Best of the Bus: Marshall Faulk On Playing For The Greatest Show On Turf

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Marshall Falk what's going to rattle for Marshall Funker.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, appreciate that.

00:00:07
Speaker 1: Absolutely legend and you just flew in just now. Yeah.

00:00:10
Speaker 2: I got in yeah, earlier today, earlier today.

00:00:12
Speaker 3: I grew up in our south. I don't know if you're familiar with Festus or Farmington, Missouri.

00:00:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, but you're a legend, bro.

00:00:20
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:00:20
Speaker 4: You are a legend.

00:00:21
Speaker 3: And it was it's a it's a pleasure to have you on our podcast right on man. Uh you right before the show we were talking and you saw the Nebraska shot out the Big Red. But you mentioned that Osbourne coach Osbourne was the first coach that said you couldn't play running.

00:00:36
Speaker 2: Back coach, first coach and he was he was honest, Like first day I was there, you sit in with him and and this before you go to your position meeting, and and he asked, he you know what, so so what do you what position you think you can play here on Nebraska and you know, like this this the early nineties, Nebraka Roland. Yeah. And the only reason I took I took a visit because Mickey Joseph, who's from New Orleans as well, had just became the quarterback there and I was and I thought, because I'm I'm right in between Mickey and Vance advanced. Joseph is Mickey Joseph's younger brother, so I'm in between them two. And I was like, man, if I go, I get a year to play with Mickey and then I'll play with Vans because I thought Advance was coming there. But Vans ended up ended up going to Colorado.

00:01:22
Speaker 4: So did did Nebraska offer?

00:01:24
Speaker 2: They did?

00:01:24
Speaker 4: They did?

00:01:25
Speaker 2: But I had to play corner?

00:01:27
Speaker 4: Really yeah, I mean you were like, I mean you were an athlete.

00:01:30
Speaker 2: Listen man. Coach coach Osborne is a legend.

00:01:32
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:01:34
Speaker 2: They when he was at Nebraska, they turned out so many athletes, so many first rounders, So I mean he knew what he was talking about. I was pretty good corner, but I had to love I had to love for playing running back. So it's a little different.

00:01:46
Speaker 3: Was all your offers kind of split? Like your teams wanting you to play corner? Teams wanted to play running back.

00:01:51
Speaker 2: Most of them wanted me to play corner.

00:01:54
Speaker 4: So that's is that a probably the biggest reason?

00:01:56
Speaker 2: Well, no, no, no, because on offense, they were lazy and I'm gonna tell you what happened after all. Right, So I played quarterback, receiver, running back, but on offense, I was just a corner cover corner, so they couldn't tell what I played on offense. And right after that happened about I'm gonna say right around maybe ninety four ninety five, they created the position called athlete. So when you recruit a guy, you recruited him as you just get an athlete, because they realized, damn, if we'd have got him in here, found out he could play multiple positions. But back then they had the recruited position. You had to play a position. You couldn't just be an athlete.

00:02:36
Speaker 1: If Tom Osborne would have came in and been like, listen, you're a hell of an athlete. We see you can play all over the place, utilize you in ways no one's ever seen before you go in to Nebraska.

00:02:46
Speaker 2: It would have been easy. I mean it would have been an easy decision. I mean, Nebraska was like cream of the crop early nineties. I mean eighty eight, eighty nine, ninety they were dominating fools.

00:03:00
Speaker 1: Man.

00:03:01
Speaker 3: That's gotta feel good to hear, dude, It does feel good to hear. It sucks that we didn't, you know what I mean, like Osbourne it happened.

00:03:06
Speaker 4: Quarner back, Yeah, it happens.

00:03:08
Speaker 1: Was the University of Michigan. I have to ask Michigan off for you.

00:03:10
Speaker 3: No, who's in your top who's in your top of?

00:03:13
Speaker 2: Was Michigan wasn't recruiting and you know they weren't recruiting in the South like that, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, note your dame. They had that idea of they wanted people who played in cold weather. That's that's the kind of They didn't understand the difference in speed in the South versus the North.

00:03:29
Speaker 4: Who's your top three? And why did you choose San Diego State?

00:03:32
Speaker 2: San Diego State wasn't even in the runnings it was it was Nebraska, Miami and Texas, A and.

00:03:39
Speaker 4: M So why San Diego State.

00:03:42
Speaker 2: I took a trip out there. I was like, I want to live here. This is nice.

00:03:47
Speaker 4: Man.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: At the plain Land. You take the one sixty three down you're you're riding. I'm like, I've never seen anything this beautiful, and the only thing I could think of. Yes, I get to spend maybe four or five years out of school, but I could live here. The rest of my life. And so I live in San Diego.

00:04:05
Speaker 1: Diegoya, Laoya. So when I was training, I would be in a Lucadia Carlsbad in Sita's area, dude, and it was we'd stay like on the bluff, hang out, like just a way of living out there. Like, so California really just can't beat.

00:04:18
Speaker 4: It, dude.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I fell in love with it my trip out there, I just I fell in love with I fell in love with the city. The school is so open, and it's just like and and then it was like a melting pot, Like I mean, and I was I had never been around any Asians, any no Mexicans. I was like, there's there's everything at this school. Like the diversity was unbelievable.

00:04:41
Speaker 3: What was the process like going into the draft because you were number two overall? Right, number two, number two overall? Talk about that because obviously like running back, now you got somebody in the top ten, it's like, oh, that's a big leap. Like back when you were running back, like the running back was the premier spot that you drafted at.

00:04:58
Speaker 4: You signed guys like you built the round the running back.

00:05:01
Speaker 2: Guess what we didn't do in college? The running backs that got drafted early that you see going one, two, three. Guess what we didn't do in college. We didn't share the backfield. You watch college nown you got three and four guys playing, I'm like, who's the guy? You can't tell who the guy is. Yeah, And so if you don't step up and demand, look, hey, I want to carry the ball twenty twenty five times a game, and then you're not going to get it. The position and I'm saying it, the position has been devalued by the guys who want to share time. Even in the pros, these guys come out. Man, I never wanted to come out of the game. I didn't want somebody taking my spot, right, and now it's like to run two carries like they' less somebody else in.

00:05:45
Speaker 1: Right, It's got to make you appreciate a guy like Derek Henry.

00:05:47
Speaker 2: Then, yeah, well, Derek Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Kristen don't come in for me, right.

00:05:54
Speaker 4: I saw I actually read recently.

00:05:56
Speaker 3: I think there's just an article on it about CMC talking about how he's connected with you in the off seasons or you giving him advice feedback. I think it was like you and Ladanian Tomlinson taking care of your body, just kind of being like Christians, kind of like that that style that you were.

00:06:11
Speaker 4: Where you're you can do everything.

00:06:12
Speaker 3: You can catch out of the backfield, you can line up at receiver, you can run the ball, talk about talk about meeting him and and how you've been uh kind of I guess a mentor uh during his career.

00:06:24
Speaker 2: I mean, I wish I could say I was a mentor. The kid is such astute and obviously we know his father is is the pedigreed is there. But what I love is in today's game, very few guys reach out. I got it, I know. And the fact that you know he'll call and he'll ask certain things and he's not asking for pointers on how to hit the hole, and he's like, how do I longevity? You played thirteen years? How do I do this? How do I add? What did you change about your workouts when you got to this age? What did you you know? The things that you want to know to like next level, which is how to maintain your body, how to take care of yourself. And and that's that's what he's doing. It's it's not about what happens on the field, is about what happens off the field, and he's smart enough to understand the game is gonna be played. You just got to be out there to be to play it. The best, the best, the best, the best. When you have talent and you see it, the best ability is your availability.

00:07:22
Speaker 1: That's yeah. With going back to San Diego, San Diego State, when you're having all these big offers and you just go to a place in the location to you is like, oh, this is where I want to be, Like, was there any family members? I was like, listen, you have an opportunity to go to the NFL. Here, are you sure you want to go to stand can.

00:07:36
Speaker 4: Go to Miami, but to Miami in the nineties.

00:07:39
Speaker 2: But listen, and I'm gonna be like, I'll be honest with you. Guys. On my high school football team in four years, I probably won like six games. Like we were we sucked, like you couldn't tell, but everybody we played like you could, like I scored on when we played against the really good teams, Like I wasn't on a good team. So it wasn't like you saw in me, oh he could go to the NFL. It was like you people didn't know they didn't see it. So when I got to San Diego State and all right, now I'm not playing running back, receiver, quarterback, dB, kicker, punter, return kicks, punts. Like when I walked on the feeling in high school, I didn't come off till halftime.

00:08:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah.

00:08:26
Speaker 2: I did everything And when the when the kicker was okay, I held for him. So I did everything. So they didn't really get a chance to see. So I get to see Diego State now it's just like that's all I do is play running back. Oh my god, this is easy.

00:08:42
Speaker 4: Are you kidding me?

00:08:44
Speaker 2: I get I get the rest while the defenses out there. Oh man, I'm way easier.

00:08:49
Speaker 4: It was.

00:08:50
Speaker 2: It was like night and day.

00:08:51
Speaker 1: So if you didn't know in high school, like for for me, I I tell a story that I got offered by Utah State going into my senior year and that was like, Okay, I'm gonna go NFL. And when we were for you where you're like, okay, I'm for sure maybe not going to have the success that you've eventually had, but like what did you know?

00:09:06
Speaker 2: Like I'm gonna be an NFL football player second my second game in college, literally first game didn't go well. First game. First game, I didn't I didn't play much. And I got in it was like we we we played I think it was like Long Beach State. And I got in and I had a couple of good runs and then I, you know, tried to tried to do a little too much and did a spin move in the ball flew in the air. I was like, oh my god. And then the next the next game, I don't play. The first quarter. First play, first play of the second quarter, our starting running back was the punt returner. He gets hit in the thigh and he's out and coach grabs my face mask. The only thing he says is hold on to the ball, and so so from right right hold on to the ball. So I am end up playing the rest of the second quarter, the third quarter, and half of the fourth. In that time, I'd rushed for three hundred and eighty nine yards and seven touchdowns.

00:10:11
Speaker 1: Who were all playing.

00:10:14
Speaker 2: Literally, people get mad at me because they because because after that, like I think after that year, they shut down the football program. It was the University of Pacific. Literally literally that's what they say.

00:10:29
Speaker 1: You the programs anymore? That is nuts me.

00:10:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, what was it like going from uh, where'd you grow up exactly? New Orleans, New Orleans, to San Diego and then to Indianapolis.

00:10:41
Speaker 2: All culture shocks, all culture shocks. Like I'm talking night and day. Man, what was I remember before we get to that. I remember going to the going to the combine. So I leave, I leave San Diego, I go to fight Indianapolis for the combine. It's cold like it's it's like this time of the year Indy and it did just had like one of the worst blizzards and I never been in snow. I'm like, oh my god, it sucks. This is awful. I would never live here. With the second pick in the Napolis coach take bunch of fuck I'm like, oh my god.

00:11:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, take us to your thought process probably pumped checking around or second overall, but that same time, you're like, damn, I gotta go to Indianapolis.

00:11:23
Speaker 4: Man.

00:11:23
Speaker 2: I was just like, That's all I was thinking about was the wintertime. I was just like, man, it's how cold it was when I was there, so I kept I was happy that we played indoors, but at that point in time, they didn't have an indoor practice facility. Oh yeah, my first year my first year, we didn't have an indoor practice facility, so it was it wasn't It wasn't as bad as I thought. It's it's so different when you, like in college, how you see things too in the pros, Like you grow up real fast when you like you're a rookie. Halfway through the season, it starts to get starts to get cold, and you're you're in the locker room and you're in a huddle and he's grown men. He's like grown ass men. They're like, like, my job's on the line, hold on to the ball. You're like, man, this like this guy gotta feed his kids. They got like, like the game for some people, it's not really a game. It's like it's their livelihood and they take it serious. And that was that. That's like a that's like a whole nother transition, seeing the game for what it is, but make it, but trying to make sure that it's still fun for you because the funk can go out of it real quick.

00:12:30
Speaker 1: That's got to be like the hardest thing though, is realizing how much of a business it is, especially like high school, like all your boys, like you win in six games, your entiret but every single Friday, the boys are hyped up. Ye after how it was for you boys, But hey, it's like, how we're going to find a toll pack of beer after this? You know, chase a couple of girls around.

00:12:46
Speaker 2: Like the same thing.

00:12:47
Speaker 1: But you're all kind of like doing doing your thing. Then you go to college and it's like a little more obviously more serious, but like no one's got no one's married, no one has families. Like you're still like all as a community going and doing the same thing. Across San Diego. You're all chasing the yeah, and you're all chasing the NFL, and you get the NFL. It's like now you're twenty one years old and there's thirty two year old dudes, three kids growing. Then they go, they do their business and they leave. You're like, yo, you want to you want to hang out? They're like, no, dog, what are you talking about. I'm gonna go see my family. Like how difficult was that for you to kind of like realize and keep the fun when it was so business?

00:13:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, you obviously like you've got to have the right support system around you because a lot of the dudes in the locker room they're not when it's over, you're not going to play Madden, Like you're not going to hang out. Yeah, and your priorities start to change and you start to understand how much of a business it is and you have to start. Yeah, the game is fun and you're getting paid a lot of money and it's a business and they expect you to do your job. If you don't, if you don't do the things you're supposed to do, the fund can go out of it really quick.

00:13:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, really quick.

00:13:56
Speaker 3: How do you feel like your professionalism in like know, acclimating yourself to the league as a running back developed over time, especially as a younger guy like you were alluding to, you know, talking with Christian about like maintaining your body and everything like that, Like how did you develop as a pro in the early part of your career?

00:14:13
Speaker 2: That what I told him and the things that I say to him, im it. Spiant told it to me, Thurman Thomas told it to me, Ronnie Harmon. Like these old heads they if you ask the veterans will tell you what to do. Like they'll give you the information on how to have a long a long career and how to last and and and how how to community continue to be productive in your latter years. I mean, it wasn't a hard thing. Actually what what what is hard is early in your career making sure that you do an off season, you remain in shape, you don't go party with your boys. Later in your career, making sure that you value you value the time that you get to train and and don't oh, I got to take my kids here, I got to go here with the wife. The time that we get, those thirteen years that I play, it's like a blip in my life, Like it was such a fun time. But when I look back at it, I was like, man, that seemed like so long, but it was, it went so fast. So cherishing in the moments that you have and the responsibilities to making sure that that you are the best that you can be. It's a it's a responsibility that you you got to take on because when I'm in the huddle, you know what I want you to know when you're looking at me, that you can come at me. I want you to know that I did the things that I was supposed to do in the off season to be here, and I got you, and I need to know you did the same thing.

00:15:33
Speaker 1: How was it difficult for you to ask for that guidance and help from those older guys.

00:15:36
Speaker 2: No, uh huh, No, I'm so. I'm the youngest. I got, I got, I got five older brothers. I'm the youngest of six. And I learned, you know, I learned by watching them and asking them. And I didn't have to repeat. They paid the dummy tax. I didn't have to pay it.

00:15:53
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:15:53
Speaker 3: No, it's fair of being the youngest. You kind of have to go by it like the humble way, because if not the older, your older brothers will humble you.

00:15:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're both, we're both the oldest.

00:16:02
Speaker 2: Go.

00:16:02
Speaker 4: No, did you have one?

00:16:04
Speaker 1: Yeah? I was gonna say, was there ever like somebody you reached out to for help? That was like you got to figure out for yourself?

00:16:11
Speaker 2: Nah, because I was selected. I was always selective. What I did was I made sure that I formed some type of relationship with the person before I engaged and asked for help. And I think that's what you do. You just call somebody up and say hey. You don't ask them about their life. You don't find out about anything that motivates them, you know, you don't find out if y'all have any commonalities you just ask them. I mean, that's kind of cheesy. Call somebody. You get to know them, and that's what christ and they say, Hey, man, I'm a big fan, huge fan of yours. Always loved your game, Like like we had a conversation about where I was at in life and what I was doing and how things are going before we got into anything about ball. And I think there's just a respectful way to go about it.

00:16:54
Speaker 4: Who is that rival running back that you always just kept your eye on that you.

00:16:58
Speaker 2: All of us, all of them, every every back that I took. I didn't care where you were drafted, how good you were. I wanted to be the best running back on the field. Actually, I wanted to be the best football player on the field period. That's what I always thought about. I never looked at it as as a position, like I always looked at myself as a football player like I was never I wasn't a running back or receiver or slot like. I didn't want labels. I was like, I can play the game of I'm a football player.

00:17:22
Speaker 3: Right, I was, I gonna ask it was so tasting the business for the first time, Like you get traded to Saint Louis before you get traded.

00:17:33
Speaker 4: You have some turf toe that you're battling. A couple of years.

00:17:35
Speaker 2: You did your homework.

00:17:37
Speaker 4: Hey listen, man, Marshall Fulk.

00:17:41
Speaker 3: You're on the man cover, you know, seeing the jerseys transition of navy blue and gold, like you're Marshall Fulk.

00:17:46
Speaker 4: So yes, I know a little bit about you.

00:17:49
Speaker 3: But tasting the business for the first time, like walk us through that like cause you know you're you're drafted second overall, like you're the man, and then all of a sudden you get traded for a couple of picks to Saint Louis. Like talk up at that relationship and kind of seeing the business for what it is.

00:18:02
Speaker 2: With Indianapolis, yeah, I was ready for change, and I think Indianapolis they were as long as because my last year there in ninety eight, I almost did a thousand thousand. Like I was like, we sucked, but I had an amazing year. I almost did a thousand thousand. Yeah, you know, and we only won like three or four games. So I was putting in work. But what they realized was that people were still following me. I was the leader, and they wanted it to be Peyton's team. So moving me kind of took a security blanket away from Peyton, which which actually allowed him to grow up because the next year they went thirteen and three and he took charge of the team. How that was kind of his leadership way. But for me that happened but in the move, accepting the fact that it was time to go, and it's kind of like like I kind of needed it in a sense because when you walk into a new locker room and here's eyes and it's like you got traded, you got this big contract. They looking at you, You looking at them, and it's like it's like, who the hell is this guy? Who does he think he is? And and I and you walk. You go from a locker room to where you're proven to a locker room where you have to prove yourself and it puts you back, like it gives you that edge back. I got that edge back, and I was like, Okay, I like this, I gotta show I gotta earn their respect before before they believe I can lead them. And if if you accept it like that, then the business is easy to deal with.

00:19:31
Speaker 1: Gotcha, how long does it take you to earn that respect? In your mind? I mean, it's extremely established. I'm sure it didn't take very.

00:19:36
Speaker 4: Long, but.

00:19:38
Speaker 2: It actually took I'm gonna tell I'll be honest, it took a few games. I'm gonna tell you. We so we were, we were I think we were six and oh and I barely touched the ball. And I had not one games in the NFL without touching the ball that much. Like I think the first game I touched the ball twelve times, and next game like thirteen, maybe fifteen. But we go we're I think we were six and oh five and oh six and oh, and we're in Tennessee. We're playing the Titans, and they're giving us the business. You know, they're giving us the business. I'm just telling you.

00:20:19
Speaker 1: Uh.

00:20:19
Speaker 2: We go into the locker room. I go to Mike Marsa. I said, Mike, I understand you being judicious. Just come to me. And so we come out. We come out. The first like five or six plays, the ball goes to me. We score, and so I kind of took over the game. We're down like twenty one, twenty one, maybe three, and we ended up tying it up twenty four to twenty four. And they got the ball, drove down and kicked the field goal in overtime, but they had not seen like I literally took over the game. And that's when they were like, okay, like all right, we now we see who this guy is. Right before that, you know, I was just like I was coasting. I hadn't really taken over a game or played up to my potential because I was just a part of the offense I was doing. You know, I'm five eight, ten yards twenty score a touchdown here. It didn't we didn't need to dominate. But like I was like Mike feed the boy, like, yeah.

00:21:21
Speaker 1: Have you always been a guy that's like, hey, give me the give me the ball or was that like was that a new thing for you to do to kind of.

00:21:27
Speaker 2: Like that that was that was always my personality was like if we're going to we're going to win. If I have the ball, that's like if I'm getting the ball, we are going to win. That's like that was always by my personality.

00:21:40
Speaker 1: That's like a standard textbook personality trait of a skill position guy that you need probably so you need that like aj Brown playing with him with the Titans, like he was a guy that like he's not getting a lot of catches, he's like do you all want to win or not? Like you need to give me the football. Yeah, and a lot of guys who look at that as like selfish guy, nothink about the team, but like you want dudes to have that kind of confidence and that kind of like that ed have that edge of being like I can truly make a difference any point in the game at any time.

00:22:05
Speaker 2: Yeah. I went about it a little different because, I mean, should I play with ice Bruce Tory Holp? So I was always like, Mike, look, no problem. Like we started the game, you throw it, no problem. But when it get real, when it gets real, like hey hey, like like when you know when I started looking at him.

00:22:27
Speaker 4: Like hey yeah, like let's get going score a little too close?

00:22:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, what was it like playing with the Peyton just coming into it?

00:22:35
Speaker 2: Was fun? Man, it was fun. It was fun like watching him learn the game because he had all the attributes. But the speed of the game was just a little different, like your first year for a quarterback. It's moving fast, like faster than you ever thought. And he threw a bunch of interceptions. And I mean I used to we used to walk off and he used to. I just didn't think the guy could get there. I didn't think the guy could get there. And then one time I was just like, hey, Peyton's the NFL. Everybody can get there. Yeah, Like it's a little different, man. All these dudes, the dudes, man, they were at some point in time, they were the best person on a team, All of these dudes in the league.

00:23:12
Speaker 1: Like the dudes with obviously that rookie year throwing all those interceptions, did you expect him to have the career that he ended up happing?

00:23:19
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, oh yeah, you can see it, you know what I mean, because it was all like every mistake was a new mistake, and he didn't make the same mistake twice. Once he made that mistake, he fouled away, never made the mistake again.

00:23:32
Speaker 3: That Let's dive into the greatest show on turf. Talk about that year. We have a Tennessee Titan, Nashville native.

00:23:42
Speaker 4: You want to hug yard and a half.

00:23:44
Speaker 2: You want to hug hey, Jack hugg.

00:23:48
Speaker 4: It's okay, that newspaper shot reaching.

00:23:51
Speaker 2: I'll give you a hug.

00:23:53
Speaker 3: No talk about talk about that year man and the rise of the Saint Louis Rams.

00:23:58
Speaker 2: It was literally I remember being in that locker room, you know, from the start of the season, and I think it was like I think it was Keith Lole Todd, like they say why not us? Like why not us? Literally like why not us?

00:24:13
Speaker 4: Why?

00:24:13
Speaker 2: Why why can't we dominate the league? And everybody was like huh. And like that literally started. You could see guys because the Rams had a lot of good draft picks, but they just couldn't put the pieces together. And it was all because they had drapped with Orlando Pace, gwyn Renstrom, Isaac Bruce toddl like like all of these dudes are first rounders. Like they had guys that was still on the team that that that could play, and you know, it just it just hadn't happened for them. But the the willingness to just buy in and and and we started this. We started this thing with celebrating as a team, Like it started in practice. It didn't matter who caught the touchdown, we were gonna celebrate as a team. It didn't matter who got the sack, they were gonna we were gonna celebrate as a team. And and that started to feed into the identity. And then we had this special teams coach that was like he was the best I had ever heard get people ready to play. I mean, and he used to use a lot of war analogies and and and and ask guys to go and and and tell him what to do. And it used to get people so fired up. I mean, I didn't even play Special teams. I sat in the Special teams meetings just to hear him talk shit. And and he man, Frank Ganz was like he was. He was one of the best special teams coaches to ever played. And in that mantra of us, everybody was like, we gotta go to work if we want to do this, and that became our whole thing. Gotta go to work, Gotta go to work, Gotta go to work, Gotta go to work.

00:26:00
Speaker 1: When you guys, so you guys are feeling the juice yourself? Yeah, team and everything like when did that? Like, all right, the momentum is in our favor right now. When did it turn into old legit? We can win a Super Bowl this year?

00:26:16
Speaker 2: After after we lost to Tennessee, the next week of practice, how we showed up. I had been a part of teams that lost games and showed up like it was nothing. Guys showed up, hissed mad like working hard. You could see that the linemen like O line, D line, they were in fights with each other. It wasn't the it wasn't the I'm I'm I'm doing defensive scout team a offensive scout team, and I'm just getting in your way. It was like they were trying to kick each other's butt. And and I was like, man, these dudes, these dudes hungry man, and and you could you could start to see it. And we I think right after that, we played the Niners and the Rams hadn't beat the Niners in like eleven times, and we blew them out, like literally blew them out. And that's when it was like there's something here. There's literally something here.

00:27:17
Speaker 3: And having that pissed off team after losing the Titans, how hungry were you guys to play him again in the in the Super Bowl.

00:27:27
Speaker 2: We couldn't have had a better opponent, literally, could not have had a better opponent.

00:27:31
Speaker 4: Came down the last place, could.

00:27:32
Speaker 2: Not have had a better opponent.

00:27:33
Speaker 4: Man.

00:27:33
Speaker 2: It was like if you go back and watch the game that we played them, uh in Tennessee, like that game was hard, was just as hard fought as the Super Bowl. And and to watch the effort of Eddie George and the late Steve McNair, like the effort. Like I watched the last drive. Steve McNair is leaving it all out there. I'm talking dog tired and just finding a way to stay up, fight guys off, complete passes and you know.

00:28:07
Speaker 4: What was your vibe like on the sideline seeing him drive down.

00:28:11
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be honest, man, I was like, I was so calm because I just didn't think this is I was like, I knew a little bit about Fisher. I was like, there's no way he goes for two because if they scored, they were tie. But there was no way he was going for two.

00:28:29
Speaker 1: You know, that route was ran wrong. That route at that depth was just a little bit more.

00:28:34
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, but that that that's it though. The discipline of the game is sometimes what cause what all the times is when you while you win or lose the discipline and how you do stuff.

00:28:47
Speaker 3: Mike Jones, Yeah, he's the one who had that final tackle. You also play with I got to play with him.

00:28:53
Speaker 1: Oh stay in the Super Bowl. Stand in the Super Bowl because I was so tenty. I played for the Titans twenty nineteen were two quarters away from going to a super Tell me that feeling of running out of the tunnel for a Super Bowl to literally achieve a world championship, that that moment is it because you like obviously extremely successful, like you've literally done everything you can possibly do as a football player, but like the opportunity to achieve like the holy grail of a team sport, Like what is that? Was it moment massive? Or was it? Like how hard was it to stay like kind of composed just running out of the tunnel knowing win or lose is the last game of the year and this is a legacy deal.

00:29:30
Speaker 2: I didn't even try to stay composed smart, Like what I did was I allow whatever was going to happen to happen, and that you know, I was going to be able to gather myself and play the game. That's literally when I ran out of that out of the tunnel, I was so hyped, Like I started hyper ventilating. I had to go to the sideline and get some oxygen. I was like so excited because as a kid, like my friends and I'm I'm I'm from New Orleans. We're playing in Atlanta. I got so many people at the game, like people that spent their last to get there because they grew up, you know, everybody, And I'm thinking about my boys when we you know, as kids. Every time, it didn't matter what the score was. Oh ship, the street light's coming on. We got to get home. This play is to win the Super Bowl. I'm like, I get a chance. Man, You're crazy, Like I was not going to hold anything back. And you know, by the time when I ran out, I'm I'm like, I'm amped, and I time I wore myself out, I'm sitting on the bench, I'm like, I gotta catch my breath.

00:30:34
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:30:37
Speaker 2: Literally, I started the game off tired and it took like I had to catch my second win just to go out and play. That's that's how much adrenaline is going through your body to play that game.

00:30:49
Speaker 3: What a moment that would be. They're the MVP that year too, right now, that was Kurt's that was Kurt. You were second to Kurt, right, that's wild? Like Kurt was the Kurt Warners number one.

00:31:00
Speaker 2: So three years in a row two So Kurt one, I was second. I won, he was second, Kurt one. I was second three years in a row.

00:31:08
Speaker 4: A guy who was filling grocery bags.

00:31:11
Speaker 2: The best grocery bagger in the business.

00:31:14
Speaker 1: Details bags were never on the bottom, Like he knew what the hell he was doing.

00:31:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, what was he like playing with him?

00:31:20
Speaker 2: Hey? Best man? I know man, I tell people all the time, like I'm talking not just football player, but like person you meet him, like so authentic, so authentic, uh, and just just enjoyed playing with him. He only got upset with himself. It didn't matter who was yelling at him. He he maintained who he was and he always stayed in his person and who he wanted to be, like a man of faith, always.

00:31:52
Speaker 3: Not going back to back Spygate, Patriots taking it from from us, from the Rams, from US seas Rams. You were a Cowboys fan. I was a Cowboys fan. But you're still like you know when the when the city team wins. As a kid, you're on that bandwagon, you know what I mean? Like Marshall Fulk was on the cover of Madden. You pretended to be guys like Marshall Falk, Trail Davis, Eddie Georgia out in the front yard. But back to the question of not getting that back to back Super Bowl against the Patriots.

00:32:23
Speaker 2: Talk about that Yeah, that was a tough one.

00:32:26
Speaker 4: Man.

00:32:27
Speaker 2: You know, for for a while, I hung on that loss more than I did the win, you know, and and and you just you just you know, you gotta let it go. You literally let it go. And and that's that's easy to do when you play sports. You know, you you don't you don't really know how to really maintain what you need in order to enjoy the wins. It's so much easier to go down and be pissed off about the loss. That's so much easier, you know, because it it becomes few to your fire. You know, you use it to like get stuff done. You know. Really, when you're the best, you're like, oh, I'm gonna work out harder.

00:33:09
Speaker 4: You know.

00:33:10
Speaker 2: It's like it's harder to work out harder when you're the best. It's easy to work out harder when when there's some adversity or something's up against you. And so you know, I had to I really had to like work on like, man, I gotta let this go. Like I enjoyed winning the super Bowl more than I did losing the Super Bowl? Why am I not talking about this as much?

00:33:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, do you feel like there's any truth to the spygate.

00:33:38
Speaker 2: And man, look, I mean let's let's just let's just say this. It's it's it's not one spy gate, it's two spy gates. There's all kinds of stuff that you know it's but but in this, in this, in this business of professional sports. You know, Al Davis used to say it, if you ain't cheating, you't try.

00:34:00
Speaker 4: Man.

00:34:01
Speaker 2: And some people, some people you know you you find it, You find a way to get it done. And in the game in between the lines. It ain't holding if they don't call it.

00:34:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, but spying.

00:34:15
Speaker 2: If they don't. If they don't call it, they gotta call it. The league has to throw the challenge flag on itself. Yeah, and they ain't never doing that. We're not gonna be baseball. Remember that baseball got some teint it. He ain't doing that. You're not gonna see no asteris buy any super Bowl? Trust that when do you when you come back to it.

00:34:36
Speaker 1: Obviously you didn't play in Las Vegas for a Super Bowl, but you're during super Bowl Week? Like, is there a piece of nostalgia every time you come back and do all this stuff?

00:34:44
Speaker 2: Always always, yeah, always, just just the memory the memories of because because when you're actually when you're like so when I was in the league, I would not come to a super Bowl until I played one or until I won one. So I never came until until until then I came to and then I didn't come again until until after ninety nine, until after the two thousand season. So you're always wondering when you're playing, like what's happening? What's going on out there?

00:35:12
Speaker 4: What?

00:35:12
Speaker 2: What's what?

00:35:13
Speaker 4: Like?

00:35:13
Speaker 2: What what's what's what's happening? And now being on this side of it, I'm always thinking about, like, man, what are they talking about? Like what are they what are they game planning? What's the scheme? Like? Like the guys what what? What are what are they planning on? Because you you talk about how much you're going to man after we win this, after we win this, here's what we're gonna do after we win. Oh, I can't wait. I can't. Like you're you're manifesting your destiny and so you're talking about it. You can see it, and that's why when you lose it hurts so much.

00:35:48
Speaker 1: There's obviously a lot of passion in your voice, like where did you get this championship? Mindset? Has it always been since your young child, or did it have to develop over process of elimination of trying new things and kind of having to pay it if it okay? This mindset, this way, this body of work is not working for me right now, Like where did you get to where? What we're seeing right now?

00:36:06
Speaker 2: When you're the youngest and because of age, size or whatever, you don't get to win, it burns in you. Like I I so I basketball is my first sport. And my brothers they all played basketball, and my two brothers that were really good. When I got big enough, they wouldn't play me, so they didn't want to lose to me. So it's it's it's literally just it's just competitive in me. Yeah, you know, I compete at everything. Everything that I do, I compete and I'm always competing against myself. I'm just trying to get better, just trying to get better. I'm trying to live life better, trying to be a better human every day.

00:36:41
Speaker 1: There's got to be like a with football players or anybody who plays a sport in general, there's got to be like this insane competitiveness like about you in every fast I feel like it doesn't leave any part of your life, Like, what about it? What now? Are you like the most competitive.

00:36:53
Speaker 2: In probably golf?

00:37:00
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, big golfer.

00:37:02
Speaker 2: I love golf. I love golf. It's it's the most mentally challenging thing that I've ever done in my life. Like it's you know, I've never been so mad and disappointed in myself for not being able to mentally focus at something that doesn't hit back. You know, It's like, it's crazy if you.

00:37:22
Speaker 1: Could play somebody want a celebrity in golf, just to know that you could beat them? Who to be to know that I can be, not know that you would beat that, but if you want to prove yourself like a guy like Michael Jordan, we know he.

00:37:33
Speaker 2: Plays all Tiger, Like I would like to play Tiger in the match and think you'd be Tiger. I'm saying I would like to play Tiger.

00:37:41
Speaker 4: Tiger.

00:37:42
Speaker 2: Come on, man, Like, really, have.

00:37:44
Speaker 1: You seen the clip? There's a there's a barstool podcast called for Play and they did a long drive competition with Tiger. Have you seen that clip? Yeah, he's on his knees. Yeah, incredible drives him? How drives him? That is just crazy?

00:37:55
Speaker 4: Do you got any good? Uh?

00:37:57
Speaker 3: I got to play with London Fletcher, like his last year. But did do you have any good London Fletcher stories? Because you was U was with him when he was young, like undrafted, like he always had this look at his eye he kept at the end his entire career.

00:38:08
Speaker 4: But do you have any good London Fletcher stories?

00:38:10
Speaker 2: So the best this is my best. I don't know if we named him dot com dot com Fletcher dot com, so we started calling him dot com. But here's how I met London. I was on the coats and we had a joint practice because Jim Moore he he and Dick Vermill they coached together at U c.

00:38:30
Speaker 3: L A.

00:38:31
Speaker 2: So we meet at Champagne, Illinois, and we have a joint practice, all right, and we get ready to do one on ones and uh, like, the starting linebacker comes up. I don't I don't remember who it was. And I came up and I come out the backfield, I run around, catch the ball. Then we moved to the other side. I come up. The other starting linebacker came up, caught the ball on him, and then it's time for me to go again. And the linebacker that's up is like wearing number sixty six, and I turned around. I'm like, can y'all get somebody else in here? And it was London. It was Loundon because it was his rookie year, and he was like, he was like, you don't want to go against me, You don't want to go against me. I'm like, look, man, I ain't trying to get hurt messing with no rookie, right, all right? And two years later I'm playing with him and we line up and he and he reminded me. He was like, hey, I know you don't notice, but I was number sixty six when we were in camp.

00:39:39
Speaker 4: I said, okay, did he ever do have your strap you? One on ones? Oh?

00:39:44
Speaker 2: No, not never. No, he could not. No. But you know, pass past linebacker, passed right, pass pro, you know, pass pro, meet him in the egg gap, catching him off the edge. He won his battles there. You know, I put up a good fight and I'm supposed to lose that. I'm just supposed to occupy your time, right, I supposed to win. I'm just supposed to get in your way death.

00:40:06
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:40:07
Speaker 2: Yeah. But but one on one he no chance. I told him. I say, listen, here's the reality. Ain't whether I'm going to catch the ball. The reality is you're not gonna touch me. Like in this drill me. Winning is whether you touch me or not.

00:40:22
Speaker 4: Has there been a linebacker to strap you, whether it's in a game.

00:40:25
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's it's listen, it's going to happen, right, I mean it's yeah, it's happened many a times. But but like we're talking situation. You know what I'm saying. If it's if it's third and I gotta win, whatever that is, it ain't happening. Now. You can catch me on second down. You can probably catch me, you know. But if if if we're calling the play and this play is it's third in this and we're going to they're calling they're calling my route or a play to me. Unless they double team me, like and take me out and make the quarterback not throw it to me, I'm winning. That's that's just that was like guarantee.

00:41:04
Speaker 3: I mean you essentially, I mean you were like known for the folk route coming out of the backfield running vertical. I know that was absolute hell for any linebacker to have to do just cover Marshall out of the best.

00:41:14
Speaker 2: What are you thinking about, You're like, Okay, it's gonna break in, You're gonna break.

00:41:17
Speaker 4: Out right, and Amity.

00:41:19
Speaker 2: Runs by you, You're like, oh.

00:41:23
Speaker 1: Are you strapping down?

00:41:25
Speaker 4: Marshall? Yeah, I mean you know, I'll get him every now and then, do you think? So? Yeah, Man, I'm gonna ge I'm gonna have my day.

00:41:30
Speaker 2: I'm gonna have that out of ten times, I'm gonna win.

00:41:33
Speaker 4: I'm gonna guess right at some point, I'm.

00:41:34
Speaker 2: Gonna point the other time I fell down.

00:41:39
Speaker 3: I'm gonna get I'll have to guess, but I'll guess right at some point, and then that's when I'll.

00:41:43
Speaker 4: Stop playing, you know what I mean.

00:41:45
Speaker 3: Now I'm shall, you know, get somebody else say, I'm not trying to get hurt against somebody like you.

00:41:50
Speaker 4: Uh, dude.

00:41:51
Speaker 3: You were talking earlier about always wanting to be the running back, like never leave the field, be that guy at all times. Talk about like when Steven Jackson was coming in and you start splitting characters and splitting reps in the later part of your career, Like how was that for you?

00:42:06
Speaker 2: So the story is different than that. When they drafted, Steve and I had a conversation because Steven and I we had the same agent, and I said to Steve and I say, look, here's the reality. And I told Mike, I said, here's the reality. If you want the job, you got to beat me out. I'm not giving it to you like I'm not. You have to take this job. And I told him, I said, the only reason why that's the case is in this huddle, the best guy gonna be here for these dudes. And so if you beat me up, you're the best guy. That's it. But I knew I was, you know, I was. I think I was like thirty two, you know, and I was like, I couldn't play whole games anymore. I needed, you know, I needed to kind of split time a little bit, you know. I just I wasn't the back I was right, I once was. So it was it was good. He learned a lot, you know. I sat down with him and went over film and talked about here's what I see, here's what I'm thinking, this is my prestat read you know whatever. Whatever I could teach him, I taught him, you know, just just in not like taking him under my wing. Just I want when he's in there, I want him.

00:43:23
Speaker 4: To have.

00:43:25
Speaker 2: What I have and how I see things for the other team guys in there, so and he was he was he was awesome, man, he he never. I mean, you're you're your early pick. You know, you're you're playing behind you know, guys in his eleven twelfth year, right, you know, and it's like ship, you can't win the job. That could mess with your confidence, you know, that started to Yeah, that started to mess with your confidence. And the only thing that kept me in the game was because you know, like the mentals out of the game, you know, mentally mentally, I just I didn't make many mistakes. And when you can, when you can, when your mind is sharp and you cannot make mistakes, and you could be efficient with carries, always get positive yards. Although you don't hit the home run the way you used to, and you're not you can't do all the things that you used to do, you could still be effective.

00:44:22
Speaker 1: How was how was that process when you start to figure out, Okay, I can't hit the home run, I am losing a step, Like father time is starting to catch up with you.

00:44:30
Speaker 2: Right, oh, yeah, you're in.

00:44:32
Speaker 1: When did the denial turn into acceptance?

00:44:38
Speaker 2: Maybe the season before my last So my the twelfth year, I had a series of games that I mean, like I never got tackled by the first guy. And and so it happened probably three or four games where single guy ran up on me. I put a move on him and he got me, and I was and I was like, and I was like, man, you know, hmm, you just you're thinking like, oh, oh, that was a good type. He barely got my leg. Oh he barely. Oh he hit my leg and it hit my other foot. And those are things that that first guy wouldn't even touch me right now and now yeah, and now I'm getting tackled by the first guy. To me, that was like, you know, that's like a wounded animal out there. I'm like, listen, there's blood in the water. There's no way I talk too much smack when I play, like, there's no way I'm gonna be out here. And I can't. I got I can't make the first guy miss. I'm in trouble.

00:45:40
Speaker 4: Who's some of the best ship talkers you went against.

00:45:44
Speaker 2: Johnny Randall, Rodney Harrison straight hand talked all day. Oh Sap, Oh my god, Sap wouldn't shut up, would not shut up.

00:45:58
Speaker 1: It's impressive to see a big guy that doesn't shut up. Yeah, you know, you can kind of motor around that much and keep the Josh sets going the whole time.

00:46:04
Speaker 2: Sad was Sad was Sad was the one, and he had an issue with this guard that we had, uh, Frankie Garcia. And he talks back to him the whole game, called his name out the whole every time. He was Frankie coming to get you, Frankie, look.

00:46:21
Speaker 4: At me anything you're saying to Frankie.

00:46:25
Speaker 1: Hey, FRANKI, it's okay, brother, We're here for you.

00:46:27
Speaker 2: Yeah. Oh well the first the first time it happened, he was like Frankie, Frankie and Frankie Frankie and and I'm looking this way. Frankie's back as to Sad, and I say, Frankie talking to you.

00:46:38
Speaker 1: O ship, frank you gotta do something, frank stand up for yourself. Frankie an offensive lineman. And a lot of those dudes are South spoken cats. Was he was he a talker? Was Frankie talker?

00:46:50
Speaker 2: Was he kind of keeping nothing to say?

00:46:52
Speaker 1: Frankie killing with kindness kind of guy.

00:46:54
Speaker 2: Something happened, Frankie was playing somewhere else in him and sap something something happened and they had issues. And when that's when anytime sat played him regardless of he was playing on it. He got after him.

00:47:07
Speaker 4: Damn.

00:47:08
Speaker 1: How's a bad guy of on your back?

00:47:09
Speaker 4: How do you?

00:47:10
Speaker 2: Uh?

00:47:11
Speaker 4: How do you feel like the game has gotten softer since you, since your guys era.

00:47:14
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say softer, They just they're they're they're playing smarter now. In playing smarter, what they've done is unfair to defense. You know, guys are running across the middle like their Bambi. They can't be touched. They trying to play brave like like you know what I'm saying, like, dude, stop running across the middle and you're gonna get up talking smack to somebody because they can't hit you unless you look at them like if if if if I IF. I always say if I duck, that means I saw you. Yeah, So that creates helmet to helmet. More helmet to helmet contact happens when the guy ducks your linebacker. You're going in he duck, bam, helme with the helmet flag on you. They've putt they put too much of his responsibility on the defensive guy. The core back throwing the ball, not protecting his receiver. The offensive coordinator calling these plays putting these guys in these kamakazi situations, none of them are responsible.

00:48:09
Speaker 1: And giving a lot of interpretation up to the referee. Yeah, putting them in a difficult position.

00:48:15
Speaker 2: And listen, any hit that looks bad, they got to throw a flag, got to they have to.

00:48:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, what were your guys' off seasons?

00:48:23
Speaker 3: Like I'm trying to remember because we had all start on and he was talking about, you know, how.

00:48:28
Speaker 4: The Union, how it shifted. We asked for all this off time and stuff like that, Like what.

00:48:32
Speaker 3: Were your guys? How long were your guys' off seasons? Like when did you have to report when? So your last game is in January?

00:48:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, so last game in January. Let's say February. We started off season conditioning and right after the draft. Off season conditioning would be from February until the beginning of April, and then you would leave after April. You'd come back right after the draft and do the first mini camp. They'd have a you know, if you were first or second your guy with the rookies, you do that mini camp, and then the next week they'd have the Bets would come and you do another mini camp with the Bets and the Rooks yeah, and and camp was six weeks long.

00:49:18
Speaker 4: Damn man, we do that?

00:49:19
Speaker 1: I mean, and now I even talking about two days. Oh yeah, I had a practice two days, not for real, real days, not like not like it's only too like my rookie year of two day would be like practice in the morning with pads, little jogged through in the afternoon.

00:49:33
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:49:34
Speaker 4: No, we we were.

00:49:35
Speaker 2: We were full strap ten days, full tackle too. Oh yeah, tackle to the ground goal line like live.

00:49:47
Speaker 3: Now when you when you were Marshall Fulk m v p Martia Fulk, were you having to participate in the other two days?

00:49:53
Speaker 2: I still did it? Yeah, I still did it, ye because like that was I always my conditioning was how I beat people. I was like you when we got to the fourth quarter. I know you didn't work as hard as me.

00:50:10
Speaker 4: I knew it.

00:50:11
Speaker 2: There's no way you worked as hard as me, No way.

00:50:15
Speaker 4: What was what was it like? You had?

00:50:18
Speaker 3: You know, you had to scale positions like yourself. You mentioned Tory Holt, Isaac Bruce. Was all your guys' work ethics just sickening like you're explaining.

00:50:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, we pushed each other like in conditioning, like we were all we raced, We pushed each other. Like some of the stuff you saw in games wasn't even close to what we did in practice. Like if you if you thought the greatest show on Turfin, if you watch some of the practices, unbelievable, just unbelievable.

00:50:48
Speaker 1: The joint practice is today like the worst. It's let's take a war. I can't imagine what they were like when you played.

00:50:54
Speaker 2: Well now in today's in today's game, that's all they have to They understand that they getting to fight practice over.

00:51:01
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, but it's also there's not a whole hour at the same time, like there's not you know, if you get like a little scuffle that there's not you don't have to worry about penalties. Guys are playing a lot harder and a lot dirty. I feel like joint practices are actually more difficult than games to an extent.

00:51:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I I I don't know, Like for for us, a joint practice was easier than our practice solo. Yeah, because a joint practice, I'm going against somebody who don't know me. When you're going against somebody, when you practice against somebody who know what you do every damn day, you know how hard that is to defeat him every day?

00:51:35
Speaker 1: It's like to learn everything.

00:51:36
Speaker 2: When the team you got to play in your division, you gotta play him twice. That second time you play him, it's hard. If you play him a third time, you're like, we beat him twice, can we beat him again? It's hard. But now you get to go up against another team that's like, oh man, this this is cake this this guy don't know my tricks playing.

00:51:55
Speaker 1: Uh, make a lot of relationships in football, obviously, who is give me your three teammates of all time? Doesn't have to be best players, just the boys like hanging out with the.

00:52:03
Speaker 2: Most Todd Light, Uh, Tory Holt and who else? Oh a guy that so so this is funny. So my backup in college was my backup in the pros for real? Yeah, a guy named Justin Watson.

00:52:27
Speaker 1: How to get to the NFL playing behind you? If you said you never come off the field, it just happened.

00:52:33
Speaker 4: Was he younger than you? And then like you leave, he has a year he's doing it?

00:52:36
Speaker 2: Uh huh, Yeah I left. So he was my backup. I left. He had two years. He was in camp with the Chargers. He was in camp with the Chargers. Was was was was on their practice squad for two years and then got picked up when I got traded to the Rams.

00:52:54
Speaker 4: You got any good?

00:52:55
Speaker 2: Uh?

00:52:56
Speaker 3: Your best post Super Bowl memory in that next week two span after you guys win the title?

00:53:02
Speaker 2: Oh man, just every every everywhere I went, I think I spent. I spent the week down in Miami South Beach, rented a yacht like just just yeah, I mean I was. I mean, you gotta remember I never won anything in football, Like, I never wanted anything. I never wanted to football.

00:53:23
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.

00:53:24
Speaker 2: You never like I never I won a championship in basketball, baseball, I won state running track. I never won a championship in football, and my the first championship I went in football is in the NFL. I lost my damn mind.

00:53:40
Speaker 1: Going crazy too.

00:53:41
Speaker 4: Most money you spent in the night, So I was.

00:53:45
Speaker 2: I was a smart part of you. You know, I didn't always take it on. I always had teammates with me, so we split the bill, so always we always split the bill.

00:53:54
Speaker 1: So credit card roulette, nothing like that.

00:53:56
Speaker 2: I mean that happened a couple of times.

00:53:57
Speaker 1: But I'm sure you didn't get gone.

00:53:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you don't make sure you know I've I've yeah, I mean it's happened. It's happened.

00:54:05
Speaker 4: What's the heaviest bill you've seen?

00:54:07
Speaker 2: Uh? One of the trips we took to Vegas?

00:54:16
Speaker 1: Uh what.

00:54:25
Speaker 4: Man? I have to come to you, man, Yeah, Flavor man, because we saw so.

00:54:34
Speaker 1: I'm in Michigan, right, yeah, Michigan Michigan vers Nebraska a couple of years ago. I had to come.

00:54:39
Speaker 2: I had to come in here to call my own version of how you doing. I'm good, man, I'm good, no complaints with no complaints, no interruption.

00:54:51
Speaker 4: I gotta break out, man, I just wanted to come to love man.

00:54:56
Speaker 2: Probably see probably tonight. Let's do that, okay, man, my man.

00:55:02
Speaker 4: Ah, excuse you're good. Welcome to busting with the boys. Many yeah, Marshalls right on.

00:55:11
Speaker 1: Man, Hey, I did see him. The fact that I saw that chain, I was like, is that he did?

00:55:16
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yeah, Flave just jumping in.

00:55:19
Speaker 1: Hey what a water in the show.

00:55:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, how do you know, Flavor? Flave? Oh?

00:55:24
Speaker 1: Man, you super Bowl when you can see Yeah, he was on the yacht.

00:55:32
Speaker 4: Is him popping in? Yeah?

00:55:33
Speaker 2: Hey man, me and Flavor we go back by that dude's a pioneer, man. Yeah, you gotta love some flave.

00:55:41
Speaker 4: Who's the first dude you were starstruck by him?

00:55:46
Speaker 1: Flavor of love?

00:55:51
Speaker 2: Probably I was in college. I just like burst it onto the scene my freshman year the next year, and I went up to LA to watch uh, to watch Martin and to get to get to meet Martin Lawrence, you know, like in the time when he was doing Martin. Oh man, I was just like, you know, I wasn't into the whole Hollywood thing, but to see, like, you know, most actors play somebody else, but Martin is Martin. Like Martin is Martin Lawrence, so like you're getting to see the dude be himself. It was just like, damn, this is this dude, this is Martin.

00:56:31
Speaker 1: Man.

00:56:32
Speaker 2: He was like the first star star that I met.

00:56:35
Speaker 3: How about a flippant who was the first dude who you weren't necessarily a starstruke by, but you're surprised that they were super like knew who you were or were starstruck by you.

00:56:49
Speaker 4: I'm trying to like, oh man, this dude he knows who I am.

00:56:52
Speaker 1: Someone comes up there, I'm a big fan of you, Like, bro, you're you right?

00:56:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, Like Charles Woodson in here early, He's like oh yeah, busting with the boys on night, Charles.

00:57:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to like, we got a call. I'm trying to think. I think it was I think it was jay Z. We got a call because he went to Jersey. He wore it in the in the video he's in a he's in there, like he wearing a bunch of videos. This was like, you know, late nineties, Jay, maybe early two thousand and j one of my one of one of my jerseys is.

00:57:37
Speaker 4: In his video.

00:57:39
Speaker 1: That's a good one.

00:57:40
Speaker 2: Like I was like me, like my jersey. You know cats, cats from New York. They don't want to Yeah, they don't want to outside of Jersey when you're from New York there wearing all New York and stuff.

00:57:52
Speaker 4: That is sick. Anthony. Should we ask him anything before we leave? Before we head out? Is he still in there? Oh yeah, question.

00:58:01
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Like so many of these texts, Okay, all right, we have uh before we let you go talk about a drug free world.

00:58:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, I know we've been having some good times here, but as you guys see, like uh, I literally I went to talk to some high schoolers and and these kids man there, they have no idea, they have no idea fitting all in drugs, what's going on? And they're curious. And a lot of the times, as you know, we were kids, the many, the many of your parents or somebody said say, don't do what do you do?

00:58:50
Speaker 4: You do?

00:58:51
Speaker 2: Curious And we've just taken a different approach. I tell people, go to drug freeworld dot org. We're not gonna tell you to say. We're not gonna We're not gonna tell you. We're not gonna tell you that don't do. We're gonna tell you educate yourself. Like just like you use Google, go to our site, get the information. Don't let your friend tell you this drug made me feel like this and then you try it and you die or something crazy happens. Literally, we have educator kids information, anything and everything under the sun that you would need just to understand before you try it. What's out there for you?

00:59:28
Speaker 4: But what uh, what got you into that?

00:59:31
Speaker 2: I just I grew up around drugs and listen, I made it to the Hall of Fame. And I wasn't the best player on my team in high school. There's I wasn't the best player at my community.

00:59:41
Speaker 3: I mean, you seem like you played every position. I would almost assume that you were probably the best player.

00:59:45
Speaker 2: I wasn't. I wasn't.

00:59:47
Speaker 1: Here's six games.

00:59:50
Speaker 2: The best. The best guy sometimes didn't show up. You know, he was cool, he was smoking weed, he was cool, he was you know, and then eventually you know that guy was the guy. You know, after my rookie year, I go back home. He's the guy on drugs.

01:00:05
Speaker 4: You know.

01:00:06
Speaker 2: It's like, so, you know, what do you do? What do you do? How you let people know? I believe the best way to let people know is by educating him and giving him the opportunities to, like, Hey, at your own liberties. Go to the site drug freeworld dot org. Get the information, make the right decision.

01:00:23
Speaker 4: Was it just like an area that just touched you to be like, I want to like get in the space or was there anything?

01:00:27
Speaker 2: I was always in the space. I grew up around it. I grew up around it.

01:00:31
Speaker 1: You know it.

01:00:31
Speaker 2: It has touched me deeply. You know, I've lost many of friends. I've had family members partake and have issues, you know, and and recover, you know, to live a better life. But everybody don't make it. Everybody don't know how you.

01:00:50
Speaker 3: Know in your experience, do you approach conversations like that with somebody close to you that you would you know, it's like you want to immerse yourself into their world and try to help them out, but you struggle like bridging that gap.

01:01:06
Speaker 4: For people that are like watching right now.

01:01:08
Speaker 3: I know, I think of a couple of situations in my circles where you're like, you're just trying to find the lane of like getting them the help they getting them the help they need, I guess without like being like forcing yourself onto them, like in your experience, Like what advice would you.

01:01:23
Speaker 4: Have with that?

01:01:25
Speaker 2: What I what I, what I say is and what I'm always trying to do is anything anything that we we find ourselves needing in life. You gotta find out why, like well why do I like that? Why why do I need to do this? What? What is this masking? Because it's masking something, And if you can get down to the core, then you can solve the problem. And the reality is they might not want to. They might not want the problems solve. They might like how they live, how they live their life. And when that's when that's the case, then you you got to back off because until they are ready, it's not gonna happen. You can't make it happen for them. I can't make it happen for them. They have to be ready.

01:02:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like the hardest part, right it is.

01:02:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, just trying to get somebody to get another their own way.

01:02:15
Speaker 4: And like backing up when you're just like, you know, you care about somebody and you're you.

01:02:19
Speaker 1: Know, yeah, because anytime that type of situation where you're dealing with somebody that's using or abusing, it's like you want to help them. But usually with people that are abusing something, when you go in approach them with that situation, it's usually met with resistance and it ends up and it killed the messenger type of situation.

01:02:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, do you go around and speak a lot?

01:02:37
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah. And you know, the the idea is that it's it's just street drugs. It's not just street drugs. You know, there's there's some prescription drugs that's that's out here.

01:02:46
Speaker 1: I mean, prescription drugs are a whole another ballgame, like they're i mean playing. Obviously, you get in there, they give you a couple of pills, right, Hey, this is gonna make it feel ahole better. You take it and you're like, oh, I get it. I understand why people get addicted to these things and their lives easily end up getting ruined because it is I mean, it's a deal.

01:03:06
Speaker 2: It's a bit of a deal.

01:03:07
Speaker 4: It's awesome that you're going to do that too.

01:03:08
Speaker 3: Like you were obviously pivotal and influence on the field first bout Hall of Famer, and so you have influence beyond that, And it's really cool to hear that you go around and speak and and try to you know, advise and mentor and speak to kids because you're you know, you're Marshall fuk bro, you are Marshall fulk.

01:03:25
Speaker 2: Got to use the platform for you know, others, just other than just making money. Yeah, yeah, you gotta make a difference to in this world, no question.

01:03:33
Speaker 3: Last one, hang on, hang on, right before he goes first ballot Hall of Famer, What was it like that knock on your door? However it happened? Were you expecting or in your head or you like, I am a first ballot Hall of Famer. So let's see how this shakes up.

01:03:48
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna tell you the story, all right, It's just a true story. But this was before the knock. This is like you gathered with your with your family and friends. They announced it, they brought you to the super Bowl and then you would you would go meet somewhere and they would do like a press conference wherever that wherever that was for the people that was that decided to come.

01:04:12
Speaker 4: And I was.

01:04:16
Speaker 2: Like, I was so sure, Like I was like, there's no way that I'm not getting in, no way, you know. That's all I kept thinking. And my my agent did a deal with Anheuser Bush being out. It was in Saint Louis at the time, the headquarters and at the butt Light Hotel when the butt Light when when when Bud used to be when an Bush was the when but was the beer, but Light was the beer. At the NFL, they had a hotel like the bottom floor. I mean, we packed it with two three hundred people that's there, you know, and we're watching and I'm and I'm standing and as they come on and they getting ready to call the names the first time ever, I thought, what if they don't call my name? I'm standing there, like, what if they don't call my name?

01:05:09
Speaker 4: Like we just got all these people here at the boy here.

01:05:14
Speaker 2: I mean, and when I think back, I'm like, man, that's like somebody saying no running away at the altar. You know, I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, oh my god, what if they don't call my name?

01:05:25
Speaker 1: You start living tactically like at all the exits, like where's the easiest way out of here if they don't call my name? Try to figure out.

01:05:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then man, like three names in they said my name.

01:05:35
Speaker 4: I was like, oh my god, Yeah, I got in your head too much, oh man.

01:05:41
Speaker 2: And from there, from there, literally they wherever you're at because you tell you got to tell them where you're gonna be. Car pulled up, takes me to the place, take me to the place where they're doing the interview, and on the ride, like your football life is literally playing in your head from your literally coach, your high school coach. Things that people taught you, things like how many people had been on this journey with you to end up, you know, in this place like like hold on wait, like there's at the time, like there's only two hundred and like sixteen, like two hundred and seventy five of these got and I'm one of them. Like are you kidding me?

01:06:26
Speaker 4: Yeah? Man?

01:06:27
Speaker 2: Like that that like it starts to dawn on you. Regardless of how confident you are, you look at it like damn like that's you know that, that's that's pretty damn neat.

01:06:38
Speaker 4: It's forever, I mean.

01:06:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know, and that's it. Like in reality, that's all we want to do is be remembered, like right and now to know that, now, to know forever generations can go identify with me as their relative or you know, like like that's then there's a place.

01:07:00
Speaker 4: Yeah in Ohio. Man, thank you so much.

01:07:02
Speaker 2: It's a good fellow.

01:07:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a man sometimes appreciate you making the time.

01:07:06
Speaker 4: Man, this is right on. Thank man. That was awesome. Anthony.

01:07:12
Speaker 1: All thanking Anthony.

01:07:13
Speaker 4: We have