Latest / NFL explained. / Troy Vincent talks why the game is safer, how he'd change the NFL rulebook, planning for post-football in high school, being a servant leader
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Check. All right, Thomas, how are we looking? Y'all? Good?
- 0:05Speaker 1: I like this? You like this? Combination is a good combination.
- 0:10Speaker 1: This is I never said this is good combination. I
- 0:12Speaker 1: like you. I appreciate it, all right, Uh, ROMI Radio, Yeah,
- 0:16Speaker 1: you're gonna bring us back? Yeah yeah, yeah, all right, bro,
- 0:19Speaker 1: let's do it. Thank y'all for tuning in. Um Peanut
- 0:28Speaker 1: Tillman And this is the NFL Player's Second Acts podcast,
- 0:32Speaker 1: and today my co host Roman Barbara Walter's Harberg. What's up?
- 0:38Speaker 1: What's up? Wrong? What's up? Thank you? Um. I don't
- 0:44Speaker 1: know why I'm Barbara Walters today, but because you look
- 0:46Speaker 1: older than me, that's why. I mean, if you're gonna
- 0:49Speaker 1: call me somebody, I'm much rather be the one lady
- 0:51Speaker 1: that got locked up. Oh, she'd be with Snoop all
- 0:54Speaker 1: the time. Yeah, Martha Stewart, that's it. Yeah, let me
- 0:57Speaker 1: be Martha Stewart. You're gonna be who you gonna be. Oh,
- 1:00Speaker 1: I'm Oprah. But Mark Stewart's not a journalist. Though Barbara
- 1:04Speaker 1: Walters is a journalist, Mark Steward doesn't do that. This
- 1:07Speaker 1: is my podcast too, So I'm gonna be Markeda and
- 1:10Speaker 1: you're gonna be Oprah today. Let's let's let's do it.
- 1:13Speaker 1: Let's do it right now. We got a special guest. Uh.
- 1:16Speaker 1: This guy played fifteen years in the NFL, five time
- 1:20Speaker 1: Pro Bowler, he was an All Pro two thousand and
- 1:22Speaker 1: two Watch Paid Man of the Year winner. Right now,
- 1:25Speaker 1: he's the executive vice president of Football Operations. Mister Troy Vincent,
- 1:31Speaker 1: thanks for having me. What's up are Yeah? So, man,
- 1:39Speaker 1: when I when I when I grow up, I want
- 1:40Speaker 1: to I want to be just like you. I'm just
- 1:43Speaker 1: I'm just saying that. I'm I'm real thrilled to have you,
- 1:47Speaker 1: to have you on this show, because I think you
- 1:49Speaker 1: are the embodiment of what we talk about when we
- 1:53Speaker 1: talk about, you know, your second act, of what you're
- 1:56Speaker 1: gonna do post you know, post football, and what you've
- 1:59Speaker 1: done in a short period of time has been truly
- 2:04Speaker 1: amazing to watch and see. Well, it doesn't feel like
- 2:07Speaker 1: it's been a short period of time. I lost my hair.
- 2:11Speaker 1: You see him now in bald Well. We're gonna talk.
- 2:14Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about that. We got something for the
- 2:17Speaker 1: hair again. We always started to show off with one
- 2:20Speaker 1: of the main questions, and for me, I knew it
- 2:23Speaker 1: was time to hang up my cleats, even though I
- 2:25Speaker 1: didn't want to play the game torment acl when I
- 2:28Speaker 1: was what thirty six years old? So at that point
- 2:31Speaker 1: in time, yeah, chances are no one's going to pick
- 2:33Speaker 1: up an old corner. We played the same position. So
- 2:36Speaker 1: when did you officially know it was time to hang
- 2:40Speaker 1: up your cleats and retire? Probably year eleven? Okay, yeah,
- 2:45Speaker 1: year eleven, I knew that. I was kind of my
- 2:48Speaker 1: seventh season now in Philly. I was told by both
- 2:52Speaker 1: Phenius Williams and Hardy Nickerson at a Christian retreat. We
- 2:56Speaker 1: were just talking about transition and and Reggie White, and
- 3:01Speaker 1: they were sharing with me like when do you know?
- 3:04Speaker 1: They asked that same question, when when would you know?
- 3:06Speaker 1: And Hardy was the first to jump out there, you
- 3:11Speaker 1: you understand or you know when it's your time when
- 3:14Speaker 1: you don't want to do the things that you love
- 3:16Speaker 1: doing before and he gave the illustration. You know, Hardy
- 3:21Speaker 1: used to bring it and he loved contact. Well. I
- 3:25Speaker 1: was that same way. The things that I used to do,
- 3:27Speaker 1: the things that I was known for, I just I
- 3:31Speaker 1: didn't want I just I wasn't loving that every single day, right,
- 3:36Speaker 1: And that was around year eleven, and then we had
- 3:39Speaker 1: some young guys in Philly that was they were about
- 3:44Speaker 1: to just explode. But I knew it was about that time,
- 3:48Speaker 1: and I could buy a few more years, so to say,
- 3:52Speaker 1: just based off of what I had did previously. But
- 3:54Speaker 1: year no question, year eleven when I knew, you know what,
- 3:57Speaker 1: it's really about that time for me, that that expiration
- 4:00Speaker 1: date on my body, I felt it. You know you're
- 4:03Speaker 1: talking about that because you played fifteen, right, so you're
- 4:06Speaker 1: still bought some time. Like you spoke on and I've
- 4:09Speaker 1: listened to some of your other podcast, Troy, that you've
- 4:11Speaker 1: done comes just piggyback on what Pete Nutt said earlier. Man,
- 4:14Speaker 1: you are a living legend. You were on my wall
- 4:16Speaker 1: when I was growing up because you played dB. I
- 4:19Speaker 1: watched you growing up from your time and when you
- 4:21Speaker 1: first got into the league too, when you were a dominant,
- 4:24Speaker 1: truly dominant with Philly, going to Miami after that, continue
- 4:27Speaker 1: on prolonging your career. It's really special to watch and
- 4:30Speaker 1: also seeing you now post career, you truly are the
- 4:35Speaker 1: vision board or what every other NFL player says, this
- 4:38Speaker 1: is what it's supposed to look like. When you played
- 4:41Speaker 1: football for as long as you do and still be
- 4:43Speaker 1: able to take advantage of the time you're in and
- 4:45Speaker 1: then once you're done, continue to move on with that.
- 4:47Speaker 1: So I just want to make sure I gave you
- 4:49Speaker 1: your glory as well on that. But you talked about
- 4:52Speaker 1: when you had the young guys behind you, Lado, those
- 4:55Speaker 1: other guys behind you, they were never going to become
- 4:58Speaker 1: the players and the leaders and the stars that they
- 5:01Speaker 1: were going to be with you in that same position
- 5:03Speaker 1: that you, as long as you were in that locker room,
- 5:05Speaker 1: you were almost being a hindrance to their true growth
- 5:07Speaker 1: to who they were supposed to be because you may
- 5:09Speaker 1: be talking to that being a good teammate, a good
- 5:11Speaker 1: steward of the game, making sure that everybody continues to
- 5:14Speaker 1: pull back. You know, you reached back and pull forward
- 5:16Speaker 1: the way you were able to do that as example
- 5:18Speaker 1: as a player and now also in your position. Now, yes, sir,
- 5:22Speaker 1: and I would just say one thank you for the
- 5:24Speaker 1: kind words. But I was brought into the National Football
- 5:27Speaker 1: League when I was drafted by Miami. There were veterans
- 5:31Speaker 1: like John Offerdaal and in the back end there was
- 5:34Speaker 1: a gentleman by the name of J. B. Brown played
- 5:37Speaker 1: at Maryland that these individuals were the ones who kind
- 5:42Speaker 1: of shared with me. I had a chance to see
- 5:45Speaker 1: what leadership was, in particular around John Offerdall. He was
- 5:49Speaker 1: a middle linebacker for his number fifty six. He taught
- 5:52Speaker 1: me how to be a pro. And what is being
- 5:55Speaker 1: a pro showing up every day, you know, taking care
- 5:58Speaker 1: of your business, detailing your work, but being a student
- 6:00Speaker 1: of the game. Fast forward when I went to Philly,
- 6:05Speaker 1: Bobby Taylor was there, but I was Even though we
- 6:07Speaker 1: were only three years apart, I was still considered the veteran. Again,
- 6:12Speaker 1: fast forward maybe year six, I think maybe five or six,
- 6:17Speaker 1: you draft Leedo and Sheldon Brown and Dark was there.
- 6:23Speaker 1: Dark and I came to Philly together. You had Brian Westbrook,
- 6:27Speaker 1: but Dark. But I was the kind of the the
- 6:30Speaker 1: leader in the locker room. One, I was a PA rep. Two.
- 6:36Speaker 1: I had a good body of work on the field
- 6:39Speaker 1: where where the teammates respected you. These men were phenomenal leaders.
- 6:45Speaker 1: They were for good for the best football player ever
- 6:48Speaker 1: played with Brian Dawkins. But he didn't have to talk
- 6:51Speaker 1: why because if you wanted an answer, you had challenges
- 6:54Speaker 1: that you whether it was with the head coach, the coordinator,
- 6:58Speaker 1: front office, A Troy will handle it. But you you
- 7:03Speaker 1: were watching these young men, in particular Sheldon and Brian,
- 7:07Speaker 1: and that's Brian Westbrook as well, but DONK you saw
- 7:10Speaker 1: him growing, but you knew that you need to leave that,
- 7:14Speaker 1: and that's you need to leave so that these men
- 7:16Speaker 1: could be really truly what God has called them to be.
- 7:19Speaker 1: So it's kind of I think I did what I
- 7:22Speaker 1: needed to do there. Obviously fell short of a super Bowl,
- 7:25Speaker 1: won a lot of a lot of football games, championship games,
- 7:28Speaker 1: but it was time for these men to be who
- 7:31Speaker 1: God had called them to be in the locker room,
- 7:33Speaker 1: and that's exactly what happened. And went on to Buffalo.
- 7:36Speaker 1: And I sound hard for you to do, though, leaving them, no, sir,
- 7:40Speaker 1: And I mean that sincerely because I the game has
- 7:45Speaker 1: done more for me than I can ever do for it,
- 7:48Speaker 1: and my walk with Jesus Christ allows me to walk
- 7:52Speaker 1: into that meekness and understand this is not only good
- 7:57Speaker 1: for me, because selfishly, I could have stayed. I got
- 8:00Speaker 1: the same contract offer in Philly to stay and close
- 8:03Speaker 1: out there that I did in Buffalo. But I don't
- 8:07Speaker 1: know if the story would have been the same with
- 8:10Speaker 1: Bryan was Sheldon with Leedo, with Westbrook and even McNabb.
- 8:16Speaker 1: So um, I didn't no no regrets, and it was
- 8:19Speaker 1: just all part of I felt like my body of
- 8:21Speaker 1: work and my DNA, but just leaning on faith. I
- 8:26Speaker 1: think one time you I saw you speak. It was
- 8:31Speaker 1: earlier in my career, and I think you might have
- 8:34Speaker 1: said you wanted to You might have wanted to have
- 8:37Speaker 1: an investment firm or financial firm or and I younger
- 8:42Speaker 1: my career, I took note. I still remember that to
- 8:45Speaker 1: this day. And I was like, man, he playing football,
- 8:49Speaker 1: he want to be a financial He wanted his own bank. Okay, okay,
- 8:52Speaker 1: he ons some he ons some other stuff. He on
- 8:53Speaker 1: a different level. What prepares you to to have that
- 8:57Speaker 1: type of mindset? How did you? How did you get
- 9:00Speaker 1: her first job? How did you get that first internship.
- 9:03Speaker 1: I've been very, very intentional from high school, Like football
- 9:08Speaker 1: was not who I was. Football was away for me
- 9:10Speaker 1: to get a free education. Yeah, come back home and
- 9:13Speaker 1: help my mom period. But I knew there wasn't gonna
- 9:16Speaker 1: be nine. Well, go ahead, and when you saw what
- 9:21Speaker 1: I saw in Trenton, New Jersey, I didn't want to
- 9:23Speaker 1: be what I saw right. I wanted no parts of that,
- 9:27Speaker 1: and then when I gave my life to crisis sixteen,
- 9:30Speaker 1: sport was just a mechanism for me to advance, to
- 9:34Speaker 1: accelerate in life. So I was always intentional every year
- 9:39Speaker 1: from year one to year fifteen, if there was a
- 9:43Speaker 1: program or resource that was available, either through the NFLPA,
- 9:49Speaker 1: through the league office, or the club, I was there,
- 9:52Speaker 1: hands up. And I was one of the last people
- 9:56Speaker 1: that the team was gonna cut. They was gonna keep
- 9:59Speaker 1: the quarterback, and now I know they were going to
- 10:01Speaker 1: keeping me based off of my contract and my performance.
- 10:04Speaker 1: But it was just I treat it every year as
- 10:07Speaker 1: an individual year, saying that I got to get through
- 10:11Speaker 1: this year. I don't know what the team's going to do.
- 10:13Speaker 1: And I never priced myself out of the market because
- 10:16Speaker 1: most of that, man, you really no. I did exactly
- 10:18Speaker 1: what I thought I should do because I never wanted
- 10:20Speaker 1: to go into a season where I could be a
- 10:23Speaker 1: cat casualty. Why to say that I'm the highest paid
- 10:27Speaker 1: at my position. I was always tag transition. I'm good
- 10:31Speaker 1: staying one through five, one through ten. Why because if
- 10:35Speaker 1: the season doesn't go right from a win lost standpoint,
- 10:38Speaker 1: you bring a new coach in who are they looking
- 10:41Speaker 1: at who making the money and how do I restructure
- 10:44Speaker 1: the people going to measure you. Well, he's making all
- 10:47Speaker 1: of his money and he's only performing at this level.
- 10:50Speaker 1: So that was my mentality every year was to perform.
- 10:54Speaker 1: I had known centives in my contracts because if you
- 10:57Speaker 1: were paying me the three and a half million dollars
- 11:00Speaker 1: big salary, four million dollars big salary, why are you
- 11:03Speaker 1: giving me an incentive to lead, lead the team and
- 11:07Speaker 1: pass breakups or interceptions. That's what you're paying me to
- 11:10Speaker 1: do or to play in this mini games. So my
- 11:13Speaker 1: mentality was just different. I don't want any extra, just
- 11:17Speaker 1: pay me for what I do on Sunday, Mondays and Thursdays.
- 11:20Speaker 1: It's just amazing that, I mean, your mentality. I wish
- 11:23Speaker 1: you would have been the veteran on my team early
- 11:25Speaker 1: in my career and maybe Jillion. You know, this is
- 11:28Speaker 1: really great. So this is something that me and Peanut
- 11:31Speaker 1: really love to really deep dive into a specially not
- 11:34Speaker 1: even on the podcast. Bless you excuse me, is that
- 11:38Speaker 1: after you retired, how did you handle your identity like
- 11:42Speaker 1: personally and publicly and like what was that new normal
- 11:47Speaker 1: like for you being tied to the nfls for as
- 11:49Speaker 1: long as you have been and now you're no longer
- 11:52Speaker 1: a player. We all kind of go through this, uh,
- 11:54Speaker 1: this sense of this feel of like almost lost at times.
- 12:00Speaker 1: I think it begins why you play and how you
- 12:03Speaker 1: represent yourself. I was representing the body of Christ, my
- 12:07Speaker 1: wife and my family. I happen to be an athlete.
- 12:11Speaker 1: So just managing that, and I would share that, share
- 12:13Speaker 1: that with any pro or any athlete. You have to
- 12:17Speaker 1: control who you are. I played the game. The game
- 12:23Speaker 1: is not you know, and I'm still to this particular
- 12:26Speaker 1: day and that new new normal that transition from time
- 12:31Speaker 1: to time I got. I have to debunk the myths
- 12:34Speaker 1: that are associated with an athlete. Yes, black athlete, So
- 12:40Speaker 1: all of those things and to this very day in
- 12:43Speaker 1: my position today as I raised my children. So but
- 12:47Speaker 1: you have to be intentional about it. And I was
- 12:51Speaker 1: very intentional about how I showed up from in the
- 12:56Speaker 1: locker room. Hey looking over, Nope, I don't do any
- 12:59Speaker 1: interviews when I had no clothes on them. And I
- 13:01Speaker 1: tell that, you know. It was just the little things,
- 13:05Speaker 1: how to engage with the media, being transparent, managing that brand,
- 13:11Speaker 1: your personal brand. Frankly, it allowed me to be in
- 13:16Speaker 1: a position am I'm in today. I'm not surprised because
- 13:19Speaker 1: all of the things that you and I learned as
- 13:21Speaker 1: you all were leaders on your team, all of those
- 13:24Speaker 1: are transferable skills that nobody told us in the c suite.
- 13:28Speaker 1: Everything that we learned about communication, resiliency, teamwork, communication, those
- 13:35Speaker 1: are intricate values that the game presents to each of
- 13:41Speaker 1: us that play, and they all transition over to the
- 13:44Speaker 1: corporate world. I know the game's done a lot for you,
- 13:48Speaker 1: but you've also done a lot for the game as
- 13:50Speaker 1: far as like helping players out in their second acts.
- 13:54Speaker 1: I know you brought them the NFL Business Management, the
- 13:59Speaker 1: broadcast boot Camp, and how recept of our current and
- 14:04Speaker 1: former players of you in the NFL creating these programs.
- 14:08Speaker 1: I think they've been extremely recept I'm a product, yes,
- 14:12Speaker 1: YouTube And what makes me proud why people go, well,
- 14:15Speaker 1: why when I see individuals my colleagues like Peanut and Roman,
- 14:21Speaker 1: you all make me so proud and make us so
- 14:23Speaker 1: proud because this is who we really are, right like
- 14:27Speaker 1: you represent the best of who we are. But oftentimes
- 14:31Speaker 1: we get one or two examples and everyone gets painted
- 14:34Speaker 1: with that same brush. Yes, so my affinity and love.
- 14:39Speaker 1: As I always say, you can't lead the player if
- 14:42Speaker 1: you don't love them, and loving that means you take
- 14:46Speaker 1: the good to everything that comes with us, because we
- 14:49Speaker 1: can be a mess at times, but you can't lead
- 14:52Speaker 1: us if you don't love us. Right, So when I
- 14:55Speaker 1: watched and I read and I was mentored by, I
- 14:58Speaker 1: would feel like some of the the best, and then
- 15:00Speaker 1: my pastors it was, Okay, why are we not succeeding?
- 15:05Speaker 1: Why aren't people giving us the opportunity. We finished college,
- 15:09Speaker 1: we play ball, our ball as our resume, but we
- 15:12Speaker 1: have all of these skills that most great leaders in
- 15:16Speaker 1: Fortune fifty Fortune five hundred companies had, but we're not
- 15:20Speaker 1: getting a shot. So as a player, I went to
- 15:22Speaker 1: the University of Penn. We talked to the mid nineties
- 15:26Speaker 1: to say, how do we create programs that will allow
- 15:30Speaker 1: players to get an introduction into things that they want
- 15:35Speaker 1: to do or have interest in post their playing experience,
- 15:39Speaker 1: and this is why you're playing nineteen ninety six, Yes,
- 15:46Speaker 1: every Tuesday, every Friday. That's where I spent my time
- 15:50Speaker 1: on campus, meeting with the professors, saying we have players
- 15:54Speaker 1: that want to get in real estate. They don't have
- 15:57Speaker 1: time to go back to school. Can we do certificate programs?
- 16:02Speaker 1: Can we do programs that will allow them the introduction
- 16:07Speaker 1: into these businesses. So broadcast all of the all of
- 16:10Speaker 1: the boot camps, all of those things were created back
- 16:13Speaker 1: in the mid nineties, and they have year after year
- 16:17Speaker 1: broadcast boot camp, all of those things, the Harvard programs, Northwestern.
- 16:23Speaker 1: It was so that the player had an opportunity when
- 16:26Speaker 1: he took the helmet off, whether it's him, his spouse,
- 16:30Speaker 1: his partner, to go back and learn some of the
- 16:34Speaker 1: things that are important if you wanted to get into
- 16:36Speaker 1: this business. Right. I didn't even know you were doing
- 16:39Speaker 1: that while you're playing. The fact that you made time.
- 16:42Speaker 1: This is unbelievable that you're sharing all this with me
- 16:46Speaker 1: because I don't think most people know this. We know, Troy,
- 16:48Speaker 1: you gotta understand most of us. The first time we
- 16:51Speaker 1: ever meet you is when you're doing that media training
- 16:54Speaker 1: when we first get in, and the one thing that
- 16:56Speaker 1: you say that always stands out is what you just
- 16:58Speaker 1: said earlier, is that, hey, the media is an outlet
- 17:02Speaker 1: to your brand, that you must work with them. It's
- 17:05Speaker 1: the way you tell your own story and working with
- 17:08Speaker 1: the media that's a first introduction, most players get to
- 17:12Speaker 1: who Troy Evince. It is so Roman when you say that.
- 17:16Speaker 1: Remember we all come into the league where they say, hey,
- 17:18Speaker 1: what does the NFL stand for? No? No, no, no, no,
- 17:24Speaker 1: we're gonna flip that, right. Yeah, the NFL means notice
- 17:28Speaker 1: for life when you do things right. Ah see see
- 17:32Speaker 1: I'm using yea. And we need to be sharing. Yeah,
- 17:37Speaker 1: we have to if we do just a little things right.
- 17:41Speaker 1: You don't have to be a star. Yeah. People that
- 17:44Speaker 1: we come in contact with from a media standpoint, business standpoint,
- 17:49Speaker 1: partnership standpoint, people standpoint, we actually are put on notice
- 17:55Speaker 1: for life if we just treat people right. Yeah, but
- 18:00Speaker 1: we always lean to oh it means not for long,
- 18:03Speaker 1: not for long, No, we're gonna flip that, or the
- 18:06Speaker 1: no fun league. Yeah, and you probably hit on this
- 18:10Speaker 1: a lot and you but I want to know from
- 18:12Speaker 1: your perspective, because this is some of your terms that
- 18:14Speaker 1: you that I've heard and read that you use. Is
- 18:16Speaker 1: that what is a servant leader and what does that
- 18:19Speaker 1: mean to you? So a servant leader is someone who
- 18:22Speaker 1: is I serve. I'm using the term I I serve
- 18:29Speaker 1: those who are really leading, even though I may have
- 18:33Speaker 1: the title structurally. But I'm a servant leader. I want
- 18:39Speaker 1: to address what you want to do. I want to
- 18:42Speaker 1: serve you because when you went, I went. So that
- 18:47Speaker 1: servant leadership is being selfishness. I mean, just my ego.
- 18:52Speaker 1: I'm okay, and I use this now in my management style.
- 18:57Speaker 1: This goes to that servant leadership. I always say, no
- 19:00Speaker 1: author of ownership. I don't need my name to be
- 19:02Speaker 1: on the paper. I don't need to be the person
- 19:05Speaker 1: that's at the podium speaking. Allow me to serve you
- 19:10Speaker 1: and the world and the team and everybody wins. Were
- 19:14Speaker 1: you always like that? No, not always, No, sir, No, sir, Peanut.
- 19:19Speaker 1: At the age twenty one, you couldn't tell me nothing,
- 19:22Speaker 1: and if something happened, I wanted to make sure I
- 19:24Speaker 1: got my credit. Today it's not about credit, and Peanut,
- 19:27Speaker 1: I was so ready for transition at any time, So
- 19:31Speaker 1: I don't take anything for granted. I don't know if
- 19:33Speaker 1: you can see in the background my bookcase. Yeah, when
- 19:35Speaker 1: that bookcase have books, so that the next leader who
- 19:39Speaker 1: is going to occupy this seat, whether that happens, they
- 19:43Speaker 1: want to make a change tomorrow or next week. When
- 19:46Speaker 1: I pick up my book back and leave tonight I
- 19:48Speaker 1: don't own any of these things, but people have to.
- 19:52Speaker 1: They can go right to the book and see my
- 19:54Speaker 1: notes from yesterday on the topic of football. Yeah. So
- 19:58Speaker 1: I'm updating these things every day so that transition is
- 20:02Speaker 1: smooth coninuity. Yeah, that's right, so someone can take what
- 20:07Speaker 1: has been created and take it forward. Rumors and speculations.
- 20:11Speaker 1: And you went from player engagement to being the VP
- 20:17Speaker 1: of football. Ops. Do you want to be commissioner? No,
- 20:23Speaker 1: you don't want the job at all. Right now, I
- 20:26Speaker 1: served the commissioner and I served the game. I see
- 20:28Speaker 1: here you say that you serve the commissioner. That's really
- 20:32Speaker 1: That takes a lot, a lot of self I don't
- 20:34Speaker 1: want anybody to get it twisted. Yeah, I am owning
- 20:37Speaker 1: my space today. Yeah, and I get asked that question
- 20:41Speaker 1: off today, I serve Commissioner Roger Goodell, and I'm waiting
- 20:46Speaker 1: for my wife to tell me when it's time to
- 20:47Speaker 1: come home so we can go back in the community
- 20:49Speaker 1: and continue serving the community. But I get asked, I
- 20:52Speaker 1: see what he goes through. I'm good right where I'm at. Yeah,
- 20:57Speaker 1: I love get Maybe I want to get your job,
- 21:00Speaker 1: and yeah, that might be a good one. I'm gonna
- 21:02Speaker 1: be past and then I take your job. Well, you
- 21:05Speaker 1: can serve me. No, I do that anyways, Peanut, I
- 21:08Speaker 1: do that anyways. You know that. So so Troy. Number
- 21:12Speaker 1: two things we got to get accomplished from this this
- 21:14Speaker 1: whole thing. Number One, we're gonna get Peanut a job,
- 21:16Speaker 1: all right, that's number one. We're gonna get somehow another
- 21:19Speaker 1: we're gonna work Peanut into this job. And then number
- 21:22Speaker 1: two is we gotta know because for you to start
- 21:25Speaker 1: off on the players side, now to go to the
- 21:28Speaker 1: NFL side, and as players, we all know who Troy
- 21:33Speaker 1: vented this. We have all this like this love, this
- 21:36Speaker 1: understanding of how you great, how great you are, and
- 21:40Speaker 1: how much you've really improved the NFL side of it,
- 21:43Speaker 1: Like the NFL is in a much better place since
- 21:45Speaker 1: you've crossed over. Are you ever going to be able
- 21:49Speaker 1: to come back and roum my position there is? I
- 21:52Speaker 1: never left the game. Yeah, I wore one uniform. I
- 21:55Speaker 1: served as a as a I never was an employee
- 21:58Speaker 1: of the players in the associal but I served in
- 22:01Speaker 1: the leadership role. Today. I served the game and my
- 22:06Speaker 1: uniform may be a different color, but the mission is
- 22:10Speaker 1: the same. Yeah, it is ensuring that NFL football is
- 22:15Speaker 1: the best and the most competitive sport in the world
- 22:18Speaker 1: by serving the game as you the player. So it's
- 22:21Speaker 1: never changed my mentality. So it wasn't a crossover to me.
- 22:25Speaker 1: Hey listen, I ran for the executive director's position, lost,
- 22:30Speaker 1: didn't get the position. I didn't go. I just hey,
- 22:35Speaker 1: at that particular time, God said no, yeah, at door closed.
- 22:40Speaker 1: But my passion for the game itself and the players,
- 22:44Speaker 1: past president of future will never change. That's that's what's up. Well,
- 22:50Speaker 1: we're gonna hold those thoughts because right now we got
- 22:52Speaker 1: to pay a couple of bills. Say, all states to
- 22:55Speaker 1: gotta pay these bills. Boss. So Troy, I know Tracy
- 22:59Speaker 1: her offense TP, her office is uh right around a
- 23:02Speaker 1: quartum TP, Trace Perman, great friend of mine. I text
- 23:07Speaker 1: TP constantly about the rules. I am texting, I am
- 23:12Speaker 1: tweeting the NFL, the reference the officials. I talked to Rome,
- 23:17Speaker 1: I talked to all my boys about the rules. How
- 23:20Speaker 1: do you deal with the constant criticism with with your
- 23:24Speaker 1: jobs as it pertains to like rules and stuff. How
- 23:26Speaker 1: does how do you deal with that? Well, one you
- 23:29Speaker 1: have to really that's part of it. Just like a
- 23:32Speaker 1: player you gotta take ye good with the good, you
- 23:35Speaker 1: take the not so good when it's not so good, right,
- 23:38Speaker 1: you just have to stay stay even killed okay with
- 23:42Speaker 1: and I get asked the question, if there's one thing
- 23:44Speaker 1: that you would do, what would you change with the league?
- 23:49Speaker 1: Continue reducing that rule book. I think that the rule
- 23:53Speaker 1: book because it's you're talking about one hundred and eighty
- 23:55Speaker 1: plus pages of rules, and it's really complex. And if
- 23:59Speaker 1: it's if it's complex to the player and sometimes the coach,
- 24:05Speaker 1: it could be really complex to the fan. I still
- 24:09Speaker 1: don't know all the rules for the game correct. And
- 24:12Speaker 1: that's so reducing that where just the average Joe, the
- 24:16Speaker 1: average Mary could just say, oh, I understand that, but
- 24:20Speaker 1: I would say this, And this is one of the
- 24:22Speaker 1: things that I've learned just over the last six years.
- 24:25Speaker 1: The official that is the common enemy. I'm gonna repeat that,
- 24:31Speaker 1: the official has become the common enemy. I was just
- 24:37Speaker 1: sharing this with Coach Fuel who heads our officiating department,
- 24:41Speaker 1: him and Walter Anderson. Just yesterday. I said, at the
- 24:45Speaker 1: end of the year, one of the things that we
- 24:46Speaker 1: have to make sure and we have the data to
- 24:50Speaker 1: support it in the video, to support this, the gamesmanship
- 24:54Speaker 1: at our level today is something that I've never ever
- 24:57Speaker 1: seen before. The gamesmanship that goals on in strategy. Oh yeah,
- 25:04Speaker 1: where you think that, you know, like the deception that
- 25:08Speaker 1: is created. Not only are you trying to trick your opponent,
- 25:13Speaker 1: guess who else you're trying to confuse that you're confusing.
- 25:16Speaker 1: You've been in the rules as much as you can
- 25:18Speaker 1: the moment. We do not talk about that enough. And
- 25:21Speaker 1: literally I said, okay, I did that for eight years
- 25:26Speaker 1: of my fifteen I did the officiating reporting. It's not
- 25:30Speaker 1: because I I was a big fan of the umpire
- 25:33Speaker 1: or the back judge or the side judge. I was
- 25:36Speaker 1: giving my teammates its indication of this is what you
- 25:40Speaker 1: can get away with with this crew or with this
- 25:44Speaker 1: side judge. And we all know after the second series,
- 25:49Speaker 1: we know how we're gonna play this game today. Yes,
- 25:52Speaker 1: because you know what they call them, what they ain't
- 25:53Speaker 1: gonna call exactly. Yeah, So I think that's so important
- 25:59Speaker 1: that you're up they're telling these guys that because so
- 26:02Speaker 1: when I got to New Orleans, Sean Payton, I'm sure
- 26:05Speaker 1: he learned it from Philly being with you guys and
- 26:07Speaker 1: around that whole Andy and everybody else that the officials
- 26:12Speaker 1: report is big when you know what official group likes
- 26:15Speaker 1: to call holdings really prevalent this week, hey, passing inference
- 26:19Speaker 1: this week, they're lasting, lasting the league and personal foalcohol,
- 26:23Speaker 1: So they're gonna let you live a little bit. So
- 26:25Speaker 1: like these things, and referees have personalities just like players.
- 26:29Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that is so important. And everybody right now
- 26:33Speaker 1: is really on the roughing the passage. And I know,
- 26:37Speaker 1: I know. The thing about you guys in the NFL
- 26:40Speaker 1: that makes it so good and so hard to argue
- 26:42Speaker 1: against is that you guys got the stats and numbers
- 26:45Speaker 1: to back it up. Yes, right, No, Dad, he said, Daddy,
- 26:48Speaker 1: He didn't say sets. We've got the data. D all right.
- 26:52Speaker 1: So and I want to share this and this is
- 26:54Speaker 1: not for you, Troy, because you know this, but I
- 26:56Speaker 1: want to share it to the people and the listeners.
- 26:58Speaker 1: Is that everybody's complaining about the from the pastor calls
- 27:00Speaker 1: the one that happened with Grady Jared Old Brady, the
- 27:03Speaker 1: one that happened. It's been a few this year that's
- 27:05Speaker 1: been quite questionable at times to say, really Jones in
- 27:09Speaker 1: the Grady Jared Ones, the ones that is kind of
- 27:12Speaker 1: really really really elevated it right. So in two thousan
- 27:15Speaker 1: eighteen through week six we had fifty three rough from
- 27:18Speaker 1: the pastors. In two thou nineteen you had fifty nine,
- 27:22Speaker 1: and two thousand and twenty through six weeks you had
- 27:26Speaker 1: forty three. So trend in the down. In two thousand
- 27:28Speaker 1: and twenty two thousand and twenty one you are back
- 27:31Speaker 1: up to fifty two. And then in two thousand and
- 27:34Speaker 1: twenty two this year, through six weeks, you were all
- 27:37Speaker 1: the way down to thirty eight. So the behavior is changing.
- 27:41Speaker 1: So you guys are really affecting the game without really
- 27:45Speaker 1: affecting the game. And everybody complains about how soft it is,
- 27:48Speaker 1: but I want to use your word in your terms,
- 27:50Speaker 1: is that it's just the game is just different. It's
- 27:54Speaker 1: not soft, it's just different. To kind of go into
- 27:57Speaker 1: that and help us out, and I think this is
- 27:59Speaker 1: important for we all grew up in the air and
- 28:02Speaker 1: I used this term, it's a different game, it's a
- 28:05Speaker 1: safer game, it's a better game. I grew up in Trenton,
- 28:12Speaker 1: New Jersey and in Laura Bucks County, wanting to play
- 28:16Speaker 1: for Buddy Ryan. Buddy Ryan's defenses had the let's say
- 28:25Speaker 1: this aura or this reputation of putting people in the
- 28:29Speaker 1: body bag. That was the mentality. If you were coming
- 28:33Speaker 1: and wanting to play football, you were you just learn
- 28:38Speaker 1: the game with bad intentions. I fast forward knowing what
- 28:44Speaker 1: I know now, and I've always been on the player
- 28:47Speaker 1: protection in the health and safety. I'm looking at my
- 28:51Speaker 1: teammates and I'm seeing my teammates at forty five and
- 28:58Speaker 1: at fifty in conditions that they should not be in. Right,
- 29:04Speaker 1: So it makes me paulse and just say okay. And
- 29:07Speaker 1: as Willie Lanier said this to me maybe twelve years ago, Troy,
- 29:12Speaker 1: you can't allow our sport to become a blood sport.
- 29:15Speaker 1: We all want the same thing to perform, get our
- 29:20Speaker 1: ball on, make our paragraph five, go home with our
- 29:24Speaker 1: families in one piece. But when you will we allow
- 29:28Speaker 1: the game to go to that next level where it
- 29:30Speaker 1: becomes a blood sport and people are trying to take
- 29:33Speaker 1: each other's head off. That's not good for any of us.
- 29:37Speaker 1: And I use this which I typically never go in
- 29:40Speaker 1: this direction because it's really commercial. In two thousand and
- 29:43Speaker 1: twenty one, ninety one of the top one hundred TV
- 29:49Speaker 1: shows in America were NFL games. Why because they love
- 29:55Speaker 1: points they love the excitement when we look at from
- 30:00Speaker 1: the bottom, these young boys are getting it on. So
- 30:06Speaker 1: it's so true. And Peanut was, he was so he
- 30:10Speaker 1: was ready for this part of the interview, Like this
- 30:12Speaker 1: is what he's been geared up for. You know, you
- 30:14Speaker 1: know why all right, when they call illegal contact it's
- 30:18Speaker 1: five yards, it's not they're gonna get him a first
- 30:20Speaker 1: down because they want points. Like It's just all I'm
- 30:24Speaker 1: saying is just from a defensive standpoint, help us out.
- 30:28Speaker 1: I get ninety one of one hundred top shows. Can
- 30:32Speaker 1: we get a little bit of help on defense? I'm now,
- 30:34Speaker 1: I'm I'm a little biased. I'm talking to my defensive
- 30:37Speaker 1: players out there. I'm looking out for them. You said
- 30:40Speaker 1: you're looking out for your teammates. I'm looking out for
- 30:42Speaker 1: all defensive players in the NFL right now. I'm just
- 30:45Speaker 1: trying to make it. Just help us out a little bit.
- 30:51Speaker 1: And they hit If I hit a guy after five yards,
- 30:54Speaker 1: why is it an automatic five yard? Automatic first down? Five?
- 30:59Speaker 1: Just this moved me four or five yards. You know
- 31:02Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Why I just help us, help us,
- 31:05Speaker 1: help us out defensively, help us out in that department.
- 31:08Speaker 1: I get points. I get People want to see points
- 31:11Speaker 1: on the board. People say it's a boring game when
- 31:13Speaker 1: the score is ten to three, I think the defenses
- 31:16Speaker 1: are balling. I think that's a slapp in the face
- 31:19Speaker 1: on us. Many of us would agree with that. We
- 31:21Speaker 1: can't have a good defensive matchup. How come it can't
- 31:24Speaker 1: be two defensive coordinators just going out of like, man,
- 31:27Speaker 1: these guys are playing chess. That means the defenses are
- 31:30Speaker 1: playing amazing. I hate forty five to thirty three? Where's
- 31:34Speaker 1: your defense at? But I get it. It's it's a
- 31:37Speaker 1: brand that's bad. Listen, this is what I would say
- 31:41Speaker 1: to this. I remember now, this is not the league office,
- 31:44Speaker 1: And don't be sitting here blaming trop I'm not. I'm
- 31:46Speaker 1: not blaming. I don't have a boat. You got thirty
- 31:50Speaker 1: You got thirty two member clubs. If you really want
- 31:55Speaker 1: to impact the game, here's one I think you can appreciate. Okay,
- 32:00Speaker 1: tell me why I pass interference? Is this spot foul?
- 32:03Speaker 1: Why don't you just make that like college? For sure? Yeah?
- 32:07Speaker 1: Yeah them? Fifty yard penalties are huge. You don't recover
- 32:11Speaker 1: from it. And what you typically when you get that
- 32:13Speaker 1: forty to fifty yard penalty? The next play, he can
- 32:16Speaker 1: kick a pa I mean a field He's already field
- 32:20Speaker 1: goal arrange. But what when those teams are in that
- 32:22Speaker 1: red zone area the percentage of them scoring, it's do
- 32:25Speaker 1: the roof. Yeah, so hey, we really want to change things.
- 32:29Speaker 1: All membership has to do is hey, or the coaches
- 32:34Speaker 1: make PI a yardage a yardage. I've been saying that
- 32:38Speaker 1: for a while though, I'm keeping that. I'm all for that.
- 32:43Speaker 1: So so, Troy, I got one real thing. Um, this
- 32:45Speaker 1: is the only thing I'm on my soapbox about. And
- 32:47Speaker 1: this is just that, you know, as a former safety,
- 32:50Speaker 1: having to set the edge and you did too. I
- 32:54Speaker 1: mean the fact that I can't just take the old
- 32:56Speaker 1: lineman's knees out anymore and now I gotta take him
- 32:58Speaker 1: up high I'm doing. I'm just saying that one roman
- 33:02Speaker 1: I was and hey, for transparency, I'm on u alls
- 33:05Speaker 1: pot on the podcast here in my second act. That
- 33:10Speaker 1: was one that That's what I'm not proud, Okay, I
- 33:16Speaker 1: appreciate that of what I did. I got six trophies.
- 33:20Speaker 1: I'm not proud of those six trophies. And people go,
- 33:23Speaker 1: what do you mean? Six people are not didn't play
- 33:26Speaker 1: because of what I did to them coming off of
- 33:29Speaker 1: that edge. They never returned back to the field. So
- 33:33Speaker 1: why people go, well, how does the big block a little?
- 33:35Speaker 1: I know, if I get the top of my helmet
- 33:37Speaker 1: or the side of my helmet, if I hit that
- 33:39Speaker 1: right spot on that knee, he's is over. Those are
- 33:42Speaker 1: the kind of things like things like cut block, chop block,
- 33:46Speaker 1: blind those things were like think about even the term itself.
- 33:50Speaker 1: We grew up in an era where a blind side
- 33:53Speaker 1: block Peanut used to used to, you know, help out
- 33:57Speaker 1: your teammates during the week with with with restaurant gift
- 34:00Speaker 1: cards when you got big hits, big tackles inside. I mean, hey,
- 34:06Speaker 1: think about that we talk offline when we now somebody
- 34:13Speaker 1: you declease somebody. Yeah, it's just a different I can't
- 34:18Speaker 1: go to a parent today and ask their kids, hey,
- 34:21Speaker 1: your kids should be participating in football. Yeah, it's how
- 34:24Speaker 1: to understand that. It's such a it's such a unique
- 34:28Speaker 1: situation to be in too, because Troy, what you're saying
- 34:32Speaker 1: is not you're not wrong, but like we grew up
- 34:36Speaker 1: with this different mentality. Look, I played for junior Buddy
- 34:39Speaker 1: Ryan and Greg Williams, and it was like that was
- 34:43Speaker 1: the mentality you're saying, because I played for him too,
- 34:48Speaker 1: that was it? What did he used to tell you?
- 34:50Speaker 1: If you cut the what? Oh? If you if you
- 34:53Speaker 1: if you kill the head, the body would die. That
- 34:56Speaker 1: was That's what you did. That's not right. Because we
- 35:02Speaker 1: know better, the Bible tells us. Because I read that,
- 35:05Speaker 1: I'm now held responsible for his work. Yes, yeah, because
- 35:08Speaker 1: we know better today, gentlemen. Again, it's not man, Tita
- 35:12Speaker 1: got No, I'm not getting sod. But I got kids
- 35:15Speaker 1: and I got grandkids. I'm speaking to millions of parents, yep,
- 35:20Speaker 1: about their children participating in the sport that we love. Yes,
- 35:24Speaker 1: I get that question comes up all the time. I
- 35:27Speaker 1: respect this, I like it. I like that. Yeah. And
- 35:30Speaker 1: to change your view, peanut, I want to hear it
- 35:33Speaker 1: a little bit. You change it a little bit, you
- 35:36Speaker 1: change My wife won't even she doesn't want my son
- 35:39Speaker 1: to play football until later. And also because football is
- 35:42Speaker 1: a sport that you can pick up later in life
- 35:45Speaker 1: and still be great at it. Understand, you were a
- 35:47Speaker 1: great example that yourself, Troy. You were mostly a basketball player,
- 35:50Speaker 1: track guy up until you got what was that Pennsbury
- 35:54Speaker 1: High School? Right having twelfth grade? Yep, until you were
- 35:57Speaker 1: later you were all about being baby MJ Michael Jordan.
- 36:02Speaker 1: So you cut your hairball back in the day. Now
- 36:04Speaker 1: you have to cut your hairball. So you know at
- 36:08Speaker 1: the time you made these things happen, and just maybe
- 36:11Speaker 1: speak on just you know, finishing us off. You're kind
- 36:13Speaker 1: of getting us ready up out here. Is that as
- 36:16Speaker 1: you go back to these high schools and have these
- 36:18Speaker 1: conversations with these young moms dads about their family and
- 36:21Speaker 1: their children participating in the sport that we love, you
- 36:26Speaker 1: have to lean on the health aspect of it first.
- 36:28Speaker 1: And I know you really light up when you talk
- 36:30Speaker 1: about the health and safety and all the things that
- 36:32Speaker 1: you guys, just strikes that you've made in football roll
- 36:35Speaker 1: it's a non starter if I don't. Yeah, it's where
- 36:39Speaker 1: they want to begin the conversation, and then it allows
- 36:43Speaker 1: it sets the stage for me to talk about all
- 36:45Speaker 1: of the things that the game provides, whether they play
- 36:50Speaker 1: professional football, go to college. But the strides that have
- 36:55Speaker 1: been made from return to play. We just suggested the
- 36:58Speaker 1: concussion protocols, just the advancements in metal, the advancements in equipment.
- 37:04Speaker 1: Today we can talk, we can be on the offense
- 37:08Speaker 1: talking about where our game has evolved from a health
- 37:11Speaker 1: and safety standpoint, player protection. Twelve years ago, we were defended.
- 37:16Speaker 1: I mean, we were backpedaling. We didn't have any answers.
- 37:20Speaker 1: But I just think the evolution of the game the
- 37:22Speaker 1: athlete today bigger, faster, stronger, and now with flag. If
- 37:26Speaker 1: I can just a little let me get put that
- 37:28Speaker 1: little plug in. I talk about the future of football
- 37:32Speaker 1: is flag. I didn't say the future of professional football.
- 37:36Speaker 1: But when we think about flag football and football being
- 37:39Speaker 1: for all, it literally is it takes down all of
- 37:44Speaker 1: the barriers that other sports and our sport currently used
- 37:48Speaker 1: to have with gender, race, class, disability. Flag football there's
- 37:56Speaker 1: a position in a place for everyone. Oh yeah, I'm
- 38:00Speaker 1: with that room. I think we should definitely get on
- 38:03Speaker 1: a get a pro football flag team, and we can
- 38:07Speaker 1: get it together. I think we can. Until somebody pull
- 38:10Speaker 1: a hand or do something crazy. It sounds great like
- 38:15Speaker 1: it does on paper, It sounds great. We should get
- 38:17Speaker 1: a Legends flag team. My old coaches and I'm like, bro,
- 38:21Speaker 1: that sounds great on the white board, coach, But yeah, yeah,
- 38:23Speaker 1: until we got to get out here and run it.
- 38:25Speaker 1: I'm feeling you. But Troy, we appreciate you, man, Thank
- 38:29Speaker 1: you for coming out on the show. This was fun.
- 38:33Speaker 1: If you're getting good, I'm so proud of you all.
- 38:35Speaker 1: Thank you keep doing what you do. Thanks Troy, Man.
- 38:37Speaker 1: Appreciate it. Man. You really not only informed us, you
- 38:40Speaker 1: really blessed us with your time, your knowledge, your experience.
- 38:44Speaker 1: And I hope the listeners got all that too. Man.
- 38:46Speaker 1: This guy is amazing and I would tell anybody to
- 38:50Speaker 1: anytime you can spend any type of quality time and
- 38:53Speaker 1: sit down and listen to anything Troy Vincent has to say,
- 38:55Speaker 1: you better try and do it. It's well worth your
- 38:58Speaker 1: time and your experience. Thank you, man, and I want
- 39:00Speaker 1: to also thank all the listeners for tuning in. Please
- 39:04Speaker 1: please spread the word, give us a rating and a review.
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