Episode 9: Injured, Not Invisible

In this episode of The Locker Room, we talk about why athlete injuries should be viewed as more than physical setbacks. This conversation explores how injuries can affect an athlete’s identity, mental health, emotional outlet, and connection to the team, while questioning why long-term well-being is often overlooked in the push to return to play.

We also get into the current sports landscape, including sports gambling, Deion Sanders, Brendan Sorsby, the NBA champion New York Knicks, FIFA in North America, and way-too-early NFL Super Bowl contenders.



The Locker Room is a podcast for former athletes navigating the confusing and often painful transition from a life centered around sports to a life outside of the game. For many athletes, walking away from sports is more than the end of a season. It can feel like losing purpose, community, and even a piece of who you are. One day, your life is built around competition and performance. Then suddenly, it's not. No schedule. No team. No clear version of who you are supposed to become next. This podcast explores the emotional weight of that transition: the identity crisis, the anxiety, the depression, the feeling of being lost, and the pressure to “move on” before you have fully processed what you left behind. Through honest conversations, personal reflection, and relatable stories, The Locker Room creates space for former athletes to feel seen, understood, and reminded that they are not alone. Life after sports is not just about finding a new career or routine. It is about rediscovering purpose, rebuilding identity, and learning that who you are has always been bigger than what you did.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

What is up everybody, it's your boy Jalen, and welcome or welcome back to the Locker Room Podcast, the number one podcast in the world for former athletes to engage in conversations about the difficulty of transitioning out of a highly committed sports lifestyle and into normal life. We're entering season two and I'm super excited for everything we'll talk about for the next few months. The first part of today's conversation is centered around one big question. When it comes to injured athletes, why are we primarily concerned with their physical health rather than our holistic well-being? Because when you really think about injuries, it's not just about what happens to the athlete's body. It's also about what happens to their mind, what happens to their emotions, what happens to their social life. But another glaring issue is the lack of support behind these athletes at times. In season one, we briefly talked about the concerning nature of sports culture with a strong emphasis on winning rather than development. This may go hand in hand with coaches being pressured to rush athletes off the treatment table and back onto the field before they're fully ready to go, both physically and mentally, or disregarding injured athletes altogether because they're no longer creating value for the team. So today we're going to talk about how injuries disrupt more than the body, how being hurt can affect an athlete's identity and connection to the team, and why long-term well-being has to matter just as much as returning to play. And of course, I'm not having this conversation alone. I'm joined by Majon Wheeler and Jack Ridgway, who are both old friends. They both bring their own perspectives to the topic of managing injuries and overall health as a person and as an athlete. In this episode, we're going to break down three things. Number one, how injuries affect more than the athlete's body and why the mental, emotional, and social side of recovery deserves more attention. Number two, what athletes can take away from the recovery process when the game is taken away, their role changes and they're forced to figure out who they are outside of performance. And number three, why this conversation matters right now because too many athletes are still being pushed to return before they are fully ready, while the long-term effects on their health, identity, and life after sports get overlooked. Whether you're a former athlete, a current athlete, a parent, a coach, or just somebody who loves the game, this conversation is going to give you something to think about. But before we get into it, make sure you subscribe to follow the show, leave a five-star review, like, comment, and share this episode with another athlete or sports fan who needs to hear this conversation. But without further ado, let's step into the locker

Introduction and Personal Backgrounds

SPEAKER_03 2:28

room. Mai John, go ahead and introduce yourself, please.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Oh, well, my name's Maijan Wheeler, uh, former football player, played college ball at Columbus State, played a high school ball at Fed County High School, which is where I coach and teach now. Um been playing, you know, flag football for the past couple years and just suffered a uh an injury, another injury on the list. So, you know, just here to talk about it.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

Sounds good. Appreciate you for joining us. Jack, go ahead and introduce yourself, please.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Hey everybody. My name is Jack Ridgway. Uh, I grew up playing baseball most of my life. A lot of pickup basketball, football, a little bit of everything. Uh grew up with both of these guys, went to school with them, uh, Jalen from all the way from elementary up to high school. Uh went to the University of West Georgia. Uh, didn't play baseball there, had some injuries near the end of my high school, the career that kind of messed all that up. But yeah, we'll get into that in a little bit.

Injury Experiences and Initial Reactions

SPEAKER_03 3:27

Yes, sir. Appreciate you, fellas. So uh let's go ahead and get right into it. My John, we'll start with you first. Take us back to um, I know you mentioned a specific injury, and what whichever uh and I know you more than our audience, but take us back to the specific injury. What were you thinking in the moment that it happened? And did those thoughts stay consistent or shift over time?

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Um, so in college, I tore my ACL or ruptured ACL, tore it all the way through, um, sprained MCL and tore meniscus on both sides of my knee, actually, like on inside outside of my right knee. And um man, when that injury happened, like the second I felt it in my knee, I knew I was done. Like this when my coach came and checked on me when I was laying on the field, I was kind of just I was kind of just like sitting there, like, I can't believe that just happened. I really thought I broke my leg. I really didn't know what it was, but whatever it was, I knew I couldn't play. Like I knew I was um knew I was done. I knew I was done playing.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

So knew you were done playing for that season or just um.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Oh no, I I knew I was done regardless. Like I knew after that it was probably like no coming back. Like I knew the injury, well, I'll say I knew the injury was major when it happened.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Okay, gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Jack, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Uh I'll go back to probably my main injury that kind of messed up everything as far as my baseball career. Uh, I actually went on a trip in my senior year to Colorado and went snowboarding. Um, really just for the fun of it. I've never been before, but I grew up skateboarding, so snowboarding I caught on pretty easily, but I ended up breaking my ankle out there and tearing ligaments in it. Uh at the time I actually had no idea that I had hurt it that bad. Um, I got back up about 10 minutes after the injury, kept snowboarding for the next two days. Uh, when you have the boot on like that, it was real tight, you know, kind of held my ankle together real well. Um, ended up getting home, uh, got recommended to go get an x-ray and all that by a doctor, and yeah, that's when I found out just how bad everything was. Um, so the coming to terms with that was a little slower of a process for me. Like Mahjong said, you know, I didn't know right away that that was kind of the end of it. Um, but I knew after I got the cast on my leg, then you know, everything was over at that point, and that was in the latter half of my senior season. So from that point on, I was just kind of tagging along with the team, you know, just I still went to all the games and everything, but wasn't playing no more, and I knew that was it for my high school career out there.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

Right. So, a question for both of y'all on that, what you just brought up at the end there, Jack, was which one was kind of which one was harder? Like recovering from the physical injury, going through the whole process of having to do physical therapy, seeing different specialists, or was it watching your teammates and stuff still enjoy playing, still competing and all that?

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Uh yeah, I actually had a I feel like I have a different outlook on this than a lot of people would. Um generally, a lot of my physical recovery, it took a little longer than most injuries before, but I had a lot of uh I guess I had a lot of happiness in my life, so I really wasn't looking down on it in that kind of way. Uh, I still I definitely wanted to be out on the field. Um, but you know, I'd much rather I was I was still able to be there with my team and cheer them on and know that you know I still had some other stuff going on in life to where I wasn't, you know, just feeling down every day. Um the physical recovery was a long time for that. Well, a long time in that sense. I mean, being at the age of 18, it did recover pretty quickly. I was fully healed in about five or six months. That's still a good amount of time. Um, but you know, as you get older, you know, I've had an injury that took a lot longer than that. I'll get into that later. Um,

The Emotional Impact of Injuries

SPEAKER_00 7:20

but being there with the teammates, you know, it was still really cool to see them and be happy for all of them. I was definitely able to do that. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but it wasn't too hard for me uh as far as dealing with that injury and being able to kind of still be there and be supportive of everybody else, honestly.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Okay, cool. And and that's good to hear because uh one thing that I've talked about before is just um because sports for me was such a huge part of my life, even though I never really experienced like a major injury, um, even the times where I I was where I had to sit out for a little bit, you know, it c it really hurt me because I was just like, man, I'm not even doing anything else. Like I'm just kind of sitting here, not really having an impact on anything, even though like obviously you can be supportive, but you know, it's not the same. So that is good that you had that that extra like hope or or motivation to, you know, or to not lose hope, I guess. Um Mahjong, what about you?

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Well, mine was a little different because I started coaching football at my college, like that. So I tore my ACL in the spring. Um that fall, well, right after spring practice was done, the head coach, defensive coordinator, and everybody kind of pulled me in. All the coaches had a meeting with me. And I really didn't know what they were gonna, they were gonna like what we were gonna talk about. Um I had been away from the the team outside of like games, like I wasn't going to practices and stuff for spring. Um, but we had these little like spring games because it was we were coming off the COVID uh year over there, so we played spring. Um but I immediately started coaching. So it was it was very hard because that fall, well that July I had surgery, and then that August I was supposed to be the defensive backs coach. So it was it was really tough because I was going through rehab and all that, as well as and and coaching. And it was tough, man, because like I'm watching the guys, like I'm preparing the guys to get ready to play, and I had just played with them a couple months ago. So it was it was really tough for me. And then like they're looking at me for coaching and and advice and things like that. So it was it was really a hard thing to um kind of get through for me.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Right, okay, so I kind of want to rewind uh just a little bit, just uh on the kind of on the recovery process, but just on the physical side of it. Uh Jack, I want to kind of ask you, um, I know you said it was in the latter part of the your senior season, but did you have any college aspirations for baseball? And like, did you even though like you know you've done stuff since high school, did you ever question whether or not you'd be the same athlete?

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Yeah, so I definitely I definitely feel like it absolutely got in the way of playing college ball. Uh that was my original plan was to go play just probably somewhere D2 or maybe even D3. Um I wasn't, you know, a star of the show or anything like that, but I definitely had had some good coaching. I was in some uh I was in some pitching training in my mostly 11th and 12th grade year, but I did a little of it in my sophomore year. Um but I'd had uh these two guys who had had their own program that they did. It was like a pitching program. Uh they did a lot for like hip mobility, arm care, everything. You know, they they knew a lot of what they were doing, uh physically and mentally for athletes. Um so I'd got a lot of motivation from them. And yeah, I originally did plan on playing college ball. Uh I was I had already gotten accepted to West Georgia and a few other colleges. Um I planned on originally trying to play there, but I was pretty much just going to be a walk-home. Um, but I figured, you know, that I could probably at least make the team that year, if not in my sophomore year. But yeah, that injury definitely it definitely set me back for that. I I could have probably went out and tried again in my sophomore year and got back on the team, or at least been able to kind of you know be with the team at that point if I'd have got back into training a lot more. But it just kind of it kind of really never came back up in my life as far as like what I aspired to do. Um, I definitely would look back every once in a while and wonder if I should have done that or not, because by

Coaching and Recovery Challenges

SPEAKER_00 11:36

the time I was in full recovery from that injury was probably September of my freshman year of college. So I would have had about a good, a little over a year to have you know fully got back into training and everything, to been able to try out for baseball that following year. Uh so yeah, I definitely, definitely think it could have uh been came back in my sophomore year. But as far as you know, when I talk to people, I tell them it definitely uh disrupted my plans to play college ball. But it didn't really it I didn't feel like it was the end of the world in a sense. I just felt like it just kind of changed everything. Um, I mean for a minute, you know, back and forth it kind of did feel like the end, but I knew, like I was saying, I knew I still had a lot of other good things going on, you know, playing sports and stuff outside of baseball.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

So right, okay. Um so Mahjong, kind of the same question, but a little different because you said you went into coaching basically right after uh right after it happened, right after season. And so how did that how did the injury kind of affect your ability to coach? Because as a DB coach, I mean you can explain stuff all day, but we both know you know some the best way to do something is by showing it. So how did that kind of affect your ability to do that? And also now that you're you're in flag football and doing other things, how has that kind of affected you now?

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Um, well, when I was coaching, I took more of the like the film study. I took the role of more of like film study and um like putting together the packages for the defense or designing like different coverages and stuff we wanted to do. So my part was more more so like teaching. And I think it helped me as a coach, and it would have helped me as a player if I would have taken those things, you know, more serious or more like you know, just put more effort into it. But it just opened my eyes up as a as a coach, because you know, like you said, it's it's hard to be a DB coach and you can't really like walk through the drills and stuff like that. But thank God our defensive coordinator was a former DB too. So he was able to kind of you know walk the guys through whatever drills we had. And um, but it was it was it was tough, man. Like mentally, it was I felt like I don't know. Jack said he didn't feel like it was the end of his world, but it felt like it was the end of mine.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Okay, um, so why why why did you feel like it was the end?

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Um, well, at the time I had talked to some coaches from like arena football, and like they had these leagues, like these Euroleagues, where you can go play like overseas, or I think at the time Mexico was trying to build this big league or whatever, and they called my coach and they was like, we would love to have him if he's not gonna go play, you know, anywhere else. And you know, they had a draft, and I was like projected in like the first couple picks of the draft and things like that. So to know like all of that was you know in front of me, and then I have this injury to where I can't play anymore. It was it was pretty tough, man.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

Yeah, I can definitely understand that. Um, so I guess I want to ask you also, Jack. You you have consistently said the injury was not, it didn't feel like the end of your career. Why, why, why it was that?

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Uh yeah, I think I think if I would have had a lot more kind of going on around the baseball world, kind of like Mahjong, you know, with the coaching aspect and everything, especially being in college ball too. Uh, I definitely think if I would have had the same type of injury in college, it would have felt a lot more like the end of my world. Uh especially what goes on in college, you know, as far as workouts. I know uh one of your prior episodes, you were talking about

Reflections on Career Aspirations

SPEAKER_00 15:27

uh the schedule of just, you know, waking up for breakfast, having film to watch, having this to do, you know, workouts, strength conditioning, pretty much everything. Uh so I know in college ball, it definitely would have probably had a lot more of an effect on me. But uh at the time in high school, um, you know, I kind of did a little bit of everything throughout the year. So, you know, baseball season, I'd be in tune with baseball uh after that throughout the rest of the year, you know, I'd be doing a lot of skateboarding, a lot of running, uh, just a lot of basketball and stuff like that. Never played basketball for the school or anything, but just did a lot of it on the side. Um, I played a lot of little sports, like with my church and everything, a lot of volleyball, you know, ultimate frisbee, all that. Uh so as far as um sports, it didn't really baseball was definitely my number one, but like I said, it wasn't my like day-to-day yearly process. You know, it was more of just like in season, uh, more of like a few months out of the year, and then you know, a few months of off-season training during the year. So for me, it it was more of just like a like a season, I guess. And I was able to kind of look at it like that and know that there was gonna be another season come about uh you know, once the injury was over, even though I knew it wouldn't be in baseball. And I think definitely recently, uh even in my you know late 20s now or mid to late 20s, I've definitely looked back and I miss baseball a good bit. Um, I think I wish I could have had that time to play in college just for the experience and just for the fun of it. Uh it was a big part of my life. You know, I started playing at three years old. So yeah, definitely was a lot of a lot of my life spent in baseball.

SPEAKER_03 16:56

Yeah, that's very interesting to hear uh because mahjong uh we've talked about this before, and I wanted to ask you that, Jack, because you know, like I've said, I've talked about that before, which I'm not really gonna get into, but I know we've talked about before Mahjong about how you know playing football pro well in college first and then going pro was like the only thing that we talked about. Like that was all we talked about growing up, all we talked about in high school, even in college. Um talked about how we could take steps to get to that next level. Um, and we never really well I know for I I didn't, I I'll let you kind of speak for yourself, Mahjong, but I never took the time to uh put myself in different positions to you know not focus on football all year round. Like obviously I ran track in the spring, I played football in the in the uh in the fall, but you know, other than that, there wasn't really much I was doing. So um, so I want you to speak to that, Mahjong, and and kind of what it was like for you.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Um I really thought like being an athlete or being a football player was like who Mahjong was as a person. Like it was like when football wasn't there, I had no idea what I was gonna do with my life. Like I went to Columbia State to play football, to try to go to another school or try to get an opportunity somewhere else bigger. Like, even though it was a small school or whatever, I still had those aspirations to go play beyond college and to know that I was good enough to do it was like just more validation for me to go, you know, go try to go play somewhere else or go try to get paid. Because that's you know, like you said, that's what we talked about, that's what we dreamt about. Like, I mean, even from being kids playing PlayStation, like I would correct myself on the game and try to see like what team I think I would be the best on, what number I would wear, stuff like that. So yeah, man. So when when when it was when it felt like it was at my fingertips, and then it just like split second, snap a finger. Oh my god, what happened to my knee? And it just went away. It was it was it was crazy. It was a it was it was different. And I ain't gonna lie, I'm 29 now. I I hurt myself like I was like 23, 24. I'm not gonna lie, bro. I just I'm just now getting like over it. Like I'm just now at peace

Community and Support During Recovery

SPEAKER_01 19:21

with, you know, not trying to go play arena ball or not trying to go play somewhere else. Like I'm definitely not going to like semi-pro 37 you or nothing like that. So um it was it was it was just an adjustment that I had to make that I wasn't ready for or even thought what even happened. Like I never took you know injuries or serious injuries into account because anytime I got hurt, I really honestly kept playing.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

So okay. Um so on to kind of a different topic. Um, or before before we move on, did do either one of y'all want to add more about basically what we've talked about up to this point?

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Yeah, I was actually gonna bounce off of one thing my John just said real quick, um, just as a kind of kind of like a motivation to the younger uh athletes who might be listening to this. Um part of the reason I think as to why baseball wasn't, you know, I I didn't really have any like, I mean, of course I everybody dreams of going to the pros, you know. I definitely had dreams of going to the MLB and all that. Um, but I didn't really develop many of the college dreams up until like my later high school years. And I think I attribute a decent bit of that to the fact that I actually took a couple I took two years or like two seasons out of baseball when I was 12 and 13 years old. Um not for any real particular reason. I just kind of got a little bit bored with it at the time, and then I came back into it in high school. Uh so I actually started off in high school a little bit behind the curve of people. Um, so I had to do a lot of training to kind of catch back up, you know, to see in the the faster pitching, the faster paced play, you know, all that versus like the early middle school days. Um so I think that's that's one little bit of motivation I just wanted to give to real quick um to the younger athletes. You know, stay stay in seasons with what you want to do as far as sports. If you do want to make a career out of it, whether it be college or pro, you know, uh try not to take too much time off of it, unless it is for like health or mental reasons, you know, stuff like that. Um but it is important to play at every level so that you'll be ready for the next level. I agree with that.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

Yeah, most definitely. I I agree too. Um, so switching to a a different topic, um, because I I I think this is something that uh isn't really talked about. Uh well, injuries in itself aren't really talked about that much, I don't think. But did any part of the the injuries you guys experience in the recovery process and uh being part of the team while not really being physically able to uh contribute, so to speak, did any of that change the way you viewed your coaches, your trainers, your teammates? Or did it kind of reveal a side of sports that you hadn't uh really realized before?

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Um, I got a whole new version of like next man up from my coach and staff. And I'm not gonna lie, my coach might get mad at me for saying this, but when I got hurt, nobody really believed I was like seriously injured. Um, and I can vividly remember being on the field, the trainer running the test, and I'm crying my eyes out, not because of the pain, but like I said, in that moment I felt like you know it was over. Um and I can vividly remember like my coach telling me stop crying and it's not that bad, and I'm being over-dramatic and things like that. Like as I'm laying there as the trainer, it's like doing the test to see if my ACL or knee is still intact. And um it kind of made me look at my coach different. And then after the game, like I my peers or people around me kind of asked me, like, oh bro, you are you good? And I was like, Yeah, I'm straight. And that was it. And nobody, you know, came by and like talked to me about it. Nobody really, I guess nobody really knew what to say. Um, but it just it just made me like, you know, we preach family in sports like to our to the kids or to the people that play. Like it's we're all we always talk about family. Um, but at that point, it didn't really feel much like family to me because, you know, a whole bunch of other things start happening in my life after that. And the only thing I would hear about is the other things that I kind of picked up on um after, or other things I started doing to kind of cope with my um injury. Um, but I didn't hear like nobody like it didn't feel like anybody really cared about that part, or like again, like you're being dramatic about that part. Like, let's cut the other stuff out, but it was no real dialogue or real like conversation about you know what I was like going through mentally in my head.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Okay, uh Jack. Uh yeah, I'm just gonna I'm mostly I'm just gonna kind of uh go off what Mahjong was saying here. Uh well a lot of my so when I have my injuries in high school, or my main one, like I was talking about earlier, um, generally most of the guys that I was on the team with, um, like I grew up with a lot of them. Uh so there wasn't, I mean, there was that sense of you know community, like he was saying, but there wasn't exactly that like day-to-day or week-to-week basis of people really checking in. Um, and I think I think a lot of that in high school was not really understanding that like them guys didn't really know that you know my baseball career was over. They just kind of we all just kind of assumed that we'd either be going to play in college or going off to do, you know, whatever else everybody was doing, whether it be like military or school or anything like that. Um, but I could see that definitely in a college aspect as to where uh you would feel you'd feel a lot more need for that community, especially like in the injury, like in the stat or like in the like the statue of what yours was, you know, just being a really, you know, really heavy injury. And then like you said, kind of from the first instance of it happening, you feeling like you know, a lot of the people aren't really seeing you.

Isolation and Mental Health Post-Injury

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Um I think that's why it's so important, especially, you know, especially as a coach, too, especially as coaches and like training staff and everything, to kind of be in tune with your players, with your uh with your team and everybody, just making sure that they're all right, even outside of the sport after the injury, too. Um yeah, that's pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

Yeah, the uh you that's what I was thinking about that. Yeah, you guys both hit points that I I um or just brought things up to my mind while you were speaking. Uh Mahjong, kind of what you were talking about. I think one thing that uh uh is uh a a major part of why I wanted to talk about this is because injuries create isolation, especially when you have these major injuries where you physically are not able to make it to practices or workouts, even if you're just standing there watching. And because you're not able to do that sometimes, your teammates not don't see you, right? And because they don't see you, it's like I mean, you're literally you're not here with us, you're not working out with us, you're not sweating with us, you're not suffering with us, you're not having to participate in these hours worth of meetings and preparation and all this kind of stuff. So it's kind of like you get thrown on a back burner, and not that it's on purpose, but it's just kind of the nature of the beast. But right unfortunately, uh you know, the people that the the injured players suffer from that because now you go from like you said, everybody's calling it a brotherhood. Where well now it's like you may get a like a handful. Well, you can probably count on one hand how many people really care about your you know, just the recovery process and just not even you recovering, but just how you're actually doing. Because like you said, uh in high school it may be it's probably a little different because depending on kind of your future outlook, you might not have college as your as your plan A. Uh, you might and it might affect you a little bit more, but in college, it's like, man, if you're on Starship, especially, man, we're trying to get to the next level, like we're trying to at least compete and and give it our best. And so not having that support is just like, man, I just my career is is in jeopardy right now, and you know, nobody's here for me. So yeah, that that's pretty tough to hear, and um, and that's unfortunate. But I mean, what I guess what were some things, what would be some things that you guys that would have been helpful for you all in that process?

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Oh, Jack, I'll answer that first. Um we still had uh like covet testing going on, so even though I wasn't playing, I still had to report to COVID testing every morning at like 7 a.m. Um and you know, I got my COVID test, walked in there on my coach, and that was it. Like that was pretty much it. It was no are you good? So I got hurt on a Saturday in a game, and then that Monday I still had to go get my COVID test at 7 a.m. and I hobbled in there, and uh yeah, that was it. It was like, okay, well, take your test, took my test, went back to my room. Nobody really said anything. Uh I went to the trainer that Monday after my COVID test. The trainer didn't even believe that I was hurt. She was telling me to bend my leg so she could do the test, and I was like, I can't really go any farther than this. And I vividly remember her grabbing like my leg and like trying to bend it more than I told her I could physically go. I'm like, I can't go any farther than this. And I vividly remember her grabbing my leg and squeezing it together to make it bend more. And then after that, I was like, Yeah, nobody cares about me. So I went and take my COVID test every morning and didn't say much. Nobody said much to me, and we just kind of left like that. And I would have, if I could have picked, or if I could have like been in my coach's shoes, I think I would have just talked to me every morning, like just on a regular conversation, or just like, you know, man, you know, just take it day by day or some some type of words of encouragement, but I would have done it like I would have made sure I went out of my way every time I seen that guy or seen the person that got hurt to like do that, to make it a point that I do that. Um, but you don't really get that because you know, college ball is totally different than high school balls. Like, yeah, you might be a three-year starter or I was a four-year starter, but it's like once you hurt and you don't really have any value to the team, um there's not really much, you know, they say or kind of do for you after that. So I would have I would have liked the like I said, the word brotherhood that we preached all day, every day, I would have like liked to see that in in play. Yeah, that's understandable.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

That's that's terrible. Um just hearing hearing the story of the trainer, and that's I mean, that you can't be more negligent and ignorant than that.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

I literally so she did that, and I literally jumped off the table like in tears, like jumped off the table in tears, and they were trying to get me to sit back down and come back, and I literally like limped to my room, and that was it. I was like, Yeah, I'm I'm done. I'm not finna do this with y'all. I think I called my mom after that, and we kind of talked about it, and you know, she was really encouraging. Like that night I FaceTime my mom, like after I got hurt crying and stuff like that. And you know, it really made me, I guess at the time, like, you know, people in Columbus or the staff or my my teammates, I was looking at them as more of my family than my own actual family. So it just kind of put it back into perspective, like, you know, these are the people that's actually here for you. Now I have some great teammates or some some guys I still talk to today, and they checked on me and they, you know, did the best that they could, but you know, that other than that, man, I just felt like, you know, I'm still two hours away from home or hour and a half away from home. Like, nobody, I still I can't hug my mom if I'm having a bad night or if I feel my need like start hurting or aching or anything like that. Like I was going through all of that kind of by myself. Like, like you said, isolation. I was extremely isolated. Like I literally dropped all my classes, except for one online class, so I could stay on campus, and I literally stayed there.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

So it was it was like I said, man, it was it was rough. It was pretty rough. Yeah, I can yeah, I can tell just by hearing you. It was a hard time for you, man.

unknown 32:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Let me ask, uh for the for the sake, I don't remember if you said it yet, just for the viewers on a podcast. For that injury you had, did you have surgery at that time? Or like when you were showing up to these, like the COVID tests and everything like that, like uh, were you on crutches on a scooter? Like what was your uh well, I guess not a scooter, but were you on crutches or anything or wheelchair, or how was your transportation during that time?

Navigating Injury and Recovery

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Man, I was I can't even remember if I was on I don't even think I was on crutches. I think I was still walking around on it. And I had surgery. Well, one of my one of my teammates actually had a knee injury and he brought me his brace. So I would put the brace on to kind of help me walk around, but I was walking on it for about three months until I had surgery. Oh man. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

Yeah, that's uh that's unacceptable. That's unacceptable. I I'll shave my comments. Uh, but Jack, before I add you out of your piece.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Uh I think I think most of that, uh, I think my John touched on most of it for the most part. Um I just, yeah, that now that now that you say that, that you didn't have that surgery for a while, that kind of that kind of even makes it even more crazier, like how you know a lot of people weren't really believing you with your pain and everything or wasn't realizing. Um I know, like, I know when you're in physical therapy, like it's one thing if your physical therapist is like, oh, you know, push yourself, like, oh, you can do this and that, but a lot of that is in the recovery from an injury. But like you said, it didn't really actually, you technically weren't even in the recovery from your injury up until after you had surgery. Yeah. So if anything, a lot of that process might have been making stuff worse.

SPEAKER_01 33:45

Um, it it was, and then even when I had surgery and I was like recovering, I um, you know, the injury was so bad. I I I just thought about this in church this morning. This is crazy, but um they had recommended that I get a knee replacement. And like I said at the time, I was like 23, 24 going through that. Like I tore that 23, had surgery in July, so I was 24. Um, but they had recommended me get a knee replacement, so my rehab was just so I was able to walk again. It wasn't for return to sport. So once I went through rehab and I was able to like bend and walk, and I was strong enough to like move around on a day-to-day basis, recovery or therapy actually kind of like stopped because they was like, well, he's not gonna play football anymore. So we just wanted to get him functional, and that's what my recovery process was like just get back to have a functioning um knee, basically.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

How was the how was the process like after your surgery? Was it a little better as far as like the right people around you, like physical therapists and all that, or how'd that go?

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Well, I did have a really good physical therapist. Um, and she like I would talk to her about it and tell her like, you know, I I can't believe like I'm not playing anymore. And she just she really just kind of felt sorry for me because it was like such a crazy situation that I was going through. But even even with her, she still was like, um, you know, there's no like actual return to sport. So I did surgery for about I mean I did therapy for a couple months, and once she cleared me, it was just like, all right, well, see how you have a good life, basically. I hope you, you know, I hope your I hope your knee doesn't give you any problems.

The Role of Support Systems in Recovery

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Yeah, that that brings up a point. Um that man, it it's really up to the uh the uh the coaches to make sure they're they have uh qualified people on their staff. Like obviously uh in colleges, physical therapists or athletic trainers don't directly you know always work for specific teams, but they kind they may cover like you know all the teams in in the school. Uh and that could be different at bigger colleges, but I know the the teams I play for in college, um the athletic trainer, they basically just covered all the sports and you would just have to go and then everybody else would be in there too. But I mean man, like it that's really crazy how they just they just push you to the side like that and don't even care about like how you're doing as a person. Like, yeah, obviously as an athlete this sucks, but I mean bro, like you know, you're hurt, like you're literally hurting. Like you would you wouldn't if somebody just fell down on the street and busted their knee up, you wouldn't just be like, oh, you know, you're alright, you're fine, just brush it off. Like, no, like in it, but it shouldn't in sports, like you said, we have this uh this whole tough, you know, quote unquote tough talk or tough mentality that we don't even wanna um we don't even want to like really dive deep into to what is really going on inside the athlete's mind. And kind of one thing you said, Jack, is kind of the the lack of empathy for some of these players, man. Just because you don't feel or don't just because the athlete may not be, you know, grimacing or crying all the time, like it doesn't mean they're not in pain. Like some people respond differently to all kinds of things. But uh I just I think that's kind of the main point from from the teammate perspective is uh just having empathy, man, and putting yourself in other people's shoes because just because you aren't injured doesn't mean it can't happen to you. And kind of something you mentioned earlier, Jack, is that uh in high school it's kind of easy to think, oh yeah, we're all gonna play in college and whatever, but uh only seven percent uh of eight million high school athletes go on to play in college, roughly. So it's just like obviously all because of injury, but it's just that's just the reality of it. Everybody's not gonna play in college for all kinds of reasons, and injury is a part of that. So yeah, it it's really just tough that uh you know you you experience that, or it sucks that you experience that. Um but uh I guess uh another question um did any at any point did that injury kind of affect how you thought long term, like not even talking about sports, but just did you think about the implications that it would have on your life, you know, at at 35, 50, whatever?

SPEAKER_00 38:25

I think I'll uh touch on this one real quick. I definitely I've had uh I've had a decent bit of injuries um over the years, some of them, you know, not bad, some of them pretty bad. And I've seen a lot of different ways of how I've reacted, you know, from a kid, like some of my I mean I broke my leg when I was nine years old. Uh that had me out and about for a little while. Uh that recovery was literally about two months. Like when you're a kid, you know, the recovery is just insanely fast. Uh, but I broke my leg at nine. I cut my leg open pretty bad at middle school. Um by my freshman year of high school. I had I actually had like a I had kind of jumped and kind of landed awkward and actually had like a groin problem. Uh ended up having to do physical therapy for that. That's where I learned how important stretching was. Uh kind of like my John was saying earlier about uh a lot of his recovery process with the injury he's dealing with right now, um, just how important stretching is, especially at a young age, but at the age we're at now for longevity. Um, but yeah, to touch back kind of what you're saying, I definitely think that my mindset was different for different injuries, but I would find myself like, I mean, at times, you know, in a in a pretty like not dark place or anything, but I'd find myself in a pretty depressed mood a lot. Um, you know, I you know, back when we were younger, you know, hop on the game and stuff. If you're injured or sick, you know, that was normal, so we didn't really mind being at home. But once it gets to a point where it's like week after week, you know, months on end, um, it gets kind of kind of hard to be in that repetitiveness. And then I, you know, you start thinking about it like when you're older, you know, you're not really just gonna be content with hopping on a game or just sitting back and watching, you know, movies or something all day. Um, and you're grateful for that when you're dealing with the injury, but you know, it gets kind of repetitive, gets to a point to where uh you wonder how it'll affect you next time you get injured. Um, one thing for me is I'm scared to get injured, uh, especially um, you know, full-time working now with the job and stuff we have nowadays. Uh, if I, you know, if I hurt my ankles again, it'll put me out of work for a little while. Um, and then in the future, when I have a family, I know that you know I'm not gonna be able to be doing all the sports and risking all these injuries and stuff. And it's it's giving me a lot of wisdom in a sense, too, you know, to make sure I take care of my body. Uh, because as you do get older, you know, injuries hurt worse, they last longer and they have more lasting effects. Um, I know with modern medicine and you know, as medicine advances even more, I mean, who knows? We'll probably have, you know, all these like knee replacements and stuff will probably be a few week-long process by the time we could be 40 or 50. But at the same time, you know, we can't really bet on that. Uh, so I think it's just important to take care of our bodies and make sure that we kind of keep ourselves out of those um places of like despair when we are injured. Um, you know, finding good hobbies as well that don't require much moving around. Uh, make sure you do a bit of reading and stuff, reading's real good for you. That's kind of some of the things that I've tried to do whenever I do get injured.

Long-Term Implications of Injuries

SPEAKER_03 41:27

Okay, Mahjong.

SPEAKER_01 41:29

Um, well, with my knee. I didn't think, you know, I didn't really think about day-to-day because, like I said, my whole therapy was about being functional. So I knew I would be able to like walk and work and do all those things. And like I said, I've had started coaching, and that's what I was in school for. So I was like, well, I'll just get an early start or like a yearhead start on my career. Um, but shortly after I left Columbus, I had an injury to my back and don't even really know why or how what happened. And that put me in a spot where, you know, I thought like I have no idea what's gonna what I'm gonna look like at 35 um or what I'm gonna look like at 30. Because at that time I had two herniated discs in my lower back and a bulging disc. So basically three three discs. Yeah, basically three discs were displaced in my back. And I couldn't walk. And I was stuck in the bed. And for some for us for the whole summer after graduation, I didn't do anything. I was, I couldn't really stand, I couldn't really bear the pain for like longer than like five or ten minutes, even to the point where I was on a cane and like using a cane to walk around and things like that. And that made me that put me in a space where it's like, dude, like you're we're definitely not playing sports again. Like, we're definitely not getting active again. Like, we just I just want to be able to walk. Um, but once I kind of fought through that and was able to like get my feet back under me and able to run and jump and all that, I just told myself I would never be in a position to where like I wouldn't run or I wouldn't jump or I wouldn't go play. Um so it was a dark time, like when I couldn't, when I was like kind of stuck in the bed. And then even then the doctors were telling me, like, you know, you're gonna based off of like what we're looking at, you can recover because you're young, but at the same time, like this would be a lifelong issue. Ended up not really being that. But um they were talking about back surgery at at 25. Like at when I turned 25, literally, my 25th birthday. I was in a bro. Jack, my 25th birthday, I was in a hospital bed. I spent my 25th birthday in a hospital bed dealing with this. Back injury. They were telling me, you know, you might as well like just go ahead and prepare your mind. I remember like my girlfriend at the time, we were looking up like she was looking up like wheelchair football or something like that. Cause they told me I was gonna end up basically being in a wheelchair, like at some point in my life. Um but thank God that that didn't happen, and that's not that's not true. I didn't really I think the back injury made me like kind of stop listening to doctors.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

But yeah, I think there's a disconnect too with the daughters. I mean, they know a lot, but they you know, they they do not know everything as far as that. So and I think you know willpower plays a lot of uh a lot of role into it, and prayer in my life, you know, plays a lot into it too. Exactly. Um, but back problems of that nature, you know, at a young age, you don't really hear about that much in high school, but you know, for the young athletes who don't know, you know, the lower back, the herniated disc, bulging disc, all that kind of stuff. That's stuff that that's stuff that shouldn't, you know, that shouldn't be happening at a young age. And it can definitely stuff. No, go ahead, Jay. One bad. I was gonna say if it does happen at a young age, it absolutely can have lasting effects. Yeah. Um, you know, leading to like lifelong, just lifelong pain, all that kind of stuff. So that's that's a that's a real blessing that you don't have that right now.

SPEAKER_01 45:18

Yeah. And then for the young athletes too, something that you know I really didn't know until I got to my mid-20s. Like you can have a a bulging disc or a herniated disc and not even know. Like, won't even know, won't affect you until it does. So it's just really important that you know, guys and girls like you take care of your bodies and you know, do the right things and make sure you're recovering from you know, workouts or injuries, even and just making sure you're eating the right foods and doing the right things. Like, you know, your coaches will tell you make sure you stretch or make sure you're you know you warm up properly and all those things, because like not doing that for one instant or for one practice can last uh it can have a lifelong um effect on you.

SPEAKER_00 46:04

So it's just you gotta you gotta be more mindful of stuff like that. Yeah, that's that's one thing I was gonna make sure I mentioned too, is I knew somebody who didn't really stretch too much in high school, and he in tryouts, he actually uh it was a slap tear, so it wasn't the worst thing, but he pretty much tore his quad, um, just sprinting, uh just you know, just from not stretching. He was a good athlete, you know, great at what he did too, but just just didn't stretch. And that's that's a big important thing that I was I was grateful to learn at a young age, like 15 years old, how important it was. But that's something, you know, develop your own stretching routine, that's that's real important.

unknown 46:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Yeah, uh that was great. Um, so I guess kind of following up with that, um along the line of kind of learning things or certain aspects of being an athlete being more highlighted when you're injured or experiencing injuries, how have the injuries uh revealed more about you guys? Like what have you learned about yourself through you know experiencing all this stuff that you may not have learned if the injury never happened?

Lessons Learned Through Injury

SPEAKER_00 47:12

I think uh one one thing I learned about myself, and I kind of had this mindset a lot of my younger life, but it kind of just made itself more aware or more present, I guess. Um, is I've always had a never give up mentality, whether it comes to anything in life, whether it be just a task or you know, a big event, anything like that. Um, so I think I think never giving up, and even even if you know you're gonna be down for a little while, you know, just make sure that you, you know, find some good hobbies to do that you can do during your injury, you know, find uh some and it reveals some stuff in your life too that you may thought you may have never thought you'd be doing this, or like you may never thought that uh your high school or college ball would have been cut short, anything like that. But um, you know, it's perseverance, um, finding a lot of qualities about you know how you take care of your mind, how you take care of your body. A lot of times, you know, an injury will reveal like deeper problems maybe with how you're not taking care of yourself well. Uh, you may not be getting good sleep, you know, a lot of things like that. Um so I think uh kind of got a little off topic. I was I have one thing in my head, but it kind of went away. But I'll just kind of let Mahjong take it from here. But basically, you know, just uh, you know, when you're in a season like that where you're having an injury or anything like that, just just uh see what parts of yourself it can help develop, uh see what parts it kind of um showed shown light on or showed dimness on in your life, and just see what you can do with uh you know all the good and bad in your life. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 48:42

One thing I learned about myself was that I wasn't Superman, and even though I'm not Superman or I'm not like this crazy, you know, athlete that can get through whatever injuries or whatever's going on.

SPEAKER_03 48:56

Can you real quick? You kind of broke up on my end for a second.

SPEAKER_01 48:59

Yes, I said I I figured out that I wasn't Superman. Like I I because I would play through just about any and every injury because I just wanted to play that that bad. Like I remember even having like or feeling like I had a concussion or hitting or getting up from tackling somebody and being a little dazed and like still playing through, um, or even like you know, you know, football, you people don't really talk about this either, but you really do a lot of damage to your hands. And I had a lot of like jammed fingers and compound fractures and stuff. I just wrap them up and keep playing through. Um, but I I learned that I wasn't, well, I was saying I learned that I wasn't Superman, but I was still resilient and I still had a lot of like willpower and and I could still be those things. I could still be resilient and not necessarily be stupid for a lack of better terms. Like, you know, certain things you can't play through, like certain things you shouldn't even try to play through. Um, but I was in mind. No, I was just saying, I was in the mindset of like, man, if you can walk, you can play. If you could, if you can put both feet on the ground and you're good, you can play. But you know, I through the through those processes or through these injuries, like I learned, like, man, recovery and rest is the most important thing. And then also another thing I learned was I needed more like emotional regulation, other than like just going to run or just going to go play ball or going to practice. Like I remember as a kid, even like holding certain stuff in and then just letting it out at practice because that was like my safe space or my sanctuary or whatever. I used to look at it. Um, so you know, I I just I just learned like I'm more than football, more than sport, or more than like what I could, I had more value to my life other than what I could bring to somebody's team.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

Absolutely. Yeah, I think one thing real quick before we go on the next topic, too, about uh how you said kind of being able to differentiate between like injuries versus just like soreness. Like, you know, if you if you do a big workout and you got some muscle soreness, you know, that's one thing to play through that. You know, nothing wrong with that. It's actually good for you most of the time to play through your soreness. But like you're saying, if you've having to wrap your fingers up, uh, you know, if you're having to tape your put KT tape on five different sides of your muscles, um, you know, those are that might be when it's time to kind of take a step back and get some rest and reassess it. But it is important to have that willpower, but you gotta have that knowledge as well of when your body needs to rest. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Extremely important.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

Um, so how has that uh taking what you all just said, what are specific ways in your life right now have those lessons showed up?

Adapting Life After Sports

SPEAKER_01 52:06

Um, I would say the way I sleep, like even down to the way I sleep, like now, you know, I I've done a lot of like research on like how you're supposed to sleep or what position you're supposed to be in, like before. No, you just lay down in the bed and go to bed. Um, but now it's like sleeping with pillows in between my knees, or trying to make sure I sleep with a pillow in between my knee every night, or just what side I'm sleeping on. Like sleep, I sleep on my right side with a pillow in between my knee. Um, and before, like you said, you just jump into bed, go to sleep, wake up. You don't even realize like why certain things are tight or why certain things are sore. Um, but I just was more aware of my body um, you know, through these uh injuries.

SPEAKER_03 52:59

Okay, Jack, you got anything?

SPEAKER_00 53:01

Oh yeah, it does I I agree with most of what he said. Um it kind of ties into the like we were talking about earlier, just getting a good routine with stretching, um, you know, getting good sleep habits, good eating habits. Um, I mean, it's it's easier when you're a kid, you know, to you know, eat some more junk food, stuff like that. Um, you know, not sleep so much at night. Um, but at the end of the day, especially when you're young, I mean, you'll realize if you don't get good sleep when you're young, you'll I mean you'll realize it. Um and then by the time you get older, it's really important to have a lot of those good habits because it's harder to develop at an older age. Uh that's that's one thing I've always been pretty blessed in, is I've been able to sleep, you know, I'm I'm pretty much crawling to bed and I'm asleep in a minute or two, um, even if I ain't tired, you know. Uh every once in a while it'll take me a little while to go to sleep, kind of like it was like Christmas Eve, being a kid, you know. Um but for the most part, I've always been able to go to sleep pretty much right on cue. So I've been blessed for that. Uh, but that's why it's important to develop a lot of those good habits at a younger age, especially, you know, if you're aware of them, you know, don't deny them. Um it's it's one thing if you don't know, you know, if you don't know good ways to sleep, know good things to eat. But that's important too to reach out to teammates and reach out to people around you too and get some good advice about a lot of that.

SPEAKER_03 54:11

Yeah, for sure. Okay. Um, so kind of one of the last questions, and then I'll let you I'll let you all freestyle if you have anything else. What what kind of advice? I know Jack, you gave some earlier, uh, what would you all say to any current or former athletes who who have dealt with injuries and and uh especially for current athletes who feel like they're losing themselves because they can't play right now? They're kind of instilling this recovery process, they may not be getting the support they need or that they want, and they're kind of fearful about their future.

Advice for Injured Athletes

SPEAKER_03 54:40

What would you all say to them?

SPEAKER_01 54:44

Um, Jack kind of touched on it earlier. He said, like, find like a hobby or like like a low-intensity uh activity or sport or something like that. And I would tell young athletes, because we me and my kids kind of talk about it now, um, but don't be afraid to get into coaching. Like, don't don't look at coaching as like, oh, I'm just an old guy or I can't play anymore, so I'm gonna coach. Like, embrace if you if you've if coaching is on your mind, like embrace it because the the transition from player to coach is like is it's a really beautiful process if you do it the right way. Like a lot of coaches kind of get into coaching because of injury or because they can't play anymore. And you know, they still hold on to you know those feelings or those emotions from when they were players, but you have to look coaching, makes you look at your sport in a totally different way. Um, so I would say like, like you said, find a low-intensity activity or sport that you enjoy, or even if it's not a sport, just find something outside of your sport that kind of brings you peace. And remember that you know, you're more than your sport, like you're more than just a ball player, you're more than just a guy who's good at hitting home runs or a guy who's good at tackling, like you bring more to the table than your athletic abilities. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 56:15

That's great. Go ahead, Jack.

SPEAKER_00 56:17

Yeah, uh, I think you know, Mahjong said it pretty well. Um, for the most part, summed everything up. Uh the one other thing that kind of was on my mind on that topic uh is just, you know, about you know, we all we all have a greater purpose in this life. Um, and a lot of times it takes you getting knocked down to figure it out. And a lot of times, you know, that purpose will change over and over. Um, but at the end of the day, there's very few people whose, or excuse me, very few people who will play at that top professional level. Um, like you said, I know you've given some stats in the earlier episodes about, you know, how many people who really do go pre play professional, uh, especially in different sports. You know, some teams have a range of 15 to just 45 or so players, but they don't know what sport it is. Um, but you know, most people, your sports career is gonna end a lot sooner than you think it will. Um, but it doesn't have to, like Mahjong was saying, you know, you could go into coaching. Uh, there's a lot of other stuff you could do, especially career uh career-wise. You could do like athletic training, um, you could do like sports broadcast and stuff like that if you want to be around it. I know I've definitely thought about doing something like that one day. Um, I know it's a little more of a thing of the past now, but like sports writing, uh journalists and stuff like that. Um, it's really important for today's game. Well, a little more of her back then, but you know, with the internet and everything. But there's a lot of purpose you can find um in life, even around sports, if you're not able to actually play the sport itself. Uh so just you know, make sure you take a step back. And sometimes you'll get knocked down and you'll you'll have to find it the hard way. But you know, that's just that's what life does to you a lot. So yeah, just find purpose.

SPEAKER_03 57:54

Yeah, that's great. Um, and and I've said this before. I I wish that someone would have kind of yanked me a little harder than they did to do something outside of sports, like whatever it is, even if it may be like not I I I do understand and I I do agree that coaching is a good uh is a good step for people who the injuries or whatever might be uh a factor that prohibits them from actually playing. Uh uh. But I do think it's important also to uh, you know, kind of make that separation because at some point I think that just like you said, Jack, your athletic career ends often a lot sooner than you think, and maybe not in the way that you think it will. And so I think the earlier you can have things that separate you from your athletic ability, it'll be much better for you, you know, if something were to happen, God forbid, that you can't really play like you used to. Like, yeah, we can all play, you know, football in the front yard or whatever, but you know, we'll have still have those moments like, ah man, like I will, you know, what if I got another, I got I got another shot. So I think just having something on the side that you do just for fun, uh as like a hobby, like you, like you, like you all said, is um I think that's good for especially younger athletes because the earlier you start, it's not as hard to adjust um as you get older while you're still doing it. But if you're already, you know, in your 20s, especially if you kind of start this process after like 25, like you already got a life, full-time job, a family, all this other these other kind of responsibilities, then it's a lot harder to just be like, oh yeah, well, I'll pick up a new hobby doing X, Y, or Z because you know your time is already tied up with so many different things. But um, but yeah, I definitely agree with with everything you guys said. So uh with that being said, do you have anything else that we did not hit y'all want to cover right now before we move on?

SPEAKER_00 59:47

Uh I think for the most part, said a good bit of everything.

unknown 59:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:53

One thing I would add though, I know we're talking about like injuries and not playing and this and that, but if you are playing, or if you are at the level in your adulthood where you can still get out and move around, I just say enjoy the moment. Like um or enjoy like what you get from that sport, but know that there's more to life than than that. Like we've kind of said that over and over again, but like really enjoy those moments. Like, don't look at it as oh well, I'm playing high school football now, but I'm um, you know, can't wait for college. Like just live in that exact moment and be present in that exact moment. And like if your coach is telling you to run hard, like don't look at it as or play harder or try harder, don't look at it as like your coach is getting on to you or things like that. Like, do do that. Like, do what they're telling you to do because there's gonna be a time where you don't have that, like you don't have a practice to go to, you don't have a game to look forward to on a Saturday. So, like just enjoy every single moment and soak it all in because it is gonna come to an end at one, it can come to an end, snap a finger. It happened to me. So just be present in those moments, knowing that it's gonna come to an end at some point.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:21

Yeah, I agree. That's perfect. Uh, Jack, you want to add anything else to that?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

No, that's I think that's the perfect way to finish it off right there. That was that was a great message to hear right there. I think uh, you know, a lot of wise words have been spoken, it seems like on here. Um, you know, a lot of a lot of y'all young athletes, whoever's watching this, whether you're you know our age, you know, young, middle school, high school, uh, we just hope that y'all can take some of what we've said and apply it to your lives and you know, just know that a lot of what you went through, we probably went through it as well. Um, there's gonna be some pretty unique things that you go through as well, but there's always somebody who's been through something similar to you. Uh so just you know, reach out to those people. And if you need help getting through something specific, just find somebody who's been through it and you know, reach out and get some help like that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

Yeah, perfect way to end it. So uh we're gonna take a quick break here, and when we come back, we're gonna talk about um some things in the college sports landscape that we absolutely need to talk about as former athletes and and how it is it's transforming the game right before our eyes. So we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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Impact of Sports Gambling on the College Landscape

SPEAKER_03 1:03:24

All right, we are back, everybody. Now it is time to talk about something that is uh pretty crazy in my opinion. It's been all over the news, and we're going to talk about uh sports gambling in college and more specifically Brendan Soresby, uh quarterback that played for Texas Tech and Indiana, and I think maybe one more school. Um we have to talk about this because uh sports gambling is obviously huge with pro sports, but ever since they they've allowed it in college, it seems like going. Uh it's just been kind of going downhill from there as far as the integrity of the game and protecting the players and making sure that the games are are being played fair. I mean, from from the athletes' perspective, because well, I I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but uh, I'm gonna read this. I actually tried to give me a quick 30-second overview of the Brendan Soresby story because it's a lot to follow. But for the listener, I wanted to make things simple. So here's what Chad had to say. Brendan Soresby is a college quarterback who transferred to Texas Tech, but his career got thrown into chaos after he admitted to violating NCAA gambling rules. Court document said he plays thousands of bets, including bets tied to schools he attended, and the NCAA ruled him ineligible. He sued the NCAA and briefly won an injunction that could have let him play in 2026, but he later dropped the lawsuit, which made him ineligible ineligible again and ended his college career. The bigger story is that he then tried to jump the NFL jump to the NFL through the supplemental drive, but the NFL denied it by saying he hadn't shown enough accountability. The CFL, uh meaning Canadian Football League, also blocked teams from signing him. So now his football future is likely pushed into the 2027 NFL drive. Um so I just want to get you guys uh kind of instant reactions on that. What what are you all making of that right there?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:22

Yeah, actually uh I've heard a name, didn't really know too much about the story itself. Um I think kind of the biggest thing that caught my ear right there uh was the fact that he like dropped a lawsuit and then tried to get in through the supplement draft like that. Um I kind of I kind of like the first thing I kind of thought off the top of my head was like, I wonder what his original like reason for the lawsuit was. Like, was it because he wanted to translate ball again? Was he looking for money or anything? Or um I kind of I don't know, that's a that's an odd situation. I don't know. I'll have to we'll have to talk about that, but I kind of wondered what his main kind of focus. Was if he decided to drop the lawsuit, um, and then realizing that he, you know, kind of got denied for two or three different realms of football.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:10

Yeah, Major.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:12

I think I think it's crazy. I think the whole well, I I never was a prize picks guy or a guy that did the sports bettings. Um, but the fact that he violated, knew he was violating as he was doing it, and is still trying to play college or or think like an NFL team is gonna like take a chance on them is it's kind of crazy to me. Um I mean, I mean, looking at the league, they had what, Calvin Ridley, who was betting, and he got suspended, and his career hasn't been the same since. So a guy coming into the league with that issue is like that's a huge, huge red flag for a college or any type of protein. And and the fact that he was betting on his actual teams is like if he knows he needs, or if he's on the app and he knows he needs like this amount of uh yards or they need to win by this amount, this margin, or whatever, it's like it's it's it would be a huge problem if this was like a wide it's a huge problem for it to be just one person, but just imagine on a wider scale if like everybody was doing that. We it would be no integrity of the game.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:33

Yeah, it's it's really it's really kind of immoral at the end of the day. Yeah, and it's kind of it can, you know, it can change the game, change the way the game is flowed. I mean, just just outside, even outside the morality of it, like it changes, like you said, it can change the outcome of a game. You know, you don't really care about winning or losing no more, and that affects your teammates, your coaches, all that.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:51

Yeah, yeah, it is, it is definitely crazy. Um, and I think the morality of the players being able to bet is really the biggest issue. But I wanted to go back to the question you asked about why he sued the NCAA. So this is the part that was kind of interesting. Um, so he sued the NCAA because they initially ruled that he was gonna be ineligible because obviously he violated the uh the gambling rule. Um so but a part of a part of the story that was kind of interesting was that he he did um gambling like rehab treatment like for a certain amount of weeks. I don't really know, I'm not really gonna look at that right now. Uh treatment that his his legal team was saying that you know he did the treatment, he should be he should be good to go, basically. So um that's the other part of that. And but but what was weird though was the NCAA ended up saying that you know he was still uh eligible to play, which that that caused a whole bunch of backlash with I think the the Big 12 that Texas Texas Tech is in Big 12 or Big Ten, I I can't really remember. Um, and that's when uh there was a debate about um teams not playing Texas Tech because if he was allowed to play, it's like no, we're we're not playing them. And so uh on that topic, I wanted to say what uh yeah, it was it's the Big 12. Uh coach uh Prime Deion Sanders uh had a little bit to say. They wrote a story on ESPN, I'm not gonna read all of it. But uh one thing that he said that was interesting was he said the game is just positioned differently, money's involved, and anytime money's involved, people tend to migrate to what they think they can get out of it instead of what they could put into it, and that's unfortunate. So the question that I kind of want to ask you guys is how would this have affected us if this was a landscape when we played?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:41

Um, to be honest, you know, I I think gambling, I don't agree with gambling regardless.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:51

So I wouldn't have been a part or would have been a fan of it. And then now that these kids have like NIL money and they're all getting paid to play, it's like it just turns into a monopoly almost. Like there, you could just imagine how many kids or how many guys like stayed in school for long amounts of time, knowing that they probably weren't good enough to go to the league, and they took the school's NIL money, or they took the money from the schools or the NILs or whatever, and then they basically turned around and flipped it and gambled it and made more. And it's like, what are we actually doing here? Are we playing college sports or are we just trying to get rich? So, like what's actually going on?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:40

Yeah, that's a that's a good question as to a lot of people's reasoning, too. Um, you know, I know a lot back in the day, especially a lot of people played ball because they love to play ball. Um, and I know a lot of people play ball for the sake of opportunity, you know, putting themselves in a better spot, their family in a better spot. But when it's done like that, you know, it makes you, you know, like I mean, I know, you know, at the end of the day, you want to do whatever you can for your family and do whatever you can for yourself, but it can't be from an immoral basis. Um, you know, especially like you said, you know, taking money that were built for built for opportunity, built for players, built for, you know, little schools and stuff too, you know, smaller schools, all that. You can't really take that money and use it in that kind of way. Um especially it's not it's not exactly that's not really much of a question about it. Like it's not. I mean, uh, if you ask the majority of the people, majority of them would agree that it's not a good idea to gamble with money like that that you're getting for playing. Uh you know what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:38

Yeah, no, it it is um it's just it's just crazy all around, man, because it makes me think of um and now uh it makes me think of Pro Sports too, and the the cases that we've seen where uh mainly in in basketball. Well, I guess uh there was a dude for the Falcons, I think that um Yeah, Calvin Rayleigh, yeah, the receiver. Yeah, I'm like, bro, like it is just it's really wild to me because these players are getting paid millions, bro. Millions to and and now you're you're gambling it. And I know obviously the contract numbers that we see on ESPN and the internet, all of it is not going directly into their pockets. They have a lot of fees and dues they have to pay, and you know, they get their cut at the end of that. But still, I mean these dudes are getting paid a lot of money to play a game, and it's just what what I can't understand is why. Like, especially nowadays, like y'all mentioned, the players are getting paid anyways to play. So why I mean it just seems like greedy to me. I I don't even really know what else to say beyond that.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:41

Yeah, it's greedy and it's bad for the game, bro. Like it makes no sense. There's there's no way to justify why.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:52

Like, like I said, it's it's guys that play cosbar that didn't get paid, would have loved to get paid for their talents or because they're at a certain school, and now guys are getting it and pissing it off because they have it. And it's like, well, that wasn't this wasn't the purpose of NIL or the purpose of college athletes getting paid, or even the purpose of you know, the professionals getting paid. Like you're getting paid for basically entertainment, and you know, it's it just doesn't it just doesn't make sense, it just shouldn't be allowed in the game at all on any level. Like if you're gonna bet, then you should have like it's it's like you're betting, but you also have control over whether it happens or not. So it's like it just makes no sense.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:45

Yeah, and like you said, uh, you know, the NIL deals and stuff, a lot like a lot of the guys who didn't get paid, that that's not like 20 years ago, you know. This is just a few years ago. Like a lot of this is just blown up. And the like you got you know, people who was just a few grades above you who could have graduated college and be looking back and seeing all these stories and looking back on you, like, you know, man, I wish I had that opportunity. And look at what y'all are doing with that opportunity. That's a big uh that's a big thing. I think I think there needs to be a lot of accountability held too from that, you know, hire people. Bro, I was I was one of those, I was one of those guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:20

Like I left school and then the next year NIL came. And I'm like, wait a minute, I just busted my knee up and didn't get a penny. Nobody even cared. And these guys are literally just in college, like, and it's no knock on them. I love the fact that they're you know getting compensated for being able to play, but it's like there's guys in front of you, man, that that that paved the way for you to even have this opportunity that and and we were telling them how unfair it was, how like you know we're doing all this to our bodies, or we're doing all this for our families are making these sacrifices and we're getting nothing in return. The only people that's profiting over it is the NCAA or the institution that we go to, and now kids are getting it, and it's like I don't care about any of that. I'm trying to make more. It's it's ridiculous to me.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:15

Yeah, no, it's bad. And uh it reminds me also of uh kind of a story where in in basketball, I think there's a smaller level of basketball, it had to do with um teams like Arizona State and some other some other smaller schools, not the Arizona State, it's a smaller school, but sometimes it's not even the players betting themselves betting on themselves or their teams. Sometimes they found that there are outside people who offer the kids money to then go and throw the games too. So it's like it's just like how do you even prevent that? Like and and one of the question I had was would it be okay? Not would it be okay, but would it, I guess, make sense if a player wanted to bet more on themselves? I guess it would be easier to do like, oh, uh, if they think I'm gonna get you know 10 rebounds or 25 rushing yards, if I don't do that, it would be a lot easier because I could just you know fall or trip or whatever. But you know, would it make sense if would it make sense to allow gambling if players would bet that they could do more? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:17

Yeah, yeah. I think uh, you know, the first thing I thought of when you were saying that is I think that that could work in very few sports. Um it's any pre any team sport, uh, you know, whether especially like if it's like let's put basketball, for example. Like say that, you know, like you said, you know, imagine that there's gambling for like overs only. Like if you said, hey, I'm gonna make 15 points, um, you know, you could just throw the game and get less than that, that'd be easy. But on the other end, if you have to get more than 15, you might be the only one taking shots. You're not gonna be a team player, you're not gonna pass the ball, you're not gonna do this, X, Y, and Z. And if you've got three or four guys on the team who have that same deal going on, you know, nobody's gonna win. Um now, I think in certain rare scenarios, it could work, like uh, like for example, like like golf or something like that, you know, where it's like a solo sport, you know, everybody's against each other. There's not really much that you do for yourself or don't do for yourself that has any effect on anybody else. Um in that sense, I guess you could find kind of reasoning in that. Like if you shot a certain amount of hits in golf, or like if you were doing, you know, there's not many sports, like I can't even think of one or two more, really, where you're kind of a real solo player, you know, maybe you know, like some track and field, stuff like that, uh, like some swimming and all that. But for the most part, like any team-related sports, uh, it's not gonna be much of a benefit, even if it is like an over type of thing, because it's still gonna change the way the game is played on a team kind of kind of level.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:51

Yeah, I mean, oh, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:54

It affects, and I can look at it from a coaching standpoint too. Like you we spend like hours and days and weeks, you know, preparing game plans and things like that, just for a kid to say, oh well, you know, this guy's paying me, you know, this amount of money to basically not even care about, you know, all this preparation I just did for the or my coaches just did for um this week of practice. And now these coaches, just imagine if this happens every game, now coaches don't have jobs because kids are making money like that. That makes no sense. That makes no sense. I mean, even the basketball player, it's an NBA player, he um he was purposely throwing games, missing shots, having turnovers because he was betting that he would like like this would happen. He was uh Terry Rogier was his name.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:54

Um he was betting, I guess you know, he was swaying his stats or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:00

And just think how that affects you know his teammates or everybody around him, if he and he's the only one doing it, and it affects that whole organization. And like I said, that in turn affects the whole NBA. Because you think in your playing, and and then too, to go to another point. Um I think the beauty of football is to know, like, you know, they used to have the saying any given Sunday, or they still have the saying any given Sunday. You never really know. Like, you might go into a game, and we've probably played in games too where we're playing a team or we're the team that's the underdog, and we end up, you know, beating somebody, right? Um that takes that part of the game out, and that's why a lot of people, you know, kind of gravitate towards football, because you could have a team that hasn't won a game in two years and then they come beat you. Like everybody loves the underdog story, but there's you like I said, you take part of the game away when there's money on the line. And I don't think money or betting or anything of that nature should affect outcomes of games. And that's what it's that's what it's doing. People are looking at it as stats or 10 rebounds, but that that 11th rebound might be the reason why the Hawks win or lose. I just uh it's no place for it.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:27

I agree, and I think uh even beyond that, I mean, it does not it's not only affecting the players or it's not even concerning the players, but it's the coaches too. Because I mean, imagine the coaches, some some guy approaching a coach who's already making hundreds of thousands of dollars saying, yo, you know, I got I got 150k for you right here. If you know, you know, you uh pass the ball instead of giving it to Marshawn on the one yard line. It's like stuff like that makes you think like, oh man, like it's really deeper than just kind of what we see on the surface. Um, and I actually misspoke earlier. The NCAA did not um the NCAA did not grant Brandon Soresby his his eligibility back, but what happened was it was a Texas, uh Texas like um uh public official that gave him the ability to play at Texas Tech that fall, if the NCAA would would rule it, but uh that did not happen. So um yeah, I wanted to correct that real quick.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:21

Um but yeah, but still, yeah, go even with that situation, Jalen. What if that's a Texas Tech stakeholder? Like what if he's part of what if he's what if he's giving money to Texas Tech so they can bring kids in? And now you write your own rule book, basically. Like he's a judge, he has you know the the clearance or the authority to you know rule one way or the other in a lawsuit, and now you can do whatever you want because we just gotta call our guy, and there's no place for that in sports.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:51

Yeah, agree. Yeah, and that makes me just it just kind of brings up the question. I mean, where where is sports going? Because it's only gonna get worse, in my opinion. I don't see it getting better uh because people are gonna get more greedy, there's more money gonna be that's gonna be involved in it, and so it just I mean it's just it just makes the game impure. And what does it do for the athletes who are trying to play the honest way? Like what does it do for athletes who are really trying to you know make it to the next level, but you know, every step they can't even get away from from corruption, and you know that that affects their playing time, that affects you know their their film to get on tape. Uh, because you know, they they still have to drive players in these pro leagues, they still have to um to you know bring these players onto college rosters. So, you know, it it just it makes me kind of feel for for those type of players who are really trying to do the right thing, and you just never know which one of your teammates is having a bad night, or if they got money on the line and they really are just trying to blow everybody else's uh everybody else's thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:49

Yeah, I think I think we're in a a weird transition period right now between the especially with the college like the NIL and stuff, you know, like Mahjong was saying, you know, this was just a few years ago when he was not making it, and then boom, a year or two later he's coaching guys who are. Um, you know, I I'd like to hope that this is just a transition period that's gonna work itself out for the better. And every, you know, hopefully, whether it be, you know, it gets taken back out completely as far as gambling and all that kind of stuff. But you know, with how with how the world is today with money and everything as a motivation, that's probably not gonna happen, sadly. Um but hopefully a lot of athletes can can keep that focus and not so much kind of get skewed by the wrong crowd and worry about making this amount of money and gambling this amount of money and stuff. That's just that's my hope is that it can work out like that. But it's uh you know, I kind of got off topic in my original. I was gonna say something, but it kind of slipped my mind. But you know, I just hope that for the most part, this is more of a rough transition and it'll kind of work itself back out and not get worse as time goes on.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:54

Yeah, hopefully. Um the the only question that I would have is just how like I mean how do you do it? How do you how do you I mean obviously they can screen for like irregular activity from certain players, but I mean, in the moment, like you know, that that's yeah, yeah. So it's just it's just tough, I think, for everybody, everybody involved, um, unfortunately.

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New York Knicks Odds Defying NBA Championship

SPEAKER_03 1:25:04

off. Okay, so we talked about the college landscape. Now let's move into the pro landscape and and get a little bit of our hot takes or maybe not so hot takes. Um, starting out with the first, do y'all what do y'all follow in the NBA? Do y'all have a favorite team? Are y'all kind of just general watchers? Do y'all not watch it all? Where are y'all at with that NBA?

SPEAKER_00 1:25:24

I'm a general watcher. Yeah, I'm a I'm a general watcher. I try to keep up a good bit here and there, but a few years ago I was a little more into it. And of course, you know, like during the finals and stuff, uh, you know, get a little more in tune with everything, but for the most part, just uh base level, not near as much as I used to be, of course.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:42

Okay, yeah, I I follow the Celtics pretty pretty closely. Um, I've been pretty stressed out the last couple of weeks with all the trade talks and stuff, especially with our with our main players, uh, which that's been that's been pretty frustrating. Um, but I did watch the finals. I'll I was pretty uh pretty excited watching, uh just seeing kind of two teams that uh have not historically been, you know, well, I guess the Spurs, I guess more recently than the Knicks, but you know, neither one of these teams three years ago was like, Oh yeah, these teams are kind of in the running to win a championship. And kind of just seeing the Knicks do that, and obviously the talk around Jalen Brunson being too small, you know, whatever. Um, just kind of seeing him take over, that was pretty inspiring to me. Like, I don't want to sound corny, but it was just like, man, he really kind of really put the team on his back and just carried them. Um, and so that kind of it was it was good to see as a as an athlete and as a you know as a spectator, but you know, from my standpoint, being a Celtic fan, I'm like, man, I I kind of hated seeing them win that because now it kind of gives them, I guess, extra firepower into the season, and it kind of makes you it's another threat added to now we have to make sure that we are prepared for the Knicks and everything that they bring. Um But yeah, I just wanted to see if y'all had any thoughts on on the Knicks and and what that kind of looks like from the NBA this next season.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:00

Well, they they haven't won a title in what like 50 plus years or something crazy like that. I think it's year 73, I believe it was. That's that's that's crazy. But I can't talk much because I'm basically a Hawks fan. Um But what I will say for the Knicks, uh, it's good for their organization. I think it's good for the league because you know you don't have the same teams kind of winning. I think to spread the the talent around or to have like multiple teams that could go win, I think that's good for the actual league itself. Now, like for my team, I don't I don't really know what we're gonna do. I just know we beat ever we beat them more than everybody else in the playoffs did. So I you know hopefully hopefully the Hawks do something next year, but I think it's good for all leagues when um multiple teams can go win, because it just you know, boost the the quality of the league. Like we're not all just trying to watch the Warriors or we're not all just trying to watch. Um you know whoever's gonna you know whoever we think oh they were good last year so they're gonna repeat like I think repeats are bad for professional leagues honestly um yeah I think yeah I could I could uh I could say that if if you're looking for a competition standpoint yeah it has its ups and downs but because you know then it might turn into well who's gonna be the next you know good team that's gonna be but it kind of takes yeah just but just even the playing field and then like you well you made a good point just now super teams like now people are teaming up and you get multiple superstars on the team first went to the wars about that yeah but now you got multiple superstars on on one team so now it's like if they can figure it out then that's good for the league that's good basketball with having Mello and Anthony Edwards on his gotta say that they're gonna be hard to beat if they can figure it out. Yeah and then Giannis to the heat that was one big honest to the heat they're gonna be hard to beat if you can figure it out but then you still might have an underdog team like the Knicks you know come back next year and and win.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:14

So it's it just opens it up and evens the go ahead my bad no no no that's all I was saying I was about to say I like looking at a lot of the analytics of it I don't really I I don't watch too many games but I you know I keep up any any trade and stuff like that. I try to you know me and my friends will chat about it on a weekly basis usually especially during the offseason you know the NBA draft and all that kind of stuff going on. Yeah um or you know when it goes on but I think a lot of these trades are interesting especially uh just kind of wondering what the season's gonna look like and then if it lives up or lives down to what you're thinking about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:47

Yeah the the trades are always interesting to me not from the the like the performance aspect but man I just think about these dudes with families and with kids and stuff man and living somewhere and being traded and having to move or at least move a little bit to a whole nother city it could be on the other side of the country like I I just think about that and I'm like dang like that that part of it is kind of crazy but uh but but kind of what you were saying mahjong the the comp the competitive aspect I do think it is good to have like these different teams um competing for for championships and whatnot and you know we all we all see uh or see all the time players talk about how hard it is to repeat or even get to uh you know the finals or even get to the playoffs like especially playing 82 games like that's that's that's just nuts. And and having to you know basically you kind of got to be lucky a little bit to have to not have people get hurt you know um and to be you know just for everything to kind of everything to kind of go right quote unquote for you to get to that point.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:50

But um but yeah you know I think uh congrats to them I think it was uh it was I think we got a lot to look forward to next season as general watchers you know a lot of big trades that's probably gonna happen honestly uh my hot take is I don't think that the heat will be that good to be honest with you I don't think uh I don't think Giannis and Bam I I mean I think they're gonna be great individually but as a team bro I I think probably like five seed tops maybe four that's a hot take for sure I don't I mean I I am a little um I am a little on your side too about I think they might be better better off individually I don't know how they work together but I feel like it'll work out a little better than fifth or fourth seed but we'll see I think I don't think I have a hot take I don't think um I think Bam established itself as their star last year and the fact that you bring in Giannis is is in my opinion is kind of slap in the face to Bam I know they're two different types of players but you had a superstar that you could build around and I don't think he's the I don't know from just from what I've seen I don't know if they're still a team that's like needs a big three like they had with LeBron Wade and all them I don't think that's necessarily I kind of wonder too like how they'd fit into each other and I look at it more like I think Giannis will be way more accepting of Bam but I'm not sure about the opposite I mean yeah Giannis for the most part he seems like he has a pretty you know good personality and stuff when it comes to like sportsmanship and all that um I couldn't really I haven't really seen too much of Bam compared to Giannis but you know just in his championship run and stuff like that in the past few years uh or the Bucks you know when they all went and did all that but um you know I think I think Giannis will be a good guy to have around Bam for that for Bam's sake but I'm not sure how they're gonna work with each other kind of just what you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:48

It would be interesting to see I think if it was me and obviously heat I think I go get a a a decent point guard or something or like I said just pieces that go around Bam and I push Bam as my superstar. I mean bro just scored all them points like maybe you know that maybe it was they kind of let him score whatever happened that game but he just scored all them points he just showed you that he can score when he gets ready. So it's like I think you just kind of give Bam the keys to the ship and now unless he just like unless he unless it's something we don't know and he's like yeah go get Giannis that's a different story but I like you said Jack it'll be interesting to see how how they pair together.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:28

Yeah definitely yeah I agree I agree so

North America World Cup Excitement

SPEAKER_03 1:33:31

uh moving on to the next topic um I don't know if y'all have been watching any of the World Cup games but I know uh where we are right now in Atlanta it has been absolutely lit uh anytime we look on a screen they're they're showing what the fans are doing um in the city they have uh I can't remember my wife called she called it something that they're having like these little fan gatherings fan festival yeah fan festival yeah there you go I think my my sister-in-law she just went to one the other day said it was pretty fun but um man it I was honestly there was a lot of excitement coming uh there was a lot of excitement in America because FIFA was coming and you know where we live was had we had several World Cup games we have I think probably I think four or five more um and just Europeans coming to America getting to experience our culture like firsthand um and especially going to the games like the games have just been so lit us and the fans are so dedicated and um man soccer fans are like probably one of the I I don't I don't want to say I don't know if this is stretched but I feel like they're probably some of the most committed fans in all the space I agree oh that's definitely true absolutely I agree I mean to have whole to have your your whole basically everybody from your country that is coming to come you know um get a big teams yeah like they're they're walking the streets in certain cities like before the games these people haven't they haven't even won these this is before the game like you see in American sports like before games no fan base is doing that like they might riot or they might do something after a game and after a big game but these are pool play FIFA games like these games some of these teams like once once like the actual once they start actually playing for the cup they're not even gonna be playing but people just love to support their country or their teams and I think it's I think it's great to see. I think like you said Jalen you you might not say it but I think soccer they probably got some of the best fan bases in the whole world yeah I was I was just kind of torn because I I think football has a good I think football has a good following especially now that we're seeing uh NFL trying to take games overseas to Europe and Mexico and uh I think there was I don't know about I don't think they're talking about going to China but I know different countries in Europe they they've uh already started playing there. Um but yeah it's just been kind of cool to see and especially these smaller countries who you know they'll you'll see their population or they'll be talking about their population size and it'll be like not even a million people for some of these island countries and um it's just really cool and I I've never really watched soccer at all until now um and not that I'm watching it I'll be kind of secondhand watching while I'm doing something else but I mean it's just kind of cool to see like and also man these guys are so freaking athletic dude like I see guys dive into the ball into the goal I'm like what is going on bro like these dudes are are are insane how athletic they are yeah and they yeah they get like real deal like kicked in the shin like full on and then they'll be on the ground for a minute because it's true pain and they just right back up.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:42

That's kind of kind of that perseverance through pain too like we were talking about earlier it's just insane. And then you know back in high school too uh you know soccer as far as you know as far as most sports are concerned the pretty much two hardest like like training slash conditionings for the most part were soccer and wrestling. Yeah because soccer you're just running the whole time I mean it's it's the only game that has a a literal break for hydration like they literally have hydration breaks in the game which is you know that's crazy. That just goes to show just how much they out there that's all they do is run.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:15

Yeah yeah no it it is uh I I used to think soccer was a sport for for people that were soft and you know when I was younger obviously I was I was ignorant but now that that I've seen exactly what they do I'm like nah that these dudes are not soft like these dudes are our next level and honestly probably some of the best athletes on the on the whole planet. But yeah no it's it's been kind of cool to see and seeing the European reaction to the different uh brands and franchises we have here like I was seeing some stuff on Instagram with people visiting like Bucky's and uh you know like all the different kinds of restaurants and stuff like that and it was just kind of uh it was just funny seeing seeing how I guess their their uh perceptions of what America was like beforehand not even having visited and now that they're here just kind of seeing their experience uh that's been that's been pretty cool to see

Way-Too-Early Super Bowl Contenders

SPEAKER_03 1:38:05

uh so last thing um I know y'all may follow NFL um a good bit more than NBA I wanted to get you guys way too early NFL Super Bowl contenders um because this past level the the Seahawks won they beat the Patriots pretty they gave them a pretty good whooping um but there was there was a good running uh in the NFC and AFC so I wanted to see kind of who y'all saw I guess maybe not winning the Super Bowl but but let me get an NFC and AFC contender NFC NFC I I might sound crazy but I I really I'm a Falcons fan through and through no I would never ever support any other team but I think I think the Bears are gonna be really good I think the Bears are going to be good.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:58

I think Caleb Williams has that has that organization like he's he's definitely driving the keys to that organization and I mean driving the car for that organization and I think um I think the Bears are gonna I was really surprised when the Bears you know were knocked out of the playoffs. I I think the Bears are gonna be pretty decent I think the Falcons are going to be pretty decent.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:24

I don't know about Super Bowl but I think we're gonna win our division I mean I always like to say you know it just you never I mean everybody's gonna be like oh you know the two and everything but I like the idea I mean it'll be interesting.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:36

Yeah I like a good left-handed quarterback um I know he's had his uh fair share of injuries and all that but I mean we're gonna see I just I like the idea just I think if you can block for two you never know yeah I think if you can block for two I think he's gonna be pretty decent as long as he doesn't get hit. Penix too like as long as they don't get hit I think we'll be pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:58

I think the Bucks are going to be terrible he's just saying that because I'm a buck I do have I do have high expectations I don't know how well they will uh live up to those expectations there seems to be kind of some stuff going on with our quarterback right now that's a whole nother topic um but I think the Rams are definitely are gonna run the end I was just about to touch on I think the Rams are gonna try to make a push and that's what uh especially with their uh their quarterback pickup I had to look up his name the one in the draft where they pick up Ty Simpson it looks like his name was yep um a lot of people thought that was a crazy idea but I mean it just kind of pointed me back to like a lot of more of the early 2000s like quarterback development I think it's important for somebody like that to get on a team right behind Matthew Stafford while he's you know doing his thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:50

I guess you know near probably near the end of his career I don't know exactly how much longer he's got or I don't know if he said anything about it but I think it's you know Brady used to talk a lot about quarterback development um how important it was to be you know second third string and not get no playing time for a few years. So I think the Rams are going to be something good in the next few years as far as their depth and everything.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:11

At least quarterback wise. If we have the goal with the AFC team I have no idea I do like the Broncos at the AFC though. I do like the Broncos.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:22

Okay I that's that's what I was thinking initially uh because they kind of they had the stuff with the with um I can't remember I can't think of the quarterback yeah bow Knicks yeah both Knicks doesn't get hurt that Super Bowl is a totally different game. Yeah for sure for sure yeah they I think they have a chance at a run uh the Bills look pretty good I mean they look good every year and can't seem to really get the job done but I will say and I don't want to sound like a bandwagon Patrick Mahomes is coming back and it's looking like they're restructuring their team to to take another shot so I don't know man but since we've been living they done they done been pretty like pretty dominant in the AFC so yeah go ahead and go again what team you're talking about Chiefs yeah Chiefs I got a question for y'all yep what y'all think about Odell coming back because I think it's the greatest thing that's happened in the NFL in some years. I think it's great I I I wish he wouldn't have gone back to the Giants. I can't remember exactly where he got hurt the last time I was wondering if he was with the Rams. He was with the Rams yeah I can't remember where they were playing but I I really I really truthfully pray he can stay healthy. I really do man I think that um I can't imagine what that has done to him trying to come back from I I don't even I think he may have hurt it more than once if I'm not mistaken or maybe he has had some other injuries but it was his ankle right I think it was an ACL. I think he tore the ACL twice I think he tore twice yeah so I I just hope he can stay healthy man uh because that's the main thing but other than that man I was super excited to see he got another chance because bro he he's literally probably the most influential football player I don't want to sound too crazy but bro Odell might be one of the most influential football players that's been alive during our time.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:04

Yeah I think so I think Odell definitely changed the game of football from a receiver standpoint because even from how people do their releases now like stuff he was doing that I I guess wasn't necessarily taught by receiv like two receivers that he was kind of doing is like standard now in the like all these standard now in football period like all these split releases and even down to like kids literally practicing to catch the ball with one hand. It's like I mean even to even to what they the gear they wear when they play like I I vividly remember when I was a high school I was in high school when Odell was coming through and I vividly remember getting a mohawk because Odell had a mohawk like it just that's just he's just a I feel like he's just a generational kind of talent and the fact that he's getting another shot I'm like I'm very excited to see what he does with it.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:03

Yeah same yeah I I uh I was gonna speak more to the one-handed aspect of of how he just changed I mean coaches are having to tell kids to like literally two hands on the football at all times. Yeah he's not the he's the exception to the rule like by far. Even he'll tell you like if he can get two hands on it yeah he'll get two hands but I mean these dudes are are just so gifted. And I mean when you think about their hand size like bro these dudes wear like six X gloves like their hands are just gigantic it's not even it's not even really uh a comparison with him to like a normal or normal player coming up. But yeah I'm super excited for him um hopefully this season goes well for him and and he at least kind of proves that he's not washed because I know that's a lot of the the confirmation that he hasn't played well I think I don't know if he played last year or the year before but he didn't really do much. Well I'm not gonna say he didn't do much. From NFL standards he didn't do much. But but yeah I I think it'll be good for him for sure and for the league.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:02

Putting him and neighbors together is going to be scary I think if Jackson Dark can get him the football it's gonna be they're gonna be hard to game plan for because from Knicks to scatterbull to um not Knicks um from Jackson Dark to Scatterable to neighbors to Odell to their tight end like you just have no idea who's because it could be any one of those guys game. I think the Giants are going to be kind of scary even if without Odell I think they'll be they'll be better than what they have been.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:37

Yeah for sure I I would probably give them one of the most one of the most improved teams uh at least on the on the NFC side I I don't know what their record was last year but yeah I would think they're they're definitely going to be one of the most most improved teams if I had to say right now okay um well that is it guys uh I appreciate you for coming um this has been very fun giving everybody a lot to think about I hope that you listening will take at least one thing from this conversation and apply it or maybe even share this with a friend or someone who you know is dealing with with some of these issues. Share your thoughts and comments down below whether it's about the injuries whether it's about the sports gambling the Knicks FIFA or our Super Bowl contenders doesn't matter. Just let us know what you're thinking what we can do better what you want to hear from us. Uh this has been the Locker Room podcast. Appreciate you guys tuning in and we'll see you guys next time. Bye for now.