Husky Talk- Justin Perkins

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hello and welcome to Husky Talk.I am your host, the best podcast
host in the known universe. And with me today a very special
guest, former Yukon defensive back stand out, Mr. Justin

(00:22):
Perkins. Justin, how are you?
I'm doing great. And yourself, Colin?
Oh, I'm fantastic. I'm fantastic.
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(01:35):
And now for the man of the hour,Mr. Justin Perkins.
It's great to finally see you. Just so I know now, are you
located? Are you back down the Florida?
No, Sir, I'm actually located back in Connecticut.
You are in Connecticut. OK, I had I had no idea.

(01:57):
Where are you living in Connecticut?
I'm actually in Windsor. You're in Windsor.
OK. All right.
Awesome. How long have you?
How long have you been in Connecticut?
So I ended up moving back in 2012.
The meeting. OK.

(02:18):
Wife. Well, at the time, girl.
Yes, yeah, that's how it happens, right?
Always. Always, always the women.
Always. So, you know, that's kind of how
I played out and I ended up up, yeah.
And you're very involved too, because you, you know, you have
a family, you're, you got a, you're always working, you got a

(02:41):
great job. You're, you're part of the, the
famous Husky investment group, as I've heard.
So that is awesome to hear that you're doing so well.
Absolutely, Absolutely. Able to tie up some, some, some
business assets with my guys with the Husky Investment Group,

(03:02):
you know, flipped the property, owned the property.
So we're doing pretty good rightnow.
It's amazing how it started it. It's just amazing how you guys,
the way that Razul had told it was you guys just were sitting
around after a game and you weretalking and it all came

(03:24):
together. Pretty much, you know, we.
All like. Joking around and and and always
been in each other's lives, you know, even after playing ball at
UConn. So I guess the relationship was
more of a gross type of text that we would have.

(03:46):
Yeah. And I found it very humorous
that we never, you know, got money together.
But we were all good men, you know, we all.
Great men. At the college from from careers
to family men to just having good relationships with one
another. And I think that was the the

(04:09):
trigger for me to, you know, askeverybody, hey, let's do
something together. So.
Also, are you? Are you?
Are you, are you officially saying that it was your idea?
I mean, I would like to, you know.
You take credit for it. You know what I mean?
But it was it was a collaborative event, you know

(04:30):
what I mean? Because I just threw the thought
out there and then from there, everybody else had to kind of
pull the trigger. We.
All right, right. For that kind of group now, just
did you go to games at all this year?
Were you able to see the team play that much?
Because I know you had a lot going on.
I. Think I might have went to I

(04:52):
went to one game. Picking.
My family up they had did the 20year anniversary for the Motor
City. Oh, you went to that one where
they honored the team. They honored the team.
So I. Did go for that one and was able
to go out on the field and, you know, be remembered and like, I
think the biggest thing for me was my kids seeing.

(05:12):
Oh, to get to see that I know. You know what I mean?
So they always, Daddy used to beDaddy used to be that and to see
me on the field, you know, amongst my.
In front of those people, yeah. Surreal for them so that they
could actually realize that their dad played on this field
at some point in time. Yeah, that's real special.

(05:33):
And that's something that they'll always remember.
And I remember they, you know, they did that.
They did the captain's day. I got up to watch the team a few
times, actually the most of my life, which was shocking, you
know, talking with Mike Burton and Bleeding Blue and Store

(05:55):
Central and they they're doing some great things.
What was your what were your thoughts?
I mean, I know you didn't see a ton, but to rebound after the
dismal season in 2023, you go nine and four in 2024 won a ball

(06:16):
game. Listen, it almost felt like like
20 years ago, you know what I mean?
Because. Yeah, right.
But. I can remember times when we we
we had a bad season and then things started to turn around
and all of a sudden the energy changed in the school and the
amongst the locker room. And then from there it you could

(06:38):
just see day after day, year after year, the progression just
just began to grow and grow. So I, I see it starting to
happen now. By winning this bowl game, it's
going to allow, you know, more athletes to come in better
athletes, athletes who want to win.

(06:59):
I think it would also shine a light on young athletes who are
trying to, trying to get their name out there, get noticed.
So I think what they're what they're doing is, is is
something big. So I want to see it continue to
progress. Yeah, yeah, me too.
Me too. The you know, the biggest thing
is, you know, we need to get into a conference.

(07:21):
If we can get into a conference,that'll that's a game changer
right there. Just for, for from, from
financial circumstances, the fundraising when you have a
conference in the guaranteed television revenue changes the
game and that's what hopefully we'll we'll be aiming for this
next season. So I, I don't know your entire

(07:45):
story. I know you're from Florida.
Where initially did you grow up in Florida?
So I originally grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FL which is.
OK. Pretty big city in Florida, just
in between West Palm Beach and and and Miami.
I grew up in a small neighborhood by the name of

(08:12):
Washington Park South of 31st and Sunrise, one of the most
main streets, Martin Luther Kingand Sunrise main streets in Fort
Lauderdale. And from there sort of bounced
around at a very young age from,you know, grandma's house to the
park, things like that. And I really didn't get settled

(08:34):
until about maybe eight or nine years old.
And my mom and dad ended up buying a house out in Sunrise,
FL. And then from there is where I
started playing tackle football.I want to say before that it was
more just street Ball, Park ball, you know what I mean?

(08:58):
That's what a lot of guys have said, yeah.
So I did a lot of that to the point where I always wanted to
play, but my mom didn't want me to play that young.
But I I knew, you know, I just had to get around the game.
So I think once we got over there, we found the program that

(09:18):
had the league football that waspretty nice.
And it was Sunrise Spartans. That was the first team I played
for. And the reason I ended up going
there was because I had a an older cousin by the name of
Darryl Porter. He at the time, he's eight years
older than me. So at the time they're going to

(09:43):
play for Nova Nova High School. Then he ended up transferring to
Saint Thomas. So he was kind of like my idol
growing up, you know, playing football.
And after that first year playing in Sunrise, my father

(10:04):
ended up transferring me over toPlantation Wildcats and.
What what, what position were you playing at the time?
I was so at the time at sunrise they had me playing like a a
wing back, more like a. Oh, OK.
A receiver slash wing back. But yeah.

(10:24):
They they weren't even giving methe ball.
I don't even think I might have touched the ball.
Two times. Oh yeah, be right, one.
Of the fastest men on the on theteam but just you know never got
a chance because it was my firstyear so my.
Dad, were you discouraged at allby that?
Very. Very, Yeah.

(10:44):
Just knowing that, you know, I felt like in practice I was able
to do different things but neverwere able to really showcase in
the game. They just had their favorites.
I want to say it was a the sons.The coach's son was there and he
was a running back, you know what I mean?
So all year you were pretty muchjust blocking for him.

(11:04):
Yeah. So that's what made my dad
really transfer over to the plantation, which wasn't far
away from where I was living at.So I.
Was on the. Edge of Sunrise and Plantation
and it was actually closer for me to go play at Plantation.
Than it was to. Drive to Sunrise.
So I ended up going there my next year and when I got there,

(11:31):
it was a just a whole different type of vibe compared to
Sunrise. Like I mean, the moment I got
there, it might have been withintwo or three practices.
They started calling me Fleet. That was my childhood nickname.
And I was like, yo, this is the craziest name to have, you know
what I mean? But when you think about it, you

(11:52):
really, it was hard to catch a fleet, you know what I mean?
So the whole time through LittleLeague, I was one of the best,
probably Little League Legends in, in, in, in the town at the
time. And you know, we won Super Bowls
and went undefeated multiple times, you know, just had good

(12:19):
careers from a Little League standpoint.
So I want to say I ended up playing football, Little League
football all the way up until myI ended up having to play my 9th
grade as well. Yeah, 'cause I'm sure you were
undersized a little bit too, right?
The problem? Was it was more like my father

(12:41):
just kind of kept me back. Yeah.
At this time, you know, from a football standpoint, on a, on a
Little League standpoint, I was,I was playing, you know, top
ball. Yeah.
It's my peers. But he felt, you know, not
having a weight class on a high school level, it would affect
me. So that was a little
discouraging, you know, knowing that someone in the house is

(13:05):
asking you not to play amongst your friends who are now playing
JV. So ended up playing one more
year Little League and then fromthere I transferred and went.
Instead of going to my home school, which was Plantation
Kernels, I went to Saint Thomas.With which is a known like

(13:28):
powerhouse, yeah, Fort Lauderdale, yes.
Ended up going there and startedout, I mean at the bottom of
the. Is this 9th grade?
I'm in. I'm in my 10th grade now.
Oh, you're 10th grade. You played all the way through.
My 9th grade. Yeah.
So my 10th grade. That's a transition.

(13:51):
Huge transition. So keep in mind 9th grade, I go
to my my home base school. Yeah, my 10th grade, I go to
Saint Thomas, which is across town.
So when I get there, I'm starting at the bottom of the
roster. But I end up, you know, making
plays, end up starting to the point where I got an opportunity

(14:17):
to, you know, really make some things happen.
And soon as school starts, I'm behind on everything because
they're moving like a college and I wasn't really mentally
ready to move like a college. Well, yeah, you never played
school ball before and that's your first experience?
Yeah, this was. So much for me and I really

(14:39):
didn't know how to balance and adjust to this.
No, the organization. It, it, it Listen, this was like
a smooth locomotive when you gotover there, like you had to have
every, everything was textbook. I mean, from the moment you wake
up, you had to be moving, getting your work done after

(14:59):
soon as work school was over, you know, you had study hall
from study hall. You had you had to be ready for
practice after practice. Then it was boom on the on the
practice. It was like college and I.
Wasn't it was 15? Years old so I ended up
transferring back to Plantation.OK.
Now when I did that, that was like a big stickler for me

(15:23):
because the coaches almost looked at me as like a a sell
out in a way. Because you trade?
Because you went to the other school.
Yeah, you got. To keep in mind we play against
Saint Thomas even right the district, but it's a big game.
You know what? I.
Mean. Yeah, yeah.
It's like a rivalry, yeah. It's it's a big rivalry down
here besides S Plantation and Dillard.

(15:44):
But so now I'm back at Plantation and I'm sitting on a
bench and this week, maybe two in the my sophomore season and
I'm behind players who I startedin front of when I was playing
Lily ball. Right now I'm more discouraged

(16:07):
because I know I'm better, but Ican't even showcase myself
because I, you know, I kind of look like a, you know, a sell
out in a way. Yeah, I mean, they made it
personal. They weren't looking very
personal for what was best for the team.
It was it was heartbreaking. You know what I mean?
That no, like I know I'm better players is telling me I'm better

(16:28):
just sticking there. My parents was telling me, you
know, your time is coming. So as crazy as it may seem,
because I sat on the bench my 10th and 11th grade.
Yeah, I. Know I both years.
That's crazy, right? I I would never have expected
that. Nobody would, you know what I
mean, and that part of it was probably the hardest part of my

(16:51):
life, far as playing football, Iwould say.
And it's amazing that you stuck it out and that you never gave
up on it. The only reason was my mother.
Yeah, only one that really made me feel like.
She kept telling you. I I when you get your chance,
you really go show everybody. It's just all you need is one
chance, you know what I mean? And for me, I couldn't see, no,

(17:14):
I couldn't see my one chance. I really.
So a lot of the times my junior year, it was a it's a blur
because I sat again that that year as well.
Yeah. And then my senior year came
around and what ended up happening, the guy in front of
me who was starting in front of me there was.

(17:36):
Still going to be a guy in frontof you your senior year.
Yeah. Oh my God.
Jesus, that's crazy. You.
Got to keep in mind though, Kelly, like it's a lot of talent
down here. No, I listen.
I know it's a different world inFlorida.
I know everyone can play. I know the rosters are
different. Everyone's playing from their
young age. I, I, I, I do know that.

(17:57):
You're right. So from that I, he ended up
transferring and going to our rival school and I basically was
put into the starting position coming into the spring of my
senior year. So the crazy thing at this

(18:17):
point, my best friend who I taught how to play football at a
probably like nine years old, he's playing cornerback and he
ended up, he ended up being the starting corner on the other
side our junior year because he was bigger, he was faster.
And at the time we were in the third round playing against big

(18:43):
time players. It was by a guy by the name of
Antonio Bryant. Ended up playing for Pittsburgh.
Very well aware of Antonio, yeah.
OK. So Tori Cox, he was there.
They had a loaded team down in Miami Northwest and we were
playing and it pretty much put him on the map going into our
senior year. So he was more of the lock down

(19:07):
corner going into our senior year and I was just like who is
this guy? You know what I mean?
Starting on the other side, so. Did they flip you like field and
boundary or did you just play right and left?
It was more, it was more like who's the better receiver?
I'm going to be the second best receiver because my again, my

(19:29):
best friend is rated the the more rated better corner at the
time, so the first. Match up.
Yeah, it was all about match ups.
So the first game came, came around and I ended up having a
good game. No one caught the ball.
I spent, I had a quick shut out and then I feel like the team

(19:52):
kind of seen something in me in that first game.
And then from there it really wasn't about a match up anymore.
It was about. You know, I'm comfortable on
whatever side. And then my best friend, he was
comfortable on a specific side. So we were playing like that
throughout the year and then after like 3 or 4 games, I don't

(20:14):
want no catches. So now what ends up happening?
My mom asks the coach could she get footage of all of the
defensive plays from the 1st 4? Games.
Your mother asks for the game film.

(20:34):
Yeah, I love it. This is you.
Got to keep in mind this is backin 99.
No, I remember your mom. Yeah.
I, I, I, I remember. Yeah.
Everything was done by the. Game very vital point in in
throughout my entire career. So yeah, she gets the first four
games and then she she makes copies of them and and then from

(20:59):
there she asks me to go to the to the locker room where all my
teammates are being they're getting big.
I got teammates that are gettingrecruited by.
Yeah, the coaches are coming every day.
Right, every day, but not for me.
They're they're, they're coming for my teammates.
And she told me to go get questionnaires that my teammates
didn't want from the. Colleges that they weren't

(21:23):
interested in, yeah. If they weren't interested in
that letter, hey, let me take that letter home and and take
the address and send the letters.
I meant send the tapes to those colleges.
I have never heard of anyone doing that before me.
That's amazing. Me either.
So when she did that, by that I want to say now it might be like

(21:45):
Week 8 now teams are actually coming to see me.
Right. Within like 2-3 weeks they
didn't seen the tape and yeah, they were already interested in
players on my team, but now they're interested in me as
well. Because they know about you and
they've seen the film. And they're seeing the film, but
what ends up happening UConn, they end up coming down.

(22:10):
I want to say it was Coach Wilson, not Wilson, not Wilson.
Lyndon coach, Johnson coach. Johnson came down and he seen me
in school and I'll never forget he said, hey, man, I just want
to let you know we seen your tape and I was like me, you know
what I mean? Like shock couldn't believe like

(22:31):
a scout was actually going to come up and talk to me at this
point because this I did. I never had anybody.
I don't even think I had a letter come to my house.
They just came and talked to me at this point.
And then from Ned letter startedcoming in from UConn, but he
just, he basically told me, Hey,we coming to see you.
I want to see what you can do today.

(22:51):
We think you're a little undersized, but let's see what
you can do basically. So I, I kind of liked it because
it was like I, I got pressure onme, but I like pressure.
So I ended up having the interception that game.
And right after that, that's when coach Etzel called in and
started, you know, contacting meand telling me, Hey, we're

(23:13):
really interested. We want to offer you a
scholarship. And I was like, oh man.
Wow, they were the first. Yeah, they were the very first
team. So what's crazy, though, Kelly,
to kind of go backwards in this story.
When Etzel contacts me, he says to me, hey, do you Remember Me?

(23:35):
And I was like, no, why would I remember you?
And he says, I coached your cousin back at Boston College.
So now I'm thinking, Oh my God, you know what I mean?
When I was when I was again playing Little League ball and
then my cousin left Saint Thomas.
He ended up going to Boston College, playing and going off

(23:57):
to the NFL, playing seven years.But he got drafted from Boston
College to Pittsburgh, ended up bouncing around to like Detroit,
Buffalo, Miami. And that might have been that,
something like that. So he played for Tom Coughlin

(24:18):
and and Randy was the DBS coach and.
Randy was ADB coach. Right.
Now he leaves there, few years go by, he's the head coach at
UConn. He calls me eight years go by
now I'm a senior or I didn't even tell you that Kelly.
So I ended up taking a trip to Boston College to see my cousin

(24:39):
to drop drop them off for his freshman year.
And while we were up there, we actually went to Coach Etzel's
house to eat and I met his his daughter and his son went.
To his house, Oh my God to. His house so now speed the story
back up when he offers the the scholarship and.

(25:01):
I'm on the phone with me. He.
Talks about this now I'm like, Oh my God, yeah, I do remember
you because he goes to talking about the story.
Yeah, you ate at my house and all this.
What a great story. So from there, you know, they're
still showing interest in me. And then they end up at the end
of the year. I take a visit up to to

(25:21):
Connecticut. First time coming up, I see snow
for the first time. I know you would see Fool always
talk about that. Yeah, it's it's crazy, bro.
Like it it was so cold and I couldn't believe like the snow
flurries was flying around. Like I thought it was like ATV
show, you know what I mean? Like I never seen it.

(25:43):
It just it just through my mind.So I kind of fell in love with
the weather and not not, not notthe the school at the moment.
You like the cold? It's crazy that I say that bro.
Like I I, I, I don't know. When I was young, I used to
always fantasize of snowboardingand skiing in the snow because I

(26:05):
grew up, my grandfather used to have me water skiing and.
Yeah, yeah, Surfer. So I always would see TV and
people skiing in snow and I would think something like that.
So I guess when I went up there,I was thinking, you know, I
maybe I'll get the opportunity to do something like that, you
know what I mean? If I came to school up here so

(26:29):
other schools offered me, I had UCF, Iowa, Idaho.
Right. Bethune fam smaller schools like
that, but because UConn was the first D.
One came first. Pain I felt, you know what I'm
I'm going to take a, you know, leap of faith and go with them,

(26:51):
you know, and the fact that I knew the coach from coaching my
my cousin. I was thinking, shit, I got a
chance to go to to the pros because he may have a little
pipeline with coffee. He does.
He's got us not agree. Did you know UConn had a
football team? No, at the time.
See, I didn't either. Cully, I didn't even know what

(27:12):
Connecticut was on the map, You know what I mean?
Like. Yeah, yeah.
No, I do. You kind of and I was like, but
where is that? You know what I mean?
And they were crazy that the basketball team had just won
when the. National championship, yeah.
National championship. So I was able to see them later
on once I committed and they ended up winning the
championship. So I kind of was like, oh, I'm

(27:34):
going to that school, you know what I mean?
Wow. Yeah, so that's how it ended up
at you comment. So you played your senior year,
you and your best friend were basically locked down corners.
I mean, you shut everyone down. You must have made all

(27:56):
conference Allstate. I mean, were you all region all
something? I made nothing bro again.
You got nothing really, no accolades.
In, in, in. No, I know.
So I had AI remember the cornerback that was highly
ranked in the top, I want to saytop corner in Fort Lauderdale at

(28:18):
the time was Brian, Brian McFadden.
He ended up in the Florida State.
He ended up playing pro ball too.
I can't remember he went where he played ball, but he was like
the top guy who was everybody was, you know, going after at
the time. So no, I didn't have any
accolades like that. So for me, it was more like I

(28:40):
had a chip on my shoulder. I had to I had always had to
prove to everybody that I I deserved to be there because
one, I was always doubted just from size and but.
You were you're, you're tall. You're you're a tall, athletic
you. Run well the height.
I didn't get the height until maybe 11th grade.
OK. Yeah, I was a late bloomer.

(29:03):
OK, so you shot up a little taller then?
Yeah. And then?
Because, I mean, you're over. You're you're.
Yeah. But you're, you're, you're over
six. One.
Yeah. I thought you were like 6.
Feet I I I look long but I'm only 6 feet.
OK, but you got, I mean you got.The Walgreens.
And everything, yeah. Yeah, I got a good wingspan,

(29:25):
but. That's crazy.
Another thing colleague my my best friend, my lockdown corner,
his name is Kevin Timothy. He's also offered to go to
UConn. So all they try to get you both.
Yeah, we try to. They we tried to come up
together. I told him, hey, I'm going to
come here. This is this is my first big

(29:47):
offer. I'm going with them.
But he had a lot of offers because, again, he was being
recruited from his junior year. Right, right.
So I did. He.
He. Ended up going to Ole Miss.
With did he come on the visit toUConn?
Yeah. Oh, So he took the visit with
you? Yeah.
OK. Wow.

(30:09):
Wow. So he ends up going to Ole Miss,
You go to UConn? Because I, I know that year we
brought in quite a few Florida guys because it, it was like you
was like Meyer Sepool and. Zuccardi.
Zuccardi was at Saint Thomas. When?
I was at 9th, 10th in the 10th grade he was there.

(30:31):
And I remember the year we played Miami, a lot of the guys
knew everyone because, you know,we had so many Florida guys.
So it was just, it was just crazy how it worked out.
And you're the first Florida guythat got up there and wasn't,
like, fazed by the cold. I remember chant.

(30:53):
Steve Poole used to walk around like an Eskimo.
It was. Oh, yeah.
You were mesmerized by it. Yeah.
Man, like it was cool the, the, the, the visit in it for the
visit, but then living in it, itwas like, oh man.
Oh yeah, you know what I mean? No, not for me.
Going to class or you. Know Justin and and just making

(31:15):
it work out but it was a lot of times it was cold up there bro
or. Cold.
So you, you committed, did you commit right after your visit or
did you take any other visits? I ended up so this is what kind
of happened. When I came back, I was
scheduling other visits and Kevin told my best friend told

(31:42):
Etzel that we were going on other visits.
He came, he came down or something happened.
We. Went to talking with other
coaches and telling them that wealready had committed and we
lost our visits to those particular teams that we were
going to go to. We were going to go out to Idaho
I think, and then we were going to go to UCF or something like

(32:05):
that, I can't remember. But he ended up going to Ole
Miss and I didn't go anywhere else.
So I ended up going to UConn. I was, I was already thrilled to
go to UConn anyway. I didn't really care about.
I was just go take visits just to take visits at that point.
Yeah, yeah, I would have used all five too.
Just that, just that fun. So then it was time for, you

(32:29):
know, us to kind of depart and go our separate ways.
Was there anything specifically that sold you on UConn?
Was it Randy? Was it Linden?
It was. It was Randy all the way.
It was Randy all the way becauseof the fact that my cousin was
in the NFL at. This and and yes and he treated
your cousin well, so you obviously.

(32:51):
Well, you know what I mean, I felt.
Like put a lot of stock in that.That's the only It had nothing
to do with the school. It had nothing to do with what
I'll tell you this. They told me I can play early.
Which is what you want to hear. You don't want to red dirt.
Yeah, You know what I mean. They sold me that they they sold
me. They were getting a new stadium.

(33:12):
They were D1, they were going tothe Big East in a few years.
So those things I was also looking.
At to be a part of it, but. The the main thing was the fact
that he coached with Coughlin and he had that pipeline.
That was it for me. Wow, that's awesome that that,
that is that what a small world.And the, the, the fact that he

(33:38):
reminded you of it and then you thought back and you remember,
you actually went to his house when he was at, when he was at
BC. Your first year, I believe was
2000, correct? Yes.
Yes. And did you, did you red shirt
or you, you played, I you, you, you read through it OK?

(34:00):
Probably I came in $1.50. No, I I remember you were tall,
lanky. You know what I mean?
So yeah. And that it was a good thing
that I reassured it because again, I wasn't physically
ready, but I just had to a lot to learn.
I had to, you know, mature. And I wasn't, I wasn't ready

(34:21):
for. I just wasn't ready to compete.
I don't think so. I ended up red shirting that
first year getting into, you know, some off the field
activity, getting into some trouble that way where you know.
Well, it it it's tough when you don't have a lot to do in during

(34:41):
the season. Keep that in mind.
Keep that in mind. I'm 18 years old.
You know what I mean? You're away from home for the
first time. You know what I mean?
So those type of things happen to young individuals at at.
Eight. Yes, absolutely.
So that first year was kind of like, you know, I'm just
learning, trying to get get get acclimated to being in college,

(35:03):
get acclimated to being in the in the cold, being away from
family. Like those things were things
that I would trying to cope withand I didn't want to, I didn't
want to disappoint anybody and come back home.
And for me it was, it was more like how, how, how do I, how do

(35:25):
I stay on the straight and narrow path?
So the little trouble that I hadgot into, I had kind of moved
past that. And from there my my red shirt
freshman year came around and I want to say in the spring when

(35:46):
things started to turn around for me.
Spring of O1, correct? Of O 1 So what ended up
happening we ended up I had ADB coach by the name of Doherty
that we let. Go Kevin Doherty, left, and Kent
Briggs came in. And Briggs came in.
So when Kent Briggs came in is when the game for me started to

(36:12):
slowly change. OK.
Completely, but it was like a, it was like a, a switch kind of
went off like I knew how to playDV, but I didn't, I wasn't
coached at this point. Everything I knew was strictly
street ball. What I learned playing Madden,
like I knew how to play cover 2 off of Madden playing the video

(36:32):
game. And that's really how I learned
a lot of this stuff. Right, right, right.
So when, when Briggs comes in, he kind of breaks the game down
in a way where I understand it and I'm, I'm able to actually
display what he's asking us to do, you know, in the, in the, in

(36:54):
the film room. So from there I, I go to make
him. Please start feeling confident.
I'm I probably put on maybe 15 lbs that first year And and by
the end of my spring I ended up starting over Carl Bradford.
Right. And he ends up like walking off

(37:18):
the team at. I remember.
After the spring, so now everybody's like, well, you
know, now you got to be the starter and the first game is
now against Virginia Tech. I Andre Davis.
I remember. Right, right.
So I guess I want to say they had Roy on Andre Davis at the

(37:39):
time because I was just a red shirt freshman, you know what I
mean? Roy was a junior, if I'm not
mistaken at the time. And we, as you know, you know,
we pretty much got smoked that game.
But what I we, we. We had the lead after the first
quarter. We did.
We did. That was about it.

(38:00):
We will say that, I will say that, but I think the the take
that I got from that game was I was ready for college football.
I ended up leading the team in tackles with like 13-2 pass
breakups and I, I, I felt like Ilearned something about myself

(38:23):
that in that game. So from there I kind of tried to
take that and, and build from that and I ended up having a
pretty good red shirt freshman year.
Only had one reception, I think maybe like 10 breakups and I
might have been like 4th to 5th on the team with like 65 or 75

(38:44):
tackles. Which is a lot for a, which is a
lot. For a quarterback, you know what
I mean? So I, I from that, I thought
like looking at like other NFL corners that were trying to go
to the, or college corners that were trying to go to the NFL,
the numbers I thought were subpar.
I felt like I, I had a lot of work to do and I needed to, you

(39:08):
know, get my hands on the ball more.
So I, I went into the offseason thinking I need to try to
prepare myself more like on film, because I need to look for
more tendencies. I I I I felt like what bridge
was teaching me, I I had mastered, but at the same time I

(39:30):
didn't I wasn't a great film studying.
Well, that's why I wanted to askyou because I had very, very
little action interaction with Coach Briggs.
He came from a big time program.He was only there for a year.
So I was always curious how he was with you guys in the DB room

(39:52):
and if you learned a lot from him.
I learned a lot from Briggs, I mean.
He always had the sunglasses on.He slowed the game down for me,
you know what I mean? And I felt when he, when he left
after the one year, I was so disappointed and felt like I
wasn't. I almost wanted to leave with
him. Yeah, that's how it felt because

(40:12):
I had never at this point, I never had got coached like this.
Right, Right. So Kelly, the crazy thing is, I
end up being disappointed again.Doing some off the field
activities, getting in trouble. I get suspended off the team on
the offseason. Right.

(40:33):
Well, now I'm off for maybe 60 days or something like that, and
in this time they hire Tori and Gray.
Love, Tori and Gray. He came from Maine.
He played in the NFL. I mean, he was, he was the, he
was the dude. Listen, if you think, well, I
thought Kent Briggs was like game changing Tori and Gray.

(40:56):
It was like the Holy Grail for me.
That's what I mean. So when I meet him, though, I I
meet him being suspended from the so.
So you got to keep that in mind.This is my first impression.
And he's. He's talking to me and he's
like, yo, what's going on, man? I hear you, you know, good
player, but you suspended right now and I'm like, yeah, I really

(41:18):
can't, you know, communicate with everybody right now.
So he said, well, as soon as youget off your suspension, man,
I'd like to talk with you. So once that got up and it was
like a week before a spring ball, he ended up, I ended up
sitting in his office and he ended up kind of breaking some

(41:38):
film down to me. And when he broke it down,
Collie, he broke the three-step down in a way that I had never
seen it before. Like the game was slow from
Briggs, but it really it was almost like the Matrix when he
showed it to me now. You were seeing it.
I was seeing keys and it was just like, wait a minute, this

(42:01):
if I do this, I feel like I'm going to be cheating because
people are going to think I'm like jumping the route.
But really, I wasn't jumping theroute.
No, you were reading it. I was reading it like I was
reading it before the play actually started.
Right. So when he taught me this, I
tried it in the spring of my sophomore year and when I the

(42:26):
first time I did it, when I intercepted the ball, by the
time everybody realized that I was like 10 yards ahead ahead of
everybody about to score a touchdown.
Yeah, 'cause you could run, yeah.
You know what I mean? So now I was like, yo, I got
something that nobody really know and I immediately went into
the to the film room with him and was like, how do I stop if I

(42:48):
if they hitch and go me or slantand go me it because at this
point now I know. Double move, right?
They're going to double move me because I know something, you
know what I'm saying? So he taught me all these
different ways to kind of counter play the three-step and
the hitch and go and all this. So now I was fully equipped and
ready to go. So when my sophomore year, my
red shirt sophomore year came around, we was playing BC the

(43:10):
first game out in BC. I I recall.
The first half went by and I hadtouched the ball twice.
And one of the times if one of my players didn't touch the
ball, I would have intercepted it.
Like that's how much I was touching the ball already,
right? So after the half, the first

(43:32):
play of the game, they Boston College came out and threw like
a deep ball to a receiver. And then I ended up tearing my
ACL. I recall that.
So when that happened, I didn't even know what a ACL was, you
know, how long I would be out ornothing like that color.
You know, I'm a country boy fromFlorida.

(43:53):
So when they took me to the sidelines and took me in the
locker room and they went to moving my leg all around.
Bob knew. And Bob knew he was like, yeah,
Perk, take a shower. So I was like, yo, you think I'm
going to be ready for the Miami game?
You know what I'm saying? Because Miami game was like in
five weeks. It was.
It was a homecoming, yeah. I need to get back, so I need to

(44:16):
show out for my team and my family.
I got at least 20-30 people go be there.
So they was like just shower up,you know, we'll figure this out
later. So after the game, my mom flew
to the game. She so that was another thing.
My mom at this point had not missed no games.
Now I I remember, I remember because my mom actually was

(44:36):
friends with your mom. Oh yeah, she, she was friends
with everybody. Mom, they, they had, they had a
blast at all the tailgates and yeah, a. 100% So after the game,
Bob, you know, sat me with my mom and my dad and told me
basically, you know, he's done for the year.
You know, he'll have to get surgery sometime this week.

(44:58):
So on that Saturday, I ended up coming back home and getting
surgery on Wednesday. My mom flew up I think Wednesday
evening when when I got out of surgery.
And bro, that was probably the the second worst part of me

(45:19):
playing football and, and being out of football and not having
control of being able to play. And for me, I again, I wanted to
quit again, you know what I mean?
Because I. It's it's tough to sit through.
You don't feel a part of it. I believe me everything I
understand. That whole year felt like a wash

(45:41):
to the point where I had to the rehab was so.
Grueling. Oh, it's awful, man 6:00 AM
every day you're in there. You know what I'm saying?
And then you come back during practice and you're not even
part of the team, but you just apart of the team.
Like it. It was, it was miserable.

(46:02):
So. But while all that was going on,
we were winning The the, the, the, the.
We, we ended up, we ended up coming back, ended up coming.
Out six and six that year, we finished beating, you know,
Seneca Wallace down in Iowa State.
So we ended on a good note and Ifelt good about where we were

(46:22):
going and I knew if we would, ifI could have played.
I know the way I was learning the game, I was going to make
some play. Well, you were a difference
maker. You were a difference maker your
entire career. Right.
So I, I pretty much just went inthe lab and just got back, got

(46:43):
back, got myself back to tip topshape.
I ended up putting on them more weight than I ever had.
I was about 190 lbs coming back my junior red shirt junior year.
Yeah, and you ran well too. I mean you, you were a 445 guy
high 4/4, right? But this point, yeah.
And when I tell you I felt probably the most confident

(47:07):
about myself my junior year, I Ihad AI, had a great, great
season. I think everyone did.
Pretty much I want to say all across the board from from T
Smith to Meijer to. Fincher Lloyd Oy, I mean, that

(47:32):
defense was unbelievable. Mulcahy.
Mulcahy up front. Yeah, Oh my.
God, I can go on. Everybody was just getting their
part in. So it was just a great year for
us that junior year and then going into my senior year I was
rated pre season Big E. 'S you were.

(47:52):
First team and, and, and having that going, having that accolade
going into the year that that was a big, big confidence
builder for me because you know,I was up there with guys like
Adam, it was me and Adam Pacman Jones.
So I felt like, you know, this is my competition.

(48:15):
This is this is where I want to be at.
This is where I see myself. This is what you worked your
whole life for. You know what I mean?
And to finish my senior year with five interceptions with
two, two touchdowns, it was likea bonus on top of what I had did
from the previous year of havingsix interceptions.

(48:35):
Oh, it was magic. It was magic.
I I felt in three years of playing ball, having 12
interceptions with like I want to say 45 breakups, that was
enough for me to get there. You know what I mean?
I thought absolutely the ball enough.
I was a playmaker to, you know, get a chance to play on the next

(48:57):
level, which was my ultimate goal.
You had the size. Yeah, absolutely.
I had always wanted to ask you because I know Hank Hughes ended
up being the DC those last few years.
Coverage wise. I never knew what did we play
mostly coverage wise. What we would we, it would vary.

(49:20):
Sometimes we would be in a cover8.
So where we would be really? Song, Yeah.
And OK it. Would look more like a 2 high
corners and everybody would be down in the box and and we would
have safeties and linebackers rovering out into the to the
flats. Right, right, right.
Free safety would pretty much belike a man on the tight end

(49:42):
type. Of oh, OK.
And then we would switch it up and go to a man.
You know what I mean? Where?
So we we did play straight man. Oh yeah.
Oh, OK, I didn't know that. Yeah, we would play straight
man. A lot of a lot of my
interceptions came from man. From man coverage.
Wow. Yeah, I off again, me playing

(50:04):
off man. I was very confident in being
able to read the quarterback. Because you're, you're in your
back pedal and your eyes aren't on the receiver, right?
They're kind of on the quarterback and you're seeing
the receiver from your peripheral.
Just for the first 3 steps. OK.
And I really don't need to see the receiver because his

(50:25):
alignment already told me what he wanted to do when he came
out. The really, that's what I'm
trying to tell you. OK, I get out, so he's inside.
Game so much bro like so a a receiver would come out just to
kind of sidetrack a receiver would come out and if the ball
is aligned to let's say his hashand he has a short field.

(50:50):
Yes, he's to the boundary. Eva is on the bottom of the
numbers. He doesn't have much space to do
anything to the outside. Right.
So you know. I'm immediately lining up maybe
a yard 2 yards inside of you andthen from.
There I get a. Three-step drop.
I'm breaking down on the ball ina hitch or a slant type of

(51:14):
mentality because there's no wayyou can run out.
And if the. Field was, you know, a little
more spreaded out. Now I'm playing off of
tendencies. So you know, depending on
formationally personnel. Does the quarterback have the
arm to throw it out this far? Is he is, you know, am I to his

(51:39):
to his dominant side, meaning his best receiver maybe to his
backside. He may be a left-handed
quarterback, but but have to throw to his right.
I'm I'm breaking all that down, but.
So they they actually had dominant sides, the quarterbacks
of which way they could go with the ball.
Absolutely. Wow, it's easier.

(52:01):
For right-handed quarterback to open up and throw to the right
than. It is right away.
OK. You know what I mean?
I got you. Yeah.
So. You want to keep that in mind,
and then you want to pay attention to that on the film as
well. You want to see what it is he's
more comfortable with, and thesewere the things that I was
diagnosing when I would be in myfilm sessions.

(52:22):
Right. Trying to break things down.
Right, right, right. So we did play ma'am, we did
play some too high. Did we play any one high stuff?
Yes, Sir. Like cover three.
OK, we did. So we we we were multiple with
our coverages, but we tried to confuse people a. 100.

(52:43):
Percent and we had great enough linebackers, we were good enough
up front and your secondary was top of the line.
So I mean that I, I really thought coach Edsel, because of
your class, the Monger City Bowl, he established like kind
of a a few core values and it was run the football, control

(53:06):
the clock, play the field position game, play defense,
tough defense, score in the red zone.
I I always believed that that was his, those were his
philosophies. And he took advantage of the
Wrenchler field, the grass beingoutside whoever we were playing

(53:27):
against, they would either cut high or cut low to slow him
down. And that's crazy.
So tell me about your senior year.
Any memory stick out from that wonderful run you guys had?
We entered the Big East early. Nobody expected anything from
us. I would probably say when I got

(53:52):
the the first big moment for me was the interception against
Pittsburgh. It was a night game in
Wrenchless Stadium. I thought that was probably one
of the biggest moments in my senior year that that was game
changer for me. It was early in the game.

(54:15):
We ended up winning the game, first Big E win for us.
So that was probably the first big moment.
I I would say the biggest momentthough, was when we won the
Motor City Bowl going. Against Toledo, right?
Oh man, just the the vibe we had.
I think that whole. I heard about it, yeah.
Win, bro. Like, yeah, there was nothing

(54:38):
that would stop us when we went out there.
We could have probably played anybody and we would have.
Found I I I agree. I agree.
There was so much talent. On it every every practice was
like a game that week. Yeah, and.
And we were excited. Like I never practiced so fast.
And so it was like I didn't wantit to end.

(55:00):
Yeah, yeah. And I I know the feeling.
So I would say that whole week of just playing with my
brothers, that was another huge point in that that that's.
So after the Motor City Bowl, I mean, you had a great career.
Did you? Did you have aspirations?
Obviously you talked about it going to the NFL.

(55:23):
Absolutely. Did you get an agent?
Did you go and start training? How did that work out?
So there were multiple agents contacting me after my junior
year. Oh wow.
Yeah, actually it was Torian Gray's agent, I think it was.
Brian Macklin was his name. He was the guy who I wanted to

(55:44):
go with my whole the entire senior year.
And what ended up happening whenwe went to the Motor City Bowl,
he ended up getting another cornerback.
I forgot his name, but he playedfor Oklahoma State and because
he took that cornerback, he didn't feel like he would be
able to, you know, shop around 2cornerbacks.

(56:06):
And I totally understood that Soand I was appreciative for
Torian Gray reaching out to his agent for me.
So what ended up happening was agood friend of mine, Asante
Samuel, who I grew up playing against in Little League at
contact with his agent, wanted me.

(56:26):
So I ended up signing with his agent, Jay Bianco, and Jay was
another guy who was, you know, talking with me all throughout
my senior year. And at the end of the end of the
bowl, once I knew Brian wasn't going to accept me, I chose Jay.
He. Signed with him, OK.

(56:48):
And I think he was a great sign.I, I don't think you know
anything different. I just felt like at the time,
Brian was the guy I really wanted to go with because I was
referred by my former coach. You know what?
I mean, right, right, right. So now that it was time for me
to go, or at least attempt trying to go to the NFL, what I

(57:10):
decided to withdraw my last semester.
Yeah, you have to. You have to go and train for a
full time. You know what I mean?
I had like two classes left to to kind of go and do.
And this was probably one of themost discouraging times for me,
bro, because when I went and told coach Etzel that he was
like, I wasn't going to get drafted and I felt.

(57:32):
He said that to you. Yeah, I felt that was kind of
weird. And I'm not, you know, not
throwing any shade at Etzel, butat the time I just felt like,
you know, the numbers I put up, I was a preseason biggies, end
of the season biggies. We won the Motor City Bowl.
I I mean, my numbers was up there with everybody.
You know what? I.

(57:52):
Mean. I I just found it strange that
he would say don't withdraw and,you know, finish school.
So at this time I thought I could always come back and just.
Finish. Yeah, you can.
Yeah. But to try to push and, you
know, fulfill your dream you. Can't do both.
Yeah, both. So I chose that and went down to

(58:14):
Atlanta and was training down inAtlanta for for the pro day.
So for my pro day I did very well, ended up running a 438.
How many guys did you have training with you in Atlanta?
Was it a big group or? Oh no, It was about a group of
seven of us. Oh wow, was it all his guys?

(58:36):
It was all it was two of his guys and then it was OK, two
guys from another agent and maybe 3 from another agent, but
it was a very small group of guys.
And were you happy with the training the trainer?
Yeah, good. I was getting top notch
training, food, just massages, you name it like.

(59:00):
Yeah, they took good care of. You, I felt like, you know, I
was in the NFL at this time because I wasn't paying for none
of this, you know what I mean? I was just going through the
process. So then when the draft came and
and the draft, I didn't get drafted.
I found that again, very discouraging.
I couldn't understand how is this possible.
My agent was kind of. Was he did he project you at

(59:23):
like? You had me.
Projected 6 or fourth round. And I, I thought that was
strange that he said third, fourth round and I didn't get
drafted at all. You know what?
I. Mean yeah, that that is strange,
yeah, so. At this point, right after the
draft, maybe five different teams contact me for.

(59:44):
Free agency. Free agency.
So I chose Kansas City because they were the worst.
They were the 32nd ranked pass defense out of 13.
And when I got there, I had to, you know, make the the, the
rookie, rookie team. Yeah, there was a mini camp.
The mini camp, it was like 53 dudes out there and keeping six

(01:00:08):
or seven dudes is what they tellus, which is crazy.
So now I'm like, damn this shit,I only got this many people to,
you know, I, I got to. I got to work.
Through 45 people you know. What I'm saying like.
It was crazy. So when the first practice came,
we had six practices over the rookie camp bro.

(01:00:29):
After the first practice, the defensive coordinator by the
name of Gunther Cunningham comesup to me and says there's a.
Legend. Why didn't we draft yet?
And I say, I don't know, I wasn't in the, you know, room
with you guys. I'm wondering why you didn't
draft me. So he was like, I got to do
some, some, some finding on you to find out what happened

(01:00:51):
because I. Because you didn't go to the
combine, right with Fincher and Dan, right?
You just had the program. Get invited to that, right?
I think Tyler got invited though.
I'm pretty sure Tyler Tyler got invited, yes.
So, but I did go to the Las Vegas Senior Bowl exposure from
that. So after the second practice,

(01:01:16):
Gunther Cunningham comes back upto me and says, Perk, I ended up
talking to you, to your coaches at UConn, and I said, oh, yeah,
what happened? He said, well man, I just want
to let you know they told me that you're a trouble kid off
the field. And I they told they, they they,
they told about the off the field stuff.

(01:01:36):
Jesus. Now all of the things when I was
18, that's catching up what I'm saying.
So I didn't know that was what was hindering me from being
drafted or being looked at. At the time.
I thought what I was doing on the field was what mattered.
You know what I mean? It usually does, but they

(01:01:57):
roto-rooter you whenever you're being drafted at the combine the
pro day. I mean, they asked the cafeteria
lady about you. Exactly.
But I mean, two transgressions from early on.
I mean, that's that that's just like, I mean you're you're read

(01:02:17):
your freshman year. I mean, it just blows my mind
that that would set you back because it clearly showed for
three years you were a completely different dude,
completely different player. I agree.
So I was surprised that that that even came into play that
he, you know, he, he brought, hebrought that up.
Yeah, so once that happened, it was more like a a wake up call

(01:02:45):
for me, you know what I mean? So the good thing about it,
Gunther Cunningham had told me he was like, well, I want to let
you know that you already made the the cut for the rookie camp.
And I was like where he was like, yeah, I'm I want to invite
you back with the better. Well, we're taking you, yeah.
So now I'm on the squad, I'm I'mexcited, but I got practices and

(01:03:08):
I don't want to make any mistakes, you know what I'm
saying? So.
Well, believe me, I know. One bad practice and your bags
are packed. You're gone.
Out of there, so I ended up still having a good rookie camp,
making the team and going back with the vets and ended up
playing the preseason, getting released and then going to your

(01:03:33):
NFL Europe. So you played in Europe too.
OK. So I must have just missed you.
OK. I played with Tyler and Mulcahy
and the crazy thing is Mulcahy ended up on my.
As a tight end. As a tight end at the end of the
year. Yeah, yeah, on.
My Amsterdam team. Right.
More crazier, Kali, my best friend who I taught how to play

(01:03:56):
cornerback at and remember when we were 9.
Years old. Yes, yes, yes, in the street.
Drafted to the same Amsterdam Admirals team.
Oh my God, I I love that employer.
Playing ball overseas in Europe,yeah, we haven't played since,
you know, high school. Wasn't I like I loved NFL

(01:04:18):
Europe. I had two seasons over there.
It was the best time of my life.Best time, Kelly?
I couldn't have played in Amsterdam though.
No. I, I I would never have gone to
practice. I would just have stayed at the
red light district. I don't think it would have gone
to. Practice.
I hit the red light district when it was red light district
but. Yeah.
Other than that, you know, I wasfocused.
I was trying to get back over. Here, yeah, paper.

(01:04:39):
You know what I'm saying? Were you allocated or were you a
free agent? No, it was allocated by Kansas
City. OK, so KC allocated you to go
over OK, and you play, you played over there, had a great
experience. And the good part you're you're
a roster exemption the way it used to work.

(01:04:59):
So you didn't count towards the number of guys they brought in
and like they couldn't release you until the end of camp so you
got a longer look. Absolutely.
And the ability to play in games.
Absolutely. So that that must have made a
difference for you when you got back.
So that's what I was thinking, Cully.
I was playing under Dick from Mill that first year.

(01:05:21):
Yes. When I get back, Dick from Mill
retires and now Herm Edwards. Herm Edwards.
So now Herm Edwards is bringing in all of his players from The
Jets. That's when the Ty Law ends up
at at Kansas City and a few other players he brings from The
Jets over to. To campus.

(01:05:43):
So at this point, you know, her met was I don't think is really
looking at me because he didn't send me off to to to NFL Europe
like that. So I still had a good camp.
I think I probably was. I might have been leading in
camp bro. Far as picks.

(01:06:04):
I was touching the ball. Well, I'm sure you were getting
a ton of Rapids. Kind of long, but.
Yeah. I was never, I was never shy of
touching the ball. Anybody can tell you like, no,
that's my game. You know what I mean?
If I played, even though I played defense, I find a way to
find the ball. Yeah, you were a ball hawk all
the time. But from there once her met was

(01:06:26):
let me go bro. It was almost like, you know, I
think this is my stop. Yeah, I kind of walked away from
the game from there. Nothing really.
No injuries I still had. My yeah, you were healthy.
Yep. Healthy and I, I was, I was
thankful that I was able to playon this level because a lot of
people told me I couldn't. So from there I took that as I'm

(01:06:49):
good with this. It's it was a very smart
decision that you make. You know what I mean?
So once I got released that second time, from there I've
just sat around and tried to figure out what I was going to
do with life and. I ended up.
Driving trucks and ended up working on the port.

(01:07:10):
Like, oh wow, down in Florida for a.
Little bit like, you know, like tractor trailer work on the, on
the, you know, top loading work.And then from there is when my
guy Chris Bellamy years down theline axes me to come up to, to

(01:07:31):
his 30th birthday party. And then when I come up, I think
the last time I was here was 2005. 5 right?
Yeah, I don't come up now. Now it's 2012 and I come up for
his 30th and that's when I meet my now wife Saeeda at his.
No matter at his birthday party.Yeah.

(01:07:52):
Yeah, that's a story. Wow.
Right, right. So from there, once I once me
and her hit it off, I was like yo maybe I'll come back up here
and finish school because I still had two classes.
Yeah, two classes, right? You know what I mean?
But I I didn't want to really interact with Etzel.

(01:08:14):
He was still up here at the time.
I felt a little kind of botheredby that.
So what happening? MO ended up telling Etzel that I
was up here and from that somehow MO ended up contacting
me saying hey, Edsel said. He'll pay for your classes if
you. Want he He would, yeah, he would

(01:08:34):
pay for anyone who would come. Back no problem and then I came
back and took the classes so. Oh, that's great.
For that that I thought that wayhe didn't have to do that, so I
ended up finishing the classes. What did you end up getting your
degree in? Sociology.
Sociology. So you were a social guy too?
OK, That's what I was. Yeah, so got my degree started

(01:08:58):
when I moved up here I actually I was working with kids already
in like an alternative school and also.
Coaching. I was coaching at Manchester
High School the first year and then I did two years at East
Hartford High School. Oh.
Yeah. Is that where Larson was at?
Was Larson at East Hartford? I know Larson was a he was a
principal. He may have been at New London

(01:09:19):
at the time, I can't remember, but I know, I know, East
Hartford is a tough place, Very,very tough place to.
Go lot of talent. It's a lot of talent.
Lot of talent. It's a tough place.
But I had a great time there. I ended up coaching one year
with Uwe as well that. Yeah, yes, yes, that's right.
Good. Time, bro.

(01:09:40):
And we definitely changed the, the, the, the trajectory of how
kids thought of. You changed the culture.
I mean, that's what Uwe's big thing was, he said.
He changed the culture that was his biggest.
Thing and that's I think that's what we wanted to do, you know
what I mean? Kids came in there with the
thought processes we could win instead of.

(01:10:01):
Exactly, because it was a, it was, they were traditionally a
bad, they had a bad record. So it's good that they had you
guys to look up to your UConn players and you came in and you
made a difference. And that's, that's awesome.
That's awesome. And from there, what, what was

(01:10:22):
your next step? I mean, you ended up getting
married. What year would you say?
2015 is when I got married and that's when I had my first
child. Her name is Amina.
She's my little athlete, that. I.
Yes, she is I. Thought she was going to be.
So it's crazy because I always wanted a boy.

(01:10:43):
Every guy does, you know. Yeah, right, right.
And when, when, when I found outI was having a girl, I remember
her grandma saying, well, she could be an athlete.
And I was so disappointed, like,but she's not a boy, you know?
Yeah, yeah. Girls can't be athletes.
No. I was so just in denial.
It's crazy that I was thinking. I think the same thing.

(01:11:03):
But then now you Fast forward almost 10 years and she's a
phenomenal soccer. So I have her and then I have my
6 year old Adisa and then I havemy 4 year old Rockwell.
Oh God bless you man, you got 3.I got 3.
So that's why you're so busy. Never ends.

(01:11:27):
And and no, I know you do You'reyou're happy and you love it and
you have a great family. And what did you settle on for
your career, for work? What did you get going into?
I work at DCFI, work with kids. Oh, you do?
Yeah. Oh my God, That's that's God's
calling right there. Yeah.
You work for. DCF, you go into some of the

(01:11:49):
toughest situations absolutely you can imagine, and you're
trying to do what's in the best interest of the kid.
You're trying to keep them, you know, reunited with their
family. I mean, my God, I can't even
imagine working for DCF. That is, God bless you for that,
right? That is the definition of giving

(01:12:10):
back that you do that kind of work.
Do you still? Do you coach or do you train any
kids at all? My own.
Kid, you probably don't have time.
Yeah, because you got trained. My own child now.
Yeah. I don't have enough time to
other kids. So right, I mean, it's crazy.
My daughter asked me to get up 5:30 this morning to do some

(01:12:30):
training in the basement. I was like.
She's ready to go, right? Right.
And this is your day off. On my day off, right, You know
what I mean. So I'm never off, we always
working but. That's awesome man, love it.
That's awesome. That is.
That is one hell of a story. I keep.

(01:12:50):
I can't believe that you went straight from Little League to
varsity and you didn't play until your senior year.
You got a scholarship and then you you come to UConn and you
tear it up obviously, and wow. And then you end up, if you go

(01:13:12):
back to Florida, you come back. You played in NFL Europe.
I didn't know that. Yeah, I loved it.
I played in Cologne and I played.
In Europe, bro, that's what I'veled the team in Europe and I
think I had two interceptions I can't break.
I was bawling out. There, Yeah, yeah, and and and
and that was different because the rules there, like you

(01:13:34):
couldn't blitz, like there was very you had to play a bland
defense. It was just to see how guys
could play. So for you to play well there
shows that you're you can reallyplay.
But no, it was it was so good that you made the decision when
you did to stop playing because when you go after it for too

(01:13:56):
long, like I kept going. I played until O8 or O9 and you
know, when you start life later,it makes it, it makes it harder.
100. Percent.
So yeah, yeah, it does. So that that for me, like I got
into coaching, I was a college coach for 10 years.
I was at Holy Cross and Colgate and Dartmouth and but it just

(01:14:22):
seemed natural because football was all I knew.
But then once you move off of that, it, it, it's tough because
football has been your identity for as long as it has been.
Now you got to find out who you are and what you're doing right
now. That takes so much passion and
enthusiasm every day to work forDCF, to get up, to go.

(01:14:47):
And you're an advocate and you're helping children every
day and in the worst possible situations.
So I, I give you all the credit in the world for doing that.
Marriage is, is great. You have 3 wonderful kids.
Nobody deserves it more. I didn't know.
I didn't know you were in Connecticut.

(01:15:08):
That's awesome too. Have you done anything with the
C club at all? The, the, have you joined?
No, I haven't. All right, I got to get you to
join the C Club. So we're the podcast network
that I have, we're going to be working with the National C
Club, which Kevin Freeman runs. And it's basically a bridge for

(01:15:33):
alumni to work with graduating student athletes.
But I, my vision for it is to build on it and really for our
alumni to do business with each other so we can help help each
other make money. And that's why, you know, with

(01:15:54):
the Husky Investment Group, there's certain connections like
I Brunel Jump is one of my sponsors.
My other sponsor, Andre Dixon, he's got a 5000 square foot
training facility. The best of the best.
You'll hear from him. I also work with Julius

(01:16:14):
Trenches, AKA Julius Williams ofthe Trench Mob.
Yes, Sir. Yeah, yeah.
He he's. Doing an.
Outstanding job with offensive and defensive lineman and
running camps. You'll hear something from him.
And then we have the Finch firm,Pete Finch.

(01:16:35):
Pete Finch is the man we have. We have a nice little ad for him
with me. Bro, I know, I know Pete Finch.
He probably told this story. Pete Fence, When we came into
freshman camp, he was the only guy who passed the Husky test.
He told me that yes. He told me that yes.

(01:16:57):
He told me he was the only guy. Everything.
I don't think none. Of every guy who was on
scholarship did not pass, every guy, nobody did.
Nobody did, bro. It was the miserable.
Test Pete Fence, my guy. I no, I was just going to say I
think I'm the. Only guy in the history of UConn
football to fail the conditioning test four years in

(01:17:19):
a row. I and failed, failed it proudly.
But yeah, Pete Finch. Pete Finch and the Finch firm is
another sponsor. We we do some work for him.
We'll show, we'll show his ad. And then we just brought on
fresh Ned von Young. Ned Von Young opened up his own

(01:17:40):
business, Fresh Fold Laundry Co.It's located in North Carolina.
It's by Durham. I would say the city's
technically Carrboro, but we're working with him.
And yeah, so that's our, that's that's what we're doing.
We're working with UConn. We're trying to expand the C

(01:18:04):
Club to add our content because Husky Talk has ended up being a
surprise hit and letting everyone know what everyone else
is doing and keeping each other up to speed.
And we do, we do other shows that have worked out well.
And I think it'll, it'll help grow the C club because like

(01:18:27):
you, you yourself, you didn't even know about the C Club.
I didn't know about the C Club. So that's that's our mission is
to try to get people to join theC Club.
There's going to be specific events.
We're going to sit down and planevents just so we all can get
together and see each other. That's the biggest thing more

(01:18:48):
than anything that that's important is having that alumni
engagement and being able to to interact with each other.
I planned an event before the bowl game, the Friday night
before the bowl game at Fenway and everyone had such a great
time and it was so great to see everyone.
And that's what we're going to try to do more of so we get a

(01:19:10):
chance to see each other. I know it's going to be tough
when you have three kids, but we'll, we'll, we'll work it out
for sure. But I'll, I'll, I'll send you a
link for the C club. You join for free and it get it
gets you a lot of benefits. And then we're doing, we're
doing well with, with nil and store central raising money.

(01:19:32):
And we brought in a pretty good class Mike Burton.
I give him all the credit in theworld for bringing in a very
good freshman class. And they did well in the
transfer portal. So they should, they should have
a great season next year. But I think I, I think I
mentioned just about everyone. Procyon Partners was my first
sponsor. If you remember Sean Rabinowitz

(01:19:54):
from the rugby team, he's amazing.
He believed in me in this podcast before anyone else did.
He came right on board and has been with me since day one.
But yeah, my goal is I want all of us to work together so
everyone can make money and prosper.

(01:20:18):
That's what other colleges do and that's what we're trying to
build. But I have to, I have to
sincerely thank you. Your episode got a lot of
publicity. I, I normally, I normally don't
put out a preview that I'm having someone on, but because

(01:20:40):
of being the caliber or player you are, I had to put something
out and you got a, a huge response.
Yeah, yeah. So all I ask, I'm going to, I,
I'll share the, the Facebook video with you.
If you can repost it and tag your people, that would be

(01:21:01):
great. So they get to see it and then
it's also going to be on Spotifyand iTunes.
So you'll you'll, you'll get to see it on there.
I'll text it to you and it'll beit'll be great.
I'm so glad we finally got this opportunity to talk.
Your story was worth the freaking wait.
I appreciate it, bro. You.

(01:21:21):
I mean you. You.
Have a great story. So this this was one of the
better ones that we've done. I really appreciate it.
No problem. So for Mr. Justin Perkins.
UConn defensive back, pre seasonBig East All American.
He's been there through it all. And now back in Connecticut

(01:21:43):
working for DCF, part of the Husky investment group.
I am Steve Cully, the best podcast host in the universe.
Remember when life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade.
Take two oranges and throw them back at life, hey?

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