April 10, 2025 • 58 mins
In this unique episode of the podcast, we sit down with Max White, a standout player Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School, and now has spent the last 4 years on the Iowa Hawkeyes football team. Max shares his journey from being a walk-on to earning a significant role on the team. We delve into his decision to enter the transfer portal, his experiences under Coach Brian Ferentz, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his recruitment process. Max also opens up about the importance of team commitment, his background as the great-grandson of a 1939 Ironman, and his cherished moments in the black and gold. Plus, get insights into his future plans and how he navigates the current landscape of college football with NIL deals and transfer opportunities. Don't miss this in-depth conversation with a true football enthusiast who embodies perseverance and dedication.
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Visit TheWashedUpWalkons.com for all of our episodes, merchandise, and more!
If you love the show and want to show support, tell your friends! And, check out our exclusive content at Patreon.com/washedupwalkons where you can find extra podcast episodes, exclusive merchandise, Merch discounts with every tier, private Walkon discord channel access, and more!
Find us on social media @washedupwalkons
Visit TheWashedUpWalkons.com for all of our episodes, merchandise, and more!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Max White joins the show today. A little bit of
a different story on this one. A lot of times
we're highlighting the super successful career sometimes of guys who
have gone on to the NFL. Max is a walk on.
He spent four years in the program, was a part
of a stacked running back room that he talks about,
and now he's off to get his time somewhere else.
What was it like being a Hawkey? What did he learn?
(00:20):
And a whole lot more. This is a football guy.
Let's have a day. Let's go alrighty back again for
(00:52):
another wash Up walk Ons podcast, the first of its
kind tonight with this one. Gebaum. This six years that
we've done this, I don't know if we've had an
active Iowa football athlete. Obviously, Max is entered the transfer
portal at this point, and we'll get to that here
in a second. We usually wait until guys are done
with their career. But last week or so, at the
(01:14):
time of this recording, I saw Max entered the transfer portal.
Obviously been a big piece to the Iowhawke football team
the last four years, and I was like, damn, there's
some stuff going on here, because there's some roster limits,
and there's some revs share and a bunch of things
happening in college sports. I figured it would be a
good opportunity to get Max on the show and we'll
(01:36):
talk a little bit about that as well as his
career at IOWA. So with that intro, Max, welcome to
the show.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thanks guys, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
How you doing good?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Good?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, we talked about right before you jumped on here.
If you're watching the YouTube version of this, I need
you to like the video right now for how thick
Max's neck is? This guy can this guy like King?
You don't even feel the bar when you squat, do you?
Doesn't even feel it?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Take a lot of hits to the head. It stiffens
up the neck a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That's true. That's true. Being in that running back room,
you get popped every once in a while a couple
of times.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Be able to handle some of the popping.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, yeah, ideally, right, you're on the delivering side of that.
What's the worst you've ever been hit? We'll start there.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
The worst I ever been here?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Gosh, oh, it wasn't even less. So I was doing
like we're doing like a drill with the DBS, and
I was running running a little route and I'm running
over the middle and the ball is behind me a
little bit and DB's coming up behind me, and I
jump up for it and bang just right right in
(02:53):
the back of the head right behind me. I like
flip down, laying on my shoulder and dislocated it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But who hit you?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Brendan Diaz Bernandez. Call him hass Central Michigan.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Now, okay, he had a great last name. Yeah, sometimes
you get those you are, but you're probably in an
interesting time right now. I feel like you're, uh, you've
entered the transfer portal. You're trying to figure out one
more year of college football. What is that like?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I mean, really just looking for the best opportunity. I guess,
to try to make the most of this last year,
I guess. So really just playing it day by day.
I'm not really thinking about it too much. Training just
as hard as always and so it's really just you know,
going with the flow day day by day.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
What does training look like for you right now? Are
you still in the IOWA facility? Like, how does that work?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
No?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
No, So I actually hit up my old strength coach,
coach Lewis, who coach out strength conditioning coach at my
high school, Kennedy High School, and I asked him to
throw some stuff together for me, and I like, I
know how to work out and I know what works
for me and how.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
To get faster and stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
We got. We got that. We got that.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
There's, you know, figure good to get some wisdom from
someone who I really trust and someone who I know
is like probably the best at what he does. And
as far as high school strength conditioning goes.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I was gonna say, whoever he is, there's got to
be some some magic over there at Kennedy. There's a
there's a little bit of a lineage there, especially to Iowa.
I played with shan byer uh Dallas. There probably was
a couple other what do you guys say?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Cougars cougars?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
What's in the water at Cedar Rapids Kennedy coach Lewis
Is that him? It's all him?
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Huh yeah. I mean, I tell you what, He's a
total genius. I mean whatever he said, I mean, I
mean his word as gold.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Honestly.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
I know I'm probably you know, jacking it a little bit,
but I mean I really think he's the best of
what he does.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
He's how long. Has he been there a long time?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
He was the head football coach before, so my dad's
actually the coach now. Coach why And he was the
head coach for football before my dad and then he
stepped down didn't want to, you know, do that anymore
and want to be the strength coach. So he's been
there a long time.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
That's interesting. You don't often hear of that transition. Yep,
goes from head football coach to just not I just
want to do strength conditioning.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Well, his son graduate. His son was about to be
a high school football player, I believe, or be a
vrscity player, and I think he just wanted to watch him.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah, understandable. So now your dad is the coach at Kenya. Yeah,
how did they do last year? Are they rolling still?
Are they all right?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Last year?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I didn't do so hot, I don't think.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
But it's been I mean, he became his first season
was the twenty four was the fall of twenty fourteen,
and it's been. They made the playoffs I think just
about every single year almost except for last one. And
uh been to the state championship once or twice, been
to the Dome a few times. And but yeah, Coog's
(06:21):
dad a little speedbone last year.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
That's why they all hit a speedbont It depends on
what you got. So you played for you dad, obviously
I did.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
How long was he like the coach for you growing up?
As well? Like little little league teams?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
He a couple of teams. He was always I mean, my.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Dad's been a coach for such a long time, so
he was usually you know, busy, and he would always
help out and stuff like that. But he really became
like my coach in high school.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I'm a coach's son as well. Coached my basketball
teams growing up and then basketball and football when I
was in high school. That's there's a it's a different
there's a slightly different amount of pressure when you're the coaches.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Kid, right, Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I guess there's an expectation of, like, this kid's got
to be worth a ship.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
A little definitely. Definitely. By the way, what's the just
what's the what's the cussing policy here?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You can say whatever you say whatever you want, man,
you can you can say whatever you want.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Trying to keep keep a living on that. But I
was just wondering if I was gonna have to if
I was gonna give your editor.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Hell, you're looking at the editor, brother, and he ain't
fucking taking anything out, So uh yeah, you can cuss.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Do you go by us?
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It was it dad on the food or coach like
on the satellite like you.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Like. I had a couple of teammates growing up who's
dad's were the coach and like from this is from
really young and they were like young to the point
where you still call him daddy and they will run
up from daddy daddy on the field, and I was,
oh god, I'm never doing that.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
That feels weird.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So anytime my dad was over, she was always my
throat penalty.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, okay, that's good. It's it's the same as like
BROWNI here, same thing. I'm like this, it can you
be like dad passed me the ball or.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Like bron I wondered, because that's his name too.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It's true. Oh shoot, that's a good point. I don't know,
just six six twenty three, but I think he's twenty three.
Just yo, yeah, yo, ask me the rock. He's not
he doesn't brus there.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I'm dead trust.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Okay, Well are you are you a big basketball?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I believe you No, not at all?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
All right, cool, I said, we just had Deontay Craig on.
It was like a twenty minutes of NBA current season out.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
It was great.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I'm like, I'm the devil's advocate when it comes to basketball.
Like when I'm around Coop or Craig or one of
those Lebron guys, I'm like, oh yeah, I'll just add
of nowhere, Jordan's greatest of all time.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You're just the instigator. Do the same thing. Yeah, your
buddies with with Cooper, right, and he's he's a big
Lebron guy, big Lebron guy. Yeah, okay, all right, I.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Love the.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Ruined my reputation we had him on last year didn't
come up. We were talking were strictly football, but uh,
we're gonna try a big super Bowl champion now. I
don't know if I don't know if to answer the
d MS, maybe we'll have to go through something. If
he comes back on the show, we'll have to. I
might have to do a little instigating myself.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I'll bring up Michael Jordan's definitely definitely.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Because your dad was a coach, probably from the time
you were real little. Was that that was your intro
to sports or do you remember you just like from
the you're just one of the kids. Coaches, kid, you
just from the time you can remember bat was in
your hand, You're throwing the ball around.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
That was it, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I mean every single like literally every single day, there
was something, you know, going on.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Like if it was in the fall.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
We would go from school, we would go over to
you know, football practice, and then we'd end up in
the in the shed messing with the pads, building forts
and things like that. Like in the summertime, we're waking
up at six am. Dad's driving us over to the
morning workouts and we're just watching and you know, screwing around.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
But I mean, since I was teeny tiny, it's all
I knew.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Do you have brothers?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I do. I'm the middle child.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Of three three Yeah, yes, we're we're like from the
same ilk. I'm the oldest of three brothers, So I
know exactly. I basically feel like I know exactly what
your life looked like. Then it's, uh, how what's the
separation on on the older and the younger brother? A
couple of.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Years we're all we're three years apart. Yep, well, yeah,
years apart.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
That's probably yeah, that's probably the reason for the dip
over there in Kennedy. They no more whites running around.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Well, this actually this was my little brother's first year
in college, So this is this was the first year
in like a decade or it's none of us there.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's the answer, And don't got any Well, so you're
you're probably like a four sport guy in high school. Yeah,
it was baseball, track, football, basketball.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yep, was dude, that's what everybody says.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I should strike me as a wrestler a little bit.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
I so should have. I wrestled in middle school and
I got pretty good at it. But then but like
I've always played basketball, and I was pretty close with
the basketball coach.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I just stuck with it.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, I don't really, I don't. I have no regrets
about really anything, but like maybe not gonna wrestle, you.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Know, could have been good state champ or something.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I'll know about Iowa.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I mean yeah, I mean it's it's that's true. It
says five ten on the roster, one eighty seven to
five to ten. How close is that?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Oh well, the height is like spot on, okay, five ten,
I mean yeah, it's five ten on the dot.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Okay, one eighty seven. When when was that?
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I don't know, Uh, it's probably from I mean, this
is an updated bio, but I don't know how much
they really change those. You're definitely skinnier in this picture.
Your neck isn't as big.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah, no, I'm too ten to twelve right now.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Okay, we're beef We're beefy Max.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Now beef Max. Now.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You're also not smiling in this picture. You look like
you want to kill someone.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
That's how my face usually looks.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
What's up with that? That's just your that's your that's
your baseline is just like.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
That's just like my red Like when I walk around.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Okay, all right, you're that guy.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Seven from it's like a dark eyebrows.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
They just kind of that's just that's just your look.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Yeah, when you come in at twenty five year now
at to ten plus, what's that weekend looked like for
you over the last four years? Was it was it
a struggle or did it come naturally with the with
the Division one program and the training table it was
just not that hard.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Yeah, I think it came fairly natural. As a matter
of fact, Now that you mention it. I came in
at like it was really like one ninety. But I
distinctly remember the first time we got weighed in. I
was really sick and I hadn't eight.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
For a while.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
But but that's pretty I came in out like right
around one ninety and the weight game was you know,
you know, it was pretty natural.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I'd say, it just happened.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, what did your recruiting look like?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Oh, so I was I was a COVID.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Was a COVID grad. Yeah, I graduated.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Twenty one, And it was after my sophomore year. Because
my sophomore year was my first year, uh playing varsity football.
I started getting like a little bit of attention, you know,
just here and there. And then my junior year like
really picked up because I had a pretty good junior year.
And so right after my junior year, you know, things
(14:15):
were going uh or no, Yeah, Like right after my
junior season, things were going like great, and I was
talking to a lot of people, a lot of people
were coming into school and seeing me and things like that.
And then right after my junior year was that was
the spring of twenty twenty. That's when the whole world
shut down. So I mean I was talking to throughout COVID.
(14:36):
I was talking to like I was getting, you know,
the graphics that they sent to you, Like, I mean
like ten of them a day. That's an exaggeration, but
like a.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Ton's I'd bet not that much.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But I mean it was sometimes because at that point
it was like fcs, fbs and just like they were
when they came, they came in bulk.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, and then well they didn't have anything else to
do either, so they're like, we're just gonna at all
We're going to make so many graphics of these kids,
like all we can do right now.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
And so I was talking to all of them, and
you know, five ten white boy running the football and
that guys, aren't you know, quick to pull the trigger.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And literally white literally white boy.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, as white as it.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Gets, as white as it gets.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Maybe everybody was so hesitant to pull the trigger. And
everybody's like, oh, we got come to camp, come to camp.
So my gum, I'm thinking.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Oh, I'm about to go to all these camps, about
to rack up offers. It's been great, and then everything
shut down, no camps for me, and then uh, you
know kind of well, I was talking to a whole
bunch of FCS guys, and then I posted a couple
of like power five graphics and then it all just
(15:52):
stopped because they.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Were like, oh, he's gonna do it power five stuff,
and they just stopped talking to me.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Really, I'm so serious.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I ended up I ended up with five preferred walk
ons and nothing else, No FCS, no D two, nothing.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
So you were having conversations with all the way up
to the FBS level, Like what were some like did
you talk to Iowa State? I mean in the in
the region, we're talking like Minnesota, Nebraska. Have conversations with
all of them.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Yeah, so I was like, I mean Iowa, Iowa, stay, Nebraska,
I was talking to Missouri, Kansas State. Spoke to freaking
Virginia Tech. I don't know how that came out.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, gosh, there were a couple more.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
So you had several, you know, of the high power
conference offers all the way down to Division two. Probably
a ton of interest in D two.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Now hardly didn't even talk to me, honestly, because I
would post the graphics and then everybody just assumed like.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
That they didn't have a chance.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I guess, yeah, but no, I did they.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Have a chance or was it all always gonna be?
Were you like the kid who was like, if I
can get a walk on spot at Iowa, that's the thing,
or like would you have considered somewhere else?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
No?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, I would have considered, you know, wherever.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Anybody wanted to give you a little chunk of change.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That's what I'm saying, Like anybody that want would give
me some money.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I was gonna give the kids some bread.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I mean, let's zero dollars on the tables, five for walk.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So who was so who were the other who are
the other off? Walk off?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So it was Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, and.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Then there's two more that was like okay, it's on
the way. But then I ended up getting in that.
So I don't know if I'm allowed to say or whatever,
because they didn't.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You could say whatever you want. I mean, they're not the.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
In Kansas State that I was like speaking to real closely.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I love those. Everyone has those stories of like the
they're telling you like, yeah, we're gonna we're gonna off
for you, We're gonna get you, like those are always fun.
I had a couple of those as well, and that
was about all I had other than other than Iowa.
The uh, that is a tough spot for COVID to
(18:06):
show up. Man, like that is that's a tough that's
a rough year, especially in the in the football recruiting cycle.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I mean, I'm not really complaining. I mean, that's what
everybody in that class went through it.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So but do you ever do you ever think back
to it and be like, if I was just one
class later or one class earlier, right, like, maybe it
would have n differently.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, I mean I just wish I could have gone
to the camps because, yeah, everybody said, we want to
see you in camp, we want to see you do this.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
And the camps are big, they're huge, and no one
could do a thing that summer, which, like for anyone
that doesn't know, I'm sure we've talked about it on
the show before. But like you have a great junior year,
schools start to see you, they see your tape, they
see your you're you're doing stuff for the varsity team,
especially Kennedy where coaches are familiar going to that school,
(19:00):
not just for football, I'm sure, but there's there's probably
I mean, I'm for Marshalltown, so there's a few more
college coaches walking through those halls for all sports girls
and boys. Then like even Marshalltown would have so like
you know Kennedy, they know where that is, they know
who that is. The reputation junior year, you finish that up.
You're in that summer between junior and senior summer and
(19:22):
that's when you go and you do your camping circuit.
You go to all and I did it and it
was massive like that. That's basically like, hey, can is
this kid legit in person or not? People love to
play the game of like well what does he look
like in pads? What does he look like in a helmet?
And you just didn't get to do any.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Of those.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Bro Well, to be fair, I did the year before,
but I obviously wasn't what I ended right the next year. Yeah,
it's a couple I went to like the Iowa Camp,
Iowa State Camp, and I did some of the seven
on side of the stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
But yeah, well I was totally a different player the
next year.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And so what was the strategy then, Like during that
twenty twenty seat like you're not able to go to
any of these camps. You're just trying to hold onto
as much communication with these with these teams, as you could.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Just play my balls off, I guess.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
See if the film will speak for itself.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
And I'm assuming you had a pretty decent senior year sense.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, well senior year, I mean my so we had
the Dracho and my school got destroyed.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
So the school got crushed.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yeah, it was like the whole thing, not the whole thing,
but like a good portion of it freaking collapsed, like
the roof caved in, and I mean the whole school,
I should say the whole school.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
The roof pretty much caved in, and so it was
like three million dollars worth of damage. And then, uh,
I didn't even know that the school was worth three
million dollars. Yea, but we couldn't even We couldn't even
practice till like two weeks before the game because we
didn't have no place to go.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And then.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The season got shortened from nine games to seven games,
and then a couple of games in somebody on my
team catches COVID and knocks us out for two weeks.
So all of a sudden, we end up going to
the quarterfinals and we only played eight games.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Man, But it was good year. But like again, normally
if you go to the quarters, you've got twelve games
on tape and you're left with like eight, So you're
just catching a bad break after bad break a little
bit when it comes to like, you know, having a
real run at showing these teams what you can.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Do, you know, but you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I mean, every everybody's got some kind of things that happen,
you know, a little speed bumps or whatever, So it's
nothing to really complain about. I guess there's you know,
kept moving forward and that's kind of what I do
is just one foot in front of the other.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
When did you finally make the decision? And like, right,
I guess I'm going to Iowa.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
It was I think it was December of my senior year.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Just right after the year finished.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Yeah, because it pretty much came down to Iowa, and
Iowa was tall because those are the only ones that I, like,
I've really visited, so you know, came out of them,
just chose Iowa.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
What what made the difference there? Were you a Hawkeye
fan growing up closer to that side of the state.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Or my family was, And I'm gonna be honest, I
don't I never watched anything grow I didn't watch football,
and I always just wanted to play it.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I mean, everybody was sitting in.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
My brother, older brother was football fanatic, just always wanted
to watch sports, and it's like, dude, let's go outside
and play the sport.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
So I would I would say.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I was Iowa, dude, you were a you're a playground menace.
Weren't you in grade school?
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (22:56):
During lunch?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yeah, I guess. But really the dip friends was just
Brian Farrence was what it was, because he's who I
was speaking to and just the way that he talked,
and uh, like I knew I wasn't going to be
lied to. He told me how it was, you know,
and I was just like, all right, these are you
(23:17):
know people I want to go play for.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I guess that warmed my heart a little bit to
hear to hear that Brian was the what's the difference
maker at I like big Brian guy around here. A
couple other the two that aren't here, one that isn't
really around for the podcast anymore, but Kevin, big Brian guy.
(23:39):
Obviously all the stuff that went down with him and
you know, parting ways. Now he's out at Fresno. He
recruited you the entire time.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah, I was talking. It was like three guys I
would speak to. It was him, Uh, Scott south Made
and Tyler Barnes.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You know, I wasn't I didn't have an offer.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
From him obviously, so I wasn't getting constantly berated. But
every time I talked to him, it was it was
usually Brian and he would, you know, come to the school,
I'd see him, I'd talk to him, and you know,
just the way he spoke and uh, it was somebody
that that, uh that I recognized being That's how I
(24:21):
was talked to as a kid, That's how I was coached,
you know, just the way that he spoke and what
he talked about.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I was like, you know, yeah, I'll follow you.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Another coaches kid, another coaches kid.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, from the same claw.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah. The So what was it like when he when
you know it came out, it would have been two
years ago now, an year and a half ago, in
the middle of the season. I assume that as you
got into your career at Iowa, he you're still a
big Brian guy. And I don't know how much social media,
(24:54):
I mean, KF is always about you know, blocking the
outside noise out. But I guys see things and there's
you know, there's the Twitter mob of people who have opinions.
What was that like as a guy who you know,
like you know, you just said, I came basically because
of Brian between Iowa and Iowa State, and now he's
(25:15):
on his way out the door. Is that weird?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
I actually, just a couple of weeks ago downloaded Twitter
or X whatever X. But yeah, I just.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Download that again.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
I deleted it right after I freaking committed because smart.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
I mean, Twitter is a freaking cesspool of crap. So
I just.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Deleted it after that. I don't need this anymore, and
so I deleted it. Didn't honestly, I was kind of
sheltered from, you know, all the outsides. I don't I
don't have didn't have Twitter, don't have TikTok uh.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
So I really, dude, you're.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
A some of the This is a football guy, Grant,
this is this guy he all he cares about. I
feel like we're taking up his time right now because
he wants to Twitter Prince like he's like, I'm on
this goddamn podcast, I need to go work out.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I mean, I mean it was like, I mean, none
of us in the facility cared. I mean we were
get I'm trying to earn a spot. We were trying
to win games, and it just is what it is.
We ignored pretty much all of it, and we were
just like, all right, let's let's turn on the tape
and you know, go try to get that.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Yeah, let that talk for itself. So you get your
foot in the door at IOWA twenty twenty the fall
of twenty twenty two, uh twenty one. Hey, look, I'll
tell you.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
It was twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
So twenty twenty one. You join it as a walk
on shout out, what's your expectation for yourself when you
join this program? What what is eighteen nineteen year old
Max White think like? Because a lot of these guys
walk in and regardless, you know, they're on a lot
of them are on scholarship, but a lot of people
walk in and they're like, oh, I'm gonna get playing
time or like they have these expectations. What was going
(27:02):
on in your head of what this experience was going
to look like, earn a.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Spot and play football?
Speaker 3 (27:08):
I mean, because I mean I understood what what I
was walking into because I mean, I ended up with
only preferred walk on, so it's not like I could
change my situation at all, right, and so really just uh,
I mean, I knew what I was signing up for,
Like your walk on yours, you are designed. You are
(27:32):
by design at the bottom of the totem pole. And
I was totally okay with that because it didn't really
matter what situation I was in. I was still gonna
put my best foot forward and go earn a spot
one way or another and go get on the field somehow.
So that was really the mentality I had. I mean,
there's a few there's a few very specific quotes that
(27:56):
my dad would hit me with all the time growing up,
and probably the biggest one, the number one that I'll
always remember, is just that you're not entitled shit. That
was That's kind of his model he'd always given me.
And so I'm not entitled to shit here, so let's
go get some It's a.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Good mentality to walk in with and a good spot
to be. I don't know how familiar you were, probably
not very because what high school kid is well read
in on their history of the walk ons at Iowa?
I mean, going all the way back to Dallas, Clark,
you know, the big ones. But you start to find
(28:34):
out like, especially for people on the outside of the program,
I think, and maybe this is dissipated a little bit
over time, but walk Ons aren't really treated differently, at
least for the most part. Like, you know, for a
long time, my teammates didn't even know I wasn't on scholarship,
Like some guys don't even know. You're just one of
(28:54):
the You're just on the team. And it's a good
spot to where like I knew some other guys that
played ball around the country and it was like, yeah,
it's very clear like these guys, the scholarship guys get this,
they get access to this, they can do this, They
get these tutors, and like the walk Ons don't. They
get the scraps right of stuff that's handed out to
the team, like for everything all the way down to
(29:16):
like the gear that you get that IOWA just like
everybody's the same guy, right you you really do get
that equal opportunity. So that had to feel good for
you walking in. There's a little bit of whirlwind as
you step into your first camp, but then you realize,
like my ball out I got a shot here. Yeah,
(29:36):
I mean, tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I'm you're not wrong.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I mean, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. If I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
These days, there's so many there's so many, like, so many.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
New factors now. I mean, there's money, there's this, there's that.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
That is something I didn't have to deal with. Guys, weren't.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
I'll just say that it's a it's a different Uh.
I mean, it's just a different game now.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
No, which is fine and all, but uh.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I didn't have to. I didn't have to deal with
the nil side of things.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
I I do know that it's a little different now.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah, it definitely is. That was that was not a thing.
And I the smirk on your face. I kind of
understand what you're referencing. And there's not a lot you
can do about it. It's just the way it's set up.
But I get it when you step in and you
get into that. I guess, were you invited to camp?
Mm hmm, okay, so you made it made it into
(30:39):
camp not always a thing. How soon did you realize,
like I think I can physically compete here, Like I'm
physically capable of this.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
It was well, it was uh gosh, there's couple of
practices in because they don't do like the Devo stuff
right away.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
But in Devo, me and uh Devin Hillson.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
That was the other uh back that was in camp
with me, Me and Devin Hilson.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
That's where we finally got our uh got.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Our chance was in Divo and he and I we
had some pretty good times in Devo together that we
would you know, take turns, taken into the house sometimes
and you know, obviously Devo work you get freaking banged
up too. You know, it's not always sunshine and rainbows but.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Pretty much never sunshining rainbows, yeh oh never, But me
and Hilson, we would we would get it going a
little bit and we were like, all right, yeah, we
can play football. Was there was there ever? Probably not?
You don't strike me as a kid, but was there
ever like a doubt from you walking in? You know,
first few days you're like, don't we're gonna figure out
(31:46):
if I belong here?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
M not really? I mean, well, your first time, you know,
line it up in the backfield and you see and
you're making eye contact with you know, Jack Campbell for
the first time, It's like, huh, that's a that's a
that's a linebacker, isn't it Nick Jack or was one
(32:10):
of those guys or Benson. Now I feel like I
got to go through the whole list.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
We know them all, we know them all. None of
them will feel slight first time.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
It's like, huh, that's what that looks like. But no,
I was never like, oh can I play? Because football
is still football.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Right before we move on, take a quick second to
thank our couple of sponsors down at the bottom here,
Iowa Egg Council, Eagle Points Solar repping us. Yeah, Grant's
got it right there. If you're on the YouTube, you
can see the beautiful logos. I mean, this guy with
the neck of the size of Max's, he's probably eating
a lot of eggs, a lot of them. Do you
(32:50):
like eggs?
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Yeah, every day, scrambled eggs and round b.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
There you go. I don't need I don't need to
do an ad read. You see what Max looks like.
He's a beautiful man. He's he's two pounds of lean machine.
And you heard it right there. Eggs and ground beef.
That's all. You know. They have been a little expensive,
but they've come back down so don't worry about it.
It's even at the highest price. You eat four or
(33:15):
five of those things for breakfast, it's a couple bucks.
Did you know Max, did you get some eggs bottom?
That's great? Did you know Max the Ighway with the
number one egg producing state in the country.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
That would have been my first guess, But I didn't
know that got a lot.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Of chickens, a lot of chickens, a lot of eggs
and f shout out Zach tweet for sure. Absolutely. Eagle
Points Solar, on the other hand, is uh, they don't
have anything to do with eggs, but they could power
your house so that you can continue to cook eggs
all in one.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
So do you think we could get like a collaboration
between them or like they go on like a like
a solar.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
We think that would be Yeah, do you think we
could do that? That's been so sick. I know it
might be. I don't know if we that's safe to
eat or not.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
We'd have to ask the points, so I would be down.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Maybe like it's like a spider man thing makes you strong?
Or we take we get Eagle Points Solar to go
out to all the egg farms around the around the
state and we just install solar so we can, you know,
maximize the efficiency these of these farming operations. One stop
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(34:31):
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They're gonna analyze those, get back to you with your
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Everybody needs more money in their pocket. As of now,
(34:54):
they're still doing that two hundred dollars Amazon gift card
if you did that otherwise. They just want to educate you.
After you listen to the education, it's a decent chance
that you, uh, You've got a decision to make in
front of you. It's it's really not that hard. So
Eagle Point Solar out of Dubuque and Iowa Egg Council.
Thank you to the sponsors. Back to Max, you get
(35:15):
to awesome little Hawk item here on your on your page.
By the way, that you are a relative of Max Hawkins,
a member of the thirty nine iron Man team that's right.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
It's my great grandfather on my mom's side.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Dude, that is so sick.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Yeah, my name is Max Hawkins wife, so it's my namesake.
And uh we uh we have his jersey, his his
wool jersey.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
It's actually really story how he got that. But yeah,
and you Hawkins drive that's him.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
And yeah, but wait, do you tell what's the story
we got? You have the jersey that he wore in
gamem Holy shit, that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Got a little blood on the he was number sixty four,
got a little blood.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
On the on the six.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Let's go so actually crazy how we got that? And uh,
my dad is a real night owl. Sometimes he's on
the you know, computer working and stuff. And this one
time he was on this page with like hawk eye
or it's like a hawkeye something.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
I don't know, it's like a four or something.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I don't even know what it is.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
But there was something that said anybody related to Max
Hawkins respond to this. So he sends him an email.
He's like, hey, my son, his name is Max Hawkins.
That's his great grand great grandson or wherever he get
and he says, come meet me at this, uh at
(36:48):
this diner at this time, got something for you.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Sounds like a drug deal.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
So we go, So we go and he brings me.
We go in. He brought brought me.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
This chance there just in case he wanted to trying
to you.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
It's noon popular diner.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
All right, Okay, you made it sound like it was
like two in the morning.
Speaker 6 (37:14):
Yahore. He's like, come here, noon and I got something
for you. Pulls out this jersey and he goes and
he said that.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
He was an equipment manager or equipment assistant back in
nineteen thirty nine, and his and the head equipment man.
The equipment guy was throwing out all the jerseys, throwing
all the jerseys from that uh, from that year, and
(37:49):
he goes, hey, THO was a pretty cool Can I
have one? The equipment manager says, sure, takes a jersey,
throws it to him, takes it home.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Lo and behold it's my great grandfather.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
So this guy was old.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
That happened.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
That's a fucking wild story.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
You should have you should have mentioned that in the
picking uh the school's part of your story.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
You were destined. That was like you didn't realize it was.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
It was in your blood. Like the article in the
gazette it was like, Uh, the that was pretty cool.
Of the headline of it was like legacy of an
iron man.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
That is sick good jobs that really factor.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
And honestly, because I don't know how at the beginning
of the process, I kind of just uh put all
biases aside and I was like, let's go somewhere that's
the right.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
I understand that too. You're especially as a guy who's
sort of on that in the middle of like I
don't know if I'm gonna be able to get money
anywhere or not, Like I'm gonna I'm gonna take the
best opportunity. I'm not. It feels dumb to like turn
down you know, you're not. I don't know who's these
guys with all the offers. I don't know someone from
(39:04):
your class who had, you know, thirty five offers. You
can't really like you can be picky at that point
because everybody's trying to give you money. But if no
one's trying to give you a scholarship, you're kind of like,
I'll go wherever. I almost ended up at Nebraska, Yeah,
have any you know, like it was between me and
another guy basically at their camp and they're like they
(39:24):
were going to choose one guy to offer. They decided
to offer the other guy if they offered me. If
they offered me, I'm like, this is a Husker podcast,
and I had I would have spent four years in
the brat Like it would have been total. So I
totally understand. You read your your first year Team Leader
Award on Offense in twenty twenty two. You want to
(39:45):
describe what that is for the people?
Speaker 3 (39:47):
Yeah, I was, uh, well I think I got snubbed
in twenty twenty one too because I was back to
back Scout team Player of the Year.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Well that's what that was pretty much.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Yeah, So basically award get they give one out for offense, defense,
and special teams. I'm pretty sure it's basically like the
guy who isn't in the too deep. He's on the
he's on the the other field. He's helping the starters
get ready, but he's kind of balling out like he's
he's a means you were a pest a little bit
like the defense is like the defense is kind of
(40:18):
pissed at Max on a couple of days every once
in a while.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yeah, fighting every day for sure.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Really, I would start him at the beginning of practice,
just to get him going.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I always tried to.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah, I was who's our favorite? Yeah, I was gonna
say where you go to put your go to to
start a little scrap, a little extra after the whistle.
Grants always good.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
It's like a shelve under the chin sometimes.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
I mean literally sometimes, when I mean practice was going
south and Wallace was spitting dip everywhere.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
I just swing on someone and then.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
Behind it. Sometimes you just need a little energy and
action into the into the practice grant. That's that's, that's
what it is. So Max is an energy guy. Did
you ever pick a fight that you quickly realized like
I probably I probably shouldn't have done that, like d
line me got a holdie or something, And they're.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Like, shit, Oh, I don't regret any of my fights.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Yeah, I mean you should have been a wrestler.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
I don't regret any of my fights.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
I got into him for a reason, and I got
my licks in just about every time, and so.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
You look proud of it.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
It was it was mostly guys in the box. I
mean I was never the bigger guy.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
But uh, well no, that's I understand that one too.
At five point ten, you're rarely going to be the
big guy at Iowa whatever. Were you a strong guy?
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Though?
Speaker 1 (41:44):
What do your weight room numbers look like? You had
to be?
Speaker 5 (41:46):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Actually, in high school I broke our handkling record and
uh so I guess right now my numbers are squat.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
There's uh five hundred, I have something. I was right
around five hundre.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Uh hand clings three seventy and bench is three.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Sixty three sixty three sixty five. I think it's three sixty.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It's decent.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
I've always loved lifting, man, I love working out. It's sorry,
I uh, I get to let it all go.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
You don't know Drake Koolik. He was the third man
of this show. He was actually a full back during
my time.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Oh I do, yes, Yes, you and him.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Would get along really really well.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
I'm sure we'd all get along super well.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
We got to get Max that Brian Ference Ganger Die
t shirt that he has. He got to get him
an extra one true.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Well, we need to just put it out with Yeah,
he's got to surely, just as Brian Ference Ganger Die
on it he wears around.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
I wear that.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Yeah, a lot of people would we need to We
probably need to sell it we can put a little
fred what what what is Fresno State? Now? Are they
the Bulldogs or something?
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Those are the Bulldogs. We can put a little bulldog.
They got our basketball team. Our basketball team is quickly
becoming the Iowa Bulldogs. I don't know if you guys
have seen that on Twitter. Ill bet yeah, that's gonna
be fun. Team hustle a war. So then you know,
no game act. You walk on red shirt twenty two,
no game action. You're two years into the program. The
(43:19):
transfer portal at this point in twenty twenty two, I mean,
nil is now a thing as well. Uh, what is
that situation? Like in your head? You you seem you
come across in the forty four minutes we've been talking,
is like you're a guy who if you start something,
you finish it. Kind of pretty pretty cut and dry.
But a lot of guys jump in the portal.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
What was your thoughts?
Speaker 3 (43:42):
I mean, like, yeah, the thing is they didn't have
to take I would didn't have to you know, give
me an opportunity or anything like nobody did because, like
I said, five ten white boys COVID didn't don't get
to see him in.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
First and not entitled to shit, not.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
Entitled to shit.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
And so so I came in here and I just
had no fucking problem dying on this hill and so
U and every year I made, I made a little
jump every year. I mean, freshman year I was Scout
team and Scout Team player of the year. Second year
Scout Team player of the year.
Speaker 2 (44:17):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
Third year got on the field a little bit, fourth
year got on the field a little bit more, and
so increasing running back reps and and then uh, you know,
and this upcoming year, I guess I just look at
the look at what's going on basically, and we know
we have a full we have a stacked room. You know,
(44:38):
all these guys stacked and you know those guys should play.
You know they're good players. But I should play too. Yeah,
it's and what it would be doing. And that's almost
like me giving up sticking around, you know, because that's
just conceding my my last year.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
It's like saying, all right, I'm gonna let this be
my last year.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
So I get that.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, I mean, I know I can play football, so
I'm gonna try and play football.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
And I and I think Grant and I can uh
agree that I think you love football. You like it
a lot, and you want to and you want to
play football, So I totally understand. I know. One, I
don't think anybody is faulting you for for trying to
go find another opportunity. If they are, I think they're
probably a dumb ass. Uh. The roster limit mm hmm. October.
(45:25):
I looked it up as as we were talking sometime
in like, you know, middle of October last year, they
come out with this whole you know, there's it's gonna
be a one oh five, Like, it's not just gonna
be one oh five for camp. Like every every team now,
every sport now has this roster limit, and essentially you're
able to fund the entire roster. And so the idea
(45:48):
we've talked about it a couple of times on here
is like how the walk on kind of dies.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
Does Yeah, well, I mean this is I will say,
this isn't a one oh five instance.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
It's just, uh, it's just opportunity.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
Opportunity to play, you know. I mean, and I guess
the safe the safe bet you know, would be to
not but no looking back, and in a few years,
you know, I want to know that at least I
had the balls to give it a shot and you
see what I you know, go see if I can
go to the next level. And because you know, no,
(46:20):
I can play football, so I want to play football.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Yeah, I don't know where I think I saw it.
So KF did his spring press conference last week, and
I think he was asked about it then, and I'm
really curious. So it sounded like back in December he
kind of sat down with everybody or if he could
guarantee you a spot on the one oh five for
the next year, they were going to tell you that
(46:42):
is that? Is that how that went basically?
Speaker 3 (46:45):
Kind I mean, that's the thing about coach Farrens is
that like he's not gonna lie to anybody and he
and he don't he doesn't want to fuck over anyone.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
So I respect the hell out of him for doing
that early.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Absolutely and and so like I said, for me personally,
it wasn't you know, because we yeah, we did all
have those meetings. It wasn't a one o five issue.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
And they told you were good.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
Yeah, it was you know there you go.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
So yeah, I'm yeah, I can feel an energy in
you that's almost like building and you're like wherever I land,
they're gonna get one season of hell? Is that how
it feels for you?
Speaker 2 (47:27):
See, I'm that's the I mean, I'm just gonna let
them hang.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
Yeah, that's sick. I'm excited for you. Man. It's uh
what I will say this? Why now? Why not at
semester or uh, you know, like you you enter last
week or at least it comes out that you entered
last week sort of in the middle of the spring semester.
Was there thoughts after the bull game to do it
(47:52):
and try and get a jump on that or what?
What's it? What was the in the decision making process
for you?
Speaker 2 (47:57):
I wanted to graduate a Hawk.
Speaker 3 (47:58):
Okay, so it was I, you know, I earned being
a Hawkeye.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
That's what I wanted was to you know, earn my
spot and.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
So sick. That's a sick answer, by the way.
Speaker 3 (48:12):
So I wanted to graduate a Hawkeye because I am
a Hawk. I earned being a Hawkeye and I'll forever
be a Hawkeye. And when when I see people who
you know, stay out of school for a year and
they say forever whatever, you know, I don't want to
be that guy where I'm like, but I mean.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
I am forever a Hawkey. I spend four.
Speaker 3 (48:31):
Years, I'm going to graduate here, so I am forever
a Hawkeye and then you know, next year, I'm going
to play football at a school and see what I
can do there. You know, that's gonna that's a that's
a decision for me, I guess, and I don't often
make those, So that was a decision for me.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
That is from a former Hawkeye. Very cool, very cool
that appreciate that. Uh, not every program would have coaches
or culture worth sticking around for to call, you know,
to call themselves you know whatever, a tiger or you know,
(49:09):
a wildcat like it just it wouldn't mean that much
at some places. And to hear a guy who paid
his way stick around when to be frank, time's running
out on your eligibility, that's the thing. Yeah, that's pretty
it's pretty fucking cool. Man. That's that's a sick that's
a sick decision. Any pro I'm not gonna I'm not
(49:32):
gonna try and pull it all the way out of you.
But like, do you have any progress on on where
you end up next or you're still trying to figure
that out or what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (49:39):
Uh, there's there's gonna be I don't know exactly what I'm.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
No, but you're in the process of figuring it out.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Yeah, I mean there's gonna be opportunities and uh, there's
gonna be opportunities and the future looks all right, you know.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
And so yeah, do.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
You have any wore memories from your four years as AKA,
any favorite games? Oh, gosh, favorite favorite moments, favorite plays.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Uh, scoring a touchdown is pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (50:11):
That is really cool. Had a chance to do that
and I fucked it up, So.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
I remember that. I still.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
I didn't watch that many games, like I told you,
But I mean I do remember that.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
Who's this guy out there? Everybody? That's what everybody said,
it's a future podcaster. They scoring a touchdown. I didn't score,
but my heart was probably raising just as much as
yours was when you did score. How what did that
feel like?
Speaker 2 (50:41):
Just blackout? You felt like it feels like any other time.
Just I mean, I.
Speaker 3 (50:46):
Scored quite a bit and highest gone, mean I know
what a.
Speaker 1 (50:50):
Man?
Speaker 3 (50:51):
Oh, I mean, it's it's never different. The same every
time you cross the goal line really is. And no,
that's I don't mean like oh it's who No, I
mean every time it's a huge deal. Like when you're
in elementary school, it's a massive deal.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
When you're in middle school, high school.
Speaker 3 (51:08):
It never changes how how amazing it feels, it will
never change.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
I'll mark that one more, one more comment, one more
note on Max White football guy never changed. Middle school
touchdown feels just like it didn't. Kiddick fucking incredible every time.
This guy just bleeds football. What was it like, so
your buddies with Coop? What was it like to watch
(51:33):
him win a super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Dude?
Speaker 3 (51:36):
That was incredible. I had a chance to. I went
to the the divisional round when they played the Rams.
They got to go to Philly for that, and just
like seeing the whole year unfold. I mean, here's my
you know, roommate throughout all of college. I mean it's
my best friend. And seeing him, you know, do all
(51:57):
that was pretty sick.
Speaker 1 (51:59):
I was in a buff the wings watching the Super
Bowl in uh in South Carolina. I was there for
something else when he intercepted that and I realized it
was him. M hmm, I went fucking insane. What was
that like?
Speaker 3 (52:17):
Oh yeah, we Coop actually got us like a little
like a little section to watch it and uh and
summit and so yeah, now we're just in there watching it,
(52:38):
and uh, I mean, so we're in there, we're in
this you know section or whatever and everything. I just
see Coop on the screen every time, and before the
play happens, you know, my Homes drops back and I
see Coop standing here. They pan off, Mahomes rolls out
and he throws it, And in my head he throws
(52:59):
I'm like, was just right there?
Speaker 2 (53:02):
And then and sure.
Speaker 3 (53:04):
Running back the other way, we're freaking out and then
all of a sudden we're all doing laps around some.
Speaker 1 (53:09):
Yeah, yeah, I love that. What do you think four
years at Iowa, you're kind of already you can just
hear it when you talk. You're you're kind of this.
You got a good head on your shoulders, it feels like,
and you've had it like that.
Speaker 3 (53:25):
For a while really.
Speaker 1 (53:27):
Well, and on your neck too. But what do you
take wherever you go next? What do you take away
from Iowa as far as how you've developed over the
last four years? What do you what do you think
is the biggest thing that you've learned taken away? Could
be physically, it could just be football wise, maturity wise.
What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (53:45):
What do just the.
Speaker 3 (53:48):
Just the professionalism that you know, Iowa has I would say,
you know, everything is no ship shape and just being
detailed and everything that I do, and how every single
thing you know matters, every single thing, like some things
get taken, you know, for granted, like you know sometimes
(54:10):
the film sessions of the practices.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Or or the or the warm up and when.
Speaker 3 (54:15):
You're stretching, just every single thing that you do matters.
That's I guess that's why I would take away.
Speaker 1 (54:22):
I would agree with that. That's all I got. Grant
you got any questions for a guy? Yeah, dude, We'll
just one more question for you.
Speaker 4 (54:30):
So I saw I know you're not on Twitter or
excerpt as much as.
Speaker 2 (54:34):
You Yeah, I am, now you are?
Speaker 1 (54:35):
You are? Now okay, so you probably I saw Cooper
very kindly. He described as one of the best teammates
he's ever had. So I was s curious, what do
you think makes a great teammate?
Speaker 3 (54:48):
Geez, just putting I mean, this is gonna be a
cliche answer, I guess, but putting the team before yourself really,
And I would say, and I mean I appreciated the
hell out of him for and that, because like that's
who I who I have always tried to be. Ever
since I was you know, little, all I could ever
(55:10):
think about was, you know, winning, Like if our team
does good, then that means that all do good. Or
you know, in high school, when you know the team's winning,
then the accolades come. You know, it's the stats, the shine,
the touchdowns. I mean that, it's always at the very
(55:32):
back of my mind, you know, all I can all
I can ever think about is is if the team's
doing good, then that.
Speaker 2 (55:38):
Means that it'll it will trickle down on me, you know.
Speaker 3 (55:41):
So all I've ever cared about is the is the team,
quite honestly, and that's why that's why it really really
kills me to to leave, because you know, there's nobody
I care about more in the world other than my
family than than you know, those guys.
Speaker 1 (55:57):
So that is tough. I think that's an underrated part
of what you're doing, is having to walk away from
what you've built the last four years. Yeah, like that sucks.
I cannot imagine doing that. That's and that's how that's
how I know that it's not as selfish. It's like
so hard to do.
Speaker 3 (56:14):
That, yeah, but it's it's just like you gotta get
with the times. I guess it's the business. It's the
way it goes. And uh so, I mean, yeah, it
kills me to walk away from the guys. But you know,
there's not too much I gotta say about that because
the guys in there, I mean, they know I love them.
Speaker 2 (56:31):
You know, when I.
Speaker 3 (56:32):
Before the games, I tell them I love them. And
I'm in that big old circle.
Speaker 1 (56:37):
Or what I was gonna say. You got you got
the You got the circle, didn't you. Yeah, I'd love
to hear a Max White so Drake who I previously mentioned,
he got the circle during our time. So that's probably
all you need to know. We appreciate you, Max, coming
on telling your story a little.
Speaker 2 (56:54):
Bit, man, appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (56:57):
This is a unique opportunity for us, a weird sort
of unique look into Yeah, not everybody's a Cooper Dighine, right, Like,
it doesn't always go perfect. You're not the star who
gets to leave early. And that's who we were. We
were walk ons who had to grind it out a
little bit more. And we yeah, we respect the grind.
(57:19):
So we appreciate everything you did in the Black and
Gold Man, and we wish you lucky where we end.
Speaker 2 (57:24):
Up appreciate you guys man. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (57:27):
Everybody who listened. Hope you liked the episode with Max.
We'll be back again soon. Until then, peace, Hey, thanks
for listening to the show. If you want more, you
can check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
by searching Washed Up walk Ons. And if you're interested
in supporting the show, head over to patreon dot com
slash washed Up walk Ons, where you can find bonus podcasts, merchandise,
(57:47):
and other cool perks. Best part, half of your subscription
benefits the kids at UI Children's Hospital. We'll see you
next time. Hawks buy a million
Speaker 4 (58:04):
Pull and and and un pun pun
Max White joins the show today. A little bit of
a different story on this one. A lot of times
we're highlighting the super successful career sometimes of guys who
have gone on to the NFL. Max is a walk on.
He spent four years in the program, was a part
of a stacked running back room that he talks about,
and now he's off to get his time somewhere else.
What was it like being a Hawkey? What did he learn?
(00:20):
And a whole lot more. This is a football guy.
Let's have a day. Let's go alrighty back again for
(00:52):
another wash Up walk Ons podcast, the first of its
kind tonight with this one. Gebaum. This six years that
we've done this, I don't know if we've had an
active Iowa football athlete. Obviously, Max is entered the transfer
portal at this point, and we'll get to that here
in a second. We usually wait until guys are done
with their career. But last week or so, at the
(01:14):
time of this recording, I saw Max entered the transfer portal.
Obviously been a big piece to the Iowhawke football team
the last four years, and I was like, damn, there's
some stuff going on here, because there's some roster limits,
and there's some revs share and a bunch of things
happening in college sports. I figured it would be a
good opportunity to get Max on the show and we'll
(01:36):
talk a little bit about that as well as his
career at IOWA. So with that intro, Max, welcome to
the show.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thanks guys, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
How you doing good?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Good?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, we talked about right before you jumped on here.
If you're watching the YouTube version of this, I need
you to like the video right now for how thick
Max's neck is? This guy can this guy like King?
You don't even feel the bar when you squat, do you?
Doesn't even feel it?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Take a lot of hits to the head. It stiffens
up the neck a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That's true. That's true. Being in that running back room,
you get popped every once in a while a couple
of times.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Be able to handle some of the popping.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, yeah, ideally, right, you're on the delivering side of that.
What's the worst you've ever been hit? We'll start there.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
The worst I ever been here?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Gosh, oh, it wasn't even less. So I was doing
like we're doing like a drill with the DBS, and
I was running running a little route and I'm running
over the middle and the ball is behind me a
little bit and DB's coming up behind me, and I
jump up for it and bang just right right in
(02:53):
the back of the head right behind me. I like
flip down, laying on my shoulder and dislocated it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But who hit you?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Brendan Diaz Bernandez. Call him hass Central Michigan.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Now, okay, he had a great last name. Yeah, sometimes
you get those you are, but you're probably in an
interesting time right now. I feel like you're, uh, you've
entered the transfer portal. You're trying to figure out one
more year of college football. What is that like?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I mean, really just looking for the best opportunity. I guess,
to try to make the most of this last year,
I guess. So really just playing it day by day.
I'm not really thinking about it too much. Training just
as hard as always and so it's really just you know,
going with the flow day day by day.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
What does training look like for you right now? Are
you still in the IOWA facility? Like, how does that work?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
No?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
No, So I actually hit up my old strength coach,
coach Lewis, who coach out strength conditioning coach at my
high school, Kennedy High School, and I asked him to
throw some stuff together for me, and I like, I
know how to work out and I know what works
for me and how.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
To get faster and stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
We got. We got that. We got that.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
There's, you know, figure good to get some wisdom from
someone who I really trust and someone who I know
is like probably the best at what he does. And
as far as high school strength conditioning goes.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I was gonna say, whoever he is, there's got to
be some some magic over there at Kennedy. There's a
there's a little bit of a lineage there, especially to Iowa.
I played with shan byer uh Dallas. There probably was
a couple other what do you guys say?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Cougars cougars?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
What's in the water at Cedar Rapids Kennedy coach Lewis
Is that him? It's all him?
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Huh yeah. I mean, I tell you what, He's a
total genius. I mean whatever he said, I mean, I
mean his word as gold.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Honestly.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
I know I'm probably you know, jacking it a little bit,
but I mean I really think he's the best of
what he does.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
He's how long. Has he been there a long time?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
He was the head football coach before, so my dad's
actually the coach now. Coach why And he was the
head coach for football before my dad and then he
stepped down didn't want to, you know, do that anymore
and want to be the strength coach. So he's been
there a long time.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
That's interesting. You don't often hear of that transition. Yep,
goes from head football coach to just not I just
want to do strength conditioning.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Well, his son graduate. His son was about to be
a high school football player, I believe, or be a
vrscity player, and I think he just wanted to watch him.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah, understandable. So now your dad is the coach at Kenya. Yeah,
how did they do last year? Are they rolling still?
Are they all right?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Last year?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I didn't do so hot, I don't think.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
But it's been I mean, he became his first season
was the twenty four was the fall of twenty fourteen,
and it's been. They made the playoffs I think just
about every single year almost except for last one. And
uh been to the state championship once or twice, been
to the Dome a few times. And but yeah, Coog's
(06:21):
dad a little speedbone last year.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
That's why they all hit a speedbont It depends on
what you got. So you played for you dad, obviously
I did.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
How long was he like the coach for you growing up?
As well? Like little little league teams?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
He a couple of teams. He was always I mean, my.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Dad's been a coach for such a long time, so
he was usually you know, busy, and he would always
help out and stuff like that. But he really became
like my coach in high school.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I'm a coach's son as well. Coached my basketball
teams growing up and then basketball and football when I
was in high school. That's there's a it's a different
there's a slightly different amount of pressure when you're the coaches.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Kid, right, Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I guess there's an expectation of, like, this kid's got
to be worth a ship.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
A little definitely. Definitely. By the way, what's the just
what's the what's the cussing policy here?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You can say whatever you say whatever you want, man,
you can you can say whatever you want.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Trying to keep keep a living on that. But I
was just wondering if I was gonna have to if
I was gonna give your editor.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Hell, you're looking at the editor, brother, and he ain't
fucking taking anything out, So uh yeah, you can cuss.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Do you go by us?
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It was it dad on the food or coach like
on the satellite like you.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Like. I had a couple of teammates growing up who's
dad's were the coach and like from this is from
really young and they were like young to the point
where you still call him daddy and they will run
up from daddy daddy on the field, and I was,
oh god, I'm never doing that.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
That feels weird.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So anytime my dad was over, she was always my
throat penalty.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, okay, that's good. It's it's the same as like
BROWNI here, same thing. I'm like this, it can you
be like dad passed me the ball or.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Like bron I wondered, because that's his name too.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It's true. Oh shoot, that's a good point. I don't know,
just six six twenty three, but I think he's twenty three.
Just yo, yeah, yo, ask me the rock. He's not
he doesn't brus there.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I'm dead trust.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Okay, Well are you are you a big basketball?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I believe you No, not at all?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
All right, cool, I said, we just had Deontay Craig on.
It was like a twenty minutes of NBA current season out.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
It was great.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I'm like, I'm the devil's advocate when it comes to basketball.
Like when I'm around Coop or Craig or one of
those Lebron guys, I'm like, oh yeah, I'll just add
of nowhere, Jordan's greatest of all time.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You're just the instigator. Do the same thing. Yeah, your
buddies with with Cooper, right, and he's he's a big
Lebron guy, big Lebron guy. Yeah, okay, all right, I.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Love the.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Ruined my reputation we had him on last year didn't
come up. We were talking were strictly football, but uh,
we're gonna try a big super Bowl champion now. I
don't know if I don't know if to answer the
d MS, maybe we'll have to go through something. If
he comes back on the show, we'll have to. I
might have to do a little instigating myself.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I'll bring up Michael Jordan's definitely definitely.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Because your dad was a coach, probably from the time
you were real little. Was that that was your intro
to sports or do you remember you just like from
the you're just one of the kids. Coaches, kid, you
just from the time you can remember bat was in
your hand, You're throwing the ball around.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
That was it, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I mean every single like literally every single day, there
was something, you know, going on.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Like if it was in the fall.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
We would go from school, we would go over to
you know, football practice, and then we'd end up in
the in the shed messing with the pads, building forts
and things like that. Like in the summertime, we're waking
up at six am. Dad's driving us over to the
morning workouts and we're just watching and you know, screwing around.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
But I mean, since I was teeny tiny, it's all
I knew.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Do you have brothers?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I do. I'm the middle child.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Of three three Yeah, yes, we're we're like from the
same ilk. I'm the oldest of three brothers, So I
know exactly. I basically feel like I know exactly what
your life looked like. Then it's, uh, how what's the
separation on on the older and the younger brother? A
couple of.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Years we're all we're three years apart. Yep, well, yeah,
years apart.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
That's probably yeah, that's probably the reason for the dip
over there in Kennedy. They no more whites running around.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Well, this actually this was my little brother's first year
in college, So this is this was the first year
in like a decade or it's none of us there.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's the answer, And don't got any Well, so you're
you're probably like a four sport guy in high school. Yeah,
it was baseball, track, football, basketball.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yep, was dude, that's what everybody says.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I should strike me as a wrestler a little bit.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
I so should have. I wrestled in middle school and
I got pretty good at it. But then but like
I've always played basketball, and I was pretty close with
the basketball coach.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I just stuck with it.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, I don't really, I don't. I have no regrets
about really anything, but like maybe not gonna wrestle, you.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Know, could have been good state champ or something.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I'll know about Iowa.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I mean yeah, I mean it's it's that's true. It
says five ten on the roster, one eighty seven to
five to ten. How close is that?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Oh well, the height is like spot on, okay, five ten,
I mean yeah, it's five ten on the dot.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Okay, one eighty seven. When when was that?
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I don't know, Uh, it's probably from I mean, this
is an updated bio, but I don't know how much
they really change those. You're definitely skinnier in this picture.
Your neck isn't as big.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah, no, I'm too ten to twelve right now.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Okay, we're beef We're beefy Max.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Now beef Max. Now.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You're also not smiling in this picture. You look like
you want to kill someone.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
That's how my face usually looks.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
What's up with that? That's just your that's your that's
your baseline is just like.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
That's just like my red Like when I walk around.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Okay, all right, you're that guy.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Seven from it's like a dark eyebrows.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
They just kind of that's just that's just your look.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Yeah, when you come in at twenty five year now
at to ten plus, what's that weekend looked like for
you over the last four years? Was it was it
a struggle or did it come naturally with the with
the Division one program and the training table it was
just not that hard.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Yeah, I think it came fairly natural. As a matter
of fact, Now that you mention it. I came in
at like it was really like one ninety. But I
distinctly remember the first time we got weighed in. I
was really sick and I hadn't eight.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
For a while.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
But but that's pretty I came in out like right
around one ninety and the weight game was you know,
you know, it was pretty natural.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I'd say, it just happened.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, what did your recruiting look like?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Oh, so I was I was a COVID.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Was a COVID grad. Yeah, I graduated.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Twenty one, And it was after my sophomore year. Because
my sophomore year was my first year, uh playing varsity football.
I started getting like a little bit of attention, you know,
just here and there. And then my junior year like
really picked up because I had a pretty good junior year.
And so right after my junior year, you know, things
(14:15):
were going uh or no, Yeah, Like right after my
junior season, things were going like great, and I was
talking to a lot of people, a lot of people
were coming into school and seeing me and things like that.
And then right after my junior year was that was
the spring of twenty twenty. That's when the whole world
shut down. So I mean I was talking to throughout COVID.
(14:36):
I was talking to like I was getting, you know,
the graphics that they sent to you, Like, I mean
like ten of them a day. That's an exaggeration, but
like a.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Ton's I'd bet not that much.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But I mean it was sometimes because at that point
it was like fcs, fbs and just like they were
when they came, they came in bulk.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, and then well they didn't have anything else to
do either, so they're like, we're just gonna at all
We're going to make so many graphics of these kids,
like all we can do right now.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
And so I was talking to all of them, and
you know, five ten white boy running the football and
that guys, aren't you know, quick to pull the trigger.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And literally white literally white boy.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, as white as it.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Gets, as white as it gets.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Maybe everybody was so hesitant to pull the trigger. And
everybody's like, oh, we got come to camp, come to camp.
So my gum, I'm thinking.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Oh, I'm about to go to all these camps, about
to rack up offers. It's been great, and then everything
shut down, no camps for me, and then uh, you
know kind of well, I was talking to a whole
bunch of FCS guys, and then I posted a couple
of like power five graphics and then it all just
(15:52):
stopped because they.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Were like, oh, he's gonna do it power five stuff,
and they just stopped talking to me.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Really, I'm so serious.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I ended up I ended up with five preferred walk
ons and nothing else, No FCS, no D two, nothing.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
So you were having conversations with all the way up
to the FBS level, Like what were some like did
you talk to Iowa State? I mean in the in
the region, we're talking like Minnesota, Nebraska. Have conversations with
all of them.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Yeah, so I was like, I mean Iowa, Iowa, stay, Nebraska,
I was talking to Missouri, Kansas State. Spoke to freaking
Virginia Tech. I don't know how that came out.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, gosh, there were a couple more.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
So you had several, you know, of the high power
conference offers all the way down to Division two. Probably
a ton of interest in D two.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Now hardly didn't even talk to me, honestly, because I
would post the graphics and then everybody just assumed like.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
That they didn't have a chance.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I guess, yeah, but no, I did they.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Have a chance or was it all always gonna be?
Were you like the kid who was like, if I
can get a walk on spot at Iowa, that's the thing,
or like would you have considered somewhere else?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
No?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, I would have considered, you know, wherever.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Anybody wanted to give you a little chunk of change.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That's what I'm saying, Like anybody that want would give
me some money.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I was gonna give the kids some bread.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I mean, let's zero dollars on the tables, five for walk.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So who was so who were the other who are
the other off? Walk off?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So it was Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, and.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Then there's two more that was like okay, it's on
the way. But then I ended up getting in that.
So I don't know if I'm allowed to say or whatever,
because they didn't.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You could say whatever you want. I mean, they're not the.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
In Kansas State that I was like speaking to real closely.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I love those. Everyone has those stories of like the
they're telling you like, yeah, we're gonna we're gonna off
for you, We're gonna get you, like those are always fun.
I had a couple of those as well, and that
was about all I had other than other than Iowa.
The uh, that is a tough spot for COVID to
(18:06):
show up. Man, like that is that's a tough that's
a rough year, especially in the in the football recruiting cycle.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I mean, I'm not really complaining. I mean, that's what
everybody in that class went through it.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So but do you ever do you ever think back
to it and be like, if I was just one
class later or one class earlier, right, like, maybe it
would have n differently.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, I mean I just wish I could have gone
to the camps because, yeah, everybody said, we want to
see you in camp, we want to see you do this.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
And the camps are big, they're huge, and no one
could do a thing that summer, which, like for anyone
that doesn't know, I'm sure we've talked about it on
the show before. But like you have a great junior year,
schools start to see you, they see your tape, they
see your you're you're doing stuff for the varsity team,
especially Kennedy where coaches are familiar going to that school,
(19:00):
not just for football, I'm sure, but there's there's probably
I mean, I'm for Marshalltown, so there's a few more
college coaches walking through those halls for all sports girls
and boys. Then like even Marshalltown would have so like
you know Kennedy, they know where that is, they know
who that is. The reputation junior year, you finish that up.
You're in that summer between junior and senior summer and
(19:22):
that's when you go and you do your camping circuit.
You go to all and I did it and it
was massive like that. That's basically like, hey, can is
this kid legit in person or not? People love to
play the game of like well what does he look
like in pads? What does he look like in a helmet?
And you just didn't get to do any.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Of those.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Bro Well, to be fair, I did the year before,
but I obviously wasn't what I ended right the next year. Yeah,
it's a couple I went to like the Iowa Camp,
Iowa State Camp, and I did some of the seven
on side of the stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
But yeah, well I was totally a different player the
next year.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And so what was the strategy then, Like during that
twenty twenty seat like you're not able to go to
any of these camps. You're just trying to hold onto
as much communication with these with these teams, as you could.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Just play my balls off, I guess.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
See if the film will speak for itself.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
And I'm assuming you had a pretty decent senior year sense.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, well senior year, I mean my so we had
the Dracho and my school got destroyed.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
So the school got crushed.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yeah, it was like the whole thing, not the whole thing,
but like a good portion of it freaking collapsed, like
the roof caved in, and I mean the whole school,
I should say the whole school.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
The roof pretty much caved in, and so it was
like three million dollars worth of damage. And then, uh,
I didn't even know that the school was worth three
million dollars. Yea, but we couldn't even We couldn't even
practice till like two weeks before the game because we
didn't have no place to go.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And then.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The season got shortened from nine games to seven games,
and then a couple of games in somebody on my
team catches COVID and knocks us out for two weeks.
So all of a sudden, we end up going to
the quarterfinals and we only played eight games.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Man, But it was good year. But like again, normally
if you go to the quarters, you've got twelve games
on tape and you're left with like eight, So you're
just catching a bad break after bad break a little
bit when it comes to like, you know, having a
real run at showing these teams what you can.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Do, you know, but you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I mean, every everybody's got some kind of things that happen,
you know, a little speed bumps or whatever, So it's
nothing to really complain about. I guess there's you know,
kept moving forward and that's kind of what I do
is just one foot in front of the other.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
When did you finally make the decision? And like, right,
I guess I'm going to Iowa.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
It was I think it was December of my senior year.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Just right after the year finished.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Yeah, because it pretty much came down to Iowa, and
Iowa was tall because those are the only ones that I, like,
I've really visited, so you know, came out of them,
just chose Iowa.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
What what made the difference there? Were you a Hawkeye
fan growing up closer to that side of the state.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Or my family was, And I'm gonna be honest, I
don't I never watched anything grow I didn't watch football,
and I always just wanted to play it.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I mean, everybody was sitting in.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
My brother, older brother was football fanatic, just always wanted
to watch sports, and it's like, dude, let's go outside
and play the sport.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
So I would I would say.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I was Iowa, dude, you were a you're a playground menace.
Weren't you in grade school?
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (22:56):
During lunch?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yeah, I guess. But really the dip friends was just
Brian Farrence was what it was, because he's who I
was speaking to and just the way that he talked,
and uh, like I knew I wasn't going to be
lied to. He told me how it was, you know,
and I was just like, all right, these are you
(23:17):
know people I want to go play for.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I guess that warmed my heart a little bit to
hear to hear that Brian was the what's the difference
maker at I like big Brian guy around here. A
couple other the two that aren't here, one that isn't
really around for the podcast anymore, but Kevin, big Brian guy.
(23:39):
Obviously all the stuff that went down with him and
you know, parting ways. Now he's out at Fresno. He
recruited you the entire time.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah, I was talking. It was like three guys I
would speak to. It was him, Uh, Scott south Made
and Tyler Barnes.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You know, I wasn't I didn't have an offer.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
From him obviously, so I wasn't getting constantly berated. But
every time I talked to him, it was it was
usually Brian and he would, you know, come to the school,
I'd see him, I'd talk to him, and you know,
just the way he spoke and uh, it was somebody
that that, uh that I recognized being That's how I
(24:21):
was talked to as a kid, That's how I was coached,
you know, just the way that he spoke and what
he talked about.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I was like, you know, yeah, I'll follow you.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Another coaches kid, another coaches kid.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, from the same claw.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah. The So what was it like when he when
you know it came out, it would have been two
years ago now, an year and a half ago, in
the middle of the season. I assume that as you
got into your career at Iowa, he you're still a
big Brian guy. And I don't know how much social media,
(24:54):
I mean, KF is always about you know, blocking the
outside noise out. But I guys see things and there's
you know, there's the Twitter mob of people who have opinions.
What was that like as a guy who you know,
like you know, you just said, I came basically because
of Brian between Iowa and Iowa State, and now he's
(25:15):
on his way out the door. Is that weird?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
I actually, just a couple of weeks ago downloaded Twitter
or X whatever X. But yeah, I just.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Download that again.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
I deleted it right after I freaking committed because smart.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
I mean, Twitter is a freaking cesspool of crap. So
I just.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Deleted it after that. I don't need this anymore, and
so I deleted it. Didn't honestly, I was kind of
sheltered from, you know, all the outsides. I don't I
don't have didn't have Twitter, don't have TikTok uh.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
So I really, dude, you're.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
A some of the This is a football guy, Grant,
this is this guy he all he cares about. I
feel like we're taking up his time right now because
he wants to Twitter Prince like he's like, I'm on
this goddamn podcast, I need to go work out.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I mean, I mean it was like, I mean, none
of us in the facility cared. I mean we were
get I'm trying to earn a spot. We were trying
to win games, and it just is what it is.
We ignored pretty much all of it, and we were
just like, all right, let's let's turn on the tape
and you know, go try to get that.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Yeah, let that talk for itself. So you get your
foot in the door at IOWA twenty twenty the fall
of twenty twenty two, uh twenty one. Hey, look, I'll
tell you.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
It was twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
So twenty twenty one. You join it as a walk
on shout out, what's your expectation for yourself when you
join this program? What what is eighteen nineteen year old
Max White think like? Because a lot of these guys
walk in and regardless, you know, they're on a lot
of them are on scholarship, but a lot of people
walk in and they're like, oh, I'm gonna get playing
time or like they have these expectations. What was going
(27:02):
on in your head of what this experience was going
to look like, earn a.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Spot and play football?
Speaker 3 (27:08):
I mean, because I mean I understood what what I
was walking into because I mean, I ended up with
only preferred walk on, so it's not like I could
change my situation at all, right, and so really just uh,
I mean, I knew what I was signing up for,
Like your walk on yours, you are designed. You are
(27:32):
by design at the bottom of the totem pole. And
I was totally okay with that because it didn't really
matter what situation I was in. I was still gonna
put my best foot forward and go earn a spot
one way or another and go get on the field somehow.
So that was really the mentality I had. I mean,
there's a few there's a few very specific quotes that
(27:56):
my dad would hit me with all the time growing up,
and probably the biggest one, the number one that I'll
always remember, is just that you're not entitled shit. That
was That's kind of his model he'd always given me.
And so I'm not entitled to shit here, so let's
go get some It's a.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Good mentality to walk in with and a good spot
to be. I don't know how familiar you were, probably
not very because what high school kid is well read
in on their history of the walk ons at Iowa?
I mean, going all the way back to Dallas, Clark,
you know, the big ones. But you start to find
(28:34):
out like, especially for people on the outside of the program,
I think, and maybe this is dissipated a little bit
over time, but walk Ons aren't really treated differently, at
least for the most part. Like, you know, for a
long time, my teammates didn't even know I wasn't on scholarship,
Like some guys don't even know. You're just one of
(28:54):
the You're just on the team. And it's a good
spot to where like I knew some other guys that
played ball around the country and it was like, yeah,
it's very clear like these guys, the scholarship guys get this,
they get access to this, they can do this, They
get these tutors, and like the walk Ons don't. They
get the scraps right of stuff that's handed out to
the team, like for everything all the way down to
(29:16):
like the gear that you get that IOWA just like
everybody's the same guy, right you you really do get
that equal opportunity. So that had to feel good for
you walking in. There's a little bit of whirlwind as
you step into your first camp, but then you realize,
like my ball out I got a shot here. Yeah,
(29:36):
I mean, tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I'm you're not wrong.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I mean, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. If I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
These days, there's so many there's so many, like, so many.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
New factors now. I mean, there's money, there's this, there's that.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
That is something I didn't have to deal with. Guys, weren't.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
I'll just say that it's a it's a different Uh.
I mean, it's just a different game now.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
No, which is fine and all, but uh.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I didn't have to. I didn't have to deal with
the nil side of things.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
I I do know that it's a little different now.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah, it definitely is. That was that was not a thing.
And I the smirk on your face. I kind of
understand what you're referencing. And there's not a lot you
can do about it. It's just the way it's set up.
But I get it when you step in and you
get into that. I guess, were you invited to camp?
Mm hmm, okay, so you made it made it into
(30:39):
camp not always a thing. How soon did you realize,
like I think I can physically compete here, Like I'm
physically capable of this.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
It was well, it was uh gosh, there's couple of
practices in because they don't do like the Devo stuff
right away.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
But in Devo, me and uh Devin Hillson.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
That was the other uh back that was in camp
with me, Me and Devin Hilson.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
That's where we finally got our uh got.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Our chance was in Divo and he and I we
had some pretty good times in Devo together that we
would you know, take turns, taken into the house sometimes
and you know, obviously Devo work you get freaking banged
up too. You know, it's not always sunshine and rainbows but.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Pretty much never sunshining rainbows, yeh oh never, But me
and Hilson, we would we would get it going a
little bit and we were like, all right, yeah, we
can play football. Was there was there ever? Probably not?
You don't strike me as a kid, but was there
ever like a doubt from you walking in? You know,
first few days you're like, don't we're gonna figure out
(31:46):
if I belong here?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
M not really? I mean, well, your first time, you know,
line it up in the backfield and you see and
you're making eye contact with you know, Jack Campbell for
the first time, It's like, huh, that's a that's a
that's a linebacker, isn't it Nick Jack or was one
(32:10):
of those guys or Benson. Now I feel like I
got to go through the whole list.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
We know them all, we know them all. None of
them will feel slight first time.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
It's like, huh, that's what that looks like. But no,
I was never like, oh can I play? Because football
is still football.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Right before we move on, take a quick second to
thank our couple of sponsors down at the bottom here,
Iowa Egg Council, Eagle Points Solar repping us. Yeah, Grant's
got it right there. If you're on the YouTube, you
can see the beautiful logos. I mean, this guy with
the neck of the size of Max's, he's probably eating
a lot of eggs, a lot of them. Do you
(32:50):
like eggs?
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Yeah, every day, scrambled eggs and round b.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
There you go. I don't need I don't need to
do an ad read. You see what Max looks like.
He's a beautiful man. He's he's two pounds of lean machine.
And you heard it right there. Eggs and ground beef.
That's all. You know. They have been a little expensive,
but they've come back down so don't worry about it.
It's even at the highest price. You eat four or
(33:15):
five of those things for breakfast, it's a couple bucks.
Did you know Max, did you get some eggs bottom?
That's great? Did you know Max the Ighway with the
number one egg producing state in the country.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
That would have been my first guess, But I didn't
know that got a lot.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Of chickens, a lot of chickens, a lot of eggs
and f shout out Zach tweet for sure. Absolutely. Eagle
Points Solar, on the other hand, is uh, they don't
have anything to do with eggs, but they could power
your house so that you can continue to cook eggs
all in one.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
So do you think we could get like a collaboration
between them or like they go on like a like
a solar.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
We think that would be Yeah, do you think we
could do that? That's been so sick. I know it
might be. I don't know if we that's safe to
eat or not.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
We'd have to ask the points, so I would be down.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Maybe like it's like a spider man thing makes you strong?
Or we take we get Eagle Points Solar to go
out to all the egg farms around the around the
state and we just install solar so we can, you know,
maximize the efficiency these of these farming operations. One stop
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(34:31):
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They're gonna analyze those, get back to you with your
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Everybody needs more money in their pocket. As of now,
(34:54):
they're still doing that two hundred dollars Amazon gift card
if you did that otherwise. They just want to educate you.
After you listen to the education, it's a decent chance
that you, uh, You've got a decision to make in
front of you. It's it's really not that hard. So
Eagle Point Solar out of Dubuque and Iowa Egg Council.
Thank you to the sponsors. Back to Max, you get
(35:15):
to awesome little Hawk item here on your on your page.
By the way, that you are a relative of Max Hawkins,
a member of the thirty nine iron Man team that's right.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
It's my great grandfather on my mom's side.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Dude, that is so sick.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Yeah, my name is Max Hawkins wife, so it's my namesake.
And uh we uh we have his jersey, his his
wool jersey.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
It's actually really story how he got that. But yeah,
and you Hawkins drive that's him.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
And yeah, but wait, do you tell what's the story
we got? You have the jersey that he wore in
gamem Holy shit, that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Got a little blood on the he was number sixty four,
got a little blood.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
On the on the six.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Let's go so actually crazy how we got that? And uh,
my dad is a real night owl. Sometimes he's on
the you know, computer working and stuff. And this one
time he was on this page with like hawk eye
or it's like a hawkeye something.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
I don't know, it's like a four or something.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I don't even know what it is.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
But there was something that said anybody related to Max
Hawkins respond to this. So he sends him an email.
He's like, hey, my son, his name is Max Hawkins.
That's his great grand great grandson or wherever he get
and he says, come meet me at this, uh at
(36:48):
this diner at this time, got something for you.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Sounds like a drug deal.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
So we go, So we go and he brings me.
We go in. He brought brought me.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
This chance there just in case he wanted to trying
to you.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
It's noon popular diner.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
All right, Okay, you made it sound like it was
like two in the morning.
Speaker 6 (37:14):
Yahore. He's like, come here, noon and I got something
for you. Pulls out this jersey and he goes and
he said that.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
He was an equipment manager or equipment assistant back in
nineteen thirty nine, and his and the head equipment man.
The equipment guy was throwing out all the jerseys, throwing
all the jerseys from that uh, from that year, and
(37:49):
he goes, hey, THO was a pretty cool Can I
have one? The equipment manager says, sure, takes a jersey,
throws it to him, takes it home.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Lo and behold it's my great grandfather.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
So this guy was old.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
That happened.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
That's a fucking wild story.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
You should have you should have mentioned that in the
picking uh the school's part of your story.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
You were destined. That was like you didn't realize it was.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
It was in your blood. Like the article in the
gazette it was like, Uh, the that was pretty cool.
Of the headline of it was like legacy of an
iron man.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
That is sick good jobs that really factor.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
And honestly, because I don't know how at the beginning
of the process, I kind of just uh put all
biases aside and I was like, let's go somewhere that's
the right.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
I understand that too. You're especially as a guy who's
sort of on that in the middle of like I
don't know if I'm gonna be able to get money
anywhere or not, Like I'm gonna I'm gonna take the
best opportunity. I'm not. It feels dumb to like turn
down you know, you're not. I don't know who's these
guys with all the offers. I don't know someone from
(39:04):
your class who had, you know, thirty five offers. You
can't really like you can be picky at that point
because everybody's trying to give you money. But if no
one's trying to give you a scholarship, you're kind of like,
I'll go wherever. I almost ended up at Nebraska, Yeah,
have any you know, like it was between me and
another guy basically at their camp and they're like they
(39:24):
were going to choose one guy to offer. They decided
to offer the other guy if they offered me. If
they offered me, I'm like, this is a Husker podcast,
and I had I would have spent four years in
the brat Like it would have been total. So I
totally understand. You read your your first year Team Leader
Award on Offense in twenty twenty two. You want to
(39:45):
describe what that is for the people?
Speaker 3 (39:47):
Yeah, I was, uh, well I think I got snubbed
in twenty twenty one too because I was back to
back Scout team Player of the Year.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Well that's what that was pretty much.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Yeah, So basically award get they give one out for offense, defense,
and special teams. I'm pretty sure it's basically like the
guy who isn't in the too deep. He's on the
he's on the the other field. He's helping the starters
get ready, but he's kind of balling out like he's
he's a means you were a pest a little bit
like the defense is like the defense is kind of
(40:18):
pissed at Max on a couple of days every once
in a while.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yeah, fighting every day for sure.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Really, I would start him at the beginning of practice,
just to get him going.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I always tried to.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah, I was who's our favorite? Yeah, I was gonna
say where you go to put your go to to
start a little scrap, a little extra after the whistle.
Grants always good.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
It's like a shelve under the chin sometimes.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
I mean literally sometimes, when I mean practice was going
south and Wallace was spitting dip everywhere.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
I just swing on someone and then.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
Behind it. Sometimes you just need a little energy and
action into the into the practice grant. That's that's, that's
what it is. So Max is an energy guy. Did
you ever pick a fight that you quickly realized like
I probably I probably shouldn't have done that, like d
line me got a holdie or something, And they're.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Like, shit, Oh, I don't regret any of my fights.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Yeah, I mean you should have been a wrestler.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
I don't regret any of my fights.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
I got into him for a reason, and I got
my licks in just about every time, and so.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
You look proud of it.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
It was it was mostly guys in the box. I
mean I was never the bigger guy.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
But uh, well no, that's I understand that one too.
At five point ten, you're rarely going to be the
big guy at Iowa whatever. Were you a strong guy?
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Though?
Speaker 1 (41:44):
What do your weight room numbers look like? You had
to be?
Speaker 5 (41:46):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Actually, in high school I broke our handkling record and
uh so I guess right now my numbers are squat.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
There's uh five hundred, I have something. I was right
around five hundre.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Uh hand clings three seventy and bench is three.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Sixty three sixty three sixty five. I think it's three sixty.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It's decent.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
I've always loved lifting, man, I love working out. It's sorry,
I uh, I get to let it all go.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
You don't know Drake Koolik. He was the third man
of this show. He was actually a full back during
my time.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Oh I do, yes, Yes, you and him.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Would get along really really well.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
I'm sure we'd all get along super well.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
We got to get Max that Brian Ference Ganger Die
t shirt that he has. He got to get him
an extra one true.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Well, we need to just put it out with Yeah,
he's got to surely, just as Brian Ference Ganger Die
on it he wears around.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
I wear that.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Yeah, a lot of people would we need to We
probably need to sell it we can put a little
fred what what what is Fresno State? Now? Are they
the Bulldogs or something?
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Those are the Bulldogs. We can put a little bulldog.
They got our basketball team. Our basketball team is quickly
becoming the Iowa Bulldogs. I don't know if you guys
have seen that on Twitter. Ill bet yeah, that's gonna
be fun. Team hustle a war. So then you know,
no game act. You walk on red shirt twenty two,
no game action. You're two years into the program. The
(43:19):
transfer portal at this point in twenty twenty two, I mean,
nil is now a thing as well. Uh, what is
that situation? Like in your head? You you seem you
come across in the forty four minutes we've been talking,
is like you're a guy who if you start something,
you finish it. Kind of pretty pretty cut and dry.
But a lot of guys jump in the portal.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
What was your thoughts?
Speaker 3 (43:42):
I mean, like, yeah, the thing is they didn't have
to take I would didn't have to you know, give
me an opportunity or anything like nobody did because, like
I said, five ten white boys COVID didn't don't get
to see him in.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
First and not entitled to shit, not.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
Entitled to shit.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
And so so I came in here and I just
had no fucking problem dying on this hill and so
U and every year I made, I made a little
jump every year. I mean, freshman year I was Scout
team and Scout Team player of the year. Second year
Scout Team player of the year.
Speaker 2 (44:17):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
Third year got on the field a little bit, fourth
year got on the field a little bit more, and
so increasing running back reps and and then uh, you know,
and this upcoming year, I guess I just look at
the look at what's going on basically, and we know
we have a full we have a stacked room. You know,
(44:38):
all these guys stacked and you know those guys should play.
You know they're good players. But I should play too. Yeah,
it's and what it would be doing. And that's almost
like me giving up sticking around, you know, because that's
just conceding my my last year.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
It's like saying, all right, I'm gonna let this be
my last year.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
So I get that.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, I mean, I know I can play football, so
I'm gonna try and play football.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
And I and I think Grant and I can uh
agree that I think you love football. You like it
a lot, and you want to and you want to
play football, So I totally understand. I know. One, I
don't think anybody is faulting you for for trying to
go find another opportunity. If they are, I think they're
probably a dumb ass. Uh. The roster limit mm hmm. October.
(45:25):
I looked it up as as we were talking sometime
in like, you know, middle of October last year, they
come out with this whole you know, there's it's gonna
be a one oh five, Like, it's not just gonna
be one oh five for camp. Like every every team now,
every sport now has this roster limit, and essentially you're
able to fund the entire roster. And so the idea
(45:48):
we've talked about it a couple of times on here
is like how the walk on kind of dies.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
Does Yeah, well, I mean this is I will say,
this isn't a one oh five instance.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
It's just, uh, it's just opportunity.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
Opportunity to play, you know. I mean, and I guess
the safe the safe bet you know, would be to
not but no looking back, and in a few years,
you know, I want to know that at least I
had the balls to give it a shot and you
see what I you know, go see if I can
go to the next level. And because you know, no,
(46:20):
I can play football, so I want to play football.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Yeah, I don't know where I think I saw it.
So KF did his spring press conference last week, and
I think he was asked about it then, and I'm
really curious. So it sounded like back in December he
kind of sat down with everybody or if he could
guarantee you a spot on the one oh five for
the next year, they were going to tell you that
(46:42):
is that? Is that how that went basically?
Speaker 3 (46:45):
Kind I mean, that's the thing about coach Farrens is
that like he's not gonna lie to anybody and he
and he don't he doesn't want to fuck over anyone.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
So I respect the hell out of him for doing
that early.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Absolutely and and so like I said, for me personally,
it wasn't you know, because we yeah, we did all
have those meetings. It wasn't a one o five issue.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
And they told you were good.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
Yeah, it was you know there you go.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
So yeah, I'm yeah, I can feel an energy in
you that's almost like building and you're like wherever I land,
they're gonna get one season of hell? Is that how
it feels for you?
Speaker 2 (47:27):
See, I'm that's the I mean, I'm just gonna let
them hang.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
Yeah, that's sick. I'm excited for you. Man. It's uh
what I will say this? Why now? Why not at
semester or uh, you know, like you you enter last
week or at least it comes out that you entered
last week sort of in the middle of the spring semester.
Was there thoughts after the bull game to do it
(47:52):
and try and get a jump on that or what?
What's it? What was the in the decision making process
for you?
Speaker 2 (47:57):
I wanted to graduate a Hawk.
Speaker 3 (47:58):
Okay, so it was I, you know, I earned being
a Hawkeye.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
That's what I wanted was to you know, earn my
spot and.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
So sick. That's a sick answer, by the way.
Speaker 3 (48:12):
So I wanted to graduate a Hawkeye because I am
a Hawk. I earned being a Hawkeye and I'll forever
be a Hawkeye. And when when I see people who
you know, stay out of school for a year and
they say forever whatever, you know, I don't want to
be that guy where I'm like, but I mean.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
I am forever a Hawkey. I spend four.
Speaker 3 (48:31):
Years, I'm going to graduate here, so I am forever
a Hawkeye and then you know, next year, I'm going
to play football at a school and see what I
can do there. You know, that's gonna that's a that's
a decision for me, I guess, and I don't often
make those, So that was a decision for me.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
That is from a former Hawkeye. Very cool, very cool
that appreciate that. Uh, not every program would have coaches
or culture worth sticking around for to call, you know,
to call themselves you know whatever, a tiger or you know,
(49:09):
a wildcat like it just it wouldn't mean that much
at some places. And to hear a guy who paid
his way stick around when to be frank, time's running
out on your eligibility, that's the thing. Yeah, that's pretty
it's pretty fucking cool. Man. That's that's a sick that's
a sick decision. Any pro I'm not gonna I'm not
(49:32):
gonna try and pull it all the way out of you.
But like, do you have any progress on on where
you end up next or you're still trying to figure
that out or what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (49:39):
Uh, there's there's gonna be I don't know exactly what I'm.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
No, but you're in the process of figuring it out.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Yeah, I mean there's gonna be opportunities and uh, there's
gonna be opportunities and the future looks all right, you know.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
And so yeah, do.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
You have any wore memories from your four years as AKA,
any favorite games? Oh, gosh, favorite favorite moments, favorite plays.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Uh, scoring a touchdown is pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (50:11):
That is really cool. Had a chance to do that
and I fucked it up, So.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
I remember that. I still.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
I didn't watch that many games, like I told you,
But I mean I do remember that.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
Who's this guy out there? Everybody? That's what everybody said,
it's a future podcaster. They scoring a touchdown. I didn't score,
but my heart was probably raising just as much as
yours was when you did score. How what did that
feel like?
Speaker 2 (50:41):
Just blackout? You felt like it feels like any other time.
Just I mean, I.
Speaker 3 (50:46):
Scored quite a bit and highest gone, mean I know
what a.
Speaker 1 (50:50):
Man?
Speaker 3 (50:51):
Oh, I mean, it's it's never different. The same every
time you cross the goal line really is. And no,
that's I don't mean like oh it's who No, I
mean every time it's a huge deal. Like when you're
in elementary school, it's a massive deal.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
When you're in middle school, high school.
Speaker 3 (51:08):
It never changes how how amazing it feels, it will
never change.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
I'll mark that one more, one more comment, one more
note on Max White football guy never changed. Middle school
touchdown feels just like it didn't. Kiddick fucking incredible every time.
This guy just bleeds football. What was it like, so
your buddies with Coop? What was it like to watch
(51:33):
him win a super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Dude?
Speaker 3 (51:36):
That was incredible. I had a chance to. I went
to the the divisional round when they played the Rams.
They got to go to Philly for that, and just
like seeing the whole year unfold. I mean, here's my
you know, roommate throughout all of college. I mean it's
my best friend. And seeing him, you know, do all
(51:57):
that was pretty sick.
Speaker 1 (51:59):
I was in a buff the wings watching the Super
Bowl in uh in South Carolina. I was there for
something else when he intercepted that and I realized it
was him. M hmm, I went fucking insane. What was
that like?
Speaker 3 (52:17):
Oh yeah, we Coop actually got us like a little
like a little section to watch it and uh and
summit and so yeah, now we're just in there watching it,
(52:38):
and uh, I mean, so we're in there, we're in
this you know section or whatever and everything. I just
see Coop on the screen every time, and before the
play happens, you know, my Homes drops back and I
see Coop standing here. They pan off, Mahomes rolls out
and he throws it, And in my head he throws
(52:59):
I'm like, was just right there?
Speaker 2 (53:02):
And then and sure.
Speaker 3 (53:04):
Running back the other way, we're freaking out and then
all of a sudden we're all doing laps around some.
Speaker 1 (53:09):
Yeah, yeah, I love that. What do you think four
years at Iowa, you're kind of already you can just
hear it when you talk. You're you're kind of this.
You got a good head on your shoulders, it feels like,
and you've had it like that.
Speaker 3 (53:25):
For a while really.
Speaker 1 (53:27):
Well, and on your neck too. But what do you
take wherever you go next? What do you take away
from Iowa as far as how you've developed over the
last four years? What do you what do you think
is the biggest thing that you've learned taken away? Could
be physically, it could just be football wise, maturity wise.
What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (53:45):
What do just the.
Speaker 3 (53:48):
Just the professionalism that you know, Iowa has I would say,
you know, everything is no ship shape and just being
detailed and everything that I do, and how every single
thing you know matters, every single thing, like some things
get taken, you know, for granted, like you know sometimes
(54:10):
the film sessions of the practices.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Or or the or the warm up and when.
Speaker 3 (54:15):
You're stretching, just every single thing that you do matters.
That's I guess that's why I would take away.
Speaker 1 (54:22):
I would agree with that. That's all I got. Grant
you got any questions for a guy? Yeah, dude, We'll
just one more question for you.
Speaker 4 (54:30):
So I saw I know you're not on Twitter or
excerpt as much as.
Speaker 2 (54:34):
You Yeah, I am, now you are?
Speaker 1 (54:35):
You are? Now okay, so you probably I saw Cooper
very kindly. He described as one of the best teammates
he's ever had. So I was s curious, what do
you think makes a great teammate?
Speaker 3 (54:48):
Geez, just putting I mean, this is gonna be a
cliche answer, I guess, but putting the team before yourself really,
And I would say, and I mean I appreciated the
hell out of him for and that, because like that's
who I who I have always tried to be. Ever
since I was you know, little, all I could ever
(55:10):
think about was, you know, winning, Like if our team
does good, then that means that all do good. Or
you know, in high school, when you know the team's winning,
then the accolades come. You know, it's the stats, the shine,
the touchdowns. I mean that, it's always at the very
(55:32):
back of my mind, you know, all I can all
I can ever think about is is if the team's
doing good, then that.
Speaker 2 (55:38):
Means that it'll it will trickle down on me, you know.
Speaker 3 (55:41):
So all I've ever cared about is the is the team,
quite honestly, and that's why that's why it really really
kills me to to leave, because you know, there's nobody
I care about more in the world other than my
family than than you know, those guys.
Speaker 1 (55:57):
So that is tough. I think that's an underrated part
of what you're doing, is having to walk away from
what you've built the last four years. Yeah, like that sucks.
I cannot imagine doing that. That's and that's how that's
how I know that it's not as selfish. It's like
so hard to do.
Speaker 3 (56:14):
That, yeah, but it's it's just like you gotta get
with the times. I guess it's the business. It's the
way it goes. And uh so, I mean, yeah, it
kills me to walk away from the guys. But you know,
there's not too much I gotta say about that because
the guys in there, I mean, they know I love them.
Speaker 2 (56:31):
You know, when I.
Speaker 3 (56:32):
Before the games, I tell them I love them. And
I'm in that big old circle.
Speaker 1 (56:37):
Or what I was gonna say. You got you got
the You got the circle, didn't you. Yeah, I'd love
to hear a Max White so Drake who I previously mentioned,
he got the circle during our time. So that's probably
all you need to know. We appreciate you, Max, coming
on telling your story a little.
Speaker 2 (56:54):
Bit, man, appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (56:57):
This is a unique opportunity for us, a weird sort
of unique look into Yeah, not everybody's a Cooper Dighine, right, Like,
it doesn't always go perfect. You're not the star who
gets to leave early. And that's who we were. We
were walk ons who had to grind it out a
little bit more. And we yeah, we respect the grind.
(57:19):
So we appreciate everything you did in the Black and
Gold Man, and we wish you lucky where we end.
Speaker 2 (57:24):
Up appreciate you guys man. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (57:27):
Everybody who listened. Hope you liked the episode with Max.
We'll be back again soon. Until then, peace, Hey, thanks
for listening to the show. If you want more, you
can check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
by searching Washed Up walk Ons. And if you're interested
in supporting the show, head over to patreon dot com
slash washed Up walk Ons, where you can find bonus podcasts, merchandise,
(57:47):
and other cool perks. Best part, half of your subscription
benefits the kids at UI Children's Hospital. We'll see you
next time. Hawks buy a million
Speaker 4 (58:04):
Pull and and and un pun pun
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