Ron Rivera talks about building bonds, coming up short, and overcoming cancer

did it all here today. Also, before we get started and going too far, I want to make sure we tell all of our listeners to continue to tell a friend, to tell a friend, to tell a friend to go out there, give us a life, give us a review. Anywhere you listen to your podcast, whether it's Apple podcast or iHeartRadio podcasts, make sure you can find us on any one of those place platforms, and make sure you

give us a like, a review in a comment. This next guy we had coming up, I mean, I can't say enough about them, Um, one of my favorite people in the world. Yes, Um has poured a lot into my life, a lot in your life personally. An amazing man. This is the head coach of the Washington Commanders, Ron Rivera. Take a listen I appreciate. It's good to be here. Good to see two of some of my favorite players too as well. You know, very fortunate to have coach

guys like you. I mean, guys that epitomized what football is really about. I mean they play the game the right way, do things the right way. But really it's about team and family. Yeah, it really isn't uh you know a coach. I'll just tell a personal story. Um, I remember it my first year coming to you guys. I would have been with the Saints for eight years, so I was a rivalry and I kind of heated up that whole thing with some of the plays and

things that we did back then. But I remember being in that room on that team and we lost eight straight games at one point in time in twenty fourteen, and you were the most consistent. You never batted an eye. You continue to push forward, continue to have this this self belief that I had. I had major doubt, but you, there was no wavering in you. And that is what

a true leader does. Is when it's start outside and when it's cold and nobody else wants to come to work, I'm the first one there and I'm the first one leading the charge and being in front of that room and telling us to why. And so you came up to me after we played the Saints and you said you would talk to my former staff. And I had not had a great relationship at that time and that point, and you said, Roman, you're one of those guys that

you should have retired with that team. They know that they miss you, but I couldn't be more happy to have you in my locker room now. And that special relationship of bond with players, I know you share that with so many of your players. How do you get to that point and being that open and honest with them? I think the biggest thing is is if you're upfront with the guys, you tell them the truth about why you do the things you do, I think it makes sense to them. And I learned that because when I

played for Mike Dick. I'll never forget it was it was nineteen eighty it was it was training camp of eighty eighty eight, and we had gotten beat in the first round of the playoffs a couple of times, and so we go into training camp that year and he is just killing us. I mean, he is writing us. He wouldn't back down one ounce and the players are getting frustrated. And I was one of the one of the captains, and so a couple of guys came to me said, Chico, man, you got to go talk to Iron.

There's something up with him. Man, he's gotta he's got he's got to calm down. So I said, all right. So we had practice that day. We finished practice and we're walking off the field and I put myself close to him. And we were in Plattville, Wisconsin at training camp. So I put myself close to him, and so he says, hey, Cheek, what's going on? And said, well, you know, I'm glad you asked. And I said, look, I got to talk

to you. And he says, what's wrong? I said, coach, why are you kicking and you know, kicking the shit out of us? I mean, you're on us, You're pushed something. We've had two days, we haven't had a break. The guys are getting frustrated, getting angry with you. What's going on? He said, Ronnie, He said, you know, I would never ask you guys there's anything I didn't do. You know, I wouldn't do anything make you guys do something that I think that I thought was impossible. I know you

guys can push through. I know you guys can get through it. I said, but why, He said, Ronnie, We've been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round two years in a row. That shouldn't have happened, not with the teams that we've had. In eighty six, we were a better defense than we were when we went to the Super Bowl, which choose statistically we're better. So I said, wow, I said, all right, it makes sense.

It really made sense to me. So I went back to old the guys said, guys, all's he doing is he's trying to push us to reach our potential. He said to me, said we've been We've been knocked out of playoffs two years in a row in the first round. He said, that shouldn't have happened, not with this team. I said, that's all he's doing. But it made sense to me, and I think it made sense to a

lot of the guys. And that year we went to the NFC Championship unfortunately lost well, we lost to the great Joe Montana and the forty nine ers that year and then eventually on the Super Bowl, and it was just one of those things that you learned by his example. And that's so That's kind of what I've always thought, is if the players understand the why, Okay, the why that I think is very important to guy. So I don't think I've ever truly thanked you for this. Um.

Obviously we have a relationship. When we were in Chicago, Chicago together and amazing career. When you were there, we went to a Super Bowl unfortunately lost. But in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, I was miserable in Chicago. I hated football. I thought about retiring. It just was like a bad time. And I get a call after that twenty fourteen season. I thought about retirement, and then you gave me a call.

I come down do like the recruiting trip thing whatever, and you bring me into Carolina and you literally saved my life from the sense of or my football life because I was just so down and out about being in Chicago. It wasn't fun anymore like when you were there. And I get to Carolina being a I don't know, a thirteen year VET guy in the locker room, the chemistry, thieves Alley, I'm sorry, thieves Avenue, like just everything that everything that that the culture that keep pounding. It was

just like, I don't know, I felt like rejuvenated. And we had, you know, the Christmas that that Ryan would do, the Christmas stories, Christmas stories. I just love that legend. Yeah, he just he gave He gave great Christmas stories. I'm believe it at that. He gave great Christmas stories. And we just had a We laughed so much. We never got tight or tense. And like, what are some of the funny memories or stories that you remember about that

that twenty fifteen Carolina Panthers season. First foremost to your point about about your last few what we were looking for, it was we were looking for some veteran leadership in the secondary. That's the one thing we never had. And in my entire time in Carolina as the head coach, you know, we never had the same starting five dbs,

you know, for Bass or Nickel. We never did. We were always trained changing for whatever reason, we just couldn't keep everybody, and so finding some veteran guys I thought would be real important, just because I thought we were real close. I really did, in spite of the fact that the year we wanted seven to eight and one in twenty fourteen Roman. I just felt like we were closer than people thought. So finding guys like you and

you made the big difference. It really did. And my biggest regret as far as that team was concerned, is that we played the best game of the year in the championship game when we beat Arizona the way we did, and we didn't maintain that. And it's one of those things that I wish we'd saved it for the right time. But anyways, but some of those hilarious things, and I got the fricking proof right here, and I'm looking at

it all right. It's this fricking alligator you put in my in my bathroom, and it's it is something you need to tell the story and I'll jump in on it. But here's the picture. Here's the alligator. Oh you got it? Oh the camera here look look, look closing nice and tight. I imagine it's in the morning, walk in all right, the first thing you always do it in the morning, you're taking shower. That's where I was headed. I think

Charles knew that that's why you put in fer. So I stripped down, wrapped the towel around myself, walk into the bathroom, turned the light on and there's this vicious three and a half four foot alligator looking right at me. I throw the towel at him, jump back into my office area. Unfortunately was naked and thank god. Oh and I heard he wanted to put a GoPro in there. He did almost try to recorded That is true too. That would have been bad, I trust me, that would

have been one thing you would not have wanted to see. UM. And so I'm standing on and all of a sudden it hits me that's can't be real. It cannot be real. So I look back in there and I realize it's not real. So grabbed the towel wrapping around. I run back to the locker room on the far side near the meeting rooms. And who do I see But I see Charles and he's talking to a couple of players, and I scream at him. I'm screaming, I got my

eyes on you, Charles, I owe you. And I walked back in my shower and um and put some clothes on, and then Charles came in and everybody started laughing, which I didn't think it was, but it was. I'm not gonna lie. I was like really scared, like you you signed like my dad when you you had you had like shorts on and his shirt. Your shirts always sucked in, always a professional. And I remember I was talking or you. I was talking to Rome and I was talking to Kurt.

Yeah it was Kurt. That's right. That's right. I was talking to Kurt and I went up and I was like, yo, I just get the coach very y'all. I'll put this alligator in his shower. And I think he and I was like, oh snap, and I was like, oh damn, I'm in trouble. I might get fine conduct detrimental to the team. I'm cut, I'm fired. I think I damn I went too far with this joke. And he walks over with that mean aggressive wall and then I was like, he was like, did you put this damn alligator in

my shower? And then for for like a split second, I was gone, I gotta lie because I was like none. I was like, I can't. I gotta be a man. It's not good. Uh uh yes, And I said it like in such a coward voice, like I was so scared. I was like, uh yeah, yes, sir, And he was like, well, god damn minute thing scared to hail it, mate. It's funny as hell he does. This was the funny he really did. But you guys, remember where'd you get the idea?

So uh, the coach told a story then maybe the night before, the week before, week before, about to send me two dolphins. He got in front of the team, he told a story in front of us. He told a story about one of the players, and send me two dolphins. Something was going wrong or they needed a good laugh. So one of the players or a few of the players, they took a real alligator, taped the mouth shut. They taped the mouth shut with this real out of alligator, and they threw it in Don Shula's

shower and he's flipping out or whatever. So he tells us that story the reason I put the alligator in your shower. We had just lost our first game. I think we had just lost to Atlanta in Atlanta, tough game, whatever, it was. Finally our first game, we were what fourteen and one and one, and I felt like everyone just got like real tight, and the building got tight. And the only thing that that proved was we weren't gonna be perfect. We weren't going to have the season like

the Sydney two Dolphins. We weren't gonna be undefeated. So I was like, I need to lighten up the mood. I need to get everyone just to laugh and just need anybody else. Yet I just got everybody for everybody, see everybody to Woosa one time, and then I put that alligator in and then it just hey man, we just had a couple of laughs, and you know, we

were good. But that's what what made that season so great that I remember we were on the bus going somewhere at one time and you didn't like the attitude of the team, and you called everybody off the bus before we headed to the airport. You called an emergency team meeting. And then it was like what are y'all doing? And then I mean the message was super clear, like look, we're on a mission. We gotta play games, you gotta win,

we gotta pack it. And it was just like whoa okay, because I think we started to fill ourselves, like our stuff didn't stink, and you checked us and we received it and we received it well. Because we were getting off the bus, I was like, damn, what do we do? Did someone did someone say something? And maybe someone forgot a suit? And it just was a bunch of little things, but before it could have a snowball effect for the

whole team, you checked us real quick. And that was kind of my way of checking us, was like, look, we just need to have a quick laugh for real quick. I think one of my favorite moments too, was the Thanksgiving game when we played Dallas and Dallas. Yeah, we had the night before Stephanie had to arrange for Thanksgiving dinner and we put it out to the players. But the whole topic, if you remember, remember that was the game Tony Romo was returning, yep. And the whole thing

was they were undefeated and David favored. Yes, they were favorite. We were the only thing. We were ten and oh or eleven oh at the time, and they were favored. Were the only undefeated team to be to be an underdog to what were they They were six and six or five something like that. Yeah, oh, and that was it, and and and and I brought that to your attension and then turned it loose and you guys fell off.

I mean it was amazing, you know. I think some of the things coach one thing in particular that I still lived my life by every day now, I tried to and uh, it was a it's a thing that you talked about all the time that team, and uh, I appreciate. I would like to know where you got it from. But it's be where your feed are at. Yeah, well you know when you're when you're at home, be with at home, when you're with the team, be with the team. Um, I don't know where you got that from,

but it's so genuine and true. There's a actually a sports psychologist guy that I had to work with when I first started coaching in the NFL. While we started, we started to get on a roll and I started noticing that we were drifting a little bit. Kevin Elko, That's who it was, doctor Elko and I so I called doctor Olka. I said, look, my guys are a little kind of drifting off here and there. He said, I said, what what? What kind of you to keep the focus? He said, ron simple, just telling them to

be where their feet are. Ye, be where your feet are. And it's it's the most simplest thing because what happens is it's really about wherever you are being that moment. If you're with your family, be with your family, If your work be at work, if you're on the on the field playing the game, play the game, but wherever you are, just be there. And so I've I've lived with that, and that's something I share with you know, all the players or people that ask me about stuff

like that. I share that. And I give doctor Elko the credit because I learned it was such a simple lesson, but it makes it makes so much sense. And you know, and and it's to me, if you if you can keep your focus just for that moment, you give yourself the best chance to be successful. So being a military brat, I moved around a lot, and I know we have that that one thing in common is a your dad was he was the Air Force, Army, he was arm Okay, your your dad was in the Army and military, Bret.

You move around a lot, and I think my Mount Rushmore, my dad is my dad is like I thought my dad was g I Joe. I thought my dad was like roll Block, you know, he was rolled Block on Gijo as a kid, like, I loved everything about my dad and what he did in the in the military and it was awesome. And with that there was a lot of leadership qualities that my dad learned about when he was in the military, and he would bringing those things home. Wordy, I applaud you for your leadership skills

and how you lead your coaches. One of the things that I noticed about you in twenty fifteen that I still haven't really seen another coach do is you would let a quality a quality control coach get up and stand in front of the team the night before a game, and you would give that, uh, that coach was a Cameron Turner, you would give him the lowest man on

the total pole at the time, quality control. You would give him ten minutes in front of the whole team and kind of preparing him, grooming him into a better position, you know, as he progresses with his NFL career, Like, where does that leadership come from? It comes from my father. You know a couple of things he did for me when I first got the head coaching job in Carolina. Okay,

he brought me into our garage, our family garage. I'd come home to visit him, and he said to me, he says that, he said, you know, Ronnie, sometimes when things are going bad, it's going crazy, and it's kind of like in combat, everybody turns and looks at THEE the commanding officer for direction, and he says, if you're out of control, if you're not in control, if you're not calm and confident, your team won't be He said, in Vietnam, we were being attacked one time and everybody

looked to the CEO and he was unbelievable. It's Ronnie, You've got to be like that. And he said, I want you to stay in the garage for a second. He walked out, close the door and he paused for a second and he came back in. He says, just remember sometimes you're gonna be all alone making that decision. You got to make it. So he gave me those little life lessons stuff like that just before I took over, and Caroline, I mean I literally just gotten the job.

I'd come home to see mom and dad, and you know, Dad always had these messages, and that was one of the messages he gave me. Um. The other thing that I learned from from from military personnelis everybody has to be ready to lead, and you, as a leader, have

to make sure they're ready, find opportunities for them. And again, it's just little things that I've I've gotten from, you know, having grown up military, been in that in that household, been around you know, colonels and generals for that matter, and just listen to them talk. So I try to take those those messages I've learned and instill them in everyday life. Tell me this, coach, Uh, it's another thing

that you did for me that I think is special. Um, I've never been had a coach do that before, and that is you wrote me a hand and letter thanking me for being a part of the team in the organization. How often do you do that with certain players? And where did you pick up that? Because that is a skilled debt or something that I've never seen. Um. It's interesting because when I was a kid and we were playing I was playing basketball and I played on a team.

And on this team, we had some some younger guys that had never played. I was fifteen at the time and these kids were eleven and twelve. And you know, I was playing, you know, in ford order at the at the at the base gym, at this youth league, and there were these two little kids that were actually pretty good, and so they moved him up to UM I was playing. I was think was thirteen to fifteen, and I think they were twelve year old, so they

moved him up to play for more competition. Yes, well, because they were younger, they didn't get a lot of opportunities. And so, you know, I was one of the bigger kids, one of the older kids, and so we were winning this game and they put these these this one young kid in and he looked a little awkward and stuff like that. So I want to to him. I said, hey, you're gonna be fine. Just throw me the ball and we'll play. So he throws me the ball right and

then he goes like gets out of the way. I throw it back to him and he catches it, and I look at me, said shoot and he shot made it. And then all of a sudden he's like he's got this confidence. Yeah. Well, his dad was a colonel and they literally lived two houses from us. Colonel Jababbi, that's I'll never for his last name. And so a couple of days later, there's this note for me, a little

you know, not cardinal. You know, I opened up Colonel Jabobby at the top, I said, Ron, thank you for instilling the confidence in my son to play, and he signed it. So a couple of days later, I run into the colonel and I said, wow, thank you for the note. He says, no, No No, thank you for the confidence you gave my son. And I never forgot. So whenever I get certain special moments, I'll send somebody a note. I'll give somebody a note and just tell them, Hey,

I really appreciate what you've done for us. Because the other thing I've learned too is is leaders ship. It's not about me. It's not about whoever the lead. It's not about that person, but it'll start with that person. So if you're a leader, just know it. It's not about you, but it's going to start with you. And so I've kept that in mind, and so I've tried to find the right moments to do the right things.

So in twenty nineteen, when when things ended in UM Carolina and you're no longer the head coach and you got to move on and go to another team, do you do you have any doubts within yourself as far as like up didn't work out? Well, maybe I did something wrong where I wish I would have did this right, I wish I would have did that. Well. I hope I get another opportunity to coach again, Like, do you ever have a doubt in the sense of like why that team lets you go? And then I hope I

get another opportunity to coach again. Absolutely, I mean the only doubt I had is is is what did I miss right? What didn't I what didn't I do right? And then try to correct that. Um. I knew I would coach again. And and I love coaching. Um It's one of the things that that when when I left my only honestly, and I reflect on it because I think it's one of the things that Mike Dicka did, and it was one of the things that he and

I talked about. One of the things I asked coach Dicka one time, you know, after he had got let go in Chicago. We were talking, is when he had been coaching in New Orleans and I just started my coaching career. And he says to me, I said, so, coach, what do you think? He said, Well, Ronnie, I gotta be honest, you know, he said, you know, at the end of the day, I might have been too loyal. I said, I'm not sure I get I followed a coach. He said, Look, he said, the hardest thing sometimes you'll

face it is when to move on. When to move on? You never there's never really the right time to move on, or at least in your mind you think it. But but there really is. But you have to find it. You have to determine that as a coach, he said, it's it's sometimes people look at it as a cold decision, but sometimes just the right decision. He said. You bring people in for a specific reason. It's like when I was in when we were in UM in my first

year in Washington, and I had brought Thomas Davison. And you know, Thomas and I both knew he wasn't the player he was at one point, but the reason I brought him in was so that he could share with the guys to trust in me, to believe in me. And we got in the same situation. The division was down UM, but we had a chance. And that's and I one think that I I always said, if you have

a chance, that's all you need. And we had a chance, and and and Thomas said a few things to these guys about trusting it and believing it because this is a team, remember, had been down for a few years and needed to find something to believe in. And we got them to rally and we end up winning the division. Then we got the playoffs and we were the only team that almost beat Tampa Bay. You know, if you go back and look at we lost by a score and technically we had a chance all the way to

the end. And so that's the thing. That's why you have guys sometimes that are past their time, but you know they can bring something special. They can bring them the experience. I mean, I know you had gone through a Super Bowl and want a super Bowl, and so you could sit there and tell the guy, hey, this is what it's supposed to look like. Yeah, those things are missed. I've always believed this, and I've said this

to the league. Our greatest natural resources and we don't tap into enough are our former coaches and our former players. I mean, the wisdom you guys bring, the practicality you guys haven't understand, needs to be shared with today's players. These guys got to understand just what it means to be an NFL player. One of the things that I always talk about is, you know, I want guys that love playing I don't want guys that love being NFL players.

I want guys that love playing NFL football. You want guys that are out there doing their jobs, playing the game the way they should play it, and then representing. You know, you only have one name, and it's right in the back of your jersey. Yeah, you got to do honor to that name. Whoever I can speak to that you when in twenty fifteen, I was on my way home and I was pulling in the driveway and he was like, Hey, what are you doing. I was like, Oh,

I just left the building. I'm gonna wait home. He's like, yeah, come back to the stay right now. I'm like, I got scared. I was like, damn, they gonna cut me on. I thought I was. I thought I was doing something good. And then he was like, yeah, when you get here, just come right to my office. And you didn't say nothing else. I was just like, we're having this great season. I fit to get cut during the season, Like what

in the hell did I do? And I get there and you close the door and you just say, Hey, what kind of guy is Jared Allen? You know, how would he mess with our locker room? Is he a good guy? And I was like, oh my god, absolutely, he is gonna fit right in. And then I really appreciated the fact that you tapped into me as a resource of having or having played with him a year ago in Chicago, and when we brought him in, oh, he fit right in. He was immediately amazing locker room guy.

But the think everybody understand players know players. It's like, you know what I've gone through recently in Washington is I've been trying to fin find out about the guys we have. And it's one of those things that players when when things are right, players will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Right, Okay. And that's another thing that you know. I try to get across to peoples that tell me the truth. If you don't tell me what's happening, I can't fix it,

I can't correct it. I can't make the right decisions because I'm trying to gather information. And the more information I get that makes the most sense. And so that's what you look for is, Hey, what kind of guy is he? Does he does he fit? How about a player? Can he be a player? Does he have that ability? And so I think, like I said, that's a resource.

That's that's that's why I did it, because I knew you would know I know you would, and I knew you would be honest too, and that's what you look for, you know, Coach, yesterday you saw us Panut and I. We're sneaking out, we're playing some golf. You're just put the stup and literally after a thirty seconds, he literally looked at us and was like, nothing has changed with you too, Nothing has changed. Just want to let everybody know nothing has changed with you too. So I appreciate that.

Number One. I remember you would always tell us in twenty fifteen you said, guys, you're a great team. You're good. That said another, the best thing you have going for you is who you are. Don't ever stop being who you are. And I think that's so unique because everybody tries to mold you, they don't want you to be this. That team was so unique for me because I really thought that you encouraged everybody to be whoever or whatever

they wanted to be. And I also want to say, did you have that connection because of your experience with the Chicago Bears and that team was so full of all these charismatic, these different characters, and you a lot of personality and it works. Yes, you would always say I love you for who you are to me in twenty fifteen, we had a lot of personalities, yes, and I really appreciated that. You know, that was one of the things I think that people miss because for all

the way you guys celebrate it. Okay, you guys did it, in my opinion, for the most part in a respectful manner. You guys were doing things on our bench. Yeah, not directed at the opponent. You guys were handing footballs after you score to the kids. Did you guys ever see the article they wrote about all the kids they got, all the touchdowns that were handed to I mean as an unbelievable article. I mean, it really is, and it's one of those things that we did do things the

right way. And I got a credit Coach Shula with that. Mike was the one who had at one time told Cam, hey, don't do it, just give it to one of the kids. So he started doing it, and then everybody feed off at everybody, and it was an amazing thing. But then you look at some of the celebrating we did, but most of it was on the sideline, on our bench. And now look at us today in the league. Okay, I don't understand it. Because we were getting killed for doing it, and now today they want more of it.

And it's like, come on, let's be we were doing in twenty fifteen. We get no credit, you know. And it's it's one of those things that not not it's about the credit, but just the recognition. And I've always felt this too, and I don't know if you noticed it, but I've always thought it was about you guys. It was never about me. I mean, you know, we would go out and they would introduce you guys. I would walk around the side and go to the bench because to me, it was about you guys. You guys are

the one that playing. You guys are the ones that people wanted to see. So keep your personalities, be who you are, but live within a certain standard, right, Okay, live within those those five core values that were put up of hard work, harmony, teamwork, listening, respect, and if you live your lives that way, you can play for us. And it's a lesson. I learned twofold, one from mister Richardson who just recently passed away, and the second one

was from Cam Newton. What had happened was and and and I know, you know, the story is about the rivalry that we had for those years. But um, it happened. I think it was during the twenty fourteen season and something happened. I was mad at him, and so he and I were talking. I said, you know, and I I don't wanna call it a mistake, but I said, Tom, I said, why why just can't you? Why why can't you just be like like? And he looks at me, goes like Tom Brady, like Drew Brees, like Aaron Rodgers.

He's a coach. I can't. I gotta be who I am for one reason, that's it coach, because because if I do it my way, okay, the way that represents who I am, then others behind me will know. And that's when it made me realize, Man, he understands. It feels that burden. And so it also made me realize that I can't take away from who he is. I can't. And it really was because it hit me pretty good. And you know, I mean, I'm I'd like to believe I'm a practical guy, but that was something I really

truly learned. And so other than doing something physically violent against somebody else, I wanted the guys to be who they are play to their ability so people know who they are. And and it was something that I think that as I reflected on it, we did that in nineteen eighty five with Mike Dicka. He wanted us to have that personality, want us to play free and loose and have a good time and enjoy it and appreciate it.

And and I really, I said I as I go look back, that you know, other than than than than not winning that game, you know, that's super Bowl fifty. Everything was what I thought it should have been. Yeah, and unfortunately we want we played the best game two weeks before. Yeah, that's that's that's my biggest regret. A few years ago, my dad gives me a phone call. And my dad and I were super close, and he calls me and he's like, yeah, you know, uh, I

just wanted to let you know. Um, I wanted a doctor and I got prostate cancer and I'm getting the surgery. Everything will be good, and I love you. I talked to letter By and he got and I was just like, wait, what what just happened? Like he didn't really want to he was vulnerable, but he was vulnerable for like, I don't know, maybe sixty seconds and he wanted to hurry and get off the phone because I think he had a really hard time telling me. And I was just

like more shocked than anything. And he had already had it for maybe a month, and he just waited for a while to call me and tell me. And you know the process he went through. He's grade, he's healthy now. And I know you had it recently and a few years ago. And one, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're healthy. You only miss like three practices, like you are a freaking iron man, and I just won again.

I'm happy here. But you why only mystery practices? Why not maybe take time off for like what was that process? Like it was an accident. So this true story. So we go, we're going through the process. We're meeting with the doctors, to meet with the oncologists, meet with my radiologists, and we're talking about what I should do and how I should do things. And they kept saying, you've just got to manage your treatments. You just got to manage

your treatments. You just got to manage the treatment. And I mean every time we talked, that's what they're telling Nobut that's part of the advice, but that's one of the things. But the thing that stuck in my mind was they kept saying, you have to manage the process. You have to manage it. And so finally, when we're getting ready to start, Stephanie and I were sitting there and look at the docs and Stephanie gelo, should he work? It was absolutely? I mean, the majority of the patients

end up in the hospital. You gotta you know. So I'm thinking to myself, I have to must, I got, I got no, I have no choice in the matter, right, So I constantly would try to just try to just keep going through just you know. So what happens is, it's the It's the Tuesday after my second cycle of chemo. I just went in had to check up radiation and all that stuff. I just got in radiation that morning, and so they take me to see my my my oncologists.

And as I finished my treatments, you know, I had to I had to wear one of these masks that they bultch you into the into the table so you can't move, and then the machine gets The machine is literally about nine inches from your face and it makes all this noise and then you know, as I finished,

they get him out. I go to get up and I can't move, I mean just and I was really weak, and I really literally had to roll myself off and the and the technicians catch me, and so they get a wheelchair and it's the only time I got into wheelchair during that whole process. And they wheel me up. You know. I do my check up with the doctor and he said, well, you know what, you should get some IV fluids. So we I call we call r V. Stephanie calls RV, the head trainer at the time with

with with Washington, and tells him. So they say, all right, well bring him to the facility. This was Tuesday, it was it was so the players were off. Um. So she drives me there and so we get to the front door and I gets Stephanie, I can't There's no way I can get So she says, well, let's I said, let's go to the back door. So the back doors on the other side and it is down the level. So she drives it all the way around. He comes out and the two of them carry me into the

room and the players are there. They're working out. We had about twenty five thirty guys. They're working out, are getting treatment and they see me and it went, I mean, it went from all this noise to dead silence yea. And so they walked me in really slowly, get me into their I get treatment and then I looked at I says, I can't work today. You gotta take me home. So she takes me home, and it was it was one of those things where they tell you you have to eat, you got to eat and um, and it was.

It was one of those things that that you know, Jonathan Stewart and his wife sent me this bone broth and Stephanie had made this soup for me, and I couldn't get up to eat at lunch and so I hadn't eaten all day. And Stephanie says, the one job she had was I was she was to make sure I ate. And I wouldn't eat. I wouldn't get up to eat. So she calls our doctor team doctor. He starts yelling at me over the phone. You gotta get up, your must you gotta eat. So I get up and

I eat. And as I'm getting up, and you know, Courtney was living with us at the time because of the pandemic, and she sees me she's really upset, and you know, so she leaves me. Stephanie gets she leaves me. Then our dog he looks at me and he's you know, he leaves me. And the only one left is our other dog. And she's sitting there staring at me, and I figured, oh, at least I got one friend. And I realized she just wanted the toast. Give her the toast.

She leaves. So I'm there by myself and I begin to eat, and the more I started eating, more started thinking I gotta do this. I can't do this just for me. This is my family. Yeah, And so that's what pushed me on. So then there were a couple of practices where I had that moment where I started to feel that way. So I said, you know what, I'm just gonna stay in. And so the team went

out and practice on their own a couple times. That me just because of that fact that I just knew that I needed to rest, so I did, but I was able to get through it. So I finished a long story. So I finished, I finished treatments, and I ring the bell and the docs come in and we're sitting there talking and they sit there and and they said, well, you got you know, you know, what you did was an amazing thing. And I said, well, what do you mean.

He said, well, you got through all the treatments. You know, right now everything's fine or you're healthy and all this stuff said, and yet you didn't miss a game. You barely, you only miss a couple of practices. I said, well, I thought, I that's what you guys told me. He said, no, you could have gone to the hospital for a week if you needed to. And I had no idea that that was an option. When he said you got a work or you know, I took that as I had

no choice. And the matter, yes, that's exactly what it was. It was. It was mind over matter, you know. And and again a lot of you guys, I appreciate the text message you guys sent stuff like that. It was great. It really was because I you know, I tell people

that now, because it's crazy. I have people reach out to me from all walks of life about hey, would you mind sending a text message to my brother he's he's he's getting treatments right now, or you want to you mind you know, giving a call to somebody I have. And the reason I do that is because I'm telling you when you go through it. Every morning, my youngest brother who was in California, Courtney or Stephanie would get up with me at five thirty the morning, get me

ready to take me to the hospital. And my youngest brother at seven o'clock would send me a text message because he was getting ready to go to work in California. It was just four o'clock in the morning. But and it was all right, Ronnie, we got this, let's go. Or my brother Steve, when he would wake up, you know he's retired now, and he would he would get up as soon as he got to send me a text, Hey, how to go. Everything good, I mean every day, and it meant something to me. So when people ask, I

just try to pay it forward. But you know, the long story shortest, I didn't realize it, and so you're absolutely right. It was mind over matter. And the one thing that got me too is several you guys sent me messages about, hey, you got control it now, Coach, you gotta control your ape. You got yeah. Yeah, So that was that was it. You know that that that was one of the things I also helped me get

through that. That's got to feel great. Though, because the bond that you've had with your players and then they come back and they reach out to you, like, that's just to me, that's a testament of who you are as a as a person. Forget coach, that's just a testament to who you are as a person. And I don't think enough people know that about a lot of coaches. You know, like you were your men first, and you're

trying to instill in us. Yeah, I want to be better players, be Hall of Fame players, win a championship, but you're also teaching us how to be men. Yes, you know, Um, I grew up in Chicago at the age of twenty two, and I grew up in front of like cameras and interviews, and I retire when I was thirty four, and I learned a lot from coaches like yourself, Lovey Smith, uh, Steve Wooks, By Babbage, John Holk. You know what I'm saying, Like, you guys instilled a

lot of men quality, leadership, character skills within us. I don't I don't think people really realize the impact that you guys have on on young men. During this league, people ask me about you know, my my my best coaches and I always tell everybody my first coaches were my parents. My next coach obviously, and a lot of us bond with him is our high school football coach. Yes, a lot of us do. Um Mine was was an

amazing man. He was from Texas, from southern Texas, um African American, I mean just and he didn't see color. And it was one of the most great lessons to learn because it didn't matter who you are, or who you were, where you came from, or what rank your dad was. He was going to treat you the same way. And I learned so many messages. In fact, he came to the to the Dallas game. You guys remember that, Yeah, because I introduced to you guys coach Stevenson and a

tremendous man, and I learned so much from him. But the biggest thing less I learned was you treat everybody the same. So what happened was we played a game in high school and you know, I played both ways. I was a quarterback, I was a linebacker, so I mean just and it was one of those games that I was really sore the next day at practice and so I was kind of, you know, run, you need to what's wrong. I said, well, I'm really sore. We'll beat up today. Said okay, start running. I said, what

you should? Start running? So I start jogging around the practice field and I kept going and just kept going and kept going. I jogged around a practical for an hour and a half and you know, and didn't say anything. He didn't say anything to me. And we got done and he said, how'd you do? I said, what do you mean? How do you do? So? We got to work out, didn't you? I said, yeah, I said, okay, good. That's what was that all about. He says, well, hey, if you weren't going to do this for work, you

had to do something for work. So I had you run. And it was just showing everybody didn't matter who who I am. Yeah, I'm gonna treat you the same way. He's not gonna be out here, but he's gonna be work. He's gonna be workd You need to see it. That's exactly what it was all about. That it really is. I'm glad you to make us do that, because talking about treating everybody the same, um one one coach or one person that has come up the last few coaching cycles,

and everybody's always asking what's it? What Eric B Enemy? Why isn't I getting a job? He's a oc here, you know for under Andy reading everybody else to be able to move up in this That another what made Eric b Enemy the right fit for the Washington commanders and for your offense going forward. What I what I kept noticing about Eric was as I watched and I called Andy Reid coach ree and I talked to he was he was tremendous, gracious. But then what I did too is I talked to a couple of coaches that

I had worked with U and on Andy Reid's original staff. Yes, okay, Steve Spagnolan Dave tub were two guys that I played with. We grew up in the league, we started together, so I knew I could trust those guys. And they said same things, Ron, You're gonna love this guy. The way he works with people, the way he connects with players, his his his imagination, his play calling. He's learned so

much from coach. And it's funny because because when I first would do the interviews, when I first got an interviewed for head coaching jobs, and I had done seven of them prior to getting my job, I finally asked the folks at Detroit and the folks at Pittsburgh, what was it that I could do better? And they said your problem coaches you come in and they both said it independently. Was you talk about Andy Reid, what you

learned from him? You talk about Lovey Smith what you got from him, You talk about North Turner, you talk about you talk about what everybody else, tell us what you're gonna do, talk about you, why you? And all of a sudden at Dawn's on me. So I've never been in Eric's and I wonder if everybody thinks, okay, you know, does that what he talks about instead of saying, hey, this is what I'm gonna do. Yeah. So when Eric came in and we sat down and we talked, I said,

what are you gonna do for us? He says, look, coach, I like your personnel. I mean he knew our personal We talked about the offense line, we talked about tight ends, running backs, quarterbacks, why. And he had a plan for everybody and how he wanted to use them, how he wanted to do it. And what it happened was is I was going through the process and I was looking at all the different candidates, and I got some wonderful candidates,

and I wanted to treat everybody to saying. So I brought everybody in, We flew them in, we sat them down, they met with everybody. They got to interview him. You know, only one candidate I couldn't. And and what happened was I actually was out in California. So I went up and saw him in San Francisco and we met in person. But I wanted to make sure everybody understood that this was what I really wanted to do and do it

the right way. So when I sat down with Eric and just listened to him, and I kept thinking to myself, Okay, so I really wondered and he and I haven't talked about this, and I should talk with him about it, just so we understand. Is that I wanted to know what he wanted to do and I wanted to do it. And I heard that. And what it did was it matched up to the way they were using their talent

in Kansas City. Yeah, it was unbelievable because it's the ball was spread around, I mean, to the receivers, to the tight ends, to the backs that they were utilizing these guys quick throws, making explosive play, stuff like that. But listening to him tell me what his plan was for everybody and what he thought we needed to do and how we needed to do it was great. It was a lot of good information that just told me

he's right. He and one of the things that Andy felt and he did the same thing with coach McDermott, was he felt coach McDermott had to get out from under the shadow of Jim of Jim Johnson. Yeah, and so when he came, he came to me and I hired him. One of the things I said to Shaun Sean, let's build this, okay, you build it, okay, so we can say at the end of the day, you did this. Yeah, okay. And that's what I wanted to make sure everybody and look at him today, Look what Shawn's done. Well, it's

the same thing with Eric. He felt and he called me and we talked and he gave me a lot of you know, insight into Eric and I talked to the coaches, got great insight and he's right. Eric needs this opportunity just so everybody knows he's his own man. Yeah, and he's capable so I'm excited for him, I really am, and I think this is this is what Eric needs and this is what we need. I'm excited, coach Man.

I'm super excited me too. And I love that, you know, continue to provide opportunity, continue to, you know, help build upon others careers. You know, Peanut really talked about how you do that in other different ways. And I want to know a good story, like what's your best Peanut Tilman's story, because I know you have a lot you

already shared with us. The crocodile, I mean the alligator, croc alligator saying, well, crocodile's a lot bigger clear would have been an alligator, all right, So what is your best Peanut Tilman story that you could actually share with us? This will be good now I'm trying. Man. There's a lot of them, but one of my favorites one he tells a story about his rookie year in Chicago. I wasn't there yet, so he's telling me his rookie year.

They had a big defensive linement that that liked to pick on the young guys a little bit, and Peanut talks about how he had to get into the dirty clothes hamper and pretend he was a car driving through the streets of Chicago. He had to make car noises. He had he had to pretend he was making turns, using a blinker and just basically driving it. And when you hear it, tell the story. I mean, that's that's who he is. It's a great story to hear it really is. Yeah. So this big defensive lineman is Ted

Ted Washington. Oh. Ted Washington was huge. He was he was massive. This is really my welcome to the NFL moment. Okay, um, I just did the cold tub. They all the vests just dunked me in the cold tub. I got taped up. They dumped me in the cold tub. Whatever. And the next day or two days later, Ted comes in there and we were supposed to go the long way around. I went through trying to take a short cutch hon

be sneaky. I get caught and Ted says, hey, listen up, I need you to get into the dirty clothes hamper. He says, any he tells you. He was like, hey, get in there, and I'm gonna push you around and I need you to make all the noises. And my pride kick stepped up right, I'm just like aait man. Man, I'm a I'm a grown ass man. You're not. I'm gonna make me getting this dirty, dirty clothes hamper. Like I'm I'm I'm, I'm, I'm a tin woman, I'm I'm,

I'm peanut, I'm you know. So then I look at all the other vets start to stup up and I was like, yeah, all right, and I'm trying to like be pulled. I'm like, big tang, you just got me the other day. Man, Like, I'm I apologize, I'm sorry if I'm being disrespectful, I'll go the long way. Apologies to all you veterans. Like, hey, I apologies, brother, my my bad. Get your ass in there. I was like, so I get I get in this this hamper, right, it is dirty clothes stuff. Oh my god, why am

I doing this? So I swallowed my pride. I get in there, and all the vets they're take off their paths and whatnot. So they all come around and he's pushing it around. I'm like, and then he starts s ramming it into the locker in the wall and I'm just hearing boom and he's like pushing it into the wall. Then he bags it up and I'm making I'm making all these sounds and everybody is just laughing. Right, I'm

just like, man, this is a bad day. So after about I don't know, fifteen thirty seconds of pushing me around, he clearly doesn't have stamming or cardio. He's about three thirty, so he's all cardioed out from pushing me in this damn laundry basket. And then he picks up the laundry basket with the laundry and me in it. Yeah, and he picks it up and then he just threw it and I fall out of the thing and I was like, appreciate your big tit. And then I walk out the

locker room was like, man, I hate this dude. And then they traded him like three days later to New England and he goes and went to the Super Bowl with Belichick when they played Carolina in Super Bowl whatever. But I was so I was so happy they traded Big Dead. Oh my god, that was Oh yeah, that's definitely my Walkers. I've never heard of this thing. Yeah, that's my that's my welcome to the NFL moment. Speaking of NFL moments, as a head coach. I know we

all have them as players. What was your welcome to the NFL moment as a head coach. We've heard some interesting story from other Yeah, today I think it's been welcome interest. Yeah, to like something was like, damn, I did not see that happening, Like you know, I mean, there are a lot of things that you guys been a while, but I know, well, I'll never forget my first NFL season. What happens is there as a coach a player as a coach. Okay, there's a lockout. Oh yeah,

there's a lockout. I don't get to meet my team until we get to training camp. So I had no OTAs, no mini camp, no first team meeting. First team meeting I have is my my first day. So so bring the team in. They do the conditioning test, which we're not you're not allowed to watch anyway, so that at the time you weren't. So they did all that stuff. So I really don't get speak to the guys as a group until that first meeting. So speak to him. Come down to practice the next day, first practice in

the morning, full pads. Okay, Steve Smith's on the team, one of the all time, and I really know, I really believe he is a Hall of Famer, but one of the one of the really great wide wide receivers in this league. And so we start practice and and Steve is just goes at it one hundred percent. Well, I've never been around Steve, and so start his team drilling.

I'm watching the team drilling. Also here's this ruckass over to the wide receivers and I look out, so this one on ones And okay, so now we finished one on the drills. We start team pass. We're doing the team pass drill and he's out there in the corners on them and they start back and forth. I think I said, okay, this is getting ready. This is gonna

be on. So I start walking over there and the ball gets snapped and within a second of the ball being snapped, there's an all out fight and it's the team he's fighting with the dB and the defensive guys come over, the offensive guys come over, and I mean, this is the I mean, it's been less than a full day and I'm with this team and they're fighting and beating each other up, and I'm blowing the whistle trying to get him calmed down. I'm blowing the whistle.

I'm you know, and I'm one of those coaches that realized I'm flying in the middle of that. I'm not because I had a fellow coach get knocked out one time when I was coaching on Andy Reid Staff. We were in training camp and the offensive line coach, his offensive lines got they're fighting with my linebackers. So he comes out and get in the middle. Yeah, and he and one of the offensive linement throws a haymaker which catches him and he goes and you see it. He

gets hit, pops up and falls over. So I stay out of the middle of it. So this thing starts and I'm blowing the whist, so I'm trying to get guys back. I'm kind of you know, and then it just it just goes. And I'm telling you what I'm saying myself, Oh boy, this is something else. And I can't remember, just sitting there looking. I just got to some believes what if I got myself into day one, that's a good story. That's not what I was expecting.

Was a player fighting day one. And the situation, being in the lockout season, where very very unique situation for those that had to go through it and play through it. Um. So, coach, we always like to ask everybody, m just one question, and so it's about your mount rushmore so who would be on your mount rushmore of life influencers, not just football but overall in life. You get four mm hm, So I'm gonna count my parents was one first and foremost.

What was that person to do that doubt? In my mind? Mom and Dad had had the most unbelievable impact on me and my three brothers. Um, they'd be at the front of it, just like you said about your dad. My parents would be at the front of it. Um. Carl Stevenson my high school football coach, because again you know you make that connection. Um. You know my dad was sent to Korea. Uh. It was my junior year in high school, and coach stepped in. He checked in

on my younger brother. And now my two older brothers were out, you know, they were they were living on their own, and so it was just my younger brother and I am a mom and mom was a nurse's age, so she was at the hospital, you know, working a lot. So coach I always checked in. He checked in my mom, Hey everything, how the boys? You know that I mean and and just just he was there for us while my dad was gone. So that's why he made such

an impact on me. And and I never forget Coach he recently passed away at the age of seventy eight. Just a tremendous man. I mean, just somebody that I'll never forget the impact that he made on my life. Man, there when I when I now, when I think about it, there's so many other people that had that impact on me that now I try to figure out what point did they impact me? How did they impact me? And it's just it's hard to say at that it really

is gosh. I had an uncle, Larry, who was my godfather, and he played football, and he was one of those guys that you know he got he got hurt in college and back then, you got hurt in college, done, you were pretty much done. He was a knee injury too. But growing up he was a guy that everybody talked about it in the community because he was a great an athlete. Goes into college and gets hurt and the

career ends, but his legacy carried on. And he had this way of saying things to me like if I ever got myself in trouble, you know, he was there. He always tell me up because see your mom faced the music, get it over with, trust me, you'll be okay. I mean, he was that kind of voice for me. So I would put my uncle Larry up there just because throughout throughout this whole time he made that kind of impact on me as well. And then my mom's dead.

My grandfather he was a he was never a naturalized citizen. He had his green card throughout his life, and he worked the fields as fleeing as valley as as a farm worker. And he used to always show up at all of our sporting events that he could get to, and sometimes he would he would literally come out of the fields wearing those big rubber boots, just caked in mud, overalls, gloves, you know, everything dirty, and he'd watched it. He'd sit off to the side and he'd watched the games. And

you always wanted to see if Grandpa was there. And and it was one of those things because you knew that in his mind it was about the American dream. And the one thing I never forget was that he had bought his house. Okay, he came. He actually came from the Philippines, worked in the fields and his whole goal was to buy his own house. And I'll never forget when he had bought his own house and we were over visiting and I was I just turned fifteen,

and he said I was just turned. He said, Ronnie, I want to show you something and he pulls it out. It's a deed to his house. He said, I owned this. And that made an impression, just thinking, man as wow, I mean, and I really didn't understand it till I got to college and he got sick and passed away, But just thinking about what he had done, you know, raising the family he raised, making the impact he had on us. I mean, mine's you know, my Mount restaurant

is really family oriented. And I think that's what you know for me, that that that was important, It really was. I mean I got to go to Puerto Rico see my dad's family, not as much just because you know, getting to Puerto Ricos isn't as easy as you like to. And I can remember going to the family farm and seeing it, and I can remember the original farmhouse is in the middle of this forty something anchors that they had and it's still there and they keep it there

and they keep it up. Some of the cousins keep it up because they think it's important for the whole family to know where we all came from. Yes, so when you see this, it started off as this originally was just one room hut, and then it became two rooms. And the second room really was was the bedroom from my grandparents and everybody else. You know, they had this little area where they slept, this kitchen that they had and just like this family room and that was it.

That was the size of it. And it's there. And when you when you get up on the hill and you look down and you see that, and you see all the stuff that they had, you said, and they go, that's all they had. Then you realize that's all they needed. Yea, And so you know, so that's why I think for me, you know, that would be more of a family thing. We're living our second acts via you know, our our

our next job. Since playing football, What advice would you give a player going into retirement or their next act of life? Oh, have a plan, have a plan. I didn't have a plan for the most part really because I kind of wanted to find out what I wanted to do, and I started working in the real world, and I hated what do you consider the real world? Coach? Oh,

it was it was a real estate job. Okay, okay, And when you have to work on somebody else's schedule that doesn't impact you the way it should, it's bothersome. You know. I hated having people dictate to me, and I thought, you know what, this isn't for me. And I was struggling. I really was. I mean, things were going well, I was making money, but it wasn't. I wasn't happy. And more importantly, my wife knew that. And I know, you guys know Stephanie. The first thing she said,

she said, you gotta get back into football. I said, wow. She said, I don't care what you do, but you got to get back into football. Yeah. And so it drove me to a situation where I was talking with

Walter Payton. I was actually doing some radio and TV like a lot of guys do when you get out, and I got to do the pregame, sideline, halftime and postgame show for the Bears opener and I believe it was twenty nineteen ninety six, I believe it was, and they were opening up against Dallas and I'm watching it and you know, I'm talking about the game with Walter and Walter looks at me, goes, how come you're not coaching? I said, Walter, I don't know how to get in.

I don't know what to do to get in. And he looks at me, says, come see me tomorrow. Come by me, Come by my office, let's talk. So the next day I show up at his office and we're sitting around and we're talking and just having a great time, and Walter looks, He goes, you should be coaching. He said, I listen to you talk about the game, and I remember when you were a player. He said, Ron, you need or he said, cheek or you need to you need to get into it. And I said, well, I

gotta figure out how. He goes, I'll talk to Ed. He was talking about Ed McCaskey. I said, I'll really you see. Yeah, So he talks to Ed McCaskey the next day. Because Walter at the time was on the board of directors for the Chicago Bears. So he talks to mister McCaskey. He calls me up. He says, hey, Cheeks, Ed wants to see you tomorrow. It's okay, So I think by then it was either Wednesday or Thursday. So I drive to the Bears facility. I sit down with

mister McCaskey. He says, Look, Ron, he says, we already started the season. So next year, I'll make sure you connect with Dave, you know, coach Wanstead, and we'll go from there and we'll see what happens. I said, okay, so lo and behold true to his word. February comes, I get a phone call from Dave. Hey, Ron, why don't you come down and see me? Okay, So I come down, We sit down and we start talking. I said, look, I think I want to do this. In fact, I don't think I know I want to do this. It

really he said. Okay. Well, he says, you know we have we have mini camp coming up pretty soon and then otis and I'd love for you to be part of it. And so sure, Well, while they were doing that, they had just started the Bill Walsh Pro Coaching Internship program Minority Internships, and so he said, we'll get you in on that program. So they get me in on that. So my whole goal in doing this was to make myself so needed that they were going to hire me

for real, okay. So I started showing up five thirty in the morning. I'm making copies and I'm making coffee. I'm taking coaches cars and getting washed and get gas for him. I mean everything, I mean nothing. Nothing was beyond me. And then I learned to do all the computer work, okay, and back then it was the Avid system UH, inputting games, doing the analytics back then where you would get the readouts from all the statistics, and

I was breaking them down. I was trying to find the stuff that was important in writing little reports on him and getting ready for Bob Slowik, who was the defensive coordinator at the time his son. His son's now the offensive coordinator at Houston. So I started learning all this stuff and I started putting us all together. And then halfway through training camp, I wrote a job proposal.

It was a two year internship. And one of the things that I did was I wrote, one of the greatest natural resources you have are the former players, and yet there's nothing to help them get into football. And that was one of the lines that mister McCaskey thought was important, and so he said, We're going to give you an opportunity. And so that's how they hired me, and from that point on I got started. So I have a plan, know what you want to do? You know,

I've talked to several your guys former teammates. Um. Remember Benum, I'm drawing brank on Ben's last night. Yeah, yeah, last name. But yeah, I know I should because he works with me. But I told him, I said, look, that's something you should think about. I mean, you're a smart guy. You played the game. You played it, you know with him with motion Ben Jacobs, And I said to Ben, what's your plan? Afterwards he's I really haven't thought about it.

I said, well, I there's something you want to do, let me know and we'll find a way to do an internship. Well, sure enough, lo and behold he calls me. I said, yeah, absolutely, came in, did an internship for a couple of years, and then when I got this job, I called him and says, you want to keep coaches absolutely, so we're gonna have to move from Carolina now. I mean, you know, see that was one of the things that when I first started coaching, I wasn't sure how Stephanie

was going to react to coach. The first thing she said, let's go there's another chapter. Let's go. I love it. Oh yeah, she was. She was all in. I love she's been all in. She really has. I love it. So last question. You know, this is an uncle head for a while. I've known him a while. He's older than me, where he looks older than me. Give me, give me, give me a good Roman story, give me, give me a good a funny. I would love to do this myself. Yeah, give me a good Roman Harper

Deacon story. But Deacon, well, you know, the biggest thing I could always say is that that every now in the Roman, I would have this conversation about Carolina versus New Orleans, and even even you know, what I was trying to do is get him a completely buy in, one hundred percent in US. And he did for the most part, except for I knew he still had that that that love and respect for what he did in

New Orleans. And I don't blame because they want a Super Bowl and you have those teams that are special. And we would talk about stuff, and there were certainly some things he would refuse to talk about, and he knew. I knew that he knew, okay, and he would just give me that glance and I said, Okay, that's all I need to know that I didn't say anything. I did say a word. I know he did, but I know I know. But we had some great robber we

really did. And and Rome was one of those guys that you loved to hate because he wasn't on your team, right, but you loved him because the way he played. And I told him a story. I said, when we were we were watching you and um Demiko coming out, that's and we saw Mark Anderson. Yeah, because we were writing these guys up, you know they were gonna be first round picks. We knew these guys were for real. Um, but we saw Mark Anderson the defensive end, and we

just kept saying, who's this guy. I mean, he's playing left in they run the ball to the right side and he goes thirty yards and makes attack on the sideline and you sit there. So that's how you know. But but we knew who I knew who he was. And just knowing that, you know he was in New Orleans. You know, like I said, you love to hate him just because of who he was. But you know, he was one of those the thing I respect more anything else.

So was the way he handled himself right. You know a lot of guys come from different teams and they won't buy in at all. He bought in, but I knew he had he had this passion for what they had done in New Orleansons. That's what you want because when you're part of something that was special, you don't forget it. You really don't, no matter what you can say all you want, but deep down you have that and I knew he did. We still talk about twenty was. Oh,

it was special, even though we didn't win. I think that that's one of those teams that you sit there and you have to respect, you know. Our biggest mistake was, like I said, you know, we couldn't get past the way we played the championship game were you know, and it's probably my fault and trying to find a way to get past that. That was the one thing we

didn't do. Yeah, it's crazy because I played against Peyton Manning and two Bow forty four and he was electrifying, he was so good and we beat him, yes, and then we played him six years later and Super Bow fifty and he was a shell of himself and we lost. And it's just like you just never know, and the best team doesn't always win, and like you say, the team that plays the best that day is the one that wins the game. And we were not that team. And if we played that team ten times, we'd win eight.

And there's no we were that good. We were that dominating all year long and literally played our worst game in the biggest game in season. I still think too, if men in term I could, I gotta I just would Oh. I mean, I'm I'm I'm not pointing to finger out myself, but I think I could have been more of an asse set well. I think I could have helped us out. Well. I won't call you a lawyer. I'm just you know, you say love to hate, I hate, I love to hate, I hate you your whole journey.

I just think it's amazing to hear because listening and talking with some other coaches, like we spoke with Doug Peterson earlier, and talking about his journey and now he never took a break, He didn't do the real estate

thing like you. Literally went from playing to high school coaching to coaching and moving up in the ranks and all of a sudden getting fired at Philly and then it was bitter was angry at what football, this whole player, he said, taking all this long journey and now he's mad at it, hates it, gets away, does real life things.

People lose lives, son gets married, Like you actually get joy from other things, and you see, like, man, like I get out of this this darkness, I get out of my own way, and now I'm back happy again. I'm able to actually be a better version of myself in the reset button. Yeah. But but for me, you know, I couldn't imagine taking a break from it because I love it so much, but also the realization of what it's done for me and the platform it's put me on.

I mean, I feel that there is a lot of things I have left to do, and that's why I do it because of the platform, but also because I want to win. I mean, I don't care about losing. I don't think about it. I don't sit there and get in front of guy as well. You know, if we lose this game, we gotta play this game win. No, I get to say, we gotta This is about winning.

And so that's what dry, that's where the passion is is because it really is and and my big disappointment is when we do lose and then get a chance to watch it realize that we shouldn't have lost this. Yeah yeah, And so coach Man, I'd be so honest and just canding with you, like I love your coaching style. I had two coaches in the league at Sean Payton and Ron River, and they couldn't be so far different, right.

Sean's this fiery, kind of crazy one game date. Ron is just like this even killed and I loved it. I appreciated it. And you know, to see you get up there in front of the room empower other people around you, and you learn that it really is more than one way to skin a cat. And it's been an honor to get to know you. It's been an

honor to see you grow. It's been an honor to say all the other successes that you've had from being a coordinator to all of a sudden now moving up, and you understand what it's like to be to look at the way you do, to come from the background that you've come from and be at this this platform

that you have. I tell anybody that said, look, man, my first training captain Carolina, we had a team meeting and we talked about like kind of nullified and using the N word because what it did for our locker room. I had never heard anybody have this conversation. I thought of was amazing that grown men are in this room. And when we most coaches are only so focused on

building what play we're running, what we're doing. Coach's like, no, no, no, We're gonna build from within on each individual player, and we're gonna talk about experiences. We got a couple of white guys up there. Ryan Khalil was awesome, you know, being from California's like, dude, I don't even really know. And then you know, we got some African American players, one user for terms of endearment, others are like, you know what, I actually need to be better about this.

And then I was sitting back and this is my first training came with this team. I'm like, this is the most interesting team and dynamic I've ever been a part of. And I've only been here for like six days.

And so when I saw that, I really bought in more so those other things that you did that lets people like me that were an outsider who kind of kind of struck up even more of this rivalry thing between the teams and like makes me buy him because I see you guys are doing it differently than anybody else. But I want a piece of that in my life because I'd never had that. Yeah, well, I'll tell you it was. It was a good group of people that we had there. Um, I can't take all the credit

for that. That was Mark Carrier. Yeah, and and Tony Porter. Tony Porter is an activist who works with the league, and they came to me with that idea, and I thought, you know what, there's some social issues out there that were, you know, kind of lingering and we need to talk about it. So that's why I felt compelled. Yeah, yeah, it's beautiful. I thought it was amazing. It was changing for me. I'd never been in a dynamic like that where we could all just openly talk and discuss about

our emotions, upbrings about different things. And you're right, social things we're going on in the world that uh, that can kind of rip at people in I know, inside of a locker room, we act like you know, once we're in here, nothing else matters, but sometimes it does. It does. Yeah, well, coach, we appreciate you blessing us with your time and and and just stuff. And we said, Hi, yeah, I know she's whooped you in golf. Yes, yeah, she did, believe me. I BlimE me. I I can knowne up

to that though. She's she's really as a good ladies player and she enjoys it. But I appreciate you guys having me on Roman and Peanuts Pie cast talking about your second act. I appreciate thank very much. And I was dope, like I love I love me some Chico. I love Chico, Riverboat coach, rivera, he got it. He got so many names like, I love that dude. He's amazing. I love him for his leadership, his character, just the man is off the field like he is just he's

an amazing man. I love that dude. He gave us a lot of different nuggets in that interview and his life aspects, some of his mantras that he lives by every day, that he walks by some of the most influential people, and his wife, that he's really been that it's poured in him that now he's able to pour into so many others. And he really helped change my whole life and outlook on a lot of different things. I mean, I live in Charlotte, North Carolina now because

he brought me in. So I'm very thankful of him and his wife, his family and everybody at that organization. And Ron, he's he's a plus with me and really hope on my board a plus individual. I'm Peanut. That's my guy Rome And this is the NFL Players Second Acts Podcast. Thank y'all for tuning in.