Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Darren Waller Talks Divorce From Kelsey Plum, Retiring From NFL, Self-Love, Music Interest + More

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INTERVIEW: Darren Waller Talks Divorce From Kelsey Plum, Retiring From NFL, Self-Love, Music Interest + More · The Breakfast Club

0:00
Speaker 1: Wake that answer up in the morning the Breakfast Club.
0:04
Speaker 2: Morning everybody, It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilaris Charlamage the guy.
0:08
Speaker 3: We are the Breakfast Club.
0:09
Speaker 2: You got a special guest in the building, a former
0:12
Speaker 2: NFL tight and he played for the Giants at one time.
0:15
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, Darren Waller, good morning, Good morning man.
0:17
Speaker 1: How are you feeling great? Man? Bussed to be here?
0:19
Speaker 3: Good good, good, happy to see you. Brother. For folks
0:22
Speaker 3: that don't know, explain who is Darren Waller? Because you
0:25
Speaker 3: got to You got a very interesting story.
0:27
Speaker 1: Man, Darren Waller. That's something that's something I'm still trying
0:29
Speaker 1: to figure out. Man.
0:30
Speaker 3: Oh, I like that answer.
0:31
Speaker 1: Who I am? You know what I'm saying. I don't
0:32
Speaker 1: got a concrete answer. I'm somebody that's like I'm a creator.
0:36
Speaker 1: I'm uh, you know, I've been an athlete, but there's
0:38
Speaker 1: a lot of things that I want to do, our
0:40
Speaker 1: things I want to try and just continue to go
0:42
Speaker 1: on this journey.
0:43
Speaker 2: Now you started off, how'd you get into the NFL?
0:46
Speaker 2: For people that don't know, was it the usual way
0:49
Speaker 2: that most athletes do so? For how did you get
0:51
Speaker 2: into the NFL? Break down your story A little bit.
0:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, from the beginning, start playing FOOTBA when I was four.
0:56
Speaker 1: My parents just kind of threw me in seeing what
0:58
Speaker 1: I wanted to do, and it was just an natural
1:00
Speaker 1: love for the game. But I wasn't really that highly
1:02
Speaker 1: recruited out of high school. Wasn't that really known in college?
1:06
Speaker 1: Got in trouble a lot.
1:08
Speaker 2: And what school did you go to?
1:09
Speaker 3: College?
1:09
Speaker 1: Georgia Tech from Atlanta, So snuck into the late rounds
1:14
Speaker 1: of the draft six rounds. I had a lot of
1:15
Speaker 1: character red flags at the time, and from there started
1:18
Speaker 1: with Baltimore, then moved to the Raiders, where I spent
1:20
Speaker 1: most of my career, and then spent the last year
1:22
Speaker 1: with the Giants.
1:22
Speaker 3: Did you know you had character red flags?
1:25
Speaker 4: Like, you know, because self awareness is something a lot
1:26
Speaker 4: of people don't develop till later when they start doing
1:29
Speaker 4: internal work on themselves.
1:30
Speaker 3: But did you know you had character red flags that?
1:32
Speaker 3: Did they tell you you had them?
1:33
Speaker 1: At the time, I didn't believe I did. I was
1:35
Speaker 1: putting the blame on everybody else, and I was resentful
1:38
Speaker 1: at everybody else and thinking it was other people's fault
1:40
Speaker 1: that while I was doing the things I was doing,
1:42
Speaker 1: they didn't understand why I needed to do drugs and
1:44
Speaker 1: drink and shit like that. So at the time I
1:47
Speaker 1: did not have that awareness.
1:48
Speaker 4: Now, yeah, I read that you went from drug addiction
1:51
Speaker 4: to grocery store clerk to the NFL star.
1:55
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I went to rehab September twenty seventeen, and
2:01
Speaker 1: after I got sober, when I got back home, I
2:04
Speaker 1: moved in with my parents again, and I was like,
2:05
Speaker 1: I gotta get a job, I get some structure to
2:07
Speaker 1: kind of get my life back in order and do that.
2:10
Speaker 1: I went to church. My parents worked at Sprouts, and
2:12
Speaker 1: I just got a job there working grocery clerk, making
2:15
Speaker 1: the aisles look nice, getting orders from the backstock in
2:18
Speaker 1: the back. And I was there for probably like seven
2:20
Speaker 1: months till I was like, all right, I kind of
2:21
Speaker 1: got my p's and q's, going for these drug tests
2:24
Speaker 1: and everything I could get a chance to be reinstated
2:26
Speaker 1: into the league. So I started training again and things
2:28
Speaker 1: just kind of went up from there.
2:29
Speaker 4: You said something that I want to expound on. You said,
2:32
Speaker 4: you know, you didn't know, you didn't know what led
2:34
Speaker 4: you to drugs. People didn't know what led you to drugs. Yeah, look,
2:38
Speaker 4: what did lead what did you lead you to drugs, just.
2:41
Speaker 1: A lot of a lot of wounds from when I
2:43
Speaker 1: was younger man, just like feeling like I wasn't enough,
2:45
Speaker 1: feeling like I always had to overcompensate to please people
2:47
Speaker 1: or to look tough or have this you know, tough
2:50
Speaker 1: exterior as a man. Improved myself and it was a
2:52
Speaker 1: lot of pressure, a lot of anxiety, and just wanted
2:54
Speaker 1: to change the way I felt. I just wanted to
2:56
Speaker 1: have some peace in my life. And I felt like
2:58
Speaker 1: that those kind of things brought that piece, But it
3:00
Speaker 1: was kind of a counterfeit at the time. You know,
3:02
Speaker 1: it worked for a bit, but in the end, it
3:04
Speaker 1: ends up turning on you, and all those problems you
3:07
Speaker 1: think you're getting rid of by using are still there
3:09
Speaker 1: when you wake up the next day, when you come
3:11
Speaker 1: down from that high, like it's still waiting on you
3:13
Speaker 1: to deal with. And I was just putting stuff under
3:15
Speaker 1: the rug. But yeah, that's kind of why I kind
3:17
Speaker 1: of got into that lifestyle. Yeah, you have.
3:19
Speaker 3: Nobody to talk to when you was younger, like your parents.
3:22
Speaker 1: I realized now how many people really wanted to help me,
3:24
Speaker 1: really wanted to be there for me. But just I
3:26
Speaker 1: don't know why I thought there was such huge walls
3:28
Speaker 1: between me and everybody else in my life that it
3:31
Speaker 1: was just so, you know, and as men like I
3:32
Speaker 1: kind of grew up in that era where it was like,
3:33
Speaker 1: you know, rub some dirt on it, don't We don't
3:36
Speaker 1: really show your feelings, don't We don't cry, you know,
3:38
Speaker 1: you picklves up by the bootstraps and keep it moving.
3:41
Speaker 1: And I'm a product of that type of mindset not
3:44
Speaker 1: really working.
3:44
Speaker 2: Now, what was what was so bad growing up as
3:47
Speaker 2: a kid, Like what was the bruises that you discussed of?
3:49
Speaker 1: So the funny thing is it wasn't anything like external environment.
3:53
Speaker 1: I grew up in a nice neighborhood that everything I
3:55
Speaker 1: ever wanted from my family, But it was more so
3:57
Speaker 1: like fitting in with the people around me, Like around
3:59
Speaker 1: like people of my skin color was like I wouldn't
4:01
Speaker 1: black enough, and around white people it was like, oh,
4:04
Speaker 1: you're not really one of us, but you kind of
4:05
Speaker 1: are one of us. And I was like one of
4:07
Speaker 1: the only black kids that were in like the advanced
4:09
Speaker 1: classes at my school, so I was like, I don't
4:11
Speaker 1: feel black enough. I'm only black kids in these classes.
4:14
Speaker 1: When I was on the team with the athletes and stuff,
4:16
Speaker 1: I always felt like a nerd. So it was like
4:17
Speaker 1: these environments where it was like, damn, I don't feel
4:19
Speaker 1: like I fit in, or I can just show up
4:21
Speaker 1: as myself in these environments, I always gott to put
4:24
Speaker 1: this mask on or be somebody different.
4:25
Speaker 3: Because what you buy racial?
4:27
Speaker 2: That was gonna ask the same question.
4:28
Speaker 1: No, my dad's just really like skin. I think I
4:30
Speaker 1: gotta do like an ancestor or something. I don't really know.
4:33
Speaker 1: As far as I know, I'm just black.
4:34
Speaker 4: So you're black, yeah, Bally, So I wonder why they
4:36
Speaker 4: thought you couldn't say nigga no more.
4:42
Speaker 2: So you know, I hear that story a lot, and
4:44
Speaker 2: it's usually what I had to say, because you like
4:47
Speaker 2: skin too. Nah, I'm good. So usually when you when
4:50
Speaker 2: you leave your neighborhood growing up, you move into like
4:52
Speaker 2: most like your parents might have moved into a white
4:54
Speaker 2: neighborhood right with a better school education, but now you're
4:56
Speaker 2: the only black family or very few of you that
4:59
Speaker 2: in that situation. So I happened with my daughter as well,
5:02
Speaker 2: because when she went to the school, she felt like
5:04
Speaker 2: there was nobody there for her right. She felt like
5:07
Speaker 2: all the all the white girls would get all of
5:09
Speaker 2: the attention because it was white boys. She felt confused,
5:12
Speaker 2: she felt not wanted, She was growing up with a
5:14
Speaker 2: lot of problems. Did you have that same situation, the
5:15
Speaker 2: same feeling.
5:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was that explains a lot of the environment
5:18
Speaker 1: that I was growing up in. The first friends I made,
5:21
Speaker 1: like my neighborhood growing up were white and you know,
5:23
Speaker 1: a lot of dudes at my school and it was
5:25
Speaker 1: just because they was outside playing ball, like riding bikes,
5:27
Speaker 1: like just doing stuff I like to do, and uh,
5:30
Speaker 1: you know, kind of getting you know, jokes made because
5:33
Speaker 1: of those type of things. And was like, all right, damn,
5:35
Speaker 1: like I gotta like find a way. And growing up
5:37
Speaker 1: in the South, you know what I'm saying, football is
5:38
Speaker 1: like religion down there. And I was like, Okay, I'm
5:39
Speaker 1: good at this. This is going to get me the
5:41
Speaker 1: acceptance that I've always wanted.
5:42
Speaker 2: And now I was gonna say that, do you still
5:45
Speaker 2: have those feelings now fitting in and in those situations now?
5:48
Speaker 1: Well, I'm a lot more comfortable in my skin now.
5:50
Speaker 1: I still have thoughts of like, all right, like I
5:53
Speaker 1: need to be successful and attribute that to my worth
5:56
Speaker 1: in some ways, but it's a lot less present in
5:59
Speaker 1: my everyday thinking back then, It's.
6:00
Speaker 4: So interesting to hear you had this conversation because, like
6:03
Speaker 4: you said, you're from Atlanta. You don't hear this about
6:05
Speaker 4: black people in Atlanta. Black people in Atlanta. It's like
6:08
Speaker 4: the total opposite.
6:09
Speaker 3: They grew around.
6:10
Speaker 4: They grew up around a bunch of black people, Black
6:11
Speaker 4: affluent people, black people in positions of power, elected officials,
6:15
Speaker 4: police officers, everything.
6:17
Speaker 2: So it's just like, wow, they're from Atlanta.
6:19
Speaker 3: Yeah.
6:19
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I say, I'm from Acworth, Georgia. It's
6:21
Speaker 1: thirty minutes outside of Atlanta. So people that's really from
6:24
Speaker 1: Atlanta in the Inner City. I'm not from the Inner City,
6:26
Speaker 1: but I'm from that area.
6:27
Speaker 3: Gotcha.
6:27
Speaker 2: Now, recently you decided to retire from the NFL. Yeah, now,
6:31
Speaker 2: you know, you went thirty one, right, but everybody says
6:33
Speaker 2: you you physically, that you are still a beast, that
6:37
Speaker 2: you should not retire. But you know, one of the
6:39
Speaker 2: you know, top tight ends in the league. What was
6:41
Speaker 2: the decision to say, you know what, I'm no longer
6:44
Speaker 2: want to do this.
6:46
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, I feel like you
6:47
Speaker 1: got to evaluate your commitment level for the entire process.
6:51
Speaker 1: You know, there's certain things where it's like I can
6:52
Speaker 1: look at it and be like, yeah, the results of
6:54
Speaker 1: what could be the yards, the you know, successful seasons,
6:58
Speaker 1: like they would look great and they would feel great.
7:00
Speaker 1: But as far as going through the whole process, putting
7:02
Speaker 1: all the work in, going through the entire season, It's
7:04
Speaker 1: like I gotta be willing to put forth that commitment
7:06
Speaker 1: level for teammates, for the organization, and I don't feel
7:09
Speaker 1: like I can be able to do that anymore. At
7:10
Speaker 1: this point in my life. I feel like that passion
7:12
Speaker 1: has kind of passed on. There's other things that I
7:14
Speaker 1: want to spend my time doing.
7:15
Speaker 3: And you said you had a near death experience. I
7:17
Speaker 3: read an article that said.
7:18
Speaker 1: That, yeah, this past year it was weird. Man. I
7:20
Speaker 1: was going we actually shot a video in my boy
7:23
Speaker 1: a Rod and I was coming back to my condo
7:27
Speaker 1: in Jersey and I felt a fever coming on. And
7:30
Speaker 1: I had COVID two times before that, and I was like,
7:32
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm just have COVID, got to sworted
7:34
Speaker 1: out and just ug it. But I started to like
7:37
Speaker 1: lose consciousness and like I was like fighting for my breath.
7:40
Speaker 1: When I got back to my condo and I called
7:42
Speaker 1: nine to one one and they finally made out what
7:44
Speaker 1: I was trying to say, because I guess I wasn't
7:46
Speaker 1: speaking clear enough and I was just fighting for my
7:48
Speaker 1: breath to the paramat showed up. I think I kind
7:50
Speaker 1: of like passed out before they got there, and they
7:52
Speaker 1: woke me up and I had like an oxygen mask on.
7:54
Speaker 1: They took me into the hospital. I was in there
7:55
Speaker 1: for three days, couldn't go to the bathroom on my own,
7:58
Speaker 1: couldn't stand up. I had like a viral infection my
8:01
Speaker 1: lungs or something. So that was pretty wild. It made
8:04
Speaker 1: me kind of thinking reflecting, be like, all right, like
8:06
Speaker 1: what am I doing with my life? Am I really
8:07
Speaker 1: doing what I want to do? And at that time,
8:09
Speaker 1: I didn't feel like I was really doing that. I
8:11
Speaker 1: feel like I was doing things because I feel like
8:13
Speaker 1: I should be doing them.
8:14
Speaker 4: So it was a viral infection that called it. Yeah, wow,
8:16
Speaker 4: that's interesting. So you clearly you didn't think football was
8:19
Speaker 4: your purpose. Like it's hard to do anything if you
8:22
Speaker 4: don't feel like this is your purpose. Yeah, you felt
8:24
Speaker 4: like you had to go find your actual purpose.
8:26
Speaker 1: Yeah. I feel like in a way football did serve
8:29
Speaker 1: a purpose. It did give me the ability to, you know,
8:31
Speaker 1: find my voice, to share through like my pain and
8:34
Speaker 1: my struggle to help other people through theirs. And it
8:37
Speaker 1: also showed me that through hard work and patience and
8:40
Speaker 1: just staying with a process, I can be excellent at
8:42
Speaker 1: whatever I want to do. Because people were not checking
8:44
Speaker 1: for me for a long period of time in football.
8:47
Speaker 1: But you know, just by sticking with the process, I
8:49
Speaker 1: was able to make a name for myself and be successful.
8:51
Speaker 1: So I feel like I could carry those principles to
8:53
Speaker 1: whatever I.
8:53
Speaker 3: Want to do.
8:54
Speaker 4: How do the people around you feel about your decision
8:56
Speaker 4: to retire, because you know, the NFL is not easy
8:58
Speaker 4: to get into, and not even just your fan but
9:00
Speaker 4: the organization.
9:00
Speaker 3: I'm sure people are trying to stop.
9:02
Speaker 1: You from Yeah, yeah, I get it from yeah, people
9:04
Speaker 1: with the team and you know, just just people that
9:07
Speaker 1: love the game, like and respect the way that I play.
9:09
Speaker 1: They're like, man, you can't retire, Like you can't do this.
9:11
Speaker 1: But you know, the people that are close to me,
9:13
Speaker 1: and you know, see what all that I've given to
9:15
Speaker 1: the game, all that I've I've worked, and just like
9:18
Speaker 1: fort everything I had, they they support me.
9:20
Speaker 2: Now I see you since retiring, you've been fiddling a
9:24
Speaker 2: lot with music. Is that where you want to go next.
9:26
Speaker 2: You want to be a musician and art this.
9:27
Speaker 1: Of Yeah, I feel like there's definitely a journey for
9:30
Speaker 1: me there. You know, my great grandfather was a legendary
9:32
Speaker 1: jazz musician, and I love music as a kid, playing piano,
9:36
Speaker 1: being in a band, and I'm just kind of circling
9:39
Speaker 1: back to those things I loved as a kid, and
9:41
Speaker 1: you know, just really want to go that route. I
9:43
Speaker 1: feel something like in a way, like spiritually pulling me
9:45
Speaker 1: in that direction. And so you know, I don't have
9:47
Speaker 1: any expectations with it for real, but I believe in
9:50
Speaker 1: myself and the growth that I'm having as artists with
9:52
Speaker 1: the stuff I'm gonna be putting out. So yeah, something
9:55
Speaker 1: I want to definitely devote time to among a lot
9:56
Speaker 1: of other things.
9:57
Speaker 4: I feel like you are looking for peace. Yeah, that's
10:01
Speaker 4: what you're wanted. You want to do things that bring
10:04
Speaker 4: you peace.
10:05
Speaker 1: Yeah.
10:05
Speaker 3: If it don't make you happy, you don't want to
10:07
Speaker 3: do it.
10:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, Cause it's like, you know, it's like a
10:09
Speaker 1: Jim Carrey quote out there. He was like, you know,
10:11
Speaker 1: I wish people could get everything they ever wanted to. Realize,
10:14
Speaker 1: it's not what's gonna give them that sense of fulfillment,
10:18
Speaker 1: especially if you're doing things, you know, pertaining to somebody
10:22
Speaker 1: else's dream of success. Because I was like, okay football,
10:24
Speaker 1: Like damn I get I get this money, I have
10:27
Speaker 1: this longevity, like I'm gonna be happy and be fulfilled.
10:29
Speaker 1: And it's still like I make it happen, and it's
10:31
Speaker 1: still kind of like I feel like it's still gotta
10:33
Speaker 1: be more out there for me, you know. So it's
10:34
Speaker 1: gotta be something that's authentically aligned with me. And that's
10:37
Speaker 1: why I'm saying like I'm still trying to figure that out.
10:39
Speaker 3: Is that why you got the serenity tattoo?
10:41
Speaker 1: Yeah? Man, you know since got getting so over like
10:44
Speaker 1: serenity prayers like a big tool as far as like
10:47
Speaker 1: going through my day, you know, because there's a lot
10:49
Speaker 1: of things that you got to accept things as they are.
10:52
Speaker 4: God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
10:54
Speaker 4: courage to change things I can.
10:55
Speaker 3: And it wasn't know the difference.
10:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, you wear yourself out trying to change things as
10:58
Speaker 1: you can. Man. So it's something that how to carry
11:00
Speaker 1: everything I do.
11:01
Speaker 2: Now you talk about peace, So what gives Darren Waller
11:04
Speaker 2: piece like what puts you in your happy place. If
11:06
Speaker 2: it's not football anymore, I.
11:08
Speaker 1: Would say being in nature. Man. As a kid growing
11:10
Speaker 1: up in Atlanta, it wasn't really no mountains around you,
11:12
Speaker 1: like Kansaw Mountain and Stone Mountain, they really just like
11:14
Speaker 1: hills though. But going out to a place like Vegas
11:17
Speaker 1: and going to place like Utah, Colorado, like being in
11:20
Speaker 1: nature like those things. Really, I feel like getting me
11:22
Speaker 1: closer to God than anything else. Making music as well,
11:26
Speaker 1: just being in the process of that, writing, creating, coming
11:28
Speaker 1: up with ideas, being around my family more. I feel
11:31
Speaker 1: like just with the grind that I've had through the game,
11:33
Speaker 1: like I feel like I've missed out a lot, you know.
11:35
Speaker 1: Like for the fourth I'll be going to my first
11:37
Speaker 1: family function with all the extended family since before I
11:41
Speaker 1: got sober, I was almost seven years ago. Because it's
11:43
Speaker 1: always when I'm training or getting ready for training camp.
11:45
Speaker 4: So you ready for that though, because you know it's
11:47
Speaker 4: gonna be a bunch of oh man, you why you retiring?
11:50
Speaker 3: What's up?
11:51
Speaker 1: Man? Yeah? Man? But still give me tickets. Yeah, there's
11:54
Speaker 1: a lot of that, but but yeah, it's just like
11:57
Speaker 1: getting people to see me as I am now, like
11:58
Speaker 1: I'm football is always going to be a part of me.
12:01
Speaker 1: It has been a major part. But there's more to
12:03
Speaker 1: my story. I still got God willing sixty more years
12:05
Speaker 1: to live, so there's more chapters to be told.
12:07
Speaker 4: I want you to go back to the nature park
12:09
Speaker 4: because you know I write books. So in my new book,
12:11
Speaker 4: which is called Get On As to Die Line, I
12:13
Speaker 4: have a chapter called tree hug the Block, and it's
12:16
Speaker 4: literally about how we need to get reconnected to nature
12:19
Speaker 4: because I grew up in South Carolina. I'm from the South,
12:21
Speaker 4: so I grew up running around on the dirt road,
12:23
Speaker 4: running through the corn field, running through the woods, you know,
12:25
Speaker 4: actually looking up at the sun, walking around barefoot. So
12:27
Speaker 4: I was doing grounding and earthing because before I even
12:30
Speaker 4: knew what that was. So talk about just that connection
12:33
Speaker 4: to nature and how important that it is for your mental
12:35
Speaker 4: and emotional world being.
12:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, for me, just being outside, being in nature
12:39
Speaker 1: is something that it allows me to see like where
12:42
Speaker 1: I stand, like in the grand scheme of things like
12:44
Speaker 1: being around like mountains and things like that. It's like
12:46
Speaker 1: I'm in awe of God's creation, realizing like I'm a
12:48
Speaker 1: part of this world, like I have something to give.
12:50
Speaker 1: But at the same time, like not taking myself so seriously.
12:53
Speaker 1: But yeah, also being in nature. It's like, I feel
12:55
Speaker 1: like that's what our ancestors did, That's what we all did.
12:58
Speaker 1: Like and just being out there, just getting outside of yourself,
13:01
Speaker 1: just being able to enjoy the beauty of the world
13:03
Speaker 1: around you. I can affect your mindset and help you
13:05
Speaker 1: live with more gratitude.
13:06
Speaker 3: Is that where you were when you decided to retire?
13:08
Speaker 1: Uh? Yeah, So the week before I made my decision,
13:12
Speaker 1: we actually hit all the national parks in Utah for
13:15
Speaker 1: five days. We just hopped in the rv US and
13:17
Speaker 1: a couple of other homies and we just went for it.
13:19
Speaker 1: And it's like, you know, we a lot of a
13:22
Speaker 1: lot of folks saying, ain't really doing that, especially like
13:24
Speaker 1: where we come from, people that look like us. You know,
13:26
Speaker 1: we're just trying to do things that uh you know,
13:29
Speaker 1: that's new. You know what I'm saying.
13:29
Speaker 3: Were you high or anything? Like I'm not a damn.
13:31
Speaker 4: I ain't mean drugs, but like, you know, weed and
13:34
Speaker 4: nothing to do. Nah, I spoke I like smoking cigars,
13:36
Speaker 4: but that's pretty much it now. So you just was like,
13:38
Speaker 4: you know what, I think I'm gonna retire. You just
13:40
Speaker 4: turned to your man and say I think I'm gonna retire.
13:43
Speaker 1: It wasn't like a decision that just hit me at
13:45
Speaker 1: that moment. It was something else being uh, you know,
13:47
Speaker 1: considered over that time. But as I was out there,
13:49
Speaker 1: it was like, yeah, that was kind of the stamp.
13:52
Speaker 1: You know, I feel like I've given this all I
13:54
Speaker 1: I have to give. As far as me wanting to
13:56
Speaker 1: play the game, I feel like the only thing that
13:57
Speaker 1: I'll bring me back was wanted to impress other people.
14:00
Speaker 4: You've made a lot of, you know, real big life
14:04
Speaker 4: choices lately. Right, you're tired from the NFL, and then
14:06
Speaker 4: you got married last year at to Kelsey Plumpp star
14:10
Speaker 4: Las Vegas Ace's point card.
14:11
Speaker 3: But then you filed for divorce a year later? Right?
14:15
Speaker 3: What happened?
14:16
Speaker 1: Man? That's uh you talk about get honest or die lining.
14:19
Speaker 1: You know, you kind of got to look at yourself
14:21
Speaker 1: and realize, like, all right, like you know what role
14:24
Speaker 1: am I playing? That all the relationships in my life
14:26
Speaker 1: have always had the same patterns, and it kind of
14:28
Speaker 1: plays into everything else I was mentioned earlier, like the
14:31
Speaker 1: codependency aspect of like anytime I'm in a relationship, I
14:33
Speaker 1: feel like I gotta you know, dance or do a
14:36
Speaker 1: certain thing for to keep this person around, you know,
14:39
Speaker 1: almost like a tying my self worth to the success
14:42
Speaker 1: of a relationship. And you realize how much you lose
14:45
Speaker 1: yourself and doing the things that you love and things
14:48
Speaker 1: that take care of you on a daily basis, making
14:51
Speaker 1: this person kind of like the center of your universe,
14:53
Speaker 1: and how unhealthy that is for everybody involved, you know
14:55
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. So realizing that, realizing the impact that
14:58
Speaker 1: it was having on me, and you know, as far
15:01
Speaker 1: as making decisions that were authentic for the life that
15:03
Speaker 1: I wanted. These are things that I couldn't say one
15:06
Speaker 1: hundred percent yes to. You have certain conversations and realize
15:09
Speaker 1: there's so much life ahead of both of us, you know,
15:11
Speaker 1: might as well just go ahead and live it and
15:13
Speaker 1: move on with no type of hostility.
15:15
Speaker 4: You didn't think that like before marriage, like before you
15:18
Speaker 4: proposed and before you got married, Like you didn't have
15:21
Speaker 4: that conversation with yourself.
15:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like, I like to think that I did.
15:24
Speaker 1: But there's certain situations like kind of like I said earlier,
15:27
Speaker 1: where I didn't really have that self awareness that spreads
15:30
Speaker 1: into other areas of my life. As well, where I'm like, okay,
15:34
Speaker 1: I thought I was ready to have a commitment like
15:37
Speaker 1: that and be involved, but really it's like there's a
15:40
Speaker 1: part of me that's like okay, like the pursuit, the chase,
15:44
Speaker 1: the building of it, seeing more appealing of than when things,
15:49
Speaker 1: you know, get extremely difficult and the same patterns continue
15:52
Speaker 1: to come out, and it's like, Bro, at the end
15:54
Speaker 1: of the day, you got to heal Bro, or the
15:55
Speaker 1: same things you're gonna continue to happen.
15:57
Speaker 4: That's all Will Smith say recently, he said, it's impossible
15:59
Speaker 4: to me somebody else happy. Yeah, say, you have to
16:02
Speaker 4: have happiness right, she has to have happiness right, and
16:05
Speaker 4: then y'all come together exactly.
16:07
Speaker 3: You know, Is that that what it was? You think? Absolutely?
16:11
Speaker 1: Man. I feel like in a way there's there was
16:13
Speaker 1: a reliance of me on the relationship to give me
16:16
Speaker 1: something that of course I needed to come to the
16:18
Speaker 1: table without that extra baggage and with that healing already
16:22
Speaker 1: in place, and I didn't what.
16:24
Speaker 3: Was harder to do retire from the NFL to get
16:25
Speaker 3: it the boss.
16:27
Speaker 1: I think both, man, both are difficult, because you know,
16:31
Speaker 1: both are you know, a part of who I am.
16:33
Speaker 1: Things that you know, meant a lot to me at
16:35
Speaker 1: the time, and to have them both happening at the
16:37
Speaker 1: same time, it's like, you know, a lot of emotions,
16:39
Speaker 1: you got to process, a lot of talking, a lot
16:41
Speaker 1: of writing, a lot of time being spent reflecting and
16:43
Speaker 1: being by yourself, and uh, that's real life stuff, man,
16:46
Speaker 1: Because I've had a lot of success, a lot of
16:48
Speaker 1: great moments in my life, but these are This year
16:50
Speaker 1: has been one that has really forced me to look
16:52
Speaker 1: in the mirror and and dig deep into you know,
16:56
Speaker 1: express myself in ways that are healthy and just really
16:58
Speaker 1: get to you know what I'm saying, who is there
17:00
Speaker 1: while at the core without all these things that I
17:01
Speaker 1: try to reach for for you know, fulfillment or validation.
17:04
Speaker 4: And it was a mutual thing or like it was
17:07
Speaker 4: you saying I want to leave or her sings you
17:09
Speaker 4: want to leave it.
17:10
Speaker 1: There was conversations had to the end where it was mutual.
17:13
Speaker 2: Now you did a song called who Knew? Yeah Now
17:17
Speaker 2: that was in dedication to the situation relationship.
17:20
Speaker 1: So yeah, So I had an idea as as we
17:23
Speaker 1: were winding down and separating that I was like, okay,
17:26
Speaker 1: like I keep finding myself in these positions, these same patterns,
17:29
Speaker 1: And I have this idea of like if ever I
17:32
Speaker 1: if the girl I was in relationship with, because like,
17:34
Speaker 1: I mean, you can look at her and say, like
17:36
Speaker 1: she's the public one that people can know that I
17:38
Speaker 1: was with, but that that's the same pattern of a
17:40
Speaker 1: lot of relationships that I've been in. It's like, if
17:42
Speaker 1: they had to pen and would write me a song,
17:44
Speaker 1: what would they say? And so it's like, you know,
17:46
Speaker 1: you're taking a risk making a song like that. It's
17:47
Speaker 1: very very vulnerable, very different than anything I've ever made before.
17:50
Speaker 1: But you know, I tried to make make stuff that's
17:53
Speaker 1: authentic to me where I'm at, and you just put
17:56
Speaker 1: myself out there take risks.
17:57
Speaker 2: Did she had a song? What was her thoughts on
17:59
Speaker 2: a song? Did you speak after?
18:01
Speaker 1: No? That was after you ain't really been no discussion.
18:04
Speaker 2: I don't speak at all that you don't communicat or
18:07
Speaker 2: have conversations at all.
18:08
Speaker 4: It's no, it's I mean, you're saying this song, you
18:10
Speaker 4: know why you want to run away? Why can't you
18:12
Speaker 4: just stay?
18:13
Speaker 1: So?
18:14
Speaker 3: Was this something you was trying to keep together?
18:16
Speaker 1: So it's really the song is like her perspective, So
18:18
Speaker 1: it's from the perspective of the woman that's been in
18:21
Speaker 1: a relationship with me, So she's like, why do you
18:24
Speaker 1: keep running? Like really speaking to me.
18:26
Speaker 4: I love this perspective, man, because men a lot of
18:29
Speaker 4: times don't take accountability for our bullshit. Yeah, trying to
18:34
Speaker 4: project and put it on the other person for you
18:36
Speaker 4: to be like, no, it ain't you, it's me. Sometimes
18:40
Speaker 4: a lot of dudes say that just when they really
18:42
Speaker 4: want to be out here doing some bs.
18:43
Speaker 3: But you really knew you had to go do the
18:46
Speaker 3: internal work.
18:46
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot of work on my behalf
18:48
Speaker 1: for me to try to look at somebody else and
18:52
Speaker 1: focus on them when there's plenty of stuff on my
18:55
Speaker 1: side of the street that I got to clean up.
18:57
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, that's not what men do. That's not
18:59
Speaker 1: the exam people that we're trying to set. So I'm
19:01
Speaker 1: out here trying to do better just like everybody else's.
19:03
Speaker 3: Was it therapeutic to do that record?
19:05
Speaker 1: Yeah? Absolutely. It was definitely a good way to express
19:08
Speaker 1: myself and to you know, have empathy not only for her,
19:12
Speaker 1: but everybody I've been in a relationship with, and to
19:15
Speaker 1: honor them as I go forward and try to change
19:18
Speaker 1: my ways, change my thinking and heal myself.
19:20
Speaker 4: You think you'll be ready for a relationship, like the
19:24
Speaker 4: more internal work you're doing, do you think you'll be
19:26
Speaker 4: ready for a relationship in the future.
19:28
Speaker 1: I believe so, yeah, if that's what God has in
19:30
Speaker 1: the cars for me. But it's definitely going to take
19:32
Speaker 1: a lot more patience than I've had before and moving
19:36
Speaker 1: slowly because a lot of times I feel like I
19:38
Speaker 1: want to move fast, you know what I'm saying, Like
19:39
Speaker 1: I'm an addict. I got that thinking. It's like, you know,
19:42
Speaker 1: I want what I want now and I want things
19:43
Speaker 1: to happen quickly. And those kinds of thought process got
19:46
Speaker 1: to change, and I believe that they will and in
19:48
Speaker 1: time whenever that is. But like I said, I got
19:50
Speaker 1: a lot of things I want to figure out for
19:52
Speaker 1: myself and it'll happen when it's supposed to.
19:56
Speaker 4: It's my last question about that. But what do you
19:58
Speaker 4: say to people, especially a lot of guys who like, damn, Darren,
20:01
Speaker 4: you fumbled Kelsey because they like they think beautiful, Yeah,
20:05
Speaker 4: do you feel like you fumbled her?
20:08
Speaker 1: Not really? Man, In a lot of ways, I feel like, Man,
20:10
Speaker 1: was that even really for me to pick up in
20:14
Speaker 1: the first place? You know, as approaching a relationship and
20:18
Speaker 1: wanting to speed through things and you know, make a
20:21
Speaker 1: connection happen quickly. With some of the things I talked
20:24
Speaker 1: about earlier, it's like you look at it and it's like, like,
20:26
Speaker 1: was that even for me? So you can talk about
20:29
Speaker 1: fumbling or whatever, that's not really anything that I try
20:31
Speaker 1: to think about.
20:32
Speaker 4: I never thought about that in terms of relationships with people,
20:35
Speaker 4: like if you have a like, if you have an addiction, right,
20:37
Speaker 4: if you're you're an addict, right, you said you want
20:40
Speaker 4: what you want and you want it now, So you
20:43
Speaker 4: can kind of like trauma bond with a lot of
20:45
Speaker 4: people and not even realizactly not even be aware of
20:48
Speaker 4: that shit crazy damn.
20:52
Speaker 2: Now, I do want to ask about the NFL. I
20:55
Speaker 2: do see sometimes players in the NFL that plays sports
20:58
Speaker 2: get addicted to things easy, And I was going to
21:01
Speaker 2: ask us that to take away the pain? Is that
21:02
Speaker 2: to take away the feeling, the trauma, the hurt, the crowd,
21:07
Speaker 2: the fan, is that why you feel like some of
21:08
Speaker 2: that addiction came from.
21:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, so like mine started really early. But if you're
21:13
Speaker 1: talking like in the general population of guys in the league, Yeah,
21:16
Speaker 1: there's an insane amount of pressure on you on a
21:18
Speaker 1: day and day out, you know, just to perform at
21:20
Speaker 1: your job or somebody's gonna take your place. You know,
21:23
Speaker 1: people are gonna talk crazy about you if you on
21:25
Speaker 1: the internet, and so people just want that relief, you
21:29
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. Like, I never set out none
21:31
Speaker 1: of these guys that sat out to be addicts or
21:33
Speaker 1: to be people that abuse substances, but they're just like, man,
21:36
Speaker 1: I just want to change the way that I feel,
21:37
Speaker 1: give myself some sense of peace when I get home
21:39
Speaker 1: because it's a stressful day, it's a stressful career, and
21:43
Speaker 1: I just want some relief. So that's why I feel
21:44
Speaker 1: like guys kind of get started down that path without
21:47
Speaker 1: even having bad intentions, you know what I'm saying.
21:48
Speaker 2: Does the league try to help the players when they're
21:50
Speaker 2: going through things, because I mean, it has to be difficult,
21:52
Speaker 2: like you said, the pressure, I mean the pain to
21:55
Speaker 2: you know, to play through it. Do they offer services
21:57
Speaker 2: to help players or not too much or a lot?
22:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, they offer services like the teams will offer like
22:03
Speaker 1: you know, like pain management, like you got massages, you
22:07
Speaker 1: got needles, yea. But yeah they have they got team counselors,
22:11
Speaker 1: like team clinicians that are available for guys. Some guys
22:14
Speaker 1: use them, some guys don't. But there's a lot of
22:17
Speaker 1: guys that are leaning more towards having therapists outside of
22:19
Speaker 1: the building so they can kind of just like cut
22:22
Speaker 1: that tie from having it with the team. Like even
22:24
Speaker 1: when I went to rehab, like the league paid for it,
22:26
Speaker 1: there was like a guy that was like a case
22:28
Speaker 1: manager for me who was calling my phone, blowing my
22:30
Speaker 1: phone up, just like seeing how I was doing what
22:32
Speaker 1: I needed. So they definitely really helped me. And I
22:35
Speaker 1: feel like whenever guys are like, well, it's like okay,
22:38
Speaker 1: like I want to help myself, then they can take
22:40
Speaker 1: advantage of the resources at hand.
22:42
Speaker 4: Is the reason they don't want to use a team
22:43
Speaker 4: counselor because they don't trust them. Like I don't want
22:45
Speaker 4: to share too much information with them because they might
22:47
Speaker 4: take it back to.
22:47
Speaker 1: The Yeah they're there. There are a lot of there
22:49
Speaker 1: are a lot of guys that that feel that way
22:50
Speaker 1: of like, yeah, I don't know if this is going
22:52
Speaker 1: to go back to the team, and the team says
22:54
Speaker 1: like that that's not going to happen, but you know,
22:56
Speaker 1: it's like you know, as men, it's like, especially in
22:58
Speaker 1: this hypermasculine environment of football. It's like, if I show
23:03
Speaker 1: any kind of weakness, other teams, people across from me
23:05
Speaker 1: are gonna try to take advantage of that. I don't
23:07
Speaker 1: feel safe to share that here. And you know that's
23:10
Speaker 1: that's that's a legit emotion.
23:12
Speaker 4: What's been the most uh, what's been the most effective
23:14
Speaker 4: healing tool for you?
23:17
Speaker 1: Man? It's hard to pick one. Man. I would say
23:23
Speaker 1: I would say meditation played a huge role for me,
23:26
Speaker 1: just because, you know, making that a daily part of
23:29
Speaker 1: my routine, it kind of gives me like a space,
23:33
Speaker 1: like a pause when it comes to moments where it's
23:36
Speaker 1: time to make decisions in my day to day life.
23:39
Speaker 1: A lot of times where I would make bad decisions,
23:41
Speaker 1: it was kind of like I was just reacting to
23:43
Speaker 1: things super fast, whereas meditation kind of gives you that
23:45
Speaker 1: pause to allow you to be like, okay, like let
23:49
Speaker 1: me take a deep breath, is just really what I
23:51
Speaker 1: want to do, and like it gives you an opportunity
23:52
Speaker 1: to evaluate your decisions more So, I feel like that's
23:54
Speaker 1: something that definitely gave me a jump to to start
23:58
Speaker 1: along with other things. But uh, that was probably one
24:00
Speaker 1: of the first ones. Learning that it was just like wow,
24:02
Speaker 1: like I really have a chance to sit here and
24:05
Speaker 1: not just have the world just have me blowing about
24:08
Speaker 1: in the wind and the storms that come on a
24:10
Speaker 1: day to day, Like I can actually like stand firm
24:12
Speaker 1: and make decisions I want to make.
24:14
Speaker 4: I'm trying to figure out like when you made these decisions,
24:16
Speaker 4: whether it was the retired from the NFL or get
24:19
Speaker 4: a divorced, had you already started your healing journey? And
24:23
Speaker 4: that's when when you started I guess peeling back those
24:25
Speaker 4: legs when you realize, you know what, I need to
24:28
Speaker 4: move on from these things, or was it before get
24:30
Speaker 4: rid of those things didn't start your healing journey?
24:32
Speaker 1: The healing journey was kind of going all along and
24:34
Speaker 1: you kind of realize, like getting sober from drugs and
24:38
Speaker 1: alcohol was really just the beginning of that journey. But
24:41
Speaker 1: in ways I thought that that was like the completion
24:43
Speaker 1: because it was like those were my problems, like, oh,
24:45
Speaker 1: you's got to you drinks too much, a lot of drugs,
24:47
Speaker 1: Like okay, I changed that, but like there's still like
24:50
Speaker 1: this feeling of uneasiness and like things that I'm reaching
24:53
Speaker 1: for to make me feel better, And so that journey
24:56
Speaker 1: is always going on has always been going on the
24:58
Speaker 1: last seven years, and just knew unfoldings of that new
25:02
Speaker 1: things that I learned from like oh wow, from my childhood,
25:04
Speaker 1: Like that's why I am the way that I am.
25:06
Speaker 1: That's why I seek worth out of relationships or from
25:11
Speaker 1: pleasing other people. Like it's connecting all those dots now
25:13
Speaker 1: and it's like, Okay, it's starting to make sense. And
25:15
Speaker 1: now it's like, all right, I actually have the courage
25:18
Speaker 1: now to make decisions for me and knowing that I'm
25:20
Speaker 1: trying to be a better man in the process of making.
25:22
Speaker 4: Them, so you have that feeling of self worth that
25:25
Speaker 4: you've been looking for.
25:26
Speaker 1: Now, Yeah, it's growing, man, I can honestly say it's growing.
25:29
Speaker 1: And whereas before it was like nonexistent, this is like,
25:33
Speaker 1: you know, I'm one of the best players in my
25:35
Speaker 1: position in the league and still you know, trying to
25:38
Speaker 1: find that. Like there was a vivid memory I had
25:40
Speaker 1: of like a two hundred yard game in twenty twenty
25:43
Speaker 1: and the Wednesday practice after that, I'm lining up for
25:46
Speaker 1: routes on air. I ain't you know, defense out there,
25:47
Speaker 1: and I'm like, all right, like, don't drop this past
25:50
Speaker 1: in my mind when really like I just did something
25:52
Speaker 1: like only five other people in my position I ever
25:55
Speaker 1: done in the history of the League. Right, So it's
25:57
Speaker 1: a it's a it's been a lifelong thing, man, and
25:59
Speaker 1: I can find they say it's starting to grow. And
26:02
Speaker 1: sometimes it takes making courageous decisions and standing up on
26:05
Speaker 1: something that a lot of people may not agree with.
26:08
Speaker 1: But that's the way.
26:09
Speaker 3: What about your foundation did Darren Waller Foundation?
26:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, that's the decision that, like I talked about
26:15
Speaker 1: the League giving me opportunity to go to treatment for free,
26:17
Speaker 1: and it's like, through getting sober, I kind of realized,
26:21
Speaker 1: like my world is a lot better, a lot more
26:23
Speaker 1: full when it's just bigger than me. I'm doing a
26:27
Speaker 1: lot of being able to do things for other people.
26:28
Speaker 1: And so through my foundation, we are able to get people'
26:31
Speaker 1: scholtshops to go to treatment for thirty days and also
26:33
Speaker 1: have like sober living opportunities, just opportunities to get back
26:37
Speaker 1: on their feet. And we've sent like sixty people through
26:40
Speaker 1: thirty day stays and that numbers continuing to go up,
26:43
Speaker 1: continuing to build resources in the Vegas community, just you know,
26:47
Speaker 1: trying to give people opportunity because I mean I didn't
26:50
Speaker 1: know that I'd be able to have the impact that
26:52
Speaker 1: I've been able to have in my life back when
26:54
Speaker 1: I was, you know, kind of stuck in that hole.
26:56
Speaker 1: And you know, all you gotta do is impact one person,
26:59
Speaker 1: because through me being impacted a lot of other people
27:02
Speaker 1: will be able to be helped. So it's just like
27:04
Speaker 1: giving that person a chance.
27:05
Speaker 3: So you still live in Vegas?
27:06
Speaker 1: Yeahs is that hard me?
27:08
Speaker 4: And that your ex wife plays there like you probably
27:11
Speaker 4: got to see posters and stuff in.
27:12
Speaker 3: Her all the time.
27:14
Speaker 1: No, I mean it's not Uh, it's not anything of
27:16
Speaker 1: wishing any type of ill will or any type of resentment.
27:19
Speaker 1: Like I want her to be great. I want her
27:22
Speaker 1: to be happy. I want her to be at peace
27:23
Speaker 1: and feel fulfilled in her life, just like anybody else,
27:26
Speaker 1: you know. And I have a lot of great connections
27:27
Speaker 1: in Vegas. People that I've met and foreign friendships with
27:30
Speaker 1: that are there for me. That community has been there
27:33
Speaker 1: for me, and I've done a lot in that community.
27:35
Speaker 1: So I feel like that's somewhere I want to be
27:36
Speaker 1: for a little while. Do you love yourself? I do
27:40
Speaker 1: love myself?
27:40
Speaker 3: Okay, Like I mean, like, did you just get to
27:44
Speaker 3: that place that you've.
27:45
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, it's it's it's relatively new for sure. It's
27:48
Speaker 1: taking like struggles and seeing myself like really as I am,
27:52
Speaker 1: with all the all the good, all the bad, like
27:55
Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it. But it's like I
27:57
Speaker 1: can look at myself now and it's like there is
27:59
Speaker 1: no more of woice inside of me that wants to
28:01
Speaker 1: beat me down. It's one that wants to build me
28:04
Speaker 1: up and encourage myself because it's like, yeah, maybe walking
28:07
Speaker 1: paths now that a lot of people they look like
28:09
Speaker 1: at me like I'm crazy, like my life is falling
28:11
Speaker 1: apart in a way, but it's it's it's funny and ironic.
28:14
Speaker 1: How when it looks like things are falling apart from me,
28:17
Speaker 1: it feels like things are coming together. So that's all
28:19
Speaker 1: you can ask for it.
28:20
Speaker 4: The only reason I asked that is because you know,
28:21
Speaker 4: your first, last, and best love is self love. So
28:23
Speaker 4: it's like until you get that self love, you can't
28:25
Speaker 4: love anything else.
28:26
Speaker 1: Or anybody else.
28:27
Speaker 4: That's a fact, football wife nothing. So that's why that's
28:32
Speaker 4: why I asked that question.
28:34
Speaker 3: What did you think?
28:34
Speaker 4: And I knew I said it was gonna be the
28:35
Speaker 4: last question about when you saw her statement about it
28:37
Speaker 4: I'm devastated. I walked through fire for that man. But
28:39
Speaker 4: now I see it's time to go. And she said
28:42
Speaker 4: one day I'm gonna share my story. Today is not
28:43
Speaker 4: that day. You know, what did you think of that
28:46
Speaker 4: whole statement?
28:48
Speaker 1: I feel like she has she has every right to
28:50
Speaker 1: express herself in whichever way that she chooses, because, like
28:54
Speaker 1: I said, I know I was never perfect, and you
28:58
Speaker 1: know some of the reasons that motivated me to they
29:01
Speaker 1: caused harm, They hurt, you know what I'm saying. So
29:03
Speaker 1: I respects whatever way she wants to express herself. You know,
29:07
Speaker 1: I'm out here trying to improve and by no means
29:09
Speaker 1: claiming to be a victim in any way, you know.
29:11
Speaker 1: So I'm all good with it.
29:13
Speaker 3: Absolutely all right.
29:14
Speaker 4: Well, Darren Waller, ladies, and do you believe there's a
29:17
Speaker 4: script that owners and refs are a part of the
29:22
Speaker 4: outcome of games, because that's been a thing that we've
29:23
Speaker 4: been hearing. And you're retired now. I don't know if
29:25
Speaker 4: you're planning to go back, but feel free to spill
29:28
Speaker 4: any secrets that you know. Is there a script?
29:30
Speaker 2: Keep in mind he's a Cowboys fan.
29:31
Speaker 4: Just want to I don't believe in the script. But
29:34
Speaker 4: I believe if there was a script, Cowboys would have
29:36
Speaker 4: been the Super Bowl champions at least te or four
29:37
Speaker 4: times over the last.
29:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Cowboys are way too talented to not have
29:40
Speaker 1: won one yet.
29:41
Speaker 3: Money and make too much money forget the talent.
29:44
Speaker 4: I'm just saying, if there was a script, you don't
29:45
Speaker 4: think Jerry Jones are paid to win the Super Bowl.
29:47
Speaker 1: I don't know, man, I don't know if any scripts.
29:50
Speaker 1: If I had a script, man, I would have had
29:51
Speaker 1: one that had me at least win one playoff game
29:53
Speaker 1: in my career. But yeah, no, I don't know if
29:57
Speaker 1: any scripts.
29:58
Speaker 2: And now, out of the three teams you played for,
29:59
Speaker 2: the even Raiders and Giants, which which was the best
30:02
Speaker 2: organization for you?
30:04
Speaker 1: Man? In a way, they all were, To be honest,
30:07
Speaker 1: the Ravens taught me. Being with the Ravens taught me
30:09
Speaker 1: a lot of hard lessons, really forced me to grow
30:12
Speaker 1: up in a lot of ways. And you know that
30:15
Speaker 1: last year being there on the practice squad, it gave
30:17
Speaker 1: me the tools and the work ethic to be able
30:20
Speaker 1: to sustain the level of success that I did once
30:22
Speaker 1: I got it. So I'm grateful for that. But the
30:24
Speaker 1: Raiders had all the great memories man, like the great seasons,
30:28
Speaker 1: just like the guys that form relationships with coaches that
30:32
Speaker 1: I had that was that was the fun ride. But
30:36
Speaker 1: I mean I had a blast with the Giants this
30:37
Speaker 1: last year too, man, like all the coaches and the
30:40
Speaker 1: guys in that locker room. Man, I had a great time.
30:43
Speaker 1: And my decision to retire had nothing to do with
30:46
Speaker 1: my time there. You know. We Uh, I had a
30:48
Speaker 1: great time with them and wish them nothing but the best.
30:50
Speaker 1: But if you had to, if I had to pick one,
30:52
Speaker 1: it probably be the Raiders for show. I mean, that's
30:53
Speaker 1: where my career took off, my life change. I was
30:56
Speaker 1: able to do things for my family, for the community
30:58
Speaker 1: through just having a chance that they gave me.
31:01
Speaker 3: So you know, you're completely done with football, like you just.
31:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, really, yeah, thousand percent.
31:06
Speaker 3: Wow, You're not gonna miss nothing about the game?
31:10
Speaker 1: Oh No, that that the game is always going to
31:12
Speaker 1: be something I hold in high regard and love. And
31:15
Speaker 1: I'll miss that locker room environment, you know what I'm saying,
31:17
Speaker 1: being in there with those guys and just cutting up, man,
31:19
Speaker 1: just uh and walking through the struggles together because it's like,
31:23
Speaker 1: you know, you might go out there and get your
31:24
Speaker 1: ass whooped on Sunday. But those moments where you're there
31:27
Speaker 1: in there picking guys up in the locker room and
31:29
Speaker 1: standing from when a lot of people may be pointing
31:31
Speaker 1: fingers and doing that, but as men you kind of
31:34
Speaker 1: lock arms and walk through lock like those are Those
31:36
Speaker 1: are cool moments, man. Those are moments that a lot
31:38
Speaker 1: of people don't get to experience. So I'll definitely miss those.
31:40
Speaker 1: I'll miss playing. You know, you get a rush from
31:42
Speaker 1: making a big play, making a difference in the game,
31:44
Speaker 1: but you know, I can get that feeling in a
31:46
Speaker 1: lot of other ways now and just ready to move on.
31:49
Speaker 4: We'll see when the season starts. We'll see when you're
31:52
Speaker 4: sitting at home watching on Sunday, if you get.
31:53
Speaker 1: That itch, yeah, we'll see.
31:55
Speaker 4: That's what I don't believe a person's truly retired soil
31:57
Speaker 4: they can watch it and be like, Okay, I'm good
31:59
Speaker 4: for sure.
32:00
Speaker 2: All right, Well it's Darren Waller.
32:01
Speaker 3: It's the Breakfast Cloak.
32:02
Speaker 2: Good morning, thank you.
32:03
Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning for Breakfast Club.