September 20, 2024 • 37 mins
UP ON GAME PRESENTS Conversation With A Legend With LaVar Arrington featuring Warrick Dunn. In this engaging conversation, Warrick Dunn shares his journey from a celebrated NFL player to a dedicated philanthropist, emphasizing the importance of community support, financial literacy, and personal branding. He reflects on his experiences with Coach Bowden and the impact of his mother's legacy on his life and work. Dunn's commitment to helping single-parent families and his vision for a better future resonate throughout the discussion, highlighting his multifaceted approach to making a difference in the world.
takeaways
- Warrick Dunn's influence inspired many young athletes.
- Dunn's philanthropic work focuses on helping single-parent families.
- He provides financial literacy programs to empower families.
- Dunn emphasizes the importance of stable housing for community well-being.
- Branding is about building genuine relationships and trust.
- Financial planning is crucial for young athletes entering the league.
- Dunn's relationship with Mr. Blank was key to his ownership role.
- He values the lessons learned from Coach Bowden throughout his career.
- Dunn's legacy is rooted in family values and community service.
- He aims to create opportunities for future generations.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Around here. We hustle for a living around here.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Around here, we grind board living around Roundhead.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We huscle for lit round here around Head, we grund
for a living man.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to another exciting edition of up on Game presents
conversations with a legend, and we do have another legend
on board on that one of my personal faves a
hero growing up, we got mister ward Done.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Now, I got I gotta set it off by saying this.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And I know I probably told you this a few
times over, but you know I used to wear wristbands
on my shins right below my knee because of Ward Done.
I had to strap I had to strap on my shoe.
Because of Ward Done, I had the wristband on my elbows. Now,
they might have thought it was just because of Deep
Brooks and ray Lu, but a lot of my influence
(00:58):
came from from you. So and it's interesting because you know,
I give you a backstory. Andy Orbanic Right, y'all's assistant
A d was from Penhills, Pittsburgh, And when I was
in high school, he did a camp of champions in Pittsburgh.
(01:19):
They would come to the camp and during the mess
halls when all the teams would come together and be eating.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
He would show highlights of Florida State.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So my two favorites easily, well, three, I gotta say three.
But I didn't want to be Charlie Ward. I wanted
to be like Ward Done and Derrick Brooks. So the
coolest thing was, here's the weirdest thing. I'm taller than
both of y'all. Right, So I was at six '
three in high school like this, like my freshman year,
(01:51):
sophomore year, and Andy Orbanic would bring me the tapes.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So indirectly, I ran like I was your.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Size because I in my mind, I wanted to run
like how you ran.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So I patterned my running style after you.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So I was quick and I was shifty even though
I was long, you know what I mean. So yeah, yeah,
and I rocked the cowboy collar and all that stuff
because because of Deep Brooks and all that. So I
was a Florida State and always told coach Bollten God
rest his soul, always told him, if they would have
recruited me harder, I would have been a knowle you
(02:31):
know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
But yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Would enjoy it. You would enjoyed the little small town
I mean I know you you were a great player
in college, and so what you would have enjoyed Tallahasse
just you know, all of the competition, just just to compete,
just to get on the field. I think I would
have just you know, been crazy. So we had a
good group of linebackers, then I'm sure you'd came and
(02:55):
you're to have added to that mix and would have
been would have been crazy on defense.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, that that was the same David Warren came in.
That that would have been too. It would have been
ninety seven. But I mean I grew up on them,
like when when they had Ruble d. Brooks, you know
what I mean, they had Wadsworth, they had they had
Alexander had Crockett, had Hamlet in the back. I'll run
it off for you, now, hey, Clifton Abraham, I mean,
(03:21):
I'll run them off.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
But but here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So so being a part of one of the most
iconic errors of Florida State football and being so young
and and and getting in the mix of it. I
can recall you in rock Preston being in the backfield.
I think you were older though, right you. I think
(03:46):
he came, we came in, we were Yeah, were both reshman.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Wow, So but you played more out the gate than
Rock did.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Well, I played more out of the gate because when
we start the camp, he wasn't there the first few
days because he did the summer. He was in school school, right,
I think, you know, you can go to school early on,
and he went to school early and I didn't, so
you know, classes didn't end early enough for him to start.
(04:17):
So I had a couple of days on him doing that.
But I mean once he came, you know, I was like,
oh my god, I better get it together. And you know,
we just competed. But the thing is, we made each
other better. And I just happened to play my freshman
year because you know, the starter had anchor injury doing camp,
and you know, he didn't take a lot of reps
(04:38):
to backup blew his knee out, you know, first day
of camp, Tiger McMillan blew his knee out. And then
you know the second I mean third and fourth guy.
You know, it's just they were in the mix. So
once I started getting reps against the first team defense,
sixty yards, fifty yards, this and that. That was all
(04:59):
she wrote.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
So fast forward. I gotta fast forward. To this because
you meant so much to me. When we played Atlanta
and I got my first chance to play against you,
I was gunning for you, like I felt like if
I could.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Get to you, like that's like one of those things.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's like, if I'm on the field with another linebacker,
I'm gonna try to outdo that linebacker. If I'm on
the field he and a hero is on the other side,
like Jerome Bettis. I had to try my hand with
Jerome Bettis, right. So it was like there was like
a couple. There was you, there was Fred Taylor, there
was Jerome Bettis. Those are the three. It's like, oh,
(05:46):
they're on the field, like who So I don't know
if you remember this, but you remember me. I don't
even know who the fullback was, but he came to
chop me and I leaped from d and I got
a hold of you in Atlanta, And it was a
highlight of my life to be able to get a
(06:07):
hold of Ward Done in the backfield. It was a
TfL by the way I did get yours.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
I mean, you know, those things happened occasionally, but it
wasn't It wasn't a clean hit, right because I wasn't
trying to give you a lot to hit. But you know,
I trust the guys in front of me, and I
you know, I had Fred mccry, you know mac quarry.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Leave, Yeah, leave.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So I figured that's where it was, right because Justin,
Justin wouldn't let you do that. He was a smaller guy,
so he's gonna use his his size to help him.
But Fred, he's trying to always pound you. Yeah, but
I can just I can say that if you did
do that. And I don't remember, right, but it wasn't
a clean shot. I know you remember, but I'm gonna
(06:53):
go back and look at the films. So yeah, if
it was a clean shot, No, I wasn't gonna let
that happen.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Have to do part two. You're gonna have to tell
me what you saw on part two.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Oh, we can do that. We can do that, we
can do that. It was you know, hey, whatever, it's
gonna make you sleep better than that. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
We're so old now. And so here's a transition. Here's
a transition.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Everybody knows, especially in Atlanta, what work Done is doing
and what Work Done has done.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
For his entire life.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
But for those who may have lived under a rock
for all these years and never caught win to all
of the great things you've done.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Let us know what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
What does work Done have going on now?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well? I have a lot of jobs, right, so I
would tell you that we can be here for a
little bit. You know, I don't think we have enough time.
But I think you know a lot of people know
me as the guy who just helps families, right, I'm
the guy who gives away houses. I don't give anything away,
but I try to help single parent families who have
become a first time homeowners moving to their new home.
(08:03):
And the reason I do that is because my mom
and what she her issues were, the reason she sacrificed
her life is trying to provide a stable environment for us.
So for me, I wanted to live up my mom's
dream through other single parents. And what we do is
with single parent families who are becoming first time homeowners,
and that's give them five thousand dollars down payment and
(08:24):
we're fully furnishing at homes. We I mean, we put
everything in their homes all the way down to the toothbrush. Right.
So now you just pretty much have to just bring.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Your clothes out right.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, that's pretty much it. So we've been doing it
now and we're about to get ready to celebrate twenty
five years years of this and you know, we're up
to one hundred. I think I'm gonna get the number
one hundred and ninety five single parent families we felt today.
So we're going to continue to go and getting ready
(08:55):
for home two hundred. I appreciate it, but this started
the ninth ninety seven. I had no idea what I
was doing in nineteen ninety seven, you know, just years
later and you know, I just knew that my I'm
let my mo mom's dream and for me it was
more like therapy. But as organization, we've grown over the
(09:16):
years and it was like I said, we're about to
celebrate twenty five years of this program. But we've also expanded.
Now we have a financial literacy program that's called kind
of Your Future. We try to help families not just
about budgeting, but we want them to save money. And
it's not just the parents. We also work with the
kids as well. Start the savings account, invest in themselves
(09:37):
and we do that and we also have a program
that's called Scope, a healthy food initiative and we try
to educate families on quick and healthy meals eventually build
their own vegetable box where they can grow their foods
in their backyard. So we're doing that. And we also
have a scholarship program that's called Horts for Community Service
where we try to help students who are in school.
(10:00):
They're impacting their community, but they also need some assistance
in school as well. And we just raised that to
five thousand dollars. That a one thousand dollars five thousand
dollars scholarships. So we're just trying to help our community.
And over the years these programs have come around, we
transition these things because these are the things I've learned
(10:21):
from other families, hearing their stores, their issues, and how
can I really help support them on their journey of
home ownership. And you know, stable housing solves a lot
of problems, society problems, and are focused on that. For me,
it's important that we give these kids an opportunity to
(10:41):
have their parents, you know, until they get a lot older,
so they can continue to learn. I just don't want
kids to go through what I had to go through
and burn and burying my mom and not having her
around through through the important years of not just my life,
but my younger five brothers and sisters. They needed her
during that time, So I want to help preserve that
for kids. Just moving forward, and you know, this program
(11:05):
is near and deer, and we're trying to grow and
expand this program. We're in fourteen i want to say,
fifteen states, twenty four twenty five markets. We're growing. We're
expanding and trying to get into every NFL city. That's
going to be the goal in twenty twenty two. It's like,
how can we actually go and impact, you know, every
(11:25):
NFL city. Because most of the guys who play on
these teams grew up in a single parent house, someone
in their family can relate to it. So we want
to be able to take this program and expand and
partner with the teams. Moving forward, and now I'm into
building housing as well. Got WD communities where we build
housing for families. We don't just work with single parent families,
(11:46):
but two parent households. Were trying to just help individuals
who are on that journey. But the difference with this
program is that once you purchase a home, we try
to make sure we support the families for at least
five years through their home ownership. And that means that
means taking courses, financial literacy, courses, consistently holding them accountable.
(12:09):
I call it health and wellness where we try to
incentivize them to go to counseling, you know, work out, train,
just all the things we do in our health and
wellness piece. We want to be able to incentivize them
for long, long periods of time. And we try to
help families who may need to get a certificate to
upgrade their status on their job, or they want to
(12:30):
be entrepreneurs workforce development. So we try to help support
the families for at least five years, and we use
government subsidies to help with that as well. Like I
got a lot of jobs. I can go on and
on and on. We can go in here for a while,
but you know, like I work with the Legends program
as well, trying to help us talk about that. Yeah, yeah,
So trying to help retire players really understand what they have,
(12:55):
you know, at their fingertips, right, creating this access for
them to be able to understand their benefits, all the
perks that they have, the opportunities to take courses to
learn different things We just want to be a resource
to them and make sure that they understand that they
played this game for a long time. You know, when
you leave the game, you don't have that locker room
(13:18):
feel when you're at home, So we can we can
create that virtual locker room in a sense where you know,
from time to time we get together, you can you know,
communicate and catch up with the guys that you played with,
played against, you know, reliving those moments. You have those
moments where you can do that with the Legends program.
But most importantly, we support them right, scholarship opportunities, if
(13:41):
anything happens in the family, we can support them, you
know by any assistance. I mean anything. We can probably
help with anything to really assist them through their journey.
And it's not just the individual, but they have all
these benefits. Let's put it to you, so let's help
support yourself and your family. So, you know, it's been
a great program. I've been there sending since the inception,
(14:03):
so it's just grown and we're just trying to continue
to expand. And now we got the app. Guys can
download the app really take advantage of opportunities and the
things that I think the Legends program and the league
is trying to do for them.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
What's up?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
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real football fans win. Now, with all that being said,
(15:44):
and you mentioning the education and finances and scholarships and
all those different things that you wear a hat for,
what's your what's your take on branding as it applies
to these things?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Because for me, it's like the brands that exist.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
For some of these legends and what opportunities could be
there if they understood what branding truly meant and how
to leverage it, I think is something that is needed.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
That education of what that looks like.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I feel like you've done an amazing job, whether and
you can tell me whether you were aware of it
or just kind of it happened. But Work Done is
a brand, and that's that's your charity. It's it's named
after you. That's a legacy. What what goes into Wark
(16:42):
Done's idea of branding?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Well, I can tell you when I first started, I
had no idea. I wasn't doing anything to work on
a brand, you know whatever?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Right?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I think over the years, once you build equity, when
I say equity, when you build some cloud, some consistency,
seeing people know that this is what this person is
truly about. Then you start to really work on what
your brand looks like. You know, some guys just think, well,
if I can go in the field, I score a
couple of touchdowns. You know, I have this brand that
(17:14):
is X, Y and Z. Well, what is your goal
long term? And I try to think about what are
the things I want to accomplish as an individual, what
positions I want to put myself in, my family in,
and also how do I want to see and help
families you know down the road. So you know, that
really goes in developing a plan of how we want
(17:35):
to you know, assist attack, but at the same time
make people aware the things that I stand for. And
now I try to associate myself with corporations and brands
that are passionate about people. Right. I think if you
think about my brand, it's more about you know, people, right,
how can I help someone? You know, I'm passionate about that.
(17:58):
It's not something that I don't feel like it's a job.
I just get up and go every day. And if
it's something that you're just passionate about it, you don't
think it's a job. It's just something that you love
to do. And for me, my brand, I think is
really that it's more people on, people driven, because when
you're building your brand and you're building relationships, that takes time.
(18:19):
But it's a people's business. And I'm sure you've learned
over the years that football sports, when you're dealing with
these organizations, it is a people's business. And you know,
you focus on building relationships, being strategic on how you
build those relationships. But everything can't just be well, I
got to get something out of this, you know in
(18:40):
the beginning. Sometimes you got to build up your equity
over time. Right, can't expect to be you know, take
ten steps on day one. Just take one step, do something,
build up the equity and build up the trust from
other individuals that knowing that this person is consistent, they're reliable,
and they're trustworthy. Once you build that, I think over
(19:00):
the course of time that equity comes to partner your brand.
It is what you make it right. I mean, I'm
not a perfect person. I make mistakes. I'm human just
like everyone else. But the way that I try to
live my life is that I just want to be
able to help individuals be better, help my community be
better across this country. So you know, the branding, that's
(19:21):
a complicated, you know thing in a sense, but you
have to take those small incremental steps and think about
the big picture at the end. Then you developed that
plan to get there, and it has to be consistency
as well.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Do you feel like that applies the whole nil naming, image,
likeness deal passing and now being a part of college sports?
Do you feel as though the educational components, the insight
that you just provided is something that needs to now
happen out of earlier age.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, I no doubt. You know, if we have what
these kids have now when we're in college, I mean,
you know, they can make money, they can do appearances. Mentally,
I think financially you're not in a position mentally to
really manage and handle the financial responsibilities. So I think
that's also provide an opportunity to a platform where they
(20:18):
have strategic people in their lives that can help guide
them and give them the right direction because they can't
just live for today. I mean, for me, it's important
we want to live a good life today, but think
about the twenty thirty forty years from now, right, what
type of life you want to live in, not just
for yourself, you know, I mean for your kids, right,
(20:39):
your family. You know, we have to learn to pass
you know, pass stuff down to the next generation generation
of wealth. How do we do that? Well, we have
to plan for the future. But take advantage of the
opportunity you have today, but don't spend it as if
this is it, right, I mean, it is more about,
(20:59):
you know, Okay, what do I need to live a
good life? Okay, but now I have what I need.
How can I now start planning and saving for the
future so that I'm able to put you know, my
kids help, you know, family members, whatever it is down
the road, live a better life because we have we
all have to come together on this journey. I mean,
it's just the reality of it. And I just think
(21:20):
these kids today, you know, they didn't grow up with
the same values that we grew up because we struggled
a lot harder. Now you're getting the instant contracts, or
you're getting the marketing bills or those things. Put in
the savings account, save it plan, don't use it. Still
live on that on that you know, two dollars budget
that we all lived on in college, right, Try to
(21:42):
manage and people it's like, well you I've done pretty
good with managing dollars. Well, I grew up my mom
passed on a need basis, not the things that I want.
And we not saying that you can't get the things
that you want, but it's a plan that you have
to have right and do it on a nee basis.
And if the college kids can take advantage of the opportunities,
(22:04):
take advantage of it. But now start saving for the
future because you never know, not every college kid who
gets the marketing it is going to play in the pros.
That's just not going to That's the reality. So can
you help this This money can't provide, you know, an
opportunity for you to start, you know, charting your path
(22:24):
and the things that you want to do and accomplishing life.
So I would advise them to have the right you know,
guidance or get the right people in their lives who
are not just going to be yes people, but people
who are going to be honest and have your best
interest at heart.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
All right.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
So with all that being said, that led to you
being able to and this is a humble brag on
my bro you're a minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, did that frame of mind position you. You talked
about the branding and being able to build strategic relationships
and lasting relationships, building towards the future, having your brand
represent something that connects to the people. Do you feel
like all of those things, along with what you just
talked about in terms of being able to make your
(23:15):
money and save your money and think long term, how
much did that play a part into you leading up
to being a minority owner for the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
One, I would tell you the most important thing that
I built a relationship with mister Blank, Right. I mean
when I first came to Atlanta, I met him and
we didn't talk football. We talked about life, right. We
talked about the impact that I wanted to make in
the state of Atlanta and what he wanted to make
because he was just becoming an owner. You know. I
would say. The second thing is you I think I
(23:49):
wasn't the highest paid player at my position. I mean,
if you look back, I mean if I played in
today's era, could be a lot different. But when I
was playing, I was having to prove to everybody league
that I'm only five eight, one hundred and eighty pounds,
that I can play every down, I can play with
the big boys, and you know, trying to make sure
(24:10):
that I can stay health. I had a lot to prove.
But my strategy has always been, you know, I need
to make sure I put myself and my family stuff
in a position, you know, to have a good future,
and utilize the platforms to do that. And that's what
I did. I mean, believe it or not, you know,
I was able to manage money early on. You know,
(24:32):
I was able to put money to becoming a partner
because you just it's not a verbal agreement. I have
to show it by giving money, you know. Pretty much
he paid me to play with the Falcons and I
had to give a lot of that money back to
him to become a minority owner. But when you think
about it, you know I just managed.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
It's brilliant.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I managed my money. But he asked me a quick question,
you know, towards the end of my career, It's like,
what are you going to do after football? No, he said, hey,
do you want to go coach? You want to go
you know, do this or I was like, no, I
don't want to do that. I mean, so what you
want to do. I said, I'd rather be up there
with you in the box, right, And I mean he
(25:12):
was just like, really okay, I said, yeah, I mean
this my goal, isn't I had big expectations for myself
or lofty goals, right. You know, but if you don't
speak it or say it that.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
It can't happen, it happened, right.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
I mean the reality is it may happen. It may
not happen, but you have to have that positive attitude
and that outlook on life that this is possible. I
built a relationship with him, and I was always very
transparent with mister Blank about the good, the bad, the ugly.
I mean he would tell you I would call him
about whatever, and I was able to call the owner
(25:47):
of the team and I go through the GM. Not
that I built a relationship with him and I was
never in for myself. He can see that I cared
about my teammates, you know, the organization. I just want
to see us be better. And you know, after I
got released from the Falcons, he said, one day, I
(26:08):
would love to call you a partner. I had no
idea what that meant. At that time. I was still
trying to play football. I went a Tampa one more
year and then I believe or not, he had three
or four meetings about about becoming a partner, And believe
it or not, he was just he cooked me dinner,
(26:30):
had me over to his house, cook me dinners. Can work.
This is something that you need to do. And I
was still on the fence with it. But I was like,
you know what, you know what, Yeah, I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna work it out. And I just talked to
my financial advisor says, okay, what can I how much
you think I can do? You know this or that?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
It was like, right, if it's accurate, It was like
north of forty up front.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Well, well, you know, I can't tell you all.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Right, all right, but you're saying pretty right.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Now out Well, it's a good investment, you know, it's
a great investment. That's what you think about. You know,
the return is come, I mean some, But let me
just tell you a lot of times people feel like
they need to give one hundred billion or ten million
or whatever. It is an investment sometimes, you know, and
(27:23):
we've heard this from a lot of billionaires. If you
put one, you know, a million dollars into a billion
dollars business. I mean that's a.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
You're not doing that, Yeah, you're not.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
I mean it's you know, so I just thought strategically,
it's like, Okay, I don't have anything to prove to
anybody else. This is an opportunity, right, I need. I
want to make sure that still can live a comfortable life,
still do the things I would like to do. But
at the same time, I know that when I give
this money, it's gone, right, I have to pretend it's gone.
And it's a really great investment, so I can't complain.
(27:54):
I mean, when I get the return, you know, it'll
be good for the kids. Now you sell it for me. Yeah,
But in reality.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Disney thinking, it's some Disney World thinking.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yeah. I mean it's just like eventually down the road,
you know, it's just like they reaped the benefits of it,
you know. I'm just saying, the generation of wealth. Yeah,
and that's what it's about for me.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
That's dope, that's super dope. All right, let me let me,
let me let me wrap you up. Well, there's two
more questions I'm asking you.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
One.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I would be remissed if I didn't ask you, what
is your favorite moment in memory with Coach Bowden. I mean,
I gotta, I gotta capture that and and that's got
to be something that that is a part of the
historical value of one of the greatest men that that
(28:49):
I've ever known of, and well.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Two of the greatest dudes that and men that I've
known of. So what what.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Is one of the most memorable moments that you've ever
had with him? And it could be the first time
you met him when you were younger, it could be
as a man. It could just give me one, give
me one where it's like this one really really maybe
define something for you.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Well, I can tell you one. This my freshman year,
we planned South Bend playing Notre Dame and I told people,
you know this before is that I'm out. You know
everybody was slipping on the field in the first half.
(29:37):
You know they grew the grass. You know this or that?
Speaker 1 (29:39):
I remember.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
And I was slipping, Brooks slipped, Charlie ware was slipping
out there. And he called me out at halftime in
front of the whole team and said, work, You're not
in high school anymore. You can't be out there slipping
this or that. I'm just like, I mean, you know I.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Could figure it out. But Brooksy is slipping. Yeah, but
we all slipped it.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Yeah, we all did. But I I just said, Okay,
I went out in the second half. I did not slip.
You know, I scored, you know, I think I remember
I scored a touchdown. I had a really good second half.
And I took that challenge right that you know that
I need to rise above and you know, you can
use me as an example all you want, but I'm
(30:27):
approved to you that because you called me out, that
I'm gonna go out there and make it happen. And
I did in the second half, and that has stuck
with me all these years, right, I mean, he was
another example. My mom challenged me when I was a
freshman in high school, I could take you out of
this school because I was about to flunk out, or
you can stay and proved to them that you can
(30:48):
make it. And I decided myself that I'm gonna stay here.
And I'm approved to him that I can make it
this school because I went to all boys, predominant white
Catholic private school. Honestly, I was at home many books,
I was enjoying lunch and pe I had to go
ahead and decide to buckle down. Took the same mentality
(31:08):
from that challenge with my mom to coach Bowden. And
you know, anytime anybody called me out, I didn't take
it as a negative. That's calling me out in front
of everybody. I took that as you know what, they're
not going to do it again.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, you the one to do it, though. I mean,
that's how I would look at it. If Coach Bounce
called me out, single me out, You the one to
do it.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
I'm I'm the one to do it. That's why I
had to call That's why you had to call me out.
I'm the man.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I don't care how high the grass is. I don't
care how what the grass is. Don't slip.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
No, I wasn't gonna let that happen. And you know,
we almost came back and won that game in the
second half. But I did go out and I didn't
slip anymore. All right, that was gonna be my excuse.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (31:54):
All right, last one. I'm gonna leave you with what
does work Done want his legacy to be? If you
left here today when they give your eulogy, what would
you want them to say about you?
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Now, that's tough that I was a family man. I
care about my family. That was first and foremost to me.
The most important part of my life is my family.
And I cared about people, right. I just I've been
across this country and this world, and I've talked to people.
I was in a community where they wrap their arms
(32:35):
around my family when I lost my mom, and they
taught me what it means to care about your neighbor
and to give back. And for me, I just wanted
to continue to spread my wings and be thankful that
I had the opportunity. But I just care about seeing
people live a better life. But the most important thing
is they have to do their part. Right. Nothing is free.
You can't just hand things out and expecting the one
(32:58):
to value it. You do your part and I will help, right,
And that's really what I'm about. I've had to do
my part. You have to do your part because we
all we all have to train, we have to work hard,
we have to be committed to something, and we all
need assistance to move forward in life. That's pretty much
the thing that I would like people won you know
(33:20):
to know about me, right that you know I played football,
pro football. I never thought I'd played professional football and
get drafted playing at one hundred and eighty five pounds
at the most. You know, I got draft. I was
one hundred and seventy. Think about what I had to
prove just to play down in and down out. And
now I'm thirty seven yards shot eleven thousand. I'm one
(33:44):
of six guys in the National Football League with five
hundred receptions, you know, over fifteen thousand yards of total offense.
You know, when it comes to that running backs. I mean,
it says a lot, but people don't think about the
football thing. They just think about this is the guy
who helps people. Well, this is the guy who gets
there with the homes right, And That's what I'm known for,
(34:04):
not you know what I did on the feeling, and
I would like to be known as someone who played
the game at the highest level and against the best.
When I blocked Reggie White, Kevin Green, blocking you and
all those, I mean, it wasn't like I was out
there just chilling. I was out there playing and I
ran for my life, and you know I was. I
want to be an elite athlete football player because I'm
(34:26):
very competitive, but also want to be the best human
that I can be and I wish people would would
would take that that you know, I was just as
good as a football player, human being, vice versa. You know,
it's all about that.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Just super quick, because you mentioned your mom the entire
interview and to know and I know you mentioned her passing,
but to know how that impacted you in terms of
what it what your responsibilities had to be based off
of what happen. Just so people are clear when they
(35:02):
hear this that if you're comfortable with that, I mean,
it's well documented, you know, but just.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Give up, like just before we go, just the idea.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
And that was like right before your eighteenth birthday, right
if I went correctly.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Well, it was two days after my eighteenth birthday, I
just turned eighteen, and two days later my mom, who's
a Bedroom City police officer, was shot and killed in
line of duty. She was making a routine that deposit
at a at a bank with the grocery store manager,
and two guys open fire on the police car. She's
in a police unifarmer in a car and she lost
(35:41):
her life. You know, from that, I just became the
guardian that my brothers and sisters, being eighteen years old,
just turning eighteen, I was responsible for them, so you know,
I had to grow up really fast. Didn't have the
best college life because I was so I was more focusing.
A lot of my meetings with coach Bowden were about family.
(36:03):
I would go to his office and sit to him,
sit down with him and talk about, Okay, what I
do in this situation with my brothers and sisters back home.
I'm trying to raise kids, you know from Tallahassee over
the phone and you know, go back and forth. So
I had the ability to go home every break, every
weekend that I had off, every summer, I went home.
(36:24):
You know, I did it all. I did it all.
But I think the most important thing that I did
is that when I was a my second year in Tampa,
the youngest three came to live with me. So being
a professional football player just work of the year. Now
I'm going to Pta means making sure that you know,
(36:44):
I had to cooking meals every day. So I wasn't
able to hang out with my teammates.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Right I was parent parented.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
I was going to football games on Friday nights, not
hanging out with my teammates on Friday nights. I was
doing everything a parent would do you and you know
for me, I you know, that was my life. But
because you know, I was the oldest of six, being
responsible for my brothers and sisters, you know, I felt
it was important that I do that. My mom, you know,
(37:13):
she she left me that responsibility. So that's what I
had to do, and I'm just thankful that I was,
you know, put in a situation that I was mentally
strong and able to provide for them.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
You're one of the most extraordinary dudes I've ever known.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
World real cof like real strong bromh
Around here. We hustle for a living around here.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Around here, we grind board living around Roundhead.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We huscle for lit round here around Head, we grund
for a living man.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to another exciting edition of up on Game presents
conversations with a legend, and we do have another legend
on board on that one of my personal faves a
hero growing up, we got mister ward Done.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Now, I got I gotta set it off by saying this.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And I know I probably told you this a few
times over, but you know I used to wear wristbands
on my shins right below my knee because of Ward Done.
I had to strap I had to strap on my shoe.
Because of Ward Done, I had the wristband on my elbows. Now,
they might have thought it was just because of Deep
Brooks and ray Lu, but a lot of my influence
(00:58):
came from from you. So and it's interesting because you know,
I give you a backstory. Andy Orbanic Right, y'all's assistant
A d was from Penhills, Pittsburgh, And when I was
in high school, he did a camp of champions in Pittsburgh.
(01:19):
They would come to the camp and during the mess
halls when all the teams would come together and be eating.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
He would show highlights of Florida State.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So my two favorites easily, well, three, I gotta say three.
But I didn't want to be Charlie Ward. I wanted
to be like Ward Done and Derrick Brooks. So the
coolest thing was, here's the weirdest thing. I'm taller than
both of y'all. Right, So I was at six '
three in high school like this, like my freshman year,
(01:51):
sophomore year, and Andy Orbanic would bring me the tapes.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So indirectly, I ran like I was your.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Size because I in my mind, I wanted to run
like how you ran.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So I patterned my running style after you.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So I was quick and I was shifty even though
I was long, you know what I mean. So yeah, yeah,
and I rocked the cowboy collar and all that stuff
because because of Deep Brooks and all that. So I
was a Florida State and always told coach Bollten God
rest his soul, always told him, if they would have
recruited me harder, I would have been a knowle you
(02:31):
know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
But yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Would enjoy it. You would enjoyed the little small town
I mean I know you you were a great player
in college, and so what you would have enjoyed Tallahasse
just you know, all of the competition, just just to compete,
just to get on the field. I think I would
have just you know, been crazy. So we had a
good group of linebackers, then I'm sure you'd came and
(02:55):
you're to have added to that mix and would have
been would have been crazy on defense.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, that that was the same David Warren came in.
That that would have been too. It would have been
ninety seven. But I mean I grew up on them,
like when when they had Ruble d. Brooks, you know
what I mean, they had Wadsworth, they had they had
Alexander had Crockett, had Hamlet in the back. I'll run
it off for you, now, hey, Clifton Abraham, I mean,
(03:21):
I'll run them off.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
But but here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So so being a part of one of the most
iconic errors of Florida State football and being so young
and and and getting in the mix of it. I
can recall you in rock Preston being in the backfield.
I think you were older though, right you. I think
(03:46):
he came, we came in, we were Yeah, were both reshman.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Wow, So but you played more out the gate than
Rock did.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Well, I played more out of the gate because when
we start the camp, he wasn't there the first few
days because he did the summer. He was in school school, right,
I think, you know, you can go to school early on,
and he went to school early and I didn't, so
you know, classes didn't end early enough for him to start.
(04:17):
So I had a couple of days on him doing that.
But I mean once he came, you know, I was like,
oh my god, I better get it together. And you know,
we just competed. But the thing is, we made each
other better. And I just happened to play my freshman
year because you know, the starter had anchor injury doing camp,
and you know, he didn't take a lot of reps
(04:38):
to backup blew his knee out, you know, first day
of camp, Tiger McMillan blew his knee out. And then
you know the second I mean third and fourth guy.
You know, it's just they were in the mix. So
once I started getting reps against the first team defense,
sixty yards, fifty yards, this and that. That was all
(04:59):
she wrote.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
So fast forward. I gotta fast forward. To this because
you meant so much to me. When we played Atlanta
and I got my first chance to play against you,
I was gunning for you, like I felt like if
I could.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Get to you, like that's like one of those things.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's like, if I'm on the field with another linebacker,
I'm gonna try to outdo that linebacker. If I'm on
the field he and a hero is on the other side,
like Jerome Bettis. I had to try my hand with
Jerome Bettis, right. So it was like there was like
a couple. There was you, there was Fred Taylor, there
was Jerome Bettis. Those are the three. It's like, oh,
(05:46):
they're on the field, like who So I don't know
if you remember this, but you remember me. I don't
even know who the fullback was, but he came to
chop me and I leaped from d and I got
a hold of you in Atlanta, And it was a
highlight of my life to be able to get a
(06:07):
hold of Ward Done in the backfield. It was a
TfL by the way I did get yours.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
I mean, you know, those things happened occasionally, but it
wasn't It wasn't a clean hit, right because I wasn't
trying to give you a lot to hit. But you know,
I trust the guys in front of me, and I
you know, I had Fred mccry, you know mac quarry.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Leave, Yeah, leave.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So I figured that's where it was, right because Justin,
Justin wouldn't let you do that. He was a smaller guy,
so he's gonna use his his size to help him.
But Fred, he's trying to always pound you. Yeah, but
I can just I can say that if you did
do that. And I don't remember, right, but it wasn't
a clean shot. I know you remember, but I'm gonna
(06:53):
go back and look at the films. So yeah, if
it was a clean shot, No, I wasn't gonna let
that happen.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Have to do part two. You're gonna have to tell
me what you saw on part two.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Oh, we can do that. We can do that, we
can do that. It was you know, hey, whatever, it's
gonna make you sleep better than that. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
We're so old now. And so here's a transition. Here's
a transition.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Everybody knows, especially in Atlanta, what work Done is doing
and what Work Done has done.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
For his entire life.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
But for those who may have lived under a rock
for all these years and never caught win to all
of the great things you've done.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Let us know what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
What does work Done have going on now?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well? I have a lot of jobs, right, so I
would tell you that we can be here for a
little bit. You know, I don't think we have enough time.
But I think you know a lot of people know
me as the guy who just helps families, right, I'm
the guy who gives away houses. I don't give anything away,
but I try to help single parent families who have
become a first time homeowners moving to their new home.
(08:03):
And the reason I do that is because my mom
and what she her issues were, the reason she sacrificed
her life is trying to provide a stable environment for us.
So for me, I wanted to live up my mom's
dream through other single parents. And what we do is
with single parent families who are becoming first time homeowners,
and that's give them five thousand dollars down payment and
(08:24):
we're fully furnishing at homes. We I mean, we put
everything in their homes all the way down to the toothbrush. Right.
So now you just pretty much have to just bring.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Your clothes out right.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, that's pretty much it. So we've been doing it
now and we're about to get ready to celebrate twenty
five years years of this and you know, we're up
to one hundred. I think I'm gonna get the number
one hundred and ninety five single parent families we felt today.
So we're going to continue to go and getting ready
(08:55):
for home two hundred. I appreciate it, but this started
the ninth ninety seven. I had no idea what I
was doing in nineteen ninety seven, you know, just years
later and you know, I just knew that my I'm
let my mo mom's dream and for me it was
more like therapy. But as organization, we've grown over the
(09:16):
years and it was like I said, we're about to
celebrate twenty five years of this program. But we've also expanded.
Now we have a financial literacy program that's called kind
of Your Future. We try to help families not just
about budgeting, but we want them to save money. And
it's not just the parents. We also work with the
kids as well. Start the savings account, invest in themselves
(09:37):
and we do that and we also have a program
that's called Scope, a healthy food initiative and we try
to educate families on quick and healthy meals eventually build
their own vegetable box where they can grow their foods
in their backyard. So we're doing that. And we also
have a scholarship program that's called Horts for Community Service
where we try to help students who are in school.
(10:00):
They're impacting their community, but they also need some assistance
in school as well. And we just raised that to
five thousand dollars. That a one thousand dollars five thousand
dollars scholarships. So we're just trying to help our community.
And over the years these programs have come around, we
transition these things because these are the things I've learned
(10:21):
from other families, hearing their stores, their issues, and how
can I really help support them on their journey of
home ownership. And you know, stable housing solves a lot
of problems, society problems, and are focused on that. For me,
it's important that we give these kids an opportunity to
(10:41):
have their parents, you know, until they get a lot older,
so they can continue to learn. I just don't want
kids to go through what I had to go through
and burn and burying my mom and not having her
around through through the important years of not just my life,
but my younger five brothers and sisters. They needed her
during that time, So I want to help preserve that
for kids. Just moving forward, and you know, this program
(11:05):
is near and deer, and we're trying to grow and
expand this program. We're in fourteen i want to say,
fifteen states, twenty four twenty five markets. We're growing. We're
expanding and trying to get into every NFL city. That's
going to be the goal in twenty twenty two. It's like,
how can we actually go and impact, you know, every
(11:25):
NFL city. Because most of the guys who play on
these teams grew up in a single parent house, someone
in their family can relate to it. So we want
to be able to take this program and expand and
partner with the teams. Moving forward, and now I'm into
building housing as well. Got WD communities where we build
housing for families. We don't just work with single parent families,
(11:46):
but two parent households. Were trying to just help individuals
who are on that journey. But the difference with this
program is that once you purchase a home, we try
to make sure we support the families for at least
five years through their home ownership. And that means that
means taking courses, financial literacy, courses, consistently holding them accountable.
(12:09):
I call it health and wellness where we try to
incentivize them to go to counseling, you know, work out, train,
just all the things we do in our health and
wellness piece. We want to be able to incentivize them
for long, long periods of time. And we try to
help families who may need to get a certificate to
upgrade their status on their job, or they want to
(12:30):
be entrepreneurs workforce development. So we try to help support
the families for at least five years, and we use
government subsidies to help with that as well. Like I
got a lot of jobs. I can go on and
on and on. We can go in here for a while,
but you know, like I work with the Legends program
as well, trying to help us talk about that. Yeah, yeah,
So trying to help retire players really understand what they have,
(12:55):
you know, at their fingertips, right, creating this access for
them to be able to understand their benefits, all the
perks that they have, the opportunities to take courses to
learn different things We just want to be a resource
to them and make sure that they understand that they
played this game for a long time. You know, when
you leave the game, you don't have that locker room
(13:18):
feel when you're at home, So we can we can
create that virtual locker room in a sense where you know,
from time to time we get together, you can you know,
communicate and catch up with the guys that you played with,
played against, you know, reliving those moments. You have those
moments where you can do that with the Legends program.
But most importantly, we support them right, scholarship opportunities, if
(13:41):
anything happens in the family, we can support them, you
know by any assistance. I mean anything. We can probably
help with anything to really assist them through their journey.
And it's not just the individual, but they have all
these benefits. Let's put it to you, so let's help
support yourself and your family. So, you know, it's been
a great program. I've been there sending since the inception,
(14:03):
so it's just grown and we're just trying to continue
to expand. And now we got the app. Guys can
download the app really take advantage of opportunities and the
things that I think the Legends program and the league
is trying to do for them.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
What's up?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
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(15:44):
and you mentioning the education and finances and scholarships and
all those different things that you wear a hat for,
what's your what's your take on branding as it applies
to these things?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Because for me, it's like the brands that exist.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
For some of these legends and what opportunities could be
there if they understood what branding truly meant and how
to leverage it, I think is something that is needed.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
That education of what that looks like.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I feel like you've done an amazing job, whether and
you can tell me whether you were aware of it
or just kind of it happened. But Work Done is
a brand, and that's that's your charity. It's it's named
after you. That's a legacy. What what goes into Wark
(16:42):
Done's idea of branding?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Well, I can tell you when I first started, I
had no idea. I wasn't doing anything to work on
a brand, you know whatever?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Right?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I think over the years, once you build equity, when
I say equity, when you build some cloud, some consistency,
seeing people know that this is what this person is
truly about. Then you start to really work on what
your brand looks like. You know, some guys just think, well,
if I can go in the field, I score a
couple of touchdowns. You know, I have this brand that
(17:14):
is X, Y and Z. Well, what is your goal
long term? And I try to think about what are
the things I want to accomplish as an individual, what
positions I want to put myself in, my family in,
and also how do I want to see and help
families you know down the road. So you know, that
really goes in developing a plan of how we want
(17:35):
to you know, assist attack, but at the same time
make people aware the things that I stand for. And
now I try to associate myself with corporations and brands
that are passionate about people. Right. I think if you
think about my brand, it's more about you know, people, right,
how can I help someone? You know, I'm passionate about that.
(17:58):
It's not something that I don't feel like it's a job.
I just get up and go every day. And if
it's something that you're just passionate about it, you don't
think it's a job. It's just something that you love
to do. And for me, my brand, I think is
really that it's more people on, people driven, because when
you're building your brand and you're building relationships, that takes time.
(18:19):
But it's a people's business. And I'm sure you've learned
over the years that football sports, when you're dealing with
these organizations, it is a people's business. And you know,
you focus on building relationships, being strategic on how you
build those relationships. But everything can't just be well, I
got to get something out of this, you know in
(18:40):
the beginning. Sometimes you got to build up your equity
over time. Right, can't expect to be you know, take
ten steps on day one. Just take one step, do something,
build up the equity and build up the trust from
other individuals that knowing that this person is consistent, they're reliable,
and they're trustworthy. Once you build that, I think over
(19:00):
the course of time that equity comes to partner your brand.
It is what you make it right. I mean, I'm
not a perfect person. I make mistakes. I'm human just
like everyone else. But the way that I try to
live my life is that I just want to be
able to help individuals be better, help my community be
better across this country. So you know, the branding, that's
(19:21):
a complicated, you know thing in a sense, but you
have to take those small incremental steps and think about
the big picture at the end. Then you developed that
plan to get there, and it has to be consistency
as well.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Do you feel like that applies the whole nil naming, image,
likeness deal passing and now being a part of college sports?
Do you feel as though the educational components, the insight
that you just provided is something that needs to now
happen out of earlier age.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, I no doubt. You know, if we have what
these kids have now when we're in college, I mean,
you know, they can make money, they can do appearances. Mentally,
I think financially you're not in a position mentally to
really manage and handle the financial responsibilities. So I think
that's also provide an opportunity to a platform where they
(20:18):
have strategic people in their lives that can help guide
them and give them the right direction because they can't
just live for today. I mean, for me, it's important
we want to live a good life today, but think
about the twenty thirty forty years from now, right, what
type of life you want to live in, not just
for yourself, you know, I mean for your kids, right,
(20:39):
your family. You know, we have to learn to pass
you know, pass stuff down to the next generation generation
of wealth. How do we do that? Well, we have
to plan for the future. But take advantage of the
opportunity you have today, but don't spend it as if
this is it, right, I mean, it is more about,
(20:59):
you know, Okay, what do I need to live a
good life? Okay, but now I have what I need.
How can I now start planning and saving for the
future so that I'm able to put you know, my
kids help, you know, family members, whatever it is down
the road, live a better life because we have we
all have to come together on this journey. I mean,
it's just the reality of it. And I just think
(21:20):
these kids today, you know, they didn't grow up with
the same values that we grew up because we struggled
a lot harder. Now you're getting the instant contracts, or
you're getting the marketing bills or those things. Put in
the savings account, save it plan, don't use it. Still
live on that on that you know, two dollars budget
that we all lived on in college, right, Try to
(21:42):
manage and people it's like, well you I've done pretty
good with managing dollars. Well, I grew up my mom
passed on a need basis, not the things that I want.
And we not saying that you can't get the things
that you want, but it's a plan that you have
to have right and do it on a nee basis.
And if the college kids can take advantage of the opportunities,
(22:04):
take advantage of it. But now start saving for the
future because you never know, not every college kid who
gets the marketing it is going to play in the pros.
That's just not going to That's the reality. So can
you help this This money can't provide, you know, an
opportunity for you to start, you know, charting your path
(22:24):
and the things that you want to do and accomplishing life.
So I would advise them to have the right you know,
guidance or get the right people in their lives who
are not just going to be yes people, but people
who are going to be honest and have your best
interest at heart.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
All right.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
So with all that being said, that led to you
being able to and this is a humble brag on
my bro you're a minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, did that frame of mind position you. You talked
about the branding and being able to build strategic relationships
and lasting relationships, building towards the future, having your brand
represent something that connects to the people. Do you feel
like all of those things, along with what you just
talked about in terms of being able to make your
(23:15):
money and save your money and think long term, how
much did that play a part into you leading up
to being a minority owner for the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
One, I would tell you the most important thing that
I built a relationship with mister Blank, Right. I mean
when I first came to Atlanta, I met him and
we didn't talk football. We talked about life, right. We
talked about the impact that I wanted to make in
the state of Atlanta and what he wanted to make
because he was just becoming an owner. You know. I
would say. The second thing is you I think I
(23:49):
wasn't the highest paid player at my position. I mean,
if you look back, I mean if I played in
today's era, could be a lot different. But when I
was playing, I was having to prove to everybody league
that I'm only five eight, one hundred and eighty pounds,
that I can play every down, I can play with
the big boys, and you know, trying to make sure
(24:10):
that I can stay health. I had a lot to prove.
But my strategy has always been, you know, I need
to make sure I put myself and my family stuff
in a position, you know, to have a good future,
and utilize the platforms to do that. And that's what
I did. I mean, believe it or not, you know,
I was able to manage money early on. You know,
(24:32):
I was able to put money to becoming a partner
because you just it's not a verbal agreement. I have
to show it by giving money, you know. Pretty much
he paid me to play with the Falcons and I
had to give a lot of that money back to
him to become a minority owner. But when you think
about it, you know I just managed.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
It's brilliant.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I managed my money. But he asked me a quick question,
you know, towards the end of my career, It's like,
what are you going to do after football? No, he said, hey,
do you want to go coach? You want to go
you know, do this or I was like, no, I
don't want to do that. I mean, so what you
want to do. I said, I'd rather be up there
with you in the box, right, And I mean he
(25:12):
was just like, really okay, I said, yeah, I mean
this my goal, isn't I had big expectations for myself
or lofty goals, right. You know, but if you don't
speak it or say it that.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
It can't happen, it happened, right.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
I mean the reality is it may happen. It may
not happen, but you have to have that positive attitude
and that outlook on life that this is possible. I
built a relationship with him, and I was always very
transparent with mister Blank about the good, the bad, the ugly.
I mean he would tell you I would call him
about whatever, and I was able to call the owner
(25:47):
of the team and I go through the GM. Not
that I built a relationship with him and I was
never in for myself. He can see that I cared
about my teammates, you know, the organization. I just want
to see us be better. And you know, after I
got released from the Falcons, he said, one day, I
(26:08):
would love to call you a partner. I had no
idea what that meant. At that time. I was still
trying to play football. I went a Tampa one more
year and then I believe or not, he had three
or four meetings about about becoming a partner, And believe
it or not, he was just he cooked me dinner,
(26:30):
had me over to his house, cook me dinners. Can work.
This is something that you need to do. And I
was still on the fence with it. But I was like,
you know what, you know what, Yeah, I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna work it out. And I just talked to
my financial advisor says, okay, what can I how much
you think I can do? You know this or that?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
It was like, right, if it's accurate, It was like
north of forty up front.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Well, well, you know, I can't tell you all.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Right, all right, but you're saying pretty right.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Now out Well, it's a good investment, you know, it's
a great investment. That's what you think about. You know,
the return is come, I mean some, But let me
just tell you a lot of times people feel like
they need to give one hundred billion or ten million
or whatever. It is an investment sometimes, you know, and
(27:23):
we've heard this from a lot of billionaires. If you
put one, you know, a million dollars into a billion
dollars business. I mean that's a.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
You're not doing that, Yeah, you're not.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
I mean it's you know, so I just thought strategically,
it's like, Okay, I don't have anything to prove to
anybody else. This is an opportunity, right, I need. I
want to make sure that still can live a comfortable life,
still do the things I would like to do. But
at the same time, I know that when I give
this money, it's gone, right, I have to pretend it's gone.
And it's a really great investment, so I can't complain.
(27:54):
I mean, when I get the return, you know, it'll
be good for the kids. Now you sell it for me. Yeah,
But in reality.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Disney thinking, it's some Disney World thinking.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yeah. I mean it's just like eventually down the road,
you know, it's just like they reaped the benefits of it,
you know. I'm just saying, the generation of wealth. Yeah,
and that's what it's about for me.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
That's dope, that's super dope. All right, let me let me,
let me let me wrap you up. Well, there's two
more questions I'm asking you.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
One.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I would be remissed if I didn't ask you, what
is your favorite moment in memory with Coach Bowden. I mean,
I gotta, I gotta capture that and and that's got
to be something that that is a part of the
historical value of one of the greatest men that that
(28:49):
I've ever known of, and well.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Two of the greatest dudes that and men that I've
known of. So what what.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Is one of the most memorable moments that you've ever
had with him? And it could be the first time
you met him when you were younger, it could be
as a man. It could just give me one, give
me one where it's like this one really really maybe
define something for you.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Well, I can tell you one. This my freshman year,
we planned South Bend playing Notre Dame and I told people,
you know this before is that I'm out. You know
everybody was slipping on the field in the first half.
(29:37):
You know they grew the grass. You know this or that?
Speaker 1 (29:39):
I remember.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
And I was slipping, Brooks slipped, Charlie ware was slipping
out there. And he called me out at halftime in
front of the whole team and said, work, You're not
in high school anymore. You can't be out there slipping
this or that. I'm just like, I mean, you know I.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Could figure it out. But Brooksy is slipping. Yeah, but
we all slipped it.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Yeah, we all did. But I I just said, Okay,
I went out in the second half. I did not slip.
You know, I scored, you know, I think I remember
I scored a touchdown. I had a really good second half.
And I took that challenge right that you know that
I need to rise above and you know, you can
use me as an example all you want, but I'm
(30:27):
approved to you that because you called me out, that
I'm gonna go out there and make it happen. And
I did in the second half, and that has stuck
with me all these years, right, I mean, he was
another example. My mom challenged me when I was a
freshman in high school, I could take you out of
this school because I was about to flunk out, or
you can stay and proved to them that you can
(30:48):
make it. And I decided myself that I'm gonna stay here.
And I'm approved to him that I can make it
this school because I went to all boys, predominant white
Catholic private school. Honestly, I was at home many books,
I was enjoying lunch and pe I had to go
ahead and decide to buckle down. Took the same mentality
(31:08):
from that challenge with my mom to coach Bowden. And
you know, anytime anybody called me out, I didn't take
it as a negative. That's calling me out in front
of everybody. I took that as you know what, they're
not going to do it again.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, you the one to do it, though. I mean,
that's how I would look at it. If Coach Bounce
called me out, single me out, You the one to
do it.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
I'm I'm the one to do it. That's why I
had to call That's why you had to call me out.
I'm the man.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I don't care how high the grass is. I don't
care how what the grass is. Don't slip.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
No, I wasn't gonna let that happen. And you know,
we almost came back and won that game in the
second half. But I did go out and I didn't
slip anymore. All right, that was gonna be my excuse.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (31:54):
All right, last one. I'm gonna leave you with what
does work Done want his legacy to be? If you
left here today when they give your eulogy, what would
you want them to say about you?
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Now, that's tough that I was a family man. I
care about my family. That was first and foremost to me.
The most important part of my life is my family.
And I cared about people, right. I just I've been
across this country and this world, and I've talked to people.
I was in a community where they wrap their arms
(32:35):
around my family when I lost my mom, and they
taught me what it means to care about your neighbor
and to give back. And for me, I just wanted
to continue to spread my wings and be thankful that
I had the opportunity. But I just care about seeing
people live a better life. But the most important thing
is they have to do their part. Right. Nothing is free.
You can't just hand things out and expecting the one
(32:58):
to value it. You do your part and I will help, right,
And that's really what I'm about. I've had to do
my part. You have to do your part because we
all we all have to train, we have to work hard,
we have to be committed to something, and we all
need assistance to move forward in life. That's pretty much
the thing that I would like people won you know
(33:20):
to know about me, right that you know I played football,
pro football. I never thought I'd played professional football and
get drafted playing at one hundred and eighty five pounds
at the most. You know, I got draft. I was
one hundred and seventy. Think about what I had to
prove just to play down in and down out. And
now I'm thirty seven yards shot eleven thousand. I'm one
(33:44):
of six guys in the National Football League with five
hundred receptions, you know, over fifteen thousand yards of total offense.
You know, when it comes to that running backs. I mean,
it says a lot, but people don't think about the
football thing. They just think about this is the guy
who helps people. Well, this is the guy who gets
there with the homes right, And That's what I'm known for,
(34:04):
not you know what I did on the feeling, and
I would like to be known as someone who played
the game at the highest level and against the best.
When I blocked Reggie White, Kevin Green, blocking you and
all those, I mean, it wasn't like I was out
there just chilling. I was out there playing and I
ran for my life, and you know I was. I
want to be an elite athlete football player because I'm
(34:26):
very competitive, but also want to be the best human
that I can be and I wish people would would
would take that that you know, I was just as
good as a football player, human being, vice versa. You know,
it's all about that.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Just super quick, because you mentioned your mom the entire
interview and to know and I know you mentioned her passing,
but to know how that impacted you in terms of
what it what your responsibilities had to be based off
of what happen. Just so people are clear when they
(35:02):
hear this that if you're comfortable with that, I mean,
it's well documented, you know, but just.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Give up, like just before we go, just the idea.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
And that was like right before your eighteenth birthday, right
if I went correctly.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Well, it was two days after my eighteenth birthday, I
just turned eighteen, and two days later my mom, who's
a Bedroom City police officer, was shot and killed in
line of duty. She was making a routine that deposit
at a at a bank with the grocery store manager,
and two guys open fire on the police car. She's
in a police unifarmer in a car and she lost
(35:41):
her life. You know, from that, I just became the
guardian that my brothers and sisters, being eighteen years old,
just turning eighteen, I was responsible for them, so you know,
I had to grow up really fast. Didn't have the
best college life because I was so I was more focusing.
A lot of my meetings with coach Bowden were about family.
(36:03):
I would go to his office and sit to him,
sit down with him and talk about, Okay, what I
do in this situation with my brothers and sisters back home.
I'm trying to raise kids, you know from Tallahassee over
the phone and you know, go back and forth. So
I had the ability to go home every break, every
weekend that I had off, every summer, I went home.
(36:24):
You know, I did it all. I did it all.
But I think the most important thing that I did
is that when I was a my second year in Tampa,
the youngest three came to live with me. So being
a professional football player just work of the year. Now
I'm going to Pta means making sure that you know,
(36:44):
I had to cooking meals every day. So I wasn't
able to hang out with my teammates.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Right I was parent parented.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
I was going to football games on Friday nights, not
hanging out with my teammates on Friday nights. I was
doing everything a parent would do you and you know
for me, I you know, that was my life. But
because you know, I was the oldest of six, being
responsible for my brothers and sisters, you know, I felt
it was important that I do that. My mom, you know,
(37:13):
she she left me that responsibility. So that's what I
had to do, and I'm just thankful that I was,
you know, put in a situation that I was mentally
strong and able to provide for them.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
You're one of the most extraordinary dudes I've ever known.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
World real cof like real strong bromh
Hosts And Creators
Brady Quinn
LaVar Arrington
Jonas Knox
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