October 1, 2024 • 60 mins
What drives a person to run towards danger when everyone else is fleeing? Join us in this eye-opening episode as we sit down with Todd Blyleven, former Major League Baseball player and son of Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who faced unimaginable terror and emerged a hero during the tragic Route 91 Harvest Music Festival mass shooting in Las Vegas. Todd shares candid insights about the chaos that unfolded that night and his heroic efforts to save lives, a decision that left him grappling with severe PTSD. This episode also takes a nostalgic turn as Todd reminisces about his unique upbringing—one filled with legendary baseball figures and memorable nicknames bestowed upon him by icons like Willie Stargell.
How does one cope with the aftermath of such a life-altering event? Todd opens up about the emotional rollercoaster he experienced following the Las Vegas shooting. From moments of sheer panic to the heartwarming reunion with a loved one that helped him find solace, Todd's story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. We delve into the harrowing details of his bravery amidst the chaos and the profound impact these experiences have had on his mental and emotional well-being. Through Todd’s narrative, we gain a deeper understanding of the immediate onset of PTSD and the surreal atmosphere that followed the tragedy.
Building mental resilience and navigating trauma are complex journeys, and Todd's experiences offer invaluable lessons. This episode highlights the strength and compassion required to overcome such adversities, drawing from Todd’s background in sports and his encounters with trauma response professionals. Todd shares powerful stories of heroism and the importance of familial support, especially his father’s unwavering pride and compassion. He also emphasizes the significance of continuous learning and mental strength, sharing techniques to manage anxiety and stress. Tune in to hear Todd’s inspiring efforts to help others through his podcast and website, and learn how you, too, can build resilience and find happiness amidst life's challenges.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fuzzy, fuzzy Mike.
Yeah, fuzzy, you can take youwith them on a bus or train, on
a highway or on a planebackstage, or on a bike.
It's Kevin Kline's Fuzzy Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello and thank you for joining me on another
episode of the Fuzzy Mike.
If you're new to the podcast,welcome.
I appreciate you checking itout.
If you're new to the podcast,welcome.
I appreciate you checking itout.
If you're a returning FuzzyMike family member, you know
that I record my episodes inadvance of their release date,
which is always on Tuesdays.
Today is a significant date formy guest.
(00:36):
On this day, seven years ago,his life and the lives of
50,000-plus other people changedforever.
On October 1, 2017, toddBleileven and his wife Kathy
were enjoying themselves at theRoute 91 Harvest Music Festival
in Las Vegas.
Shortly after the headliner,country musician Jason Aldean,
(00:59):
took the stage, gunfire eruptedfrom a window on the 32nd floor
of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, whichwas across the street from the
concert.
A lone gunman fired more than1,000 rounds, killing 60 and
wounding well over 400.
The ensuing panic brought thetotal number of injured to
(01:20):
approximately 870.
The incident is still thedeadliest mass shooting
committed by an individual inUnited States history.
Amidst the chaos, todd Blylevinmade sure that his wife and
family made it to safety.
When they were safe.
Well then, so was he.
(01:41):
But this former Major LeagueBaseball player, the son of
former Major League Baseballplayer, the son of a Major
League Baseball Hall of Famer,wasn't finished helping people
to safety, going back in over 30times to rescue people.
It's a decision that has lefthim with severe PTSD and that's
why I wanted to talk with Todd,and we eventually talk about
(02:02):
October 1st 2017, and hisconstant battle with the
emotional scars of that night.
But first I needed to talkabout nicknames, because he and
his dad have two of the all-timegreatest, and I also wanted to
know what it was like being inthe dugout as a seven-year-old
with Dave Parker, kent Ticolvi,hall of Famer Willie Stargell
(02:26):
and Todd's Hall of Fame dad,herb Lyleven.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
It's cool.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Thanks, man.
Well, I got to admit you havetwo of the greatest nicknames
ever ever given in sports.
Talk about how you got yournickname from the 1979
Pittsburgh Pirates.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, you know, that's my dad, my dad.
I know that's my dad, my dad.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I know, but you were tomato face.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Oh, my God, yeah.
Okay, I thought you weretalking about Burt B Holt by 11.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Well, that's the greatest one that Chris Berman
ever came up with, don't youthink?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, so tomato face Willie Stargell actually gave
that to me.
Yeah, that's awesome, yeah.
So I was seven years old, hadbright red hair, freckles,
everything, and one day he juststarted saying, hey, you know
what tomato face he goes?
That's what you look like to me.
He goes you look like a big oldtomato and it just stuck.
(03:18):
And then Phil Gardner and DaveParker and all the guys were
like all right, tomato face andthat was just my nickname for
probably up until I was in highschool.
And then they started callingme Little Bly, chris Berman
called me Todd, be Home by 1130,which was kind of cool, yeah.
But yeah, willie Stargellstarted that.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And you just throw these names around like you know
they're best friends and theywere at that time for you at a
seven names around.
Like you know they're bestfriends and they were at that
time for you at a seven-year-old.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, they were my buddies, my uncles, my pals.
They were my resource tolearning all about girls or you
know anything.
And so, yeah, it was, it was mydad.
I was really lucky.
My dad took me aroundeverywhere with him.
You know, I was just joined atthe hip, so it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What was it like watching T'Kolby.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Well, when I was young, I mean he looked like he
was eight foot tall because he'ssuper thin right.
So I never understood how thatguy could pitch, because he's
like gawky anyways.
But when he would come down andunderneath, I mean, who didn't
want to be Kent T'Kolby playingwiffle ball or anything else?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So we did it all the time, man that was what we
wanted yeah exactly yeah, he wasjust awesome to watch.
Yeah, nobody had ever seenanything like that.
No, I hadn't anyway.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
No, not at all.
I mean Eckersley later, right,I mean he was pretty.
Yeah, yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
We're talking to Todd Bly 11, his dad hall of fame,
major league pitcher for 22seasons.
Bert Bly 11, uh, Chris Bermanon ESPN gave him the nickname be
home, Bly 11.
One of the greatest, if not thegreatest of ever.
Uh, but you know, you actuallyhad somewhat of a major league
baseball career too.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, I was an up and down guy, you know.
Played for a little under sevenyears Angels, pirates,
milwaukee, all around thecountry and then went into, you
know, major league scouting.
So I became a scout for eightyears after that, which was
awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
How difficult was it to try and live up to what your
father had achieved?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Oh geez, I mean, you know, growing up he was just
another dad to me, right?
Of course, my friends I alwaysknew my dad had major importance
.
They always wanted to go to theballpark with me, no matter
where I was at.
You know, I think right aroundmiddle school I sort of realized
that some of my friends werefriends with me just because of
(05:45):
the benefits of being associatedwith me.
But it wasn't until high schoolwhen, all of a sudden, I
remember I think I had struckout like 15 in a game and
somebody kept referencing BurtBlyleven's kid Burt Blyleven's
kid and I'm'm like I'm standingright here, I am dominating.
(06:05):
You know, this game you guysaren't even able to touch me.
It's me, you know.
And so I started to kind ofstart lash out a little bit,
create my own identity.
Um, I think that was the hardpart.
But you know, when I got intoit's probably my second year in
college um, I started to embracethat who I was and that I was
(06:27):
my dad's son and I started toreally learn more from him and
his, his teachings.
I always learned from guys likeNolan Ryan and Frank Viola and
all these, you know, the MarcelLatchmans, which is one of the
greatest pitching coaches of alltime and I'd always learn from
all those people.
And I was like learn from allthose people.
And I was like locked in, right.
(06:47):
But when my dad would talk tome about pitching I'd be like
all right, whatever, you're mydad.
But right around my sophomoreyear in college is when I
started to really ask himquestions and dive into the
mental aspect of the game and Ithink that's when that whole
kind of Bly Levin persona Iembraced it at that point.
And when I got intoprofessional baseball, you know,
(07:09):
I knew I wasn't going to beable to live up to his accolades
.
I mean, let's face it, he's aHall of Famer.
He did incredible things.
Not everybody can do that, butI just tried to be the best
pitcher I could be and you knowthe comparisons were what they
were.
I learned how to live withthose, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
When you ended up giving up your career as a
baseball player?
How did that mess with youridentity?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
A lot.
You know my whole version ofwhat I valued as success with
going out.
I had been on the baseballfield my entire life, so it
wasn't like I was just playingLittle League and I had some
breaks.
I was on the baseball field myentire life, from the highest
level possible.
And when I remember that drivehome, I was in Stockton,
(07:59):
California, and I was drivinghome and I realized the night
before I struck out the side Ihad a dominant game.
I walked away on my terms.
I was missing the family partof my life.
I really wanted to kind of diveinto the what I called the real
world.
I had different expectations onhow that was going to go.
(08:20):
And when I all of a suddenstarted working, and I'm doing
I'm delivering water or I'mcleaning carpets, or I'm just
trying to, started working andI'm doing I'm delivering water
or I'm cleaning carpets or I'mjust trying to, whatever, I was
a waiter.
At one point I'm like how do I?
I'm so miserable, Like I I'mnot striking someone out, I
don't get that Gatorade pouredon me, I'm not getting that
celebration, I'm not getting thetalk after the game from the
(08:41):
coaches.
There's, it was all gone.
And at that point, I reallywent into a deep depression of
trying to redefine myself, andit wasn't up until really 2017
until I realized I don't need todefine myself as a major league
baseball player or a formerathlete.
(09:02):
I needed to embrace who I amtoday, as a father and a good
person in society, and I have amessage to share with people to
help them stand back up forthemselves.
And so it was a long journey,Kevin, on how to try to redefine
that success.
You know when you're in theboardroom, nobody's patting you
on the ass to say, hey, greatboard meeting man, Like high
(09:22):
five to you.
You know you're not running tosay, hey, great, great board
meeting man, Like high five toyou.
You know you're not runningdown the hall going, yeah,
sliding or anything.
So it was just different.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But yeah, well, the one thing that you didn't
mention about believing baseballwas did you miss the
competition and the camaraderie?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Oh, a hundred percent .
I mean you know you can't.
You can't replicate that.
I think that's the greatestpart about playing sports is
you're going to lose, but you'relosing as a team, right.
And then there's this next daythat comes, where you're
grinding or you're hitting theweights or you're running harder
or you're trying to perfectyour craft because it means
something to the team.
(10:01):
And then the aftermath, thecelebrations, the just being
around your pals I mean it'sjust such a great, great time.
You know, whether you'replaying high school or college
or professionally, like I did,playing sports was just amazing.
So, yeah, you do miss it a lot.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
As a scout which you were and you got a World Series
ring from the Anaheim Angels atthe time.
You signed a lot of MajorLeague Baseball players,
including Troy Tulewitzki.
When you see them sign theircontract, how does that compare
to your own?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It was cool.
I mean, you know that was theone thing I always enjoyed with
being a scout was being able tobe fully transparent with
families, understanding thatthey you know I've gone through
what they are going through.
In terms of the athleteperspective.
I know how my parents handledmy draft, which was not the
greatest just because my dad wasa big leaguer, you know, and
(10:56):
never really spent time in theminor leagues, and my mom didn't
really have much touch ofreality in terms of that whole
process that players were goingthrough and at that time because
my dad was in the big leaguesat 19.
So I didn't have much guidancethere.
So I wanted to be able to makesure that I provided the
guidance and so when it cametime for me to sign, a guy like
(11:19):
Troy Tulewitzki or Ian Stewart,for example, first rounder out
of the Keen High School, endedup having a pretty good career,
you know, I embraced thecelebration.
That was the funnest part, rightbeing in there watching that
athlete sign the contract.
I still get goosebumps on itright now just thinking about it
, because you're seeing theparents and all the time and the
(11:42):
effort and just everything thatthey pour in the sacrifice, the
family, the joy around theathlete, and the athlete just
knows okay, I'm ready to takethis on.
So yeah, really, really coolstuff, man.
I really loved it.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
The ring has played a major significance in your life
.
We are seven years removedtoday I guess the biggest
life-altering episode you'veever had.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, most definitely , Absolutely life-changing, you
know.
So you talk about the ringitself.
You know the World Series ring.
My dad has two of them and nowhe's got a Hall of Fame ring too
.
But that World Series ring wasreally really special because it
spoke about defining success.
(12:30):
And as a scout you're grinding24-7.
I've got papers up on the wallsof all the players and
prospects and you're doing yourbest and you're made to feel
like you are and because you arepart of the draft and who, the
success of your minor leagueteams to your big league teams.
So that year in 2002 with theAngels was really special
(12:52):
because you know, I was doingadvanced coverage, had some
players, Like it was justawesome.
I was down in the clubhouse andyou got a chance to be a part
of that journey.
And when Bill Stoneman was upin that GM office and he opens
up that mahogany box and it'sglass top right and we're in
California, so the sun's shiningthrough his office and this
(13:13):
thing is like just glistening.
I mean it's just sparklingrubies, diamonds, all these
things, gold and you put thatring on and it's just there.
It is right.
I made it through the grind ofthe post player part.
Now I'm embracing what baseballcan provide to me as an
operational scout baseballoperations, business side, right
(13:36):
.
So I wore that ring out a lotand a lot of times when we go to
Vegas, you know, of course, yougot the bling right.
So it's big, it's a giant ring.
Yeah, I'd wear it.
People would ask questions, I'dtalk about the ring and lead
into me talking about a player,me being a player, and it was a
lot of fun, you know, a lot ofconversation.
(13:58):
It was always positive.
Um, unfortunately, in in uh,2017, on on this day, uh, you
know, uh, my wife and I and 18others were at a country concert
called route 91, uh music festand, uh, you know, we went
through a couple of differentdays.
I was also going through a lotwith my wife at the time and
(14:20):
trying to rekindle a marriagethat had been derailed at times.
So, personally, you know, I'mtrying my best to define who I
was in the corporate space.
I was removed from the scoutingside because I wanted to be a
present stay-at-home dad, interms of being home nine to five
for my kids, which I reallyenjoyed.
(14:40):
I would do that all over again,but there we are.
We're, you know, at thisconcert and we're having an
absolute blast and things arejust super positive.
It's been a fun couple of daysand and uh, uh madman, on the
32nd floor, across the street,as we all know, uh shot down on
26,000 people and we were rightin the first kill zone of that
(15:04):
unfortunate craziness.
And so, to just keep it supershort and I'll get to the ring
part, I was able to get myfamily out super fast and, thank
God, I was able to recognizewhere the shooting was coming
from in that first round and gotmy family out.
And once we were out and wewere safe outside the gate on
(15:28):
Giles Street, I made a choice,after helping somebody lay a
woman down that had passed, torun back in.
And so I sent my wife and myfamily north to as far away as
possible, told them to run,kissed my wife and told her I
love her and I pray that I'll beOK.
(15:50):
And I ran back in.
And so, after going back andforth multiple times and
carrying out people that hadbeen injured under gunfire,
being shot at, doing what Icould to just keep my boots
moving and running I'm a big oldtarget, but somehow I was
missed.
I did hear bullets fly by meand hit the turf and it was
(16:14):
surreal.
It was something out of a warmovie, but 10 times 100.
I carried a woman out that wassomewhat already gone and I
wanted to get her to somebodythat could try to help her stay
alive, and that was on GilesStreet.
I was picking people up,bringing them out, throwing them
(16:35):
over my shoulder, carrying themin my arms.
I had this woman in my arms Iremember her specifically, and I
laid her down gently and shepassed and a gentleman came up
told me what had happened.
I said I didn't really know herand at that point I looked down
(16:55):
and I had my hand on her waysideand I saw my ring and my ring
was just staring at me and myring was just staring and death,
(17:24):
and so I turned my ring aroundand I went back and kept going.
When I got home, you know,obviously the ring came off that
night when I was, or the nextmorning, eight hours later, when
I was able to actually get intoa shower and wipe all the stuff
off me, and that I cleaned myring pretty good, because it had
(17:47):
stuff inside it and I put it ina box, in that same mahogany
box and it's in my safe and Ipray that one day I'll be able
to wear that thing again, butfor right now it's still sitting
in there and it symbolizes mygreatness and my success on the
baseball side.
I just haven't had theopportunity, or really maybe the
(18:11):
will, to bring it back out andput it back on my finger, but
that's a goal of mine one day.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
You know we were talking about the camaraderie
that you have in the clubhousewith your fellow athletes.
You look down at that ring whenyou're helping out the
teammates of life that day.
I mean that had to be amotivating factor.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
It did.
Yeah, there was a momentafterwards.
Now I guess the let me take astep back.
The inspirational part of thatwhole night was I ran back in.
I was running against the grain.
After about a few times I had acouple people that were also
(18:55):
going back in and over thecourse of hours, more and more
people came out of hiding andwent back in.
So when I would go and bringsomeone out and set them down
and I'd stand up and people werethrowing water bottles to each
other and I was pouring waterall over myself just to try to
stay hydrated and re-energized,I would look down up and down
(19:17):
Giles Street and thousands ofpeople were on top of hundreds
of people that had been injured.
And it was I mean, I getgoosebumps now it was absolutely
motivating and inspiring Humanmankind from all walks of life
just helping people in need, andit was incredible and it gave
(19:39):
me energy time and time again.
I'm also a huge faith believerand I believe that I was not
alone that night.
There's no way I missed inthose line of sight, unless I
was helped in some way.
But the end of my eight-hourjourney, I disarmed a man with a
knife.
(19:59):
We were over at Tropicana tryingto look for a shooter, because
we were told there was a shooterin the building.
And we're protecting 250 pluspeople in this hallway, all
these crazy things.
I'm knocking the door down,we're trying to identify where
we're finding people that arejust huddled on top of each
other because they're hidingeverywhere.
But at the end of the night I'min this ballroom and that's
(20:21):
where SWAT had kind ofcongregated everybody and I'm
laying down because SWAT hadjust told me sir, you can stand
down, and I'm down on the groundand I must have had my hand
kind of this way and my head waspounding.
I had a girl going and she wastrying to find me Advil, I'm
covered in stuff from carryinginjured victims out, so my hat,
(20:45):
my everything, my clothes, andthis older woman behind me says
did you play in the World Series?
And it just completely likeshifted everything and she
started talking to me.
She knew where my mind was.
Everybody knew what I had justdone, because there were a lot
of people coming up and thankingme and all these things.
(21:05):
And she completely shifted myfocus from what I just
encountered to, yes, I was ascout, I played professionally,
and she started asking mebaseball questions and it really
brought me back to okay, I'mokay.
Yeah, I'm okay.
(21:26):
I'm not cut.
At one point I thought I wasshot and the whole thing, but
I'm okay.
Now it's just more of a focusto get back to my wife.
But, yeah, that ring has had alot of significance throughout
many aspects of my life.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Well, not only did that woman start kind of getting
your mind off of what you hadjust gone through, I believe
somebody that was associatedwith your dad in the 1979
Pittsburgh Pirates actuallycalled you who was a combat
veteran.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
So the story?
Well, his name is, his name isLee, and it was actually an
association through baseball.
But, yes, he was a combatveteran did three tours.
When I got back to Las threetours.
When I got back to las vegas,or when I got back to dallas the
next day, we took a flight out.
Um, I was lost.
You know, I'm supposed to gopick up my kids.
(22:12):
My son was playing in abaseball game, my daughter was
with him and the family that waswatching them and, uh, I'm
supposed to go back to work.
And so Lee called me up and saidhey, brother, this is who I am,
I'm a friend of your dad's.
I said yes, sir, I know who youare.
He told me exactly for 30seconds.
(22:33):
He told me a story that wasrelatable to what I experienced,
not to that capacity, but heexperienced death.
He experienced holding death.
He knew what I was going to begoing through and he gave me a
72 hour, basically survivalguide of knowing your speech is
going to be stuttered, you'regoing to have nightmares, you're
(22:55):
going to have headaches thatare going to pound.
You need to be able to talkabout it.
And he gave me a resource, apal that I can talk with and he
was there and all my firstresponder buddies Chad Verd out
of Northern California is afirefighter, he came to me right
away.
Brian Wood, former FBI terroristtask force and Southern
(23:19):
California police officer, markMaldonado, lapd all these
different great friends that Ihad started coming out and
sharing their stories ofadversity and resilience and
just started to empower me withhow to kind of stand up for
myself again or at least startto compartmentalize what was
(23:41):
going on with me.
And I, of course, I tried to doit all on my own because that's
how we were raised right noblood, no foul.
Stand up, stand back up, dealwith it.
But at one point I justrealized I can't do this on my
own and I'm going to break.
I was at that breaking point.
I was having nightmares all thetime, you know, waking up,
(24:01):
grabbing my wife's leg,screaming at people to get down.
I couldn't go anywhere and itwas just horrible.
And I got led into a therapistby the name of Diane and she
specialized in EMDR therapy,which I was told by Chad and all
these guys to go to, leeincluded, and it was a godsend.
(24:23):
So I went through a coupletherapists to find somebody that
was relatable finally found myangel, diane, and a year and a
half later she was awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Well, I'm familiar with EMDR.
Before we get into that, I wantto ask you what was that
reunion like with you and Kathythat night on October 1st,
morning of October 2nd unionlike with you and Kathy.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
That night on October 1st, morning of October 2nd.
Oh so there I am in Tropicana,just been told by two SWAT
officers that I could stand down.
I'm on the ground.
I stood back up, I went to therestroom, came back, I'm laying
there.
That's when I had theconversation with the woman
about my ring, and it wasn'tabout.
Probably an hour later theystarted to excuse everybody.
(25:08):
So now I've got 1% battery lifeon my phone and I am trying to
track where she's at, because Idon't know where she's at still.
I was able to talk with her forabout 15 seconds as we went from
the venue, ran over.
There was about four of us.
We heard that people neededhelp over behind Tropicana.
(25:30):
They had like an ambulance Uberline going on.
There were hundreds of peopleover there that had been injured
, loading people in.
So we ran over.
At that point I'm on the phonewith Kathy.
When I first arrived on scene,at that point I'm on the phone
with Kathy when I first arrivedon scene and I'm asked are you
OK?
She was basically in acondominium at the Desert Rose
(25:50):
Resort where three, fourgentlemen came out and told 25
people hey, come in here.
We're going to guard this placeup, because you thought the
whole world was under attack.
So these four brave individualswere, you know, protected
everybody that was inside there.
So these four brave individualsprotected everybody that was
inside there.
So she was protected, thank God.
And so there I am now fastforward to the next morning and
(26:13):
I'm laying there and they'restarting to let us get out.
And I just wanted to get backto Kathy and I've got 1% battery
life left.
I know she's somewhere behindthe casino, so now I've got to
walk to get to her.
But what's above me it's allthe different casinos, and so
I'm scared to death, kevin.
(26:34):
I've never been that scared inmy entire life, thinking that
the sight of some weapon is onme and going to take me out
because of everything I did.
And I'm finally going to gethit.
After all this time and runningthrough and putting my life on
the line so many times, my luckis up and I'm walking and I'm
(26:55):
trying to like get to her.
And so I text her and said Iknow where you're at, I'm coming
right now, meet me in the lobby.
And so I got to her and it wassomething out of a movie where I
walked through the front.
She and her brother and hiswife are walking through the
back, by the pool entrance andwe meet right by the desk and we
(27:16):
kiss, and that kiss, theembrace, just was everything.
It took away all the pain.
It took away all thenightmarish crap that I went
through and just I knew that shewas safe.
That was a huge thing on my onmy mind too, going through all
(27:38):
that, but I also felt just.
I felt alive again and so, yeah, the journey to get back to
where we were staying at theVenetian was quite a journey,
you know, in itself.
But when I got back, you know,I was able to take my shower and
we had a couple of friends thatwere with us in that night,
(27:59):
that were really worried aboutme, came over, we embraced and
yeah, I was just there.
I mean, I think there's somenews coverage of me getting back
into Dallas.
Her and I, and we're just, youknow, we didn't leave each
other's side.
I didn't, you know, I had her,I think, probably the entire way
, just thinking, okay, there'sgoing to be another situation
(28:21):
that happens, you're not goinganywhere now, but yeah, it was
really, really, it was abeautiful moment.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So a couple of things about that.
Number one this happened rightoutside of the Mandalay Bay.
The Venetian is cleared on theother side of of the of the
strip and you said, before youeven got out of the Tropicana to
go meet up with your wife Kathy, that you're already looking up
and seeing, you know, trying tofind if you're going to be the
next one.
That's immediate PTSD.
(28:50):
Yeah, it set in that quickly,huh.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Yeah, it really did.
Well, I mean, I probablycarried 30, some odd people
after everyone kind of reachedout over the course of a year or
so telling me hey, thank you,you carried me out, you carried
my friend out, you came in,picked them up.
There was a lot that went onGetting shot at while I was
waving people out.
(29:14):
I'd never experienced anythinglike that.
I mean literally at one pointwhen we're in Tropicana again,
we're trying to protect 250people or so that are in the
back entrance in the serviceareas in this long hallway, and
there were two other corridorsthat went right and left.
So three guys went down theright side.
(29:35):
Us other three guys went downthe left side and the goal was
to try to break through doors tofind an active shooter or
somebody, just to eliminatethreats, because we were in a.
We didn't want to get, you know, flanked or anything else from
someone because there were allthese people.
So you're hitting all thesethings.
(29:55):
And I handed my wallet to theEMT, the off duty EMT guy that
was with me.
I said, here, just take this,because if I get shot you guys
better take him out, but atleast you know who I am.
And so you think about all thestuff that you did.
I wrestled a guy with a knife,taking him down and disarmed him
(30:15):
because he was wheeling itaround, and just some crazy guy
that was scared, probably out ofhis mind.
But all the stuff that happened, and you know you put your life
on the line for everything.
Yeah, that coming out of that,that Tropicana was extremely
(30:36):
scary.
When I looked to the left, Icould see all the fire, fire,
fires.
I mean I still get veryemotional talking about it now,
which is fine, but I looked downand you could see the chaos and
it was consumed.
I mean, it was all red lightseverywhere flashing everywhere,
and I was right in the middle ofall of that.
(30:58):
And so when I went right, andso when I went right, all of a
sudden it was quiet and it wasjust me on that road.
You know, you look down VegasBoulevard, there was nothing,
nobody was out.
They blocked the whole strip,so it was like walking into
Zombieland or something, andyou're just by yourself.
(31:21):
And every step I took, like Imentioned, I think, because it
was so silent and the chaos wasleft behind, I felt like it was
my time and I was going to gethit and there was somebody that
was going to come out and hit me.
I never felt that unsafe beforemy armor was completely
(31:43):
stripped.
You know, and I think, as Istarted to get closer and
probably the embrace and thekiss and then being around other
people gave me, gave me safetyand it built.
It took me a long time to get toa point where I'm where I am
today, where, you know, I stillsit up against the back of the
wall when I'm in places, if I'min church or if I go to a point
(32:03):
where I am today where I stillsit up against the back of the
wall when I'm in places, if I'min church or if I go to a
restaurant, I'm identifying exitpoints.
I'm looking at higherelevations for opportunities for
bad people to do things.
I'm understanding what I can doto get the people I'm with out,
get myself out, eliminate thethreat if possible, if I can, I
(32:24):
go through all of that withinthe first five to 10 seconds of
no matter where I go now.
And the other part I'm okaywith is, you know, I've learned
how to be vulnerable and moreapproachable in this too, so I'm
not afraid if I'm at a bigbaseball conference, for example
, and somebody might be sayingsomething and my mind completely
(32:44):
went somewhere else, or I'mfeeling my trauma kind of come
up on me, that PTSD that I letthem know.
Hey, I'm just going to let youknow I have PTSD, I've suffered
with some traumatic trauma andI'm just kind of I feel my
anxiety coming up a little bit.
(33:05):
So I'm going to go ahead, I'mjust going to step away for a
second and refocus myself andthen I'll come back to you and
people are like, okay, and whenI come back all of a sudden, you
know they probably Googled me.
And then they're like, oh, myGod, are you okay?
Like let's go outside, you know, and it's cool because that's
(33:26):
like the compassionate part ofpeople, right, when you're open
and honest, like nobody wants tobe a jerk I don't think I've
had anybody go what are youdoing?
Like just get over it.
You know, not to that extentanyway.
So it's uh, yeah, I think whenthe more honest and open I've
been with this uh, the more itallows somebody to say, hey, you
(33:49):
know what?
I've got a story too.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Well, and that's that's kind of what you do with
your podcast I'm going in, whichis not only a podcast.
It's supposed to be the titleof the book that should be
coming out, if it's not already,and then it's your uh, your
line of clothing.
I'm going in with uh that hasuh inspirational, uh sayings on
hats like rise with strength,and also on on t-shirts and
hoodies, and you can get all ofthat information at Todd Bly
(34:13):
11.com.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
You go to a concert, you think you're going to have a
great time, you think you'regoing there for safety.
How violated did you feel afterall of this?
You know that's one of theparts that I have in my book
where you know, going throughthe therapy that I went through
with Diane, it was probablyabout the third, second or third
session that we, you know, wetalked about going in and being
there.
I was dancing with my niece andyou can hear the gunfire and
then, all of a sudden, the chaos, you know, the machine gun
(34:50):
opened up.
What I realized after talkingabout that and going through
that process was I was strippedof my, my vision of what safety
was, my security, my lettingmyself, my guard down.
I didn't go into concerts.
Yeah, I've been through a lotof different things.
(35:10):
I knew where exit points werebut I never really thought, oh
my God, this could happen to me.
It's only something you seeoverseas or you hear about every
once in a while on the news,but not where it's got an
opportunity to hit me personally.
So it stripped my entire Iguess my entire security kind of
(35:35):
around myself, what I alwaysthought about and being safe, my
entire safety net away frommyself.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
The night that it happens on October 1st, to where
you are now.
What's the emotional timeline?
You know what is it anger atfirst and then relief, and then
you know what is that emotionalemotional line.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
I think that I think you go through uh, confusion
first.
Okay, um, anger didn't set infor quite some time.
For me, it was confusion, itwas trying to block out what had
just happened.
So it's a lot of like trying tojust forget things and trying
(36:17):
to move forward, because lifedoesn't stop.
So all of a sudden, I'm at myoffice, I'm a dad, I'm bringing
my kids to school, I'm trying tolike be strong and I was not
strong at all, which was anuncharted territory for me.
So it was definitely confusionwas the biggest part on what was
(36:37):
happening to me.
Why is this happening to me?
And then I went through thisphase of why did I do that?
I put my life on the line, withmy kids being home, and I could
have been killed, and why did Ido that?
And then comes this empowermentpart, when I realized I need
help and I'm going to stand backup for myself.
(36:59):
The anger part for me reallydidn't happen for probably
months and months after, when Iwas getting contacted a lot more
through Facebook Messenger,different people.
There was a find your heroespage that people were saying,
hey, you need to go on there,someone's looking for you.
(37:19):
They just described you as aperson.
I'd I'd have my picture.
I'd be like, well, I don't knowif this is me or not, yes, it's
you.
And there wasn't.
There was a post that went upand I ended up talking to this
girl and she said, uh, you ranin, you grabbed our friend and
all of a sudden you're likerunning out and we're chasing
you and you put her up on atruck and we jumped into the
(37:44):
back of the truck with her therewere three of them and the
truck drove off and I'm like,okay, and they described the
injury, which was horrible, onwhat happened with this girl,
and I said I'm really sorry thatthat happened.
You know, thinking that shepassed because I had a woman
(38:05):
pass my arm, and the girl says,no, she lived, she's alive, yeah
.
So there was like this upliftmoment where I'm like, yes, okay
, this is cool.
And then all of a sudden Istarted to get really mad.
I was like that girl shouldhave never, ever been in that
place.
The girls that passed on my armshould have never, ever died.
(38:29):
And when Kathy and I got achance, a couple of years later,
we would walk through theGarden of Healing in Vegas, we
went back and revisitedeverything, which was really
weird.
I'm on my walk, going down.
You know, it's 58 differentmemorials through this pathway,
beautiful pathway.
All the family members weredecorating their crosses, their
(38:52):
memorials.
You're seeing pictures.
It's humanizing every singleone of those souls.
And I got about five in andfound one woman that had passed
in my arms a couple more down.
Here's another one, and thenanother one.
Kathy said I think this is oneof the girls you mentioned, and
I looked and it was her and thegirl with the ring and she was a
(39:16):
softball player and and she hada life.
And at that point that angercomes back out again now.
Now, I've never, ever wanted toknow anything about the shooter
.
I don't want to humanize thatevil being or any of these
people that are doing thesehorrible things, but I was angry
(39:38):
at that black soul.
I was angry at that dark shadowof a soul that had their finger
on that trigger, thinking itwas a good thing to just take
people's lives and just cowardly, cowardly, you know.
So that's the anger part I gotmad at.
And then I, you know, I learnedhow to manage that part of it
(40:01):
because I didn't put it towardsthank God, towards anyone that I
know I didn't get irritableenough to get angry at anybody.
I learned enough how to traumamap myself through EMDR, which
really helped me a ton.
But yeah, that was kind of theemotional part.
Now I'm on an uplift, I'm on anempowerment trip on just being
happy, and every day I wake up Ifold my sheets and I just pray
(40:27):
that today's a better day thanyesterday and that there's just
more love in this world.
It took a part of me away thatI'll never, ever be able to get
back and I'll never, ever beable to forget about that
instant when life changed and Ithought, oh my God, I could die
(40:50):
and my whole goal was to get mywife out.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Yeah, I remember hearing you say in a TED talk
that you wanted to stand tallbecause you're six foot five,
250 pounds and you wanted totake the bullet and protect
Kathy and your nieces andeverybody else who was with you.
So you know, where does that,where does that come from?
Where does that belief thatthat strength come from?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
I think it was the way that I was raised.
I have a late grandfather thatwas a Marine Gunny.
He was a long career Marine.
My other grandfather was adevil pup.
He was a career Navy and so hewould go down to Camp Pendleton.
And you know, my dad was raisedas a tough individual.
(41:43):
Just watching him as an athlete, I think the sports competitive
side of me I was a toughathlete, you know.
I pitched with broken ribs andnever complained of pain, right,
I mean, that was our generationtoo.
We'd fall off a bike, we'd getback up.
Yeah, we're bloody, but whocares, we're having fun.
I'd fall out of a tree, breakmy arm, you know, it doesn't
(42:08):
matter, you get back up and youkeep your boots moving forward.
I was a big country guy.
I loved rodeo.
I you know not that I wanted toinflict pain on myself, but in
that moment I think that I'vealways tried to help others and
in that given moment my truecharacter rose, where I
sacrificed myself mentally forthe well-being of my wife and
(42:33):
others to live.
Given moment that if I fell,that the story would be told,
that I fell helping others andnot being selfish and just
helping myself, and I'm notsaying anything about anybody
else.
You have to do what you have todo in that moment.
(42:53):
But my story, the way I wasraised, I was built for that to
be able to help and go in, and Ithink that's where my divine
faith comes in too.
Kevin, I think that I look backon what kind of shape I was in
back then.
I wasn't in the greatest shape.
(43:15):
Not like playing shape to liftup 30 dead weight type bodies
and run them out consistentlywith a few sips of water and
pouring water over myself as arefresh, to keep doing that over
and over consistently for overan hour of just the carrying of
(43:35):
people.
I wasn't in that, that kind ofshape.
So I firmly believe that I was.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
It's amazing, though, what adrenaline can do.
Adrenaline can that kind ofshape, so I firmly believe that
I was.
It's amazing, though, whatadrenaline can do Adrenaline can
totally offset lack of shape.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Yeah, yeah, and I'm strong, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
But yeah, I think in that defining moment though you
know, I have a lot of peoplethat say, hey, I would have done
the same thing.
No, you don't know.
You know, yes, I'm going toturn around.
I'm going to tell you right now, if, god forbid, I'm in that
situation again.
I know that I'm going to gotowards the fight.
(44:14):
I know what I need to do, butbefore all that happened, I also
said, yeah, I'm going to do thesame thing.
But I saw a lot of brave peoplerun.
I saw a lot of first respondersrun.
I heard stories.
First responders guys that weresuper tough, women that were
super tough end up eight storiesup behind a bed, you know,
(44:37):
protecting themselves in someoneelse's room.
They're knocking on rooms.
I mean, people were scatteredeverywhere because you never
know how you're going to react.
In that moment I was just I,you know.
I praise my dad and my mom forraising me the way they did.
I praise my grandparents forraising me the way that they did
.
I learned my morals and myvalues there and in the time of
(45:01):
absolute need, I was completelyproud of myself for putting my
life on the line for others.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Well, I read an article and, to nobody's
surprise, kathy says I wasn'tsurprised that he went back in.
Your dad said I'm not surprisedthat he went back in.
Friends of yours have said I'mnot surprised.
As a matter of fact, it goesall the way back to high school,
top lie 11.
When you saw a car flip over,you rescued a guy while you were
in high school.
(45:30):
So that compassionate part ofyou was born really early.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Yeah, I think so.
I think too, being around MajorLeague Baseball athletes or
incredible athletes that werealways pushing themselves to the
limit every single day to tryto be the best person they could
be, that I, just when thatmoment of opportunity happened
(46:08):
to be able to jump in and dosomething to help someone else,
regardless of the impact itwould have on me later in life,
it was what I was supposed to do.
I mean, I remember, kevin, youknow that incident in the Connie
Mack World Series in Farmington, new Mexico.
You know a guy running down andflying down the highway Well,
it was a back road.
(46:28):
We were going to someone else'shouse me and some of my
teammates and car flips and itwas a big truck and flames were
coming up and big old Indian guy.
And so I ran in and unbuckledhim and pulled him out, you know
, and fire came in andeverything else.
We're like why would you dothat?
(46:49):
What am I supposed to do?
Let the guy burn, like youcan't do that.
So you know, yeah, could thetruck have exploded and I would
have died.
I wasn't thinking about that atthat time, I just wanted to get
him out.
Or when I was scouting, I wouldcome in over the Great Mine from
Northern California intoSouthern California minivan
rolled.
Family members were in it.
(47:10):
It was a mom and a dad, kidsand a grandma.
And you know I'm driving downright behind him.
I see it happening.
I go over the curbs totaldisregard of my truck, slam into
where I'm supposed to be, hopout and, thank God someone else
was behind me.
We're lifting it was on itsside, so we're lifting people up
(47:33):
.
I'm putting the kids in mytruck and we're getting the mom
and dad out and the grandmaairlifted out.
I pray to God they lived.
Not sure about the dad, but justthings that you do.
I don't want to be that personthat keeps driving by.
I don't want to be the personthat sees something or somebody
(47:54):
that needs help and just walk byand ignore them because I need
to get to a meeting or I don'twant to be involved with it.
No BS, make yourself available.
You're there for a reason.
You're put there for a reasonto say something, to do
something, to help someone inneed.
And you know not to say I wanteverybody to jump into a
(48:18):
firefight or you got to protectyourself, but I was just proud
that I I was able to do what Idid.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
And how much of a sense of satisfaction and, uh,
overwhelming pride do you getwhen your dad says I'm proud of
your son?
Speaker 3 (48:37):
That was huge.
Um, you know, my dad's alwayshe, you know, he was raised to
be the best and he was the best.
And we, you know, raised withthat no blood, no foul, get over
it.
And I bring it up.
You know, I brought it up in acouple of different interviews,
you know when we're sitting atthe house.
(48:57):
And it was after the shooting.
And he said when do you thinkyou're going to get over this?
And it was after the shootingand he said when do you think
you're going to get over this?
And I said, dad, I don't thinkthis is something you just get
over.
And he realized, you know, inthat moment too, that it's not.
It's not something that his sonis just going to be able to
think about.
Well, other people deal withthis too.
(49:18):
The son comes up tomorrow.
Keep going, you're fine.
You're not the only one that'sgone through this, because not a
lot of people go through thatand thank God, you know, even
though it seems like it's morefrequent, but it's still
somewhat a small niche of peoplethat experience that and,
especially, do what I did andsee what I saw.
(49:39):
And it put it on a differentlevel playing field to where my
dad started showing morecompassion and really understood
how I was hurt.
And that meant a lot to me, andnot just from a.
I knew my dad would always bethere, my dad would die for me,
my dad would do anything for meand to help me.
(50:01):
But I knew at that point thatmy dad would do anything
mentally and emotionally for meat that point and, um, it was
big.
Uh, it really means a lot.
He says you know, I'm proud ofyour son all the time.
Um, and it's not just becauseof what I did in Vegas, it's
because of the man that I am.
Speaker 2 (50:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (50:22):
Because of my character, right, and that's
what makes me super happy andexcited that.
Speaker 2 (50:29):
Fulfilled.
Speaker 3 (50:30):
Fulfilled, validated.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
Yeah, yeah for sure.
You were raped of yourinnocence.
You were raped of your comfort.
You were raped of your securityon October 1st 2017.
I have listeners to the FuzzyMike who have been sexually
raped, who have been emotionallyraped.
They suffer PTSD.
What do you say to them?
(50:53):
How can they overcome thetrauma that they have
experienced?
Or can they?
Speaker 3 (50:59):
Yeah, I think that you can overcome it.
I think you can learn how tolive with it.
I think you can.
I call it like trauma mapping,so you recognize yes, I've had
this trauma.
Something really bad happenedto me.
I'm going to embrace that.
I'm going to keep it out infront of me.
I'm going to know that it'sthere.
I'm going to walk with it in mylife, with it being out in
(51:20):
front of me.
I'm going to know that it'sthere.
I'm going to walk with it in mylife, with it being out in
front of me, and I'm going tolearn as an individual now how I
can take my next step forward,whether it's going into a
grocery store, whether it'sgetting into a new relationship,
whether it's doing whatever itis that sometimes brings that
trauma back on towards you.
I'm going to learn what thosespidey senses feel like and if I
(51:44):
can learn more about myself andkeep that trauma out in front
of me, I'm going to, all of asudden start seeing life in a
more beautiful light.
It revitalizes you, it givesyou new purpose, knowing that
you can walk with this.
It's not going to conquer you.
(52:04):
You're going to learn how tokeep this spatial gap between
you and your trauma.
And when that starts to comeback like when I get into a
crowded place and I feel like,okay, I'm feeling it come on I
can feel my anxiety come up.
I can feel the back of mythroat getting knotted, I'm
starting to stutter speeches, Ican't think super clear.
(52:24):
I'm going to remove myself forabout five minutes.
I'm going to go into a bathroomwhere it's quiet.
I'm going to get to a safe spotfor me.
I know where those are at nowbecause I've learned those over
the course of seven years, andso when I re-approach that scene
, I'm in a much more betterplace.
I'm in a protected place.
(52:45):
I've got my security fence uparound me.
I have my body armor on.
Maybe I didn't have my helmeton, maybe I didn't have my chest
protector on, maybe I didn'thave my sword.
Whatever that is to you, I haveit now.
Now I'm able to step back intothat environment a little bit
more comfortable and calm andcollected, and I think that's
the biggest into thatenvironment a little bit more
comfortable and calm andcollected, and I think that's
the biggest advice that I couldprobably give to somebody that's
(53:06):
dealing with trauma or has hada horrible situation happen in
their life.
You have to embrace it.
Unfortunately, it's never goingto go away.
So trauma, map it.
Map that, how you navigate toget to that trauma and how that
trauma navigates itself to getto you.
And when you can figure out allthose little hiding spots and
(53:29):
everything else that it hits,that it jumps back on you.
You've won, you've conqueredthat.
And when you conquer it, kevin,there's nothing that you could
ever not do in your life.
You are empowered, you'restrong, you're like a damn lion
(53:49):
and there's nothing that couldever stop you because you own
that now.
Right, that's the whole part ofit.
So I'm not a big believer inlike getting over it or anything
else, but you can overcome itfor sure, and I put a guide on
my website.
I built this like just 12 page,really easy to read guide has
three different stories and itteaches you how to go through
(54:10):
what I just experienced or whatI explained, and it also has
some education on how you canreach out and be a force for
others that are might be goingthrough something similar, to
help others in a time of need aswell.
Speaker 2 (54:23):
So, todd Bly, 11.com is where you can go to get that.
So I think you've alreadyanswered my question that I was
going to ask.
But because you have physicalstature, because you are a
strong individual who carried 30plus bodies off of the
battlefield, basically mentalstrength to me sounds like it's
more powerful than physicalstrength 100.
Speaker 3 (54:45):
You have to mentally will yourself to keep your boots
moving forward, to stand up, towalk tall again for yourself
and and help others walk tallfor them themselves.
Uh, the mental approach youknow, uh, it goes back to even
my baseball days.
Talking to guys like KennyRevisa the late Kenny Revisa.
That was one of the best sportspsychology minds in all of
(55:07):
baseball and you know he used totell us all that if we would
throw a ball, or throw two balls, or throw three balls at the
pitcher to walk around andidentify something out in the
field that allowed your mind toescape to that moment, whether
it was a tree in the field thatallowed your mind to escape to
that moment, whether it was atree in the outfield or some
force from a pillar how did thatpillar get there?
(55:28):
What was that tree like?
But it was just about mindseparation, right, and then to
refocus yourself and get back onthat rubber and toe up and
deliver the best pitch possible.
And that's all we're trying todo in life.
Every day, something knocks youback, right, and it's not as
anything to do with yourphysical form, but mentally.
We get knocked down every day,especially in the society that
(55:50):
we live in the news.
You know we're attached to ourphones.
We get a notification thatsomething God forbid happened in
our neighborhood or there'ssomething going on overseas or
whatever that is that's directlyimpacting our own anxiety
levels.
So you need to be able toembrace that.
Understand where you're at,build a safe spot around your
(56:10):
home or in a room or whileyou're out.
Understand how to get yourselfto that centered self again
where you're safe and you'restrong, and then refocus and
take your boot and move itforward.
Speaker 2 (56:24):
So the mental aspect is huge.
Is that still something thatyou're learning how to do seven
years later?
Speaker 3 (56:29):
I learn every single day, kevin, because you never
know what is going to happen.
You get a different call,different anxiety level that
pops up, but I've tried to justlearn, continue to learn, never
think that you know everything.
I'm on a couple differentboards with some trauma response
teams Restoration Ranch inColorado that does some amazing
(56:51):
work for first responders.
I talk to Navy SEALs all kindsof different people that have
experienced a lot of really badthings, from business leaders to
sports professionals, to myfaith and just having that
divine connection.
It's not hard.
If you just want it, then youdo it.
And if you don't, you know mybirthday just passed and you
(57:14):
know I turned 40 again.
Why?
Because I liked being 40 and Ijust want to be 40.
I don't want to be 50 some oddyears old.
You know I want to be 40.
And so mentally I'm going to be40.
I don't want to be 50 some oddyears old.
You know I want to be 40.
And so mentally I'm going to dothat because I feel that way.
So, yeah, just walk tall foryourself.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
Oh, brother, I still feel like I'm 18.
Speaker 3 (57:31):
Yeah, there you go.
Well, I got the gray right here.
Speaker 2 (57:35):
So oh man, I'm, I'm, I'm pushing 55, my friend.
So yeah, I've got considerablymore gray than you.
So well, hey man.
Um, you know there is no suchthing as a physical hall of fame
of life, but you're a firstballer, bro.
Speaker 3 (57:50):
I appreciate that very much.
Speaker 2 (57:52):
Absolutely, absolutely and uh, toddbly11.com
is where you can go.
I highly encourage you to gothere because there's a lot of
uh, a lot of information thereabout how do you deal with PTSD.
There's a lot of informationthere about how to deal with
PTSD.
There's a lot of TED Talks thatyou've done on your YouTube
channel.
Also, listen to the I'm GoingIn podcast Fantastic stuff.
You get great guests on thereall the time.
So, thank you for coming on theFuzzy Mike, and hey, man,
(58:15):
thanks for being a friend.
Speaker 3 (58:17):
Kevin, yeah, definitely.
We've connected a few times andthis was an absolute blast.
You're a super pro and I reallyappreciate you having me on
your show.
It's pretty awesome.
Speaker 2 (58:29):
You know a lot of people consider athletes heroes.
They're capable of doingspectacular things, stuff that
so few can do, which isinspiring for sure.
And Todd saw up close and verypersonally what many
Pittsburghers consider heroicefforts from their World Series
(58:49):
winning baseball team of 1979.
They were only the fourth teamat the time in Major League
Baseball history to come backfrom a three games to one
deficit to win the World Series.
But, friends, it was a thenseven-year-old boy, bright-eyed
and tomato-faced, who was thebiggest hero on that bench.
(59:10):
We just didn't know it yet.
My thanks to Todd Blylevin forsharing his story and giving us
some instructions and ways tocope with our own trauma.
You can follow Todd on hispodcast.
I'm Going In and through hiswebsite, toddblylevincom.
And don't forget, on Wednesdays, my 25-year morning radio
(59:31):
partner, tim Tuttle, and I bringyou the Tuttle Kline show on
these same sites where you'relistening to the Fuzzy Mike.
It's unscripted, unfiltered and, yeah, unbelievably funny.
My weekly favor is that youhelp me build the Fuzzy Mike
audience.
You can do this by tellingsomeone about the podcast,
(59:54):
sharing it on your social pagesor by giving it a rating.
The Fuzzy Mike is hosted andproduced by Kevin Kline.
The Fuzzy Mike.
Professional voice guy is myfriend Zach Sheesh from the
Radio Farm.
Social media director is TrishKlein.
Thank you for sharing your timewith me.
I'm grateful See you on thenext episode.
Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Fuzzy
Mike with Kevin Klein.
Check back often and stay fuzzyfriends.
No-transcript.
Fuzzy, fuzzy Mike.
Yeah, fuzzy, you can take youwith them on a bus or train, on
a highway or on a planebackstage, or on a bike.
It's Kevin Kline's Fuzzy Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello and thank you for joining me on another
episode of the Fuzzy Mike.
If you're new to the podcast,welcome.
I appreciate you checking itout.
If you're new to the podcast,welcome.
I appreciate you checking itout.
If you're a returning FuzzyMike family member, you know
that I record my episodes inadvance of their release date,
which is always on Tuesdays.
Today is a significant date formy guest.
(00:36):
On this day, seven years ago,his life and the lives of
50,000-plus other people changedforever.
On October 1, 2017, toddBleileven and his wife Kathy
were enjoying themselves at theRoute 91 Harvest Music Festival
in Las Vegas.
Shortly after the headliner,country musician Jason Aldean,
(00:59):
took the stage, gunfire eruptedfrom a window on the 32nd floor
of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, whichwas across the street from the
concert.
A lone gunman fired more than1,000 rounds, killing 60 and
wounding well over 400.
The ensuing panic brought thetotal number of injured to
(01:20):
approximately 870.
The incident is still thedeadliest mass shooting
committed by an individual inUnited States history.
Amidst the chaos, todd Blylevinmade sure that his wife and
family made it to safety.
When they were safe.
Well then, so was he.
(01:41):
But this former Major LeagueBaseball player, the son of
former Major League Baseballplayer, the son of a Major
League Baseball Hall of Famer,wasn't finished helping people
to safety, going back in over 30times to rescue people.
It's a decision that has lefthim with severe PTSD and that's
why I wanted to talk with Todd,and we eventually talk about
(02:02):
October 1st 2017, and hisconstant battle with the
emotional scars of that night.
But first I needed to talkabout nicknames, because he and
his dad have two of the all-timegreatest, and I also wanted to
know what it was like being inthe dugout as a seven-year-old
with Dave Parker, kent Ticolvi,hall of Famer Willie Stargell
(02:26):
and Todd's Hall of Fame dad,herb Lyleven.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
It's cool.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Thanks, man.
Well, I got to admit you havetwo of the greatest nicknames
ever ever given in sports.
Talk about how you got yournickname from the 1979
Pittsburgh Pirates.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, you know, that's my dad, my dad.
I know that's my dad, my dad.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I know, but you were tomato face.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Oh, my God, yeah.
Okay, I thought you weretalking about Burt B Holt by 11.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Well, that's the greatest one that Chris Berman
ever came up with, don't youthink?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, so tomato face Willie Stargell actually gave
that to me.
Yeah, that's awesome, yeah.
So I was seven years old, hadbright red hair, freckles,
everything, and one day he juststarted saying, hey, you know
what tomato face he goes?
That's what you look like to me.
He goes you look like a big oldtomato and it just stuck.
(03:18):
And then Phil Gardner and DaveParker and all the guys were
like all right, tomato face andthat was just my nickname for
probably up until I was in highschool.
And then they started callingme Little Bly, chris Berman
called me Todd, be Home by 1130,which was kind of cool, yeah.
But yeah, willie Stargellstarted that.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And you just throw these names around like you know
they're best friends and theywere at that time for you at a
seven names around.
Like you know they're bestfriends and they were at that
time for you at a seven-year-old.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, they were my buddies, my uncles, my pals.
They were my resource tolearning all about girls or you
know anything.
And so, yeah, it was, it was mydad.
I was really lucky.
My dad took me aroundeverywhere with him.
You know, I was just joined atthe hip, so it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What was it like watching T'Kolby.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Well, when I was young, I mean he looked like he
was eight foot tall because he'ssuper thin right.
So I never understood how thatguy could pitch, because he's
like gawky anyways.
But when he would come down andunderneath, I mean, who didn't
want to be Kent T'Kolby playingwiffle ball or anything else?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So we did it all the time, man that was what we
wanted yeah exactly yeah, he wasjust awesome to watch.
Yeah, nobody had ever seenanything like that.
No, I hadn't anyway.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
No, not at all.
I mean Eckersley later, right,I mean he was pretty.
Yeah, yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
We're talking to Todd Bly 11, his dad hall of fame,
major league pitcher for 22seasons.
Bert Bly 11, uh, Chris Bermanon ESPN gave him the nickname be
home, Bly 11.
One of the greatest, if not thegreatest of ever.
Uh, but you know, you actuallyhad somewhat of a major league
baseball career too.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, I was an up and down guy, you know.
Played for a little under sevenyears Angels, pirates,
milwaukee, all around thecountry and then went into, you
know, major league scouting.
So I became a scout for eightyears after that, which was
awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
How difficult was it to try and live up to what your
father had achieved?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Oh geez, I mean, you know, growing up he was just
another dad to me, right?
Of course, my friends I alwaysknew my dad had major importance
.
They always wanted to go to theballpark with me, no matter
where I was at.
You know, I think right aroundmiddle school I sort of realized
that some of my friends werefriends with me just because of
(05:45):
the benefits of being associatedwith me.
But it wasn't until high schoolwhen, all of a sudden, I
remember I think I had struckout like 15 in a game and
somebody kept referencing BurtBlyleven's kid Burt Blyleven's
kid and I'm'm like I'm standingright here, I am dominating.
(06:05):
You know, this game you guysaren't even able to touch me.
It's me, you know.
And so I started to kind ofstart lash out a little bit,
create my own identity.
Um, I think that was the hardpart.
But you know, when I got intoit's probably my second year in
college um, I started to embracethat who I was and that I was
(06:27):
my dad's son and I started toreally learn more from him and
his, his teachings.
I always learned from guys likeNolan Ryan and Frank Viola and
all these, you know, the MarcelLatchmans, which is one of the
greatest pitching coaches of alltime and I'd always learn from
all those people.
And I was like learn from allthose people.
And I was like locked in, right.
(06:47):
But when my dad would talk tome about pitching I'd be like
all right, whatever, you're mydad.
But right around my sophomoreyear in college is when I
started to really ask himquestions and dive into the
mental aspect of the game and Ithink that's when that whole
kind of Bly Levin persona Iembraced it at that point.
And when I got intoprofessional baseball, you know,
(07:09):
I knew I wasn't going to beable to live up to his accolades
.
I mean, let's face it, he's aHall of Famer.
He did incredible things.
Not everybody can do that, butI just tried to be the best
pitcher I could be and you knowthe comparisons were what they
were.
I learned how to live withthose, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
When you ended up giving up your career as a
baseball player?
How did that mess with youridentity?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
A lot.
You know my whole version ofwhat I valued as success with
going out.
I had been on the baseballfield my entire life, so it
wasn't like I was just playingLittle League and I had some
breaks.
I was on the baseball field myentire life, from the highest
level possible.
And when I remember that drivehome, I was in Stockton,
(07:59):
California, and I was drivinghome and I realized the night
before I struck out the side Ihad a dominant game.
I walked away on my terms.
I was missing the family partof my life.
I really wanted to kind of diveinto the what I called the real
world.
I had different expectations onhow that was going to go.
(08:20):
And when I all of a suddenstarted working, and I'm doing
I'm delivering water or I'mcleaning carpets, or I'm just
trying to, started working andI'm doing I'm delivering water
or I'm cleaning carpets or I'mjust trying to, whatever, I was
a waiter.
At one point I'm like how do I?
I'm so miserable, Like I I'mnot striking someone out, I
don't get that Gatorade pouredon me, I'm not getting that
celebration, I'm not getting thetalk after the game from the
(08:41):
coaches.
There's, it was all gone.
And at that point, I reallywent into a deep depression of
trying to redefine myself, andit wasn't up until really 2017
until I realized I don't need todefine myself as a major league
baseball player or a formerathlete.
(09:02):
I needed to embrace who I amtoday, as a father and a good
person in society, and I have amessage to share with people to
help them stand back up forthemselves.
And so it was a long journey,Kevin, on how to try to redefine
that success.
You know when you're in theboardroom, nobody's patting you
on the ass to say, hey, greatboard meeting man, Like high
(09:22):
five to you.
You know you're not running tosay, hey, great, great board
meeting man, Like high five toyou.
You know you're not runningdown the hall going, yeah,
sliding or anything.
So it was just different.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But yeah, well, the one thing that you didn't
mention about believing baseballwas did you miss the
competition and the camaraderie?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Oh, a hundred percent .
I mean you know you can't.
You can't replicate that.
I think that's the greatestpart about playing sports is
you're going to lose, but you'relosing as a team, right.
And then there's this next daythat comes, where you're
grinding or you're hitting theweights or you're running harder
or you're trying to perfectyour craft because it means
something to the team.
(10:01):
And then the aftermath, thecelebrations, the just being
around your pals I mean it'sjust such a great, great time.
You know, whether you'replaying high school or college
or professionally, like I did,playing sports was just amazing.
So, yeah, you do miss it a lot.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
As a scout which you were and you got a World Series
ring from the Anaheim Angels atthe time.
You signed a lot of MajorLeague Baseball players,
including Troy Tulewitzki.
When you see them sign theircontract, how does that compare
to your own?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It was cool.
I mean, you know that was theone thing I always enjoyed with
being a scout was being able tobe fully transparent with
families, understanding thatthey you know I've gone through
what they are going through.
In terms of the athleteperspective.
I know how my parents handledmy draft, which was not the
greatest just because my dad wasa big leaguer, you know, and
(10:56):
never really spent time in theminor leagues, and my mom didn't
really have much touch ofreality in terms of that whole
process that players were goingthrough and at that time because
my dad was in the big leaguesat 19.
So I didn't have much guidancethere.
So I wanted to be able to makesure that I provided the
guidance and so when it cametime for me to sign, a guy like
(11:19):
Troy Tulewitzki or Ian Stewart,for example, first rounder out
of the Keen High School, endedup having a pretty good career,
you know, I embraced thecelebration.
That was the funnest part, rightbeing in there watching that
athlete sign the contract.
I still get goosebumps on itright now just thinking about it
, because you're seeing theparents and all the time and the
(11:42):
effort and just everything thatthey pour in the sacrifice, the
family, the joy around theathlete, and the athlete just
knows okay, I'm ready to takethis on.
So yeah, really, really coolstuff, man.
I really loved it.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
The ring has played a major significance in your life
.
We are seven years removedtoday I guess the biggest
life-altering episode you'veever had.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, most definitely , Absolutely life-changing, you
know.
So you talk about the ringitself.
You know the World Series ring.
My dad has two of them and nowhe's got a Hall of Fame ring too
.
But that World Series ring wasreally really special because it
spoke about defining success.
(12:30):
And as a scout you're grinding24-7.
I've got papers up on the wallsof all the players and
prospects and you're doing yourbest and you're made to feel
like you are and because you arepart of the draft and who, the
success of your minor leagueteams to your big league teams.
So that year in 2002 with theAngels was really special
(12:52):
because you know, I was doingadvanced coverage, had some
players, Like it was justawesome.
I was down in the clubhouse andyou got a chance to be a part
of that journey.
And when Bill Stoneman was upin that GM office and he opens
up that mahogany box and it'sglass top right and we're in
California, so the sun's shiningthrough his office and this
(13:13):
thing is like just glistening.
I mean it's just sparklingrubies, diamonds, all these
things, gold and you put thatring on and it's just there.
It is right.
I made it through the grind ofthe post player part.
Now I'm embracing what baseballcan provide to me as an
operational scout baseballoperations, business side, right
(13:36):
.
So I wore that ring out a lotand a lot of times when we go to
Vegas, you know, of course, yougot the bling right.
So it's big, it's a giant ring.
Yeah, I'd wear it.
People would ask questions, I'dtalk about the ring and lead
into me talking about a player,me being a player, and it was a
lot of fun, you know, a lot ofconversation.
(13:58):
It was always positive.
Um, unfortunately, in in uh,2017, on on this day, uh, you
know, uh, my wife and I and 18others were at a country concert
called route 91, uh music festand, uh, you know, we went
through a couple of differentdays.
I was also going through a lotwith my wife at the time and
(14:20):
trying to rekindle a marriagethat had been derailed at times.
So, personally, you know, I'mtrying my best to define who I
was in the corporate space.
I was removed from the scoutingside because I wanted to be a
present stay-at-home dad, interms of being home nine to five
for my kids, which I reallyenjoyed.
(14:40):
I would do that all over again,but there we are.
We're, you know, at thisconcert and we're having an
absolute blast and things arejust super positive.
It's been a fun couple of daysand and uh, uh madman, on the
32nd floor, across the street,as we all know, uh shot down on
26,000 people and we were rightin the first kill zone of that
(15:04):
unfortunate craziness.
And so, to just keep it supershort and I'll get to the ring
part, I was able to get myfamily out super fast and, thank
God, I was able to recognizewhere the shooting was coming
from in that first round and gotmy family out.
And once we were out and wewere safe outside the gate on
(15:28):
Giles Street, I made a choice,after helping somebody lay a
woman down that had passed, torun back in.
And so I sent my wife and myfamily north to as far away as
possible, told them to run,kissed my wife and told her I
love her and I pray that I'll beOK.
(15:50):
And I ran back in.
And so, after going back andforth multiple times and
carrying out people that hadbeen injured under gunfire,
being shot at, doing what Icould to just keep my boots
moving and running I'm a big oldtarget, but somehow I was
missed.
I did hear bullets fly by meand hit the turf and it was
(16:14):
surreal.
It was something out of a warmovie, but 10 times 100.
I carried a woman out that wassomewhat already gone and I
wanted to get her to somebodythat could try to help her stay
alive, and that was on GilesStreet.
I was picking people up,bringing them out, throwing them
(16:35):
over my shoulder, carrying themin my arms.
I had this woman in my arms Iremember her specifically, and I
laid her down gently and shepassed and a gentleman came up
told me what had happened.
I said I didn't really know herand at that point I looked down
(16:55):
and I had my hand on her waysideand I saw my ring and my ring
was just staring at me and myring was just staring and death,
(17:24):
and so I turned my ring aroundand I went back and kept going.
When I got home, you know,obviously the ring came off that
night when I was, or the nextmorning, eight hours later, when
I was able to actually get intoa shower and wipe all the stuff
off me, and that I cleaned myring pretty good, because it had
(17:47):
stuff inside it and I put it ina box, in that same mahogany
box and it's in my safe and Ipray that one day I'll be able
to wear that thing again, butfor right now it's still sitting
in there and it symbolizes mygreatness and my success on the
baseball side.
I just haven't had theopportunity, or really maybe the
(18:11):
will, to bring it back out andput it back on my finger, but
that's a goal of mine one day.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
You know we were talking about the camaraderie
that you have in the clubhousewith your fellow athletes.
You look down at that ring whenyou're helping out the
teammates of life that day.
I mean that had to be amotivating factor.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
It did.
Yeah, there was a momentafterwards.
Now I guess the let me take astep back.
The inspirational part of thatwhole night was I ran back in.
I was running against the grain.
After about a few times I had acouple people that were also
(18:55):
going back in and over thecourse of hours, more and more
people came out of hiding andwent back in.
So when I would go and bringsomeone out and set them down
and I'd stand up and people werethrowing water bottles to each
other and I was pouring waterall over myself just to try to
stay hydrated and re-energized,I would look down up and down
(19:17):
Giles Street and thousands ofpeople were on top of hundreds
of people that had been injured.
And it was I mean, I getgoosebumps now it was absolutely
motivating and inspiring Humanmankind from all walks of life
just helping people in need, andit was incredible and it gave
(19:39):
me energy time and time again.
I'm also a huge faith believerand I believe that I was not
alone that night.
There's no way I missed inthose line of sight, unless I
was helped in some way.
But the end of my eight-hourjourney, I disarmed a man with a
knife.
(19:59):
We were over at Tropicana tryingto look for a shooter, because
we were told there was a shooterin the building.
And we're protecting 250 pluspeople in this hallway, all
these crazy things.
I'm knocking the door down,we're trying to identify where
we're finding people that arejust huddled on top of each
other because they're hidingeverywhere.
But at the end of the night I'min this ballroom and that's
(20:21):
where SWAT had kind ofcongregated everybody and I'm
laying down because SWAT hadjust told me sir, you can stand
down, and I'm down on the groundand I must have had my hand
kind of this way and my head waspounding.
I had a girl going and she wastrying to find me Advil, I'm
covered in stuff from carryinginjured victims out, so my hat,
(20:45):
my everything, my clothes, andthis older woman behind me says
did you play in the World Series?
And it just completely likeshifted everything and she
started talking to me.
She knew where my mind was.
Everybody knew what I had justdone, because there were a lot
of people coming up and thankingme and all these things.
(21:05):
And she completely shifted myfocus from what I just
encountered to, yes, I was ascout, I played professionally,
and she started asking mebaseball questions and it really
brought me back to okay, I'mokay.
Yeah, I'm okay.
(21:26):
I'm not cut.
At one point I thought I wasshot and the whole thing, but
I'm okay.
Now it's just more of a focusto get back to my wife.
But, yeah, that ring has had alot of significance throughout
many aspects of my life.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Well, not only did that woman start kind of getting
your mind off of what you hadjust gone through, I believe
somebody that was associatedwith your dad in the 1979
Pittsburgh Pirates actuallycalled you who was a combat
veteran.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
So the story?
Well, his name is, his name isLee, and it was actually an
association through baseball.
But, yes, he was a combatveteran did three tours.
When I got back to Las threetours.
When I got back to las vegas,or when I got back to dallas the
next day, we took a flight out.
Um, I was lost.
You know, I'm supposed to gopick up my kids.
(22:12):
My son was playing in abaseball game, my daughter was
with him and the family that waswatching them and, uh, I'm
supposed to go back to work.
And so Lee called me up and saidhey, brother, this is who I am,
I'm a friend of your dad's.
I said yes, sir, I know who youare.
He told me exactly for 30seconds.
(22:33):
He told me a story that wasrelatable to what I experienced,
not to that capacity, but heexperienced death.
He experienced holding death.
He knew what I was going to begoing through and he gave me a
72 hour, basically survivalguide of knowing your speech is
going to be stuttered, you'regoing to have nightmares, you're
(22:55):
going to have headaches thatare going to pound.
You need to be able to talkabout it.
And he gave me a resource, apal that I can talk with and he
was there and all my firstresponder buddies Chad Verd out
of Northern California is afirefighter, he came to me right
away.
Brian Wood, former FBI terroristtask force and Southern
(23:19):
California police officer, markMaldonado, lapd all these
different great friends that Ihad started coming out and
sharing their stories ofadversity and resilience and
just started to empower me withhow to kind of stand up for
myself again or at least startto compartmentalize what was
(23:41):
going on with me.
And I, of course, I tried to doit all on my own because that's
how we were raised right noblood, no foul.
Stand up, stand back up, dealwith it.
But at one point I justrealized I can't do this on my
own and I'm going to break.
I was at that breaking point.
I was having nightmares all thetime, you know, waking up,
(24:01):
grabbing my wife's leg,screaming at people to get down.
I couldn't go anywhere and itwas just horrible.
And I got led into a therapistby the name of Diane and she
specialized in EMDR therapy,which I was told by Chad and all
these guys to go to, leeincluded, and it was a godsend.
(24:23):
So I went through a coupletherapists to find somebody that
was relatable finally found myangel, diane, and a year and a
half later she was awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Well, I'm familiar with EMDR.
Before we get into that, I wantto ask you what was that
reunion like with you and Kathythat night on October 1st,
morning of October 2nd unionlike with you and Kathy.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
That night on October 1st, morning of October 2nd.
Oh so there I am in Tropicana,just been told by two SWAT
officers that I could stand down.
I'm on the ground.
I stood back up, I went to therestroom, came back, I'm laying
there.
That's when I had theconversation with the woman
about my ring, and it wasn'tabout.
Probably an hour later theystarted to excuse everybody.
(25:08):
So now I've got 1% battery lifeon my phone and I am trying to
track where she's at, because Idon't know where she's at still.
I was able to talk with her forabout 15 seconds as we went from
the venue, ran over.
There was about four of us.
We heard that people neededhelp over behind Tropicana.
(25:30):
They had like an ambulance Uberline going on.
There were hundreds of peopleover there that had been injured
, loading people in.
So we ran over.
At that point I'm on the phonewith Kathy.
When I first arrived on scene,at that point I'm on the phone
with Kathy when I first arrivedon scene and I'm asked are you
OK?
She was basically in acondominium at the Desert Rose
(25:50):
Resort where three, fourgentlemen came out and told 25
people hey, come in here.
We're going to guard this placeup, because you thought the
whole world was under attack.
So these four brave individualswere, you know, protected
everybody that was inside there.
So these four brave individualsprotected everybody that was
inside there.
So she was protected, thank God.
And so there I am now fastforward to the next morning and
(26:13):
I'm laying there and they'restarting to let us get out.
And I just wanted to get backto Kathy and I've got 1% battery
life left.
I know she's somewhere behindthe casino, so now I've got to
walk to get to her.
But what's above me it's allthe different casinos, and so
I'm scared to death, kevin.
(26:34):
I've never been that scared inmy entire life, thinking that
the sight of some weapon is onme and going to take me out
because of everything I did.
And I'm finally going to gethit.
After all this time and runningthrough and putting my life on
the line so many times, my luckis up and I'm walking and I'm
(26:55):
trying to like get to her.
And so I text her and said Iknow where you're at, I'm coming
right now, meet me in the lobby.
And so I got to her and it wassomething out of a movie where I
walked through the front.
She and her brother and hiswife are walking through the
back, by the pool entrance andwe meet right by the desk and we
(27:16):
kiss, and that kiss, theembrace, just was everything.
It took away all the pain.
It took away all thenightmarish crap that I went
through and just I knew that shewas safe.
That was a huge thing on my onmy mind too, going through all
(27:38):
that, but I also felt just.
I felt alive again and so, yeah, the journey to get back to
where we were staying at theVenetian was quite a journey,
you know, in itself.
But when I got back, you know,I was able to take my shower and
we had a couple of friends thatwere with us in that night,
(27:59):
that were really worried aboutme, came over, we embraced and
yeah, I was just there.
I mean, I think there's somenews coverage of me getting back
into Dallas.
Her and I, and we're just, youknow, we didn't leave each
other's side.
I didn't, you know, I had her,I think, probably the entire way
, just thinking, okay, there'sgoing to be another situation
(28:21):
that happens, you're not goinganywhere now, but yeah, it was
really, really, it was abeautiful moment.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So a couple of things about that.
Number one this happened rightoutside of the Mandalay Bay.
The Venetian is cleared on theother side of of the of the
strip and you said, before youeven got out of the Tropicana to
go meet up with your wife Kathy, that you're already looking up
and seeing, you know, trying tofind if you're going to be the
next one.
That's immediate PTSD.
(28:50):
Yeah, it set in that quickly,huh.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Yeah, it really did.
Well, I mean, I probablycarried 30, some odd people
after everyone kind of reachedout over the course of a year or
so telling me hey, thank you,you carried me out, you carried
my friend out, you came in,picked them up.
There was a lot that went onGetting shot at while I was
waving people out.
(29:14):
I'd never experienced anythinglike that.
I mean literally at one pointwhen we're in Tropicana again,
we're trying to protect 250people or so that are in the
back entrance in the serviceareas in this long hallway, and
there were two other corridorsthat went right and left.
So three guys went down theright side.
(29:35):
Us other three guys went downthe left side and the goal was
to try to break through doors tofind an active shooter or
somebody, just to eliminatethreats, because we were in a.
We didn't want to get, you know, flanked or anything else from
someone because there were allthese people.
So you're hitting all thesethings.
(29:55):
And I handed my wallet to theEMT, the off duty EMT guy that
was with me.
I said, here, just take this,because if I get shot you guys
better take him out, but atleast you know who I am.
And so you think about all thestuff that you did.
I wrestled a guy with a knife,taking him down and disarmed him
(30:15):
because he was wheeling itaround, and just some crazy guy
that was scared, probably out ofhis mind.
But all the stuff that happened, and you know you put your life
on the line for everything.
Yeah, that coming out of that,that Tropicana was extremely
(30:36):
scary.
When I looked to the left, Icould see all the fire, fire,
fires.
I mean I still get veryemotional talking about it now,
which is fine, but I looked downand you could see the chaos and
it was consumed.
I mean, it was all red lightseverywhere flashing everywhere,
and I was right in the middle ofall of that.
(30:58):
And so when I went right, andso when I went right, all of a
sudden it was quiet and it wasjust me on that road.
You know, you look down VegasBoulevard, there was nothing,
nobody was out.
They blocked the whole strip,so it was like walking into
Zombieland or something, andyou're just by yourself.
(31:21):
And every step I took, like Imentioned, I think, because it
was so silent and the chaos wasleft behind, I felt like it was
my time and I was going to gethit and there was somebody that
was going to come out and hit me.
I never felt that unsafe beforemy armor was completely
(31:43):
stripped.
You know, and I think, as Istarted to get closer and
probably the embrace and thekiss and then being around other
people gave me, gave me safetyand it built.
It took me a long time to get toa point where I'm where I am
today, where, you know, I stillsit up against the back of the
wall when I'm in places, if I'min church or if I go to a point
(32:03):
where I am today where I stillsit up against the back of the
wall when I'm in places, if I'min church or if I go to a
restaurant, I'm identifying exitpoints.
I'm looking at higherelevations for opportunities for
bad people to do things.
I'm understanding what I can doto get the people I'm with out,
get myself out, eliminate thethreat if possible, if I can, I
(32:24):
go through all of that withinthe first five to 10 seconds of
no matter where I go now.
And the other part I'm okaywith is, you know, I've learned
how to be vulnerable and moreapproachable in this too, so I'm
not afraid if I'm at a bigbaseball conference, for example
, and somebody might be sayingsomething and my mind completely
(32:44):
went somewhere else, or I'mfeeling my trauma kind of come
up on me, that PTSD that I letthem know.
Hey, I'm just going to let youknow I have PTSD, I've suffered
with some traumatic trauma andI'm just kind of I feel my
anxiety coming up a little bit.
(33:05):
So I'm going to go ahead, I'mjust going to step away for a
second and refocus myself andthen I'll come back to you and
people are like, okay, and whenI come back all of a sudden, you
know they probably Googled me.
And then they're like, oh, myGod, are you okay?
Like let's go outside, you know, and it's cool because that's
(33:26):
like the compassionate part ofpeople, right, when you're open
and honest, like nobody wants tobe a jerk I don't think I've
had anybody go what are youdoing?
Like just get over it.
You know, not to that extentanyway.
So it's uh, yeah, I think whenthe more honest and open I've
been with this uh, the more itallows somebody to say, hey, you
(33:49):
know what?
I've got a story too.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Well, and that's that's kind of what you do with
your podcast I'm going in, whichis not only a podcast.
It's supposed to be the titleof the book that should be
coming out, if it's not already,and then it's your uh, your
line of clothing.
I'm going in with uh that hasuh inspirational, uh sayings on
hats like rise with strength,and also on on t-shirts and
hoodies, and you can get all ofthat information at Todd Bly
(34:13):
11.com.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
You go to a concert, you think you're going to have a
great time, you think you'regoing there for safety.
How violated did you feel afterall of this?
You know that's one of theparts that I have in my book
where you know, going throughthe therapy that I went through
with Diane, it was probablyabout the third, second or third
session that we, you know, wetalked about going in and being
there.
I was dancing with my niece andyou can hear the gunfire and
then, all of a sudden, the chaos, you know, the machine gun
(34:50):
opened up.
What I realized after talkingabout that and going through
that process was I was strippedof my, my vision of what safety
was, my security, my lettingmyself, my guard down.
I didn't go into concerts.
Yeah, I've been through a lotof different things.
(35:10):
I knew where exit points werebut I never really thought, oh
my God, this could happen to me.
It's only something you seeoverseas or you hear about every
once in a while on the news,but not where it's got an
opportunity to hit me personally.
So it stripped my entire Iguess my entire security kind of
(35:35):
around myself, what I alwaysthought about and being safe, my
entire safety net away frommyself.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
The night that it happens on October 1st, to where
you are now.
What's the emotional timeline?
You know what is it anger atfirst and then relief, and then
you know what is that emotionalemotional line.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
I think that I think you go through uh, confusion
first.
Okay, um, anger didn't set infor quite some time.
For me, it was confusion, itwas trying to block out what had
just happened.
So it's a lot of like trying tojust forget things and trying
(36:17):
to move forward, because lifedoesn't stop.
So all of a sudden, I'm at myoffice, I'm a dad, I'm bringing
my kids to school, I'm trying tolike be strong and I was not
strong at all, which was anuncharted territory for me.
So it was definitely confusionwas the biggest part on what was
(36:37):
happening to me.
Why is this happening to me?
And then I went through thisphase of why did I do that?
I put my life on the line, withmy kids being home, and I could
have been killed, and why did Ido that?
And then comes this empowermentpart, when I realized I need
help and I'm going to stand backup for myself.
(36:59):
The anger part for me reallydidn't happen for probably
months and months after, when Iwas getting contacted a lot more
through Facebook Messenger,different people.
There was a find your heroespage that people were saying,
hey, you need to go on there,someone's looking for you.
(37:19):
They just described you as aperson.
I'd I'd have my picture.
I'd be like, well, I don't knowif this is me or not, yes, it's
you.
And there wasn't.
There was a post that went upand I ended up talking to this
girl and she said, uh, you ranin, you grabbed our friend and
all of a sudden you're likerunning out and we're chasing
you and you put her up on atruck and we jumped into the
(37:44):
back of the truck with her therewere three of them and the
truck drove off and I'm like,okay, and they described the
injury, which was horrible, onwhat happened with this girl,
and I said I'm really sorry thatthat happened.
You know, thinking that shepassed because I had a woman
(38:05):
pass my arm, and the girl says,no, she lived, she's alive, yeah
.
So there was like this upliftmoment where I'm like, yes, okay
, this is cool.
And then all of a sudden Istarted to get really mad.
I was like that girl shouldhave never, ever been in that
place.
The girls that passed on my armshould have never, ever died.
(38:29):
And when Kathy and I got achance, a couple of years later,
we would walk through theGarden of Healing in Vegas, we
went back and revisitedeverything, which was really
weird.
I'm on my walk, going down.
You know, it's 58 differentmemorials through this pathway,
beautiful pathway.
All the family members weredecorating their crosses, their
(38:52):
memorials.
You're seeing pictures.
It's humanizing every singleone of those souls.
And I got about five in andfound one woman that had passed
in my arms a couple more down.
Here's another one, and thenanother one.
Kathy said I think this is oneof the girls you mentioned, and
I looked and it was her and thegirl with the ring and she was a
(39:16):
softball player and and she hada life.
And at that point that angercomes back out again now.
Now, I've never, ever wanted toknow anything about the shooter
.
I don't want to humanize thatevil being or any of these
people that are doing thesehorrible things, but I was angry
(39:38):
at that black soul.
I was angry at that dark shadowof a soul that had their finger
on that trigger, thinking itwas a good thing to just take
people's lives and just cowardly, cowardly, you know.
So that's the anger part I gotmad at.
And then I, you know, I learnedhow to manage that part of it
(40:01):
because I didn't put it towardsthank God, towards anyone that I
know I didn't get irritableenough to get angry at anybody.
I learned enough how to traumamap myself through EMDR, which
really helped me a ton.
But yeah, that was kind of theemotional part.
Now I'm on an uplift, I'm on anempowerment trip on just being
happy, and every day I wake up Ifold my sheets and I just pray
(40:27):
that today's a better day thanyesterday and that there's just
more love in this world.
It took a part of me away thatI'll never, ever be able to get
back and I'll never, ever beable to forget about that
instant when life changed and Ithought, oh my God, I could die
(40:50):
and my whole goal was to get mywife out.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Yeah, I remember hearing you say in a TED talk
that you wanted to stand tallbecause you're six foot five,
250 pounds and you wanted totake the bullet and protect
Kathy and your nieces andeverybody else who was with you.
So you know, where does that,where does that come from?
Where does that belief thatthat strength come from?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
I think it was the way that I was raised.
I have a late grandfather thatwas a Marine Gunny.
He was a long career Marine.
My other grandfather was adevil pup.
He was a career Navy and so hewould go down to Camp Pendleton.
And you know, my dad was raisedas a tough individual.
(41:43):
Just watching him as an athlete, I think the sports competitive
side of me I was a toughathlete, you know.
I pitched with broken ribs andnever complained of pain, right,
I mean, that was our generationtoo.
We'd fall off a bike, we'd getback up.
Yeah, we're bloody, but whocares, we're having fun.
I'd fall out of a tree, breakmy arm, you know, it doesn't
(42:08):
matter, you get back up and youkeep your boots moving forward.
I was a big country guy.
I loved rodeo.
I you know not that I wanted toinflict pain on myself, but in
that moment I think that I'vealways tried to help others and
in that given moment my truecharacter rose, where I
sacrificed myself mentally forthe well-being of my wife and
(42:33):
others to live.
Given moment that if I fell,that the story would be told,
that I fell helping others andnot being selfish and just
helping myself, and I'm notsaying anything about anybody
else.
You have to do what you have todo in that moment.
(42:53):
But my story, the way I wasraised, I was built for that to
be able to help and go in, and Ithink that's where my divine
faith comes in too.
Kevin, I think that I look backon what kind of shape I was in
back then.
I wasn't in the greatest shape.
(43:15):
Not like playing shape to liftup 30 dead weight type bodies
and run them out consistentlywith a few sips of water and
pouring water over myself as arefresh, to keep doing that over
and over consistently for overan hour of just the carrying of
(43:35):
people.
I wasn't in that, that kind ofshape.
So I firmly believe that I was.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
It's amazing, though, what adrenaline can do.
Adrenaline can that kind ofshape, so I firmly believe that
I was.
It's amazing, though, whatadrenaline can do Adrenaline can
totally offset lack of shape.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Yeah, yeah, and I'm strong, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
But yeah, I think in that defining moment though you
know, I have a lot of peoplethat say, hey, I would have done
the same thing.
No, you don't know.
You know, yes, I'm going toturn around.
I'm going to tell you right now, if, god forbid, I'm in that
situation again.
I know that I'm going to gotowards the fight.
(44:14):
I know what I need to do, butbefore all that happened, I also
said, yeah, I'm going to do thesame thing.
But I saw a lot of brave peoplerun.
I saw a lot of first respondersrun.
I heard stories.
First responders guys that weresuper tough, women that were
super tough end up eight storiesup behind a bed, you know,
(44:37):
protecting themselves in someoneelse's room.
They're knocking on rooms.
I mean, people were scatteredeverywhere because you never
know how you're going to react.
In that moment I was just I,you know.
I praise my dad and my mom forraising me the way they did.
I praise my grandparents forraising me the way that they did
.
I learned my morals and myvalues there and in the time of
(45:01):
absolute need, I was completelyproud of myself for putting my
life on the line for others.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Well, I read an article and, to nobody's
surprise, kathy says I wasn'tsurprised that he went back in.
Your dad said I'm not surprisedthat he went back in.
Friends of yours have said I'mnot surprised.
As a matter of fact, it goesall the way back to high school,
top lie 11.
When you saw a car flip over,you rescued a guy while you were
in high school.
(45:30):
So that compassionate part ofyou was born really early.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Yeah, I think so.
I think too, being around MajorLeague Baseball athletes or
incredible athletes that werealways pushing themselves to the
limit every single day to tryto be the best person they could
be, that I, just when thatmoment of opportunity happened
(46:08):
to be able to jump in and dosomething to help someone else,
regardless of the impact itwould have on me later in life,
it was what I was supposed to do.
I mean, I remember, kevin, youknow that incident in the Connie
Mack World Series in Farmington, new Mexico.
You know a guy running down andflying down the highway Well,
it was a back road.
(46:28):
We were going to someone else'shouse me and some of my
teammates and car flips and itwas a big truck and flames were
coming up and big old Indian guy.
And so I ran in and unbuckledhim and pulled him out, you know
, and fire came in andeverything else.
We're like why would you dothat?
(46:49):
What am I supposed to do?
Let the guy burn, like youcan't do that.
So you know, yeah, could thetruck have exploded and I would
have died.
I wasn't thinking about that atthat time, I just wanted to get
him out.
Or when I was scouting, I wouldcome in over the Great Mine from
Northern California intoSouthern California minivan
rolled.
Family members were in it.
(47:10):
It was a mom and a dad, kidsand a grandma.
And you know I'm driving downright behind him.
I see it happening.
I go over the curbs totaldisregard of my truck, slam into
where I'm supposed to be, hopout and, thank God someone else
was behind me.
We're lifting it was on itsside, so we're lifting people up
(47:33):
.
I'm putting the kids in mytruck and we're getting the mom
and dad out and the grandmaairlifted out.
I pray to God they lived.
Not sure about the dad, but justthings that you do.
I don't want to be that personthat keeps driving by.
I don't want to be the personthat sees something or somebody
(47:54):
that needs help and just walk byand ignore them because I need
to get to a meeting or I don'twant to be involved with it.
No BS, make yourself available.
You're there for a reason.
You're put there for a reasonto say something, to do
something, to help someone inneed.
And you know not to say I wanteverybody to jump into a
(48:18):
firefight or you got to protectyourself, but I was just proud
that I I was able to do what Idid.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
And how much of a sense of satisfaction and, uh,
overwhelming pride do you getwhen your dad says I'm proud of
your son?
Speaker 3 (48:37):
That was huge.
Um, you know, my dad's alwayshe, you know, he was raised to
be the best and he was the best.
And we, you know, raised withthat no blood, no foul, get over
it.
And I bring it up.
You know, I brought it up in acouple of different interviews,
you know when we're sitting atthe house.
(48:57):
And it was after the shooting.
And he said when do you thinkyou're going to get over this?
And it was after the shootingand he said when do you think
you're going to get over this?
And I said, dad, I don't thinkthis is something you just get
over.
And he realized, you know, inthat moment too, that it's not.
It's not something that his sonis just going to be able to
think about.
Well, other people deal withthis too.
(49:18):
The son comes up tomorrow.
Keep going, you're fine.
You're not the only one that'sgone through this, because not a
lot of people go through thatand thank God, you know, even
though it seems like it's morefrequent, but it's still
somewhat a small niche of peoplethat experience that and,
especially, do what I did andsee what I saw.
(49:39):
And it put it on a differentlevel playing field to where my
dad started showing morecompassion and really understood
how I was hurt.
And that meant a lot to me, andnot just from a.
I knew my dad would always bethere, my dad would die for me,
my dad would do anything for meand to help me.
(50:01):
But I knew at that point thatmy dad would do anything
mentally and emotionally for meat that point and, um, it was
big.
Uh, it really means a lot.
He says you know, I'm proud ofyour son all the time.
Um, and it's not just becauseof what I did in Vegas, it's
because of the man that I am.
Speaker 2 (50:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (50:22):
Because of my character, right, and that's
what makes me super happy andexcited that.
Speaker 2 (50:29):
Fulfilled.
Speaker 3 (50:30):
Fulfilled, validated.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
Yeah, yeah for sure.
You were raped of yourinnocence.
You were raped of your comfort.
You were raped of your securityon October 1st 2017.
I have listeners to the FuzzyMike who have been sexually
raped, who have been emotionallyraped.
They suffer PTSD.
What do you say to them?
(50:53):
How can they overcome thetrauma that they have
experienced?
Or can they?
Speaker 3 (50:59):
Yeah, I think that you can overcome it.
I think you can learn how tolive with it.
I think you can.
I call it like trauma mapping,so you recognize yes, I've had
this trauma.
Something really bad happenedto me.
I'm going to embrace that.
I'm going to keep it out infront of me.
I'm going to know that it'sthere.
I'm going to walk with it in mylife, with it being out in
(51:20):
front of me.
I'm going to know that it'sthere.
I'm going to walk with it in mylife, with it being out in
front of me, and I'm going tolearn as an individual now how I
can take my next step forward,whether it's going into a
grocery store, whether it'sgetting into a new relationship,
whether it's doing whatever itis that sometimes brings that
trauma back on towards you.
I'm going to learn what thosespidey senses feel like and if I
(51:44):
can learn more about myself andkeep that trauma out in front
of me, I'm going to, all of asudden start seeing life in a
more beautiful light.
It revitalizes you, it givesyou new purpose, knowing that
you can walk with this.
It's not going to conquer you.
(52:04):
You're going to learn how tokeep this spatial gap between
you and your trauma.
And when that starts to comeback like when I get into a
crowded place and I feel like,okay, I'm feeling it come on I
can feel my anxiety come up.
I can feel the back of mythroat getting knotted, I'm
starting to stutter speeches, Ican't think super clear.
(52:24):
I'm going to remove myself forabout five minutes.
I'm going to go into a bathroomwhere it's quiet.
I'm going to get to a safe spotfor me.
I know where those are at nowbecause I've learned those over
the course of seven years, andso when I re-approach that scene
, I'm in a much more betterplace.
I'm in a protected place.
(52:45):
I've got my security fence uparound me.
I have my body armor on.
Maybe I didn't have my helmeton, maybe I didn't have my chest
protector on, maybe I didn'thave my sword.
Whatever that is to you, I haveit now.
Now I'm able to step back intothat environment a little bit
more comfortable and calm andcollected, and I think that's
the biggest into thatenvironment a little bit more
comfortable and calm andcollected, and I think that's
the biggest advice that I couldprobably give to somebody that's
(53:06):
dealing with trauma or has hada horrible situation happen in
their life.
You have to embrace it.
Unfortunately, it's never goingto go away.
So trauma, map it.
Map that, how you navigate toget to that trauma and how that
trauma navigates itself to getto you.
And when you can figure out allthose little hiding spots and
(53:29):
everything else that it hits,that it jumps back on you.
You've won, you've conqueredthat.
And when you conquer it, kevin,there's nothing that you could
ever not do in your life.
You are empowered, you'restrong, you're like a damn lion
(53:49):
and there's nothing that couldever stop you because you own
that now.
Right, that's the whole part ofit.
So I'm not a big believer inlike getting over it or anything
else, but you can overcome itfor sure, and I put a guide on
my website.
I built this like just 12 page,really easy to read guide has
three different stories and itteaches you how to go through
(54:10):
what I just experienced or whatI explained, and it also has
some education on how you canreach out and be a force for
others that are might be goingthrough something similar, to
help others in a time of need aswell.
Speaker 2 (54:23):
So, todd Bly, 11.com is where you can go to get that.
So I think you've alreadyanswered my question that I was
going to ask.
But because you have physicalstature, because you are a
strong individual who carried 30plus bodies off of the
battlefield, basically mentalstrength to me sounds like it's
more powerful than physicalstrength 100.
Speaker 3 (54:45):
You have to mentally will yourself to keep your boots
moving forward, to stand up, towalk tall again for yourself
and and help others walk tallfor them themselves.
Uh, the mental approach youknow, uh, it goes back to even
my baseball days.
Talking to guys like KennyRevisa the late Kenny Revisa.
That was one of the best sportspsychology minds in all of
(55:07):
baseball and you know he used totell us all that if we would
throw a ball, or throw two balls, or throw three balls at the
pitcher to walk around andidentify something out in the
field that allowed your mind toescape to that moment, whether
it was a tree in the field thatallowed your mind to escape to
that moment, whether it was atree in the outfield or some
force from a pillar how did thatpillar get there?
(55:28):
What was that tree like?
But it was just about mindseparation, right, and then to
refocus yourself and get back onthat rubber and toe up and
deliver the best pitch possible.
And that's all we're trying todo in life.
Every day, something knocks youback, right, and it's not as
anything to do with yourphysical form, but mentally.
We get knocked down every day,especially in the society that
(55:50):
we live in the news.
You know we're attached to ourphones.
We get a notification thatsomething God forbid happened in
our neighborhood or there'ssomething going on overseas or
whatever that is that's directlyimpacting our own anxiety
levels.
So you need to be able toembrace that.
Understand where you're at,build a safe spot around your
(56:10):
home or in a room or whileyou're out.
Understand how to get yourselfto that centered self again
where you're safe and you'restrong, and then refocus and
take your boot and move itforward.
Speaker 2 (56:24):
So the mental aspect is huge.
Is that still something thatyou're learning how to do seven
years later?
Speaker 3 (56:29):
I learn every single day, kevin, because you never
know what is going to happen.
You get a different call,different anxiety level that
pops up, but I've tried to justlearn, continue to learn, never
think that you know everything.
I'm on a couple differentboards with some trauma response
teams Restoration Ranch inColorado that does some amazing
(56:51):
work for first responders.
I talk to Navy SEALs all kindsof different people that have
experienced a lot of really badthings, from business leaders to
sports professionals, to myfaith and just having that
divine connection.
It's not hard.
If you just want it, then youdo it.
And if you don't, you know mybirthday just passed and you
(57:14):
know I turned 40 again.
Why?
Because I liked being 40 and Ijust want to be 40.
I don't want to be 50 some oddyears old.
You know I want to be 40.
And so mentally I'm going to be40.
I don't want to be 50 some oddyears old.
You know I want to be 40.
And so mentally I'm going to dothat because I feel that way.
So, yeah, just walk tall foryourself.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
Oh, brother, I still feel like I'm 18.
Speaker 3 (57:31):
Yeah, there you go.
Well, I got the gray right here.
Speaker 2 (57:35):
So oh man, I'm, I'm, I'm pushing 55, my friend.
So yeah, I've got considerablymore gray than you.
So well, hey man.
Um, you know there is no suchthing as a physical hall of fame
of life, but you're a firstballer, bro.
Speaker 3 (57:50):
I appreciate that very much.
Speaker 2 (57:52):
Absolutely, absolutely and uh, toddbly11.com
is where you can go.
I highly encourage you to gothere because there's a lot of
uh, a lot of information thereabout how do you deal with PTSD.
There's a lot of informationthere about how to deal with
PTSD.
There's a lot of TED Talks thatyou've done on your YouTube
channel.
Also, listen to the I'm GoingIn podcast Fantastic stuff.
You get great guests on thereall the time.
So, thank you for coming on theFuzzy Mike, and hey, man,
(58:15):
thanks for being a friend.
Speaker 3 (58:17):
Kevin, yeah, definitely.
We've connected a few times andthis was an absolute blast.
You're a super pro and I reallyappreciate you having me on
your show.
It's pretty awesome.
Speaker 2 (58:29):
You know a lot of people consider athletes heroes.
They're capable of doingspectacular things, stuff that
so few can do, which isinspiring for sure.
And Todd saw up close and verypersonally what many
Pittsburghers consider heroicefforts from their World Series
(58:49):
winning baseball team of 1979.
They were only the fourth teamat the time in Major League
Baseball history to come backfrom a three games to one
deficit to win the World Series.
But, friends, it was a thenseven-year-old boy, bright-eyed
and tomato-faced, who was thebiggest hero on that bench.
(59:10):
We just didn't know it yet.
My thanks to Todd Blylevin forsharing his story and giving us
some instructions and ways tocope with our own trauma.
You can follow Todd on hispodcast.
I'm Going In and through hiswebsite, toddblylevincom.
And don't forget, on Wednesdays, my 25-year morning radio
(59:31):
partner, tim Tuttle, and I bringyou the Tuttle Kline show on
these same sites where you'relistening to the Fuzzy Mike.
It's unscripted, unfiltered and, yeah, unbelievably funny.
My weekly favor is that youhelp me build the Fuzzy Mike
audience.
You can do this by tellingsomeone about the podcast,
(59:54):
sharing it on your social pagesor by giving it a rating.
The Fuzzy Mike is hosted andproduced by Kevin Kline.
The Fuzzy Mike.
Professional voice guy is myfriend Zach Sheesh from the
Radio Farm.
Social media director is TrishKlein.
Thank you for sharing your timewith me.
I'm grateful See you on thenext episode.
Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Fuzzy
Mike with Kevin Klein.
Check back often and stay fuzzyfriends.
No-transcript.
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