3X First-Team All-Pro DT Gerald McCoy Joins Shawne To Discuss How He Left Tampa, Cam Newton And His Injury.

a lot about injuries and um, him bouncing back. We got a lot of similarities to man and having some back to back injuries and trying to figure it out. Man. But this dude as a warrior. UM, just an artimate leader and I always used to watch him. We had our mutual trainer in San Diego, Todd Durkin UH Fitness Quest used to work on the all seasons. And you watch a lot of these guys on the field, UM, and you know that their beats. You see him making plays, but you never get a chance to see him during

the all season. And I remember going to work out down to San Diego. It's probably, uh maybe a little bit after I retired in two thousand thirteen, two thousand fourteen, somewhere around there, and I saw Gerald McCoy working. I said, Okay, now I see why he's doing what he's doing Sundays, because this dude, he loves to work. So, um, great conversation coming up here, Gerald McCoy. Jerald was up gonnad he doing. What's happening? I'm great? What I know? We

talked the other day. You were down in Texas. But what part where are you at now? I mean, uh, I'm living in McKinney, but I'm training in Frisco. Uh not far from the Star. So but I actually just bought a house and rock wall. So um, my wife and whenever I do return, were playing on living in Dallas anyway, so we just went ahead since we was already down here, just started the process that way, what I do retire, we are, you know, way gotta do all that. Afterwards, we just what I'm doing. I'm done.

We got a house and we're good to do. I was, I was just down in Uh, I was just down in Dallas and Frisco too, because it's a big one. Of my partners out he's he's big in tech. But that whole tech, the whole area down there, as far as tech man is booming like crazy. I don't know if you knew that or not. No, I didn't. I didn't. I just know, Uh, this uh Frisco area. There's a lot of areas around that's being built up. The prosper area of Frisco. Uh, they're building up Walkwall Heath area

where I'm living. Everything starting to be built up. I know a lot of people. You know, when you think about like the suburb, I guess type area you're thinking, like South Lake or West Lake. Yep. But the Frisco area is building up a lot. Man like Kenny playing on all them areas and building up big real fast. I swear every time I come down and I gotta head back down to the Dallas and Frisco in a

few more weeks. Every time I get down there, the first thing I always tell myself, as I can live down here, probably not now like right now because I'm still I move around too much, but definitely at some point. So what what brought you down there? I know you, I knew you grew up in Oklahoma, right you grew up Oklahoma, So is that what kind of brought you there? Yeah, well it's such a great place man, Like you know, you drive, you live in Oklahoma, you drive up to

Dallas to such an easy driver. This two and a half hours to get down here, and then you know a lot of different things than when I signed the Cowboys. Uh. We kind of decided we was kind of in between because my son went to OU. So it was like, I'm going to Dallas, He's going to OU. Should we make the move now so we canna be close to him. Should I keep everybody in Florida or I don't know. Then we asked my daughter, who was going into high school, do you want to finish high school in Florida or

you want to go to Texas. She was like, no, I want to go to Texas. I wanna be around my family. So we made the move. See, you know that's crazy because so I grew up in Maryland and Washington D C. Area, and I got when I got drafted by the charges, like I just and I love home. I go back all the time. All my family is still back in Maryland the Washington D C. Area, But I can't move. I can't live back there. I don't

think I can never live back there full time. And so I'm I'm hooked on on on California, either southern California or somewhere around Ago because that's home. So you but you played in Tampa for for nine years, so like, how how how much time are you gonna go back and spend there. I'm gonna say, I'm always being Tampa. Man. We kept our house there. You know, my son was just there. They had to break after the Cotton Bowl. He went back. He was there for two and a

half weeks, and then I'm gonna go back. That's where I'm gonna train. You know that Tampa that's Florida heat or something different. Oh man, that's special. Oh my god. Yeah, whenever I started training and really getting ready for the season, because what it sounded like is we're gonna have the same offseason we had last time, the Zoom meetings and all of that jazz. So I'm gonna have a lot of time and just work out. So when I actually get clear to just work out, workout, I'm gonna Florida.

I'm not gonna be I'm gonna actually being in Diego working out with Todd Um when I get clear at first, but then when it's training camp start coming up, I'm being Florida working out, So we're gonna be going back there a lot. It's just so much to do. It's an hour from more Lando. There's so much doing on Lando instead of having to come back and find the hotel and do all this and just kept our house. My kids basically grew up there, so it's a great place.

It's a big, big shout out, big shout out to our guy, Todd dirkin Man in San Diego, one of the best trainers Um and I you, dude, I used to see you working out all the time during the all sheets. When I when I go back there, and you know, you see a lot of cats on the field. Man. You know you see guys bawling, but you don't never get a chance of seeing out the patch. And I saw you working. I said, oh man, this dude special.

You know what I'm saying, because I was kind of looking at it from the outside in and I saw it on the field. But then you you you kind of see what what what guys do off of it, and then that preparation and who they're working too. With two man because, um, I to working out with Todd back when I was in San Diego during the all season with you know me, Drew Brees, um darren Spros. You know, well, we'll go out there and we'll work man.

So how much time you spending with with Todd and I know he's his specialty, is really getting you back on because I know after my injuries, I want to go spend a lot of time with him. So you're working with him out, you know, outside of the injuries. Absolutely, absolutely, that's what That's what I'm uh, that's why I'm going back. You know. I told my wife when I got injured, and I said, when it when I started, when I get healthy enough, she gave me that look like going

to see Todd. Ain't you like you already know it? I see, I gotta go see the man. And I was blessed enough to be able to go out there

after my first injury my rookie year. I told my box of tender and I went out to San Diego to a fitness quest ten and I met Todd and and he put me around Drew Brees and and uh darren Spros and people in their magnitude and sitting there watching these guys training, I realized, Man, I like to work out, but these guys love it, and until unless I get to that point, I'm not gonna ever be

where I want to be. And somebody, a smart man told me, a wise man told me, if you want to do better, you gotta put yourself around people who are doing better than you. So don't be around people that are I don't want to say beneaths, but are not doing as good. You can have family and friends like that, but in order to make yourself better, you gotta surround yourself for people that's doing better than you. And that's what I did every time I got to

San Diego. I mean, you're thinking the names of Drew Brees and Dere's FROs. He's a Super Bowl champions, he's a future Hall of Famers, And to watch how these guys work, and to put myself around those guys. Those guys are a lot quicker than me, a lot faster than me, so having to keep up with them and they're conditioning, it didn't have to make me better on the field. So I want to go back. Man, um, So you had to. You had your first BICT injury.

That was what a like a three to six month deal or something like that, right somewhere around there, And that happened I think what in the middle of two thousand and ten or two thousand eleven, right, it was. That was my second when my first one was at the end of it was week right in my rookie year. And then my second one was in twenty eleven. It was middle season in twenty eleven. Yes, so I did it twice. I did my right army and my left arm.

But it's crazy, man, because any time I bring up your name and I'm talking about guys with so much damn respect around the league, and you know, your name constantly come up, um, even even when you just had the latest injury. I just you know, just seeing all your former teammates and all this stuff, man, And how does how does that happen? You know what I'm saying?

That is it? Do you just kind of walk in in the locker room and you know, I always I knew that you always come in a lot of respects for guys, But was it you've been vocal when you came in or you just showing guy's roads by working It was a little of both. I believe I just have to see. You don't ever ask people to do stuff you're not willing to do. So when you go

to guys saying, hey, I know this works. This is how I've had so much success, Guys who have done it before me and have showed me this, I see it work with them. I try it works for me, and then you do it first sce they see you do it and it works, then they're more willing to learn. And for me, it's not even a uh, let me show you I know this works. It's more of a hey, listen, man,

I want us all to be successful. I'm not the only person who's worked his entire life to make to the NFL and wants to be great while they're here. I believe that's why we're all here. For whatever reason. You want to be the best at what you do for whatever reason. Everybody has their why. But to me, all I wanna do is do my best help anybody I can. So if I see I can lend the help and hand, that's what I do. And it goes

from doing it into being more vocal. And once you become more vocal and you're doing it at partners, and guys are like, man, this as a leader, and I could follow him because he's being a true example. He not just all talk. He's walking in And that's why I was blessing up to go to Carolina last year and become a captain because I came in with my name. But then once they see how it worked and then it wasn't just a name and I earned a respect, then that's where guys start to you know, it was

kind of like word of mouth. Man, like, this guy is like the real deal. You know, he's not just all talk, and he's about his business. He's gonna have fun and play, but he's about his business. And now we can see why he's so successful. And you write doing so and I was just thinking that right now when you guys, when you came in, it was what ten, two thousand and ten, right going into the two thousands of a year. Yeah, you guys, y'all had some dogs. Y'all had some dogs in that team. But some of

those years never reflected. And I always tell people that's when I went to Buffalo and their record wasn't all that great. But I'm looking around. You got Fred Jackson and Stevie Johnson and Williams. You know, you got some of these als in the field, but their record never reflected.

You guys had some dogs down in Tampa, man around that time, and of course we had ye yes who wasn't when you walked in the locker room and he was like, oh damn, I'm here, like the first person you've seen, the first the first person he knew before and then, which was Davin Joseph. He was an officerve Lomon from Oklahoma, all American Guard and made a couple of probos in Tampa, and he just demanded so much respect on top of the fact that he's just a

large human. He just demanded so much respect from how I carried himself, the professional he was. And then when you get a field, you got to you get to see guys moving around. And once you get to see guys moving around, See the thing is Tampa was so young, man. We were all young. That's why Rockny Morris and my second year came up with the term young greed because we were young guys. We was hungry, man. We had just went ten and six and we had a lot of guys come through in my time and a lot

of these guys went on the way championships. Michael Bennett he was when I was there. I played three years of Michael Vinne. He went on the Seattle and did what he did to keep the lead was with me. He went on to did what he did. Lagarret Blunt, he went on to win three championships. I mean, I can keep naming these names. Well, I got to play

with Reevers, I got to play with Vincent Jackson. You know v Jackson, with Vincent Jackson, you know, Mike Emmons is still there, Lavonte David and stud I've seen so many people come through and you know, like State, that Claim and Tampa and it just didn't paying out. Man. But we had some guys, guys that went on and contributed big time to Super Bowl teams, and uh, we just couldn't put it together. Man. So so let me think I was just about That was my next question.

What do you think the difference is now? I mean, obviously Tom Brady has gone, and I don't want to throw no shade of Tom. I think, you know, now he's obviously the goal he's the greatest quarterback of all time. But there was there was a lot of that core that was still there right before he came down and some of those some of those guys you know from that locker room. What was the difference other than other

than the court the back position. Do you think it was a culture change from back when you were playing there and what it is now? Honestly, I don't. I don't believe that's what it was. Like you said, we always had those guys, We always had the core. Um. I believe coaching was a big part of it. They got a new coaching staff. If you noticed, once the coaching switch came in, Tampa had a solid core last year. Like I always say, Um, like you said, no, shade the time. Ready, he is who he is, so we're

not knocking him. But he also went to a team and the quarterback had thirty five turnowners. That makes sense, and James is like my little brother, but reality is reality. He had thirty five turnovers. So and they still won seven games. If Jamimes takes care of the ball, just let's cut that at half. Let's make that instead of thirty five, let's just cut it down the fifteen. Let's just say seven team, let's say seventeen. That's probably three more wins and they make the playoffs. So that team

was already really good. And I believe that. You know, Bruce Arians came in and Ta Bows came in and they put in new systems and top those defense. He's had great defenses everywhere he's went, So partner that with guy. They brought in the right guys. You know, you plug the right you find these gyms. You know, you go get a Shack Barrett who he played behind DeMarcus Ware and in von Miller in Denver. But when he came in, he always made splash plays. So they bring him in.

They say, let's see what he can do if we're get him a starting role, and he gave you nineteen sacks. You have a stablished winner in JPP who's won the Super Bowl before, he's led at the league in Sax. You got your Lavonte Davis, and then you got your young bulls like you're Devin White, You're Carlton Davis Is. They got it. They had a great core, your vitaves,

William Ghoston, well don't get enough creative. Whill has been around us is twe thirteen and he's just one of those role graders, you know, those guys that just keep fighting and keep fighting. You just had a great core and not commencing the offensive weapons. And I believe they just put it together. And if you bring in a guy with the right minds, it like Tom Brady that teach them how to really win. Hey, we're gonna check our egos at the door. We're not gonna worry about stats.

We're gonna I'm gonna give it to the open man and we're gonna do what it's take to win. We're gonna live with these penalties and let's see what happens. And they have the super boat. And you know, we just talked about you being like respected by everybody we've seen when you went to the Pathers, even the cowboys, mean you respected that too. Did you did you think that you were probably gonna finish up your career with them? Was that like the goal for you where yourself? You

know what? This is where I'm at and normally in my course of time and watching people around, the guys is most respected on the team organization. Those are guys that are life for us, right. I Mean, we know it's the business and you get traded, cut waves, all that other stuff, but it was your expectations was to be with the team for your entire career. Yeah, yeah, I want to stay with Tampa and all the fans

out there. You know, they took it as a slight and when I lift and sometimes people have to not sometimes people need to understand this. They put ball is just that it is a game. When you come into the NFL, it's still a game, but now becomes a business. It's a business game, and when it becomes a business, people do whatever they can to keep the business afloat to make the most money out of the business. And

in business, sometimes there's disagreements. Sometimes there's tensions, and just because it's not always in the media doesn't mean it doesn't take place. There was just some disagreements, some stuff where we couldn't get on the same page while I was in Tampa, and it was starting to spill over into my outside life and my my family, and my outside life is way bigger than any sport I ever played. So I had to do what I had to do. We you know, figured out and came to a conclusion, Hey,

this is what we're gonna do. No love loss, We're gonna move on and whatever happens happens. But the love is always there. The plan was to always be in Tampa. I never want I grew up a Tampa Bay fan. I was blessing enough to get drafted there. The year I resigned my new contract, we went to a fourteen. So if you don't think a person is committed to a team after you're going to a fourteen, then I don't.

I don't see what else you need to see. If you got an opportunity to leave a two and fourteen team and you say no, I want build it, that's the true commitment. So yeah, I want to uh stay in Tampa. But also in twelve, uh the off seasonelve, seeing that the Indianapolis coach told pay Manning, we appreciate what you did, but we'll see you later. It was at that moment I said, this is a business. If if, if the Coats can help pay Manning, we'll see you later.

I appreciate you. That the din't can happen to anybody. So I didn't take nothing personal. I still talk to the Glazers. I still talked to jameson like I still talked to all my former teammates. I still root for Tampa. I love Tampa. You know, it's a business, and I started thinking, okay, and my first person has happened to so I can't stay in Tampa the whole time. Brooks didn't say, I mean, uh lynch to stay in Tamfia whole time. Run they did. Brooks did, but not everybody did,

you know what I'm saying. And then you think about a person like Dan and he went he was in Atlanta, then he stopped his saying friend, then he went to uh Dallas, then he had to stop in Baltimore. That, you know, guys, just that's just what happens. It doesn't tarnish your legacy or the type of player you are, you know, but that's just part of the business. I always say, it's it's kind of cool to um to experience another organization with customers, different place, experience different places

because it's you know, nothing, nothing gets the charges. Obviously I don't love my squad, but when I went out to Buffalo, it was a whole different situation as far as a fan base and the field. It was just a different happens Like I got refreshed, you know a little bit from because you know the way out, it's it's always the chatter. It's It's like you can never

leave out just shaking hands, everything cool. It's always like a little jabbing the stomach here, and you know, just kind of it's always that little bit out the door. So you walk into another organization is fresh. How was it when you went to the Panthers, man? What how was that different from from being in Tampa all them years? The first difference was, now I'm in the locker room, sharing locker room with guys that I had to despise

on Sundays. You know, I'm chasing around Cam Newton. You don't like him, you know, ain't got no hard feelings towards them, but I mean he's your enemies. Ain't get the vision. So you got on the way to not like this guy. Twice a year, you see Luke Keickley, he's bawling, he's doing his thing. Man, Christoph McCaffrey's over there,

and you see these guys. But when you walk in and you on your visit so you can see the facility, you know, when you create that, you go on your visits and these guys are like welcoming you, like, bro, it's about time you came over here. Then it's like, man, this is We're just in the NFL. Man, that's like, really, no hard feelings. We all got one common goal. Man. We all just want to win. That's it. We all

just want to win. And it was cool to be around us guys, man, And you see a lot from the outside looking in, Like when they went on their run and he went fifteen to one and they started dabbing and taking all these pictures and stuff, and then you get in the locker room and get to see Man, I don't say this. We had a rough year last year in Carolina. You know, we struggle, a lot of injuries, can went down, just a lot of stuff took place.

But the professionalism and guys just enjoying the job. It's one of the funnest years I've ever had in my entire time of being the NFL. And it's just a testament just the guys in the locker room was just a lot of fun. Man. You build I built a lot of friendships in that locker room and it was just a joy to being around. Man. Camus. I'm gonna say this is about Ken whatever the media perception of him is, whether he's ah, if he's uh, you know, he's a diva or anything in that magnitude. Man, Cams

just can. But Cam is one of the one of the best guys you've ever been around. He's great teammate, great person, lends and helping hand the people get gifts for the team and just done. He's just a really good dude. Man. So I said the same thing. I didn't play with him, but you know, I know Cam um just away from the game, and uh, hell, I was even trying to poach them when before they drafted just to her. But I was with the charges I

was talking to. I was talking to calm down that uh we was that prime at a Prime one twelve but the State joint out there and uh in Miami, And you know, I got my whole crew over at the table and I've seen him he back there about two or three tables over. I get up, man. You know, I hear his brother listen. You know, I know you got a couple of places to go, but you know, we need you out there. And I've known Cam he's

to go out and training. Uh he's just training to San Diego to and you know, so I always say it, man, he was. He was a a great dude. Man. You can always just get kind of get that good vibe from him. And and once some people trying to kind of throw shade and say certain things, I'm like, na, man, you listen all the clothes and fashion stuff that y'all see whatever, Man, look this this is a good dude, a really good dude. A heart yea. And so so

let me so let me ask you. So you, um, you play there and then you end up going to the Cowboys, and so this is one thing I remember, and when you went to the Cowboys, Um, well, I'll take it back to when I got when I end up going to Buffalo, had a partially torn achilles, like already had a little something there. Um And I think my killings were maybe like thirty or forty on. They

knew that they knew already. But it was like my first practice out, my first real practice out, and I popped that sucker, not fully, but like another fifteen or twenty and I was done for the year. And like I had all these expectations of going there, and people obviously knew who I was coming into the locker room because of what I've already did in the NFLS. You walk in the locker room, maybe I know you are.

Now I go out there and I popped that sucker, and I'm sitting there, man, I can't even tell you what was going through my head. I was like, God, damn, And I remember you having one of your practices out there with the cowboys. Yeah, yeah, what what? What you almost? It's like you just told my story that said that when I'm sitting back looking at it. I'm sitting back

looking at it and I and I was. And that's when I think I even reached out to you to make sure you were straight, um, because I just knew what that feeling was like. Man. But what happened through that process the same? You know, I'm telling you just told my story. So I go get my m R. I, and I'm gonna say this, my I've been having horrible tender nights and my nief about four or five years.

I mean, to the point to where I can only drive for so long, I can't sit with my knee bent for a long time, you know, just batting and none of it, which is what I thought it was. Well, I go to get my m R. I and and uh for Dallas, and Dr Cooper says, hey, um, did y'all know his quartent and is like fifty halfway toward and I'm like, my quarten is not torn like I've been playing with it. I mean, it's I got tenda nights where I've got numerous m my eyes and nobody

is said that my quatent is tour. So d Cooper says, no, yeah, it's fifty and there's a chance that they could go and you may get through the year, but I don't know if you make it through the year. And you know, we talked about agent talk with Dallas and we came to an agreement. Hey, I'll sign this injury waiver. Something happens to my quad, It's okay to at least me, no hard feelings. It's a business. We gotta do. We

gotta do. But we're gonna take out the injury waver on this meet when this particular injury and uh, I'm like, man, I just play sixteen, so if it's it can't be that bad. You know, I'm working. I work out off season, I get in great shape, I'm running the lifting, I'm squatting heavy way, I'm doing all this stuff. We do the two weeks acclimation period that we have to do, and I go through to practices, no pads, nothing, running

um as much contact as we can have. I mean, because it's training camp, we can only do so much, like the first couple of days whatever. But we're going the first day of pass. It was the third practice. I mean, we hadn't had we was in the middle individuals. We had had on seven team running none of this stuff.

We haven't done none of this stuff. We're doing a basic drill in individual and I'm giving a look, me being me like I always always you know how you event, And when guys have to give a look, you're like Brooks, come on, man, give a look. What y'all doing? I tell you, I tell you all the time. I never asked people to do stuff that I'm not willing to do. So when we're just time to give a look, I always go first, and I let a coach tell me,

g get out of there. What are you doing? So I was up there giving a look because as I'm giving a look, I can help coach. I can help teach. That's what they brought me there for. Ain't want about, you know, to use my knowledge and health these young guys. So I'm giving a look. As I'm giving a look. I'm saying, okay, I can help help him as he's doing this well. Um Antoine Woods goes, he goes to work a drill and I stepped backwards in my quad.

It felt like he needed me in my quad. And I know, if you look at the video, it looked like he hit me really hard. He barely touched me. I don't even know if he did touch me. But when I stepped back, I just felt popped. And it felt like we're not knees. And I'm like, and I'm sitting here, like rolling on the ground like man, I said, jeez, I said, I ain't never knock knees that hard, you know, like anybody has ever had an injury like a castle.

It feels like somebody kicked you. That's yeah. So um, it felt like we knock knees and I'm like on the ground and then I try and get I'm like, I'm good, I'm good. I said, it's hurting, like I said, man, I ain't never felt pay like this. I said, this is really hurting. So I go to stand up and they're like, hey, take your time, take you to him, Like no, no, I don't want to lay on the ground. Because my dad and my wife. My wife is a stickling about it. And my dad always told me, man,

you can get up, just get up. Get you say yeah. So I tried to hop up and I got up, and I'm like I can't really putting no weight on it yet. So I let them help me walk a little bit. And I'm like, man, forget this. I don't even know help walking. It's just a little you know whatever. I go to take a step and I had I can't, like feel nothing in my leg. My leg literally just gives out. Is it his knee? He was like yep. He's like this is right knee and it it's like yeah.

And he looked and he said, geraldn't want you to make it flex your quad. I was like I am. He's like, no, I want you to flex your muscle. I said, I'm trying. I can't. Man. You know when you got that injury. That doctor when he leaned over and do that little whisper come on, said hey, coople, tell you said, hey, don't do that. Tell me, and he was like Gerald, Gerald, it went the quad? It went? Man. He toward you to you, did you see did you

see it roll? Did it roll up? On you. Yeah, when I went to try and flex it, there was a big gap right there between my kneecap and my quad and I was like, man like, you know, and it was it was tough, But at that moment, I knew what my teammates didn't need me to see, didn't need to see for me, is broken. If I'm gonna be broken, I need to break when I get home when I'm vulnerable, can be vulnerable around my family, and I needed them to see if I'm blessing up to

come back here. If I do come back here, this is what you're getting. You're getting You're getting a warrior. You're getting somebody that it don't matter what what he's facing, he's always gonna keep his head up. So that means, you know, if this guy just toward his quadtin and he just toward and he's already hyping us up, that means what stuff get tough in the fourth quarter. We know we can depend on him. And that's just that's

the type of person I am. So you know, I didn't really share no tears until I talked to my wife, until I see my dad and all of that. But um, it was tough, man and it's been to like dealing with injuries like this. I always told my dad, he said, do You always told me, man, as long as your legs are good, you can keep playing. When your legs go, it's done. And I always prayed I never get a leg injury. But this is where we're at. You know what's song. And I would just say this because I

told hurt my knee. But I felt like I told my PCL and l C l UM. I played the second half of my or two thousand seventh season. But I never really had no big injuries before like that in my life that I missed big time. Maybe a week or two something like that here, but nothing nothing serious. And then for like the first time ever, because you always, you know, when you're young, you always feel invincible, like

you can't get hurt. You know, even if you did get her, you can play through it and everybody patting you on the back because you're a warrior. And like that was the first time for me where I was like, Okay, yeah, I gotta you know, I gotta watch out because this thing could be done at any given time. But I came back from the neat thing and but it gave me a different colleague. What what what? What happened if at any point your career you had a couple of them,

you know, the Bice episode. You can always come back from. That's not anything career wise, But was there any point where he was like, man, huh, I don't know. I don't know if I can come back from this. And I'm not saying, you know, to be negative about it, but it actually put some kind of fear and you're like, Okay, this thing could be done for me. Yeah, I hear you, And it didn't happen. It was didn't happen like that.

At this moment that my second boss step here, I prayed and I said, God, am I not supposed to be doing this? Like, am I supposed to be doing something else? If I am, just reveal that to me. And I stopped, like, I'm not gonna quit. But that's back to back injuries. And at that time a little doubt creeped in. And even if this injury, you know, I'm thirty two years old, I'm a defensive lineman. I'm

going into I was going into my eleventh season. You know, guys have played fourteen, fifteen, sixteen years, so it's not like I don't have more left, but the same token. I've been playing football, So seven year is over. So you at the end of your career and your knee, your legs go out, your legs go And this injury is not like an A C M or or a broken leg. This is like the injury for for for people who don't know the injury that I have. It controls your knee flecture, so people take it for granted

being able to just bring your knees. I had to learn how to bend my knee all over again. Forget learned, forget building muscle and and learning how to run and jump and all this stuff again. I had to learn how to bend my knee again, so I couldn't even bend my knee. And what the tending towards It controls neflecture, So now I have to build the muscles around the tending so all the weight of my three underpound body is not on just my tender. So it's a it's a It's not just like an A c L because

around the A c L is still good. That tending. You heal it. You learn how to cut and get the stream, you know, get the strength back and that then you're good. But this quad tendant, it controls a lot man and attaches to the kneecap. You have to sit for two before you can do anything, and then at six you can't do really anything like real work until six weeks because if you do anything too early, attendant can pop again. You gotta let it like basically

weld itself to the bone. Did they did they put you in the hard cast? They put you in the hard cast the whole time where you couldn't bend yourne at all for a certain period. Uh No, it wasn't a hard cast, but it was pretty wrapped up. It was prett wrapped up. I couldn't move and if I wanted to bend it, I couldn't because you don't know it. It gets so tight. You have to work it until you can learn how to bend it again. And plus I had a brain and crutches, and it's been tough

to get to where I'm at. But I'm ahead of schedule, you know. I just posted today on my Instagram I got a hyper barrick chamber I've been using. I mean I go five days, I go six days a week for treatment. I do two days, work days, uh e g En, Dave was just today. I do two more work days Thursday and Friday, and then I do another region day Saturday. So I'm working around the clock, man, and I'm feeling great. It's very, very tough to get back from this injury though. It's a lot tougher than

what I expected. But I'm built for this, man. It was funny, I m after my first injury, I went and bought that damn hyper barrier chamber too. I think I bought mine for around or twenty four grand And I know people think that's a lot of money, but not when you're trying to come back from these type

of injuries. Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's an investment. Like when a person and I know people say, like's Lebron James, but it's not just Lebron James, you know, and he says, I spent a million dollars a year on my body. It's like, you guys, all right, this person is who we argue, whether he's the gold or Jordan's to go, whether it don't matter who you pick, You're not. Before him, we wasn't arguing nothing. It was like Kobe's the closest we've seen the Jordan, but we're not gonna argue that

he's better than Jordan's. We've never seen anything like Lebrona. So if a person of his magnitude is saying I spend a million dollars a year on my body, don't think that what you're seeing out there on the court is just him showing up and being working out. It's a lot more to make that to take care of your body. So when a person spends money on a hyper bearing chamber, or they get this machine and that machine, and it's an investment in yourself. It's an investment into

your career. You perform well, then that that million dollars you're talking about, you get that back, you know, so you gotta eat right and take it's a It's an investment, man, And that's what I did. And um, it wasn't cheap, like you said, it wasn't cheap, but it's worth it, well worth hunted. So what's next, man, What's what's on

the agenda? So I know you guys, you're moving in it down in Texas, right, and then have you talked to the FAMI yet and try to figure out, like you know, what's what's gonna be the next moves your agents, if y'all, if you guys kind of sat down yet and try to figure it out, Yeah, we have you have, man. We've been taking this slow, letting this season playout because it's new to the NFL's new to everybody. Man. We lost a lot of people from COVID and a lot of you know, just a lot of the rough via

last year that everybody was working their way through. But we're getting somewhat of a hold on it and kind of getting more info about everything. So with knowing what we know, I've sat down and talked to my agents, sat down and talked to my wife, and um, we're just gonna play about air man. We're not gonna rush in the signing with anybody. We're gonna see what suitors come and you know, see what happens. But I'm definitely

gonna play again. I man, when I tell you, like when I tell you, I was in some of the best shape I had ever been in. Like, I was in really really good shape. Man. I was ready to go. I was feeling good. I was explosive, but this damny, man, and I just felt I had so much you know, you go into some seasons and you just got that feeling like, yeah, I'm ready to rock. That's how I felt last year and it just got derilled. But I didn't lose that fire, so I have so much like

it's just built up. Like you gotta think, if you go from the first week in January and don't play football all the way because you know he played football in the spring, you get your O t A and you get your mini camps, well that got taken from us. So I didn't play football alla into training. Can we missed the first weeks in July, I mean the end of July, so we all the way in August at this point, and then I get to practices to play

football that I've hurt again. So it's like I ain't played and over a year and a half, you know what I'm saying. So I got so much built up fire that I need to unleash on the feeling I'm I'm ready to go, man. And the great thing about being able to buy this house in Texas is I'm

working on my post football. I've been having a business meetings for stuff after football, um, working with networks and doing a lot of different interviews and stuff, and you know, we're just trying to map out a plan for what's next. But right now it's football. Uh. And I will be ready. If I needed to pass a physical right now, I could, but I wouldn't be able to play football right now, you know. But we're not gonna rush in and gonna take our time and signed with who we need to

sign with and and let the stay up. Hey, that that's dope, bro Um. I can tell you right now, I know that there's thirty two teams that that need you know, you and that locker room with your voice and your presence and grabbing these young boys, man, because you know a lot of these catsmen especially, they got these teams that are super young, talented teams. They're missing that they're missing that guy in the locker room. I'll

tell you I talked about it all the time. If I didn't have a Jamal Williams or Randall Godfrey and Donnie Edwards. Um. You know these guys when I walked in the locker room, man, they just really Lorenz O'Neil, who just set the tone for me. And I said, okay, lt, that's how you do it. Okay, cool, that's that's what I'm gonna do. So I know thirty two teams out there. Man, it's gonna need you in there. And uh, I can't wait to see bro. I gotta get out there, and

we gotta get a workout in with Todd. You know Todd. I'm blown. Every every time I'm working out or something like that, I'll get a d M or text from Todd and someone. You know, I can't hang. I can't hang to myself a right man, come down and I can still get it. Hey, man, I'll be peeping you and checking you out. Man, I'm my wife and I you know the pandemic. Uh, you sit around and you just get you. You get into stuff you like to start, like certain stuff like we were watching a lot of

little boxing and stuff like that. But always I started to get more into the M M A and UFC, and you know, I started letting my wife watch some pikes. Now it's like we don't miss nothing. We don't want we don't miss any of We watch them all. We I watched training videos, I watch interviews. We always she always tell me, hey, it's a fight on a fight there. You know, we just we stay into it. So we're seeing you after doing the trainer. It's like, man, that

ain't no easy training. So I know, I know, man, like that's a that's a that's some serious trainer. Man. No, I can still get it, mad. I'm gonna get my ass down there and uh and guess working with y'all when when you head back out to the West coast. Yes, sir, I'll be out there around March aprilage, so I'll be out there. Hey, let's do it. Let's do it with with my dude. Man. I appreciate you as always. Man, hell up, I can't wait to see you back there killing things

all right, light appreciate it. But alright, my bro, you got it. Thanks guys for tuning in once against with another lights out podcast with me Shawn Merriman. And that was cool because, uh a few different reasons. So we we talked about the guys he played with, um, the cultures of the locker room, and who he looked up

to walking in. Also we played with some of my former teammates and then going to his robbery leaving Tampa Bay Buccaneers, going to the Carolina Panthers and uh trying to you know, figure guys out there and uh talk a little bit about Cam Newton and just some of the guys he had in the locked room and then his way on back from to full health. And there's nothing like you know, having big injuries because they do something for your builds. Adversity, Um, you know, builds character

and you just find ways to bounce back from everything. Man. Like I said before, this dude is an ultimate warrior in life, always the best attitude. And uh I say he got at least another three or four more years left to play. And whatever organization picked this guy up is gonna be happy as hell that happened there because he's an ultimate leader. So I appreciate Gerald for coming on it. I appreciate you guys for tuning in again

and leaving these great reviews. Man. Um, you know we I see the downloads and I see the reviews guys leave, man, and it just keeps me going. It keeps me fired up and keep me firing up all the guests we have. So we're back next week with another Lights Out podcast. Keep subscribing, keep leaving those great reviews, and we'll keep heating up. Thanks