Jared Frayer: Experiencing the Olympics - Ep. 28

Part 2 of Shane Sparks' discussion with current Virginia Tech associate head coach and 2012 Olympian Jared Frayer on  Episode 28 of the Go Earn It Podcast.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the Go Earn It Podcast, where we bring you stories each week
of people who have battled through adversity, overcame the obstacles, and earned their
dream. You were born for greatness, and our mission is to bring you
the stories that will inspire you todream big and go earn it. Welcome

(00:27):
to the goord It Podcast. Itis episode twenty eight, Part two with
Jared Freyer, two time All Americanat Oklahoma nsay finalist in two thousand and
two. Of course, at twentytwelve Olympian Olympics are around the corner.
Jared, what do you remember fromthat night's Inside Carver Hawkeye Arena beating Brent
Metcalfe to secure your spot at theOlympic Games in twenty twelve. No,

(00:52):
it's still it's still a little surreal. Man, It's crazy. It was,
you know, going on, whatis it now? I e?
No, how many years? Twelveyears ago? Wow? Yeah, So
it's it's been three cycles and stillyou know that the the pinnacle of my
career and just just super grateful andyou know, to have my wife there
and my family and you know kindof all came came to fruition that you

(01:15):
know, my last really domestic tournamentthat I get to compete in, and
yeah, it was it was itwas something that that is extremely special,
and you know, I was Iwas blessed to you know, go through
a bunch of trials and tribulations leadingup to that and and to come out
on the on the other side ontop. Just uh just yeah, just
thinking back on it, it's it'snot something I do a lot, but

(01:38):
but it's it's a pretty unique specialyou know, every every word you can
imagine, you know, the pinnacleof what I what I tried to do
for for yeah, go probably twentytwenty six years of competing. What do
you remember from the first conversation youhad with your dad after making that team.

(02:00):
There was a lot of a lotof tears, a lot of uh,
you know, just just excitement andand knowing how proud he was of
me, and just it was itwas something you know, for the whole
family. And my my sister wasthere, you know, all the all
the trips that she went on,and the and the heartache that they they
all experienced, you know, alongsideme, and you know, just the
the journey that it took to tobe able to get there and the people

(02:24):
that it took to give me faithand and push me and and do all
the things that that I needed done, and just just a special moment with
with all my family. My wifewas pregnant with our second daughter, and
it was just a something that thatI'll never forget. And and you know,
beating a guy like like Brient Metcalfand the ore that that he has,

(02:46):
especially in that city at that timeespecially, it was it was something
that that, uh, you know, I love I love Carma Hawke,
I love the Hawkey rastent fans.But to do that and to kind of
see them, you know, fileout out of Carver after that match,
it was it was it was prettywild, man. It was. It
was something really really cool and todo that, you know, in a

(03:07):
place that had you know, therewere sixteen thousand or however many fans hold
Carver Hockey holds. It was everyseat was filled. What were things Jared
along the way that you learned mentallyin your approach that changed. I'm just
just the grind and being able totrust and what you're doing. You know,

(03:28):
I was always I was always theguy that lost to the to the
Iowa guy. You know, Iwas the guy that technically I thought was
always better than than the guy Iwas wrestling. But for some reason I
had a mental block that I couldn'tI couldn't stay in there and hand fight
and and and score at the endwhen when I needed to against a guy
that was you know, was Brandstrained or Gable trained, And so I

(03:50):
really had to you know, itwas it was a whole journey, and
the kind of the journey was waswas something that was was pretty cool when
I look back on it, andyou know, I had to get in
in one of the Brands minds andand figure out what what was the secret
sauce that I was missing because Ibecause for some reason, you know,
I would I would you know,beat the Schwabs, I would beat the
zat except but but when it whenit really mattered, you know, the

(04:11):
best two out of three, youknow, I would I would lose the
guy that was, you know,this top of the podium, the highest
you know, conditioned guy in theweight class. So so I had to
get on get in Terry Brand's minda little bit and have him train me.
And you know, it probably wasn'twhat what I needed as competitor at
the time, but up put uphere was was what really mattered. So

(04:34):
I was he with you know,underneath him for a year and a half.
Then I coached at Iowa for ayear and I was I didn't compete
during that year when I was whenI was at Iowa, but just being
able to get that mindset knowing thatit wasn't there was nothing you know,
secret about it. It was abouttrusting what you're doing and and and and
giving full trust to what you're doing. You're doing it the right way,

(04:55):
but but trusting it. That preparationchanges your expectations when you really trust in
it, and then being able togo out there and do it, you
know, at the biggest agent andit placed at Carver Hake and the in
what had been my kryptonite for forso so long, and and get it
done when it when it counted.It's against the guy that you know,

(05:15):
some say is that he is thefiercest competitor and probably the most in shape
guy that that's ever touched the wrestlemeout and Brint Metcalf. You talked about
the journey and getting there, andI remember the year before, maybe it
was two years before you and metCAF had had that one match a little
bit of controversy, were those ofyour darkest days in the sport following that
loss? One hundred percent hundred percent. You know, it's just one of

(05:38):
those things. And it came downtwo or three times really where it was.
You know, it was that thatclench, or it was that you
know, all these ridiculous rules andyou know, it came down to wrestling.
You know, I was scoring themost points. It didn't didn't really
make sense to me. And youknow, I had to take a g
I had to take I kind ofpseudo retired twice because I was just so
broken. I was I was agame came down to the last guy.

(05:59):
I was the you know, besttwo out of three, and and I
would lose those matches based on aunlocked my hands or right, you know,
whatever the case may be. Itwas some ridiculous you know ball pull
out of out of a hat,and you know it was it didn't make
sense to me, and and sobut but like you said, that's you
know, that was a part ofthe journey. I wouldn't have, you

(06:19):
know, finished on top if Ididn't go through those you know, if
I make a world team. Youknow a couple of years, maybe I'm
done, Maybe I never wrestle intwenty twelve. So so yeah, that's
it was. It's it's all fruitions, trust and trusting in in the Lord
and and knowing that you know,he's got my back no matter what's what,
you know what happens and and uhlike like that sign bop behind yourself,

(06:40):
Go earn it, go earn it, do do the right things,
and and things will come. Thingswill come in the process. You got
a moment, Jared, you gottago earn it, moment where you had
to make a decision to really say, hey, this is gonna happen,
and here's how I'm gonna make ithappen, or I'm gonna step away to
be honest with you. Is BID'skind of it was. It was Tom

(07:02):
Brand's actually, which is which ispretty wild too. You know, two
scenarios dragging me into college coaching.I was I was it. That was
the alternate to Dug Schwab in Beijingin two thousand and eight. Went over
there. It spent three weeks traininghim and getting some of the guys ready,
and he called, you know,I was done. I was getting
I was co coach high school wrestling, and he he We got on a

(07:26):
skype from Beijing and he he heoffered me the strength conditioning job at the
Universe of Iowa. And I waslike, man, I'm done with I
don't want to coach college wrestling.It's just it's just it's too hard and
as far as being away from myfamily, gotta goda YadA. And then
not two nights later, my wifesaid, man, I had I prayed
about it, and I think wegot to go to Iowa. So I

(07:47):
get drugged back into the end ofthe sport. You know, I was
gonna spill me in the sport up, but I was gonna do a club
and coach stuff or coach high schooland in Florida. So that that phone
call him offered me that job.And then circa seven months later, I'm
working. I'm just I work outwith the club guys, but I was
I'm there to do be the strengthconditioning coach for the for the Hawkeyes.
We went NCA title. About twoweeks later, I'm training with Schwab and

(08:11):
Metcalf and you know all the otherguys that are training in the Hawkeey Wrestling
Club. And Tom Brands drags mebeside. He says, what are you
doing. I'm like, what doyou mean when I do it? I'm
doing my job. He's like,you're you're smacking these guys. You need
to wrestle. And you know I'mat the time. I guess I'm twenty
nine or something like that. AndI said, well, this is Tom

(08:33):
Brand's telling me this. There's thelimping champion, is the coach of the
Hawk guys. He's my boss.I said, all right, man,
I'll start bringing my weight down andwe'll go wrestling. Well, you know,
one of these last chance qualifiers.And so sure enough I ended up
in I end up in the finalsof the World Team Trials, and and

(08:54):
I think I lost. I don'tknow. I think I lost the Paulson.
But I had beaten. I beatMetcalf, I beat Schwab. Darren
Colwell was the big name at thetime. He had just I think he
just beat Metcalf in the finals thatyear and beat him in the in the
World Team Trials, and so Iwas back. I was back on my
journey. And Tom Brands put methere because he didn't think I should not
be wrestling. So so that justkind of reignited my my passion for the

(09:18):
sport and my passion to compete,and you know, the rest is history.
What were the Olympics like really cool, really cool? And it was
about the two thousand and eight waswas really cool because I was like,
man, I'm probably never gonna dothis again. I love sports. I'm
gonna go to every sport I cansee. You know, I'll be ready
to I'll be ready to work outin the morning, but I'm gonna stay

(09:41):
up till, you know, twoin the morning watching Team USA play basketball,
Lebron and Kobe and all these guys. So I was able to.
I was able to do all theall the cool stuff that I wanted to
do, as far as go watchPhelps, go watch Husain Bolt all.
You know, I'm a fan,I'm a fan of sports. I love
every sport. So I was ableto all do all that while I was
the alternate, so as the guyin twenty twelve, you know, I

(10:03):
really focused on on me. Butbut the one time I was able to
kind of step away was the openingceremonies and just you know, I got
some cool pictures with James Harden andLebron and just being around that and knowing
the significance of that night and whyI'd watched that my whole life. Every
you know, every every time theopening sermon's happens, we're watching, We're

(10:24):
glued to that TV and knowing that, you know, hundreds of millions,
if not billions, of people arewatching these unbelievable athletes walk around a stadium.
That was That was probably the definingmoment of me being an Olympian and
and uh being around those those youknow, incredible, incredible athletes from around
the world. If you could doit again, what would you do different

(10:48):
Olympics? Specifically anything I'd say no, I'd say no, And to this
day, I you know, Ineeded my wife all you need to work
on your ability to say no.I knew my at that point, I
was thirty three years old. Iknew what I needed to do and not
do. And so we went toWe went to London and this is all
hears saying. It's like, youknow, I don't want to There's no

(11:09):
excuses, but we we left.We left London and flew to Belarus to
train for for a week, andI knew I was ready this. I
never wrestled better in my life.I was ready to go, and we
wrestled a like a simulation tournament,probably probably four or five days before I
would actually wrestle in London, andthere was some international guys. There was

(11:33):
all kinds of guys kind of trainingin this. In this it's like an
old ski village and Belarus is kindof like their their train their OTC.
There'll be training center type deal.So we do this last match. You
know, I'm I'm done, I'mkind of checked out. I'm like,
let's just get let's get back toLondon. Man, it's time to go.
I'm locked in and I blew outmy shoulder last match, last thirty

(11:54):
seconds of the go. You know, just shred shredded my shoulder. You
know, I didn't know that atthat time, but I knew something was
really bad. Luckily, Doc Hineswas on the trip with us. My
college, my college orthopedic, myhuman. He was my go to guy
for for a long long time onthe circuit. I was able to shoot
me up and get me ready toready to compete. But it just wasn't

(12:16):
you know, I didn't I haveno power. It was just kind of
I tear my biceps tearing all mylabor rotator cuff, but just just being
able to be like, dude,I'm I'm old enough, you know.
It's it's just good for Jordan,this is good for Coleman. These guys
are all youngsters. I needed tohave trust and that was that was one
of the reasons I made the team. Is just trusting my body, trusting

(12:37):
my training. But I didn't.I didn't. I didn't say no,
and that kind of that looking back, that's the only here, you know,
here nor there, Just like II should I should have done a
little better job that last you know, the most important top part of the
time, last week of my training. So that's why try and preach to
my guys. Dude, when you'reready, you're ready, let me know.
Let's let's be honest. Is communicateand and uh trust much what you've

(13:00):
already put in. What did youlearn at the two thousand and one National
Tournament to oh, that was aU you know, never say guy kind
of kind of tournament. You know, that's the that's my you know,
one of my best friends, JoshLambrick, who went in by twelve points,
getting pinned myself not going out thereand letting it, letting it fly

(13:22):
like I've done my whole career,losing a close match to another one of
my good friends, you know,Jared Lawrence, you know, just a
stud in the sport, a greatcoach now, someone that I that I
look up to as a not youknow, not only as a competitor,
but as a as a coach.He does a great job with his pinnacle
guys. And then you know greatness, you know KEYL. Sanderson, you

(13:43):
know, ten minute applause after myboy just got crushed the match before winning
the match and getting pinned, youknow, seeing KEYL. Sanderson beat John
Trench for his fourth NCAA title.You know, it's history, it's greatness,
it's it was. It was apretty special you know for being in
all but in New York. Therewas pretty pretty epic matches in moments in

(14:05):
the in that tournament. So notonly my senior year, but it was
it was something that we'll go outand go down to the special night that
that Saturday night. What's something aboutthat tournament Jared that you really have to
experience to fully grasp, like yougotta you gotta experience it. Yeah,
you know, we tell our guysthat you know, you don't. You
don't our true freshman week, especiallyguys that have aspirations of winning that thing

(14:28):
and placing that thing and doing allwith that thing. You know, you
gotta go. We got. Myfirst tournament was my retro freshman year when
I stepped on the mat and uh, you know that's that's partly on me,
not you know, not taking thatand driving too. I think the
first the nineteen ninety nineteen ninety eightand see tournament I believe was in Ohio,

(14:48):
So I probably should have got inthe car and driven up there and
experienced it myself because there is nothinglike it. I mean that the roars,
the sound of the crowd, justa constant action, the up some
downs. You know, you can'tthere's nothing that can epitomize that tournament like
like being being on the ground there. So yeah, it's there's there's so

(15:11):
much involved. There's so much movementbehind the scenes, you know, running
back and forth from weighings and mealsand making way and so many things that
we do. I think as astaff that gets our guys ready for it
and tries to make it as aseasy and less stressful as possible, is
is something that I think helps usbe successful at that tournament when it comes

(15:31):
down to it. So, yeah, you got you gotta be there,
man, you got to experience it. You know, if you're a fan
and you haven't been there, thenyou know you're really really missing out.
It's something, it's something epic everysingle year and it never disappoints. What's
top of mind for you when youthink about the actual match with with Jared
Lawrence in that NCAA final, whatdo you remember from you know, what

(15:52):
do you remember is Jared from beingin the tunnel, running up on the
big stage and then ultimately in theman just just realizing that you know,
I was not I was not right. It was it was something that was
bigger than than I had ever anticipated, and I just you know, just

(16:14):
and it's it's a bad feeling,right, It's just like your feet feel
like cinder blocks. You're just notmoving the way you typically do. You're
not relaxed and letting it fly.And that's a guy that that will that
will sting you. And and uhif you're not if you're not going out
there with with full full uh confidenceand and he did and that's all it
all, It took and and forfor me to lose a one point match

(16:36):
three to two or something like that, it's just not it's just not typical
of what what I'm what I'm about. So yeah, it's it's not it's
not good. It's not it's notgood feelings about that that last match regardless,
But uh, you know I wasable to right the rights and wrongs
in the future, and and uhyou know, it's it's all a part
of it. And and uh youknow, I'm I'm proud of being an

(16:57):
Ncity finalist, being what I wouldlike to be that champion. Dang I
would When I talk to you guysin this podcast, it's it's a question
I've been asking lately, Like youever sit back here and realize like you
were pretty gull darn good. Imean, I think the one thing that
blows my mind is, like youtalk to some of these guys like,
oh, were you an All American? Yeah? One time. It's like

(17:18):
one time, Like ninety nine percentof us can't even make aren't good enough
to wrestle the Vision one, letalone become an All American to get on
that stand. You make an Olympicteam here in the NCA finalist, You're
a conference champion, like you eversit back and go like dang I was?
I was, all right, thatwas pretty good. No, man,

(17:38):
I don't. I love getting betterevery single day. I love I
love the coaching part of it.I mean, you know, it's kind
of my dad, kind of theroots that I was, that I was
given. And man, I don't, I don't. I probably breathe more
than anything, like Dang the stuffI I. I was such a knucklehead,

(17:59):
and how much better I could havebeen. So I try and you
know, push that along to myathletes, you know, just the little
things and not you know, notlosing a perspective and and giving yourself the
chance to to be as great asyou possibly can be because it's such a
short such a short time frame.So yeah, man, I try and
use my my downfalls and and mylack of discipline. I think I was,

(18:26):
I was, I was gifted alot. I think I think I
was born to be a wrestler,and and my mindset of just being able
to go for it helped me getyou know, win a lot of matches.
But you know, I just Ijust think about you know, the
lack of discipline I had and inmany senses, and it's something that you
know, I earned through trial anderror, and you know, I want

(18:47):
to give to my guys. Andand that's that's that big aspect of it
is is not letting them do someof the stuff that that I was careless
and doing. And so I'm excitedfor for the future of our guys and
and the relationships I have with withwith our guys each year, and and
uh, you know, trying tolet them, you know, earn that
the highest athletes that they could possiblyearn. Who's the most disciplined wrestler you've

(19:11):
ever been around? There's there's Iwould say three three right now the of
the guys that are you know,and I've been around some some pretty disciplined
guys. Andrew Howe is is aboutas disciplined as they they came, you
know. But but I think he'sthe same way, you know, he's
he's he's doing. He's gonna bea much better coach than he than he

(19:32):
was an athlete. He was apretty dog on good athlete. Jesse Jansen
at Harvard to to to win andstay title and and do the do the
special things that he did in thesport and also get to get a degree
at at at an institution like that. And he did everything at at a
very very high level, whether itwas academics or or athletics. He was
extremely disciplined. You know, youjust look at his body, and I
mean he was just a savage.And then you know, right now,

(19:56):
Caleb Pinson is the guy you know, he does he does everything meticulously and
and you know, not only ishe is he a student of the sport,
He's a student of his body.He's a student of you know,
everything that revolves around getting his handraised, and and that's you know,
where there's sleeve, nutrition, recovery, the whole nine yards. He's probably
right now one of the most meticulousguys I've ever been around in this sport.

(20:19):
And and you know, I thinkhis his futures is very very bright
because of that. As an athlete, Jared, What's what's a match you
learn the most from? HM?HM learn the most from you know,
it was definitely that that uh,that Olympic Trials, you know, to

(20:41):
be in the fifth seed and butbut just I just knew, I knew
I was gonna win, Like Ijust trusted in what I did, and
and you know that's that's kind ofmasked by match, just just knowing that,
you know, just go out thereand do what you're trained to do
and let the cards fall how theymay. That was, you know,
that's that that those five matches atthat tournament, I had never been more

(21:03):
confident in regardless if I won orlost. I knew I'd done everything I
possibly could to give myself a chanceto win. And that's that's kind of
what it's all about. This Thissport is too fun, this game is
too fun to to you know,put all this pressure on you and not
allow yourself to do what you do. So so yeah, you know,
those those type of matches, thematches where I wrestled my best, when

(21:26):
I just went out there free andlet it fly. So there's a lot
of matter. You know, there'sa match that was wrestling. It's always
seems like there's a Zadak in thepicture, but has beating my Zadek.
He's rting number in the country elevenzero going into the second period, and
I wish I had the rules issueright now, would be able to tech
fall real quick. But anyhow,he came back and won twenty to eighteen,

(21:48):
and that's a match that you know, if you can't learn something from
that, you're you're asleep, asleepat the wheel. So just just being
you know, knowing there's always achance one takedown is not going to beat
you. Go out there and dowhat you do and give yourself the best
chance to win. That's kind ofthe model. You and I were talking
about the national tournaments, and yournational tournaments were unique from the standpoint of

(22:12):
and I know things happen every tournament, but correct me if I'm wrong on
this, Garard. One year you'rethere and Reggie writes the number one seed
Oklahoma State. You probably thought youwere gonna wrestle him, and then Zadig
beats him. And then you haveanother year. I think it was the
year you made the final, Zadikwas the number one seed. You probably

(22:33):
think you're gonna get Zadek again,and then Troy Personval beats Zadak. You
beat personal in the semis. Butwhen I was looking at your brack as
I thought to myself, man,Jared Freier's path just reminds me of that
tournament. You don't know what you'regonna get, and I know we can
sit here and talk about it.But the reality is, I mean you
were probably thinking you were getting thoseguys and you didn't. What did you

(22:55):
learn from navigating those tournaments the waythey shook out? Yeah, it's it's
kind of you know, you don'tI tell these guys, you know,
you don't. You don't have tobeat everybody. You just got to beat
the next guy. And uh,you know, you look at these these
kids are so well versed, andyou know they've wrestled the same kids,
and they know every bracket and youknow, the flow wrestling gives you so
much track wrestling. You know,they know the ranking, who they wrestle,

(23:18):
who they beat, you know,and they're who they're going to see.
And you just have to beat thenext guy. And you, like
you said, it's not gonna they'renever gonna play out the way you want
them to play out or where youthink they're gonna play out. You just
have to be ready to go andand trust in yourself and and uh go
out there and and and have somefun. So so yeah, that's the
biggest deal. Just that that's kindof our model going into every every tournament.

(23:41):
You don't have to be everybody justthe next guy. So uh yeah,
it's it's it's especially in say tournament, man, golly, what a
fun, what a fun of them? Two hundred and sixty five days from
today. Gonna be great. Yousaid it before. It ever disappoints,
and it never does. Who isyour Mount Rushmore of wrestlers? Mount Rushmore

(24:03):
of wrestlers? I was watching someoneasked us to printz lav a couple of
a couple of weeks ago, monthsago, and you know he no one
says Dave Schultz. Dave Schultz iskind of a guy that needs to be
up there. I mean, he'she's a strong just to just he's he's
he's the base of a lot ofwhat USA Wrestling is all about, you

(24:25):
know, right now. So I'llthrow Dave Schultz up there. My man
JB is always going to be upthere. Oh gosh, Kyle Snyder's gonna
be up there real quick. Youknow, he's if he's not up there,
he's going to be He's going tobe the guy here and here in
for four eight years. I don'tknow. He's just such a such a

(24:47):
competitor, and just when when it'stime, he's there, there's there's there's
nothing nothing short about that. Anduh, let's get a fourth guy for
me personally. M hmm, probablyJohn W. Man. John W kind
of set to set the standard.You know, there's the Bruce Baumgardners,

(25:10):
who was you know, won somany dog on medals and you know as
a hero of mine as well.But yeah, there's those guys are probably
four Dave Schultz, JB. JohnW and and uh did I say Kyle
Snyder and Kyle Yeah, if youcould go back and have a conversation with
an eighteen year old Jared Freyer,how does that conversation go? H you

(25:34):
got the rest of your life tohave fun. Man, It's it's uh,
you know, lock it down.You're not that good. Yeah,
you know pretty much that, youknow, reminding myself that I'm not that
good and I need to lock inand if I want to if I want
to make make gains on the bestguys, I need to. I need
to you know, be a littlemore locked in on on what I do.

(25:56):
You know that the social life isis great, but it's not you
know, the guys, the guysmy best friends right now aren't the guys
that I was partying with the college. That's for sure are the guys that
have been with me and helped meto a higher standard and kept me accountable.
And you know that's that's what it'sall about, is uh being in
the moment, being present and uh, you know, knowing what your what

(26:18):
your goals are. You got totake a ride from Florida cross country in
a car with three other people thatyou've never met, dead or alive,
that you've never met. Who youwant to go on the car ride with?
Oh? Godly, Shane, Man, I'd struggling not to take you

(26:41):
on it. Man, we've metI've known you for gosh twenty years already.
I haven't mad okay, get oralive that you haven't met. All
right, I'll take uh Jesus,I'd like to have some have some conversations
with him and watch that. Letme ask you this, Jared, if

(27:02):
you get to ask Jesus one question, you got one question for him?
What are you going to ask him? Oh? Man, there's a lot
of hopefully I'm in his books,so so I you know, I hope
I've got that covered. But uh, yeah, there's probably a lot of
whys you know, you know,and that's what that not's something that you're

(27:22):
supposed to ask, but you knowthere'd be a lot of you know,
why, why is? Why isthis what it is? And why?
You know why? Why are?Why do good people die and are put
in positions that that you know,or are extremely sad difficult, and so
that there'd be a lot of alot of whys. But yeah, then
you throw Jesus and Michael Jordan andwho else in the car. I'll get

(27:48):
one try and get one more foryou. I wouldn't mind picking like Mickey
Mantle or Luke grig or so somebodylike that, just just you know,
you know, a goat type guythat showed up every day and found a
way to get done. And youknow, Louke Grigson like a pretty pretty
special dude. So throw him inthere and and really really talk it up

(28:08):
those some some Morgan Walling radio onthere on there and and just chalk it
up. Man, you mentioned Miamibefore growing up in Miami. Who is
your favorite Hurricane of all time?Oh? Dang. Ray Lewis was a
bad dude. Ray Lewis was abad dude and he was he was actually
wrestling the same conferences as my dad, So I was able to be around

(28:30):
him when he was in high schoolwrestling. He was Lakeland Kathleen and he
he wear this red singlet and havethe red the red tights underneath. And
what an imposing individual that guy wasat one hundred and nine pounds in a
full red singlet plus tights and prettypretty special, uh football player as well.
So him and you know, allthose they were all just sad.

(28:51):
Then he Testa Verdi and Gino Terrettaand you know, obviously Michael Irvin and
all those guys that were just werefreaks. It was. It was.
It was a cool time to bea fan. And you know, you
didn't know what you know now ofwhat you know, how pathetic they were
off the field and and just youknow, but to be you know,
Jimmy Johnson and those guys, itwas. It was the greatest show on

(29:14):
you know, on Earth. Itwas. It was. It was awesome
the way they show about it.And you know, when I was seven
eight years old, that was coolto do. But it's it's not that
cool act like you've been there,right, Jane, exactly. Barry Sanders,
right, I mean Barry Sanders.I grew up watching Barry Sanders flip
into the ref. I mean itwas like, as you know, it's
it's kind of like, uh,you know Metcalf once. There was an

(29:34):
interview with him once that I sawabout like why on check like it's a
big deal, something about like Idon't want the guy to think that,
I mean by beating him, LikeI beat you, what do you think
was gonna happen? I kind ofliked that kind of like that. But
I will say this year, theolder, I yet, I'm softening up
a little bit. I think I'mactually getting softer the older I get where
it's like I kind of like entertainment, like right, I mean, it's

(29:56):
it's one of those things like this, Jared. If I as a fan,
there are certain guys I love asa fan. If I was an
athlete, I wouldn't that wouldn't workfor me. And if I was a
coach, I'd be like, don'tdo that. But as a fan,
it's like, oh, I loveit, I love I love it.
So it's it is what it is. Yeah, and there's some there was

(30:17):
some fun too, you know,guys really being I mean genuinely excited to
score or genuinely excited to get thefall and that there's something, you know,
just youthful about that. And youknow, to be a you know,
to have a skit already drawn out, that's a little ridiculous. But
to be genuinely happy and you knowyou accidentally spiked the football and you get

(30:37):
it. You know, just it'skind of silly. It's fun, fun
to see some excitement. Especially who'syour favorite athlete all time? Man,
Barry Sanders was fun, dude,he was fun to watch. Michael Jordan
I never you know, I've neverbeen a fan of the NBA, but
man, those ten years fifteen yearshe was in the league, I didn't
I didn't miss it. Plus,you get, I think everyone had what

(31:00):
TBS back in the day where youcould watch Atlanta Bridge baseball. TBS was
Atlanta Braves. What was the Chicagostation w g M. So you had
the Cobs and the Bulls every nowso U So, yeah, so that
was Those were exciting times you growingup. You know, that's the stuff
you you remember and and uh,but yeah, it was Barry Sanders was

(31:22):
was pretty fun. Gosh, that'sgood. Joe Montana, man, what
a savage that guy was. Joe, you have any posters in your bedroom
of athletes, Garry Rice, Ihad it at a poster Jerry Rice and
uh Bo Jackson, what a badday? Every kid all right, loved
bo Jackson man, he did itall him and Dion, So yeah,
I would say Bo Jackson was wasone of one of the bigger, you

(31:47):
know, bigger than life figures inmy in my life grown up. So
I gonna ask you this, Jared, if there were to be if there
was a Jared Freyer poster, whatmove is on that poster? What is
the most memorable move you've ever hitin your career? Or if there's a
Freer poster that's on the poster,who did you posterize? It's got to
be It's got to be the restof the rest of that Russian and times

(32:08):
square and going double overs and justletting it fly. Probably the only time
I've ever like really just gone forit. And I mean to have time
squares in the background and you know, hearing you know guy the guys on
the mic, and just something thatI'll never forget, you know. The
Olympics and stuff was awesome. Carverhockey was cool, But to have that

(32:30):
moment of throwing a five point movein time square against the Russian, the
USA versus Russia. That's something thatlike I grew up watching that all the
time and to have that happen itwas just, I mean, to this
day, it is just super supercool. Final question for you. You
can you can take this anywhere youwant to. Okay, finish this sentence,

(32:53):
I believe, how do you finishit? And my Lord Savior,
I mean, there's there's a lotof cliches, but if as long as
I believe my Lord's Shavior, I'mgonna I'm gonna show up on time.
I'm gonna do the right thing andrespect the person next to me. And
and uh, you know what,I what I do mean something, it's

(33:15):
been up last year. Thank youso much. And I would I would
simply say this, you need tobe a head coach sooner than later.
Sooner than later. The fact,I'm just going to my little quick rant
for let you go. The factthat you are not a head coach someplace
might be one of the craziest thingsin all of college wrestling. You need
to be a head coach, andyou need to be a head coach soon.

(33:37):
And I know you're doing a greatjob there. Virginia Tech and You
do an awesome job there and it'sgreat, but you need to be a
head coach in college wrestling. That'sthe end of my rant. All right,
in God's time, I'm sure that'llhappen, but I'm truly blessed to
be where I'm at. And man, I just appreciate your support and what
you do for for toll address somebody, you're You're the man. Appreciate the

(33:59):
time shared. Thank you so much. Got it, buddy, Thank you