Loc'd N Sports Podcast
Wine, Women, and Sports
Loc'd N Sports Podcast
From Player to Coach Joe Looney's Journey
Join us for a captivating journey with Joe Looney as he takes us from his South Florida roots to the pinnacle of the NFL. Growing up in a football-centric family, Joe's story is a testament to determination and resilience, punctuated by the pivotal role his father played as both a coach and mentor. Joe opens up about the ups and downs, including a tough foot injury before the NFL combine that tested his faith and family support. Joe discusses the highs and lows of his professional journey, including his release from the San Francisco 49ers and subsequent signing with the Dallas Cowboys. Hear about his interactions with Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones and gain perspective on the personal and business sides of football, revealing the unique atmosphere of camaraderie and accountability within the team. Joe's unexpected transition into coaching and teaching reveals a newfound passion. Inspired by figures like Tony Dungy, Joe has embraced the opportunity to guide young athletes, instilling life lessons and shaping future generations. This episode highlights the profound impact of caring high school coaches and the joy Joe finds in fostering a supportive environment both on and off the field. You don't want to miss this!! Grab a glass and a bottle of your choice and LET'S TALK SPORTS!!!!
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Produced by : Chalyse "Lyse" Dishmon, Kevelle "Velz" Harmon, Blair Beezy, and Nuchie
Edited by: Blair Beezy
Music Produced by: KT on the Beatz
I like sports and that's it.
Speaker 2:Yo, yo, yo, yo, it's the one, and only Lise, and it's your girl, vels, aka Velly Vell, if that's what you want to call me, and together we are Locked In Sports.
Speaker 2:What's up, lise? We back with another special episode Locked In Sports Coaches Edition, and today we have a special special guest with us. Some of you guys may know him, some of you may not, but here we have today with us Joe Looney man. Welcome to the show, joe. First of all, we want to just say appreciate you for coming on, taking time out of your busy schedule to come on and do this interview with us. We're going to go ahead and jump right into it, all right. First of all, just kind of tell us a little bit about yourself, give us a little bit of background, a little bit of bio on you know who Joe Looney is, and just kind of how you got here.
Speaker 3:All right. Well, thank you guys so much for having me on the show. I really appreciate it. Yeah, um, you know, originally originally born and raised in South Florida. Um, yeah, my mom and dad met down there my dad's, you know long hair white boy from Kentucky, and then my dad. My mom's family is all from the Bahamas and you know they, uh, they met one night in a club and then, you know, a couple of years later, four kids yeah yeah, so you know, I got three siblings and, um, a little bit about myself.
Speaker 3:Uh, one thing I've always grew up with is, uh, football. You know, football has been a huge part of my life. My dad played and you know, when I was, when my mom had me, he named me after a football player that went to Oklahoma University, joe Don Looney. Okay, so you know, apparently this is how the story went. My mom said, you know, when I first came out, she was like, oh yeah, my dad said, this one's going to be an NFL player. So, hey, pop, spoke it into existence, made it.
Speaker 3:But you know, we grew up, man, I tell you what. We had a decent-sized house down there and I loved it because it really, it really. You know we had to do life, you know, as a family. So I was really thankful for that. And you know, going into high school, you know I had a plan, because my mom and dad, they were blue collar workers, they're, you know, electrician teachers. So I didn't have a college fund set up for me. So my mom and dad always used to tell us hey, you guys got to go on an academic athletic scholarship and football was one of the things I did. My dad was my coach growing up in little league football and you know you would think you know your father would put you at quarterback right.
Speaker 3:My man looked at me and was like you know what? You're gonna be my center. So I've always played, you know, offensive line, defensive line but he was my coach growing up, me and my brother and football has just been a huge part of our family. Yeah, and I'm so thankful for it because, you know, growing up with uh, not not a lot of means it. It really is truly amazing to be able to go to Wake Forest and then get that caliber of education and then go and fulfill my dream of playing in the NFL.
Speaker 3:And there was a lot of ups and downs in that road. One of the things when I got drafted a lot of people don't know I played in the Senior Bowl. Okay, and you guys, that's for the college athletes coming out into the draft, right. And while I was there I broke my foot. So I was thinking, yeah, you know I'll be fine. I just had a little ankle sprain and whatnot. Went to the doctor out there and the doctor man, I tell you what ruthless to me, like man, what no, you got to have surgery and going into this. You know the NFL combine's coming up and I'm just sitting there. You know everything I've trained for is just, you know, it's right there in front of me and I can't I can't quite touch it.
Speaker 3:But another thing about me that I absolutely love sharing with people is that my mom and dad always had us, you know, in church and it's always been my foundation. That foundation of Jesus Christ Haven't always, you know, been the best and you know, always been on board with it. Especially early on in my life, my faith was, you know, kind of like that rabbit's foot, that good luck, you know, card you pull out. God, help us win this game, and I'm going to be on board with you, dude. But you know, growing up and learning, you know how faith works, it's really helped me, and that's what I'm trying to do now is let people know like, hey look, I don't know your plan, I don't know what's going to happen, but, boy, we got an author to this thing, and you know, I try to let everybody know. You know, follow his wisdom and you'll be good to go in this thing we call life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I feel that you spoke on like the combine, so you weren't able to participate in the combine.
Speaker 3:No, so the only thing I was able to do was the 225 bench press, okay, and at the time, you know, I had a boot on my foot and whatnot, I had crutches, but you know, monster, I've hopped up the stairs on one foot and then bench press, yeah, oh yeah, but that, that was all I was able to do. I actually I did do the interviews, okay, and whatnot, which were a interesting process yeah, tell us about that, because I always wanted to know about how those yeah.
Speaker 3:So I mean you as the player, you get a list of teams that want to talk to you, right, and it's, you know, kind of like hotel rooms, you're playing musical chairs. You're going in, you know here's the Cincinnati Bengals, here's the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Jets, and you go in and you know you're talking to their head coaches, staff doctors, yeah, and it's an interesting process. But I got drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, right, and going into that interview, coach Harbaugh, he, you know, he sits me down and he looks at me. He's like you know what we're going to role play a little bit, and this is how these go.
Speaker 3:You know they're interesting processes. He's like yeah, we're going to role play a little bit. I'm a student athlete, get me to come to Wake Forest University. Okay, pitch was is like hey, look, you know, you can go anywhere in the country. They're gonna have great facilities, they're gonna have, you know, wonderful athletics. But it's about the people you're gonna be around exactly. You want to build relationships with good people, so that's why you should come to wake forest and they can help me out a little bit, because they ended up drafting me.
Speaker 1:So it was like one of like one of the weirdest uh or off the wall questions that they've asked.
Speaker 3:I've heard all kinds of weird stuff, yeah, so I think I think one of the weirdest, so one of the weirdest processes I had. We were, I was in there with the Cincinnati Bengals and the team psychologist is in there and you walk in and you know you're they put like a chair in the middle of the room so you're spotlighted and he, he sits there and he asks me. He's like okay, I got a couple of words for you to remember. All right, remember these words. And he told me the words and we go through a 30-minute interview, you know talking about football, getting up on the board drawing plays. And he's like yeah, what were those words? Again, and I'm like man, I do not know, in front of all these kids, I'm like man, I do not remember those words. Dog apple.
Speaker 1:Somebody they try to like test your memory. Yeah, stuff like that.
Speaker 3:But you know, I mean the NFL is a business and I think that's a lot of the side that fans don't see, that people who love it don't see.
Speaker 3:It is a business first, and as an athlete you see that you see that because you know you deal with contracts and getting in there and negotiating and it's a business at the end of the day, while you're having fun, you know. But to the athletes it's our job. It was my job at the time. Right, right, right, right right, you're a big teacher, coach Asha now. No, I know that's right.
Speaker 2:So you mentioned that you got drafted by the 49ers.
Speaker 3:Kind of take us into um, when you got that phone call, how?
Speaker 2:it was actually being drafted, cause you got drafted in the fourth round, right? Yes, correct. So, um, tell us what it was like to get that phone call and that you know was. Was it a relief. You know how did you feel? You know where you went, your family Like, how was it?
Speaker 3:Okay, I got you. Yeah, so that day, like I said, I was hurt, so I was still in my boots, sitting on the couch and whatnot, and at this time, you know, I got a bunch of thoughts in my head, thinking maybe I'm not going to get drafted. You know, maybe this wasn't the route God had for me and it was tough dealing with those emotions, but the overall process it was a very intimate, intimate moment. It was just my mom, my dad, my brothers and sisters, okay, and one of my cousins who's actually entering into the NFL draft this upcoming year. Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:And yeah, we're all sitting there and I'm sitting in the little rocking chair and after a while, my mom and dad, they got up and kind of went outside just to get some of those emotions off, right, because it is a stressful process sitting there, you know, waiting for your name to be called, and then I just remember, man, I get a call from you know, the bay area, and I'm like california yeah, I mean go ahead and answer that and so I answer the phone and coach harbaugh's on the phone.
Speaker 3:he's like hey, joe looney, how's it going? This is jim harbaugh, head head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and you know we're going to take you with this next pick. How?
Speaker 1:does that make you feel?
Speaker 3:Man coach. Yeah, it's static man. I ain't got no words for it and my brother's sitting there and he I mean my brother kind of freaked out and he was still young. Then my dad, you know, like I said, he's from kentucky and my dad is a hoot. If y'all ever get to meet my dad, y'all need to have him on the show he's a coach too.
Speaker 3:He is a hoot, but he has this thing called the kentucky scream. Okay, and he comes in and coach harbaugh says like oh, you got some people who are excited back there. And I'm like yeah, coach, we've been waiting for this. Oh, that's good. Yeah, it was a very intimate moment, you know just us, and it was a nice time. It was a nice time, oh that's good.
Speaker 1:That's good.
Speaker 2:So was there a specific team that you wanted to get drafted? See, now I can say this yeah, you can say it now.
Speaker 1:You can say it now.
Speaker 3:So I grew up a Miami Dolphin fan.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 3:I grew up a Miami Dolphin fan.
Speaker 1:From Florida makes sense.
Speaker 3:From Florida, South Florida, Dan Marino, Uh-huh, Dan Marino. There it is, let's go Take it out to old school man. You know I used to like their jerseys too jersey Outside the cowboy.
Speaker 3:There we go, come on, jerry. Jerry paid the bills for some years. You gotta give him his due, y'all. Yeah, man, I would have loved to have played for the Miami Dolphins. My mom grew up a Dolphin, my mom was a Dolphin fan, and I think that's why I adopted it. So it was. Yeah, it would have been great to have been drafted by them.
Speaker 2:That's cool. So you get drafted right, you're playing for the 49ers. Uh, it's a big adjustment from going from college to NFL professional football oh yeah, uh, how was it adjusting to the NFL after your injury?
Speaker 3:yeah, it was. It was tough because I didn't go in. I couldn't play right away, I was doing rehab, so I had a lot of self-doubt at the time. I was like you know, is this really for me? Am I going to be able to do this? And one of the things I'd like to tell people now it's not.
Speaker 3:You know, making it to the NFL is a feat, it's tough but staying is the hard part because you know I walked in there and I'm a rookie. You know I ain't got no family at the time but it's guys out here, you know, wife, kids ain't playing, man, they trying to feed their families. You know this is a, it is a business, it is a job. So it was, um, it was definitely a big adjustment coming in. You know you ain't got no school, you're all at work.
Speaker 3:But thankfully, you know I had guys, you know the left tackle, who was there at the time, his name was Joe Staley and really taught me how to be a pro, taught me how to be a pro, a student of the game. And you know you guys know being athletes I mean you don't know how to take care of your body and stuff like that. You know it's like hey, man, get in this cold tub. You know, put on the Norma tech boots. You know that is the huge part of you know adjusting to the game, making sure that you stay in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely she's supposed to. Oh, I mean, I'm just, I'm just listening.
Speaker 1:So but um, so you. You played with San Francisco for about two years. Then you signed with the Cowboys in 2016.
Speaker 3:So I signed with the Cowboys yeah, I signed with the Cowboys in 2016,. But I got cut from San Francisco Okay, and was that 2015? And then got picked up in October. And that was an interesting process too at the time, because when I got cut, I was starting, I was a starting center, okay, and you know, I was really.
Speaker 3:You know I was like man, I'm the dude out here, yeah, you were going anywhere, yeah, I didn't think I was going anywhere and, just like I said, man, you know the business aspect of it and you know, at the time, you know, I was a young kid and I got married, jumped into a marriage, I had a you know little girl. My son was on the way, so I was sitting there, man, and I was like you know, I don't have a job. It was an interesting process because I played football. You know, I missed a game or anything since I was four years old when I started playing ball, yeah, and so being without football in the fall, you know, it was an eye-opening experience, but I think that was one of the things in my life that it taught me a lot. It taught me that you know, if, if you, if you put your, your occupation, you know what you do, your job, above your faith, then God hey, you know God don't want that he wants he wants to be first.
Speaker 3:right, and it really taught me that, hey, god has to be first in your life. You can sit here and say it, it's easy to say, but you have to start showing the actions after a while. It's almost like I would compare it to being a spiritual teenager. It's like I ain't got to do all that man.
Speaker 3:We're good man, I'm taking care of what I need to take care of. But he's like hey look, there's a bigger purpose to this thing. It's not just you being an NFL player. There's a bigger purpose to what I'm trying to do through you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Because that makes me think like you get cut and you have a growing family, You're married at this time, so how did you want to stay with it? You know, because I you know when something like that happens to you, and then you're married, you got a baby and another baby on the way, what makes you want to keep fighting to. You know, get on another team, or you know with your mind, how do you keep your mind straight?
Speaker 3:Is it just the faith, having the faith in God, or yeah, that's definitely a big part of it, yeah, and I just think something that kept my mind in is that that was all I had at the time. You know, I mean, what else am I going to do? I was a football player and going through that process, you know, you have teams that you know try to pick you up and you go for workouts. And immediately when I got cut, you know I was going to workouts. Oh, okay, going to teams. And I'm like, okay, you know, this is going to be an easy process, I'll get picked up real quick, we'll be back playing in no time, right, you know, but it wasn't like that. You know, six weeks go by and I'm like, you know, yeah, six weeks are intense. It's almost like they're taking you through a training camp, practice and going through that.
Speaker 3:So I was still I would say I was still relying on myself. You know, it was a learning process, I was relying on myself and meanwhile, you know, god's sitting there like no, no, no, rely on me. And finally, you know, I came to the realization like, hey, look, god, you know what you can, you can have it all Take. And finally, you know, I came to the realization like, hey, look, god, you know what you can. You can have it all. Take it, you know you have. Have all of this, just take care of my family. Now you can have football.
Speaker 3:Because I think when, when you have something in your life that you're so comfortable with and you just like, you know, it's like that nice blanket, you know cozy up and it's like, yeah, this is mine, nobody can take this away, and God was trying to strip that from me at that time in my life to let me know like, hey, look, I got this man, just trust me. And the next week Tennessee called me. I got picked up and, yeah, what's starting? I started the whole season the rest of the season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So what happened with Tennessee? Um, that, you know you. You only played a season or two with Tennessee.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one season, one season, so what?
Speaker 1:happened there.
Speaker 3:So they already had a center at the time under contract. They paid him a bunch of money, you know, for a couple of years and once he, you know, he broke his ankle so he was coming back the next year, so they didn't really need me and at this time I was still a journeyman, yeah, and what I would say in the NFL, you know, I was kind of that, that guy who could play multiple positions, yeah, which really kept me in the league you know it really kept me playing football.
Speaker 3:And you know they they already had a guy and the the Cowboys you know called me, bought me out for a visit, was like hey, you know we need that backup center, backup guard, and locked me into that role.
Speaker 1:Man, uh-huh, and that's my favorite part, because we die high Cowboy fans, that's what we do we bleed it, you cut us it's just running out.
Speaker 3:Look in Texas here, hey, you got to be like that. But you know one thing about Cowboys the Cowboys fans, Uh-oh, it's either you are all in or not. Right, that's true. You don't ever hear somebody say, oh yeah, you know I like them. Yeah, it's either like, yeah, I love them, or no we don't Right, that is true, they tell you some good Christian words, right they tell you some good Christian. There's your worst body.
Speaker 2:So you're playing for the Cowboys, right? So what was it like for one playing for the Cowboys? And then also like was there any pressure being on America's team having to perform? You know all that pressure every week to win or lose. You know everybody's watching you. Everybody's talking about you, whether it's good or bad. Like what was it like?
Speaker 3:You know it was a wonderful experience. Okay, I think playing the game you definitely get those nerves. You know we would call them butterflies. You know people like to throw around that anxiety word but I like to say butterflies, you know, it's just natural to kind of have that. Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's like, yeah, you know you get nervous, but and I hate comparing football to like military but it's like when you've been in training, you've done something for so long over and over, you've repped it over and over again, you kind of step on that field and you know you put on, you put on blinders, you know it's like a. It's like a, you know a horse at the Kentucky Derby. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. It's just like, okay, I'm locked in, I know what I have to do. I've trained, I've been in this situation before, right and um, you know, hats off to coach Garrett. Coach Garrett was one of the. He was one of the best coaches I've had throughout my career.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I got a question for that, Mr Clapper the clapper himself man, and you know, and being a coach now, I take a lot of the things I saw him do and bring it into. You know my coaching because you know football, football. You break football down. It's a game of situations and that's what he was about. Hey, you're going to be in this situation like, hey. Look, you know we're out of practice. All right, hold on, guys. You know we're going to go into a two minute drill. Here's the situation. There's a minute and 20 seconds left on the clock. We're down by six points. One time out. Go play.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And so you know you're already there by the time you get to the game on Sunday.
Speaker 1:it's like man, I've been here, you tried in your time. You're like that swagger. Yes, okay, I just wonder because, like I said, mr Clapper, he just always, no matter what, he's just yeah, you know, you fumble the ball. I mean, like you know, he used to piss me off, but obviously so he never lost the locker room at all.
Speaker 3:No, you know he was one of those guys and I think it was great for the NFL. You just got to have that even keel. You can't get too high and you can't get too low. You got to kind of stay flying under that radar in between there somewhere. Okay, and he was great at it, but you know he was also what people see on the media. You know, in the media is not really what's portrayed.
Speaker 1:So was he really cussing y'all ass out?
Speaker 3:I mean, you know like I said, he knew some nice Christian words too for us when we needed it Right, right, right, but for the most part.
Speaker 3:You know I mean at that level, if you're a player, you don't need motivation. I mean even when I would mess up. It's like I don't need anybody to tell me I messed up. I know right now that I messed up, and it's when you're playing at that level and you're trying to win a Super Bowl. You're trying to at the highest level, you're. Every man in that locker room has to be accountable for that and you don't want to be the guy in the locker room that somehow messes that up. It's like because, I mean, guys have worked their whole lives to get to this moment, to be able to have the opportunity to step on the NFL field and just to say I played, but to collectively come together and win it as a group. That's hard, that's hard to do and you start understanding that as a player and it's like man I have to be accountable. I have to be, you know, my own worst critic, right, you know. So I'm accountable to these other guys in the locker room.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of locker room, you know, take us into the locker room on game day. You know what is it like before the game starts and then like how is it? Either after a win or after a loss. Especially those tough losses when we lose to somebody, like in a division or something like that. How was it on game day?
Speaker 3:So game day, game day, the feeling on game day is great. You know you get to the locker room and it really is kind of a laid back kind of. You know everybody has their own little routine that they do. You know some guys will go and eat, some guys will go sit in a hot tub. You know guys will put on headphones and lay down and just kind of chill. So it's interesting to see the process that everybody has. So everybody kind of had their own routine. That's what they did.
Speaker 3:But when it, about 90 minutes before that game started, we had this big boom box in there. Big boom box, oh yeah. So you know somebody would get on the mic and I tried to be a DJ. You know back in the day it was my other career, so I would get on there. Man, you know, play some EDM, some rap, you know help. You know help everybody, you know, get ready to go, get their mind ready to play. But right before the game, right after warmups, you come back in and I mean you can hear a pin drop in the locker room. You can hear a pin drop in there. Everybody, I mean you are locked in ready to go?
Speaker 2:No pun intended. Yeah, yeah, locked in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:My dad, he's here, my dad Boom, I told you yeah sure. But I guess I'll give you guys the veggies first. After a loss. It's tough because Jerry coming there and you looking him in the eye, it's like man, these dudes expecting more than us, our coaches expecting more from us. So it's tough, it's hard after a loss, but man, after a win, oh, it's a party. Oh, my gosh, those 10 minutes in the locker room, you know, because after the first 10 minutes the media can't be in there, it's just us.
Speaker 2:It's just the team.
Speaker 3:And boy man, we're in there having a talk. I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead. Yeah, I mean, that feeling is just great and I think that's the feeling you know. I want a lot, I want my athletes to feel, you know, it's like that 10 minutes when you're, you know, celebrating on the field Like we had a game. I mean, you know I'm going to go off on my little tangents we had a freshman football game that we played right out here and it was, you know, it was great to see the guys win.
Speaker 3:It was great to see them win and, you know, to see them have that camaraderie to collectively do something. It's like that's what I want you guys to feel, man.
Speaker 2:That's what it is. That's why we play the game.
Speaker 3:I almost bring tears to your eyes, I know, and even it's even more intense as a coach because you're sitting there and you get to watch it. I mean we enjoy it as coaches. I mean I'd be lying to you if I sit here and say, you know I don't want to win. You know, if I don't have an ego to want to win, right, but sitting there looking at it, it's just like, man, you're so happy for the guys, definitely Because, man, you know how hard they work.
Speaker 1:You know how hard they work. Now, that's cool, I feel that, Coach, you talked about Jerry Jones. Did you ever have like any interactions with him? And if so, like what were they? Is he as cool as the media makes him out to be?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, man, Jerry is one of the coolest cats you'd ever meet. Just like I said earlier, in the show the media portrays people. You know the way they portray them. I mean, if this is all they're going to show to the world, that's all they're going to show. But Jerry, man, besides, you know, being a very intelligent businessman, he's very personable. You know, I remember when I signed, he, you know, sent a care package to my house, you know, welcoming us to Dallas and just, you know, really makes it feel like a home. Yeah, and I think out of all the teams I've played for, that's why I love the Cowboys so much. It just had that real, you know, family. You know southern hospitality, you know, deal in it, and you know, I mean everything's bigger in Texas too. Oh, you know that feeling. You know he was always in the locker room with us after the games and whatnot, very after the games and whatnot, very uplifting too, you know. He doesn't, you know, beat you into the ground about. You know, if you're losing a game, oh, that's good.
Speaker 1:You kind of want that, you know. As far as an owner, you know a lot of people say he's too in front of the camera. Did y'all ever feel that way that sometimes he maybe overshadowed the team, just his big personality and his wanting to? You know everyone wants to go talk to Jerry. Do you think that kind of like maybe overshadowed the team a little bit?
Speaker 3:No, not really. I mean, just like I said, jerry's a business guy, right, and at the end of the day, his role is to make sure that there's people sitting in those seats to watch the football games, exactly. And if there's people watching the football games, no seats to watch the football games. And if there's people watching the football games, then we're benefiting from it also as players. You know they're helping us. You know get paid to do what we love to do. So, definitely, you know I don't think so, and you know he's a business guy at the end of the day and he knows how to, you know, operate that brand. You know the star is his brand. Yes, it is, and I think, as a player, being a player, you see that and you're like all right, well, I have to represent it the right way too.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, because I don't want anything to you know, happen to this. I don't want to be the guy that you know does something to bring down the star Right. You know, we always had on the back of our shirts, you know, our practice shirts and whatnot that we work out at. It was always the star and then our last name because it always reminded us, hey, you know, it's the star, it's the team before the individual.
Speaker 1:Right and that makes sense, I love that.
Speaker 2:So, of course, your career as a cowboy came to an end. Yes, it did, and you ended up signing with the Giants, but you didn't play for them.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:So is that kind of what drove you to be done with the game, or you know what kind of made you want to hang up your cleats?
Speaker 3:So there were definitely a couple of variables in there. The first one was I was all the way in New York, my wife was out here, my kids were out here and it was just a real struggle. It was a real struggle. My son was starting his first football season, my son was starting his first football season, my daughter was starting her first soccer season and I just didn't want to be, you know, away from that. So that was the number one reason. You know that came into my mind. I was like I need to be home. I gave the game its due. I need to be home.
Speaker 3:The second thing was is, you know, just like we said earlier, I was not locked in Right. Uh-huh, you know I wasn't. I wasn't as committed to the game and I felt that when I, when I was in the Giants locker room, it was it was almost like okay, you know, I'm going to play another year, get year 10 under my belt and that'll be it. And I just didn't want to. I didn't want to cheat the guys, I didn't want to cheat the game. So I was like you know what, man, I'm going to go ahead and hang this up. But when I had that epiphany, I was in the middle of a practice.
Speaker 3:I was in the middle of a practice and I was. You know, we're getting hit and I'm like man, I could just walk off the field right now and this will be fine and nobody will know. So I'm like you know what? Nah, I'm not gonna do that, I'm gonna finish off, I'm gonna give the game what it deserves. And um, a lot of people thought I retired because that day in practice it was a big brawl. Two people got into a fight and at the time, coach Joe Judge, would you know, make the team run. And I had no problem. It's like, yeah, you know, if you're doing something wrong, yeah, here's your discipline, you go run and um, so, but I'm retiring yeah, you know I'm sitting there like coach.
Speaker 3:I don't want to run a gasser. You know I'm retiring don't make me, but uh, it was funny because I started my career. My dad had this thing in practice where every practice we'd start off and in little league we were running around baseball field that's where we practice, we practice at a baseball field. So we had these laps that we'd have to run and boy, I just remember I was like man, you know, I started playing this game running and I'm ending it running.
Speaker 1:Came full circle, didn't you? Came full circle. I'm like man.
Speaker 3:I didn't go get the game, but get its worth out of me. Yeah, but yeah, those are the couple variables. Definitely, my family is what played the biggest role in it. Family is what played the biggest role in it. I wanted to be with them.
Speaker 1:So it just wasn't fun anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, I wasn't into the game anymore. It was just like I was just there. You know to be a guy and I didn't want that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't want that. I can understand that.
Speaker 2:All right, so you know. Your career is over. Officially, You're out of the NFL. What made you want to start like coaching?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know, I really I really wasn't thinking about it. It was, you know, kind of a kind of a thing that I fell into. Oh, you know, after I retired I took seven months off, you know, and about that, that third month, I started going stir crazy and my wife was like, too, you got to get out of the house. You can't stay here with me anymore.
Speaker 1:You got to get out of the house, driving her crazy, driving her crazy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you got to go do something.
Speaker 1:Go work out or something Maybe get away from me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I'm sitting there and I was doing these things for the Cowboys and I got invited to speak at the Arlington ISD signing day for all the student athletes that were going to college. Yeah, and you know I did the speech and whatnot and it was wonderful. And, uh, mr Villarreal and coach James approached me. You know like, hey, you know, have you had any interest in in coaching, you know, and I was like, yeah, you know, I would like to give it a shot. You know, I never thought about it but I'd give it a shot. You know, I never thought about it, but I'd give it a shot.
Speaker 3:And um came down here and was kind of doing some volunteer stuff and I really fell in love with it. You know, just being around, being around these, these young people, and I think that's when you realize in life that everything you've been through, all the experience you've been through, everything that you were no, you were crying and talking to God about and the pain that you went through, it's kind of like, oh, all right, I see why I'm here to give this back to these young people so they can put life together where it works for them. Yes, uh-huh, and so I fell in love with it and I didn't know you had to be a teacher to coach out here.
Speaker 3:I'm like to be a teacher. I ended up falling in love with that being in the classroom. It's great, it's like, you know, coming from football, you know I do, I have, you know I have a. I have a silent confidence about myself and you like, I like to perform, I'm a performer. You know that's what I do when I'm in front of a crowd. I'm going to perform. And you know, being a teacher is kind of, you know you're, you're the only one with the spotlight on you and it's like oh yeah, you kids can't go anywhere.
Speaker 1:You have to listen to me Commanding the room I'm the head coach, y'all can't go nowhere.
Speaker 3:And so I fell in love with it, fell in love with coaching, coaching and it's just it's. It's been a wonderful way to give back that, that wisdom and knowledge that you know, god has helped me get to this point in my life to you know, get back to these kids that's good.
Speaker 2:So now that you're in it, is there anybody that you would want to um model your coaching after? Are there any books that you've read? Uh, to kind of get you, like, I guess, started on your coaching journey?
Speaker 3:one of the guys that I really love is Tony Dungy One because of his faith. You know he's huge into his faith and I mean the guy just loves football.
Speaker 3:He's a football guy and one of the things I love about him is he talks about you know in his books is hey, you know, you want to build something that you know you're just proud to be a part of, and you have to do that with individuals. You do that by bringing you know good individuals around you and someday, when I become a head coach, that's the thought that I keep in, you know, the forefront of my head. It's like, hey, I got to have the right people around you know, to help me, you know, get to where I want to go to you know, and to ultimately help these kids get to where they want to go so yeah, tony dungey, he's my dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shout out to tony dungey. Nah, for real, he had a nice career yeah, uh-huh for sure.
Speaker 1:Um, and that and that kind of brings me to my next question, really. So Deion Sanders has stated that he never wanted to coach in the NFL, and because he said he doesn't want to coach rich men, he'd rather coach and then steal wisdom into the younger generation. How do you feel about that? Would you want to? You know, right now you're coaching high school. Would you want to take that next step and coach you know professionally in the NFL?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think over time it'll show up. Yeah, For me, right now, I'm all about my family time, Right, and the way high school coaching is set up is, you know, it is very family friendly and I love that and I know what. I can really, you know, empathize with what Dion said, because you look at NFL coaches and I mean we had coaches that you know we go home and show up and these guys are, you know, sleeping in their, their offices. I mean, you know they are all in it. You know that's you want to talk about people who are really sacrificing is the coaches in the NFL.
Speaker 1:I believe that.
Speaker 3:Their families. I mean, these guys are going, they don't ever stop and it's great to see that work ethic. I don't think I'm at the point yet to where it's like, all right, I can sacrifice that amount of time again to be there. I definitely think the mindset's there. As an athlete, the mindset's always there. Time again to be there, I definitely think the mindset's there. As an athlete, the mindset's always there. You want to be the best. Of course, you want to coach against the best, play against the best, and I just got to get there in my career in coaching.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely you will. I appreciate that. Thank you so much For sure. Thank you. Last question about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean. And then just coming to Sam Houston Well, how did you so, how did you actually end up coaching here at Sam Houston?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, like I said, you know, I did that Arlington ISD signing day speech and ended up coming down here, signed a contract to teach and coach. And Sam really reminded me a lot of where I grew up. You know, to say the least.
Speaker 3:Man these kids down here Coach, you know they've been dealt a really tough hand in life and I think one of the things I saw is and my high school coach used to tell me he's like, hey, look, you know you've been dealt a rough hand, but you still got to play your cards. Right, you got to play your cards. And I think I want, you know, I wanted to come down here to let these kids know hey, you know, there's a way to, you know, be successful. You know you don't have to, you know, be like everybody else and what everybody else is doing Right. And if you, if you really want to become something in life, the opportunity is there, yeah, you just have to work for it. You have to work for it and I want to instill that hard work, that work ethic into them so one day, you know, when they have kids or coaching kids, that they can do the same.
Speaker 1:For sure, Is that kind of like how you keep them engaged? Because I know, you know it's tough, you know you got the social media, it's all the distractions. So how do you keep them engaged in football and wanting to win, keeping the grades up so they can stay on the field and play. So what is that motivation? What do you tell your team?
Speaker 3:I tell them you know it's a process and there are going to be ups and there's going to be downs. There's going to be. You're going to have success and you're going to have failures, but within all the happy moments, hey, you know, enjoy it. Yeah, enjoy those happy moments. Definitely. You know you get to a place where you accomplish something. Hey, enjoy that. You win a football game or you get a pr on bench press, right, hey, you enjoy that time. And then, you know, when you're in your lows, you know it's like, hey, you, you, you learn from that pain.
Speaker 3:There's a process that goes through this. It's never as bad as it seems, it's never as good as it seems, and I think that's's how I keep them, you know, motivated. And you know, hey, guys, look, you're going to have your ups and you're going to have your downs. I know that, you should know that. And you know it's just like, hey, finding ways to all. Right, you're in a hole right now. Hey, come on, let's get up on that out of this. You know, complaining and just you know, not having a plan to get out of it is, you know what really hurts people, and that's what I'm trying to. You know, teach them.
Speaker 2:I agree. Just to mention, you even worked with the volleyball team this year in strength and conditioning, and just to see how you motivate those girls, you know who are complainers and sometimes don't want to work hard.
Speaker 1:You know, women always be complaining. Sometimes don't want to work hard. You know just kind of Women always be complaining don't they?
Speaker 2:You know you kind of notice them looking forward to coming and working out with you, and you know that just kind of let me know, like you know he has. You know you have that motivation factor. Your energy is high. You know I love being around you as a coach, you know, just like as a co-coach or whatever. But going back to football, though, one more question about football. You mentioned that you have a son and that he does play football.
Speaker 3:Yes, he does.
Speaker 2:Given the CTE allegations, are you ever worried as a parent? You know, stepping out of that coaching role, stepping out of the football player role, are you ever worried as a parent when it comes to your son playing?
Speaker 3:football. I think the answer to the simple question is definitely yes. Okay, Definitely yes. Football is a contact sport, you know? I mean it's modern-day gladiators.
Speaker 1:We like to use the word barbaric.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean really, you know it is a contact sport and it's not for the faint-hearted Right and, I think, one you educate the kids about. You know what they're doing, but more so the techniques that are being taught at the young age you know those have to go up through the older age. You know, just making sure. Hey, you know something my dad always used to say hey, see what you hit. Never duck your head on a football field because that's where you see the concussions and whatnot. You see what you hit. Yeah, so making sure, especially my son making sure, like he knows the fundamentals and techniques to keep him from. You know, experiencing those and I was blessed in my career I never experienced a concussion, so I was definitely blessed. But I've seen. I've seen it happen to people and you know, you talk to them and it's, it's a scary, it's a scary situation, but I think, as a competitor, you know what comes along with that and you, you just try to go out there and perform to the best of your abilities, cool.
Speaker 2:Well, I think we've hit all the NFL questions. We've hit all the coaching questions. We kind of wanted to get into a couple of fun questions and then we'll let you go, at least that you want to go ahead.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, we Cowboys fans again. And you know season's around the corner and you play with them, obviously, so do you keep up? Do you still watch football?
Speaker 3:and all that stuff. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Definitely a fan of the game.
Speaker 1:What do the Cowboys need to do to get over this hump, this hump that we've been trying to get over since 95? What do we gotta do?
Speaker 3:I mean, hey, man, I'll tell you what we need to need to all start praying. Man, I tell you what you know the the NFL season. You know it's like playing dice. Yeah, I mean, it is so competitive and so hard. You know a lot of people like to say you know fans like to say, oh well, you know, this team is bad and that team is bad. Let me tell you something there ain't no team in the NFL that is bad. No, no, everybody on those rosters are very good.
Speaker 3:Yes, but you know Dak's one of my good buddies and I mean you know you want to talk about. If you want somebody to lead your team, that's the guy you want leading your team. Yeah, he, I mean, his work ethic is unmatched and just even a better person. You know, and I just that's why I love Dak so much. Man, it's like man, this dude, he's a good dude and I think in our society you want to get behind people like that, you root for people like that, oh for sure. And if you want somebody leading your team, he's definitely it. So I think you know, if Dak's on that field for the Cowboys, he's definitely giving them a shot to win every Sunday, okay.
Speaker 1:I hope so A lot of people have jumped off the deck bandwagon. I like that. I'm kind of I'm treading the line I'm teetering. But I still, I do believe. I do believe he'll get us to the prom.
Speaker 3:I hope so, yeah, hey, come on now, I do believe. Come on four. I mean, you know, get us. That's the Holy Ghost up here Right Watch out then now so.
Speaker 2:So another question, another front question for you, musically, who is it that you? You know when you put your AirPods in or when you're taking that long drive home. You know From Sam, you know you won't be anymore, but you know when you're driving To the house From.
Speaker 3:Sam.
Speaker 2:Who are you listening to On your radio, like or who are you listening to on your radio Like who are you?
Speaker 3:listening to on your AirPods. Yeah, so I love music. I listen to a little bit of everything, but I do. I do love man, one of the one of the rappers now. Yeah, his name is Rod Wave and first of all, you know he's a. He's a big boned fella. I'd be in the car. Singing Girl of my Dream is one of my favorite songs. I've actually seen you perform it. Before it was like that girl of my dream.
Speaker 3:So I'd be in class, I'd start singing a song and I'd be like man, I missed my opportunity for American Idol, right? Oh man, let all the students know, hey, y'all go vote for me. Man, they're calling to vote for me. But yeah, listening to him, and then you know I love rock, love rock songs. My dad, yeah, my dad was a big, you know rock and roll guy. And then you know me and my mom, we were actually talking this morning coming in man, tina Turner. You know we were talking about Tina Turner man, and you know what's love got to do, got to do with it, yeah, so I listen to a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1:And you know my Rest in peace, yeah, so I listen to a little bit of everything. And my mom and dad, they exposed us to a lot. You got a wide range of music preferences. Oh yes, yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2:So we got one more question for you. We always in the show whenever we have guests on the show is called Locked In Sports, but locked in has a broad meaning. What is your definition of being locked in?
Speaker 3:I think my definition of being locked in is being responsible. You know, like I said I mentioned many times, you know I have my faith on this show and I love to watch. You know Dr Tony Evans here in Dallas. His son was actually our team chaplain for the Cowboys, jonathan Evans, and he always used to tell a story about Adam and Eve Okay, about Adam and Eve. And we all know, hey, adam and Eve both you know, ate the apple, Right? But you know, god came and said in the garden Adam, where are you Right? So one of the things I take, you know, as being locked in is being responsible as a man, because that's what God has put on me, regardless of feelings, and emotion has put on me, regardless of feelings and emotion, right, you know God has put that on me. And making sure that you know when my wife, or those little eyes are looking at me at the table, you know that I'm doing everything I can to provide and to get them ready to lead their own families, right, mm-hmm. So that's locked in for me.
Speaker 1:I like that. I love that. That's a different answer. We ain't got that one yet. No, that was different. I liked that one.
Speaker 2:Well, joe, we appreciate you again for just coming on the show again, taking time out of your busy schedule. Yes, come on the show with us on Locked In Sports Coaches Edition. Right, we wish you nothing but the best at your next endeavor. I know those kids and your staff are going to love you.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you. We appreciate you.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, I just you know, if you have anything that's coming up, you know, definitely you know, let us know.
Speaker 3:We definitely want to be a part, you know, shout out to social media. Oh, most definitely.
Speaker 1:And all that. So no again. Like Val said, we definitely you know. Thank you for doing this. Like you said, taking your time out to chat with us, it's my pleasure, get into some things. Uh-huh, you got to have a little razzle-dazzle, all right, let's see, shine, shine.
Speaker 3:Well, coach, too, I appreciate you. You know a lot of people don't see what you know the high school coaches do, and you know the care that you take. I think that's something that I've learned as a high school coach is that all these kids want to see is somebody who cares and coach. You definitely do that for them, so anytime I can help you out, it's a blessing to have you. You allow me to be a blessing.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that she aight that's my dog for real.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, I think we got us a show. It's been a wrap, really great episode. Let's go ahead and get it out of here like this.
Speaker 2:It's the one and only Lise and it's your girl, vels, aka Velly Vell, if that's what you want to call me and together we are Locked In Sports.
Speaker 1:Peace, peace.
