Finding Yourself Off the Field

just an NFL legend. Joining us today are two great defenders, one that talked the whole game on real fellow Hall of Famer as well, defensive tackle Minnesota Vikings, the great John Randall. Then we also have a guy I thought was always one of the smooth guys I see them on film. The guy look cool. I don't think I ever saw Donnie Edward's linebacker for Kansas City Chiefs in charges Pro Bowl linebacker. I don't know if I've ever seen you sweat man. You look like you want to smooth.

This cool as guys that I saw play the linebacker position. Welcome, gentlemen, thank you, thank you. Let's have some fun. So tell me how important is it to find that thing that excites you that keeps you moving forward. Come on with it, Donnie. It's passionate. You gotta find something in life that you're

passionate for. I mean, doesn't matter what it is. I mean, obviously we're very passionate about the game that we love and we played for so long, but there needs to be something outside of that as well that you love that you're passionate for. I've been very fortunate to have passionate a number of things outside of football. That's that's been really beneficial to my life. I'm very passionate for history, World War two, military history, traveling. I love seeing the

world and that kind of stuff. And why World War Two. You know, my grandfather, Maximilio Rouso, he was like, he's apache Indian and he was a pro harbor survivor. He was in the army and survived the sneak attack by the Japanese December seven one, and he was very proud of his service. First generation American is very proud of his service and growing up without a father, he was

kind of like my father figure in my childhood. I used to hang around him and all of his friends, you know, down at the VFW and the Kawana's and all this kind of stuff. It always resonated me. He was very proud of his service and always like had the uniforms and was teaching me about it when I was a young kid. And before he passed away in two thousand and five, he said, don't let them forget about what we did. And I, you know, read a

lot of World War Two history. I watched Law of TV and then I started doing living history like reenactment. That kind of blossom into meeting with World War Two veterans because at our events, we used to bring World War Two veterans to the events and there was a chance for us to connect with the guys that did

this history and it was great. You know. One thing led to another and I was talking about, you know, have an opportunity to go to Normandy, and one of the veterans that was a Normandy veterans said, I'd love to go to Normandy. I'm like, why don't you go. He's like, I'm tool, I don't have the money, I can't do it. I'm like I was thinking, and this is like, I don't know, maybe my tenth year in the league, so I'm still playing football at this time,

and I'm like, well, I'll take you. You know, I can't take you during June because I got mini camp, but i'll take you any other veterans like I want

to go too. So before you know it, like I was like, hey, you're taking those two, I want to go to the first year back in two thousand five, end up taking six World War Two veterans back to to Normandy and also to Holland as well, and which was like remarkable because ever since two thousand five, every year I've been taking World War Two veterans not only to Normandy and to Germany it's a Holland, but to Iwa, Jima, Okinawa, Sai, Pantini and Guam and all over where we fought during

World War Two. And it's a it's a great legacy and tuschment to my grandfather that I do this, and you know, and don't forget about these these World War Two veterans, you know, in their twilight years at of life, to be there to be with them and given us an opportunity for them to go back one last time to pay their respects to their brothers that never had a chance to live a full life. And it's important

to them and it's it's been wonderful. And I know I share this with John a few times about some of the events that I've done, and it's been incredible. You start doing this while playing the game. How do you think it impacted you and how you approach the game.

I think it helped me more with life, you know, because spending a lot of time with these men and and I mean these guys are all in their nineties and for someone who's at the time it was in my thirties, and trying to understand where they are in their life and what they've seen, the wisdom, the experience that they had in their life, and the stories that they say, and just talking to them and like what's important. What's important to me right now at this age that

I don't know that you know now at ninety looking back? Yeah, yeah, because like think about your nineties old you can look back to someone like look, kids, you know you should do X, Y and Z. And I just think the things that they helped me, I guess seeing the world, seeing seeing life and understanding it, you know, I mean. And the one thing that I took away from all this is like, it's not about what you ascertaining your life. It's about what you do for other people and and

sharing and and serving and giving back. Especially for me a kid from San Diego, from challenging upbringing and not really having much nine kids in our family and and not having any food and things like that. I mean, but people came and they gave and they gave me an opportunity. You know, guys like Martin Bayliss who came to my high school and and spoke to us about you know how you know, if we do X, Y and Z, we can you know, just just really positive message.

People taking a time out of the day and they don't understand the impact that they had on this young kid. You know, things like that like that's really helped me. And on top of other people providing opportunity money or gifts during Christmas time so we can have a Christmas and things like that. I mean, people don't have to do that, but that changed my life. I'm an example of what you know, service and giving back could help someone.

And then now that I'm in a position of my life to you know, to get back and to serve, and I feel very grateful and honor to to to get back and to share my you know my time and my effort with with our military, with our World War two veterans now, and I want to transition to John and for those legends that are listening to this podcast, we talked about what how did you find what excites you? It's the same thing. I'm the same way. I'm always want to learn and just meet new people because you

just never know what will come from it. It just all of a sudden you meet. Like I was always believe that life isn't about the destination, It's about the journey. So my journey all the different people I have met gotten to know, and it's just all of a sudden, I'll meet somebody and then just just finis out down in Dallas one day, playing from golf talking to this guy and next thing you know, he goes, I'm like, so what do you do? He goes, I'm the vice

president of Dr Pepper Cool. Next thing you know, he tells me we exchanged numbers and he meets a Dallas cowboy I think it was Jones. So he talks and he goes, yeah, he says it say he knows you yeah, blah blah blah. So from that conversation we started talking about the guys from the Ladies Potato Chips. So from the Ladies Potato Chips, the conversation goes to a guy who works at Tyler's golf Balls. And that guy from

Tyler's golf Ball lives in Albany, New York. So I get invited to Albany, New York, where I meet people from Ronald McDonald house and Albany, New York. From that conversation, just from the Dr Pepper guy, just from talking to just from talking to meet someone you and I think they're saying because my wife always told me, Okay, we're gonna go here, no talking. Yes, that sounds like my wife. Yeah, because I think we're all kind of the same. We

love but we love life. And like I mean, there's always some type of connection with someone you just never know you open your mouth. It's like the same thing with life. Man, if you just don't like open yourself up to learning new things, you're just gonna be sitting here and not really growing. I mean, does that's for life is constantly growing. I mean, you know, on't you're here for a short time, and I want to increase that capacity to learn. That's so true because you know

when you go in the locker room. Every year the locker room changes. Somebody comes in there, a new guy and what do you gotta do? Hey, how you doing? What are you from? And you never know what this guy is from? You never you never know that he may know somebody that you play with, or you know, just vice first, and you never know. That's what was so cool about to me. The locker room was like a soap oper It was like Young and Restless. I'm

coming in Hold John, like a soap opera. It's playing what I mean in the locker room, it's fifty three guys in there, and you can go, all of a sudden, go what you do last night? He go? Nothing? What you do? Nothing? What you do? Here's what I did? This guy all of a sudden starts conversation. You're like, where let you go? And all of a sudden it goes. That conversation could could continue for the next two to

three weeks. When it comes down to meeting people. What's happening now in our our country right now right a lot of tension and you have people, you have maybe African Americans and thinking that, oh up, John, you need to do that because you play ball, right, but we also know that legends listening right now who don't do it, who don't leverage their relationships, that don't do just what

you guys are talking about doing. So the reason why I wanted to stop for a moment to to have you have both of you guys share as too as an African American. Let's take let's let's go this angle for a second. Because I mentioned this in a prior podcast. My dad makes the statement and says, son is not what people don't know that hurt them is what they

do know. That's not true. And when you enter into these environments and there's a Tennessee to people thinking, well all many of a different inessity or they're Caucasians, they're not really, I don't care, You're just a player. But you're saying something totally different in these relationships. You know, one of the great things about football. I guess you can say basketball, baseball, but not much as football. Fifty three people in that locker room, and those people are

different colors. And you know, I've talked to some uh from you, Danny from who had this conversation. Now I've learned from talk to military guys and they said the same thing. It doesn't matter what color you are. It's the guy who's wind up next to you, or it is the guy that's you know, that's next to you, and you you become your your friends, and it doesn't matter what color you are. It don't matter. It doesn't

matter at all. I wish a lot of people in the world played football because they can understand that it doesn't matter what color you are. You just open the meeting people, or a lot of like are open to meeting people. You know. I still I can see a guy I hadn't seen in ten years, and like As and I played next each other and we won't see each other for a year or two, but we're set there in that conversation can strike back up like that.

And that's the part of Donnie that I don't think we get the narrative because sometimes with our game we hear about the inherent challenges that come with the game from a physical standpoint. I don't think we set the narrative of our own story of what are the benefits of playing this great game? What has been like that you not that you're you're out of football. In this camaraderie where we were in locker rooms with differentness. It

is Jonson, people from all over. We had these conversations and we were able to have a common goal together even though we saw life many times from a different perspective because how we grew up. How have you part lay that now as a legend. Yeah, well, it's definitely life.

I mean you think about someone like myself that's made up of three different ethnicities, I mean, who am I and I mean like I'm I'm I'm inter racial three times and trying to understand like who I am and trying to connect with you know, on a football team, you think about that because a lot of times it's you know, we have the African Americans on one side, I get the whites on one side, and then you have a maybe a couple of some moments in the

middle or something. That's how it's always normally been on the teams that I've been. And then there's like someone like me, you know, and everyone was like, what are you? I'm like, were you aware of this? Oh? They'll tell me straight up. It's interesting. I think if you're open to it to try to like understand and see where other people come from, if you have that time to, you know, and that's a great thing about Like you know, when I was playing like always like made the landbackers,

all the linebackers. We get together, you know, every Thursday night we're getting together some we're going to dinner, we're doing something. So we get to know each other, you know, and we're like became family like bonds, you know what I mean. Like I was talking to Derek Johnson yesterday, DJ from Kansas City, thinking back, like that was like a good time, you know, exactly that bond, it's that brotherhood.

And that's what I think that I really loved about it because we took the time off the football field to spend time to get to know each other. And and all of a sudden, like you were talking about the way you were raised, like wow, that's crazy, Like, well, you know I was raised this way, you're raised that way. You came from this one, And all of a sudden, like we have the understanding you can see it through

their eyes. We have that empty where we can kind of like see it, you know, and then we have that compassion for each other versus like not really talking to each other in the locker room. And then like Victor Ronnie comes to me, like, who are you? What are you? What? I might like, you're black, Mexican, you're white? What are you? You're something? You Samoan, I'm like, just me, man, I'm just me. You know. So we just it was just different. But you know, we never really got that

opportunity to sit down and talk. You know. It was a little contentious a little bit, but you know, and it's just how it is sometimes. Unfortunately, then the game because part of this conversation gets spur a conversation just within our society. Because when we did tell each other our backgrounds, it didn't separate us, correct, right then, it didn't say okay, I'm moving my locker. Yeah. It literally like you knew your teammate and then in the locker

room it was always shots fired, right. See, But you have to be open to it, right, so they have that openness, right, you have to have that mentality where openness were I want to meet them and try to like find out who they are what they are. I mean, that's the way that I think you and I think we all kind of turned that way. That's why we kind of like we're in lock froom that way. But there's some guys unfortunately come from a very uh small area,

small group like life where it's kind of homogeneous. I guess it doesn't really like have that multicultural deal where they're interacting with other, you know, different types of people around the world, and they're a little probably closed off a little bit. And I can see like a little bit of problems with that if you don't have that openness to go out there and try to meet someone. I mean, but I never really had very many issues

like that in the locker room. You know, now, John, the transition into all of us, if you play this game, the one per centers in the NFL that came out of high school, you have fire. We had to have a fire. How did you find your fire away from the game when you're transition? For me, uh, it was one of my things. I love working out, I like trying to be healthy was one of the things. But beat me on the little challenge, the challenge what what kind of challenge of the steps? I try to catch

you man? I was like, what are you doing? Like what steps? We go ahead? We do these steps something that challenge like steps every day? So for me, I like I get up in the morning like a Tuesday, fancy twoes and Thursdays in the summertime. I would get up and I would go to workout, and I probably burned about maybe god like eight thousand steps because I was walking the treadmill offense and I walked. I I

try to get five miles on treadmill. Then after that I make my shake, and after my shake, I go walk eighteen holes on the golf course and that's probably about ten thousand steps right there. I just like doing that. That was one of my things, is working out standards. It's not so sometimes when legends started thinking about Okay, find your passion, that's just a basic yea, it's just h yeah. But also, my wife, who's my best friend

you are talking about earlier. My wife's my best friend, and so she was always telling me, you know you you she's basically my wife is the the driver. I'm the end. I mean, I'm the car. So she was always telling me that you gotta find something that motivates you. So for me, Minnesota is my community and got around here. I meet just everyday people. So when you're meeting everyday people, you kind of go out of your way of finding

people that made need a little bit of push. A friend of mine, Fancy, he was working at at a cigarette shop. Kid was kind of like, you know what, this is it for me? He kind of was just like we probably have thought you saw him, probably thought

he was at the edge of his life. And so I started talking to him one day and I was doing a fantasy football and all of a sudden, I found out this guy who went this scraggly hair plasy like just closes, he just slept in the night before was a guy that didn't really care about life, sleep in his bed, didn't put a blanket down or anything. So I found out he's got a new football and started talking to him, and we end up talking about

him because he liked movies. Were not talking about a movie called good Will Hunting, and I told him, I'm gonna coming to cigarette shop and you're not gonna be here coming around. Football player ex football player Mike Morris the Center was doing a radio show, so he asked me to do the radio show. I brought my buddy down and so my buddy had a weird nickname, nickname meet Sauce. So I'm bringing Sauce down and I told him I'll get me ready to let Sauce get on.

Sauce gets on now. Sauce is on this radio show now number on radio show in Minnesota. Sauce is the guy that was my buddy who was working at the cigarette shop with Sauce, Sauce, Meat Sauce, and now he has the number one radio show here in Minnesota. And you spoke to him that it wasn't going to be just like for me, it's like finding people like in the locker room who need a little bit of motivation something. You said, I'm gonna come to it because you mentioned earlier,

how did your wife become your best friend? Oh? That was easy because she's one I would talk to. We just have that relationship just I can't really explain it, but she's when I talked to about everything. And as we're recording his podcast, Donnie has his beautiful wife see right here and tell us Donnie in terms of John has just says his wife being his best friend. I'm almost sure you said the same words earlier. Yeah, and how did how did she become your best Yeah? I did? Actually,

I mean it's pretty interesting for me. In my life is kind of crazy, So I never really loved anyone in my life. My mom never told me that she loved me. Knowing in my life ever told me that they loved me. So I didn't even know what love was. It's kind of like a basic thing to have when you're a child, so I never knew exactly what it was. And you know, as I was growing up and going through high school and college, I mean, you know, I always run away from, you know, relationships out of fear

maybe of being vulnerable. I guess I just never allowed myself to get there. And when I met my wife, I mean, it was like instant connection. It was like she was like the the void that I needed in my life that I was missing my whole entire time. Yeah, it's like because like I wanted to love, but I didn't want to give my love to someone who wasn't appreciativic and like damage it and then I will never

go back there ever again. So I'm very very fortunate that early on, like I mean, it was just like love at first sight, and then like she was committed to me as I was committed to her, which is very important, you know what I mean, because like in any relationship, you need to have like two people pulling the same way to bring it together or someone who's a compensated or if not, it's going to die. And we've always worked at it. And you know, Catherine has

been just incredible in so many different ways. I mean pushing me, like you know, pushed me to be a better man, to be a better person, challenging me, Yeah what do you what do you hear? That's my wife the same way, challenging, challengeing, like making sure six six weeks makes six months, let school get to go to the the doctor, let's get a check up, this, make sure

you help. It makes you you're good, you know, those little things that that just like a coach, you know and watching watching film, well because it's true because like a lot of times someone else says it, I definitely know, but when it comes from someone that's close, Like if I'm using that, you know, if I'm cursing a lot for some reason, I'm around something and I'm like every other words the F word, She's like, you know you've

been saying the F word a lot. Later, I'm like, no, I have if you're talking about oh yeah, but but think about it, Like no one else around me in my sphere would you know, will say anything, like you know, she's looking out for me. And I'm not even aware that I'm like saying this I am and I'm like, oh my god, I'm I'm educated. I should be better than this, you know. And that's just one example there. But it's just great, man. Like you know, I'm very

very fortunate. I mean I love learning new things. I love like challenging myself. I mean I read, I watched I try to like learn as much I can. I mean, I went back to school, got my master's in education. I'm always trying to like, like you know, I don't know grow, I guess it's just like constantly challenged myself. And and you know, seeing the world has really opened

up my eyes. I've been to sixty three countries now, so I've been I've been to sixty three countries and we just came back from a month long trip in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, which has been great because like it opens up your eyes, like you know, if you travel and you see the world, I mean just when you think what you know, you don't know, you know, you see how other people live and see what they have to go through and then like you come back here, it's like, damn,

we have nothing to complain about, like so good. Yeah, but people don't know it would go outside of your microcosm, over your world. You have to see outside and see like oh my gosh, like and I gotta tell you, like traveling, you know, it's really open my eyes and gave me so much more appreciation nember one to be an American, to live in this country and for someone who I didn't serve. I didn't fight for this country and I didn't fight for it. I'm just lucky to

be born into this country. That's why I'm just so like, like I just want to like you know, honor, uh, you know our veterans that are veterans that that fought for this country. And I mean because like this country is. It's not perfect, but it's far better than any other country in the world, and we're so grateful, so lucky to be here. And you don't know that until you leave this country and you see what it's like on

the other side. One of the things I see that you guys seem to have a good grasp but in that's identity knowing who you are. Did you always know who you were after your transition. It's one thing in the game, and that's how the game helps. It's a lot of players, a lot of legends there. I didnity this tied to the game. How have you guys been able to understand who you are now away from the game. Well, of all, it's kind of like knowing who I was. I mean, especially being a you know, of mixed race.

Either you gotta know who you are and what you're about, or you're just gonna be taking advantage by the group that you're in, you know, I mean, whatever your group is, because if you're just like a sheep, just gonna follow. So I've always I've always just been me, you know, and and I think that's helped me in terms of knowing who I am and what my identity is. Obviously when I played football, played sports, that became my identity, but I never lost sight of who I am or

what I'm about. You know, after the game, if I just stay true to to myself and to what I believe, then everything is okay. But you've got to have that confirmation of of who you are and that understanding that, like, you know, what I'm secure on what I'm you know who I am obviously when you leave the game. I mean, we've always been a football player. We all identified ourselves as football players. And then someone asked me Rob when I finished, like, well, who are you now? I'm a

football player. No, that's how you used to be who you know, and that's that's kind of scary. At the time, I was like and I was like John, I wanted to get the John this because part of that also a self awareness because you're in a conversation on someone is saying what you are and become self aware. When did you become self aware and when did you find your identity outside of the game. Well, coming out for me, growing up, my dad, I wasn't very close, not at all.

I mean my dad was very abusive on my mom. And see my dad never told us they loved me. So my confidence in football, I guess maybe I was always trying to find it. So when I retired, I was I retired, not didn't. I wanted to get away from football. Never really saw myself as a that's a guy who thought about the Hall of Fame. I wanted to be more of a I wanted to have what I didn't have when I was a kid, was being close with my kids, being close to my kids, being

close to my wife, being a family guy. That's why I saw myself when I was playing. I collected a bunch of stuff and never even put it up, just had it in the basement, tuckway in boxes, never even thought about it because I wanted to be so different from what I was on the football field. That's why even this day, I don't I can't watch myself play football. It's just kind of like, even hear my voice, I'm like, oh,

because that's not who I want to be. But I knew from football there could be so many things that I could I could do, but you know my confidence in football, man, I mean every game I was out there, I was a different person because that's not me. To me, I could be I can sit and relax and listen to music, like some nice classical music. And just what do you mean when you said that's not you? Because I'm not a person who can be. I ain't me and just that's on the football field. I had. It

took me. So are you saying that the John Ramdew that we saw on the field was acting? Yeah? Yeah, I was definitely acting. It's hard for me to trying to understand. You see me, you see me as a smiley guy. Hey, what's going on. It's a beautiful day. The glasses always half full, never half empty. But on the football field, I had to like get into I watched. Yeah, I've listen people talk about this guy. When he gets in the character, he really has the you know, it

takes him a while again to it. For me, it took that whole week, but get was in football. Oh man, I can. I'm a guy like watching fishing shows, relaxing my wife and tell you I'm sitting there watching Will of Fortune, Jeopardy answering the question doing were puzzles. That's interesting because no one ever like watching the football field, will even think that there's a side of John Randall

that's like this. It's perception and reality, and we all perceive him as just like crazy all he's got these nuts. But then all of a sudden, like you meet him and it's like that's the same guy that I just saw, you know on the field. Wait a minute, No, no, that's a different guy, says. We close this thing out. Man, I can't thank you guys enough because believe it or not these podcasts. The Legends community that you guys are

coordinators and directors. It saves lives, right you noticed, John done, This saves lives. So I was Legend brothers and our current players to remind them because just what you said, the game of football teaches us number one, worked together and when there's a common goal, it really don't care. And that's where we want to push out that we're capable of leading in this country because it's needed now here more than ever, absolutely ever. So thank you Bunny,

thank you John. Look forward to doing this again. Thank you for a cameo appearance. Cat greatly appreciate it. That's true, right, yeah, for sure. This has been the NFL Legends podcast. To provide feedback or request a topic for discussion, email us at NFL Legends at NFL dot com.