This episode of Busting with the Boys. The Boys is presented by Barstool Sports.
What you doing, man? How you doing?
Bros? The Boys were back together?
Yeah, we're you man, Look at looking at you. I haven't I haven't seen you, like talking to you since you got the new teeth, Man, you look incredible.
Oh, I know all the all the.
Redskins teammates and friends and stuff.
Just just heckle me, dude, because obviously I had the old, the old, the old Blitz package running into my mouth back in the day.
The best thing about it is you're smiling now more, you know what I mean?
So I know, I know, like I love doing it too. It's probably the best investment I've ever made. It's fixing these teeth, man.
How long so you need? Uh?
I got them in the summer of twenty eighteen, so right before like I was with the Titans and Ots and then ratro OTAs I got him.
Any problems with them, No.
Not really.
Like the only thing that sucks is like, so you'll get temporaries that you put in and they're not like individual veneers. It's like a it's like an entire set, right, So you got to wear those for like two weeks and so eating and stuff, and you could kind of feel them shipted around, not like big, but you could feel it to where you.
Were just nervous the whole time.
Like I remember I was in the I was in the chair, the dental chair, and I was like, yo, I'm not gonna lie, guys. I'm super scared to do this. And everybody was telling me like not to like, dude as your personality this and then I'm like, dude, fuck the personality, like I need I want a better smile. And I was like, uh. I told the doc. I was like, man, if I don't like this, are you able? Because they shave him down to like little any biddy like vampire teeth, like I look ridiculous, and then they
put the veneer caps on him. I was like, if I don't like it, because you shave and trim my teeth the veneers back to what my teeth used to look like. And he was like, He's like, I promise you're gonna like him, but yes, if you are that uncomfortable, I will shave him back down to your original chip tooth and stuff like that.
He was like joking on.
Me, that's man. Yeah, you look, you look amazing. You know, thank you to secure men so we can say that, but yeah, thanks man, Yo.
I always look at and it's always when d Y hits me up. D Y He'll reach out, like just say what's up every now and then a few times a year, and I'll always like my first response is sending him the video. And when me, you and him were in uh was it your car or his car when we were driving to the Gaylord Hotel to make meetings and we were stuck in traffic and we were like weaving through following like the ambulance and stuff like that.
Like I'll never forget that, man.
Yeah, man, it was was that when we were in uh Man, that's when they had like a really bad traffic jam. Yeah.
It was like it was like the ball that they had I think for like uh the military, right.
Remember they wanted the ball every year, like during Christmas.
Time and traffic stuff. It was like it was chaotic and you definitely didn't want to be late to a meeting.
No, never wanted to.
Yeah, wasn't he bro He's one of my favorite teammates of all time, dude, And you like you don't start thinking about that stuff until like you know, your years are years are like those kind of years are behind you, and you get to kind of sit back and reflect and you're like, man, this stuff just doesn't last forever. So you like appreciate all those like friendships that you had that you're like, I wish I would have just enjoyed them that much more.
Yeah, you know, it's it's crazy because if you look at like the Ruskins roster now, like I would say, like ninety five percent of the guys that we played with there or not there anymore.
Right, Right. It's same with like college too, Like you get a couple of years of moved, but you still kind of follow your team because you've got your boys that are selling the team that you're root for. Yep. And then when it gets to like you don't even recognize the roster, you're just like, I have like no ties really to this organization or college anymore. You don't feel that way anyway.
Yeah, you feel like a foreigner, you know. Yeah, Taylor and I used to used to go back a bunch, but then obviously you know everything that happened there, uh, and the guys start disappearing. You don't know anyone so you just become like a fan, like I'm sure, yeah, Nebraska.
Now, not all fans have a statue. Man's got a statue. Man's got a statue, rightfully. So though, Bro, you were a stun in college. And we'll get to that stuff. But before we get in all that, like, how you been, dude? Like, obviously we'reng for those listening. I don't know when this
episode's going to drop, but for everybody listening. RG and I were talking basically the week the Monday, right after all of the protests and riots that have been happening on behalf of the George Floyd incident incident, and uh so Rob and I are talking now RG, we'll call them all the fun stuff. But so when I asked him that, that's kind of what I'm referring to. So I don't know if this is gonna come out, I don't know when it's going to but to give people context, how you been, dude.
Yeah, I mean personally, you know, aside from everything that's going on in America, I've been. I've been. I've been okay. Uh you know, I actually got stuck in California. Uh you know, we went out there in you know, February. I think it was, yeah, February to kind of like get away, go train, get ready for the next season. And then COVID hit in March and we were stuck. So we got stuck out there, didn't really know what
to do, didn't want to get on a plane. We had my three daughters with us, and and my wife was just like what do we do? So we stayed for a couple of weeks and then you know, Bill start to ramp up a little bit. You know, it's not like you stay out there for free, so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah you and are you in an airbnb?
Just so we were in an airbnb out there. So I'm like, all right, what do I do? You know, I want to you know, save money, don't know if the season is going to come back around, what's going to happen. And because of COVID, we had a house that were getting built in Florida. They got pushed back because everything's you know, kind of shutting down. So we drove.
We drove from California from LA all the way to Texas and really, yeah, I was able to get my mama house, you know, less enough to buy my mama house out here in Arlington and uh so we drove out here in eighteen hours on the road. Yeah, road trip. It was. It was great, beautiful scene scenior, you know, seeing the mountains and all that stuff from California all
the way to Texas. But it's just been a stressful time, like not knowing what's going on, and you know, with with everything that's going on now with the protests and and you fight for equality and the George Floyd murder, it's just like the world is just in chaos right now. Man.
It's oh, I know, man, it's just it just sucks. Like it's like you I've had conversations over the weekend, and you know how it is, like they'd be there just like lengthy conversations and just ultimately like it just sucks, you know what I mean.
Like you reach out to like your friends and you're trying.
To like check on like me, like checking on like your.
Black teammates or black friends.
And stuff like that. You're just kind of trying to get a feel for what that like, what it is in everybody's head. And I'm careful to like say stuffing because you know how people can just grab and just take anything out of context. These days and it's just unfortunate, man,
Like I hate it. And then on top of it, like all this stuff's going on, it's like, yo, the pandemic, like we were we out of the pandemic everyone, like you see some good protesting going on, you see bad stuff too, and it's like, yo, hey, what is the pandemic is still going on too?
Yeah, so it's like, uh, you know, to be honest with you, you know, I got to say for you man, like I appreciate you, appreciate your voice. I saw what you wrote the other day about people needing to stop, you know, listen and understand before they move forward, or just you know, turn a blind eye to what's going on. I think in this country, for the longest we've liked, we have liked to think that racism doesn't exist, or
that it's gotten better. And yeah, trust me, like from the civil rights movement, it's definitely gotten better.
But yeah, like we're not you know, like it's people bring up some photo it's like, okay, like we're not saying that.
We're not segregated systematically that way. I think that people will will go to their grave arguing about systemic racism and systematic racism, how it's built in that way, and I don't disagree with that, but the what we're seeing right now with the right and the protests and the burning of the buildings and the looting, it's, uh, you know, not all of that is being done by the right people, of.
Course, absolutely, but absolutely.
I mean that is pain from hundreds of years of inequality and I and we see this happen, right, We see, you know, a black guy on a black guy get killed, and there's protests, and then it just feels like, you know, a couple of weeks later, it's all back to normal, right. It's it's no one's talking about it, no one's doing anything about it, and no one's coming up with a solution.
So to see this one linger the way that it has and turn into what it has, it kind of feels like this is the opportunity to try to actually implement significant change, and it's going to take time, right, It's going to take time. People are don't have to vote, They're gonna have to We're gonna have to try to take down the system by voting in the right people. But it's going to take people like yourself who aren't who aren't afraid to speak up publicly. And and it's
it's not just doing it one time. It's not just doing it for you know, your brand or to look good, so they can't say you didn't say something, you know what I mean.
It's some some brands aren't saying anything because they're nervous about what the ownership might say. Hey, like, stay out of this sticky I'm saying.
And you know, they've always preached that when we came in as when you came in as a rookie, I came in the league as a rookie, They're like, hey, don't talk about race, religion, or politics. Don't don't put yourself out there with issues that can be deemed you know, like you're going to scorch the earth right. And this is a moment where you've seen more athletes speak up and talk about it. You've seen more white athletes speak up and talk about it. And you know, I have
my feeling. Some I feel are genuine, some I don't feel are genuine. But at the end of the day, we need everybody to try to march together to get to a point where we can figure something out. Because I don't have the answers. I don't know what's gonna may, and that's what's so frustrating and heartbreaking. You don't you just don't know, but you know, saying something about it can help, and we need everybody for.
That, right because Like, so after I wrote my blog piece and I'm stoked. I'm like, I'm fired up that people like liked it and shared it and it did what it what it did, and you know, when I wrote it, I'm like, I hadn't seen I don't this isn't certain, but I hadn't seen anything written on Barsool
yet about it. So I was like, you know, I wonder if I write this, like if it's going to be able to be actually submitted, you know what I mean, because I hadn't seen anything yet, right, Unfortunately, like Erica the CEO and Dave and everybody's like reaching out talking about you know, how well written it wasn't that obviously, Like teammates and people that I've peers with and stuff reaching out and it's like all that happens, and then I sit back and I'm like, Okay, well, like you
were saying earlier, like it can't just be a one time thing, and I'm thinking of my mind, like all right, you know.
What can I do next? Because again, it's it's it's also hard.
First of all, it's definitely needed for more white people to speak up about it. And it's not speaking up in a way that you know the facts and you know answers. But I want to say everyone I've listened to or I have a conversation with black, Hispanic, just any minority, it's like, acknowledge that it's happening.
Correct.
They want to be heard. So acknowledge that you have privilege, even if that might reb you the wrong way. Like sometimes I was talking to my fiance she's at Filipino, and she's like, like, sometimes when privilege is brought up to me, I get a little shung by it because
I know my upbringing it my own community. Now knowing having all this and reflecting more, knowing my communities white and just knowing like, Okay, even though I wasn't privilege in my own white community, that doesn't mean I don't have this white privilege myself. Like she does a good job explaining a lot of stuff to me, but like
the thing is like acknowledging your privilege. Acknowledging that you're hearing everybody, you're hearing what's happening and giving a shit, like using your platform in whatever way possible and like just letting them, letting people and I hate saying that, Like you got to let black people know.
Like I hate about it, and however you can say it, go about it like you got to do it in a genuine fashion and also be careful because you can't get taken out of context as well.
So it's it's difficult, but it is, man. It's it's good to see a lot more people speaking out and me, I can, I can admit that I've been I can be guilty of not like if if a murder happens. You know how white people, I don't. I don't, I hate just people in general in general. Yeah, I know you're not gonna take me out.
Of context, but you have a pod, so you gotta be careful, you.
Know what I'm saying. It's like people can be like you see a scene happen and you're like, listen, let's get all the facts, like we just because there's a very angry community doesn't mean like this is exactly what happened, and so you'll want to wait on more facts. Like, to me, this situation is as obvious and it's clear cut of a situation that you can use as an example. It's like, listen, guys, this camera was on for over
two minutes and this it's clearly wrong. Like I was talking to my boy blas shut out bloss, who's expanded, who's Hispanic?
And he h, he's in the law enforcement.
He's like, there's nowhere in our teaching to where you know, it's on somebody's neck, it's you.
Know, around their belt or their chest or something like that.
But it's like this situation kind of helps I feel like, you know, more people white everyone look at a situation and see what the black community has been wanting to be seen forever. Yeah, that makes sense. If I explained that in my in my very white privilege, I got it. I'm saying all this stuff guys in my very white way. That is Uh, that was my thought.
Yeah.
I feel like you know, when I when I've talked to my white teammates recently, it's it's it's like, hey, what can we do right, And like you're at a loss for words, you don't know what you can do, but I know that you can you can speak up about it, and you know, they're like, hey, we're willing to talk with you and brainstorm and figure out things to do. And I feel like the beginning point is
speaking up. You have to say something, and then once you do that, then it's like, hey, man, if you're in your your own little circle and you hear something right that that just shouldn't be said, or or a viewpoint that that that someone shouldn't have on certain things when it comes to equality, you have to step up then, right, because whether it's racism or just you know, a superiority complex or whatever it may be, that stuff is that's not you know, it's not you're not born with that. Right.
You see a kid and a white kid in the same area, they're gonna love on each other because they that that's what they know, right. But as they get older or whatever happens, that stuff is built in and it's taught for someone to, you know, not like someone of another color or think that person is inferior to them. And I think that's a big part of everything that's been going on. No one knows what to do, right. I know a lot of people want to help, but
they don't know how to help. And I just can't stress enough that this is not a political issue, you know what I mean?
I know, I know, and I hate when it starts to get money there.
Right, people want to turn it into a political issue. It's not a political issue. This is a human rights issue. If you're a believer, right, if you're a Christian believer, this is doing the others as you want them.
To do under you.
And I agree with you this, George Ford one is like so egregious that I think that's why you see some of the chaos that you see right in other situations. And you know, I don't agree with it, but they'll say, hey, well they shouldn't have done this, they should have done that, they should have done this. But this one for for all people. It is just like, oh my gosh, it's it's the most obvious one. It's what is going on here. And this is something that I've you know, I've dealt
with my whole life. We've had these conversations before, like about just inequality or opportunity or whatever it may be. But you don't want to you know, when I got three daughters and you know, one day I pray to have a son. I don't want them to have to grow up in a world like this. Right, And you can say, well, this is the greatest country in the world, and we have the most freedom and we do all these things, and yeah, I'm very you know, I know
those things, right. My parents served in the military. I know the freedoms that we have and what we fight for. But did we really fight for this? You know? Our nation is founded on you know, liberty and justice for all and our original sin, the original sin of America is injustice. It's the original We have to get over that.
How do we do it? I have no idea, but I know that if I can get you all my other non black teammates, all my black teammates, the community, and we can all do this together, there's a better chance. As opposed to what has typically happened. Is if it doesn't affect you, you just turn the other cheek. You said, oh, well that doesn't really bother It bothers me, but it doesn't affect my life. So I'm just not going to say anything. I don't want to hurt my brand. I
don't want to lose some fans. I don't want to you know, get fired. You know, for whatever, for whatever reason, you stand on something. But I think this is the time. I think this is the time for everyone to take that stand and take that risk, because it's it's just not okay, it's twenty twenty, man. Like you remember, we're in the nineties. We're watching movies and they're talking about like flying cars and all these things in the future.
Like this is the future now and we don't have those things and we don't even have justice for all in a country that was founded upon justice for all.
Right, right, don't you just wish, like I'll sit back and think, like, man, I wish everyone could just experience a locker room dynamic. Yeah, like when you're on when you're on a team. I know us we're very fortunate to have been in locker rooms because my own story, it's like I grew up in bon Ter, Missouri. That is, like you read, ninety nine percent white, and a lot of people don't necessarily leave that bubble, Like Saint Louis is the closest city in our way, So we're in small town USA.
You know what I'm saying.
And for me, I would have never really known or understood any of this had I not been in the Nebraska locker room, had the roommates that I've had, been in the Redskins locker room, Raiders locker room, Titans locker room, all that stuff.
And just to think that, like, had I.
Never experienced that, I would, I would you know, more than likely be around by bond tere upbringing. Not that it was bad or negative, but you have that kind of You have some of those people that and they have access to this huge platform like social media, and that's where a lot of stuff can get money because
people just I say the word ignorant carefully. I'm not calling people ignorant, but you're ignorant to like what's truly all like out there happening all the time, and all these different communities and stuff, and it just gets really muddy when you have a platform like social media to sit and kind of ultimately get to arguing. You know how it goes like now it's get some of it gets made into a political issue and it's like, you know,
back to reeling it in. It's like a humanity issue, correct, And I just wish people, I wish everyone could be in the locker room like us, you know what I mean, and be around the dynamics we get to be around, right, because you create such strong bonds that you know, you you hate seeing what's happening out there right now.
Yeah, it's and and I'm with you. Like the locker room is like such a special place. It's it's so special, it's crazy. Like most guys when they retire, right, Like most guys don't miss training camp, they don't miss uh, you know, practicing and lifting, but they missed that bond of being in the locker room. And yeah, and I was listening to our coaches today as he was talking, and he said that, you know, football for him, he
grew up in the segregation times. Football for him and sports for him was a place where he didn't feel that that hatred. Right, those white people back then, or or non black people back then, felt a certain type of bond because they were all in it for a common goal, right to win. Now, I go play basketball and I got, you know, four white guys on my team. You know, the stereotype is that all of them can shoot, right,
but it doesn't that doesn't matter. The point is that me and those other four guys, we're all trying to win that game. So you overlook where you came from.
You.
Overlook how much money you have. You overlook all these things that that uh that are that are what I say, qualifiers for for inequality. And you're all trying to accomplish that goal. So you're willing to do whatever it takes, right, shoot the three, pass the ball, die for the ball, you know, go into triple overtime, whatever you have to do to win that game. And when he said that, I'm like, man, like, how do we get society to
that point to where we see it? We're all in it for the same reason, right, people are going to have their own views on wealth, right, and who has all the wealth, who doesn't have all the wealth and earning potential in this and taxes whatever. Those are all political issues. But the fact that we're trying we should all be in this together to try to get towards equality and to try to get towards justice. To me that we should all be on the same team there.
We should all be willing to do whatever it takes to get to that. Equality doesn't mean that me and you have the same amount of money. It means that me and you have the same opportunity. Right now, as an athlete, you know that's not always the case, right, I was, I was drafted. You weren't. You weren't drafted.
But oh yeah, conversation right, right?
But who still have had? In football terms, your skill determined your opportunity, right, My skill determined my opportunity in that position. Now, is there you know, inequality and injustice and sports? Yes there is? But is it anywhere to the level of the everyday person? Not even close? So how do we get society to join on the same team and and do things? March together? Right? I see all these protests and I'm like, yo, man, that's awesome because it's not just black people, right.
Oh, I know, it's not just.
White people, it's not just Asian Americans, it's not just Mexican Americans. It's everybody. That's what we need. How do we get that and then take that and obviously go vote and try to tear down the system that's in place? Right now? How do you do that? I don't know, but I know we can know.
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One thing that you were mentioning earlier and I actually have written down is one of the things that I jumped out to me when I was researching your background is you were born in Japan.
Yeah, you were born and you.
Said it earlier your parents they served in the military. You come from a military family. Talk about being born in Japan and kind of moving around where being what do they call it, like being.
Like a military child? Is that really sticking anywhere?
Oh?
Hang on, hang on, Alex says, hang on. He says, uh, he thinks I'm using my AirPods, Mike, if I can find a stopping point, check and switch if necessary.
Yeah. I tried not to interrupt during the that whole talk because that was so important obviously that I flowed right, But I figured if you're gonna switch over now, this would be a good time for you to take a look and make sure because I think you are on AirPods.
Mike, I am, I am, I see it.
It's microphone right.
Yes, how now can you hear me, beautiful? Make sure you restate the question before you start back again, if you could.
I will, I will my bet RG.
Oh No, you're good, you're good.
You know, as man athletes trying to figure all this stuff out there.
But uh, one thing that jumped out to me when researching your background was that you were born in Japan. And uh, you said it earlier, like alluding to your parents being you were in a military family. Talk about being like a military child and moving around and just knowing that you were born in Japan made me laugh.
I'm like, what the what was born in Japan? How long were you there?
So I was there in Japan for two and a half years, So for me, I don't remember it, but we got the pictures, we got the videos and everything. You know, I know you're trying to be politically correct, but the proper term for a military military brad, right, that's that's what it called military band. And you know, my parents being in the military me the discipline, sacrifice. You saw it, right, every single day when we went
to war, my mom and dad, my dad. My mom was out by that time and my dad you know, had to go over and be deployed. And I saw a lot of my friends' parents and you know, aunts and uncles not come back because of that. So it was really tough growing up as a military brat, having to move around. But like I said, the things that teaches you how to you know, gel in different groups. Right, So in Japan, obviously that's that's a pretty you know,
diverse group. Here I'm on a military base, so it's not like I'm.
Yeah, no, no, I feel you.
We're on a military base. You got you got people of color, you got white people, you got Asian people. And we moved a bunch, moved early on, moved to Colorado. I lived in Alabama, lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, but I was lucky enough to settle in Copperscote, Texas before for grade. And I went through my whole schooling in that same city.
Oh that's nice.
That was That was a blessing because usually I had a lot of friends move away. And the one thing you hate is when you like move away like junior high, high school time, and you know, because you got to like sports is such a big you know, most sports team sports, so most of them are like really big on the camaraderie, and you don't want to be the new kid who comes in as a sophomore at the high school. Now you got to oh, man, the coach's son is the quarterback, and like, you don't want to
do that. So I was I was blessed enough to go through that whole time. And you know, to this day, high school football is probably still the most fun I've ever had in my life because the game with all the guys that you grew up with from like you know, kindergarten, first grade, people that you've seen develop and uh, you know, I was obviously oblivious. I thought all my high school teammates were going to go to the NFL.
So no, I know, right, you think a you know, college like for sure.
Then you get to college and you're like, oh my gosh, there's a six eight, three hundred and fifty pound offensive lineman. I had none of those in high school.
So yeah, yeah, and you don't quite know what you're doing about.
The high school center. He was five to seven. He was five to seven, two hundred and twenty five pounds, and I'm like, man, you're going d one and he's probably like, you know, looking at me like you're crazy, and I get it now.
But it was.
It was a lot of fun, and being a military kid taught me a lot of things. It taught me how to mess in jail with a bunch of different people in different groups and try to understand it from everybody's perspective. A lot of times I found myself being the new kid and having to try to find my way in each different community, and I think that's helped me with how I've led, how I've been able to be a good teammate in different places that I've been, and you know, just be a better all around.
Person, no doubt.
Like I fel like, if you're like a military brat, to be politically correct, you have like some of those you have, like those foundational things, those foundational values that you know, you just can't teach all the time unless you're like in, unless you have those parents are around that environment constantly.
So yeah, and I think that I think that piggybacks off what you were saying, like from where you grew up and and how that was. I went to you know, I went to Baylor University, and no one's gonna say that that's like a melting pop. You know, it's a private school. It's a private Baptist school. And I believe over seventy percent of the of the students that go to Baylor are a Caucasian. You know we're talking about.
I mean said, shoot, same with Nebraska.
I mean people are probably in Nebraska like, Okay, Will, did you really get out of bond Ter, Missouri.
It's like I guess I'm thinking like.
In locker room terms, you know what I'm saying, like, in your locker room, you got dues from Florida, Cali, New York, all over.
Yeah, and sports is like the equaliser. You know, if it's not split down the middle, it's probably favoring you know, minorities to be To be honest, at Nebraska, bayl or whatever it is. I still remember you walk around campus. I go to class, right, there might be you know, if it's a small class, say like you know, thirty forty kids, there might be five black people in college. But you go to the area where all the athletes are. Yeah, you know, like so like it's it was crazy to
see that. And you meet people, You meet people who have never hung around uh, minorities of any kind because where they live at it is so just one color, right. And I ran to my wife. My wife's from Estonia and they don't have any black exactly.
I don't care, man, I'm not Anteoni.
Is in the Baltics, so uh, Norway a lot via And I say this when last because don't ever say this to an Estonian. But Russia, they're right next to Russia, and Estonians and Russians don't really get along because Russia has has conquered Estonia a couple of times. So, so just anyone, don't ever call my wife Russian. Don't.
Yeah, so that's kind of like Russian then hunt like no.
So, but I ran into it with her, like there's no black people. She didn't grow up with that those types of people in her life every day. But she came over to to the United States for college, went to Florida State. She went to Tallahassee, Florida, which is one of the blackest places in all of America. Yeah, she got a crash course on black history by going to by going to college, and it's opened her eyes because from what she saw back at home to what she sees now in America. Uh, you know, to her,
it's obvious that there's racism here. But to the people who are here all the time, they're like, ah, no, that's not that he was he was resisting. You know, there was this, there was that, But hers like that there's no excuse for it. And I think that, you know, there's nothing wrong with the fact that where you grew up, there's nothing wrong that, you know, you being more comfortable with someone who looks like you than someone who doesn't.
I think that is natural. I think where the problem comes in is when people are uncomfortable with someone based off of stereotype and they use that against them in a way that diminishes their ability to either make a living or just walk around freely. You know, I don't want to be paid to go on a job, you know, I don't. I don't. I heard you talking about it with the man who got gunned down for going on a jog, and they're like, oh, well he was looking in a in an unbuilt house before or he got.
Oh yeah, yeah yeah yeah, like and.
Like, who hasn't done that?
Right?
Like this this house here from a mom. There's houses that are being built. It's a new bill community, and we've gone in those houses and looked at him that aren't finished. Does that mean that now if I go jog a little bit, I should get gunned down? Like come on, like he's not stealing anything, and people.
No doubt, dude, that's that's yeah.
I was like to justify behavior, and it's like that doesn't pass the common sense to us, you.
Know, right right like you I've you know, I've done that stuff too, And I wasn't like what did I say?
I said?
I like the topped in the car like it was a grand theft auto or something like, Yo, this is in a video game, dude.
Yeah, like it's it doesn't make sense. But to get back to the to the overall point is that it doesn't matter where you grew up right, right, And just because you don't see people that that don't look like you where you grow up, h it doesn't mean that when you go to college or when you go somewhere that you can't learn something new. And I think that's what it is. You just have to be willing to learn.
And and just because something doesn't affect you particularly or your kids or your family, it doesn't mean that it's not going on. And I think that that's that's the point. It's like, I'm not I'm not wanting you to get pulled over by the cops and then to fear for your life. I don't I don't want you to feel that. You know, I don't want you to feel that fear. I don't want I'm not saying that you deserve that. I'm saying that people that look like me don't deserve that.
Can you Can you at least agree with that? Can you at least help me move forward some type of winda to get that to be eliminated. And I think that's that's a big part of it. But you're right, a lot of people don't grow up with those experiences, so they just don't think it's really happening.
Right right, It's like take the glasses off and put on somebody else's glass. It's like you can't really take your lens off, like you're going to have your own filter regardless.
But it's like being.
Super curious and like, you know, seeking to understand where the person across from you is coming from about something because I'm not I'm not. I'm not like you were saying too, like we're not disappointed where we grew up. I love that I grew up where I grew up, and I get to have this story to kind of share that, like, hey, you know, I've had all of these experiences along the way. Here's where I am now getting to with just different things like shout out bon
ter Missouri dude. But but like, yeah, being curious, like you're everyone's gonna have their own filter because they've they nobody can help where they grew up.
But like you're saying, like you know.
Seek that curiosity factor that you know, you're trying to understand someone else's perspective and listen and you know grow you know what I mean.
Yeah, you I agree with you. It's it's almost impossible for someone to really take their lens off, right. Whenever you hear the saying walk a mile in someone else's shoes, yeah, you can put their shoes on, but you're still gonna be walking halfway with your own mindset, right, Right, So, if you've never experienced injustice to the level of the African American community or people of color in general, you're
not really gonna understand it. But you can't go into that conversation with a jaded view like it's not happening, Like it's in front of you and it's been happening for hundreds of years. You can't just say, oh, it's not happening, it doesn't exist, it does, you know. You know. Stereotypes are like a huge problem all around the world, right, I.
Know, But like the stereotypes too, it's like it's it's it's it's sensitive in like this topic that we're talking about.
But I've always enjoyed a good stereotype for jokes. Every now and then being in a locker room like I'm I'm scared saying that.
On the locker room jokes if people heard locker room jokes.
On me, Oh, bro, we have so much fun in there, bro.
But it's uh. Stereotypes have a problem for a long time forever, right. Those stereotypes are what lead to people
feeling certain ways about things. Right. So I was talking about if I go on a basketball court and I roll up with this team and you know, we're called the White Chocolates or something, and I got two or three two or three Caucasian teammates, everybody's guarding them at the three point line, right, But nobody's guarded me at the three point line because they think, Oh, he's African American, he can jump, he's a dunker, he's a slasher. This
Caucasian gal here is a shooter. Now, I'm not saying that that that doesn't work out that way sometimes, right, Like JJ Reddick is a hell of a shooter, Kyle Korb is an of a shooter, and Lebron James is one of the best slashers of all time. But it doesn't mean that everybody is like that, right.
No doubt, no doubt.
But if you rolled up and if you rolled up in bond Te, Missouri at a pick up basketball game, I'm sitting, Hey, I want him on my team.
And what's your name? Man, RG three, you can you can.
Be on my team. So what I'm saying it's not that those stereotypes don't sometimes end up being true. It's just when it's in the negative, like that's when it's like, oh man, we gotta we gotta try to overcome that somehow. I still remember, you know, in Cleveland, I had you know, I've had long hair since like forever, since I went
to college. And I had my afro out right No, not like right now, like I got the buns in right now, but I had the afro out, and UH coach came to me and he said, hey, I need you to come to work with your hair braided or cut it off. I said, Coach, He said, well, you're black and you're a black quarterback, and you can't. You can't be presented in that way. You can't come here with your hair not done in some type of way because it just doesn't give off the right message. And
I'm gonna be i'mna be honest with you it. You know, it pissed me off because I feel like, why why do I have to do that? You know, why? Why is that the message that I'm giving off of because my hair looks a certain type of way, or because I'm wearing a hoodie or or whatever. For the longest, everybody used to I walk down the street in DC and uh, they'd be like, hey, man, I got some weed for you. I know you, I know you smoke.
I know you.
I'm like, bro, Like, I've never smoked in my life, and I'm not condemning anybody that does. But just because I'm black, I'm wearing a hoodie and I got what people thought were dreads at the time, doesn't mean I'm on the gondo people.
Does Jane Like, come on, no, hey, you know, try hanging out like in UH with your teammates and stuff.
And then people are thinking like I'm.
Their agent or like financial man, put some respect on my name. Man, I play too like, oh hey, what's your name? Man like trying to give me a handshake. Like.
So it's just to that point where yeah, man, like everybody likes a good laugh, But what's going going on in this country? For hundreds of years with with minorities in general, especially the African American community just isn't a laughing matter anymore. And I think I think people are seeing that, and that's the disheartened part because you would
feel like, dang, why didn't you see that earlier? But I do think this George Floyd incident, uh and the gentleman who got gunned down for you know, going on a jog, those that really brought everybody out to the forefront. Plus everyone's not doing anything really right, so a lot of people out of work, so there's more eyes on social media, there's your eyes on the news, and like
I mean, it's like like twenty twenty is just complete chaos. Man, Like Kobe Bryant dies and we got coronavirus hiss And now.
Talk about the history books that they're going to be on twenty twenty back when it's like year three thousand.
Dude, they're gonna be learning about all this. And that's why I think a lot of people are are doing what they're doing because they want to be on the right side of history. You know, I want to be on the right side of history that that sees a system of systematic injustice crumble. You know, yeah, down, I want to be on that side of history, and I think we can do it. But if you had to ask me, I have no idea how. I have no idea how.
Yeah, yeah, I mean she rolling it together? Man, I know. Uh you it's like you said, it's like how that happens? Right there?
You sit and you say something, you just start thinking and you're just like, man, like, how does that?
How does that kind of stuff happen?
And you just, if anything, try to stay optimistic and when you can find opportunity to, you know, do something yourself. Like hopefully everyone takes that choice, chooses the right choose the right choice, makes the right decision to just like hey, be you know, be a good person.
Yeah, it's like that. There was this I came. I don't know if the show is still long, but there
was like the show what would you Do? And like they like set these different narrows up where like a girls at the bar or something, and the guys like he clearly puts something in a drink and he's getting trying to get a drunk and there's people around, there's cameras in the area, and they're trying to see like who's gonna step up and do the right thing, right And as you know, like we've had these talks with
the team about not getting involved in certain situations. And you see you see some like domestic violence, assault happening in a public place. Don't get involved because you could get injured. Call the cops, do this, do that. I don't feel like this is that type of situation, right, This isn't a mind your own business type of thing. Because justice for all is is good for everybody, you know what I mean. We don't want black fathers to be incarcerated at alarming rates that are taking them away
from their families, you know what I mean. We don't want black fathers being you know, murdered, because I mean that's a George Floyd was I was murdered, you know, it was right that stuff just no remorse at all. And you know, I just think that those are those are things that people have to really pay closer attention to.
Well, yeah, we're it's like it's like we're kind of in a point. I was just thinking about this as you were talking. It's like everyone has a little bit of sense of ownership.
Right, yes, yeah, now in this moment to.
Where we're now in ownership role in your own capacity. It's not like, hey, this is our leader of this and that. It's like like everyone has a little bit of leadership right now and some accountability, some ownership in this. They can take part in that. And it's like if you see something, say something type of thing and and again the whole seek to understand thing. It's like, but I do feel like we are you you you said
something that triggered that. We're kind of a spot. That's like we all have a little bit of ownership in this part right now. And like you were saying, it's not like don't stay removed from the situation because of the repercussions that could come from you.
Know what I mean.
Now and now it's like going to think, hey, see something, say something, and you know, hopefully you're looking around and you got more, you got more people that are doing the same thing you.
Are, right. It's I mean, it makes me laugh. It's not funny, but it's it makes me laugh that you know, Like growing up, they always talked about don't don't let peer pressure get to you in negative things. Right, So underage drinking, whatever it may.
Be, Yeah, still say no to drugs kids, you know what I'm saying.
So I'm like, Okay, you know, you get all these PEP talks and they're like, you know, peer pressure can be good, peer pressure can be bad. Don't let the bad peer pressure affect you. And I feel like right now there's more peer pressure for non people of color to step up and say something right right to the to the to the point where when you first saw it happened and you're like, wow, now that's big, you know,
you that's big. You get Tom Brady, you know, posting an image of something where he's never really went into those areas at all. I'm saying. You're like, oh my gosh, Okay, we're making some progress here. We got to get more people to do it. But then after like a week of all this stuff going on, then you start seeing more people start coming out. But there's a feeling that it's due to the peer pressure, that if they don't say something, people are going to look at them differently.
And I look at it like that. The church, Okay, people have their feelings about the church. They have their feelings about ties and offerings right right, And I've heard every conversation about it, right but at the end of the day, if you if you are tithing and you you're helping the church out, the church is spreading God's word in some type of way, whether you agree with how they're doing it or not. Right, So you know, I have all the phones about that as a whole
another conversation for a whole nother time. Yeah, that's why I look at it. So sometimes when you see people come out and say things, it's still good, right, regardless of whether they are feeling peer pressured into it or not. It's what you do next that really matters. And you said that you wrote that piece you it was you know, beautifully worded, and it's like, what do I do next? Am I do I continue to be vocal? Do I work in my own circles to try to improve or
attack things that I see? Do I work with you know, these different organizations to go out and be in the community in whatever type of way. It's what you do
next that really matters. Don't just say something to say something, you know, And so I'm like, I'm thinking about it, and I'm like, man like, people are really being peer pressured into saying something right now, and even and even still some people aren't saying anything right, and I do think you know that that's something needs to be said,
Like your brand should never be based off racism. If you're afraid to lose fans or notoriety because you say something about injustice, then that's that itself is a problem. And I think that's where America is right now. We're realizing. Man. You know, I was reluctant to say something at first, because I'm like, damn, you know, in my position, I don't need to be in my current position, I don't need to be controversial, you know what I mean? And
I understand that. You know, I understand why certain guys disappear from the league when they were young because they're controversial. I don't need to be controversial. But I don't think that, you know, standing up for equality in this moment is controversial.
I think that's right, right, And you can also, like, you know, even even with what I wrote, I feel like there's there's a there's a place where you don't have to intentionally try and be controversial to get a message across, Like you can kind of stand alone that's outside of say your your you know, your football brain and stuff like that, and still do it in a way that's like makes.
Sense and it's genuine and comes off.
Like, you know, like we're kind of saying like, yeah, we don't know the answers, but you can start having conversations.
And doing it from you know, I BC understand all that stuff. It's just you know, you don't.
Have to make yourself force yourself into some controversial spot like you can do it with I don't know. The only word that's coming to my head is, I guess elegance, which sounds.
A little weird. You you don't want to You don't have to force yourself to do something or say something because it's gonna look good right now, or don't say something because it's not gonna look good, you know. And I think that's what we've been for most of the part, uh most of the time. But I know think guys are starting to say things because I do think they're
actually genuinely, genuinely care. And then you know, on the other side of it, there's always going to be just like the riots and the protest, there's always going to be those who aren't doing it for the right reasons. Similar sure out there not even protesting, they're just spray painting stuff.
They're just like, you know, you can see people saying, home, hey, we got this movement going on, like let's go, let's go get back at the cops in the city for what they've done to us.
And they're just out there tearing.
There's stuffing up. So you know, I think things are going to move in the right direction. I don't. I don't want anything else to be like destroyed, uh or people to lose out all money or anything. But I definitely do think the system does need to be destroyed.
Yeah, well, I can't have RG on and not talk about some ball because you have you have an interesting story, you do, you have an interesting journey.
I know from my.
Own experience with RG three for everybody listening, when I was undrafted in my first interaction in the building, because I can vividly fucking remember this, and.
I was hype, is I'm gonna draft the cat?
Go in? You know, I got I had what I had going on, and RG comes out the elevator.
You were on the first the bottom of the player floor.
You came out the elevator and we were about to go out to the rookie mini camp, and you just stuck out your fist and you're like, hey, good luck out there, man. And I remember dipping you up and like walking by you, and I was sinking to myself, like, Yo, that is r G three. And this was after your rookie year, you know what I mean? Like this is what you know? Hey, that was RGIE three. Just RGIE three.
Just dap me up. And you go from having an incent and I'm gonna let you talk about it because you're gonna You're gonna give me some education on it too, because I'm very curious. And you you went from being the face of the Redskins, and I was there when it was kind of filtering down, like I was trying to come up in my way.
You were you.
I'm gonna let you talk about it, right, And you go off the Redskins and then where you were a year a free agent right after the Skins?
Or did you go somewhere else first and then you were.
I went somewhere first. I went to Cleveland, then sixteen, and then I was out in seventeen.
That's right.
And you spent a whole year off, all year off and still working on your craft.
I'm talking abou.
Yeah, yeah, I saw all your videos and you kept at it like you persevered through you know, a lot of adversity that you went through in that middle part of your career and to re revamp it, re light it, reignite it in Baltimore, and it seems like you're having a hell of a time out there. And I always get stoked when you get out there and it just looks like you're having so much fun playing again. And I'm just so curious to learn about the story of RG three a little bit and to walk me through
the beginning too, because I was looking. I was on your Wikipedia page and seeing all your athletes, Like I knew you were a beast in college because we played Nebraska, played against Baylor one year you were out because you're you were I think you had a yeah when you hampton Nebraska, you ran all over us, which I'm sure, I'm sure our stadium was probably your favorite of all time. Free shoutout, go be Grad. But I remember people being like, yo,
who in the hell is this? And it's like, you know, he was like you were like number one in America. The worlds were like hurdling, and you were like you're a world class track athlete as well at this time.
Then you go from first round pick, Heisman Trophy winner, you got accolades, list, list list, offensive, Rookie of the Year, playoff game, taking the skins of the playoffs where you know, and then your knee happens, like talk talk about your story for me a little bit, and talk about going into the Redskins, your rookie year.
Talk about your rookie year.
Yeah. So, I mean the grand scheme of it all has just been a it's been an amazing story testimony that I that I would love to share some type of capacity when it's.
All said done well on the bus, Yeah, on the bus. On the bus, dude, you know, on here with you guys in a buck somehow some way, because I think it's just been an eye opening experience. So, you know, first I would say that when I came into the league, I'm not a kid who has uh what is it an NFL.
Pedigree, right, I don't have a I didn't have a dad who played, or an uncle who played or some or you know, a grandfather who played in the league. So everything was new, uh to me, And it was riding riding off of the success that we had at Baylor and came in as a rookie. So when I came in as a rookie, it was, uh, you know, just trying to prove to everybody that, like I was worth everything they gave up. I didn't ask them to give that stuff up, but I wanted to.
Well, yeah, but you're you're I mean, just to give people perspective, like you're saying it now like you're explaining it, but you're what how old are you.
At that time? I think I was. I was twenty two years old.
Twenty two years old face of a franchise.
You're your top five pick, Like, I mean, I get it, dude, Like you're a kid coming in and you're yeah, you're trying to prove everybody like, yo, I'm the new young I'm the man, right and hey, I'm the man in this piece Washington Dude, Like, yeah, you're always trying to like for sure, dude, I I yeah, there's like you.
And I'm not trying to talk about it, right, I'm not trying to do anything, uh that that a rookie is not supposed to do. You know, we had Santana Moss, we had Chris Cooley, we had all these veteran guys, and I'm like, I'm starstruck when I when I walk in the locker room, they sit me next to London Fletcher right, and football right knows that London was like
that guy in Washington. He was that dude. So when I got there, I'm like, oh man, I'm I'm right right next to London Fletcher every single day and I get to throw the ball to Santana Moss and I get to the ball Chris Cooley, Like I'm like, I'm losing my mind as a rookie, like this is incredible. And you know, you come in and you make your mistakes right, and you get better, and you make your mistakes and you get better as you know, and you
slowly figure it out. And for me, London was a big part of that because I had to go against him every day in practice. So Shanahan's system wasn't the easiest system to maneuver and operate, especially as a rookie. So when his check recheck, check recheck, and I'm having a check recheck against one of the greatest mill linebackers of all time, Like that's not fun. I make a check. He knows what check I'm making.
Oh, no question. He's a stud.
Either that or he read the script.
You know that ongoing argument every day. Y'all knew what was coming.
It's like, no, so rechecking. I'm like, okay, well it's cover zero. I make the check and London's like, check to cover two. So I check back. He checks back to cover zero. I go to coach. I said, hey, Kyle, like, what am I supposed to do? Like the dude knows all the calls, he's making all the checks, and Kyle just says, I don't just go play ball. And for me there was this sense of just go play ball, my rookie year, go play ball. I didn't know everything, right,
I didn't. I knew the offense, but I didn't know everything that the NFL was going to present. And uh, you know, that run against the Vikings was a complete misread by me. That that touchdown run my rookie year, the seventy sixth year or whatever it was, It was a misread by me. I saw the two backers in the middle of the formation, and I thought I was getting, you know, some type of cover zero or that I
was going to be hot. So I had to make a decision either throw the ball hot or run, and I decided to run and everybody was blocked.
I remember, I.
Remember vividly because I think, uh man, I think it was Evan Royster was it might have been the running back, Yeah, it was. It was your typical double A blitz, which I know now was a double A blitz, and they didn't bring anyone extra. They didn't bring a dB or safety from either side, and everybody got blocked. So the defense was like kind of shocked that I took off running because they're thinking, oh, it's third and like five or six or seven, he's gonna throw the ball. So
I'm running the sideline and coaches. I can see Kyle and I can see Mike, and they're both saying get down, get down, get down, because all we needed was the first down to win. All we needed was the first down to win the game. And I like looked and I looked at the safety, which I think was Harrison Smith at the time. I'm like, I can get past this guy. So white guy, I said, I think I can outrun him. Out ran there and then I scored
the testdown and like the rest is history. But it was like little things like that were happening in my rookie year, and slowly but surely I was winning over the guys in the locker room because of the play on the field and because of, you know, just the hard work. When you came in, did you come in You came in Channion's second year or my second year.
Or yeah, I came in the year you were you were re having to get your knee back.
Right, correct, So so I came.
I came the year after your guys's uh, you guys had like a hell of a year coming back, bring it to the playoffs.
I came the year where it was bad.
But you remember we when we came back in thirteen, everyone's like, oh man, these guys went to the playoffs last year. It's going to be a great year. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do that. We're gonna do this. And we came out and we were flat right. We just I remember vividly in twenty thirteen, it was like almost every game we came out and like first second quarter it was twenty one and nothing, fourteen and nothing,
and we were fighting from behind every single game. I remember the Packers like I don't know if you remember that Packers game. D Y had like a super long touchdown, like a six year second catch out of the backfield, but we were down like twenty eight to nothing by like midway through the second quarter something like that, right, And it just it didn't click for us that year. And I know why it didn't click. It didn't click
because our chemistry wasn't the same. There are too much turmoil happened from the time when we won the playoff, when we got to the playoff game, and by the start of the next season, that whole off season was.
Chaotics, And well why was it chaotic?
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If you're I don't know if you remember this because you you were on the team yet, but my injury caused a lot of of uh turmoil.
Yes, I mean you you were from my understanding, you you are, you were you were the face.
Yeah, and you had question marks playing that game? Correct?
Correct? I did?
And there was I mean, you know, I don't know there were from what I had heard, there were decisions and stuff that were happening on actual game day even Yeah.
So, like I said, I didn't want to I don't want to dive too much into it, but there was a lot of turmoil around my injury. I got hurt against the Ravens, which is, you know, kind of ironic, but I I got heard against the Ravens. I sat out a game against the Browns, and then I came back against Philly and I played the rest of that year. But you know, everybody knew I was you know, I was compromised to.
If you could go back, would you have played that game, that playoff game?
Uh? If I went back, I wouldn't have gone back in I got I was, I was okay in the beginning of the game, and we jumped out I think a fourteen to nothing lead, mm hmm, and then I re injured my knee just like on a I was rolled to the sideline, I threw my knee buckle. Something happened. You know, when you're already compromised, it's like the weirdest stuff happens that that for sure, something.
So and you already kind of fall to the ground in a way you're just like, hey, exactly, fall to the ground gracefully.
I'm sure all of Rescuing Nation is like, when they hear this, you're gonna be like, oh, man, I knew he shouldn't have went back in. Yeah I should. If I could go back and do it again. Yeah, I wouldn't have gone back into the playoff game. But hindsight's twenty twenty right for sure. I'm like watching this documentary you know about you know, Lance Armstrong, right, and he's I wouldn't do anything different. I'm like, bro, come on, yeah,
like anything like anything? So yeah, I mean, I think to be to being honest with yourself, and I think that's a big part of it, Like you learned that over the course of your career, you've got to be honest with yourself. I wouldn't have gone back into that playoff game, but you don't know what you don't know at that time. Yeah, if I hadn't gone back in, then maybe maybe I would have. Maybe I'd still be
in Washington. I don't know. If I hadn't come back from the injury in twenty thirteen prematurely, maybe I'd still be in Washington. But I don't hold on to those things anymore because it's all part of the journey, and now I can just I can take that experience and give it to other guys. But that's why I think our chemistry was off. There was a ton of turmoil between that. Mike was being torn apart in the media. I tried to come to his defense, but no one
was listening at that time. They just felt like he should have taken the responsibility and taken me out of the game. And as you know, it's not like you know, that team was like the most organized team of all time. I try to say that with the utmost respect, you know what I'm saying, Like, I'm not out here to try to tear anybody down or tear any other organizations down. I'm just trying to do the I can do right
now for Baltimore ratings. So that turmoil affected our whole locker room, and now guys are having to answer questions every single day about what's going on with r G, what's going on with with Mike, what's going on with the doctor, what's going on with his knees. He's gonna be ready for the Season's it's gonna happen. Oh what if he gets hurt next year, are you going to
pull him out of the game? And it was just like it was from that standpoint of it to where you didn't know what the right answer was.
Well, Washington media is crazy too, Hey.
Am I gonna? Am I gonna come back and be ready for week one? Yeah? I mean why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I want to do that? And then it just became this whole thing of well, why would he come back for week one? And why would he do this? And why would he do that? And Uh, I think that really affected our team. You know, it became for a lack of better a better explanation, it became all about me, and I think that really affected the locker room to the stand point of, you know, what the
hell is going on? So I learned that, and uh, don't get me wrong, I made mistakes, uh in my time in Washington, you know, going back into that playoff game and fighting to play so so hard?
Did you did you? Did you?
Was it like the competitive pride to want to go back in and play without a doubt?
You know? Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
I know, I know it was in front of you, right, it didn't matter. Uh, it can be London Fletcher. You'd be like, I'm the best linebacker they need me.
Yeah.
That's just our nature, right, Our nature is to want to play. So when you get hurt, uh, you know, some of us like to think of ourselves as gladiators, as superheroes. You have one or two responses. The one response is all right, I'm done, I'm not gonna play anymore. And and you know, for myself, I think that's a selfish response. The other responses, I got to be out there with my brothers. I have to put it all on the line, and I don't think that's a selfish response.
It is up to other people to try to pull you out of that. But you should always want to play, right, I think that's that's in our DNA. You always want to play. Your leg could be falling off and you're like, tape it up. I can go, yeah, And if you can't, you know it's their job to tell you, nanna sit out.
You're not going to do that right now. So I think that that really affected our team at thirteen, and then obviously fourteen we got a new coach and like I said, all that stuff, I'll definitely write about someday.
Book, but shout out the new book.
RG baby. I'll write about that stuff another day. But I think it was just it was it was tough to go from Yeah, I mean, I think anybody would would say it was tough to go from being the face of that franchise, face of the league toy by a little I mean three years later twenty fifteen, I didn't play a snap, right, Remember I was, uh, you know, I was playing scout team safety.
I know, dude.
You go from that to that, and you're like, Okay, how did this happen? You go from helping the team win the division for the first time in twelve years I think nineteen ninety nine was the last time they won the division and you go to the playoffs for the first time in a while, and then three years later you're like, damn, I didn't they didn't even give me time to develop or time to overcome these injuries, because that was a big part of it for me too. It was the injuries. I told my h I broke
my ankle. Uh. And then there was the phantom made up concussion in twenty fifteen in the preseason. But let me not go let me not go there. It's uh, that's part of the story. It was part of the story, and I just look at him like man Like Matthew Stafford got hurt his first two three years in the league, and they stuck with him and gave him opportunity. I didn't get that luxury, and in twenty seventeen, I let that go. That's why I can talk about it freely now.
Not there's no animosity. It's like, this is what happened, and now I'm moving forward. So what I'm praying for is that I get a chance to play for the next ten years. Because quarterbacks we can play for day there forever. So I'm thirty. I'd love to play into my forties, but I want to play for another ten
years at least. And now I'm praying that and through the work ethic and the hard work that now I'll be blessed with the luxury of getting that time, staying healthy for the remainder of my career and playing at a high level. So for me, I've been healthy for
the past three years and I think that'll continue. Just need an opportunity, and the Ravens have given me one right now in this capacity, and I'm going to make the most of it so that when I do get my opportunity to be a start again, I'm ready.
Yeah, I mean.
And the thing too that you know, I hope people understands how much fun you have that you've been having doing it and making this kind of like comeback, you know what I mean, Like it's a cool story, like you hate that it happened now without going into much detail on the other side of the fence, that will
probably be in your book. If you could talk to if you could talk to young RG during those first few years, what kinds of things would you tell yourself that you could have that you could have probably went about, not things, but maybe maybe playbook wise, maybe learning wise, Like what advice would you have given your young self back then if you could go back and be like and grab yourself by the head and be, hey, make this decision or don't write it like this, or maybe
it's reading media stuff. I don't know what it is, but speak on yourself a little bit about some things.
That you might.
You know, this has always been a tough thing for me because I have I've had this question before and I've and I've answered it. The tough part is that, like, you know, me come. There was some some storylines that were just not true. Sure, there was some there were some media reports that just weren't true, whether it was about the locker room, about myself, I am, my study habits, or whatever it may be. Anyone who's ever been a teammate of mine knows that those things weren't true. So
I'm like, Okay, well what I have told myself. One of the mistakes I really felt like I made was I used to talk after Mike in the media. It's just the way the wrestlings had a set up, right. Mike would talk, and then I would talk, and I felt like sometimes I was too anti what was being said, if that makes sense. If it was, hey, are you gonna come back and be ready week one? They would ask Mike that, and Mike would say, you know, we're gonna be cautious, We're gonna, you know, take our time.
We're not sure if he's gonna be ready. The doctors will make that decision. And then I would come afterwards and they would ask me, here, are you gonna be ready for week one? And I'm like, there's no doubt I'm going to be ready for week one and I'm gonna be And I felt like I in those instances I put him in a tough situation because he was saying things and then I would come back behind him. And I wasn't contradicting it, but I was more like I was way more aggressive in that approach, and that
was my that was my personality. And I felt like sometimes I could have just said, hey, you know, talk to coach, talk to the doctors. I'm gonna do everything I can, but they're gonna make the final decision or whatever it may be, right right, And I did say they're gonna make the final decision, but I just said it way more aggressively, you.
Know, right.
Personality is, Hey, RG, you think you could go make the Olympic team right now in the foreigner hurdles. Yes, if I go training, yes I can do. I don't know. I'm two hundred and twenty pounds. I don't know if I could make the Olympic team in the foreigner hurdles. I love those guys. These guys are incredible. I mean, I'm not gonna go train for two weeks and be like, Yep, I can do it. But if you asked me to do it. I try, you know, so I feel like I could have done a better job, a better better
job with that. But there was a lot of things that were being said that just rubbed me the wrong way because I knew they weren't true. And that is where I would say I could have ignored it better.
You know, Yeah, I mean it, dude, It is hard, especially in Washington.
Put it in context, like you're in the nation's capital, right, Uh, Barack Obama's the president, and you got a black quarterback. Screwtiny is at all time high. Okay, Right, that was the part where I felt like, you know, just ignore the noise. Ignore the noise, don't let it affect anything. Don't don't don't make it change you. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, And I think by the time you you probably attested by the time I left Washington, I was not having fun anymore.
Right, you would try to force it in practice like on the peace squad side.
But yeah, I mean, yeah, for.
Sure, I showed that. I never showed that to you guys, but you Niles d Y like we were close. They knew I wasn't having fun. But I did my job. I was a good teammate in twenty fifteen. I was not a cancer on that team. We won the divisions. Yeah I did. I didn't play a snap of football, right. I did what I was supposed to do. They asked me play scout team safety. I play scout team safety. You know, I stayed out to practice. I got my
work in, work on my craft. And but every people who knew me, I knew I wasn't having fun, but I never showed that in the building. I showed up to meetings. I was. I was into it. I was helpful. I helped uh, you know Kirk Doll the do all the studying and the recognition on the field, whatever it may be that you're supposed to do. I did those things.
I'm not for a pet on the back form. It's just that's what happened and what I'm doing now in Baltimore, and that year off of football helped reset me, helped me have fun again. When I came back in twenty eighteen, I played in the preseason like I'm a you know, second overall pick. I'm not a guy that like was living for the preseason. You know what I'm saying, Yeah, guess what that was my situation. I was the fourth quarterback on the roster. You know, I had to accept that, Like, damn,
I'm the fourth quarterback on the roster. I was getting two reps a day in practice for the majority of training camp. I'm like, you know, I'm not getting a lot of reps. I'll stay at to practice, I'll do this. But I know that I can ball. And I went out that preseason and I played my ass off, and
I think that's why I made the team. I think that's why they brought me back for the two year deal, because they understand that I'm always going to be ready and that year, the year a football in twin seventeen, really helped me reset my brain really start having fun playing the game again, and I think that's a big reason why I was able to come back in the way they'll.
Have you think. You think being out of football, being out of football.
For a year was was a huge play for you to actually get in the right headspace to come back again.
Correct.
I think I was going to ask, I was going to ask if that was your lowest year mentally, but you're you you what was your lowest point throughout the process of transitioning out of Washington and then rekindling it all in the Baltimore Ravens because I want to know, I want to know about your perseverance in that adversity of being like, you know, low key, I might be you know what I mean.
Yeah, yeah, I would say that. You know, football is a team game, so it's hard to say. Hey, twenty fifteen was my was my lowest year. It was it because we were winning and we weren't winning a ton as you know we were. I think we're nine and seven or yeah, we won. We had that one division, but the division was down that year. That was like chaotic. Also though if you remember, yeah, remember we played Philly.
I think it was Philly. I think it was Philly, and like, uh at Philly took me instead of killing.
The Yeah yeah, yeah, that was the game we won the division.
We won the division that game, but he took a knee at halftime instead of killing the clock for us to kill kick a field goal. And I'll never forget. Like I'm on the side and I'm like what just happened? And we're like walking in and we walked in the locker room, and I mean this is I'm pretty sure
if somebody has already told this story before. But like Pierre is like about to whoop Jay's ass, and uh, Deshaun is about to whip Jay's ass, and like Deshaun passes out in the locker room and what is going on? And then it happened and won the game? Yes, all right, well we just won the division. I don't know how it happened. I don't know what was going on at halftime,
but we won the division. Yeah. So I can't say that because I was I didn't you know, any any guy is gonna want to play, right, But from my team and the guys that I was there with, I was really happy for them in that moment. Twenty sixteen was tough because I got hurt right away. I came out in the I came out in the preseason in Cleveland and we were killing it. I had Josh Gordon there and we were doing really well. And we went to Philly and I broke my shoulder right away. That
was a tough year. We lost every game until I came back on Christmas Day and we beat the Chargers. So I'm thinking in my head, all right, you know I was injured. I came back helped them win a game. I'll be back next year. I'll get one more go at it. They're probably gonna draft a rookie high and I'll have one more go out of here and we'll go go about our ways. And they told me we're bringing you back, and then they released me.
So it's got I hate that part of the business.
Brou I hate that part of the business. But it's you know, you want to say, just be honest, right, don't don't lie to me. And I mean it was like, within like sixteen hours, I got a call. I got a call, We're bringing you back. Don't worry about any of this stuff. I think it was when they trade it for brock Oswaller. So I'm like, okay, I'll compete with Brock. You know I used to kick his ass in training when we were coming out for the draft.
So let's go yeah, yeah, no doubt, dude.
We're not We're going to try to trade him and get rid of Himn't worry about that. We're bringing you back. We're rolling with you. We might draft the guy, but you know you're going to get a shot. I'm like, okay, cool. Sixteen hours later, I got the call that I was, Oh, what's going on? So now that's transitioning from that happened in twenty seventeen. So now I'm thinking, Okay, they let
me go. I'm gonna get another opportunity. Yeah, I'm not might not get paid as much money, but I'm going to get an opportunity to go and compete to be a starter. And I got an offer from the Cardinals to come in with Bruce Airings and uh, he had just brought in like Blaine Gabbard or something. And I remember, like for like the past couple of years, I believe it was uh, and who is the back up for the Browns last year?
Last year.
He's real good drinking buddies with Bruce Arions and and with the Cardinals was Stanton Yeah, yeah, yeah, yest name Drew stand was a backup and I think Carson was still was still playing at that time.
Yeah.
I'm like in my head, I'm talking to my agent at the time. I'm like, yeah, you know, Drews has come in and not played well, but Bruce really likes him. He's good for the room, he's good for Carson. And they just they just signed or brought in Blaine Gabbert, So why would I go there. I'm gonna be the fourth guy, odd man out and uh he said yeah, but you know, and the contract they offered me, I'm like, okay, I can't take that contract. That's just a bad deal.
So I turned it down. He said, if you turn this down, I don't know if you're going to get an opportunity to play until training camp. So I turned it down, didn't get an opportunity, didn't get another call till training camp, and then I had a try with the Chargers and I did really well. Killed the workout so much that they used it as levers to trade for Cardile Jones. Yeah. So they traded for Cardil Jones
because they're a pressure. They're pressure in the bills with me saying, look, if you don't trade him to us for whatever pick six round pick, then we're just gonna sign RG three. So they traded for him, and I got a call from the Baltimore Ravens in twenty seventeen when Joe Flaccol hurt his back and they said, we
want you to come in. We're going to play, We're going to play the Redskins, but we want you to start the game because they were trying to hide Ryan Malleck because they didn't know if Joe was going to be healthy. I didn't want Male to get hurt playing against the Redskins. I said, all right, man, like, why wouldn't I want to play against the Redskins? Right?
What?
Hell?
Yeah, let's go.
I WO love that. I said, Okay, look, I'll come in. I'm ready to go like I've been training. I'm all for it, but I need you to give me some type of assurance that I'm not going to come in for two weeks and be released. Because I don't know if everyone knows this, but with quarterbacks, when you go that route, there's no coming back from that.
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Now, you don't go somewhere for two weeks in training camp, get cut, and then all of a sudden, have a ten year career. After that, Usually that happens and you transition to some other style of life in your career is over. And I felt like I couldn't risk that, And at that time, Baltimore wasn't willing to give me any type of assurance that you know, whether it be financially or verbally, that you're going to be here. We're not going to do that to you. So I turned
it down. And when I turned that down, then I got I got a bunch of calls throughout the year, but nothing really materialized to the point of a contract offer, and I sat out the whole year, so I was ready the whole football season, I was throwing one.
So and you could have actually tooken the chance to go do that, and you just chose to turn it down.
I chose to turn it down on multiple occasions because I felt like it just wasn't the right move.
Correct.
For sure, this is chess, It's not checkers, you know what I'm saying, Like, you don't just take an opportunity because it's there, You take the right opportunity. And I honestly felt in my heart that I made the wrong choice by going to Cleveland, and I was making a checkers move instead of a chess move. So I wasn't gonna make that mistake again, and it cost me a year in my football career. Now, during that year, I got to like settle my whole life, like what am
I gonna do with or without football. I got to watch my daughter grow up, I got to spend more time with my family out there every single day with me, and my wife was telling me, I'm out, I'm out at the track. I'm in Miami. I was in I was in Florida at the time. I'm out of the track in Miami and I'm running three hundred hurdles okay, Because I was like, you know what, this is what got me here. Why not go back to some of this style of training so I can get my speed
and and and trusting all these other things back. I'm running through in the hurdles, and uh, I'm dying. Come, I'm dying, like hurting, and like I get to I have five reps of it and I get to the fourth rep. I finish it and I'm like, you know, I'm like dead leg walking, you know, like knees aren't straight, knees are bent, no flextioning in the cas because I'm just I'm I'm toast. And she says to me, she says, baby,
you don't have to do this. You don't have to do this, like financially secure, you don't have to play another down in your life. I don't want to see you get hurt, you know, going out there and playing. And I said, nah, I said I have five, I'm gonna do five. Right. I didn't even address the other stuff. I'm just like, I said I have five, I'm gonna do five. And I did number five. And when I tell you, I couldn't fill my legs afterwards. It was
like the worst moment of all time. You ever get so tired that like someone tries to like touch your leg or stretch you, and you like, yeah, let them. Like that's how how tired I was.
When you start like you start like you're so exhausted, you start paying a little bit, and you just don't even really feel it, like you're just so that exhausted.
I tell us, she's like, come here. I'm like, no, don't touch me, let me go.
I was.
I was. I was toast And we talked about it later that day and I'm like, you know what, You're right, I am financially secure. I don't have to play anymore. But something is keeping me going, something is telling me that this is what you're called to do, this is where you're supposed to be. So that happened actually pretty early in the season. So I'm coming. I'm going out the whole year, and I'm throwing footballs at palm Trees and I'm at UCF in the spring throwing footballs to
some of their wide receivers. And I get a call from my agent and he says, I think I got a couple of workouts lined up for you. He said, the Ravens want to bring you in. They have a couple of receivers coming in for you, and you're gonna throw Like all right, cool, Like you want me to work out, bro, that's not a problem. Go to the workout. It's Willie Snead and Michael Floyd. And when I tell you how to ball hit the ground, not a ball hit the ground. It was like we have been practicing
for like ten years together. It was just like a match made in heaven. And they tell us after the workout, they're like, hey, we're gonna we want to sign you Willie and Michael Ford. So Willie signed first. I went to another workout a couple of days later with the Jacksonville Jacksonville Jaguars, and I did. I killed that workout as well. It was me, honestly, can't remember who the
other guys were. But Austin Davis, who now coaches for Seattle, he was one of the guys at that workout and we're killing the workout and Austin's like, man, you you look good. Man, Like I wish they wouldn't have pared me with you to come to this workout because the visual difference, the visual difference is like and I'm like laughing about it. I'm like, hey, man, you know you look good to you did your thing, Like, hey, come on.
I got a call a couple days later from the Ravens offering a contract, and it wasn't the contract that I wanted, right. It was a bad deal for me and in my point of my career. And I'm like, you know what, but at the end of the day, if I'm going to bet on anybody, I gotta bet on myself. So bet on myself. Took the deal. It was a fourth quarterback on the roster behind Joe Flacco. Lamar got drafted. A couple of weeks later, we had Josh Woodrum. It was the third quarterback who had like
a really great preseason the year before. And there's me and I had to fight through a lot. The cool story about that year in twenty eighteen was we played the Dolphins in the third preseason game and coach told me at the beginning of the week, you're not playing this week. So I'm like, you know, complaint. I'm now I'm in a situation where I'm like, am I going to make the team?
Like I know, what are they?
What are they doing here? Like I'm like, this is what I was fearing. Like I didn't want to come back and be put in a situation like that because it's not good perception wise for my career. But I'm like, all right, you know, maybe it means I'm going to make the team, and now they don't need me to play in this game because I've already solidified it right through all these scenarios in your head. I had already solidified I already in the Hall of Fame game played well.
I played in the next game against the Colts, played well. So I'm like, all right, I've done my thing. There's nowhere they're gonna let me go. So like after I didn't, I didn't practice it all that week, no reps at all. I'm after practice every day, I'm going through the script and I'm thrown. I'm like Okay, I'm gonna stay ready just in case, right, just in case something happens. It's not like he said, hey, RG, you're not dressing this week. He just said, you know, you're not probably not gonna
play this week. Yeah, And I started that game.
Hey, way to stay ready though, That's what that's what guys don't understand.
Is because when your opportunity comes, you don't know. So I stayed ready, I ran through the script, I was thrown, I was doing all these things. And the night, the night before the game, he tells me, Hey, we're gonna sit the starters. H So there's a chance that you're gonna play. And I'm like, nowhere is coach. I've been staying ready. I'll be good. Day of the game, I get a text message, Hey, RG, you're starting tonight. Now.
This is me starting without the starting left tackle, without Marshall Yanda, without the two starting receivers, who at the time were Michael Crabtree and John Brown, Smoky and uh going against the Miami Dolphins number one defense Cameron Wake all these guys, you know, just heat seeking missiles off the edge, right, and we went out and we moved the ball up and down the field on them, and uh played great. And that's why I didn't even have to.
We had the Redskins the next week, and everybody's like, oh, man, RG is gonna play against the Redskins in the preseason YadA, yaha yah, And coach didn't even play me in that game because I was ready to go against the Dolphins. So it was it was a testament. And like for the rest of that year, everybody just kept saying, hey, RG, you ready, Yeah, we know you ready, and yeah. It was just a thing with the locker room because they knew, like, how's this guy gonna go all week with no reps?
Start the game, play well, hit the team and and have this comeback story start. First time Baltimore kept three quarterbacks I think in like nine years. It was truly special. So the lowest point for me was probably also the highest point, which was in twenty seventeen. Because you can never complain about spending time with your family. You can never sure for sure, you know, getting to watch your
kids grow. And if I had if I had stayed home and been out of football that whole year and then lost the passion for the game and just was like, man, I don't want to do it. You know, I'm gonna go do this. I'm gonna go do that. I'm gonna do this. I wouldn't be playing right now. I didn't lose it. It made the fire inside of me grow even more, and it taught me a lot about myself. I just think this is what Goy's called me to do.
He didn't be a backup quarterback, but right now, being honest with you, right now, that's my role and I'm going to be the best at that role. And I think if you ask anybody in the Ravens organization, they'll tell you. You know, I show up to work every single day to go out there and kick ass. I'm not I'm not here to play games because I understand how valuable it is. And I understood it in Washington,
I understood it in Cleveland. But now having all those experiences in my belt, for understand how valuable this time is and how much you have to make the most of it.
For sure. That's you know.
I love hearing that, dude, And you said you said it earlier, like I learned a lot about myself, Like that moment where you prepared that week not knowing if you're going to start, because that's how a lot of stuff happens for guys, Like your opportunity comes just out of nowhere, and if you fail at that opportunity, you know how you know how guys are. It's like, yeah, but everybody has every reason in the book to say why you failed, but that that is the majority of just really life.
Why the NFL, It's.
Like being ready for all these opportunities and that's what's gonna happen for you. Like for me, I would have never gotten my shot had Kenan Robinson not tourist Peck. The first practice of training camp, I was fourth on the depth chart. Another undrafted guy ahead of me, Jeremy Kimbro and he had heard his hamstring right before the first preseason game.
So I got a shot to play with the twos.
And then people come up to me like I remember Shanahan, like, oh, I should call you, mister interception because I think I got I picked on off from like you and Kirk one day in practice and you just start getting noticed and you're just like you stick to like what you were doing, even when you have every reason to like doubt yourself, doubt the experience and be like.
I don't care if I'm done after this. You know what I'm saying.
Yeah, I know exactly what you say. I'm gonna go ahead and say that you probably didn't pick me off. But it's okay.
You can say, Hey, I'm gonna have to find that film laughing it up. I'm gonna have to hit up Big mic Hey, Big Mike get back in the video.
Yeah. But no, you you you came in and it was it was just like, man, like these opportunities, it's not I wouldn't. I don't want to say fell into your lap, because you definitely earned them. But whenever you have a guy go down in front of you, you you're not like, you're not praying for that. You're not
you know, making that happen. It just happens. And when you sat in there, you balled out, you know, like after a couple of weeks in training camp and and really after the first preseason game, most of us knew you were going to make the team.
It was met.
It was just a matter of Okay, well he's undrafted, and they liked this guy, and maybe they paid this guy a little more money.
For sure, they're going to do.
With that guy. It wasn't an issue of did you make enough plays? You made enough plays and uh, you know that group you you Noiles, d Y and those guys were were always like like that. You know what I'm saying. It was really cool to see that. But the guys have to understand that your opportunity is going to come when you least expected. And since that opportunity, you know, like like you said, guys will have excuses.
I could have had the excuse. I could have said, well, coach, you didn't give me any reps.
Right, if you would have played bad, you would have.
Every every excuse in the book and every every reason to say this is why I didn't play well. But the reason he kept me was because in a regular season game, when you're used to being a starter, it's really hard to be a backup. It's really hard to be a backup. Yes, and I'm and I'm not saying like I'm too good for this, I'm too good for that. No, man, Look this is where I'm at. I'm I'm making the most of it, but this is where I want to be.
You weren't the fourth guy on the on the depth chart saying you know what, I'm the fourth guy on the depth chart. Yeah, you were saying, I'm better than that guy. I'm better than that guy. I'm gonna go show it. I'm gonna show it every single day, and when my opportunity comes, I'm gonna make the most of it. So they got to see me, with no reps all week, go out and perform at a high level. That's exactly what every backup QB in the league has to do, no reps all week and then go out and play
at high level if your number is called. So I think that gave them the confidence. And obviously what I've done in the past in Washington and in Cleveland, when I'm sure, also gave them that confidence. But it's just I can't stress it enough. You have to be ready. And I'll tell you this. That is what drove me. That is what drove me in fifteen when I didn't play a down. That's what drove me in sixteen when I broke my shoulder. It's what drove me in seventeen
when I was out of ball. The only difference for me was I let go of DC. I let it go. I hadn't let it go yet, and I hadn't let it go until twenty seventeen when I was out, and I didn't understand how much of a burden that was for me. You know, I'm like, it was not fair. I didn't get this opportunity. Me and you had the conversation. After that conversation, I was like, like, I can't keep
having this conversation. I can't keep having this conversation, like and just like continue to hold on to that, and it's in it. You know, it's gonna sound cliche, but it set me free. It set me free to let that go, to say, it happened, you learn from it. It happened. Now, what what do you want to do? And I did not want to be the guy that
wasn't ready. So if I never played another down in football after seventeen, after sixteen and I was out all seventeen, if I had never played another down, I looked my wife in the face and I said, it's not going to be because of me. It's not going to be because I wasn't ready. It's not gonna be because they offered me a contract, and the ones that I turned down last year, I wasn't going to accept. This year.
I accepted the offer. I'm like I hate it. It's a bad offer, but guess what, I'm gonna go play football.
Yeah, And and then Lamar's reaction.
Two weeks later, Lamar got drafted. Two weeks later, I'm like, mother, I know, are they gonna you know? You know how it goes, last guy in, first guy out. So I'm thinking to myself, all right, well, shoot, I just got signed. I was the third one I got signed. Now they draft Lamar, I'm the fourth. Are they gonna keep me here? And I think the relation, obviously, the obvious thing is that we're both African American quarterbacks, both Heisman Trophy winners,
and both dual threat quarterbacks. I think that value is what saved me, and and my reaction too. If I'd have had a bad reaction to it, then I probably wouldn't have been in Baltimore. But my reaction and willing to be a mentor to him, I think is what kept me in twenty eighteen. And then obviously my play helped me make the team and all the other things.
Everything else is yeah, how is how is your relationship with Lamar?
Obviously good?
But talk a little bit about Lamar and the steps he kind of made you in the year two. We'll get into your playoff loss in a second, but I know, but talk about Lamar a little bit.
Man, Yeah, I would say that. You know, I wasn't sure. I didn't know. I didn't know much about LJ when he came in, so I wasn't sure you know how that was going to be. You know, I'm a guy that I'm always competing, you know, right, It's just my nature. It's how I'm how I'm wired. I'm not wired to be,
you know, a backup. It's just that's how That's why teams were reluctant to sign me in seventeen because they didn't they didn't want me to come in and they and challenge the starter to the level that they knew I would challenge him, right, But with Lamar, I saw that more as an opportunity to really work on myself, if that makes sense. Give him the guy said I didn't have when I came in, You know, no offense to the guys that I had when I came in.
But I had Rex Grossman and Kirk Cousins, two guys that don't play ball like I played ball, two guys that don't look like me. Two guys who haven't done it the way that I've done it, and it was it was less guidance and more just going out there and.
Competing every single day, right because one of them, one of them was in your draft, like Kirk was in your draft class, Like, yeah, a different setup.
Yeah, Kirk was in my draft class. And then Rex was, you know, the gun slinger who had been to the playoffs with the Bears and was kind of, you know, in the tail end of his career and bounced around a little bit with with Shannon, just having fun and you know, you know what passes. Yeah, no, look passes like Rex was. Don't get me wrong, Rex was awesome. Like I enjoyed the time, but it wasn't like I had a quarterback to mentor me in the ways that Lamar has had with me over the past years. So
I wanted to be that for him. I let him know early on, like, look, man, I'm here for you. If you got any questions, you can ask me. I constantly talked to him, but I'm also here to whip your ass. Okay, spot, I want that spot, but I'm here to help you. And our relationship in year two, I believe was better than Year one. Our relationship in year one wasn't bad. I think our relationship in year one was good. He came to me, talked to me,
We talked about different things. I mentored him on certain things. But our relationship last year was was was was light years ahead because I felt like a lot in year one, I was having to go to him and say hey, this, that and the other. And in year two he was coming to me. He was he was more actively trying to learn and ask me questions about certain things. Because
he constantly reminds me of this. He says, hey, man, I ain't forgot you r G three like, and it makes me laugh because I'm like, yo, am I really that old? Like? Am I that old that he does that? He sees me that way, and you know, he does see me that way. He sees me as as RG three, And I think in year two he started to see me as a brother. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, And that's what I want for him. Like I told
him the other day, I wanted our Zoom meetings. I said, look, man, this has been awesome to be a part of this with you, to watch you blossom from year one a year two and go win the MVP and and put up the numbers that you put up from all the hard work that you've done. And I let him know, like, Bro, that is you. You know that that's not me, That's not the quarterback coach or the offensive coordinator anyone else. That is you. Now everyone has a part in it, correct,
that is that is what you've done. And I told him it's been fun to be a part of that, you know, And I hit him with the classic I don't plan on being the backup for forever, but it's been fun. And he laughs, and then he comes back and he says the thing that like means the most to me, you know, Like he's like, look, man, it's not just me. I needed you you guys to get it done. And I want you to know that this
is us. And I'm like that means a lot, right, you know, I can always I was talking to a guy in the building about us, said, look, I want to win a super Bowl and I want to be the starting quarterback. But if there's ever a place that I want to win a super Bowl and I have to be a backup, it'd be Baltimore. You know what I mean. I don't think you have access to themselves. I just want to win a Super Bowl. I don't care how I get it done. It's a special moment
no matter what. But I feel like the bond I have here in Baltimore, with the team, with the organization, with the starting quarterback makes it that much more special.
Yeah.
Oh yeah, it's been. It's been a great relationship, man. And I never in a million years thought from twenty twelve to twenty twenty that I'd ever be in this position, right, you know what I mean. But now that I'm in this position currently, uh, I don't think that there'd be a better situation for me to be in, uh where I'm at. You know, we had a hell of a ride last year, and I know you want to get to the playoff loss, so I'll help you to segue there.
That'll be my last question.
We had a hell of a year and I think I played more than any backup quarterback that didn't have an injury to the starter, right. You know, we were blowing teams out.
And that's what I'm saying. It's like a high school It's like the back of a high school T shirt, dude.
Where I'm like, you just kind of I'm like, I'm you know, I'm sitting there and I'm like, okay, you know, helping coach pick out plays and calls and whatever, giving them idea should I say, because you know, I'm not I'm not the play caller, and they do a hell of a job, but you know, giving them I das from what I see and they're like, hey, you're in next drive. I'm like what. I'm like, okay, let's go.
Yeah, I've just been chilling. Hey, someone wore me up.
I mean.
The craziest thing was like the Miami game, first game of the year. We were blowing them out right. They played a bunch of cover zero and we we killed it, and I like, go in. I didn't even travel with the team that game because my wife had just had our baby, Gomea. So I travel on the Southwest flight to get to the game after the team had already departed and landed. So I'm on the Southwest flight with all the Ravens fans and they're like, what are you
doing here? What are you doing? I'm like, well, you know, I missed flight. I had to. You know, I didn't have to, but coach will let me be there for the book of my kid. Literally, you know, less than twelve hours later, I'm playing on the field. I go six for six for sixty some odd yards, still a touchdown and dedicate the touchdown to my wife and the newborn baby. So it was like it was just a it was a crazy world, woman, and it was a
lot of fun. Now when we got to the playoff game and how that all unfolded folded, what happened one of the most heartbreaking moments ever.
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Y'all were like the skuad dude like defense offense, like.
Not gonna lie. We were on a roll offensively and defensively, and you know it was. It was a sad scene on the sideline, very sad, feel like it was a bye week. I think it was. I don't want to say that, you know, I know It's.
So hard because when you get to that spot, you want the bye week for your body. Yeah, but then when you say, like you guys lost, like hindsight is like, was our momentum gone from having a bye week?
You know what I'm saying.
Honest, you know, I don't know. I don't know, because I know coaches wrestled with this a bunch because we they we rested the starters the last week of the season.
That's true, that's right. I forgot about that.
We had for for so for the I wouldn't say the majority of the guys, but for you know, seven eight nine guys they had two by weeks, and uh, I don't know if our momentum was gone. I just think that. You know, it's gonna be sound real clich ish, but when things are supposed to happen for you, they happened for you, right. You know, I look at it from from Washington. Washington wasn't meant to be at that time, so I had to go on a journey to get somewhere else, and then from Baltimore had to go on
journal to get somewhere else. Yeah, saying all that, Man, it was tough, bro, I know it was tough, bro. It was. It was I'm like on the sideline, like trying to reverse time or something, you know what I mean.
Like it was a bunch of dominoes too, right, we had like all we had a turnover, then we had a turnover on downs and like when you look up, it's like twenty one and nothing, and you're and you're a run based team, right and you're down twenty one and nothing, and and it might be still first or second quarter, but people are already thinking there's no way we can come back from this. And I'm not saying the players are thinking that, because you know, that's a
different breed and how we think. Right, it was, it was tough, man Like. I don't know how to describe it. I don't know how it happened other than the fact that they punched us in the mouth and they kept punching us in the mouth. That Derek, I'm not going there, bro, that's my teammates, right, I'm not uh. And I think in any of the guys that tell you you have to give credit with credits to you know, they came
into our house and they beat us. Yeah, they didn't just beat us, they beat us up and I think that's why you saw some of the moves in the offseason that we made defensively. You know, you bringing Derek Wolf, you bring Kalas Campbell, you signed Marcus Peters to an extension, you know, all these different things. You bring back Jimmy Smith, you know, yeah, we we have you know, you what did they say we need to help with linebackers whatever
may be? You draft two young linebackers from two prestigious programs, and guys that are ballers, you know what I mean. These guys are really good player right right? And offensively, you add more speed, you know, you you create more mismatches. Obviously you want Marshall back. Right, if I'm playing GM, you want Marshall back. You offer Marshall thirty million to.
Come back for one more Hall of Famer bro No doubt.
He's a Hall of Famer, heck of a player. But you know he took that thirty million and turned it into you know, forty five pounds and looks like a teenage boy. Now I don't know what that is going on, but uh it's uh I think are you know? Eric Decasa has done an amazing job. You know, he's a guy that believed in me, brought me, brought me in
when uh, you know, other teams wouldn't. So I trust the guy, trust what they're doing, and they're building a team that will be able to overcome some of the downfalls that we had in the playoffs, and that's the only thing you can do. But I know, I know those are your boys, So you're like, you're probably like, heck, yeah, you know, my guy's got them. But Lawan, man, he was. He was on one that game. He was He's on one every.
Game, so I know, I mean, I was surprised. I for sure.
I was surprised. Like watching obviously, because you're going into that game. You know, the Raiders we didn't go to the playoffs, so you're sitting back watching and you're like, ah, they probably won't make it past the Ravens.
Like them. Ravens are like this team. And then it was happening.
You're like, holy shit, man, like, yo, these boys got a legit shot. They beat New England, they beat y'all. It's like, Yo, these boys got a legit shot.
I was. I would say that you could probably you know, from my perspective, you could feel the tension on the field like everyone knew this is not supposed to be happening, like this is this is our year, you know, big truss all that where everybody's saying it whoo whoop. And we weren't a team that was like hot and cold, you know what I mean.
Oh yeah, we were just.
We're just a hot team, and we were doing it in a bruising fashion.
You know.
Sometimes you see teams that throw the ball a lot, they cool down a little bit and yea, you got better defenses, people know your scheme, YadA YadA yah. But we were just you know, bruising and you know, high flying, big plays here and there. But really the basis of what we did was running the rock, and uh, it was.
It was.
It was very weird. Let me put it that way. I didn't expect it. I won't say we weren't ready, because we were ready, you know. So this wasn't uh, you know, no NFL teams like this. And I don't want to, you know, make this guy sound bad, but it wasn't Buster Douglas beating Tyson. Yeah, any any NFL team can beat a team on any given Sunday. Every team has talent. But we were like the you know the Tyson, the Holy you know, the Holy Field of Ali. We were that brand and we just we got hit
in the face. Man, like they just beat us. There's no other explanation. That week of practice. I'm like, we're ready. We're gonna go to the super Bowl. I'm gonna be blessed enough to put on that Super Bowl had and then we're gonna win the damn super Bowl. It's gonna be everything.
Yeah.
So it wasn't meant to be last year. But nobody saying we can't do it this here and I think our guys are hungry, so you know that's that. But I love I love my team. These guys are awesome. It's what you see on TV from them is exactly who they are, right. Mark Ingram is hilarious, big ball of energy, and Justin Tucker is cringeworthy, funny. That's that's what he does.
You know, that's awesome. Well, shoot, man, I appreciate you coming on, bro, we putting.
Some time on this thing.
Appreciate you, man. You I'm happy for you. Bro. I feel like you're you're killing it. I want you to keep playing, obviously because I want us to, you know, ride this thing out. As as long as you possibly can. But you know, what you're doing in your your second career is incredible and I'm happy for you.
Bro.
I appreciate that.
Brother.
When you come to Nashville, you're gonna have to get on the bus with the boy.
Man.
Well, we'll have to get like, get d Wyan, maybe Niles, get just tell some stories.
Bro, We got to bring in Dyniles and then we got to get the guy who doesn't talk very much. If for Mores to come in with us, yes, yes, dude, that'll be awesome.
All right, brother, love you, man. I appreciate you too.
Man, God bless you.
See you.
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