Jay Glazer - podcast episode cover

Jay Glazer

Jan 30, 202457 min
--:--
--:--
Download Metacast podcast app
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episode description

We are counting down to the big game this week as Brian is joined by author, podcaster, and "Best in the Business" NFL insider, Jay Glazer. The Fox Sports contributor breaks down his keys for getting the big scoop, the lessons of his short-lived MMA career, how teams can be powerful assets off the field, and his current charity work with organizations like Merging Vets & Players. 

Jay is also the host of the Unbreakable Podcast, which features his candid conversations with athletes, celebrities, coaches and mental health experts about the challenges of living with ADHD, depression and anxiety and tips and tools to navigate those issues.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

And Jimmy Johnson looks across their inter he goes, really got the video? I go, I got the video, and Terry Bradshaw goes, He's okay with me. Thank you, my best friend, God Almighty in heaven. Hi. My name is Jay Glazer and I'm here to fuck shit up.

Speaker 2

Welcome back, everybody, And as you undoubtedly know, this is the podcast we like to call Off the Beat, and I am the host. You like to call Brian Bomgartner. Now, if you watch football, or if you've ever watched football, my guess is you know my guest today, Jay Glazer, sports reporter extraordinaire.

Speaker 3

He is a.

Speaker 2

Powerhouse NFL Fox insider with deep knowledge of the game. He knows the players, he knows the politics. He has his finger firmly on the pulse of all breaking news, and he's he's always got the scoop. He is the best in the business. He also trains athletes and celebrities all year round at his gym Unbreakable Performance Center in West Hollywood. Jay knows everyone. I'm telling you, he knows absolutely everyone in the sports and entertainment world. And I

am lucky to call him a friend. But Jay's not just some big, burly guy who's all about physical fitness and fighting in the MMA. No, he is very dedicated to mental and emotional wellness as well. Jay has been very open about his personal mental health struggles and on his podcast Unbreakable, he talks with experts, celebrities, and recently me about different types of tools and techniques to deal with these issues, both big and small. Jay also runs

an amazing program. I have been a part of this, at least peripherally for a long time, MVP merging vets and players, and what he does is he brings combat veterans and former athletes together for workouts and for emotional support so they can give each other the support and camaraderie that they used to have on their respective teams or troops. This is an amazing concept and it has helped a lot of people. It's a new year, it's

playoff season, it's Tuesday. All of these are wonderful reasons to hear from my friend, the one and only Jay Glazer.

Speaker 1

Bubble and Squeak, I love it, Bubble and Squeakano, Bubble.

Speaker 2

And Squeak, I cook at every more lift over.

Speaker 1

From the Nay.

Speaker 3

What's up?

Speaker 1

Jay? Oh my dude, how are you, buddy?

Speaker 3

I mean, I'm great now that I'm seeing you. How are you doing.

Speaker 1

Living the dream? Dude trying?

Speaker 3

How's it going? I'm playoff football?

Speaker 1

Always excited. Man, it's been great. It's been a wild year for us. We've been on the road more this year than we normally have been. But yeah, we love this man.

Speaker 3

Like the studio has been remote more.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Yeah, we did a show from Air Force Academy that we did show from Thanksgiving in New York for the bread and then the follow up show there and then man, I've just been traveling all over the case.

Speaker 3

Right, It's great.

Speaker 1

I love it, man, I love it. It's the best best reality show in the world.

Speaker 3

You know it really it is. Actually someone just told me last night.

Speaker 1

Wait have we started yet?

Speaker 3

Yeah, we're yeah, we're going.

Speaker 1

Well you gotta give me like your heads up. No, what is it? It's go over start right? Nown?

Speaker 2

But and are we allot of I mean, I know you're a professional and you love the word action, but no, we just go And.

Speaker 1

What's my language need to be for your podcast? Do I need to be clean or no?

Speaker 3

No?

Speaker 2

No to clean? This might be wrong. Someone told me this last night. This was not researched by me. Of the top one hundred programs on network television through the year, was it ninety three?

Speaker 1

So I don't know what the number, but it's yeah, it's ridiculous. And even if you like man our pregame show, the ratings for a pregram show, I just asked somebody Fox here that I said, why were we not included in the top like for a ratings for a pregim show in all the top shows? Because our pregame show is like six million, right, and that's nine o'clock in the morning on the East Coast and Fox and l Sunday.

But our ot which is after the game, gets you know, stupid number like you know sixteen million or eighteen million, ethic are set along those lines, and we're not included in you know, the ratings. Not that we look at ratings or well, obviously you want to be the best way you do, right, but yeah, but yeah, you look at that sometimes you're like fuck, yeah, man, looking where we are, like why are we not put in there

and included with everybody else? But I think it's a it's you know in all sports, is we're escapism and the crazier this world has gotten, the more people I think need this escapism. And with football, it's the greatest reality show in the world. You can't make this shit up, right, It's fantastic. It's it's for me. I've always gone out also like, look, man, I don't cover the Middle East, right,

We're not that important. We're just sports and our job is to give everybody a break from how fucked up this world could be. And you know, the issues and the problems that we do have so the more. And that's why our show also in particular, we try and make people laugh. We want people to laugh, Like we're going to give you great information constantly, and but we're going to try and make you laugh all so to give you that break that we need for the world.

Speaker 3

Yeah, you know it is.

Speaker 2

It has become the collective American experience, right. I mean it used to be, you know, everybody was sitting down and watching mash together or friends or the office or whatever it was. But now it's that lot like what's going to happen? I need to know now and experience it together. We're texting where you know, facetiming each other as a play happens.

Speaker 3

It's it's crazy. It's crazy.

Speaker 1

Now it's even more because look, fantasy football definitely changed my life being an insider information guy right and now betting even more so because people are waiting, especially my ins and out segment end of what I'm going to say, but also, like you know, there's a lot of different moving parts and things that we all may say during the show where all of a sudden it changes the betting line.

There was a there was a time last year, two years ago where I came on and I said, I know, Kyler Murray's listed as questionable and there's another network that's saying they're waiting for his pregame warm ups to see what happens. I said, not only is he not going to play today, but he's out the next two or three weeks. And they pulled the game. One of the casinos pulled the.

Speaker 3

Whole game off the betting line.

Speaker 1

The betting line based on that information somebody Fox had told me. And I'm like, oh, ship, that's a lot of that's it. That's that's a lot of juice. That's a lot of responsibility too. I realized my life changed with football. With Fennish football, when my dad called me one day and he said, could you ask your friend John Fox if Steven Davis is gonna get a lot of carries this week? And I'm like, oh fux, So I called Foxy up. I go, Foxy, how much is

Stephen Davis playing this week? And He's like, what the fuck.

Speaker 3

Do you care?

Speaker 1

Like you don't care? You care about who starting who's not? Like I said, man, my dad's called him first fantasy football team.

Speaker 3

Because you should be.

Speaker 1

I said, no, He goes, You're really called me because your dad's fantasy football team. I said, I am. He said, tell your dad to sit him.

Speaker 3

Oh he did.

Speaker 1

Yeah, good for you. See that's where you you know.

Speaker 2

I, uh, clearly not as many relationships as you have, but you know I have some relationships. So yeah, across across the league. That for me is hard and fast. I can't do it. And I'll get asked sometimes too, and I'm like, dude, I'm not I'm not calling about game plan or yeah, like no for for fantasy football, but good for you.

Speaker 3

Good for I used to have.

Speaker 1

I used to have I used to be on and the two ones I crack up about the most I get calls from Michael Phelps, who now like that's my battle buddy. You know. Phelps and I talk a lot when we're both have you know, depression anxign and we talk about openly. But when now we know, like we're having an episode, he'll call me, so I could be there for him. I'll call him, or I'll just check up on him sometimes, or he'll check up on me

back in the dis So we're really close. But before we got close like this, he would be like his you know, his little freaking drinking stoner buddies whatever, and they would call me up. I'd be on the middle of you know, Fox, and he'd be like, oh wait. I'd answer the phone, like in between segments, I'm like, what's up, dude, And he'd be like with his friends,

like wait, wait, I got him on the phone. We got on the phone, Hey, would you take the Ravens and the points or in the Giants and the under my felt so I don't fucking know, Like he'd be talking to those buddies, and the other was Chuck Liddell and your boy David Spade. Spade has like nine fantasy leagues, and he would at least he would call collectively with like eight questions. But Chuck would call and be like, hey,

uh is LAMARJ Jackson going today? Yeah? I mean he's he's fine, He's okay, great, And he'd hang up and he'll call back two seconds later and go, hey, uh ish is mark Ing Room played today? And be like yeah, Chuck Markmans plays okay? And then but you would call it a times like hey, Chuck, can we get like one call with all your questions instead of fucking eight? I know we're punching your ship here. We just like get wee call together. But it's been it's been. What a wild ride it has been?

Speaker 3

Brother?

Speaker 2

Oh?

Speaker 3

I love it.

Speaker 2

All right, We're gonna talk some more about that and about this year. I want to talk about your ute a little bit. You grew up in uh in New Jersey, I like to say.

Speaker 1

I like to say I grew up outside New York.

Speaker 2

Out outside of New York, just just outside of New York City?

Speaker 3

Was football a part of your life early growing up?

Speaker 1

So I was a wrestler and I played football for one year in high school but realized either I had a cutweight or ad weight. And I loved wrestling and I love I love individual sports a lot more because I like to know I'm the reason that I won or lost, not because somebody else has worked ethic and you know, unfortunately for me growing up, when I when I was wrestling, I cut a lot of weight. I wrestled you love this man. Freshman sophomore years, I was one oh one, this.

Speaker 3

Is one up.

Speaker 1

And then my junior year man is where I really kind of fucked myself up. I wrestled one o six. I cut from one thirty three, and I would cut from basically one twenty one to one oh six twice a week. I would only eat Wednesdays and Saturdays after our meats, and if I didn't pin you early, I was fucked, I guess because I just cut way too much weight. And then end of my season early because of some health issues, were cut too much weight, went up to one fourteen. But that all season I'm like, oh,

this is gonna be great. Kind of people didn't really know who I was, and I wrestled a higher weight and it was great. It was kind of just blown through everybody, and I had really good freshmen and sophomore seasons and went underfeet of both years in junior varsity.

But then my senior year, like I came out of nowhere, was winning all these off season tournaments, and we had a scrimmage and somebody else who was a huge name at one fourteen, and I knew that at some point he and I were going to meet up in the state at one point, and man, we just started the scrimmage and pop freaking pop my knee and injured my knee and didn't really recover from it senior year. So I loved football. Football is my escape. Like I was

a huge Giant fan growing up. And you know, my dad and I had a season tickets Section three eleven, row eighteen, seats twenty and twenty one, so you remember that, and that was kind of like the best times I ever had with my dad growing up. Was going to do that, And you know, ironically, my first paid gig was covering the Giants in ninety three. It took four years to get a first paid gig. And by the way, the paid gig was nine four hundred and fifty bucks a year, like my first eleven years.

Speaker 3

Can make it in New York? Is not expend New York.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, I know right, Like you know, I had I had to play like bill's roulette, like which bill would I, you know, not pay this month? The only bill I knew. I had to play with my phone bill because I had to get information right right. He was turned off all the time, electricity's turned off, guy's patting down the door for my rent all the time. So yeah, I know, I'm you know, my add is taken over here. But yeah, I was a huge football fan.

Too small though to do anything at football because how much I had to keep my weight down in wrestling.

Speaker 2

You know, I do want to mention I was not planning to talk about this, but I my nephew, so my sister.

Speaker 3

They lived in Germany for a while.

Speaker 2

He really got into soccer and basketball.

Speaker 3

He's an athlete.

Speaker 2

He last year he had an injury kind of kept him out of soccer for a little bit. He started wrestling as a freshman there high school in Georgia one state. He this year as a sophomore, is now wrestling for varsity. He has transformed himself. He loves it. He's now not playing soccer. I just talked to my sister yesterday. He's not playing soccer in the because he wants to focus on that and he was talking or she was talking to me about the community that he has made. What

you said is what made me think of it. It's an individual sport, but the community, the coaches, how they work together. He absolutely loves it and not absolutely loves it.

Speaker 1

I learned everything really from wrestling, and what I mean by that, as I learned the grind and wrestling is the support. People don't watch, so it's like, how do you become great? It's all those hours you put in when nobody's watching, right, And that's what a wrestler is, right. You're grinding, you're drilling, you're drilling. You're drilling, you're drilling. And the way I got to where I am in my career is I just outworked everybody. And I just

said I'll be the last motherfucker standing every day. I will outwork him. I'll work them, I'll work them, and I don't mind if if people, you know, kind of whip my ass on the way up, I will just outgrinde him until everybody eventually says, like, holy fuck, he's still standing there, He's still here. And that's the wrestler's grind of just doing it over and over and over and over and not until you get her right, just

so you don't do it wrong right, you know. And that's that's really how I got to around my career, just out working the world and constantly beating down people's doors and you know, willing to be rejected a million times. And I got that from wrestling. I got that grind from wrestling.

Speaker 3

Wow. Well, so you went to Pace So.

Speaker 1

No, when people don't know it's my first college. We were doing bad jersey things. Let's say that.

Speaker 3

Okay, in the late eighties, okay.

Speaker 1

And I knew I needed to leave. There was bad things ahead, right, you know, death for jail or something like that. So I know I needed to leave and kind of get away. So I went to Westchester University of Pennsylvania without seeing it, only because they had a boxing team. I didn't want to wrestle anymore because I don't want to cut wait, but I was someone competing in an individual sports. So I went down there, and little did I know it was a dry campus and

a dry town. I got kicked out of Westchester for quote unquote disciplinary problems after a semester and a half, and I went back and I went back to start doing jersey things, and I actually signed went and met in Checaucus, New Jersey with a certain crime family to sign to box for them, and that was going to be my future and I was really excited about it. And the day before my first practice was supposed to be in Jersey City and it's like, God hit me with a lighting boat, like.

Speaker 3

What are you doing?

Speaker 1

You're not even a talent, You're Jewish, Like what are you doing? And I never I never showed up practice, thank god, because I think my crew got a lot of trouble after that. And I went to New York City. Yeah, I went to pay College downtown Manhattan, but the cheapest place I could live, and New York City as your campus. You got to grow up in a hurry, and I grew up fast again. I got that kind of wrestlers driwing.

I went and I worked a billion things like bar backed and bartended and bounced, and I foxed, and I did stand up comedy in the city and I did anything and everything you possibly good, just kind of you know, make ends meet and eventually pay rent out there as you know, it's hard.

Speaker 2

Well, I read you studied speech communications and media studies. Was sports what you wanted to do? You wanted to do sports.

Speaker 1

Well, I love sports, but I would take anything. So my first internship was in nineteen eighty nine and Lifestyles the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach. That's my first one. I got. Yeah, really yep. So I was like, I'll do anything. I just knew it. I didn't do anything, and I definitely wanted to entertain in some way, but I would have been a producer, camera mad in anything. And you're right. I went to Pace for communications, right,

I really go to class. I got you know. I was actually one of the first adults diagnosed with adult add on the East Coast of America RELAW in nineteen eighty nine, and they put me on freaking riddling in eighty nine. And I used to have to go explain to my teachers, you know, hey, I got it. Just take a break from class for a second, take this bill and kind of put some order on my face. And all my teachers thought I was full of shit. So I didn't really go to class. I just went

to like mid terms and finals. But I would work, i'd bartend, and I would intern. I was interning at WFA and Radio, and I was I got a job logging tape at CBS Sports for fifty bucks a game. Like I said, I was doing stand up comedy in the city at like Boston Comedy Club and stand Up New York. A lot of people don't know that, and I was just trying to grint. So if something like in comedy popped up, I would have done that, if

something that's sports popped up. I took like a writing class and I ended up bullshitting my way into a job with the New York Post but also writing covering the Giants in ninety three for zero dollars, and then the New York Post in ninety five as their NFL insided, for two hundred and fifty dollars a week, which came out to nine grand a year. That was the nine thousand and four to fifty in the four hundred and fifty bucks, and I eventually got a job at New

York one TV. I got three payments of one hundred and fifty dollars and I did a weekly show for them for a car service because I'm like, man, chicks will dig this, and bro I did this for I didn't get a full time job untill ninety nine, so

I started in the business. Those internships in eighty nine, and it wasn't until ninety nine, but I covered the giants all those years, you know, hence the add But like, I walked in that giant locker room in ninety three and I looked around at everybody said, I don't have the experience of them, I don't have the education and everybody else, how could I be different? And one I'm like, man, like I got that wrestler's ride. These cats working nine

to five. I love working out by a little by a lot, but that prevented me from working other jobs to like pay my bills. So if they're going to work forty hours, I work one hundred. And I did. And the only way I got around, thank god, is I met this goofy guy with bad teeth on our first week and we became best friends. And that was Michael Strahan and thank god, and he drove me back in the city every single day till I got my first full time job in ninety nine. So I only

twenty six grand and Lincoln Tunnel Fair. But they those players appreciated my grind. But the other thing I said is I said, Okay, how could I be different? Man? All these cats were using their pen as a weapon. I'm gonna start relationships with people. I'm gonna I got more in common with these players and coaches, and I did my fellow media. And with the relationships will come the exclusives and scoops. Right, And I got murdered for it for the first yeah, five, six, seven, eight, ten

years whatever, just chilling for it. But now everybody has relationships and that's how it's supposed to be.

Speaker 2

Were there insiders at this point, I mean there were beat writers which won Will McDonough okay.

Speaker 1

First and then Gary Myers is doing an HBO show and on inside the NFL. But no, so I kind of that said straight and used to say, you've created an industry out of nothing, like you've got nothing.

Speaker 2

And by being good to people's right, I mean being good to people and having them want to be around you.

Speaker 1

And then but giving out this information. I started realizing more and more people want this inside information. This is when that whole internet thing first came out, which I think is going to take off. I was the first, like made it by minute, breaking news guy in the country.

I'm like, man, if I could break stuff on this internet thing and get news out immediately, man, that's okay, that's it's on there, and I got I was doing it for CBS, Porcelain dot Com was me versus a guy named Lynn Pascarelli at ESPN dot com, and John Clayton and and and the rest of peasts and the great Chris Mortenson to really really the first ones, and then after that I try to always pick a fight

with ESPN because I had this fight background. I went from wrestling to boxing to Mitch Martial Arts early and the only kind of mainstream guys who were in it back then, mainstream if you will, were Me and Brogan and Kevin James and David's Fade. They were really into it. But yeah, so I kind of made it try to pick a fight with ESPN because I knew I wasn't

going to work with them. So every time I broke a story and they try to steal it, I'd, you know, make a big deal about it and everywhere I could. And it was a good brand, and eventually Fox saw it and thank god hired me an O four from CBS and the Man of Rest. Then is my twentieth year with Fox and Noble Sunday, and we've been around for thirty years, and yeah, they saved my life.

Speaker 3

It's you know they It's incredible.

Speaker 1

I could pay my not making nine grand a year anymore, But I've got the family. Like, the reason why we're so great at what we do is me, Howie, Tarry, Jimmy and Stray. We freaking love each other, like we are best manned each other's weddings. It's been a lot of freaking weddings. Yeah, well a lot of us suck at that fathers of each other's kids. Like we we vacation together, we do Thanksgivings together, we do Poldays together,

we donears together. We do in the off season, we all go to Vegas together, we go somewhere else together. Like we're constantly hanging out. And I think that shows absolutely right. When you guys invited, it's your choice who you watch in the pregame show and who do you want to fight in your in your home every week and for thirty years, thank god you all invited us in.

Speaker 2

Did you have a time early on? Is there anything memorable where you had you have to draw a line right between your relationships and wanting and also release information that will that other people are interested in. How did you find early on that line between things that you could say and that you should not say, and did you ever fail?

Speaker 1

Yeah, no, there's there's And look at the lines got even cloudier because after I stopped fighting, I created the first mixed martial arts training program for pro athletes, and of me and Randy Coutre and Chuck Ladell have trained I don't know, a thousand pro athletes, a lot of

them football players, not just fighters. Yeah, hundreds and the hundreds and hundreds of football players, and including full teams like we went trained the Falcons twice as a team, and the Saints and the Browns and the Rams and for you know, a month periods or six week periods, things like that. For me, I've always said, if it's off the record, it's off the record. I'll never burn anybody. Ever.

There's been times also, even where guys have said things to me very emotionally, and I said, okay, we're gonna stop this. I just want to make sure you're telling me what you want to make sure is out there, because I don't want you tomorrow say I was misquoted. So I'll read back what they'll say, and I'll go, is this okay, for me to use, like I want to make sure I don't want this tomorrow, I'll fucking misquoted.

Don't give it this, this misquoted. Just make sure we're good here, and they'll like, yeah, yeah, I'm good and a lot. And what I'll usually say to guys is, listen, I'm not trying to catch you anything, but if it's going to come out anyway, you know, I'd love to be the first one to have it, and I'm gonna do it objectively, and I'm not going to kill you

over it like there is. I broke a story years ago about Balco, which was a steroid investigation in the NFL where a lot of guys got popped and a lot of my friends got popped, and I went to them I said, listen, I'm coming out with these names tomorrow, and your names are on it. You're better off having me do it and someone else who's just gonna fuck fucking killing you and not give you a voice. At least, I'm giving you the opportunity to have a voice and what

you like to say. Some guys said I can't say anything, but okay, and other guys would say, uh, I appreciate my comment. Is Hey, I'm responsible for what I put in my bout it or I didn't know or whatever it was. But because I have the relationship, I can go to them, right. But I've never burned anybody. Like I said, if I try and tell young reporters, if you go for the scoop instead of the relationship and you burned someone, that you got one scoop and that's that.

If you have a relationship, you can have ten. And then also you know, look, I wrote a book last year called you know, Unbreakable. Unbreakable, Yeah, how I turned my depression anxiety and a motivation and you can't too. And one of my things that I use in there to get the roommates of my head to talk nicely and not to live in this grays to have a team. And even though I was covering these guys all those years, they became my team. They became, you know, a team

that helped lift me up out of this prey. You know, I have this big personality and always talking to them as as a reporter, but it wasn't. They were actually helping me out, saving me at the same time. So it was a little bit more important to me. So that's why I never wanted to ever burn anybody because I needed this team to to help me through. It's it's, you know, severe. I wake up every single day of my life where it's hard to get out of bed in a skysphone. I've always been like this.

Speaker 3

It's not something that just happened from when you were a kid.

Speaker 1

From when I was a kid. Yeah, always, always, So I've always kind of needed these teams to get me out, and it's helped me quite a bit now that I talk about openly, they tell me a lot more. But yes, to that fine line that you were talking about it, I used to get killed a lot by people say, oh, he's not he's not objective, he's friends with these guys, he's this and that, and then everybody realized, Okay, the only the smart way to do this business is to have relationships with people.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you mentioned mixed martial arts MMA. You actually did a couple of professional fights while you were working for CBS one and one. So that's lost was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

Speaker 1

It was because people will be like, huh, and people there are certain cats who are actually in fun of me for losing. But I'm like, would you motherfuckers ever step in a cage? Fuck you No, But I say it's the best thing ever happened. Back then it was style versus style and boxing experience, and I had wrestling experience, I know, jiu jitsu experience. Man, I took this guy down so I could head butt him and smash him

because back then you could head button. And it was this style that I picked up from a guy that I really close friends with through the Rock is now going to make this movie named Mark Kerr, And there was guys like you know, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman

that that style of this ground and pound. I didn't know what any jiu jitsu, and because I got choked out my first fight with a guillotine, it forced me to go learn jiu jitsu and go train with the Gray season become really really really close with was Hando Gracie and Hoyce Gracy and those cats. But it made me a lot more well around, and it allowed me then to go coach all these football players that I

became really really really close with. So the loss was the win was great, But the cool that the funny part you bring it up. I went to my boss to CBS, and I said, hem, I want to compete in this mixed martial arts thing. And I didn't say anything about a cage or headbutting or anything like that. Loss Sean mcdantis was still there was like martial arts, that's cute, no problem, okay, And I would cop wait all week and then go down to Atlantic City fight

come back. Nobody did have any idea. And I was also on an MSG network and that the one fight during the season I went and I broke this middle knuckle on guys forehead or eyes, socker, whoever the fuck it was. And then I had a big lump here in the middle of my head from head button and I try to just have make up do some of that.

They couldn't. And then I would keep my right hand in my pocket while I was on TV the next day, and then I sat on with Fox and the day before I competed in something coral the World Submission Fighting Championships, and you have to, you know, go against three guys in like forty five minutes. And I got fucked up pretty bad the process. And I come into my first day at Fox and like my eye is shut and I don't know if I broke a foot or I

know my ribs got fucked up. And David Hill, who was the chairman of Fox, is like, the fuck happened to you? And I'm like, I just won the World Submission Fighting Championship. It was my first dad Fox, and he goes, and he's Australian. He goes, I don't know what the fuck that is, but you will never fucking do it again. And I was on a team mount in Arizona and I kept doing it, doing it and doing it, and just figure I just you know, apologize.

And then one day I was hosting a show with Eddie George, Tim Brown, Jason Sehorn and I had a teammate of mine named Jamie Varner who is going to fight Benson Henderson for the lightweight Championship of the World. And I was the South baw Benson was the South bas So I was trying to help out a lot and one day of practice, I got this tooth knocked out. I broke this bone next to like under my orbital bone, like right next to my nose, and I got a

gash down my forehead. I come walking in a host this show on Fox and I'm missing a tooth and the makeup artist is like, are you fucking kidding me? I'm like, oh, you're just inficial makeup a box. She's like, you're missing a tooth. And I hosted the entire show with my lip or like hiding my teeth and hi guys, just Jay Glazer, Eddie, George, Tim Brown and Jason Stewer and did the whole show like that, and the bosses Fox came to me and said, hey, we're we're all

about your fight career. I'm like really, like yep, but you come in with so much as a hangnail. From now on, you're off our air forever. And I was like, they're like, your if your ears CAULI flying like my ears don't cauliflower, Like my never have and said, I'm been restless is eighty two?

Speaker 3

You never have?

Speaker 1

And I'm like, and I normally don't cut. It's just like they're like, no, you don't understand. We're telling you. You come in with a pimple on your dose, you're off the air forever. We're not going through this again. So I had to stop immediately there and then, like I said, I had to learn how to start coaching guys. But that also allowed me to be the first host of an MMA show in America because I knew the sport, you know, better than everybody back then. So it's yeah, it's a pretty well ride.

Speaker 3

Man, that's awesome.

Speaker 1

But it also allows me to walk into any locker room though, and not get bullied by.

Speaker 3

Players, right do they try?

Speaker 1

No? Not now because so many of them that and they knew me from mixed martialks for me early but early on, guys would treat me like everybody else and I kind of look at him like funck you just say, and then I kind of go after guys and they'd be like, who wha, whoa, whoa. So there was definitely a reputation of man, this fucking guy, I'll fight you before we'll fight him, So what kind of he's off? So that definitely helped because I get your locker room, men's there's a lot of te stoster in there.

Speaker 2

I got to bring it up because it's probably the thing that made you, well the best in the business, or at least to be known as the best in the business.

Speaker 3

Shortly after you.

Speaker 2

Join Fox, a little thing called Spygate happens and somehow some way. I think to this day nobody knows how, but you obtain the video and your life changes, Yeah forever.

Speaker 3

How did you get the video?

Speaker 1

Well, you gave it to me. You got it from Aaron Rodgers. You gave it to me, not on one Aaron talking about me.

Speaker 3

Now, yes, stay away, stay away from that way.

Speaker 1

I'll never ever put it changed my life. And yeah, everybody thought that all the copies were destroyed. I end up getting a copy. Now, I'll never say how ever, I left so many breadcrumbs towards other people that could have given it to me, and poor ah Man. I kind of framed two guys that were them really closely to that work with us Fox Now, Mike Breren, Dean Blandino, and I kind of made it like lead to those guys like they gave it to me and they got framed.

To this day, people still accuse them of it and all that. And people have no fucking idea where I got it from, nor would they ever do. But people don't know that was my second week in studio and Fox. Really yeah, so the guys didn't know me and nor did they want me ont I mean, they had already been there for ten years. Last thing, right is Howie Long and Terry Brads, Jimmy Johnson. I want to give up time to this young fucking punk who they don't know.

Because I was always on the road doing games and report Tanis, they didn't really know me. And that same David Hill. Originally I would only do one one segment, but David's like, man, people really love this insider business and they want more and more and more of this, so we're going to start spreading your information over three segments. And then they bring everybody into our production meeting in

the morning. They tell them, hey, guys, from now and Jay's not gonna have one segment, He's gonna have three, but today he's gonna have four. And I'm like, oh, fuck, thanks a lot. This guy's name is Scott Akerson, and Howie and Terry Jimmy are looking at me like fuck him, And all of a sudden they're like, hey, hey, before you guys get upset, we're giving him a fourth segment because he has a spygand video and they're like, what I said, he has the video, and Howie Long gets

up and he goes, who's now won my fucking brother? Right? We are so close dude and doesn't look at me, points me. He goes, you're telling me this kid has the Spygate video. To the producer, still not looking at me, he's like, yes, you're telling me he has the actual video. Yes, And Jimmy Johnson looks across the room to me, he goes, really got the video. I go, I got the video, and Terry Bradshaw goes, he's okay with me, thank you,

my best friend, God almighty, and went on. And I actually called Roger Goodell and I said, hey, man, listen, I just want to give you the heads up. I got the spy gay video. I'm going with it. And he's like, you can't have the video. I destroyed him all. I said, right, you guys think you did. But I got the video and I'm going with it. But I want to give you the heads up. And I'm also just saying it because I know you're trying to leave launch an investigation. But if you do, I'm gonna leave

so many bread crumbs toward who it's not. It's really gonna fuck up your front office there and everything else. People are gonna be so paranoid and accusatory of each other, so I'm just asking me not to do the investigation that I think it's gonna endup hurting more people. And Roger's response will surprise you. Was you got the video. I said yeah. He said, man, that's that's huge for you. And I said yeah. He goes, well, congrats, that's that's big. And he said, but you can't ask me not to

do an investigation. I'm gonna have to try and figure out who gave it to you. I said, I hear you, But Roger, I'm just gonna I'm gonna leave so many bread crumbs everywhere. So he wasn't like, no, don't. He was like he appreciated the hard work. But it changed my life. And then all of a sudden it went from spy gave video to how did this guy get

the spy Gift video? And I remember I'm on a beach with my dad in South Carolina and Senator Arlen Spector calls me, yes, I heard this, and he asked me for my copy of the spy Gate video and offered up a bigger scoop if I gave him my video. And this is a guy who did Kennedy assassination, right, And I was like, hey, Center respective respectfully, I just hit a home a grass slim against the Yankees and the bottom of knine and of the world. Series said

nothing bigger you could give me. But also, I don't think Congress should be worrying about where I get scoops or spy gift videos. I don't think that's where my TX dollars should go. He said, I want to have to go here, but if you don't give us the video, you might, you know, basically threaten me with jail time for obstruction and justice, to which I was like, how do I carol? I to his fighting lift anyway, and to my dad's looking at me, like what are you doing?

And then the Fox guys also they had heard it. It would printed him when I said that, And the Fox guys are like, what are you doing? Because I'm just trying to show Congress then I'm off, Like you're trying to show Congress that you're off. I'm like, yeah, I'm just trying to show all them crazy, so they don't they won't deal with me anymore. And they're like you're trying. I'm like, look at to work with you right now.

It's like you are fucking crazy. I'm like right. So they're like, don't say another word about it, don't say anything else about it. But it, Yeah, changed my life. The backstory about it is so insane, the only copy in existence. I used to show it at parties at my house all the time and just had some fun with But it changed my life, man, really did it? It changed my life again. Thank you God. My best friendal money.

Speaker 3

Wow, that's incredible.

Speaker 2

And you know, talk about starting a new job and showing your employer that they made that they made the right call.

Speaker 1

Well, well, the crazy thing is they they had a meeting with me with attorneys and everything. They're like, how did you get it? I said, I can't tell you, and they said, did you steal it? I'm like, steal it? I'm I just steal out my I'm looking to you think got broken a parking avenue? Like we are talking about what and they're like, we have to ask And they said, you know, they're gonna start an investigation and whoever your friend is who gave it to you, he's

going to get caught. And I said, I didn't know what's he I said, listen, this is my job. I said, you don't want to go with it? Then I'm gonna put it somewhere. But this is what you hired me to do. You hired me because I'm the best of what I do, and things like this. And later that year, I got another videotape of a player jumping another player at the Palms restaurant of a Palm's casino and like pulling his chains off and all this stuff. And I

walk in and again David Hill is sitting there. He's looking at the video and he looks at me and he goes, you got the fucking surveillance video for the bombs? He said, Yeah, he goes, I don't even want to know. I don't even want to know. He just walks out. It was all the same year.

Speaker 3

You mentioned it before.

Speaker 2

You have also been an incredible advocate for mental health and depression. Your book you mentioned before, Unbreakable Phenomenal, your podcast interviews you've done. You know, I follow you on Instagram. You know you're very public about even daily struggles that you have. Well, two questions, One does that openness help you? And two are you doing it to try to help others try to destigmatize an issue?

Speaker 1

Yeah? You know, And again I talked about the book like one of my pillars to help me is is having a team. Another one is being of service. And one thing God blessed me with is the ability to communicate things well. And I'm like, man, we can all talk about mental health and people say mental health, but I want to give it words and then you can have the conversation. You know, I never talked to it like he used to be. Hey, Glazier's crazy. And after

I came out with it. Actually, Mercedes Lewis is a long time you know, NFL player now going into like year nineteen or twenty reason whatever, and I trained him for years of mixed martial arts and he's like, man, I knew you were crazy. I just didn't know how much pain you were and I'm sorry I didn't see it. And you know, for that again helps build more teams. But for me to be able to when I describe what an anxiety or a panic attack felt like, which

I have every single week I go on TV. We feel like you're having a heart attack and your eyes are shaking back and forth, and you're sweating, and your hands are going back and you know, shaken, and you feel like the walls are coming in. All things I've learned how to handle that now that knowing that I'm safe and to breathe it out and laughter helps me a lot too. Once I came out with that, I can't tell you how many people in our business reached

out to me. I was like, Oh my god, thank God, because that's what I go through too, and I didn't know what it was and for years, like my first anxiety attack was an empty Raiders stadium in two thousand and five, and I thought I was having a heart attack and I was getting my heart checked out for twelve years. It actually wasn't until I heard Terry Bradshaw talk about it. I was like, Oh shit, that's that's

what it is. That's what I have. So then I realized I could do the same thing for other people. I could talk about it but also talk about ways, like I call it the gray, living in the gray, which is depression, anxiety and the ADHD and the bipolar and all this shit and the blue. And I used to exist in the gray, and now because I've come out and talked about it, my life is the blue. And I wanted to give people hope there's a way

for us to get out of it. It's by having a team by you know, I learned all these things that I've done a lot of work on myself constantly with a therapist, which is a therapist for me as coach, So why wouldn't I Like physically, we're always doing stuff to help ourselves. And I tell football teams this all the time. You're always catching passes, not just when you get the drops. You know, you're always you're doing tackling drills, not just when you're tacklings off. If you do it

all the time. But we only go to a therapists from Scots fall. We're never proactive about it. So let's start getting right. So let's start getting asked prety ups proactive about that. But they probably not enough therapists out there for us. But right now I've viewed them as a coach same way. But at the same time, we can lean into each other and be each other's coaches. And the more you can lean in your teammates like that, thinking how close you guys will be as a team.

So it's got me closer to everybody. Not one friend has told me to suck it up for them being a woos nobody and like for me also I wanted to be a dule. I think a duly dude who talks about it is great because no one's questioning my manhood, right, so I can try on the drop of a dom, I could sit there and come on Instagram and be open. I think the last time I did that was about

a month or two ago. I was just doing great, and then just one day I woke up and fucked me and the sky was falling, and I just thought my world was ending. And instead of me just sitting in bed and keeping inside and fucking crying in the fetal position in the corner of my room like I used to do, I took to Instagram. I told people, hey, man, I'm struggling today. Today is one of those days. And I always told you all I would be honest about

it and to show you you're not alone. We could walk this walk together and it immediately people just started reaching out to me, and it got me through it, where in the past I'd make some bad decisions to get me through it is she was you know, Viking and an alcohol to get me through it and go out and get myself. And you probably see me in some of those situations when you and I sang out of rock and rileys together. I was probably on one and it wasn't good for me. So now I'm learning

things that I never learned before. I'm learning how to you know, love that kind of like the lit the little kid in me who's so fucked up, and learned how to love him off, little Jason, and you know, breath work and meditation. And now I have these new unbreakable habits that I do every day and that allows me to in the blue instead of the gray. The gray still visits, it's just a fucking visitor where it used to be. Pull up a chair at the dinner table and sit there all fucking day long. So that's

why I want to talk about it. So, yeah, we have service to everybody else to let them know. And I do think that those of us with mental health

issues or in the majority, we're not the minority. We feel like we're in the minority because we don't talk about and even if my level's clinical, but we're all going through something these days, because man, we all think our lives suck because we compare ourselves to everybody else's filtered, fractured of one second of one day on Instagram or Facebook, and it's highlights like how are you supposed to survive? Like we all think our lives but my life sucks.

Everybody else's is great highlights all the timer, people giving you these motivational croats all the time, and Fox, it's not what life is. Or you're on Twitter where you're just getting bullied a thousand times a second. So we're

all going through something. So I wanted to give a voice to people and give people give it word so we could start having conversations with our friends and our wives, and our kids especially and our moms, and I've got grandparents reached out saying thank you for the first time in eighty years. I now have the words to tell my husband and kids and grandkids what I've been struggling with for eighty years. And a lot of girl dads saying, man, I know I can understand my girl, my little girl

a little bit better. And that for me has been the most special thing in the world. So that's why I continued this podcast, you know, Unbreakable, and now I'm calling it a mental wealth podcast instead of mental health and I still think it has that stigma, but meant to get through these mental health issues that leads to mental wealth.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you're an amazing, amazing guy, and you are helping people so much, and I just want to let you know though it's not something that I you know, it's certainly nothing clinical for me, but the courage that you have shown and the real help that you are giving to people is really admirable.

Speaker 3

So I want to thank you for that.

Speaker 2

And I have to mention MVP merging Veterans and players.

Speaker 3

You started that with Nate Boyer.

Speaker 2

You know, I'll do a terrible job of explaining what it is, but basically, you are joining together former combat veterans and former athletes to help each other with the veterans transition back into regular life. For lack of a better term, talk to me a little bit about why doing that work for the veterans and for the players. By the way, you've talked to me in the past about the help that you feel like it gives to past players as well.

Speaker 3

Talk to me about why.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I started as out in my living room eight years ago. I've kind of actually now I've stepped away running and I've handed it over to those guys because you know, Kid's really big and you're like, you know, I'm not a paid employee and I'm taking up, you know, ninety percent of your time. So I'm like, I gotta I gotta hand off these cats, let them kind of run and do it. And I'm just proud of it.

It's yeah. I started in my living room with like two combat vets and a fighter and a football player, and I know the job isn't the same, but losing the locker room is the same. The suck of that, losing your team is the same. So I just thought back then, man, what if we put them together. We train them for about a half hour just to give your locker room back, and then we just talk. We

have mental health talks. And it started from my living room and then went to my gym, Unbreakable in West Hollywood, and we'd have you know, seventy eighty ninety people there on a night, and I would a lot of times kind of life coaches and talk about this. And that's where I got the words from to write a book and to use it for everybody else. I knew if I could help this high risk group kind of get through it, And my thought to them was, look, you play in the NFL, is now who you are? Right,

they think the uniform comes off and it's over. No, what's behind your ribcage that got you to beat out millions and millions and millions of people? That's who the fuck you are that doesn't suddenly just leave when the uniform comes up? But who tells them that? So now, if I can give them a group that can remind them of that, then man to walk this walk with It's great partimular combat vets. You go overseas and you

do all these great things. You have grace under fire or courage under pressure, and then come back over here they're like, oh, I'm different. I'm like, no, motherfucker, you're different. Different is good. Different leads to success. But who tells them that? So I try to get this group so we can remind each other of that and really build each other up. And I guess it's a beautiful thing. It's it's in eight different cities, and yeah, I hope, really hope that they can they can build it and

grow it and do bigger and better things. And you know,

there's my second charity. I used to do one also with kids called Touchdown Dreams, where I would have children who are fighting for their lives and I'd link them up with like their favorite athlete or sports teams to walk this walk together, not just like a one shot deal, to like bring them in and have them captain of the day and you know, really be part of a team, not just for that one day, but moving forward with guys, go visit the hospital and you know they would you know,

talk on the phone. It would be a constant thing. So those are my two charities I've started, and now I'm trying to do a third one with Unbreakable and you know, a bigger mental health We'll see. You know, the m v P part was beautiful, and you know they're continued to to, I think, roll out in more cities as we speak. I know they're trying to.

Speaker 3

You're an actor as well. I mean, you are the hardest.

Speaker 1

Ballers, but I'm not an actor. Dickhead self.

Speaker 3

Yeah, bones the longest yard.

Speaker 2

When you're about to be at a movie, what are you talking about underdogs with Snoop dog.

Speaker 1

Right, yeah, Snoop yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 1

But I'm playing my normal dickhead self And in just about all these I did.

Speaker 3

The league I was doing that I loved that's right.

Speaker 1

Yeah, but that's how you know, I did thet game plan with the Rock, and that's how he and I became so close, and that's what got me, you know, with Ballers. And but like I couldn't remember, like you remembering all those scripts in all those lines. I don't know how to fuck you do it. I would come on and be like, hence the ADAHD part, like I can't do this shit and do him and just be

like just just let him do whatever. I would change all my lines and I remember that shit, and they're like, just just let him do him and thank god, Like, but I was playing myself. If I had to play somebody else, I'm trying to figure out a way. But that you guys been able to remember all that as always, like I've marveled at it, Like I don't have that mental capacity. I don't think we'll see.

Speaker 3

Well, well yeah, we'll see.

Speaker 2

I was talking to somebody yesterday, what was the greatest football game that happened in twenty twenty three this season? The greatest, most important, significant, best?

Speaker 1

Where you leave me on something?

Speaker 3

Drama? I don't know all they all are.

Speaker 1

Like I I it's a constant no, they all like every week it's the greatest reality show in the world. Every week there's some sort of sullen that shock to you. You're like, whoa, holy.

Speaker 3

Shit, all right.

Speaker 2

I was talking to the person that I went to the game with, and you know, I've been lucky. I've talked about this, lucky enough to go to playoff games and Super Bowls, and I don't remember ever having the full wide spectrum of emotion of visual Then the first Monday night football game for the Jets and the Bills Week.

Speaker 1

One, But that's not the best game.

Speaker 2

That's like September eleventh, Yes, like mean like like memorable, wide range of emotions, drama, horror that was like yeah, yes.

Speaker 1

That was right there, like Curse of the Jets, like ship Yeah, like it happened, and you're like, oh my god, yeah it's gonna happen. It's gonna hapen to the Jets, Like yeah, wild, wild, wild it was.

Speaker 3

It was crazy.

Speaker 1

That was wild. But but nothing surprised me. Nothing surprised me in the League of this year.

Speaker 3

Yeah story this year, Eric, Yeah.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that is up. The biggest story I broke this year was nobody knowing that the Philadelphia Eagles got rid of their changed their defensive coordinator and it just sacked. Nobody knew and I kind of can't And I didn't even tell my guys on on Fox, and I said, you know, this week, the Eagles made it very very quietly, made a huge move. I fire and sell the size their defense coordinator and putting them Matt Patrician. All the guys in the show were like, what they changed their

defense cordator? Nobody knows? How does nobody know? Them? Like, that's what I do. And they're like, what you gotta be kidding me?

Speaker 3

Wait, do you broke it on the air to them? You hadn't even told them.

Speaker 1

No, no, we don't rehearse, Like we don't rehearse our show, right and we come on the first time like we're.

Speaker 3

In the makeup trailer. You don't mention it at all.

Speaker 1

They knew I had something big on the Eagles. I didn't see what it was. They just knew it was big. And then they were like, it's fucking better be big. It's you know, you build it up so much. I'm like, oh, I trust me, guys, It'll be big, and stray it looks at me like, how does no one know? This, it doesn't knock it out, and he's like, that's what Jay does and it was great.

Speaker 3

Yeah, who's going on the super Bowl this year? It's in Las Vegas. By the way. I don't know if you heard.

Speaker 1

I appreciate that.

Speaker 3

Yeah, we listen right now.

Speaker 1

The Ravens are King Kong. You know, they're they beat up on the best teams in the league. Hey, look it's the two ones. But you know, I think the forty nine ers are just physical. Now you know what happens the next time they based. Here's the one thing though, the Rams playing the Ravens down there and taking King Kong to the brink in their weather changed who the Rams were, so it makes them real dangerous.

Speaker 3

I know.

Speaker 1

I just the two one teams are the most complete teams.

Speaker 2

Right and if the two one teams when this episode airs are not still in well then right there you go.

Speaker 3

We were we were, we were they.

Speaker 2

Were, Which is why on Campbell I feel like there are going to be more big surprises.

Speaker 1

I wouldn't want to face the bills going to this playoffs.

Speaker 3

He wouldn't want to pay the bills. I mean the Rams you mentioned.

Speaker 2

Whoever gets hot less and I by the way both teams might lose.

Speaker 3

And this is not Homerdom. In the NFC, the two teams not the two best teams, but the two teams playing the best are the six and seven seed. I would argue the Packers and the Rams are playing the best.

Speaker 1

Yeah, usually who gets hot last. Yeah, And we said we all said this on our show about a month ago. Watch out for those Rams and the Bills if they make it in. You don't want to face them.

Speaker 3

They're just right.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you are amazing. I love watching you every Sunday morning and getting the scoop, getting the real, the real scoop from the real source, the og, the man that started it all.

Speaker 3

Thank you, my brother.

Speaker 2

I appreciate you coming on and talking to you, and I think we're going to be chatting.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I'm going to have you on my podcast.

Speaker 2

Dude, I know, so go check. That is unbreakable with Jay Glazer. Everything he does turns to gold or he's gonna kick your ass.

Speaker 1

Thank you, brother, I love you, man. I appreciate you.

Speaker 3

Jay.

Speaker 2

You're the best, my friend. Thank you so much for coming on. Maybe I will see you next week in Viva Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. You know the Rams and the Bills. Maybe they didn't go as far as we thought when we recorded this, but we've still got the Chiefs and the Niners. What an unbelievable matchup. Can Patrick Mahomes do it again?

Speaker 3

Listeners?

Speaker 2

If you don't know, I got to do Jay's podcast as well, go check it out Unbreakable. I'm gonna be on there very soon, and even without me, there are a lot of great games and important things.

Speaker 3

To learn from that podcast.

Speaker 2

I will be here next time, just like I always am. Until then, have a fantastic week. Off the Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer, Ling Lee. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and our intern is Ali Amir Sahed. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bratton,

Transcript source: Provided by creator in RSS feed: download file
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android