October 31, 2024 • 46 mins
Join us for a captivating journey with Joe Looney as he takes us from his South Florida roots to the pinnacle of the NFL. Growing up in a football-centric family, Joe's story is a testament to determination and resilience, punctuated by the pivotal role his father played as both a coach and mentor. Joe opens up about the ups and downs, including a tough foot injury before the NFL combine that tested his faith and family support. Joe discusses the highs and lows of his professional journey, including his release from the San Francisco 49ers and subsequent signing with the Dallas Cowboys. Hear about his interactions with Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones and gain perspective on the personal and business sides of football, revealing the unique atmosphere of camaraderie and accountability within the team. Joe's unexpected transition into coaching and teaching reveals a newfound passion. Inspired by figures like Tony Dungy, Joe has embraced the opportunity to guide young athletes, instilling life lessons and shaping future generations. This episode highlights the profound impact of caring high school coaches and the joy Joe finds in fostering a supportive environment both on and off the field. You don't want to miss this!! Grab a glass and a bottle of your choice and LET'S TALK SPORTS!!!!
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Produced by : Chalyse "Lyse" Dishmon, Kevelle "Velz" Harmon, Blair Beezy, and Nuchie
Edited by: Blair Beezy
Music Produced by: KT on the Beatz
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I like sports and that's it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yo, yo, yo, yo, it's the one, and only Lise, and it's
your girl, vels, aka Velly Vell, if that's what you want to
call me, and together we areLocked In Sports.
What's up, lise?
We back with another specialepisode Locked In Sports Coaches
Edition, and today we have aspecial special guest with us.
Some of you guys may know him,some of you may not, but here we
(00:57):
have today with us Joe Looneyman.
Welcome to the show, joe.
First of all, we want to justsay appreciate you for coming on
, taking time out of your busyschedule to come on and do this
interview with us.
We're going to go ahead andjump right into it, all right.
First of all, just kind of tellus a little bit about yourself,
give us a little bit ofbackground, a little bit of bio
(01:17):
on you know who Joe Looney is,and just kind of how you got
here.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
All right.
Well, thank you guys so muchfor having me on the show.
I really appreciate it.
Yeah, um, you know, originallyoriginally born and raised in
South Florida.
Um, yeah, my mom and dad metdown there my dad's, you know
long hair white boy fromKentucky, and then my dad.
My mom's family is all from theBahamas and you know they, uh,
they met one night in a club andthen, you know, a couple of
(01:40):
years later, four kids yeah yeah, so you know, I got three
siblings and, um, a little bitabout myself.
Uh, one thing I've always grewup with is, uh, football.
You know, football has been ahuge part of my life.
My dad played and you know,when I was, when my mom had me,
he named me after a footballplayer that went to Oklahoma
University, joe Don Looney.
(02:02):
Okay, so you know, apparentlythis is how the story went.
My mom said, you know, when Ifirst came out, she was like, oh
yeah, my dad said, this one'sgoing to be an NFL player.
So, hey, pop, spoke it intoexistence, made it.
But you know, we grew up, man, Itell you what.
We had a decent-sized housedown there and I loved it
(02:26):
because it really, it really.
You know we had to do life, youknow, as a family.
So I was really thankful forthat.
And you know, going into highschool, you know I had a plan,
because my mom and dad, theywere blue collar workers,
they're, you know, electricianteachers.
So I didn't have a college fundset up for me.
So my mom and dad always usedto tell us hey, you guys got to
(02:48):
go on an academic athleticscholarship and football was one
of the things I did.
My dad was my coach growing upin little league football and
you know you would think youknow your father would put you
at quarterback right.
My man looked at me and was likeyou know what?
You're gonna be my center.
So I've always played, you know, offensive line, defensive line
(03:08):
but he was my coach growing up,me and my brother and football
has just been a huge part of ourfamily.
Yeah, and I'm so thankful forit because, you know, growing up
with uh, not not a lot of meansit.
It really is truly amazing tobe able to go to Wake Forest and
then get that caliber ofeducation and then go and
(03:30):
fulfill my dream of playing inthe NFL.
And there was a lot of ups anddowns in that road.
One of the things when I gotdrafted a lot of people don't
know I played in the Senior Bowl.
Okay, and you guys, that's forthe college athletes coming out
into the draft, right.
And while I was there I brokemy foot.
(03:52):
So I was thinking, yeah, youknow I'll be fine.
I just had a little anklesprain and whatnot.
Went to the doctor out thereand the doctor man, I tell you
what ruthless to me, like man,what no, you got to have surgery
and going into this.
You know the NFL combine'scoming up and I'm just sitting
there.
You know everything I'vetrained for is just, you know,
(04:13):
it's right there in front of meand I can't I can't quite touch
it.
But another thing about me thatI absolutely love sharing with
people is that my mom and dadalways had us, you know, in
church and it's always been myfoundation.
That foundation of Jesus ChristHaven't always, you know, been
the best and you know, alwaysbeen on board with it.
Especially early on in my life,my faith was, you know, kind of
(04:35):
like that rabbit's foot, thatgood luck, you know, card you
pull out.
God, help us win this game, andI'm going to be on board with
you, dude.
But you know, growing up andlearning, you know how faith
works, it's really helped me,and that's what I'm trying to do
now is let people know like,hey look, I don't know your plan
(04:55):
, I don't know what's going tohappen, but, boy, we got an
author to this thing, and youknow, I try to let everybody
know.
You know, follow his wisdom andyou'll be good to go in this
thing we call life.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, no, I feel that you spoke on like the combine,
so you weren't able toparticipate in the combine.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
No, so the only thing I was able to do was the 225
bench press, okay, and at thetime, you know, I had a boot on
my foot and whatnot, I hadcrutches, but you know, monster,
I've hopped up the stairs onone foot and then bench press,
yeah, oh yeah, but that, thatwas all I was able to do.
I actually I did do theinterviews, okay, and whatnot,
(05:32):
which were a interesting processyeah, tell us about that,
because I always wanted to knowabout how those yeah.
So I mean you as the player, youget a list of teams that want
to talk to you, right, and it's,you know, kind of like hotel
rooms, you're playing musicalchairs.
You're going in, you knowhere's the Cincinnati Bengals,
here's the Pittsburgh Steelers,the New York Jets, and you go in
(05:52):
and you know you're talking totheir head coaches, staff
doctors, yeah, and it's aninteresting process.
But I got drafted by the SanFrancisco 49ers, right, and
going into that interview, coachHarbaugh, he, you know, he sits
me down and he looks at me.
He's like you know what we'regoing to role play a little bit,
and this is how these go.
You know they're interestingprocesses.
(06:13):
He's like yeah, we're going torole play a little bit.
I'm a student athlete, get meto come to Wake Forest
University.
Okay, pitch was is like hey,look, you know, you can go
anywhere in the country.
They're gonna have greatfacilities, they're gonna have,
you know, wonderful athletics.
But it's about the peopleyou're gonna be around exactly.
You want to build relationshipswith good people, so that's why
you should come to wake forestand they can help me out a
(06:35):
little bit, because they endedup drafting me.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So it was like one of like one of the weirdest uh or
off the wall questions thatthey've asked.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
I've heard all kinds of weird stuff, yeah, so I think
I think one of the weirdest, soone of the weirdest processes I
had.
We were, I was in there withthe Cincinnati Bengals and the
team psychologist is in thereand you walk in and you know
you're they put like a chair inthe middle of the room so you're
spotlighted and he, he sitsthere and he asks me.
He's like okay, I got a coupleof words for you to remember.
(07:06):
All right, remember these words.
And he told me the words and wego through a 30-minute
interview, you know talkingabout football, getting up on
the board drawing plays.
And he's like yeah, what werethose words?
Again, and I'm like man, I donot know, in front of all these
kids, I'm like man, I do notremember those words.
Dog apple.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Somebody they try to like test your memory.
Yeah, stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
But you know, I mean the NFL is a business and I
think that's a lot of the sidethat fans don't see, that people
who love it don't see.
It is a business first, and asan athlete you see that you see
that because you know you dealwith contracts and getting in
there and negotiating and it's abusiness at the end of the day,
(07:51):
while you're having fun, youknow.
But to the athletes it's ourjob.
It was my job at the time.
Right, right, right, rightright, you're a big teacher,
coach Asha now.
No, I know that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
So you mentioned that you got drafted by the 49ers.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Kind of take us into um, when you got that phone call
, how?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
it was actually being drafted, cause you got drafted
in the fourth round, right?
Yes, correct.
So, um, tell us what it waslike to get that phone call and
that you know was.
Was it a relief.
You know how did you feel?
You know where you went, yourfamily Like, how was it?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Okay, I got you.
Yeah, so that day, like I said,I was hurt, so I was still in
my boots, sitting on the couchand whatnot, and at this time,
you know, I got a bunch ofthoughts in my head, thinking
maybe I'm not going to getdrafted.
You know, maybe this wasn't theroute God had for me and it was
tough dealing with thoseemotions, but the overall
process it was a very intimate,intimate moment.
(08:43):
It was just my mom, my dad, mybrothers and sisters, okay, and
one of my cousins who's actuallyentering into the NFL draft
this upcoming year.
Oh, that's awesome.
And yeah, we're all sittingthere and I'm sitting in the
little rocking chair and after awhile, my mom and dad, they got
up and kind of went outsidejust to get some of those
emotions off, right, because itis a stressful process sitting
(09:04):
there, you know, waiting foryour name to be called, and then
I just remember, man, I get acall from you know, the bay area
, and I'm like california yeah,I mean go ahead and answer that
and so I answer the phone andcoach harbaugh's on the phone.
he's like hey, joe looney, how'sit going?
This is jim harbaugh, head headcoach of the San Francisco
49ers, and you know we're goingto take you with this next pick.
(09:27):
How?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
does that make you feel?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Man coach.
Yeah, it's static man.
I ain't got no words for it andmy brother's sitting there and
he I mean my brother kind offreaked out and he was still
young.
Then my dad, you know, like Isaid, he's from kentucky and my
dad is a hoot.
If y'all ever get to meet mydad, y'all need to have him on
(09:51):
the show he's a coach too.
He is a hoot, but he has thisthing called the kentucky scream
.
Okay, and he comes in and coachharbaugh says like oh, you got
some people who are excited backthere.
And I'm like yeah, coach, we'vebeen waiting for this.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah, it was a very intimatemoment, you know just us, and it
(10:12):
was a nice time.
It was a nice time, oh that'sgood.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
That's good.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
So was there a specific team that you wanted to
get drafted?
See, now I can say this yeah,you can say it now.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You can say it now.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
So I grew up a Miami Dolphin fan.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I grew up a Miami Dolphin fan.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
From Florida makes sense.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
From Florida, South Florida, Dan Marino, Uh-huh, Dan
Marino.
There it is, let's go Take itout to old school man.
You know I used to like theirjerseys too jersey Outside the
cowboy.
There we go, come on, jerry.
Jerry paid the bills for someyears.
You gotta give him his due,y'all.
(10:51):
Yeah, man, I would have lovedto have played for the Miami
Dolphins.
My mom grew up a Dolphin, mymom was a Dolphin fan, and I
think that's why I adopted it.
So it was.
Yeah, it would have been greatto have been drafted by them.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
That's cool.
So you get drafted right,you're playing for the 49ers.
Uh, it's a big adjustment fromgoing from college to NFL
professional football oh yeah,uh, how was it adjusting to the
NFL after your injury?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
yeah, it was.
It was tough because I didn'tgo in.
I couldn't play right away, Iwas doing rehab, so I had a lot
of self-doubt at the time.
I was like you know, is thisreally for me?
Am I going to be able to dothis?
And one of the things I'd liketo tell people now it's not.
You know, making it to the NFLis a feat, it's tough but
staying is the hard part becauseyou know I walked in there and
(11:43):
I'm a rookie.
You know I ain't got no familyat the time but it's guys out
here, you know, wife, kids ain'tplaying, man, they trying to
feed their families.
You know this is a, it is abusiness, it is a job.
So it was, um, it wasdefinitely a big adjustment
coming in.
You know you ain't got noschool, you're all at work.
But thankfully, you know I hadguys, you know the left tackle,
(12:05):
who was there at the time, hisname was Joe Staley and really
taught me how to be a pro,taught me how to be a pro, a
student of the game.
And you know you guys knowbeing athletes I mean you don't
know how to take care of yourbody and stuff like that.
You know it's like hey, man,get in this cold tub.
You know, put on the Norma techboots.
You know that is the huge partof you know adjusting to the
(12:26):
game, making sure that you stayin it.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, definitely she's supposed to.
Oh, I mean, I'm just, I'm justlistening.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So but um, so you.
You played with San Franciscofor about two years.
Then you signed with theCowboys in 2016.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So I signed with the Cowboys yeah, I signed with the
Cowboys in 2016,.
But I got cut from SanFrancisco Okay, and was that
2015?
And then got picked up inOctober.
And that was an interestingprocess too at the time, because
when I got cut, I was starting,I was a starting center, okay,
and you know, I was really.
(13:11):
You know I was like man, I'm thedude out here, yeah, you were
going anywhere, yeah, I didn'tthink I was going anywhere and,
just like I said, man, you knowthe business aspect of it and
you know, at the time, you know,I was a young kid and I got
married, jumped into a marriage,I had a you know little girl.
My son was on the way, so I wassitting there, man, and I was
(13:32):
like you know, I don't have ajob.
It was an interesting processbecause I played football.
You know, I missed a game oranything since I was four years
old when I started playing ball,yeah, and so being without
football in the fall, you know,it was an eye-opening experience
, but I think that was one ofthe things in my life that it
(13:54):
taught me a lot.
It taught me that you know, if,if you, if you put your, your
occupation, you know what you do, your job, above your faith,
then God hey, you know God don'twant that he wants he wants to
be first.
right, and it really taught methat, hey, god has to be first
in your life.
You can sit here and say it,it's easy to say, but you have
(14:17):
to start showing the actionsafter a while.
It's almost like I wouldcompare it to being a spiritual
teenager.
It's like I ain't got to do allthat man.
We're good man, I'm taking careof what I need to take care of.
But he's like hey look, there'sa bigger purpose to this thing.
It's not just you being an NFLplayer.
(14:38):
There's a bigger purpose towhat I'm trying to do through
you.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, Because that makes me think like you get cut
and you have a growing family,You're married at this time, so
how did you want to stay with it?
You know, because I you knowwhen something like that happens
to you, and then you're married, you got a baby and another
baby on the way, what makes youwant to keep fighting to.
(15:01):
You know, get on another team,or you know with your mind, how
do you keep your mind straight?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Is it just the faith, having the faith in God, or
yeah, that's definitely a bigpart of it, yeah, and I just
think something that kept mymind in is that that was all I
had at the time.
You know, I mean, what else amI going to do?
I was a football player andgoing through that process, you
know, you have teams that youknow try to pick you up and you
(15:27):
go for workouts.
And immediately when I got cut,you know I was going to
workouts.
Oh, okay, going to teams.
And I'm like, okay, you know,this is going to be an easy
process, I'll get picked up realquick, we'll be back playing in
no time, right, you know, butit wasn't like that.
You know, six weeks go by andI'm like, you know, yeah, six
(15:54):
weeks are intense.
It's almost like they're takingyou through a training camp,
practice and going through that.
So I was still I would say I wasstill relying on myself.
You know, it was a learningprocess, I was relying on myself
and meanwhile, you know, god'ssitting there like no, no, no,
rely on me.
And finally, you know, I cameto the realization like, hey,
look, god, you know what you can, you can have it all Take.
And finally, you know, I cameto the realization like, hey,
look, god, you know what you can.
(16:14):
You can have it all.
Take it, you know you have.
Have all of this, just takecare of my family.
Now you can have football.
Because I think when, when youhave something in your life that
you're so comfortable with andyou just like, you know, it's
like that nice blanket, you knowcozy up and it's like, yeah,
this is mine, nobody can takethis away, and God was trying to
strip that from me at that timein my life to let me know like,
(16:35):
hey, look, I got this man, justtrust me.
And the next week Tennesseecalled me.
I got picked up and, yeah,what's starting?
I started the whole season therest of the season.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, yeah.
So what happened with Tennessee?
Um, that, you know you.
You only played a season or twowith Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah, one season, one season, so what?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
happened there.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
So they already had a center at the time under
contract.
They paid him a bunch of money,you know, for a couple of years
and once he, you know, he brokehis ankle so he was coming back
the next year, so they didn'treally need me and at this time
I was still a journeyman, yeah,and what I would say in the NFL,
you know, I was kind of that,that guy who could play multiple
(17:16):
positions, yeah, which reallykept me in the league you know
it really kept me playingfootball.
And you know they they alreadyhad a guy and the the Cowboys
you know called me, bought meout for a visit, was like hey,
you know we need that backupcenter, backup guard, and locked
me into that role.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Man, uh-huh, and that's my favorite part, because
we die high Cowboy fans, that'swhat we do we bleed it, you cut
us it's just running out.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Look in Texas here, hey, you got to be like that.
But you know one thing aboutCowboys the Cowboys fans, Uh-oh,
it's either you are all in ornot.
Right, that's true.
You don't ever hear somebodysay, oh yeah, you know I like
them.
Yeah, it's either like, yeah, Ilove them, or no we don't Right
, that is true, they tell yousome good Christian words, right
(18:05):
they tell you some goodChristian.
There's your worst body.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So you're playing for the Cowboys, right?
So what was it like for oneplaying for the Cowboys?
And then also like was thereany pressure being on America's
team having to perform?
You know all that pressureevery week to win or lose.
You know everybody's watchingyou.
Everybody's talking about you,whether it's good or bad.
Like what was it like?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
You know it was a wonderful experience.
Okay, I think playing the gameyou definitely get those nerves.
You know we would call thembutterflies.
You know people like to throwaround that anxiety word but I
like to say butterflies, youknow, it's just natural to kind
of have that.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, you know youget nervous, but and I hate
(18:48):
comparing football to likemilitary but it's like when
you've been in training, you'vedone something for so long over
and over, you've repped it overand over again, you kind of step
on that field and you know youput on, you put on blinders, you
know it's like a.
It's like a, you know a horseat the Kentucky Derby.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
It's just like, okay, I'mlocked in, I know what I have to
do.
I've trained, I've been in thissituation before, right and um,
(19:12):
you know, hats off to coachGarrett.
Coach Garrett was one of the.
He was one of the best coachesI've had throughout my career.
Yeah, I got a question for that,Mr Clapper the clapper himself
man, and you know, and being acoach now, I take a lot of the
things I saw him do and bring itinto.
(19:35):
You know my coaching becauseyou know football, football.
You break football down.
It's a game of situations andthat's what he was about.
Hey, you're going to be in thissituation like, hey.
Look, you know we're out ofpractice.
All right, hold on, guys.
You know we're going to go intoa two minute drill.
Here's the situation.
There's a minute and 20 secondsleft on the clock.
We're down by six points.
One time out.
(19:55):
Go play.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And so you know you're already there by the time
you get to the game on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
it's like man, I've been here, you tried in your
time.
You're like that swagger.
Yes, okay, I just wonderbecause, like I said, mr Clapper
, he just always, no matter what, he's just yeah, you know, you
fumble the ball.
I mean, like you know, he usedto piss me off, but obviously so
he never lost the locker roomat all.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
No, you know he was one of those guys and I think it
was great for the NFL.
You just got to have that evenkeel.
You can't get too high and youcan't get too low.
You got to kind of stay flyingunder that radar in between
there somewhere.
Okay, and he was great at it,but you know he was also what
people see on the media.
You know, in the media is notreally what's portrayed.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So was he really cussing y'all ass out?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
I mean, you know like I said, he knew some nice
Christian words too for us whenwe needed it Right, right, right
, but for the most part.
You know I mean at that level,if you're a player, you don't
need motivation.
I mean even when I would messup.
It's like I don't need anybodyto tell me I messed up.
I know right now that I messedup, and it's when you're playing
(21:09):
at that level and you're tryingto win a Super Bowl.
You're trying to at the highestlevel, you're.
Every man in that locker roomhas to be accountable for that
and you don't want to be the guyin the locker room that somehow
messes that up.
It's like because, I mean, guyshave worked their whole lives
to get to this moment, to beable to have the opportunity to
(21:31):
step on the NFL field and justto say I played, but to
collectively come together andwin it as a group.
That's hard, that's hard to doand you start understanding that
as a player and it's like man Ihave to be accountable.
I have to be, you know, my ownworst critic, right, you know.
So I'm accountable to theseother guys in the locker room.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
So, speaking of locker room, you know, take us
into the locker room on game day.
You know what is it like beforethe game starts and then like
how is it?
Either after a win or after aloss.
Especially those tough losseswhen we lose to somebody, like
in a division or something likethat.
How was it on game day?
Speaker 3 (22:10):
So game day, game day , the feeling on game day is
great.
You know you get to the lockerroom and it really is kind of a
laid back kind of.
You know everybody has theirown little routine that they do.
You know some guys will go andeat, some guys will go sit in a
hot tub.
You know guys will put onheadphones and lay down and just
(22:32):
kind of chill.
So it's interesting to see theprocess that everybody has.
So everybody kind of had theirown routine.
That's what they did.
But when it, about 90 minutesbefore that game started, we had
this big boom box in there.
Big boom box, oh yeah.
So you know somebody would geton the mic and I tried to be a
DJ.
You know back in the day it wasmy other career, so I would get
(22:54):
on there.
Man, you know, play some EDM,some rap, you know help.
You know help everybody, youknow, get ready to go, get their
mind ready to play.
But right before the game,right after warmups, you come
back in and I mean you can heara pin drop in the locker room.
You can hear a pin drop inthere.
Everybody, I mean you arelocked in ready to go?
Speaker 2 (23:14):
No pun intended.
Yeah, yeah, locked in.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
My dad, he's here, my dad Boom, I told you yeah sure.
But I guess I'll give you guysthe veggies first.
After a loss.
It's tough because Jerry comingthere and you looking him in
the eye, it's like man, thesedudes expecting more than us,
our coaches expecting more fromus.
So it's tough, it's hard aftera loss, but man, after a win, oh
(23:42):
, it's a party.
Oh, my gosh, those 10 minutesin the locker room, you know,
because after the first 10minutes the media can't be in
there, it's just us.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
It's just the team.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And boy man, we're in there having a talk.
I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead.
Yeah, I mean, that feeling isjust great and I think that's
the feeling you know.
I want a lot, I want myathletes to feel, you know, it's
like that 10 minutes whenyou're, you know, celebrating on
the field Like we had a game.
I mean, you know I'm going togo off on my little tangents we
had a freshman football gamethat we played right out here
(24:17):
and it was, you know, it wasgreat to see the guys win.
It was great to see them win and, you know, to see them have
that camaraderie to collectivelydo something.
It's like that's what I wantyou guys to feel, man.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That's what it is.
That's why we play the game.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I almost bring tears to your eyes, I know, and even
it's even more intense as acoach because you're sitting
there and you get to watch it.
I mean we enjoy it as coaches.
I mean I'd be lying to you if Isit here and say, you know I
don't want to win.
You know, if I don't have anego to want to win, right, but
sitting there looking at it,it's just like, man, you're so
happy for the guys, definitelyBecause, man, you know how hard
(24:55):
they work.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You know how hard they work.
Now, that's cool, I feel that,Coach, you talked about Jerry
Jones.
Did you ever have like anyinteractions with him?
And if so, like what were they?
Is he as cool as the mediamakes him out to be?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Oh yeah, man, Jerry is one of the coolest cats you'd
ever meet.
Just like I said earlier, inthe show the media portrays
people.
You know the way they portraythem.
I mean, if this is all they'regoing to show to the world,
that's all they're going to show.
But Jerry, man, besides, youknow, being a very intelligent
businessman, he's verypersonable.
You know, I remember when Isigned, he, you know, sent a
(25:33):
care package to my house, youknow, welcoming us to Dallas and
just, you know, really makes itfeel like a home.
Yeah, and I think out of allthe teams I've played for,
that's why I love the Cowboys somuch.
It just had that real, you know, family.
You know southern hospitality,you know, deal in it, and you
know, I mean everything's biggerin Texas too.
Oh, you know that feeling.
You know he was always in thelocker room with us after the
(25:55):
games and whatnot, very afterthe games and whatnot, very
uplifting too, you know.
He doesn't, you know, beat youinto the ground about.
You know, if you're losing agame, oh, that's good.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
You kind of want that , you know.
As far as an owner, you know alot of people say he's too in
front of the camera.
Did y'all ever feel that waythat sometimes he maybe
overshadowed the team, just hisbig personality and his wanting
to?
You know everyone wants to gotalk to Jerry.
Do you think that kind of likemaybe overshadowed the team a
little bit?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
No, not really.
I mean, just like I said,jerry's a business guy, right,
and at the end of the day, hisrole is to make sure that
there's people sitting in thoseseats to watch the football
games, exactly.
And if there's people watchingthe football games, no seats to
watch the football games.
And if there's people watchingthe football games, then we're
benefiting from it also asplayers.
You know they're helping us.
You know get paid to do what welove to do.
So, definitely, you know Idon't think so, and you know
(26:52):
he's a business guy at the endof the day and he knows how to,
you know, operate that brand.
You know the star is his brand.
Yes, it is, and I think, as aplayer, being a player, you see
that and you're like all right,well, I have to represent it the
right way too.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
You know, because I don't want anything to you know,
happen to this.
I don't want to be the guy thatyou know does something to
bring down the star Right.
You know, we always had on theback of our shirts, you know,
our practice shirts and whatnotthat we work out at.
It was always the star and thenour last name because it always
reminded us, hey, you know,it's the star, it's the team
before the individual.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Right and that makes sense, I love that.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
So, of course, your career as a cowboy came to an
end.
Yes, it did, and you ended upsigning with the Giants, but you
didn't play for them.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
No.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So is that kind of what drove you to be done with
the game, or you know what kindof made you want to hang up your
cleats?
Speaker 3 (27:45):
So there were definitely a couple of variables
in there.
The first one was I was all theway in New York, my wife was
out here, my kids were out hereand it was just a real struggle.
It was a real struggle.
My son was starting his firstfootball season, my son was
starting his first footballseason, my daughter was starting
her first soccer season and Ijust didn't want to be, you know
(28:05):
, away from that.
So that was the number onereason.
You know that came into my mind.
I was like I need to be home.
I gave the game its due.
I need to be home.
The second thing was is, youknow, just like we said earlier,
I was not locked in Right.
Uh-huh, you know I wasn't.
I wasn't as committed to thegame and I felt that when I,
(28:31):
when I was in the Giants lockerroom, it was it was almost like
okay, you know, I'm going toplay another year, get year 10
under my belt and that'll be it.
And I just didn't want to.
I didn't want to cheat the guys, I didn't want to cheat the
game.
So I was like you know what,man, I'm going to go ahead and
hang this up.
But when I had that epiphany, Iwas in the middle of a practice
.
I was in the middle of apractice and I was.
You know, we're getting hit andI'm like man, I could just walk
(28:51):
off the field right now andthis will be fine and nobody
will know.
So I'm like you know what?
Nah, I'm not gonna do that, I'mgonna finish off, I'm gonna
give the game what it deserves.
And um, a lot of people thoughtI retired because that day in
practice it was a big brawl.
Two people got into a fight andat the time, coach Joe Judge,
would you know, make the teamrun.
(29:12):
And I had no problem.
It's like, yeah, you know, ifyou're doing something wrong,
yeah, here's your discipline,you go run and um, so, but I'm
retiring yeah, you know I'msitting there like coach.
I don't want to run a gasser.
You know I'm retiring don'tmake me, but uh, it was funny
because I started my career.
My dad had this thing inpractice where every practice
we'd start off and in littleleague we were running around
(29:34):
baseball field that's where wepractice, we practice at a
baseball field.
So we had these laps that we'dhave to run and boy, I just
remember I was like man, youknow, I started playing this
game running and I'm ending itrunning.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Came full circle, didn't you?
Came full circle.
I'm like man.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
I didn't go get the game, but get its worth out of
me.
Yeah, but yeah, those are thecouple variables.
Definitely, my family is whatplayed the biggest role in it.
Family is what played thebiggest role in it.
I wanted to be with them.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
So it just wasn't fun anymore.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah, you know, I wasn't into the game anymore.
It was just like I was justthere.
You know to be a guy and Ididn't want that.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Yeah, you don't want that.
I can understand that.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
All right, so you know.
Your career is over.
Officially, You're out of theNFL.
What made you want to startlike coaching?
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, so you know, I really I really wasn't thinking
about it.
It was, you know, kind of akind of a thing that I fell into
.
Oh, you know, after I retired Itook seven months off, you know
, and about that, that thirdmonth, I started going stir
crazy and my wife was like, too,you got to get out of the house
.
You can't stay here with meanymore.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
You got to get out of the house, driving her crazy,
driving her crazy.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yeah, you got to go do something.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Go work out or something Maybe get away from me
.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Yeah, so I'm sitting there and I was doing these
things for the Cowboys and I gotinvited to speak at the
Arlington ISD signing day forall the student athletes that
were going to college.
Yeah, and you know I did thespeech and whatnot and it was
wonderful.
And, uh, mr Villarreal andcoach James approached me.
You know like, hey, you know,have you had any interest in in
(31:13):
coaching, you know, and I waslike, yeah, you know, I would
like to give it a shot.
You know, I never thought aboutit but I'd give it a shot.
You know, I never thought aboutit, but I'd give it a shot.
And um came down here and waskind of doing some volunteer
stuff and I really fell in lovewith it.
You know, just being around,being around these, these young
people, and I think that's whenyou realize in life that
everything you've been through,all the experience you've been
(31:35):
through, everything that youwere no, you were crying and
talking to God about and thepain that you went through, it's
kind of like, oh, all right, Isee why I'm here to give this
back to these young people sothey can put life together where
it works for them.
Yes, uh-huh, and so I fell inlove with it and I didn't know
you had to be a teacher to coachout here.
(31:57):
I'm like to be a teacher.
I ended up falling in love withthat being in the classroom.
It's great, it's like, you know, coming from football, you know
I do, I have, you know I have a.
I have a silent confidenceabout myself and you like, I
like to perform, I'm a performer.
You know that's what I do whenI'm in front of a crowd.
I'm going to perform.
(32:18):
And you know, being a teacheris kind of, you know you're,
you're the only one with thespotlight on you and it's like
oh yeah, you kids can't goanywhere.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
You have to listen to me Commanding the room I'm the
head coach, y'all can't gonowhere.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
And so I fell in love with it, fell in love with
coaching, coaching and it's justit's.
It's been a wonderful way togive back that, that wisdom and
knowledge that you know, god hashelped me get to this point in
my life to you know, get back tothese kids that's good.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
So now that you're in it, is there anybody that you
would want to um model yourcoaching after?
Are there any books that you'veread?
Uh, to kind of get you, like, Iguess, started on your coaching
journey?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
one of the guys that I really love is Tony Dungy One
because of his faith.
You know he's huge into hisfaith and I mean the guy just
loves football.
He's a football guy and one ofthe things I love about him is
he talks about you know in hisbooks is hey, you know, you want
(33:19):
to build something that youknow you're just proud to be a
part of, and you have to do thatwith individuals.
You do that by bringing youknow good individuals around you
and someday, when I become ahead coach, that's the thought
that I keep in, you know, theforefront of my head.
It's like, hey, I got to havethe right people around you know
, to help me, you know, get towhere I want to go to you know,
(33:42):
and to ultimately help thesekids get to where they want to
go so yeah, tony dungey, he's mydude.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yeah, shout out to tony dungey.
Nah, for real, he had a nicecareer yeah, uh-huh for sure.
Um, and that and that kind ofbrings me to my next question,
really.
So Deion Sanders has statedthat he never wanted to coach in
the NFL, and because he said hedoesn't want to coach rich men,
(34:10):
he'd rather coach and thensteal wisdom into the younger
generation.
How do you feel about that?
Would you want to?
You know, right now you'recoaching high school.
Would you want to take thatnext step and coach you know
professionally in the NFL?
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Yeah, I think over time it'll show up.
Yeah, For me, right now, I'mall about my family time, Right,
and the way high schoolcoaching is set up is, you know,
it is very family friendly andI love that and I know what.
I can really, you know,empathize with what Dion said,
because you look at NFL coachesand I mean we had coaches that
(34:49):
you know we go home and show upand these guys are, you know,
sleeping in their, their offices.
I mean, you know they are allin it.
You know that's you want totalk about people who are really
sacrificing is the coaches inthe NFL.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I believe that.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Their families.
I mean, these guys are going,they don't ever stop and it's
great to see that work ethic.
I don't think I'm at the pointyet to where it's like, all
right, I can sacrifice thatamount of time again to be there
.
I definitely think themindset's there.
As an athlete, the mindset'salways there.
Time again to be there, Idefinitely think the mindset's
there.
As an athlete, the mindset'salways there.
(35:23):
You want to be the best.
Of course, you want to coachagainst the best, play against
the best, and I just got to getthere in my career in coaching.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah, absolutely you will.
I appreciate that.
Thank you so much For sure.
Thank you.
Last question about.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Yeah, I mean.
And then just coming to SamHouston Well, how did you so,
how did you actually end upcoaching here at Sam Houston?
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Yeah.
So, like I said, you know, Idid that Arlington ISD signing
day speech and ended up comingdown here, signed a contract to
teach and coach.
And Sam really reminded me alot of where I grew up.
You know, to say the least.
Man these kids down here Coach,you know they've been dealt a
really tough hand in life and Ithink one of the things I saw is
(36:08):
and my high school coach usedto tell me he's like, hey, look,
you know you've been dealt arough hand, but you still got to
play your cards.
Right, you got to play yourcards.
And I think I want, you know, Iwanted to come down here to let
these kids know hey, you know,there's a way to, you know, be
successful.
You know you don't have to, youknow, be like everybody else
(36:28):
and what everybody else is doingRight.
And if you, if you really wantto become something in life, the
opportunity is there, yeah, youjust have to work for it.
You have to work for it and Iwant to instill that hard work,
that work ethic into them so oneday, you know, when they have
kids or coaching kids, that theycan do the same.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
For sure, Is that kind of like how you keep them
engaged?
Because I know, you know it'stough, you know you got the
social media, it's all thedistractions.
So how do you keep them engagedin football and wanting to win,
keeping the grades up so theycan stay on the field and play.
So what is that motivation?
What do you tell your team?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I tell them you know it's a process and there are
going to be ups and there'sgoing to be downs.
There's going to be.
You're going to have successand you're going to have
failures, but within all thehappy moments, hey, you know,
enjoy it.
Yeah, enjoy those happy moments.
Definitely.
You know you get to a placewhere you accomplish something.
Hey, enjoy that.
You win a football game or youget a pr on bench press, right,
hey, you enjoy that time.
(37:26):
And then, you know, when you'rein your lows, you know it's
like, hey, you, you, you learnfrom that pain.
There's a process that goesthrough this.
It's never as bad as it seems,it's never as good as it seems,
and I think that's's how I keepthem, you know, motivated.
And you know, hey, guys, look,you're going to have your ups
and you're going to have yourdowns.
I know that, you should knowthat.
(37:46):
And you know it's just like,hey, finding ways to all.
Right, you're in a hole rightnow.
Hey, come on, let's get up onthat out of this.
You know, complaining and justyou know, not having a plan to
get out of it is, you know whatreally hurts people, and that's
what I'm trying to.
You know, teach them.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
I agree.
Just to mention, you evenworked with the volleyball team
this year in strength andconditioning, and just to see
how you motivate those girls,you know who are complainers and
sometimes don't want to workhard.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
You know, women always be complaining.
Sometimes don't want to workhard.
You know just kind of Womenalways be complaining don't they
?
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You know you kind of notice them looking forward to
coming and working out with you,and you know that just kind of
let me know, like you know hehas.
You know you have thatmotivation factor.
Your energy is high.
You know I love being aroundyou as a coach, you know, just
like as a co-coach or whatever.
But going back to football,though, one more question about
football.
(38:42):
You mentioned that you have ason and that he does play
football.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
Yes, he does.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Given the CTE allegations, are you ever
worried as a parent?
You know, stepping out of thatcoaching role, stepping out of
the football player role, areyou ever worried as a parent
when it comes to your sonplaying?
Speaker 3 (39:00):
football.
I think the answer to thesimple question is definitely
yes.
Okay, Definitely yes.
Football is a contact sport,you know?
I mean it's modern-daygladiators.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
We like to use the word barbaric.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Yeah, I mean really, you know it is a contact sport
and it's not for thefaint-hearted Right and, I think
, one you educate the kids about.
You know what they're doing,but more so the techniques that
are being taught at the youngage you know those have to go up
through the older age.
(39:34):
You know, just making sure.
Hey, you know something my dadalways used to say hey, see what
you hit.
Never duck your head on afootball field because that's
where you see the concussionsand whatnot.
You see what you hit.
Yeah, so making sure,especially my son making sure,
like he knows the fundamentalsand techniques to keep him from.
You know, experiencing thoseand I was blessed in my career I
(39:55):
never experienced a concussion,so I was definitely blessed.
But I've seen.
I've seen it happen to peopleand you know, you talk to them
and it's, it's a scary, it's ascary situation, but I think, as
a competitor, you know whatcomes along with that and you,
you just try to go out there andperform to the best of your
abilities, cool.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Well, I think we've hit all the NFL questions.
We've hit all the coachingquestions.
We kind of wanted to get into acouple of fun questions and
then we'll let you go, at leastthat you want to go ahead.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I mean, yeah, we Cowboys fans again.
And you know season's aroundthe corner and you play with
them, obviously, so do you keepup?
Do you still watch football?
Speaker 3 (40:43):
and all that stuff.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Definitely a fan of the game.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
What do the Cowboys need to do to get over this hump
, this hump that we've beentrying to get over since 95?
What do we gotta do?
Speaker 3 (40:56):
I mean, hey, man, I'll tell you what we need to
need to all start praying.
Man, I tell you what you knowthe the NFL season.
You know it's like playing dice.
Yeah, I mean, it is socompetitive and so hard.
You know a lot of people liketo say you know fans like to say
(41:19):
, oh well, you know, this teamis bad and that team is bad.
Let me tell you something thereain't no team in the NFL that
is bad.
No, no, everybody on thoserosters are very good.
Yes, but you know Dak's one ofmy good buddies and I mean you
know you want to talk about.
If you want somebody to leadyour team, that's the guy you
(41:41):
want leading your team.
Yeah, he, I mean, his workethic is unmatched and just even
a better person.
You know, and I just that's whyI love Dak so much.
Man, it's like man, this dude,he's a good dude and I think in
our society you want to getbehind people like that, you
root for people like that, ohfor sure.
And if you want somebodyleading your team, he's
(42:02):
definitely it.
So I think you know, if Dak'son that field for the Cowboys,
he's definitely giving them ashot to win every Sunday, okay.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
I hope so A lot of people have jumped off the deck
bandwagon.
I like that.
I'm kind of I'm treading theline I'm teetering.
But I still, I do believe.
I do believe he'll get us tothe prom.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
I hope so, yeah, hey, come on now, I do believe.
Come on four.
I mean, you know, get us.
That's the Holy Ghost up hereRight Watch out then now so.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
So another question, another front question for you,
musically, who is it that you?
You know when you put yourAirPods in or when you're taking
that long drive home.
You know From Sam, you know youwon't be anymore, but you know
when you're driving To the houseFrom.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Sam.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Who are you listening to On your radio, like or who
are you listening to on yourradio Like who are you?
Speaker 3 (42:49):
listening to on your AirPods.
Yeah, so I love music.
I listen to a little bit ofeverything, but I do.
I do love man, one of the oneof the rappers now.
Yeah, his name is Rod Wave andfirst of all, you know he's a.
He's a big boned fella.
I'd be in the car.
Singing Girl of my Dream is oneof my favorite songs.
(43:09):
I've actually seen you performit.
Before it was like that girl ofmy dream.
So I'd be in class, I'd startsinging a song and I'd be like
man, I missed my opportunity forAmerican Idol, right?
Oh man, let all the studentsknow, hey, y'all go vote for me.
Man, they're calling to votefor me.
But yeah, listening to him, andthen you know I love rock, love
rock songs.
(43:29):
My dad, yeah, my dad was a big,you know rock and roll guy.
And then you know me and my mom, we were actually talking this
morning coming in man, tinaTurner.
You know we were talking aboutTina Turner man, and you know
what's love got to do, got to dowith it, yeah, so I listen to a
little bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
And you know my Rest in peace, yeah, so I listen to a
little bit of everything.
And my mom and dad, theyexposed us to a lot.
You got a wide range of musicpreferences.
Oh yes, yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
So we got one more question for you.
We always in the show wheneverwe have guests on the show is
called Locked In Sports, butlocked in has a broad meaning.
What is your definition ofbeing locked in?
Speaker 3 (44:11):
I think my definition of being locked in is being
responsible.
You know, like I said Imentioned many times, you know I
have my faith on this show andI love to watch.
You know Dr Tony Evans here inDallas.
His son was actually our teamchaplain for the Cowboys,
jonathan Evans, and he alwaysused to tell a story about Adam
and Eve Okay, about Adam and Eve.
And we all know, hey, adam andEve both you know, ate the apple
(44:34):
, Right?
But you know, god came and saidin the garden Adam, where are
you Right?
So one of the things I take,you know, as being locked in is
being responsible as a man,because that's what God has put
on me, regardless of feelings,and emotion has put on me,
regardless of feelings andemotion, right, you know God has
put that on me.
And making sure that you knowwhen my wife, or those little
(44:55):
eyes are looking at me at thetable, you know that I'm doing
everything I can to provide andto get them ready to lead their
own families, right, mm-hmm.
So that's locked in for me.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
I like that.
I love that.
That's a different answer.
We ain't got that one yet.
No, that was different.
I liked that one.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Well, joe, we appreciate you again for just
coming on the show again, takingtime out of your busy schedule.
Yes, come on the show with uson Locked In Sports Coaches
Edition.
Right, we wish you nothing butthe best at your next endeavor.
I know those kids and yourstaff are going to love you.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Thank you.
We appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
I mean, yeah, I just you know, if you have anything
that's coming up, you know,definitely you know, let us know
.
Speaker 3 (45:37):
We definitely want to be a part, you know, shout out
to social media.
Oh, most definitely.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
And all that.
So no again.
Like Val said, we definitelyyou know.
Thank you for doing this.
Like you said, taking your timeout to chat with us, it's my
pleasure, get into some things.
Uh-huh, you got to have alittle razzle-dazzle, all right,
let's see, shine, shine.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Well, coach, too, I appreciate you.
You know a lot of people don'tsee what you know the high
school coaches do, and you knowthe care that you take.
I think that's something thatI've learned as a high school
coach is that all these kidswant to see is somebody who
cares and coach.
You definitely do that for them, so anytime I can help you out,
it's a blessing to have you.
You allow me to be a blessing.
Speaker 2 (46:19):
I appreciate that she aight that's my dog for real.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yes, sir, I think we got us a show.
It's been a wrap, really greatepisode.
Let's go ahead and get it outof here like this.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
It's the one and only Lise and it's your girl, vels,
aka Velly Vell, if that's whatyou want to call me and together
we are Locked In Sports.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Peace, peace.
I like sports and that's it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yo, yo, yo, yo, it's the one, and only Lise, and it's
your girl, vels, aka Velly Vell, if that's what you want to
call me, and together we areLocked In Sports.
What's up, lise?
We back with another specialepisode Locked In Sports Coaches
Edition, and today we have aspecial special guest with us.
Some of you guys may know him,some of you may not, but here we
(00:57):
have today with us Joe Looneyman.
Welcome to the show, joe.
First of all, we want to justsay appreciate you for coming on
, taking time out of your busyschedule to come on and do this
interview with us.
We're going to go ahead andjump right into it, all right.
First of all, just kind of tellus a little bit about yourself,
give us a little bit ofbackground, a little bit of bio
(01:17):
on you know who Joe Looney is,and just kind of how you got
here.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
All right.
Well, thank you guys so muchfor having me on the show.
I really appreciate it.
Yeah, um, you know, originallyoriginally born and raised in
South Florida.
Um, yeah, my mom and dad metdown there my dad's, you know
long hair white boy fromKentucky, and then my dad.
My mom's family is all from theBahamas and you know they, uh,
they met one night in a club andthen, you know, a couple of
(01:40):
years later, four kids yeah yeah, so you know, I got three
siblings and, um, a little bitabout myself.
Uh, one thing I've always grewup with is, uh, football.
You know, football has been ahuge part of my life.
My dad played and you know,when I was, when my mom had me,
he named me after a footballplayer that went to Oklahoma
University, joe Don Looney.
(02:02):
Okay, so you know, apparentlythis is how the story went.
My mom said, you know, when Ifirst came out, she was like, oh
yeah, my dad said, this one'sgoing to be an NFL player.
So, hey, pop, spoke it intoexistence, made it.
But you know, we grew up, man, Itell you what.
We had a decent-sized housedown there and I loved it
(02:26):
because it really, it really.
You know we had to do life, youknow, as a family.
So I was really thankful forthat.
And you know, going into highschool, you know I had a plan,
because my mom and dad, theywere blue collar workers,
they're, you know, electricianteachers.
So I didn't have a college fundset up for me.
So my mom and dad always usedto tell us hey, you guys got to
(02:48):
go on an academic athleticscholarship and football was one
of the things I did.
My dad was my coach growing upin little league football and
you know you would think youknow your father would put you
at quarterback right.
My man looked at me and was likeyou know what?
You're gonna be my center.
So I've always played, you know, offensive line, defensive line
(03:08):
but he was my coach growing up,me and my brother and football
has just been a huge part of ourfamily.
Yeah, and I'm so thankful forit because, you know, growing up
with uh, not not a lot of meansit.
It really is truly amazing tobe able to go to Wake Forest and
then get that caliber ofeducation and then go and
(03:30):
fulfill my dream of playing inthe NFL.
And there was a lot of ups anddowns in that road.
One of the things when I gotdrafted a lot of people don't
know I played in the Senior Bowl.
Okay, and you guys, that's forthe college athletes coming out
into the draft, right.
And while I was there I brokemy foot.
(03:52):
So I was thinking, yeah, youknow I'll be fine.
I just had a little anklesprain and whatnot.
Went to the doctor out thereand the doctor man, I tell you
what ruthless to me, like man,what no, you got to have surgery
and going into this.
You know the NFL combine'scoming up and I'm just sitting
there.
You know everything I'vetrained for is just, you know,
(04:13):
it's right there in front of meand I can't I can't quite touch
it.
But another thing about me thatI absolutely love sharing with
people is that my mom and dadalways had us, you know, in
church and it's always been myfoundation.
That foundation of Jesus ChristHaven't always, you know, been
the best and you know, alwaysbeen on board with it.
Especially early on in my life,my faith was, you know, kind of
(04:35):
like that rabbit's foot, thatgood luck, you know, card you
pull out.
God, help us win this game, andI'm going to be on board with
you, dude.
But you know, growing up andlearning, you know how faith
works, it's really helped me,and that's what I'm trying to do
now is let people know like,hey look, I don't know your plan
(04:55):
, I don't know what's going tohappen, but, boy, we got an
author to this thing, and youknow, I try to let everybody
know.
You know, follow his wisdom andyou'll be good to go in this
thing we call life.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, no, I feel that you spoke on like the combine,
so you weren't able toparticipate in the combine.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
No, so the only thing I was able to do was the 225
bench press, okay, and at thetime, you know, I had a boot on
my foot and whatnot, I hadcrutches, but you know, monster,
I've hopped up the stairs onone foot and then bench press,
yeah, oh yeah, but that, thatwas all I was able to do.
I actually I did do theinterviews, okay, and whatnot,
(05:32):
which were a interesting processyeah, tell us about that,
because I always wanted to knowabout how those yeah.
So I mean you as the player, youget a list of teams that want
to talk to you, right, and it's,you know, kind of like hotel
rooms, you're playing musicalchairs.
You're going in, you knowhere's the Cincinnati Bengals,
here's the Pittsburgh Steelers,the New York Jets, and you go in
(05:52):
and you know you're talking totheir head coaches, staff
doctors, yeah, and it's aninteresting process.
But I got drafted by the SanFrancisco 49ers, right, and
going into that interview, coachHarbaugh, he, you know, he sits
me down and he looks at me.
He's like you know what we'regoing to role play a little bit,
and this is how these go.
You know they're interestingprocesses.
(06:13):
He's like yeah, we're going torole play a little bit.
I'm a student athlete, get meto come to Wake Forest
University.
Okay, pitch was is like hey,look, you know, you can go
anywhere in the country.
They're gonna have greatfacilities, they're gonna have,
you know, wonderful athletics.
But it's about the peopleyou're gonna be around exactly.
You want to build relationshipswith good people, so that's why
you should come to wake forestand they can help me out a
(06:35):
little bit, because they endedup drafting me.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So it was like one of like one of the weirdest uh or
off the wall questions thatthey've asked.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
I've heard all kinds of weird stuff, yeah, so I think
I think one of the weirdest, soone of the weirdest processes I
had.
We were, I was in there withthe Cincinnati Bengals and the
team psychologist is in thereand you walk in and you know
you're they put like a chair inthe middle of the room so you're
spotlighted and he, he sitsthere and he asks me.
He's like okay, I got a coupleof words for you to remember.
(07:06):
All right, remember these words.
And he told me the words and wego through a 30-minute
interview, you know talkingabout football, getting up on
the board drawing plays.
And he's like yeah, what werethose words?
Again, and I'm like man, I donot know, in front of all these
kids, I'm like man, I do notremember those words.
Dog apple.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Somebody they try to like test your memory.
Yeah, stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
But you know, I mean the NFL is a business and I
think that's a lot of the sidethat fans don't see, that people
who love it don't see.
It is a business first, and asan athlete you see that you see
that because you know you dealwith contracts and getting in
there and negotiating and it's abusiness at the end of the day,
(07:51):
while you're having fun, youknow.
But to the athletes it's ourjob.
It was my job at the time.
Right, right, right, rightright, you're a big teacher,
coach Asha now.
No, I know that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
So you mentioned that you got drafted by the 49ers.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Kind of take us into um, when you got that phone call
, how?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
it was actually being drafted, cause you got drafted
in the fourth round, right?
Yes, correct.
So, um, tell us what it waslike to get that phone call and
that you know was.
Was it a relief.
You know how did you feel?
You know where you went, yourfamily Like, how was it?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Okay, I got you.
Yeah, so that day, like I said,I was hurt, so I was still in
my boots, sitting on the couchand whatnot, and at this time,
you know, I got a bunch ofthoughts in my head, thinking
maybe I'm not going to getdrafted.
You know, maybe this wasn't theroute God had for me and it was
tough dealing with thoseemotions, but the overall
process it was a very intimate,intimate moment.
(08:43):
It was just my mom, my dad, mybrothers and sisters, okay, and
one of my cousins who's actuallyentering into the NFL draft
this upcoming year.
Oh, that's awesome.
And yeah, we're all sittingthere and I'm sitting in the
little rocking chair and after awhile, my mom and dad, they got
up and kind of went outsidejust to get some of those
emotions off, right, because itis a stressful process sitting
(09:04):
there, you know, waiting foryour name to be called, and then
I just remember, man, I get acall from you know, the bay area
, and I'm like california yeah,I mean go ahead and answer that
and so I answer the phone andcoach harbaugh's on the phone.
he's like hey, joe looney, how'sit going?
This is jim harbaugh, head headcoach of the San Francisco
49ers, and you know we're goingto take you with this next pick.
(09:27):
How?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
does that make you feel?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Man coach.
Yeah, it's static man.
I ain't got no words for it andmy brother's sitting there and
he I mean my brother kind offreaked out and he was still
young.
Then my dad, you know, like Isaid, he's from kentucky and my
dad is a hoot.
If y'all ever get to meet mydad, y'all need to have him on
(09:51):
the show he's a coach too.
He is a hoot, but he has thisthing called the kentucky scream
.
Okay, and he comes in and coachharbaugh says like oh, you got
some people who are excited backthere.
And I'm like yeah, coach, we'vebeen waiting for this.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah, it was a very intimatemoment, you know just us, and it
(10:12):
was a nice time.
It was a nice time, oh that'sgood.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
That's good.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
So was there a specific team that you wanted to
get drafted?
See, now I can say this yeah,you can say it now.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You can say it now.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
So I grew up a Miami Dolphin fan.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I grew up a Miami Dolphin fan.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
From Florida makes sense.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
From Florida, South Florida, Dan Marino, Uh-huh, Dan
Marino.
There it is, let's go Take itout to old school man.
You know I used to like theirjerseys too jersey Outside the
cowboy.
There we go, come on, jerry.
Jerry paid the bills for someyears.
You gotta give him his due,y'all.
(10:51):
Yeah, man, I would have lovedto have played for the Miami
Dolphins.
My mom grew up a Dolphin, mymom was a Dolphin fan, and I
think that's why I adopted it.
So it was.
Yeah, it would have been greatto have been drafted by them.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
That's cool.
So you get drafted right,you're playing for the 49ers.
Uh, it's a big adjustment fromgoing from college to NFL
professional football oh yeah,uh, how was it adjusting to the
NFL after your injury?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
yeah, it was.
It was tough because I didn'tgo in.
I couldn't play right away, Iwas doing rehab, so I had a lot
of self-doubt at the time.
I was like you know, is thisreally for me?
Am I going to be able to dothis?
And one of the things I'd liketo tell people now it's not.
You know, making it to the NFLis a feat, it's tough but
staying is the hard part becauseyou know I walked in there and
(11:43):
I'm a rookie.
You know I ain't got no familyat the time but it's guys out
here, you know, wife, kids ain'tplaying, man, they trying to
feed their families.
You know this is a, it is abusiness, it is a job.
So it was, um, it wasdefinitely a big adjustment
coming in.
You know you ain't got noschool, you're all at work.
But thankfully, you know I hadguys, you know the left tackle,
(12:05):
who was there at the time, hisname was Joe Staley and really
taught me how to be a pro,taught me how to be a pro, a
student of the game.
And you know you guys knowbeing athletes I mean you don't
know how to take care of yourbody and stuff like that.
You know it's like hey, man,get in this cold tub.
You know, put on the Norma techboots.
You know that is the huge partof you know adjusting to the
(12:26):
game, making sure that you stayin it.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, definitely she's supposed to.
Oh, I mean, I'm just, I'm justlistening.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So but um, so you.
You played with San Franciscofor about two years.
Then you signed with theCowboys in 2016.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So I signed with the Cowboys yeah, I signed with the
Cowboys in 2016,.
But I got cut from SanFrancisco Okay, and was that
2015?
And then got picked up inOctober.
And that was an interestingprocess too at the time, because
when I got cut, I was starting,I was a starting center, okay,
and you know, I was really.
(13:11):
You know I was like man, I'm thedude out here, yeah, you were
going anywhere, yeah, I didn'tthink I was going anywhere and,
just like I said, man, you knowthe business aspect of it and
you know, at the time, you know,I was a young kid and I got
married, jumped into a marriage,I had a you know little girl.
My son was on the way, so I wassitting there, man, and I was
(13:32):
like you know, I don't have ajob.
It was an interesting processbecause I played football.
You know, I missed a game oranything since I was four years
old when I started playing ball,yeah, and so being without
football in the fall, you know,it was an eye-opening experience
, but I think that was one ofthe things in my life that it
(13:54):
taught me a lot.
It taught me that you know, if,if you, if you put your, your
occupation, you know what you do, your job, above your faith,
then God hey, you know God don'twant that he wants he wants to
be first.
right, and it really taught methat, hey, god has to be first
in your life.
You can sit here and say it,it's easy to say, but you have
(14:17):
to start showing the actionsafter a while.
It's almost like I wouldcompare it to being a spiritual
teenager.
It's like I ain't got to do allthat man.
We're good man, I'm taking careof what I need to take care of.
But he's like hey look, there'sa bigger purpose to this thing.
It's not just you being an NFLplayer.
(14:38):
There's a bigger purpose towhat I'm trying to do through
you.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, Because that makes me think like you get cut
and you have a growing family,You're married at this time, so
how did you want to stay with it?
You know, because I you knowwhen something like that happens
to you, and then you're married, you got a baby and another
baby on the way, what makes youwant to keep fighting to.
(15:01):
You know, get on another team,or you know with your mind, how
do you keep your mind straight?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Is it just the faith, having the faith in God, or
yeah, that's definitely a bigpart of it, yeah, and I just
think something that kept mymind in is that that was all I
had at the time.
You know, I mean, what else amI going to do?
I was a football player andgoing through that process, you
know, you have teams that youknow try to pick you up and you
(15:27):
go for workouts.
And immediately when I got cut,you know I was going to
workouts.
Oh, okay, going to teams.
And I'm like, okay, you know,this is going to be an easy
process, I'll get picked up realquick, we'll be back playing in
no time, right, you know, butit wasn't like that.
You know, six weeks go by andI'm like, you know, yeah, six
(15:54):
weeks are intense.
It's almost like they're takingyou through a training camp,
practice and going through that.
So I was still I would say I wasstill relying on myself.
You know, it was a learningprocess, I was relying on myself
and meanwhile, you know, god'ssitting there like no, no, no,
rely on me.
And finally, you know, I cameto the realization like, hey,
look, god, you know what you can, you can have it all Take.
And finally, you know, I cameto the realization like, hey,
look, god, you know what you can.
(16:14):
You can have it all.
Take it, you know you have.
Have all of this, just takecare of my family.
Now you can have football.
Because I think when, when youhave something in your life that
you're so comfortable with andyou just like, you know, it's
like that nice blanket, you knowcozy up and it's like, yeah,
this is mine, nobody can takethis away, and God was trying to
strip that from me at that timein my life to let me know like,
(16:35):
hey, look, I got this man, justtrust me.
And the next week Tennesseecalled me.
I got picked up and, yeah,what's starting?
I started the whole season therest of the season.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, yeah.
So what happened with Tennessee?
Um, that, you know you.
You only played a season or twowith Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah, one season, one season, so what?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
happened there.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
So they already had a center at the time under
contract.
They paid him a bunch of money,you know, for a couple of years
and once he, you know, he brokehis ankle so he was coming back
the next year, so they didn'treally need me and at this time
I was still a journeyman, yeah,and what I would say in the NFL,
you know, I was kind of that,that guy who could play multiple
(17:16):
positions, yeah, which reallykept me in the league you know
it really kept me playingfootball.
And you know they they alreadyhad a guy and the the Cowboys
you know called me, bought meout for a visit, was like hey,
you know we need that backupcenter, backup guard, and locked
me into that role.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Man, uh-huh, and that's my favorite part, because
we die high Cowboy fans, that'swhat we do we bleed it, you cut
us it's just running out.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Look in Texas here, hey, you got to be like that.
But you know one thing aboutCowboys the Cowboys fans, Uh-oh,
it's either you are all in ornot.
Right, that's true.
You don't ever hear somebodysay, oh yeah, you know I like
them.
Yeah, it's either like, yeah, Ilove them, or no we don't Right
, that is true, they tell yousome good Christian words, right
(18:05):
they tell you some goodChristian.
There's your worst body.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So you're playing for the Cowboys, right?
So what was it like for oneplaying for the Cowboys?
And then also like was thereany pressure being on America's
team having to perform?
You know all that pressureevery week to win or lose.
You know everybody's watchingyou.
Everybody's talking about you,whether it's good or bad.
Like what was it like?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
You know it was a wonderful experience.
Okay, I think playing the gameyou definitely get those nerves.
You know we would call thembutterflies.
You know people like to throwaround that anxiety word but I
like to say butterflies, youknow, it's just natural to kind
of have that.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, you know youget nervous, but and I hate
(18:48):
comparing football to likemilitary but it's like when
you've been in training, you'vedone something for so long over
and over, you've repped it overand over again, you kind of step
on that field and you know youput on, you put on blinders, you
know it's like a.
It's like a, you know a horseat the Kentucky Derby.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
It's just like, okay, I'mlocked in, I know what I have to
do.
I've trained, I've been in thissituation before, right and um,
(19:12):
you know, hats off to coachGarrett.
Coach Garrett was one of the.
He was one of the best coachesI've had throughout my career.
Yeah, I got a question for that,Mr Clapper the clapper himself
man, and you know, and being acoach now, I take a lot of the
things I saw him do and bring itinto.
(19:35):
You know my coaching becauseyou know football, football.
You break football down.
It's a game of situations andthat's what he was about.
Hey, you're going to be in thissituation like, hey.
Look, you know we're out ofpractice.
All right, hold on, guys.
You know we're going to go intoa two minute drill.
Here's the situation.
There's a minute and 20 secondsleft on the clock.
We're down by six points.
One time out.
(19:55):
Go play.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And so you know you're already there by the time
you get to the game on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
it's like man, I've been here, you tried in your
time.
You're like that swagger.
Yes, okay, I just wonderbecause, like I said, mr Clapper
, he just always, no matter what, he's just yeah, you know, you
fumble the ball.
I mean, like you know, he usedto piss me off, but obviously so
he never lost the locker roomat all.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
No, you know he was one of those guys and I think it
was great for the NFL.
You just got to have that evenkeel.
You can't get too high and youcan't get too low.
You got to kind of stay flyingunder that radar in between
there somewhere.
Okay, and he was great at it,but you know he was also what
people see on the media.
You know, in the media is notreally what's portrayed.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So was he really cussing y'all ass out?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
I mean, you know like I said, he knew some nice
Christian words too for us whenwe needed it Right, right, right
, but for the most part.
You know I mean at that level,if you're a player, you don't
need motivation.
I mean even when I would messup.
It's like I don't need anybodyto tell me I messed up.
I know right now that I messedup, and it's when you're playing
(21:09):
at that level and you're tryingto win a Super Bowl.
You're trying to at the highestlevel, you're.
Every man in that locker roomhas to be accountable for that
and you don't want to be the guyin the locker room that somehow
messes that up.
It's like because, I mean, guyshave worked their whole lives
to get to this moment, to beable to have the opportunity to
(21:31):
step on the NFL field and justto say I played, but to
collectively come together andwin it as a group.
That's hard, that's hard to doand you start understanding that
as a player and it's like man Ihave to be accountable.
I have to be, you know, my ownworst critic, right, you know.
So I'm accountable to theseother guys in the locker room.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
So, speaking of locker room, you know, take us
into the locker room on game day.
You know what is it like beforethe game starts and then like
how is it?
Either after a win or after aloss.
Especially those tough losseswhen we lose to somebody, like
in a division or something likethat.
How was it on game day?
Speaker 3 (22:10):
So game day, game day , the feeling on game day is
great.
You know you get to the lockerroom and it really is kind of a
laid back kind of.
You know everybody has theirown little routine that they do.
You know some guys will go andeat, some guys will go sit in a
hot tub.
You know guys will put onheadphones and lay down and just
(22:32):
kind of chill.
So it's interesting to see theprocess that everybody has.
So everybody kind of had theirown routine.
That's what they did.
But when it, about 90 minutesbefore that game started, we had
this big boom box in there.
Big boom box, oh yeah.
So you know somebody would geton the mic and I tried to be a
DJ.
You know back in the day it wasmy other career, so I would get
(22:54):
on there.
Man, you know, play some EDM,some rap, you know help.
You know help everybody, youknow, get ready to go, get their
mind ready to play.
But right before the game,right after warmups, you come
back in and I mean you can heara pin drop in the locker room.
You can hear a pin drop inthere.
Everybody, I mean you arelocked in ready to go?
Speaker 2 (23:14):
No pun intended.
Yeah, yeah, locked in.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
My dad, he's here, my dad Boom, I told you yeah sure.
But I guess I'll give you guysthe veggies first.
After a loss.
It's tough because Jerry comingthere and you looking him in
the eye, it's like man, thesedudes expecting more than us,
our coaches expecting more fromus.
So it's tough, it's hard aftera loss, but man, after a win, oh
(23:42):
, it's a party.
Oh, my gosh, those 10 minutesin the locker room, you know,
because after the first 10minutes the media can't be in
there, it's just us.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
It's just the team.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And boy man, we're in there having a talk.
I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead.
Yeah, I mean, that feeling isjust great and I think that's
the feeling you know.
I want a lot, I want myathletes to feel, you know, it's
like that 10 minutes whenyou're, you know, celebrating on
the field Like we had a game.
I mean, you know I'm going togo off on my little tangents we
had a freshman football gamethat we played right out here
(24:17):
and it was, you know, it wasgreat to see the guys win.
It was great to see them win and, you know, to see them have
that camaraderie to collectivelydo something.
It's like that's what I wantyou guys to feel, man.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That's what it is.
That's why we play the game.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I almost bring tears to your eyes, I know, and even
it's even more intense as acoach because you're sitting
there and you get to watch it.
I mean we enjoy it as coaches.
I mean I'd be lying to you if Isit here and say, you know I
don't want to win.
You know, if I don't have anego to want to win, right, but
sitting there looking at it,it's just like, man, you're so
happy for the guys, definitelyBecause, man, you know how hard
(24:55):
they work.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You know how hard they work.
Now, that's cool, I feel that,Coach, you talked about Jerry
Jones.
Did you ever have like anyinteractions with him?
And if so, like what were they?
Is he as cool as the mediamakes him out to be?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Oh yeah, man, Jerry is one of the coolest cats you'd
ever meet.
Just like I said earlier, inthe show the media portrays
people.
You know the way they portraythem.
I mean, if this is all they'regoing to show to the world,
that's all they're going to show.
But Jerry, man, besides, youknow, being a very intelligent
businessman, he's verypersonable.
You know, I remember when Isigned, he, you know, sent a
(25:33):
care package to my house, youknow, welcoming us to Dallas and
just, you know, really makes itfeel like a home.
Yeah, and I think out of allthe teams I've played for,
that's why I love the Cowboys somuch.
It just had that real, you know, family.
You know southern hospitality,you know, deal in it, and you
know, I mean everything's biggerin Texas too.
Oh, you know that feeling.
You know he was always in thelocker room with us after the
(25:55):
games and whatnot, very afterthe games and whatnot, very
uplifting too, you know.
He doesn't, you know, beat youinto the ground about.
You know, if you're losing agame, oh, that's good.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
You kind of want that , you know.
As far as an owner, you know alot of people say he's too in
front of the camera.
Did y'all ever feel that waythat sometimes he maybe
overshadowed the team, just hisbig personality and his wanting
to?
You know everyone wants to gotalk to Jerry.
Do you think that kind of likemaybe overshadowed the team a
little bit?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
No, not really.
I mean, just like I said,jerry's a business guy, right,
and at the end of the day, hisrole is to make sure that
there's people sitting in thoseseats to watch the football
games, exactly.
And if there's people watchingthe football games, no seats to
watch the football games.
And if there's people watchingthe football games, then we're
benefiting from it also asplayers.
You know they're helping us.
You know get paid to do what welove to do.
So, definitely, you know Idon't think so, and you know
(26:52):
he's a business guy at the endof the day and he knows how to,
you know, operate that brand.
You know the star is his brand.
Yes, it is, and I think, as aplayer, being a player, you see
that and you're like all right,well, I have to represent it the
right way too.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
You know, because I don't want anything to you know,
happen to this.
I don't want to be the guy thatyou know does something to
bring down the star Right.
You know, we always had on theback of our shirts, you know,
our practice shirts and whatnotthat we work out at.
It was always the star and thenour last name because it always
reminded us, hey, you know,it's the star, it's the team
before the individual.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Right and that makes sense, I love that.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
So, of course, your career as a cowboy came to an
end.
Yes, it did, and you ended upsigning with the Giants, but you
didn't play for them.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
No.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So is that kind of what drove you to be done with
the game, or you know what kindof made you want to hang up your
cleats?
Speaker 3 (27:45):
So there were definitely a couple of variables
in there.
The first one was I was all theway in New York, my wife was
out here, my kids were out hereand it was just a real struggle.
It was a real struggle.
My son was starting his firstfootball season, my son was
starting his first footballseason, my daughter was starting
her first soccer season and Ijust didn't want to be, you know
(28:05):
, away from that.
So that was the number onereason.
You know that came into my mind.
I was like I need to be home.
I gave the game its due.
I need to be home.
The second thing was is, youknow, just like we said earlier,
I was not locked in Right.
Uh-huh, you know I wasn't.
I wasn't as committed to thegame and I felt that when I,
(28:31):
when I was in the Giants lockerroom, it was it was almost like
okay, you know, I'm going toplay another year, get year 10
under my belt and that'll be it.
And I just didn't want to.
I didn't want to cheat the guys, I didn't want to cheat the
game.
So I was like you know what,man, I'm going to go ahead and
hang this up.
But when I had that epiphany, Iwas in the middle of a practice
.
I was in the middle of apractice and I was.
You know, we're getting hit andI'm like man, I could just walk
(28:51):
off the field right now andthis will be fine and nobody
will know.
So I'm like you know what?
Nah, I'm not gonna do that, I'mgonna finish off, I'm gonna
give the game what it deserves.
And um, a lot of people thoughtI retired because that day in
practice it was a big brawl.
Two people got into a fight andat the time, coach Joe Judge,
would you know, make the teamrun.
(29:12):
And I had no problem.
It's like, yeah, you know, ifyou're doing something wrong,
yeah, here's your discipline,you go run and um, so, but I'm
retiring yeah, you know I'msitting there like coach.
I don't want to run a gasser.
You know I'm retiring don'tmake me, but uh, it was funny
because I started my career.
My dad had this thing inpractice where every practice
we'd start off and in littleleague we were running around
(29:34):
baseball field that's where wepractice, we practice at a
baseball field.
So we had these laps that we'dhave to run and boy, I just
remember I was like man, youknow, I started playing this
game running and I'm ending itrunning.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Came full circle, didn't you?
Came full circle.
I'm like man.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
I didn't go get the game, but get its worth out of
me.
Yeah, but yeah, those are thecouple variables.
Definitely, my family is whatplayed the biggest role in it.
Family is what played thebiggest role in it.
I wanted to be with them.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
So it just wasn't fun anymore.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah, you know, I wasn't into the game anymore.
It was just like I was justthere.
You know to be a guy and Ididn't want that.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Yeah, you don't want that.
I can understand that.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
All right, so you know.
Your career is over.
Officially, You're out of theNFL.
What made you want to startlike coaching?
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, so you know, I really I really wasn't thinking
about it.
It was, you know, kind of akind of a thing that I fell into
.
Oh, you know, after I retired Itook seven months off, you know
, and about that, that thirdmonth, I started going stir
crazy and my wife was like, too,you got to get out of the house
.
You can't stay here with meanymore.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
You got to get out of the house, driving her crazy,
driving her crazy.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yeah, you got to go do something.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Go work out or something Maybe get away from me
.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Yeah, so I'm sitting there and I was doing these
things for the Cowboys and I gotinvited to speak at the
Arlington ISD signing day forall the student athletes that
were going to college.
Yeah, and you know I did thespeech and whatnot and it was
wonderful.
And, uh, mr Villarreal andcoach James approached me.
You know like, hey, you know,have you had any interest in in
(31:13):
coaching, you know, and I waslike, yeah, you know, I would
like to give it a shot.
You know, I never thought aboutit but I'd give it a shot.
You know, I never thought aboutit, but I'd give it a shot.
And um came down here and waskind of doing some volunteer
stuff and I really fell in lovewith it.
You know, just being around,being around these, these young
people, and I think that's whenyou realize in life that
everything you've been through,all the experience you've been
(31:35):
through, everything that youwere no, you were crying and
talking to God about and thepain that you went through, it's
kind of like, oh, all right, Isee why I'm here to give this
back to these young people sothey can put life together where
it works for them.
Yes, uh-huh, and so I fell inlove with it and I didn't know
you had to be a teacher to coachout here.
(31:57):
I'm like to be a teacher.
I ended up falling in love withthat being in the classroom.
It's great, it's like, you know, coming from football, you know
I do, I have, you know I have a.
I have a silent confidenceabout myself and you like, I
like to perform, I'm a performer.
You know that's what I do whenI'm in front of a crowd.
I'm going to perform.
(32:18):
And you know, being a teacheris kind of, you know you're,
you're the only one with thespotlight on you and it's like
oh yeah, you kids can't goanywhere.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
You have to listen to me Commanding the room I'm the
head coach, y'all can't gonowhere.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
And so I fell in love with it, fell in love with
coaching, coaching and it's justit's.
It's been a wonderful way togive back that, that wisdom and
knowledge that you know, god hashelped me get to this point in
my life to you know, get back tothese kids that's good.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
So now that you're in it, is there anybody that you
would want to um model yourcoaching after?
Are there any books that you'veread?
Uh, to kind of get you, like, Iguess, started on your coaching
journey?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
one of the guys that I really love is Tony Dungy One
because of his faith.
You know he's huge into hisfaith and I mean the guy just
loves football.
He's a football guy and one ofthe things I love about him is
he talks about you know in hisbooks is hey, you know, you want
(33:19):
to build something that youknow you're just proud to be a
part of, and you have to do thatwith individuals.
You do that by bringing youknow good individuals around you
and someday, when I become ahead coach, that's the thought
that I keep in, you know, theforefront of my head.
It's like, hey, I got to havethe right people around you know
, to help me, you know, get towhere I want to go to you know,
(33:42):
and to ultimately help thesekids get to where they want to
go so yeah, tony dungey, he's mydude.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yeah, shout out to tony dungey.
Nah, for real, he had a nicecareer yeah, uh-huh for sure.
Um, and that and that kind ofbrings me to my next question,
really.
So Deion Sanders has statedthat he never wanted to coach in
the NFL, and because he said hedoesn't want to coach rich men,
(34:10):
he'd rather coach and thensteal wisdom into the younger
generation.
How do you feel about that?
Would you want to?
You know, right now you'recoaching high school.
Would you want to take thatnext step and coach you know
professionally in the NFL?
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Yeah, I think over time it'll show up.
Yeah, For me, right now, I'mall about my family time, Right,
and the way high schoolcoaching is set up is, you know,
it is very family friendly andI love that and I know what.
I can really, you know,empathize with what Dion said,
because you look at NFL coachesand I mean we had coaches that
(34:49):
you know we go home and show upand these guys are, you know,
sleeping in their, their offices.
I mean, you know they are allin it.
You know that's you want totalk about people who are really
sacrificing is the coaches inthe NFL.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I believe that.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Their families.
I mean, these guys are going,they don't ever stop and it's
great to see that work ethic.
I don't think I'm at the pointyet to where it's like, all
right, I can sacrifice thatamount of time again to be there
.
I definitely think themindset's there.
As an athlete, the mindset'salways there.
Time again to be there, Idefinitely think the mindset's
there.
As an athlete, the mindset'salways there.
(35:23):
You want to be the best.
Of course, you want to coachagainst the best, play against
the best, and I just got to getthere in my career in coaching.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah, absolutely you will.
I appreciate that.
Thank you so much For sure.
Thank you.
Last question about.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Yeah, I mean.
And then just coming to SamHouston Well, how did you so,
how did you actually end upcoaching here at Sam Houston?
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Yeah.
So, like I said, you know, Idid that Arlington ISD signing
day speech and ended up comingdown here, signed a contract to
teach and coach.
And Sam really reminded me alot of where I grew up.
You know, to say the least.
Man these kids down here Coach,you know they've been dealt a
really tough hand in life and Ithink one of the things I saw is
(36:08):
and my high school coach usedto tell me he's like, hey, look,
you know you've been dealt arough hand, but you still got to
play your cards.
Right, you got to play yourcards.
And I think I want, you know, Iwanted to come down here to let
these kids know hey, you know,there's a way to, you know, be
successful.
You know you don't have to, youknow, be like everybody else
(36:28):
and what everybody else is doingRight.
And if you, if you really wantto become something in life, the
opportunity is there, yeah, youjust have to work for it.
You have to work for it and Iwant to instill that hard work,
that work ethic into them so oneday, you know, when they have
kids or coaching kids, that theycan do the same.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
For sure, Is that kind of like how you keep them
engaged?
Because I know, you know it'stough, you know you got the
social media, it's all thedistractions.
So how do you keep them engagedin football and wanting to win,
keeping the grades up so theycan stay on the field and play.
So what is that motivation?
What do you tell your team?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I tell them you know it's a process and there are
going to be ups and there'sgoing to be downs.
There's going to be.
You're going to have successand you're going to have
failures, but within all thehappy moments, hey, you know,
enjoy it.
Yeah, enjoy those happy moments.
Definitely.
You know you get to a placewhere you accomplish something.
Hey, enjoy that.
You win a football game or youget a pr on bench press, right,
hey, you enjoy that time.
(37:26):
And then, you know, when you'rein your lows, you know it's
like, hey, you, you, you learnfrom that pain.
There's a process that goesthrough this.
It's never as bad as it seems,it's never as good as it seems,
and I think that's's how I keepthem, you know, motivated.
And you know, hey, guys, look,you're going to have your ups
and you're going to have yourdowns.
I know that, you should knowthat.
(37:46):
And you know it's just like,hey, finding ways to all.
Right, you're in a hole rightnow.
Hey, come on, let's get up onthat out of this.
You know, complaining and justyou know, not having a plan to
get out of it is, you know whatreally hurts people, and that's
what I'm trying to.
You know, teach them.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
I agree.
Just to mention, you evenworked with the volleyball team
this year in strength andconditioning, and just to see
how you motivate those girls,you know who are complainers and
sometimes don't want to workhard.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
You know, women always be complaining.
Sometimes don't want to workhard.
You know just kind of Womenalways be complaining don't they
?
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You know you kind of notice them looking forward to
coming and working out with you,and you know that just kind of
let me know, like you know hehas.
You know you have thatmotivation factor.
Your energy is high.
You know I love being aroundyou as a coach, you know, just
like as a co-coach or whatever.
But going back to football,though, one more question about
football.
(38:42):
You mentioned that you have ason and that he does play
football.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
Yes, he does.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Given the CTE allegations, are you ever
worried as a parent?
You know, stepping out of thatcoaching role, stepping out of
the football player role, areyou ever worried as a parent
when it comes to your sonplaying?
Speaker 3 (39:00):
football.
I think the answer to thesimple question is definitely
yes.
Okay, Definitely yes.
Football is a contact sport,you know?
I mean it's modern-daygladiators.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
We like to use the word barbaric.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Yeah, I mean really, you know it is a contact sport
and it's not for thefaint-hearted Right and, I think
, one you educate the kids about.
You know what they're doing,but more so the techniques that
are being taught at the youngage you know those have to go up
through the older age.
(39:34):
You know, just making sure.
Hey, you know something my dadalways used to say hey, see what
you hit.
Never duck your head on afootball field because that's
where you see the concussionsand whatnot.
You see what you hit.
Yeah, so making sure,especially my son making sure,
like he knows the fundamentalsand techniques to keep him from.
You know, experiencing thoseand I was blessed in my career I
(39:55):
never experienced a concussion,so I was definitely blessed.
But I've seen.
I've seen it happen to peopleand you know, you talk to them
and it's, it's a scary, it's ascary situation, but I think, as
a competitor, you know whatcomes along with that and you,
you just try to go out there andperform to the best of your
abilities, cool.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Well, I think we've hit all the NFL questions.
We've hit all the coachingquestions.
We kind of wanted to get into acouple of fun questions and
then we'll let you go, at leastthat you want to go ahead.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I mean, yeah, we Cowboys fans again.
And you know season's aroundthe corner and you play with
them, obviously, so do you keepup?
Do you still watch football?
Speaker 3 (40:43):
and all that stuff.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Definitely a fan of the game.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
What do the Cowboys need to do to get over this hump
, this hump that we've beentrying to get over since 95?
What do we gotta do?
Speaker 3 (40:56):
I mean, hey, man, I'll tell you what we need to
need to all start praying.
Man, I tell you what you knowthe the NFL season.
You know it's like playing dice.
Yeah, I mean, it is socompetitive and so hard.
You know a lot of people liketo say you know fans like to say
(41:19):
, oh well, you know, this teamis bad and that team is bad.
Let me tell you something thereain't no team in the NFL that
is bad.
No, no, everybody on thoserosters are very good.
Yes, but you know Dak's one ofmy good buddies and I mean you
know you want to talk about.
If you want somebody to leadyour team, that's the guy you
(41:41):
want leading your team.
Yeah, he, I mean, his workethic is unmatched and just even
a better person.
You know, and I just that's whyI love Dak so much.
Man, it's like man, this dude,he's a good dude and I think in
our society you want to getbehind people like that, you
root for people like that, ohfor sure.
And if you want somebodyleading your team, he's
(42:02):
definitely it.
So I think you know, if Dak'son that field for the Cowboys,
he's definitely giving them ashot to win every Sunday, okay.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
I hope so A lot of people have jumped off the deck
bandwagon.
I like that.
I'm kind of I'm treading theline I'm teetering.
But I still, I do believe.
I do believe he'll get us tothe prom.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
I hope so, yeah, hey, come on now, I do believe.
Come on four.
I mean, you know, get us.
That's the Holy Ghost up hereRight Watch out then now so.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
So another question, another front question for you,
musically, who is it that you?
You know when you put yourAirPods in or when you're taking
that long drive home.
You know From Sam, you know youwon't be anymore, but you know
when you're driving To the houseFrom.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Sam.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Who are you listening to On your radio, like or who
are you listening to on yourradio Like who are you?
Speaker 3 (42:49):
listening to on your AirPods.
Yeah, so I love music.
I listen to a little bit ofeverything, but I do.
I do love man, one of the oneof the rappers now.
Yeah, his name is Rod Wave andfirst of all, you know he's a.
He's a big boned fella.
I'd be in the car.
Singing Girl of my Dream is oneof my favorite songs.
(43:09):
I've actually seen you performit.
Before it was like that girl ofmy dream.
So I'd be in class, I'd startsinging a song and I'd be like
man, I missed my opportunity forAmerican Idol, right?
Oh man, let all the studentsknow, hey, y'all go vote for me.
Man, they're calling to votefor me.
But yeah, listening to him, andthen you know I love rock, love
rock songs.
(43:29):
My dad, yeah, my dad was a big,you know rock and roll guy.
And then you know me and my mom, we were actually talking this
morning coming in man, tinaTurner.
You know we were talking aboutTina Turner man, and you know
what's love got to do, got to dowith it, yeah, so I listen to a
little bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
And you know my Rest in peace, yeah, so I listen to a
little bit of everything.
And my mom and dad, theyexposed us to a lot.
You got a wide range of musicpreferences.
Oh yes, yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
So we got one more question for you.
We always in the show wheneverwe have guests on the show is
called Locked In Sports, butlocked in has a broad meaning.
What is your definition ofbeing locked in?
Speaker 3 (44:11):
I think my definition of being locked in is being
responsible.
You know, like I said Imentioned many times, you know I
have my faith on this show andI love to watch.
You know Dr Tony Evans here inDallas.
His son was actually our teamchaplain for the Cowboys,
jonathan Evans, and he alwaysused to tell a story about Adam
and Eve Okay, about Adam and Eve.
And we all know, hey, adam andEve both you know, ate the apple
(44:34):
, Right?
But you know, god came and saidin the garden Adam, where are
you Right?
So one of the things I take,you know, as being locked in is
being responsible as a man,because that's what God has put
on me, regardless of feelings,and emotion has put on me,
regardless of feelings andemotion, right, you know God has
put that on me.
And making sure that you knowwhen my wife, or those little
(44:55):
eyes are looking at me at thetable, you know that I'm doing
everything I can to provide andto get them ready to lead their
own families, right, mm-hmm.
So that's locked in for me.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
I like that.
I love that.
That's a different answer.
We ain't got that one yet.
No, that was different.
I liked that one.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Well, joe, we appreciate you again for just
coming on the show again, takingtime out of your busy schedule.
Yes, come on the show with uson Locked In Sports Coaches
Edition.
Right, we wish you nothing butthe best at your next endeavor.
I know those kids and yourstaff are going to love you.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Thank you.
We appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
I mean, yeah, I just you know, if you have anything
that's coming up, you know,definitely you know, let us know
.
Speaker 3 (45:37):
We definitely want to be a part, you know, shout out
to social media.
Oh, most definitely.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
And all that.
So no again.
Like Val said, we definitelyyou know.
Thank you for doing this.
Like you said, taking your timeout to chat with us, it's my
pleasure, get into some things.
Uh-huh, you got to have alittle razzle-dazzle, all right,
let's see, shine, shine.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Well, coach, too, I appreciate you.
You know a lot of people don'tsee what you know the high
school coaches do, and you knowthe care that you take.
I think that's something thatI've learned as a high school
coach is that all these kidswant to see is somebody who
cares and coach.
You definitely do that for them, so anytime I can help you out,
it's a blessing to have you.
You allow me to be a blessing.
Speaker 2 (46:19):
I appreciate that she aight that's my dog for real.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yes, sir, I think we got us a show.
It's been a wrap, really greatepisode.
Let's go ahead and get it outof here like this.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
It's the one and only Lise and it's your girl, vels,
aka Velly Vell, if that's whatyou want to call me and together
we are Locked In Sports.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Peace, peace.
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