Couple Things with Shawn and Andrew - 17 Brooklyn Decker + Andy Roddick

Episode Date: April 15, 2020

This week, in episode 17 of Couple Things with Shawn + Andrew, we sit down with our new friends, Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker. We met Andy + Brooklyn over a month ago at a conference in Boston and immediately fell in love with their infectious personalities. We knew we had to get them on the show so you guys could see just how amazing these two are. Andy & Brooklyn walk us through their journey, how they met, & what it’s been like parenting during this crazy time we’re all living in. It was great to get their perspectives on making a relationship work, while both at the peak of their careers. This was a fun one and we're excited to bring to you, Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker.   If you want to follow Andy & Brooklyn, you can find them on instagram as @brooklyndecker and you can find Andy’s Non-Profit charity at @thearfoundation. These two are doing great things, make sure to check them out and give them a follow!     If you haven't yet, please rate and subscribe to the show to hear more! And if you have suggestions/recommendations for the show, send us your ideas in a video format - we might just choose yours! Email us at [e-mail].  We are supported by the following AMAZING companies! Make sure to check them out using our special code & link below!  Noom! Sign up for your trial today at noom - https://www.noom.com/COUPLE.  Flamingo! Try the Flamingo Head-to-Toe Wax Kit today at https://www.shopflamingo.com/EASTFAM. You get 20 face wax strips, 24 body wax strips, post-wax cloths, and calming aloe vera serum for just $19. And it ships free! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reading, playing, learning. Stellist lenses do more than just correct your child's vision. They slow down the progression of myopia. So your child can continue to discover all the world has to offer through their own eyes. Light the path to a brighter future with stellus lenses for myopia control. Learn more at SLOR.com. And ask your family eye care professional for SLR Stellist lenses at your child's next visit. really hard to put your spouse ahead of this like body that came out of you

we recap this for a second because I thought our story was going to be the worst one but you guys are giving it so I feel like you set me up to feel good about my potential stalking what's up everybody welcome back to couple things with Sean and Andrew. A podcast all about couples and the things they go through. Are you excited about today? I am so excited. Massive,

massive girl crush. So Sean and I worked for about six weeks to get this couple on the show. We met them in. Andrew harassed the husband for about six weeks. That's right. We met them in Boston back in February. And we were really impressed by them, really vived with,

vived with them well. And I'm super thankful that they took the time. to join us, but we're talking about Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker. Yes, Brooklyn Decker, American Model. I mean, she's titled American Model, but it should be international model. Everyone knows who she is. Plus, actor, do you say actor or actress? I just say actor.

I think that's fair. Yeah. Anyways, she's been an actor on so many different movies. My favorite being what to expect when expecting, I watched this movie when I was pregnant. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. I could not breathe. I don't think I've ever seen you laugh that hard. She also built and sold her own fashion company.

Yes, which was amazing. It was called Finery. And she's also a huge part to Andy and her foundation called the Andy Rodic Foundation. And Andy Rodic, of course, is a legendary tennis player. He reached number one in the world in 2003 and retired when he was. was just at the age of 30, kind of abruptly, which I really respect. He has a really cool story about how that all went down. They're also mom and dad did two, which is amazing.

We talk about that. We talk about kids, naming kids. We talk about the hardships of relationships, especially for them because they had thriving careers that took them on opposite ends of the world and how to make the relationship work. They share some really good wisdom as well as some really good humor. So we're excited for this one. But before we jump into it, if you guys haven't yet, please give the show a rating and subscribe to it on whatever platform we're listening.

And let's go ahead and jump into this one with Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker. All right. Andy, Brooklyn, thank you so much for joining us today. It's a pleasure to have you on. Thanks for having us. I kind of want to start just by Andy. You and Sean have something in common. You probably don't know what it is.

But it's the fact that when I got each of your phone numbers, I didn't stop texting you until I kind of got what I wanted. So out of you, it was dating. Fortunately for you, Andy, was just. You harassed him? I was, would you say what I was doing to you harassed? I'm so sorry. I was appreciating yours.

So we kind of agreed in theory to do it in the next week. And then we're drilling down on time, you know, I'm sure our daughter took a dump or something. And then I kind of just forgot about him. He was sending me like, he would send like a meme, which was like a guy from 12. The way to kind of assist upon a time was done with a lot of humor, which I appreciate. And then the way I hear about it is, oh, yeah, Brooklyn and Andy are going to be on the podcast. I'm like, oh, that's awesome.

I didn't know they wanted to do it. That's not wrong because here we are, you know. Well, I apologize. Well, a lot's happened since we first met, I guess, the first couple days in March when we bumped into you in Boston. Yeah. We all are locked up. was just starting to bump elbows back then yeah the whole quarantine wasn't in effect i thought it was i thought it was dumb and annoying when people were doing that in boston but they were right i was wrong

you i bumped your elbow yeah i was about to say i was i was like walking in i was like don't you touch anyone's hand yeah i was that way i was getting so mad at him i'm like stop touching stuff wash your hands yeah um i saw your post brooklyn about your dad works in health care is that right yes yeah my mom used to as well she was a critical care nurse and she's in that retirement my dad is still um a health care employee and so yeah he's in and out of hospitals every day wow the uh social socially distanced dinner was really cute the table settings and the whole thing is great but um they were you know they're like missing the kids and They've been away and my brother has a two week old baby.

They just had their third. She, like, amazing wife. My sister-in-law gave birth, like, in a pool in all of this. And of course, she's like, it's a big deal. It's, you know, kind of I just have the baby, not a baby. I can't imagine. A birthing center pool, not like someone's back there.

Right, thank you for clarifying. Just in the backyard pool. So relaxed, like it's stressful enough, but then to go through that in the middle of this is even, you know, can you imagine all stressful that would be? And she was like, no big deal. Anyway, my parents haven't been able to meet the baby, and they were really missing the kids.

So, yeah, we eat this socially distanced dinner at our house and they ate dinner in the front yard and we ate on the porch. It was really nice. That's adorable. It's really sweet. Yeah, I feel like if there is an upside and a park to all of this, it's that people are going to such great lengths to have community and family and still interact with one another.

I mean, we've been playing, like, game night over Zoom every other night with a bunch of friends. from all over the country and it's just been cool it's been cool to see like the efforts people are going to and all the videos from like italy of people singing to like on their balconies just makes you cry oh my gosh yeah a lot of you sure which is we need to hold on to that to those yes because if we don't we'll drown in the dark that's coming out of it as well so yeah I'm glad you guys are indulging in that it's good yes so we were joking about perseverance uh at the beginning but we always love to start off the episodes hearing how couples met and I feel like

perseverance applies to that story as well could you guys tell the story sure should I tell my version so I feel like you set me up to feel good about my potential stalking the way you may or may not have gone about your courtship of Sean but but yeah i mean basically i i watched this there was a show that she was on on uh s i dot com and it was a show about football about basically gambling or no we were anyways we were making our weekly picks yeah weekly picks and she was against uh uh an awesome uh former journalist named dr z like one of the old school guys who had this notebook full of amazing statistics and records and kind of like how we envision like how we romanticized old school journalism this

was him and unfortunately passed it last year but I would watch her on the show and I'm like wow this beautiful girl southern accent talking about football picks every week and so basically I just like full court press tried to figure out her I wrote her and then she didn't write me back for six six months he says right like he was like his attorney called my agent that was I wrote hurt. No, no, no. It was very, like, you hear those Hollywood stories and we're like, people called your people. Yeah. They're real. I'm sure you guys have experience with that. And yeah, he was, he did that. His attorney called my agent several times, and we just didn't respond because, I don't know, we just didn't respond. I didn't call him back for five months.

And then, and then at five months later, I was living in New York and I had moved from North Carolina and I didn't have a lot of friends in New York and I was really missing home. And so my agent, who's my now manager, said, why don't you call this guy back? Like, worst case scenario, it's a bad first date. And I said, okay, okay, I will, I will. And he took my phone and dialed Andy's phone number in my phone and then pushed just then, like push talk. Oh, my gosh.

I had my palm pilot at the time. This was over seven. And I called him back. And then we, you had a voicemail, which he doesn't anymore. When you had a voice, I left him a message. Yeah. And the message was like, because I was underage, the message was like, hey, so I don't know if you, you know, you've been calling me for five months.

I don't know if you remember, but I'd love to get a drink if you're ever in New York. I mean, I'm not underage, meaning drinking. Yeah, right, way. Yeah, right, way. Oh, what? No, no, no, no. I saw into space and he was like, oh, God. Are you 17?

This is, this is a, this is a couple of things material. That's why I had my, that's why I had my lawyer involved. I meant I said if you want to get a drink when you come to New York give me a call and then I said on the voicemail I'm saying all of this there's just verbal vomit I said but I mean I'm underage like we can't go to a technically go to a bar because I can't technically drink yet but like we wouldn't get a coffee so I'm saying all you buy me a beer from a gas station to bring it out anyway um he called me back and um by the way did you all hear that ding it's okay yeah um okay there we go so he called me back and then uh we met two weeks later and we were

engaged eight months after that that's amazing on the first date you're like okay this guy's pretty cool who are you asking because our answers might be different how about both no i knew much faster than you. I did not know on the first date or the third date or the third month, but I got there. At one point during the first date, did you know that there could be a second date? I knew in the middle of the, I knew at the beginning of the first date there would be another date. Like I knew I really liked him and he was very funny and we went to a UCB, upright citizens brigade, it's an improv truth in New York. We went to one of their shows. So it was,

we can test each other's sense of humor, which was sort of by design. Wow. And so I knew I really liked him, but I wasn't, I was so young. I wasn't thinking along those lines. You already discussed. She was way under. Yeah, she was 12, 13, maybe. I don't put our line back, but that sounded.

I know, I see their change looks back and forth. You just said it, it didn't even, it was like. I figured it out. I think I just wasn't in that mindset, but I got there pretty quickly. So, okay, you said, you said you went to see. improv and test each other's sense of humor by design. This is interesting. I just finished reading a book called 30 lessons on loving. Guy who interviews like people who are 65 and over to kind of get life and love lessons from them. And one of the biggest ones was when you're meeting a potential

spouse, find out what their sense of humor is because humor plays such a big role in relationships and how you navigate problems. What was the inspiration to want to do that? Was that by design? Well, I think first dates are like scary, especially if you think you're really intrigued by the person. And so I figured if we go to dinner, you know, creating six hours of conversation with someone you don't know like under the gun is hard, right? So we went, we had a really nice dinner beforehand. And for me, like if someone can't laugh at a joke or, you know, it isn't entertained by something or that's like a tell. So I figured it would be kind of a nice way to you know at least get a read on each other without actually having to create new content for

two hours yeah it was basically just lazy i i think it was it was i don't want the pressure of carrying on this conversation or making her laugh so i'm going to go to something where other people make laugh and it worked i mean i think it was just so much fun it had they had a great cast that night and it was it was it was really it was a great first date for anyone out there who's thinking about first date ideas going to see some comedies a great way to do it it was great and then and then we went back to my place and it was fantastic no we didn't we don't but I did not do that we definitely oh you guys are a little more conservative with that you're slow no first first kiss or first

eight kisses I want to nothing to do with them i'm telling you not not for months there was no first date kiss no no it was like very i don't know we were very we were very slow about the whole that whole process wow yeah how about you guys we uh we well we went on our first date and i was not interested and it took him nine months to convince me to go on another date yeah oh perseverance wait why why didn't it like what happened date one that's a good question and shine well uh dang i i i had just turned 21 i had gotten drunk i was in a bad breakup with someone i had got number from his brother that i met at the olympics and texted him in the

middle of the night when i was like you should come out to l a he lived in nashville i lived in L.A. I fell asleep. I woke up at 8 a.m. and he was on a flight and I got super freaked out. Yeah. I got super freaked out. Yeah. So then I was like I had my guard up the entire day and I was like, you flew out here after receiving a message at, you know, 1 a.m. In retrospect, alcohol, funny enough, played a rather large role in our relationship because it was actually 21st birthday. I was the first person to text him on his 21st birthday at 1 a.m. And I didn't know that. I didn't know just by chance because she was drinking wine. And then when we went on our first date two days later, because I jumped on a flight to L.A. Two days later. It was the next morning. Okay. You're right. Okay. That's fine.

I was just trying to save face a little bit. Our first date was Sean going. Have you guys ever been to the grove in L.A.? It's like a little. Yeah. Yeah. To every place that sold alcohol and she bought different uh she bought me a different alcohol because i never drank alcohol before i was 21 yeah and uh so she was yeah she was the first which i didn't believe i was like correct do you handle that because that's like a really i mean getting drunk for the first time yeah put you in a pretty vulnerable right like not knowing her you're going to act in front of this person you like i didn't think he acted any different which then sketched me out even more because i'm like you're telling me you've never drank before but you're acting normal i don't know yeah i just had red flags from the beginning

wait wait we recap this for a second because i thought our i thought our story was going to be the worst one but you guys are giving it more strange he shows up at 8 a.m. they go around can i pause you there what made you jump on a flight like what made you had you like had you had you I'm Sean had she been someone you were in love with for a long time like what made you take that leap of face so early on kind of a similar situation as Andy I knew who Sean was I watched some of what she did and I was like that that girl is adorable well and then I met his brother at the Olympics and we had talked for like four hours he was a friend of mine's teammate and he just kept raving about his younger brother he's like you have to meet him You'd be perfect for him. I think you guys are like meant to be and just wouldn't shut up. So I created a Twitter account so I could slide into her DMs, got her number. And then what the reason I flew out to L.A. was because I was like, she knew when my birthday was.

And she was a, she intentionally was the first one to text me. And I was like, what a sweet thing. But it was it was not that. It was just by happenstance. So 8 a.m. land straight to the grove. So you choose basically to go de facto bar hopping in the grove, which for those of you who don't know what the grove is, it's like the most tourist commercial shopping space in all of Los Angeles.

Like lots of strollers. Yeah. There's like a stand. Listen, hey, we're the ones asking you questions, okay? We're supposed to be asking you questions. Wait, wait, but I have one more question. I don't know what year was this? 2013.

Okay. So, so I think this is really interesting because I don't want to detour the conversation. We already have. We met it with seven, which was the year the iPhone came out. Wow. We met like pre- Twitter, pre-instagram, pre-sliding into DMs. Was that, I mean, how- It would have made things a lot easier for me.

I'm just telling you. How many of that, though? Because, like, that, do you find that it makes it easier, or do you find that, like, you're less likely to trust because of that piece of it? Like, how much does that play into, how much did that play into your relationship early on? That's you because, yeah, you were the famous one, not me. Um, I think it actually kind of helped because it was, it was like a degree less

like vulnerable than actually texting each other or like getting his number from his brother it felt more removed so you could kind of feel each other out in a public forum before you had to get more personal that makes sense it's like a buffer yeah can I ask one more question before we

before we give your podcast back to you. So disaster at the Grove happens, then nine months of space. Like what, what, what, how did the, how did round two come about? So, so this is what I was talking about at the beginning. I literally would text her until she responded. And so, well, so I'm curious, what do you guys view? What do you guys view as, as the, as the appropriate number of like the number of text message you can send before you just.

And the other person doesn't respond. You weren't texting me like 40 times a day. No, but my number was like eight. I was like if she didn't respond after eight, which in retrospect seems like a lot. In a day or like throughout over months? No, it would be like it would be like over like a three week period. Yeah. You just came up with the number eight.

Dude, because like when you're looking at the screen, it's like if you're scrolling and it's all me, you know, that hurts my pride. Yeah. I think the scroll is right. Do you have to scroll if so? Yeah. Andy. I would have been like rationalizing it.

If I had to scroll, I'd be like, I'd be like making the font smaller. So I'd get up to like 20 before I scroll. So it was, it was persistence that paid off. I mean, you're here. He kept texting and it was ridiculous. And I would respond just like, you're there. He finally sent this like long message, which he had never done before. It was always like these short one-liners.

And he said this cheesy, literally out of a movie. a movie book and he's like miss johnson if football has taught me anything it's how to persevere and basically this is my last chance if you don't respond i'll leave you alone for good but would you please accompany me to the cma fest here in nashville and i was like oh my gosh i'm a poet okay i'm a poet i just I can mold war on a special way. I flew out to Nashville and I fell in love in the first day. Listen, Andy, you went through lawyers. You probably had NDA signed and contracts negotiated.

Okay. No. All right. Yes. Yes. Let's get the same back. By the way, not one of you has any ground to stand on. Like, no, not going to be one up each other.

I can be clear. I can relate, though, because we're both fine settling right into whatever judgments you guys will levy on us. Oh, yeah, same. Okay, to get this thing back on track, I do have to say, Andy, I was watching you've seen someone made like a highlight reel of your comedy on YouTube. Have you seen this? It's very short. Not many people go YouTube themselves. It's like nine minutes of you just interview highlights. But both of you seem to have a fantastic sense of humor. We were watching your lip sync battle. Amazing. But your outfit that you wore, Andy, is pretty much my, that was my college apparent. like wardrobe so kind of the rostafarian that was for oh you're talking about the Bruno Mars in college pretty much yeah the drug rug with the yeah yeah this is before me explain the disaster at the grove yes anyway it's sober you said you weren't drinking that's a fascinating yes I'm making myself look bad on this I'm realizing

you it's okay but we we also We have both been on Family Feud. I wanted to know how your experience, what you guys did better than us. Yeah. That's for sure. Yeah. We need to go search for because we love the show.

It was so much fun doing it. We, so my parents are big fans, my brother's a big fan, and we've been wanting to go on for a while and like scheduling wouldn't work out. And then our friend Bobby, Bones, fellow Nashville, right, guy, was doing the show with his show. and asked us to come play against him because he is an old friend of ours from Austin. And so we rallied the troops and went out together. It was fun to do it with them

because you really know each other and you're all friends and we had a good time. It was fun. My mom was like so pervy the whole time, which was a shock. Like grandma, she was so like, she was really hitting on Steve. It was wildly inappropriate.

It's pretty gross. It was kind of great. other than that we had a great time what about you guys it was fun like i was just going to agree with you but her mom like turned into deep and steve was like hi tessa or she's like hey steve when'd you turn into a pervert like just on national tv yeah it's intense though they kind of just throw you out there that's it yeah i thought it was like going to be like a dress rehearsal And they're like, no, this is it. We're going.

I was like, oh, oh, okay. First of all, Brooklyn, you dominated the fast money round. Yeah, I did. Andy, you got lucky. We were dominating the whole show until the last round when they did like the triple money. And then we lost it there. So we didn't make it to the fast money.

But our, our story with Family Feud is we walked off stage after we like lost because again, you kind of rush into the instructional manual of the whole thing. And so we thought. as soon as we didn't win, we would just leave stage. So our entire family walked off the beach. Yeah, it was like, it was kind of, it looked like bad sportsman. Steve ran about one.

Oh, because there was no, I see. There was no like, yay, you did it. No, you just left. We just left. It was funny. It was bad. So we, so after months you guys got engaged, Brooklyn, when did you start feeling, like,

was that, it seemed like you were to get going, but once you settled in, like you, And then you have to share the proposal. Yeah. Oh, God's the worst. Okay. So, I mean, you know, it's, it was, it's funny. Like it was slower for me, but again, not because, not because of him or anything that was wrong with him or anything that was wrong with our situation or relationship.

It was really because, you know, I was living in New York. I was 20, 20. I, all my friends were in college, like, I just wasn't thinking marriage at that stage. It wasn't, it wasn't where I was at. It wasn't where you were at. I mean, we were kids. We were just kids. And then I don't really know when that flipped, but I think, I think we really benefited from

being sort of in that infatuation stage. And I think had we, truthfully, like, I think had we not gotten engaged and married so quickly, and we would have left the relationship run its course, like, like relationships should probably do. I don't know that we would be together now, simply because I think, not again, not because of anything because of him or me, maybe because of me,

but I think simply because like we would have been adults and found flaws and it would have been easier to walk away with both this traveling and having crazy schedules, but because we were married, we're like, oh, we have to make this work. Does that make sense? Yeah, our hardest thing was the first. So what would have been, let's say,

the second two years of like a normal relationship before you get engaged, we were married in a part for, you know, up to like five, six weeks at a time. Wow. So had we not actually been concrete and made a promise and, you know, had vows to honor and this, that, and the other, it would have been an easier conversation to discuss whether, you know, six weeks followed by another five weeks with two days kind of sandwiched in the middle would be a responsible relationship to have.

But since we had kind of taken that step and made that commitment, And it was, there wasn't really a choice. It wasn't an option. Yeah, it would been very easy in that stage, I think, to be like, oh, let's take a break. We're obviously on different parts of the world for up to two months at a time. Like, let's just take a break right now. And I think because we were married, we really made it work, which is, I think, God, we did. But, yeah, so I think to aunt, that was a really long way of answering your question.

I think I got there slower simply because of, like, age. and it just wasn't where our friends were, it wasn't where we were. But I think we were just so, it was like immature obsession infatuation that we like had to get married. We had to be together forever. And it was incredibly naive, but it's exactly the thing that made us work. That makes sense. Like so definitely the first two years, at least I think,

were the hardest of our relationship, two years of actual marriage. And then you get through that and then it's been, you know, relatively easy since then. It was for my end, probably not for her. It has, it has, ups and downs, but no, it's been like, I agree that those first two years were really hard. We have a rhythm and it ebbs and flows and it's really overall very good. I'm curious, Andy, when you're transitioning out of your career, how did that affect your guys' relationship? It was just better. I mean, I'm sure I don't know you seem like the nicest human that's ever walked Earth.

but so I was brutal when I played I was selfish I had to work out a certain time I had blinders on you know it would be you know she would be in a city and she'd be like I want to go you know let's go walk somewhere and get lunch I'd be like well it's hot outside I'm going to sweat I need flu you know like I haven't you know everything kind of had to be you know kind of perfect so I I would think that once I stopped I know Brooke and and a lot of our close friends and family thought that it was going to be, and I did it like spur of the moment, like all of a sudden I just retired. I think everyone thought it was going to be brutal and I think everything was kind of easy from that on now because I left this like kind

of part of my psychosis on the back burner a little bit. I don't know. I think it was easier. I think it was better for our relationship when I retire. I agree. I remember there was one morning this was such a funny, it was so funny to me. It was so, it was so Andy at the time. We were sitting together and you said you guys have like five to ten people a day come to your house we are the same and especially when he was playing it was like he had electrotherapy at this therapy at this workout yet you know it was it was such a we had so many people coming and helping him you know excel at his his profession and so there was one morning we're just the two of us were having this incredible breakfast and just really enjoying the quiet and the conversation it was like

one of those magical mornings that you get once in a blue moon and it was great And all of a sudden, he's like, ah, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I have a workout at eight. And so he's like, he abruptly ends the breakfast and he's getting ready to go. And I'm like, well, who are you working with? Because I used to, I used to know most of the guys he would work out with and I would work out with his trainer. So I'm like, who are you working with? Who is Lance coming? Who's here?

Who's coming over? He's like, oh, no, no, she's me. I'm like, wait, but you have a workout at it. He, in his mind, had scheduled his own workout for eight with himself. So he was willing to like interrupt and end this like lovely morning because he had to go like on the elliptical by himself. And I said like what? It's just you like just you like just push it. We're having such a great time. He's like nah, nah, eight o'clock. Like he was very rigid about all of that. Sounds like you. I am curious. You mentioned that the the first couple of years of marriage were hard. Both of you have had had wildly successful careers. And it is in a day and age where there's, there's less and less traditional marriages going on and there's there's ambitious women thankfully you know like where before it was it was more the traditional um i feel like i'm talking myself into it yeah a hole right now like there's a traditional relationship day of the past

that no longer are as yes and both of you had had have flourishing careers and and how did you balance and make sacrifices to help support each other during that time when you're both pursuing what you wanted to get, you know? You know, I think there were times where we failed miserably at it. I think, you know, we resented each other for being selfish, but we had to be selfish to be successful. And then there were other phases where we knew that this was a phase of life that we each had to kind of strike while the iron was hot and like really pursue even at the expense of each

other's happiness like it really ebbed and flowed and I think as you know since you've retired I think now we've definitely if one person wants to do something or pursue something or take time to focus on something the other is incredibly supportive and it's like I got the kids go do your thing go take that trip go work on this project like I think we've really found a balance there but I would say early on we weren't great at it we were pretty selfish about it and arguably we had to be because we both are in careers and especially as an athlete you guys can understand this like you do have such a short window and you really have it's all consuming and it should be that's your responsibility is not late right if you're going to make it

count um so i don't think we were very good at it early on and now i think i think we've kind of mastered it since but our workloads a lot less if that makes sense yeah i i think that's right i think uh i don't know that there was a a balance system in place it was basically like i mean she would all of a sudden get a movie that shot for six months in Hawaii and it's like I don't know how you actually make a plan for that's like okay we'll go there and you know I'm going to I have to play in Asia in September you know October and so I'll stop on the way over I'll try to get my coach to come with me maybe I can spend three days you know so it was it was it was tough I mean and the other thing that we failed at I think was because at the end of the day we would say oh gosh

we're so lucky we get to do all this stuff you know people have way bigger struggles right obviously like we don't worry about employment or food or you know whatever it was so because we didn't have major life issues we didn't give our problems credit in the sense that like okay this is a problem we should be able to fix it it just like we don't really have big problems because they're not the same problems as everyone else so maybe i don't i don't know that we gave our own problems of being apart and not giving enough time to kind of the us of things i just don't think we gave that enough credit in the moment because we thought we should probably be tougher than that because we didn't deal our problems as as as as as as as as major yeah destiny what you're saying about the whole

how you were as in like when you're playing versus the end of your career that we've had those conversations where I don't think I would have been able to be in a relationship when I was training I don't I don't how people do it I think it's incredible it's I think what made us work so well when he was playing was I understood that so much much of the sacrifices that you have to take the mindset and it's like oh you have your workout fine go but yeah I I don't I'm glad I didn't have to experience that because it was very psycho when I was training but you have to be just like you were saying Brooklyn like yeah in order to be successful you have to get your your peaceful more go do that at a and workout by yourself so

I feel like a lot of couples those struggle with that with whatever career it is that they're going for. I feel like most couples or a lot of couples fall victim to the belief that you have to sacrifice your dreams and careers for the relationship. And I think it's really cool that you guys have figured out that you don't have to do that. You can respect each other's dreams and ambitions and support them and understand the phases of relationships will go through. And give it time to work through too. you know to yeah i think i think now i mean i don't know that i can't even think of a conversation post like my tennis career and just dealing with geography and logistical issues that would would kind of frustrate me it's like you know now it's you know if she has her show or she you know

she built and sold a company i think now where it's like yeah go do it like it's almost like the complete opposite of i would say now we kind of support 100% of what the other person wants to do on the work side. Okay. So I want to jump back. What was that? Oh, no. Have to jump back.

We have to hear the proposal, the engagement. I tried to like brush that under the rock. Okay. I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be right back. Okay. So there's a, you can go right there. You don't want to hear it.

You don't want to hear it. I hear it. So we, Andy was playing in Indian Wells in Palm Springs and we, so he's the worst at surprises. The worst. The worst. And so he said to me in Palm Springs, I actually, we haven't told our family this. He was like, hey, so I have the engagement ring with me. Do you want to see it?

I'm like, no, I don't want to see it. Please do that to you. I'll just plash it. I'm like, don't, no, no, no, no. of course he brings out the ring and like flashes it so i've seen the ring i know it's there but i think that it's like the engage or the proposals coming a few months later so he showed you the ring yeah he showed me the ring it was ridiculous and um and and yeah it was it was just it was so bizarre it was i said how you showed me the ring i don't know we told our parents that

no it was terrible he showed me the ring and and then as just a side note i had chipped my tooth the day before the proposal. So like I went to CVS and got one of those like mouth guards just I don't remember that part. It was so bad that I took the chip tooth. And he's a mess and he shows me the ring and he loses to this player named Tommy Haas in Palm Springs and he's all angry and we get back to the hotel where we're staying and he's like, I'm going to go for a walk, which was really, he didn't take, I mean, loss

is hurt, especially at slams, but like he wasn't one of those people who would like, If he lost, I didn't get the brunt of it. Like, he wasn't upset when he came home. He didn't need time to think about it. Like, it was part of his job and he kind of moved through it pretty quickly. So he said he needed to go for a walk, which I thought was strange. And he goes for a walk. I'm like, oh, maybe, I don't know, he's stressed out, whatever.

Goes for a walk. I think, like, 20 minutes later, I hear a knock on the door. And I opened the door and no one's there. And my first instinct is like, oh, my God, he's hiding the bushes. He's trying to scare. Like, he's pulling a prank on me. So I close the door. And I hear it now.

I opened the door and I'm like Andy where what are you doing and I don't sit there I hear another knock it's on the back balcony of our little room had like a little terrace on the back it's on the back door and I go and I open the door and Andy is on his knee I want to hide right now he has broken a branch off of a bush it was a flower it was like a holly you know and some berries like he had broken a branch off a bush and he's on his knee and his flower. It was not a flower.

It was not a flower. It was not a flower. I'm dying here. So he was like, oh, my knees are hurt. Can I stand up? Like, stands up. Yes, you did. He stands up and he's like, oh my God, there's ants on this thing.

He throws the bush on the table and then he goes through the whole, like, steel, which was very sweet. I don't really remember exactly what he said. It must have been great. And then he gives me the ring that he had already shown me in the room a couple days prior. And that was it. That was the proposal. It was so bad. I love it so much. It's amazing. It was weird because I had this plan where she lived with some people in New York who were terrible. I had two dudes when we met and they were not a good situation. So I got in an apartment and it was going to be there.

And then that was like three weeks away. We had like, it was like 10, 12 days where we were together before, you know, the next tournament started. Couldn't wait. It's okay. It worked out. It worked out. It's all that matters. Andy, to make you feel a little better about it, I didn't plan at all for ours.

I literally, I drove up to Chicago to meet Sean. I had just gotten the ring in. And she was thrown out the first pitch at a Cubs game. And I was like, I'm going to do it right now. And so I walked out. He walked out after I just did it. Dude. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It was. Yeah. Did you know it's coming? He, no. So mad at him that day. He was acting such a d bag.

I was so mad. Like I was there for work. And it was this promotion and whatever. And being. so standoffish to everyone and again I'm derailing I'm sorry funny story I made ESPN's

not top 10 because I threw a first pitch and it went straight into the ground in front of me terrible ball sports bro it was like six years later that I had been turning pitches so like I can't do this and then the Cubs asked and I was like fine so Andrew worked with me for months to like make sure I could throw this first pitch

and he promised me that when we got there he would like warm up with me and like help me out and he was MIA he was like on his phone on like the side of the what do you call the sidelines the dugout the dugout sorry I was so pissed and then I threw the first pit I was walking out with cameras and I was like what are you doing out here you're not supposed to be out here because I thought it was like for an interview and I was like pushing him away and he got down on one knee I was like oh I didn't come out with cameras I didn't like tell you the camera guy like hey watch this anyway but it was not good either way don't ask questions

Andy no questions I'm gonna watch it as soon as we get off this I can't wait my only takeaways because you look at just how to make your I failed but we didn't I didn't have any witnesses yeah he pulled it off and it was great oh man okay so you guys see married next phase of life I just have to ask because we're here Babies, two beautiful babies. How did babies change the relationship and the situation? I think it made it, I mean, our level of exhaustion is like nothing I've ever experienced in my life. But I think it made us so much better.

I think, yeah, I mean, it made it so much better. I think we have so many things to laugh about now and to share with each other. And we always have each other's backs when it comes to the kids. I mean, I think we obviously have significantly less time for each other. A stink bug just flew right behind us. I see that. Yeah. Do you not like bugs?

Wait, do they actually stink? No, we've never smelled one. We'll let you know. Okay. I can see him right there. Sorry, I heard him fall and I thought maybe he was. He fell on us. He's right there.

So I think it made things so much more full and interesting and just loving and great. Yeah, I think I think the level of appreciation that you have, like even just seeing what you, like the time that you're in right now, Sean, where the baby needs you and relies on you and even not to get too deep into the weeds, but birthing process and seeing what nurture actually looks like in real time, made my respect for Brooke grow, you know, a million times over where it already was, which is, you know, through the roof already. So I think the appreciation of your partner, when it kind of connects through this thing that you both love so much, you felt like a, like a team where it's not like you're getting, where it's like

my thing, your thing. And then we, we work it out kind of in the middle parts. I think you become like this kind of, you know, I don't know, explain it, but this kind of, you know, entity outside of your own relationship and for me the appreciation just went went through the roof and I also like I never worry about we kind of agree on most parenting decisions we have a same parent so I think that could maybe potentially cause conflict and it's not something that we really with as far as what we think and how it how it should go so it's been I think it's been great for us yeah I'm curious you have a daughter name Stevie. We have a daughter name Drew. Do you guys get a lot of feedback on the name? The

gender neutral name? Yeah. Yeah. You know, the gender thing of like whatever, they're all babies who cares if they look like a girl or a boy. I just don't care. But yeah, people have a really hard time with Stevie as a name. You're like, so that's her full. That's it. I think it's adorable. I love it. I love it. Oh, as soon as they. I'm not sure how much you go out with Drew, but you're gonna have the moment where it's like,

you're sick because, you know, baby, you can't tell what a baby's a boy or a girl. Oh, yeah. It's like, unless it's defined by what color they're wearing. Yeah. It's kind of like the tell. So Brooke didn't want to dress Stevie and pink like all the time. I don't like pink. Same.

Yes, yes. So, Steve would go out, dressed like every other baby, but not wearing pink. oh, you know, oh, what a cute boy. And it's like, well, and then I'm like, you hear it every day. So I'm like, it's a girl. I'm like, oh, girl. They're like, well, what's its name? I'm like, Stevie.

I can see where that's confusing. Ours is even harder because it's Drew. Yeah. You tell the story. When we were filling out the birth certificate. Yeah. We were literally filling out the birth certificate in the hospital and multiple nurses come out. Like, oh, what's her name?

and we're like, Drew, and they're like, oh. Like, oh. And we went to fill the birth certificate. And we both kind of got cold feet. And Andrew's like, what should we name? We're like, Vanessa. Like Vanessa, where did that come? But I love it.

I love it. Yeah. Okay. So last question before we do our kind of closing questions. Andy, you are, I hope this isn't a sore subject, but you're, you're somewhat. known for your emotions on the court when you're when you were an athlete how have you guys dealt with the emotional side of things in our audience like is that is that an issue or how do you how do you protect against that um so I'm gonna let you answer this

first please please so what I do on the court it would take I don't I'm not sure what it would take. You're probably referring to me cussing, breaking things, arguing with umpires, etc., etc. I don't feel like that shows itself. I feel like I was, I emoted a lot on court. I don't know that that's the case. I think, who would you say has the quicker temper between us? I definitely have, I have, I have a bad temper. I'm definitely, yeah, I'm definitely, I run a little hotter than Andy does for sure. but I would say like this sort of snark and cynicism that you saw in the court you see in every conversation with Andy so it's like a date like needling you know it's just sort of his

oh my gosh hi baby hey miss oh my gosh oh my gosh thank you you're perfect thank you're perfect Brooklyn was just in the middle of a really deep conversation there. I want to probably like a gorgeous little dumpling into this conversation. Oh my gosh, you're beautiful, you guys. Thank you. Okay, I was just curious about that because it is, it, it is important. What are you guys talking about having another one then? Is that what's happening?

Oh, I mean, I want the time. We don't have time on this podcast. I want more. And as we're And I'm like, look, I'm cute. Or we can do another one. Sean and the Drew of things isn't helping me right now, I'm going to be honest.

I didn't know. I didn't know I like babies this much, man. But they're cool. They're great. Same. It only gets better. Yeah. But fighting.

We have, we're both incredibly fiery and incredibly opinionated. And we both love a good debate. And so, yeah. I mean, We have some not down dragouts or have had them. We have them less now. But I think they're funny.

Like, I think seeing people like, I don't know. I like get it all off my chest and then I'm fine and I think it's all hilarious and he's stews for a few days. So we really don't like I don't explode. Like it's not like I went when I was in the court. I kind of keep it in and kind of, I'm quiet. You know, I go. And then she, she would I think be more what you expect.

from me based on my personality on court. I think that's the way she is. Yeah. That's funny. Lower and more smoldering. I think we're switched. I kind of find entertainment in it. And then Sean Harbors it.

I was laughing at your interview with Steve Harvey, Brooklyn, where you said you were a contrarian. And he didn't know what it was. But I'm the same way. I love playing devil's advocate and like just presenting, just kind of stoking the fire a little bit. Sometimes he'll argue an opinion that he doesn't even believe it. just because he wants to argue it.

And I get so pissed because then at the end he's like, no, I take your side. I just wanted to play devil's advocate. Like, we just argued for 30 minutes for nothing. Yeah. Yeah. She'll, she'll, she'll,

she'll kind of keep poking a little bit. I just think it's so fun. I love it. I don't love fighting, but I like, I do love tension. Debate, yeah, yeah. I love it. I love it. It's fun for one.

Yeah. Okay. Okay, so these are our last three questions. One of you has to choose to go first without knowing the question. You go first. Me? I'll go first. Okay, really hard.

What is your biggest pet peeve with Andy? My problem is narrowing it down to one. No, I would say he's very on edge. Like he's a bit of a helicopter parent, and it puts. me like my blood pressure rises as I see him react to things and otherwise I'm super relaxed so that's my biggest pet peeve is like this they're gonna fall you know and then everyone freaks out that's that's that's it for me yeah you know what I'm gonna say right messiness yeah she is a human hurricane she comes in like I'll leave for an hour hour

and a half go work I'll come back and like hurt it's like it's just he says you can you can walk around the house and see where I've been 100% it's just a pile of stuff like I'm like I'm getting organized I'm like that's an interesting way to do it but you know where everything is yep that's right oh yeah it's not it's not true because like where did I No, I can't find this. I can't find my phone. I can never find my phone because he's putting it away all the time. I'm like, in trouble for cleaning.

I'm like, no. For like 24 hours because he's put it away somewhere. She's like, I'll get it. I'm like, I don't want to wait that long. That's literally us. Hurricane Decker is in. Part two of the question. So now, Andy, you have to go first.

What's the one thing you love the most about Brooklyn? She always thinks about other people first, and I, she always makes sure someone else is comfortable. She always is thoughtful with people for birthdays, just like little gestures. I place more stock on like the result, and she places more stock on like the personal process with things. So she's, she's extremely giving and really never wants anything for herself. It's an admirable quality. Thanks. Okay, Brooklyn.

My favorite thing about Andy. Be that. Ooh. Ooh. So he's very good at advocating for himself and the people he loves, which sounds sort of strange, but like little things where, for example, this is a minor example, but he's, I can be bulldozed over easily, even though I'm the one who likes to argue in debate, I can easily be bulldozed over. bulldozed over and Andy's very like um you know this is a minor example it's not a great example at all but like um our neighbor we had some neighborhood construction going on and they wanted to cut off

our power today and to do this construction and they came over with no notice and they're like we're going to cut off the power and Andy's really good about being like no we actually have a full schedule of like meetings and calls and you can't cut off the power I know this is like not a great example but he's I would have been like okay and then the power's off and we're all sitting there with all this stuff to do and I wouldn't have like been able to step for myself he's really good about advocating for himself for me for our kids um if our kids need something if we're having a hard time you know like even in the hospital like checking billy reuben levels for john this like he was really good about being like we need to check we need to stay on top of this like I think

it's part of it's funny because it's kind of part of the my thing i said this my pet peeve is like him helicoptering and being on top of things but it's also one of my favorite qualities he's a really good advocate for people he loved that's great um thank you well no not yet we we have to talk about they have a lot you guys have a lot going on and a reason that we're big fans of you is you make it a priority to give back and so i'd love for you guys to just talk about the antirotic foundation and then you have the the love all campaign going on if you guys could dive in um Sure. And thank you for asking. I guess I'll start with the enderotic foundation. We started 20 years ago. We did a tennis clinic in a parking lot and raised like 2,000 bucks and we thought that was it. It's just grown and we've kind of found a focus in out of school time programming. So after school and summer learning opportunities in lower socioeconomic areas of Austin. So it's different than the school year because we work. focused on team building, focus on being able to converse with other kids your age.

It's K through fifth grade, growing sustainable foods. There's a personal fitness element of it. And it's just kind of grown. Our first school that we started was 78 kids. And now we serve over 7,000 a day. And that'll grow almost 40,000 a day in three years. So it's just kind of like you do a bunch of little things. And then all of a sudden it grows.

Our staff is amazing. Our CEO is amazing. Austin's kind of bought in a little bit. And actually, Brooke was the inspiration for the love all thing. We're doing on, I'm working on Tennis Channel, kind of through the end of this pandemic we're in. And so they were, the digital side of them, we're trying to figure out videos we could put on and they had some other ideas.

I'm like, why don't we just have user content? People send in great things they've seen in the community, whether it's dropping off food or whether it's, you know, saying thank you to the people that are keeping us, you know, operating with delivery people and she did a really cool thing with Austin on Instagram and supporting some small businesses. Do you want to talk about that? Sure. So we you know I think right now what's so unique about this pandemic is that for those of us who are lucky enough to be home and not be on the front lines like contrary to any other you think about like hurricane relief you think about terrorist attacks

Like there are ways for us to sort of galvanize as a community and come together and support each other. And this is sort of the first thing that we've gone through right in our lifetimes where we're at home locked away by ourselves unable to actually physically help people, which I think people are having a hard time with. I don't know if you guys feel that way. But I just, it feels like we want to do so much, but we can't physically do anything, right? It's hard to physically do things. And so outside of frontline workers, two of our big concerns were families who can't. afford to put food on the table because they've lost their jobs and also these small businesses. Like we've seen this boom in small businesses in the last 10 years. And I think in

the next 10 days, 41% of them will shudder. It's devastating. And so we bought a bunch of gift cards to a local restaurant group in Austin and we went on Instagram and we said the first 20 people to claim one of these gift cards will just mail it to you. And so it's kind of two words with one stone. You're supporting local businesses and you're also helping to get food on the a table of people who need it most. Bye, Drew. Is she leaving us? Bye.

The conjuring left rights. On September 5th. I come down here when you're in your house. Array! Array! Array!

Array! Array! Array! The Conjuring Last Rites, only in the theater, September 5th. Oh, my gosh. So that was just one thing we did. We're going to try to do things like that, kind of every week to support different businesses and different causes.

And Tennis Channel is doing a really good job of, like, let's amplify these stories. Like you guys were saying game not with your friends. Like sharing those sort of like, you know, rays of sunshine, I think, are what people need right now and people want to be seeing that right now. So I think it's true that you guys are sharing that. Love that. Okay, best relationship advice that you've either received or would give based off experience. I'll go first. So one that my mom gave me has always told me my whole life and obviously really sort of hammered into me once we got married was always put your

marriage before your children, which as you guys can see and feel, I'm sure that it feels so counterintuitive because this little nugget is a part of you, physically a part of it. It's really hard to put your spouse ahead of this like body that came out of you. But her argument for it was if you put your marriage ahead of your children, even if you're faking it to your kids, your children win. And that's what my parents did. Like I remember being upset with one of my parents for something and they would always defend each other. And it's so frustrating to me. But now I see that their unity is what helped my brother and I thrive. And so Andy and I have, I think, done a pretty good job of that. Even if we're faking it in the moment, like there have been times where I take

Andy's side and I'm looking at him like, you know, I'm mad at what he's saying, but I take his side in front of the kids. And that has been really good for the kids to know that they have kind of a solid unit to work to. One thing that I think is important, and we're constantly learning and evolving and trying to check in on it is I think you have to learn, you know, the good times are fantastic, but I actually think there's value in learning how to communicate during times where you don't agree. So it's almost like learning how to fight. And she's But, you know, and I think there's actually value in that. Like, I told one of my buddies, and this is going to sound weird, but he was asking, you know, certain things.

I said, like, listen, find the person, finding the person that you love is great. You also need to find someone that you can successfully disagree with for the rest of your life. I think that's part of something that never actually gets talked about. And it evolves, too, because your personality has changed the way you, you know, like, you mentioned my reputation as a player and what I was like. And so you're bringing all those memories into kind of an evolved person that you hope you're becoming. And so it's a constantly kind of changing, malleable thing. But I think learning how to fight and having rules around it is important.

Thank you guys so much. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to sit down with us. If you listening want to find out more about the Anirotic Foundation or the Love All campaign and submit the content yourself. So you can find that in the show notes down below. there's links to that as well as all the social handles as well. Hey, we're big fans of you guys. You guys are awesome. Yeah, appreciate you. We're fans of y'all as well. Thank you for having us. We loved meeting you guys a month ago. So thank you for having us on. I'm sure I'll text

you about a thousand more times, Andy. I can't wait. Now that I know it's eight, eight texts and then you quit. It's a really awkward thing when seven comes through. All right. We'll have a have a good rest of your day. Thank you guys. Thanks so much for having us. Bye. Good luck for eating.