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4 episodes with nflers
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2 episodes with nflers
2 episodes with nflers
2 episodes with nflers
2 episodes with nflers
2 episodes with nflers
2 episodes with nflers
3 episodes with nflers
The NFL Schedule is here...almost. Chris and Dr. Fax take a peek at the leaked NFL games, notably all the NFL's games on the 2026 International Schedule. Chris and Nate also detail what NFLers look for when the schedule first comes out. Then we catch an incredible convo between Beau and Cliff Avril from the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. Cliff covers his time in Detroit, heading to Seattle and winning the Super Bowl, playing with Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh, and the Seahawks fans. Chris and Nate finish up with a little Fax Finds - LeBron James' future, Dillon Brooks' trolling, Netflix's QB Season 3 and Ballmaxxing. (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:57) - NFL International & Holiday Games (00:34:24) - Cliff Avril on Winning the Super Bowl & Seattle's Legion of Boom (01:25:55) - Netflix's QB Season 3 featuring Joe Flacco, Baker Mayfield, Cam Ward and Jayden Daniels (01:35:07) - Layup Line (01:40:59) - LeBron James' Future (01:45:38) - LeBron James vs Dillon Brooks (01:09:07) - Nick Wright on Athletes Bringing Kids to Press Conferences (02:00:07) - Ballmaxxing Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline presented by Zone Nicotine and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open: (202) 991-0723 With the return of the Layup Line, make sure to check out the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=YP1-ffQ3T_yUDRnJRhDtOw Check out Green Light's YouTube Channel, where you can catch all the latest GL action: Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Belton Johnson recaps a wild Sunday of NFL football. And he weighs in on some of the top NFLers that will be missing playoffs this year. And who stands out as the top Super Bowl contenders? The Green Zone
Chris Long details the AFC East in today's divisional preview along with a tremendous conversation with Jared Allen. Chris recaps the Buffalo Bills' busy offseason after coming oh-so-close to knocking off their vaunted rivals the Kansas City Chiefs. Josh Allen is a quarterback you can win because of and he has the Bills on a path to make another statement this season. Can the Dolphins make a surprise turnaround and start beating the playoffs team that they have so much trouble with? Is the time now for the New England Patriots? The New York Jets seem to have the right guy in Aaron Glenn, are they closer to success than we think? A great in-depth analysis of the AFC East followed by an incredible pass rush conversation with Jared Allen. Fresh off his NFL Hall Of Fame induction speech, Jared Allen joins Chris Long to cover his NFL career, nearly setting (or not being given) the NFL sack record and in-depth pass rush talk. Jared goes in-depth on the Hall Of Fame ceremony, getting to meet the other players in the most revered group of NFLers and earning the respect from his peers. He recaps his career with the Minnesota Vikings, their fearsome defensive line and making the NFC championship game in 2010. He also talked about looking up to the legends in the game like Jack Youngblood, Mean Joe Greene and Chris Doleman. Chris and Jared get deep into pass rush moves and techniques, breaking down the tools that made Jared Allen elite at rushing the passer. (00:00:00) Intro (00:02:15) AFC East Divisional Preview (00:05:37) Buffalo Bills (00:24:38) Miami Dolphins (00:39:20) New England Patriots (00:49:40) New York Jets (1:01:35) Jared Allen Talks Hall Of Fame Enshrinement, NFL Sack Record & Nearly Winning The Super Bowl Bryan Braman's GoFundeMe can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-bryan-bramans-healing-journey Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: (202) 991-0723 Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. Green Light's YouTube Channel, where you can catch all the latest GL action: Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you.
12pm hour of The K&C Masterpiece! Are these NFL players a guarantee to improve this season? Do you still believe in the Pacers? Bruce Bochy joins the show.
Selecting the 2028 US and Canadian Olympic flag teams, talking about former NFLers now in the CFL, and as always, starting with NFL weekly update
Unruly plane passenger duct-taped to seat on 'chaotic' flight — then another passenger decided to propose to his girlfriend only a few rows away. Colorado has its own version of Punxsutawney Phil. Flatiron Freddy - which is similar to Frozen Dead Guy in Nederland. The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters July 25, and Cowboy DeHuff breaks down the main characters. Luka was traded to the Lakers, and Anthony Davis to the Mavericks. This movement is all to help the NBA because LeBron James will retire soon. Patrick Mahomes and Steve Spagnuolo were giving Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix some love on Media Night during Super Bowl week. I shared the story of me and two legendary former NFLers getting high in the streets of New Orleans.
Unruly plane passenger duct-taped to seat on 'chaotic' flight — then another passenger decided to propose to his girlfriend only a few rows away. Colorado has its own version of Punxsutawney Phil. Flatiron Freddy - which is similar to Frozen Dead Guy in Nederland. The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters July 25, and Cowboy DeHuff breaks down the main characters. Luka was traded to the Lakers, and Anthony Davis to the Mavericks. This movement is all to help the NBA because LeBron James will retire soon. Patrick Mahomes and Steve Spagnuolo were giving Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix some love on Media Night during Super Bowl week. I shared the story of me and two legendary former NFLers getting high in the streets of New Orleans. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Arcand and Hart react to season-ending player rankings published by Pro Football Focus, and where Patriots' players were ranked among their peers. Spoiler alert: it's ugly.
Beau Allen and Cam Brate preview to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Commanders Wild Card matchup this weekend as well as Mike Evans securing his record tying 11th straight season with 1,000 yards receiving. Beau and Cam also talk about NFL Head Coaching vacancies and the best candidates to fill those positions. Cam gives some love to tight ends across the league while Beau shouts out some defensive lineman who should've received more recognition this season like Zach Allen and Leonard Williams. Beau ends by talking about what it is like this time of the year for NFLers, dealing with the transition to the offseason along with head coaching turnover. (00:00) - Intro (1:37) - Beau Going Back To Philly (4:35) - Bucs Legend Cam Brate on Mike Evans, Bucs vs Commanders and Brock Bowers' Rookie Season (33:10) - Under-The-Radar NFL Interior Defensive Lineman (42:35) - Dealing With HC Firings As A Player Want your Green Light Merch so you can look exactly like Chris and the fellas? Hit the website below and get kitted! https://stores.kotisdesign.com/yotehouse/products Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: (202) 991-0723 Send any Talent Search submissions to: social@chalkmedia.com Include any video of your talents, takes and bits as well as a little bit about yourself. Love hearing from the Green Light fans. Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. https://paddleva.com/ Green Light Spotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/user/951jyryv2nu6l4iqz9p81him9?si=17c560d10ff04a9b Spotify Layup Line: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=675d445ddb824c42 Green Light Tube YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgxWFAA-wuB7osdiAJyLOcw Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Welcome back to the Ballinesian Podcast! We're starting with the Chargers bucking a decades-long curse of ineptitude with a tough win on Sunday Night Football versus the Cincinatti Bengals. We'll also discuss the (Black and) Silver lining of this season for Raider Nation: finding an absolute DOG in Georgia TE Brock Bowers, who trails only Ja'Marr Chase (73) in receptions with 70 so far of his own. We'll also go down the list of our Quick Hits and give you the latest on all the top teams in the NFL, which former NFLers we think will be immortalized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, whether Jake Paul will ever fight someone who can knock him out, Lakers' rookie Dalton Knecht almost getting to double-digit 3PM vs the Jazz, and which Thanksgiving sides are our favorites. Have a great Turkey Day, if you're one of the people that knows how to make juicy turkey... Follow us on IG at @ballinesian. Sponsored by www.levasaislandapparel.com
Chris Long is joined by a few current NFLers - the Colts' Joe Flacco, the Texans' Joe Mixon and the Packers' Jayden Reed. A great episode with some great stories, enjoy! (00:00) - Intro (3:19) - Joe Flacco on the Indianapolis Colts, Anthony Richardson and Defensive Penalties (29:22) - Joe Mixon on the Houston Texans and Playing with Stefon Diggs and CJ Stroud (48:45) - Jayden Reed on the Green Bay Packers, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks and Growing Up a Bears Fan Want your Green Light Merch so you can look exactly like Chris and the fellas? Hit the website below and get kitted! https://stores.kotisdesign.com/yotehouse/products Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: (202) 991-0723 Send any Talent Search submissions to: social@chalkmedia.com Include any video of your talents, takes and bits as well as a little bit about yourself. Love hearing from the Green Light fans. Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. https://paddleva.com/ Green Light Spotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/user/951jyryv2nu6l4iqz9p81him9?si=17c560d10ff04a9b Spotify Layup Line: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=675d445ddb824c42 Green Light Tube YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgxWFAA-wuB7osdiAJyLOcw Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Klamath River is flowing freely again after more than 20 years of efforts to remove four dams, the Times-Standard reminded readers Humboldt County also buses homeless people out of the area, a facility serving free meals to those in need was targeted by vandals, the owner of a massage place in Eureka was accused of sexual assault, Humboldt County Supervisors approved money to fight human trafficking, a new hospital in Garberville may begin construction in 2026, an officer at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City was reportedly stabbed in the head by an inmate, an elderly man pulled a gun after being upset by the wait time at a McDonald's up north, two former Cal Poly Humboldt women's soccer players are headed to the pros, former locals are looking to kick off their NFL seasons, Loleta ice cream Jersey Scoops is looking to hit a few grocery stores soon, and an event guide. TLDR Humboldt features episode transcripts. Check humboldtlastweek.com/tldr. HumAlong Alternative Rock Radio has energy and distorted guitars. Take it with you at humalt.com. Humboldt Last Week would like to thank its local partners for keeping the lights on. Please support Quality Body Works, Belle Starr Clothing, North Coast Co-op, Bongo Boy Studio, Beck's Bakery, Photography by Shi, North Coast Journal, RHBB, and KJNY.
Celebs are just like us.... Lilly Allen update, The latest "Social Thriller" movie, 'Blink Twice' and Kendal has a horrifying story involving some of the LA Chargers getting trapped in an elevator. Plus we enjoy some wild old commercials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Celebs are just like us.... Lilly Allen update, The latest "Social Thriller" movie, 'Blink Twice' and Kendal has a horrifying story involving some of the LA Chargers getting trapped in an elevator. Plus we enjoy some wild old commercials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Should the NFL's finest compete in the flag football games at the 2028 Olympics? We speak with one of the stars of the current team USA as he addresses his comments on the disrespect, he feels having to compete with players who play a very different game. Plus, Steve Kerr hits the DNC and drops the Steph Curry "night night" celly on Donald Trump. And will Simone Biles be getting the Taylor Swift treatment at Bears games this season? Find out from the Olympic gold medalist herself as to just how busy her schedule may be this Fall. Hosts: Michael Babcock & Mojo Muhtadi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Storylines in Boston, around LIV/PGA Tour and NFLers and MLBers in the Olympics
Extra Points with Cousin Sal, Dave Dameshek & Charlotte Wilder
We have gathered some of the best clips from this week of shows including Christopher Carter on Minus 3 and Kent Brown on Extra Points! Look out for the ‘Best Of' every Friday to get your fix from Minus 3, Extra Points and Trendy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Extra Points with Cousin Sal, Dave Dameshek & Charlotte Wilder
We have gathered some of the best clips from this week of shows including Christopher Carter on Minus 3 and Kent Brown on Extra Points! Look out for the ‘Best Of' every Friday to get your fix from Minus 3, Extra Points and Trendy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
JJ & Alex take you through the day in sports. Utah Jazz who traded Kris Dunn in a salary dump move by acquiring Russell Westbrook and then ultimately waive him. Can the Warriors really be contenders with Lauri Markkanen? Brian Taylor of Real Golf Radio talks Open Championship Terrell Owens has old beef with Tom Brady NFLers as Olympians? Top athletes of the century
Common Man Hour 2 --Five Questions --First to Worst --List Hating Email --Top 20 NFLers at Each Position
Common Man Hour 2--Five Questions--First to Worst--List Hating Email--Top 20 NFLers at Each Position
Common Man Hour 2--Five Questions--First to Worst--List Hating Email--Top 20 NFLers at Each Position
Common Man Hour 2 --Five Questions --First to Worst --List Hating Email --Top 20 NFLers at Each Position
31 years ago today, Yokozuna challenged anyone and everyone to bodyslam him on the U.S.S. Intrepid; professional wrestlers, NFLers, NHLers, anyone with a pulse, really! And nobody was able to do it. That is, until "Made in the U.S.A.", Lex Luger, flew in on a helicopter and faced the challenge. Was it a hip toss!? You be the judge. -- Follow us on Twitter/X [@_piccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio] You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: [Apple Podcasts] [Spotify] [iHeartRadio] [Amazon] [Audacy] [TuneIn Radio] [Pandora] and wherever else you get your podcasts! shooterspod.com Exclusive Patreon content: [patreon.com/shootersradio] Facebook: [The Straight Shooters] --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shootersradio/support
Show Open – More storms last night. Cavs outclassed by Celtics in Game 1. Blue Jackets stay at 4 in draft lottery. Ric Flair was angry at a pizza place. Questions for AFC North teams. Joe Burrow is throwing. Mike Petraglia joined for more on the Bengals. Hey Guys: Weddings, prank and more. Austin Rivers thinks 30 NBA players could be NFLers. Brian Kelly slow to adjust to NIL world.
A full house in Studio J - Chris, Macon, Kyle and Nate "Dr. Fax" Collins - all join to hit a number of topics and have a few laughs. We start with a hello to Kirkland, Washington, talk our upcoming trip to South By Southwest. We get to talk Chris and Kyle's recent Madden Matchups, give out our congrats to Matthew Slater on his retirement and talk about the Dak Prescott contract and the possibilities the Cowboys have next season. We then welcome on Steve Belichick, the new defensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies. He talks about moving on from New England and the NFL to the college ranks, having to recruit and figure out NIL vs NLI, his new office view, coaching college kids vs NFL players and the Huskies' 2024 season. Then we talk a little grunge music, determine which famous 'beefs' we should end, give a few actors their NFL player comps and then talk our favorite iconic sports photos on the anniversary of the photo of the American Flag being planted on Iwo Jima. Enjoy the episode! (00:00) - Hello, Layup Line, SXSW and Madden (21:17) - Congratulations to Matthew Slater (23:30) - Dak Prescott's contract (36:00) - Steve Belichick on the Washington Huskies, coaching in New England and figuring out college recruiting (1:16:18) - Grunge music, famous feuds we can end, actors as NFLers and famous sports photos Want your Green Light Merch so you can look exactly like Chris and the fellas? Hit the website below and get kitted! https://stores.kotisdesign.com/yotehouse/products Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: (202) 991-0723 Make sure to check out Fax and the King every Wednesday on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FaxAndTheKing Send any Talent Search submissions to: social@chalkmedia.com Include any video of your talents, takes and bits as well as a little bit about yourself. Love hearing from the Green Light fans. Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. https://paddleva.com/ Green Light Spotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/user/951jyryv2nu6l4iqz9p81him9?si=17c560d10ff04a9b Spotify Layup Line: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=675d445ddb824c42 Green Light Tube YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GreenLightTube1 Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mike Glennon, former NFL/NCSU QB, on the upcoming Super Bowl and looking at it from a former NFL/NCSU QB perspective. Cam Newton put Brock Purdy into a “game manager” position. When Mike looks at Brock, what does he see? Who does Mike like for the Super Bowl? How does he see this game playing out and what will be the difference makers? Adam wants Mike to fill in the blank… “The Chicago Bears would be *blank* to not draft Caleb Williams 1st overall”. Who does Mike like when looking at Drake Maye vs Caleb Williams?
With the passing of Carl Weathers, who are some of the best former NFL players turned actors?
Hour 3: The Steelers have produced an Arthur Smith hype video so we had to check that out. The guys had some fun with it, but also noted that the Steelers are clearly paying attention to what fans have complained about. Does that make you any more excited for the Steelers offense in 2024? Steelers insider Mark Kaboly from The Athletic joined the show. Mark thinks Mike Sullivan will be locked back in to the Steelers QB coach. He doesn't expect any other changes in the staff unless someone wants to leave. Mark talked about the ideas that are flowing in the facility and why they don't want to turn it over completely with the introduction of Arthur Smith. Mark thinks are at a point where Kenny Pickett will be the main culprit if things don't work and it won't all fall on the coordinator this time around. The guys asked Mark about the process the Steelers went through to find Smith as their next OC and if it was thorough enough. Mark insinuated that the Steelers reached out to college coaches here and there, but wasn't allowed to get into details. Mark tripled-down on thinking Mitch Trubisky could be back as the Steelers backup QB. Donny Football Debrief – With the passing of Carl Weathers, who are some of the best former NFL players turned actors?
Alex Strouf is joined by former Badgers and NFLers after the PAckers lose in the divisional round of the playoffs, but looking forward what do the Packers do at DC, and what could Jim Leonhard to the Packers or to Michigan?
What do you get when you put BOL old heads Tim Watts and Travis Reier behind open mics? Anything from Alabama sports and recruiting to the latest trends in pop culture. On the latest installment of the show, topics covered include: -- Crimson Tide showing signs of becoming complete team at right time. -- When a team gets blitzed 27-0 in second half, is officiating really the problem? -- Keeping scrimmages in college basketball a "secret" is #dumb. -- Another LSU-Alabama matchup, another showcase for future NFLers. -- Bye weekend plans include lobstah rolls. Loaded mailbag includes: 2023 Alabama Week 1 vs. 2023 Alabama Week 8; Continued diversity in run game; "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" counts as a Halloween film; How to get off to quicker starts on offense; and more. Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com? Get access to premium articles covering the University of Alabama athletics and recruiting content and also join thousands of Crimson Tide fans on the BOL Round Table message board! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WHAT IS UP GOON SQUUUUUAD!?!The Goons are back in action, same cannot be said for a few NFLers moving forward as the injury bug was out in full force this week. We recap all the awful injury news as big names continue to drop this season with major injuries. injury recap, week 2 round up and of course Gridiron Gamblers as the boys look to bounce back after a 3/6 week last week.Lets go bankrupt Vegas this week boys and girls.
Wes Johnson, Jason Bolin, Cody Spears and Dustin Baker page through hot-seat NFLers for the 2023 season.
Often tragedy and trauma serve to fuel passion for efforts to change the world. This is the case for Brandon Siler, former NFL player and now entrepreneur. Brandon has experienced the loss of several friends and teammates to mental illness and now works to help support fellow NFLers in many ways, including getting them disability benefits through his company, Legacy Pro Sports and owning a mental health facility, Pure Recovery, that employs some of the most innovative interventions for recovery in the country. Brandon has a passion for improving student-athlete's mental health and believes it needs to begin with building mental health literacy into the curriculum that every student-athlete must complete in their time in college. On this episode of Unit3d, Brandon shares his powerful story and his unique vision for the future of mental health education for student athletes.
Lee and Matt start the hour by talking some CFL, including going down memory lane on this day 13 years ago. Then they talk about ESPN's top 25 NFLers under 25, and wrap up the show by looking at the World Cup picture, and some of the NHL's biggest games of the night
Lee and Matt start the hour by talking some CFL, including going down memory lane on this day 13 years ago. Then they talk about ESPN's top 25 NFLers under 25, and wrap up the show by looking at the World Cup picture, and some of the NHL's biggest games of the night
Well, we made it. With less than 24 hours to go before a titanic Cat-Griz game, Friday's first hour features two former Griz legends and NFLers reminiscing about the rivalry. First, Brock Coyle joins Colter Nuanez live on location in Bozeman; then, Bengals assistant coach Colt Anderson joins the show. PLUS, hear from Missoula Loyola head coach Todd Hughes as he explains one of the great underdog runs in recent Montana football history with the Rams set to take on Florence in the Class B title game.
What does it mean to be great? Greatness might indicate a Hall of Fame career. But it can also be exemplified by blazing new trails o the field, or carving out a unique role in the pages of history. There are many different ways to be great, and everyone's path is one-of-a-kind. Two-time Super Bowl champ and 11-year NFL vet, Chris Long, highlights a handful of NFLers who have been on fascinating journeys, and takes you on a trip through their life stories, and explores the true definition of “greatness.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Plenty of players heading toward the open market are shining through the first almost quarter of the NFL season. Plus, (8:26) did the Braves do enough this offseason/deadline to repeat? What Shohei Ohtani's (21:50) historic arbitration salary means for he and the Angel's future. And, Tyler Herro (33:55) gets his Heat extension.
Longhorn Notebook With Jeff Howe (Deeper Dive On UT NFLers) by The Horn 104.9 & AM 1260
Longhorn Notebook With Jeff Howe (Deeper Dive On UT NFLers) by The Horn 104.9 & AM 1260 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
TUE 6-28-22 SEGMENT 3-- Le'Veon Bell is boxing Adrian Peterson and Tools thinks it's kind of sad.
The Sports Deli Podcast - Where Everyone Deserves a Seat at the Table; An Anti-Racist, Equality Pod
JJ Reddick - Former NBA Player Gets It While the NFL G.O.A.T. Tom Brady, and former NFLers Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Big Ben, Blonde, and Troy Aikman Do Not. The former is making a conscious and deliberate effort to be anti-racist while the latters are not. They care more about their own brands, shows, and selves than doing whatever they have to do to be public white voices and allies to fight social injustice, systemic racism and white privilege. Shame on them. And flowers to those like JJ, Rex Chapman, Kyle Korver and Alex Caruso for having the courage to be anti-racist and white allies. And for using their white privilege to be a voice for those marginalized like the black and brown community. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-sports-deli/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-sports-deli/support
Note: This episode was filmed before the tragic death of Dwayne Haskins. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Haskins family. Rest In Peace. S4E3 - In the fourth episode of our fourth season, Poc & Tomas discuss Deebo and DK trade rumours, build an MLB roster with NFLers and much more. Enjoy, and thanks for watching! Time Stamps: ⁃ Intro: 0:00 ⁃ Should the Seahawks Trade DK Metcalf?: 2:10 ⁃ Deebo Samuel Trade Talks: 14:00 ⁃ Building an MLB team with NFL Players: 20:25 ⁃ Who's the Best Golfer in the NFL?: 35:10 'From The Nosebleeds' presented by 'Catch The Blitz'! Hosted by Thomas Pocrnic and Tomas Coburn featuring producer Paolo Gismondi. This is a football podcast covering the ins and outs of the football world and the lifestyle of being a fan, pop culture, and much more! Please leave us a rating and follow @fromthenosebleedspod & @catchtheblitz on Instagram/Twitter! Also, check out https://catchtheblitz.com/ and https://linktr.ee/FromTheNosebleedsPod
Breathing and backchecking, you can be a Golden Knight + Full send on the marketable NFLers + a master course in storytelling See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Breathing and backchecking, you can be a Golden Knight + Full send on the marketable NFLers + a master course in storytelling See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Man, we got a lot of NFLers out there now y'all! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Man, we got a lot of NFLers out there now y'all! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
FINALLY....Nintendo announces a new system and Ahman, Ben, and Jon discuss if they're excited about this and will they buy it. Plus Ahman had a busy week hanging out with Brian Urlacher and other ex NFLers this past week. Ben saw Black Widow and no one else did so he has to wait to talk about it until next week. An unopened copy of Mario 64 sells for $1.5 Million dollars and an unopened copy of Zelda from 1987 sells for $870,000....What you spend that kind of money on a retro game? And would you play it after buying it? Ahman says Yes while Ben and Jon think he's crazy! Plus we've got This or That, Game Releases, and What's on Stream all this week inside Ahman Green's Gamers Lounge! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
NFLers set to be superstars; Gridiron Gravy and Masterpiece of the Week (17:59); Crosstalk with the GBAG Nation (32:41) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today in the Cage: DT & Drew • Glen Suitor - #CFL "unnamed sources", former NFLers coming to Canada...yay or nay? (7:00) • Arash Madani - 2021 scenarios #CFL (50:00) • Carson Denomie - Pats winger on 2021 season (1:11:00)
From world championship ultra-running and wrestling NFLers in the Spartan Games to representing Team Canada on Amazon Prime's World's Toughest Race: Eco Challenge Fiji, Ryan Atkins does it all in sports. He is the winningest obstacle racer of all time and is married to another legend in the sport - Lindsay Webster. Ryan is a two-time winner of the Spartan North America Championships and two-time winner of the Spartan Ultra World Championships. He is also a World Champion Uni-cyclist - so he does, in fact, do it all. In this episode, Host Jamie Allison talks to Ryan about his experience on WTR and the controversial finish with the Kiwis, how he gets through tough parts of a long race and how anyone can make fitness an enjoyable experience through habit and intention. Tell Ryan and Jamie what you think about this episode by leaving a review and rating. It helps us get the message out there! Partner with us! Find out more www.bigideabigmoves.com Follow us on Instagram : @bigidea_bigmoves Facebook @bigideabigmoves Follow Ryan and his adventures : www.instagram.com/ryanatkinsdiet Book a fall or winter getaway at www.wakefieldmill.com Find our more about Plum at www.plum.io Access the Goldfish Strategy
Rap sheet makes his regular Friday appearance with updates on trades as the deadline approaches. We found out how the Carlos Dunlap deal went down, and who else the Hawks might be looking at, plus injury updates from around the league. Rob Rang shares thoughts on top potential future NFLers, and a couple of young players already in the league. Ian is confident the Hawks will be victorious. It's his Fact or Fiction pick. Softy describes how he ruined Ian's live TV appearance.
Rob Paul and AJ Marchese breakdown the best and worst performance in Week 7 of CFB from 2021 NFL Draft prospects. They talk Jaycee Horn's breakout game, Jay Adams contested catch magic, Trevor Lawrence near perfect 73-7 win, Zach Wilson's rise in a wide open QB class, and much more! Then they make their five money making picks for Week 8 of CFB!
Hour Two brings The Washington Post's John Feinstein talking national headlines including MLB, PGA's first major, #PAC12United and Hutton, Withrow & Kuharsky discuss the deadline for NFL players to opt out and how the situation is being manipulated.
Its the 1st of the month edition of the nationally syndicated banter from the Sportswrap with Shea & Dre! The dynamic duo talk about the life of the sports figure during the current times, how will Cam 'Superman' Newton sit from his new HQ in chowderville!?! The guys will also be talking about NFLers dowing their downtime thing, , MLBers opted out and a few more items....pull up a chair, have your favorite spirit and enjoy the sports ride!
Steve Leo is the Director of Education for the Parisi Speed School. I know job titles aren't everything, but this guy creates the educational content for over 100 Parisi locations and over 700 Performance Coaches. Wowza! Steve has dived so deep in to speed training over the last decade that he is a true wealth of knowledge. Most importantly, Steve actually coaches athletes and teams ranging from his daughters youth club track team to professional NFLers. To be able to have this conversation with him is amazing. To learn more about Steve, check him out on Instagram at CoachSteveLeo For all things 3 Things, make sure to check out www.CoachCaseyLee.com!
Ross Peterson and Erick Zamora kick off the 6 o'clock hour thanking Nate Teut and the Des Moines Buccaneers for gifts and talk about how the Buccaneers and the Iowa Wild have developed a great hockey partnership. They then get into a talk about Drew Brees, Vic Fangio and Jake Fromm and how sincere their apologies are. Then they break down a poker scandal that was dismissed against a gambler named Mike Postle. To finish the show Zamora brings up an issue with the standardized tests he took as a kid.
Ross Peterson and Erick Zamora kick off the 6 o'clock hour thanking Nate Teut and the Des Moines Buccaneers for gifts and talk about how the Buccaneers and the Iowa Wild have developed a great hockey partnership. They then get into a talk about Drew Brees, Vic Fangio and Jake Fromm and how sincere their apologies are. Then they break down a poker scandal that was dismissed against a gambler named Mike Postle. To finish the show Zamora brings up an issue with the standardized tests he took as a kid.
Gino sits down to talk with the Footwork King, Rischad Whitfield. Rischad has trained some of the best NFLers in Odell Beckham Jr., and Darius Slay, with some future draft picks such as CeeDee Lamb and Quartney Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Gino sits down to talk with the Footwork King, Rischad Whitfield. Rischad has trained some of the best NFLers in Odell Beckham Jr., and Darius Slay, with some future draft picks such as CeeDee Lamb and Quartney Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
RobbUnfiltered Ep. 58: The Suite Life NFL training camps open as Coach Dave and a few high profile NFLers hold out. Robb Unfiltered is a sports podcast based out of Richmond, Va. Find me on Twitter @RobbUnfiltered. Email me at robbunfiltered@gmail.com. This show is sponsored by On The Rox and Ponies & Pints. Both spots are located in historic Shockoe Bottom in Richmond, Va. Sports. Life. Zero Fucks. #RobbUnfiltered
A look at the highest paid (mostly new) Dynamic Duos in the NBA. Plus how confident should we be with the NFL players earning the most at each position. Why Jimmy Garoppolo's contract isn't nearly what it looks like. And, assessing the latest Forbes Sports Team valuations.
Nick takes his first look at the Satterfield depth chart and what to expect from ACC media days. Plus, Madden rankings miff NFLers, Fast Five, and summer league glory.
As NFL Training Camps draw near, we take a look at some of the lower-on-the-depth-chart quarterbacks who may have a future in the XFL. Find out which NFL camps you need to keep an eye on as an XFL fan and let us know what current NFLers you think could be lured into the XFL … Continue reading "Bonus: Potential XFL QBs in the NFL"
Just in time for your winter blizzard (if you live in the midwest that is) driving Doogie drops episode 131 of The Scoop! Darren "Doogie" Wolfson is joined by a pair of former NFLers this week. First up is former Vikings QB Sage Rosenfels. Next up is former agent and current ESPN Radio personality Ben Hartsock.Ben used to be an agent at Priority Sports, the same agency that represents Kirk Cousins, before moving on to the media side of things. All that right here on this edition of The Scoop!
Leading up to a solid regional card in Fresno, we breakdown the main event and give you the inside track to one of the rising stars of the middleweight division. Former NCAA football champion at Alabama, Eryk Anders chats about the best NFLers for MMA. Time Codes: 0:45 - Interview with Eryk Anders 8:25 - News Roundup 17:00 - UFC Fresno Breakdown
NESN.com's Rachel Holt and Darren Hartwell are back after the Thanksgiving bye week for all your NFL fantasy football updates, advice and predictions for the week ahead. For more: https://nesn.com/fantasy-football/.
After each week of NFL football games for the 2017-2018 season, the Heads 'N Tales podcast will be posting an episode dedicated to injuries and health & safety topics surrounding the NFL. Specifically we will talk about possible prevention strategies, the rulebook, equipment and other injury buzz around the league. My co-host and strategist for these episodes will be one of my closest friends, Josh Boyd (hence the J in "JK"..I'm the K...). Josh and I grew up playing baseball together. Josh was a division-1 center fielder for Monmouth University and experienced his fair share of injuries throughout his career. Although Josh never played organized football, the dude flat-out knows the game of football and undoubtably knows more about the ins-and-outs of the sport better than I do from both a fan and x's & o's perspective. Our intention for these episodes is to spark conversations around topics that are usually brushed under the rug or only minimally covered in the hopes of making football and all sports safer for the athletes who play them. You are currently looking at the show notes for Week 5! WEEK 5 INJURIES: JJ Watt, DE, Houston, Tibial Plateau Fracture - Out for the year 3 months non weight bearing after surgery... Very little contact on JJ Watt's injury. pic.twitter.com/eXoKEe6zo7 — Sports Videos & GIFs (@Sports__GIF) October 9, 2017 I can't sugarcoat it, I am devastated. All I want to do is be out there on that field for my teammates and this city. I'm sorry. — JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 9, 2017 I'd rather risk it all by going balls to the wall than play it safe wondering if I coulda had it all. — JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 30, 2016 Odell Beckham, WR New York Football Giants, Broken Ankle - Out for year (@evang14 question) What if Odell Caught the ball… Would he have landed differently? That's a season ender for Odell Beckham Jr. pic.twitter.com/hp6aO7JeMe — SaquonSZN Ethan (@EthanGSN) October 8, 2017 Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City, Concussion - Left in 2nd Quarter, did not return to game Illegal hit Is this another example of players giving the extra effort coaches preach? The hit on Travis Kelce... ouch pic.twitter.com/SJtFFsGwUv — Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) October 9, 2017 Chris Conley, WR Kansas City, Torn Achilles - Out for year, viewer discretion advised Brutal injury for Chris Conley... peep his calf pic.twitter.com/RjgaIhMKqz — Byrie Irving Stan ☘️ (@mattdole24) October 9, 2017 Every other Giants WR, Brandon Marshall Ankle, Sterling Shepard Ankle, Dwayne Harris Foot (Out for year) Eli Manning, QB New York Football Giants, Xrays on Neck postgame Ben Roethlisberger, QB Pittsburgh, Injuries to Ego and Confidence after 5 INT games vs. Jaguars WEEK 4 FOLLOW-UP: David Amerson, CB, Oakland, Concussion Follow-up, Limited all week in Practice, was questionable for game vs. Ravens, ended up being Inactive, did not dress from the game. Davonte Adams, WR, Green Bay, Concussion, Active, Played full game, scored GW TD with 10 seconds left "To take a hit like that 10 days ago, to be in an ambulance, and then be back out here today -- that speaks volumes about mental toughness," receiver Randall Cobb said of Adams. "Not a lot of people would have been out there. Even a lot of football players wouldn't have been out there. It takes an incredible amount of mental toughness, but that's Davante. And Aaron? What can I say? He just does what needs to be done." Randall Cobb Highlighting how NFLers define toughness... Vontaze Burfict, LB, Cincinatti, Not fined for roughing the passer vs. Cleveland Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Green Bay, Fined 24k for Helmet to Helmet hit of CHI WR Josh Bellamy Went under the radar because of the Burfict hit in that game. Haha hit on Bellamy Danny Trevathan Suspension reduced on appeal to just 1 game... Jon Gruden on Trevathan Hit… “I don’t want to see anybody get hurt,” Gruden said. “It was a vicious hit, but not to be politically correct, you’re supposed to run to the ball. We used to tell our receivers, if you want to run an inside breaking route, if you want to fight for yardage after the catch, you better be careful because these defensive players, they’re on the hunt. I think some of these receivers that are running these quick screens and these inside breaking RPOs [run/pass options], they need to get down, personally. I’m not blaming Davante Adams but I think there’s two ways to look at it. I’ve always coached energy, hustling, rushing to the pile, and if it is wiggling, you do hit it. Because guys are fighting for yardage, and sometimes you’ve got to give up the ball because of one inch. Inches matter. That’s why they measure first downs. That’s why they have a crew down there with those chains. So I’m a little sensitive. I thought Trevathan made a great play. Obviously, what he’s hitting, the surface, below the neck, all those things, I’m totally agreeing on. But I thought Trevathan made a heck of a play and unfortunately a man got hurt.” Week 5 In-depth discussions: Cam Newton Discussion, Women in Football/Perspective Extra Effort Hits: Not necessarily late but are they necessary? Watch for these plays next game you watch, especially during piles. Does the NFL need to change rules on late-ish hits? Need for quicker whistles and adoption of the college rule, knee down-play over? Download : iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud Permalink
Damon Kecman (@DownWithDamon) answers letters from NFLers with Jonders. Then Jonders and Rossdawg talk about the week's games.@JondersFPT@RossdawgFPT@ClimbThePocket
Damon Kecman (@DownWithDamon) answers letters from NFLers with Jonders. Then Jonders and Rossdawg talk about the week's games.@JondersFPT@RossdawgFPT@ClimbThePocket
Jay and Dre are proud to introduce the Baseball Hall of Infamy! After years of sharing memories of NFLers who made a lasting impression but will not get their due in the official sport's Hall of Fame, the boys spotlight the hardball "stars" who have done things on or off the field that should be immortalized. As an added mystery bonus, each host will induct five men without consulting each other, so listen live and enjoy the surprise reveals along with the guys! Theme music credit: "Breaking Bad" by Jahzzar CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo from Howard Stern.com I remember being a junior in high school and my buddy on the football team had some of us over to hang out one night in the off-season. After eating some dinner and probably playing some Halo on Xbox, we went to one of his neighbor’s houses to meet up with some other friends. When we got there I remember a few of the kids bringing out some marijuana to smoke. This was the first time I had ever even seen marijuana or a bong. After a pretty successful junior campaign, my dream of playing college football was at an all-time high (no pun intended) and I was about as straight-edged as they come. I was so laser focused and obsessed with this goal that I refused to be put in any situation that might jeopardize the achievement of that goal. So naturally, I called my mom to pick me up. To my friends credit, they waited to smoke until after I left. People often ask the question, “where do you think you’ll be in ten years?” If you told me in the car-ride home from that gathering that I would be attending the World Medical Cannabis Conference (pictures below) in ten years I would have said, “are you f***ing high?!” (Pun intended). I was significantly influenced by the stigma associated with cannabis from a young age, particularly because of the D.A.R.E. program at school which told us our brain’s were going to turn to mush if we ever smoked marijuana and the only thing we would be great at in life would be collecting Dorito dust on our parent’s couch. To this day, I have never consumed even an ounce of cannabis (well…maybe some second-hand). It’s funny how worried I was about what a plant would do to deteriorate my brain and not about what smashing my skull into everything with a different colored jersey was doing to it. I certainly learned the hard way that running people over and making big hits probably isn’t the best way to conserve brain cells. To be honest, I worry about my brain health as I get older and so are a lot of other former football players and NFLers. Believe it or not, the very plant that we have been told was going to ruin our lives might be the remedy for preserving brain health and saving the game of football and this week’s guest Eben Britton teaches us why. Eben Speaking at the World Cannabis Conference on the Athlete Panel
Photo from Howard Stern.com I remember being a junior in high school and my buddy on the football team had some of us over to hang out one night in the off-season. After eating some dinner and probably playing some Halo on Xbox, we went to one of his neighbor’s houses to meet up with some other friends. When we got there I remember a few of the kids bringing out some marijuana to smoke. This was the first time I had ever even seen marijuana or a bong. After a pretty successful junior campaign, my dream of playing college football was at an all-time high (no pun intended) and I was about as straight-edged as they come. I was so laser focused and obsessed with this goal that I refused to be put in any situation that might jeopardize the achievement of that goal. So naturally, I called my mom to pick me up. To my friends credit, they waited to smoke until after I left. People often ask the question, “where do you think you’ll be in ten years?” If you told me in the car-ride home from that gathering that I would be attending the World Medical Cannabis Conference (pictures below) in ten years I would have said, “are you f***ing high?!” (Pun intended). I was significantly influenced by the stigma associated with cannabis from a young age, particularly because of the D.A.R.E. program at school which told us our brain’s were going to turn to mush if we ever smoked marijuana and the only thing we would be great at in life would be collecting Dorito dust on our parent’s couch. To this day, I have never consumed even an ounce of cannabis (well…maybe some second-hand). It’s funny how worried I was about what a plant would do to deteriorate my brain and not about what smashing my skull into everything with a different colored jersey was doing to it. I certainly learned the hard way that running people over and making big hits probably isn’t the best way to conserve brain cells. To be honest, I worry about my brain health as I get older and so are a lot of other former football players and NFLers. Believe it or not, the very plant that we have been told was going to ruin our lives might be the remedy for preserving brain health and saving the game of football and this week’s guest Eben Britton teaches us why. Eben Speaking at the World Cannabis Conference on the Athlete Panel Street art of one of my favorite players to play the game, Troy Polamalu View from the Convention Center Bong Making Post Interview Photo Op Photo from jaguars.com Eben Britton spent 6 seasons (2009-2016) in the NFL on the offensive line. The first four seasons were with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the last two with the Chicago Bears. Prior to the NFL, Eben was an All American at the University of Arizona where he studied creative writing. I drove out to Pittsburgh to meet Eben where he was speaking at the World Medical Cannabis Conference (as mentioned earlier in this post) where he and three other retired NFL players (Todd Herremans, Marvin Washington and Nate Jackson) spoke on behalf of an organization called Athletes For Care. Athletes For Care is a non-profit organization founded by a group of pro athletes who are uniting as one voice to advocate for research, education, and compassion when addressing important health issues facing athletes and the public at large. In the steel city, Eben and the rest of the Athletes For Care team were advocating for the removal of cannabis from the list of banned substances in the NFL. Each athlete spoke about the ways they have been able to use marijuana to alleviate the pain that inevitably comes when playing football both during and after their career’s. Many NFL players become addicted to the opiate pain killers they are prescribed when in the league (like previous guest David Vobora) and after attending the conference and listening to Eben’s story, I am a true believer in this cause. I was blown away by the countless benefits cannabis offers to the world. After speaking on the Athlete Panel during the conference, Eben generously took time to share his story and teach us about the benefits of cannabis on the podcast. Photo Courtesy of Eben Britton Eben was raised in a family that was holistically minded. Natural remedies were always the first go-to medicines and he frequently went to yoga classes as a kid. He didn’t start playing football until he was a freshman in high school and that was after a lot of convincing to his mom who was always terrified he was going to get hurt. Even before he suited up and walked out on to the field for the first time, he was focused and determined to be the best football player he could possibly be and everything he did went towards achieving that mission. Fortunately, Eben didn’t deal with a lot of injuries in high school or college besides a chronically subluxating shoulder. However, while playing the Chiefs during his 2nd season in league, his shoulder fully dislocated for the first time. He was also dealing with a herniated disc in his back and was on a handful of medications including Adderall, Toradol and Vicodin. Eben says that he and most of his teammates would get a shot of Toradol before each game, which is extremely destructive on the human body considering an NFL football season can last up to 6 months. Standard recommendations for Toradol are as follows: “Toradol should not be used for longer than 5 days, including both injection plus tablets. Long-term use of this medicine can damage your kidneys or cause bleeding.” Eben described how these opiates mask your pain through the central nervous system by basically telling your brain you're not in pain. However, Eben believes this isn't necessarily a beneficial quality of the drugs because pain serves a purpose. In addition, Eben talked about some other negative effects of the drugs most frequently prescribed for NFL players which includes an increased frequency of the negative and dark thoughts that would pop up while on injured reserved, along with the mood swings that caused him to be angry and irrational. Not to mention waking up at 3am with the withdrawal symptoms of chills and cold sweats. Juxtapose this experience with the effects of cannabis and the differences are glaring. During the interview, Eben discusses the science behind the medicinal herb, cannabis, and how it affects the body naturally. Fortunately, Eben stayed relatively injury free in high school or college so he didn't need to take a whole lot of pain killers. The first time Eben tried marijuana he was in high school after football season and had an intense experience, but because of that he didn’t use it again until he got to the NFL. You might be saying to yourself, "but isn't that illegal?" Eben talks about the structure of drug testing in the NFL and how to not got caught. Cannabis is considered a street drug in the NFL and these drugs are only tested once a year. The testing for street drugs occurs anytime between the start of OTA’s to the end of training camp. Performance enhancing drug tests are conducted at random throughout the whole year. As mentioned earlier, I have never used cannabis, so I asked Eben what cannabis does to the pain football players and athletes deal with on a regular basis. Eben said that cannabis doesn't kill your pain, it just reframes it. He went on to describe cannabis as a comfort blanket. Eben said that every football player is so overly adrenalized because they spend all day everyday in a super extreme environment and constantly running on adrenaline and cortisol. In other words, they are in a constant state of fight or flight. Cannabis, according to Eben, fosters an environment of healing in your body. Eben also went on the drop some knowledge bombs on some of Dr. Mechoulam's research who is considered the godfather of cannabinoid. Specifically, mice studies have shown when someone or something gets a concussion, receptors in the brain initiate the healing process by releasing the neurotransmitter glutamate, which is toxic to the brain over a period of time, especially in football players who are constantly knocking heads. Glutamate starts to destroy brain matter over an extended period of time and is thought to be one of the causes of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE. Cannabinoids cross the blood brain barrier and are able to shut off the receptors pumping glutamate, neutralize the glutamate and actually trigger neurogenesis to form new brain cells. Eben also went on to tell me that cannabis is actually a bronchodilator, which means that it actually improves lung function. We finished the episode by talking about Eben's transition to life after football and debunking the stigma associated with cannabis. NFL is often thought to stand for "Not For Long" by many of the athletes who played in the league, but while you're in it, no one is thinking about their inevitable demise. Guys who reach the upper echelons of the sport have had to sacrifice a lot to get to that point. Eben says that his transition to life after football has been one of the biggest struggles of his life, but also one of the most rewarding. He advises that athletes need to be gentle to themselves during their transitions, appreciate the work you have done and have gratitude for that experience. Eben's advice for current athletes is to give yourself some distance from your sport at times. He believes all athletes have an element of creativity inherently inside them and it is important for them to have an outlet outside of the game. For Eben, that outlet has often been writing. Some of his articles have been linked up at the bottom of this post. Eben is passionate about helping other athletes during their transition to life after sports and has helped start The Athletes Afterlife program through Athletes For Care. This program is intended to serve as a support group for athletes to share their struggle and help translate sports skills to other areas. These groups are for athletes of any level and sport. I was a guy who fed into the stigma associated with cannabis my whole life. To be completely honest, I judged guys who used it. The judgement stemmed from my lack of knowledge about the plant and from living in a society that demonizes it. Eben says that we need to shift the paradigm of our thinking when it comes to cannabis. We need to think of the pills that are made in a laboratory as the stuff that we want to stay away from and view the medicine that grows from the earth and is naturally occurring in our bodies as the stuff that will help us. I hope this episode will help de-stigmatize the drug and prevent athletes from becoming addicted to pain killers in the future. Eben's Articles First Times: Balancing Football and Cannabis with ex-NFL Lineman Eben Britton What Does It Take To Stay In The NFL? You Don’t Want To Know WHERE CAN YOU FIND Athletes for care? WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER WHERE CAn you find Eben britton? INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | FACEBOOK Download Episode 75 : iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud Permalink
Episode 99 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features Sports Illustrated senior writer S.L. Price. Along with his work for SI, Price has a new book out ¬ — Playing Through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town — which examines the history of Aliquippa, Pa. and football’s place in an American steel town. In this podcast, Price discusses how to approach long-form sports writing; what makes certain subjects interesting to write about; the difference between sports feature writing in 2016 versus 2000; the process of interviewing dozens of people for a piece and how to organize it; why he wanted to examine Aliquippa, Pa., the home of Mike Ditka, Darrelle Revis and Ty Law among other NFLers; how he finds stories and profiles; how to write a feature when your main subject will not talk to you; whether you have to like a subject to write about them; playing basketball against candidate Barack Obama in Iowa for an SI column in 2007; how often he likes the pieces he wrote; why what the immediate future holds for Roger Federer; Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams; and much more. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Brian talks with former Major League Baseball player and Peak Performer Eric Byrnes, the day before they both compete in IronMan Arizona. Byrnes recently came out with a Documentary on his journey from a Major League field, to 8 IronMan competitions as well as The Western States 100. Watch Eric's Diamond To The Rough Documentary Follow Byrnes on Twitter @byrnes22 Follow Byrnes on Instagram ebyrnes22 You will learn about... What drove Byrne's to professional baseball and a career in sports broadcasting Byrnes' unique path to professional baseball Byrnes' thoughts on the Mental Game and exactly what it means to him The similarities of playing in a Major League Baseball game and competing in an IronMan Byrnes' thoughts on success and what it is to him PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION Byrnes: It's not about the reward. The reward is a process. Once you understand that the reward, the money, the belt buckles, the metals, everything comes easier. Cain: Welcome to another edition of the Brian Cain Peak Performance Podcast. Today our guest, Eric Byrnes, was one of the most electrifying players of his time in Major League Baseball. His all out all the time approach made him a fan favorite and a player whose hustle, drive, effort, and energy was emulated by high school and college players and programs all over the country. A 2013 inductee to the UCLA Hall of Fame, Byrnes always brings the juice. [Bring the juice!] Cain: Whether it's playing in the outfield for the Diamondbacks, A's, Orioles, Rockies, or Mariners, working as an analyst for Major League Baseball Network, or in his endurance race career having completed eight Iron Man triathlons - it will be his ninth in two days from now - and the Western States 100 Mile Mountain Race. Be on the lookout for a documentary about his journey into the world of extreme races called From the Diamond to the Rough which follows him through the Western States 100. You can learn more about Eric at www.Byrnes22.com and on Twitter at @Byrnes22. Please welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast Eric Byrnes. Eric, thanks for joining us man. Byrnes: I need some more Brian Cain in my life. Can I get that intro every morning when I wake up out of bed and just get ready to charge? Cain: We'll create that as an alarm that you can play. Right now mine pops up and says “where is the beef jerky” as a tribute to Jocko Willard. But we can get that to pop up and play for you. Eric, if you would, give us kind of your journey from St. Francis High School in northern California to where you are today now. Byrnes: Well it's pretty simple. Basically I grew up in Portola Valley which is a small town in northern California which is I'd say probably more known for a lot of the pioneers of the silicon valley either grew up there or at least settled there in the Portola Valley Woodside area. So baseball or even sports in general wasn't very popular. But I had this dream and vision of (when I was a kid) doing two things. One of them was playing professional sports and the other one was talking about professional sports. I used to sit around with my buddies and we would just debate whatever - football, baseball, basketball, tennis, this and that, whatever it was we were so passionate about it and we just let it eat. We fed off of sports talk radio. That was something to us. KNBR 680, the sports leader, was it for us. To make a long story longer here I ended up going to St. Francis which was kind of a leap of faith for me because kids from my area there weren't a lot that went to St. Francis which was known back then as the premier sports school really in the Bay Area. They had De La Salle across the bay. You had Serra which was where Barry Bonds went, Jim Fregosi, Lynn Swann, Tom Brady. And then Bellarmine was also a good one. But St. Francis arguably was the best of the best when it kind of came to all around sports. So I ended up going there and playing football my freshman year. At the time - think about this, you're a freshman in high school. I don't even think I had gone through puberty yet. I'm just trying to kind of make my way. I'm in a school with I think there was one other kid from my grade school that went there. All these other guys played Pop Warner, they were all friends and whatnot. It was really kind of a lonely place and I was just kind of trying to find my way. Athletically I have never seen anything like it in my life. Everybody were good athletes. So after football season it was time to make a decision whether or not I was going to play basketball. I realized that if I have any chance of being good here for the first time in my life I'm like I need to focus, narrow my focus a little bit. The decision I made (because basketball ran well into baseball season) was hey look I'm not going to play hoops - which my claim to fame (and still is today) probably my greatest athletic feat was scoring 56 points in an eighth grade basketball game. Not kidding you. I worked with Tom Tolbert at KNBR 680 who played in the NBA for like 7-8 years. I always would give Tolbert crap because he had never scored 56 in a game. But anyway I ended up going. I went to the tryouts. Think about this. I told this story at St. Francis the other night when I went back and showed the documentary Diamond to the Rough. There were 50 kids - 50 - going out for a baseball team for 15 spots. Think about that. Cain: This is a freshman. Byrnes: This is high school freshman baseball. There are 50 kids. You know what our tryouts were? Play catch for five minutes. When you get them playing catch we're going to take half of you and we're going to put you in the outfield. You are going to catch I think it was maybe 1-2 fly balls, then we are going to put you in the infield, maybe it was 4-5 grounders, and that was it. Backed up with a pitching machine that was spitting balls out in every which direction and you get five swings. Then after that it was like okay. I went in the outfield. I think I clanked one of the balls I was supposed to catch. I go in the infield, beat at a ball or two. I was just so nervous. Then I get to take a couple swings off the pitching machine, foul a c couple off, swing and miss, pop a ball up, pop another one up. “Alright Eric thanks for coming to and we'll see you, the results will be posted tomorrow in the gym.” So I went to the gym the next day and I just knew I didn't make it. There is no way. How could I have possibly made the team? I told my mom. I said “look I'm almost positive that I'm going to get cut from this team, I can't take this, I want to go to Woodside High School, I'm transferring.” It was just too much for me. It was too overwhelming. The competition was too good and the opportunity was too scarce. A lot of life is having opportunity and if you don't have the opportunity to prove yourself … So I went through the next day and posted on the outside gym wall was all the names of the guys that made it. So I'm looking kind of huddled around. I'm looking from a distance. It's like “Ryan, Brendan, Bryan, Matt,” all the way down to the bottom. Fifteen names. “Chris” was the last name. No “Eric.” I said “it's cool, I prepared myself for this, I'm going to Woodside High School no problem.” But guess what? I'm going to look at every one of these 15 guys and I'm going to mark them and I'm going to go out and prove that there is not one of these guys that was a better baseball player than I am. I went back to look at the names, scan the names, make sure exactly who the guys were. I get to the last name and it was “Chris Byrnes.” B-y-r-n-e-s. I'm like “Chris Byrnes? No way there is another Byrnes here, this doesn't make any sense.” Did he screw up the first name? Did he screw up the last name? What is going on? So I went sprinting after the freshman baseball coach as he was walking away and I'm like “Coach Ferrera, Coach Ferrera!” He turns around and goes “what can I do for you, Chris?” I go “nothing I'll see you at practice.” That was it. That was all I needed to know. I went from thinking I was getting cut from the freshman baseball team and having to transfer schools to obviously making the team. Cain: 0:08:01 felt standard. Byrnes: And my career kind of took off from there. Cain: Wow. How about that. So you go from making it as Chris Byrnes and seeing the freshman team then you end up getting drafted out of high school - so you obviously had a good career at St. Francis - and then made the decision to not sign pro with the L.A. Dodgers but go on to UCLA. A lot of players that are listening to this or parents or coaches that are listening to this there is always that debate of if you're a high school kid do you sign and go and start your pro baseball career and get those extra three years of minor league baseball under your belt or do you go to college? Depending on who you talk to you are going to get a different answer - sometimes it's a dollar figure amount, other times it's a life experience amount, an education reason. Why did you choose to go to UCLA instead of signing pro baseball straight out of St. Francis High School? Byrnes: I think it's pretty simple. First of all for people listening to this - and I imagine that a lot of the people that are actually listening are young guys that are trying to find a way. I can't tell you how important the mental side of baseball is and what that did for me. I just think that my parents instilled in me at a very young age what the most important thing in the world was family first and then education. I knew I had a dream of wanting to play professional sports but I also knew that there was going to be a time and place for it. My belief in myself and my confidence in myself - this was sort of where the mental game kind of really comes in is that you've got to be willing to walk. You've got to have this ultimate belief in yourself that this is not going to be - when I was a 38th round draft pick out of high school, a 38th round draft pick? I should have been a first round draft pick. Then I got drafted again in the fourth round by the Houston Astros after my junior year where a lot of people would sign. I met with the scouting director of the Houston Astros at the time and he had come back to Cape Cod to watch me play for a week. After the week he was like “hey Eric I'd like to take you to breakfast” and we're trying to negotiate a contract. The average of the round back then was like $150,000. So they had made an original offer of $90,000 which is nowhere even near the average of the round. Their excuse was that they had given too much of the money to Lance Berkman who they had drafted in the first round. Great choice and great guy to give a lot of money to, right? But apparently it affected their second, third, and fourth round draft picks. Ironically none of us ended up signing. Here was my thing. It wasn't about the money. I knew that $90,000 - and then you pay taxes on a bonus which is like $45,000. Even if it was $150,000 and you told me I'm going to walk away with $75,000 I'll go blow $75,000 in a weekend. That wasn't going to change my life. I understood that. I knew that. What I wanted was an organization that believed in me, that said “hey Eric look we're going to give you every opportunity to succeed.” That is what I needed. Sure enough I went to breakfast and it was the scouting director and one other guy. They sat there and they said “hey here is the deal, we gave all our money to Berkman, we've been watching you play for a week now, we think you're a circus act in the outfield, you pull the baseball way too much, you can't hit the ball the other way, you're fast but you run funny and really awkward, so here is our $90,000 offer take it or leave it at this point but it goes off the table tomorrow.” I'm like wow. Cain: That is what they said? Byrnes: I said “so hold on let me get this straight, you guys are telling me that you are going to basically offer me way less than the average of the round and then on top of that--” I said “hold on guys this isn't about the money so what do you want me to do?” I said “you want me to sign with an organization that already doesn't believe in me for the minimal value of the round and I'm going to start with my back against the wall knowing your guys' feelings about my game.” Where in the manual of being a scouting director when you're trying to sign a player does it say “let's go ridicule him and demean him and then monetarily show him we don't have any support for him either” and think that that person would sign? “You guys can go fuck yourself.” I got up and walked out. That was it. That was the last time I ever spoke to the Houston Astros. Cain: So you go back to UCLA for your senior year and then go on and get drafted and make your way up to the big leagues. Talk a little bit about that mental game or that belief that you had in yourself. Let me slow down here I'm all jacked up. What is the mental game to you, Eric? What is the mental game of baseball? Byrnes: Confidence. Belief in yourself. It kind of goes back to the story that I just told. I don't respond the way I did without the confidence and without the belief in myself. Even going back to my freshman year I don't go back freshman year of high school and having that “I'll walk, I'll transfer schools, I need an opportunity, I need to play, I am going to be a professional baseball player.” I didn't tell a lot of people. I told my mom. That was it. I kept it really low. I wasn't parading around with a megaphone to all my friends. But when I was 13 years old my dad used to throw me in batting practice all the time. He knew nothing about baseball. Absolutely zero. He was a fourth degree black belt in kenpo karate. He'd take me out and we'd go to the town center of Portola Valley and just throw BP days and days and days. Just all day. Eventually when I was 13 I was like there is only so much BP he can throw me. My parents are like “hey we got you a” - they thought they were all clever but they were like “we got you a birthday present, his name is Mike.” I'm like “what do you mean his name is Mike?” “We got you a new friend for your birthday, Mike.” I'm like “what?” Iron Mike. Cain: Oh yeah. Byrnes: So down below where we lived, our house the way it was situated was kind of up on a hill, and then down below in part of the property you couldn't really see was a batting cage with an Iron Mike machine. When I was 13 years old I cranked that thing up to 90 miles per hour, throwing as fast as it could throw. At first I had a tough time - foul balls off, foul balls off, foul balls off - and eventually *poof* I was ranking it, right? Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam! Well guess what? When I got to face - I was a sophomore in high school. I had just got called up to varsity. I didn't start with varsity when I was a sophomore. I got called up to varsity to face Dan Serafini. Dan Serafini was a first round pick out of Serra. He threw 92 miles per hour from the left side. A nasty little sink. There were 50 scouts in the stands, maybe more. I went there to face him. Everyone else 0:15:53 sample for right? Cain: Yeah. Byrnes: And I'm like no problem *whap whap whap* three bullets off of Dan Serafini. Barely anyone else was touching him. It's repetition. It is a skill that was developed through hard work. Even during football season - I played football through high school but even during football season before school in the morning I'd still bang 50 balls before I went to school. I got home at night, the sun is going down, dark, whatever, I'd put on a few lights we'd put up in the cage, boom, just 50 more. Didn't overdo it. I just loved to hit. Well guess what? Guess what that created? Confidence. So when I got there against Dan Serafini as a sophomore in high school still not sure if I - I'm barely going through puberty at this point and I'm hitting bullets off of 92 mile per hour fastballs when no one else is touching him. Now you've got 50 scouts in the stands going “huh who is this kid?” I think people need to remember when it comes to the mental game confidence is created and developed through work. It's like a test. Imagine studying for a test - and you know those tests. I went into several where I wasn't prepared for the test and what sort of confidence did I have going into that test? So long as I did my work and I studied for that test and I was ready for that test I was confident. My mental game was exactly where it needed to be. It's the same thing with the process of going up and playing in the big leagues. People go “are you nervous?” Yeah of course you are going to be nervous. This is natural nerves. But guess what? Were you scared? Not one bit. I prepared myself for that day. I prepared myself. Cain: So you've got eight Iron Mans. You're doing your ninth here in two days. What is the prep? Is it the same thing with going in and doing an endurance race whether it's the 100 mile race or an Iron Man where you've done the preparation, you've done the training with run, bike, swim? Is it the same thing with the preparation in terms of you having done the work to go prepare for an Iron Man triathlon? Byrnes: Exact same thing. It's not any different. There is no natural transition from playing professional baseball to going into the endurance world. Physically there is very little translation between the two. But psychologically very similar because it's all about doing the work and doing the work that gives you confidence to go out there and have your best race on that given day. That's it. It's as simple as that. That is what drives me I think in the training. Part of it is that fear of knowing that that test is there. That test is coming up. It's what eventually got me going in school is I knew that in order to go to college I was going to have to do the work to do well on my test to get me into a good school and it all kind of became part of the plan. Ironically as I got older I became a much better student than I ever was at a younger age. Cain: Talk about being a student for a second. One of the things you mentioned earlier off the air was how there was a time in your life where you just kind of were devouring books and you had a group of guys where you would go through Heads-Up Baseball and then talk about that. Talk a little bit about the importance of leaders being readers and for the people that are following this what are some of the best books that you like to read. Byrnes: Wow. Yeah. One of the first books I really dove into and read probably 50 times over through the course of my entire baseball career was The Mental Game of Baseball by Karl Kuehl and Harvey Dorfman. Karl ended up being a mentor of mine when I played with the Oakland A's and then even after. He was with the Indians at the time and I was with the Arizona Diamondbacks but we would have a weekly call that we had scheduled. We would schedule it at different times on different weeks but man it was so incredibly beneficial having that somebody there to sort of balance some ideas. It's funny because sometimes when I was rolling we wouldn't even talk about baseball. I sort of let him dictate the conversations. But ironically I had - well I wouldn't say ironically. There was no coincidence that I had my two greatest years in the big leagues when I was checking in with Karl on a weekly basis. Unfortunately at the end of 2008 I think was when he got sick and he ended up passing away. It hit hard and it hit fast and I still miss him dearly to this day but the lessons that he taught me in my life and my career are just invaluable. The other one was Heads-Up Baseball by Ken Ravizza is another one that I dove into with Scott Seal - a buddy of mine. We were roommates at UCLA and then he ended up transferring to Fullerton and he played there. We got into pro ball at the same time. During the offseason we just trained together, lived together. We'd go through books specific to baseball. We would read the hitting books be it Charlie Lau's book or Ted Williams' book. It was funny because the one thing I think that I always did a good job at was digesting the language that spoke to me because not everything is going to speak to you so you have to be able to throw out a lot of what you hear in this game but digest the key things. So since then as far as books I don't know where to start. But one of the latest ones that I would recommend everybody read - and you'll have to read it multiple times. The great thing about books now too - because of all the training that I do I go just about all audiobooks. But Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Self Reliance is something that I could dig into every single day. The overall message of making decisions on your own and not necessarily conforming to the societal norms - it's also not saying be an anarchist but it's an incredible message. So much to take in. I think the parallels - and it was written however long ago but these parallels are incredible and it's amazing how relevant it still is. The Scholar was the latest one that I read of his. I can't get enough of Emerson. It's amazing to me how relevant Emerson and his writings still are to this day. Cain: I just started reading a book about stoicism and it goes back to Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus and these guys who were writing back in Ancient Greece. The book is called The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. It's awesome. It's a one page a day read. Very short. Talking about stoic we think of stoic as somebody who is not emotional, somebody who is just kind of there. Their idea of stoicism is somebody who is so in control of themselves that they never let their emotions get the best of them, that they have the self control, that they quickly identify what they can control, what they can't control, and they only focus their time and energy and attention on things they can control - which is a lot of what I have learned through Heads-Up Baseball and Ravizza but I didn't realize it goes all the way back to the freaking Greeks. It's written in a language that you can tell it's ancient times but Ryan Holiday does a great job of translating that to making sense for what you're doing today. It's pretty cool. Byrnes: I'll check it out. Cain: Ryan Holiday. It's The Daily Stoic. Other pieces of the mental game. You talked about the confidence that comes from preparation. What about routines? What are some of the routines that you had to help you go one pitch at a time, Eric? Byrnes: I was very routine oriented. Before preparing for a game I had my whole routine of stretching that I would do. We're talking (let's say) 35 minutes before the game where it was the stretching to the sprints to jumping over the laundry basket in the club house. I did not go outside to sprint I think hardly ever in my big league career because what happened is as you start playing and you're seeing all your peers there it's what you see today - which is I don't know if it's BS or not. It depends what side of the fence you're on when it comes to fraternization but you see a bunch of guys playing grab ass out in the outfield. Well look I was there to play baseball and prepare myself for a game. I don't need to catch up with this guy and see how the family is doing and everything else. And the guy on the other team. I wasn't interested in that. So I felt like that was always a distraction to me so I would actually do my sprints underneath, in the tunnel, in the batting cage so long as it was available. I would jump over laundry baskets too and I had a whole routine of doing that. Then I would hit off the tee and it would just be five balls the other way, pull five balls, finish with five balls up the middle. And then I'd throw too so I'd just grab some balls in the cage and I'd throw 10-15 balls whenever I felt like. Then I'd make sure I'd finish about five minutes before the game so I still had that *breath* alright physically I know I'm ready. Mentally let's get here and let's do it. Cain: Awesome. Mental imagery. Anything you used at all in terms of visualizing yourself playing well? Maybe it was something you'd do at night before you'd go to bed or during the day when you're at the stadium kind of visualizing yourself taking at bats off the guy who is going to be pitching you that day? Byrnes: All the time. Every single day. That was another part of my routine that I would do. I would do it after the tee work. I would mentally have a vision of that pitcher that we were going to face that day and I would start with fastball. I'd go fast ball away ball, fast ball away strike, boom. So I'd imagine fastball away, just taking it. Nice soft hit ball. Fastball away strike. Bam. Shooting it the other way. Fastball middle, down or up, we're at ball. Okay fast ball right there. Boom. I'd just imagine low line drives. Fast ball in ball, fast ball in. Boom. Drop the hit. Homer. Same thing. Curve ball down on a wide ball, curve ball outside corner, boom, base hit right field. Curveball middle down in the dirt. Good take. Next one. Curve ball middle. Boom. Base hit out the middle. Curve ball inside. Take it. Curve ball inside. Homer. Same thing with the change up. I would do that every single day. It started - here is another book I would recommend. I'm trying to think. It was I want to say The Mental Game of Tennis but that's not right. Cain: The Inner Game of Tennis. Byrnes: Inner Game of Tennis. The Inner Game of Tennis is one of the first mental books I read. When I was a kid I was a big time tennis player. You want to talk about you think baseball players have - like that tennis game especially at a young age and you're on that island by yourself, that's heavy. So through The Inner Game of Tennis I learned the points of the visualizations. So I would play the match the night before. I would go sit in this chair in our living room. My mom would always help me with it. She was like “okay just go ahead and visualize your match.” Well I was playing against these ridiculously good tennis players. There were like - geez - Michael Jessup, Cory Guy, Misha Palecek, Ryan Walters. All four of these dudes went on. Palecek, Walters, and Jessup were like 1, 2, 3 at Stanford. Cory Guy was the number one player at Santa Barbara. All of them went on to play professional tennis in some capacity. These are a lot of the guys that - I was competing against these dudes. Cain: Yeah. Byrnes: It was just super heavy and we did a lot traveling or whatever but that is where I learned the mental side. Then I slowly transitioned that. I'm like “okay if I can envision playing these matches why can't I envision what the game is going to look like tomorrow in baseball, what my at bats are going to look like?” So I started doing that. I truly believe that is where my baseball career really took off in a sense is when I was about 12 in All Stars and going through that mental imagery of doing it. Again when you stand at the box - what did I say? What is the mental game? That game is confidence and belief. But what gives you confidence and belief is that fact that you have done the work. Well guess what? When I got in the box I had already been there. I had already done it. I'm comfortable. I had seen it. Cain: Did you do the same thing when you were getting ready to run an Iron Man? Do you see yourself crossing the finish line already and all that? I know that you have already done eight but when you go back to doing your first one was it the same process seeing yourself crossing the finish line and all that? Byrnes: I did it yesterday sitting in the float tank. A float tank is this tank filled with whatever. Now I like putting myself in positions - when I can find that quiet time I went through the whole race, went through the beginning, what is it going to be like jumping in. I don't care how many you do. The best never stop preparing. It's not like - if I didn't have a little anxiousness and a little fear - that is normal. You want that. That is why I do these. If I lose that it's not going to have the same luster. Am I more comfortable because I have eight under my belt? Of course I am. Of course I am. But I also still know that in order to get my best result I need to go out there and run through this. What is it going to be like? There is going to be a lot of contact in the swim. Imagine and visualize and even feel for every stroke I'm going to come down and I might get hit. Or what is happening when the guy is grabbing on my legs behind me? Am I going to kick him off or am I going to relax? I went through it. Then getting on the bike and visualizing the transition. What exactly do I need when I get out of the water? When I actually get out of the water I am going to unzip the top of my wetsuit. I am going to take my watch off. I like to keep it clean. If you pull everything over the watch and the thing is stopping and everything - boom, watch off, wetsuit top off, but I'm going to keep everything on waist down. They have wetsuit strippers there that actually will take the whole thing off but I want to keep mine on because I‘m going to have some little booties. I'm going to get a good run to grab my transition bag, get in the transition where I'll have my helmet, short little socks and my bike shoes ready to go. But guess what? I'll have a towel laid out too. I'll have a towel in there so I can take the booties off without getting grass all over my feet so when I put on my socks there is not going to be grass sitting there for the next nine hours or whatever it's going to be. All of that is prepared for. All of that is thought of. The bike computer is going to be on the bike. There is just so much. The nutrition, making sure the nutrition in the bottles are lined up. You need to be very meticulous about that. Then I visualize the bike. Ideally in the first loop of the bike that we have tomorrow I want to control my effort. I've had a tendency to go out guns blazing and then progressively each lap get slower. It usually happens anyway but I'm going to try to ride as consistently as possible through the entire 112 miles which then I believe will allow me to have my best run and ideally my best run I've ever had in an Iron Man. So it should be fun. Cain: Yeah. Sounds like you're - and I haven't viewed your documentary From the Diamond to the Rough which is unbelievable and anybody listening to this has got to check that out. From the Diamond to the Rough. If you'd let them know where they can get that that would be great. In that you talked a lot about the joy is in the process. What does that mean? Byrnes: So the reward. We like the reward don't we? The reward is one of the reasons why we do what we do in any industry. It's your payday. It's making your money. In the endurance world it's a medal at the end of an Iron Man. It's a belt buckle at the end of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. That is the reward. For my kids they love it. It's the trophy. They're out there and they're playing. It's a trophy. So when we're kids I don't think - we know the reward is there and we think we're chasing the reward. When you're in baseball and you're playing baseball and you think you're chasing the money and everything and then I got to endurance sports and it was like I thought I was chasing the medal and the fact that I could say “oh I've done eight Iron Mans” and everything else. I think it really hit me when I did the Western States 100 that it's not about the reward. The reward is the process. I think that once you understand that the reward, the money, the belt buckles, the medals, everything comes easier. But that is simply a result of you fully embracing the process. So going forward here, man, I just did an article yesterday. I talked to Susan Slusser from the San Francisco Chronicle. They're going to do a big story about Diamond to the Rough and it's interesting because when I was explaining that to her - and every time I explain it as I explained it to you today it rings so true yet I think sometimes through the course of your life you don't get it and you don't understand it. But guess what? It hasn't changed. It hasn't changed since you were nine years old and you're running around a little league field or you're running around a soccer field or anything else. We thought we were chasing the trophy but we weren't chasing the trophy. The absolute reason why we do it is because of the exhilarating emotional feelings that we get from being out there, being out on the racecourse, being out on the baseball field. That is what life is about. That is living. That's it. Cain: When you cross the finish line of those Iron Mans or of the Western States 100 you carry a jersey of a former Arizona State football player, Pat Tillman. Could you talk a little bit about your relationship with Pat and then why you carry that jersey, why that is so important to you? Byrnes: Well Pat played for - he went to Leland High School in San Jose at the same time I went to St. Francis. We would watch him (I'm not kidding you) and we would just gawk. From his junior year. Junior year, senior year. It was just like is this guy for real? He was an undersized dude that just - I mean he was blowing dudes up on defense/ He was given the football and was just running around guys, he was running over guys. It was like how often is it that you get a group of high school kids in this totally uncomfortable state in your life, all this testosterone and macho bravado and everything else, where you could get a group of high school kids that were playing on the best high school football team in the area. We'd look at a guy on this other team and go “that dude is the baddest dude I have ever seen.” He had blond locks flowing out of his helmet. So basically what happened is I think the first time we met was we saw him at a Leland/St. Francis volleyball game. A buddy of ours - we were scared to go up to him. We were like “dude that's Tillman over there, that's Tillman over there.” So a buddy of ours by the name of Zach Wahls was like “I've got to go, I've got to do it” and he went up, walked across the gym, he was like “hey Pat I'm Zach Wahls I go to St. Francis, football player, I just wanted to meet you and say how much we respect you” and this and that. That was pretty cool to see because just like 4-5 years later Zach Wahls was the sixth round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals after going to Dartmouth and playing for four years and Pat Tillman was the seventh round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals after going to ASU and playing for four years. Then they roomed together with the Cardinals here. Cain: How about that. Byrnes: In 1998 when I first signed with the A's and I'd come and like - man I'd do anything to hang with the - I'm low level minor leagues. I'm the bottom barrel structurally and I'm hanging around some NFLers with Pat and Zach. My time actually getting to know Pat was very limited. I spent very little time with him hanging out with him. The times that I did you could tell there was something just special about him. Then he ended up obviously after 9/11 deciding to walk from football and join the Army Rangers. From there I wanted to do the same thing. I was just like everybody else that was emotionally moved by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We wanted to fight. Pat did an interview. He was like “what have I done, my great grandfather fought in World War I, my grandfather fought in World War II, my dad fought in Vietnam,” he was just going through it. He was like “what the hell have I done.” [Tillman: My great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor and a lot of my family has given up - has gone to fight in wars, and I really haven't done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that and so I have a great deal of respect for those that have and what the flag stands for.] Byrnes: You could tell. This was the day after 9/11 when he did this interview. I had the same feeling. I always had these visions. Mike Seal who happens to be in the condo right now staying with me, him and I have always talked about being Navy SEALS. That was always our fascination. But guess what? Here I was after 9/11 just busting into the big leagues. Was I willing to give it all up to go to Afghanistan and fight for our country? I wasn't. I didn't have the balls to do it. You know what? Pat did. It's a shame of how it ended because it didn't have to. The whole thing with the friendly fire and the cover up and everything else was disgusting but in no way does it diminish the sacrifice that he was willing to make for the sake of your ass and mine. A couple years ago - a couple years, 10 years ago now in 2006 when I was with the Diamondbacks I got a call from Richard Tillman, Pat's youngest brother, and he knew I had always talked well about Pat, pumped Pat up, and he knew how close Zach and I were and he invited me out to the statue unveiling out at the new stadium in Glendale. There was a group of only about 50 family members and friends for the statue unveiling and I was fortunate enough to be there and watch it and really got close with the family - Marie his widow, Kevin his brother who he went to Afghanistan with who also was an Army Ranger, Richard, and a couple of his best friends, this guy Ben Hill and Dallas Carwood who were running the foundation at the time. I basically at that point knew that I was all in with doing whatever I could do to make sure that the next generation of kids knew exactly who Pat Tillman was and the sacrifice that he made. It's not to diminish sacrifices of other people and other 18 year old kids that are signing up around the country to go serve our country but there is something to say when you don't have to go and you're at the height of your NFL career and you have a multimillion dollar offer on the table and you walk. That was something special and I just want to continue to celebrate that and celebrate the foundation which has gone on to do some really good things with education and providing scholarships for military members and their families and basically grooming these people to be game changers in society - which is exactly what Pat was. Cain: That's awesome. I had the privilege to run the Pat Tillman race one time at Arizona State. For people that are listening to this it's a short 5k race but there are probably 25,000-30,000 people that show up a Arizona State Sun Devils Stadium for that race they do every year. If you're looking for something to get you going and something to remind you that we live in the greatest country in the world show up for that race. It's unbelievable. Walk it or do it but it's something that you've got to do. If you're listening to this podcast go online right now and Google “Pat Tillman Race Arizona State University,” find out when it is, and go smash it. Go do it because you are going to get a lot out of that experience and that opportunity. Eric, last question for you here. I really appreciate your time today. It's been fantastic. One of the most fun podcasts we have ever done. 40 years old, eight Iron Mans in, Major League Baseball career, been an analyst, you've got a book that you've written that is going to be coming out that I can't wait to read - it's going to be off the charts. You've got a documentary. You're married. You've got children. How do you define success for you right now? In baseball it's easy. It's a statistical thing. Everybody can determine if you have success based off of numbers. How do you define success in your life right now? Byrnes: A successful person - and I feel like I'm having success. I'd say I'm winning (I'm not sure that that's the right word) when I'm able to embrace the moment. We don't live in the moment today. It's very difficult sometimes and we're so consumed with social media and we want everything quick and we want everything fast and it's the Millennial generation. And I get it. I live this fast paced life. I have a lot of things going on. But you mentioned I have three kids. I have a 5, 6, and 7 year old. I'm married. I do everything I can to be a good father, good husband. And then I have a job that is 3,000 miles away. So I live in California at Half Moon Bay about 20 miles south of San Francisco but I have a place in New York City and MLB networks is in Secaucus, New Jersey right across the river about 15 minutes away. My life is constantly in flux. We have a place in Tahoe as well. We're about to go up too after this and spend just about all the winter there. You mentioned the documentary. That has been a lot and dealing with that and going through the editing process and everything else. Not to mention the training that goes into the Iron Man races and the 100 mile run. What I've learned through all of it is that you can only be in one place at one time. So if we are sitting here and doing the podcast I need to be here. I can't worry about these 15 other things going on. I've noticed that I have the most success in my life when I am able to bring it to the now and I think that is what matters is to embrace the moment. It's as simple as that. As simple as that. Cain: Awesome. Eric Byrnes, you are off the podcast hot seat my friend. Fantastic. Again you can get more Eric Byrnes at www.Byrnes22.com and on Twitter at @Byrnes22. Eric, thank you for your time. You were off the charts. Thank you. Byrnes: Thanks dude. One last thing for the film. The documentary. Cain: Yes. Byrnes: This is not a monetary play for me. I'm not doing this to make money off this thing. There is a special message in there that is very family oriented. One of the things that Susan Slusser when she was doing the article yesterday she was like “I just was amazed by the doc, I just figured it was going to be this athlete vanity piece and it's anything but that.” If there is one thing that I would recommend to people it's go to www.Vimeo.com/OnDemand/DiamondToTheRough. Watch this documentary. I think it hits so many different people on so many different levels that the only thing I care about on this is I want eyeballs to see it. Again this is not a monetary play thing. This isn't an ego thing or anything else. There is a message within that documentary I think that will resonate with a lot of people and it could help change somebody's life. Cain: What is the message, Eric, that you want people to get from the documentary? Byrnes: It's about the process. It's not about the reward. It's about embracing everything that is important in your life that helps you enjoy that process. It's about family. It's about giving your kids every opportunity to succeed. It's about setting an example for your children and influencing them and not force-feeding them anything but allowing them to make their own decisions. But guess what? You have a 100% responsibility to set that example for them, lead them to the right direction, and let them find their own path. One of the main ones is you'll always need to have an idea of what is next and find what is next and find your happiness, find your zone, find something that is going to motivate you each and every single day. I think really the last one is do something physical that will help. When you get out and do something physical - it doesn't have to be a 100 mile run. Not even close. I don't care if it's walking around the block twice. Get outside. Clear your mind. Clear your head. As a kid that grew up with severe ADHD I can tell you even now with all the information that is coming - I've got a buddy of mine that scans brain tissue. He could show me a brain of an ADD kid without exercise indoors and it looks like a tiny little penny. Imagine 20 minutes of moderate exercise after being outside that ADD kid's brain is lit up like a freaking giant pancake. We're not any different. Some people are more extreme. Maybe people with ADD are more extreme in what that can do for you. This is something that - the idea and thoughts that people are cancelling PE is disgusting to me. The lack of physical activity amongst our youth is disturbing. But again the overall message is enjoy the process and embrace the moment. Cain: I thought it was awesome that you're - the career transition piece too. Byrnes: It's big. Cain: As a pro athlete it's all of a sudden you're - the quote the guy says in there which I think is beautiful, he says “you're a dragon slayer and now there are no dragons to go slay.” Whether you are an athlete, whether you are a - if you are in the military - 0:52:08 did the same thing that when his Navy SEAL days came to a close that there were some dark times. He had to find out what is next - like the shirt that you are wearing in the documentary. For him it was taking a dry erase marker and writing down his goals on his bathroom mirror so he could see them. He said that is kind of what got him going away was seeing something, having a vision, having a tangible past and I'm going to go and attack. Whether it's preparing for a game, preparing for a seminar, preparing to go to combat, or preparing to wake up and make your kids breakfast what is your task for the day that you're going to sign your name with excellence on and go out there and keep moving forward? Having worked in athletics there are a lot of guys that when that career ends there are some dark times because everything you've always done - hitting a ball, running, diving, making a catch - that doesn't necessarily translate to what you're going to do now for the rest of your life to be successful. However who you became and who you needed to become to be successful as an athlete, that same process, that same mindset, that same drive, that same attention to detail will help you if you take that with you into what you do. Byrnes: Right. Cain: So it's trying to figure out how do you help guys to channel that. Byrnes: That's awesome dude. Thanks Brian. Cain: Awesome Eric. I appreciate you. Byrnes: That was outstanding. Thanks again.
With the Super Bowl now firmly planted in the past, Mark Schofield and Chuck Zodda take the February 15 Quick Kicks Podcast into draft mode as our 2016 NFL Draft coverage continues. NFL teams continue to gather more information on prospects for this year's draft, and Mark and Chuck are here to bring you up to speed on the latest happenings for this year's prospects. Topics this show include: -The top snubs for this year's NFL Scouting Combine, including Alabama QB Jake Coker, Baylor WR Jay Lee, Middle Tennessee State S Kevin Byard, and Duke K Ross Martin (1:50) -The purpose of the regional scouting combines that occur prior to the main event in Indianapolis at the end of the month, including what we saw from Akron LB Jatavis Brown earlier this week at one of those regional events (4:54) -Chuck and Mark make their nominations to fill the now-vacant seat on the Supreme Court, each submitting two picks from people currently associated with the NFL in some fashion (9:25) -The Twitter Question of the Day, "Who are the most underrated prospects heading into this year's NFL Draft?" (15:14)
With only a fortnight left 'til the season kicks off, Dave and Rank welcome NFL Network/Atlanta Falcon/Florida State Seminole/good guy Jamie Dukes to the studio to kibbitz about Peyton Manning and the Colts' QB situation; Chris Johnson's future in Tennessee; and the Miami Hurricanes' mess. The fellas also throw a pity party for a couple of deserving NFLers. You know who else deserves a pity party? Anyone who doesn't listen to this show.
With only a fortnight left 'til the season kicks off, Dave and Rank welcome NFL Network/Atlanta Falcon/Florida State Seminole/good guy Jamie Dukes to the studio to kibbitz about Peyton Manning and the Colts' QB situation; Chris Johnson's future in Tennessee; and the Miami Hurricanes' mess. The fellas also throw a pity party for a couple of deserving NFLers. You know who else deserves a pity party? Anyone who doesn't listen to this show.
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