Duck Call Room - Duck Dynasty Cast Member Gets Arrested. That's When Miss Kay Steps In

Episode Date: November 23, 2023

The boys are reunited with former co-worker Bryan Rucker, who tells the amazing story of his life transformation from drugs and gangs to walking with God and being an addiction counselor. Rucker credits Martin, John-David, Willie, and the Duck and Buck Commander family for helping him turn to Jesus and reach his full potential. Uncle Si thinks Rucker may be the only storyteller able to match his own skill, and Miss Kay bursts in to give the boys a sweet potato pie break. Check out Bryan Rucker’s testimony for I Am Second: https://www.iamsecond.com/film/bryan-rucker/ - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You get ready? People want to know about Rucker. How many of your viewers are under the age of 18? Okay. And this is how it starts. Oh, wow. Family show, Rucker. Yeah.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, a man's saw years before he enters into the Paul years of his life can be very graphic. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen. That'll preach big dog. You know what I'm saying? If you're wondering this voice you hear. He understands, okay, it's just a family. his show. So, hey, he's going to keep it on

a decent level. Yeah, I'm not. PG-13. But he's going, hey, he's going to tell us the truth, too, though. Amen. And I'm quasi-professional. He's quasi-professional. He didn't get rid of the word quasi. So if you've ever seen Duck Dynasty, there was a guy that showed up for one episode to

run a snow cone stand. There was a couple. I was an extra in a couple. And you know, you see him in the background. He was kind of like me. We had our moment in the sun. Very true. Very true. For me, it was literally in the sun. Hold on. Now, Rucker here. Hold on. Yeah, put the weapons away.

But Brian Rucker, the... May have some PTSD. One of the great stories of Duck Commander, Duck Dynasty behind the scenes is in the house today. Yeah, you've probably seen Rucker by now. If you didn't see the Duck Dynasty episode and you follow us, sorry about that. It was a really good one. But Rucker has recently been featured on. on an I AM second.

And if you follow us, you probably keep up with those guys too because we had a decent size series on the I am second platform as well. So Rucker, wow, I really just kind of want to turn my mic off

and let you go because you've got one heck of a story. But before we get into that, I would like to preface like we're about to make fun of Rucker. So much. And Rucker's going to make fun of us, but just know we all love each other, folks.

This is locker room at its finest right here. Your thoughts are our love language. Exactly. And as general manager of this company, I just have one question, Rucker. Why did you give the people you brought in here a pen? I'm going to tell you why. All right. And look, and because of that, because of what was done here and what you see here,

people have a lifelong connection with Dukh Commander. So Rucker, we were trying to figure out what to do with this guy, because he he well we need to get into your story of how you ended up with the job here because that's outrageous too but it was like he can talk to people what if we just let him show people the actual duck call room and have him walk back there and rucker'll make up story he lied to you if you ever went on that little and he just makes up stories well then one day he comes in my office they were quasi true yeah they were they were sci true they were 95 they were embellished a little yeah he comes in a good storyteller all embellishes that I learned from the best. There you go.

There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go. He comes in my office. He says, dude, I had a great idea. I said, what was it? He goes, I got some pens, and everybody's been signing all over all the desk in the

duck call room. I said, yeah, we film on those like every day. So now there's just random people like Jordan was here and phone numbers all over them. If you ever wondered what the names are, Rucker had one wild day. Yeah. Hey, that means this room. That means this room, and I'll say it again. Hey, it's we the people, boy.

The people are speaking. In my defense, this Buck Commander logo was drawn on there long before I showed up. Yeah, that was. That was a direct trace. That was when we were bored. You're just responsible for all the graffiti. Yeah, and like where gobbling. It's not like it.

I mean, this in the first time, that's been the case. Yeah, I mean, look at his arm for crying out loud. Like, I mean, Rucker, like. the drawing things but no it uh i used to tell everybody it's so funny because rucker when before he would give the tour before the tour was built here we had a tour where people left with what like a duck call no we didn't even give a duck call then it was a sikeup and like a keychain and a bendy pin or something well they got the option to just grab something out that bin whenever they completed the tour and it's actually funny how that came about because you know i was i was over at buck commander

I had worked my way over to, you know, working with those guys, and then I may have gotten arrested. Oh, yeah, you got let go. I got let go from Buck Commander. And thankfully, Willie and then at the time, Kyle, was like, hey, we'll give you one more chance, but you're going to run these tours. Yeah. And, yeah.

You're welcome. Yeah, thank you. But he stood outside my office every day at the time giving these tours. So by the time it's over, I had Rucker's full spill. Remember, like he stood, there's like four windows in this building, period, four. Yeah. And they go to nowhere. They go to the warehouse.

Like, oh, I'd love to look at the warehouse. But he stood right outside one of those windows, which happened to be, like, he would sit on the table outside my office and give the spiel before we ever got here. All the stories. And I had his whole deal memorized. It was so funny. Like, I would be sitting in there mouthing it as Ruckers doing it. Like, I had the whole.

But he was great. The best part. people loved him, which I get. It took a second, though. He's a very likable. Because he'd walk in that store and go, all right, let's do not. About to do it. And people would, like, grab their kids because there's this five-foot-two tattooed man who's

from the streets of Houston. It's like Tommy Boy. It was like, let's do not. Let's this got to do it. We could go see the duck call room and be like, oh, okay. Yeah, then they all file in a line. Then when they would leave, I would hear them talking like, man, that was so good. I mean, it was literally Rucker did it like.

I mean, like 10 times a day. So it was like every 30 minutes. Yeah, I mean, it would be pretty regularly. Yeah. It was wild. It was pretty busy back then, you know, just people coming by. Everything was still pretty much at the height. And so, yeah.

And one thing that I was really intentional about, though, is we'd go through the spill in the hallway there. But whenever we get in this duck call room, honestly, a lot of this writing on the table was just to give a little bit of buffer time for them to ask. a question and then I could give them the gospel. Every time they came in here, they got a little bit of my testimony in the gospel, the death barrel and resurrection of Jesus. It's so funny on Rutgers off day, our man big Royce ran them. It was a markedly different tour. Between Rutgers and Royce, like the two R's was a completely different experience.

Oh, yeah. Royce was the kind old man at the hardware store and then, like, you've already heard Rutgers. More special. Royce hadn't spent a lot of time on the streets of Houston. No, no. But he does live in Texas now. Royce went back to Texas. Yeah, he's back in Texas.

Different neighborhoods. Here's the thing about Royce, too, is he was secretly funny, but just like any other old man, he gets agitated. Everybody going to know about it. So all it'd take is one question. He's heard one too many times, and he was like, hey, I'm out. So, Rucker, I think we can. got to go back though because you are not the typical

duck commander employee no I'm not and I take pride in that but like I do too although when I first saw you I said I'm going to have to fire whoever hired this guy but how did you end up here? All right so

just the quick synopsis I was from Houston Texas been on my own since I was 13 found my mom dead at 13 been in gangs sold drugs my whole life. By the time I was 16, I'd been incarcerated two and a half years. By the time I was 17, I was making over just $60,000 a month selling drugs at a pipeline from Houston to Columbia, South Carolina. 2007, I got indicted and convicted of a gang-related

shooting in which a person died. Several years later, get released, start moving all over Texas, thinking that's the answer, end up over in Longview, working at a chicken express. And I'm telling myself as long as I don't sell drugs or, you know, participate in any gang activity, then, you know, I could be a dad, you know, I could try to do something different. Well, I get laid off from that job and I'm like, I'm just go back to selling drugs because this doing a job thing isn't really working out. And around that same time period, I found out about my grandmother's health. Now, my mom and my grandmother are originally from Monroe and West Monroe. And in the early 80s, they moved to Houston for doing whatever sketchy stuff they were

doing. And so I was born in Houston, and all I ever knew was Houston. Well, after the shooting and everything, my mom passed away. My grandmother ultimately decides to move back here to be around family. And I come out here to visit her. She just got out at the hospital. They were going to, they were telling me that they were going to put her in a nursing home because insurance. wouldn't pay for someone to keep her at night. And I said, well, I'll move out here. And I literally went back to East Texas, gave my roommate the drugs, gave him the keys to my apartment, loaded up and moved out here. After I got here, I started to take care of my grandma, and I go everywhere looking for a job. McDonald's, Taco Bell, wouldn't hire me,

couldn't get a break nowhere. And I was just driving down Thomas Road one day, and I see this big brown building. And I was like, oh, Duck Commander, okay. I'll just go in there and put it in an application. And I did. And I guess about a month later is when I actually got the phone call. And at that point, I was just so like out of my mind crazy. Right. Like there's different levels of insanity and I was at the fullest level of it.

I mean, I would sit in this bathroom, staring in a mirror, getting drunk and high all night, like trying to make my life make sense. and I never could. You know, and I get this phone call from a guy named Blaise Thomas, and I come in here for the interview, and he's kind of trying to fill me out. He's like, hey, how would you like to work here? And for whatever reason, I said the words,

man, I don't really care if it's you or McDonald's. I'm just trying to feed my kid, and I don't want to sell drugs to do it. And it was him and Brad Gilbo in the office. Brad Gilbo was the guy that was kind of taking care of the warehouse with Blaze Thomas. Oh, Brad. Yeah. Brad. Yeah. And so he goes, and so Brad kind of like looked up and then Blaze, you know, Blaze, he ain't know what to think. And so he goes, he goes, well, if you got the job, when could you start? And I just kind of like stood up untucked my shirt and I said,

man, I'll start right now. And then he like kicks me out of his office. He's like, hey, all right, we're going to call you. We'll let you know something. And I get back to my grandma's house and I'm like man why did I tell them that it's like when keeping it real goes wrong and uh and God I love you and and then I'm like they ain't going to call me I to tell these people I sell drugs I look like a criminal you know what I mean it was an aggressive approach it was aggressive approach good news for you is this company loves a project yeah that's why there's so many going at all times I know I mean this company loves a project That's just basically off of our founder, Phil Robertson.

He is always surrounded by project. Are you and your grandmother real close? Well, she's passed away now. I know, but was you? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. My grandma was always the person that was there. Okay. You know, because I never knew my dad.

I didn't, you know, I could run into him on the street right now, and I wouldn't know who he is. But my mom, after she passed away, it was just me and my grandma. and through all the trouble I got into everything, like she was there. But, you know, and we'll probably tell this story a little bit later. But me and my grandma, like, we did a lot of stuff together. Yeah, let's take our first break and let's come back to some of that. We'll be back right after this.

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families and eat some dang good steak hey the thing about that is is most people can't handle the truth and you was truthful yeah i've always look you was you was who you are so you told them. Yeah, 100%. And, you know, that's what I think really made a lot of the people, whether it be Martin, John David, you know, just different people that work. I think that's why everybody really kind of took a liking to me was because they'd ask me where I come from and I'd just tell them. And they're like, who the heck is this guy? It was neat. Oh, I tell you. I hadn't met anybody quite like you, Rucker. So like when Rucker started here, the show was killed. I mean, it was our whole lives. At the me. And size. Yeah.

And like, I don't even remember Brad. I've been here 14 years. And I couldn't. Now, Blaze, I remember. But I couldn't tell you Brad if he walked in here. So, like, he was working for us. And I had no idea he was. But I remember showing up one day.

And I'm like, I see Rucker. He obviously doesn't fit the mold. And I'm like. I still got like a sore thought. I said, let me go talk to this cat. And I walked up to, started talking. And I was like, man, I think I really like him. Because what you get with Rucker,

even in a five-minute conversation is no BS. That's why. And I can appreciate that. He's not trying to put on a front for anybody. He's just who he is. And he said, you know what I'm saying? Like 12 times.

That used to be his favorite term. I don't know if you still use it a lot. Well, when I get real fired up, it comes out a lot. I'm saying, I've polished things a little bit these days. Yeah, I will say,

that's the best I've ever seen your beard look, period. Well, I actually go get it trimmed every Friday now. It's kind of a thing. My man is getting paid now. Now I know why you're saying I love this man. I do love him. Okay, because I haven't known you that much. Yeah.

Well, we've known each other for a long, but I even say I watched an episode of this podcast where you were talking about a sermon that I gave one Sunday morning. Yeah. And you literally said the words, well, it's funny because he's so shy and quiet. And I was like, I was like, you don't know me yet. Yeah. Well, yeah. No, no, but, but hey, when he said that, I went back to my military career.

Yeah. Because when an officer would ask me a question, well, I'd give him who I am. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And he couldn't handle it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You just read the, like read your credentials, man.

Like, this is who I am. And here's the thing, right? I don't think God designed any of us to be like somebody else. No. God designed us to be us. That's why we're uniquely made. My buddy, I can assure you he broke the mold to you. That's what I tell my wife.

He's married now. The story gets wild, people. And that's a good thing. Yeah, I just keep going back to all the little deals like Rucker left and we'll go through all that. But I remember he showed back up one day. And his tagline was Rucker Homeowner 2020. He was just, he was like, I think I can see a path to buying a house. And I was like, man, to know where this guy came from.

I mean, that's a big deal when, like, Rucker's like, homeowner. And, and, man, it's crazy because I actually forgot about a lot of that. But, man, that's how, that's just how raw and ground zero I was. And so it was really cool because y'all seen me, like, from when I gave my life to Jesus and started walking this out, y'all walked it out with me. And for those first three, four years of my walk, like, it was all spent here. So, and nowadays, you know, you know, doing the things that I do, dealing with the people, like, a lot of them don't see ground zero Brian Rucker. You know what I mean?

So it's always cool. It's just, you know, because I forgot about that. And I remember now that you say it, like, Rucker, homeowner, 2020. Because that was like, man. I was huge. That was huge. Like, I was just like, man, maybe one day I own a house. Because when you moved here, you were living in an apartment with your grandma.

Yep. You were broke. Yeah. You were sending child support back to Houston. and me and you had to sit down because I was like, you were talking about stuff and you didn't make much money. You were a very entry-level employee. And you had some bills outstanding with the state of Texas.

And we were trying to figure out how to get them paid. So I said, Rucker, like, let's sit down, let's go through your budget. And let's look at it. And the math just wasn't mathing. Yeah. That's what it is with me. Well, this is a little bit different of a situation. You know what I'm like that.

Rucker had something. Rucker had something in every pocket. Oh, man. So I remember we were going over my budget. We were trying to figure out how to pay off. I had 13 warrants in nine different counties in the state of Texas because I always figured like, man, I'm going to be in prison the rest of my life anyway. You just never paid them. I'd get a ticket and I'd throw it out the window like, catch me later, holler.

You know what I'm saying? So you could. In there. That's why I stay out of Tennessee. My favorite part. Tennessee officials are about to hit on the side of line, boys. Apalach the product going to come in me. Hey, state of Tennessee.

He got it. He can afford it. Rucker couldn't. I've repented. I bet you the statute of limitations have run up on anything. But there's one major difference. He got it. Rucker got it now.

Well, so at the time, right? So we're sitting down, we're going over my budget, and we're just trying to figure all this out. And it was a collective effort. I mean, like, everybody was involved with my life. And, man, that was so important. And we could talk about that later. But we're looking at it and you're like,

okay, well, if you quit smoking cigarettes, then maybe you can pay. But it's still not. How are you paying your car note? And I said, oh, well, that's easy. me and my grandma sell her pills together. And you're like, and you said, you said, you can't do that. And I was like, I want you to talk about.

I'm paying my card. Well, that's exactly. I was sitting there. I was like, I was like, well, but then how am I going to pay the car no? You're like, you're like, man, you can't like, because I had just got baptized. You know what I mean? You were fresh. I was fresh.

He says selling drugs don't make me bad. the user does the person. Well, that's what literally. I got a quote later. Well, yeah. So it's so, it's so you're like, you're like, you're like, Rucker, you cannot sell pills and, you know, walk out in life with Jesus. And I'm like, okay, well, what's your plan? You got a plan because I don't know what to do. It was a rough one. It was, but it turned out to be, it turned out to be another blessing in my life. Because what happened was Willie said, I'll give you a hundred bucks. I had $2,000 left to pay on my vehicle. And Willie said, I'll give you a hundred bucks every day you go without smoking a cigarette for 10 days or 20 days.

And I was like, 100 bucks a day. I got that. You know what I mean? I'll quit smoking. That's it. And it helped me quit smoking. It got paid off my vehicle, so I didn't have to sell pills with my grandma. And then one of this, this is the story I tell people a lot is whenever you came to give me the check, we sat down.

And you said to me, I don't know if you realize why we're doing this for you. And I said, not really. And you said, man, I just think that if you have a chance and walk out things with Jesus, you could change the world one day. He said, I think you have that ability to really do some stuff like Phil's done or my uncle's done. Don't get me emotionally. And so when you told me that, it's crazy because I was just like, really? like man what the heck's this dude talking about you know what i mean like i because i didn't i didn't realize

i'd be doing anything i'm doing right now you don't see yourself that way so i lied by the way i didn't think that at all i'm just kidding no you do have something in you that people gravitate towards of all walks of life yeah he gets the people from the nicest neighborhood in town and they just love him well he's like he can go to the i would i went to pick ruck that we might get there we might need two episodes for this i went to pick rucker up one night I ain't ever been a neighborhood like that before or since. And I was just like, but all those people there love them. So like everybody saw in you something that was, it's just a magnet of like,

what is this dude's weird personality and why do I like him? Yeah. And you use that to preach the gospel now. And, you know, we're all super proud of you. Yeah, absolutely. Let's take another break. We'll be back right after this. When did they call you and how did that go?

Okay. Because you're not shocked everybody. When did Duck Commander call me? Yeah. So they called me about a, after I came in and did the interview, it was about three days later. Okay. And the funny story is I actually missed their phone call five times. Now, normally, you know, you call somebody once or twice or whatever.

We didn't have a great system back then hiring. Well, I think. And we needed anybody. You know, I talk to Blaze sometimes and I really think for some reason God just put it on his hard to hire me. Yeah. Like, because he kept, he kept calling me,

he called me like five times. And this was at a time period where I had so much PTSD. I didn't sleep at night. I was getting high and drunk. Just couldn't. And like I would finally crash out at like 6 o'clock in the morning. Well, it took them,

it took them three days to get over the shock of your interview. No, that's probably, I'm serious. I always figured maybe he just had to clear it by somebody, but I know now that that was not the case. Nope. That wouldn't have.

Probably. God said, hey, let's let this wrist a little while. Let's let this simmer. Yeah, let it simmer. Let's let this simmer. And I'd almost be interested to find out like what was going on with Blaze during that time period. Because I imagine if I'm just, you know, I'm just throwing a dart at a dartboard here. But I imagine God was doing something in Blaze during that.

Oh, no. Oh, he was. Yeah. You know. And so anyway, so they call me. I missed their phone call five times just because I'm up all night, finally, crash out. Well, then... When you sleep, you're asleep. Yeah, well, and I didn't even have a phone. Well, and he was sleeping their normal business. Right. Right. So I didn't have a phone. I was

literally using my grandmother's cell phone. So I got up, seen that I missed all these calls, tried to call her back, didn't get no answer. Well, then my grandma needed something from the corner store. And so I couldn't leave her there at the apartment by herself without a phone. So I gave her the phone with specific instructions. I said, hey, if they call back, just answer. tell them I'm here just do come up with something right and and I go to the store and I come back and she missed another phone call and so I was like good night I was like yeah what I was like it's pointless and and then for whatever reason blaze called me at like 430 that afternoon right before he left said hey I've been trying to get in contact with you all day and I said yeah man you know

I've been out putting in job interview that ain't sure I didn't say I was I was just trying to act like I'm actually doing something productive. And so, and he's like, he's like, well, if you want the job, you can start Monday. And I started that next Monday here in the warehouse, folding clothes and moving boxes for $8 an hour. There you go. No, but man, you know, all throughout my life, I've pretty much, like, I don't, you know, even that's why I, you know, before I was 17 years old, I was making, you know, good money selling drugs. And I've always just had the, like, I'll have a small little idea.

this is what I'm going to do and then it just kind of blossoms into something that's out of my control. But whenever I got here and I surrendered to Jesus and I had people disciple me into how to live a lifestyle as a Christian and as a Christian man, then it was like it's not about like doing stuff that blossoms into being something out of my control. Just start off with knowing that he is in control and let him have everything. and don't try to be in control and watch what happens. Yeah. Well, for the first time in your life, you run up among a bunch of boys

that were going to hold you accountable. Yeah, for sure. So what you said you were going to do. Yeah. Instead of, you know, you being you, and look, you are a very good word smith. Got away with words. He makes up some of them.

Yeah, he does paraphala. I still can't say plethora because of you. Perapha. Parapha. We got a whole paraphaula bubbleheads back. I mean, I still, every time I want to say the word plethora, I can't.

I say parapha. You're welcome. I'll leave you with something. But, but, Rucker, you gave your life to Jesus because you were just hanging out here. You started going to church, and I've heard you in testimony say, you know, might get a raise if I start going to church, which is the funniest line ever. But you started going to church. Sinky, you got a hold of you, baptized you, and then everything was good and great and fine

and wonderful after that, right? No. Exactly. No, no. So, yeah, I start. And I tell people this, too. know, because a lot of these, the stuff I've been doing lately is ministers, people that are, you know, evangelical and things like that. And so like a lot of times they're like, well, you know, how,

how did you come to obey the gospel? I said, I'm going to just be honest with you. Didn't nobody open up a Bible. Did nobody point to any verses? Did nobody tell me that I was doomed and going to hell because of my sinful living? What they did is tell me the words, we love you. and that just did something. And it wasn't just like, oh, they said, oh, hey, we love you, and then kept moving. Like they said, we love you, and then they would give me responsibility. They believed in me in certain aspects. And so, yeah, I start going to church.

I get baptized. And, you know, it's like from zero to 100 real quick. It was like one, you know, one minute I'm in here and I'm just kind of working in the warehouse in the store and everything. And then I get baptized. I tell my testimony at the Thursday morning devotional that we used to have here. Yep. And that's whenever I got linked up with Grant Taylor.

And then he kind of takes me under his wing. I start doing stuff with Buck Commander going on these hunts, different things like that, still doing stuff around here. And, you know, it was almost too much too quick because the next thing I know I had like Roachie flying me to Kansas to share my story. but I wasn't fully living it yet. And then in comes the story of, oh, I'm not supposed to sell drugs with my grandma.

You know what I mean? Because I was just such an adolescent Christian that I didn't realize. I thought, okay, well, I'm not selling drugs. I'm not shooting at nobody. And, you know, I'm trying to do the right thing. So grace abounds. God knows my heart. It's all good.

Well, as it would turn out, as it would turn out, there's not really, any gray area in the word of God, it's pretty black and white. With a little red. Yeah, with some red. And so, God humbled me. And I just got back from hunting camp with Buck Commander, hanging out with country music singers, baseball players, everybody,

man, this rocker guy, man, it's pretty cool. And I get back as three days before my episode airs on Doug Dynasty at the Ice Cabin. And I get pulled over coming back for. a bar celebrating and I get a possession charge and a DWI charge and then I get thrown in OCC and I'm sitting there and I'm like how did this happen? I got Jesus man what am I doing in jail and then it hit me like a ton of bricks it's like either you're for me or against me you can't go around here proclaiming me and talking about me and then go home and live how you want to live and that's whenever I had that moment of realization like okay all right this is this is for real

like yeah the craziest part of that story is when you were in jail you called grant yeah I would not have called grant grant which grant has you grant is your mentor yeah grant me and grant had a good good cop bad cop thing with rucker for a long time grant would chew him out and then rucker to come down to my office and I'd be like, man, you're going to do great things. We got this. And then Grant would just hit the heavy. And I remember thinking like, I think Grant called me and I was like, oh, no, Grant's going to kill him. Yeah.

But Grant was great. Yeah. Oh, very, very football coach mentality. Yeah, I was like, I would have been scared to death to call Grant, but you did. Well, when they came and got me out of jail, that's the other part of the story. I'm thinking, oh, this is all over his pointless. Oh, my goodness. Time out.

Oh, yeah. Hey, Robertson's in the house? With a pie. With a pie. Holy cow. How did this happen? Oh, man. We were filming some Commander Kitchen and now Kay's delivering pie.

Yeah. You can set it down. He's going to. He's got a knife. I don't know what came within them. Oh. What kind of pie? We got a guest over here, Kay. You always treat your guests first.

You always told me I was your favorite. I mean. I did say that. It's true. She used to tell me that, too. Well, you grew out of it. I know. Oh, I love, say that again.

Sweet potato pie. Oh. If it's made by Ms. Kay and it's a pie, I'm eating it. Miss Kay just walked up in here with sweet potato pie like she owns the place. Oh, wait, she does. She does. She is on her. No.

No, no. No. The only thing's going to get crushed is that pie. Well, that was the best break we've ever had because Kay just showed up with a pie. We had to stop and eat it. Freshly out of the oven. It was delicious. Yeah. They're better when they're hot. There's no better way to be greeted than Miss Kaye with a sweet potato.

Yeah, Rucker, you're officially invited back every episode. If that, that's never happened before. Look, y'all just applaud the general manager for coming up with this idea of Commander's Kitchen where Kay comes up here once a month and cooks for us. We'll take a second. We'll take a second. I'm pretty humble guy, but this was more than just a YouTube content. That was just to feed you.

Yeah, this was my little baby, my little project, because Kay loves feeding people. And I knew if I could talk her into that, she'd come up here. So it's all good. But I don't even remember where we were. So DWI is called Grant. Grant fires you. Oh, then they come to pick you up. Yeah, yeah.

Grant, well, so originally he didn't fire me. So originally Grant comes against me, talks to Willie and everything. Oh, yeah. Excuse me, sweet potato puff. Amen. Praise God. Praise the Lord. Anyway, so yeah.

So, yeah, him and Willie come and get me, or he comes against me and talk to Willie and stuff. At that, by, I think I got arrested on Saturday night, if I'm not mistaken. It may have been a Sunday night. By that next morning, everybody knew. Yeah. And so he comes against me. He actually brings his wife with him so that he doesn't kill me. Yeah.

That's a great move. When Grant wants to kill you, Kate. Shatlin shows up to. Yeah. And so he comes against me and everything. Ultimately, we all talk, and it's like, all right, we'll let you keep your job. You just need to do two things. You need to sell your vehicle because you ain't never had a license.

And you need to move into a Celebrate Recovery Home. I told Rucker, I said, part of it. I said, Rucker, you need CR. You need to go to Celebrate Recovery. And he goes, he looked at me dead and eyes and goes, I don't do drugs. I'm a drug dealer. There's a difference. And I'd never been faced with that in my life.

I said, I don't know how to respond to this. Yeah, and as a guy still immature in his faith, he's going into a baited field. No, yeah, man. Well, so, and I remember that conversation. I still tell that, like, you know, your dad actually talks about that. It was like, man, this guy said that he didn't need CR because he wasn't a drug addict. He was a drug dealer. Which, I mean, you know.

What was I supposed to think? You were addicted. just on a different side of it. I have perspective. Yeah. Well, and that's why CR was so important for me because it's any hurt habit or hang up. Yeah.

Right. If you were to take me to AA and be like, oh, you're an alcoholic. I can't say that I actually was an alcoholic. I was a problematic drinker. I'm an object of wrath by nature. You leave me to my own devices without any discipleship or anything else.

I'm going to destroy myself. But my problem was I was addicted to a mindset. I was addicted to a way of life and I was addicted to self-sabotage. And, you know, plus dealing with the several different unaddressed traumas in my life, you know, it just created this mess of a man that was, you know, so that's why CR was, I was, whenever I finally did go, which first time I ever went to CR, you took me. I remember because I told you a couple of times because you're trying to pay off a bunch of stuff I'm like and you didn't have a driver's license so it was like moving to one of these houses

they'll take you to work they'll bring you here every day yeah and you were always against it well then you hit rock bottom and you had to well and then y'all had the leverage you were like no you're going you're going now you're going yeah and so you went but and I I remember driving you there and dropping you off at that house and you were you didn't have a foul attitude about it like you weren't fired up for it, obviously. Right, right. But you went in with a mindset of, this is what I'm going to do to get, get my life back on track. And now you went and lived in a recovery house.

So now you're in a home, but you're on the right track. Right tracks might not be the best term. But you've changed your mindset of how you're going to do things. Well, so I, you know, it was, so yes, I changed the mindset. I was at a place of acceptance, but this is what I had wrong. the attitude. So your attitude determines, uh, determines where you end up. If you're going to get healed or not. Right. Well, so, you know, it's all about the attitude that you have. So you can either have an attitude of gratitude and you yield some positive results or

you could be like me who was sitting in this recovery home. I work at Duck Commander. By the way, my episode's coming out pretty soon. You should check it out. You know what I mean? And then I'm trying to figure out like, why am I even here? And, you know, I got all of y'all telling me, hey, you need to be here, still not thoroughly convinced. Still was like, man, yeah, this is cool, but I'm like, man, I spent too much time locked up. I'm going to here bunking with these dudes. I'm about to start stealing stuff from him. You know what I mean?

Like, you know, like, so I was just in it. I had the wrong attitude and I end up getting kicked out of the house. I forgot about that. Maybe you didn't. I just said you had a great attitude going in. You fooled me. Well, I did. Well, he's a salesman.

He's a salesman. I mean, he sells drugs. Well, his life before this, he was the ultimate chameleon, right? I mean, like, that's what, even when he started here, I was like, man, you, like, it's a shame that we can't have you as like director of sales. Because I can put you in any meeting. Mm-hmm. And you're going to smash. Mm-hmm.

Because he's very good, was, at using the chameleon for bad. Mm-hmm. Now he uses the chameleon for good because he can blend with these people. they don't think he's being judgmental, which he's not being judgmental, but he comes off very unaggressive, unassuming like, yes, I'm one of y'all, I'm with you, because he can read the crowd and figure out what they need to get him in, and then once he's in, there's the gospel. There's the life-changing, there's the life-change deal,

because he knows, like the rest of us, the power isn't in the messenger, but it's in the message. And that's what you were so good at. Everybody recognized about you and why we wanted nothing but the best for us, because we knew you could get in those places. You can get in places none of the rest of us can get into. Yeah. And you can have those people on your side and then you can change their lives that we would never ever reach, period, outside the show and anything like that. So that's why we were also bullheaded and you doing well and you succeeding.

And now, fast forward to getting kicked out of a house. Yeah. to owning houses to help people further advance their lives. And you're what? You're a counselor now. I mean, you're a quasi-world speaker for my record worldwide. Here's my favorite part because he doesn't do drugs.

He's a drug dealer. What's your technical job title? I'm the director of Celebrity Recovery Recovery. I love it. Yeah, you know, I end up getting kicked out of the house. And to your point, nobody up here knew that. that I had the wrong attitude. And you wouldn't have because at that point,

I'm still trying to, I'm trying to make y'all proud of me. It really is what it was. And so I, you know, I may, I was, had the bad attitude, but I didn't tell y'all, get kicked out the house, ultimately come up here, Grant fires me, because he was like, if you do anything else, I'm firing you. I come up here, he fires me.

Willie and Kyle, Tengual, have a conversation. Kylie's back. Kylie Tingual. Kyle from Minnesota. him and Willie have a conversation and we were already planning on doing the tours and Willie says, we'll give you one more shot, but if you do anything else. So I literally walk from here to the church and walk in there and beg them for one more chance with Josh Hudnell and Kyle. And it's funny because I get in there and I said, man, I get it.

I screwed up, but I just, I'm, I'm done running the show. If you give me one more chance, I promise you won't regret it. And, and he said, you know, Miss Kay had already called me this morning. And I was like, what? Because I didn't, you know, I didn't, that was whenever I realized people were actually looking out for me before I realized people were. Because not just you guys that I've seen every day, because I didn't. see K every day and we were you know she would see me I'd come out to the house they'd talk oh hey bra on but whenever I realized that she had called Josh and said hey I don't know what it is about this

kid but if you just give him one more shot I think it'll work out and and he's told me that and they let me come back start working the program and actually surrender I get back over here start doing stuff with Buck Commander again start helping out with different stuff just kind of you know I started allowing God to work in me and through me as aside for me trying to work an angle on God. And that ultimately resulted in fruit. And so, yeah, you know, I remember I went and spoke somewhere at a treatment center and they said, hey, we think that you would be a great counselor. And I said, well, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I'm not going to do that.

Yeah, I remember this. And I came in here and I told you all, I said, I said, hey, yeah, they all. for me a job as an addiction counselor, but I'm not doing that. I mean, this is, this is my family. This is where I'm at. And everybody was like, oh, okay, yeah, well, we kind of think you should take it. And I was like, no, no, I don't know. Well, I believe a direct quote. Go ahead. As Rucker, if you don't take this job, I'm going to fire you. Yeah. Fired. I mean, like, so you can either go take it.

Or you're going to be forced to take it. You can voluntarily take it. Or you're about to be terminated. And the thing was, they were offering something that Duck Commander couldn't offer. I want to go back to where you started this when you was telling your story. And you said the guys said, hey, man, we love you. Mm-hmm. Okay. That has a, you know, because the Bible says it somehow about, you know, if you see someone hurting and you don't help him,

Mm-hmm. You're a hypocrite. Yeah. Kind out loud. Right. You know, and that's what, like, you, we never can see the potential or the good in us. Mm-hmm. Especially since you said it and, you know, you stay up night and look at yourself, I mean, what is wrong with me?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that mirror a lie to you. No, no. No, no. Well, I'm just saying, though. Yeah. You know, because I've, I've been there before.

And then, you know, you know, because, you know, your honesty. you actually laugh about it you hit people with it because that's you but you laugh because you love you love the when you watch them the reaction yeah and you know to

to Martin's point you know it's like I was comfortable and also I thought you know because I was I was learning how to shoot you know shoot film hunts and edit footage and I really thought that like the the maximized

potential for Brian Rucker is doing production with Buck Commander. Like, I really thought that that's the ceiling. Where you wanted to be at. Yeah. And, you know, y'all ultimately say, hey, go take the job. Willie was one too. We were at church. He said, hey, man, it sounds like something God wants you to do, like your family.

You always got a job. Like, go try it. If you want it, great. if not like what do you got to lose? Yeah, if it don't work out. And that's whenever, I'll never forget this, right? I came in the next morning and John David walks in through the back door. I was already here for some reason.

I was usually late, but I was, but he walks in the back door and I walk up to him and I say, hey, I'm taking that job. And he started crying. Like literally it was like, no, don't do it. He was like, man, I was. He was like, I'm so glad. I'll cry on anybody. He'll have hit crying.

Me and Ruckner have shared a few good crying. Oh, yeah. He goes, man, I'm so glad. I'm so glad you're taking that. And as it turns out, God knows what he's doing, way more than I do. I start working as an addiction counselor. I become the most sought after addiction counselor in the state, the highest paid CIT in the addiction field and all because like you said i i think god god brought me through what i've been

through in my life in order to glorify him oh no no and it's the deal about hey you know if if i'm an alcoholic another alcoholic can't he ain't going to blow smoke right exactly i'm there yeah i know don't be talking that trash trash to me yeah no exactly no that's why you you're the counselor And then it went from there to like, you know, I started speaking all over the place again. And then, you know, I ultimately took a $40,000 pay cut to go work at the church full time to lead, celebrate recovery. And the houses, the sober living home, I ended up living there for two years. Now I own that program. I was saying, money ain't the answer.

He started this off making a joke about education. Yeah. Okay, but it ain't no joke. This is America. Oh, absolutely. Okay, this is the United States of America and look, hey, if you work your tail off, there's nothing that you can do anything you want to do. Amen. Well, to Martin's point, too, right?

Like, all right, I'm no longer working for me. I'm working for the Lord, right? And so I tell my clients this all the time. Like, man, but you got, like, yeah, you know, life's pretty good for you. I'm like, you didn't see me nine years ago. No. Okay. But I promise you, if I lost it.

everything that I have right now today and I got to go back to folding clothes or cleaning bathrooms you better believe I'm gonna do it better than anybody because I'm not working for me I'm working for I'm working for God and in his glory and making him a big deal and hey and Job is a perfect example of that he lost it all and then hey and then in the end he had four times what he had begin with yeah I have an office these days. And if you walk into my office, there a dartboard in it? No, no. I actually had a lady come in and make it all nice. Anyways. But if you look, this guy, that's kind of off, brand. Well, my office is at a church. We don't have nearly as much fun as we had here.

But, you know, but if you walk into my office, big, written on the wall, written huge on the wall, is John 3.30. And that is, he must become greater and I must become. I'm left. Amen. That is the mantra of my life, man. Amen. And now you're married. Yeah. We got to land the plane somehow. We'll land it. And now I'm just going to say this. You're married. And you've always held to your responsibilities of as a father. I mean, I know that. I saw you sending the checks off because you used our mail. That's not a big deal. You know, but. This was Brian Rucker headquarters for a hot little second. But what I'm saying, you still. stepped up, faced your challenges in life, you didn't quit. You had every reason to quit.

Had every reason to go back to jail because it's easy. I mean, like, all those things, you didn't, an incredible story of perseverance. And now you're a week, no, two weeks married. Two weeks married. I was just there. I only cried a little at that. Yeah, no, I would love to be back. And, you know, I'm just having, you know, the I am second thing came out, man. And, you know, God's really using it. And so I'm just, I'm just holding on. And whatever God's got for me, I'm going to just stewarded to the best of my ability. Awesome.

I'm going to send us out of here with a verse. Do it. Second Corinthians 7, Paul's writing to the Corinthians. But man, it makes me think of Rucker. I am acting with great boldness towards you. I have great pride in you. I'm filled with comfort and all our affliction. I'm overflowing with joy.

Buddy, right in those walls over there. We went through a lot. And I can't say of any human being I've ever dealt with in life that I'm more proud to say, I helped a guy out because you help way more people than I ever thought about. You're the man. Yeah. Love you, man. Rucker homeowner, 20, 23.

He says his kids to private school now, son. Yeah, yeah, you know what I'm saying? You know, good Lord's been kind. Yeah, we'll see y'all next time right here in the cup call room. We're out.