Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
I had heard what sounded like firecrackersabove my right shoulder. I look over
and I see some dust some hazein the air that would give me the
idea that it was some firecrackers.Nobody's panicking. While I'm looking over my
shoulder. Bullet goes through the walland hits me. I don't know what's
happening, so I think it's afirecracker because both of my ears start to
(00:21):
ring. I lean over went tomy friend's lap to avoid what I think
is people throwing down firecrackers. Ifeel bled, hit my hand, and
I jump over the sea in frontof me and then run out. Welcome
to cut, Traded, Fired,Retired. If this is your first time
listening, welcome. If you're returningfor more, welcome back. This podcast
features conversations with professional athletes and coacheswho have faced a variety of challenges in
(00:44):
their careers and their lives. I'myour host, Susie Wargen. This episode's
guest has gone through a number ofchallenges both personally and professionally. Zak Golditch
is a fellow Sea Issue Ram.He went to Fort Collins on a football
scholarship from Gateway High School in Aurora. Zach committed to that scholarship just eight
days before he was at the midnightshowing of Batman Returns on July twentieth,
(01:06):
twenty twelve. That night, twelvelives were lost in Theater nine, and
Zach in Theater eight next door,had a bullet enter and exit through his
neck when it went through the wall. Of course, that experience changed his
and so many other lives, butZach kept moving forward, finishing his senior
year at Gateway, spending five yearsat CSU, and then living out his
dream to play in the NFL.Now, the dream didn't last long.
(01:30):
He was cut multiple times over twoseasons, but he made it. These
days, Zack's a firefighter and ona mission to continue giving back to his
community with an annual five K andscholarship fund. Ladies and gentlemen. Zach
Golditch cut traded fired retired podcasts withSusie Wargin Zach Golditch, how are you?
(01:53):
I'm doing good. I have alot of older guests and not as
many younger guests, so it's greatto have have you in here and talk
about your story that's extremely interesting fromfront to back as far as all the
things that you've done, and you'redoing some really good things now. Yeah,
thanks for having me on. I'mexcited. Yeah. So you are
a Denver native, born in Denver, right, yeah, born in Denver.
How many generations of Denver do wehave? First? Your first?
(02:15):
O? First of my family bornhere in Colorado. Any siblings? Yes,
I have three siblings, two olderbrothers and one younger all boys.
All boys. Who Okay, soI'm guessing sports started pretty early ish,
the older two through an interesting familydynamic. I really wasn't race with them.
They're from my dad's previous marriage,okay. And my younger brother biological
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and he dabbled in sports a littlebit, but he didn't find his life
wasn't met for sports. Okay.So he does a lot of snowboard and
extreme sports different sports, yeah,okay, but the competition was still heavy
for for things around the house.I bet it was. I bet it
was. What were your sports growingup? Obviously football took you many places
and into the NFL, But wasthat the only one. No. When
(02:58):
I was a little I dabbled intowrestling little bit. I started football when
I was nine in middle squad,I played basketball, Um, I did
track and field, and then highschool was mostly just football and track and
field. I threw shot putting,discus. Were you good at that?
I was? I think I hada little bit of success. I was
a two time state champ in thediscus my junior senior year and state runner
up. Nobody talks about that senioryear. That's like nowhere in any of
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your bio stuff. It might belike one or two, some of the
very local ones. That's awesome.I did not know that. Yeah it
was. It was a pretty funsport, you know, minimal running and
I was able to stay in theweight room. It was more of the
field part than the track part.Yeah, very okay. So football becomes
your really your main sport, andthat's where you go on as far as
college into Colorado State. When didyou set your sights on football being the
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one? And did you have aspirationsto go to the NFL early on?
I think so. I think,as you know, every little kid who
steps on the field has some typeof ambition and dream to go on to
the NFL. But I didn't knowanybody who had gone to the NFL.
I wasn't around other people who hadbeen to the NFL. So I didn't
think it was achievable necessarily, butthe dream was still there. But I
don't think as a as a kid, I was like, I'm going to
(04:05):
be an NFL player. But Ithink football kind of took the front seat
in high school for sure, Littleleague for sure. Like I said,
I started when I was nine,and it was the only like club sport
that I had enrolled in on aconsistent basis. You know, I built
a lot of great friends playing football, and so I just wanted to keep
going back every year. And fortunatelyfor me, I was one of the
(04:25):
biggest kids in the entire league,so things came a little bit easier.
I was wondering when the growth sportcame so early, Yeah, early.
You know, I was a patchplayer in the early days. You know,
for those who don't know what thatis, you know, I can't
touch the ball, so I wasa designated alignment since day one. Oh
my gosh. And then when thepatch came off, they tried to give
me the ball a few times hereand there. Do you ever play tight
end or anything like that or inliteral league. Yeah, they threw me
(04:46):
in a quarterback a couple of times, maybe, like fullback tight end,
like just everything. I don't thinkI was the most gifted athlete, but
I was one of the biggest,so that helps a little bit, and
with success becomes fun. I reallylashed onto it. So your height,
when did that come into play?Maybe high school? If I remember my
(05:06):
first weigh in or you know,first measurements. I just remember I was
about six foot one five as afreshman, so you know, for those
coaches it seemed pretty eye opening,and for me, I didn't really know
what I knew, and so Iwas like, yeah, like I'm six
foot, big deal, you know, like, did you notice nobody else's
six? Yeah? Did you havea gross bird at some point. I'm
(05:28):
always fascinated with some of the guys, especially the basketball players, who will
usually say one summer, I wentfrom X to Z and it was a
you know, four or five inchdifference, and their bones hurt and they
could feel their body kind of growing. Or was yours more gradual? I
think it was more gradual. Idon't think I ever had a time where
I put on some serious weight orsome serious height that I noticed that caused
like those growing pains. I guessthe only growing pains I remember my eighth
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grade year. You know, Ihad some issues with my knees and stuff,
and that was the only year thatI missed football, and it was
because I missed the registrate to signup because my grades are not too great
and my parents are like, maybeyou won't play this here, and then
they got a little bit better andby then it was too late to sign
up. Lesson learned, Lesson learned. Okay, So then when you were
in high school, and we'll goback to what happens before your senior year.
(06:15):
But as you're in your senior year, are you getting recruited by multiple
colleges you eventually go on to ColoradoState. Yeah, the recruitment process in
high school was a lot of fun. I think I was a pretty early
commit committed in July of my juniorto senior year. Oh wow. At
that time I had offers from Wyoming, CU, Air Force, UNC,
and CSU in that order, andthey were all great opportunities, you know,
(06:39):
but my heart really landed in forCollins. Why is that? I
mean, you can't be for Collinsfrom I know why that is, but
I want to hear Yeah, Imean I remember getting recruited by the offensive
line coach, and you know,he's like, hey, we have the
most places to eat per capita inthe US restaurants there. And I was
all for it, you know.And I sat down the office with Jack
Ram, the AD at the time, and he's like, we're gonna win
(07:00):
championships, We're gonna bring a campus, a stadium, we're gonna be in
the top twenty five, and we'regonna go to bowl games every year.
I could just imagine Jack saying that, yeah, and I was like,
I'm all for that. You know. The other schools they were able to
offer a lot and spoke highly ofwhat they were trying to build, but
something just spoke about CSU and youknow, as you know the Ram family,
it's it's strong. They really theyreally bring you in. And I
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was like, this is the placewhere I can see myself thriving. And
a little tiny backstory to it,which ties into why I picked four Collins.
Peyton Manning end up coming to GatewayHigh School. One of the questions
that someone got to ask him waswhy he went to Tennessee instead of Old
miss and he said, if hewas not playing football, he would have
wanted to go to Tennessee. Insteadof old miss, And so I was
(07:43):
like, well, if I'm oneplay away from a career in an injury,
where do I want to go toschool? And I wanted to go
to Colorado State univers Oh my gosh, I just got goose bumps. Yeah,
that's pretty cool. Have you everhad a chance to tell him that?
Have you ever met him? Notsense he needs to know that story.
I think it's really neat when somebodysays something that resonates so much.
I mean, that's a life changingdecision for you where to go to school,
(08:05):
And what a great way to baseit that way too, because you're
right, you could have been outat any time. Did you end up
graduating? I did, Yeah,graduating. I got a double major in
sociology and ethnic studies with a concentrationin criminal justice. Why am I not
surprised about that? Okay? So, and now this is perfect because you
said you committed. Was that earlyJuly before your senior year? It was
(08:26):
early July? Okay. I thinkI was looking at some old photos today,
or I came across one today andI had a photo that said,
you know, going to be aCSU ram On July twelve, July twelfth.
Okay, so eight days later,July twentieth of twenty twelve was a
day that was life altering for youand for so many And that was the
(08:48):
day that you were at the AuroraTheater, in the theater next door to
where the shooting happened that took twelvelives, and you were shot in the
neck that day and you called nineone one for the first time in your
life. You don't need to gointo the whole story, that's not what
this podcast is about, but justkind of when you go back to that
and now we're it's summer of twentytwenty three, so we're eleven years removed,
but that just still has to bea constant memory. And now you're
(09:11):
a first responder as well, whichwe'll talk more about. Yeah, So,
like you said, the story isa whole podcast in itself. Possible,
absolutely, But to keep the longstory short. From when I remember,
for those listening, you know,I was in the theater next door.
Were you also seeing Batman? Iwas Okay, same movie. I
think they had it started maybe fiveminutes later, but they had multiple theaters
going at that time, so thesame movie sitting in the front row right
(09:35):
behind the handicaps section Batman movies playing, there's a scene where Catwoman is selling
Batman's fingerprints or doing something. Withinthere's an escape with a big shootout scene.
So at that time I had heardwhat sounded like firecrackers above my right
shoulder. I look over and Isee some dust some haze in the air
that would give me the idea thatit was some firecrackers. Gentleman stands up,
(09:58):
Who's now now shot in the arm. Nobody's panicking while I'm looking over
my shoulder. Bullet goes through thewall and hits me. I don't know
what's happening, so I think it'sa firecracker because both of my ears start
to ring. I lean over intomy friend's lap to avoid what I think
is people throwing down firecrackers. Ifeel blood hit my hand, and I
(10:18):
jump over the seat in front ofme and then run out to an empty
lobby where I'm looking for some help. Because again I don't know what's happening.
I just know that I'm bleeding alot because I'm catching all this blood
in my hand. Seventeen at thetime, and I'm like, do I
need to go home so my momcan help me out or do I need
to go to the hospital right now? Did you know it was in your
(10:39):
neck at that time? I didyou know? I had thought a firecracker
had exploded behind my ear, becauseboth my ears started ringing and it was
a pretty dispersed pain. And thenI see a bunch of people running out
of theater nine, which kicks ina fight or flight response. Nothing to
fight, and so I'm like,I'm getting out of here. So I
run out of the mall parking lotto run out of the theater into the
(11:01):
mall parking lot down the street.End up seeing a couple of white cars
with lights on top that I thoughtwere law enforcement. Approached them and they
happened to be construction workers who wererepaving Sable at the time, and they
aid it to me on the backof one of their pickup trucks. Oh
my god. And I waited there. I called name on one. I
ended up calling my mom. Iended up meeting them up with the friends
(11:22):
that I came with to check into make sure we was okay. And
then I was transported to Aurora Southvia PD Wow. And then what did
the injury end up doing and entailing? So the injury. I have an
entry below my left ear lobe,and then the exit is just the left
of the back of my headneck.The miracle in my story is that it
(11:46):
didn't hit anything. Yeah, soyou literally just went through your skin.
Yeah, so in and out,but it's split in the back. I'm
looking over my right shoulder. Abullet goes through the wall through me,
bypasses my jaw, bypasses my crowdedartery of his brain, passes skull,
brain, passes everything. So theonly lasting deficit that I had was the
(12:09):
attached nerve that ran along the outsideof my ear, so I couldn't feel
the outside of me here for aboutsix months. That eventually met up and
reattached and now I can feel myear and so and now it is just
a scar and a crazy story.Unbelievable. Like you said, that could
be a whole series of podcasts witheverything that happened that night. My cousin
(12:30):
John Wheeland was with Station eight,Denver Firefighter and they happened to be one
of the first responders that were onThey actually got there, I think before
paramedics arrived, and so I rememberhim telling me the scene. I mean,
for the first responders was so justlife altering for them as well.
And then the fact that now youhave decided to be one yourself, and
(12:52):
originally did you want to be aparamedic? So originally I wanted to get
into law enforcement. One of myolder brothers, he's law enforcement in California,
and you when I finally reconnect withthem in high school, he's telling
me all of his fun and crazystories and I was like, yeah,
this is pretty interesting. And it'sa great segue because I was transported to
roy South via PD and so Iwas like, yeah, like police.
(13:15):
I was in the back of acop car, you know, on my
way to the hospital. So that'swhat I knew. I didn't really know
too much about fire when I ranout and kind of found aid myself.
I never saw a firetruck and Inever saw an ambulance. That always left
a curiosity in me to know whatit was like for fire and emergency services.
(13:37):
And as I was pursuing law enforcement, someone asked me about fire and
I had a couple of friends whowere interested in getting into fire, and
so I started to dig deeper intothat and found out that firefighting really encompasses
what I wanted to do. Youknow, in law enforcement they do a
lot of great things working in Ifeel now I see what they really do.
But firefighting really spoke to me,and so I knew from maybe halfway
(14:01):
through CSU. I was like,this is what I want to do.
I want to get into fire andasking be my plan. B. I'm
gonna try and take this football thingas long as i can, which you
did. Okay, So one morequestion on the firefighting Is it because of
the want to help people and notthat law enforcement doesn't, because they definitely
help people, but there's also adifferent side to it where they deal with
a lot of the bad guys andall that kind of stuff that they have
to deal with, whereas I feellike fire they do tend to get there
(14:24):
sometimes before paramedics, and they dotend to be first on the scene sometimes.
Yeah. Yeah, And it's actuallyinteresting because being there police officers,
they have their patrol cars and they'reable to get places fast. Yes,
so I always make a joke thatthere's first Aspiders and there's first first A
Spiders, and the cops are veryproud of it when they get there first,
by the way, and they dosome great work yeah, but as
(14:45):
far as firefighting, it's a teamatmosphere, you know, So I'm never
alone. I'm never doing things bymyself. I always have a team with
me. And that was what Idid as an athlete. You're preparing to
train, which you do in lawenforcement also, but you do that as
well on fire And you know,when I call nine one one, I
needed medical aid and I was afraidand I was uncertain, and so I
(15:05):
just wanted somebody to help me.Yeah, as a firefighter, you know,
we go to those people with myDepartment of South Metro and I'm sure
that most departments around the country,the majority of the calls are medical.
So that's who we are responding to. Those people who you're helping scared people
are afraid and uncertain and need somemedical attention. And you know, the
fire fighting part of it is isvery fun as well. You know,
(15:28):
that is very exciting. And thenI sit on the cake for all of
it is when we show up,most people are are happy to see us,
especially ladies. The firefighters are here. Yeah, it makes going to
work very easy. Okay, Sothere's that part of your story, which
is a huge, huge part ofyour story that happens eight days after you've
committed to Colorado State. So nowyou have this, You've got to get
(15:50):
healthy again, you have a footballscholarship. Yeah, that support started immediately.
I remember I was discharged around likesix thirty or seven from the hospital.
I had a call from coach mcaweenbefore eight o'clock that morning as I
was being discharged, you know,so I definitely felt the love from CSU
at that point and knew that hadmade the right decision. And then going
(16:11):
back to my injuries, and Iwas fortunate enough to not have any lasting
deficits. Obviously, the injury waspretty significant and took some time to heal
up, so I had to takea small break from football, but I
never missed a practice. I wasthere two days later, although I couldn't
participate necessarily to avoid infection and toreally like light it heal. I was
(16:32):
there to support my teammates and letthem know that I was okay because I
could be there. I was walktalking, I was breathing. That had
to be overwhelming, though, Zach, with everything that was going on and
the aftermath of you know what,we were trying to figure out with what
happened and then there you are,and at some point you do when tragedy
happens, you still have to keepmoving forward. Life keeps going. So
how are you then kind of mentallyunpacking what's happened, or are you still
(16:57):
It was hard to kind of raspinitially what had happened as a seventeen year
old kid, But I remember thatI was a leader on my high school
team and we had business to takecare of, and so I was going
to be there and I was goingto be the best for my team going
into that season, and so footballreally helped me heal in the long run,
you know, because I was ableto get to practice, I was
(17:18):
able to do everything I was setout to do despite the weight for my
injuries to heal. Do you startplaying your senior year at some point during
that year? Yeah, So Ithink I missed maybe two weeks of practice.
Wow, in the summer. Iwas very adamant to getting back.
I didn't miss a single game mysenior season, which I think really selled
me up for success and kind ofgave me the confidence I needed going into
(17:41):
CSU, because I knew it wasgoing to be a large jump going from
Gateway High School to Division one football. Was there anybody else at your high
school that was there that night?There was a lot of people. The
theater is right down the street fromGateway, you know, we share sable.
There was a lot of friends ofmine in theater nine. There was
a lot of friends of mine inmy theater eight as well. Luckily,
(18:02):
nobody on the team was injured,but unfortunately Aj was killed from gay and
he had graduated that year, andhe was somebody that I didn't know personally,
but I remember him around the schoolvery well. You know. He
was very like energetic, just agreat person to have in the building,
to raise morale and to keep asmile on his face. Were you able
(18:22):
to lean on each other that senioryear of high school? Yeah, as
far as those that were there andand even others that weren't, Yeah,
heavily, you know, because somany people were there. Everyone had that
shared experience. Everybody knew that wehad to come together. We like,
we need each other. Nobody cango through something like that alone. It
was great to have the support,you know, as teammates, and they're
from the school and from the communityand nationwide. So you go through your
(18:47):
senior year you're obviously working through alot of things that have happened. You're
right before your senior year. Butthen you do get onto CSU, you
read shirt freshman year, first year, then their second year there do you
play do you start to play alittle bit it This is mcawayne's final season.
My second year there, I gotin some crash time at the end,
you know, when we were upbig right, you know, because
my eligibility clock has started, andso just to kind of like prep me
(19:11):
and obviously to save starters from gettinginjured, you know, I was sitting
behind some some really good players.I think the tackles at the time were
Tyson Brelo, who ended up beinga second round traffick to the Broncos,
and then the other one, Ithink his name was Sam Carlson. There's
some good lineman. Then. Yeah, there was some heavy competition, you
know, and both those guys wereawesome, and all the three of the
interior guys were studs as well,So it was great to actually sit back
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and learn from them and develop too, because I wasn't the biggest at the
time, so I think I stillneeded to find the kitchen a little bit
before I was able to step footon the field one of those many restaurants
that they had there in Fort Collins. So after two years, Jim mcgwain
leaves and he goes on to Floridaand then Mike Bobo comes in. What
was the transition? Like, coachwise, were worried at all about what
(19:56):
your role would be when Bobo camein. I wasn't too concerned. I
didn't really know what I didn't knowat the time, and I thought it
was a very good opportunity with thecoaching transition to prove myself. They didn't
recruit me, and so all theyknew of me was what I was going
to show on the field. Lookingat the roster at the time, I
really felt I had an opportunity toget on the field if I worked my
(20:18):
butt off, and so I mademy mission to work as hard as I
could and leave nothing behind to showthem that I'm capable of playing. And
that's what happened. You know.I ended up starting that first year,
and I remember them telling me thatI wasn't like the best left tackle,
I wasn't the best right tackle,and they're like, hey, Zach,
we have a guard position available,and we think that you're the fifth best
(20:40):
guy and we're just gonna put youhere and you got to learn it.
And so that was a challenge Itook on that year and it was a
great entry into my college football career. So had you always played tackle before
and not guard? I played tackleall throughout high school, ran that we
were in a triple option offense.So the transition into a pro style offense
was there interesting? Yeah, nokidding. So you moved to guard and
(21:03):
then you do start what like thirtyalmost forty games when you're at Colorado State,
but then getting to the NFL's anotherballot of wax there. So what
was that transition like? Trying toget with teams, do a pro day
and all of that, and youhad a little bit of an injury as
well. Yeah, it was interesting. I went and played at the NFLPA
(21:23):
Collegiate Ble shortly after our season ended. I knew that somebody had their eye
on me. Who I don't know, but somebody did. You got invited
for a reason. Yeah, Andthe way I functioned as an athlete was
basically I was taking things day byday. So I was like, I'm
gonna be the best payer I canbe right now, I'm gonna be the
best parer it can be this game, and the rest will kind of take
(21:44):
care of itself. But the NFLPACollegiable was a great foreshadow kind of to
like what was to come, youmean, the business of the NFL,
the business of the NFL. Andit was a great experience, you know,
playing with guys across the country,getting some really high quality coaching,
getting the experience of what it's likefootball on a business level. It's totally
different, isn't it. And thenyou know, having an agent not going
(22:07):
to school and focusing on training.It was a great, great experience in
very eye opening. Um, youhave an injury that kind of hurts you
during your pro days, talk alittle bit about that. Yeah, So
during the collegiate ball I end uprupturing a flexure tendant in my ring finger
commonly known as jersey finger, whichwas a minor injury. Well in the
eyes of myself, I thought itwas pretty minor for your position, kind
(22:29):
of a big one position, kindof a big one, you know,
for those who don't know what thatis like. Basically, couldn't bend the
top knuckle of my ring finger,and so it inhibited my ability to grip
proficiently. Kind of key for alignment, very key. You know, we're
not holding, No, you're notholding, but you still need to be
able to grip strategic grabbing. Andso I end up having surgery on that,
(22:53):
and that was maybe not the besttiming because I was put into a
splint and it was it was asensitive recovery because there's really not much I
can do to to rehabit. Teamsare having some doubt whether I would be
able to play again, and soI just kind of rolled with the punches
and did what I could with whatI had, you know, and then
ended up going on draft to theChargers who believed in me and saw that.
(23:15):
Did you get invitations from anybody else? They are only ones. Don't
know what else because my agent didthe agents and that's kind of weird too,
right where you don't you're a littlebit in the dark, and they
kind of take over and do thingsand tell you what you need to hear.
Yeah. Yeah, So my agent, Cameron Wisse, he was awesome
and he did a ton of workbehind the scenes, and all I remembers,
(23:36):
you know, I got the phonecall and he was like, hey,
You're going to go to the Chargers. And I was like, all
right, because I really trusted himthat he was going to put me in
the best position, because who wasI to kind of no, like,
I don't want to go to theChargers. You know, I know more
than you do. Drafted. Heknows, you know, because he wants
to get paid too. Yes,you know, so I get paid,
he gets paid. But I rememberduring the draft, you know, I
was getting phone calls from the Vikings, from the forty nine ers, from
(24:00):
the Saints, from the Cardinals,and some from LA. After my pro
day, I went to dinner witha scout from the Chargers, and I
end up going to a meeting upwith a local scout from the Saints.
So it was like all over theplace, which was very cool, and
it was a great first opportunity inLA with the Chargers. You get cut
after training camp. I didn't.I got released right after training camp.
(24:22):
It was between me and someone elseand they decided to go with the other
player who well deserved that roster spot. And then not long after, maybe
several hours, I got a callfrom John Lynch asked me if I'd be
interested in coming up to San Franzand I'm in California. Yeah, it
was interesting. You know, hehas a seven two oh area code.
I don't know if that's sharing toowhatever, so it makes sense because he
(24:44):
was here. Yeah. So I'msitting in my hotel room and I get
that seven two oh area code andI'm like, gosh, this is not
what I need right now. Idon't need someone from home, Like I'm
waiting for an important phone call andI answer it. You know, luckily
I was. I might have notanswered it. He's like, hey,
this is John Lynch. That's cool. It was very cool. And then
that transition up to Sant fran wasvery quick and like here's your flight,
(25:07):
here's when you're coming in day one. After that, you know, I
had to get my own ride tothe airport and head out to San fran
People don't realize the logistics, andespecially if guys are in a position like
you, Zach. The majority ofguys are in a position like you where
they're fighting, especially as we openedup a training camp, there's a hundred
guys out there. You can't allmake it. Half of you were going
(25:30):
to make it. And so you'reliving in a hotel for a month.
Granted it's a nice hotel, butyou're still living in a hotel for a
month and your family's not around andyou're by yourself. And then something happens
where you get cut. You geta call, we got your plane figured
out, but find ruber do this. There's so much you have to do
and trying to figure out. Okay, now I got to pack up all
my stuff and go and it's alot. Yeah, it was a lot,
(25:52):
And little did I know what thatwould be like. So I knew
that it was a possibility, Butuntil you get cut and you're talking to
your agent and then you talk toa representative from the logistics person from the
other team and they're like, here'syour flight, and you get there and
they take you to the hotel.And from my situation, I don't know
how it is now, but theywould book me for a week at some
(26:14):
hotel or the team hotel, andthen they'd say, after this week,
you can either pay whatever the teamprice was, or you can find your
own place. Because you're an adultand you know you have money, and
so we're paying you so you canfind your own living. Yeah. So
when I got up to San Francisco, I didn't. I didn't. Maybe
I still didn't understand how vulnerable Iwas. You're still young too, And
(26:34):
so I found an apartment that Icould rent a month to month, found
when I can get fully furnished,because I knew the possibility of getting cut
was there, and so it wasgreat. You know. I was there
for six weeks I think, andthen got cut. And it was always
on a Tuesday. I think itwas Tuesday before four pm Eastern time.
How did that go down? Youtalk too? I did? I did
(26:55):
during that day. So it wasa series of events that occurred, and
I'm sure there's more to it,but you know, we go to Kansas
City, Jimmy Croppolo tears as ACLin Kansas City. The next week we
end up going to Green Bay andwe've lost that game. And so through
a series of events, they're tryingto find a new quarterback and there's other
positions that they're moving around the roster. So I get called in on a
(27:15):
Tuesday, probably at like ten o'clock. We'd just gotten back at like five
am because it was a late nightgame, you know, and they told
me that they had to make someroster moves and they're like, hey,
wasn't you like we saw you gettingbetter? You were being productive, But
it's just how it works. Andhang around a little bit. Maybe we'll
bring you back. And maybe theywere sincere about it. Maybe that's what
they tell everybody. I don't know, you know. Then I am calling
(27:37):
my agent and he's like, Iheard from them. Just hang out.
I'm gonna make some phone calls.And so I'm out with my now wife
at a Panera Bread because I'm hangingout. I have this apartment, expensive
apartment, I bet right, Yeah, I mean, nothing's cheap in San
Francisco. It was almost lost mymind when they told me how much I
was gonna have to pay. Yeah, as a practice squad player, Like,
(27:57):
practice squad is still good in me, but it is not what active
roster knew people make. And youwere practice squad, practice squad with the
forty nine ers. So I'm atthis Panera and I get a call from
my agent. He's like, hey, I think the Colts might want to
send you for a workout. Um, they haven't said that there will sign
(28:18):
you, but they're most likely goingto sign you after this workout. I'm
like, all right, cool,I'll wait for the phone call, get
a call from Indianapolis. You know, they're like, hey, we're going
to send you out for workout.Absolutely, I'll be there. Cool,
can you make a flight at sixthirty and it's four o'clock. I'm like,
excuse me, I'll look at I'llget Sarah, my wife, and
I'm like, hey, uh,I'm gonna go to Indianapolis tonight and I
(28:40):
don't think I'm gonna be coming back, so I need some help here.
So I had to close out mylease, return to the rental car,
buy her a plane ticket at homethe next day. You know, pretty
much. If it wasn't for her, I don't know how I would have
pulled that off. Yea, youknow. So she took me to the
airport and then she helped close outall that stuff and got our way back
(29:00):
home. You know, I'd takea flight from San France to la and
then to Indianapolis. So it wasa total overnight flight, like land at
maybe like four forty five. Andthen you have to go to a workout
on no sleep. Well, thenyou have to go through all your medical
so there's like an extensive amount ofmedical screening that has to be done.
(29:21):
So it gets this hotel and they'relike, hey, you can, We'll
let you sleep for like thirty orforty minutes. Well thanks, you know,
which, which was huge, andthat was big time because I had
a full day's work ahead of me. So then I'd go through my extensive
medical screens and MRIs, the xrays, the physicals, the questionnaires,
and then you know, it's rightinto practice. So here's your first meeting,
(29:41):
here's the install for today, practiceat eleven thirty, you know.
And then so it wasn't just aworkout like I guess you have a workout.
Yeah, so workout before practice andyou have you know, whatever the
schedule was for that day. Butyou just roll right into it. You
know, you're a professional, yougot you gotta handle it. And then
you're on the practice squad squad thereyeah okay. And then while you're on
the practice squad, something that alot of people don't realize is that you
(30:04):
can get poached and taken off thepractice squad by other teams. Yeah.
That was something I didn't even knowit was possible. So I know two
weeks happened. There. They havea home game, they have an away
game. Then we're going to byeweek, have all the summer clubs starting
to get cold. So I flyback here in Colorado, swap out some
clothes, fly back, fly backon like a Friday. My agent calls
me, I think on a Sundaynight. He's like, hey, I
(30:27):
got a call from the Cardinals.They want to bring you up to their
active roster. There was some confliction, you know. I enjoyed Indianapolis.
I enjoyed it there. I thoughtI was going to improve as a player.
I mean, I think I canhang around this team for the rest
of the year and maybe earn aspot. And he was like, listen,
Zach, you gotta take care ofyourself, like you're going to get
an active roster position, and thisis big, you know, for multiple
(30:49):
reasons. You need to take this. I drive to the facility at ten
o'clock at night and just drive myiPad off in the locker room because they're
like, hey, your flight's gonnabe at five am. So I have
no time to go tell them anyonecould buy. I have no chance to
do anything. Yeah, So Icatch that five am flight out to Arizona
and the same process happens again.I go through all my medical everybody wants
(31:11):
to same x rays, the samememories, asked the same questions, but
just with their person, right,which is Okay, they're going to pay
me money to do this whatever needsto get done. Yeah, put me
up in the team hotel, andthen the same thing. You know,
I'm there for a week and Iget thrown into practices and workouts and team
meetings. So like I never skippeda beat. So now you're on your
fourth team in the same season,that's correct, You go Chargers, forty
(31:34):
nine, Ers, Colds, Cardinals. You end up staying with the Cardinals
for the rest of the year.Yeah, with all my winter clothes that
I just brought back to Indianapolis.Yeah, not winter in Arizona anymore.
I could definitely wear what I waswearing in San Francisco. Perfect weather out
there. Oh yeah, I gotthere like mid November if I remember right.
Okay, so the weather was beautifulout there. Did you get to
(31:56):
play games where you involved? Yeah, so on the active roster, I
was much more involved than I wasas a practice squad player because now it's
like I have an actual responsibility forgame days. I dressed for several of
the last eight games I was there, I was able to touch the field
a couple of times. My veryfirst play came in La versus Chargers are
(32:20):
starting tackle at the time. Wewent in early before halftime because he wasn't
feeling good or something like that,and La ended up scoring and kicked the
ball off to us, so wehad to burn like four or five seconds.
So We're gonna go out there andtake a knee. I'm the third
tackle dressed, and so they're like, all right, Zach, you gotta
go out and take this knee.My very first play in the NFL was
was a knee right. I calledmy family after him. I hate you
(32:44):
guys grow on the field and they'relike, no, we didn't think you
were going to get on and wealready went to the restroom at halftime.
Yah Sarah was like, oh mygosh, I can't believe I missed a
play. She was so upset.And then when I told him what it
was, you know, when theywatched it, they're like, no one
needs to see that. My otherplay time came first Green Bay. I'd
started field goal that game, whichwas super cool, and we kicked the
(33:05):
ball I think three times that gameand we end up beating Green Bay and
it was a Cardinals first time doingthat in like twenty years. Was it
at Lambo? It was at Lambo. What an iconic stadium that is?
It was snow which is which ispretty cool. Yeah, so that was
the only playing time I got,but you know, being able to dress
for several games, travel for teams, and to just like feel a part
of it, like I had aserious role, you know, like I
(33:27):
was prepping to play because it onlytakes one play for someone to get injured
and your number gets called and yougot to perform, and that's opportunity.
You fulfilled your dream. You playedin the NFL, which was very very
cool, and I'm extremely grateful andfortunate for Arizona giving me that opportunity.
You start with them again in twentynineteen, right book, get cut before
rookie minting camp right before that.Yeah, so go through some OTAs with
(33:49):
them. Cliff Kingsbury comes in,new coaching staff change. They ended up
drafting I think two linemen that yearand then all their injuries, they're now
healthy and they're obligated by larger contractsthen mine. So a handful of us
got released that day. I hadmy car out in Arizona. I drove
out there forts and I remember Igot released and I was like, all
right, I'm gonna grab lunch inthe cafeteria and then I'm going to drive
(34:12):
back to Colorado right now. Andthat's what I did. And so I
bucked it, and I was hopingI was not going to get a call,
because my answer would have been,Hey, I'm in the middle of
New Mexico. I can't catch aflight right at all. And that's kind
of like what happened. So I'mdriving back and camera and my agent causing
he was like, hey, thechiefs just claimed you off waivers and I'm
like, yo, I'm in Albuquerquelike with a car with a car,
(34:36):
like, I don't know if Ican just detour out, like I need
to get this home. And sothey let me stay for the weekend.
It was Mother's Day weekend, soI got to hang out for that weekend
and then and then they flew meout to start like in the middle of
the rotas I guess, And sothen you go to Kansas City for a
little bit, then you get cutafter training camps. You make it all
the way through again, just likeyou did with the Chargers and then you
(34:57):
get cut at the end of trainingcamp. Yeah, which is still a
great experience. You know. It'slike different teams, different players. I
got to spend some time in KansasCity, which was with Patrick Mahomes,
Yes, which was very cool.I bet and that year they end up
winning the Super Bowl. I feelextremely fortunate to have been around that program
to see what a championship team lookslike, how they prepare, how they
(35:17):
treat their bodies. Just the levelof focus that they had during that training
camp was something I hadn't seen fromany other team. Isn't that interesting how
different each club their mentality and howit trickles down to the players and you
feel it, you know it,and those the teams that go the farthest.
Yeah, it was cool to seesome of those guys that I had
built friendships with, you know,win that championship while I was sitting at
(35:39):
home just enjoying it, you know, and I was like, maybe I'll
get a thank you card for this, did you no, no thank you
get a part of a ring oranything or no. I just I just
get the story to tell that Iwas with the training That's right, you
helped produce the Championship Teams Act,So after you get cut in training camp,
(35:59):
you get drafted by the XFL,the Tampa Bay team, but you
decided not to go that route.Yeah, that was very interesting because the
AAA League was happening. There wasa lot of stuff, and then they're
like the XFL is going to kickoff with the USFL doing whatever, you
know, And I was still kindof like toying with the idea of you
know, do I hang on foranother roster spot, or do I start
(36:20):
to pursue Plan B as a firefighter, or do I You know, this
opportunity with the XFL sounds pretty legit. I can get game film and I
can make my way back in.The talks of pay sounded really good,
and I was like, man,I can make a lot of money doing
this. But at some point theyhad restructured it or I had found out
that I was not going to makeas much as I thought. I think,
if I remember the numbers right,they said it was a base salary
(36:44):
of thirty thousand, with incentives upto sixty if you start every game and
you win games, and then maybeyou win the championship. And I was
like, I don't know if that'sreally it, you know. And as
I was looking into the fire departments, like fire departments, they paid pretty
well, and so I was like, I can make similar money doing that
and completely change my schedule, savemy body, and move on to what
(37:07):
might feel more buckets for my soul. Absolutely, and so I was.
I was still kind of like givingthem the idea that I was interested,
and I was. But then whenthey finally drafted me, I was like,
oh, snap, like this isthis is like either I gotta I
gotta go down there and play,or I have to move on. And
so I had a couple of conversations, and I decided to move on,
(37:29):
you know, and the NFL seasonwas kind of coming down to an end,
and I was like, all right, I'm not going to hang around
for postseason, like I need tomove on. I did it. I
lived the dream, I touched thefield. I made enough money to get
my life started and not be toofar behind. It was probably the best
decision I ever made. Tough oneto make, but you look back and
go, ye, yeah, thatwas that needed to happen very very you
(37:51):
know. In the conversation I hadwith my agent when I finally told him
that I was done. Was probablyone of the toughest conversations I've ever had.
It was right, very very tough, you know, because I've been
playing since i was nine and tobe like, hey, like, I'm
done doing this. It wasn't necessarilybecause I wanted to, but the NFL
didn't really want me anymore. Andthat's a tough realization. It's like it's
(38:14):
a bad relationship, you know,like you can't you can't want the girl
more than she wants you, youknow, and at some point you got
to move on and said that,yeah, exactly. Wow. So then
you do become a firefighter and youget on with South Metro Fire, which
is where you currently are at astation in Highlands Ranch. You are doing
not only great work as a firefighterand first responder, but also now as
(38:36):
a philanthropist. You have started ascholarship, a ten thousand dollars scholarship that
goes to a student who's pursuing highereducation, first generation student that's going on
to pursue higher education. Explain alittle more about it. I know there's
a lot of entities involved, includingthe seven twenty Memorial Foundation. It surrounds
the events that happened at the AuroraTheater and there's also a five K that's
(38:59):
part of this. So essentially,you know, last year was the tenth
anniversary of it. I'm a woundedsurvivor, I have a direct connection to
it. So the head of theseven twenty Memorial Foundation reached out to me
and asked if I wanted to helpbe a part of the tenth anniversary,
you know, to kind of pitchideas and to see how we could make
it special because it was it wasa big anniversary. So I got on
(39:20):
the phone with her and I waschatting and I pitched a couple ideas and
one of them was a five Kthat could help funday scholarship. She was
like, yeah, that sounds reallyreally cool, and they had tried to
start one before, but it reallydidn't get much headway. It seemed like
it paired really well, you know, because the five k's it would act
as a great fundraiser, but thenfor what And looking at my story,
I'm a first generation college graduate andthat was a substantial achievement in my life
(39:45):
and it really set me up fora lot, even beyond the opportunity to
put in the NFL CSU changed mylife, and so I thought it would
be very very cool to pay itforward for somebody else to have a simil
the opportunity. I was very fortunateto receive a full scholarship, so I
never saw any type of bill togo to college. So I don't know
(40:07):
what that's like, but it's tough. Yeah, it is a huge barrier
for people going to college, andI wanted to to see if I can
help bring that barrier. Download Absolutelyas a parent who has paid bills to
see issue for their student, yeah, those are hard checks to write.
Yeah, and so the fact thatyou're helping somebody with that is amazing.
(40:28):
Yeah, And it was a verygood pair that we talked about. Heather
dem In, the head of theseven twenty Memorial Foundation, was like,
yeah, I love it, andshe did an enormous amount of work last
year building it, and you're makingit a part of the whole anniversary day.
The Hero's Journey came, you know, as a reflection of those who
aided and those who continue to helpthose who are battling adversity on an everyday
(40:51):
basis. You know a lot ofthe unsung heroes, like yes fire was
there, yes police were there,but what about the person who still struggles
with that stuff today and their supportgroup. This is for that support group.
Well, think about the construction guys. They're not there to help you
do that that night, they're doingconstruction. I mean that had to have
affected them. Heroes you know,people who reach out without asking for anything
(41:14):
in return, you know, tolend aid for somebody else. Yes,
you know. And it is alsoto remember those who were lost and those
who were injured. That is thecore foundation of it. But it's also
to share light on those who whohelp us, you know, the families
of those who are lost, whoare still there today, the survivors who
are still here today. We wouldnot be here or maybe be as well
(41:37):
as we could be today without thosepeople. And so those are the heroes.
So that's how it kind of gotthe name. You know. The
five k was something I thought thatwould be very inviting to a lot of
people. You know, whether run, walk, what everybody can do.
Yeah, that was the furthest I'veever ran in my entire life. You
know, football, you have yourforty yard sprint, maybe your heart yard
sprints. So it's like it wasn'tsomething I had ever achieved and I was
(41:59):
like, I was kind of intimidatedby it. It's long enough where someone
might need some encouragement along the way. Someone might find a quote hero to
help them finish this thing, andthen they can be proud of that they
accomplish something that is really cool.And the first year went very well,
didn't it. It didn't. Wehad two hundred participants, We raised over
(42:19):
ten thousand dollars. We were ableto distribute a ten thousand dollars scholarship to
a graduating senior out of Avara CentralHigh School, and you know, we
have a little bit of reserves tokind of help us fill that gap into
this year. But the goal isnot to distribute one ten thousand dollars scholarship,
is to distribute multiple and turn itinto an annual thing. You know.
In ten thousand was very ambitious fora first year. That is because
(42:44):
I'm like, if I want tohelp build that bridge between high school and
college for some people to really achievewhat they're really trying to do, I
got to raise a substantial amount ofmoney and I know ten thousand is not
going to cover at all. Ohbut Zach, that takes a big dent
out of that first year. It'sdistributed over the course of four years a
year nice over four years, andthat helps, you know, us to
(43:06):
make sure that they're staying in schooland they're they're doing what they're supposed to
do to make sure that they graduate, because that's their goal. That's why
they're applying to the scholarship, isto go and to graduate. I really
hope that it does help in therecipient that received it this year. Through
other funds and grants, I wasable to get like she's not going to
have to pay for school, whichis very, very cool, and it
fills a lot of buckets. Theteam that works together to make this happen
(43:30):
is doing an enormous amount of workbehind the scenes. So it's not just
me, No, No, there'sa lot. When you get the applications
and vetting through those applications and hearingsome really heart and gut wrenching stories from
people about why they deserve the scholarship, that's tough. Yeah, we had
seventeen applications this year. Applicants allamazing, amazing students, like there are
(43:53):
some high achieving, motivated, ambitiousyoung individuals in a word, public schools,
And it was very tough to makethat decision. I'm on the committee
with Peyton Manning and Dave Logan forPeyton's eighteen to eighty eight scholarship. We
had to go through a lot ofapplications of kids that are going to college
and Trent and I'm like, ohmy gosh, I can't decide I want
(44:14):
to give something to everybody. Yeah, it was very, very tough.
The core of the scholarship is it'scalled the Opportunity Scholarship. The biggest thing
is, you know, who justneeds an opportunity? Who is not the
star star player, who's like rightthere that just needs a little little something
to get them over the top,Like who needs someone to believe in them,
(44:35):
and who just needs that opportunity tomake the most of something that is
so great And so hopefully this fiveK just continues to build every year,
and you're going to hold it aroundthe same date. Yeah, so moving
forward, you know, to makeit easy for everybody. The date is
planned to be the first Saturday followingthe anniversary. Okay, The goal is
to make this Aurora's Signature five Ksomething that you know, people don't have
(45:00):
to go all the way out toBoulder for or go right into Denver for
it's something local that they can takepride in that's in their backyard, be
like the Boulder Boulder, but inAurora. That would be very cool.
That would be really cool. Wow, Zach, that's awesome. Just one
last thing I kind of want toput out there is funding for the scholarship
as a year round year I wasgoing to ask can people donate to the
(45:20):
scholarship at any time if they can'tdo the five K? And the scholarship
is housed by the Aurora Public SchoolsFoundation. The money that's collected to do
the five K goes directly to theAPS Foundation, and people can donate directly
to the APS Foundation AYE all yearround and one hundred percent of what's gathered
from the five K through registrations anddonations go directly towards a scholarship as well.
We'll get those links in the notesfor the podcast so people can check
(45:44):
those out. Yeah, Zach,I'm so impressed with everything that you've gone
through that you've done. I mean, just you've got every level of everything
that's happened to you and you stillhave so much life to go. You
just got married to Sarah. Yeah, the last October were who you met
in college in the dorms at CSU, which I just love and you know
you're just starting your life, whichis fantastic. Yeah, it's great,
(46:07):
and I don't think I could doanything without the support that I have.
I had great support network that's inthe people that are involved in my life
are amazing people. Like I said, it's not just me, it's the
support and then the support doing theirrole into making it what it is today.
I just happen to be the onehere on the mic today sharing my
story because fortunately for those people,they didn't have to experience the stuff that
(46:30):
I had to experience. And Iwill gladly take that weight on my shoulders.
Although I wish everybody could play inthe NFL to some degree, there
are some pretty good benefits to it'scool experiences. Yes, but I'm glad
that I can just be a partof this and help make something special in
Aurora. So that leads well intomy final question that I always wrap up
(46:51):
with, and it probably has todo a lot with what you just said.
When you talk to people and givethem advice when they have some kind
of a setback in their life ortragedy in their life. What do you
tell people is a way to kindof work through that. I mean,
support system obviously is huge, andI'm guessing that would probably be yours.
Yeah, support system is huge,but I think, but I do tell
people the most is to control whatyou can control. And that's the biggest
(47:15):
thing. I couldn't control that Igot shot in the neck out of theater.
I couldn't control every time I gotreleased from an NFL team. I
can't control a lot of things,but there are certain things I can't control,
and I'm grateful for everything I can'tcontrol, and I think that mindset
will go a long way in it. It's helped me go a long way,
I can tell Zach, this hasbeen awesome. Thank you so much
(47:38):
for how did we miss anything?Just the classic go Rams. Oh there
you go, Yes, go Ramsfor sure. Yeah, no, it's
awesome to have a fellow ram inhere and just to see what you've been
doing. And I can't wait tosee where you go. You're so young
and you just have so much potentialwith everything you're doing. I wish you
all the best and go Rams,go Rams. Thank you so much.
(48:00):
Zach Goldich. Wow, right.Be sure to check out the podcast notes
and links if you'd like to donateto a scholarship fund. New episodes of
Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired, or released every Tuesday. Please follow
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(48:22):
Thank you so much for taking timeout of your day to check out
this episode and any others. Thereare so many good stories out there.
I'm Susie Wargin and until next time, please be careful, be safe,
and be kind. Take care