In this episode of the Penn State Pulse, host Dylan Dawson interviews Penn State legend LaVar Arrington, who is also the founder of the Up on Game Media Network. They discuss Arrington's journey from being a highly recruited high school athlete to his successful college career at Penn State and his time in the NFL. Arrington also talks about his involvement with media and they touch on Arrington's son's, LaVar Arrington II, recruitment process. What role did LaVar play in the Adam Sandler movie "The Waterboy", and LaVar gets personal as he finally talks about his relationship with Serena Williams. And finally, Arrington gives his thoughts on the current Penn State football team.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome into the Penn State paulse I'm your host, Dylan Dawson,
and we're kicking things off in a big way in
episode one. Joining me today is Penn State legend LeVar Arrington,
one of the best to do it in the Blue
and White.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
LeVar was the.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Most of your linebacker in college football in the late
nineties and racked up a lengthy list of accomplishments along
the way, including College Football Hall of Fame inductee, two
time All American, two time First Team All Big Ten
Buckets Award winner Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year,
and second overall pick in the two thousand NFL Draft,
actually behind your teammate Courtney Brown.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you for joining me today, LeVar.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
How you doing, I'm happy to be here man, sir.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
All right, so you can now add CEO to that
list as well as you're the founder of the up
on Game Media network, and I'm honored to say that
I'm now working with you as well with the disrupt
UPSU branch in particular.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Could you tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
So up on Game Dylan was a a brainch out
of me and my partner Ricardo Dickerson and then we
brought on our other partner, Steven Blanco. We felt like
we could create a blueprint for building a brand that
(01:16):
would ultimately be able to you be ultimately able to
build what it is that you want to do within
media or within other sectors of other categories, and we
wanted to set out to prove that it was possible
to take a concept from nothing.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
To a radio show, to a podcast, to a visual
podcast to whatever else it was going to be.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And so that's what we did. We actually created a
program we didn't like the name. It was an interesting
name called Warrior Woke Love the warrior part, hate the
woke part. It's not into the whole woke thing. But
it was basically a program where we taught young athletes
(02:10):
and young aspiring people that wanted to be within like media,
social media digital spaces, creating content and giving an understanding
and awareness of how to prepare to how to project,
how to conduct yourself in front of the camera, how
(02:32):
to put yourself and present yourself the best way that
you possibly could could present yourself. So that ultimately led
to us going to the next phase of that, which
was creating a show, and we created a podcast show
called Up on Game. We eventually got that show taken
on board for a nationally syndicated radio show on weekends
(02:56):
for Fox Sports Radio that ultimately lad to me progressing
and getting a five day a week morning drive show
called Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. So Up
on Game is with t J. Hushman, Zada and Plexico Burs.
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe is with Jonas
Knox and Brady Quinn. Three of the three of the
(03:19):
four hosts are former football greats that now are in
media as well. So we just felt as though there's
a blueprint to understanding how to build and grow your
brand and being able to do it in this new
world of technology and where the digital age has taken
us to. And so that was kind of the catalyst
(03:41):
for why we did what we did and how we
got here in the first place. And so here we are.
We created Disrupt You PSU, which is our agency, our
agency arm that now basically helps to guide develop INCY
eight talent in business and product within the Penn State community.
(04:06):
And I'm proud to be a part of you, being
our first signee to the brand and ultimately what I
believe will be an anchor show for what it is
that we're doing in an anchor talent. I believe that
you are an amazing talent at what you do, and
(04:27):
so you're very welcome and so to have the opportunity
to work with you and to bring you on board
to what it is that we're doing, to contribute to
what we're doing in building for what it's worth. I
do believe he may be the first NIL non athlete
to be getting an NIL deal for college, which is
(04:49):
I think pretty dope. Yeah, we'll see pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I mean I remember hearing about you growing up as
I was watching football Brady, I mean Plastico Buris on
the Steelers. So it's definitely cool to see for athletes,
current athletes get involved with media. It just provides a
really cool different perspective and it's always something that people
want to tune into as far as like long term
goals expectations, what are you thinking for this?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
You know, long term goals is to build a successful
production house, a successful brand, almost along the lines of
iteration two point zero of like what a barstool would be.
Having tremendous personalities like yourself, who are in the community
connected with the community and creating not only funny and
(05:37):
provocative content, but also purpose driven content. You know, I
believe in giving back to your community, being a positive
contributor to what it is that you do in your community.
I'm one that represents first responders and military service members,
also passionate about youth. So for me, those are the
(05:58):
things that I will rep present and have represented on
our platform. And as it grows, there will be different
different things that people are passionate about. With our student
athletes of Penn State that come on and are a
part of what we're doing, that I believe will be
pretty pretty cool to hear. The stories, connect the interviews,
(06:21):
connect the content, and connect the purpose to what it
is that we're doing here and ultimately shine a light
on our Penn State athletes and our Penn State community
on not only the great leaders that we have in
our athletics, but also the bright minds and the great
leaders that we have within the academic community of Penn State.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And how long have you been involved with media and
all that stuff?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Now it's been over a decade. I started off in Washington, DC.
My first job was with CBS Radio. Is one of
six to seven a fan had to show called the
Leavar Arrington Show, which had Dukes, was the number one
rated morning draft show or afternoon excuse an afternoon draft
show in the market. We did very well. I actually
(07:12):
was a writer, a blogger, and a video blogger for
the Washington Post. I did a column called hard Knocks.
It was interesting because at that point I was writing,
and I was doing radio, and I was doing television,
and that was when all of that that s the
proverbial s of the Penn State scandal hit the fan.
(07:37):
So I'm all in media when our darkest time as
an institution and a university hit, And so for me,
I felt like it was perfect timing in an honor
and a duty for me to be a beacon of light,
a person of support during those those dark times. A
(08:02):
lot of people really really turned their backs on us
as a school in an institution. Thought there was a
whole lot of unnecessary, unjust, unfair judgments that was passed
on all of us, as if all of us had
done something wrong, like we were this wicked, evil cult
that condoned doing all of these crazy things, and that
(08:27):
wasn't the case. And I wanted to make sure that
me having a voice in media, that I used my
voice in my platform to the better good of representing
our community and the best way that I possibly could.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Can you tell me about your high school recruitment? And
then when did you know it's gonna be pensate?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Who? So I was a senior in ninety seven and
I was highly recruited. I was actually highly recruited while
I was in the eighth grade, as the stores told
I was. Actually I grew to six ' three in
the sixth grade. I was dunking a basketball in the
(09:07):
sixth grade, So I was pretty I was pretty freakishly athletic.
I continue to kind of, you know, develop. I had
this love and passion for sports. I was a basketball
player first, but I'm from Pittsburgh, so I love football.
(09:29):
I played football. My family played football, uncles played football.
I grew up in football culture, and I was I
was what you would say someone who enjoyed athletics and competition.
Really it was really about competition. I was very competitive
and it ultimately led let me down the road being
(09:52):
a tailback and a linebacker playing football. So while I
was playing basketball and playing track, I really was garnering
a lot of attention playing playing football. I actually got
a letter from Miami. Miami was the first school that
sent me a letter. I was in eighth grade. Notre
(10:13):
Dame sent me a letter, Michigan sent me a letter.
It was some crazy school sending me letters. I mean,
my eighth grade year. But what happened was I was
playing ninth grade football because at school I went to,
they had a ninth grade team, they had a JV team,
they had a varsity team. So when I was in
the eighth grade, I was playing ninth grade ball. Somebody
sent my film out and you know, asked my measurables
(10:36):
and stuff like that, and they saw the footage of
what I was doing, and they were sending me letters.
Now they weren't offering me scholarships, but they were sending
a ton of letters. And so that was pretty cool
to kind of feel that relevance, cause you know, I
kind of was like one of those like, you know,
the black duck type of deal where you know, you
(10:57):
got all these pretty ducks, like my older brother was
straight a student, you know, super super well liked and
all that stuff, while I was like really rough around
the edges. I wasn't popular, you know, nobody really wanted
me around. I kind of got on people's nerves stuff
like that, Right, So I was like one of them
revenge type dudes, Like I'm in the gym. Started working
(11:21):
out because I couldn't beat up my older brother, Like
I was jealous of my older brother. He was great
at everything, including beating my ass. Right, So I started lifting,
and my whole motivation for lifting was to beat my
brother up at some point in my life, right, But
it turned into kind of like a salvation for me.
(11:44):
Exercise and working out started getting recruited, and so that
catalyst led to me being like ultimately competitive and very
very very in tune with what my accomplishments were achievements
were because nobody really wanted me around them for a
long time, right, So I started getting a lot of
(12:08):
great results on the field and another arenas I ran
a ten six ten seven one hundred meters. At one
point when I came to Penn State for camp, I
ran a four to three to eight electric clock time
forty at six three. So I was like doing some
like freakishly typed stuff while I was in high school.
(12:31):
And so for the longest time, I thought I was
going to either go to Florida State or go to
Miami because I was a big fan of linebackers. Wanted
to play linebacker, and I liked Ray Lewis and Derek Brooks.
Those were my favorite two linebackers in college. And Greg
(12:52):
Lloyd was obviously Pittsburgh Steeler. He was my favorite pro linebacker.
So I kind of patterned my style after that physical, violent,
type of mean type of type dude playing playing the game.
And a lot of schools were attracted to the way
I played the game because I was fast, and I
(13:12):
was physical and I was mean, and for the most part,
I felt like people acknowledged the fact that I had
a very, very high football IQ. So so my recruitment
was was pretty intense. You know, at some point, I
think I had about four packing boxes worth of letters,
(13:33):
like four like packing boxes, like tall packing boxes, like
full of letters, like if you'd have dumped them out
as crazy. How many people had you know, who knows
what they you know, if they wrote it or somebody
else wrote it, who knows. But I had offers from
everybody by probably my sophomore year into my sophomore year,
(13:56):
and and for me, the recruitment process was it was.
It was fairly simple because I kind of felt like,
in my mind I wanted to go to Miami. Some
stuff happened at Miami. They were going on probation by
the time I was going there, So I kind of
(14:16):
decided that Florida State recruited me, but they didn't recruit
me as hard as other schools. So it was kind
of like, if I go out of state and I
go play for a school like Florida State, they had
recruited and offered a few guys that were in state.
God by the name of Jamal Reynolds is one of
the names that sticks out to me that got recruited
(14:38):
to go there the same year as me, and I
just recalled myself thinking, if I'm going to play linebacker,
why would I not go to the school that's deemed
linebacker you And so that was when I started kind
of looking at Penn State a little bit harder. I
was already a fan because of the Fiesta Bowl. I
(14:59):
can remember the time and place where I was at
when they played the game with DJ Dozer and Shane
Conlin and all those guys, Ray Aisom and Bob White,
and it's just a host of amazing football players on
that team, and so I started like kind of really
really getting into Penn State football and fell in love
(15:24):
with it, and so I actually committed my junior year
of high school, got a tattoo on my arm and
everything of Penn State, and that was kind of That
was how the recruiting process went for me. I never
I took one official visit. It was to Penn State.
I honored my commitment to Penn State. Tom Bradley scrap
(15:49):
they called him. He recruited me, and you know, I
guess the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So two things stemmed from that. One, you say you
grew up in Pittsburgh. Are you Steelers fan or I am? Okay,
I'm as well. So second, you said Miami was the
first school to reach out to you. Who was your
first offer was at Miami or a different school?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
You know, I don't remember who the first offer was.
I really don't because at the point in time, like
I said, at the end of my eighth grade year,
I got so many letters that I just kind of
stopped paying attention to the letters. So I don't even
really know who was offering me when, but it was
a lot of them. It was there was a ton
(16:30):
of offers. And you know, this was pre digital age,
So imagine your house phone just ringing non stop and
so and then obviously receiving letters at school, receiving mail
at your house. There was no in boxing like slide
(16:54):
into DMS as a coach or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
No pusting offers on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
They was sending letters. Dog, It's the only way they
could get to you. I guess it's the only way
they could get to you or come see you. So
it was, you know, and I guess that makes me old.
But yet I don't recall who the first offer was.
I don't even recall what it sounded like or what
it felt like. I just remember I ended up building
(17:19):
a really really strong relationship with coach Bradley, and he
really really captured my imagination. He's actually the reason behind
me getting number eleven and starting the trend and the
tradition connected to eleven at Penn State. So we created
a super super dope relationship and it just kind of
(17:42):
went from there and I committed my junior year and
just never looked back.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
So your son, LaVar Arrington Junior is actually a the
second Yes, the class of twenty twenty five linebacker recruit
just ovd UCLA his official visits coming up at Penn
State June twenty. First, what are your thoughts on his recruitment,
how it might compare to yours, and where he may
end up.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
I went to a was considered a big school, a
power school. In high school. We were Quada and Western Pa,
and back then that was the highest level of competition,
and it was pretty high profile conference and a lot
of big talent came from where I was playing. So
the amount of attention and the amount of scrutiny and
(18:27):
just recruitment was was pretty high. My son goes to
a school named Charter Oak. It's not a modern day
It's not a D one school in the California area.
It was D four at one point. I think it
was D seven last year. It's like slight and scale,
but it's a smaller school, so the amount of attention
(18:50):
on him has not been as great. I brought him
along pretty slow, slowly. I didn't you know. He didn't
have the same path as me in playing the game.
He was more of a fan of the game. I
was a fan of the game, but I was more
so Trial by Fire, where I felt like we took
(19:14):
a really really educated approach and how he grew up
and how he developed, and so he didn't play football
for a while. I started at eight. I think he
started at like twelve thirteen, and so I think for
him it's definitely been an interesting journey. I got an
(19:34):
opportunity to coach him as his defensive coordinator as freshman year.
I saw a lot of potential in him, but I
didn't see him as being like an elite player. I
thought he could be, but I just didn't think that
he got it enough where I could actually stamp it
and be like dud dudes got it. And sophomore year
(19:54):
it was kind of much of the same. It was
like he gets to the ball really really quickly, Like
he gets there quick, but he don't finish. It's like
you're not a finisher. It's like kind of like you
do all that work to get to where the ball is,
but why you're not getting to the ball carrier or
taking them down is somebody else taking them down and
(20:14):
you're standing around the pal This last year, his junior year,
it was kind of the same for most of the season,
but you could see that there was a progression in
how he was doing things, and then we get to
the end of the season and he just had one
game where he just snapped out, like it was almost
like everything kind of clicked for him, and he grew
(20:37):
up like overnight. Like for me, I was old, Like
I was a whole back kid. They helped me back,
you know. And that's a big thing now is hold
guys back so they're more mature. And they had that
click moment earlier than their senior year, you know. So
he's seventeen. I was eighteen at this point in his career.
(21:00):
I was turning nineteen going into my freshman year. He'll
be eighteen, you know. And in fact, wherever he ends
up going, he'll be an early in row league, so
he'll be seventeen in his freshman year of college. So
I don't really judge him based off of me. I
don't do the comparison deal because he's young, you know,
he's younger than what I was. But after he had
(21:23):
that click moment, he's been a movie. He's been a movie.
And I'm not one to be braggadocious about my kids,
but he's actually he's developing and has turned into a
pretty special dude. Like he literally he tracks the ball
(21:45):
as fast and as quickly as as anyone I've seen
at the level, Like if I'm looking at everyone around
the country, he's in the top the top percentile of
guys with athletic ability and intelligence to diagnose. And he finishes.
(22:07):
Now that's been the biggest thing, will you finish? And
so he's now started to finish plays and it's taken
his game, like what it looks like, to a whole
entirely different level. So I'm pretty excited for him. As
you mentioned, we've been on these official visits and we're
seeing how all of that goes. He's narrowed down to
(22:27):
three schools, you know, Tennessee, UCLA, and Penn State. We're
just taking it day by day. But I think the
kid is pretty special. I'm certain that he is the
type of talent that if he just maintains a focus
and a level of hunger to continue to want to
(22:50):
learn and be better, I think his trajectory is pretty high.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And how do you handle that with obviously you guys
have as a family, have you ties Penn State? With
you going there having a ton of success. I mean,
Pen State's recruiting him now pretty heavy. So how do
you kind of balance that without being pushy.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
It's a good question, Dylan, because it's hard to say
that you can remove your emotions from it, Like for me,
the things that I was able to accomplish and the
things that I have experienced as LeVar Arrington, if you
can imagine, like why wouldn't you want to go to
(23:30):
the school where you come out if you make a
play the moment first of all, before you even come out,
make a play, the moment you commit to the school.
It's you've turned on the lights instantly, just based off
of your name. It's a blessing and possibly a curse
at the same time, because he's probably going to be
(23:51):
unfairly judged on the type of player that he is
and the type of plays that he makes and how
he makes them based off of what I did. But
I always say, the society and the culture we live
in today, they remember names, they don't really remember anything else,
you know. So I don't know that. I don't know
that he will have to deal with the intense scrutiny
(24:13):
the way I think or thought that he would have to,
because a lot of times people like there are a
lot of people like even with your video right like,
people were cutting me from the team, you know, they
starting Micah, they bench and our duel, they cut LeVar
right like. So a lot of people don't even really
remember who I am. So I think he would have
(24:33):
an opportunity to go to Penn State and be able
to build his own reputation and build his own legacy
void of it being in my shadow. But at the
same time, there are a lot of people that do
know who I am, and I think there will bring
a level of pressure. But for me, I feel like
he's been prepared for it. I mean, it's just kind
(24:54):
of something that he's always wanted to do. It's not
something that I put in front of him. So I
feel like whatever decision he makes, he's going to be
a pretty special dude wherever he goes. But if it
were to be Penn State, that would be pretty dope.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, that's probably a really cool feeling, is dad? If
that does come.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
To first, Yeah, yeah, it would be all right.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Do you have any particular memory or play or game
or anything that stands out about your college career as
a favorite.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Any particular play that stands out for me from college
or game. I'd say my last game sticks out. I'll
say this my first bowl game, in my last game,
which was my bowl game, stick out. My first bowl
game sticks out because I was on the field with
(25:43):
Fred Taylor and Javon Curse. And if you know those
two names, you look him up. If you don't know him.
Fred Taylor is one of the most gifted running backs
that I've ever faced in my entire life, probably the
most gifted running back that I've faced. And Javon Curse
is one of the most freakishly athletic dudes that you'll
(26:05):
ever see ever play the game as well. So I
got an opportunity to experience what greatness looked like outside
of my own team, because I had some greats on
the team with me. But outside of that, I got
to see a Florida team that was ridiculously talented, and
Fred Taylor and Javon Curse were on that field playing
(26:26):
for that team. I say my last bowl game the
Alamo Bowl because it was things coming full circle. There's
probably a whole bunch of other dudes on the other
side of that ball that were looking at me and
like that's LeVar Arrington, you know what I mean, Like dang,
like that's LeVar Arrington, which is like, that's what you
(26:48):
do this for, right, If you're going to play the game,
you play the game to have an impact where you
create something that's worth talking about, where you create something
that's worth and so that was that was probably the
most memorable because the performance that I put in for
(27:09):
my last game was pretty it was pretty undeniable. I
think got forced three three interceptions, I had like three
or four sacks, had like eleven twelve, I don't know,
thirteen tackles. It was something crazy. My stat line was crazy,
(27:29):
and I won MVP of the game. And I wanted
over all the defenders on the field, which obviously Brandon
Short is an amazing linebacker that I played for for
Penn State. Courtney Brown an amazing defense in that played
for the team, amongst others, Dave Macklin, you know, Mac Morrison,
(27:49):
you know David fleishawer Amani Bell, you know Justin Kurpeikis.
I mean it was our team was littered with town
and so to be able to finish my college career
where I got the most Valuable Player award for the
bowl game definitely stands out the most out of most
(28:12):
of the games, most other games that I went.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Through and she went.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
So a lot of people don't know about this, but
tell me a little bit about Adam Sandler and The
water Boy.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
So it's interesting. I told people, like a long time
ago when I was on my first radio show in Washington,
d C. That Adam Sandler came to Penn State, visited
with the team, visited with the managers, visited with coach.
He's a big, big Joe Paterno fan, and for his
(28:44):
time there, he actually studied me and what I was
doing for his role in The water Boy. And so
you know, he was sitting with me in the locker room,
asking me a ton of questions. Every other word was profanity.
He kept apologizing for cursing so much. It's kind of funny.
(29:04):
He's a funny dude in real life. And so yeah,
we had an opportunity to spend time. He wrote me
an autograph. And the coolest thing about it is a
lot of times celebrities are like very very disconnected, and
so I seen him like maybe like six seven years ago,
(29:27):
and it's maybe maybe even more. But I was at
the Super Bowl and he was on media row and
he came and sat down with us, and he told
the story like, yeah, I was there to study LeVar
Arrington to become the water Boys. So it was a
cool distinction. I like to believe I'm not the base character.
You know, I'm not what Bobby Bouchet is as a person,
(29:52):
but I was certainly a Bobby Bouchet with the way
he was running the plays and the way he was
making his plays during during the course of the movie,
he came and studied your boy yours truly for his
role as Bobby Bouchet, the water Boy, and I'm in
that ssence the water Boy.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Okay, So, as I previously mentioned, you were the second
overall pick in the two thousand NFL draft to the
Washington Redskins at the time, at one point in your career,
was it high school college.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Did you realize that you were going to make it
and go to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
It's an interesting question because if I'm being honest, I
think at eight years old, I looked at my mother
and I told her I was going to retire one
day and I was going to buy or her the
home of her dreams. Now I didn't, I guess, I
guess you could say it was it would be naive
to say I knew at eight years old, but I
(30:51):
just I believe in manifesting, and I just felt like
at that point in time, I played a couple of
games I had did really well, and I was just
confident in telling my mom that, you know, I'm gonna
retire you soon, and I'm gonna do all of these
things that are nice for you at some point in
(31:13):
the near future. And you know, that's that's kind of
what happened. You know, it was a driving force and
that's what what ended up happening.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
So right around when you retired, there was a motorcycle
accident that you were involved in. Is that the reason
you retired or was it something else or what was
the situation there.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
It's interesting because I don't really talk about it much
at all. I broke my arm, mangled my arm, my wrists,
like destroyed my wrists. They had to do a skin
graph off of my leg. The bike went into my leg.
I don't even remember it. It happened so quickly. A
(31:52):
lot of people report and say that I retired because
I wrecked the motorcycle, But I had I had checked
that I had been released from the giants and I
hadn't even finished my rehab for Michalles Tendon. I broke
up out of New Jersey and went back to Maryland,
back to where I felt like I belonged, and I
(32:15):
limped like I limped for like three years after I
blew my Achilles tendont and in my last season with
the New York Giants. So so for me, like I
was done playing football when I was sitting on the
turf in Texas Stadium looking around, smelling the popcorn and
(32:35):
you know, smelling everything. I took in the sites, I
took in the sounds because I knew in my heart
and in my mind that was the last time I'd
ever be on the football field this way. So but
you know, that's how the cookie crumbles sometime. And I'm
grateful for my time in the league. I'm also grateful
(32:59):
for the opportunit unities that I had and I have
based upon the person that I was and the player
that I was when I played the game.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Right, So, would you say it was pretty tough for
you to walk away from it or was Were you
satisfied with your body of work at the time?
Speaker 3 (33:14):
You know, I was satisfied. I knew I was going
to be a Hall of Famer, but I was definitely
satisfied with my body or work. I feel like I
left I left some things on the table, but sometimes,
you know, you leave things on the table, and you
don't always finish everything that's on your plate, and you
don't always you know, you try to put your best
(33:38):
foot forward, but it doesn't always happen that way. It
doesn't always play out the way that you had hoped,
imagined or thought that it would. And I feel like,
for all the things that I'm doing now to accomplish
and to be more in life, I don't know that
I would have been this motivated and this inspired for
(34:00):
this chapter of my life had I had the type
of career that I thought I was going to have
as a pro. So it ultimately worked out the way
that it was supposed to work out, because I'm so
inspired to be more in life, and I feel like,
ultimately the shortcomings of what took place when I was
(34:23):
in the league was a tremendous catalyst for me to
actually want to approach what I do in life even
more so intensely than what I had ever done at
any other point in my life.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
So switching gears looking at the current roster, it's the
linebacker room in particular. Is there anyone that really stands
out to you that people aren't paying enough attention to
or that you think could be due for a big season.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
So there's two names, and listen, Abdul moved from linebacker
and he's more of an age now and will be
a positive tributor as an age as as a move
around guy, but as a true linebacker. Kobe King has
got to be the most underrated linebacker in the entire world.
(35:15):
I mean, if you could carve out chisel up, put
the description next to the carving in the in the
sculpture of a man that Kobe King is like, that's
who would be the picture, the standard of the example.
(35:38):
I love his game. He plays physical, he plays fast,
He's got a nose and a knack for the ball.
You can tell he's super smart. And how it is
that he conducts the business and directs the players around.
I just think he's special. I really, really truly hope
(36:00):
he gets his just dude this year because he he
has been a guy for Penn State in college football.
I say the second name I would give you is
Tony Rojas. Everybody's buzzing about him, and they should be rightfully.
So he's athletic, he's big, he's strong, he's smart, and
(36:28):
he does things the right way. You know. I was
talking to man my son about Tony Rojas not too
long ago, and he was like, Dad, Dad, he's just
always in the gym. Like they had the spring game,
he was in the gym. They're like, you got to
get out of the gym. We got a game to play.
Da da da, And He's just looked at him and laughed. Said,
I wish I had that time. I had work ethic
(36:51):
and I worked my ass off, but I wish I
had the type of work ethic where I lived in
the gym, you know, I lived, lived in the meeting
rooms and did everything that I was required to do.
And then some I wish that was the way that
I approached my college career. I ended up learning that
(37:12):
later on in life. But I look at how he
prepares himself, and it's pretty second to none how he
prepares himself. And ultimately, I think those are the reasons
why guys like him ended up being so successful.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Right, I mean, you really saw the impact of that
his freshman year. As soon as he got on campus,
as soon as he was provided with those resources, the
nutrition program, the weight room, all that he went from
I think twenty five. Yeah, his weight in like one
off season. So as soon as he got those resources
provided to him, he was ready to go. Penn State
recently made a new hire at defensive coordinator then with
(37:54):
former Indiana head coach Tom Allen.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Do you have any thoughts on him or what he
might bring to the table.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Gonna bring an older an older feel like more of
a more of a fatherly It seems like he has
more of a fatherly feel, a fatherly vibe to him,
whereas like Manny and Pride, they were more like you've
(38:21):
related to them. I think Alan is like an old head.
You're not gonna relate to him. But sometimes when you
have coaches like Alan, guys gravitate to him and feel
as though they can trust him and feel as though
the things that he's saying are are accurate to the
(38:43):
success that you're seeking and the little things that you
need to do. And so I think their defense will
be I think they'll be pretty good this year. I
know they lost you know the two ends. You know
you lose chop, you lose a da those are big losses.
But Sutton and guys Devon on the inside, I mean,
(39:06):
you have some really you know, ourbdual is going to
be out there on the d line this year. You
have some really really special guys athletically and maturity wise
that are out there on the field. So I wouldn't
be surprised if this is a much more dominant defense
this year than what it has been in quite some time.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Right, And what do you think is of the team
as a whole? Do you have a record prediction or
anything like that for the year.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
You know, I think the team's going to have a
good year, but I always think they're going to have
a good year, and so they're not having a good
year until they're not having a good year, right. So
for me, I'm kind of a wait and see type
of guy. I'm optimistic that they can win the better
(39:57):
vast majority of of their games, but I don't I'm
a tad bit concern, maybe a tad bit nervous that
the scheduling and how hard the conferences are and everybody
loading up and gearing up to come to the Big
ten this year, and it's gonna be. I'm I'm concerned
(40:23):
if we lose. I'm concerned because there's there's all kinds
of crazy feelings circulating around about the head coach, and
for good or for worse, for for bad or for better,
he's gotta he's got to do something that ultimately moves
the needle in the right direction in terms of the
(40:46):
next level for for this team. And so we're gonna
have to wait and see how that all plays out.
But I'm I'm hopeful they st pawing the amount of
talent that we have on our roster that this new
offensive coordinator you know, has has our quarterback, has Drew Aller,
(41:11):
loosen up and just play his game. Get your proper reads,
know what your proper reads are, get out there, throw
the ball, you know, play your game. Because I think
Drew Aller is the first franchise quarterback we've had since
Carre Collins. And we've had a few good, good quarterbacks,
like you know, obviously Mike Mike Robinson is a dope name,
(41:37):
Daryl Clark is a dope name during that time period.
So we've had quarterbacks Hackenberg, you know, dope quarterbacks. So
but you know, you still got to get in there
and you still got to do it. And that's kind
of like the key to it, like get yourself prepared,
but you still got to get in there. You still
(41:58):
got to do it right.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
I'm personally bullish on Aler.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
I think if he has the right offensive coordinator that
it could unleash his potential.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
I mean the thing with Kyle Nikki.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Instead of trying to get the players to fit his scheme,
I think he's going to build a scheme around the
talent and where the offense is strongest. From a roster standpoint,
I think I'll kind of play off that. So I
think that could be a really positive thing.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
For the team.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
For sure. I like it.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
And before we get out of here, I have to
ask about Serena Williams. What was your interaction with her?
How did that all play out? Like, what's the what's
the deal there?
Speaker 3 (42:34):
You know, I never really talk about or discussed that
aspect that time, that that person I've been. I've always
felt like I need to be respectful of, you know,
the privacy of knowing her. Yeah, you never want to
be a person that's like, yeah, yeah, I know her.
You know that type of deal. Me and Serena at
(42:58):
one point were probably like friends. We ended up meeting
at an ESPN commercial shoot when they used to do
the commercial shoots that were like the you know, you're
walking through the office and something's going on. There's a
king chair and Lebron James is sitting in the chair
and like they were doing those funny, cool little little commercials.
(43:21):
So we were at the video shoot and we met
and we were cool. Like we ended up talking like
I had a thing for I'll admit that, Like, I mean,
who didn't have a crush on Serena back then? And
if you know you, especially somebody like you know me,
(43:43):
you know you'd have a crush. So it was kind
of like a crush crush deal. I talked to talk
to her manager. We ended up meeting and hanging out
and we were like we were pretty close for like
it was a few years. We hung out with each
other for a few years and some would say the
(44:04):
story would have it that we we I've never said
this out loud, but we actually dated. I'm saying I've
said it's like the first time I'm ever saying is
And we dated for a while. I went through I
(44:25):
went through a lot with her. We grew up a lot.
When she was transitioning from being a a star tennis
player to a superstar tennis player. I was there and
(44:47):
I got to see the rise of her going from
being a star with the beads in her hair, like
she was still wearing beads. This goes back to like
early two thousands, and then she transitioned into being a
young woman, like being a woman and being like Serena,
(45:09):
you know, and you know that was it was pretty
pretty cool. It's pretty interesting because you're hanging out with
somebody they say you are the company that you keep,
you know, And so I was hanging out with somebody
who would eventually be the greatest, you know, one of
the greatest athletes. I won't even just put her under
(45:31):
greatest woman athlete, female athlete, Like she's one of the
greatest athletes of all time and easily dominated this last
generation of athletics. So it's pretty cool to know that
someone who accomplished everything that I would have wanted to
(45:53):
accomplish was able to do it. And so I never
really talked about, you know, well, why didn't it work
out or you know, why didn't you guys stay together?
And we were young. You know, we were like literally
we were we were young. I was just coming into
the league. There was just a lot of different things
(46:16):
going on, a lot of different powers pulling this way
that way, and it just it didn't it didn't kind
of solidify itself that way. But yeah, I was always
a fan of her, continued to be a fan of her,
you know, and and and what her endeavors were in
(46:37):
her life was still to this day, keep up with
what she's got going on. And I am a fan
of you know, her accomplishments and and different things like that.
So but but yeah, I mean I may have I
don't know. I think there was a book that was written.
(46:57):
I don't know, as they say that, you know, I
might have had a negative impact on her. I don't
know why that would be, you know, but I felt
like we were always really cool. I got to know
the family really well. I was around when you know,
her sister, you know, tragically, you know, had her, you know,
lost her life. I was around, you know, I was around,
(47:22):
and and but you know, life, life went on. It's
kind of interesting, you know, every once in a while
you think about, like, you know, did I make the
right decisions? You know, definitely definitely did. I definitely did. Yeah,
(47:47):
I definitely did. But but nonetheless, it definitely was a
time where we were we were we were really close,
you know, we were close to one another, and I
went to to went to tennis matches, was a part
of the like the tennis community and stuff like that,
(48:10):
and you know, seeing a lot of stuff, man, seeing
a lot of stuff. So that's the Serena story. Super
proud of you, Serena, and super proud of what she's accomplished.
And yeah, like that was that was a long time ago,
but absolutely was something that was something at one point.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
All right, Well, I think that's going to do it
for episode one of the Penn State Pulse.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
Thank you guys so much for watching. Thank you LeVar
for hopping on.
Speaker 3 (48:43):
Appreciate having me.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
Sure you'll be on here again as we're working together.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
I'm looking forward to seeing what you do, man, I
really am. I'm excited about what you bring to the table.
I think the stuff that you do as funny as hell.
I think you're you're pretty creative, and I'm really really
looking forward to seeing the content that you produce and
where it all goes. So appreciate you having me on
as the inaugural the first the first of the podcast
(49:12):
shows officially under disrupt U p s U. That you've
done so I appreciate you having me. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Definitely a lot of fun and unique content on the way,
but for now signing off.
Speaker 2 (49:23):
Thanks again for watching. Thanks
Welcome into the Penn State paulse I'm your host, Dylan Dawson,
and we're kicking things off in a big way in
episode one. Joining me today is Penn State legend LeVar Arrington,
one of the best to do it in the Blue
and White.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
LeVar was the.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Most of your linebacker in college football in the late
nineties and racked up a lengthy list of accomplishments along
the way, including College Football Hall of Fame inductee, two
time All American, two time First Team All Big Ten
Buckets Award winner Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year,
and second overall pick in the two thousand NFL Draft,
actually behind your teammate Courtney Brown.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you for joining me today, LeVar.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
How you doing, I'm happy to be here man, sir.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
All right, so you can now add CEO to that
list as well as you're the founder of the up
on Game Media network, and I'm honored to say that
I'm now working with you as well with the disrupt
UPSU branch in particular.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Could you tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
So up on Game Dylan was a a brainch out
of me and my partner Ricardo Dickerson and then we
brought on our other partner, Steven Blanco. We felt like
we could create a blueprint for building a brand that
(01:16):
would ultimately be able to you be ultimately able to
build what it is that you want to do within
media or within other sectors of other categories, and we
wanted to set out to prove that it was possible
to take a concept from nothing.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
To a radio show, to a podcast, to a visual
podcast to whatever else it was going to be.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And so that's what we did. We actually created a
program we didn't like the name. It was an interesting
name called Warrior Woke Love the warrior part, hate the
woke part. It's not into the whole woke thing. But
it was basically a program where we taught young athletes
(02:10):
and young aspiring people that wanted to be within like media,
social media digital spaces, creating content and giving an understanding
and awareness of how to prepare to how to project,
how to conduct yourself in front of the camera, how
(02:32):
to put yourself and present yourself the best way that
you possibly could could present yourself. So that ultimately led
to us going to the next phase of that, which
was creating a show, and we created a podcast show
called Up on Game. We eventually got that show taken
on board for a nationally syndicated radio show on weekends
(02:56):
for Fox Sports Radio that ultimately lad to me progressing
and getting a five day a week morning drive show
called Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. So Up
on Game is with t J. Hushman, Zada and Plexico Burs.
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe is with Jonas
Knox and Brady Quinn. Three of the three of the
(03:19):
four hosts are former football greats that now are in
media as well. So we just felt as though there's
a blueprint to understanding how to build and grow your
brand and being able to do it in this new
world of technology and where the digital age has taken
us to. And so that was kind of the catalyst
(03:41):
for why we did what we did and how we
got here in the first place. And so here we are.
We created Disrupt You PSU, which is our agency, our
agency arm that now basically helps to guide develop INCY
eight talent in business and product within the Penn State community.
(04:06):
And I'm proud to be a part of you, being
our first signee to the brand and ultimately what I
believe will be an anchor show for what it is
that we're doing in an anchor talent. I believe that
you are an amazing talent at what you do, and
(04:27):
so you're very welcome and so to have the opportunity
to work with you and to bring you on board
to what it is that we're doing, to contribute to
what we're doing in building for what it's worth. I
do believe he may be the first NIL non athlete
to be getting an NIL deal for college, which is
(04:49):
I think pretty dope. Yeah, we'll see pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I mean I remember hearing about you growing up as
I was watching football Brady, I mean Plastico Buris on
the Steelers. So it's definitely cool to see for athletes,
current athletes get involved with media. It just provides a
really cool different perspective and it's always something that people
want to tune into as far as like long term
goals expectations, what are you thinking for this?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
You know, long term goals is to build a successful
production house, a successful brand, almost along the lines of
iteration two point zero of like what a barstool would be.
Having tremendous personalities like yourself, who are in the community
connected with the community and creating not only funny and
(05:37):
provocative content, but also purpose driven content. You know, I
believe in giving back to your community, being a positive
contributor to what it is that you do in your community.
I'm one that represents first responders and military service members,
also passionate about youth. So for me, those are the
(05:58):
things that I will rep present and have represented on
our platform. And as it grows, there will be different
different things that people are passionate about. With our student
athletes of Penn State that come on and are a
part of what we're doing, that I believe will be
pretty pretty cool to hear. The stories, connect the interviews,
(06:21):
connect the content, and connect the purpose to what it
is that we're doing here and ultimately shine a light
on our Penn State athletes and our Penn State community
on not only the great leaders that we have in
our athletics, but also the bright minds and the great
leaders that we have within the academic community of Penn State.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And how long have you been involved with media and
all that stuff?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Now it's been over a decade. I started off in Washington, DC.
My first job was with CBS Radio. Is one of
six to seven a fan had to show called the
Leavar Arrington Show, which had Dukes, was the number one
rated morning draft show or afternoon excuse an afternoon draft
show in the market. We did very well. I actually
(07:12):
was a writer, a blogger, and a video blogger for
the Washington Post. I did a column called hard Knocks.
It was interesting because at that point I was writing,
and I was doing radio, and I was doing television,
and that was when all of that that s the
proverbial s of the Penn State scandal hit the fan.
(07:37):
So I'm all in media when our darkest time as
an institution and a university hit, And so for me,
I felt like it was perfect timing in an honor
and a duty for me to be a beacon of light,
a person of support during those those dark times. A
(08:02):
lot of people really really turned their backs on us
as a school in an institution. Thought there was a
whole lot of unnecessary, unjust, unfair judgments that was passed
on all of us, as if all of us had
done something wrong, like we were this wicked, evil cult
that condoned doing all of these crazy things, and that
(08:27):
wasn't the case. And I wanted to make sure that
me having a voice in media, that I used my
voice in my platform to the better good of representing
our community and the best way that I possibly could.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Can you tell me about your high school recruitment? And
then when did you know it's gonna be pensate?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Who? So I was a senior in ninety seven and
I was highly recruited. I was actually highly recruited while
I was in the eighth grade, as the stores told
I was. Actually I grew to six ' three in
the sixth grade. I was dunking a basketball in the
(09:07):
sixth grade, So I was pretty I was pretty freakishly athletic.
I continue to kind of, you know, develop. I had
this love and passion for sports. I was a basketball
player first, but I'm from Pittsburgh, so I love football.
(09:29):
I played football. My family played football, uncles played football.
I grew up in football culture, and I was I
was what you would say someone who enjoyed athletics and competition.
Really it was really about competition. I was very competitive
and it ultimately led let me down the road being
(09:52):
a tailback and a linebacker playing football. So while I
was playing basketball and playing track, I really was garnering
a lot of attention playing playing football. I actually got
a letter from Miami. Miami was the first school that
sent me a letter. I was in eighth grade. Notre
(10:13):
Dame sent me a letter, Michigan sent me a letter.
It was some crazy school sending me letters. I mean,
my eighth grade year. But what happened was I was
playing ninth grade football because at school I went to,
they had a ninth grade team, they had a JV team,
they had a varsity team. So when I was in
the eighth grade, I was playing ninth grade ball. Somebody
sent my film out and you know, asked my measurables
(10:36):
and stuff like that, and they saw the footage of
what I was doing, and they were sending me letters.
Now they weren't offering me scholarships, but they were sending
a ton of letters. And so that was pretty cool
to kind of feel that relevance, cause you know, I
kind of was like one of those like, you know,
the black duck type of deal where you know, you
(10:57):
got all these pretty ducks, like my older brother was
straight a student, you know, super super well liked and
all that stuff, while I was like really rough around
the edges. I wasn't popular, you know, nobody really wanted
me around. I kind of got on people's nerves stuff
like that, Right, So I was like one of them
revenge type dudes, Like I'm in the gym. Started working
(11:21):
out because I couldn't beat up my older brother, Like
I was jealous of my older brother. He was great
at everything, including beating my ass. Right, So I started lifting,
and my whole motivation for lifting was to beat my
brother up at some point in my life, right, But
it turned into kind of like a salvation for me.
(11:44):
Exercise and working out started getting recruited, and so that
catalyst led to me being like ultimately competitive and very
very very in tune with what my accomplishments were achievements
were because nobody really wanted me around them for a
long time, right, So I started getting a lot of
(12:08):
great results on the field and another arenas I ran
a ten six ten seven one hundred meters. At one
point when I came to Penn State for camp, I
ran a four to three to eight electric clock time
forty at six three. So I was like doing some
like freakishly typed stuff while I was in high school.
(12:31):
And so for the longest time, I thought I was
going to either go to Florida State or go to
Miami because I was a big fan of linebackers. Wanted
to play linebacker, and I liked Ray Lewis and Derek Brooks.
Those were my favorite two linebackers in college. And Greg
(12:52):
Lloyd was obviously Pittsburgh Steeler. He was my favorite pro linebacker.
So I kind of patterned my style after that physical, violent,
type of mean type of type dude playing playing the game.
And a lot of schools were attracted to the way
I played the game because I was fast, and I
(13:12):
was physical and I was mean, and for the most part,
I felt like people acknowledged the fact that I had
a very, very high football IQ. So so my recruitment
was was pretty intense. You know, at some point, I
think I had about four packing boxes worth of letters,
(13:33):
like four like packing boxes, like tall packing boxes, like
full of letters, like if you'd have dumped them out
as crazy. How many people had you know, who knows
what they you know, if they wrote it or somebody
else wrote it, who knows. But I had offers from
everybody by probably my sophomore year into my sophomore year,
(13:56):
and and for me, the recruitment process was it was.
It was fairly simple because I kind of felt like,
in my mind I wanted to go to Miami. Some
stuff happened at Miami. They were going on probation by
the time I was going there, So I kind of
(14:16):
decided that Florida State recruited me, but they didn't recruit
me as hard as other schools. So it was kind
of like, if I go out of state and I
go play for a school like Florida State, they had
recruited and offered a few guys that were in state.
God by the name of Jamal Reynolds is one of
the names that sticks out to me that got recruited
(14:38):
to go there the same year as me, and I
just recalled myself thinking, if I'm going to play linebacker,
why would I not go to the school that's deemed
linebacker you And so that was when I started kind
of looking at Penn State a little bit harder. I
was already a fan because of the Fiesta Bowl. I
(14:59):
can remember the time and place where I was at
when they played the game with DJ Dozer and Shane
Conlin and all those guys, Ray Aisom and Bob White,
and it's just a host of amazing football players on
that team, and so I started like kind of really
really getting into Penn State football and fell in love
(15:24):
with it, and so I actually committed my junior year
of high school, got a tattoo on my arm and
everything of Penn State, and that was kind of That
was how the recruiting process went for me. I never
I took one official visit. It was to Penn State.
I honored my commitment to Penn State. Tom Bradley scrap
(15:49):
they called him. He recruited me, and you know, I
guess the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So two things stemmed from that. One, you say you
grew up in Pittsburgh. Are you Steelers fan or I am? Okay,
I'm as well. So second, you said Miami was the
first school to reach out to you. Who was your
first offer was at Miami or a different school?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
You know, I don't remember who the first offer was.
I really don't because at the point in time, like
I said, at the end of my eighth grade year,
I got so many letters that I just kind of
stopped paying attention to the letters. So I don't even
really know who was offering me when, but it was
a lot of them. It was there was a ton
(16:30):
of offers. And you know, this was pre digital age,
So imagine your house phone just ringing non stop and
so and then obviously receiving letters at school, receiving mail
at your house. There was no in boxing like slide
(16:54):
into DMS as a coach or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
No pusting offers on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
They was sending letters. Dog, It's the only way they
could get to you. I guess it's the only way
they could get to you or come see you. So
it was, you know, and I guess that makes me old.
But yet I don't recall who the first offer was.
I don't even recall what it sounded like or what
it felt like. I just remember I ended up building
(17:19):
a really really strong relationship with coach Bradley, and he
really really captured my imagination. He's actually the reason behind
me getting number eleven and starting the trend and the
tradition connected to eleven at Penn State. So we created
a super super dope relationship and it just kind of
(17:42):
went from there and I committed my junior year and
just never looked back.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
So your son, LaVar Arrington Junior is actually a the
second Yes, the class of twenty twenty five linebacker recruit
just ovd UCLA his official visits coming up at Penn
State June twenty. First, what are your thoughts on his recruitment,
how it might compare to yours, and where he may
end up.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
I went to a was considered a big school, a
power school. In high school. We were Quada and Western Pa,
and back then that was the highest level of competition,
and it was pretty high profile conference and a lot
of big talent came from where I was playing. So
the amount of attention and the amount of scrutiny and
(18:27):
just recruitment was was pretty high. My son goes to
a school named Charter Oak. It's not a modern day
It's not a D one school in the California area.
It was D four at one point. I think it
was D seven last year. It's like slight and scale,
but it's a smaller school, so the amount of attention
(18:50):
on him has not been as great. I brought him
along pretty slow, slowly. I didn't you know. He didn't
have the same path as me in playing the game.
He was more of a fan of the game. I
was a fan of the game, but I was more
so Trial by Fire, where I felt like we took
(19:14):
a really really educated approach and how he grew up
and how he developed, and so he didn't play football
for a while. I started at eight. I think he
started at like twelve thirteen, and so I think for
him it's definitely been an interesting journey. I got an
(19:34):
opportunity to coach him as his defensive coordinator as freshman year.
I saw a lot of potential in him, but I
didn't see him as being like an elite player. I
thought he could be, but I just didn't think that
he got it enough where I could actually stamp it
and be like dud dudes got it. And sophomore year
(19:54):
it was kind of much of the same. It was
like he gets to the ball really really quickly, Like
he gets there quick, but he don't finish. It's like
you're not a finisher. It's like kind of like you
do all that work to get to where the ball is,
but why you're not getting to the ball carrier or
taking them down is somebody else taking them down and
(20:14):
you're standing around the pal This last year, his junior year,
it was kind of the same for most of the season,
but you could see that there was a progression in
how he was doing things, and then we get to
the end of the season and he just had one
game where he just snapped out, like it was almost
like everything kind of clicked for him, and he grew
(20:37):
up like overnight. Like for me, I was old, Like
I was a whole back kid. They helped me back,
you know. And that's a big thing now is hold
guys back so they're more mature. And they had that
click moment earlier than their senior year, you know. So
he's seventeen. I was eighteen at this point in his career.
(21:00):
I was turning nineteen going into my freshman year. He'll
be eighteen, you know. And in fact, wherever he ends
up going, he'll be an early in row league, so
he'll be seventeen in his freshman year of college. So
I don't really judge him based off of me. I
don't do the comparison deal because he's young, you know,
he's younger than what I was. But after he had
(21:23):
that click moment, he's been a movie. He's been a movie.
And I'm not one to be braggadocious about my kids,
but he's actually he's developing and has turned into a
pretty special dude. Like he literally he tracks the ball
(21:45):
as fast and as quickly as as anyone I've seen
at the level, Like if I'm looking at everyone around
the country, he's in the top the top percentile of
guys with athletic ability and intelligence to diagnose. And he finishes.
(22:07):
Now that's been the biggest thing, will you finish? And
so he's now started to finish plays and it's taken
his game, like what it looks like, to a whole
entirely different level. So I'm pretty excited for him. As
you mentioned, we've been on these official visits and we're
seeing how all of that goes. He's narrowed down to
(22:27):
three schools, you know, Tennessee, UCLA, and Penn State. We're
just taking it day by day. But I think the
kid is pretty special. I'm certain that he is the
type of talent that if he just maintains a focus
and a level of hunger to continue to want to
(22:50):
learn and be better, I think his trajectory is pretty high.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And how do you handle that with obviously you guys
have as a family, have you ties Penn State? With
you going there having a ton of success. I mean,
Pen State's recruiting him now pretty heavy. So how do
you kind of balance that without being pushy.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
It's a good question, Dylan, because it's hard to say
that you can remove your emotions from it, Like for me,
the things that I was able to accomplish and the
things that I have experienced as LeVar Arrington, if you
can imagine, like why wouldn't you want to go to
(23:30):
the school where you come out if you make a
play the moment first of all, before you even come out,
make a play, the moment you commit to the school.
It's you've turned on the lights instantly, just based off
of your name. It's a blessing and possibly a curse
at the same time, because he's probably going to be
(23:51):
unfairly judged on the type of player that he is
and the type of plays that he makes and how
he makes them based off of what I did. But
I always say, the society and the culture we live
in today, they remember names, they don't really remember anything else,
you know. So I don't know that. I don't know
that he will have to deal with the intense scrutiny
(24:13):
the way I think or thought that he would have to,
because a lot of times people like there are a
lot of people like even with your video right like,
people were cutting me from the team, you know, they
starting Micah, they bench and our duel, they cut LeVar
right like. So a lot of people don't even really
remember who I am. So I think he would have
(24:33):
an opportunity to go to Penn State and be able
to build his own reputation and build his own legacy
void of it being in my shadow. But at the
same time, there are a lot of people that do
know who I am, and I think there will bring
a level of pressure. But for me, I feel like
he's been prepared for it. I mean, it's just kind
(24:54):
of something that he's always wanted to do. It's not
something that I put in front of him. So I
feel like whatever decision he makes, he's going to be
a pretty special dude wherever he goes. But if it
were to be Penn State, that would be pretty dope.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, that's probably a really cool feeling, is dad? If
that does come.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
To first, Yeah, yeah, it would be all right.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Do you have any particular memory or play or game
or anything that stands out about your college career as
a favorite.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Any particular play that stands out for me from college
or game. I'd say my last game sticks out. I'll
say this my first bowl game, in my last game,
which was my bowl game, stick out. My first bowl
game sticks out because I was on the field with
(25:43):
Fred Taylor and Javon Curse. And if you know those
two names, you look him up. If you don't know him.
Fred Taylor is one of the most gifted running backs
that I've ever faced in my entire life, probably the
most gifted running back that I've faced. And Javon Curse
is one of the most freakishly athletic dudes that you'll
(26:05):
ever see ever play the game as well. So I
got an opportunity to experience what greatness looked like outside
of my own team, because I had some greats on
the team with me. But outside of that, I got
to see a Florida team that was ridiculously talented, and
Fred Taylor and Javon Curse were on that field playing
(26:26):
for that team. I say my last bowl game the
Alamo Bowl because it was things coming full circle. There's
probably a whole bunch of other dudes on the other
side of that ball that were looking at me and
like that's LeVar Arrington, you know what I mean, Like dang,
like that's LeVar Arrington, which is like, that's what you
(26:48):
do this for, right, If you're going to play the game,
you play the game to have an impact where you
create something that's worth talking about, where you create something
that's worth and so that was that was probably the
most memorable because the performance that I put in for
(27:09):
my last game was pretty it was pretty undeniable. I
think got forced three three interceptions, I had like three
or four sacks, had like eleven twelve, I don't know,
thirteen tackles. It was something crazy. My stat line was crazy,
(27:29):
and I won MVP of the game. And I wanted
over all the defenders on the field, which obviously Brandon
Short is an amazing linebacker that I played for for
Penn State. Courtney Brown an amazing defense in that played
for the team, amongst others, Dave Macklin, you know, Mac Morrison,
(27:49):
you know David fleishawer Amani Bell, you know Justin Kurpeikis.
I mean it was our team was littered with town
and so to be able to finish my college career
where I got the most Valuable Player award for the
bowl game definitely stands out the most out of most
(28:12):
of the games, most other games that I went.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Through and she went.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
So a lot of people don't know about this, but
tell me a little bit about Adam Sandler and The
water Boy.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
So it's interesting. I told people, like a long time
ago when I was on my first radio show in Washington,
d C. That Adam Sandler came to Penn State, visited
with the team, visited with the managers, visited with coach.
He's a big, big Joe Paterno fan, and for his
(28:44):
time there, he actually studied me and what I was
doing for his role in The water Boy. And so
you know, he was sitting with me in the locker room,
asking me a ton of questions. Every other word was profanity.
He kept apologizing for cursing so much. It's kind of funny.
(29:04):
He's a funny dude in real life. And so yeah,
we had an opportunity to spend time. He wrote me
an autograph. And the coolest thing about it is a
lot of times celebrities are like very very disconnected, and
so I seen him like maybe like six seven years ago,
(29:27):
and it's maybe maybe even more. But I was at
the Super Bowl and he was on media row and
he came and sat down with us, and he told
the story like, yeah, I was there to study LeVar
Arrington to become the water Boys. So it was a
cool distinction. I like to believe I'm not the base character.
You know, I'm not what Bobby Bouchet is as a person,
(29:52):
but I was certainly a Bobby Bouchet with the way
he was running the plays and the way he was
making his plays during during the course of the movie,
he came and studied your boy yours truly for his
role as Bobby Bouchet, the water Boy, and I'm in
that ssence the water Boy.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Okay, So, as I previously mentioned, you were the second
overall pick in the two thousand NFL draft to the
Washington Redskins at the time, at one point in your career,
was it high school college.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Did you realize that you were going to make it
and go to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
It's an interesting question because if I'm being honest, I
think at eight years old, I looked at my mother
and I told her I was going to retire one
day and I was going to buy or her the
home of her dreams. Now I didn't, I guess, I
guess you could say it was it would be naive
to say I knew at eight years old, but I
(30:51):
just I believe in manifesting, and I just felt like
at that point in time, I played a couple of
games I had did really well, and I was just
confident in telling my mom that, you know, I'm gonna
retire you soon, and I'm gonna do all of these
things that are nice for you at some point in
(31:13):
the near future. And you know, that's that's kind of
what happened. You know, it was a driving force and
that's what what ended up happening.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
So right around when you retired, there was a motorcycle
accident that you were involved in. Is that the reason
you retired or was it something else or what was
the situation there.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
It's interesting because I don't really talk about it much
at all. I broke my arm, mangled my arm, my wrists,
like destroyed my wrists. They had to do a skin
graph off of my leg. The bike went into my leg.
I don't even remember it. It happened so quickly. A
(31:52):
lot of people report and say that I retired because
I wrecked the motorcycle, But I had I had checked
that I had been released from the giants and I
hadn't even finished my rehab for Michalles Tendon. I broke
up out of New Jersey and went back to Maryland,
back to where I felt like I belonged, and I
(32:15):
limped like I limped for like three years after I
blew my Achilles tendont and in my last season with
the New York Giants. So so for me, like I
was done playing football when I was sitting on the
turf in Texas Stadium looking around, smelling the popcorn and
(32:35):
you know, smelling everything. I took in the sites, I
took in the sounds because I knew in my heart
and in my mind that was the last time I'd
ever be on the football field this way. So but
you know, that's how the cookie crumbles sometime. And I'm
grateful for my time in the league. I'm also grateful
(32:59):
for the opportunit unities that I had and I have
based upon the person that I was and the player
that I was when I played the game.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Right, So, would you say it was pretty tough for
you to walk away from it or was Were you
satisfied with your body of work at the time?
Speaker 3 (33:14):
You know, I was satisfied. I knew I was going
to be a Hall of Famer, but I was definitely
satisfied with my body or work. I feel like I
left I left some things on the table, but sometimes,
you know, you leave things on the table, and you
don't always finish everything that's on your plate, and you
don't always you know, you try to put your best
(33:38):
foot forward, but it doesn't always happen that way. It
doesn't always play out the way that you had hoped,
imagined or thought that it would. And I feel like,
for all the things that I'm doing now to accomplish
and to be more in life, I don't know that
I would have been this motivated and this inspired for
(34:00):
this chapter of my life had I had the type
of career that I thought I was going to have
as a pro. So it ultimately worked out the way
that it was supposed to work out, because I'm so
inspired to be more in life, and I feel like,
ultimately the shortcomings of what took place when I was
(34:23):
in the league was a tremendous catalyst for me to
actually want to approach what I do in life even
more so intensely than what I had ever done at
any other point in my life.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
So switching gears looking at the current roster, it's the
linebacker room in particular. Is there anyone that really stands
out to you that people aren't paying enough attention to
or that you think could be due for a big season.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
So there's two names, and listen, Abdul moved from linebacker
and he's more of an age now and will be
a positive tributor as an age as as a move
around guy, but as a true linebacker. Kobe King has
got to be the most underrated linebacker in the entire world.
(35:15):
I mean, if you could carve out chisel up, put
the description next to the carving in the in the
sculpture of a man that Kobe King is like, that's
who would be the picture, the standard of the example.
(35:38):
I love his game. He plays physical, he plays fast,
He's got a nose and a knack for the ball.
You can tell he's super smart. And how it is
that he conducts the business and directs the players around.
I just think he's special. I really, really truly hope
(36:00):
he gets his just dude this year because he he
has been a guy for Penn State in college football.
I say the second name I would give you is
Tony Rojas. Everybody's buzzing about him, and they should be rightfully.
So he's athletic, he's big, he's strong, he's smart, and
(36:28):
he does things the right way. You know. I was
talking to man my son about Tony Rojas not too
long ago, and he was like, Dad, Dad, he's just
always in the gym. Like they had the spring game,
he was in the gym. They're like, you got to
get out of the gym. We got a game to play.
Da da da, And He's just looked at him and laughed. Said,
I wish I had that time. I had work ethic
(36:51):
and I worked my ass off, but I wish I
had the type of work ethic where I lived in
the gym, you know, I lived, lived in the meeting
rooms and did everything that I was required to do.
And then some I wish that was the way that
I approached my college career. I ended up learning that
(37:12):
later on in life. But I look at how he
prepares himself, and it's pretty second to none how he
prepares himself. And ultimately, I think those are the reasons
why guys like him ended up being so successful.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Right, I mean, you really saw the impact of that
his freshman year. As soon as he got on campus,
as soon as he was provided with those resources, the
nutrition program, the weight room, all that he went from
I think twenty five. Yeah, his weight in like one
off season. So as soon as he got those resources
provided to him, he was ready to go. Penn State
recently made a new hire at defensive coordinator then with
(37:54):
former Indiana head coach Tom Allen.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Do you have any thoughts on him or what he
might bring to the table.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Gonna bring an older an older feel like more of
a more of a fatherly It seems like he has
more of a fatherly feel, a fatherly vibe to him,
whereas like Manny and Pride, they were more like you've
(38:21):
related to them. I think Alan is like an old head.
You're not gonna relate to him. But sometimes when you
have coaches like Alan, guys gravitate to him and feel
as though they can trust him and feel as though
the things that he's saying are are accurate to the
(38:43):
success that you're seeking and the little things that you
need to do. And so I think their defense will
be I think they'll be pretty good this year. I
know they lost you know the two ends. You know
you lose chop, you lose a da those are big losses.
But Sutton and guys Devon on the inside, I mean,
(39:06):
you have some really you know, ourbdual is going to
be out there on the d line this year. You
have some really really special guys athletically and maturity wise
that are out there on the field. So I wouldn't
be surprised if this is a much more dominant defense
this year than what it has been in quite some time.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Right, And what do you think is of the team
as a whole? Do you have a record prediction or
anything like that for the year.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
You know, I think the team's going to have a
good year, but I always think they're going to have
a good year, and so they're not having a good
year until they're not having a good year, right. So
for me, I'm kind of a wait and see type
of guy. I'm optimistic that they can win the better
(39:57):
vast majority of of their games, but I don't I'm
a tad bit concern, maybe a tad bit nervous that
the scheduling and how hard the conferences are and everybody
loading up and gearing up to come to the Big
ten this year, and it's gonna be. I'm I'm concerned
(40:23):
if we lose. I'm concerned because there's there's all kinds
of crazy feelings circulating around about the head coach, and
for good or for worse, for for bad or for better,
he's gotta he's got to do something that ultimately moves
the needle in the right direction in terms of the
(40:46):
next level for for this team. And so we're gonna
have to wait and see how that all plays out.
But I'm I'm hopeful they st pawing the amount of
talent that we have on our roster that this new
offensive coordinator you know, has has our quarterback, has Drew Aller,
(41:11):
loosen up and just play his game. Get your proper reads,
know what your proper reads are, get out there, throw
the ball, you know, play your game. Because I think
Drew Aller is the first franchise quarterback we've had since
Carre Collins. And we've had a few good, good quarterbacks,
like you know, obviously Mike Mike Robinson is a dope name,
(41:37):
Daryl Clark is a dope name during that time period.
So we've had quarterbacks Hackenberg, you know, dope quarterbacks. So
but you know, you still got to get in there
and you still got to do it. And that's kind
of like the key to it, like get yourself prepared,
but you still got to get in there. You still
(41:58):
got to do it right.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
I'm personally bullish on Aler.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
I think if he has the right offensive coordinator that
it could unleash his potential.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
I mean the thing with Kyle Nikki.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Instead of trying to get the players to fit his scheme,
I think he's going to build a scheme around the
talent and where the offense is strongest. From a roster standpoint,
I think I'll kind of play off that. So I
think that could be a really positive thing.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
For the team.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
For sure. I like it.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
And before we get out of here, I have to
ask about Serena Williams. What was your interaction with her?
How did that all play out? Like, what's the what's
the deal there?
Speaker 3 (42:34):
You know, I never really talk about or discussed that
aspect that time, that that person I've been. I've always
felt like I need to be respectful of, you know,
the privacy of knowing her. Yeah, you never want to
be a person that's like, yeah, yeah, I know her.
You know that type of deal. Me and Serena at
(42:58):
one point were probably like friends. We ended up meeting
at an ESPN commercial shoot when they used to do
the commercial shoots that were like the you know, you're
walking through the office and something's going on. There's a
king chair and Lebron James is sitting in the chair
and like they were doing those funny, cool little little commercials.
(43:21):
So we were at the video shoot and we met
and we were cool. Like we ended up talking like
I had a thing for I'll admit that, Like, I mean,
who didn't have a crush on Serena back then? And
if you know you, especially somebody like you know me,
(43:43):
you know you'd have a crush. So it was kind
of like a crush crush deal. I talked to talk
to her manager. We ended up meeting and hanging out
and we were like we were pretty close for like
it was a few years. We hung out with each
other for a few years and some would say the
(44:04):
story would have it that we we I've never said
this out loud, but we actually dated. I'm saying I've
said it's like the first time I'm ever saying is
And we dated for a while. I went through I
(44:25):
went through a lot with her. We grew up a lot.
When she was transitioning from being a a star tennis
player to a superstar tennis player. I was there and
(44:47):
I got to see the rise of her going from
being a star with the beads in her hair, like
she was still wearing beads. This goes back to like
early two thousands, and then she transitioned into being a
young woman, like being a woman and being like Serena,
(45:09):
you know, and you know that was it was pretty
pretty cool. It's pretty interesting because you're hanging out with
somebody they say you are the company that you keep,
you know, And so I was hanging out with somebody
who would eventually be the greatest, you know, one of
the greatest athletes. I won't even just put her under
(45:31):
greatest woman athlete, female athlete, Like she's one of the
greatest athletes of all time and easily dominated this last
generation of athletics. So it's pretty cool to know that
someone who accomplished everything that I would have wanted to
(45:53):
accomplish was able to do it. And so I never
really talked about, you know, well, why didn't it work
out or you know, why didn't you guys stay together?
And we were young. You know, we were like literally
we were we were young. I was just coming into
the league. There was just a lot of different things
(46:16):
going on, a lot of different powers pulling this way
that way, and it just it didn't it didn't kind
of solidify itself that way. But yeah, I was always
a fan of her, continued to be a fan of her,
you know, and and and what her endeavors were in
(46:37):
her life was still to this day, keep up with
what she's got going on. And I am a fan
of you know, her accomplishments and and different things like that.
So but but yeah, I mean I may have I
don't know. I think there was a book that was written.
(46:57):
I don't know, as they say that, you know, I
might have had a negative impact on her. I don't
know why that would be, you know, but I felt
like we were always really cool. I got to know
the family really well. I was around when you know,
her sister, you know, tragically, you know, had her, you know,
lost her life. I was around, you know, I was around,
(47:22):
and and but you know, life, life went on. It's
kind of interesting, you know, every once in a while
you think about, like, you know, did I make the
right decisions? You know, definitely definitely did. I definitely did. Yeah,
(47:47):
I definitely did. But but nonetheless, it definitely was a
time where we were we were we were really close,
you know, we were close to one another, and I
went to to went to tennis matches, was a part
of the like the tennis community and stuff like that,
(48:10):
and you know, seeing a lot of stuff, man, seeing
a lot of stuff. So that's the Serena story. Super
proud of you, Serena, and super proud of what she's accomplished.
And yeah, like that was that was a long time ago,
but absolutely was something that was something at one point.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
All right, Well, I think that's going to do it
for episode one of the Penn State Pulse.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
Thank you guys so much for watching. Thank you LeVar
for hopping on.
Speaker 3 (48:43):
Appreciate having me.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
Sure you'll be on here again as we're working together.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
I'm looking forward to seeing what you do, man, I
really am. I'm excited about what you bring to the table.
I think the stuff that you do as funny as hell.
I think you're you're pretty creative, and I'm really really
looking forward to seeing the content that you produce and
where it all goes. So appreciate you having me on
as the inaugural the first the first of the podcast
(49:12):
shows officially under disrupt U p s U. That you've
done so I appreciate you having me. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Definitely a lot of fun and unique content on the way,
but for now signing off.
Speaker 2 (49:23):
Thanks again for watching. Thanks
Hosts And Creators
LaVar Arrington
TJ Houshmandzadeh
Plaxico Burress
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Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.