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Foster and Friends Vol 156 "The Titans" · Foster and Friends

• 0:12
  SPEAKER_06: We need to camp.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_06: Gettysburg College.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_06: August 15th, 729 a.m.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_06: If you report at 7.30, you will not be playing football this season.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_06: You will be watching.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_06: You will wear a jacket, shirt, and tie.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_06: If you don't have one, buy one.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_06: Can't afford one, then borrow one from your old man.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_06: If you don't have an old man, then find a drunk, trade him for his.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_06: I can guarantee it isn't a bum on the street that looks as raggedy and ridiculous as what I'm looking at right now.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Foster and Friends is presented by Envision.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Locations are in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: For the best in eye care and fashion, it's Envision.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: By the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win vodka.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good day to enjoy a win.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: And buy Brick House Pizza.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Visit our Radford location in the Brick House Garden featuring live music and the best in comfort food.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Brick House Pizza means good times.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now, from the NSB Radio Network, Foster and Friends.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Here's Bud and Mac.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, welcome into Foster and Friends.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: Another weekend great show today.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_04: Should be a lot of fun.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_04: I know Bud's looking forward to it.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_04: I am too.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie Simpson is going to join us.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie was a big part of TC Williams, okay, in the 70s.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_04: There happened to be a little movie called Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington and uh a cast of thousands.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: And um, anyway, Donnie Simpson was part of it a little later after uh after the movie, but he built a great relationship with Homan Boone.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_04: So I can't wait to uh talk about that.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_04: Anyway, uh a long weekend for Bud last weekend, not only getting away and having a chance to see a couple of wineries.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_04: Aren't you happy about expansion now?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_04: Don't you think it's great that we're going to the West Coast to play ACC?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_04: Aren't you excited?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean, I I don't have time to go over what the the the team uh experienced with their flight out.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: They actually ended up coming out a day late after you know going to the airport in in Greensboro and staying down there.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, we it was uh give me a cliff notes version.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_04: Give me a cliff notes version.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_04: What happened?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_03: Well, they bottom line, they didn't fly out.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: They got at the airport in Greensboro at 9 a.m.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: and didn't fly out until Friday morning at 9 a.m.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it was just uh one of those deals.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_03: It was just a logistic nightmare.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_03: Had two planes that uh had uh mechanical issues um that they couldn't get on.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: They sat in the runway for you know, about you know, the first time for four hours, then now for a couple more hours after the next trying to get trying to get a hundred people or so hotel rooms and feed them and all that until the next day.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: But we kind of played like we slept walk through that game a little bit, you know, at times and still gave ourselves a chance to win.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: But uh uh but I will say this flying out on that coast, particularly just quickly, is okay if you stay.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I finally got uh acclimated to the you know, to the time frame a little bit.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: Now we're entertaining some donors, and so 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock their time, you know, that's one o'clock, two o'clock our time.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: So that was kind of my night, and then we still had to get up and do some activities in the morning.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: But when I got home back to the states or back to Virginia for, I mean, it was like you know, there was um, I had some issues with the you know, jet lag or whatever.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, sleep deprivation, whatever it was, man.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: But uh, but we did.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_03: We had some great wine, some great fellowship.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh met one of the all-time great um Virginia Tech alums in Andy Beckstoffer, who's the top grape grower in America.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: And uh just yeah, phenomenal, uh, phenomenal trip when it was all said and done on the outcome of the game.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_04: That's good.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we have uh Donnie Simpson's gonna join us.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_04: He is a uh Virginia Tech grad.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_04: He was a walk-on with Bill Dooley.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Bud uh knows Donnie.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: He was at his golf tournament.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_04: I caught up with Donnie at the golf tournament.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_04: I got to know him a little bit.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_04: And uh the more we talked, the more I said, Donnie, you gotta do our show.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_04: You have to do our show.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_04: Why?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_04: Well, forget that he was part of the remember the Titans legacy, I guess, you know, from the movie.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_04: He got to go to the premiere.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_04: And if that's not enough, uh he dated the daughter of uh Coach Yost, who's depicted in the movie.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_04: She was depicted in the movie.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_04: She actually died at a young age, 34.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um, some some kind of uh thing that that she had.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_04: But anyway, it's a great story.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna spend a lot of time because uh he also walked on at Virginia Tech after trying to play baseball at Florida State, ended up being with Bill Dooley.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_04: So, with all that being said, uh, we have a lot to cover.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_04: So I'll go to break here.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_04: It's uh Bud Foster, Mac McDonald, it's Foster and Friends, and we'll remember the Titans when we come back.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_04: It's Foster and Friends and the NSP Radio Network.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: Hi, this is Bud Foster for Envision.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: For over 30 years, my good friends, Dr.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: Scott and Becky Mann, have built a practice that truly cares about their patients.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we just try to do everything with the patients in mind.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: Everything we do is from the patient's point of view, and we try to put them first and really have state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and then old-fashioned personal care and attention.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, I think it's mainly about the relationship and that we care.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: We care for them and they become family.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Women, we've been in that office now for over 30 years.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's more like a family environment and that we do care about providing the best vision care available.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: Over 30 years ago, we started with one office, one staff member, one doctor, and we've just kind of grown from there.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: The community's been great in supporting us, and now we have two locations.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're getting ready to add our sixth and seventh doctors and about 25 staff.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_03: Go see your award-winning Envision team.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: They have two locations, Salem and Christiansburg.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: They will meet all your eye care needs.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_06: I left North Carolina because I was passed over for a job that I had rightfully earned.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_06: Gave it to a white coach down there, couldn't even tie up his own football cleats.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_06: Now you are asking me to do the same thing to this man?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_06: I can't do that.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_05: Folks in Carolina say you marched with Dr.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_05: King.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_05: So you stood toe-to-toe with the clan.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_05: Said you a race, man.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_05: That's right.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_05: I'm also a family man.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Foster and Friends is presented by Brick House Pizza in Radford, serving traditional wood fired favorites.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome back.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_04: It is Foster and Friends on uh a very good football Saturday, but we've got a special guest.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_04: And bud, when I went to your tournament, um, met a lot of great people.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_04: And uh I talked about this in the open.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_04: I met just a lot of really, really good people.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_04: But this guy I couldn't get away from, and he probably thought, who is this?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_04: Wahoo, can I shake free of this guy?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_04: Because I started as once he told me he went to TC Williams High School, once he told me he played for Herman Boone, not in the 71 year with uh with the movie and everything, but the fact that he and Herman Boone had a relationship, I said, okay, as they said in Seinfeld, that's a show.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_04: The uh 1982 grad of Virginia Tech, a former walk-on under Bill Dooley, and the uh a guy who played for Herman Boone, he is a fourth generation builder civic leader, ladies and gentlemen.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_04: The one, the only Donnie Simpson, who you know very well.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_04: But how good is this today?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_04: We crowd on, you know, with number one.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_03: I've known Donnie since about 1987.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: We go back and he was one of I recruited Northern Virginia.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: And this story that it that we I'm glad we're talking about it because I have had an opportunity to meet at least the coaches um, you know, from that remember the Titans movie.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um Coach Yost, Coach Boone, and Coach Henry.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then but getting to know Donnie and what he has done, the impact he's made at in Alexandria and Northern Virginia with his family and their real estate and and uh you know their construction and and just he's helped our players in the past.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's just it's great to have you on the show, Donnie.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we really appreciate you taking the time.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: But I will say this I just got back from flying to California and back with with to watch the tech uh Cal game, and I got a chance to watch Remember the Titans.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: See, that was a sign.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: That was a sign, it just brought back so many memories.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I know Mac has chased you around on the on the golf course that all day to try to get to you know tie you down for this show, but you know, we have so much to talk about, you know, and so welcome.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_03: And uh let's kick this thing off.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_03: What what's your experiences with that that show or the the movie, and then your experiences as a player, you know, uh at TC Williams?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_07: But it was great.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_07: I uh we had some really outstanding coaching.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, you know, having the opportunity in my freshman and JV years to play for Coach Furman and Coach Yost uh before we had the opportunity to play for Coach Boone.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_07: And uh we had so much talent and rich teams and uh the coaching and the programming and and the reputation that TC Williams had back in the day.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_07: Uh it was an outstanding experience for for me personally, and the growth, you know, from a football program and just uh the opportunity to play for TC.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_07: Alexandria's a unique, unique little city.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_07: There's three private schools.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_07: So growing up, I was had the opportunity to maybe go to B.I.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_07: Episcopal or St.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_07: Stephen's private schools, and I said, no, I'm going to TC.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_07: They have the best program.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, growing up and watching them play uh their state championship in 71 and 72, they had great teams, and then I was able to go and play, you know, freshman in JV, and then ultimately uh varsity two years for Coach Boone and Coach Yos was too too great an opportunity to pass up.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so I I really enjoyed it.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_07: It was it was an awesome experience for me and and a great springboard.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was gonna tell Mac and I told him well before we got on the air that TC technically was uh they were a powerhouse.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_03: You guys were a powerhouse.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: And the the you were the the Northern Virginia version of the Hampton or the of the Tidewater version of Hampton.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: And I know you guys probably battled a little bit over the years, but you know, you you mentioned a couple names.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_03: You you said you played JV ball before with Glenn Furman.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: When I recruited up there, Glenn was the head coach at uh TC and had great success.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um was he, and I know Coach Yosh was one mentioned on the or remember the Titans, but was uh Glenn on uh Coach uh Boone's staff as well uh as an assistant coach at that time.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_07: No, he was he was he was totally at Hammond uh running the freshman and JV program.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_07: The schools merged, you know, Coach Yosh was running Hammond and he won a regional championship in 6970, and they had a great team, um, which Petir was on that team.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_07: And then when the city merged to uh the three high schools into one at TC Williams in 71, uh Coach Yost went with Coach Boone.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_07: Coach Furman stayed at Hammond and ran the Hammond program, which uh he did for 10 years and they didn't lose a game.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_07: They were 100-0, 10-0, uh 10 straight years against the Annandales and the Robinsons and Lake Braddock, phenomenal uh coach.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_07: And then, of course, when he replaced Boone at TC, he won two state championships, uh, undefeated seasons, both of them 14-0 in the early 80s, uh, after Coach Boone retired.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_04: Wow, and one of the things I want to back up to because Donnie did not play, the movie depicted the 71 team when Herman Boone first gets there.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_04: He did he didn't play till 76, but still built a relationship with Herman Boone.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_04: And correct me if I'm wrong, you told me uh Coach Yost's daughter, who was depicted in the movie, the young girl who loved football, you dated her, right, in high school?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I I actually did, Cheryl.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_07: So that was unique because Coach Yost was a TC at the time when I was playing there.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_07: And uh yeah, his daughter was at a different high school, Jefferson, but she would come to the games, and somehow or another I connected with her and and she was a dynamic young gal.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_07: And uh, I was lucky enough to go out on a few dates with her during high school and keep it under wraps from Coach Yost.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_07: And then, but she ended up going to Radford, and when I was at tech, we uh we connected again.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_07: How about that?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_07: We dated a little bit at Radford.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_07: Um, yeah, that was a unique uh funny story.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_03: So she all in as a as a like the movie depicts as her all in as a football fan and fanatic.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, she I mean she was a big time cheerleader.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_07: She was homecoming queen at her high school, Jefferson.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_07: She was a cheerleader, uh, but she came to all the TC games and was a big supporter of football.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_07: And yeah, she she was in it big time.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_07: She knew football.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's yeah, that's great.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_04: I'm glad that.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_04: And you did say, and we'll get into more of this.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_04: You said the movie was about 90% correct, but I want to I want to touch on because the movie, of course, won all kinds of awards, uh, NAACP awards and everything for showcase, not showcasing, but uh educating people on the racial tension at that time.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie was it as bad then in the early 70s in in northern Virginia and the Alexandria area?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_04: Was race a real, real issue?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_07: Uh it was an issue.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_07: It was a real issue, but it wasn't, you know, it wasn't as bad as the movie probably portrayed.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_07: I think we were similar to other southern, you know, uh towns.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_07: Uh sports-wise, we were fine because we all had grown up together.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_07: Alexandria had youth football, youth sports, for example, and you had the you had the African American schools predominantly, and you had the white schools, and we all played each other.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_07: Every elementary school had an 80 and 100-pound football program, basketball program.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_07: So we grew up together, playing each other, and then by the time we got to TC, it was very unique.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_07: We sort of knew each other and we we bonded a little bit, but we battled, we battled for starting positions, you know.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_07: We when you had two JVs, you had GW and Hammond, which both had were previously high schools, and they had a freshman and a JV team.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_07: And I as I said, I played for Hammond, we didn't lose a game.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_07: I was 30 and 0 when we were there.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_07: And GW always had a good team too.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_07: So when we came together at TC, that's why I was so good.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_07: You were bringing, you were bringing two JV programs, undefeated, four or 50 kids come into battle, and you had to earn your spot.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_07: And at TC, I was the only junior that started on defense, and there was one all-mat running back, Andrew Sharp, that started on offense.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_07: That's it.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_07: You you and I had to beat out a senior to get my spot at corner.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_07: So you didn't, you weren't guaranteed a lot of kids didn't even play till their senior year at TC because you were bringing two full squads together.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_07: And as I mentioned, I think our second team could beat could beat a lot of high schools back then at TC.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_07: If you if you got injured or missed a game, you didn't you didn't play again.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_07: You didn't see that.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was a cool thing in the movie how that portrayed when the schools integrated, you know, that there was concerns about, you know, yeah, you're you were the star here, and now what was that going to be like?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm sure there was some tension a little bit, but I will say this the movie did it, was a yeah, one of the all-time great sports movies, in my opinion, period.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: And then just reaffirm that having a chance to watch that again here recently.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um but sports does bring, you know, people together, particularly when you're in it, you know, and that's the thing that it showed that how the you how the players uh brought a community together because there was there was the whites and the blacks, you know, as far as the adults were totally at odds.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: But you, you know, the players and what Coach Boone and Coach Yost and you know what what they were able to do and and it portrayed, how it just brought, you know, a community together.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: And and you saw, and I had a chance to after seeing the movie and then recruiting uh T C Williams, you could see uh the impact that uh that you guys, you know, that community had made on southern society when it's all said and done.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you you nailed it, but I mean the players we got along, you know, we battled physically to play to play the game and we wanted to win games and we practiced hard, but we stuck up for each other.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_07: You know, if there was issues in the halls or issues in the school, uh we all rallied against each other.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, a lot of the things were typical of TC, like other high schools, if there was fights or issues, it wasn't really a black and white thing all the time.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_07: It was just high school boys, you know, getting after it.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_07: So you had some of that, but you're right, the adults and the parents, it was an adjustment for you know the parents because you had a Parker Gray off African American school and you had Hammond Lily White, you know, when when Coach Jose brought Hammond over, it was a hundred percent white team.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_07: They didn't have any African Americans on that team, and uh GW was mostly black because it merged with Parker Gray, and so that's what happened.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_07: You you merged these two teams, and they were both good teams, they were both championship caliber teams.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_07: So you're right, you had players, you your quarterbacks and your running backs and your D-line.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_07: They all started on championship teams coming together to play for TC, and they were bat, there were battles out there, you know, to see who would start.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_04: That's great stuff.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_04: We're we're visiting with Donnie Simpson, uh, the this company that, you know, he's president of Simpson Development Company, the 44th year or fourth generation.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: I could go on and throw out all the numbers, but he had this great experience.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_04: We'll go to break and we'll come back because we have to talk about Ronnie Bass, who was the QB, which actually was right, and also Ed Henry, who was depicted, who do who Bud knows very, very well.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_04: So we'll go to break here, we'll come back.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_04: And Donnie got to go to the premiere when that movie uh was released.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_04: We'll be right back.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_04: This is Foster and Friends with Donnie Simpson on the NSP Radio Network.
• 18:48
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• 18:54
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• 19:57
  SPEAKER_06: Well, brothers and sisters, I was the youngest one, but they were all looking up to me.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_06: I wasn't ready yet either, but they needed me.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_06: Your team needs you tonight.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_06: You're the first who's gonna command your troops tonight.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_06: 480 week.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_06: Let's go.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: The River City Distillery in Radford is proud to present foster and friends.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Visit the tasting room at 305 Main Street.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome back, it's Foster and Friends.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_04: And and by the way, that uh that sound by the forest, the title game when Ronnie Bass and uh uh Herman Boone have a little uh conversation.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_04: Sunshine, Kit Pardew is the actor, so but uh Donnie Simpson is our guest who was part of the TC Williams story a little later in life, but still uh a big part.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_04: He's got a letter he's gonna read.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_04: Herman Boone went to bat for Donnie.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna get into that as well.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_04: So, and the fact that you got to see the movie on your plane trip going to going to California, I thought I think that was a sign for you.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_04: I really do.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I there's no doubt about that.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: It looks great to have Donnie playing in the in the golf tournament and get we've stayed, we've been close and stayed connected, but it was great to see you, Donnie.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for supporting the foundation.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, you know, watching the movie again and just us knowing we're having you on the on the air.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it, you know, it just it, you know, it was just it's a great, great movie.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_03: If you if people need to watch it, if you haven't seen it, need to go back and watch it.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_03: Or if you've watched it, you need to go back and watch it again.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_03: And it really is one, I think, one of the great all-time sports movies.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: But there's so much involved in that.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: What is actually fact and what is actually fiction in that movie?
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: I know there are so many different parts.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: I know the championship game, that's actually was the regional game, wasn't, you know, depicted that because you had to go on and play another one.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: But beating Ed Henry was and his marshall team at the time.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: That was a big thing at that time.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but what was fact and what was fiction was all said and done.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_07: Well, well, I tell you, you know, one quick side note the uniforms were spot on.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_07: So really they they copied the high school team uniforms exactly.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_07: Groveton and Hayfield and Marshall.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_07: That was phenomenal.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_07: A lot of guys commented on that.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_07: They nailed that down to the T.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_07: Um, most of the movie Bud was uh accurate for the most part.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_07: Uh they did some Hollywood action.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, you know, the Gettysburg trip, they did a tour.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we went to camp up there, Gettysburg.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_07: Um, we went to camp and it was a great experience.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_07: That's what brought us together.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_07: Seven days up there in Pennsylvania uh for football camp was awesome back in the day.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_07: A lot of schools couldn't afford to or weren't going to camp.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_07: Uh TC, we did.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_07: And that was a great bonding experience.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_07: And that was true.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_07: They went to Gettysburg and uh they actually had a tour of Gettysburg Battlefield.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_07: Coach Boone took the team and they had an actual tour.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_07: They didn't go at night and run through the graveyard uh like it was depicted in the movie, but they did do a tour.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_07: Um you're right.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_07: The state championship game.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_07: Gary Petir, great player, right?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_07: Gary was at Hammond with Coach Yost, came over to TC, and he was all world, was signed with Penn State.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_07: He was player of the year, you know, prep player of the year, great linebacker, great guy.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_07: Um, he actually had an accident.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_07: His accident where he became paralyzed, he played in the state championship game.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_07: In the movie, they said he, you know, he had that accident before the championship game.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_07: No, he played in the state championship game.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_07: They won, they beat Andrew Lewis, 27 zip down in Roanoke.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_07: They actually, the City of Alexandria actually flew him in 1971.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_07: The team flew from National Airport down to Roanoke and played Andrew Lewis down there, you know, beat him 27-0.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_07: You're like this, they held him to five minus five yards.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_07: Total offense.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_07: But Gary Petir played in that game.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_07: He had his accident, ironically, going home from the football banquet.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_07: From the championship football banquet, he had his accident uh heading home from that banquet, and that's when he became paralyzed.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_07: So that was that was a little bit of an adjustment.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_07: Um, Ronnie Bass, a quarterback, he came from California.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_07: His dad was in the Air Force, and he did.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_07: He was a California kid, and that's how he got that uh nickname.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_07: And he came from California, but he was a player, and uh obviously because he went on to play at South Carolina quarterback after got a scholarship after TC.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_07: So that was true.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, the dance, the dance was the IS Donny, but the dance when the when the team comes onto the field.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah, the dance was right.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, we had it, we had that chance.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_07: We had we didn't exactly do it that way, but we had a couple chance, you know.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_07: We uh mixing it up a little bit, you know.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_07: We are the Titans, mighty, mighty Titans.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_07: We had a few chants, and uh, as Bud will tell you, it was pretty cool playing for them because we were intimidators, you know, TC intimidated teams, and and we came out right from coming on the field, we started that intimidation factor.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_07: But the movie did a good portrayal.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_07: Uh Julius Campbell and uh Gary Bretier were great buddies and good friends.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_07: And um, you know, Coach Boone and Coach Yost, they got along.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_07: You know, Coach Yost expected to get the job.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_07: He came off a regional championship at Hammond with a great team.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_07: And Coach Boone was hired.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_07: Coach Boone had a great legendary career if you research at North Carolina.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_07: He was he won state championships at North Carolina, and then he came up to TC and he was a PE teacher and assistant football coach a couple years ahead.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_07: And then when they merged, they felt Coach Yoss was, I mean, Coach Boone was the right guy for the team when they merged it.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_07: And Coach Yoss came on and ran the defense and had nine shutouts that first year, bud, uh, as defensive coordinator.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_03: I I love the interaction when the in the movie where it's like, you know, they're going there, there is that little rivalry.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: They at least they depict that.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I've read and and you know, that those guys be they didn't know each other, just like probably, you know, you guys going to Gettysburg and going to camp and just getting to know one another.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: That I'm sure that first year, there's a little bit of, you know, Coach Yost, there's probably animosity, like not towards Herman, but you know, just because he would didn't get the job, you know, and maybe there was towards Herman, but you saw you saw them come together just like the team.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_03: But reading about them that they did, they were they relied on each other.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: But the movie, it was funny how they interacted, like you just worry about defense, Coach Yost, and then Coach Young, you just take care of the offense, you know, Herman, you know, and uh, but it was just they're two different styles.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_03: Were were the two styles of coaching depicted well in in the movie?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, they were.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_07: Uh Coach Yost was a great defensive mind, and that's true.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, that's how Coach Boone coached.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_07: He's like, I'm running an offense, you run the defense.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_07: And they they ran it that way.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_07: And um, the defensive side of coaches met and took care of their business, and they didn't fool around too much with the offensive side, and coach boone ran the veer, we ran that offense, and um that's that's that was true to true to form.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_04: That's that's that's great stuff.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_04: Before we um and and then when you went to the premiere and you saw the premiere of the movie, you felt pretty good about it, like wow, this is this is quite the production.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it was it was pretty cool.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_07: We went over to Uptown, they had it in DC at the Uptown Theater, and coach uh all the coaches were there, and uh coach uh President Clinton came and you know uh Denzel and everybody was there.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_07: It was a big uh it was pretty cool to be part of that and uh go to that premiere and um all the all the former players showed up and it was a and then seeing that movie which was pretty moving, you know.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_07: It still moves me today when you know a lot of those characters and played for those teams.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_07: And um, as Bud said, it was a a great movie and a great time.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_07: And so that was quite an experience.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_04: And Herman Boone was and and and Coach Boone was a disciplinarian, right?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_04: And he did do the camp thing where he took you guys away to bond, and so all that bond, all the bonding stuff was was true to false.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_07: That's what every year that's what he did.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_07: Um, we we, you know, because we only played junior and senior together, we weren't together as a team, freshman and sophomore.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_07: We didn't get to know those guys.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_07: GW and Hammond came together to for your junior and senior year at TC.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_07: So it wasn't a normal high school environment where you went as freshmen and you started playing sports as freshmen and you met kid, you know, you met your other players.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_07: You didn't get to see them until you showed up as your junior year, and uh it was all new.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_07: Everything was all new.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_07: New coaches, you know, new players.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_07: And it was amazing that all those years they were able to mold that together uh and make it work.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_04: Can we hold you over for another segment if I if I break here?
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not done with you yet.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_04: But no, but and I are not done with your life story.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_04: We're trying to build so we can do a movie on the Donnie Simpson story.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, that'd be a short, that'd be a short form, but I'm glad to help.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_04: We have we have a lot to talk about.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_04: So Donnie Simpson is our guest.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_04: He is president of Simpson Development Company and uh uh you know lived the TC Williams story a little after the the movie, of course, but we're gonna go to break, come back because he played for a guy by the name of Bill Dooley of Virginia Tech and walked on.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_04: The Herman Boone Letter is something to hear as well.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_04: We'll go to break.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_04: We'll come back.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_04: This is Foster and Friends and the NSP Radio Network.
• 29:29
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• 29:38
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• 29:47
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• 29:51
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• 29:59
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• 30:06
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• 30:09
  SPEAKER_04: Fascinating, refreshing, live music right there on Main Street in downtown Radford.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_04: And don't forget, ask about Rusty Rabbit Bourbon.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_04: You're gonna love the River City Distillery.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_04: Tell Charlie that button iced hit you.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_07: I called up Coach Boone and said, hey coach, I need some help.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_07: You know, can you get in touch with Coach Dooley and see if you can help me get a walk on spot?
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_07: I know that there's no guarantees, but if you can just let him know, I'd like to come up there and transfer and I'd like to try to get a shot walking on.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_07: Can you help me?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_07: And he did.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_07: He wrote the letter of Coach Dooley, and it was just a really nice thing that he did for me.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: From the desk of former coaching great Bud Foster, this is Foster and Friends on the NSB Radio Network.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome back, it's Foster and Friends.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_04: The story is too good, so we've extended the movie.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie Simpson is our guest, president of Simpson Development Company, a former Virginia Tech football player, which we'll get into.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_04: And uh you've heard the all the stories now about uh remember the Titans and the T C Williams experience.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_04: So but but I know Donnie has got the Virginia Tech uh, you know, story to go, you know, the resume.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_04: He's got the hokey resume as well.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_03: It just didn't start that way, though, right, Donnie?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you uh I mean, but you did you you played for Coach Boone, you you uh you know you you you played for Coach Yost, you, you know, um you played for Glenn Furman, you played for some dynamic people uh that made a tremendous impact uh, you know, in the community and in a bunch of young people's lives.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_03: And um obviously you had an opportunity to go on to school following your high school career.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh what kind of relationship did you have with Coach Boone and how did he help you along the way as you moved forward in in your career and in your life?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_07: He was great for me personally.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_07: I, you know, I was lucky enough to be one of the captains on the football team uh at TC.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_07: So that gave me the opportunity to really have a special relationship with Coach Boone and have some leadership there at TC Williams.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_07: And so when I graduated, I also played baseball, and I I chose to go down to Florida State, which wasn't the best decision because I thought I could play baseball down there with Dick Hauser was the head coach, and and I didn't do much research, and uh, there was an all-American freshman, second baseman coming in.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_07: So I wasn't gonna get a lot of time, you know, playing baseball for Florida State.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_07: So, and my dad had gone to tech.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_07: He was a graduate of tech when it was all military, and it had sort of wanted me to go to tech.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_07: I'd grown up going to tech games.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_07: And so I told everybody at Florida State, I'm gonna try to transfer to Virginia Tech and play football.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_07: And they all thought, you know, you're that wasn't gonna happen, you know, you're you're reaching there a little bit.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_07: But I called up Coach Boone and said, Hey, coach, I need some help.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_07: You know, can you get in touch with Coach Dooley and see if you can help me get a walk-on spot?
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_07: I I know that there's no guarantees, but if you can just let him know, I'd like to come up there and transfer and I'd like to try to get a shot walking on.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_07: Can you help me?
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_07: And he did.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_07: He wrote a letter to Coach Dooley and and got me a walk-on spot.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_07: And uh, you know, it was just a really nice thing that he did for me.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_07: And he he called me his white son, which was pretty cool.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_07: And he was Daddy Boone.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_07: Daddy Boom.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_07: It's yeah, my sons can't believe that.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_07: I showed them the letter, they're like, Oh, wow, that's pretty cool, Dad.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_07: I'm like, Yeah, had a really good relationship with Coach Boom for many, many years.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_07: I ended up coaching at TC afterwards, too, defensive backs, and uh just kept that relationship going.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_03: So there is fact in the matter that uh people he he did refer to himself, he's I'm your who's your daddy now.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but in the movie, in the movie, you know, it's so cool where you know Bertier is uh coming in and you know, he's he's kind of speaking on behalf, I guess, of the Hammond guys, you know, and it's like and and he he makes he's he kind of you know tells him who the daddy is, right?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, who's your dad?
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, everyone, everyone understood who daddy boone was.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_07: He was your daddy, and he owned you uh when you were at school at C C Williams on the field and off the field.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_04: Wow, that's pretty good stuff.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_04: Well, Don, as I said, so the Bill Dooley experience in the relationship, it it had to be a little different than what you were used to, right?
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_07: From a football standpoint.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_07: It was.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_07: Well, I you know, I I wanted the opportunity to try to play.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_07: I wanted to prove myself, see if I could play at Virginia Tech.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_07: And uh, I wanted to major in building construction there also.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_07: And my dad thought I was crazy, trying to see.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_07: I didn't have a lot of size.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_07: You know, Coach Boone said, Hey, you can't win with 11 of Dante Simpsons, but you could win with one of them.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_07: And I took that to heart and uh made the team and ended up mostly special teams, always playing a little corner, mostly special teams, but I had a great time at tech and was really proud of being able to play.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, we went to a bowl game when I was there, 1980 Peach Bowl, and we started that run before Coach Beamer got there.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_07: And and um, great experience.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_07: What's your what's your greatest Bill Dooley story?
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, he he loved to run the ball, and that's what he did.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_07: And uh my position on second team defense, we went up against the first team every day in practice, and he ran that pitch four or five times in a row each side, but and my left shoulder's not right ever since.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_07: You know, I had to take on Tony Page.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_07: You ended up going to the NFL, Detroit Lions, and the Miami Dolphins fullback.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_03: Great player, yeah, yeah.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that was me every day.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_07: And Tony afterwards said, Why'd you have to come in so hard every time?
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_07: I'm like, if I didn't, Tony, I probably wouldn't have lived to tell about it.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_04: Was he still mispronouncing names at that time?
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_07: Coach Dooley had a he he he had a legendary uh way of words, and he never got he had a southern draw, but we had some great runner backs, and that started the tradition of runnerbacks because he came from North Carolina, and all we pretty much did, bud, was run the ball.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I know.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Coach Height, you know, had the stallions, you know, and then we he had those with uh Maurice Williams on him and you know, and uh oh uh who else was at but anyway, we had our whole deal.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: We had Kevin Jones, Lee Suggs, David Wilson, you know.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_05: Oh boy, the list goes on, you know.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_03: Coach Height was great.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_07: He he came from Damatha, he played at Damatha up here in DC, and he had such a great connection with Damatha recruits.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and uh Coach Gudekins uh was down there, and I coached.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: Who was your position, coach?
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_07: Uh Coach Bernstein was the defensive back coach, and then Coach Tepper was the D uh linebacker coach, and he went on to coach at Illinois, and Gutenkins went on to coach at Minnesota.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_07: So we we had a heck of a coaching staff down there when you know ahead of you guys.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, great staff, great stuff.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, great stuff.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_04: So Donnie, then all right, football ends, and that's it.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_04: There was no shot, I guess, of going to the NFL.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe you had dreams of that, but did your dad had any dreams or anything?
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_07: I was happy just being able to play a tech.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_04: Did your dad say, Okay, come on, we got a we got a little company going on up here.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, we got to get serious.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_07: I actually started working for my grandfather, uh, who was still with the company at the time.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, my dad was there too.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_07: We we they started as a masonry contractor back in the 20s and and grew to a general contracting firm.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_07: And so uh he said, You got to come on up here and start working for your grandfather.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_07: I said, Dad, what's your rush?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_07: Can't I get some time off?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_07: All my buddies are taking off.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_07: And he said, Well, come on up and start work, and then your your grandfather goes to Florida and you can get your month off.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_07: I said, Okay, and I'm 45 years later, I'm still looking for that month.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: Your family, I mean, this has been over a hundred years now.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: You guys have been been doing this thing, and I mean, and generations and the impact that you know, obviously T C Williams had on you, those coaches had on you.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: You're still a big part of the that community and support TC Williams.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: I know firsthand from that, but for what you and your family have done, you know, for that community, I mean, uh that's that's that's awesome.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: But it uh but it's it's cool to give back to something that's given so much to you.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, well, we we're community oriented, and my grandfather and dad always have been.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_07: And I'm chair of the Alexandria Hospital Board.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_07: We're building a brand new hospital,$1 billion.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_07: My grandfather and and dad built the original hospital in Alexandria in 1960.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_07: I was born there, and uh we're we're now I'm chair of the hospital board.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_07: We're raising 300 million bucks, building the new Alexandria Hospital in Nova, Alexandria, uh, be opening up next year, and that's a great community uh benefit.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_07: And so yeah, still still active on my way out the door trying to help the community a little bit.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, one of the cool things we did, my grandfather helped start Little League.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_07: And so in 1954, they built the Simpson Field, Eugene Simpson uh stadium, which formed Little League in Alexandria.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_07: And it was two fields, uh a high school field and a little league field, and we all grew up and had lights, and we all grew up playing there at Simpson Field.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_07: It's still there today.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_07: And I ended up playing Little League there and ended up playing high school for TC Williams.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_07: We played our games there and still have Simpson Field there today, which a lot of folks uh kids all grew up, and uh, it's cool to have that in the community, also.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, pretty good stuff.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie, I'm sorry your family hasn't accomplished anything, and you you just got you guys haven't just done very much in in northern Virginia.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_04: So uh just and that's that's amazing.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_04: That's just uh terrific stuff, you know.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_04: And I said four generations, actually seven with the brothers, then right?
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_04: Seven generations.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah, we go we go back away.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_07: It's very fortunate.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_07: I had great uh great mentors, you know, coaches and grandfather and father and his brothers.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, my dad had a real good relationship, bud, with uh coach Boone and Coach Furman, you know, they they hit it off and um uh just really enjoyed those times together, you know, playing high school sports and and uh having my dad involved.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_07: And and then I was as I said, I was able to coach at TC with Coach Allen, who was my defensive back coach at TC.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_07: He became the head coach later on.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_07: I was able to jump on the staff as DB coach, which is unheard of for someone that's not in the school system and and and coached five years defensive backstage.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_07: I really had a lot of fun.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, by the way, before we go, and I don't think we got to it, we may have overlooked it and forgot.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_04: Could you do you have the Hermann Boone letters right there, right?
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_04: That he wrote for you?
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, read read the part that one of those paragraphs, because that's pretty good stuff right there.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_07: Well, I would I uh like I said, I was talking to him about transfer, and he said it's a very dis very uh serious decision, Donnie.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_07: He says, as I said before, I believe in you and I have all the confidence in you that you can make the team.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_07: And if you ever need my help, you know you're still my white son.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_07: Love Daddy Boone, you know.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_07: So he that's in that's in closing on the one.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_07: And then I wrote him after I made the team, and he said, Donnie, I'm you know, I received your letter.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_07: I'm so happy that you were able to make the team.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_07: I'm very uh I'm very proud of you along with your father.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_07: We're two happy men.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_07: You know, I always felt that you would continue to fight until you could prove yourself and make the team.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_07: Uh he says, you know, if you succeed, then I then I succeed and and I'll always be a part of you and and uh take care of yourself.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_07: Love you, Coach Boone.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_07: So it was a pretty cool relationship.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_07: How good is that?
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's what it's all about, right there, man.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_07: That's great.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_03: That that impact he's made, you're giving back and and making that impact still at TC Williams, because I know you support it, but more importantly, in the community.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_04: So well, bud, that's what uh first of all, thank you for letting me go to your golf tournament in Richmond.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie, thanks for playing because uh uh there was a connection immediately, and not just the stories I tell Bud.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_04: We find good stories, but you know, we don't stop there.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_04: We try to build relationships with the show.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, if Bud's foundation ever kicks off and does anything successfully, he's only raised a gazillion dollars with the lunch pale found.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_07: He just does great things, we're so happy to support you, Bud, with what you do.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_07: It's awesome.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, it's terrific stuff.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie, thank you.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you for your time.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_04: And I know you probably got some square footage to measure today.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_04: So uh best of luck with everything.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_04: And uh I hope you come back and join us.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_04: Come back and talk football, okay?
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks, guys.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_04: Always a pleasure.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_04: We'll go to break, we'll come back.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_04: This is Foster and Friends, and this is the NSP Radio Network.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: Hi, this is Bud Foster for Invision.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: For over 30 years, my good friends, Dr.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: Scott and Becky Mann, have built a practice that truly cares about their patients.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: I can just remember being pregnant with my first time over 30 years ago, and we bought the practice from Dr.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: Henry Stewart, who'd had it for 50 years.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's scary, but we've moved forward and we're actually in the same location, and now we're up to seven doctors and over 25 staff in the two locations.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_02: The technology is amazing stuff.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: We used to take pictures of literally Polaroid, and now we went to digital, and now we have widescreens, and um we can do things today ten years ago where only images you can only generate maybe the teaching hospital.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: And now we can do those chair style when our patients come in.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: Go to your award-winning Envision T.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_03: They have two locations: Salem and Christensburg.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_03: They will meet all your eye care needs.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_04: It is fostering friends, and uh it kind of was like the night of your uh your the party before the uh your golf tournament a couple of weeks ago in Richmond.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_04: Donnie is one great, and uh he's a lot younger than us, and I'll say great kid.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Donnie Simpson is just um the day the minute I met him, he acted like he had known me forever.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_04: Uh just the the life and the story of again being with Herman Boone.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_04: We had to talk to him.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, it's a number one, I've known Donnie for a long time, outstanding person, you know, and uh loves Virginia Tech, loves Alexandria, Virginia.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: And uh and then it was just so cool.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_03: I I told on the flight home uh I got a chance to watch Remember the title.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: So I got a chance to just catch up with and I'm just and I mentioned it earlier on the show, but if you have not seen the movie, you know it's an older movie, but check it out.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_03: And if you've seen it, watch it again because it just brings back it's such a heartfelt, good it's one of the great all-time sports movies, and and it just talks about bringing people together, you know.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's a it's a great um, and but to have Donnie who kind of lived it, even though he wasn't in that particular time, it was just a couple years later, but living it with those, those, that staff and seeing that program develop, and still, as he said, the you know how they brought the you know, the two junior uh high schools that were high schools at the time brought them together, you know, is because they didn't come in until his junior senior year.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_03: Just kind of interesting in how they created something really special at TC Williams High School.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_04: They um actually only had two grades, TC Williams, his junior and seniors, you know, that uh that were going there.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_04: It was such a feeder system.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_04: So all right, big weekend uh for uh UVA, big weekend uh they're on the road to SMU.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_04: It's uh it's a key game for both those schools.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_04: Virginia Tech playing host to Georgia Tech.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_04: That's huge, of course.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_04: And and Bud has got his you're moving cigars again this weekend, right?
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I've got a couple, yeah, a couple things.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_03: We've got a couple meet and greets.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_03: I'm doing at the hookie shop at uh, you know, uh at uh Lane Stadium.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_03: We're selling uh lunch pail merchandise there.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_03: And then doing uh win cigars again Friday afternoon from uh one to three.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_03: So um, yeah, if you get a chance, come on by.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_03: And and then we gotta get some, there's some great tailgate stuff, and some as we move closer to the holiday season, there's some good holiday gear to buy your loved one, you know, from uh from either one of those.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna I'm gonna contribute.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm looking for the and I saw that you had a new you had a tumbler with the uh the lunchbox on it.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_04: I like that.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_04: And then I'm gonna order some cigars.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not a big cigar guy, but hey, you know, the way my wife cooks, I need a cigar every once in a while.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_04: So pretty good stuff.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_04: Well, hey, have a great weekend, okay?
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_04: And uh now that your feet are on the ground and relax a little bit, hopefully, uh at least on Sunday, and we'll uh we'll talk to you next week.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_03: Look forward to it, my friend.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_04: For Bud Foster and Mac McDonald, and that's Foster and Friends.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_04: Have a good weekend.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: Foster and Friends is presented by Envision.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: Locations are in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: For the best in eye care and fashion, it's Envision.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_01: By the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win vodka.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good day to enjoy a win.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: And by Brick House Pizza.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: Brick House Pizza means good times.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: Foster and Friends is a presentation of the NSB Radio Network and McDonald Media.