April 28, 2024 • 15 mins
Original Air Date: April 28, 2024
Best Jets Center ever Nick Mangold is now involved with helping the wonderful group Answer The Call, which provides immediate and ongoing financial and emotional aid to families of NYC 1st responders killed in the line of duty.
Best Jets Center ever Nick Mangold is now involved with helping the wonderful group Answer The Call, which provides immediate and ongoing financial and emotional aid to families of NYC 1st responders killed in the line of duty.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio,conversations about issues that matter. Here's your
host, three time Grasie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein. As you may know,
I mean, I don't know howyou cannot know that Q one O
four point three is the new homefor the Jets Jets. Jets Jets,
(00:21):
we will be carrying the games thiscoming season and for the next five plus
years. We are very excited aboutthis. We think this is a really
good marriage. And with that said, I want to introduce you to an
iconic New York Jet known as thebest center ever. That would be the
(00:47):
wonderful Nick Mangold, who was pickedin the first round for the New York
Jets in two thousand and six.Seven time pro bowler, he retired as
a Jet in twenty eighteen, inductedinto the Jets Ring of Honor two years
ago, and the reason he isjoining us this morning is because he happens
(01:11):
to be also a wonderful human being. He has been very active in answer
the call and he is actually anhonorary chair for the event coming up this
Thursday at the Altman Building. It'sthe eleventh annual Red and Blue saree.
So this is a fundraiser. It'sheld every year and it's geared toward young
(01:36):
professionals. And so, actually,Nick, how did you answer the call?
First of all, for those whoaren't familiar with it, this is
an incredible organization. It was foundedby Rusty Stop. He came up with
the idea many many years ago inthe eighties. And so anytime an NYPDAR
(01:56):
or FDN WIER is killed in theline of duty, answer the call provides
the family with fifty thousand dollars,and then every year there after they get
another ten thousand dollars which they coulddo whatever their needs happened to be.
They could use that. Plus theyhave events for the families, because if
(02:19):
you're the family of someone lost inthe line of duty, nobody else has
the understanding like another family that hadthis same tragedy. You just have this
basic understanding and it keeps these familiestogether. So Nick, first of all,
welcome, honored to have you.And how did you get involved?
(02:40):
Yes, thank you so much forhaving me. I appreciate it. I
got involved had to be almost tenyears ago, now, you know.
I got the opportunity to find outwhat they were doing, and like you
said, they'd do amazing work withthe families of the fall and first responders,
and that just kind of hit hometo me. You know, I
was just in high school when nineto eleven happened, and so back in
(03:04):
Ohio, and you know, Ihave a different perspective on nine to eleven,
you know, just being a highschool kid that doesn't know anything,
and so then coming up here toNew York City in two thousand and six
and and being able to really connectwith the city and connect with the folks
that were there that day and whatthey went through and what you know,
(03:28):
families went through, really you know, hit home to me, and I
felt a calling to try to helpout as much as I could to to
anyone who you know, we allgo to our jobs every day, and
you know, for the most part, we're relatively safe. And for the
(03:49):
folks that are on the front linedoing the firefight, oh you just support
authority those folks, you know.Oh, I'm sorry, he just rose
for a couple of seconds. Youknow, for the frontline folks, you
know, the firefighters and the police, the port authority. You know,
(04:10):
those people go to their job andthey don't you know, there's always a
little bit of a fear that theymight not come home, and so for
the opportunity to help out the familiesof those who unfortunately did not come home
has been you know a huge partof what I've done. I think while
I was playing and now when I'mdone playing. You have been to this
(04:33):
event before? This is the eleventhannual? Yes? Or you've attended other
Answer the Call events or both?No, Yeah, I've been to other
events. I've been to this eventand it's great, and I think this
one especially, You know, whenwe bring in families that we've supported and
(04:53):
get to hear their stories, getto hear you know, what they went
through, and see these folks connectbecause they've also been a part of it
for a while, and so theyalso know the other families. It's really
moving and touching to see how theypersevered, how they've gotten through it,
and how they continue to help thosewho now have to deal with it,
(05:16):
or you know, help those whohopefully never have to deal with it.
You know you were you were inOhio right when when nine to eleven happened.
So what tell take me through whatyou were experiencing that day. How
old were you I was seventeen,and so I was in high school and
(05:39):
it was you know, we weretrying to watch it on TV in between
classes and try to get an understandingof what was going on without fully grasping
I think until I got up hereinto the New York City area what really
went on and how it affected somany lives and continues to affect so many
(06:04):
lives, because actually we have nowlost more FDN wires to nine eleven illnesses
than the three hundred and forty threewe lost on nine eleven. And actually
we've actually years ago we lost morepeople to nine eleven illnesses than we lost
(06:27):
on nine to eleven. It's wealways say nine to eleven didn't end on
nine to eleven. I'm speaking withNick Mangold, seven time pro bowler,
best center ever on the New YorkJets, and he's very involved with Answer
the Call, which helps the familiesof New York City first responders who are
(06:47):
killed in the line of duty.And I just want to let you know
that this coming Thursday, there isa big event. Nick Mangold is one
of the honorary chairs. It's theeleventh annual Red in Blue Soire. It's
going to be held at the AltmanBuilding and it's really aimed at young professionals.
Did you always know, Nick,that that you wanted to be a
(07:09):
pro footballer? When did this passionhit for you? It was always kind
of a dream of mind, butnever a realistic one. And so,
uh, you know, as you'regoing through and you play uh in pee
wee's, and then you you goto high school, and then in high
school it was like, well,maybe I could play in college. And
(07:30):
then got the opportunity to play incollege, and as we're going through college,
this was fun, but then maybethere's the NFL, and then the
NFL happens, and you know,I was very fortunate with injuries and landing
in a good spot that you know, it worked out well. But it
was it was always a dream,but never a realistic dream. So when
(07:53):
did it finally kick in that Ican do This was when when in college
it was probably my junior year,I started seeing guys get drafted that I
played against and thinking, you know, if they got drafted and I played
against them and I did pretty wellagainst them, maybe I could get drafted.
(08:13):
And so that was kind of whenit hit me. Your sister Holly
played football in high school. Yes, that's insane. That's insane for the
time that this happened, don't youthink. Wasn't she one of the first
Yeah, she definitely was, especiallysince she was not a specialist. She
(08:35):
played on the offensive line, andyou know, she was able to go
to a state championship. There's somethingthat we take a lot of private.
And then she was on the USOlympic team as a weightlifter and she placed
tenth. What is she doing today? She is now coaching weightlifting and you
(08:56):
know, helping out the next waveof female athletes that hopefully will someday make
it to the Olympics. It wasit was pretty impressive her getting to the
Olympics and competing there. It waspretty neat to see for the family.
Okay, So, knowing you knowthat you are very close to the issue
of women's sports, we have,you know, the phenomenon Caitlin Clark in
(09:22):
the WNBA and the kind of shockingnews that in her first year playing as
a pro she's going to be makingseventy six thousand dollars and her counterpart in
the NBA in his rookie season madetwelve million. What's your take on this,
(09:46):
because you know, for the longesttime in women's soccer, the US
women's soccer team, although they hadhigher ratings than the men and certainly they
had more you know, World Cupchampionships than the men, they fought for
like eight years and finally one equalpay. And I was having this debate
(10:07):
with someone in the studio who willgo on unnamed, and he just said,
well, the w NBA would gobankrupt if they had to pay what
they pay in the NBA. Iget that they can't pay what they pay
in the NBA, but seventy sixto twelve mil What do you say,
Nick Mangold, Yeah, no,I look at it more on the revenue
(10:28):
side, and the revenue generated bythe NBA is far, league, far
greater than what the WNBA is,and you know, unfortunately that's just where
it is. And you know,I think that Caitlin Clark is an amazing
athlete and has done some fantastic things, and it's awesome watching her at Iowa,
you know, bombing those threes fromlogos, which was really cool,
(10:54):
you know, but I think overall, you know, when the league makes
you know, an average of tenmillion dollars compared to a league that makes
you know, two hundred million.Unfortunately, the salaries are going to reflect
that. But that bad, thatthat wide of a gap. Listen,
I don't I don't know. Itis what it is. You know,
(11:16):
when when people start changing it,that that's when it'll change. But for
right now, unfortunately, that's whereit's at. Yeah. I was wondering
because you came up earlier, anddiet has become so important now when it
comes to pro sports, and Iremember the era where football players would just
(11:39):
you would hear these insane amounts offood, but not necessarily good food that
they were ingesting. How was itfor you? How important was diet for
you coming up? I mean,look at your size exactly, you know,
I think that was I was kindof in the transitional period where when
I first started, diet really didn'tmatter and it was just kind of a
(12:01):
you know, make sure you eatand that was about it. And by
the time I was done playing,it really became focused on all, right,
what are you putting in your body? You know, how is that
fueling you? Are you putting theright stuff in or at the right time
and everything? And it's amazing,amazing how much. It's become a science
where you know, it's down detailedto individual guys, each one and being
(12:24):
like, all right, you needthis amount of protein, you need this
amount of carbohydrates, and it's it'samazing where we've gotten nutrition wise, and
I think just shows when you lookat the athletes, how much faster they
are, how much stronger they areby what they're putting in their body.
I have to ask you this.I don't know that you know any more
(12:46):
than anyone else knows. Is isAaron Rodgers one hundred percent healthy? Now?
I don't know. I saw aworkout video from him a couple of
days ago, and he looked prettygood. He's been out golfing, and
as a guy who you know likesto golf a little bit as well,
if you're out there golfing, youshould be relatively healthy. So I'm hoping
(13:09):
that he's back and ready to goand should be a good season this year.
Oh man, Yeah, certainly.How well do you know him,
Aaron? I've known Aaron. Shoot, it's almost twenty years now. I've
met him right after I was drafted, so two thousand and six, and
so you know, off and on, you know, he's a good friend
(13:33):
of one of my best friends,so I know him relatively well. So
what is the most surprising thing youcould reveal about Aaron Rodgers to the fans?
Just how football smart he really is. You know, you you talk
to him and he's so he's gotthat California cool where he's just kind of
(13:58):
relaxed and chill about it. Butwhen he starts getting into the minute details
of the quarterback position or offensive play, he is he is so smart,
and I think that kind of getslost a little bit, you know when
he's when you're talking about Aaron Rodgers, it's something that is really special to
(14:22):
him, is just how smart heis in the game. Thank you so
much, Nick Mangold, And again, if you want to hang with Nick,
you can attend the eleventh annual Redand Blue Soiree this coming Thursday at
the Altman Building. And of coursethis is organized by Answer the Call,
(14:43):
which comes to the aid of familiesof fallen first responders, those killed in
the line of duty in New YorkCity, the NYPD and also the FDNY.
You've been listening to Sunstein on iHeartRadio, a production of New York's classic
rock Q one o four point three
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio,conversations about issues that matter. Here's your
host, three time Grasie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein. As you may know,
I mean, I don't know howyou cannot know that Q one O
four point three is the new homefor the Jets Jets. Jets Jets,
(00:21):
we will be carrying the games thiscoming season and for the next five plus
years. We are very excited aboutthis. We think this is a really
good marriage. And with that said, I want to introduce you to an
iconic New York Jet known as thebest center ever. That would be the
(00:47):
wonderful Nick Mangold, who was pickedin the first round for the New York
Jets in two thousand and six.Seven time pro bowler, he retired as
a Jet in twenty eighteen, inductedinto the Jets Ring of Honor two years
ago, and the reason he isjoining us this morning is because he happens
(01:11):
to be also a wonderful human being. He has been very active in answer
the call and he is actually anhonorary chair for the event coming up this
Thursday at the Altman Building. It'sthe eleventh annual Red and Blue saree.
So this is a fundraiser. It'sheld every year and it's geared toward young
(01:36):
professionals. And so, actually,Nick, how did you answer the call?
First of all, for those whoaren't familiar with it, this is
an incredible organization. It was foundedby Rusty Stop. He came up with
the idea many many years ago inthe eighties. And so anytime an NYPDAR
(01:56):
or FDN WIER is killed in theline of duty, answer the call provides
the family with fifty thousand dollars,and then every year there after they get
another ten thousand dollars which they coulddo whatever their needs happened to be.
They could use that. Plus theyhave events for the families, because if
(02:19):
you're the family of someone lost inthe line of duty, nobody else has
the understanding like another family that hadthis same tragedy. You just have this
basic understanding and it keeps these familiestogether. So Nick, first of all,
welcome, honored to have you.And how did you get involved?
(02:40):
Yes, thank you so much forhaving me. I appreciate it. I
got involved had to be almost tenyears ago, now, you know.
I got the opportunity to find outwhat they were doing, and like you
said, they'd do amazing work withthe families of the fall and first responders,
and that just kind of hit hometo me. You know, I
was just in high school when nineto eleven happened, and so back in
(03:04):
Ohio, and you know, Ihave a different perspective on nine to eleven,
you know, just being a highschool kid that doesn't know anything,
and so then coming up here toNew York City in two thousand and six
and and being able to really connectwith the city and connect with the folks
that were there that day and whatthey went through and what you know,
(03:28):
families went through, really you know, hit home to me, and I
felt a calling to try to helpout as much as I could to to
anyone who you know, we allgo to our jobs every day, and
you know, for the most part, we're relatively safe. And for the
(03:49):
folks that are on the front linedoing the firefight, oh you just support
authority those folks, you know.Oh, I'm sorry, he just rose
for a couple of seconds. Youknow, for the frontline folks, you
know, the firefighters and the police, the port authority. You know,
(04:10):
those people go to their job andthey don't you know, there's always a
little bit of a fear that theymight not come home, and so for
the opportunity to help out the familiesof those who unfortunately did not come home
has been you know a huge partof what I've done. I think while
I was playing and now when I'mdone playing. You have been to this
(04:33):
event before? This is the eleventhannual? Yes? Or you've attended other
Answer the Call events or both?No, Yeah, I've been to other
events. I've been to this eventand it's great, and I think this
one especially, You know, whenwe bring in families that we've supported and
(04:53):
get to hear their stories, getto hear you know, what they went
through, and see these folks connectbecause they've also been a part of it
for a while, and so theyalso know the other families. It's really
moving and touching to see how theypersevered, how they've gotten through it,
and how they continue to help thosewho now have to deal with it,
(05:16):
or you know, help those whohopefully never have to deal with it.
You know you were you were inOhio right when when nine to eleven happened.
So what tell take me through whatyou were experiencing that day. How
old were you I was seventeen,and so I was in high school and
(05:39):
it was you know, we weretrying to watch it on TV in between
classes and try to get an understandingof what was going on without fully grasping
I think until I got up hereinto the New York City area what really
went on and how it affected somany lives and continues to affect so many
(06:04):
lives, because actually we have nowlost more FDN wires to nine eleven illnesses
than the three hundred and forty threewe lost on nine eleven. And actually
we've actually years ago we lost morepeople to nine eleven illnesses than we lost
(06:27):
on nine to eleven. It's wealways say nine to eleven didn't end on
nine to eleven. I'm speaking withNick Mangold, seven time pro bowler,
best center ever on the New YorkJets, and he's very involved with Answer
the Call, which helps the familiesof New York City first responders who are
(06:47):
killed in the line of duty.And I just want to let you know
that this coming Thursday, there isa big event. Nick Mangold is one
of the honorary chairs. It's theeleventh annual Red in Blue Soire. It's
going to be held at the AltmanBuilding and it's really aimed at young professionals.
Did you always know, Nick,that that you wanted to be a
(07:09):
pro footballer? When did this passionhit for you? It was always kind
of a dream of mind, butnever a realistic one. And so,
uh, you know, as you'regoing through and you play uh in pee
wee's, and then you you goto high school, and then in high
school it was like, well,maybe I could play in college. And
(07:30):
then got the opportunity to play incollege, and as we're going through college,
this was fun, but then maybethere's the NFL, and then the
NFL happens, and you know,I was very fortunate with injuries and landing
in a good spot that you know, it worked out well. But it
was it was always a dream,but never a realistic dream. So when
(07:53):
did it finally kick in that Ican do This was when when in college
it was probably my junior year,I started seeing guys get drafted that I
played against and thinking, you know, if they got drafted and I played
against them and I did pretty wellagainst them, maybe I could get drafted.
(08:13):
And so that was kind of whenit hit me. Your sister Holly
played football in high school. Yes, that's insane. That's insane for the
time that this happened, don't youthink. Wasn't she one of the first
Yeah, she definitely was, especiallysince she was not a specialist. She
(08:35):
played on the offensive line, andyou know, she was able to go
to a state championship. There's somethingthat we take a lot of private.
And then she was on the USOlympic team as a weightlifter and she placed
tenth. What is she doing today? She is now coaching weightlifting and you
(08:56):
know, helping out the next waveof female athletes that hopefully will someday make
it to the Olympics. It wasit was pretty impressive her getting to the
Olympics and competing there. It waspretty neat to see for the family.
Okay, So, knowing you knowthat you are very close to the issue
of women's sports, we have,you know, the phenomenon Caitlin Clark in
(09:22):
the WNBA and the kind of shockingnews that in her first year playing as
a pro she's going to be makingseventy six thousand dollars and her counterpart in
the NBA in his rookie season madetwelve million. What's your take on this,
(09:46):
because you know, for the longesttime in women's soccer, the US
women's soccer team, although they hadhigher ratings than the men and certainly they
had more you know, World Cupchampionships than the men, they fought for
like eight years and finally one equalpay. And I was having this debate
(10:07):
with someone in the studio who willgo on unnamed, and he just said,
well, the w NBA would gobankrupt if they had to pay what
they pay in the NBA. Iget that they can't pay what they pay
in the NBA, but seventy sixto twelve mil What do you say,
Nick Mangold, Yeah, no,I look at it more on the revenue
(10:28):
side, and the revenue generated bythe NBA is far, league, far
greater than what the WNBA is,and you know, unfortunately that's just where
it is. And you know,I think that Caitlin Clark is an amazing
athlete and has done some fantastic things, and it's awesome watching her at Iowa,
you know, bombing those threes fromlogos, which was really cool,
(10:54):
you know, but I think overall, you know, when the league makes
you know, an average of tenmillion dollars compared to a league that makes
you know, two hundred million.Unfortunately, the salaries are going to reflect
that. But that bad, thatthat wide of a gap. Listen,
I don't I don't know. Itis what it is. You know,
(11:16):
when when people start changing it,that that's when it'll change. But for
right now, unfortunately, that's whereit's at. Yeah. I was wondering
because you came up earlier, anddiet has become so important now when it
comes to pro sports, and Iremember the era where football players would just
(11:39):
you would hear these insane amounts offood, but not necessarily good food that
they were ingesting. How was itfor you? How important was diet for
you coming up? I mean,look at your size exactly, you know,
I think that was I was kindof in the transitional period where when
I first started, diet really didn'tmatter and it was just kind of a
(12:01):
you know, make sure you eatand that was about it. And by
the time I was done playing,it really became focused on all, right,
what are you putting in your body? You know, how is that
fueling you? Are you putting theright stuff in or at the right time
and everything? And it's amazing,amazing how much. It's become a science
where you know, it's down detailedto individual guys, each one and being
(12:24):
like, all right, you needthis amount of protein, you need this
amount of carbohydrates, and it's it'samazing where we've gotten nutrition wise, and
I think just shows when you lookat the athletes, how much faster they
are, how much stronger they areby what they're putting in their body.
I have to ask you this.I don't know that you know any more
(12:46):
than anyone else knows. Is isAaron Rodgers one hundred percent healthy? Now?
I don't know. I saw aworkout video from him a couple of
days ago, and he looked prettygood. He's been out golfing, and
as a guy who you know likesto golf a little bit as well,
if you're out there golfing, youshould be relatively healthy. So I'm hoping
(13:09):
that he's back and ready to goand should be a good season this year.
Oh man, Yeah, certainly.How well do you know him,
Aaron? I've known Aaron. Shoot, it's almost twenty years now. I've
met him right after I was drafted, so two thousand and six, and
so you know, off and on, you know, he's a good friend
(13:33):
of one of my best friends,so I know him relatively well. So
what is the most surprising thing youcould reveal about Aaron Rodgers to the fans?
Just how football smart he really is. You know, you you talk
to him and he's so he's gotthat California cool where he's just kind of
(13:58):
relaxed and chill about it. Butwhen he starts getting into the minute details
of the quarterback position or offensive play, he is he is so smart,
and I think that kind of getslost a little bit, you know when
he's when you're talking about Aaron Rodgers, it's something that is really special to
(14:22):
him, is just how smart heis in the game. Thank you so
much, Nick Mangold, And again, if you want to hang with Nick,
you can attend the eleventh annual Redand Blue Soiree this coming Thursday at
the Altman Building. And of coursethis is organized by Answer the Call,
(14:43):
which comes to the aid of familiesof fallen first responders, those killed in
the line of duty in New YorkCity, the NYPD and also the FDNY.
You've been listening to Sunstein on iHeartRadio, a production of New York's classic
rock Q one o four point three
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