Take ADVANTAGE of Every OPPORTUNITY | Terrell Owens

listen all these people spent it on planet earth right now you've had one of the most extraordinary lives and sports of anybody the last 20 years so the third leading receiver in the history the NFL isn't starting as a junior in high school until our senior year either are you kidding no I lived in the projects I mean so when you think about projects I mean being on welfare yeah no I know what that's like you know having a stand in line to get blocks of cheese and bread and stuff like that I know what that is my grandmother changed and she had no idea it was changing because she were diagnosed with dementia her health was deteriorating and she had no idea who I became welcome back to max out with that my lat a gentleman to my left does not need an introduction this is Terrell El Dorado Owens not my full name otherwise known as tio2 most of you out there and newly elected NFL Hall of Famer tio so congratulations on that presented and welcome to the program appreciate it max out max out exactly we're gonna max out the day here today so I'm uh there's so much to talk about this guy you know if you don't know google it but you're talking about in my opinion my generation the best wide receiver in football and arguably the best player in football during that time 153 touchdowns almost 16,000 receiving yards probably the most impressive thing I don't know if you know this or not only put player in the history the NFL to score a touchdown against every single team did you know that I do know yeah but even better than that maybe you don't know this only player in the history of able to score two touchdowns against every single team did you know that I think that's a really you knew yeah so you're talking about I mean in the history of football one of the all-time greats and but I don't actually know there's the most interesting thing about you I think the most interesting thing about you that I've started to learn is how you grew up so I want to talk a little bit about that because I don't think coming out of this you went to Tennessee Chattanooga that's not unnecessarily no offense but that's not a wide receiver NFL powerhouse of football right so and where you grew up and how you grew up I don't think everybody would have predicted at eight years old or ten years old or even 17 years old necessarily you would turn out to be the way that you did so I want to talk about how you got there and what you did so how did you grow up like where did you grow up Alexander City Alabama relatively small town like how small thank 14 15,000 people small so relativity fault I mean it's small I mean where everybody knows your name yeah like that TV show cheers yeah everybody knows your business right they know what's going on but I our football team our school we were six eight I mean so we were pretty pretty big in terms of a school size in high school in high school but you didn't play football before high schools all right ah no I played in junior high but I was just kind of just on the team that's crazy again I was I was really little skinny scrawny when I left high school I was probably maybe right at six feet or oh six foot one and maybe 170 75 pounds what did you not didn't go back with Ruth did you start like your freshman year on varsity in high school um no I didn't um I was on JV I was on geniusly JV right junior varsity then obviously once you get past the 10th grade you have to play on varsity so I played a number sports um baseball basketball I ran track yeah obviously football so I just played the sport because I was competitive just like to play the game my smile my junior year yeah that was when I got really got an opportunity to play I was like second the third stream so actually second string so the receiver that that was gonna be playing that particular game on a Friday night he and I'm getting sick during the school day and so I end up having to start and so my my running back coach coach Lassiter came up to me he goes yell Ricky's sick because you're gonna have to start you how to play tonight and so he basically gave me some encouraging words said at my locker he literally say he goes you're gonna do fine don't worry about anything and he went on to say hood you know what you're gonna score a touchdown tonight did you and I did you did put so so the third leading receiver in the history of the NFL isn't starting as a junior in high school until a senior north-north senior you're either are you kidding though you didn't start as a senior in high school Zenoss so you obviously Wow like isn't that a lesson all you young athletes have follow me hey just cuz it's not where it needs to be right now doesn't mean you can't get there and you want you entrepreneurs that are following me and I may not be on the varsity of business yet this is one of the all-time greats in the history and you're talking about by that time most guys are being recruited they got eight nine ten schools coming after us and that's crazy so what did you do just like every time you get an opportunity just took advantage of it is that what would happen I did my coach my head coach at the time Steve Severus he basically like it during the course of the school year we have probably like a 30 to 45-minute period what they call it enrichment period where we can either study other you know work on other subjects kind of to help get your grades up things that nature I used that time to go down to lift weights so he basically went around to against they send something around to all the teachers that basically said yeah if a player wants to go out you know if you guys grant him let him get a pass to go down to the weight room or what have you so that's literally what I did I took that those moments those 30 45 minutes of enrichment period talk to the teacher went down to the weight room and that's where I started to do putting in extra work just to kind of get myself bigger faster stronger always a theme through the whole 15 years the NFL yes that was the start of it and so my coach now he's a coach no sorry he's over the whole Alabama Athletic Association ok Football Association ok and so these are some of the things when he left and he coached a couple years at a couple of high schools that was the message to some of his students that with me really kind of continuing beginning the success that I did earlier on in my San Francisco days that was the story that he told those students that I was a kid that was a kid that really that really put in hard work I wasn't the most athletic I wasn't the most sought-after I wasn't the most highly recruited a lot of coming out of high school going into college but he always remembered during those enrichment peers he could go down that waiting room go down that hall he would hear somebody our weights clanking around in the weight room he knew exactly who it was and it was me that's awesome so you that's a like just so you know even for me because I know a lot about you I did not know you didn't start in high school to you senior year and so then you didn't get recruited by the Alabama's the Auburn's the LSU yep I just got asked this question just just a few days ago yeah again Albarn is 45 minutes from me right University of Alabama there's our and something away from me but again it wasn't it's not their fault I was a late bloomer yeah my body developed late my skill set wasn't where it needed to be to even capture the attention of some of those schools of that caliber so again you know when I look back on my whole preferred professional career and even you know scholastically you know high school college without my desire yeah coupled with my dedication and my discipline those are my three DS desire dedication of discipline without those three I wouldn't be where I am today all these people spin it on planet earth right now you've had one of the most extraordinary lives and sports of anybody the last 20 years right all kinds of different things have happened and so before we get even the college and only go back back right I think behind when I interview people and my friends that are successful I'll go back when they're a little boy so I'm talking little tour a little Terrell right make sure I pronounce it correctly little Terrell I'll go back to that little boy I wonder what was going on in that dudes life to give him this edge this Drive this all these all these different things that make you up usually there's like a great person behind them or extraordinary person usually a woman when it's a man so for you when you were this little boy we go back to the six-year-old tio 8 year old 9 year old what would your life like and who was instrumental in it um again growing up in a low-income you know type of environmental income oh yeah I mean I lived in the projects ok I mean so when you think about projects I mean being on welfare yeah no I know what that's like you know having a stand in line to get blocks of cheese and bread and stuff like that I know what that is the WIC program women infant and children yes I'm familiar with that food stamps I'm familiar with that I went through that process again living in the projects again it's if you lived in the projects you know what it's like not the best of situations you got roaches crawling around turn on the lights they scurry around peen dude I I lived it yeah so again my grandmother like said my mom I lived with my mom a little bit again we stayed in the projects she had me at a very young age yes my grandmother helped my mom raise not only but me with my other siblings so when you think about the women or a woman behind you know that little six eight nine ten year old tear oh yeah that's who it was it was my grandmother what did she do for you what was what was significant about her um just the way she raised me I mean she was from the south anybody who knows anything about the 50s 60s you know it was rough rough especially for an african-american she picked cotton Wow her mom and dad picked cotton so it was a generational thing so these are some of the things that I've learned and even when she was on the phone talking to her friends I was ear-hustling at that age I heard some of the hardships that not only that she had to go through but what she learned through her through her mom and her dad I mean at one point throughout through her life she lost track of her mom she had no idea where she was again and when I got into college in a few years into the National Football League my mom tried to help find my my grandmother's mom my god there was there was rumors that she was in prison and all these things and obviously took to no success but again these are some of the things again the way that I was raised I'm a product of my environment and I feel like she raised me the right way she's like absolutely you can add that to my list of DS that me it is in there but discipline was a big big part of it growing up in a household like that I was under her roof I had to by abide by her rules I can almost picture her so you were when you made it I'm just curious you made it you've son you'd be probably at your rookie deal but then you finally had a you know you get that good contract right you're the first contract what was it like for her for you like was she proud of you like was that her life change does she what was it like for you be able to do something for her what would that feel like just because you know anybody know like you have a breakthrough moment someday like what's that feel like it changed and she had no idea it was changing because you were diagnosed with dementia that's right in 96 and that was my rookie year and anybody that knows anything about dementia and the progression and obviously Alzheimer's and with them I'm an advocate for you again I didn't realize until I really did a lot of research and it became very knowledge of more knowledgeable and about the disease but she had no idea what was going on with her how her health was eventually gonna deteriorate to where she had no idea she she wouldn't recognize her own son yeah own daughters so again the bonding relationship that we had is so I'm so thankful and blessed and fortunate because even throughout my 15 year career I was able to once she got to a point to where she couldn't walk around my grandmother was very active she didn't drive a car for a period of years but she would walk all through town that's how small a town both I mean she would walk through town she didn't wanna ride with anybody that was her way of just exercising but unbeknownst to her her health was deteriorating and she had no idea who I became understanding you talk about the contracts and I made in one year what she probably made her entire life I end up paying off her house off she had no idea yeah but here these are some of the things that I felt like I owed to her because it's some of the things that she did not only for me but my mom as well yeah and so everything that I've done throughout my career she's definitely been at the backbone she's been the cornerstone she's been my inspiration she's been my motivation regardless of the perception that people have of me based on the media portrayal of some of the situations that have gone to my career yeah speaking of that's one things a lot of people don't really even know about with tio2 is he does a lot of work with Alzheimer's he does a lot of work with people that suffer from dementia and things of that sort and so you're talking about a guy who's put his heart his time and his money where his mouth is on this stuff too so I knew she was a significant presence in your life and I didn't want to do an interview with you without honoring her OS and so that's why I bring that up so anyway you go away you played basketball and football in college or I did my buddy wasn't a winning team either no we it's funny we played 11 games a year yeah so a total of 44 games my my my whole college career guess how many games that I want how many's you with 13 oh my gosh are you kidding me 13 that's it gosh so that tells you where the program was at that point - yeah from 92 to 96 oh my gosh now where they are right my the the athletic director the Chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga me leaving they're kind of putting them on the map so to speak they said I I've helped their programs oh my gosh of course to get to where they are right now and I was so touched and moved three years ago when I went back for the first homecoming and I nineteen years I had no idea what kind of impact that me going to Chattanooga me having the level of a success that I that I've had in the National Football League what it meant to my mic how I got imagine that every single recruiting conversation they've had since the day you sign with the Niners it became something your name was said and again but like said I was so oblivious yeah from 96 being drafted with the Niners of what I was doing yeah and what I was gonna and and what I became yeah I haven't I had no idea yeah I think there's a lot of things I think there's things that guys like you do that are just unconscious like I just think there's a lot of things that are great about you that you take for granted because it's you and also some of the results or impact you can have and so unconscious and unknown yeah there are so many great things that I've done throughout the course of my career and the media kind of they kind of hand handpick and Nick pick you know people that they want to put at the forefront and glorify I I never really was fortunate enough to be one of those guys because of my personality I think maybe it rubbed some people the wrong way because of my confidence and that often got misconstrued with being cocky and arrogant yeah my grandma that we just mentioned like she would be appalled if I was arrogant or cocky that's not how I was raised and so for me to hear all these things and for the media to portrayed me in this light yeah I I dealt with it internally nobody wants to be frowned upon I looked you know look down on or be characterized as being arrogant or just a bad person in general so I had to internalize these things again I was bullied I was picked on as a little kid as well um I had self-esteem issues I didn't like me and dark skin I didn't like being skinny you know so a lot of these things that I would that I experienced as a young age it motivated me as I as I grew up it's stacked and stick I tell you what man I I appreciate how honest you are not only throughout your career but also even now just saying those things do there's a lot of guys out there that are watching this they're insecure they're getting bullied they're their skins too dark or their skins too light or their eyes are a certain way they're getting bullied for they're too heavy i before i knew before i knew the correct term of what being picked on me now it's bullying you boys there right yeah you have this campaign around bullying yeah I'm again I have a guy in in Montana William Henry who's who has a program now to to really combat and it really build around like guys like myself just to help promote and and with bullying yeah I hope all you young guys out there or parents who have young kids I hope you play this part of the segment for him because he turned that into fuel for himself eventually right and and in terms of you when you played listen I sure I'm sure you'd acknowledge everyone makes mistakes and they're like that so they try to say yeah no doubt but I gotta tell you what the media loves to do I work with a lot of athletes and with the media loves to do is they create characters yeah people aren't one-dimensional you have many dimensions to you so once you're a character they love to portray you a certain way ask you questions that fit that narrative right and then all of a sudden most but find me an athlete who's not from a professional athlete who's not incredibly confident and I won't tell you I will show you somebody who is no longer a professional athlete right like you have to play with immense confidence it's not arrogance he has answered stuff honestly so let's talk about that for the career for a second I'm curious because this small-town guy not a big-time school now you're in camp with the Niners your rookie here okay Jerry freakin rice is there yeah probably your hero growing up right god I never like said my grandmother's so strict I didn't get to do a whole lot didn't watch a lot of TV that's crazy the only TV shows that I really got to watch was will a fortune I've ever watched I got to watch the channel six 10 to 12 Channel 12 News really got to watch The Cosby Show get out really for real but did you know the rice was what do you know not until like my junior year in college oh my gosh that's but in like you didn't know Jerry Rice was through your junior year in college it I had no idea because I never followed football like that okay so I never really was a football fan so you go to camp though I know a little bit of history so Jerry Rice is there then there's a number-one pick in front of you Stokes at UCLA drafted on the year before right yeah so they got a number one they invest a third-round picking you right what was that like oh did you have to earn a roster spot like were you the first thing like I got to make the spot all right yeah well absolutely I I again not really knowing and being aware of what what the draft yeah consists of yeah what it encompasses I mean I thought okay you'd wrap it you're on the team no yeah I didn't know you had to go through the process you got to make the team I mean like I said that was kind of how clueless I was really me playing beyond the collegiate level yeah I never thought that I would play beyond the collegiate level also we mentioned basketball I played three years of basketball I mean the program wanted me not to play my senior year understanding that had an opportunity to play professionally okay football so but I love was so great for basketball I was like no I'm not gonna forgo my senior year of playing basketball to concentrate on football well that was never really on my radar but yeah I I was drafted wore number 15 in camp my coaches Larry curtsy at the time they drafted me on potential based on my physical attributes and what I could probably add to the game they thought that I could learn under Jerry Rice JJ Stokes and then I got to be there and saw guys like Nate singleton these are veteran receivers Chris Thomas and a lot of other free agents that were on the team at the time yeah so I'm looking around I'm like I'm number 15 I don't get an 80 number I don't you don't get an 80 number or legit number until you make the team I didn't know that so 15 was was was my number going all the way through preseason and asked as yet as this preseason unfolded you started to see the cuts break down and as we get closer to the season he so I saw guys that I felt in my mind were better than I was really they were getting cut so I mean it's it's natural natural instinct okay if you know that you're not your skillset is not where there's our yeah you're like okay well I'm next you're next yeah that's the same I was a realist about my abilities when I was in high school in college I knew that there were guys that were better than me that's crazy to hear I knew in college I knew that there were guys that were bigger bad bigger faster and stronger than me even in college but that's what prompted me to get the key not only did I work out in my spare time when I was in high school those 30 45 minutes here I didn't go home during the summer after my freshman sophomore year of school so I got the key from the strength and conditioning coach I did the same thing got the key to the weight here we go did the same thing I would go in that's how I got stronger because I was in there by myself so I had to lift off by myself I had to be careful because I was in there by myself nobody spotted me so that's how I got stronger hmm so these are some of the things that I did unbeknownst to there you go out there in terms of how I how I made it this is so good because you outwork everybody it's also the things you do when no one's watching like when you play don't think is everyone's physique is physique right now you know where this comes from it doesn't happen overnight it's awesome to hear I hope everyone's here in these lessons business sports you name it and then again this running theme of you take an advantage of opportunity right so during that season rice gets hurt that's second my second second see because that one you had your breakthrough was really the second session I'm sorry yeah play sparingly you know my my rookie year I played a lot of special teams yes but when I got you a couple passes there yeah yeah I mean I think I I don't know how many yards I had no I think I had like four touchdowns in my rookie year but again I started accounting just familiarize myself with the PlayBook go Steve Young job just a culture of professional football in itself good and so I go in my second year again going into the offseason I'm preparing myself yeah just to be a vital part a value to the team and so we go into this my second season first game we go down to Tampa Jerry Rice I think he runs a reverse or something and and Warren steps I think just beat our defensive man got him from behind and he tears his ACL mmm from that point on I mean I get thrown into the fire here we go and so that's where that preparation you know that I and just me familiarizing everything that I had done my rookie year leading up to my second year I was preparing myself for this moment I loved it and if I wasn't prepared then I wouldn't been able to add value to the scene to the team you see I didn't say success because I hadn't resided there was no level of success at that point Wow I was still trying to add value I was trying to add value to the Jerry Rice's to the Steve Young to the JJ Stokes to the organization to the team itself Wow so I hadn't really experienced any success at this point I was still trying in that and that mode of proving myself that I could play at the professional level what a great distinction so when did the but mother will tell you one thing just off the whole thing I turn on a football game it's the playoffs that's you guys against Green Bay the best catch I've seen in the clutch moment in a in my entire life is that catch was that though 99 ok we're gonna feed this in right here you're gonna watch this guy come across it's the middle and you get obliterated and hold onto this football right like that that's the kind of stuff about like you added value added value out of value and then I was like oh my god this guy's special it's like it's literally like where I caught the ball that's like its equivalent of going in between two to two cars undaunted to to the eye of a hurricane or tornado tornado because Steve Young he put that past where nobody else could catch it but me how much time was left in the game I think at that time we're not caused by eight seconds left eight seconds left in the game right so I think things like that start happening so you took advantage of the opportunity then there's these special moments and you start going wait a minute maybe I got something here right maybe I'm special when did you have that this guy just so you know this man had 20 catches in a single football game so I'm curious did you know going into that game like whoever the corner was that we only eat this dude up or was that just the game kind of fell in your direction well for everybody that don't know out there this is Jerry Rice's last home game ok so yeah this is Jerry Rice's last home game we planned the Chicago Bears ok we go into this game with the game plan and the mindset of we trying to send this guy off into the sunset you know me so our first 15 plays scripted our 20 plays there if it was I think about 15 ok I guarantee you 13 98 percent of the pass play pit 13 or 14 of the play at pass plays on the plays in general ok work for Jerry okay we're trying to send the greatest receiver of all time out the best way possible got you but not only did we know that yet the world knew that the Chicago Bears to me their deepest knew their heads so they tried to prevent and they did a great job of taking him out of the negative way which opened up for you what did you just mention you segue into this by saying me taking advantage of opportunities yeah so that's what I did so Jeff Garcia the quarterback at the time he had to be smart going through his pro crescent progressions yes knowing that okay I can't imagine what Jeff was like we're trying to get the great receiver of all time we're trying to get him off and he's so he has to be smart about the game plan not to force anything so he goes to his progressions and Jerry been the number one receiver and it you could have said that me and JJ again depended on the receiver set on formations we're two and three in a progression yeah so I was just basically running my routes to win to be open yep to be that secondaries receiver you have good Jeff goes to incident want one option and Jeff Jerry's not there he goes to two while he goes to three mm-hmm I was on the receiving end of 20 of those pathways it's interesting this is like the most telling part of the interview just so you know because the perception of you I think sometimes is that this is and it's completely opposite I'm gonna bring another example up in a minute I think like the ultimate team player on the field I just asked you about a record you had for a long time and you credited Jerry with it you literally I said that he created opportunities for me right like it really was that's a team that's what a team person actually most team guys would not even say that so that's incredible and I asked you about a record you hold you basically give credit to Rice for moving coverage his way and opening things up for you and Andy your quarterback by the way too I'm curious because now you become the Jerry Rice the rest to your career one of the things that's unique you guys when you get a high level of sports is that you know you see the records he's got and but you understand something every football game this man went into for about a decade or more the defense on that Monday when they got together was how do we stop 81 right you understand the whole the whole structure of it of the defense is how do we take away their best weapon this was their best weapon what's that like I'm curious like all week you got to be so good you're gonna face their best corner right or or they're gonna slant coverage your way or get double cut at the time whatever it is what's it like knowing a whole team is scheming against you how did you end up prevailing week after week after week beating coverage like that what was that was it yours was it your ability to run the route was it your film study all of it like what was just my preparation understanding what they're gonna give me understanding my coaching them helping me they were helping me perfect the craft of becoming a receiver coming out of Chattanooga I had no idea of really I wasn't faced with the level of competition that I was gonna be facing in the pros so I had to work on these things you know day in and day out after practice you know working with my hands working with my feet my physical park that was a given I mean I could run through a guy all day all day but I knew in order for me to progress and get to the level of Jerry Rice yeah then I had to add some tools to my toolbox here I probably I had a toolbox but I probably had maybe two or three tools in there Wow you know me so I was I was lacking he so I had to add some tools to my repertoire into my box in order to really perform at the level that I knew that I could and once I started to grasp what I could do on the football field so the separator was that extra preparation those extra tools again have averaged you have good and you have great football players yeah and you see that there is only that the margin of with good and great is very very slim and what separates those guys when you think about spent in football you think about the Jerry he's thinking about the Tom Brady's your Steve Young obviously you know Hall of Fame caliber or talent guys in basketball you think about the code but you think about the Michael George you think about the LeBrons and what they're doing later on in their careers yeah it's because they realized that there's something that separates them from good to go from good to great rate coming out of high school I wasn't that great coming out of high school but these guys when you think about Kobe's the Kevin Garnett Stella prawns they're their projected to be great yes but it'll be a big disappointment and failure if they don't exceed or live up to those expectations but you think about what Kobe did he took the blueprint of what Michael Jordan did you think about what LeBron is not only you can't just pinpoint and characterize him with one particular player he possesses so many abilities from all these great players that are paid away from him he realizes that and he took advantage of the opportunities then so he takes the time to play 15 seasons and now you feel like you look at this guy play he can play 15 more because he's invested in himself he believes in himself yeah and that's what I had to do to I knew that I wasn't good at that at one point I was average mmm I started from average and I worked my way to good and then once I saw him like okay I'm a pretty decent athlete yeah what can I do to take me to the next level I utilized the resources around me for my personal trainer to my coaches I listened when I when I would be on the football field and I would see Steve talking to Brent Jones or he would be talking to the quarterback coach Matt Kavanagh or when he bill washing me walk on the field or he's talking to Jerry Rice these are conversations that were they had I was in earshot distance I would be paying attention so there was something that he and Steve Steve and Jerry are trying to get on the same page with I knew that he's toughing him but I'm being taught at the same time so I'm taking all this into into account into consideration because I may be in that situation one day and ultimately I was because I had some big shoes to fill I was asked I I understand I was afraid to be average I was afraid to be good I wanted to be great I wanted to be better than good and so that's what enabled me to do the things that I did on the football field when I saw smaller guys you know squirt through defenses how quick they were how agile they were I knew was a big body in order for me to get to that level I had to work on these things wow this is awesome like maybe my some of my favorite three or four minutes in the history of doing this because this is like inside the inside of the inside of a hall-of-famer of anything same is true for any of you guys in business you get to that level where you're good you wanna get to that level where you're being great it's fighting for these little extra things those extra mentors extra conversations extra preparation extra tool in your toolbox to communicate or close or product or whatever the heck it is like it's awesome serious this is a football question toughest corner you had to go up against in your career I mean swing but Diaz was from the Cardinals was a Cardinals yeah first he with the loss of the st. Louis Rams yeah Rams with in cards we played I was an NFC West played them in twice a year for my first three and four years and so he was a big corner good I was a big receiver I'm so again I'm sure he did film study just like I had to do film study and guys that did film study to try to minimize you like you say they gameplan how do you stop this guy yes you know I was just a young book 81 how do you stop who how do you yeah you stop this young kid yeah so him being a veteran I'm sure he study film on what I did good what I did decent what I did poorly and he probably tried to minimize those they eliminate those things what I did great good at that time and so it was it was tough getting a bump and run because it going to a small school yes I wasn't I wasn't faced with a lot of that good so everybody probably get physical with you at the long series but very good guys had the capacity do because you were so striking right and then Williams good right and the thing is especially for him he was just my size so he could there was some room for error for him that to make up but if it's a smaller guy if they mess around and they slip I use my physicality or my quickness to get back they know us around it's a no it's a wrap yeah so they didn't they didn't come up and impress me as much but Richard he was the guy that that forcing them like man I got to get better because I I can't only just I can't only just get by with getting having some success against these other corners yeah there gonna be other big corners in the league they're gonna look at him like okay he stopped to you so let me see how he did it Wow so I had to prepare myself for any in every situation I love here's the other thing about you as a player then we'll move off this but I wanna say one thing is I think people underestimate how tough you were first off the best ability is availability you're available all the time you just you were durable like LeBrons one of the great things about LeBron James racing nutrition and creative idea the one year with his neighbor this dude plays football right like he's available it's how you rack up these numbers right know if your football team bring value you were tough though and so I'm a patriot fan so that's one talk about this one situation you know what I'm gonna say right but this is BA 39 Superbowl 39 so this this man gets to the Super Bowl and the truth is a few weeks prior to that he basically breaks his leg and has a screw in your leg because I had four screws in my ankle I saw a lot of the ligaments in my ankle okay upon the diagnosis I got my ear MRI on the following day yeah a lot of ligaments torn I didn't know my leg was broken till I got an x-ray because they MRI had my whole leg because I went to sleep that night in my leg was really it was aching so bad not my ankle I got nice didn't yeah but I was throbbing throughout the course of the night up by my knee okay so I told the radiologist something else like my my leg was aching throughout the course of the night all right cool we'll just we'll just x-ray the whole leg or whatever and see what's going on this is one of the most underreported story seriously I think in the history of the NFL right this man played in the Super Bowl no one thought he was gonna play they weren't sure the game plan for it but no one Thursday plays man played with a recently broken leg in the Super Bowl this is something that no one talks about there's even a slight limp when you would watch him warm-up and then he flat early in the game I'm watching the game I go oh God Owens is gonna kill us the only reason I'm not being negative about anybody I want you to talk about playing with that injury playing through some pain because you had to be in some pain or some discomfort or you weren't at your best but I'll be honest with you I watch that Super Bowl if they'd have continued to get you that football in that game there have been a different result of that football game I remember the last couple drives you had we're taking forever I'm like thank God is take a brother not getting mad you know they literally if they just kept feeding the football they could not cover you you were like a man on a mission in that football I'm not saying that cuz you're sitting here either it's a standout moment for me in sports I coach a lot of athletes I know that you weren't at your best and you came into again the greatest opportunity of your career was this Super Bowl to shine and you shine it had they won the football game it would've been a legendary story people would tell forever because you played so hurt so just talk about that game a little bit and that injury and playing with it your thoughts about it Oh number one my faith in God I mentioned my grandmother we didn't touch on an earlier bus in a Christian lady he raised me in the church again she always told me about Philippians 4:13 in that scriptures I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me favorite script so number one I wanted to exercise my faith think it was more it was bigger than the Super Bowl I wanted to show people that if you believe in yourself believe in God if you believe in some higher being and my in my case I believe in God that all things are possible when doctors doctors excluded me they said that there is no way yeah they said there was no way I will be playing in the Super Bowl in six and a half seven weeks at three weeks they said there's no way that there's no way he'll be walking around but I wanted to fight the AH so everything that that the Super Bowl encompasses when you think about the magnitude that you think about that the end result of trying to hold that Lombardi Trophy oh yeah that never really dawned on me as I prepared I knew what I was preparing for but I in order to achieve that I had I had to get on the field to perform I had to be able to play in order for any of that to happen amazed so I just wanted to you know my training style Rick Burkholder they were behind me 100% they those guys saw my preparation from the time that I got traded has been crazy from San Francisco to Philly they understood how hard I worked they had already heard about it but then they got to see it firsthand I prepared myself before every practice to try to eliminate injuries that's it for the long haul it's like going on a vacation you got a car you better go on a go cross-country you got to make sure the nuts and bolts at the car that the tires are balanced and rotating you got to make sure everything in the hood is is ready for this road trip so that's how I prepared for the season good so going into the Super Bowl I prepared my rehab process from decent mid-december to the to February heat I prepared myself like it was the first time that I was preparing for anything Wow Wow and so with that help of the training staff I was able to do some remarkable things on that foot was it a game-time thing or did you know your good day leading up to game day yeah my first time practicing was Wednesday but Grandes in Tuesday is a pretty light days so you were out seven weeks first practice back is the Wednesday before the Super Bowl a before the Super Bowl going into it Wednesday it was on season to be cold and rainy during this time of the year in Jacksonville so that was my first practice so open to this point I'm running around I'm rehabbing going through ladders I'm doing everything no problem this particular day on Wednesday it's raining it's drizzling it's drizzling rain as Coast about 40 degrees I started to I started to run around and my leg started to ache oh my gosh so good doubt in the head coach his mind that I will be ready by Friday and it was it was scared for me and and Rick the trainer at the time because he hadn't he hadn't seen me limp or do anything up into this point and I'm come on I'm doing ladders I'm doing drills yeah to assimilate like game-type atmosphere could so now I'm practice for the first time and I start limping and I'm like oh my gosh what's going on I told I told Rick after the practice I said Rick don't worry about I said trust me just believe yeah I know you believe in me I said just tell Amy I will be ready by Sunday and on Friday is when they assess injured guys yes for it and they have to clear him yeah for the games so they had this meeting on Friday out to our practice and and Erie still head down Thursday was obviously better than Wednesday but he still had doubt so I told I said Rick I will be ready I said just believe me he believed me that's one thing I will say about Rick he's now with the Kansas City Chiefs still right there with Andy Reid yes we talked today like we've never like like I'd never departed well but he knew I wasn't gonna be ready so he had to convince Andy and he's gonna be ready and I and I and I think if any could do it all over again he would take he would give me more opportunities on that Super Bowl 39 Sunday because I think he took the reins off a little bit but the opportunities that were given to me that day I had nine passes to come my way yeah I took advantage of the nine passes which catch nine for 122 you had nine thrown at nine for nine big targets nine catches right yep no 422 yards and I'm gonna tell you I watched the game he won't say this I will the dominant player on the field that had Tommy's a friend of mine right anyone that Superbowl the dominant player on the field that day was was teo he was the dominant player and it scared me as a paid to family if they keep getting this man that football because one of those days were like he could you've seen games like that you've had games like that you're like this athlete is dominating the guys in this coverage no matter what moved your way I think you could had 25 catches that day if they too targeted you 25 times I'm not saying because you're sitting here I'm glad they did it no offense because it helped them win another Super Bowl necessarily like if I had one or two more catches that increases our chances of winning that game and we end up losing by three points but there's no consolation prize for a second place it's one of the all-time gutty performances people talk about way back in the day Jack Youngblood played with a broken leg you know everybody knows that story the NFL is one of the all-time gutty performance the history of professional sports in the Super Bowl was tío on that so just unreal career will talk about the Hall of Fame in a minute I got a question for you obviously throughout your career not everything was rosy right so on the field real rosy not always off to him by the way off the field I want to point with the thing about tio2 barely drinks does no drugs never a distraction off the football field but there was some media stuff while they painted you how you reacted etc what do you regret looking you went back you said hey I changed this if I could if I'm being honest if I look back on my career on the field I can't believe you change anything but but off the field media related all that kind of stuff what would you say I wouldn't write I regret is a strong word but don't change I don't regret anything I'm good could I have gone and could I I wish I could go back and change some things if I had to change anything it will be my communication with management it will be my communication coaches it will be in my communication with players but I again I attribute the lack of communication with my upbringing yes because I said I wasn't it was socially awkward for me to to be involved outside of functions where I had to be included because again I wasn't and I wasn't allowed to do any of that with my grandmother so I was a product of my environment my upbringing as I grew up and you know now looking back on it again I understand that my poor communication on every scale it hindered me not only in my professional life but my personal life as well when you think about dating you know being in a relationship what is one of the key things to solving a lot of things this commute so again I I see where the lack of a father being in the household how that hindered me a lot when you have parents or you have kids with both parents in the household you tend to see that those are kids that are more successful when you hit when you have kids that are in single especially urban homes they seem to face a lot more adversity they're more challenged in a number of ways and so I'm no different and so as you said I don't stand here and I've never said that I was perfect by any means it was a growth and maturation process that I've had to go through that a lot of people have had to go through and it's unfortunate that people see me in a different light based on what they've heard through the media what they've read obviously is a part of the media but at the end of the day I always refer and I just I just hold on those words of my grandmother always be true to who you are yes no matter what the situation people are going to talk good and bad about you here because if you allow that to to manifest and get under your skin you're not gonna progress as a human being so I've always felt that way always played with a chip on my shoulders even in every situation when it when it was something again with management or coaches or a player I didn't allow that to deter what I had to do on the football field that's pretty good because I knew that if I did that I wasn't I wasn't I wasn't playing for the right reason and we weren't gonna benefit understanding my level of playing what I brought to the table yeah my goal was obviously to win a championship yes and in order to do that I had to be efficient on the football field and if I let outside things and outside noise affect me to where it affected my play then where's my value yeah I appreciate that that's an honest answer and and and I do see that too the other thing too is that I watched all I know is I watched a guy contribute on the field and I watch and everyone that I know that knows you so that actually knows you or is interacting with you every single person tells me the same thing he's such a good guy so warm even your spirit you just know you're good warm dude even I watch how you treat my guys with the cameras every little thing like it cuz some guys don't do that the camera comes on is you know you know and they're like a whole different character who you see sitting here is who he is right when this camera clicks off and I love that about your brother like I admire you I admire what you've become and where you come from and it's all culminated it's kind of the final couple pieces here it's combinated now you're on the ultimate team Yeah right you don't know you're in the Hall of Fame so if you go back I'm just curious I want to know how you feel about there you go back to this little boy tio no father in the house small-town food stamps projects mom 17 when she has you this is amazing man grandma kind of raises you with mom but grandma's the main influence not a great high school player until you you know advance got your opportunities go to a relatively unknown college third round draft pick when you get to the team Jerry Rice is on the flippin team and there's a guy they draft the year before who's a first rounder so that's not ideal either and then and I'm just curious this journeys taking you from Dallas to to Philly to you were in Cincinnati Buffalo did I miss anywhere that it yeah yeah that Cisco feeling Dallas I kind of know my stuff don't you guys give this journey from this little boy tio to this man now and now you're about to get inducted into the I mean your great great grandchildren are gonna come visit this bust of you and at the Hall of Fame I mean you're go down in history now right like that's amazing very few people have ever walked the earth end up in this group what's that feel like for you I'm curious are you proud of you do you see it as a big deal like I'm again it just hasn't sunk in because I mean like I said I I felt like my career was incomplete this that me get into the Hall of Fame bet isn't really it doesn't complete my career for me it hasn't validated because I know I could have done more yes understanding the politics of the game being that I was so outspoken even what you think and you see now what we are as a country as a society and you think about the Millennials everything that I did back then it was frowned upon you you think about the platform the social media platforms were these kids and everybody has a voice yeah to be heard yeah I was doing those same things they were it was frowned upon but now being embraced yeah I feel like I was ahead of my time in terms of how people viewed me in terms of the platform and the voice that I had I know that I'm not a bad person we just talked about it could I have done some things differently of course but we talked about character I'm always going to defend my character we're talking about the Hall of Fame and what that means the reason I've been so vocal about that is because I'm gonna defend my character my reputation is what it is you can ask any about anybody about that and it's gonna be good it's gonna be bad yeah but in terms of my character there you go that's one I'm gonna defend because my grandma thatthat she instilled in me Who I am and who people get a chance to see on an everyday not on an everyday basis but when you spend 15 20 minutes to an hour you get to see the essence of who Terrell is on that football fields like I must it's like I'm a Marvel character I'm a superhero I put on that uniform and I turn into somebody else you think about Peter Parker goes the spider-man Dave the banner in that Incredible Hulk Clark Kent in the Superman Diana to Wonder Woman yeah that's that's that's how I separate the two and so Ben being in the Hall of Fame I understand it's an honor yeah it's great it's a great accomplishment I'm hoping my kids can can can can one day sit and watch it and really just hear the words that are coming on my mouth and understand who their father is yeah what I've had to go through what I've had to overcome it wasn't the worst of things but everybody always has their path to sense their journey that's why I wanted you on the show cuz I think it's one of the most extraordinary stories I think it's a story of like achievement of overcoming adversity of hope of honesty of hard work of toughness of resiliency of performin of taking advantage of opportunities when they put up multiple ones like doesn't start as junior dude get sick ends up becoming in the NFL Hall of Fame I mean like I think this journey this story's like I think it's is magnificent like I want I want people to see it and actions speak louder than words your actions scream look at the actions there there's a sheet here of your records I started to think I was gonna do it this is this would we have a whole dadgum interview on just this stuff right here that's bananas so I'm real I want to say congratulations - you preach that and also thank you how you treat people precedes you and I want to thank you for being a humble guy and giving God a generous guy you could be humble giving generous and still be strong and confident and I think people misunderstand that and you embody it before we go though a couple things I want to make sure they can do first off how do they find you on social media number one cuz on I want them to interact with you because this man's going to the Hall of Fame you're about to watch him go on the next journey of his life which is gonna be extraordinary all the philanthropic stuff you do so how do they find you on social first of all at Terrell Owens and obviously Facebook you can find me facebook at Terrell Owens calm I have two Facebook pages have a fan page my personal page my my personal page has a photo of me with some shades on it my my fan page has my logo CEO logo good and so just to know that you're on the right page those are mine yeah like I said I'm a very social media you're active Twitter Instagram snapchat good all of that and the reason I want to Terrell Owens yeah at Terrell Owens and reason I want you guys to interact with him on there too is I've told teal this and he's starting to do a whole lot more of it to TIA would be an incredible speaker those either run companies to bring into your company I have him interviewed to have him speak because the story itself is just extraordinary right and like we were talking beforehand just so you know people that walk the walk are unique he could go play right now right oh yeah absolutely and he may still he made me the first person we talked about he you never know in the Hall of Fame who's still playing football if someone need receiver tell him right now yet three days ago you ran the 40 which was 49 4 5 we're in a 4 for 5 in the area I I came off a plane that day had him had a couple of meetings yeah and then my buddy my buddy challenged me Matthew hatchet he played with the Vikings play with the Jets back in the day we were good friends he coaches that poly high school okay and he's about we're about the same age I think he's a year younger than me and we're always talking about who's in better shape and I we got to talking about because what can you run the 40 I said dude I can least run two four four four five yeah because there's no way right because T there's no way I said dude just and I haven't done anything I haven't run in a 40 in like four years yeah I said dude I can at least run a45 I said I'm gonna challenge myself to run under four or five I said four five is easy that's a given so he was that he coaches he trains with some kids he was at Culver City High School I happen to be in the area again like I said I had just got off the plane did a couple of things easy and he's like oh I'm over the high school come over run this forty so I always prepared myself so I had some shoes in the Trump well down third always repaired and yeah I ran I ran it a few times and my best time both both guys clocked us clocked it four or five four five that's that's awesome by the way you GM's that are out there watching this just so you know we're at a 45 right off the damn plane so just imagine if somebody's chasing me it's so funny we talk about the 222 pounds put ball guy that's that's that's that's that's running around what a lot of confidence a lot of physical ability but in my mind dude I always still envision I felt like I was that little kid in junior high high school that's a hundred and one hundred and seventy eighty pounds Wow getting picked on running around that field with grown men you think I'm about to let Ray Lewis hit me let Steve Atwater hit me I'm out there running scared that's how I had to touch that's so awesome therefore five with nobody chasing you it's in the last thing the last thing I just cuz he's also in the business world to Mike the guys who were filming to say like I've seen this super cool backpack no I wanted to get write this like this whole new innovative thing and urine and he happens to be involved in the company they were talking about right so just tell him real quick how do you pronounce it and how do they find it first of all I mean I'm in a lot of things and technology I'm in the home decor I'm in the fashion yes you know I try to look good you know that's part of looking you know yeah Stan leaned but again when you think about fashion yeah you know there's so many elements to fashion but you think about backpacks it you know it cannot not backpacks are not just for school now you owe me they keep you can look cool you can look stylish again this is a high-end type of backpack is zooks back go to zooks bag calm that's X double O X be AG calm and you'll see the style of bag that we're talking about it's just not just a back right til home just to put stuff in you get your laptop in other items but the cool thing about this bag it it has two detachable speakers you know that's the technology you know aspect of the bag as well that you can play music Bluetooth very stylus I mean like cell so it's like a lifestyle bag as much as it is you say it looks good but also it's a lifestyle bag and I just tell you my camera guys we're talking about me I'm going up here and they're like hey he's like that's my company yeah so it's awesome so I got this a great season of your life and I'm proud of you and I'm excited for you and I'm grateful for today very much thank you so much - yo from Pantheon brother I enjoyed it so much and so as I always tell all of you first off make sure you're running my two-minute drill it's not the two-minute drill here an two minute drill is that when I make a post on Instagram in the first two minutes anybody makes a comment with a hashtag max out to it you're getting a drawing that day to win my gear my books all kinds of stuff for me so make sure you're making comments and when you see this interview here today you're watching on iTunes give it a review if you're on youtube some report platform like that make sure that you make a comment give it a like or something like that hope you enjoy - enjoy today's program everybody and max out god bless you [Music] [Music]

Channel: Ed Mylett

Views: 149,974

Keywords: football, wide receiver, terrell, owens, buffalo bills, pro bowl, superbowl, bengals, seattle seahawks, touchdown, nfl, 49ers, eagles, san francisco, national football league, mylett, ed mylett

Id: 7iIjFFIMkFs

Length: 55min 8sec (3308 seconds)

Published: Wed May 30 2018