LaDainian Tomlinson HOF RB growing up on slave plantation & his biggest disappointment | The Pivot

what's up up my boy how you doing man good you good baby I'mma tell you these stories later we got to talk about them on air man LT stole my soul a couple times hey LT had people people in Pittsburgh people in Pittsburgh thought I couldn't play man they say all we remember was when LT stiff oranged you on the walkoff too fast though you came down I was like whoa whoa she look at them two mother it's in the cross F come on man come on man we lose that game lose if this the first four people that walk out the bus if it's me and you and Freddy T and LT on their side it's l I'm bet on them I always like sitting in the front of the bus though like I sat in that first seat yeah because I used to I seen Junior that was like the kind of the tradition okay top dogs with the Chargers Junior say are always set in that first chair and so of course you come into that locker room you see how everything goes you get on that bus and Junior is right there he kind of is like setting the tempo right like hey this thing is serious when I get off this bus it's time to go and so that torch was passing and I felt like you know I had to represent it by sitting in that first seat did you sit in the first seat once Junior left oh yeah okay oh yeah yeah yeah no you couldn't sit next I I didn't know if you could sit next to him you know you sit on the opposite side but so it was all the leaders so you would have obviously Junior SE Rodney Harrison you know all those guys were in those seats and the rookies which I was at the time you know you said in the back oh I got a chance to set in the middle cuz I was the first round pick you know what I mean I got a chance set in the [Music] middle here to witness it my people feeling militant way I'm feeling get me up on the mission get me up know me I got the key only Vision I can trust trust Li to me it I the he the witness welcome to the pivot man uh we are honored to have you Chan Freddy T obviously I'm Ryan you know you remember me if you go back think it's like 2005 overtime bam yeah that was me the guy on the other end of it and this's the thing hey look I I couldn't even reach but you know hey you know how well you get embarrassed on the way down to the ground on the stiff arm so amazingly you pop up quick I got up that ground so fast no hands I just got you one time that I mean it was at the wrong time you know it was at the wrong time we are two of a thousand they have stories about Al getting their ass destroyed yeah that mother I have a question that bring me to a question right so when we're giving out the stiff arm cuz I done been on that end of the stiff arm before and I know what it feel like to get him down uhhuh right what does it feel like when you like looking up reaching for God like it feels like you got arms of a little person right of of a dwarf because what happened with LT is if nobody's on that side of y'all not only are y'all stiff arming us but y'all running away too right it ain't nothing it ain't nothing we could do bro it's honestly the most helpless feeling and you also know how bad it looked well I was jump cutting at the same time cuz I saw you I saw you kind of out my peripheral to the right because you know when I hit the hole I just seen some flashing coming hard and I was you know I reacted like whoa cuz you was up on me so fast and I was fortunate enough that I kind of you came to the side a little bit so I was able to kind of get you off hey Freddy was he fortunate enough that [ __ ] of fam of fam hey look at that point I was looking I was looking for Sean T Sean where you at save me what you heard he say I was jump cutting at the same time that means you got a hat that's bro only a few got that yeah I mean Hall of Famer uh MVP in ' 06 won the do Walker twice why in the hell would you come back to school after you wi it the first time actually I didn't Ron D wanted my junior I led the nation in Russia what you had 1800 that year yes and I thought I was going to win it but they gave it to Ron Dan at that time so I felt like I needed to come back to prove a point you know and I I wanted to go for 2000 I really wanted to get 2000 th000 yards tell me about the day you went for 406 in one game against UT that was a special day but here's the thing man like I had I felt like I had an awful first half you know well I mean I had 10 and some yards at the time but I had a critical fumble no but I'm saying at the listen to me now running backs Freddy t no if you fumble at a critical time you feel awful not to mention I fumbled going into halftime and we were about to score so it was a critical moment it was for the conference Championship at that time that we were playing for and my coach let me have it going into halftime I mean he hold on to the damn ball like what the hell you know we got we got him right where we want so I went into half time like got to make it up came out that second half and but before that let me back up before that he said I'm G to give you the damn ball the second half as much as you wanted like get ready to tote the damn ball he walked away and so you know I'm at the locker like I'm going to give it to the for the championship and the second half it was just like every run was a long run like like chopping and I didn't so I got around 370 something yards and it was in the fourth quarter right and we get to the point where we had actually sealed the game I think I was around 380 something I come off the off the field and Coach says wait a minute like you're 13 14 yards away from getting 4 400 no one has ever done that he said do you want to do I said coach game over I don't care about that he said no get this 400 get back in the game had a couple more carries that took me over 400 to 406 man that's but that's a that that's four weeks of football for a good back you sitting back like God damn like these numbers but truth be told one fumble is probably equivalent to like negative 100 yards that beats you up more than anything as a back cuz that's the one sin you can't play if you can't hold on to the ball but my question to you LT is in this day and age RC ask you why did you go back with nil and all that stuff would you have left school like why didn't you leave you had 1,00 even though you didn't win a dope Walker I know you say you had a chip on your shoulder like for a lot of guys the numbers uh knowing how great they were W to test their abilities against guys in the next level why didn't you want to go and make that leap and and go and get paid doing it yeah so you know how we all we get that projection uh after your junior year of of where your projector to be drafted was third round for me third round and part of that was because of the conference I played in going to TCU a small private school they actually didn't know if I can catch the ball bro like they didn't know if I can catch it we ran the option we were always on the perimeter you know and so I just felt like I had a point to prove to go back and prove that I'm I'm the best running back at this time and really it was Duce mallister Deuce was the standard at that time right Deuce was big fast had moves can catch all that stuff so I was I was you know chasing after Deuce at that time W if it was nil though might have stayed for five hey you might stay a little bit longer especially what I'm hearing from you know Marvin Haron Jr they offering the young kid 20 25 million a I mean think about that he possibly can make more than his entire rookie contract possibly going back for one year why wouldn't you got to stay you got to stay you got to stay like are we making business decisions to be honest but but LT I want to I want to see in that same in that same thought process when did you know that you were when did you know that you was when did you know that you were special because to your point you're chasing Duke mallister right now let's be honest you in the Hall of Fame and he's not yeah Freddy's trying Freddy's trying to catch you cuz you better than Freddy I'm going to get into it but this guy right here it is what it is you just sto I stole some stuff from Freddy though honestly you know what I'm saying but when when did you when you my Nays Nays we we all each other naysay but did you know when did you know H man that's that's hard to say honestly because we all played and you go through points where you say man I think I got it and then you go through points where you say damn I need to get better like do I can I really excel at at this level by my senior year in college I knew that I can pretty much do certain things but you don't know how it translates to the National Football League cuz our perception at least mine at the time was man these dudes are bigger you know they're more physical they're faster but DG when I got there my rookie year and stuff I was doing in practice I remember one of the first practices we had and I hear old older guys talk about it now their first impression of me so I just did it one of the first carries I had I remember the linebacker coming down you know middle of the hole and I spent off of it in the middle of the hole and everybody on you know Junior all those guys was like he got it he got it but for me natural it was just natural you know it didn't tell me that I had it to me it was about being consistent can you do a year after year can you handle a 300 carries a year that type of thing let me know after a couple years that I got it your mother wrote a book what raising a champion taught me and I want to get into that as we go along but Champion mean so many different things Lorenz o' Neil when he presented you in the Hall of Fame he said you know he's a great player the greatest player I've been around but he's a better man a better person and and I think those things are most important but to get to what made leani and tomson the person I guess we would have to start at tomson Hill mhm and for people who haven't you know seen the football life or haven't read up on it explain a little bit about what your an ancestors and Tomlin and Hill what is their Foundation I went on this journey of finding out about my ancestors um after my career now it was on purpose it was it was it was thought out now the the gentleman that did the story his name is Stephen Thomasson he's Associated Press writer um the white side of my family and he he befriended my mom a long time ago when I was still playing and so he started to talk to her about the history of our family and my mom would come to me every now and then she would say babe she said Chris Thomason you need to you know you need to talk to him and and I always said Ma I ain't ready for that like I'm in the middle of my career I'm focused on you know trying to win a championship and be the best I I don't want to go down that road right now I knew it was going to be sensitive to me right because I grew up there you know my grandma you know my dad I I there was special moments on that that slave plantation you know um acreage if you will so I knew what was coming but I think I got it right around you know my last year with the Jets and I started to think more and more about the future and and I I had you know a son had a daughter at that time and so Legacy started to play into my mind now let's be honest from the time I Rec I retired I I had a a great feeling I'm GNA go into the Hall in five years what do I want to talk about with this spee like that's going to be part of my legacy right and so I eventually sat down and talked to Chris Thomason at a Starbucks you know he brought out all these artifacts man of of my my family my great great great Granddad getting off the slave ship in galston okay so I learned that got off the slave ship in galston marched to Alabama he in about 200 slaves went to Alabama to this slave plantation where they served the owner for many years now how my family got to Tomlinson Hill one of the daughters were getting married the father wanted her to get have some land it happened to be in Thomas and Hill so my great great great Granddad was one of the slaves that was picked to to move them down there so they marched from Alabama to chilon Texas where tomson Hill is and from that point on that's where my family was originated from that is such a wild story and the fact that you actually got to trace you know your ancestory back to that but have someone who shares your last name shares some of your heritage take you through that journey I couldn't I can't imagine though the emotion of seeing and knowing that that was what let me tell you why it was so emotional because when I saw the old broke down slave quarters that my great great great Granddad lived in it was like I had flashbacks of running around that that prop the family reunions and whatnot and it was so it was Eerie bro it was like it was like the time you were there though elt did you you didn't know that that was your history at the time so you running around the plantation running around the acreage and those and that was the places where your grand your great great grandfather served tended the fields and served yes and that's what and you know the first thing I thought about God why me why you put me in this position to take my family name as far as I've taken it and I felt guilty that my great great great Granddad lived like this like had to go through this but at the same time I knew it was a sacrifice obviously that all of our ancestors went through so that we can have the opportunity to do what we're doing now hey Tito man Tomas and Hill no this thing like as you say it like it's but your great great great great grandfather like yall slave mhm on this Plantation and you're looking at it like you're as you say it you're praising it and as I read about it I'm like God damn I don't want to be there this is where my be honest they got beat whooped whatever it was like the pride that you taking it why is it from there why how how was that emotion there well it took a while to get there and remember I said it took me a while to even talk to him because I knew what was coming I knew it you know my dad gave me little crumbs growing up you know what how it was I remember my dad telling me one story that even when he was a little boy now my dad was born in 1935 okay so even when he was growing up his dad still worked for you know white man and pretty much doing slave stuff carrying hay tending to the fields and my dad wasn't allowed to go to the fields you know that that was off limits but one time he snuck up there and you know the the slave owner actually almost slapped my dad for being there and so he would tell me little stories of how he was treated growing up so it took a while chanon to get there you know like I said man it was emotional because I just felt like it wasn't fair that I was in this position and they had to go through that but I knew it had to be a reason I'm a spiritual person at the end of the day so I have to trust that there's always a reason God does something you said having those conversations with your mom you weren ready during your playing years well out of retirement you have kids of your own have you had those conversations with them yet yeah yeah I think I think it's important to have those conversations they have seen the story uh football life you know I think it gives them great perspective for where they are now in life uh in the schools that they attend which is the majority white schools you know and so I think it's important for them to be prideful young people about who they are where they come from don't let nobody tell you anything different you know who you are you know where you come from and you always you always walk uh with humility but also be prideful about who you are and where you come from at the end of the day you know and so I think that's important that they understand that because y'all know like I know people out there in the world that don't know you they're going to put you down they're going to tell you all type of things that you're not that you can't be and so it's up to us as parents to make sure they understand who they can be you know LT you did get an opportunity to go to tomson Hill and sort of understand and learn the history of your family but I want to go back to your father you know uh your father passed um at the height of your career yeah right at the peak of who you were as a football player and you know you took that extremely hard because it was sort of after a story comes out that almost painted you as the Superstar football player who forgot about his people who at least forgot about his father how did that affect you in the timing of everything happening the way it did oh tremendously Ryan it affected me tremendously um not to mention the own demons that I was fighting with Within Myself of just getting to know my dad at that time you know like uh you know I grew up with my dad had two families you know he had a family before he married my mom and so I had older brother brothers and sisters and my dad I didn't know at the time but he felt like one family needed him more than the other okay he said to me one time son I knew your mom was strong you know that that she had y'all like she was going to be able to do whatever it took to take care of you guys my other family they needed me more I had to be there and cuz growing up I always wondered like why my dad not coming around like you know I struggle Ry with you know a little depression not knowing why my dad not around he don't love me like why he don't come to my games all that type of stuff I had to deal with not knowing so when I got to college and I was able to call my dad and say po what what you doing oh son I'm sitting on this porch coming over just want to sit with you just want to just want to sit with you didn't know the man that much right got a chance throughout them college Years my last two years to really get to know the man okay he had so many struggles now people say I forgot about it if they knew how many times I tried to have my dad come live with me you want him to come to San Diego I wanted him to come to San Diego he was proudful he had another family brothers and sisters that he had to be there for he wasn't to leave the country that was the pride about who he was like he wasn't running away from his family to come live with his Superstar son yeah that's not the perfect story you know that he felt like he he you know that was just how he was so when he died Ryan not only did I feel like I was shorted not being able to finish getting to know him but I feel I felt like I couldn't change his mind of getting him to come stay with me and I struggled with that for a long time but at the end of the day my pop was a he was a strong willed man that you know was uh kindhearted but at the same time he understood the who he was and that was a man of his family he used to go check for Super Bowl tickets cuz he knew they was going to come uh one day they weren they weren't coming yeah they didn't come no the year though that if you remember 14 and two 14 and two we we're up on the Patriots by 11 in the fourth quarter Marlin McCree intercepts the Tom Brady and he's running back we're all like Get Down Troy Brown pokes the ball out they get the ball back with about I want to say five minutes Brady goes down and scores okay they kick a onside kick get it back that's the Patriot stuff though go but you 143 early I was killing them Ry I was killing them they weren't going to get the ball back D we were smashing the Patriots go back and look at it yeah we was in control of the game and so that was the year that my pop was talking about he really felt like that was the year cuz we would have had the coachs at home that next game and if y'all remember we own the Colts at that time cuz the way y'all play ball though the way we played y'all ran it yep yeah I got after and we we got after pton absolutely yep that's back when y run that goddamn power over and over and over and over man yeah that's that's why I I like to call it the uh the curse the curse of the Chargers because they did Marty wrong you don't go 14 and and two and get fired like that's that should never happen your star player don't go from 47% of the touches to 31 the next year neither well let's let's dive a little deeper into that okay you know we've had time to process it and think about certain things you went from Marty to North Turner but remember who's the offensive coordinator you guys remember at that time Cam Cameron oh don't say that did he not get what what job did he get right after we lost he came and be my head coach and that [ __ ] is terrible I couldn't even I wouldn't listen that was on fire I wouldn't piss on it that was terrible heal you always got to couch it when somebody do bad at their job that they're great human they love their kids you got to couch that [ __ ] bro so in my mind did we just throw the game for a head coaching job oh did we just so you so you say get let's finish now if we lose now I get to go take my inter I get to go take a job you play football a certain way if you're up by 11 or if you're up in the second half freed T what we doing told that thing we told that thing yep how do I not get the ball Lorenzo said uh L Neil said that if you have got it more in the second half y'all win the game and that's why I said we have all had a chance to think about this stuff process it and the fact that you know someone gets it right after we lose guys I appreciate everything you know you guys play hard for me I'm GNA take this Miami job what yeah they'll always question the players's heart and commitment when players jump and make those moves but you know you don't hear much of it when coaches make those rash type decisions I tell y'all it's funny this conversation when sa went back to Al when he went back to college went to Alabama we played the Indianapolis Coast that last game his second year 06 we played the coach pton and them they D our ass out they whooped the [ __ ] out of us and we knew it's pton up there Dallas Clark was about to play action and hit my ass down the scam I'm running down there looking like [ __ ] Sav never smiled in the plane going back from away games he never smiled like he was always locked in the sa's a hell of a coach Nick sav's a great coach he probably one of the best defensive Minds I've ever set and set with but when we left in and week 17 and ' 06 we walk on the plane and Sab and his wife Terry were sitting in the front seat and sa was smiling and everybody all the dudes all the OG's going to the back we back there playing CS everybody like y'all see sa smiling and we was all like we we Ain know what the [ __ ] happen like man this might try to run us tomorrow the season over F run like we were scared because we never see him smile that's right before I'm not going to be the Alabama head coach and he just left so to that point point like I don't know I don't know if people think about the coaches decisions we always criticize what the players do if they opt out and all that stuff but the coaches have those same decisions to make and I saw it with sa I'm like this [ __ ] smiling what's going on and then he going to sign a you know and he keep signing him because he keep winning six figure deal with college he's the greatest college coach of all time AER seven championships but it brings me to championships with you um you said you felt like your career was close but no cigar yeah which to me for a Hall of Famer to say for one of the best players that have ever lived to say it lets you know how important championships are to legacies and it seems that that was the one thing you and your father shared as well is like we want to win and I want you to get to that game how much does not getting that Championship stick with you oh I I think it it sticks with me a lot because I knew that I had to teams to do it now I realize you have to be a little lucky and things got to go your way and that's all great you know I grew up in Texas I was a huge obviously Cowboy fan I grew up in the Heyday of the Cowboys in the 90s mid 90s three you know three championships at that time watching those games you know with family and you grow up wishing that would be you like I'm going to have my time one day right and so and I'm going say this even with the Jets AFC Championship Game Pittsburgh um goal line them boys stop us four straight go we're right there we came all the way back to have put ourselves in that position to not win it so it it's tough to live with but you know I I do I do remember something that shimr told me uh to kind of I guess help me deal with not winning it he says son you have Championship moments there were a number of Championship moments when you think about it that you had so appreciate those Championship moments and don't beat yourself up about not winning the Super Bowl championship so but you also um you that good it's so hard it is he ain't do nothing on no four plays this I probably didn't hey Sean green still for me that game too bro I was always running up from the middle of the field and folks was sniff on came up hard you came up you know you got him [ __ ] out the gate much like uh you said Marty reminded you that you had Championship moments I want to take the time he remind you you were the one of 17 running backs that's won it in the history of the game Jim Brown won it three times so in terms of special moments that's an extreme Rarity you know I don't know whether you would trade a trophy for being in that exclusive category but I digress I want to know about young LT how did you get into football I read somewhere that you play fullback fullback and linebacker outside linebacker in high school but I was I was always one of those kids see I was inspired by my older brother Terry um Oliver Terry Thomson was named after my my dad okay but I always heard these stories bro like when I was a little kid cuz he was so much older of how good of a running back he was like he had his jersey retired at the school like that Jersey at my grandma's house used to be on the wall and I used to as a kid running around the country always you know like look at that Jersey and be like I'mma have my jersey on the wall too one day so I was inspired by my brother to play running back not to mention that have older brothers and and cousins man what they did to me you know throw that ball out yeah let's go like you know it it was already in me now growing up early on I actually played quarterback but I was the Michael Vic of Pop Warner all I all I did was run that thing you know what I'm saying like that was it snap roll out and boot around use that speed moves that was it when I got got to high school I remember going in and sitting down with the high school coach and he asked me about what position I played and you know I said it with my chest play running back he said no you don't he said we we got running backs here we need you to play fullback and outside linebacker and that was the first time you know I got humbled because I was always fast kid quicket all that stuff right you ain't going to play running back you got to you got to wait your turn we had these little five five five six running backs that were quick and all that kind of stuff so for two years I played fullback and outside linebacker I'm blocking for these boys my senior year was the chance I finally got to beat the guy and I I mean I went crazy I had like 2500 39 touchdowns but it was my senior year so a lot of the bigger schools LSU and Florida and know me you know I did it in one year so it was one of those things I was really a late bloomer I been sit over here smiling cuz uh my um my career kind of went that way I was fullback I was linebacker my sophomore year and then they they they put me over to uh tailback after after gibber left he was a Gatorade All American like 10 10 flat 100 well Freddy that's cuz you were 230 in high school I was 2 I was 22 I was 212 that's then you was out there playing people 10200 mey 102 42 at 215 but let me ask you this Freddy T did you enjoy playing linebacker cuz I did it was fun like I really but outside linebacker I'm rushing I'm coming off that end I'm coming that was the reason I didn't go to uh um they recruited me as a linebacker after my sophomore year I was like I want to play I want to run this rock but I didn't mind playing Lineback I it was a CH chance to to get on the field you know everybody play you see people in the stands they want to come see you play so you want to be a part of the pep rallies I want to be a starter so I just did whatever to get on the field so linebacker was it I know CH got a question let me tell n let me tell both y'all both y'all Hall of Fame [ __ ] y'all wouldn't be as rich as y'all off y'all jumped in linebacker position true so that ball draws a crowd and that ball draws a [ __ ] check but think about this before you ask this question I was so close in college to switching positions I remember yeah after my freshman year there was an argument between the staffs of me going to play safety cuz that you know I was a good athlete and so they was like man he would be a hell of a safety offensive coaches like hell no no he's standing on the this side of the B so they actually were arguing in the staff meeting about me switching over could you imagine no one you probably would have been really good at that too but the world would have been robbed of one of the greatest sits transfer I'm about to say I'm about to tell some stories right now there three running backs in the room Chen had his ha his he yeah yeah we ran a be optional so I just ran a straight [ __ ] lineon look at look at his knees look at his knees yeah you see these bad ass knees what what what weirdo stuff did you do to to sort of train yourself without actually training to play football like what for example what I did was gum like gum drops that dry up on the sidewalk or cracks on the sidewalk I'll be walking down making moves on them where I like run upstairs like we stayed upstairs in an apartment what did he just say yeah like used to used to Juke out gum drop and the cracks in the sidewalk I don't want step on them like that was step on the crack break your mama back I just didn't want to step on the crack all the gumdrops and that was like I would do that the whole my your moves you just didn't know what I was doing you a had no friend that was something that excited me my grandmother sent me to the nobody to play no friends listen my grandmother sent me to go get to swap out the food stamps for cash to buy you know stuff two for one all the way two two miles walk I like this the whole way just because but when I got back home we had we stayed upstairs and that third step was a high step it was two short steps and a big old step it was always a the challenge to jump on that step and go I was working on quick feet and didn't know it so that was sort of the evolution getting me ready for running back that's why I asked what was something weird that you did as a youngster not like that but we played a lot of Seline kill I don't know if y'all remember y'all y'all probably didn't call it that we play throw tackle we played that too but so we were play in the street okay if you got on the sideline by that grass you live Street you touch you touch him if you get yeah the grass is lot you can you can get tackled and so it was a creative way right it was a creative way of teaching you how to run that thing you know and making sure that you right were able to maneuver in the street but also on the sideline That's Country as hell it is country y'all made that jug up that is not a real game no hey sine that is not a real game El they was bored yeah a lot of time Freddy and Bill glage and from bum [ __ ] Texas I don't know where you from Marlon that whole little Central Texas area yeah yeah and I told I told you the story before man I gotta tell you Zack Thomas my God Zach is a bad he's a bad [ __ ] that's my that's my big brother we we get together all the time my man I played with Zack for four years and he called everybody their numbers I told y'all the story before he T everybody number even Tom Brady was 12 you know what I'm saying uh Randy Moss was 84 and we came out to San Diego that was 06 definely had the records and all that stuff and Nick Hardwick I still I [ __ ] with Nick to this day he was pulling around that corner he was the sen that and all that stuff bro y'all r that power and it was the first time that Zack Thomas ever said ever gave a title to somebody was you so I play with Zack and all the time bro we playing dogs every week and he'd be like hey two three two yeah two three like the bounce and Jack would give me Little Little Gems and I remember we came to San Diego to that ragged ass qualcom Stadium qualcom stadium was rged as [ __ ] had that little B lock had that little bitt ass stairs going up quom was [ __ ] and it was the first time and this [ __ ] scared me LT it was the first time we go I think we get on offense first and we go out there we warm up and Zach still hitting me with the the hey you know what I'm saying up rivers and all you know had them boys gates gates was a dog 85 he called Gates 85 yeah and I gotta cover this in slot and I'm like this about to kill me they better not throw backside we sitting there and Zack Thomas looked down the first time the whole time we playing together he looked down he said CC LT for real and I said huh I bro I literally got scared I was like what did you just call him he said LTS for real and that's when y'all r that power and I told we was talking the other day bro I hit you at the line of scrimmage boom and I grabbed you you [ __ ] pumped your feet and I looked up I thought I got a cuz we were going to start with that power I know you talking it was early y'all are going to run that power I think y'all run the power like seven times in a row or something that game bro I hit him at the line of scrimmage RC and I got up and I had the tackle so I made the tackle should I get back no they say second and second and two eight yard this [ __ ] just Ram with eight yards with me and I got this [ __ ] about 50 lbs and that's the thing bro like from that point forward like I saw and we were watching and even we're playing other teams that ran power I would go back and watch y'all weeks after weeks to see how you see it to see when that wheel linebacker comes across that Center when y'all cut back to see that thing like I used to watch every single drill every back couldn't do that yeah you know every back couldn't do that because that you got to have that lateral movement to be able to get back there because it happens so quick when y'all run over that top like that you can't be stuttering and and trying you got to and go you know because y'all going to redirect them them defensive Lin is coming off that you know off blocks too I use both of y'all all the time when I'm training um DBS and we're doing like lateral Plyometrics and things like that I've be like look man I like everybody's worried about having these quick feets these quick feet I said what changes the game is covering ground right I said if you can stick your foot in the ground here and be there then that's an issue yeah right it's like that's like those are the the best sort of players and I was like and those are the players you got to get on the ground and so both of y'all could do that with the best in the world I do want to talk about a moment that was different for us to see right we'd always seen you scoring you know 31 touchdowns in one season MVP you hurt your MCL before a huge playoff game right and the the visual of that game is you in the coat the dark visor with the helmet on the entire game take me through what you were feeling that year in the playoffs man it was probably one of the most disappointing times of my life now I knew I had to uphill battle you know trying to play with the MCL like that and I remember the week before we're playing the Colts man and and it's early in the game and I go to spinoff I go to spin-off a tackle and Robert Mattis is coming behind me and he lands on me my you know my knee buckles and it felt funny you know and I'm like I think I'm okay and so I tried to play through it at that time but as a runner you just it's it's it's your money you know this is our money thinking to myself at that time okay let me try to rest up for six days and and you know get my trainers in here have them working on me every day and I think I'd be okay I went into the game thinking it's 5050 now wasn't sure if I can make it through the game but I knew I had to try this is the AFC Championship game had to try one of the first plays we run power Teddy brusi he knew went straight down hit that knee again okay reinjured it went off the next series try it again we R in a screen playay okay I turned around catch the ball look back there's nobody there Teddy brusi is coming from the inside Freddy T I couldn't out run like you know I'm limping I couldn't get there you know and so at that time we had Michael Turner burner Turner said I said Mike you got you got to take us man I said I I can't I can't go and the reason why Ry I kept that helmet on so disappointed in myself that I I I didn't want to show any facial expressions of you know like I didn't I'm already a private person anyway way so the camera and all that kind of stuff people speculating that was my cover that was my shield disappointment for myself you know and dealing with everything I'm thinking at that time that I just let my team down not being able to go not and knowing that can't do nothing about that man that AFC Championship was the one Philip played with the ACL right right and if you're listening to the media and watching the coverage of that game they try to compare those two things one you have a quarterback that doesn't move anyway right like unless Philip making babies he ain't really tripping about moving a lot right and then you have one of the most explosive running backs to ever play the game Who admittedly said I couldn't outrun Teddy brusi how difficult was it for you to deal with all the noise and criticism of you after that AFC Championship Game well I I really wasn't like I I didn't really care about that I knew what was real you know and so I never really got into the whole criticism you know it's disappointment for me because I'm the captain I'm the captain you know and I can't be out there right and but I did I did struggle a little with a little bit with Philip hadan KNE why couldn't I have the shoulder a shoulder I mean ribs I done played through every AC's crack ribs nothing you can do about the knees nothing you can do and so realizing I let my team down but I never really I never really cared about the criticism that everybody was talking about at that time and it's something even running back and Fred we talk about it with it and then Ricky Ricky Williams too bro were you ready to be as famous as you got no no I mean I I was I was used to kind of flying under the radar and even in San Diego was it was known to be a more chill Place didn't get a lot of media attention not like in on the East Coast you know and so I felt like I was in a good position to just kind of be who I was you know but I think I took it how it went at that time started to get a lot of marketing deals television commercials all that kind of stuff and you know for me I didn't really think about how famous you know I was becoming it was just like striking when it's hot yeah because there's two games that that you have to play you gotta play the game on the field but you also got to play it off the field you got to play that game as well and I knew I had the opportunity at that time to play that game off the field how much truth is it to you turning down the Madden cover it's all true that was in ' 08 correct or 08 it was 07 I yeah something like that it was enough money why did you was enough money I felt like my value was higher than what they were asking me to do at the end of the day and I I've always turned down things that I didn't feel like were value who I I am who I was at the time and so I wasn't going to sell out for Madden you know if I if I felt like they weren't giving me what I deserve especially all the stuff that they ask you to do the shoots all that stuff to me it just wasn't wasn't worth it I I gotta ask n you know I'm what was the number I don't even remember now I know it was six figures and they they about to make a billion off yeah yeah I want you know I want to get you know you got to get a million at least you they say though stand on business I read yeah stand I'm the MVP yeah i' I've done things that Walter PID Man of the Year only player that has ever done that mvp and Walter paidon Man of the Year like give me what I deserve you ever believe in the Madden Curse though nah no not I didn't I I I never believed in it but you know was weird that it kept happening right like it was weird like everybody that got on there yeah you know and people speculate oh that's the reason why he turned it down nah it wasn't but yeah did you believe in it nah I mean [ __ ] I was getting hurt and I wasn't on like hey you about to try something different reverse should got on that [ __ ] see Di I'm sitting over here like damn my dog over there snapping and going crazy I need to stay healthy to get over there a bring that cover man you know real quick we playing Freddy Tina at one time and I remember cuz man Freddy was my guy man I love to watch him you know because he did things that I wanted to do you know movements and explosion through the hole and all that kind of stuff right and I did something one time I think I you know hit somebody spent or whatever and I I saw Freddy t on the bench and I kind of looked at he smil he like hey was that when y'all blew us out yeah yeah hey I'm sitting over there at the same time like godamn that's supposed to be me that's that cuz they running play saying a got the a got that power key and that will if that boy come down the will going to go over now if they you lean it up just right and get them all now you one on one backside with with the safety T and you like you getting it I'm GNA be honest you know what I'm saying I thought y'all got the football and ran the daylight I like the fact that y'all actually paid attention to the will you know like you tell me you would watch Casey's wherever Casey was shade to know like all that stuff to me like I was like man these dud is fast and powerful and they just hand them the ball and they run no it's leverage it's knowing your your the blocking assignment what the double teams are you want to hug those tight and when they Slither off and get up to the next level you want to be right there being able to make some moves so but you know what and and that's when my game went to the next level when I knew what y'all were going to do you know I I can tell you know sometimes right before the play if y'all cheating over a little bit and them eyes go to a certain play oh he coming to that Gap okay so I'm G hold him there and then I'mma know that my Block's coming here and I'mma bounce that thing so hard and you know you play games like that and the other thing is in the passing game I learned from Marshall faul Marshall lived in San Diego I spent a lot of time with Marshall Faulk on routes and stuff so I'm telling you like it's clear as day I knew every time when I ran that that H post route or that option who was going to cover me I look out there oh you know what I'm saying they a well look like cover three that safety right there oh they going to bracket me here oh they not oh okay that's safety for the run down late he going to have me man to man I'm going to give it to him you play the game like that in your mind before it happened and then when it's happening you're not surprised when it's a big play you didn't already it's it's like the Matrix on the back side of different on the back side of trips I had you man the man one time cake no listen it it it go it makes me look bad but it looks good and bad after the end anyway you run the offic r i stay inside out a cut my feet whatever you B to the sideline and you catch the ball and I end up luckily I think I closed my eyes but I tackled you and [ __ ] I got up and I'm over there slapping my helmet and I'm going crazy and I'm going to the sideline and the coach is looking at me funny and I'm like [ __ ] why isn't everybody celebrating it was second down third I got to cover this [ __ ] again [ __ ] that's all I did but that that was the part of the game that I didn't know I was just doing my job and I was so excited to be able to tackle you in over field but like you saying you knew exactly what was happening you saw the safety Ro rotate over top you saw the three cover roll and you knew I was manto man back side CU we used to roll trips and that's the an option we have to go out you know because the trips are somebody's coming inside on the trip so you got to go we have to go out if you had a real option I really would never covered you you um you mentioned your faith earlier you know I know we was talking about ball that's like a really big pivot you mentioned your faith earlier you're an actor right you you played you played a pastor you know and you say you drew on things that your mother taught you growing up speak a little bit about though that relationship with your mother and just how important that was you know for your father to tell you I was able to go with this other family because your mother was so strong I knew she had you that's a that's a powerful statement something you don't want to hear right but it's a powerful statement about who your mom is and was to you tell me a little bit about that relationship golly man you know I think at every step of the way my mom gave me great crumbs man she was so had so much wisdom guys you know what my mom used to do when I was a kid to kind of keep me out of trouble she had a way of uh in the mornings for breakfast she would find stories of kids my age you know maybe selling drugs going to jail getting killed she would bring that newspaper while I was eating she would set it down in front of me I want you to read that story and she would walk away and it had a way of you know keeping it in reality like you're not Untouchable you go out here you live in the south side of Waco anything can happens two streets over from where I grew up was one of the biggest drug dealers in my in my city in Waco she knew that that was her way of saying hey you go down this road this is what can happen I know you getting asked to do certain things that you're not supposed to be doing I know this is going on at this age but this is how you handle it and the greatest thing that my mom did was when she truly started to you know take her faith seriously and changed her life see we grew up and it was cards it was enj in the house you know parties at my house and you know I'm a kid running around and that's I thought that's what it was about when she changed the structure of the home and really became a pastor M and started leaving those breadcrumbs and and you know giving wisdom and teaching how to deal with your spirituality and you know how to be confident and just being who you are that's when I I think for me I was able to to stay on that path of understanding where I wanted to go and how to do it I knew how to get there because of her because all the different things she would do you know with me growing up when Lorenzo was talking about what made you a great person he talked about the teammates you were the man you were but he also mentioned his sister uh Twila and he said that you had you would go out of your way to whether it's speak to her be around her and he said if you asked her today who her favorite player was even though you were retired this is you know during your induction that it would be you what was it about your relationship with Lorenzo but also his little sister Who special needs that made that important to you every time you saw her anytime she was around to give extra effort to let her know you acknowledged her you valued her very experienc in growing up with family with special needs you know so I had an auntie that had twin twin girls that were special need and they were really close to us you know like we were grew up together and so I grew up learning how to take care of them learning how to do certain things for them learning how to be careful with their feelings you know and all the things that they had to deal with so it was it was natural to me for when I first met her to just love on her you know just to to love on her I knew how to interact with her and we built a a great relationship over them years it was really R about the experience that I had in my own family of dealing with special needs kids LT the the the daddy right cuz you don't get to be Hall of Famer at your crib no not at all you know when you have the relationship that I guess we can call complicated with your father and you feel like that is taken away before you get an opportunity to truly know it and then you see the great parenting the sacrifice the crumbs like you said of your mother all of those experiences build us to the fathers that we are and the way we take care of our kids how did all those things shape you and how do you implement what you learned what you want to be what you don't want to be into raising your kids yeah it without question it shapes you you know whether you like it or not it shapes you you know but the thing that I have to like I struggle with a little bit is you know being open you know a little bit more with my kids because my dad really wasn't too open you know what I mean he was he wasn't present always and I feel like like I'm not always as present as I want to be but at the same time I understand it and it makes me Fight Hard against that because I don't want them having the same feelings that my dad have and so maybe sometimes I overdo it like you know I pushed myself this past year to be my son's coach at his school you know and and I don't I don't know if he wanted that you know what I mean so that's what I'm doing now and took over the offseason program with with my son's school you see what I'm saying so maybe am I overdoing it maybe a little bit but this is the way I know how to be a little bit more open you know maybe to my kids uh sacrifice a little bit more of being present but just being available to have conversations at the end of the day that's awesome yeah I think a lot of times we want you know I I want personally what I didn't have as a youth so I try to um have that more in my life Hall of Fame he he better than you Freddy look I he's better than you I always put LT I the proof man why you want I just RC we sitting over here we sitting over here RC and we lining up against somebody I don't want to line up against either I don't want to line up against either one of them I want to get I want to get a duck you know what I'mma tell you your best chance is me it that's my point LT better than you I'm telling you that your best shot is me this guy he's always the antagonist but your best shot is me but that's going to be a hell of a shot I'm just can I get my CL I I saw you going football and I just want to let the the establish everybody knows that LT was better than your [ __ ] ass that you was a [ __ ] how long we been together a long time Fred I know you for 20 you know I'm always I love you to I always give you the nod dog you already know that so your Hall of Fame speech 26 minutes it wasn't a speech it was more like a sermon and it came at the perfect time in the country it was it it was needed yeah very much needed the mindset like preparation leading up to it uh take us through you know those thoughts how did you develop your speech nowadays I think they're eight minutes they're limited to maxed out at eight with those guys but leading up to what were those thought processes how they come together well if you remember guys there was a leading up to that oh those five seasons of 2012 when I retired to 2017 lot of social justice issues going on you know um lot of Marching In the Streets which I you know I I took part in a lot of you know black lives matter a lot of things going pro a lot of things going on right and I just felt like it wasn't about me this is was this was my opportunity to say something something to the country to say you know what I wanted to say but also to leave a message I felt like if this was going to be the last I went in with the mindset if this is the last message if this is the last thing I ever say you know what do I want to say and I wanted to you know I really wanted to leave that Legacy of this is what I care about like this is how I feel feel like we should move forward and having that locker room feel of you know how we approach everything like it doesn't matter what color you are it doesn't matter you know your sexuality who you love who you don't it's about coming together for one common goal that's why I came up with that term Team America you know the idea of if we cared about our neighbor you know more than we cared about ourself if we all took that approach then you know it would be a better world and all that kind of stuff but I also wanted to point out some things that were going on that were hurting the community that were hurting my community things that I were going that I was going through and then obviously I had to touch on you know my ancestors you know kind of what they had been through and and just tied all together and man I I think it it really came out the way that I wanted it to come out and I'm going to tell you man it was so it was it was such a heavy moment for me after I got off stage I was inconsolable in crying I'll tell you it was one of the the weirdest things that I ever felt because I felt like my dad my granddad great Granddad all that pressure the spirit for whatever reason I felt it at that time you know and it it was it was powerful it was really powerful I had never felt that before it had to be a thing that brought you some pride though that to know and have found out what that name meant how you got that name now that name is forever enshrined in Canton Ohio in the Hall of Fame and it shows how like how people sacrifice for us to get opportunities to be something different to be something more to be something better and every now and then we make it right and it's never going to change what history is history is history right we don't get to change it we get to learn about it we get to teach our kids about it but we do get to work in the present to make sure we give them their difference we give them their appreciation for what they had to go through right and I think you got a different perspective than a lot of us get and the fact that you go forward with that thinking outside of yourself is huge I think we always ask this question so we're going to ask you the question what's your biggest pivot what's the moment in your life that you felt like you either needed or it Jed you whether it was NE negative or positive that propelled you to this point that made you make a decision to get to this point but what is that moment in your life that greatest pivot that gives us the leeni and tomson we see today wow oh man so when I was a freshman in high school um I went to church every every Sunday and you know was that kid because my mom was a pastor was that kid that was like you know going to church again like we're going to be there for three four hours you know really wasn't into it like that I mean I'm a teenager you know I'm ready to get home play the game watch football so this one particular Sunday the pastor you know gets to to preaching and and you know there's people shouting you know in southern churches you're going to shout you know you're going to dance okay and so this one particular Sunday Pastor comes down out of the pull pit and he's laying hands on people man you know he's preaching he gets to me lay his hands on it and he says I'm I'm 14 years old says son God told me to tell you he's going to take you places you wouldn't even imagine if you honor him if you honor him I'mma tell I started to cry I started to cry and I promise promise you if I look back on that day my life changed from that day I knew where I was heading man I'm telling you because that was the prophecy on my life and I was huge into that you know my mom reminded me at every step of the way what was your prophecy on your life that God would take me places I never imagine if I just honor him believe it and all the way did he not take me places I never imagined I wanted 300 men to has a gold bust that's the pivot that's the [Laughter] show sh when I got stuck up IED to break to be so mad cuz you know we on Central time so you go to CH church at 8:30 they keep you there 3 and 1/2 hours you missing the start of the game they used to be hot do I every time say game be on by the time we get [Music] home my people feeling militant way I'm feeling got me up on the mission got me up knowing me I got the key only Vision I can trust trust Limitless n it I here to witness it my feeling milit I'm feeling get me up Miss get me up

Channel: The Pivot Podcast

Views: 594,656

Keywords: pivot, the pivot, the pivot podcast, football podcast, sports podcast, channing crowder, fred taylor, ryan clark, channing crowder podcast, fred taylor podcast, ryan clark podcast, nfl, football, super bowl, super bowl 2024, super bowl podcast, nfl 2024, espn, ryan clark espn, new heights, pardon my take, pat mcafee show, bussin with the boys, lets go tom brady, the herd with colin, around the nfl, nfl draft, nfl news, nfl highlights

Id: zCocj-9CKHI

Length: 64min 30sec (3870 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 05 2024