December 18, 2024 • 41 mins
On the latest NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, former defensive back Coy Wire joins Peanut and Roman. Coy talks about playing both running back and linebacker at Stanford before being drafted to play defensive back and having to cover Randy Moss. Coy then explains why he decided to go into journalism after football, what it is like to work at CNN, and shares stories from the Paris Olympics. He also looks back on the emotional story he reported about Peanut and his daughter’s heart surgery.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm cooy Wire, former Buffalo Bill and Atlanta Falcon, current
CNN anchor in correspondent, and you're watching NFL Players Second
Acts Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Thank you for tuning into the NFL Players Second Acts Podcast.
I'm Peanut Tillman and this is my guy, Roman Harper.
What stuff? How you feeling? Are you gonna bring the
energy today? Well?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I feel all right because you feel your incumbent with
a weird nickname though, that was awesome. But I will
first and foremost like to thank iHeartRadio for allowing us
to be in their studios today right here in midtown Atlanta.
Believe is the name of the location, or if you
want to be very fancy, the upper west side of Atlanta.
So it sound right. It doesn't even sound right, Peter,
(00:44):
it doesn't even sound right. You know, we fancy today,
So here we go. Tell us about our next guest.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Our next guest is a ten years that in the
NFL for the Bills and the Falcons, and he was
team captain for both of those teams. He is a
CNN correspondent, he is a play by play by play
caller for the Falcons, and he's an author. Ladies and
Gentleman please welcome to the pod. Corey wire Yay, happy
(01:09):
to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Fellows appreciated the blessing us. Man, it is my pleasure.
I have to tell you. You know, we didn't chat
before this, but I've been watching you guys the podcast
and it is so powerful. I was brought to tears
of the episode with John Abraham, former teammate of Mind.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I encourage everyone out there if you haven't seen it,
watched the episode with John Abraham.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You know that's a.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Guy who I did not know all he was going
through and that was my teammate. Yeah, and I wish
I would have known I could talk to him more,
you know, as one of the team captains, that's what
you take pride in doing. But for him to be
so open with you all, and that's a big credit
to you all for the conversation you allowed him to
have and share with the world. As you mentioned, it's
going to impact the lives of so many people, not
(01:52):
just former football players, people around the world who are
going through some troubles and find a way to get through.
Here in his story, man, I was so power So
I commend you all, yeah, for what you're doing, the
work you're doing the time you put in to help
us share our stories and hopes that it can help
someone else.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
It's good stuff. I love that, man. I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
First and foremost, I'll received that we're starting off with
good vibes already. But the fact is, like, when you
have people like a John Abraham Good up there and
talk about those stories, and people like him that are
so talented, so good that we don't know that are
really struggling, I'm like, you become a light and you
shine so bright that it allows others to be seen
that are up under you that can't be seen or
(02:32):
don't have the voice or the platform to talk about
these things because they truly feel like nobody will hear them.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And I think it's so much more powerful when it
comes from former NFL players who a lot of people
will look at it and think they're superhuman, they're invincible.
And when they hear that even a John Abraham, a
Roman Harper, Charles Tillman goes through some things and like
life is tough, even they go through it and can
make it through that, maybe I can too, right, Yeah,
it makes you feel that comfort so well.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
First and foremost, you led Stanford in rushing one year
you let them tackles, and.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
How do you do that? Like, how does were there
were there no athletes or I think we had? How
did that one draft picks?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
My senior year, we Tyrone willing Ham was our head coach. Yeah,
one of uh with the icons of my life as
far as coaching and leadership, and my freshman year led
the team in rushing. But like six six games in,
I break my thumb, I have two pins put in.
That next year we had two running backs come in freshman,
(03:31):
Kerry Carter and Brian Allen, and they too would one
day go on to play in the NFL. So you
had three future NFL players of your team playing the
same position. So that next year we're each playing a
third of the time. You can't have three of your
best players like rotating in a third of the time.
So that next year, coach Willingham said, coy, how would
you like play defense?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
One of you has to do it?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
We think you do, yes, coach, yes, coach, Like did
I want to know, like was my dream to be
a running back in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
But that yes coach mentality just opened so many doors
for me. I went in and and just you know,
went went all out. Being a running back helped me
be I was a linebacker, you know at this size,
but I thought like a running back. So that helped
me a lot of holes. So yeah, I spent my
last two years as a linebacker. There, got drafted as
(04:18):
a safety to Buffalo, never played safe to port and
never had the back pedal in my life. And there
I was trying to have to cover Jerry Rice and
Randy Mosson as a rookie.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
As a young, dumb rookie, right, So.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
But it was just that, you know, they draft me,
you know, won't play defensive back, yes, coach, And so
it's just I just kind of ride the wave.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Had you ever played defense before or was it always
just offense? Like growing up it was I was always
running back in high school. I did play defense, but
it was never a focus of mine.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I mean I I mean, yeah, yeah, I was like
an edge guy. I literally was just an edge guy.
But I would carry the ball like thirty forty times
a game.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But to me, though, you're that much better than everybody
else because you took a you went and got drafted
and played a position that you really didn't know how
to play and you made it work and you played
ten years like that. That's extremely impressive. Yep.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I'll use a quote that I will never forget. When
I was at Stanford and Dusty Baker, the legendary baseball
manager and player, Tyron williham our coach, brought him in
to speak to us one day out there in the
Bay Area team meeting, and he says, man, we've accomplished
nothing in and of ourselves. If we think we have,
we are foolish. We're nothing more than a conduit of
knowledge and information. And I'll never forget that, because you know,
(05:37):
every point in my life, I've always had people help
me achieve things that I could have never done on
my own. So when I got drafted to the NFL
to play defensive back again, never had to backpedal in
a game in my life.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I had coach.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Steve Jackson was my defensive backs coach and he's now
with the Tennessee Titan, still coaching. I think he should
be a coordinator someday. He's an incredible genie. He was
a hell of a player, played nine years in the
league as a small defensive back, tough as nails. He
would spend so much time. You know, coaches spend a
lot of time already. He would spend extra like late
(06:11):
into the night, early before everyone got there, watching film
with me, getting me caught up to speed of how
to be a defensive back in the NFL. I had
London Fletcher, who should be in the Hall of Fame.
And when that first game, well so my fifth year
and I had to switch back to linebacker because we
had some injuries, like Coy. If something happens to Angelo Crowell, man,
you're gonna have to go in.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Go.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
This is a Thursday, go in the linebacker meeting room.
And so there were playing the Chargers. Sure enough, first series,
crow I think had like a fracture in his leg
that they didn't even really know.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
So they're like, why are you in?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I go in the game now at linebacker for the
first time in the NFL, and London Fletcher's beside me,
and before every play he's like, cooy, koy, Coy, come come,
come this way. It's gonna be power. Oh this way,
sure enough, power this way.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Boom.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
There I am tackling future Hall of Fame really Danian
Tomlinson like, and then London Fletcher like and Takio Spikes
and having those guys beside me and Troy Vincent's behind me,
and the defensive backfield I Lawyer Maloy that I played
their safety with for a while, like Pierson prelu Isael Reese.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
These guys helped.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Me more than they ever know, Like I was just
watching and listening and observing like some of these incredible players.
And so I can't really take credit because without them
I would have never done and their willingness to help,
I would have never been able to do what I did.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
What was your first welcome to the NFL moment?
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, the first walk in the NFL moment was when
I I had never seen an NFL game in person,
and so there I was with the Buffalo Bills and
running through that tunnel on game day and man, tears
were just blowing down.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm like, how am I gonna play this game? Right now?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I'm crying like a baby right now. So that was
one of them. Another one there in Buffalo when you
know we're in a huddle, it's a big third down
and big defensive tackle Pat Williams.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, big guy, some.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Veteran, and I'm in the huddle. I'm like, come on, boys,
this third down, let's go do this. Man shut the
hell up. And I'm like, Okay, this is a rookie, right,
this is a rookie. But that kind of put me
in my place a little bit.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
But you were too excited. I was a little too.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Excited, jes Yeah. So those But then like on the field,
welcome to the NFL moment. We're playing against the Vikings
my rookie year, and Randy Moss was a receiver. I'm
playing deep a haf safety and he starts running down the
sideline go route, staring me in the eye, puts his
(08:36):
hand up like the staring me in the eyes. Here
comes the ball, stirring up like the ball's coming. I
just come over and blast him. Ball wasn't even close yet.
You're not catching this ball on me, But just remember
seeing that eye contacted him, just striding out putting his
hand up.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I was like, yeah, I'm with the big boys. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
It's so funny, how like those moment butch you remember exactly,
like the little small details like this guy literally looked
at me.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, I'm like, I didn't throw his hand up like
throwing boys now. Yeah, we used to call that the
hot head Oh, that's funny the high end. He was
good with that. Where did your journey start? Like where
did the journalists come from? Like where did you want to?
Or why did you want to get into the media space?
Like where did that come from?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
I didn't know I wanted to when I first was
done playing, Like you have to be so locked in
to be an NFL player.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
At least I did. I couldn't have.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
They always did a good job of Like do some
internships think about life after football? I couldn't because if
I did, I would lose my edge.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I was never the biggest, fast, or stronger. I had
to be all in. And so when football was sitting
taken away from me, I was hurting, Like I I
I lost who I was. I was an empty shell
of myself because my entire life that's what I was,
That's who I was. And when I didn't have that
to wake up to in the morning, it hurt. I
(10:00):
remember in the middle of the nights, I would wake
up my heart's racing, my arms are numb, and I'm like,
am I having.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Like a heart issue?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
A stroke? What's happening to me? And my wife's psychology major,
Thank goodness, she said, I think you're having panic attacks anxiety.
It's actually like me, what, No, Like I looked at
all the symptoms, like, yeah, I'm having anxiety attacks and
panic attacks like this up here was affecting all of this.
And it's like, but I know, I have a degree
from Stanford. I could go back to school, I could
(10:30):
be a lawyer, I could go do whatever. There's so
many things I could do. But it's like, no one
ever asked you when you're growing up, what's the second
thing you want to be when you grow up? Like
we get to live our dream and so that's yeah.
So it wasn't until I said, you know what, I
just need something to do each and every day, something
that is my new mission, right, And so I knew
(10:50):
I always wanted to like write a book to like
share some of the tips and tricks that helped me
overachieve in my life that maybe kids could take something from.
And so I started doing that. As soon as I
started doing that and have that new passion, that new mission,
I've started to feel so much better. And it was
very cathartic to be able to do that. And with
(11:11):
the media, you know, as an NFL player, REP I
was often talking to the media. And at some point
about a year after I went through all that struggle
and that adversity mentally emotionally, a friend of mine said, hey,
you were always good talking to the media.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Maybe you should be the media.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You know, I can connect you with somebody to maybe
give you an opportunity. And then Pack twelve Networks gave
me a shot. They let me call four games, Like
you've never done this before, We'll let you call four games.
After that, they're like, well that was pretty good. You
want to sit in a studio show the rest of
the time. And that's how it all happened. I mean
it was really like I didn't once I got into it,
and then that, like I said, that became my new game.
(11:48):
Then I really started to be passionate about it and
sharing stories and telling stories.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I can mean you for the game calling.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I called one game, like a couple of weeks ago,
he called me it was I bro was I was like, yeah,
I'm not, that's my thing.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
That's not my thing. Like it's it's tough.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Three and a half hours of breaking news. You don't
know what the story is going to be.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Who's the story? And you talk about ten or fifteen
stegas and you stop and then.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
It's a dance that you don't realize they make a dance.
I always say in the media, it's not easy to
make it look easy, and like the play by playing
the analysts and NFL game, they're like the epitome of
that where like.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That ry though, yeah, yeah, you got you gotta have chemistry.
You have to study your stuff, know your stuff.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
And you might have to be ready to like pivot
and not use any of it because correct you can
come in with this narrative of what this game is
going to be and the game rolls out completely different.
So everything you thought was going to happen, yeah it happens.
You got to be ready for that too. And so
that's what live football is when you're calling the game
in a studio.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Man, you know, it's one of my favorite things to
do is call the Falcons preseason games. It's a blessing
to have that opportunity, but doing it for about six
years now and then the preseason is so much tougher
because the fosters are so much you know, and so
my spotting board as they're called, we have our little
boxes with the player's name number and where they went
to school, maybe some stats about them. It's like this
big at the end, though, I always say, you know,
(13:12):
like I'm going to do all the work and prepare
and be kind of ready, but like you said, you
never know what the day is going to be like,
So when when it's game day, I just say, you
know what, I'm just gonna sit and watch as a
fan and like see what's happening and share that story
in the moment, whatever it may be. And that always
helps me. I pretend like I'm talking ball with some friends,
like what I'm seeing and what I think is happening.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So but yeah, it's it's a beast. It is not
easy to make it look easy. Na. It was probably
my first one, and that was my first time ever
doing it like live, Like I never practiced. They were
just like, hey, we want you to call this Bears
Jaguars game live go. I was like, okay, yes, coach, Yes, coach, yes, coach,
(13:56):
And probably my first and last. Like it's I'm a
studio man all day.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
So you mentioned about the panic attacks and all those
other things. What advice would you give to somebody that's
maybe going through something where they don't know they had
anxiety for the first time. They've been really good at
all these things in life, and all of a sudden
they hit a wall and they're no longer being able
to do those same things, and they don't know what
(14:23):
that feeling is. What would you give them advice to
maybe help them get through that or see through it
the way you did, Maybe not in the same fashion.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, but what was your advice?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
The first thing is acceptance, Like be honest with yourself,
just like even though you thought you were invincible and
nothing like that, whatever happened to you? Just like, no,
this is the reality of my situation right now, I'm
hurting mentally, emotionally.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
That's one.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
The second thing is don't be scared to share that, right,
whether it's with your spouse, you another, your parents. So
friends be vulnerable, like it's okay, hey, to not be okay,
and you be shocked at like the amount of people
someone might say one thing that helps you put things
in their perspective, and they'll also help remind you that
(15:11):
maybe it's not as bad as you think it is.
And because sometimes up here we are affected by what
we think others are thinking and and so yeah, so
those are my two things. Just acceptance and then be
vulnerable and share because because our human spirit, like I
think human nature is to help others, is the one
(15:33):
to be there for people, and your pain and your
struggles might be exactly what someone else needs. They need
someone to help, and you're going to impact their life
in a positive way. You think you're going to be
a burden, but you're not. So I think as football
players mentally physically tough, that's where we're born, bred, raised, trained,
right invincible, cutthroat mentality, invincible. So it's understanding that that
(16:00):
former NFL players would feel that way.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
But once the.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Game is over, I think you do away with that
life and now you just realize I am human because
I think we fool ourselves and think we are. We
get that Superman complex and so, but we're not.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But that's the cliche part about it, though, is like
you you're the tough guy and then all of a
sudden you have to be reminded or you have to
you have to make that switch. And that's to me,
I think that's probably the hard part, is just trying
to make that switch to say, all right, well maybe
I can be vulnerable, maybe I can share this with
someone or say that I'm not okay today mentally, I'm
(16:37):
in a bad place, i feel depressed, or I'm whatever.
But I think it's it's allowing that person to make
that shift. And we said it yesterday we're talking a
couple of other people. It was like, we got to
give ourselves grace. You definitely got to give ourselves grace.
And that's something that I think we as football players,
we don't we don't do once we retire. We still
(16:58):
want to have that that mentality. And when you go,
when you're going through it, you don't realize you're going
through it because it's probably something it's a new experience,
it's a new emotion, it's a new feeling that you
haven't quite felt, and you don't know how to navigate
through these waters.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yep, you know, yeah, I think you know, my wife
taught me really how to open up because in early
in our relationship and even sometimes to this day, like
I try not to burden her with my burdens, like
I feel like i'm you know, misery doesn't love.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
You know, company, right like they say it does.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Your company doesn't love your misery, right, So yeah, So
that's the way I always felt and so like and
I do want her to think I'm strong in that
and I'm tough. And she said, Queen, you stop doing that,
like I'm your teammate, like I'm here to help you.
I don't think less of you if you're feeling down
or you're feeling low, or you can't figure something out
(17:56):
or this that the other thing. So that's where it
all started for me. I was unfortunate that my wife
Claire has really helped me be that way. And then
you just realized that like that, that is normal to
be that way, and it was abnormal the way we
were trained.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Absolutely absolutely, Yeah. I was one of my workout partners.
He has really helped me put it into words. He
was like, you know, when you're the former football player,
you the way you've lived your life, the way your
mindset has been. At some point you got to learn
to be comfortable with being the warrior in the garden,
Like you don't need to wear your armor anymore. You
can be like and it's okay, and it's really uncomfortable
(18:34):
at first, but learning how to be cool with being
the warrior in the garden and understand like it's still
in you the warror mentality is in you, but you're
just in the garden.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
You just got to be cool with that.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I'm like, I know what, that makes a lot of senny,
just like, Okay, we saw and.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Just move on.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
So, uh, we'll be back in a minute. How did
you get to see an It like very non traditional
arts path. It's not a lot of former athletes that
get to work for the news side of the television stide.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So I spent a year a PAC twelve Networks. Then
I did three years at FS one with Fox Sports.
And at times when CNN would have a big news story,
it's like, you know, dealing with concussions, this is abauck,
like twenty ten, twenty eleven, they would call me as
a former NFL player to get my thoughts on what's happening.
And so I was a guest and so they were
kind of aware of me. And then I remember I
(19:31):
was at a Super Bowl one year and the head
of CNN Sports at the time came up and said,
we've been watching you. We've been putting together a sizzle reel.
I send it up to New York. How do you
feel about covering all sports? And I said, yes, coach, Yes, coach,
you'd be able to stay here in Atlanta, CNN headquarters.
I was flying every week to the West Coast, so
you know, we didn't have children yet, but I was
(19:51):
missing my wife and you know, a little more quality
time and all that and just that opportunity. Didn't really
know what I was getting into, but I did like
the prospects of it, and thank goodness I did, because
here I am now my ninth year at CNN, and
it's just it's just been incredible.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
It's my new game. It's a TV is a lot
like football.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I mean, I have my locker room, I have my
my writers, my editors, my producers. I have my position coaches,
my head coaches. And when I'm on that TV, just
like on an NFL game day, if I didn't get
my stuff together, if I wasn't prepared, if I missed
a tackle, it's not just on me, because now I'm
putting that guy behind me in a compromising position and
he might miss a tackle. His jobs now on the line.
I like that pressure to perform. I think NFL players
(20:32):
we all like that pressure to perform and that accountability.
And it's not just me, but this team and our
mission is dependent on me being the best I can be.
And so that's how I approach every hit, every show,
study my butt off, and be ready to tackle it
full throttle. Knowing that I got people dependent on me,
I would be the best teammate I can be. So yeah,
CNN is it's been. It's been awesome for me, and
(20:55):
we'll see how much longer I can keep this thing rolling.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
What the expectations because you work for a news company
and seeing it, but the expectations of covering sports, which
is what you do a lot of times, like, what
are the expectations of it?
Speaker 2 (21:09):
How is it different?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Kind of break it all down for me, because it's
very like, Okay, this is what it was, and then
you guys move on.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
They don't. It's not it's more tree top level sometimes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
So being a news anchor, news correspondent or a reporter,
it's so much different than what we're so accustomed to
in today's world with sports media, where it's a lot
of opinion and analysis, and I mean I really can't
do that. I really just tell you the what and
let you decide what to think. Like I can't give
my opinion or all the mindsets it's totally different, and
(21:43):
it was really tough for me at first because I
started at Pack twelve Networks and that's one as an
analyst where I can like really bring the heat like.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
We see you know, like you do right sec. So
that was tough for me.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
But at the same time, I like it because I
don't have to be critical of someone.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah. Yeah, topic, So that's my thing.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I study my butt off to know the facts of
what happened, when it happened, how it happened. I tell
you what, letting viewers decide what to think. That's just
my job. So I appreciate that aspect of it. And
the most fun I have is getting out in the
field when I get to be around these events and
share that story and take the viewers there. But yeah,
(22:27):
it's good. I get to do a wide range of things.
I'll anchor on Ciena International a show called World Sport.
It's a thirty minute show every day, and having to
learn about cricket and F one and European soccer and
all that.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
The real football, as they say, cricket is crazyrick is crazy.
Still don't I still don't quite understand all the rules
to forever yes, yes, days.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
The game can go for days, so yeah, I mean
I get to do that obviously, I says the correspondent
type work. And then one of my most favorite things
to do is CNN ten. It's a ten minute on
my new show, and it's geared towards the next generation.
It's in schools all across the world. We get about
three million viewers per episode. And I love that because
(23:11):
I rarely talk sports, are covering the news of the day.
But I know the impact I'm able to have on
that next generation and that's powerful stuff. So I felt
like that was my next step at CNN, something that
I could do break out side of sports. And I've
been doing that for two years now and that's become,
you know, my passion. So do you remember the Do
you remember Channel one?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Channel one? So you had Chris Cooper, Chris Craig Jackson,
Chris Jackson, a Lisa Lane. It kind of reminds me
of something similar to that. I used to watch it
in YEP, like junior high and it was ten fifteen
minute news about current events, yep, and that's what it is.
It kind of seems like it's something similar. It's exactly
(23:53):
like that a newer generation of it.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yep, it's exactly like that quick ten minute shows teachers.
We release each episode the night before so teachers can
get eyes on the topics and so they'll create lesson
plans around it. They'll quiz the students on the content
that they saw. And the biggest thing I learned that
about that being a journalist in the news was like
the power of words, even a single word. So I'll
(24:15):
give you an example, Like we were doing a story
about the border wall, right and President Joe Biden said this,
and someone wrote a story that day. We have writers
who can write the stories for us, and the writer
put Joe Biden said this about the border wall. Even
former President Trump said that, And it was that one
(24:35):
word even that implied that you were almost surprised that
even Donald Trump would say that. But you don't do that,
like that's showing bias. And so it was just simply
President Joe Biden said this, a former President Donald Trump
said this, But do you see how that one word is,
like even he said it, you know, and I don't
want to be that, Like I can't be that for
(24:56):
these kids or for those teachers who are trusting me
to be the giver of this information and this news
to their students, and so, like, I really take pride
in that. That's where I kind of came up with
that word, I tell you the what, letting you decide
what to think, so that it just I learned about
the power of words and even just a single word
(25:16):
can have and make a huge difference on how the
information is received or how you're sharing a story.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Peanut, what do I say all the time? Words matter?
All the time? Yeah, that's a huge thing for me.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
My wife hates it because I'm like, I say it,
I'd use I stole it.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Hey, words matter, they do.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Words truly truly matter, matter, And it's a difference between
you are and you're acting.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Like that's correct and even to ourselfs especially right like
those words. Like we were at work today in between
the show, one of my producers we have a papa shot.
He's like, I'm gonna break the rector today. But he
goes to start the game. He says, oh man, my
arm's tired. I'm like, you're done. Like you careful what
you say because you're gonna believe it. You already said
you're done, so you're not giving yourself the best opportunity
(25:59):
I learned learned from One of my heroes growing up
in the football world was Walter Payton, and I've read
books about him, Never Die Easy. One of his books,
he talked about how he when he would get an
ankle injury. This is a guy who spent what sixteen
years in the NFL, I think, and only missed one game,
and that was because his coaches wouldn't let him as
a running back. Yeah, and not a big running back,
(26:21):
but he was tough as nails, and when he would
get an ankle injury, he would lie in bed and
tell himself, I'm getting better. I feel good, I feel great.
My ankle is fine. Ankle is fine. He would picture
of tiny men going and working and repairing his ankle.
I'm good, I feel great. That power of the mind,
he believed that it affected his body and kind of
the proof is in the pudding right with that, So
(26:42):
I think, yeah, words matter for sure, and if you
look at the grace of the grace, they are very
aware of the thoughts that can affect the things.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, I'm trying to be better about that in golf
because like a lot of negative things.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Come out of my mouth about my own self at golf.
Is there someone that you want an interview that you
haven't interviewed yet after wise or just just a person
in jail. Well, it used to be the rock. It
used to be the rock. But I did get the interview,
and you guys are kind of doing the eyebrow people.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, we had a fine interview, No, man, because I
get just as excited from an interviewing an athlete like
an Alana mar that you may be never heard of
as I do a superstar.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
I don't you know, have anybody that I actively seek.
I just seek those stories that I think people need
to hear. And that's what I love showhow me?
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Is there one unique story that's like, man, this story
like shook me or shocked me.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
When I actually covered.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Well, I get emotional a lot like when I interview
people I learned, like read a long time ago. One thing,
if you can get someone to cry or in an interview,
that's powerful stuff because you know they're really opening up.
And there's this one interview a few years ago. It
was a guy, I mean, I just was taken back
by his selflessness, former NFL player and he was doing
(28:02):
this rowing across Lake Michigan to like raise awareness and
funds for children's pediatric cancer initiatives. And his name is
Charles Tillman. And here we were a few years ago,
sixty five miles more than twenty four hours across Lake Michigan.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Yeah. What kept you going? The people, the fans, the people,
the heroes that we honored on the front of our boat.
The purpose of why I was doing it, you know,
Pi I could cancer research, and it was just it
was a great CAUs man. And the people that rallied
in came to our support was it was truly pronable.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
What was it like when you saw Tiana and the
rest of your family and former teammates they're supporting you
had to finish.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I got emotional. I started to cry. O me what
I was? What hit you? The support hit me? One? Two?
I was extremely tired. And three the people that were
on the front of our boat, the boat some of
them had passed away, and to know their struggle of
what they dealt with and what they had to deal
(29:07):
with and go through day in and day out, and
it just man, it just it just it hit me.
And it was Yeah, it hit me like a ton
of breaks, and that emotion is powerful.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
The wise man once said, nothing great happens without inspiration.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah, yeah, what's yours? Them? Them? My daughter, she's my
inspiration for me to go through twenty five hours or
on a boat. To me, that's nothing compared to what
these what these kids have to go through.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Take us back to when that the heart failure, the
heart transplant was affecting your family, your six month.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Old daughter there in the hospital. What was that like?
I was just like, oh wow, this is she could
she could die? What in the world? And you know,
fast forward to her getting a heart for three three
months later. It's the best day of your life, but
it's the worst day of your life because you know,
you're happy your daughter is living and receiving a heart,
(29:59):
but you know somewhere else in the country that someone
else's child died and my daughter would be the recipient
of my heart. It just goes to show the true
spirit of humanity and caring and loving and giving.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Man, it's just your heart got me that day like that.
You did that, Yeah, and for whom you did it.
You talked about all the names of the people on
that boat that you were rolling for. How you afterwards
you cried.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Yeah, you know that's what you told me that today,
And I think this is the type of thing that
people need to see more of from professional athletes, former
football players, like they don't understand, but more than just
football players, you know.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
So those are the type of stories like that one
got me.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
That one Look at that, dude, that one got me,
and you're still doing it today.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Yeah you today. Yeah, that one got me. Yeah, damn you, Thomas,
damn me, Thomas. Yeah, that one got me. Yeah, man,
you're a good man.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
And you know, those are the type of things that
I think people need to realize more. You know, it's
so easy to hate on pro athletes and think they
are invincible, but like we're such good people and that
it's more way more than not. But in the media
often we see the not and so I feel it's
a blessing to be able to share stories like Charles
(31:20):
and other athletes out there who are so much more
than just athletes.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
So I just love the.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Fact that, you know, I learned this years ago from
a pastor friend of mine, was that once you become
affected by something, you'll become an advocate for it forever.
And so Pinut and his family were affected by something
very very unique, and it's really really cool to see
like the journey that has started and the things that
Peanut and his foundation and other things have been able
to do because of one situation and he didn't let
(31:47):
it tear him down or his daughter tear her down,
and it's really cool and it can get us all
choked up over this, and it's just like it's just
a passion and it's like the things that the power
that we have to do when we decided to.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
So so thank you guy.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Sorry surprise you like that, man, But when I knew
I was coming here with you, and I wanted to
share that story again because it deserved to be told.
So shout out to the team for keeping it a secret.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I receive it. Yeah, it was. That was a good time.
But like you said, man, you go through something and
you know, for her to have a heart transplant and
that whole thing, and you see, like day I was affected,
our family was affected, Our family and friends were affected
by it, and you know, trying to take a negative
and turn it into something positive and just bless other
(32:35):
people because we were blessed with her receiving a heart transplant.
So I wanted to take that blessing and bless other
people and just keep it, just keeping going and paying
it for that. I can't pay it back, so I
just want to.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Because our tough times can make us tougher strength through
our struggles, right absolutely, and the strongest burning.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
The hottest coves.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Man, It's all how we were all going to go
through it in some form of fashion. It's how you
let it affect you moving forward and you're doing the
best of the best with it.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Man.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Yeah, I want to know what it was like though,
to cover the Olympics in parents. The Olympics are such
a huge event, especially the Summer Olympics, and what it
means to so many different countries, all the different countries there, Like,
what was that experience like to just be around all
of the Olympics in what the events are.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
It's my most favorite event to cover because it is
the best of sports on full display. And what I
feel the best of sports is, especially in today's world,
is bringing people from all different socioeconomic, racial, gender backgrounds,
all these difference differences. It doesn't matter who you are,
what country you came from, You're all coming together for
(33:44):
this common love of sport and you're embracing and you're
hugging and you're high five. And football is a lot
like that, as we know, right, those locker rooms get
that we bring together so many different types of people
and we respect one another. Olympics is that full throttle, right,
And so that is the first thing that I really
(34:05):
appreciate about. The second thing the athletes that you interview,
they don't get microphones in their face, open lockers every day.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, the Olympic sports are completely different. Yes, So they're
not jaded.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I mean, you know, we understand it can be tough
sometimes to talk to media. Right, every day, they get
their one moment maybe once in their lifetime, maybe once
every four years, and so they are so open and
eager to share their story. And that's what you love
as a journalist, right. You want someone, you want to
be that conduit for those good stories. And so I
(34:39):
just love how humble and passionate they are for that
one big moment and I get to share that story.
So it's such a blessing. On the work side of it,
it's a grind. I mean, it's three and a half
weeks straight with a lout, a full month of maybe
four or five hours of sleep every day because it's
around the clock. You're either going to an event, You're
either going to an interview, you're either on air a
(35:02):
live window. And so I usually get sick at the
end of every Olympics. My body gets round down. So
screw you, You're done, Like shut it down for a bit.
But man, I just love it. It is like a
super Bowl for me now right. I never got to
play in a super Bowl like you guys did, but
it I love it. I get so pumped up. And
(35:23):
this was my fifth Olympics, so yeah, the next one
is in Italy. I hope I'll be there for that,
the Mountaintops for the next Winter Games, and and then
I'm planning for the twenty twenty eight Olympics. To see
the three of us on a flag football team, well, well.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
I would so do it. I would so do it
in the hard we'll coach, maybe we'll coach there. I'm
not like.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
I played in flag football tournaments with some of these
like good teams. These dudes are dead ass serious and
I'm not that serious. Yeah, and so to the when
every game is the super Bowl is me I'm problems
out here. They run circles around there.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah, well they're not.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
No, they just everything's so much better, Like we don't
know all the rules, Like they're doing this throw to
display all you and like you just got to be
really really dial then and you can't you just like that.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
I mean, I'm good, y'all. I don't need all that.
So you're in you're in Paris and you see a
favor play yeah boy, yeah boy, And he was like
shell shocked to see you. Man, that's cool, Like how
how dope was that?
Speaker 1 (36:35):
It was incredible because you know, that's someone I grew
up listening to you and to have him recognize me,
I was kind of shocked at first.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
So I pinched myself all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
You know, we're we're blessed to be able to do
some of the things we do, meet the people we meet, right,
And so for me, I was just there to help
share his story and the impact he was having on
the on the women's sports teams in Paris at the Olympics,
you know, the water polo team, and for him to
then give me that love and that energy he made
a little rap about me just like freestyle was like my.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Mind was blown.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
I was like, man, I can't eve believe this is
happening right now. But yeah, it's a blessing to have
those opportunities. I do not take them for granted. I
mean I see TV very similar to the NFL, not
for long, right, you got to you gotta really bring
it every day, be passionate about what you do and
take advantage of those moments. And when you have that mindset,
it really helps make the most of those moments you
(37:31):
do get. So we did a great story with Flavor
Flave there and yeah, really cool.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I want to talk about Mount Rushmore for people, for
icons for you, for icons of what helped you get
to where you are right now in life. If you
could put four people on Mount Rushmore, who would those
four people be?
Speaker 1 (37:50):
So definitely my mom just symbolizes love for me. I
mean she cut seatpelt out of the back of one
of our cars when I was growing up so she
could create a shoulder harness because we read about if
you could like put a tire to a chain on
a harness and run.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
It would help you. She did that. Like my dad
work ethic.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
My dad work ethic, working three jobs. I mean I
remember like going in his room at night hearing like
I thought it was like screeching and he's on the
floor full body cramp because he was like doing ups
overnights and working at the grocery store and like so
he's doing three jobs and like so that's where I
got my work ethic of for my brother and sister
there as one person, just because just like ultimate support
(38:31):
cheerleaders of my life, sacrifice and things they want to
do when they're like taking me off to wrestling tournaments
and this and that, and they're sitting up there in
the bleachers like all board, but they sacrifice some of
their fun in childhood for me to achieve my dream.
And finally I talked about my wife already Claire, I
mean just my rock, you know. Or she sacrificed her passion,
(38:51):
her career to like raise me and my girls, our daughters,
and so there's just that ultimate sacrifice and I mean
those are that's that's my mount rushmore Man.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, that's a good one.
I think Corey. You're off the hot seat, baby. We
appreciate you coming on the show. Man.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Oh, I loved being here and I love It's an
honor and privilege. You guys, keep doing it, man, because
you're impacting lives.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
No, Man, I appreciate you number one for coming here.
Number two man for listening that you know, to hear
from other former players talk about the mission and the
journey that we're on. We didn't know it was going
to be like this. We're just riding along with it too, right, Yeah.
The fact that you get to hear other people's stories
and you're like, dude, like that's my teammates, and like
(39:39):
being able to talk about that and then probably share
it with other former teammates like that is what this
thing is all about. And being able to share like
other people's second acts and really understand, my guys, it's
the locker room has just changed a little bit, but
we're all still rooting for each other. We're all still
find ways to keep up with each other, and we're
really just one big fraternity that just keeps poring to
(40:00):
each other. So thank you, brother, because we're all rooting
for you because we all see you, appreciate, all root
for you as well.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Man. To just know that it been a blessing to
be here man, all.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Right, man, for all of our viewers and listeners out there.
Appreciate that everything that you always do. Man, give us
a five star rating, give us a review, leave a comment.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
What else we need to do? Subscribe?
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Subscribe and also check out our the NFL YouTube Why
you don't have to yell.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
I got excited because I got it right. I got
it right. I got it right. I'm your teammate. I
got you.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
So you forgot what you always say, Tell a friend
to tell a friend, to tell a friend.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
That's what I'm talking about. Tell a friend. There we go,
get us out of here. Hey, this might have been
the best one yet we heed telling friends rooms. Remembering
the NFL YouTube channel. Hey man, I'm Peanut as Coy.
That's wrong and this is the NFL Player's second Act podcast.
We appreciate y'all.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
We outdu Do Do Doub
I'm cooy Wire, former Buffalo Bill and Atlanta Falcon, current
CNN anchor in correspondent, and you're watching NFL Players Second
Acts Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Thank you for tuning into the NFL Players Second Acts Podcast.
I'm Peanut Tillman and this is my guy, Roman Harper.
What stuff? How you feeling? Are you gonna bring the
energy today? Well?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I feel all right because you feel your incumbent with
a weird nickname though, that was awesome. But I will
first and foremost like to thank iHeartRadio for allowing us
to be in their studios today right here in midtown Atlanta.
Believe is the name of the location, or if you
want to be very fancy, the upper west side of Atlanta.
So it sound right. It doesn't even sound right, Peter,
(00:44):
it doesn't even sound right. You know, we fancy today,
So here we go. Tell us about our next guest.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Our next guest is a ten years that in the
NFL for the Bills and the Falcons, and he was
team captain for both of those teams. He is a
CNN correspondent, he is a play by play by play
caller for the Falcons, and he's an author. Ladies and
Gentleman please welcome to the pod. Corey wire Yay, happy
(01:09):
to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Fellows appreciated the blessing us. Man, it is my pleasure.
I have to tell you. You know, we didn't chat
before this, but I've been watching you guys the podcast
and it is so powerful. I was brought to tears
of the episode with John Abraham, former teammate of Mind.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I encourage everyone out there if you haven't seen it,
watched the episode with John Abraham.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You know that's a.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Guy who I did not know all he was going
through and that was my teammate. Yeah, and I wish
I would have known I could talk to him more,
you know, as one of the team captains, that's what
you take pride in doing. But for him to be
so open with you all, and that's a big credit
to you all for the conversation you allowed him to
have and share with the world. As you mentioned, it's
going to impact the lives of so many people, not
(01:52):
just former football players, people around the world who are
going through some troubles and find a way to get through.
Here in his story, man, I was so power So
I commend you all, yeah, for what you're doing, the
work you're doing the time you put in to help
us share our stories and hopes that it can help
someone else.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
It's good stuff. I love that, man. I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
First and foremost, I'll received that we're starting off with
good vibes already. But the fact is, like, when you
have people like a John Abraham Good up there and
talk about those stories, and people like him that are
so talented, so good that we don't know that are
really struggling, I'm like, you become a light and you
shine so bright that it allows others to be seen
that are up under you that can't be seen or
(02:32):
don't have the voice or the platform to talk about
these things because they truly feel like nobody will hear them.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And I think it's so much more powerful when it
comes from former NFL players who a lot of people
will look at it and think they're superhuman, they're invincible.
And when they hear that even a John Abraham, a
Roman Harper, Charles Tillman goes through some things and like
life is tough, even they go through it and can
make it through that, maybe I can too, right, Yeah,
it makes you feel that comfort so well.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
First and foremost, you led Stanford in rushing one year
you let them tackles, and.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
How do you do that? Like, how does were there
were there no athletes or I think we had? How
did that one draft picks?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
My senior year, we Tyrone willing Ham was our head coach. Yeah,
one of uh with the icons of my life as
far as coaching and leadership, and my freshman year led
the team in rushing. But like six six games in,
I break my thumb, I have two pins put in.
That next year we had two running backs come in freshman,
(03:31):
Kerry Carter and Brian Allen, and they too would one
day go on to play in the NFL. So you
had three future NFL players of your team playing the
same position. So that next year we're each playing a
third of the time. You can't have three of your
best players like rotating in a third of the time.
So that next year, coach Willingham said, coy, how would
you like play defense?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
One of you has to do it?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
We think you do, yes, coach, yes, coach, Like did
I want to know, like was my dream to be
a running back in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
But that yes coach mentality just opened so many doors
for me. I went in and and just you know,
went went all out. Being a running back helped me
be I was a linebacker, you know at this size,
but I thought like a running back. So that helped
me a lot of holes. So yeah, I spent my
last two years as a linebacker. There, got drafted as
(04:18):
a safety to Buffalo, never played safe to port and
never had the back pedal in my life. And there
I was trying to have to cover Jerry Rice and
Randy Mosson as a rookie.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
As a young, dumb rookie, right, So.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
But it was just that, you know, they draft me,
you know, won't play defensive back, yes, coach, And so
it's just I just kind of ride the wave.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Had you ever played defense before or was it always
just offense? Like growing up it was I was always
running back in high school. I did play defense, but
it was never a focus of mine.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I mean I I mean, yeah, yeah, I was like
an edge guy. I literally was just an edge guy.
But I would carry the ball like thirty forty times
a game.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But to me, though, you're that much better than everybody
else because you took a you went and got drafted
and played a position that you really didn't know how
to play and you made it work and you played
ten years like that. That's extremely impressive. Yep.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I'll use a quote that I will never forget. When
I was at Stanford and Dusty Baker, the legendary baseball
manager and player, Tyron williham our coach, brought him in
to speak to us one day out there in the
Bay Area team meeting, and he says, man, we've accomplished
nothing in and of ourselves. If we think we have,
we are foolish. We're nothing more than a conduit of
knowledge and information. And I'll never forget that, because you know,
(05:37):
every point in my life, I've always had people help
me achieve things that I could have never done on
my own. So when I got drafted to the NFL
to play defensive back again, never had to backpedal in
a game in my life.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I had coach.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Steve Jackson was my defensive backs coach and he's now
with the Tennessee Titan, still coaching. I think he should
be a coordinator someday. He's an incredible genie. He was
a hell of a player, played nine years in the
league as a small defensive back, tough as nails. He
would spend so much time. You know, coaches spend a
lot of time already. He would spend extra like late
(06:11):
into the night, early before everyone got there, watching film
with me, getting me caught up to speed of how
to be a defensive back in the NFL. I had
London Fletcher, who should be in the Hall of Fame.
And when that first game, well so my fifth year
and I had to switch back to linebacker because we
had some injuries, like Coy. If something happens to Angelo Crowell, man,
you're gonna have to go in.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Go.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
This is a Thursday, go in the linebacker meeting room.
And so there were playing the Chargers. Sure enough, first series,
crow I think had like a fracture in his leg
that they didn't even really know.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
So they're like, why are you in?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I go in the game now at linebacker for the
first time in the NFL, and London Fletcher's beside me,
and before every play he's like, cooy, koy, Coy, come come,
come this way. It's gonna be power. Oh this way,
sure enough, power this way.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Boom.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
There I am tackling future Hall of Fame really Danian
Tomlinson like, and then London Fletcher like and Takio Spikes
and having those guys beside me and Troy Vincent's behind me,
and the defensive backfield I Lawyer Maloy that I played
their safety with for a while, like Pierson prelu Isael Reese.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
These guys helped.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Me more than they ever know, Like I was just
watching and listening and observing like some of these incredible players.
And so I can't really take credit because without them
I would have never done and their willingness to help,
I would have never been able to do what I did.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
What was your first welcome to the NFL moment?
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, the first walk in the NFL moment was when
I I had never seen an NFL game in person,
and so there I was with the Buffalo Bills and
running through that tunnel on game day and man, tears
were just blowing down.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm like, how am I gonna play this game? Right now?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I'm crying like a baby right now. So that was
one of them. Another one there in Buffalo when you
know we're in a huddle, it's a big third down
and big defensive tackle Pat Williams.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, big guy, some.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Veteran, and I'm in the huddle. I'm like, come on, boys,
this third down, let's go do this. Man shut the
hell up. And I'm like, Okay, this is a rookie, right,
this is a rookie. But that kind of put me
in my place a little bit.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
But you were too excited. I was a little too.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Excited, jes Yeah. So those But then like on the field,
welcome to the NFL moment. We're playing against the Vikings
my rookie year, and Randy Moss was a receiver. I'm
playing deep a haf safety and he starts running down the
sideline go route, staring me in the eye, puts his
(08:36):
hand up like the staring me in the eyes. Here
comes the ball, stirring up like the ball's coming. I
just come over and blast him. Ball wasn't even close yet.
You're not catching this ball on me, But just remember
seeing that eye contacted him, just striding out putting his
hand up.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I was like, yeah, I'm with the big boys. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
It's so funny, how like those moment butch you remember exactly,
like the little small details like this guy literally looked
at me.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, I'm like, I didn't throw his hand up like
throwing boys now. Yeah, we used to call that the
hot head Oh, that's funny the high end. He was
good with that. Where did your journey start? Like where
did the journalists come from? Like where did you want to?
Or why did you want to get into the media space?
Like where did that come from?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
I didn't know I wanted to when I first was
done playing, Like you have to be so locked in
to be an NFL player.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
At least I did. I couldn't have.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
They always did a good job of Like do some
internships think about life after football? I couldn't because if
I did, I would lose my edge.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I was never the biggest, fast, or stronger. I had
to be all in. And so when football was sitting
taken away from me, I was hurting, Like I I
I lost who I was. I was an empty shell
of myself because my entire life that's what I was,
That's who I was. And when I didn't have that
to wake up to in the morning, it hurt. I
(10:00):
remember in the middle of the nights, I would wake
up my heart's racing, my arms are numb, and I'm like,
am I having.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Like a heart issue?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
A stroke? What's happening to me? And my wife's psychology major,
Thank goodness, she said, I think you're having panic attacks anxiety.
It's actually like me, what, No, Like I looked at
all the symptoms, like, yeah, I'm having anxiety attacks and
panic attacks like this up here was affecting all of this.
And it's like, but I know, I have a degree
from Stanford. I could go back to school, I could
(10:30):
be a lawyer, I could go do whatever. There's so
many things I could do. But it's like, no one
ever asked you when you're growing up, what's the second
thing you want to be when you grow up? Like
we get to live our dream and so that's yeah.
So it wasn't until I said, you know what, I
just need something to do each and every day, something
that is my new mission, right, And so I knew
(10:50):
I always wanted to like write a book to like
share some of the tips and tricks that helped me
overachieve in my life that maybe kids could take something from.
And so I started doing that. As soon as I
started doing that and have that new passion, that new mission,
I've started to feel so much better. And it was
very cathartic to be able to do that. And with
(11:11):
the media, you know, as an NFL player, REP I
was often talking to the media. And at some point
about a year after I went through all that struggle
and that adversity mentally emotionally, a friend of mine said, hey,
you were always good talking to the media.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Maybe you should be the media.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You know, I can connect you with somebody to maybe
give you an opportunity. And then Pack twelve Networks gave
me a shot. They let me call four games, Like
you've never done this before, We'll let you call four games.
After that, they're like, well that was pretty good. You
want to sit in a studio show the rest of
the time. And that's how it all happened. I mean
it was really like I didn't once I got into it,
and then that, like I said, that became my new game.
(11:48):
Then I really started to be passionate about it and
sharing stories and telling stories.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I can mean you for the game calling.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I called one game, like a couple of weeks ago,
he called me it was I bro was I was like, yeah,
I'm not, that's my thing.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
That's not my thing. Like it's it's tough.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Three and a half hours of breaking news. You don't
know what the story is going to be.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Who's the story? And you talk about ten or fifteen
stegas and you stop and then.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
It's a dance that you don't realize they make a dance.
I always say in the media, it's not easy to
make it look easy, and like the play by playing
the analysts and NFL game, they're like the epitome of
that where like.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That ry though, yeah, yeah, you got you gotta have chemistry.
You have to study your stuff, know your stuff.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
And you might have to be ready to like pivot
and not use any of it because correct you can
come in with this narrative of what this game is
going to be and the game rolls out completely different.
So everything you thought was going to happen, yeah it happens.
You got to be ready for that too. And so
that's what live football is when you're calling the game
in a studio.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Man, you know, it's one of my favorite things to
do is call the Falcons preseason games. It's a blessing
to have that opportunity, but doing it for about six
years now and then the preseason is so much tougher
because the fosters are so much you know, and so
my spotting board as they're called, we have our little
boxes with the player's name number and where they went
to school, maybe some stats about them. It's like this
big at the end, though, I always say, you know,
(13:12):
like I'm going to do all the work and prepare
and be kind of ready, but like you said, you
never know what the day is going to be like,
So when when it's game day, I just say, you
know what, I'm just gonna sit and watch as a
fan and like see what's happening and share that story
in the moment, whatever it may be. And that always
helps me. I pretend like I'm talking ball with some friends,
like what I'm seeing and what I think is happening.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So but yeah, it's it's a beast. It is not
easy to make it look easy. Na. It was probably
my first one, and that was my first time ever
doing it like live, Like I never practiced. They were
just like, hey, we want you to call this Bears
Jaguars game live go. I was like, okay, yes, coach, Yes, coach, yes, coach,
(13:56):
And probably my first and last. Like it's I'm a
studio man all day.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
So you mentioned about the panic attacks and all those
other things. What advice would you give to somebody that's
maybe going through something where they don't know they had
anxiety for the first time. They've been really good at
all these things in life, and all of a sudden
they hit a wall and they're no longer being able
to do those same things, and they don't know what
(14:23):
that feeling is. What would you give them advice to
maybe help them get through that or see through it
the way you did, Maybe not in the same fashion.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, but what was your advice?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
The first thing is acceptance, Like be honest with yourself,
just like even though you thought you were invincible and
nothing like that, whatever happened to you? Just like, no,
this is the reality of my situation right now, I'm
hurting mentally, emotionally.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
That's one.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
The second thing is don't be scared to share that, right,
whether it's with your spouse, you another, your parents. So
friends be vulnerable, like it's okay, hey, to not be okay,
and you be shocked at like the amount of people
someone might say one thing that helps you put things
in their perspective, and they'll also help remind you that
(15:11):
maybe it's not as bad as you think it is.
And because sometimes up here we are affected by what
we think others are thinking and and so yeah, so
those are my two things. Just acceptance and then be
vulnerable and share because because our human spirit, like I
think human nature is to help others, is the one
(15:33):
to be there for people, and your pain and your
struggles might be exactly what someone else needs. They need
someone to help, and you're going to impact their life
in a positive way. You think you're going to be
a burden, but you're not. So I think as football
players mentally physically tough, that's where we're born, bred, raised, trained,
right invincible, cutthroat mentality, invincible. So it's understanding that that
(16:00):
former NFL players would feel that way.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
But once the.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Game is over, I think you do away with that
life and now you just realize I am human because
I think we fool ourselves and think we are. We
get that Superman complex and so, but we're not.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But that's the cliche part about it, though, is like
you you're the tough guy and then all of a
sudden you have to be reminded or you have to
you have to make that switch. And that's to me,
I think that's probably the hard part, is just trying
to make that switch to say, all right, well maybe
I can be vulnerable, maybe I can share this with
someone or say that I'm not okay today mentally, I'm
(16:37):
in a bad place, i feel depressed, or I'm whatever.
But I think it's it's allowing that person to make
that shift. And we said it yesterday we're talking a
couple of other people. It was like, we got to
give ourselves grace. You definitely got to give ourselves grace.
And that's something that I think we as football players,
we don't we don't do once we retire. We still
(16:58):
want to have that that mentality. And when you go,
when you're going through it, you don't realize you're going
through it because it's probably something it's a new experience,
it's a new emotion, it's a new feeling that you
haven't quite felt, and you don't know how to navigate
through these waters.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yep, you know, yeah, I think you know, my wife
taught me really how to open up because in early
in our relationship and even sometimes to this day, like
I try not to burden her with my burdens, like
I feel like i'm you know, misery doesn't love.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
You know, company, right like they say it does.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Your company doesn't love your misery, right, So yeah, So
that's the way I always felt and so like and
I do want her to think I'm strong in that
and I'm tough. And she said, Queen, you stop doing that,
like I'm your teammate, like I'm here to help you.
I don't think less of you if you're feeling down
or you're feeling low, or you can't figure something out
(17:56):
or this that the other thing. So that's where it
all started for me. I was unfortunate that my wife
Claire has really helped me be that way. And then
you just realized that like that, that is normal to
be that way, and it was abnormal the way we
were trained.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Absolutely absolutely, Yeah. I was one of my workout partners.
He has really helped me put it into words. He
was like, you know, when you're the former football player,
you the way you've lived your life, the way your
mindset has been. At some point you got to learn
to be comfortable with being the warrior in the garden,
Like you don't need to wear your armor anymore. You
can be like and it's okay, and it's really uncomfortable
(18:34):
at first, but learning how to be cool with being
the warrior in the garden and understand like it's still
in you the warror mentality is in you, but you're
just in the garden.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
You just got to be cool with that.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I'm like, I know what, that makes a lot of senny,
just like, Okay, we saw and.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Just move on.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
So, uh, we'll be back in a minute. How did
you get to see an It like very non traditional
arts path. It's not a lot of former athletes that
get to work for the news side of the television stide.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So I spent a year a PAC twelve Networks. Then
I did three years at FS one with Fox Sports.
And at times when CNN would have a big news story,
it's like, you know, dealing with concussions, this is abauck,
like twenty ten, twenty eleven, they would call me as
a former NFL player to get my thoughts on what's happening.
And so I was a guest and so they were
kind of aware of me. And then I remember I
(19:31):
was at a Super Bowl one year and the head
of CNN Sports at the time came up and said,
we've been watching you. We've been putting together a sizzle reel.
I send it up to New York. How do you
feel about covering all sports? And I said, yes, coach, Yes, coach,
you'd be able to stay here in Atlanta, CNN headquarters.
I was flying every week to the West Coast, so
you know, we didn't have children yet, but I was
(19:51):
missing my wife and you know, a little more quality
time and all that and just that opportunity. Didn't really
know what I was getting into, but I did like
the prospects of it, and thank goodness I did, because
here I am now my ninth year at CNN, and
it's just it's just been incredible.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
It's my new game. It's a TV is a lot
like football.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I mean, I have my locker room, I have my
my writers, my editors, my producers. I have my position coaches,
my head coaches. And when I'm on that TV, just
like on an NFL game day, if I didn't get
my stuff together, if I wasn't prepared, if I missed
a tackle, it's not just on me, because now I'm
putting that guy behind me in a compromising position and
he might miss a tackle. His jobs now on the line.
I like that pressure to perform. I think NFL players
(20:32):
we all like that pressure to perform and that accountability.
And it's not just me, but this team and our
mission is dependent on me being the best I can be.
And so that's how I approach every hit, every show,
study my butt off, and be ready to tackle it
full throttle. Knowing that I got people dependent on me,
I would be the best teammate I can be. So yeah,
CNN is it's been. It's been awesome for me, and
(20:55):
we'll see how much longer I can keep this thing rolling.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
What the expectations because you work for a news company
and seeing it, but the expectations of covering sports, which
is what you do a lot of times, like, what
are the expectations of it?
Speaker 2 (21:09):
How is it different?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Kind of break it all down for me, because it's
very like, Okay, this is what it was, and then
you guys move on.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
They don't. It's not it's more tree top level sometimes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
So being a news anchor, news correspondent or a reporter,
it's so much different than what we're so accustomed to
in today's world with sports media, where it's a lot
of opinion and analysis, and I mean I really can't
do that. I really just tell you the what and
let you decide what to think. Like I can't give
my opinion or all the mindsets it's totally different, and
(21:43):
it was really tough for me at first because I
started at Pack twelve Networks and that's one as an
analyst where I can like really bring the heat like.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
We see you know, like you do right sec. So
that was tough for me.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
But at the same time, I like it because I
don't have to be critical of someone.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah. Yeah, topic, So that's my thing.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I study my butt off to know the facts of
what happened, when it happened, how it happened. I tell
you what, letting viewers decide what to think. That's just
my job. So I appreciate that aspect of it. And
the most fun I have is getting out in the
field when I get to be around these events and
share that story and take the viewers there. But yeah,
(22:27):
it's good. I get to do a wide range of things.
I'll anchor on Ciena International a show called World Sport.
It's a thirty minute show every day, and having to
learn about cricket and F one and European soccer and
all that.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
The real football, as they say, cricket is crazyrick is crazy.
Still don't I still don't quite understand all the rules
to forever yes, yes, days.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
The game can go for days, so yeah, I mean
I get to do that obviously, I says the correspondent
type work. And then one of my most favorite things
to do is CNN ten. It's a ten minute on
my new show, and it's geared towards the next generation.
It's in schools all across the world. We get about
three million viewers per episode. And I love that because
(23:11):
I rarely talk sports, are covering the news of the day.
But I know the impact I'm able to have on
that next generation and that's powerful stuff. So I felt
like that was my next step at CNN, something that
I could do break out side of sports. And I've
been doing that for two years now and that's become,
you know, my passion. So do you remember the Do
you remember Channel one?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Channel one? So you had Chris Cooper, Chris Craig Jackson,
Chris Jackson, a Lisa Lane. It kind of reminds me
of something similar to that. I used to watch it
in YEP, like junior high and it was ten fifteen
minute news about current events, yep, and that's what it is.
It kind of seems like it's something similar. It's exactly
(23:53):
like that a newer generation of it.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yep, it's exactly like that quick ten minute shows teachers.
We release each episode the night before so teachers can
get eyes on the topics and so they'll create lesson
plans around it. They'll quiz the students on the content
that they saw. And the biggest thing I learned that
about that being a journalist in the news was like
the power of words, even a single word. So I'll
(24:15):
give you an example, Like we were doing a story
about the border wall, right and President Joe Biden said this,
and someone wrote a story that day. We have writers
who can write the stories for us, and the writer
put Joe Biden said this about the border wall. Even
former President Trump said that, And it was that one
(24:35):
word even that implied that you were almost surprised that
even Donald Trump would say that. But you don't do that,
like that's showing bias. And so it was just simply
President Joe Biden said this, a former President Donald Trump
said this, But do you see how that one word is,
like even he said it, you know, and I don't
want to be that, Like I can't be that for
(24:56):
these kids or for those teachers who are trusting me
to be the giver of this information and this news
to their students, and so, like, I really take pride
in that. That's where I kind of came up with
that word, I tell you the what, letting you decide
what to think, so that it just I learned about
the power of words and even just a single word
(25:16):
can have and make a huge difference on how the
information is received or how you're sharing a story.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Peanut, what do I say all the time? Words matter?
All the time? Yeah, that's a huge thing for me.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
My wife hates it because I'm like, I say it,
I'd use I stole it.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Hey, words matter, they do.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Words truly truly matter, matter, And it's a difference between
you are and you're acting.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Like that's correct and even to ourselfs especially right like
those words. Like we were at work today in between
the show, one of my producers we have a papa shot.
He's like, I'm gonna break the rector today. But he
goes to start the game. He says, oh man, my
arm's tired. I'm like, you're done. Like you careful what
you say because you're gonna believe it. You already said
you're done, so you're not giving yourself the best opportunity
(25:59):
I learned learned from One of my heroes growing up
in the football world was Walter Payton, and I've read
books about him, Never Die Easy. One of his books,
he talked about how he when he would get an
ankle injury. This is a guy who spent what sixteen
years in the NFL, I think, and only missed one game,
and that was because his coaches wouldn't let him as
a running back. Yeah, and not a big running back,
(26:21):
but he was tough as nails, and when he would
get an ankle injury, he would lie in bed and
tell himself, I'm getting better. I feel good, I feel great.
My ankle is fine. Ankle is fine. He would picture
of tiny men going and working and repairing his ankle.
I'm good, I feel great. That power of the mind,
he believed that it affected his body and kind of
the proof is in the pudding right with that, So
(26:42):
I think, yeah, words matter for sure, and if you
look at the grace of the grace, they are very
aware of the thoughts that can affect the things.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, I'm trying to be better about that in golf
because like a lot of negative things.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Come out of my mouth about my own self at golf.
Is there someone that you want an interview that you
haven't interviewed yet after wise or just just a person
in jail. Well, it used to be the rock. It
used to be the rock. But I did get the interview,
and you guys are kind of doing the eyebrow people.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, we had a fine interview, No, man, because I
get just as excited from an interviewing an athlete like
an Alana mar that you may be never heard of
as I do a superstar.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
I don't you know, have anybody that I actively seek.
I just seek those stories that I think people need
to hear. And that's what I love showhow me?
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Is there one unique story that's like, man, this story
like shook me or shocked me.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
When I actually covered.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Well, I get emotional a lot like when I interview
people I learned, like read a long time ago. One thing,
if you can get someone to cry or in an interview,
that's powerful stuff because you know they're really opening up.
And there's this one interview a few years ago. It
was a guy, I mean, I just was taken back
by his selflessness, former NFL player and he was doing
(28:02):
this rowing across Lake Michigan to like raise awareness and
funds for children's pediatric cancer initiatives. And his name is
Charles Tillman. And here we were a few years ago,
sixty five miles more than twenty four hours across Lake Michigan.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Yeah. What kept you going? The people, the fans, the people,
the heroes that we honored on the front of our boat.
The purpose of why I was doing it, you know,
Pi I could cancer research, and it was just it
was a great CAUs man. And the people that rallied
in came to our support was it was truly pronable.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
What was it like when you saw Tiana and the
rest of your family and former teammates they're supporting you
had to finish.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I got emotional. I started to cry. O me what
I was? What hit you? The support hit me? One? Two?
I was extremely tired. And three the people that were
on the front of our boat, the boat some of
them had passed away, and to know their struggle of
what they dealt with and what they had to deal
(29:07):
with and go through day in and day out, and
it just man, it just it just it hit me.
And it was Yeah, it hit me like a ton
of breaks, and that emotion is powerful.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
The wise man once said, nothing great happens without inspiration.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah, yeah, what's yours? Them? Them? My daughter, she's my
inspiration for me to go through twenty five hours or
on a boat. To me, that's nothing compared to what
these what these kids have to go through.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Take us back to when that the heart failure, the
heart transplant was affecting your family, your six month.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Old daughter there in the hospital. What was that like?
I was just like, oh wow, this is she could
she could die? What in the world? And you know,
fast forward to her getting a heart for three three
months later. It's the best day of your life, but
it's the worst day of your life because you know,
you're happy your daughter is living and receiving a heart,
(29:59):
but you know somewhere else in the country that someone
else's child died and my daughter would be the recipient
of my heart. It just goes to show the true
spirit of humanity and caring and loving and giving.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Man, it's just your heart got me that day like that.
You did that, Yeah, and for whom you did it.
You talked about all the names of the people on
that boat that you were rolling for. How you afterwards
you cried.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Yeah, you know that's what you told me that today,
And I think this is the type of thing that
people need to see more of from professional athletes, former
football players, like they don't understand, but more than just
football players, you know.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
So those are the type of stories like that one
got me.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
That one Look at that, dude, that one got me,
and you're still doing it today.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Yeah you today. Yeah, that one got me. Yeah, damn you, Thomas,
damn me, Thomas. Yeah, that one got me. Yeah, man,
you're a good man.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
And you know, those are the type of things that
I think people need to realize more. You know, it's
so easy to hate on pro athletes and think they
are invincible, but like we're such good people and that
it's more way more than not. But in the media
often we see the not and so I feel it's
a blessing to be able to share stories like Charles
(31:20):
and other athletes out there who are so much more
than just athletes.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
So I just love the.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Fact that, you know, I learned this years ago from
a pastor friend of mine, was that once you become
affected by something, you'll become an advocate for it forever.
And so Pinut and his family were affected by something
very very unique, and it's really really cool to see
like the journey that has started and the things that
Peanut and his foundation and other things have been able
to do because of one situation and he didn't let
(31:47):
it tear him down or his daughter tear her down,
and it's really cool and it can get us all
choked up over this, and it's just like it's just
a passion and it's like the things that the power
that we have to do when we decided to.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
So so thank you guy.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Sorry surprise you like that, man, But when I knew
I was coming here with you, and I wanted to
share that story again because it deserved to be told.
So shout out to the team for keeping it a secret.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I receive it. Yeah, it was. That was a good time.
But like you said, man, you go through something and
you know, for her to have a heart transplant and
that whole thing, and you see, like day I was affected,
our family was affected, Our family and friends were affected
by it, and you know, trying to take a negative
and turn it into something positive and just bless other
(32:35):
people because we were blessed with her receiving a heart transplant.
So I wanted to take that blessing and bless other
people and just keep it, just keeping going and paying
it for that. I can't pay it back, so I
just want to.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Because our tough times can make us tougher strength through
our struggles, right absolutely, and the strongest burning.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
The hottest coves.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Man, It's all how we were all going to go
through it in some form of fashion. It's how you
let it affect you moving forward and you're doing the
best of the best with it.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Man.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Yeah, I want to know what it was like though,
to cover the Olympics in parents. The Olympics are such
a huge event, especially the Summer Olympics, and what it
means to so many different countries, all the different countries there, Like,
what was that experience like to just be around all
of the Olympics in what the events are.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
It's my most favorite event to cover because it is
the best of sports on full display. And what I
feel the best of sports is, especially in today's world,
is bringing people from all different socioeconomic, racial, gender backgrounds,
all these difference differences. It doesn't matter who you are,
what country you came from, You're all coming together for
(33:44):
this common love of sport and you're embracing and you're
hugging and you're high five. And football is a lot
like that, as we know, right, those locker rooms get
that we bring together so many different types of people
and we respect one another. Olympics is that full throttle, right,
And so that is the first thing that I really
(34:05):
appreciate about. The second thing the athletes that you interview,
they don't get microphones in their face, open lockers every day.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, the Olympic sports are completely different. Yes, So they're
not jaded.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I mean, you know, we understand it can be tough
sometimes to talk to media. Right, every day, they get
their one moment maybe once in their lifetime, maybe once
every four years, and so they are so open and
eager to share their story. And that's what you love
as a journalist, right. You want someone, you want to
be that conduit for those good stories. And so I
(34:39):
just love how humble and passionate they are for that
one big moment and I get to share that story.
So it's such a blessing. On the work side of it,
it's a grind. I mean, it's three and a half
weeks straight with a lout, a full month of maybe
four or five hours of sleep every day because it's
around the clock. You're either going to an event, You're
either going to an interview, you're either on air a
(35:02):
live window. And so I usually get sick at the
end of every Olympics. My body gets round down. So
screw you, You're done, Like shut it down for a bit.
But man, I just love it. It is like a
super Bowl for me now right. I never got to
play in a super Bowl like you guys did, but
it I love it. I get so pumped up. And
(35:23):
this was my fifth Olympics, so yeah, the next one
is in Italy. I hope I'll be there for that,
the Mountaintops for the next Winter Games, and and then
I'm planning for the twenty twenty eight Olympics. To see
the three of us on a flag football team, well, well.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
I would so do it. I would so do it
in the hard we'll coach, maybe we'll coach there. I'm
not like.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
I played in flag football tournaments with some of these
like good teams. These dudes are dead ass serious and
I'm not that serious. Yeah, and so to the when
every game is the super Bowl is me I'm problems
out here. They run circles around there.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah, well they're not.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
No, they just everything's so much better, Like we don't
know all the rules, Like they're doing this throw to
display all you and like you just got to be
really really dial then and you can't you just like that.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
I mean, I'm good, y'all. I don't need all that.
So you're in you're in Paris and you see a
favor play yeah boy, yeah boy, And he was like
shell shocked to see you. Man, that's cool, Like how
how dope was that?
Speaker 1 (36:35):
It was incredible because you know, that's someone I grew
up listening to you and to have him recognize me,
I was kind of shocked at first.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
So I pinched myself all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
You know, we're we're blessed to be able to do
some of the things we do, meet the people we meet, right,
And so for me, I was just there to help
share his story and the impact he was having on
the on the women's sports teams in Paris at the Olympics,
you know, the water polo team, and for him to
then give me that love and that energy he made
a little rap about me just like freestyle was like my.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Mind was blown.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
I was like, man, I can't eve believe this is
happening right now. But yeah, it's a blessing to have
those opportunities. I do not take them for granted. I
mean I see TV very similar to the NFL, not
for long, right, you got to you gotta really bring
it every day, be passionate about what you do and
take advantage of those moments. And when you have that mindset,
it really helps make the most of those moments you
(37:31):
do get. So we did a great story with Flavor
Flave there and yeah, really cool.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I want to talk about Mount Rushmore for people, for
icons for you, for icons of what helped you get
to where you are right now in life. If you
could put four people on Mount Rushmore, who would those
four people be?
Speaker 1 (37:50):
So definitely my mom just symbolizes love for me. I
mean she cut seatpelt out of the back of one
of our cars when I was growing up so she
could create a shoulder harness because we read about if
you could like put a tire to a chain on
a harness and run.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
It would help you. She did that. Like my dad
work ethic.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
My dad work ethic, working three jobs. I mean I
remember like going in his room at night hearing like
I thought it was like screeching and he's on the
floor full body cramp because he was like doing ups
overnights and working at the grocery store and like so
he's doing three jobs and like so that's where I
got my work ethic of for my brother and sister
there as one person, just because just like ultimate support
(38:31):
cheerleaders of my life, sacrifice and things they want to
do when they're like taking me off to wrestling tournaments
and this and that, and they're sitting up there in
the bleachers like all board, but they sacrifice some of
their fun in childhood for me to achieve my dream.
And finally I talked about my wife already Claire, I
mean just my rock, you know. Or she sacrificed her passion,
(38:51):
her career to like raise me and my girls, our daughters,
and so there's just that ultimate sacrifice and I mean
those are that's that's my mount rushmore Man.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, that's a good one.
I think Corey. You're off the hot seat, baby. We
appreciate you coming on the show. Man.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Oh, I loved being here and I love It's an
honor and privilege. You guys, keep doing it, man, because
you're impacting lives.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
No, Man, I appreciate you number one for coming here.
Number two man for listening that you know, to hear
from other former players talk about the mission and the
journey that we're on. We didn't know it was going
to be like this. We're just riding along with it too, right, Yeah.
The fact that you get to hear other people's stories
and you're like, dude, like that's my teammates, and like
(39:39):
being able to talk about that and then probably share
it with other former teammates like that is what this
thing is all about. And being able to share like
other people's second acts and really understand, my guys, it's
the locker room has just changed a little bit, but
we're all still rooting for each other. We're all still
find ways to keep up with each other, and we're
really just one big fraternity that just keeps poring to
(40:00):
each other. So thank you, brother, because we're all rooting
for you because we all see you, appreciate, all root
for you as well.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Man. To just know that it been a blessing to
be here man, all.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Right, man, for all of our viewers and listeners out there.
Appreciate that everything that you always do. Man, give us
a five star rating, give us a review, leave a comment.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
What else we need to do? Subscribe?
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Subscribe and also check out our the NFL YouTube Why
you don't have to yell.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
I got excited because I got it right. I got
it right. I got it right. I'm your teammate. I
got you.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
So you forgot what you always say, Tell a friend
to tell a friend, to tell a friend.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
That's what I'm talking about. Tell a friend. There we go,
get us out of here. Hey, this might have been
the best one yet we heed telling friends rooms. Remembering
the NFL YouTube channel. Hey man, I'm Peanut as Coy.
That's wrong and this is the NFL Player's second Act podcast.
We appreciate y'all.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
We outdu Do Do Doub
Hosts And Creators
Charles “Peanut” Tillman
Roman Harper
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