Super Bowl 50 Champion TJ Ward Joins The Lights Out Podcast With Shawne Merriman

And the day we got Team j Ward Man drafted two thousand ten to the Cleveland Brown end up winning the Super Bowl in two thousand and fourteen with the Denver broncos Um and then also going up playing uh for Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And you know it's interesting because, uh, this is now the second person outside of it. We had Gerald McCoy on UM last week and he talked about the culture being there already with Tampa they had, you know, the talent was there and they had it

to win. But you know, Tom Brady going into the organization now and walking into a really good situation be able to win some football games. Also, congratulations to TJ Man becoming a dad for the first time. That's that's awesome. And uh, this is great man. So listen up, t J. Ward. I'm in uh, I'm in Cali, dude. But you know I'm about to make that exit out of here soon. And you know it's it's same within the bay. You guys are dealing the same thing. It's it's dead, right.

I mean a lot of a lot of the stuff closed down. I think they just had to stay at home. Thing lifted, right, yeah, lifted a little bit um last week. I'm actually I reside in Colorado. I'm still in Denver in that area. I'm just down here in my parents and stuff. But yeah, they got a little live, little outdoor. They got some outdoor dyning and stuff. It's so Denver, that's what that's what you call it home now, Yeah,

that's where I'm home. Or should I've been there since I got here, but yeah, so it's been like seven years now, Okay, okay, dope. I was also in the eighth for a little bit too, though. I was out there for a couple of years. That's right. But you you would like doing the all season and stuff, right, Yeah. I used to go out there and uh and train with um with Chuck Smith, who's you know, the pass rushing coach. Okay, I used to go out there doing the all season, so I still send a lot of casts.

Man is trying to just work on the you know, because he got a whole signs behind what you do out there. It ain't like regular pass rush. But um, you got you got a lot of stuff going on, man, you know as far as the uh, I mean, I'll get to all the football stuff. Man. I thought it was dope that you, um, you know, got the clothing line right that you're doing. So I've been in fact, so I don't know who told you about fashion and who kind of broke down the business. But when I

got into it, I knew nothing about it, right. I mean, I know I had the lights out brand and stuff like that, but I knew nothing about the fashion industry. And it's a lot, you know, it's a lot. You know, you got your designers, you got your manufacturing and all this stuff. Man, So who kind of puts you on the clothing line intry? H Man? I've always been addresser, you know, I've always you know, interested in the game. Um from designing, man. I remember I was designing jeans

and sneakers in high school. You know what I'm saying I'm cutting Louis up and putting on jeans and making different stuff like that. So I've always been interest of mine. Just kind of got away with it with focusing on football and you know, my main passion. So now that you know I'm retiring, I'm gonna get back into it, you know, focus a little bit more on on my style and my brand. How much of that was going

through your mind? Like when you got drafted? Right? So I came in and I had, you know, I had an entrepreneur mindset. I always wanted to do with something outside of football because I had passions outside of playing the game. Um, but when when did that click? Ain't for you because a lot of cash when they come in, Man, they just they don't have that yet. So when when

did that start happening with um? You know what? It started happening, Like I said a little bit later, once I felt that I got the graphs on being a professional football player, you understand. So I was like, let me, let me, let me focus on ball, you know, trying to get to these Pro Bowls and and and win the championship and you know, leading my mark on the league, and then maybe I can start you know, branching out and showing an interest in another things. So I say

probably around year four or five. Yeah, and that was holding you were there. You was in Cleveland for four years, four or five, four or five years, four years, so two thousand ten, yep, right, And so I remember I remember when you got drafted, man, because I was like this dude was a dog. And I remember watching you because I I just went over to the Buffalo Bills. Yeah. And if I'm not mistaken, like Cleveland with somebody who was in the mix who wanted me to go there

after I left the charges. So I was looking at the defense and y'all was stacked over there. Y'all had some y'all had some guys. Y'all was I was the was the quail over there? What you guys at the same time you was over there. I don't know what year you had. What year actually you left? Uh san diege okay, Yeah, So we had uh Scot Feld Jeeta has signed as a free agent. Yep. Uh, we had big Baby. We had my tell Joe Hayden, we're rookies. D Q. Sheldon Brown has signed as a free agent.

That year two aired right, Mike Adams. Man, we had some players, man, Matt Roth had ended up signing or I don't know, a year, right, he had a couple. He had a couple of big years there, right, was he did? Yeah? He was bothering, he was boling. But we were stout. We were stout, So what so what was it? Because I always look at it and I said the same thing when I went to the Bills because we were start. We had guys over there too,

and we just wasn't winning a lot of games. And I look back on and now I'm like, man, how how you have all them dogs in the locker room and you can just never really get over the hump? You get what I'm saying. So what happened over Because I used to talk to the quail all the time. I said, he's He would tell me that, and I was looking at the defense. He said, man, we got some we got some guys over head that can flat out go and I'll go back and look and then

the records just be crazy. You know, it wouldn't be all that good. And I'm like, what's going on over there? Yeah? Man, we I think I mean, it's hard to control on both sides of the ball, right, So, I mean we had a great defense. I think maybe we finished top five when we had Ray Horden as our coordinator. And I think it starts with putting guys in the right position, playing guys, you know, to the best of ability. You know you've been you've played for coaches that you know

aren't using players the way they should be used. Like that's the worst thing a player can experience, if I'm not mistaken. Man, I hate, like I hated when the coach will putting me in position that didn't use a utilize me to my best ability. And I think that happened a lot of times in Cleveland with you know, three coaches in four years. Yeah, so you know, like talk about that because I always say this, man, you got um, you got a lot of really good players.

They get stuck in, in my opinion, and some bad situations, whether it's coaching, whether it's you know, the locker room, whatever is going on at the time, and you know,

you don't really get the eyeballs right as you should. Man, So like you're going to you guys had different culches, you know every year or every few years, and then you know everything you know put in a different situation and especially do a different thing, like what what happened like when that, when that happened with you guys over there, you know what. Uh. When I came in, we had Rob Ryan. He was cool. I loved you. Um, he used me the way I felt I should be used.

I had great, uh first season, and then we got Dick Gerond and that was different because we switched to a four three. Uh. I was setting the edge a lot. I was always you know, building the wall, and they were bringing you up in the box a lot. Yeah exactly. I mean I would blizz some but occasionally, and I just I feel like I was just a stagnant player, like a pond in the defense. And then we got Ray Horton two years. We went back to the three four and went to a more of a Pittsburgh Steelers

style of defense. And I was active. You know. He'd had me move over here, lined up over here, blissing in the middle, bliss from outside, you know, cover the man, and it was doing everything that I wanted to do. I had my best season there, but like you said, to come back to not getting the uh the viewers, you know, because we only played one primetime game in my four years there, and that was Thursday night in four years my last year there, we played the Thursday

night before. You know, Thursday Night was everybody had to play Thursday night. Everybody didn't get Thursday night. So this right, this was you know, it was huge for me. It was like a super Bowl game for me. I'm like, this is my only prime time game since I've played here, you know, so it was a super Bowl ball too, Joe. So so I'm gonna go back to, like what you said,

you guys are stacked on defense. What you think the difference is now and their success and how they're bawling out there and the team that they have in the aile from when you were there, because I look at it, you guys, I mean other you've got Miles Garrett, you know a few guys that's that's kind of standing out playing extremely well right now. But you guys have some dogs then, So what do you think the difference is now in why Cleveland is when it when the ball game.

I think they're playing a lot better as a unit. You know, you don't have as many recognizable individual players on their defense. If you look up, you know, like you said, you got Miles Geared and uh Dennis the award. You know, a couple of guys, but you know they're playing really well as unit. They've had guys come in and out, um and you know, feeling nicely. But you know the coaching staff has done a great job over

there with them. That's what you know. That's what you see when you have a lack of talent and guys that you know get hurt and the next guy and the next man up. You know, you gotta attribute that to coach, right, And so I say that sometimes because you don't want to throw you don't want to throw shade organizational throw shade and no players or anything like. But the facts is this. You know, you get one of two players in the organization and you guys had

a squad around them around that time period. Yeah, absolutely, and you know, for whatever reason, we couldn't get both sides working as one. But uh, they're doing it now, especially with that run game defense. We love the running game, right, and when it comes in into the heavy part of the season, you better have some running backs, man, because the passing is nice when you need them tough yards and you need to keep the ball out of the other team's offense out of the other offensive hands. And

it's lovely to have that running game work. And and so, okay, two thousand and fourteen, you end up going to UH to the Broncos, right, And that was was that paydent that was paid the second year, second year, second year and so and I got this debate all the time, and I said, I say that, people look at me like I'm crazy, but I always say that I think that Peyton Manning was a better quarterback than Tom Brady.

M hm. And you played with him. So if you and I not to take the rings, let's take the rings out, because you know you can those gonna crush anybody in any given day. But who Who's who's the better quarterback in your opinion? I mean, I gotta go with Peyton, you know, just seeing him prepared, being on his team week to week, day to day. Um, tom Brady is great. I wasn't unfortunate enough to be on his team, Meeter, But um, I don't think there's anybody

that that dieferent things that Peyton did. One thing I try to tell people. So when I got when I got drafted, I went down to the Pro Bowl in two thousand five or six and my first time beating Peyton. So you always you see you see dudes on TV and you see him on the fields. You never get a chance to be around him like off the field or you see him out, you know, outside of that normal habitat. And when people ask me, I said, man, listen, Peyton Manning is so damn cool, man like, funny, laid

back and just something you don't even totally expect. You agree with that? No, I absolutely agree because I didn't expect it when I got here, and I'm like, man, people actually the same thing, like paying cool as much as joking. And you see him in character doing different commercials and things like that on TV. That's exactly how he is. Like, he's very laid back, sarcastic, funny, like

joking manner. That's that's exactly how he is. You remember him doing anything like back when you were playing him playing, because I remember him playing jokes over at the Pro Bowl. Man, he had put a video together, um coming in the form of one of his commercials or something. I can't even exactly remember who was it. Who it was about? What I want to say was some of the coaches, but it was pretty funny. He had put a little

skit together for the team. He was the Peyton was the first person I've asked for an autograph from and um it was my my rookie ye over to the Pro Bowl. And he gave me his practice jersey too. And then we got back and I saw him around the pool like laughing, and you know, we've having a couple of dreams, kicking back, having a good time. And I was like, I remember my all my family was that I want to back up in the hotel and

I just you know, I'm chilling with Peyton Manning. You know, ray lewis everybody over here, So I'm still you know, I'm the youngest one there. Yeah, I go and I tell the fam, I said, man, I was just down there with Peyton Manning may cool as hell, you know, just cracking jokes and playing around me. He's nothing like what you you know, what you see on Sundays. Yeah,

it's a different type. I guess when you get the opportunity to come out of that quarterback mind set, you know, because you are the face of every organization, and you know you gotta walk a fine line and do things, you know, uh, straight and narrow, so it is it is cool to see guys and especially players of his caliber come out their ship. What was it different when you went out there too with the Broncos because I know,

change the organizations man. For me was yeah, I played most of my career with the Charges, but I got out there with the Bills man and the organization, how they operated, everything was just was just completely was just different. Yeah, it was different for sure when I got to Denver, like Peyton, Like I was saying in a couple of other interviews that we got the first team meeting. You know, the staff talks, coaches stuff talk, head coach talks, you know,

usually Jim talks, and everybody goes along their way. So I believe after Mr Elway had talked, Peyton talked after everybody else, and I was like, Okay, this is a different caliber player, Like this dude is different. Now. He definitely had that pool at that pool that you you left it and then you end up going to Oh, by the way, I had your I had your boyyard Jerald McCoy on last week too. Yeah, he came on and you know what, you know, what's funny what he said was it kind of that kind of threw me

for a loop. He said that he thought the team was already good down there. What you guys had. I mean, Brady kind of came in and and and took over a good ship. But he said, I mean, you got that nucleus. Was they already? Man, that nucleus was there. That was the reason I chose to go there after leaving Denver because we had some great players on that team. And you know, I hate to well, actually I don't hate to, man, we didn't have good coaches straight up,

no you x G and whoever else. They might be polite about it, but it just was a but the ship wasn't being steered in the right direction. And that what what? What? Why? Okay? And I think I know what you're saying because I've seen that. And once you go from having great coaches and not so great coaches, and I got blessed. I played for you know, Marty Schottenheim, a Way Phillips, and you know, all these great coaches came in and so I got spoilers. You go and

experience other coaches, You're like, I see it different. What what was the difference from leaving from your other organizations that going there. I just felt the way we went about trying to win was not not successful and it was showing it. There's no way that the way we operated was going to yield success. Just coming from unsuccessful teams and winning the Super Bowl. You know, I've seen the worst of the words and I've seen you know, the best of the best, and you know, this was

on the side of the worst of the worst. Like, it was not championship preparation. I just didn't feel like we were at least I got divided. A lot of the felt that these coaches weren't trying to ultimately win. Yeah, no, it was. It was different than I had Corey Legit on a few days ago too, and he was talking about Houston when he got down there. He said, some of the guys just laying out in the field and just the culture was different from the organizations he's been to.

And I said, man, that's how you know that, you know, either the coaches or just that whole culture, Man, is different the teams I played on with the charges, we wasn't have none of that, Like the coaches didn't even really have to say nothing. Yeah, the coaches actually didn't even really operate now we you know the players we ran a team to see. That's the sign of a good coach too, because he lets his older and he's more you know, savvy players take leadership. Some coaches don't

even let you do that. Like you got a group of captains and guys that have been in the league six seven, eight, nine years and you don't even honor their input. So like a sign of a good coach. Like Arian said um in his interview, you was like, man, I sit back and let Tom coach. Sometimes just let Tom do talk. And sometimes you just gotta let your good players do that. In Denver, coach cool let us do that. Coach Cool letting his vets and his older players and his wiser players, d Ware and a kid,

and myself, Chris, everybody else. Peyton be ourselves. You know, he let us be leaders, lead the team. And like you said, we didn't need no coaches to step up and say, oh you out of line or we need more from you know, we did that. Wash was Peyton called most calling most of those plays, A lot of those plays when you are in Denver. Uh uh, you know he offensively for sure, I mean overwall. You know, we all had a mutual a mutual respect for Payton, you know, M d ware. Those are like the elder

statement on our team. They had the last word at the end of the day. All right, let's wool, let's take it to d Let's take it to page and see what they say, and we'll go from there. But that's really, how, honestly how I went. So, so what you got up to now? Man? I know you got outside of the fact stuff. You got your foundation, right, yeah, I got uh well, I actually changed it to the war Boy Foundation, and yeah, I got that going out here in Denver, or in Denver and out here in

the Bay area. So so what is it tell me about it? So when things start opening back up, man, I just I just got a lot of things, uh welling our things, programs and opportunities for youth, whether it's the camp or writing program I had out in Denver, my camp, or my golf tournament, and getting those things back and running, you know, as soon as things clear up, because obviously we had to put a hold on with you know, our situation with COVID, you know, but right

interested in getting that back going. Um, I got my juice bar in Atlanta. I was saying that's really why I was out there. I was getting that up off the ground for about a year and a half, two years. What's it called. It's called Juicy j U I C C E E. It's out there and make donea Georgia about okay, forty minutes south of downtown. And uh, you know I opened that just because I love smoothies and you know, on my health I try to be healthy, and but I started my day off with a smoothie

every day. What did you start getting like that? Though? When When did you start won the health kare? I started late, man, I was when I played. I really

wasn't in it like that. Um, but you know when I got closer into my career and I retired, man I got I got in that healthcare quick and I probably got into it like really smooth It is probably a year six, you know, you're six year five year six, And I started just getting them in the building, you know, in the mornings and stuff and finding myself trying to find more organic type instead of like the Jamba juices and thinking that's healthy, but really those just that's that's

so mine is organic. You know, we fresh press juices, you know, we have foods and stuff toasts and you know, things that you can grab and go and be real healthy about. Yeah, because at the time, um, you don't really know what like what the hell of the stuff. I was eating pizzas and I was drinking. Like when I played drinking, I would actually go get in shape, you know, go gett in shape, eat what I want. Yeah,

I'm That's how we was. We was living like you think that you can eat what you want to drinking what you want to be good. But even now, I look back at some of the times where I thought I was in shape and I was like, bro, you're not in shape at all. Like I can see you right there. I can tell you're not in shape. But uh, you know, we live and we learned your father now too, right, just not what not you long ago? Congratulations, Yeah, I gotta five six months now. His name is Terrell the Third,

so we call them three three war. You're gonna be hearing him about sixteen years. You'll be hearing about it. You'll be busting out on the scene. You're gonna let him play football. Yeah, I'm gonna le him play food, but I'm gona let him play whatever he wants. I think, um, you know, his his mother, his mother's side of the family, they play a lot of baseball. So put that, you know, put that badness hand earlier. Yeah, you wanna play quarterback

or you wouldn't play baseball? Right, everybody? I got ten year old something, man, So everybody asked me. They're like, oh, you know, you're gonna let your kid play football? And I said, why why wouldn't I you know, why wouldn't you let your kids play football and really deprive him of exactly, you know, even giving him that option exactly.

I think, especially having sons, they're gonna look up to you regardless, and they see what you did and being successful, and you did it at the ultimate level and at its best, So why wouldn't they want to do that? You know, they know that obviously they're blessed with that ability because it's naturally gonna be handed down. So if they want to do it, I'm all forward. If not, and I'm on forward too, let's do something else right now. You gotta be there when you got be there, So

that's what's up might do? Hey, my man, I appreciate you coming on. I know you are you are you going to do anything for the shoot bow or you're gonna or you just be back. Now I'm gonna kick back here Chip with the fan. Man, it's been a year since I've been home, so just blessing to see them the first time. You know, my people have been able to see the baby and everything. So yep, I brought the baby with me, so we're keeping back. That's what's up, bro. He appreciate you coming on my dude,

thank you. But now man, thanks having me. Man, keep up, keep up a good word. Thanks guys for listening in to another lights Out podcast with me. Sean Merriman and uh, that was that was really cool for me. Remember uh when he got drafted in two thousand and ten and I was just leaving a charge that's headed out to the Buffalo Bills at the time that Cleveland Browns is one of the teams that was interested in bringing me in, and I remember looking at their defense and they had

all these studs over there. Also my former teammate with the Quill Jackson, and I thought I was being Cleveland brown for a short period of time and get a chance to play with guys like t J. Ward. But he brought it. He brought it um doing a lot of great things now, So thanks guys, appreciate it. Listening in again to another lights Out podcast for me, Sean Raymond, do not uh forget to keep subscribing and keep leaving those great reviews and uh we're going up man, this

is awesome. And try to have a couple more guys on before the Super Bowl weekend and get some of these great super Bowl picks in. But I think this is this is probably gonna be one of the best super Bowls we've taken a long time with these two great quarterbacks. So thanks