Latest / The Irish Steelers Podcast / Dermontti Dawson on playing in Ireland with the Pittsburgh Steelers

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Dermontti Dawson on playing in Ireland with the Pittsburgh Steelers · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, welcome into the Irish Theaters podcast. Well, by
0:08
Speaker 1: the time that you're listening to this, Staters training camp
0:11
Speaker 1: is back in the Trope at Saint Vincent's College and
0:15
Speaker 1: especial weekend this weekend because we celebrate the anniversary of
0:17
Speaker 1: the last time the Pittsburgh Steters played in Dublin in
0:22
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven, in fact against the Chicago Bears July
0:25
Speaker 1: the twenty seventh, nineteen ninety seven. We will talk about
0:28
Speaker 1: that in the moment, but today we will talk about that.
0:31
Speaker 1: But we have a former Pittsburgh Steeler, and that's putting
0:34
Speaker 1: it likely, a guy that was a sixth time first
0:37
Speaker 1: Team All Pro, part of the NFL nineteen nineties All
0:40
Speaker 1: Decade Team, Staters, All Time Team Pro Football Hall of Famer,
0:44
Speaker 1: among many other accolades. Monty Dawson. Monthy. First off, as
0:48
Speaker 1: we say in Ireland, welcome, how you do well.
0:52
Speaker 2: Thank you very much for having me on the show,
0:53
Speaker 2: and I am doing well.
0:55
Speaker 1: It's great to have you on. And just firstly, Monthly,
0:58
Speaker 1: like we will talk about your time I'm in Ireland. Shortly.
1:02
Speaker 1: I have tried to bullet point a number of your
1:06
Speaker 1: accolades there, but can you briefly talk to us just
1:08
Speaker 1: about your career in Pittsburgh between nineteen eighty eight and
1:13
Speaker 1: two thousand, then just what that meant to you, Monted.
1:15
Speaker 2: Well, you know, for me, I mean I was I
1:17
Speaker 2: was really excited when I got drafted. You know, I
1:19
Speaker 2: didn't realize I was going to be drafted to the
1:21
Speaker 2: Steelers because the Giants were looking at me. And you
1:26
Speaker 2: know when I was drafted and went up for the
1:28
Speaker 2: mini camp, of course it was in the rain when
1:31
Speaker 2: we had the rookie mini camp, and of course at
1:36
Speaker 2: Dukane University. And I drove up there first time being
1:39
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh. Drove to Ducane University for Mini camp and
1:43
Speaker 2: I went down a one way road in the rain,
1:46
Speaker 2: and so I had a cop stop me, and luckily
1:50
Speaker 2: I told him who I was and he gave me
1:51
Speaker 2: a ride to Dukane University. And that was the start
1:56
Speaker 2: of my career in Pittsburgh. But you know, hey, I
1:58
Speaker 2: had a great career in Pittsburgh. You know, I started
2:00
Speaker 2: my rookie year. You know, they had Mike Webster, Tan
2:04
Speaker 2: jokin Man, I can't remember all the guys that we had,
2:11
Speaker 2: John Riemstra, you know, so you know my rookie year.
2:14
Speaker 2: Once I first started a game, I think it was
2:17
Speaker 2: the fourth game of the season. You know, I really,
2:22
Speaker 2: I really had a great career, you know, throughout my years.
2:26
Speaker 2: You know, I made six seven probos and six All
2:30
Speaker 2: Pro teams, nineteen nineties All Time Team Hall of Honor
2:37
Speaker 2: inductee for the Steelers, you know. So I had a
2:41
Speaker 2: story career, and you know, if I could have written
2:43
Speaker 2: a script myself, I couldn't have written any better, because
2:46
Speaker 2: you just never know how your career is going to go.
2:48
Speaker 2: I enjoyed my time in Pittsburgh.
2:49
Speaker 1: It is honestly an honored to job to you because
2:51
Speaker 1: I know there's so many people both in I guess
2:54
Speaker 1: the current generation of studters funds in Ireland and beyond,
2:57
Speaker 1: but also so many people that would have watched you
2:59
Speaker 1: when they were getting into the game over here. I
3:01
Speaker 1: know who you are and just how much she means
3:04
Speaker 1: to this organization and how much the organization means to you.
3:07
Speaker 1: So thank you very much for those thoughts. You casually
3:10
Speaker 1: mentioned playing with Mike Webster, another guy who's a Hall
3:15
Speaker 1: of Famer in your rookie season. What's it like going
3:18
Speaker 1: in rookie season playing with a guy that Mike is. Yeah,
3:22
Speaker 1: it's it's c it's crazy to think that, you know,
3:25
Speaker 1: obviously you're a hall of fame around then you go
3:26
Speaker 1: in and play with one the first year.
3:29
Speaker 2: I know, it's it's intimidating when you first go into
3:31
Speaker 2: campus a rookie because you got all these veterans there
3:34
Speaker 2: and you come in as a you know, rookie. So
3:38
Speaker 2: and then also you know, just seeing Mike. Mike was
3:40
Speaker 2: in his fifteenth year, my rookie year in eighty eight,
3:43
Speaker 2: and you know, Mike Man, you talking about a worker.
3:47
Speaker 2: He was always first in every drill, in practice. He
3:51
Speaker 2: was first in the weight room. He was the first
3:53
Speaker 2: in the film room, and that was fifteen years. And
3:56
Speaker 2: I consider myself coming in early in the morning as well,
3:58
Speaker 2: but Mike would always be me uh in the weight room.
4:02
Speaker 2: You know, Mike was a consummant, you know pro And
4:04
Speaker 2: I learned a lot from Mike uh. And I give
4:07
Speaker 2: a lot of credit to Mike, and just watching him
4:10
Speaker 2: hit him him as an example of how to be
4:14
Speaker 2: a pro and how to get how to conduct yourself.
4:18
Speaker 2: And so I give Mike a lot of credit for
4:21
Speaker 2: my career because I wanted to be like Mike. So
4:24
Speaker 2: you know what's the best way to do that. You
4:26
Speaker 2: try to emulate what he does and how he does it.
4:29
Speaker 2: And so you know that's what I did, you know,
4:32
Speaker 2: each and every year. You know, even if I accomplished,
4:35
Speaker 2: no matter what I accomplished, you know, I try to,
4:38
Speaker 2: you know, stay humble and keep on working, because I mean,
4:41
Speaker 2: you either get better or you get worse. But you
4:44
Speaker 2: never say to say so. That was Mike. Mike was
4:47
Speaker 2: constantly working. So I tried to do the same thing
4:51
Speaker 2: as Mike and uh, you know, follow his direction. It
4:55
Speaker 2: worked that well, it did. It did.
4:59
Speaker 1: One of the one of the things that scans for the
5:01
Speaker 1: Staters organization is the consistency that the team has had
5:05
Speaker 1: I'm currently still has with the head coaching position. And
5:09
Speaker 1: you had the experience of playing under Chuck no and
5:12
Speaker 1: it's hard to believe he's only a couple of coaches
5:14
Speaker 1: to go for this team. What was coach?
5:16
Speaker 2: Know, like you know Chuck No, I mean he was coach.
5:20
Speaker 2: Coach was you know? Of course he was a legend.
5:22
Speaker 2: So I was in odd when I first got there,
5:24
Speaker 2: and just a whole rooney story. And you know the chief,
5:28
Speaker 2: I mean, you had all these legendary people and playing
5:32
Speaker 2: under Chuck No, I got a chance to play four
5:35
Speaker 2: years under coach Know, and you know, Coach Know, he
5:38
Speaker 2: was just more. He was more laid back. You know.
5:41
Speaker 2: He let the assistant coaches do their thing and coaches.
5:45
Speaker 2: But the only time to coach Know would really raise
5:48
Speaker 2: his voice at the team was when if we messed
5:52
Speaker 2: up in practice or guys were kind of dragging or lagging,
5:55
Speaker 2: and then he would speak up. But other than that
5:58
Speaker 2: he would let the coaches do their thing and coach
6:01
Speaker 2: the players. But I mean he was a smart guy.
6:04
Speaker 2: I mean absolutely, I mean he could talk about anything.
6:07
Speaker 2: I don't care what subject. He could talk about it.
6:10
Speaker 2: But it was an honor plan for him. And now
6:13
Speaker 2: then we roll into ninety two and next thing you know,
6:16
Speaker 2: we got Bill carocme.
6:17
Speaker 1: In, Coach Carr coming in, and we're going to touch
6:19
Speaker 1: on him in a little second, just in regards of
6:21
Speaker 1: the game in Dublin and many other different factors. A
6:24
Speaker 1: gentleman nineteen ninety seven, twenty seven years ago this year,
6:29
Speaker 1: and yes, the Stators go to Ireland. They fulfill I
6:33
Speaker 1: guess a wish er, a dream or you know, come
6:35
Speaker 1: back to where the Rooney family has its roots and
6:38
Speaker 1: where they're from. When you first find out that you
6:42
Speaker 1: guys are going to go to the Emerald Doll to Ireland?
6:45
Speaker 1: What was it? Can you try and remember what that
6:47
Speaker 1: film is like? Because nowadays, Monty, it's for a lot
6:51
Speaker 1: of teams, Like I've seen teams come to London over
6:53
Speaker 1: the last couple of years and have come maybe two
6:55
Speaker 1: or three times in three or four years, So it's
6:57
Speaker 1: common now, But at that time, it really was a
7:02
Speaker 1: real opportunity and it was a real one off for
7:04
Speaker 1: some people.
7:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was, I mean because really the NFL hadn't
7:08
Speaker 2: explored playing games in Europe at that time, and you
7:11
Speaker 2: know they started I guess it was called the World Bowl.
7:13
Speaker 2: I think it was at that time, So you know,
7:16
Speaker 2: it was an honor for us to be able to
7:17
Speaker 2: go to Ireland, come to Ireland to play exhibition game,
7:22
Speaker 2: and because I had never been to Europe before, so
7:26
Speaker 2: you know, for us it was a special game. You know,
7:28
Speaker 2: knowing that the heritage from you know, the Rudies and
7:31
Speaker 2: their family immigrating to the US and the eighteen hundreds,
7:35
Speaker 2: so there's a lot of history there, so you know,
7:37
Speaker 2: of course it was a great time, you know for
7:40
Speaker 2: I guess the NFL to start expanding to Europe and
7:44
Speaker 2: that fan base.
7:45
Speaker 1: We've heard a number of stories from different guys. One
7:48
Speaker 1: who was actually in Croke Park when the States A
7:51
Speaker 1: nine sits marketing initiative, Cordel Stewart. He was talking about
7:55
Speaker 1: playing golf in Ireland and his falln memories. Can you
7:58
Speaker 1: talk us through about what you what you remember from
8:01
Speaker 1: that week and just some sort of positive experiences.
8:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know, just tune around Dublin, you know,
8:06
Speaker 2: and I think I can't remember the pub, but it's
8:08
Speaker 2: red and so of course you know, if you go
8:12
Speaker 2: to Dublin, you got to have a pint. So we
8:14
Speaker 2: went to the pubs and had a pint pint, you know,
8:18
Speaker 2: just kind of hanging out and the Cordelle was talking
8:21
Speaker 2: about the golf we had. We played against the Bears
8:25
Speaker 2: their players, and I think we won the trophy. We
8:27
Speaker 2: beat all those guys in golf. But it was great
8:30
Speaker 2: just being able to travel around Dublin just a history.
8:34
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just it's just a great place to
8:36
Speaker 2: uh to go and visit.
8:38
Speaker 1: Coach Calard told us actually recently I had the opportunity
8:42
Speaker 1: to very quickly meet him in Vegas for the Super
8:44
Speaker 1: Bowl and when I asked him about the game in Dublin.
8:47
Speaker 1: Every time I talked to him about it, he always
8:49
Speaker 1: brings up the story of mister Rooney looking to win
8:53
Speaker 1: the trophy for his wife. Can you remember any any
8:57
Speaker 1: conversation that was had with coaching in the locker room
9:00
Speaker 1: because funnily it was a preseason game, but this was
9:04
Speaker 1: really much more in the preseason game because it meant
9:06
Speaker 1: so much to the.
9:07
Speaker 2: Team, yes, and the Rooney family, but I didn't you know,
9:11
Speaker 2: I know it was a water for Crystal trophy that
9:14
Speaker 2: we did win because I remember him holding it up
9:17
Speaker 2: in the locker room after the game because admitted much
9:19
Speaker 2: to him. It meant so much to him as well,
9:22
Speaker 2: you know when because of the Rooney family in the
9:24
Speaker 2: history from Ireland. So it was a great win and
9:29
Speaker 2: it was very exciting for everybody.
9:31
Speaker 1: It's pretty cool to look back, and I'm glad that
9:33
Speaker 1: I wasn't there, But I know, even from speaking to
9:36
Speaker 1: people this week as I read an article and also
9:38
Speaker 1: meeting people down through the years monthly, just how much
9:42
Speaker 1: that really meant to them. Because Ireland, albeit it's so
9:45
Speaker 1: close to the UK and London, it hasn't had a
9:48
Speaker 1: game since, just just finally, you know, because of that
9:52
Speaker 1: as you look back on that almost thirty years later,
9:55
Speaker 1: you know, you guys, along with the Bears, are really
9:58
Speaker 1: the only two teams to have played in Crouk Park.
10:00
Speaker 1: Pretty special, it is.
10:01
Speaker 2: It is I mean the history of Croke Park, and
10:04
Speaker 2: you know, so it was an honor just to be
10:06
Speaker 2: able to play play on that field, you know, because
10:09
Speaker 2: that was the first American football game on that turf.
10:13
Speaker 2: So it was a great experience.
10:15
Speaker 1: Have you had the chance to come back to Arland since?
10:17
Speaker 2: No, I have not. No, you know, I've traveled all
10:20
Speaker 2: over the world, but I haven't been back to Ireland.
10:22
Speaker 1: Look, we will welcome you over very soon with welcome arms.
10:25
Speaker 1: Of course. You talk about coach Kayer there as well
10:29
Speaker 1: as as coach coach Kaier there for a lot of
10:32
Speaker 1: your career in Pittsburgh and a guy that the current
10:35
Speaker 1: generation of NFL vons Mont DC on TV, but a
10:38
Speaker 1: lot of people nowadays know him for just the legendary
10:42
Speaker 1: work that he'd done with this team along with the
10:45
Speaker 1: players like yourselves as well. What was he like in
10:48
Speaker 1: the locker room?
10:49
Speaker 2: You know, coach, you know, coach Kawer is totally polar
10:52
Speaker 2: opposite from coach Know And it could have been because
10:55
Speaker 2: you know, coach Know was what he played. He coached
10:59
Speaker 2: for twenty four seasons, I think it was, so he
11:02
Speaker 2: was at the tail end of his career coaching. Coach
11:05
Speaker 2: Gower comes in, you know, he's in his thirties, early thirties,
11:09
Speaker 2: and so he brought a whole new excitement to practice
11:14
Speaker 2: the game to the players because he would be out
11:17
Speaker 2: on the field in training camp or practice running sprints
11:21
Speaker 2: with us. He was all inclusive. He was all in
11:24
Speaker 2: and he was very enthusiastic every time he was on
11:26
Speaker 2: the field, and he just made practice, you know, fun
11:31
Speaker 2: even though you're you know, you're having fun, but you're
11:33
Speaker 2: still serious at the same time. But he just bought
11:36
Speaker 2: some excitement to h you know, practice in the facility.
11:40
Speaker 2: And just the way his personality is, he's just he's
11:42
Speaker 2: always bubbling most of the time. But you know, coach
11:45
Speaker 2: Kywer will get in your face too. He didn't treat
11:46
Speaker 2: everybody the same because you can't do that because you've
11:50
Speaker 2: got so many different personalities, different personalities that you're dealing with.
11:53
Speaker 2: So you have to learn how to you know, finagle
11:57
Speaker 2: all the personalities and still keep them together, you know.
12:01
Speaker 2: But you know, coach Coach was a great coach to
12:04
Speaker 2: play for. You know, I got nine years under coach
12:06
Speaker 2: Cower and four years under, nine years under coach Coawer
12:11
Speaker 2: and four under Chechno. So but yeah, those those nine
12:16
Speaker 2: years under coach cowor may were great because we had
12:19
Speaker 2: some great teams and we had some great seasons.
12:22
Speaker 1: You just missed the I guess the international evolution of
12:26
Speaker 1: the game by not even a decade monthly like Twente
12:29
Speaker 1: and seven was the first London game, the Dolphins against
12:31
Speaker 1: the Giants, and there have been games in London at
12:34
Speaker 1: least every year bar COVID since then. Do you look
12:37
Speaker 1: back on that and sort of wish to yourself that
12:39
Speaker 1: you could have maybe taken part in those sort of
12:41
Speaker 1: games Steeters being in Wembley in the early twenty tens
12:44
Speaker 1: and how cool is it from I guess a former
12:47
Speaker 1: players perspective, but also a fans perspective as well to
12:50
Speaker 1: see games in London, Germany and hopefully maybe Ireland in
12:54
Speaker 1: the future.
12:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I wish. I wish they'd had more game
12:57
Speaker 2: international games when I was playing. You know, it's a
13:00
Speaker 2: great experience for guys, you know, because some guys don't
13:02
Speaker 2: travel to year Upe or anywhere, so it's the first
13:04
Speaker 2: time for a lot of players, and you know, for
13:07
Speaker 2: me it was it was the first time coming to Ireland.
13:10
Speaker 2: And you know, and I think the NFL as far
13:13
Speaker 2: as expanding, you know, the fan base. You know, you
13:16
Speaker 2: have to go to different countries and expose you know,
13:20
Speaker 2: people to American football, and that's the way, that's the
13:24
Speaker 2: way the fan base is built.
13:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can imagine it will be awesome to see
13:28
Speaker 1: you guys just have that opportunity to play in Wembley
13:30
Speaker 1: and play in different countries and hopefully get a chance
13:33
Speaker 1: to experience that even just coming over at some point
13:35
Speaker 1: in the future. The Steelers' roots are now firmly in Ireland,
13:40
Speaker 1: more so than ever before. They're a team with a
13:42
Speaker 1: great heritage to this island. We've seen last month, or sorry,
13:47
Speaker 1: we've seen last year with different watch parties and fun
13:50
Speaker 1: events taking taking place across the island and many other
13:53
Speaker 1: things such as just training clinics and ways for the
13:57
Speaker 1: youth of Ireland to learn football. It's just something that
14:00
Speaker 1: you'd love to be a part of in the future
14:02
Speaker 1: and how important for you, is it to get the youth,
14:05
Speaker 1: for young people of the island of our interested in.
14:08
Speaker 2: The Oh yeah, I would. I would love to come
14:11
Speaker 2: back to Europe, Ireland and uh and be part of
14:14
Speaker 2: the clinics because I mean, really that's the way you
14:16
Speaker 2: expand your brand and notoriety for the NFL and the
14:21
Speaker 2: youth are they are the future and those are the
14:25
Speaker 2: guys who are going to be the kids or who
14:26
Speaker 2: are going to be watching the games. So it's very
14:30
Speaker 2: important to you know, expand you know, just expand your brand,
14:36
Speaker 2: and so I would love to be a part of that.
14:38
Speaker 1: Mister Rooney was held in such high acclaim, not just
14:43
Speaker 1: in the Pittsburgh Stedis organization, but he also served as
14:46
Speaker 1: the US and bassterd of Ireland not too long after
14:49
Speaker 1: you retired from the Staters. What was he like. Did
14:53
Speaker 1: you have much of a chance to get to know
14:54
Speaker 1: him just in your time in Pittsburgh.
14:56
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, mister Runney was always a practice. I mean
14:58
Speaker 2: he was always on the field. He was never hiding
15:01
Speaker 2: in the office, you know, mister Ruddy was always ever
15:04
Speaker 2: present and just just a great guy. And you know,
15:07
Speaker 2: one of my one of my things that I have
15:09
Speaker 2: for mister Rudey that I treasure is a replica of
15:13
Speaker 2: three Rivers Stadium, and mister Rudy signed it for me
15:17
Speaker 2: and uh, you know, and put an inscription on there
15:19
Speaker 2: for me. And so I hold that in high regard
15:22
Speaker 2: and I have that in my office in full display
15:26
Speaker 2: because he was such a great guy, you know, and uh,
15:29
Speaker 2: I love him, love him very much, and he would
15:31
Speaker 2: always spend time and talk with you, and I missed
15:33
Speaker 2: that absolutely.
15:35
Speaker 1: I think. To even see the pictures of him in
15:38
Speaker 1: Dublin for that game among many other even if his
15:40
Speaker 1: time as ambassador in Ireland, you can see just how
15:44
Speaker 1: much the island meant to him as well on the
15:47
Speaker 1: team on how much it meant to him as well. Look,
15:51
Speaker 1: let's talk about it about yourself here before we just
15:53
Speaker 1: get rid of Bill Belichick said that you're one of
15:56
Speaker 1: the best players that his team has ever played against
16:00
Speaker 1: the position. When you hear such high pray as from
16:03
Speaker 1: someone like that, how does that feel?
16:06
Speaker 2: I mean, it's kind of you know, crazy, you know,
16:09
Speaker 2: because I mean you really don't think you think of
16:11
Speaker 2: yourself as that kind of player, even though you know,
16:14
Speaker 2: you had a pretty good career and you played played
16:16
Speaker 2: well consistently. But you know, for Coach Belichick to say that,
16:21
Speaker 2: you know, I hold him in high regard because he's
16:24
Speaker 2: he's won so many championships and he's coached a lot
16:26
Speaker 2: of players. So I don't take it lightly. And it's
16:29
Speaker 2: an honor for him for me, for him to say
16:32
Speaker 2: that about me.
16:33
Speaker 1: You are obviously part of the franchise is Savage of
16:37
Speaker 1: Season celebration a few years back, part of the all
16:39
Speaker 1: time team of that celebration. The team while they have
16:43
Speaker 1: not retired your number, they have not issued your number
16:47
Speaker 1: since you retired. That must been an awful lot too,
16:52
Speaker 1: It really does.
16:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and and and you know I was
16:55
Speaker 2: dedicated to Pittsburgh because you know, doing free agency after
16:59
Speaker 2: my rookie year and an opportunity to sign a contract
17:02
Speaker 2: with other teams, but I wanted to be a one
17:05
Speaker 2: team player and stay with the Steelers. And you know,
17:09
Speaker 2: I was dedicated to those guys. And I know they
17:11
Speaker 2: know that, even though I didn't verbally say that, I
17:14
Speaker 2: don't think, but you know, I wanted to stay and
17:17
Speaker 2: finish my career in Pittsburgh. And it means a lot
17:21
Speaker 2: for those guys to have not reissued my number. It's
17:25
Speaker 2: an honor. It really is.
17:27
Speaker 1: I can well imagine and for people listening, especially new
17:30
Speaker 1: funds of the NFL and American Football. We have a
17:34
Speaker 1: Pro Football Hall of Famer on this podcast. When you retire, folks,
17:38
Speaker 1: you have to wait at least five years to enter it.
17:42
Speaker 1: It's very difficult to get into it. For you, Monty,
17:46
Speaker 1: what does it mean to be part of the Pro
17:47
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame? And you were one of the
17:51
Speaker 1: guys I'm saying back in the day night because it's
17:53
Speaker 1: a change and eye, but you got that knock on
17:55
Speaker 1: the door from the head of the Hall of Fame.
17:59
Speaker 1: Was at the moment where you felt like I solidified
18:01
Speaker 1: your legacy in the game itself? Or for you do
18:08
Speaker 1: accolades matter or were you always trying to push and
18:11
Speaker 1: get to that point and just after your.
18:13
Speaker 2: Career was over, Well, I mean the accolades come, you know,
18:16
Speaker 2: from just being consistent and you know, doing your job
18:20
Speaker 2: the way you're supposed to do it and doing it
18:21
Speaker 2: better than others. Others too, but you know, it does
18:25
Speaker 2: solidify your whole career. It just kind of wraps it
18:27
Speaker 2: up in a ball and you have reached the pinnacle
18:33
Speaker 2: of your career. You know, as far as accolades, being
18:36
Speaker 2: enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that
18:39
Speaker 2: is the ultimate for any football player, you know, and
18:44
Speaker 2: I am truly honored, and to this day it's still
18:48
Speaker 2: almost like a dream, you know, when people say, well,
18:51
Speaker 2: you're in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I really
18:53
Speaker 2: don't think about it all the time, you know, but
18:56
Speaker 2: you know, when you put that go jacket on and
18:58
Speaker 2: you go to the sermonies and Truman ceremonies, it's great
19:02
Speaker 2: just to see the new class coming in and celebrate
19:04
Speaker 2: them and their accomplishments. But it is truly the holy grail,
19:09
Speaker 2: i'd say for football player.
19:10
Speaker 1: I know we're twelve years old, but congratulations on that
19:13
Speaker 1: because I know from speaking to different guys that are
19:16
Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame and have any opportunity to
19:17
Speaker 1: do so of course, just to see what just to
19:20
Speaker 1: say what it means to them, because I know it
19:22
Speaker 1: doesn't just mean so much to you, but to your
19:23
Speaker 1: family also, you know, So congratulations to you and thank
19:26
Speaker 1: you for everything that you've done four not just staters,
19:28
Speaker 1: but the game as well. And it would be missing
19:31
Speaker 1: me if I didn't finish this podcast asking this the
19:35
Speaker 1: staters have talked about their hope, their desire at some
19:39
Speaker 1: point in the future, wherever it's five, ten, fifteen years whatever,
19:43
Speaker 1: to maybe play a game in Ireland. The game it
19:45
Speaker 1: could be a game in Krok Park. But really, for
19:48
Speaker 1: the staters, what's changed a month de since you played
19:51
Speaker 1: in the late nineties In Ireland? We've got Krook Park,
19:54
Speaker 1: We've also got the Aviva Stadium, and a number of
19:56
Speaker 1: different stadia are around Ireland, so who knows if it
20:00
Speaker 1: ever does happen, what stadium they might play. And one
20:04
Speaker 1: thing is for sure, the Crook Park that you played
20:07
Speaker 1: in has really changed. I'm not sure if you've seen
20:10
Speaker 1: it would that be.
20:12
Speaker 2: I haven't seen it. I haven't seen Croke Park since
20:14
Speaker 2: I played.
20:15
Speaker 1: One of the stands has been completely changed and it's
20:17
Speaker 1: all built up now, so it is quite different. Eighty
20:21
Speaker 1: two thousand people were at a game and at last weekend,
20:25
Speaker 1: regardless if it was in that stadium or somewhere else.
20:27
Speaker 1: How awesome would it be to see the staters come
20:31
Speaker 1: back to Ireland and really fulfill the legacy of the
20:34
Speaker 1: Ruiney family in a more modern way with the NFL's
20:38
Speaker 1: Global Markets program.
20:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, it would be great. It would be great, and
20:42
Speaker 2: I'm sure the players would enjoy it and love it.
20:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, who knows. The staters have officially said that they
20:48
Speaker 1: hope to, you know, explore the idea of playing a
20:51
Speaker 1: game in Ireland in the future, and who knows where
20:53
Speaker 1: that might be. A US in Croke Park or if
20:55
Speaker 1: it was at the Aviva or somewhere else. I think
20:57
Speaker 1: wherever it is would be very happy and grateful if
21:00
Speaker 1: it ever took place. Hopefully we will have you over
21:03
Speaker 1: there if and when it happens, with a cup of
21:05
Speaker 1: tea or a pint in hand, and got it.
21:08
Speaker 2: You got it.
21:10
Speaker 1: It's an honor to chat to your monthly twenty seven
21:12
Speaker 1: years on this weekend from that game in Croke Park.
21:17
Speaker 1: And I know a lot of people were you were
21:19
Speaker 1: at that game or watching it. It was on Fox in
21:21
Speaker 1: the States. I think it was the first ever preseason
21:23
Speaker 1: game to be that distributed in the United States and
21:27
Speaker 1: around the world. So it says at itself, I know
21:30
Speaker 1: the game meant so much to the family, but also
21:34
Speaker 1: so much to you guys for a lot of you
21:35
Speaker 1: guys getting out there, so thank you so much for
21:37
Speaker 1: coming on and not just talking to us about that,
21:40
Speaker 1: but your time as well in Pittsburgh. Germea maggat, as
21:43
Speaker 1: we say in Ireland. Thank you very much. I'm going
21:45
Speaker 1: to chat to you soon.
21:46
Speaker 2: Thank you all right, thank you for having me on
21:48
Speaker 2: the show.