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Eggbowl Preview with Jan Gwin · Johnny's World

0:19
SPEAKER_02: All right, welcome back to the Guttens World Podcast.
0:23
SPEAKER_02: This is your host, BW.
0:25
SPEAKER_02: I'm here with my Steam colleague Johnny.
0:27
SPEAKER_02: How are we doing today, Johnny?
0:28
SPEAKER_02: It is uh the week before Thanksgiving, but we're doing this recording uh for the egg bowl.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: So this is technically egg bowl week when you're listening to this.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Eggbowl week is here.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh always look forward to this week and and uh and Thanksgiving.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: So much to be thankful for, BW.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Really, really is uh very thankful for everything.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: So thankful for people out there listening and and going to jonypacker.com and helping johnnypacker.net, excuse me, said uh.net, johnnypacker.net, and helping us in our cause for uh 65 broches by buying coffee because like like I said, so much to be thankful for with me, with my health, with with uh battle and cf and and tricapta has come along and helped help save my life.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Just so thankful.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: But we're still fighting for those people that that need uh that need their own drug that don't that do not have it yet.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: So uh just going to JohnnyPacker.net buying one bag of coffee helps helps with research because that's what it all goes down to is uh money being raised to research and help develop drugs for the people in need.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: So you're playing a big part of it, but so very thankful for everyone.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: So uh but yeah, Thanksgiving's here and Eggbowl's here, and we're excited, BW.
1:38
SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir, and and you know, of course, Black Friday is coming up just after after that.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, if you're looking for a gift for significant other anybody in the family that likes coffee, if you like coffee, buy yourself a gift, johnnypacker.net.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: Basically any kind of coffee you want is there.
1:55
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna roast it fresh at High Point Roasters over in New Albany, Mississippi.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: They're gonna send it to you, it's gonna be in your on your doorstep within a week.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: So you've got a couple more weeks to order if you want to order for order something for Christmas.
2:05
SPEAKER_02: And while you're at it, go ahead and just set up a subscription so that thing just keeps hitting your doorstep once a month and you get that fresh coffee and you're supporting the Sys Fibrosis Foundation all at one time.
2:14
SPEAKER_02: So get on there and check it out, jonypacker.net.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Win-win deal all around.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: So we appreciate that.
2:21
SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir.
2:22
SPEAKER_02: Well, Thanksgiving is is my favorite holiday, Johnny, because I like to eat and there's no pressure of you know having to buy people presents, and you just get to hang out with family.
2:33
SPEAKER_02: And uh, we got a pretty low-key Thanksgiving plan this year.
2:36
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be hanging around here.
2:37
SPEAKER_02: So I'm looking forward to eating, hanging out, and and watching some good football.
2:42
SPEAKER_02: So um I'm ready for it.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, football and Thanksgiving, that's what goes hand in hand.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can get your turkey and sit around and watch football all day.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: So uh really, really, uh, really fun and and just something to look forward to and get a kickback and enjoy all the games because, like we said in the last podcast episode, this is uh we're in the stretch run of the college football playoffs.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: So uh all these games coming up in the next week and and then the uh conference championships uh all will go towards succeeding in the 12th team playoffs.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: So uh a lot of uh these are kind of do or die games for a lot of these teams out there.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: So it'll be fun to get to watch them.
3:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
3:20
SPEAKER_02: Well, let's get to our guest, Johnny.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh we have a very distinguished guest with us today.
3:25
SPEAKER_02: He is uh uh uh the one of the best guys I've ever met.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: He he's uh he's got a great tailgate at the games, and so uh my father-in-law works works with him, and and he he's gracious enough to get us get us some good uh sausage biscuits and donuts and and gives my kids cowbells and streamers and and gets us some good seats and parking passes.
3:46
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's an all-around great guy, and uh he he has just recently been given a very big award at Mississippi State.
3:54
SPEAKER_02: Uh it's the Leo Steel Award.
3:56
SPEAKER_02: You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong about that, but not many people have gotten that award.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: And he played football for Mississippi State, he's played in three egg bowls, and his name is Jan Gwynn.
4:04
SPEAKER_02: He is here to tell us about that.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: But Jan, first, just you know, introduce yourself, correct everything that I said wrong, and and tell us tell us more about Jeff.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, Brandon, you did a great job with that, uh, and I appreciate it.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: And it's really a pleasure to be on with you guys.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I that coffee sounds really good.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: My what my wife loves coffee, and we certainly would like to order some of it real soon.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned uh it being uh uh brewed or or done in New Albany.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're gonna have good coffee, you might as well order one of those cakes, you know, from New Albany, who's very famous cakes that are sold for the the South.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: And uh I'm real anxious to get some of that coffee, but uh it's a it's a real privilege to be on with you guys.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: And uh Mississippi's been a big part of my life uh for a long, long time.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh going back, I tell people uh they say, Did you play football at Mississippi?
4:59
SPEAKER_01: I said, Yes, in the last century.
5:02
SPEAKER_01: And so I've been a fan of Mississippi going back to the last century, and I've seen lots of good, you know.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I you mentioned the uh egg bowl.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh I've played in three egg bowls, but I've been to like 52 egg bowls.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: And uh a lot of my friends say, that means that I went to a lot of them in Oxford.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: And my friends, why would you do that?
5:25
SPEAKER_01: And I say, well, my motto is this that old uh, I don't know if it was ABC Sports or whoever came out with the uh you know, the agony of defeat and the wonderful of winning, you know, the the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and that's what the egg bowl's about.
5:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
5:45
SPEAKER_02: That is true.
5:46
SPEAKER_02: I you know, the the last one I went to in Oxford, I think I was with Johnny and it was raining.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:51
SPEAKER_02: And it was one of those, you know, we lost by 35 or 40 points, and it was one of the worst games I've ever been to.
5:57
SPEAKER_02: And I told myself back then I can't go to another game in Oxford, but but maybe I need to take it on the chin more like you and just be more loyal and go down there.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: Sure is a lot closer than Starkville is for us.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: So like I say, the thrill of victory is uh, you know, is unbelievable.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and and you know, that's something else, you know, the the chemistry in our in our minds and in our bodies about the difference between winning and losing.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: You know, there's not a lower feeling than than losing uh, you know, at anything that you compete at, but but in in sports and football, uh, you know, but but boy, when you win a game, you win a big game.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh, like we've won a lot of big games over the years and we've lost some, but but the chemistry of that uh of winning is is is pretty strong.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: Yes, it is.
6:46
SPEAKER_02: It definitely is.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: Well, well, take us back, Jan.
6:49
SPEAKER_02: You know, take us back to the beginning of of when you decided to go to Mississippi State and how all that came about and and and what it was like to play those years there, and and tell us about that.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: Well, I uh my family uh raised us in the Mississippi Delta, uh, primarily in Greenville, Mississippi.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: And uh our our family had some history in farming uh at early in my life.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: And so, and then I have two older brothers that both went to Mississippi State before I went, and I had the occasion to go over and visit them, and I kind of got hooked a little bit, and then I was fortunate enough to have some really good coaches in high school that brought me along to the point of uh being recruited, uh, which is an interesting story I'd share.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I I chose to go to Mississippi State uh because of the uh being familiar and I had family there, and you know, it just it struck me I was recruited by several other schools, Ole Miss and Arkansas, but uh the I think the family background got me there, and I haven't regretted it a single bit.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Uh I graduated from high school in 1967 and uh and went over.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: Archie Manning and I, ironically, uh uh before my family moved to Greenville, we had a farm near Drew, and so he and I uh went to grade school together for four years, and then my family moved to Greenville after my father passed away.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: But he and I have been close friends uh since going all the way back to elementary school.
8:17
SPEAKER_01: And as we got older, he stayed in Drew.
8:21
SPEAKER_01: I was in Greenville and we we were recruited together uh on a few trips, took a few recruiting trips together.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: One one very famous one in Mississippi State, and uh that uh was really kind of fun.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: And uh, of course, he went his way and I went mine, and uh we were we were in a rebuilding period, kind of like right now, as a matter of fact, uh there was a coaching change my senior year in high school.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: A new coaching staff came on board.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh Charlie Shira, who was uh highly successful defensive coordinator at Texas, was hired, and uh we were kind of like this team here right now.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we were rebuilding, and uh my sophomore year was the first egg bowl I played in.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: It was at Oxford uh on Thanksgiving Day, and oh Miss uh Archie Manning was a sophomore, had a great year, and we played them and and uh we were playing for respectability, and they they actually had a bowl bid in hand uh to come to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh it wasn't it was an unofficial bid, but uh going into the game, they were 6-3 and uh and were highly favored, and we played one of the best games of our our year by far, and with about two minutes to go in the game, uh we were up 17 to 10, and Archie Manning as as he did with a lot of teams, he drove he drove down the field and they scored with about 30 seconds to go and actually went for the tie.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: And you know, that was kind of weird going for the tie at home, and uh and so they the the game ended up a tie.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: And then we found out later that what happened was is the infamous uh great coach Johnny Vaughn uh was afraid that he was gonna lose the game and would would have preferred a tie to uh to guarantee he was going to the Liberty Bowl, which they in fact did.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: And as far as we were concerned, we won the game.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: And they played uh O Miss played Virginia Tech in the Liberty Bowl, and uh they won that game.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: Uh and interestingly enough, uh you guys probably know uh you know South Carolina a little bit about them, but Frank Beamer, who was uh South Carolina's longtime coach, played defensive back on that Virginia Tech team.
10:48
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Winning the game and winning that Liberty Bowl.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: But that was my first experience uh playing in a you know in a uh egg bowl uh you know on the campus.
11:03
SPEAKER_02: And and did uh did you get to see Archie afterwards?
11:06
SPEAKER_02: That uh were y'all were y'all uh civil at that point?
11:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we stayed in touch and and I actually went to the Liberty Bowl that year in Memphis.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: It was it was a it was a typical uh Brandon, a typical Liberty Bowl.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: It was about 20 degrees in the wind, about 30 miles.
11:26
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: The next year uh we played him in Oxford, and that was his best year, quite frankly.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: And uh we were improving, but but they had a really, really good offense, and we we lost that game.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: That was, I'm gonna say, my only egg bowl loss, but we lost uh that game.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: He they he played a really great game, scored a lot of points, and they went on to the sugar bowl that year and and uh beat Arkansas in the sugar bowl.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: And uh so and then the next year was our best team uh the year that I was there.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Once again, we went back to Oxford on Thanksgiving Day, my senior year.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: You know, man, I I I tell you what, like you all sometimes I bet I can remember 55 years ago, but I can't remember five minutes ago.
12:16
SPEAKER_01: But uh, you know, we were we were playing for a winning season.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: This was 1970.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh we were uh we played in Oxford.
12:26
SPEAKER_01: I remember what the number one hit song was Van Morrison.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: I remember what the temperature was, I know what the skies looked like, I know what we had for pregame meal, and I remember what was said before the game, and I can very vividly uh remember what was said at halftime, and it was rather strong and colorful.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: But but the mark to that story was our coach, uh, and I've I've used this with uh younger people that are you know going uh going through learning how to be in business and how to get get up when you're knocked down and that kind of thing.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: But our coach, uh, who was a pretty big guy, you know, he walks in and he says, Men, you the game was like either tied or we may have been in the head by three points or something like that.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: He said, Gentlemen, he says, You've got something in the palm of your hand.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: If you can just hold on to it and squeeze it and hang on, he says, you'll do something that you'll remember for the rest of your life.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly what happened.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: We went on and uh we won the game uh like 20 to 17 or something like that, and uh went out on a winning season, won the egg bowl, and uh then started life for real, you know, later.
13:43
SPEAKER_02: Yep, yep.
13:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, these coaches that can that make these halftime adjustments or these halftime speeches and and and they can get their team fired up for the second half.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: I I always want to have a coach like that.
13:55
SPEAKER_02: Those are my favorite kind of teams.
13:57
SPEAKER_02: You can trust them to come out in the second half and be on fire.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, a lot of people think that, you know, that uh, you know, they're rah-rah speeches at halftime and you know, this and that, and if you're behind, you know they're gonna be fiery, and and you know, but the first thing that's done is adjustments are made offensively and defensively, and those are real, those are critical moments, uh, you know, because you only have about 15 minutes.
14:21
SPEAKER_01: And so defensively, you know, you're you need to if you need to make corrections offensively, and so that takes up the better part of that, and then you come together and and you know say, okay, this is what it's gonna take.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: And you know, that old line, the first five minutes of the first quarter, and the first five minutes of the third quarter are the key, and that's very true most of the time.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: Well, Jan, uh Charlie, my father-in-law, says you that there's a story that that he wants you to tell, and I think you know what it is, so so why don't you go ahead and tell us that story?
14:54
SPEAKER_01: Well, there are a lot of stories, but uh going back to that that famous recruiting trip that Archie Manning and I uh uh went together, we were we were flown uh from the Mississippi Delta over to Starkville, which was not a very long flight.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: And uh we we got over there, it was a twin-engine airplane at one of Mississippi State's uh supporters uh on that airplane.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: He probably he was the guy that flew us over there, but uh I we Archie and I were sitting in the back seat of the plane, and this is the first chapter of the story, but we landed in Starkville at Brian, uh Brian Phil over there, and I was in the backseat, uh, and I'm sitting on the left side, and Archie was sitting in the right side of uh next to the door.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: So when they opened the door to get out, he was the first person you saw.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: Well, we landed, and sure enough, all the cheerleaders were there, and the pet band was at Brian Phill, you know, and the cheerleaders run up to the to the plane after they cut the engines off and they opened the door right in front of Archie, you know, and the cheerleader kind of comes up almost in his face and she says, Are you Jan Gwen?
16:06
SPEAKER_01: Archie kind of gave me an ugly look, like, no, I'm not Jan Gwen.
16:11
SPEAKER_01: He's over here to my left, you know.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, it was a setup deal.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: It was a setup deal, you know, by some friends of mine that maybe were in the cheerleading squad or whatever.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: But so this is a part that Charlie likes, but so we go on to uh uh Brian Brandon, you'll remember the uh the old alumni house right there now where the the police station I think is.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh oh yeah.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: They have uh some nice rooms there.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh Butler, the Butler House they call it.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: But that was the recruiting headquarters, and so we all walk in there, you know, to get our credentials.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: And uh there were a bunch of players walking around, you know, from all different high schools, you know, and and there was a guy sitting over on a couch, and it happened to be the uh trainer from Mississippi State.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: His name was Chris Patrick, and he was the trainer, and so I got my stuff, you know, and I was kind of walking by him.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: He said, Young man, what's your name?
17:06
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Uh, sir, I'm I'm Jan Gwen.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: He said, You from Greenville?
17:10
SPEAKER_01: I said, Yes, sir, I'm I'm from Greenville, Mississippi.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: He said, Come here a minute.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: He kind of looked at me, you know, and he said, Come here, I want to tell you something, you know.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: And I went over there, you know, he said, Now listen, I'm gonna make you a deal.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I didn't know who he was, really, you know.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: He then I found out he's a trainer.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: He said, Listen, if you will commit to Mississippi State this weekend, we've got something here on this campus that no other school in the SEC has got.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Uh sir, what is it?
17:37
SPEAKER_01: You know, he said, Listen, it's a neck stretching machine.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: And if you commit to coming to Mississippi State this weekend, I guarantee you we will make you four inches taller.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: Really?
17:52
SPEAKER_01: Are you serious, Coach?
17:53
SPEAKER_01: He said, You commit, son, and you'll find out.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: Well, I committed, but to this day, I have not seen that next stretching machine one time.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was uh, you know, why but uh you know, I was I was kind of all in on Mississippi State, and uh I I enjoyed my time there, had a great career, and I've pulled for them, you know, ever since.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: Uh the egg bowl coming up, as you guys talked about, uh it it it is really truly uh, as we know, a rivalry uh second to none.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: And you know, when you got Mississippi players, kids from both that uh go to both schools, and and they're still a nucleus of Mississippi High School players both at Ole Miss and Mississippi State, even though they recruit widely now.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: It's traditional and uh for sure.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: And and they you know, you get after it pretty good.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh a little bit of history.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh the the uh the game was played on campus for forever, up until 1973.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: And y'all may recall it was moved to Jackson, Mississippi.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: And then uh when Jackie Sherrill uh became our coach in in uh first season was 1991, uh Larry Templeton had a lot to do with uh uh bringing that that game back to campus.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: Ole Miss was not opposed to it, but they they could not afford to upset the the number of alumni that they have in the Jackson area, primarily the doctors, the the attorneys, you know, all these people that uh had uh medical degrees from Ole Miss.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: They couldn't come out and say, hey, we want the game back on campus.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: But we our our administration pulled the trigger in in uh 1991 was the first year it was brought back to campus in Jackie Sherrill's first year, and uh we won that egg bowl.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh we we got bowl eligible against uh LSU the week before, and that was also the year that we opened up second game, beating Texas on campus, and so that started out a really good year, first year for Jackie Sherrill.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: And uh, and so the game from that point forward has been back on campus, which really is where it should be.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, one other thing is uh no matter what you hear from the other side, the school up north, I think we're one game over 500 versus O Miss uh since it was moved back to campus.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: And uh it's always gonna be a battle, and you know, a lot of times the visiting team wins.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh I hope that's the case in in a week from today.
20:44
SPEAKER_01: No, a week from tomorrow.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: I hope that holds true.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it is uh it is a big rivalry and and it's uh something you never forget.
20:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it sure has changed since the days of the you know recruiting and offering to be four inches taller and stretching your neck.
21:01
SPEAKER_02: I mean, now now there's there's a little bit more involved in that these days.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: Hey Brandon, they use they use a lot of other tactics now, you know, that makes that pale in in comparison.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: Um you know, it's uh you know, but you know, the weather is always can be a factor.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, y'all talked about going in and in the rain and and all.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: And I I've been I know y'all have as well, been at games.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: Uh I know a lot of games in Jackson, it seemed like it rained every game, but I've seen it snow uh in, you know, in Oxford and Starkville.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh I've seen it flood.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh we played a game up there, I can't remember what year it was, but we won like 17 to nothing in a I mean like and they had grass, uh, and it was like a slop.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: We won 17 to nothing and never scored an offensive point.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can remember going as a kid to the games in Jackson, like you were talking about, and And then um and then going um once it got back to campus.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: And like you said, I I I do like it since it's back back on campus because um it's just you got you got the college campus right there going on and and uh but those those were great days in Jackson.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, you'll remember this one.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh my granddad, he used to always talk about it.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: He he's the reason why I'm a state fan today.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: He he took me to my first game when I was uh I guess about fifth grade, uh, and I got season tickets.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: Been a season ticket older since then in Mississippi State, but he always talked about that game in Jackson with the field goal, you know, egg ball where where the immaculate deflection or whatever, where it went out, the wind blew it.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I was just mad and walked to his car.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: He was so mad.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh I was at that game, and it was there was really threatening weather all day.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: And uh, and and and right about the time the game ended, not long after the game ended, it absolutely came a monsoon rain down there around the Jackson area.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: I actually flew down there on a private plane and and we had some trouble flying back.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: But yep, it was the wind was blowing out of the south, and and we were behind uh in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, and uh we drove the ball down uh very efficiently, you know, like just getting it downfield, burning the clock, you know, field goal is gonna win the game, lineup, you know, call timeout, get everything set.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: Had a great kicker, kicked the field goal, it went straight towards the, I mean, it was gonna split the goalpost.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: And when it got about even to the goalpost, the wind literally blew it back onto the field.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: It went backwards.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: And they won that game, and it was it was very disappointing.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: But you know, you may have uh remember and read lots of things about uh one of the greatest victories in the history of Mississippi State, beating Alabama in Jackson, Mississippi at 46.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh that was Alabama was ranked number one in the nation, and we were we had a pretty good football team.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: We had a a really, really John Bond was our quarterback.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: We had a great defense led by Johnny Cooks uh and a bunch of other great defensive players.
24:10
SPEAKER_01: And uh we were uh they were they were driving.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: We were up uh I guess we were up seven to six, and they were driving, they were about the four-yard line, and and uh Johnny Cooks and uh those guys made a great defensive play, tackled a quarterback, they had a they were running some type of wishbone offense and tried to run a uh quarterback fake, kept the ball, and got hit, fumbled, and we were covered, and and that was one of the greatest.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: You hear about that.
24:41
SPEAKER_01: I think that was voted one of the greatest victories uh in our history.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
24:54
SPEAKER_02: Yep, I agree with that.
24:57
SPEAKER_02: Well, Jan, do you have any thoughts about uh what's gonna happen in the egg bowl this year?
25:04
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, you know, uh our team has I think our team has played there's one thing about Coach Levy's first team is they played hard every single game, and that's not a cliche because they played hard first, second, third, fourth quarter, all the way to the end.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: We're we're short of some players, we don't have a great deal of depth, but they play hard and we've actually improved.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: We competed, uh, and we we've we've improved along the way, but we don't have as much as we would hope to show for it.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: But in that game, uh, you know, it it doesn't necessarily matter about the the uh the quality and the number of great players on either team.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: It there's that factor of uh I never say die playing in that game, and that's true on both sides of the ball.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: You know, they've got a great team, they've got a great defense, they've got great receivers, they've got a great quarterback.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, in that game, uh it's so much importance to it that uh, you know, every t each team puts a lot into the preparation.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: And uh I it I have nothing to do with the game plan, and neither did the two of you all, but I can say that the longer we hold on to the ball uh in any game right now, especially Missouri as well, if we can maintain ball possession and score some points and keep uh their great offense on the sideline, the better opportunity we we've got to pull an upset.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: That's a big task, but uh you know, you never know what what can happen.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: Um and you know, a lot, a lot, a lot depends on really what frame of mind uh O Miss goes into the Florida game this week.
26:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, if they go and and uh play their best game, they should uh they should come back with a win over Florida, and then it's down to down to Mississippi State.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: And and and I told some guys earlier, you know, right now it's not like every game is a playoff game.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: Every quarter is a playoff quarter.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: Every quarter you gotta have you gotta play a good first quarter, second quarter, and you gotta win the game.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: And so they've gotta be uh be ready to play Florida, and if something weird happens down there and and uh Florida comes away with a win, well then I think I think uh the the the frame of mind would be totally different in Oxford.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: I I think y'all would agree.
27:34
SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:36
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
27:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like what you said, you know, and I think back this season, if if we can have a an offensive performance like we did against Texas, where we put together a couple long drives there, and we really kept them off the field, and then they made some mistakes, they threw some interceptions, and you know, we we were able to kind of capitalize on that a little bit, and and I could see that happening.
28:02
SPEAKER_02: You know, we keep them off the field, and then and and Jackson Dart has been known to make some some stupid mistakes, and we can get him to make a couple of those, then I I can see I can see a path to it for us, but there's there's a lot of things like that that gotta happen.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, our our our uh running game, our running attack has improved, I think, during the course of the year.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: And we actually ran well against Tennessee in the first in the first half, and uh our running backs have gotten uh, I think, more comfortable, and our our offensive line is blocked uh uh better uh in the run game.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: And and our our running game has looked a lot better.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: And that's that plays into controlling the ball, controlling the clock.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: And if you can it's so important in this day and time to have a running game.
28:53
SPEAKER_01: If you if you've got a running a running game, then it's gonna help your your if you're a great passing team, it's gonna help your passing game even more if you can run the ball.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: And so uh I'm I'm beginning to believe more and more about going back to that basic being able to run the ball and control the clock and let let that set up your play action passes.
29:15
SPEAKER_01: And uh our quarterback is developed, he's a freshman, he's made great strides, and uh it gets down to not only do you have to play well, but you really got to minimize minimize your mistakes, your turnovers, and you know, there are a lot of things you cannot do, and especially on the road, and expect to win a game, and that's unforced, you know, uh penalties and uh and those type of things.
29:42
SPEAKER_01: If you if you can uh uh hopefully keep your turnover situation very, very, very, very close to one, then that gives you a chance.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: Right.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, Jane, I have to ask you, was it PW?
29:59
SPEAKER_00: Was it the game you were at, Florida game that Jan was on the field and he was honored?
30:03
SPEAKER_00: That was pretty neat.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: Tell us a little bit about that, uh uh the award that you got this year.
30:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm I'm very, very blessed and uh appreciative of the fact that uh our M Club, uh our M Club uh alumni, uh one of our most uh famous and gracious alumni was the late Leo Seal, who played at Mississippi State back in the 40s and actually was had some successful teams.
30:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh actually one of them went to the Orange Bowl.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: And uh and he was he was a really, really good player, and and he uh they they went to the ward, came back, he and a lot of his teammates, and and then he went back home to the Gulf Coast uh to work in his father's very, very tiny bank.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh when I say tiny, probably two million dollars in in deposits and assets, and uh went back and worked at his bank, but he forever supported Mississippi State, he and his family.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: And that little two million dollar bank is now uh I think they've got about$30 billion in assets uh grown to uh one of the regional banks in this in the country called Hancock Whitney Bank.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: But Mr.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: Leo uh just did everything in the world for Mississippi State, very, very generous and uh supported not only athletics but academics and so many things.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: And so this award was named in his honor.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: And it, you know, I it goes to an individual that's has made contributions not only to uh to his community, uh, to his church, to Mississippi State, to athletics, uh kind of kind of uh on the theme of what Mr.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: Leo did, and nobody can measure up to him, but I'm quite honored to uh been uh you know honored with that down on the field uh for a game.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: And I had my grandchildren, my family were there, my grandchildren were out there with me, and when they put the picture up on the jumbo trine, Brandon, you'll remember that picture was taken a few years ago, and I happened to have a full head of hair.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: And so my grandchildren saying, like, are you sure that's you, granddad?
32:19
SPEAKER_01: I said, Yes, that was that was me, that was me.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: But it was quite, it's it's quite an honor, and uh, I'm really appreciative for uh having been uh selected for the fourth one of those.
32:31
SPEAKER_01: And uh I just uh you know, once you get uh once you get hooked on, you all know once you get hooked on Mississippi State, they they had there's a saying that says if you ever get by get bit by a bulldog, they'll never let go.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: You're right about that.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
32:46
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
32:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, my my 11-year-old daughter, she's been bit and she she's all about it.
32:52
SPEAKER_02: So we uh I think you you've you've helped that process along a little bit too by being so nice to her with the games we come to.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: Well, we uh we you know we just uh I had a I had a thought when I left Mississippi State in 1991 and took my first job.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh I don't know how long we got to uh to talk here, but if I could share my senior year, this is not this is not a funny story, but uh and I'll see I'm gonna sit check y'all's mem memories, but uh my senior year we were playing LSU down in Tiger Stadium, which was the two weeks before the egg bowl.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: And I had been uh fortunate to have a job interview in Memphis, Tennessee at Union Planners Bank, and I set it up for the Monday after the LSU game because they let us off for a few days before we had to start practice.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: We had an open date between LSU and Mississippi State.
33:49
SPEAKER_01: I mean uh oh miss.
33:51
SPEAKER_01: And uh so my idea was is we flip we always fly down to the game in a charter, and we we it was a night game, and we report back.
34:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we fly back immediately after the game, everything's like clockwork, and uh then I was gonna leave the next morning to go to Memphis.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: Well, the week before the game, my my car engine blew up and I didn't have a way to Memphis.
34:15
SPEAKER_01: And so I had this interview and I said, Look, no matter what, I've got to be in Memphis on Monday morning.
34:21
SPEAKER_01: So I said, Okay, uh I got a ride, I called some friends, I had a ride back to Mississippi to Starville from Memphis.
34:30
SPEAKER_01: I had a way back, but I didn't I didn't have a way up there.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: So I said, I'm just gonna have to get on get out on Highway 82 and hitchhike.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: I gotta be in Memphis on Monday.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: I had no other choice, really.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: And back in those days, hitchhiking really was you could call it an honorable thing because a lot of people hitchhike places.
34:51
SPEAKER_01: So, okay, so we we go to Baton Rouge and we play LSU on Saturday night.
34:56
SPEAKER_01: We played a really good game, very competitive game.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh and we we didn't win, but we had a great, we had a competitive game, and so we board the buses to go back at out to the airport, everything on schedule to fly back to uh actually to Columbus is where we were going in and out of at that point.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: And uh we get out to the airport in Baton Rouge about 1045 thereabouts, and we pull up and there's no airplane.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: The uh uh I think it was Republic Airlines or Southern one of them, our plane, our jet was not there to bring us home.
35:35
SPEAKER_01: And so we got out of the bus and went into terminal, and and uh there was a huddle of the coaches, and they come back and say, Look, there's been a delay, and it's gonna be about an hour and a half before we depart here going home.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: There's a plane on the way.
35:50
SPEAKER_01: But they didn't tell us why.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: And so we we're all out there, we're hungry, we're tired, we're a little a little bruised, uh and having to wait, and then the word got out that the plane that was coming to pick us up in Baton Rouge was the plane that crashed in Huntington, West Virginia with the Marshall University team.
36:14
SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
36:16
SPEAKER_01: And you know, the everybody on the plane were were killed.
36:20
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
36:20
SPEAKER_01: And uh, and so you know that that shook everybody up.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, oh my gosh, what oh oh what what are we gonna do?
36:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's just most horrible tragedy.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: And so we said, look, uh we asked the coaches, can we charter some buses?
36:37
SPEAKER_01: We didn't want to fly home.
36:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: They said they've got a plane coming back, coming to pick us up.
36:42
SPEAKER_01: It's all gonna be okay.
36:44
SPEAKER_01: And so uh then we found out that it was not, it was uh weather related, it was snowing and low ceiling in Huntington, West Virginia, in the mountains, and and uh the the plane crashed uh landing and um killed everyone.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: So uh finally that plane showed up about one o'clock in the morning and uh got back to campus, slept about four hours, got up, put on my best suit, got my bag, got out on highway 82, hitchhiking west on Highway 82, caught a ride to uh Eupora, and uh got that's as far as the guy was going.
37:25
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm out there on Highway 82, a guy stops in a station wagon, he says, Son, where are you?
37:31
SPEAKER_01: I said, I'm a Mississippi State student, and I've haven't I have an interview in Memphis Monday morning.
37:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to get to Memphis.
37:38
SPEAKER_01: He said, Jump in, I'm going to South Haven.
37:41
SPEAKER_01: And he gave me a ride all the way up.
37:43
SPEAKER_01: And uh I made the interview on Monday, and uh that was the start of a great two-week period leading up to the egg bowl.
37:51
SPEAKER_01: And uh I had a great interview, and I found out right after Christmas that I had a job uh offer.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, two weeks later we go to Oxford, we in the Egg Bowl, and and and you know, you talk about the holidays, man.
38:05
SPEAKER_01: Thanksgiving and Christmas were a wonderful time.
38:09
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
38:10
SPEAKER_01: And as they say, they say the rest is history.
38:14
SPEAKER_01: But look, guys, what I'd like to know is can you tell me and others a little bit more about your coffee and about how the proceeds go to cystic fibrosis?
38:24
SPEAKER_01: Because I am very, very uh looking forward to ordering some of that coffee.
38:28
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to know where to uh order it.
38:31
SPEAKER_01: And uh, and I'd also like to encourage uh if any of my friends are out there, uh the two or three of them, uh, they might listen.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you order some coffee too.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: But how do you how do you BW?
38:45
SPEAKER_00: You tell them about the coffee.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell them about CF.
38:47
SPEAKER_00: I'll buy that.
38:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
38:48
SPEAKER_02: Well, we appreciate that, Jan.
38:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, so so go to the website johnnypacker.net and and you can find it on there.
38:55
SPEAKER_02: You basically just go in there and pick out what you want, and you can do a one-time purchase or you can do a subscription purchase, and you can pick whatever brand, whatever kind of uh roast you want, whatever country you want it to be from, you can pick a hole or a ground coffee, and then they roast it up there and at High Point Roasters in New Albany, and they will sit they will ship it to your house.
39:18
SPEAKER_02: Generally, it comes within a week, no matter what.
39:21
SPEAKER_02: Uh, of course, they'll be closed on the holidays.
39:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh, I think I just got an email from Thursday and Friday next week, but anytime, and you'll get a tracking number and they send it to you, and it is some really good coffee.
39:33
SPEAKER_02: I drink it every morning.
39:34
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm currently drinking the Mexican one right now, it's my favorite one.
39:38
SPEAKER_02: And uh, I've got a bag at work, I've got a bag at the house, and and it's good stuff.
39:43
SPEAKER_02: And and we've actually uh you know, we'd love to send you a bag too if you if you tell us what kind you like.
39:48
SPEAKER_02: We we try to send a bag to everybody that's a guest on the show.
39:51
SPEAKER_02: We got some in Steve Azar's hand, um, and he and he loves it.
39:55
SPEAKER_02: And so uh lots of folks around around really enjoy it.
39:59
SPEAKER_02: So that's it.
40:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking forward, yes.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking forward to getting some and I like to order some.
40:05
SPEAKER_01: My wife uh loves coffee, and we um we spend some time early in the morning drinking coffee and talking about you know what's gonna happen next.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: And uh we're looking for a new coffee, and I'm looking forward to getting uh ordering some of it, and um just can't wait to get it.
40:22
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's pretty neat how this came to be.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, we actually were before we started doing the coffee products, we were uh doing glasses that BW branded to me uh from his office and selling them online, but then it proved to be a little bit too expensive.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: People didn't want to try them on, they wanted to try them on and not get them online, which are understandable.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: So he still has some in his uh office for that.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: But we transfer to the coffee products, and like I said, it's just quick, uh easy.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: You just go to johnnypacker.net, you like it, put in a subscription, and it automatically renews shit.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: And we and we partnered with a guy from New Albany, so Mississippi-based, and uh really, really cool deal.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: And the proceeds, uh, when you when you buy a bag of coffee, uh uh part of goes to the uh Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: And uh being up in the Memphis area, uh it goes towards that particular chapter.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: And uh we went up uh back early in October to an event they had and and uh presented some money for them.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: And and we we were honored last year at Memphis uh foundation as well.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: But uh for the big picture, it goes to the uh it's just raised through that branch, and then they sent it to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation uh in Bethesda, Maryland.
41:27
SPEAKER_00: And then that goes the money from that goes towards drug research.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: Um with myself, I have I've got hold of a miracle drug in 2019 that uh people have heard about called TriCapta, and it has saved my life.
41:39
SPEAKER_00: It really has been a game changer.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: Um I uh before I got the drug, I was borderline having to have a double lung transplant, which is the end stage of cystic fibrosis.
41:48
SPEAKER_00: And and uh when I got hold of the drug, it it put me off the transplant list and just feeling a lot better.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: And but there's uh 10% being a genetic disease, uh, it's all about your genetic makeup.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: And 10% of the CF population cannot take this particular drug, so and there's nothing out there for them.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: So they're kind of in the boat uh CF patients were before we got this drug, so they don't have anything right now.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: So that's really why we're we're pushing fundraising, uh, because uh once they it obviously it takes money to come up with new drugs and research and all that sort of stuff.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: So just buying a bag of coffee is just a simple way to donate money to the CF Foundation to go toward research to hopefully uh come up with drugs for these 10% that that need it.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, the research that I've heard of the research that they're doing is is really, really right on mark.
42:36
SPEAKER_01: And uh hopefully they'll be able to continue to to develop drugs and procedures that will help uh many, many, many individuals like yourself.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: And I guess uh it's a great opportunity to uh to support something that you know gets into the the people that need it.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: So many people that have different things like cyst fibrosis, and uh I'm excited about it, and I look forward to getting some of that coffee.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: And and uh again, it's johnnypackard.net.
43:06
SPEAKER_01: Is it P-A-C-K-A-R-D?
43:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh P-A-C-K-E-R, like Green Bay.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Johnnypacker.net.
43:13
SPEAKER_01: P-A-C-K-E-R.net, johnnypacker.net.
43:17
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
43:17
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's fantastic.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: Well, I want I want to wish you guys a happy Thanksgiving.
43:22
SPEAKER_01: Y'all were talking about it at the front of the show.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh my well, this is one of my favorite uh holidays.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: I love Christmas and everything that Christmas means, which is the basis of everything we believe in.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: But Thanksgiving is a time where we we have the opportunity to we do a lot of things, you know, we do a lot of eating, we watch a lot of football, you know, we do a lot of hunting, and uh I just believe it's a time to do a lot of uh thanks uh thanks uh thanks offering and thanksgiving uh for everything that we've got to be so proud of to live in this free country.
43:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh we take for granted so many things that our freedoms, and uh it all starts with with our faith and what we believe, and and uh I believe in things like cystic fibrosis just by your testimony.
44:11
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it is it and it like you said, it's it's all about faith and believing because I mean there are many many days that that people would see up, and not just CF, but just any illness in general, you just want to say give up.
44:22
SPEAKER_00: And and then once you start that giving up process, you know, it just beats you down.
44:26
SPEAKER_00: But my philosophy is always just just keep fighting, just keep living, just keep doing it, and uh and and just keep having faith, man, and having faith in God because uh we're all put here on a purpose, uh, on this earth for a purpose.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: I believe that.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, a lot of people wonder why are you always in such a good mood?
44:41
SPEAKER_00: CF always should bring you down and everything.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: But I feel like my purpose is to let people know who who have CF or are fighting anything else about struggling that that you just keep fighting, man.
44:50
SPEAKER_00: Just keep keep living.
44:51
SPEAKER_00: And that's my philosophy of life after Matthew McConaughey, just keep living.
44:55
SPEAKER_00: And I tried to do that, and and I I believe we're all here for a purpose.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: We have a reason, and and uh and we just gotta make the make the best of it and and help others on the process.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: So hopefully that's what we're doing on on our onnypacker.net.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: It's playing a small part.
45:09
SPEAKER_01: You know, uh in uh in the earliest days of uh uh as a as a young kid, whether you're into third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, whatever, you know, and somebody's trying to teach you how to play football, and and one of the first things they say is if you get knocked down, young man, you've got to get up.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: Get back up.
45:25
SPEAKER_01: And then when you're in junior high school, young man, if you get knocked down, you've got to get up.
45:29
SPEAKER_01: And then when you're in high school, it goes out to college, it's but you know, that's what life is all about.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna get knocked down with certain things.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: And uh, like you know, the coach, the famous basketball coach, uh said, Jim Valvano, never ever give up.
45:46
SPEAKER_01: Never give up because there's someone on your side, he has a plan, and as long as you don't give up, you know, we got a chance.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
45:57
SPEAKER_02: Man, well, Jan, we appreciate this.
45:59
SPEAKER_02: We we may have to get you back on as a regular person.
46:02
SPEAKER_02: You're you're uh you're getting us fired up here.
46:04
SPEAKER_02: We appreciate this.
46:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks so much, guys, for having me.
46:07
SPEAKER_01: It's been a pleasure.
46:08
SPEAKER_01: And once again, uh happy Thanksgiving to all of your families and especially your father in law.
46:14
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
46:15
SPEAKER_01: He's listening.
46:17
SPEAKER_01: All right, take care.
46:20
SPEAKER_02: Bye bye.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: Bye.