December 18, 2024 • 41 mins
He thought he would be a basketball player and never considered football until high school where he learned the game on his 1A high school team. First on offense, then moving to defense. His team was good, regularly beating larger schools and garnering large home crowds. The college scouts didn’t stop by often, however Nate was still offered a few scholarships.
He chose North Carolina State where he would become an All-American his senior year. An honorable feat by itself, but even more impressive considering he missed the year before recovering from multiple injuries sustained in a single car crash. Nate overcame a collapsed lung, separated shoulder, broken rib and a compound leg fracture.
He was a 3rd round draft pick of the Broncos in 2011 and played in nearly every game his first three seasons. He started several games in 2014, until he was bit by the injury bug with a torn ACL. The Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl that year and did not sign Nate to a new contract in the off season.
He signed a new deal with the Colts, but again found himself in the training room and after one year of his three-year deal, Nate was cut on the final day of training camp in 2016. Soon after, Nate decided he was at peace with his NFL career and walked away.
Today, Nate is a director and manages 300 people at Anschutz Medical Center, is the Defensive Coordinator at Ponderosa High School and a proud girl dad to three little ladies.
Listen to Nate’s story and conversation with Susie Wargin on the Cut Traded Fired Retired Podcast.
He chose North Carolina State where he would become an All-American his senior year. An honorable feat by itself, but even more impressive considering he missed the year before recovering from multiple injuries sustained in a single car crash. Nate overcame a collapsed lung, separated shoulder, broken rib and a compound leg fracture.
He was a 3rd round draft pick of the Broncos in 2011 and played in nearly every game his first three seasons. He started several games in 2014, until he was bit by the injury bug with a torn ACL. The Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl that year and did not sign Nate to a new contract in the off season.
He signed a new deal with the Colts, but again found himself in the training room and after one year of his three-year deal, Nate was cut on the final day of training camp in 2016. Soon after, Nate decided he was at peace with his NFL career and walked away.
Today, Nate is a director and manages 300 people at Anschutz Medical Center, is the Defensive Coordinator at Ponderosa High School and a proud girl dad to three little ladies.
Listen to Nate’s story and conversation with Susie Wargin on the Cut Traded Fired Retired Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, some of the decisions I made had caught
up with me, and I'm like, this an hour drive,
I can drive back. All I remember was getting on
the highway, going down the ramp, almost rare ending an
eighteen wheeler. And then I remember seeing myself like laying
on the stretcher, like sitting up and seeing myself laying
on the stretcher, and you know, I just, hey, this
is my dad's number. Call my dad, you know, just
(00:21):
tell them I love them, you know, like I don't
want to die, or before I die, or something like that.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
And that's all I remember.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Welcome to Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired, a podcast I released
in August of twenty twenty two with the initial thought
that I would bring juicy stories from professional athletes and
coaches about their experiences and their careers. That has happened, However,
what's also happened, more importantly are the incredible conversations about
the entire lives of these players and coaches, how they
(00:48):
got to where they are today, and how we can
all learn from their experiences. I'm your host, Susie Wargen.
I've had a number of guests who have paid it
forward by coaching at the high school level. Ad former
Broncos linebacker Na Irving to that list. Nate grew up
in Florida and wanted to be a basketball player, but
his genetics had other ideas. After realizing he wasn't going
(01:08):
to be seven feet tall, Nate got into football. He
knew nothing about the game, but played on his high
school's one A football team. He started on offense, then
was switched over to defense. His team was good, often
beating bigger schools and packing the stands with fans, but
not many college scouts. Nate got a few offers and
opted for North Carolina State, where he was an All
American his senior year, pretty remarkable considering he lost the
(01:32):
season before recovering from a single car accident where he
suffered multiple injuries. In twenty eleven, the Broncos took Nate
in the third round, and he played in every game
but two his first three seasons. He was Von Miller's backup,
and when Vaughn went out in twenty fourteen, Nate took
his spot until he tore up his knee halfway through
what would be a Super Bowl winning season for Denver.
(01:53):
The Broncos didn't bring him back after that, and Nate
signed with the Colts, where he once again found himself
on injured reserve. He was cut from the Colts on
the final day of training camp in twenty sixteen. Eventually,
Nate settled back in Colorado became a director where he
supervises three hundred people and is also the defensive coordinator
for Ponderosa High School in Parker. Ladies and Gentlemen, Nate Irving.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Cut Traded Fired Retired podcast with Susie Wargen.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Nate Irving, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm well, I'm happy, I feel good.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Good. You're rocking your girl dad's sweatshirt. We're going to
get into that. You got three girls at home and
proudly yeah, I love it. I love it. So this
is fun to have you in here. You and I
ran into each other at a high school football game.
I had no idea you were still in town. You
were a defensive coordinator for Ponderosa High School, which I
think is awesome and I love that you're giving back
(02:47):
at that level. I think it's cool and we'll get
more into that. But we're going to start at your roots. Newark,
New Jersey's where you're born. Oh man, right, yes, which Newark.
I didn't really understand, you know, the relationship with Newark
and New York until the Broncos went out for Super
Bowl forty eight and the teams were all staying out
there in Newark, and I was like, oh, and the
Super Bowl is really not even in New York and
(03:09):
it's just it's an interest serious place. Yeah, but you
went to high school in North Carolina, so at some
point you moved to North Carolina. So tell me a
little bit about growing up. What kind of sports you
were in?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, like, I started in New Jersey and I always
liked to joke and say my mom, you know, she
kicked me out when I was starting high school, but
she had sent me down to live with my father
in North Carolina. And I didn't even like football. I
was in love with basketball, and I just knew I
would be a basketball player. But the way I got
started in football was a funny story. And you know,
(03:41):
ever since then, football has been on, you know, on
my mind.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And so tell me that funny story. How'd you get
started in football?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So how old are you?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I was thirteen, you know, growing up in the city,
we're always playing basketball. And I realized I wasn't going
to be seven feet and I was like, okay, well
that's not realistic for me. So when I went to
a North Carolina one day after school, I didn't know
we had to ride buses because I always walked home
from school up North, and I seen a guy named
Jack Colly, small, old, white guy, covered in white hair,
(04:12):
just like a white grizzly bear. And he's like, hey,
go in there and sign up, Like sign up for what?
I'm trying to find out what bus I got to
get on to get home. He like, go sign up.
I'm like, all right, I went into this little weight
room signed up for football. And you know, ever since then,
you know, I've been loving football.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
That's how you got involved in football. You didn't think
stranger danger. I probably shouldn't go in this room.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
It's so funny because I didn't think about it. I
was just you know, like.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
In one of our kids and some guy's like, hey,
go in this room and sign up and be like,
don't you dare.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I would definitely tell my kids that now, but you know,
back then, it was just one of those things.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
It was different.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Yeah, just hey go do this. You know, he must
know what he's talking about to me.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Let me, So you had to learn football because you
hadn't played before, right.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Never played football? Maybe like catching the street and stuff, yeah,
but never any organized football. And the funny thing is,
you know, my first game in high school, I was
on the offense. I was a tight end wide receiver
and I caught up pass and going running down the field.
I started hot stepping, got into the end zone. I
spiked the ball in the referee through a flag. You know,
(05:21):
I'm cheering and stuff. I'm so happy. The coach is like,
what are you doing? What are you doing? I was like,
I just scored a touchdown? What did I do wrong?
You can't do that kind of stuff in high school sport.
It's like, you know, it was like I see it
on TV, but I never knew the rules of the games.
I was just you know, running and catching passes, and
it was like, oh, I can get used to this stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So you start on offense. Do you play defense as well?
Did they have you playing both ways in high school
or were you pretty much an offensive player in high school?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I started out as a tight end wide receiver, and
then later on into my high school career, it was
defensive end.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And then my last year was a linebacker.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Oh okay, so you didn't play till your senior year.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Wow, mainly a tight end, wide out, and defensive end.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And so you're learning all these positions, you're learning the game,
you're learning obviously the rules of what you can and
cannot do. That's a lot, it was, and you still
do very well. I mean even let's see in your
high school year, let's see at one hundred and ten tackles,
six forced fumbles, three sacks, and a pick. Oh man, right,
see I do some research all those.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Man, that's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Okay, but even at that, like you weren't weren't a big,
you know, five star recruit. You were like a two
star I think.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, yeah, small school you know that country put there. Yep,
that's exactly what it is. And it's a it's a misconception.
You know, one a guys can't play you know, football
or things like that. It's you know, it's some talent.
You know, guys go both ways, you know, multiple positions.
I've seen a lot of great players in high school.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Yeah, what division were you guys?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Want you want to? Okay?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, so nobody goes to those games.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
And that's what it was.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Just like, Hey, nobody ever looked at one A athletes,
but our stadium state packed, our coach made it a
thing for us to play three eight and four A
teams and we always beat them always.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Really wow, Oh that's cool. So how did you get noticed?
You go to NC State? Did you have other offers
besides NC State and did they even offer you?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
No, I had a couple offers.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I had a couple of looks, you know, pretty much
schools in acc U, n C wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia,
n C State. But where I went to school, Wendell
Murphy was a big name there, and I prayed about
something and I wanted it to happen. And you know,
there are things that say window helped that situation, or
you know, some guys just came down and checked it out.
(07:41):
But however it happened, you know, I'm very grateful for it.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
So why the decision then to NC State?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Mario Williams, he was my favorite player.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So once I transitioned down to the South and really
started looking at football. NC State, you know the defense,
Mario Tulluck, Hoyd Tank, you know, Manny Tremaine. I love
the way that team played, and I told myself, I
want to be a part of that.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
You go there and you major in zoology.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I started in zoology, and it was way more than
I wanted to do. I realized I loved animals, but
I didn't love them that much.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I like having dogs, but I don't really know.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
What I know about that.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So it's funny.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Two years into it, I was like, I may switch
up and do something different.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
That's like a lot of science classes.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Right, and science was one of my you know, least
favorite subjects.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
So it was me too.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
It was a struggle for me, like I love animals,
but you know, to learn about them, I don't know
I had that in me.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, what'd you switch to.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Recreation and tourist management? So it's a lot of different
avenues for that. Yeah, you know, guys to play sports,
you know, it gets you into management, fitness, recreation. So
it opened the doors for a lot of options.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Oh yeah, a lot of different ways with that one. Yeah, okay,
So let's start to talk about your college career. Then
at NC State, which is very good, but I want
to take you to cause you see red shirt of
your freshman year, right, and then you start to play
very well for a couple of years, but then in
two thousand and nine, and I believe you have a
tattoo of this on your arm. Correct, Yes. June twenty ninth,
(09:21):
two thousand and nine, you get in a single car
car accident, and the photo is just stunning. The fact
that you were able to walk away from that, I mean,
you didn't walk away from it, but the fact that
you survived from that is incredible. Nate. You fell asleep, Yeah, collapse,
long separated shoulder, broken rib, and a compound fracture in
(09:42):
your leg.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, it was In case nobody knows the story. I
was leaving, leaving my dad's house, in my parents' house,
going back to school for workhouse the next day, and
I told him I had left, you know, hours ago,
but I was hanging out and stuff, and you know,
some of the decisions I made had caught up with me.
And I'm like, it's an hour drive. I can drive back.
I want some change, I can drive back with no problem.
I literally only remember getting on the highway. All I
(10:05):
remember was getting on the highway, going down the ramp,
almost rare ending an eighteen wheeler, and then I remember
seeing myself like laying on the stretcher, like sitting up
and seeing myself laying on the stretcher, and you know,
I just, hey, this is my dad's number. Call my dad,
you know, just tell him I love him, you know,
like I don't want to die, or before I die
(10:25):
or something like that.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And it was and that's all I remember.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And it took him a while to get to you
from what I read.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Right, Yeah, I laid out there more than I think
thirty forty five minutes. Yeah, somewhere north of that. Somebody
riding by saw it and you know called. You know,
to this day, I don't know who the person was.
We put out, you know, so many blasts in college
to see who the person was. And I just wanted
to I just wanted to meet him, just to you know,
(10:54):
talk to him and say thank you whoever it was.
To this day, don't know who it was.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Oh wow, that was something else to try and to
find that person me personally.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You know. I tell the story.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
When I woke up in the hospital, I kept seeing
somebody standing in my door and I asked my parents,
I said, who is that and they were like, who
is who? I was like, it's a person in my door,
and I've just seen a person just turn around and
walk out down the hallway and like he just walked out.
It's like nobody's here. And I was like, well, you know,
I'm not going to question that. You know, I am
a believer in you know, angels, and.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Yeah, your guardian angel was there.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Why, oh my goodness, that's incredible. How long did you
stay in the hospital?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Two days?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Thankfully, as I went through everything, I felt no pain.
I felt no pain.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Really no pain at all.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I had to learn how to walk again. First day
or two. While I was there, the same accident happened
to two people. One of them had a leg amputated,
one of them died. I don't know it's the same
time I was there or right around the same time,
but it was the same thing like that, and I
was like, I just want to walk out, you know,
and you know, just say thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Yeah. Absolutely, So you're out that whole year, and I'm
guessing you vow to come back and play again.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Right yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And you do, yeah, which is just incredible. How did
you get your body ready? And especially with I mean
all of those multiple injuries.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think the fact that uh, everything was a complete break.
My leg, it was completely broken. Put a ride in it.
The main thing was my punctured lung. Worrying about that collapsing. Yeah,
I was trying to play at the end of the
year because my leg felt good and the doctor was like,
you know, you get hitting the chest and something happens,
(12:34):
that'll be it.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Like I said, I was just I was determined to
get back because I remember asking the doctor and will
I be able to play football again? He's like, don't
worry about that, and that scared me. It's like, don't
even worry about that. Let's just worry.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You need to worry about surviving.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, And you know, from that time, I told myself,
you know, I want to go back and play, but
I want to show him that I can still be,
you know, a good player, good and affective player.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And you were in twenty ten. You came back and
I mean you had and I don't know, does this
still stand. You had a game where you had eight
tackles for a loss and that might still be an
FBS record.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
My one game, my senior year game, my last game
against Wake Forest.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
The thing with that is I'm a believer.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
You know, I talked to Guy and I tell my
goals and one thing I said, I want to go
to NC State and Mario was my favorite player. I said,
I want to break one of his records. And I
completely forgot about it until after the game. My dad
told me that you did this and it was his records.
And it was like my last game and my senior
year to have my dad remember a goal that I
(13:40):
set out in, you know, freshman year.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
It was like, that's amazing, amazing for me.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Wow, Hotly, you were also a semi finalist for the
Buckets Award that year, All American. The fact that all
that you went through then and then you come back
and have such a great senior year, it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
It was truly a blessing. Yeah, blessing. Absolutely, Yeah, truly
a blessing.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Did you get invited to any of the Shrine Games
or All Star Games combine?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
I got invited to the East West Shrine Game and
the Combine.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Okay, the East West Game was in.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
I think Alabama got a couple of snaps there, not
as many as I liked.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I liked, but it's not as much about the game
there as it is talking to all the scouts that
are there.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Right, Yes, and that's what it was, did you really?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Never?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Kind of funny because I actually I don't know how
true it is, but I was supposed to be drafted
by the Cowboys. I don't know the Cowboys were a
couple of picks behind or whatever it is. But like
I said, I don't know if that's true. But that's
just what I heard after, you know, going through it
and playing and oh you know, so and so said, yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
There's so much talk. Yeah, what was the combine like
for you? Was it just the mental mind f that
most guys talk about.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, that part was eye opening. Actually didn't do any
of the physical stuff. Interesting, I didn't do anything physical.
I didn't run, I didn't do any workouts. I wanted
to do it at my college. Oh yeah, I had
a lot of guys that I played with that I
I just wanted them to come check us all out.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I felt like I just wanted more time to prepare.
So it's just like, hey, you know, I'll go through
the mental part, but if you you don't want to
see what I do, just turn the tape on. I
think the combine is it's kind of gotten away from
how people play on the field, because oh yeah, you know,
slow players play fast, fast players play slow. You know,
strong people not play with strength. So it's like it's
(15:37):
a maybe a baseline, but then you turn on the
tape and you tell it tells a different story.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Absolutely, especially if you're at your own pro day with
guys that you play with, that you know that you
work with all the time. Yep, yeah, for sure. Interesting. Okay,
So then in twenty eleven, you're a third round pick
of the Denver Broncos. What was that like?
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I almost missed a call.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I was in the hotel my family again, and I
was nervous about the draft being on TV. You know,
you know, so many things of being said.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I was.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I was down here in North Carolina. My cell phone
didn't have any service. So you know, the story was,
they called me a couple of times, couldn't get in
touch with me, didn't called my dad's phone, and I
was landing in bed, walk up talk to L Way.
I was like, oh man, you know, I was like,
I don't know if I would have missed a call,
what would have happened.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
That's a good question.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But I was able to wake up and take the
call in, you know, enjoy that moment.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
And then did you talk to Fox at the same
time too, because that was the first year for John Fox.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
I didn't want to talk to the way and it wasn't
it wasn't long. It was just you know, hey, we're
going to pick you here, welcome, We're going to see
what you can do, give you a shot, you know.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
That kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Okay, And had you ever been west to Denver?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Never? Never?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I thought it was you know, the east coast, Texas
and then California, nothing else. I didn't think like, I
didn't think to ever like live here or you know,
what it would be like here. The first day I
got here, I was in shorts in April and it
was snowing.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
I was like, what is this?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Like?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
How do people live over here? This kind of stuff?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
And now here you are all these years later, still
living here because it's awesome. That's why we love about it, right, yes, yeah,
oh my gosh, what was it like then? Coming that
was John Fox's first year. Then in twenty eleven, you're
looking like, no, I'm pretty sure it was Foxy's first year.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
It was, ok.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I only remember the teams are broken up so much like,
oh yeah, I only thought about the defense. I didn't
even think about the head coach or anything like that. I
gotcha it was Foxy. But then I was you know.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
DC, Dennis Allen.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Oh wow, he came from the Saints.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Okay, and he's been in and out of the Saints again. Yes, wow, okay,
So you have Dennis Allen. You had Jack do Rio
at some point, right, yep.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
That was my next coach, my next DC.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
When did Jack come in the next year?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Next year?
Speaker 3 (18:05):
All right? So you have I mean you do you
do well? I mean you play in all games but
two in twenty eleven, twenty twelve, and twenty thirteen. You
begin to start in twenty thirteen, and then you also
start eight games in twenty fourteen until you go on
IR unfortunately. So what was it like with those linebackers
and being part of that group that was a good
(18:27):
defense man.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I still talk to those guys. Those are like brothers.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
You guys are brothers.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yeah, yeah, still Wesley, DJ, you know, Vaughn, Brandon Marshall.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
We had a group, Danny. I don't want to name
them all.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I don't want to forget anybody I know, we had
like a really really close knit group and they made
it really fun for us.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
I bet when you got to start, what was that like?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Was it?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Did you start first because Vaughn was out? Is that
how you got your first starting?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Okay? I was backing him up. I don't know if
it was an injury at what it was.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I think you might have got hurt.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, and you know, got a chance. And that's how
I got it in college. You know, the guy in
front of me, LaRue Rounf he got hurt. And you know,
I say, if you're ready to go in, when you
go in, you got to be ready, and I try
to be ready.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
So it's like, make a decision. Now.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
The decision was easy because I was backing Vaughn up,
so I can't. I rushed the passion like him, So
that decision was easy once he was back healthy. But
I usally wanted to make it a hard decision for
them to find somewhere to put me on the field,
right man.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
You know it worked out pretty well.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
And you played some special teams too, Yes, that was different.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Didn't play a lot of special teams in college. Didn't
even think about it, you know, in hindsight. In hindsight,
I would say, you know, you hit the coach and say, hey,
take special team serious. When I coach, now I want
my best players on special teams. It makes a difference
in how you approach the game and how you get
ready for it physically, so it helps out a whole lot.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Is it a matter of then you're kind of like
in the game the whole time and involve in your
and you're mentally in there, or is there is the
physical component of it or both.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I think it's a little bit of both, but I
think it's more physical. I think after high school the
game changes completely to a mental game. Like I said,
I've seen very no slight to them, but I've seen
very weak players be strong because they know where to be,
how to get there with leverage and hands. So I
think once you start to learn the game, it's not
(20:18):
as physical, and that the mental pieces where a lot
of things a lot of people struggle, and I think
that's what makes the difference interesting.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yeah, and then tell me about your injury in twenty
fourteen to put you on IR for your knee, right, I.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Told my ACL it was a zone, right. I remember
it like yesterday's zone right against the Patriots, and Alignment
grabbed my ear hole and twisted my head and I
was still running.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Oh god.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And then Chris Harris was getting off a block and
fell into my leg. I felt the crunch. I heard
the pop, and I just stayed down. I told the guys,
I just told my ACL he knew it. Yeah, don't
say that, said I felt my knee dangling. I felt everything.
I felt the crunch. I heard the pop very loud like.
I just told the a CL that was it.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So then you go on IR a CL's are a
year and then is your contract up at that point?
So you had a four year contract as a rookie.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
That was my contract.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Yeah, and they don't resign you.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Uh, it's so much speculation.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
I think they were going to, but there were There
was a lot of language about my injury that didn't
benefit me, so I decided to leave.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
That's a hard one because you know where you are
as far as ability goes. You can come back, and
we've seen plenty of players come back from acls and
do very very well. But they're going to write everything
in to benefit them.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yep, yep. And that's what it was.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
And I was like, I know what I can do,
and again, like you know the process of a ACL.
You know, if you miss a practice, this is the punishment.
Well coming off in e CL, you're going to have
good days and bad days. And if I get punished
for having good days and bad days, I just don't want.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
To work like that absolutely and operate.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
And it's like it's that's when you realize, oh, this
is a business. It's not college anymore. This is a business.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Yeah. How hard was it to then become a free
agent and start looking elsewhere, especially because you guys were
so tight?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
It was very hard.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
It was, you know, extremely hard, you know, knowing I
wanted to be there and you know, understanding they wanted
me to be there also, but not knowing the stipulations.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Just bought a house.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
The year was going good, you know, yeah, we'll bring
you back, and you know, some just bought a house.
You know, started to get used to being out here,
having snow in April in May, and then having to
realize like, okay, it's not where you're going to be.
It's it's wild.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
So how many teams did you visit? Did you talk to?
Because you end up going and signing with Indy.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Then that next year I went to Arizona, I went
to Miami, went.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
To the Jets quite a few.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, but Indy. Indie was nice. Indy was nice, and
it made me feel like they wanted me. That was
big for me coming off in ACL because a lot
of people and we're going to shy away from that.
And he really made me feel like, you know, they
wanted me to be a part of their team, and
you know they had luck and I saw myself fitting
(23:12):
in there pretty good on the defense and it was fun.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, when they signed you to a nice deal, you
got a three year dal for some decent dough. Then
you end up going on IR again. What happens there?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Shut down for my knee, I want to say, because
then I started had like real bad swelling and ye man,
and I'm like, well, I get it. But then I
start to think back. The mental part comes into football, Like, man,
if I would have been in Denver then missing this
or going through that, this would have screwed me over.
And you know, you juggle with that. Then you sit
(23:43):
there on IR. Got to come into the meetings and
watch the games. You know whether it's win to lose.
I just want to be a part of the fight
with my guys, you know, be out on the field,
laughing and joking and you know, working out with these guys,
and it's just hard to have to watch it.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
It was tough.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
IR is such a lone, lonely place. Yeah. I always say,
you know, in the media, we get little transaction things,
press releases. You know, so and so got activated, this
person's on it. You know, You're just you're a sentence
in a press release. Yeah, And the mental anguish behind
that sentence is you can't even describe it because you've
been taken away from all your guys. And even though
(24:21):
you're you can still be around, you're not out there
a practice, You're not out there in the mix of things,
being in on all the jokes. And it's just very
different that.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
That's what you enjoy about football, not the games. It's
actually the practices that you go through extremely hot. You're tired,
the jokes in the meetings, and that's the stuff that's
really taken away from you sometimes when you're on IR.
So it's like I'm a stranger to the team of
I like the black sheep of the family. Now it's like,
I'm here, but I'm not really here to deal with you.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
There's a couple other guys in they're with you, but
it's not the same. Yeah at all. Okay, So then
in twenty sixteen, you come back with the Colts and
you get cut on the final day of cuts. Yeah,
what happened there?
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I never told anybody, but I like to think I
was screwed over in that situation. The story I was
told was they wanted to go younger, and I was
the sigma call on the defense, you know, starting.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
At the green dot.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, okay, it was it was me and the Quell
and then me and Jirell. I was I was a start.
I had to dot and they called me in. They
told me, hey, you don't don't worry about it. I
told you, it's funny because the last preseason game, the
third one, I want to go in and get some reps. Now,
you don't have to worry about it. You know, you
play like a series and then you'll get out.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
You're done. You don't you have to worry about it.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
And I'm at my little brother's game in high school
and I'm like, why are they calling me? Hey, coach
needs you to bring your stuff. I said, for what,
you know, we just need to see I said, there's
no way, y'all. Y'all called the wrong person. I'm like,
you know, I.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Start on defense right at the green dots.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
I was like, you know, what are we talking about?
And then I got there. I was just shocked to
someone team, It's just like what called me in? And yeah,
we kind of want to go younger. And you know,
some of the young guys also play special teams, but
I was really, really really active on special teams too,
So it was like, I don't know what that part
of the business was, but I think it was youth
(26:15):
and money. That's when you realize it's really cut through.
It's really cut throat.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Did you talk to the coach?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I didn't. They kind of told me what was happening.
I was so flabbigasted. Yeah, I didn't want to say anything.
I wout regret, so I kind of talked to the trainer.
I was really cool with the training for my first
year there. I was on you know, rehabbing my knees
and stuff. So I had built really really good relationships
with the trainers to the day now I can still
(26:44):
text them and you know, joke around with them. I
talked to the trainers, talk to a couple of team
members down left.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Did you get all the stuff out of your locker?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
A couple of things, A couple of things.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
But like like you're so stunned.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Yeah, And I was like, there's no way this is real,
and let me leap before I say something to do something.
It's like, okay, but it happened for a reason. I
always believe that everything happens for a reason. So after
I kind of got over the shock behind it was
is what it is, is what it is.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
So then what do you do? Do you keep in
shape because hoping other teams will call because at that
point we're twenty sixteen. You can still play.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Yeah, I did for a while. Again, I had the
Cardinals and the Jets. I think I would assigned with
the Cardinals. But there was some funky language in there.
And I had a thing on my neck also, oh okay,
well I was, you know, nervous about what it could be.
It was a lump on my neck, a mass on
my neck, and I decided to go through with surgery,
understanding that at some point, you know you have a
(27:44):
neck surgery.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Teams aren't going to.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Oh yeah, so see Peyton Manning.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
And I was like, you know, at some point, I
gotta make a decision if I wanted to say, you know,
I had fun with it and be able to walk
away and you know and enjoyed my my fatherhood and
being with my family and stuff like that, or just
keep pressing. And part of me wanted to keep pressing.
But I was so satisfied at how things went for
(28:13):
me that I just like I accepted it and just
wanted to move on.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Wow, that's a hard place to come to. Oh there's
a lot of guys that can't ever get there.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It wasn't easy. I'm sure it was a process.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
It was a very long process. I asked some very
dark days, but I just remind myself, you know, everything
happens for a reason, and I just kept going back
to it.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
And you know, after a while, you know, talking and you.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Know who'd you talk to, like who kind of helped
you through that?
Speaker 1 (28:41):
My stepmom's she was very strong. And why I view
religion how I do it. You know why I'm a
believer so strong because it's gotten me through so many
things that not many people even make it up to,
especially where I'm from, to have my story pan out
how it did. If there was a movie that, you know,
(29:02):
showed everything, you'd be like, there's no way this is
like real. And I'm just grateful that I had heard
a lane on and then my brothers. I was playing
a game with my brothers a lot, and I was
able to talk in vent and they were able to
joke with me about things that that weren't always funny.
But then it's like, why isn't it funny if you
did this and this happened, it happened.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
You know, how many brothers do you have?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I'm the oldest of I have three younger brothers and
three younger sisters.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Smoke, you're the oldest. Yeah, wow, son, you also go
to be that example too, and that's hard.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Yeah, that was very hard because then my brother I
have my second oldest brother who was playing football and
my baby brother, and like it's just hey, this guy
on I was a persona like almost for you know, yeah,
my brother's on TV. You know I could talk to him,
like my brother would call me, hey, where are you at,
like and just bragg to his friends. And then overnight, boom,
(30:00):
that guy anymore, right, And you know, didn't having to
talk to him about that at first it was hard,
but then it's like, it is what it is, right,
You got to accept that you can't change that. So
I'm able to joke about it now with them and everything.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
So you go from being superstar to just a human being,
just your brother, and that's hard, and that's hard for
all the buddies to understand, like why is your brother
still playing?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Yeah, and then the things that they say to them,
especially you know, my younger brothers. I hate to hear
that I can't protect them from something.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Man, that's rough.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
That's hard. Yeah, oh absolutely, yeah. Okay, So you decide
that you're done, Do you officially retire at some point?
Do you send in your paperwork? Have you done that?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
No? Is it a chance.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Just in case?
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Right, there's going to be a team that needs somebody
to run down feeling kick off, I'm like, don't take
kick off off the game yet? You know, I know
how to we even turn some shoulders, you know, I
know a couple of I can do something if you
need me, And I'm not gonna put him in yet,
but you.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Know, are there some benefits that come with being retired, Like,
don't you get some things from NFLPA and so you
know you could maybe get some things.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Yeah, you know, there's that one percent less than one percent.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Oh my gosh. Okay, So you stay out here and
done for though you retire, and do you live here?
I mean you bought the house here. Do you stay
in the house that you bought her?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
So somethings.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
I bought the house, you know, I went to Indy,
had the house while I was there for a couple
of years. Then when I came back at the I
left Indy, I was actually gonna I wanted to go
back East. So it's kind of like get rid of
this stuff. I don't really need it anymore. I'm going
back East. But then that didn't happen either, So like,
oh man, what am I going to do? And I
was able to just bounce around, stay in my family
(31:47):
for a little bit, stay out here and find an
opportunity to coach.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
That's great. Yes, So you end up starting with Ponderosa
in twenty eighteen as a linebackers coach. Then it goes
to defensive coordinator and linebackers. You're there for a couple
of years. You weren't there last year, but you come
back this year and you're again the DC and linebackers coach.
What drew you to getting involved with high school coaching?
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I never wanted to, but Jared Cohen, the relationship there
was it was pretty nice.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
As somebody's a head coach, Yes.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Somebody can joke with talk to. We kind of got
similar humor. So it almost gave me that feel of
being back in the locker room. But then there was
I didn't want to coach because I know what football
did to my body and then to me mentally, and
I never want to see, you know, someone else go
through that. But then I started to think there's so
(32:40):
much I can help, like coaches who poured into me,
Tim Jenkins, Andy McCulloch, Johnson Nuda, Jack Derrio, those guys
poured into me at some point in my life, things
that I still carried with me off the field. I
kind of thought about what that would feel like for
me to see strawngy little kid go through the process
as and watch it from a coach perspective to how
(33:03):
you give him everything that he needs to be successful
on and off the field, And that really was a
that was fun for me that it felt really really good.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
That's cool. And how do you know, Jared.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
So, my step mom knew a fan. She had a
son that went upon a Rosa and she was known
as the loud lady in the crowd, and my step
mom had a relationship with her, and she knew the coach.
So they kind of, hey, you meet him, Hey, you
go meet him, and they set us up on a
on a meet and at.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
A piece of shop. You're like a tender, so they
set up a meeting. That's how. That's how it started.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Oh that's fun, and do you love it?
Speaker 2 (33:49):
I do? I do?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Man, Like, just from the time I started to now,
you know, I see some of the guys come back
who I've watched go through things on the field in
high school and off the field, and to see everything
that they went through, knowing some of the things that
they wanted to do but couldn't do, and how they persevered,
(34:12):
and then to see them come back from college and
you know, see them later.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
On, it's pretty rewarding, right.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Man, it is.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Tell them those are like my little brothers and my
little sons now, because I've watched you grow up, and
you know, I joke with some of them like when
you get here on your face, like when I saw you.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Could you become a man? Oh that's so cool, Nate.
And that's obviously that's not your only job. You have
a regular job. You're a director at and shoots and
what do you do there? And how did you get
involved with that? Because that's part of this podcast is
the whole reinvention. What what do you do when football
is all done?
Speaker 1 (34:47):
So when I first left football started, I was working
at Lifetime. I was just teaching classes at Lifetime.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
What kind of classes like spending classes?
Speaker 1 (34:55):
No, just taking classes. I'll teach classes at Lifetime. But
then I got into the kid kiss portion of it.
I started dealing with the kids, you know, helping them
with fitness and stuff. And then my buddy called me.
Bobby Floyd played with him in college. We talked about
it a couple of times leading up to it. I
never wanted to go into this rottal work. And he
(35:16):
called me. It's his company, and he said, hey, just
give it a try. No no, no, no, no, hey, give
it a try. You might like it. I said, I
won't like that. No, hey, give it a try. I said, okay,
I'll give it thirty days and I started that.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
And I loved it. I loved this.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I'm a director at in Shoots over Environmental Services, so
anything with cleaning and fixing the hospital. I'm one of
the lead men on that, on that team, So.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
You manage a bunch of people?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
How many?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Three hundred? Yeah? Yes?
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Is that why you thought you didn't want to do it?
You don't want to manage three people.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
I was intimidated because it was in a hospital. I'm
I don't know anything about hospitals, right, And you like, well,
just go you'll learn, and you're like, yes, I don't
know anything about it.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
I was like really intimidated. I've never done any other
work outside of football, so I'm like, nah, I don't
want to do that.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I did and I like that.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
And now you know everything there is to know, probably
about all the safety at a hospital, right yep.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
So when I go into hospitals in different places, I'm
always checking let me look here, let me check this
is this when the last time this floor been waxeduff?
Is this floor safe? Is that clean as it does?
Does this need to be repaired? Like my scope of
you know, how I view things. I bet it just changes.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah. What are your biggest challenges with that job?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Personalities?
Speaker 1 (36:36):
I bet three hundred people and just from all walks
of life. Yeah, I can say I love the work
because it's almost like coaching. I got to get people
all from over the place to achieve one common goal.
But you know, these people are you know, some older
than me, and they can talk back to you and
tell you what you know. They can give you a
piece of their mind. So that's how it's different. But
(36:58):
I think that piece of you know, managing people, it
will drive you crazy.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
But you don't mind it.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I don't. It's a challenge I do.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
I love a challenge. I want to be successful in
anything I do. And then the group of guys that
I'm with, we're like brothers, so we hold each other
to a high standard. We come to work and enjoy
the time that we spend there working with each other.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
I can tell you you have a huge smile on
your face.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
And then so the guys that you work with, do
they also have groups of like three hundred and there's
are you all over the place or are you all
kind of together doing the same thing with all these people.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So the guys are my boss and my boss's boss.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
When I first got here, one trained me. They both
were part of training me, and as they bumped up,
I bumped up also.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Okay, but you know one of them likes to remind me.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
That they're your boss.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, you're in an NFL on the moll you're regularly
and you get over here and do this and do that.
So the camaraderie there's so fun. Man, it's so fun
it is.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Yeah. And how long you've been doing that?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Oh? Man?
Speaker 1 (37:59):
I think three okay, three four years where the okay,
time just flyes, so I never keep track of the time.
I just just wake up and.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Go do it.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Now, tell me about all your babies. Like I said,
you got the girl dad's sweatshirt on. You got three.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
Girls, three girls, Kendall, Ryan, and Raylan. Those are my
babies that like I said, girl dad one's twelve, one's
two on Halloween, and then another one was born leap. Yeah,
I said, February twenty ninth, so she's nine months, she'll
be one. We're trying to figure out if it's gonna
be February twenty eighth.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Yeah, what day do you celebrate her birthday.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
I think it's like March first. Yeah, technically she wasn't
here on the twenty eighth, so.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
Right, true, Yeah, that is so March first is probably
when you would celebrate. And you love it.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Oh man, those are my girls. It changes.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
I was a certain thing on the field, certain thing
out in the world. But when I talk to my girls,
I have my girls with me, complete opposite, you know,
it's baby talking, you know, trying to be the soft
emotional guy. That's, you know, opposite of what everything that
I was doing. So it's it's different, but I love it.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
They have you wrapped around their fingers, don't they.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
I'm gonna say no because if they ever.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Hit this, I know, but no, that's no. Daddy's in
the and their baby girls. That's something different, man, it is, Yeah,
it is.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I didn't know what I can excret you.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
You can't describe it, can't.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
I can't explain it, So.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Tell it's there.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Yeah, And moms have it with their sons too. I've
got one of each, and my my daughter and my
husband have a very special relationship that I'm like, that's
just And I had it with my dad. I mean,
you just have that. It's cool.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
I'm curious to see, but I feel like I'm just
the fly parent. So you know, boy, God is gonna
love daddy.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Yes they are, Yes, Okay, all right, Nate, We're gonna
wrap this up with one last question that I ask
all of my guests, and that is what do you tell?
And you have a great chance for it now because
of being a coach and things like that, and having
your little girls. When there is a down in life
where you go through some adversity, what do you tell
(40:01):
people on how to get through it? How you got
through it?
Speaker 1 (40:03):
How do you want your story to be told? There
are so many people that have dealt with the same
thing you're dealing with. You're not the first person to
go through something, you won't be the last person, but
you can be the only person to have your story.
So how do you want to be remembered? How do
you want your story to be told? Whether it's good,
whether it's bad. You control that. Nobody else can control anything.
(40:27):
From that point on, it's all you, And how do
you want to be remembered?
Speaker 3 (40:31):
I love that you've said that a few times. I
think you didn't even have believer Oh that's awesome. Well, hey,
thanks for taking the time to come in. This was fun.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Are you surprised the depths that we
went into.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Very surprised some of the stuff you pulled out. Nobody
knows how you find some of the stuff. So it's like, Okay,
I'm a researcher man.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
You're like, go talk a little football.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
That's what I thought.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I'm like, okay, that's I'm thinking about what kind of
football is on today?
Speaker 2 (41:01):
What's happening.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
I was all about you, all about you. Yeah, no,
this is great. I'm glad that you're still here in
Colorado and you're you're doing good stuff. And thanks for
coaching too. I think it's so important. And I'm sure
those kids just love you, so that's huge.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
I love them.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
It's helping me get through a lot of things, just
you know, just as bad.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
So thanks Nate, Thank you, Thank you Nate. New episodes
of Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired are released on Tuesdays. Please follow, download, rate,
and review this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and
keep up on new releases by following on Twitter and
Instagram at ctf our podcast and also on the website
ctfurpodcast dot com. Do you know someone that could use
(41:42):
some inspiration, Please share an episode of this with them.
I'm your host, Susie Wargon. Thanks for listening, and until
next time, please be careful, be safe, and be kind.
Take care,
You know, some of the decisions I made had caught
up with me, and I'm like, this an hour drive,
I can drive back. All I remember was getting on
the highway, going down the ramp, almost rare ending an
eighteen wheeler. And then I remember seeing myself like laying
on the stretcher, like sitting up and seeing myself laying
on the stretcher, and you know, I just, hey, this
is my dad's number. Call my dad, you know, just
(00:21):
tell them I love them, you know, like I don't
want to die, or before I die, or something like that.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
And that's all I remember.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Welcome to Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired, a podcast I released
in August of twenty twenty two with the initial thought
that I would bring juicy stories from professional athletes and
coaches about their experiences and their careers. That has happened, However,
what's also happened, more importantly are the incredible conversations about
the entire lives of these players and coaches, how they
(00:48):
got to where they are today, and how we can
all learn from their experiences. I'm your host, Susie Wargen.
I've had a number of guests who have paid it
forward by coaching at the high school level. Ad former
Broncos linebacker Na Irving to that list. Nate grew up
in Florida and wanted to be a basketball player, but
his genetics had other ideas. After realizing he wasn't going
(01:08):
to be seven feet tall, Nate got into football. He
knew nothing about the game, but played on his high
school's one A football team. He started on offense, then
was switched over to defense. His team was good, often
beating bigger schools and packing the stands with fans, but
not many college scouts. Nate got a few offers and
opted for North Carolina State, where he was an All
American his senior year, pretty remarkable considering he lost the
(01:32):
season before recovering from a single car accident where he
suffered multiple injuries. In twenty eleven, the Broncos took Nate
in the third round, and he played in every game
but two his first three seasons. He was Von Miller's backup,
and when Vaughn went out in twenty fourteen, Nate took
his spot until he tore up his knee halfway through
what would be a Super Bowl winning season for Denver.
(01:53):
The Broncos didn't bring him back after that, and Nate
signed with the Colts, where he once again found himself
on injured reserve. He was cut from the Colts on
the final day of training camp in twenty sixteen. Eventually,
Nate settled back in Colorado became a director where he
supervises three hundred people and is also the defensive coordinator
for Ponderosa High School in Parker. Ladies and Gentlemen, Nate Irving.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Cut Traded Fired Retired podcast with Susie Wargen.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Nate Irving, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm well, I'm happy, I feel good.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Good. You're rocking your girl dad's sweatshirt. We're going to
get into that. You got three girls at home and
proudly yeah, I love it. I love it. So this
is fun to have you in here. You and I
ran into each other at a high school football game.
I had no idea you were still in town. You
were a defensive coordinator for Ponderosa High School, which I
think is awesome and I love that you're giving back
(02:47):
at that level. I think it's cool and we'll get
more into that. But we're going to start at your roots. Newark,
New Jersey's where you're born. Oh man, right, yes, which Newark.
I didn't really understand, you know, the relationship with Newark
and New York until the Broncos went out for Super
Bowl forty eight and the teams were all staying out
there in Newark, and I was like, oh, and the
Super Bowl is really not even in New York and
(03:09):
it's just it's an interest serious place. Yeah, but you
went to high school in North Carolina, so at some
point you moved to North Carolina. So tell me a
little bit about growing up. What kind of sports you
were in?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, like, I started in New Jersey and I always
liked to joke and say my mom, you know, she
kicked me out when I was starting high school, but
she had sent me down to live with my father
in North Carolina. And I didn't even like football. I
was in love with basketball, and I just knew I
would be a basketball player. But the way I got
started in football was a funny story. And you know,
(03:41):
ever since then, football has been on, you know, on
my mind.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And so tell me that funny story. How'd you get
started in football?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So how old are you?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I was thirteen, you know, growing up in the city,
we're always playing basketball. And I realized I wasn't going
to be seven feet and I was like, okay, well
that's not realistic for me. So when I went to
a North Carolina one day after school, I didn't know
we had to ride buses because I always walked home
from school up North, and I seen a guy named
Jack Colly, small, old, white guy, covered in white hair,
(04:12):
just like a white grizzly bear. And he's like, hey,
go in there and sign up, Like sign up for what?
I'm trying to find out what bus I got to
get on to get home. He like, go sign up.
I'm like, all right, I went into this little weight
room signed up for football. And you know, ever since then,
you know, I've been loving football.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
That's how you got involved in football. You didn't think
stranger danger. I probably shouldn't go in this room.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
It's so funny because I didn't think about it. I
was just you know, like.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
In one of our kids and some guy's like, hey,
go in this room and sign up and be like,
don't you dare.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I would definitely tell my kids that now, but you know,
back then, it was just one of those things.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
It was different.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Yeah, just hey go do this. You know, he must
know what he's talking about to me.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Let me, So you had to learn football because you
hadn't played before, right.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Never played football? Maybe like catching the street and stuff, yeah,
but never any organized football. And the funny thing is,
you know, my first game in high school, I was
on the offense. I was a tight end wide receiver
and I caught up pass and going running down the field.
I started hot stepping, got into the end zone. I
spiked the ball in the referee through a flag. You know,
(05:21):
I'm cheering and stuff. I'm so happy. The coach is like,
what are you doing? What are you doing? I was like,
I just scored a touchdown? What did I do wrong?
You can't do that kind of stuff in high school sport.
It's like, you know, it was like I see it
on TV, but I never knew the rules of the games.
I was just you know, running and catching passes, and
it was like, oh, I can get used to this stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So you start on offense. Do you play defense as well?
Did they have you playing both ways in high school
or were you pretty much an offensive player in high school?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I started out as a tight end wide receiver, and
then later on into my high school career, it was
defensive end.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And then my last year was a linebacker.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Oh okay, so you didn't play till your senior year.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Wow, mainly a tight end, wide out, and defensive end.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And so you're learning all these positions, you're learning the game,
you're learning obviously the rules of what you can and
cannot do. That's a lot, it was, and you still
do very well. I mean even let's see in your
high school year, let's see at one hundred and ten tackles,
six forced fumbles, three sacks, and a pick. Oh man, right,
see I do some research all those.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Man, that's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Okay, but even at that, like you weren't weren't a big,
you know, five star recruit. You were like a two
star I think.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, yeah, small school you know that country put there. Yep,
that's exactly what it is. And it's a it's a misconception.
You know, one a guys can't play you know, football
or things like that. It's you know, it's some talent.
You know, guys go both ways, you know, multiple positions.
I've seen a lot of great players in high school.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Yeah, what division were you guys?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Want you want to? Okay?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, so nobody goes to those games.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
And that's what it was.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Just like, Hey, nobody ever looked at one A athletes,
but our stadium state packed, our coach made it a
thing for us to play three eight and four A
teams and we always beat them always.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Really wow, Oh that's cool. So how did you get noticed?
You go to NC State? Did you have other offers
besides NC State and did they even offer you?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
No, I had a couple offers.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I had a couple of looks, you know, pretty much
schools in acc U, n C wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia,
n C State. But where I went to school, Wendell
Murphy was a big name there, and I prayed about
something and I wanted it to happen. And you know,
there are things that say window helped that situation, or
you know, some guys just came down and checked it out.
(07:41):
But however it happened, you know, I'm very grateful for it.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
So why the decision then to NC State?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Mario Williams, he was my favorite player.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So once I transitioned down to the South and really
started looking at football. NC State, you know the defense,
Mario Tulluck, Hoyd Tank, you know, Manny Tremaine. I love
the way that team played, and I told myself, I
want to be a part of that.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
You go there and you major in zoology.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I started in zoology, and it was way more than
I wanted to do. I realized I loved animals, but
I didn't love them that much.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I like having dogs, but I don't really know.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
What I know about that.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So it's funny.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Two years into it, I was like, I may switch
up and do something different.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
That's like a lot of science classes.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Right, and science was one of my you know, least
favorite subjects.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
So it was me too.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
It was a struggle for me, like I love animals,
but you know, to learn about them, I don't know
I had that in me.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, what'd you switch to.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Recreation and tourist management? So it's a lot of different
avenues for that. Yeah, you know, guys to play sports,
you know, it gets you into management, fitness, recreation. So
it opened the doors for a lot of options.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Oh yeah, a lot of different ways with that one. Yeah, okay,
So let's start to talk about your college career. Then
at NC State, which is very good, but I want
to take you to cause you see red shirt of
your freshman year, right, and then you start to play
very well for a couple of years, but then in
two thousand and nine, and I believe you have a
tattoo of this on your arm. Correct, Yes. June twenty ninth,
(09:21):
two thousand and nine, you get in a single car
car accident, and the photo is just stunning. The fact
that you were able to walk away from that, I mean,
you didn't walk away from it, but the fact that
you survived from that is incredible. Nate. You fell asleep, Yeah, collapse,
long separated shoulder, broken rib, and a compound fracture in
(09:42):
your leg.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, it was In case nobody knows the story. I
was leaving, leaving my dad's house, in my parents' house,
going back to school for workhouse the next day, and
I told him I had left, you know, hours ago,
but I was hanging out and stuff, and you know,
some of the decisions I made had caught up with me.
And I'm like, it's an hour drive. I can drive back.
I want some change, I can drive back with no problem.
I literally only remember getting on the highway. All I
(10:05):
remember was getting on the highway, going down the ramp,
almost rare ending an eighteen wheeler, and then I remember
seeing myself like laying on the stretcher, like sitting up
and seeing myself laying on the stretcher, and you know,
I just, hey, this is my dad's number. Call my dad,
you know, just tell him I love him, you know,
like I don't want to die, or before I die
(10:25):
or something like that.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And it was and that's all I remember.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And it took him a while to get to you
from what I read.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Right, Yeah, I laid out there more than I think
thirty forty five minutes. Yeah, somewhere north of that. Somebody
riding by saw it and you know called. You know,
to this day, I don't know who the person was.
We put out, you know, so many blasts in college
to see who the person was. And I just wanted
to I just wanted to meet him, just to you know,
(10:54):
talk to him and say thank you whoever it was.
To this day, don't know who it was.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Oh wow, that was something else to try and to
find that person me personally.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You know. I tell the story.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
When I woke up in the hospital, I kept seeing
somebody standing in my door and I asked my parents,
I said, who is that and they were like, who
is who? I was like, it's a person in my door,
and I've just seen a person just turn around and
walk out down the hallway and like he just walked out.
It's like nobody's here. And I was like, well, you know,
I'm not going to question that. You know, I am
a believer in you know, angels, and.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Yeah, your guardian angel was there.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Why, oh my goodness, that's incredible. How long did you
stay in the hospital?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Two days?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Thankfully, as I went through everything, I felt no pain.
I felt no pain.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Really no pain at all.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I had to learn how to walk again. First day
or two. While I was there, the same accident happened
to two people. One of them had a leg amputated,
one of them died. I don't know it's the same
time I was there or right around the same time,
but it was the same thing like that, and I
was like, I just want to walk out, you know,
and you know, just say thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Yeah. Absolutely, So you're out that whole year, and I'm
guessing you vow to come back and play again.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Right yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And you do, yeah, which is just incredible. How did
you get your body ready? And especially with I mean
all of those multiple injuries.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think the fact that uh, everything was a complete break.
My leg, it was completely broken. Put a ride in it.
The main thing was my punctured lung. Worrying about that collapsing. Yeah,
I was trying to play at the end of the
year because my leg felt good and the doctor was like,
you know, you get hitting the chest and something happens,
(12:34):
that'll be it.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Like I said, I was just I was determined to
get back because I remember asking the doctor and will
I be able to play football again? He's like, don't
worry about that, and that scared me. It's like, don't
even worry about that. Let's just worry.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You need to worry about surviving.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, And you know, from that time, I told myself,
you know, I want to go back and play, but
I want to show him that I can still be,
you know, a good player, good and affective player.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And you were in twenty ten. You came back and
I mean you had and I don't know, does this
still stand. You had a game where you had eight
tackles for a loss and that might still be an
FBS record.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
My one game, my senior year game, my last game
against Wake Forest.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
The thing with that is I'm a believer.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
You know, I talked to Guy and I tell my
goals and one thing I said, I want to go
to NC State and Mario was my favorite player. I said,
I want to break one of his records. And I
completely forgot about it until after the game. My dad
told me that you did this and it was his records.
And it was like my last game and my senior
year to have my dad remember a goal that I
(13:40):
set out in, you know, freshman year.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
It was like, that's amazing, amazing for me.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Wow, Hotly, you were also a semi finalist for the
Buckets Award that year, All American. The fact that all
that you went through then and then you come back
and have such a great senior year, it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
It was truly a blessing. Yeah, blessing. Absolutely, Yeah, truly
a blessing.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Did you get invited to any of the Shrine Games
or All Star Games combine?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
I got invited to the East West Shrine Game and
the Combine.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Okay, the East West Game was in.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
I think Alabama got a couple of snaps there, not
as many as I liked.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I liked, but it's not as much about the game
there as it is talking to all the scouts that
are there.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Right, Yes, and that's what it was, did you really?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Never?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Kind of funny because I actually I don't know how
true it is, but I was supposed to be drafted
by the Cowboys. I don't know the Cowboys were a
couple of picks behind or whatever it is. But like
I said, I don't know if that's true. But that's
just what I heard after, you know, going through it
and playing and oh you know, so and so said, yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
There's so much talk. Yeah, what was the combine like
for you? Was it just the mental mind f that
most guys talk about.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, that part was eye opening. Actually didn't do any
of the physical stuff. Interesting, I didn't do anything physical.
I didn't run, I didn't do any workouts. I wanted
to do it at my college. Oh yeah, I had
a lot of guys that I played with that I
I just wanted them to come check us all out.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I felt like I just wanted more time to prepare.
So it's just like, hey, you know, I'll go through
the mental part, but if you you don't want to
see what I do, just turn the tape on. I
think the combine is it's kind of gotten away from
how people play on the field, because oh yeah, you know,
slow players play fast, fast players play slow. You know,
strong people not play with strength. So it's like it's
(15:37):
a maybe a baseline, but then you turn on the
tape and you tell it tells a different story.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Absolutely, especially if you're at your own pro day with
guys that you play with, that you know that you
work with all the time. Yep, yeah, for sure. Interesting. Okay,
So then in twenty eleven, you're a third round pick
of the Denver Broncos. What was that like?
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I almost missed a call.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I was in the hotel my family again, and I
was nervous about the draft being on TV. You know,
you know, so many things of being said.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I was.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I was down here in North Carolina. My cell phone
didn't have any service. So you know, the story was,
they called me a couple of times, couldn't get in
touch with me, didn't called my dad's phone, and I
was landing in bed, walk up talk to L Way.
I was like, oh man, you know, I was like,
I don't know if I would have missed a call,
what would have happened.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
That's a good question.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But I was able to wake up and take the
call in, you know, enjoy that moment.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
And then did you talk to Fox at the same
time too, because that was the first year for John Fox.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
I didn't want to talk to the way and it wasn't
it wasn't long. It was just you know, hey, we're
going to pick you here, welcome, We're going to see
what you can do, give you a shot, you know.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
That kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Okay, And had you ever been west to Denver?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Never? Never?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I thought it was you know, the east coast, Texas
and then California, nothing else. I didn't think like, I
didn't think to ever like live here or you know,
what it would be like here. The first day I
got here, I was in shorts in April and it
was snowing.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
I was like, what is this?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Like?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
How do people live over here? This kind of stuff?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
And now here you are all these years later, still
living here because it's awesome. That's why we love about it, right, yes, yeah,
oh my gosh, what was it like then? Coming that
was John Fox's first year. Then in twenty eleven, you're
looking like, no, I'm pretty sure it was Foxy's first year.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
It was, ok.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I only remember the teams are broken up so much like,
oh yeah, I only thought about the defense. I didn't
even think about the head coach or anything like that. I
gotcha it was Foxy. But then I was you know.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
DC, Dennis Allen.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Oh wow, he came from the Saints.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Okay, and he's been in and out of the Saints again. Yes, wow, okay,
So you have Dennis Allen. You had Jack do Rio
at some point, right, yep.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
That was my next coach, my next DC.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
When did Jack come in the next year?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Next year?
Speaker 3 (18:05):
All right? So you have I mean you do you
do well? I mean you play in all games but
two in twenty eleven, twenty twelve, and twenty thirteen. You
begin to start in twenty thirteen, and then you also
start eight games in twenty fourteen until you go on
IR unfortunately. So what was it like with those linebackers
and being part of that group that was a good
(18:27):
defense man.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I still talk to those guys. Those are like brothers.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
You guys are brothers.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yeah, yeah, still Wesley, DJ, you know, Vaughn, Brandon Marshall.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
We had a group, Danny. I don't want to name
them all.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I don't want to forget anybody I know, we had
like a really really close knit group and they made
it really fun for us.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
I bet when you got to start, what was that like?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Was it?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Did you start first because Vaughn was out? Is that
how you got your first starting?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Okay? I was backing him up. I don't know if
it was an injury at what it was.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I think you might have got hurt.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, and you know, got a chance. And that's how
I got it in college. You know, the guy in
front of me, LaRue Rounf he got hurt. And you know,
I say, if you're ready to go in, when you
go in, you got to be ready, and I try
to be ready.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
So it's like, make a decision. Now.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
The decision was easy because I was backing Vaughn up,
so I can't. I rushed the passion like him, So
that decision was easy once he was back healthy. But
I usally wanted to make it a hard decision for
them to find somewhere to put me on the field,
right man.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
You know it worked out pretty well.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
And you played some special teams too, Yes, that was different.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Didn't play a lot of special teams in college. Didn't
even think about it, you know, in hindsight. In hindsight,
I would say, you know, you hit the coach and say, hey,
take special team serious. When I coach, now I want
my best players on special teams. It makes a difference
in how you approach the game and how you get
ready for it physically, so it helps out a whole lot.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Is it a matter of then you're kind of like
in the game the whole time and involve in your
and you're mentally in there, or is there is the
physical component of it or both.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I think it's a little bit of both, but I
think it's more physical. I think after high school the
game changes completely to a mental game. Like I said,
I've seen very no slight to them, but I've seen
very weak players be strong because they know where to be,
how to get there with leverage and hands. So I
think once you start to learn the game, it's not
(20:18):
as physical, and that the mental pieces where a lot
of things a lot of people struggle, and I think
that's what makes the difference interesting.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yeah, and then tell me about your injury in twenty
fourteen to put you on IR for your knee, right, I.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Told my ACL it was a zone, right. I remember
it like yesterday's zone right against the Patriots, and Alignment
grabbed my ear hole and twisted my head and I
was still running.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Oh god.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And then Chris Harris was getting off a block and
fell into my leg. I felt the crunch. I heard
the pop, and I just stayed down. I told the guys,
I just told my ACL he knew it. Yeah, don't
say that, said I felt my knee dangling. I felt everything.
I felt the crunch. I heard the pop very loud like.
I just told the a CL that was it.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So then you go on IR a CL's are a
year and then is your contract up at that point?
So you had a four year contract as a rookie.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
That was my contract.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Yeah, and they don't resign you.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Uh, it's so much speculation.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
I think they were going to, but there were There
was a lot of language about my injury that didn't
benefit me, so I decided to leave.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
That's a hard one because you know where you are
as far as ability goes. You can come back, and
we've seen plenty of players come back from acls and
do very very well. But they're going to write everything
in to benefit them.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yep, yep. And that's what it was.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
And I was like, I know what I can do,
and again, like you know the process of a ACL.
You know, if you miss a practice, this is the punishment.
Well coming off in e CL, you're going to have
good days and bad days. And if I get punished
for having good days and bad days, I just don't want.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
To work like that absolutely and operate.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
And it's like it's that's when you realize, oh, this
is a business. It's not college anymore. This is a business.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Yeah. How hard was it to then become a free
agent and start looking elsewhere, especially because you guys were
so tight?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
It was very hard.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
It was, you know, extremely hard, you know, knowing I
wanted to be there and you know, understanding they wanted
me to be there also, but not knowing the stipulations.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Just bought a house.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
The year was going good, you know, yeah, we'll bring
you back, and you know, some just bought a house.
You know, started to get used to being out here,
having snow in April in May, and then having to
realize like, okay, it's not where you're going to be.
It's it's wild.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
So how many teams did you visit? Did you talk to?
Because you end up going and signing with Indy.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Then that next year I went to Arizona, I went
to Miami, went.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
To the Jets quite a few.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, but Indy. Indie was nice. Indy was nice, and
it made me feel like they wanted me. That was
big for me coming off in ACL because a lot
of people and we're going to shy away from that.
And he really made me feel like, you know, they
wanted me to be a part of their team, and
you know they had luck and I saw myself fitting
(23:12):
in there pretty good on the defense and it was fun.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, when they signed you to a nice deal, you
got a three year dal for some decent dough. Then
you end up going on IR again. What happens there?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Shut down for my knee, I want to say, because
then I started had like real bad swelling and ye man,
and I'm like, well, I get it. But then I
start to think back. The mental part comes into football, Like, man,
if I would have been in Denver then missing this
or going through that, this would have screwed me over.
And you know, you juggle with that. Then you sit
(23:43):
there on IR. Got to come into the meetings and
watch the games. You know whether it's win to lose.
I just want to be a part of the fight
with my guys, you know, be out on the field,
laughing and joking and you know, working out with these guys,
and it's just hard to have to watch it.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
It was tough.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
IR is such a lone, lonely place. Yeah. I always say,
you know, in the media, we get little transaction things,
press releases. You know, so and so got activated, this
person's on it. You know, You're just you're a sentence
in a press release. Yeah, And the mental anguish behind
that sentence is you can't even describe it because you've
been taken away from all your guys. And even though
(24:21):
you're you can still be around, you're not out there
a practice, You're not out there in the mix of things,
being in on all the jokes. And it's just very
different that.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
That's what you enjoy about football, not the games. It's
actually the practices that you go through extremely hot. You're tired,
the jokes in the meetings, and that's the stuff that's
really taken away from you sometimes when you're on IR.
So it's like I'm a stranger to the team of
I like the black sheep of the family. Now it's like,
I'm here, but I'm not really here to deal with you.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
There's a couple other guys in they're with you, but
it's not the same. Yeah at all. Okay, So then
in twenty sixteen, you come back with the Colts and
you get cut on the final day of cuts. Yeah,
what happened there?
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I never told anybody, but I like to think I
was screwed over in that situation. The story I was
told was they wanted to go younger, and I was
the sigma call on the defense, you know, starting.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
At the green dot.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, okay, it was it was me and the Quell
and then me and Jirell. I was I was a start.
I had to dot and they called me in. They
told me, hey, you don't don't worry about it. I
told you, it's funny because the last preseason game, the
third one, I want to go in and get some reps. Now,
you don't have to worry about it. You know, you
play like a series and then you'll get out.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
You're done. You don't you have to worry about it.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
And I'm at my little brother's game in high school
and I'm like, why are they calling me? Hey, coach
needs you to bring your stuff. I said, for what,
you know, we just need to see I said, there's
no way, y'all. Y'all called the wrong person. I'm like,
you know, I.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Start on defense right at the green dots.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
I was like, you know, what are we talking about?
And then I got there. I was just shocked to
someone team, It's just like what called me in? And yeah,
we kind of want to go younger. And you know,
some of the young guys also play special teams, but
I was really, really really active on special teams too,
So it was like, I don't know what that part
of the business was, but I think it was youth
(26:15):
and money. That's when you realize it's really cut through.
It's really cut throat.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Did you talk to the coach?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I didn't. They kind of told me what was happening.
I was so flabbigasted. Yeah, I didn't want to say anything.
I wout regret, so I kind of talked to the trainer.
I was really cool with the training for my first
year there. I was on you know, rehabbing my knees
and stuff. So I had built really really good relationships
with the trainers to the day now I can still
(26:44):
text them and you know, joke around with them. I
talked to the trainers, talk to a couple of team
members down left.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Did you get all the stuff out of your locker?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
A couple of things, A couple of things.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
But like like you're so stunned.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Yeah, And I was like, there's no way this is real,
and let me leap before I say something to do something.
It's like, okay, but it happened for a reason. I
always believe that everything happens for a reason. So after
I kind of got over the shock behind it was
is what it is, is what it is.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
So then what do you do? Do you keep in
shape because hoping other teams will call because at that
point we're twenty sixteen. You can still play.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Yeah, I did for a while. Again, I had the
Cardinals and the Jets. I think I would assigned with
the Cardinals. But there was some funky language in there.
And I had a thing on my neck also, oh okay,
well I was, you know, nervous about what it could be.
It was a lump on my neck, a mass on
my neck, and I decided to go through with surgery,
understanding that at some point, you know you have a
(27:44):
neck surgery.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Teams aren't going to.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Oh yeah, so see Peyton Manning.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
And I was like, you know, at some point, I
gotta make a decision if I wanted to say, you know,
I had fun with it and be able to walk
away and you know and enjoyed my my fatherhood and
being with my family and stuff like that, or just
keep pressing. And part of me wanted to keep pressing.
But I was so satisfied at how things went for
(28:13):
me that I just like I accepted it and just
wanted to move on.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Wow, that's a hard place to come to. Oh there's
a lot of guys that can't ever get there.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It wasn't easy. I'm sure it was a process.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
It was a very long process. I asked some very
dark days, but I just remind myself, you know, everything
happens for a reason, and I just kept going back
to it.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
And you know, after a while, you know, talking and you.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Know who'd you talk to, like who kind of helped
you through that?
Speaker 1 (28:41):
My stepmom's she was very strong. And why I view
religion how I do it. You know why I'm a
believer so strong because it's gotten me through so many
things that not many people even make it up to,
especially where I'm from, to have my story pan out
how it did. If there was a movie that, you know,
(29:02):
showed everything, you'd be like, there's no way this is
like real. And I'm just grateful that I had heard
a lane on and then my brothers. I was playing
a game with my brothers a lot, and I was
able to talk in vent and they were able to
joke with me about things that that weren't always funny.
But then it's like, why isn't it funny if you
did this and this happened, it happened.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
You know, how many brothers do you have?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I'm the oldest of I have three younger brothers and
three younger sisters.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Smoke, you're the oldest. Yeah, wow, son, you also go
to be that example too, and that's hard.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Yeah, that was very hard because then my brother I
have my second oldest brother who was playing football and
my baby brother, and like it's just hey, this guy
on I was a persona like almost for you know, yeah,
my brother's on TV. You know I could talk to him,
like my brother would call me, hey, where are you at,
like and just bragg to his friends. And then overnight, boom,
(30:00):
that guy anymore, right, And you know, didn't having to
talk to him about that at first it was hard,
but then it's like, it is what it is, right,
You got to accept that you can't change that. So
I'm able to joke about it now with them and everything.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
So you go from being superstar to just a human being,
just your brother, and that's hard, and that's hard for
all the buddies to understand, like why is your brother
still playing?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Yeah, and then the things that they say to them,
especially you know, my younger brothers. I hate to hear
that I can't protect them from something.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Man, that's rough.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
That's hard. Yeah, oh absolutely, yeah. Okay, So you decide
that you're done, Do you officially retire at some point?
Do you send in your paperwork? Have you done that?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
No? Is it a chance.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Just in case?
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Right, there's going to be a team that needs somebody
to run down feeling kick off, I'm like, don't take
kick off off the game yet? You know, I know
how to we even turn some shoulders, you know, I
know a couple of I can do something if you
need me, And I'm not gonna put him in yet,
but you.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Know, are there some benefits that come with being retired, Like,
don't you get some things from NFLPA and so you
know you could maybe get some things.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Yeah, you know, there's that one percent less than one percent.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Oh my gosh. Okay, So you stay out here and
done for though you retire, and do you live here?
I mean you bought the house here. Do you stay
in the house that you bought her?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
So somethings.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
I bought the house, you know, I went to Indy,
had the house while I was there for a couple
of years. Then when I came back at the I
left Indy, I was actually gonna I wanted to go
back East. So it's kind of like get rid of
this stuff. I don't really need it anymore. I'm going
back East. But then that didn't happen either, So like,
oh man, what am I going to do? And I
was able to just bounce around, stay in my family
(31:47):
for a little bit, stay out here and find an
opportunity to coach.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
That's great. Yes, So you end up starting with Ponderosa
in twenty eighteen as a linebackers coach. Then it goes
to defensive coordinator and linebackers. You're there for a couple
of years. You weren't there last year, but you come
back this year and you're again the DC and linebackers coach.
What drew you to getting involved with high school coaching?
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I never wanted to, but Jared Cohen, the relationship there
was it was pretty nice.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
As somebody's a head coach, Yes.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Somebody can joke with talk to. We kind of got
similar humor. So it almost gave me that feel of
being back in the locker room. But then there was
I didn't want to coach because I know what football
did to my body and then to me mentally, and
I never want to see, you know, someone else go
through that. But then I started to think there's so
(32:40):
much I can help, like coaches who poured into me,
Tim Jenkins, Andy McCulloch, Johnson Nuda, Jack Derrio, those guys
poured into me at some point in my life, things
that I still carried with me off the field. I
kind of thought about what that would feel like for
me to see strawngy little kid go through the process
as and watch it from a coach perspective to how
(33:03):
you give him everything that he needs to be successful
on and off the field, And that really was a
that was fun for me that it felt really really good.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
That's cool. And how do you know, Jared.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
So, my step mom knew a fan. She had a
son that went upon a Rosa and she was known
as the loud lady in the crowd, and my step
mom had a relationship with her, and she knew the coach.
So they kind of, hey, you meet him, Hey, you
go meet him, and they set us up on a
on a meet and at.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
A piece of shop. You're like a tender, so they
set up a meeting. That's how. That's how it started.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Oh that's fun, and do you love it?
Speaker 2 (33:49):
I do? I do?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Man, Like, just from the time I started to now,
you know, I see some of the guys come back
who I've watched go through things on the field in
high school and off the field, and to see everything
that they went through, knowing some of the things that
they wanted to do but couldn't do, and how they persevered,
(34:12):
and then to see them come back from college and
you know, see them later.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
On, it's pretty rewarding, right.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Man, it is.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Tell them those are like my little brothers and my
little sons now, because I've watched you grow up, and
you know, I joke with some of them like when
you get here on your face, like when I saw you.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Could you become a man? Oh that's so cool, Nate.
And that's obviously that's not your only job. You have
a regular job. You're a director at and shoots and
what do you do there? And how did you get
involved with that? Because that's part of this podcast is
the whole reinvention. What what do you do when football
is all done?
Speaker 1 (34:47):
So when I first left football started, I was working
at Lifetime. I was just teaching classes at Lifetime.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
What kind of classes like spending classes?
Speaker 1 (34:55):
No, just taking classes. I'll teach classes at Lifetime. But
then I got into the kid kiss portion of it.
I started dealing with the kids, you know, helping them
with fitness and stuff. And then my buddy called me.
Bobby Floyd played with him in college. We talked about
it a couple of times leading up to it. I
never wanted to go into this rottal work. And he
(35:16):
called me. It's his company, and he said, hey, just
give it a try. No no, no, no, no, hey, give
it a try. You might like it. I said, I
won't like that. No, hey, give it a try. I said, okay,
I'll give it thirty days and I started that.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
And I loved it. I loved this.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I'm a director at in Shoots over Environmental Services, so
anything with cleaning and fixing the hospital. I'm one of
the lead men on that, on that team, So.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
You manage a bunch of people?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
How many?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Three hundred? Yeah? Yes?
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Is that why you thought you didn't want to do it?
You don't want to manage three people.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
I was intimidated because it was in a hospital. I'm
I don't know anything about hospitals, right, And you like, well,
just go you'll learn, and you're like, yes, I don't
know anything about it.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
I was like really intimidated. I've never done any other
work outside of football, so I'm like, nah, I don't
want to do that.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I did and I like that.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
And now you know everything there is to know, probably
about all the safety at a hospital, right yep.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
So when I go into hospitals in different places, I'm
always checking let me look here, let me check this
is this when the last time this floor been waxeduff?
Is this floor safe? Is that clean as it does?
Does this need to be repaired? Like my scope of
you know, how I view things. I bet it just changes.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah. What are your biggest challenges with that job?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Personalities?
Speaker 1 (36:36):
I bet three hundred people and just from all walks
of life. Yeah, I can say I love the work
because it's almost like coaching. I got to get people
all from over the place to achieve one common goal.
But you know, these people are you know, some older
than me, and they can talk back to you and
tell you what you know. They can give you a
piece of their mind. So that's how it's different. But
(36:58):
I think that piece of you know, managing people, it
will drive you crazy.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
But you don't mind it.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I don't. It's a challenge I do.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
I love a challenge. I want to be successful in
anything I do. And then the group of guys that
I'm with, we're like brothers, so we hold each other
to a high standard. We come to work and enjoy
the time that we spend there working with each other.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
I can tell you you have a huge smile on
your face.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
And then so the guys that you work with, do
they also have groups of like three hundred and there's
are you all over the place or are you all
kind of together doing the same thing with all these people.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So the guys are my boss and my boss's boss.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
When I first got here, one trained me. They both
were part of training me, and as they bumped up,
I bumped up also.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Okay, but you know one of them likes to remind me.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
That they're your boss.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, you're in an NFL on the moll you're regularly
and you get over here and do this and do that.
So the camaraderie there's so fun. Man, it's so fun
it is.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Yeah. And how long you've been doing that?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Oh? Man?
Speaker 1 (37:59):
I think three okay, three four years where the okay,
time just flyes, so I never keep track of the time.
I just just wake up and.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Go do it.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Now, tell me about all your babies. Like I said,
you got the girl dad's sweatshirt on. You got three.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
Girls, three girls, Kendall, Ryan, and Raylan. Those are my
babies that like I said, girl dad one's twelve, one's
two on Halloween, and then another one was born leap. Yeah,
I said, February twenty ninth, so she's nine months, she'll
be one. We're trying to figure out if it's gonna
be February twenty eighth.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Yeah, what day do you celebrate her birthday.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
I think it's like March first. Yeah, technically she wasn't
here on the twenty eighth, so.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
Right, true, Yeah, that is so March first is probably
when you would celebrate. And you love it.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Oh man, those are my girls. It changes.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
I was a certain thing on the field, certain thing
out in the world. But when I talk to my girls,
I have my girls with me, complete opposite, you know,
it's baby talking, you know, trying to be the soft
emotional guy. That's, you know, opposite of what everything that
I was doing. So it's it's different, but I love it.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
They have you wrapped around their fingers, don't they.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
I'm gonna say no because if they ever.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Hit this, I know, but no, that's no. Daddy's in
the and their baby girls. That's something different, man, it is, Yeah,
it is.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I didn't know what I can excret you.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
You can't describe it, can't.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
I can't explain it, So.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Tell it's there.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Yeah, And moms have it with their sons too. I've
got one of each, and my my daughter and my
husband have a very special relationship that I'm like, that's
just And I had it with my dad. I mean,
you just have that. It's cool.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
I'm curious to see, but I feel like I'm just
the fly parent. So you know, boy, God is gonna
love daddy.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Yes they are, Yes, Okay, all right, Nate, We're gonna
wrap this up with one last question that I ask
all of my guests, and that is what do you tell?
And you have a great chance for it now because
of being a coach and things like that, and having
your little girls. When there is a down in life
where you go through some adversity, what do you tell
(40:01):
people on how to get through it? How you got
through it?
Speaker 1 (40:03):
How do you want your story to be told? There
are so many people that have dealt with the same
thing you're dealing with. You're not the first person to
go through something, you won't be the last person, but
you can be the only person to have your story.
So how do you want to be remembered? How do
you want your story to be told? Whether it's good,
whether it's bad. You control that. Nobody else can control anything.
(40:27):
From that point on, it's all you, And how do
you want to be remembered?
Speaker 3 (40:31):
I love that you've said that a few times. I
think you didn't even have believer Oh that's awesome. Well, hey,
thanks for taking the time to come in. This was fun.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Are you surprised the depths that we
went into.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Very surprised some of the stuff you pulled out. Nobody
knows how you find some of the stuff. So it's like, Okay,
I'm a researcher man.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
You're like, go talk a little football.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
That's what I thought.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I'm like, okay, that's I'm thinking about what kind of
football is on today?
Speaker 2 (41:01):
What's happening.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
I was all about you, all about you. Yeah, no,
this is great. I'm glad that you're still here in
Colorado and you're you're doing good stuff. And thanks for
coaching too. I think it's so important. And I'm sure
those kids just love you, so that's huge.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
I love them.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
It's helping me get through a lot of things, just
you know, just as bad.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
So thanks Nate, Thank you, Thank you Nate. New episodes
of Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired are released on Tuesdays. Please follow, download, rate,
and review this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and
keep up on new releases by following on Twitter and
Instagram at ctf our podcast and also on the website
ctfurpodcast dot com. Do you know someone that could use
(41:42):
some inspiration, Please share an episode of this with them.
I'm your host, Susie Wargon. Thanks for listening, and until
next time, please be careful, be safe, and be kind.
Take care,
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