the game,
and we call an even number one, which means it's
on two. But if you haven't done it. Like you
should have seen during the off season, guys are jumping
off all the time. Well, Deck's out there looking at
the ball and it's lady. Lady said, right, it's on two.
He jumps on one.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
He comes over the sideline and it's a funny thing.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
He looks at me.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
He goes, cass, when do you know what's on two?
And when do you know it's on one?

Speaker 2 (50:25):
Because we would not call Cadence in the middle, it
was now assumed that because of the process of going
through it in the repetitions that we had during the
off season, which they weren't, that he wasn't He wasn't
part of it to a certain extent, right, but not
not surely.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
So he goes, how do you know it's on two
and one? I said, what the.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
He's like, dude, I missing a lot of training camp.
I was like, even numbers on two, odd numbers on one.
He's like, oh, I got it.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
Thanks. Was that a hard decision to go I'm done?

Speaker 3 (50:59):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (51:00):
At the time, No, I think after I processed it
and walked away six months later, probably yes, because I
think I still had more of the tank. But I
think I was so emotionally and mentally checked out from
all the injuries in the last three years of my
career that I just I didn't want to do it,
you know. And I went to New England the year
they won the Super Bowl and it was like that

(51:21):
was actually like the Frosting and the cake Bilichick camp
at Cage.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
Of thirty three.

Speaker 4 (51:27):
I was like, I don't think I have it, you know,
I'm banging heads with these twenty two year olds. I'm like,
I'm used to like the that car, Like I stand
on the sideline get ready for the season. And it
was the reality of I don't think I was all in,
you know, mentally and physically, and I was kind of
already halfway checked out. I had my third child at
the time back in Nashville and just was missing my family.

(51:48):
And yeah, I mean it was it was again easy
at the time I decided to retire, but then it
was super hard at six months after.

Speaker 3 (51:57):
It was like, did I really give it everything I had?
But do you have any regrets looking back? I don't
now know me. I think I've worked through all that.

Speaker 4 (52:08):
I think I think I struggle with, you know, losing
the game and the sense losing my identity and uh
what my value in the sense was. But now as
I guess, you know, five years longer than that, seven
years out and just more of a mature person. It
was the right time. You know, I made the right decision,
and I'm happy with my decision. I don't regret anything.

Speaker 3 (52:29):
What's it like being a sex symbol?

Speaker 1 (52:31):
Yeah, yeah, because it seems like you guys get it
on all the time too. They're just kids popping out,
Like every time I load it up, there's a new
baby baby.

Speaker 4 (52:39):
Just a piece of meat. Well, I'm with Castles. I
gotta try to keep up. You know, he's got he's
got that sprinder van for old kids.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
I gotta that's the goal. I don't Yeah, I guess
you know.

Speaker 4 (52:48):
Really my wife is is my sugar mama, and she's
the social queen. So I'm just a piece of meat, Bobby,
It's all I am.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
I wish I could be a piece of meat once
in my life, being a piece of meat.

Speaker 3 (52:59):
Ye, that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
Like I'm like quiz bowl. You know, I've had to
do my whole life there. So I know. You guys
did the the show the Special Special Forces, and it
reminds me because Randall's over here. Yeah, so that's that
looked like a tough show.

Speaker 3 (53:13):
It was hard.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
How hard was it for real? Because we talked about
we've both done reality stuff and we know some of
it's weirder, harder, easier than what you actually see. What
was that show? Really?

Speaker 4 (53:23):
That was a real show with reality, I guess in
a sense tied to it. I mean everything they put
us through it was like real training, you know, of
what they would do. Now, there was like hiccups sometimes
with production or Hay's twelve hour break. You know, we
need our camera guys to take a lunch break or union.
They got to take twelve hour break. So we're sitting

(53:44):
there on a cliff for like three hours because they
got to take lunch break. Cool, how about some water
up there? No, but it was it was intense. I
mean the drill sergeants, now that you know, we got
to know them after the show, they're really good people
and what they've accomplished in their life is amazing. You know,
I got so much respect for the military of women

(54:06):
in our country. And there's a couple of UK guys too,
of how they represented what they sacrifices they made because
we got just a little taste of it and it
was real. I'm telling you this last show on Thursday
with the tunnels, I mean that that was like something
I've never.

Speaker 3 (54:23):
Done, would never want to do again.

Speaker 4 (54:25):
I mean, I've got PTSD if I ever get into
like an MRI too now, just because tight quarters and
getting stuck and he saw Johnny he tapped out and
he just panicked. But the next couple episodes you'll see
just I think it's the mental part of it. I mean, physically, yes,
we can endure these exercises, but it's it's like from

(54:46):
five am and not knowing what you're doing all the
way till midnight, basically till they turn the lights off,
because they could pull you out eleven thirty and put
you through this beasting, which is a night workout. So
it's like that cortisol rush is just always going and
so you're just mentally, emotionally kind of fatigued. And so
that was the hardest thing. The balance was just like,
all right, we're here, let's let's get to lunch. I

(55:07):
know probably Randall said that because he always said it
on the show. Let's get to lunch, Let's get to dinner,
Let's get to the next thing. Because that's all you.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
Could really droll. That's all you really know is that
they got to feed you. So just show up and get.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
Why'd you do the show? Who do they come to
both of you? They go to Jesse, they go to you.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
What happened?

Speaker 4 (55:24):
So actually the first year they did it, they asked
if I wanted to do it, and she was on tours.
I couldn't, and so Danny Amadola got cast in and
he did awesome, and I've always wanted to do it again,
and I just kind of was like a has been
so I couldn't get on it. But they started doing
the couple dynamic, and so Andrew and Sean got asked,
and then uh Housewives and Gia got asked to do it,

(55:47):
and they needed another couple. So originally it was like
ten days out from the show. I think we were
kind of a filler and we're like, now we can't
do it. We had a trip to Italy planed and
it was like to move all those things was a lot,
and so we said no, they want two different couple.

Speaker 3 (56:01):
They said no.

Speaker 4 (56:02):
It came back to us like a week out and
we're like, you know what, I've always wanted to do.
This is the once in the lifetime thing. Let's let's
just do it. Cause I always wanted to challenge myself
in a different way. I just felt like not having football,
you know, obviously very fortunate and grateful for my life,
but just I needed something to have that kind of
locker room feel.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
And so this was that.

Speaker 4 (56:22):
Opportunity to challenge myself and luckily I got just on
board to do it. Who I saw so much grit
that I've never seen before. It was really fun. So
that was the reason why.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
I did Bear Girls with my wife. I did it myself.
I did it by myself and bar and I went
to Norway and it was a really good episode, so
much Nat Joe offered me my own show from that episode.
But before that show launched, they were like, hey, I
want you to come back and do Bear Girls again.
And I was like, man, I did it. I don't like,
I don't like dying and stuff like, it wasn't my thing.
I just and I said, I've already told my whole story,

(56:54):
like there's nothing for me to do. And they said, well,
bring your fiance my fiance. There was no chance I
was getting around the show, like, no chance. She does
not like to do things in the public, no interest.
She didn't like to be on social media much less
she's gotta go on a Disney plus you know, net
geo show. And so we were getting on the plane
from another event and I was like, hey, and I
didn't want to ask, you know how you just don't
even want to ask, like you have to ask. And

(57:16):
I was like, they want And she had just been
in therapy the day before, and her therapist that told her,
you're experiencing all the negative things that comes from being
with him, why don't you just take advantage of one
positive thing. I happened to catch it on that day.
Oh boom, And she said, I'll do it, And so
we did it. And when you say that about your wife,

(57:37):
when we do this episode, I saw like like determination, grit,
all these things in a way that I'd never seen
it before that I was kind of blown away by
because we're on we're on top like three hundred foot
rocks having to repel off and she's just killing it
and she's scared. But the greatest part was you're supposed
to be scared, but she did it anyway. So I
was able to see sides of her doing that. And

(57:59):
I obviously knew her very well, but I would have
never seen that side of her had we not done that.
Did you feel that way with your wife?

Speaker 3 (58:05):
But yeah, no, I mean we were together.

Speaker 4 (58:07):
We've been together, you know for almost I guess fifteen years,
and she's burned for my children, and I know she's
tough and you know.

Speaker 3 (58:15):
She's a go get her but to like be in that.

Speaker 4 (58:19):
Environment, like you said, and see the grit and the
determination and like, you know, the barracks that we slept
in were just disgusting and having to wash her clothes
and the sink and just eat you know, crappy food.

Speaker 3 (58:31):
But her attitude to.

Speaker 4 (58:32):
Like not only accomplish things, but like dominate things was like, damn,
who is this?

Speaker 3 (58:37):
You know?

Speaker 4 (58:37):
And it was it definitely I think bonded us and
made us closer because we saw each other ways we
never have. You know, this was kind of an inside
look for her to see me in like a locker
room setting with other other you know, there's other athletes,
but just other males, and you know, there was there
was a perspective to it, which was special to have
that experience together.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
Is it more intimidating knowing that you're going on a
show that which is an elimination show and a tap
out show with your wife saying like, I've got to
outperform her. Yeah, because god forbid, I'm one of the
first people to tap out and she's like the last
woman standing there.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
Well, yeah, I mean she kind of scept the expectations
like listen, I'm here for you. I'm not you know.

Speaker 4 (59:15):
I think she didn't know what to expect from herself,
and the idea was like I'm gonna go all the
way and so yeah, that was the expectations. But yeah,
knowing that your wife was there, it's like, hey, well,
you got to show up, and you gotta I'm the man.

Speaker 3 (59:29):
Be the man.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
You play pickleball now a lot o.

Speaker 3 (59:32):
I love pickleball? Gosh.

Speaker 1 (59:33):
Well, and I knew he's obsessed. Well, we were walking
through whenever you didn't tell him where to come, right,
we were up in the front.

Speaker 3 (59:38):
Of problem yeah and box are barking. I'm waving.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
He uh was like you build a pick a wall
court or it was it. I was like, yeah, we
built it, and he was like, oh, just kind of
in a second, looking kept walking and rob before we're
about to go on. He was going to say something,
but I was like, hold it because I don't know
what you were going to say about pickleball. I really
like to play too. I've I gotta have surgery on
my ankle in a couple of weeks. So, yeah, would
you a tour? I gotta it's a whole thing. My

(01:00:05):
ankle has been hurting, but it's been getting worse. Who
knew if an injury hurt, you shouldn't keep going.

Speaker 3 (01:00:10):
That's who knew. Let me see you fix it. Hey,
stop stop.

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
So this cartilage tear has gotten larger and larger, and
so now they have to go and they have to
put other cartilage, have to put dead man cartilage in.

Speaker 3 (01:00:21):
Oh really, it's a series dead. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:24):
So I haven't been able to play a lot, but
I was playing grit. That's great. Hey, I played in
a foot tournament singles with a torn and didn't you
win it? I won a three point five. I didn't
win the four because I got hurt memes. But yeah, yeah, anyway,
so what's that sober? How often are you playing?

Speaker 3 (01:00:40):
Like?

Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
What you is that your competition.

Speaker 3 (01:00:42):
Now, I actually just threw my back out. Uh getting
back into it now. I feel like that every other
week I started my back.

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
You should see him at the like little league games
and stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:00:51):
He's literally sitting up there like this.

Speaker 2 (01:00:56):
So I'm like, dude, we got wives around here, like
stop making us look bad. I'm like, you're either trying
to brundle off to all the women, but like, will
you stop actually these like elaborate yoga stretches and sending
out for another kid?

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
Just keeping my back.

Speaker 1 (01:01:12):
My back hurts.

Speaker 4 (01:01:13):
Savannah Bananas brought to the U sport. It's my It's
my vice right now for sure. Besides my back doesn't hurt,
which actually, like two and a half weeks ago, I
was playing at five in the morning, but real serious
about it. With the Pea coaches here at our kids
school and Mark Marianni Mark March competitive competitives.

Speaker 1 (01:01:31):
I've played with them before. You played with Titans, Yeah, yeah, okay,
I've played with them before.

Speaker 4 (01:01:34):
Yeah yeah, so warm enough pick a ball threw it out.
But other than that, I'm playing a PPA tournament in November,
so I'd excited about that.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
But they play singles or doubles doubles. Do you ever
play singles?

Speaker 3 (01:01:45):
I do play singles.

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
I like singles because it's actually a workout.

Speaker 3 (01:01:48):
It is a workout, I mean doubles. I'll play hour
and a half. I'll burn like twelve hour calories.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Maybe for you, but for an athlete like me, it
ain't work, you know what I mean? Like me, and
I'm just sitting back, you know, h hitting it like this?

Speaker 3 (01:01:59):
Then?

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
How far?

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
Why your ankles hanging on?

Speaker 1 (01:02:02):
How far do you let from the town half mile?
So close?

Speaker 3 (01:02:05):
I'm real close to.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
I didn't know that most of you rich people live
in like Franklin, so I figured you were down there
with like rich boy you guys, you guys.

Speaker 3 (01:02:13):
Are going to be fast friends on the pickleball.

Speaker 4 (01:02:15):
Get that ank all right, we're gonna yeah, well there's
some some opportunity.

Speaker 3 (01:02:19):
When you talk about you.

Speaker 1 (01:02:20):
Got a back, I got an ankle. It's we're even
so we can play injury. We're just we have one injury.

Speaker 3 (01:02:24):
Just rush the ne You just need a leaf blower
back there.

Speaker 1 (01:02:26):
That's what I got one right there. Okay, yeah, I
got a whole ground ready.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
Bobby, I need to talk to you and Matt I
told him about it. Already.

Speaker 4 (01:02:33):
But there's this concept coming to towns to pick a
ball entertainment concept called crush Yard. You know everyone's doing
the facilities now, but this one is.

Speaker 3 (01:02:42):
Are you pitching him? I want to gonna be off camera,
but he's like, savent savement.

Speaker 4 (01:02:51):
I'll bring the deck. But it's uh, you know, top
golf esque with pickleball. So they got you got the
food and bev concept up front. You got golf simulators.
I want to golf, but also the multi sport game
with the kids, Keith and entertainble. You can play pick
a ball in the back eight courts. You know, franchise
concepts coming in, taking these big boxes and just kind
of retrofitting this concept, which you know from cost savings

(01:03:14):
is great.

Speaker 3 (01:03:15):
But I love it already in I'm in it. What
are you looking for? Are you gonna invest or not?

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
It's a minimum investment. You're looking.

Speaker 4 (01:03:22):
My heart's involved. We buy bonus, maybe shoot a couple
of shows in there. You know, Matthew already told about
you know, the concepts, and I can get him on board.
Actually I can get him on board now.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
Pressures on Matt, Matt, He's got so many names, Castle
Cast Matt we did this video, they were like, Hey,
we're gonna come in and shoot castle, uh for like
a Titans promo, like a commercial thing. And I love Matt,
like seriously, the greatest guy huggs a little too much.
But other than that, like the greatest guy's.

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
Personal space, you can give you a scruff roum.

Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
I'm not tall enough. That's why he scruffed the top
of my head. And so they were like, hey, and
so I'm just talking about Matt just genuinely, and I'm like,
I love him, here's why. And I lead with things
like he obviously knows the game, like you don't play
that long in the league without knowing the game at
a certain level. And while we're doing the show, and
then I watched the clip back and the only things

(01:04:20):
they use for me saying was like, yeah, he looks
like a Greek god and he's always on time. Like
they didn't use anything about football, like that was the
whole thing. So yes, not my editor, Yeah, how'd you
feel about that promo?

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
I thought it was very uplifting from what you said. Yeah,
I mean, they definitely did not use any of the part.

Speaker 3 (01:04:39):
About do you have Greek in you? Though you know well,
I mean, I.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Know, I've got my wife that's Greek, and she rubs
off on me a little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:04:47):
We still break. It's now time for are the Week
in Preview presented by DraftKings. From first touchdown score to

(01:05:11):
any time touchdown props or the thrill of live in
game betting, every snap is loaded with opportunity. Okay, we're
gonna go through the three biggest games in the NFL
this week and make our picks. Let's go here.

Speaker 3 (01:05:21):
We go.

Speaker 1 (01:05:22):
Six teams on buye this week.

Speaker 2 (01:05:23):
That's crazy. It's a good time to be on a
buye though. Why so that just because it's about that
mid season where you get that break and then kind
of that end of the season push. I like it,
not even into the season, midway through the season.

Speaker 3 (01:05:35):
Yeah, where do you like your bye?

Speaker 2 (01:05:36):
If you got to pick a week, I've had weeks
by weeks in week three, Oh, that's like lunch at night.

Speaker 3 (01:05:42):
That's such a grind for so long.

Speaker 2 (01:05:44):
And this is before they got two buys, so you're
just like you're grinding for the rest of the time.
But this is a good part of the season to
about week seven, week eight, where if you're about mid midway.
It's just a nice relief from season and you can
kind of get a little healthy.

Speaker 1 (01:05:59):
Let's go Vikings at Chargers on Thursday night. I do
like the game for a Thursday night game. Although there
have been really good Thursday games this year, which hasn't
always been the case, so there's been solid one after
the other. The weird thing about the Vikings is is
has there been a soft benching?

Speaker 3 (01:06:15):
I see, That's what I keep asking myself.

Speaker 2 (01:06:17):
I was like JJ mccarthy' spraining his ankle in week two,
we're now in week seven. I don't know a lot
of I don't know how severe it is, and I'm
not trying to come up with a conspiracy theory or
anything like that, but I think they allowed wins to
keep going.

Speaker 3 (01:06:30):
He got the win in London.

Speaker 2 (01:06:31):
He's coming back and he's been up and down, but
he's actually playing pretty well. And I think that they're
waiting to see if he takes the reins and not
not just jumping out and saying, hey, JJ's starting as
soon as he's healthy, because I believe he's probably healthy
because he was suited as a three third quarterback this week.
It's just a very interesting dynamic in how this whole

(01:06:52):
thing unfolds. Vikings and Chargers. Uh, Chargers not not a
great not a great last week. No, but those Colts Man,
they were rolling. I mean they're rolling and probably one
of the best teams in football right now.

Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:07:04):
I think their schedule gets a little bit harder. But
the Vikings on the road against the Chargers. Chargers have
shown some weaknesses there, especially on the defensive side of
the ball. I thought that was going to be a
strong suit, but they've you know, haven't played as well recently.

Speaker 3 (01:07:16):
So I'm going with the Vikings.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
Wow, I'm gonna go with the Chargers just because I
think I can't. I don't want to say this. It
offend you, So I don't want to anyth about the coaching.
They better coaching and the Chargers that'll be offensive to you.

Speaker 3 (01:07:28):
To your boy, Kevin, you heard him, did he? I
got your back?

Speaker 1 (01:07:32):
Dogging. I think for Jim Hardwall to lose to in
a row that's probably rarer than even I think it is.
I think the Chargers come back ready to go. I'm
taking the Chargers next to Cowboys at Broncos.

Speaker 3 (01:07:45):
Oh. I think this is going to be a good game.

Speaker 2 (01:07:47):
I mean the way the Cowboys came out and offensively, defensively,
but I put their better put together their best, best
full game. I love the way the offense is playing,
but they are going up against the Broncos, whose defense
is probably one of the best in the league. Even
though Giants went out there and put up a bunch
of points on him.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
Oh, this is tough. I'm going with the Cowboys. I'm
gonna go with the Cowboys and get the three and
a half points as well. But I think I would
take the Cowboys straight up just because they're just fun
to watch. I don't like the root against teams that
are so fun to watch and see.

Speaker 2 (01:08:18):
Lamb look good, George Pickens awesome, the run games got going.
If the defense holds up in any capacity, you know
that they're going to score points.

Speaker 1 (01:08:27):
Packers minus three at the Steelers.

Speaker 3 (01:08:31):
Oh, Packers minus three at the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
I'm gonna go with Packers. I'm gonna give up points
Packers over Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 2 (01:08:39):
Yes, I agree with you. I will go with the Packers.
I just think that they're a better overall team that
Parsons went off. Oh we had three se Yeah, that's
what you want to see. Yeah, he was awesome. Yeah,
that was the weeknd preview presented by DraftKings. The best
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Speaker 1 (01:08:56):
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Speaker 6 (01:09:10):
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Speaker 2 (01:09:40):
Yeah, we got loucks.

Speaker 1 (01:09:42):
Say, do you watch a lot now? Are you able
to stay involved or at least watch games and like
as a fan?

Speaker 4 (01:09:49):
Yeah, uh yeah. So my ten year old boy loves
football and so he kind of has me in it.
I mean, he knows every player's name, which is unlivable.
But it's been fun to kind of wash the game
through his eyes because it's innocent. Again, you know, it's
just like the love of the game, like sometimes where
off as you get older. So we got football on
all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and you know we watch.

Speaker 3 (01:10:12):
You know, there's no team we really root for, but
you you don't root for the Titans.

Speaker 1 (01:10:16):
I don't think that's possible. Hard right now?

Speaker 3 (01:10:20):
Did they play?

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
Do they have points? They haven't?

Speaker 3 (01:10:23):
The point it's been it's tough.

Speaker 1 (01:10:27):
How was this weekend for your USC Notre Dame heartbreaking?

Speaker 3 (01:10:31):
No, it was an incredible environment.

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
Obviously, it's a rivalry that is a historical rivalry, and
you know, when I was there, you kind of got
a feel for it. Every single time you played Notre Dame.
Pete Carroll did a tremendous job of teaching you about
the history of the game, and have guys like Marcus
Allen and this guy Marv Goo who is a legendary
defensive coach. All these different players would come in and

(01:10:54):
speak to us that during that week, So it was
a big deal.

Speaker 3 (01:10:57):
And then to get back there and USC.

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
Being five and one, thinking they've got a chance, go down,
have a few good series and then Notre Dame just
beat us up physically up front and ran through our
face and it was still close in the we took
the lead in the third quarter, and then we give
up the kickoff return and at that point it was
all over.

Speaker 4 (01:11:15):
I was gonna ask do you feel because obviously you're
more involved in the game that and I all has
changed like the university passion or the you know, like
campus passion.

Speaker 2 (01:11:26):
You know, it's very interesting because we were talking to
some of the even the Notre Dame players, and particularly CJ. Carr,
their quarterback, and one of the legendary plays in the
series was the tush push or whatever you want to
call it. Right in that two thousand and five game
when both of those teams are undefeated, Brady Quinn Matt
Lioner going back and forth. He had no idea what
we were referencing, and I was like, wow, like you
think you'd think that there was maybe, But he was

(01:11:48):
a young kid. So I'm not putting it past them.
I mean, I'm not saying that he's being disrespectful by
any means, but I think some of the NIL space
Now you come there for a paycheck, and you're going
there without the same pride that you used to go
to a university because you're picking it you because that's
your destination for four to five years, knowing that you're
probably never going to leave that place, and so there's

(01:12:09):
a pride that comes along with that. Now I feel
like some of these players, and I'm not speaking about
Notre Dame us he or whatever, but some of it
is more transactional than it is about the university itself.

Speaker 1 (01:12:20):
I was with I don't want to say who it is,
but I was with a power fore head coach this weekend.
One of my friends doesn't live here. But I tell
you off because I think for I think for the fans,
obviously it hasn't changed, like we still we understand they're
more mercenary type than they used to be. They may
be there for a year hopefully longer. But I was

(01:12:42):
with this coach and it's just even for them, it's
just always asking for money, Like that's so much a
part of the job now that it's still they're still coaching,
but a lot of their twenty four hours in a day,
there are so many hours that have to be dedicated
to just glad handing asking for money that even four
to five years ago that wasn't the case. So it's

(01:13:03):
changed for everybody across the board. And they try to
hire general managers to take a little bit of that
load off. But if you're a donor, and I'm a donor,
like I'm a big donor, fair but donor at Arkansas,
big donor, big better if a medium donor sometimes too big,
a better but loser but loser. If you're a donor

(01:13:25):
and the general manager is calling, going hey, I want
to spend time with you, but you have a substantial
amount of money, you don't want to talk to the
general manager. You want to talk to the coach because
that's who you're giving the money to. So the NIL
thing has been weird, not just for players, and I
think everybody shouldt pay. By the way, I'm a pay
peeper guy. Yes, but it's almost like where baseball is.

(01:13:46):
And now they may end up a labor strike, not
next year, but the year after because the owners want
a salary cap. The players are like, no way, we're
having a salary cap. If they don't have some sort
of structure on, it's weird to call it a cap.
But if these third string offensive tackles are going into
the portal now and just because the market on them,
they're getting paid seven hundred thousand dollars and they're not

(01:14:08):
even really playing. But that's the market to get a player,
and how are they getting the money. It's not all
revenue sharing because revenue sharing just equaled it out. So
all the teams were like, wait till revenue sharing, then
we'll have money. But if everybody's revenue sharing is exactly
the same, well you still have to get more money
than your other person. So that's the coach spending hours
of every day on the phone. It's a weird environment
now colleges.

Speaker 4 (01:14:29):
I can imagine being a coach because, like you said,
you're recruiting your old guys constantly, and you know it
just as an athlete, and kind of I fear the
character building of these young guys is like, yes, you
should get paid. I mean it's it's a lot of
work and you sacrifice your body and they make a
lot of money off you. But at the same point,
to just be able to transfer and go play somewhere
else because you lost your job or it's getting too

(01:14:51):
hard you don't it's like, okay, well build some resilience,
Like life's not like that right back, you know, like, hey,
give it a shot, because that's that's where I think,
you know, I fear with kids coming up and my
kids coming up as that you know, what does that
college environment look like. If they're gonna be athletes, I
want them to be tough. I want them to be respectful.
I want them to, you know, be passionate about you know,

(01:15:14):
where you go, who you play for, and the name
on your back. But at the same point, don't just
like go the easier route and just leave because it's
too tough or he's not fair, he's picking someone else.
Care Well, everyone has a chance to earn a spot.

Speaker 1 (01:15:27):
What it's going to take is actual legislation, because right
now you needed to get as bad as it possibly
can because nobody stepping in to fix it. Until it
has to be fixed. There was the obandon case and
went to the Supreme Court. Video game Charles O'Bannon played
at UCLA. His likeness was used, so they sued. Now
players can get paid, right, that's the entire that's the
genesis of players getting paid now. And so if the

(01:15:49):
NCAA is sued, they basically lose every lawsuit now, right,
they just lined up labor laws, right, Yep, they're gonna lose.
So there's going to have.

Speaker 3 (01:15:57):
To be California.

Speaker 1 (01:15:58):
Yeah, Yeah, there's gonna have to be. It's gonna have
to get so bad that it's gonna have to go
to lawmakers. And lawmakers only want to do things that
make them look like heroes for the constituents. The days
of ballmakers actually wanted to make a difference, not really
so much. It's just get re elected. So that's going
to have to happen to or they want to actually
make a difference and be seen. Your union's going to

(01:16:18):
have to be had.

Speaker 2 (01:16:19):
That's the most difficult part about this, yeap, Like who's
going to organize a player's union when it's such a small,
finite period of time for each of these players, And
unlike the NFL where you got thirty two teams, you've
got one hundred and thirty two teams. Then you have
to have buy in by the players to say, in
order to make a players union, each of you have
to give a certain amount of money into the pot

(01:16:39):
each year that you're in school.

Speaker 3 (01:16:40):
But then that rolls over every four years.

Speaker 2 (01:16:43):
What does the leadership look like. Who's going to be
the head of a player's union for college? Which means
you're going to have to go out and get some
high paying lawyer and be able to unionize and also
organize enough to where the leadership at the top doesn't
change so quickly that you can actually do something and

(01:17:03):
make make a different difference in what's going on.

Speaker 1 (01:17:06):
I mean, I think in the end, the reality of
it is you can transfer. Once you transfer again, it's
a year. It's old school like because back in the day,
if you transferred unless you went down, yeah, you got
to sit a year. And I think there's going to
have to eventually be some sort of cat because you're
going to and it's happening now where your players are
making more than NFL players are their first couple of years.

(01:17:29):
You know, Yeah, it's it's wild but it has to
get crazier before it gets fixed. And that's a weird
thing to say, because nobody's going to be motivated to
fix anything that isn't wildly broken because there are seven
hundred other things they've got to do. But yeah, it
sucks and it's awesome as players, and as I just talked,
I just talked about this as the coaches. Why it's
so fresh on my mind. It's also why I'm not
going to be a D one coach, cause you guys wondering, definitely,

(01:17:49):
definitely right. I don't want to be one either. Who's
us Who's the best team in the NFL this year?

Speaker 3 (01:17:57):
Great question? Detrotly good yesterday.

Speaker 1 (01:18:02):
And it gets a good Tampa team, but Tampa's missing
so many weapons and they get one of the biggest
ones back and he goes out with the shoulder and
a concussions.

Speaker 3 (01:18:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:18:12):
That's the hard part is that I didn't see that. Yeah,
so he came back like a cup coffee and he's
out again.

Speaker 2 (01:18:18):
Yeah, one one post route basically, and he's been like
the Iron Man too. Focus Godwin's out. I mean, you've
a mecha. Buka came back. He had zero catches. I mean,
so they're very very thin at the wide receiver position.

Speaker 1 (01:18:31):
Hey, hey, hey, how you feeling.

Speaker 3 (01:18:33):
He said it back's a little soort t gm out there.
He didn't say that we can add that out.

Speaker 1 (01:18:39):
We believed that out.

Speaker 3 (01:18:40):
We got about five players. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:18:42):
You know what's crazy about just sports, but football, especially
as I mean you say, who's the best team? Well,
whoever is healthy? To be honest, I mean especially that level.
You got guys, two skilled guys got When that one's out,
I mean that that changed the dynamic of what mayfield
can do and what that offense can do.

Speaker 3 (01:18:57):
And so I just think it's ever.

Speaker 4 (01:19:00):
Changing, you know, in the league, and it's it's whoever's
kind of the healthiest at the end. Look at like
Buffalo's kind of behind a little bit. We thought bigger thing.
Same thing with Kansas City, But you know.

Speaker 2 (01:19:11):
The Chiefs are coming back if they stay healthy towards
the end of the year.

Speaker 4 (01:19:15):
Those are teams that have like the experience that are
going to be successful and be in the big game.
So it's hard not to go against teams like that.

Speaker 1 (01:19:22):
Let me ask you about the mindset of somebody like
a Travis Kelce who is in his thirties, mid thirties.
Obviously he's slow to half step. That's why he's not
in as much. And you can see him being frustrated
when he comes out at times too. As you get older,
is it a realization of this is why I'm leaving
or is it now I can still do it? Why
am I getting taken out of the game.

Speaker 4 (01:19:42):
Yeah, I mean I think it's it's an ego thing.
We all got egos, And I mean I was in
my lower thirties, but like as I was going through
the process after I got cut from New York, I
was talking a couple of teams and like, we'll use
you in like a third down package, or we'll use
in a red zone package.

Speaker 3 (01:20:00):
Like I can still play. I'm on every down player.

Speaker 4 (01:20:02):
I want to play, And like you got yourself and
check your ego and be like, hey, well, it's obviously
feedback for a reason, like you're losing a step or
you're slowing down.

Speaker 3 (01:20:12):
Your game's not the same.

Speaker 4 (01:20:13):
So I think it's challenging because mentally you feel like
you're still that guy, but physically you know your performance isn't.

Speaker 3 (01:20:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:20:19):
And also Travis Kelsey, he's been a featured guy throughout
his entire career. He's ultra competitive, even going back to
last year. He's a featured guy. So if the minute
you start to buy in to everybody saying, oh, well
he's lost the step, he's not that will you lose
your superpower because that confidence is why he is who
he is. And while he might have lost a step,
he's still better than ninety five percent of the guys
out there, and when they get when he gets taken

(01:20:41):
out of the game, that's just his personality. That's what's
made him so good is because of that drive, because
that's tenacious attitude that he's like, dude, I can still
get this done. I'll beat this guy all day long.
So that's where that comes from. And I think that's
why he's been so good and so elite for so long.

Speaker 1 (01:20:56):
Pick a quarterback in the league, Now you'd like to
play with I'm not in the league anymore, cast off
the list in case you wanted to.

Speaker 3 (01:21:05):
That was the lu Yeah, he's cut me off.

Speaker 1 (01:21:08):
Who now do you see? And you're like, man, I'd
love to play with that guy. For whatever reason.

Speaker 4 (01:21:12):
I love Dart I think I love to play with Dars.
Love that swagger. I love a quarterback of a little swager.
He can throw it too, but he's just a he's
a competitor.

Speaker 2 (01:21:20):
You want to play with a rookie quarterback right now,
A veteran dude that's gonna like see the game a
little different.

Speaker 3 (01:21:27):
He runs more than he throws.

Speaker 4 (01:21:28):
No, I'm just kidding, you're right, but you know what
I'm looking at from just like, who's gonna give me
that energy? Like watch like I got excited to wash him.
For forever reason, I don't turn on the Kansas City
games like I used to, Like I'm excited to see
the Giants play, but I think it's because he's polarizing.
I mean, he's got this this energy, this this aura
about him that like the dude's gonna put his body

(01:21:51):
out there, but he's gonna compete, And like that's all
you want as a as a as a you know,
locker room buddy, as someone that's gonna compete.

Speaker 1 (01:21:58):
Take a wide receiver you'd like to play with now
that you watch wide receiver, I mean Justin Jefferson's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:22:03):
Jamar Chase is pretty good. Uh, Seattle Seahawks last night?

Speaker 1 (01:22:08):
What's his name? Jack and Smith and jigbaby.

Speaker 2 (01:22:10):
He might be emerging as one of the top, if
not the top wide receiver. Now I just name got
a quarterback to the ball. But how good is that guy?
I mean the separation that he creates, the different types
of route running, and his hands are automatic. I think
this kid is special. So watch it in from a
youth standpoint. I watched him last night and I'm going, man,
he just keeps getting better and better. I think it's

(01:22:31):
three straight games with over one hundred yards or one
hundred and fifteen yards. He's been incredible. So those are
kids like that. I are in young guys like that
who continue to get better. That's exciting.

Speaker 1 (01:22:41):
What sucks? And listen so everybody knows. I'm look at
the camera on this. We are the NFL is our boss.
We work for the NFL. I'm gonna say this. We
are literally paid by the NFL. You gotta stop at
nine o'clock Central games. I get it more football all
the time. I'm even okay with like the European games.
You wake up, You're like, oh, I forgot there's a game.

(01:23:03):
I couldn't watch any of it, so I'm looking at NFL.

Speaker 3 (01:23:07):
He says, that was all due respectful.

Speaker 1 (01:23:08):
Yeah, the most respectful way possible.

Speaker 3 (01:23:10):
What all the ratings though, what all the ratings can fantastic?

Speaker 1 (01:23:12):
Probably have no idea. I can't imagine the imagine East Coast.
It starts at ten. Yeah, on a school night, crazy
on a school night. Okay, final question, and you don't
have to answer it. You can play the fifth of
your cast. Who is the most annoying?

Speaker 3 (01:23:28):
Yes, this is such a good question, just because personalities
are different.

Speaker 4 (01:23:33):
Yeah, for sure, you know what, like, I'm not trying
to just play this guy, but I'm a pretty patient
patient man. I didn't have anyone that bothered me annoyed me.
I think it was a really good cast. As you
can see the way they paint some people like Cody
Brown or Jesse.

Speaker 3 (01:23:52):
He's gone now how they painted them.

Speaker 4 (01:23:54):
You know, they are polarizing in their own right for
what they've kind of been through I guess or who
they are. But we all built individual less ships within
you know, that experience. And we had our comedians, you know,
Revy and Nick were hilarious. We had like our athletes
that were quiet just like I'm gonna do everything, like

(01:24:16):
Randall and Sean, and then you had you know, some
pop culture people that were just kind of a good
mix as well. So I truthfully don't have anyone that
was annoyed by There were obviously people that had conflict.

Speaker 3 (01:24:29):
I did not have that. Who would you not invite
to your house for dinner?

Speaker 1 (01:24:33):
Good one? Who would I not invite? You're so right
down the middle. Well, he is a nice guy all
the time, which sucks because I sit in front of them.
I wouldn't believe him except I've seen him be nice
away from a microphone. I know, yeah, I know it sucks.

Speaker 3 (01:24:52):
Would not invite a man? Don't say me because I
wasn't on the show. You should do the show. Can
we get Matt cast signed up Fox? Let's go. Honestly,
I would invite everyone, all.

Speaker 1 (01:25:04):
Right, he you guys are good. People need more.

Speaker 3 (01:25:08):
Love this world, damn it and more love.

Speaker 1 (01:25:10):
Thank you guys, Matt Castle, Eric, thanks coming by man.
It's been awesome. Yeah yeah, kick off, Kevin Brandon Ray
and Bobby Bones. We've had lots to say, Well see
you guys. Next to the last time I've invited over,
this is the last time he's invited over Tomorrow morning.
Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is
a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcasts. For more

(01:25:34):
podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Hosts And Creators

Bobby Bones

Amy Brown

Lunchbox

Eddie Garcia

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