Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Van at Super Bowl Radio Row Pt. 1

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

While at Super Bowl LIX radio row, Van sat down with the likes of Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith (0:00), LSU great Andrew Whitworth (14:20), and a pair of legendary Saints Deuce McCallister (24:49, and Demario Davis (35:58). Host: Van Lathan Guests: Emmitt Smith, Andrew Whitworth, Deuce McCallister, Demario Davis Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr., Cory McConnell, Chia Hao Tat, and Ronak Nair  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We have a legend here with us, an absolute legend, the most accomplished, one of the most accomplished players in the history of sports. Super Bowl champion, all-pro career rushing leader, Emmett Smith is joining us today, man. What's up? How are you doing? I'm doing well, my brother. Your Dallas Cowboys have seemed to simplify things in their head coaching search. They've got Schadenheimer in as the head coach. There was a search that a lot of people were paying attention to, the Cowboys. still are the number one box office event in the NFL.

How do you feel about the way the head coach and search went in Dallas and who they picked? Well, I thought we probably should have went with a defense head coach, a guy that could bring in some toughness up front for the defense as well as the offensive line. I still think we need to upgrade our offensive line. I'm pretty comfortable with the running backs that we actually have, even though we did release Zeke. I still thought Zeeke had some tread on the tires left. But to me, I think it is a bigger problem.

I think the problem is the disconnect between the vision and the operations of the organization. You know, when I think about my cowboys, and I'm going to say my Cowboys, because my team, I don't own them, but there's my team. And I think about how the team was actually built in the 90s and how it began. It began with a clear vision

and a clear vision for the operations component because you can talk about branding, you can talk about all of the sales and television and everything else, but what drives a lot of these things is what happens on the football field. And what happened on the football the last couple years or the last 30 years,

if you want to say that, is the illusion of having great teams which sells tickets. But it doesn't get you back to the big dance. And I think our cowboys just need to get back to the main thing and find a way to establish a balanced attack, put Dak Prescott in a position to be a very successful,

very consistent quarterback, and giving him a chance to have a long career as a Dallas Cowboy, and find a way to run the football and throw the football effectively. It seems like a lot of parts of the fan base and a lot of parts of sports culture in general have lost faith in Dak Prescott as the quarterback of the Cowboys. Have you lost faith? I haven't because I know in my mind that he,

has not been put in the right situation to where he's been put in a situation where he has to carry everything and and and that is based off of what the offensive coordinators are called he has not been given the authority to run whatever plays he won and he's never had that authority in my opinion now he can always change a play but what is he going to change to he's been either he's given two plays or he's given one play and he has to change to something very simple. For me, I think there isn't a commitment to who they really want. We don't have an identity. That's the problem. We don't have an identity. If we do have an identity, it's an identity of throwing a football, RPO's here and there, and that is not going to work for us. It's just not.

It hasn't worked for us in the past, and it's not going to work for us going forward. That Prescott is not that kind of RPO quarterback. He's not a little Lamar Jackson. He's not a Patrick Mahomes. He's not a Josh Allen, and that doesn't mean he's not as good as those guys. He can be very good. That has had... Do you think he's as good as those guys? He has had as great of years

as some of those guys. Patrick Mahomes has tremendous years. Tremendous years. What makes him so exciting? He wins a lot of games. Period. It's not like he's throwing for three or four hundred yards every week. Right. But he's doing enough to get his team in the position to win games.

And that's what makes him Excellent. Were you on the coach prime bandwagon to come coached the Cowboys? I was all in support of Prime becoming a Dallas Cowboy Coach. My question to myself was, does he really want to do that? Does he really want to come coach a bunch of grown men in the locker room that don't, that talk back to coaches? You know what I'm saying? I mean, in college, you can take a scholarship.

You can't just take a contract. Right, right, right, right. You know, and plus in college, I think Prime finds more pleasure and more joy in helping young men become the best version of themselves. And at this level, you got guys that, you know, they make a ton of money. They hear you, they look you in the eyes, but nothing really registered. Right, right, right, right. And they move on by their business. And then they go do what they want to do anyway.

And not only that, but then they get to talk about whatever they want to talk about these days. So at the collegiate level, I think he has coached kids and help kids grow into grown men. He's instilled in them a level of value and a level of work ethic that's warranted. And I think he's doing a great job at Colorado and can do a great job at the National Football League level if he chose to come there. Do you know the exact amount of rushing yards you have for a career? Yeah. What's the number? 18,355.

Insane. Zip code. All that adds up to 22. Oh. All that adds up to 22. Serendipitous. Now, let me ask you this. With the way that the game is now and the emphasis on the passing game,

you might actually have one of the most unbreakable records in sports. That career rushing yards total, just with the way the game is evolving, might never be touched even with the extra game. How do you feel about that? Would you want to see the game progress where someone eventually breaks your record?

Or are you one of the guys that's like, I want to be the career rushing leader forever? You know, I've learned a long time ago. Records are made to be broken. and if they are been broken, they've been broken for a reason because somebody worked their behind off to get to that level. Walter Payton blessed me and gave me permission to go get the record because, and the reason why he did,

because he knew how difficult it would be to get there. And so I know how difficult it will be to get there. But if someone is fortunate enough to get to that point, I just want to be, I want to be blessed by God to be here on the planet to see it, happen so I can embrace that person because I understand how difficult it is to get there. So many things have to align, being in alignment.

And you just talked about the way the game is today. There isn't quite that alignment because there's not really a commitment to run the football unless you in Sequoan Barkley situation with the Philadelphia Eagles to where they are relying on him to run the football. Derek Henry has been given the rock. And so there isn't a real true, hasn't been a real true commitment to run the ball the way we used to run the ball. And that's part of the problem why some guys might not get there. But Derek Henry is already over 2,000, already over 10,000 yards.

So he's in a situation with Lamar Jackson to where longevity, he could possibly get there. Sequoan Barkley is on his way. And if he can maintain the consistency with this offense and have the players stay intact and stay healthy for a long period of time, in this kind of offense, it's a possibility that he can get there. He can rush for another 2,000 yards next year in this kind of offense. Barrett Sanders would have rushed for 3,000. And the way they did they

tackle, I could have rushed for 4,000. So, nobody's really tackling anybody these days. And the way the league, the flag systems are coming out, getting extra plays and extra downs and all that kind of stuff. You really think you could have gone for 4,000? Hell no.

I'm just tripping. I'm just, I'm just exaggerating. I thought we had one. I'm just simply sad. But there's a possibility somebody could have rushed for over 2,500 yards. And that could have been a Barry Sanders guy. Right.

I mean, me, I already have longevity and consistency averaging 1,500 yards a season. Then I have 2,000 here, 1,000 here or 900 and missing games and stuff like that. No, no, be consistent. Last question for you, Emmett. And thank you so much. Emmett Smith. He's here with tabloTV.com. Go check it out. You talked a little bit earlier about the brand of the Cowboys.

I'm 44 years old, okay? I was 16 years old the last time the Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl. I'd never forget it. Growing up right there in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, everybody had Cowboys gear on. It was, how about them Cowboys and all of that stuff like that? The Cowboys have remained relevant as a brand. Right. But really haven't been as relevant as a winning, dominant franchise.

Maybe the most, actually, they are the most valuable brand in American sports. Yes, yes, sir. Would you rather the Cowboys, and you alluded to this earlier, be less valuable as a brand and be more of a winning and dominant team, or is the way that Jerry is running his organization right now, actually the blueprint to modern American sports ownership, meaning the star

is more important than the Lombardi Trophy. What's more important? I think you can do both. I think you can do both. If the Cowboys are the number one franchise in all the sports without winning another

Super Bowl for the past 30 years, and still is that, and still growing, imagine if they won three more Super Bowl. imagine how much more valuable they would be if they won three more Super Bowls because their attention that they're getting right now and everything that everyone is talking about it

they can talk about bad news is still good news all they want to but when people are picking at that brand and tugging at that brand negatively it becomes a turnoff it can reverse head on you and you can become the worst talked about organization. Yeah, you can say value.

But then the question is, what's important to him? Is it that? Or is it the Lombarded trophies? You're going to make money. But making money cannot be the answer to everything. Winning and making money brings happiness to everybody. And it cleans up so much of the BS. And being a hallmarked organization to me, the way I see business itself, forgetting the football, the way I see business, we talk about best practices.

But Jerry led with best practices in the 90s by leading the league into and ushering the league into the era that is in right now. By ushering in the thought of a brand new stadium and what a brand new stadium can look like, which also inspired other owners to want brand new stadium. Sure. And creating new television contract. The branding. The branding aspect of it. He's done that for everybody. He's increased revenue for everybody.

But now he needs to look inward, inward, and say, what do I need to do to get my team back to holding that Lombardi trophy? And that, once he answered that question, then I think the brilliance of the man could be a, appreciate it on a global basis versus just on a singular basis right now. Emmett is joining us on behalf of Tablo. If you're looking for a way to watch the big game or sports, you've got a device. You've got to check out Tablo.

It's a device that lets you watch, pause, and record live TV without a subscription. Visit tablo.com for more details. Yeah, TabloTV.com. It is the device that affords you all of those opportunities. And the great thing about it is you just pay one time to buy the device. You get it hooked up, connected into your Wi-Fi. And you can actually connect it to all your TVs in the house. And so, like you said, all the sports, different channels, you can get over 3, 400, 500 channels,

and watch local TV and everything else all on one device and not have to pay a subscription fee, other fees and all those kinds of things. You know, most TVs, you've got to download this app. app and everything else and you're paying like three four five hundred dollars a month for subscriptions and you got three four or five different passwords exactly this is not like that simplifying things and bringing things under one roof yeah actually i got one more thing for you have you ever seen the movie black panther before yes i have um wukonda for life wakonda for life exactly what do you think about what's being going what's been going on on twitter there's some talk that

maybe Michael Irvin will actually play Black Panther in the next Marvel movie. Have you seen this on Twitter? No. Yeah, well, there are some people. There's a grassroots Twitter campaign to have the playmaker himself, Michael Irvin, play Black Panther in the next Black Panther movie. What do you think about Michael Irvin as Black Panther? He is black.

I said to Smith. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Trimfaya, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

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See terms at vandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash herms. We are here with one of the most accomplished athletes in Louisiana history. A fellow LSU Tiger. Andrew Whitworth, who is doing something special with Pepsi. You're going to crown the best seafood boil. Yeah, baby. Right here, home state gentlemen. you're going to help the northerners and the Yankees decide what the best seafood boil ever is.

Tell us what you got going on with him. Yeah, Pepsi wanted to host the first ever Super Bowl boil. So obviously being in New Orleans, state of Louisiana, we know a little bit about that, fellowshiping around a good pot of crawfish or shrimp bowls. And so we're going to hold it tomorrow, Friday, 12 to 2, a little competition between Mr. Shrimps and crawling seafood. And we'll crown champion. I'll both judge it. We'll have a contest.

The winning restaurant is going to get $10,000. Cold cash, a little award, and this paddle. How many? If I give it up, I don't know if I want to get rid of this thing. I was about to say, why would you, this seems like something that you would want to keep. It is kind of nice. I want to keep it. What are you looking for?

You know, listen, I'm going into it. I understand. You know, it just kind of hit me. There's pressure here. One of these places it's going to be upset that I don't pick them as the winner. So, you know, there's a lot of pressure. I think one of the key things I've learned, some people have given me some advice. One of them is I don't think I'm eating tomorrow morning, is I want to go win hungry.

Right. And I think that what I'll probably do is try and blind test it first. Let's take, and then just kind of say which one I want. And then I'm going to want to kind of know who's what because I kind of want to know the strategy. I want to know what they do. Tell the difference. I want to make sure it's both crawfish or both shrimp. I don't want to mix.

So we'll see what happens. So I asked you about a big controversy that happened last year on Twitter. Yeah. Between LSU Twitter and you. ULM Twitter. Okay. Actually, ULL Twitter. There was a video of ULL

and they were making crawfish for their athletes. And after the crawfish came out, one of the guys from ULLL dusted his crawfish after the crawfish came out. LSU Twitter and ULL Twitter, which don't get along, which I did not realize. I didn't know that either. It's a big, big, big beef.

they jumped all over ULL about dusting their crawfish after it was already out. Where do you stand on dusting seafood, dusting crawfish after it has already been boiled and out of the pot? Yeah, I don't know if I like the dust of that after. I don't like that. I don't know if I'm down with that. Okay. That's not my style. I don't think so.

You played so long in the league, Andrew. We were talking about the fact that you were on the 2003 BCS National Championship Team. That's Michael Clayton. That's Justin Vincent. Yeah. That's, I mean, you're going back always. That's Matt Mock.

Yeah. What was the secret to your longevity in the NFL? It's crazy. I mean, I sit back now. I even think about it to think I played in three different decades. It's just insane. I mean, to think of what? what the NFL was from 2006 to 2010 and then from 11 to 20 and then 21.

It's just totally different, you know, and so the game has evolved so much and I had to evolve with it. And so I think one of the things like that, to your point, to being able to survive and stay, is I was always trying to adapt and grow my game into where the game was headed and what was going to be needed of me and my body and the things I needed to be able to do. And so, you know, obviously you need a lot of things to go your way, a lot of blessings. but there's also a lot of hard work and intentional work of putting yourself in a position to be able to thrive and survive. When did you know that it was time to go?

Really, for me, it never really became physical. It was more that my last year, probably during the season, I just started to not real. I didn't enjoy sitting at work and watching tape and doing all that. I just kind of got bored with it. I got bored with some of that and sitting in the meetings all day long because that's the one thing about football that's so different than all the other professional sports.

The time you spend in meeting rooms and at work all day, not playing the actual game, way outweighs like the actual game performances. So you spend way more time with all that stuff. And eventually I think some veteran players just get exhausted with sitting at work, sitting in meetings,

listening, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's kind of how I was. I just kind of got bored with that. And I was like, you know what, it's time. Like, I don't enjoy coming to work every day as much. So I need to move on. What is the transition to being a media figure after watching people talk about the game for so long, talk about football for so long while you're playing it and grinding it,

what has the transition been like for you to now be someone who talks about the game and talks about other things? You know, I've tried my best to really, you know, be myself. And I think that that's really what my ultimate goal was. I see people do it a lot of different ways. I'm not here to give crazy takes. I'm not here to, like, get attention, which I think a lot of guys do. I think a lot of guys their points of view or takes are really about attention and reaction. I'm just not into that.

I'm into what I truly believe and I think represents who I am and really what I think is right about the game of football or wrong about the game of football. And I feel free to share it. If I don't think a guy's doing things the way I think it should be done or leadership and maybe his approach to it, I might question it. And if I think they are doing it, I want to praise it. And I want to say, hey, this dude needs your, he deserves your attention. or this team or this franchise deserves your attention. And so I just try to be authentically me. And if people like it great, if they don't, oh, well.

Like, I'm going to go home to my family and chill with my people and I'm going to play golf and I'm going to do what I do regardless. So I just try to be myself and everything I do. And that's who I was as a player and a leader as well. And I don't plan on changing that. As offensive linemen, you got to tell us one thing. Why is the tush push so effective now? Why are teams able, a couple of teams, able to seemingly get a yard, sometimes two yards,

almost at will when you look at what Buffalo is able to do and what the Eagles are able to do? Well, I think it's a mix of the people they have doing it and the technique. I mean, you think the Eagles, I think Jeff Stoutland's like, you know, arguably one of the best O-Line coaches really in the last 20, 30 years, he's unbelievable. You know, and really his success level that he's been on this run with to this group. They have really been a special group throughout his time. And so to think of what he's been able to do there, and then that group, how they're built,

their size, and then Jalen how he's built. That makes it such a force. I mean, he's literally built like a running back. So him taking that snap is like having your running back under center with his strength and power and everything else. And then you look at Buffalo, same thing. I mean, Aaron Cromer, another great offensive line coach, really good group that played special this year.

and then Josh Allen, an absolute freak. Again, if you're going to give the ball to anybody in those situations, he's a freak in nature himself. So, yeah, I think it's a little bit of the guys that are taking those snaps and then also the groups and how they're led. Last question, and I got to go a little west here. I got to go to Baton Rouge. I love sports.

Love the Saints. Love the NFL. I love basketball. I love the Lakers. There's nothing that I love in sports, even halfway as much, as I love LSU football. All right. I'm one of those people.

I'm one of those people that's on Tiger Droppings. I'm one of those people following kids, like looking at them when they get in the ninth grade, and they're from Metery, they're from New Iberia, they're from West Monroe. I'm looking at them. I'm trying to figure it out. Right now, I need to believe that LSU

will make the college football playoff in the next couple of seasons. Do you believe that? I think what we've done in the transfer port. By the way, he's asked the question. I don't know if he believes it, but I'm hoping. What we've done in the Transfer Portal this year, where Garris and Nussmeyer coming back. Okay.

We've lost. Talk to me. I need something. We've lost a lot of offensive production. You know, we lost both tackles, Emery Jones, and we lost Will Campbell. But I believe, I believe that the team with the coaching staff, particularly Blake Breaker on the defense and all that,

Blake Baker, shall I say, on the defense and all of that, I believe we can make the playoff this year. Okay. Do you believe LSU can make the playoff this year? Well, I'll be honest with you. I don't follow a lot of college football. I watch LSU games. That's about it.

So I don't know where they stack up against other teams. But I do believe in Blake Baker. I do think that, you know, with the quarterback coming back, that's obviously a massive thing in college football right now with all much change we got. But listen, you know, at some point, you know, they've got to start to perform like legacy that was left before him. And we got to see that, you know. And I think it's an important year for Brian Kelly in this.

group to really instill some confidence in this fan base and LSU fans and go out there and perform the way that, you know what, has been done before them. Because to me, like, I've always said this. Like, you can't take for granted sometimes the special years. And, you know, when Nick Saban came here, the change he made in LSU, you know, people, I think last year when he was coming back with Game Day, it was like, you know, somebody asked me the question of, like, should he ever be welcomed back? I'm like, should he ever be welcome back?

They're who they are because he got, he came there. You better welcome him back. I don't care what happened in Alabama. Their truth is, if Nick Saban, when he came there, changed LSU for forever. And every guy that's there now and the success they've had was changed because of him. It became a place where the standard became competing for national championships. And now Brian Kelly's got to show us that under his regime, they can go do that.

So to me, I think it's a really important year that they put themselves in that conversation. Thank you so much, man. And I hope that you do a great job, you know, judging the, The Super Bowl boil, like, not everybody can be a winner, but if you're eating in New Orleans, you pretty much already won. You're dang right about that. We're going to have some ice cold Pepsi's. We're going to eat some shrimp and crawfish.

I'm going to probably have a couple of potatoes and corn because I'm a potatoes and corn guy. Make my own little special sauce, but we'll talk about that another time. But it's going to be a lot of fun. So tomorrow, Friday, 12 to 2, come have a good time with us. All right, my brother. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, Every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start.

Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject trumphia, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine.

Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more, or visit Trimfairadio.com. This episode is brought to you by Sweetgreen. for permission, lunch window, gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies. Sweet Green's new wraps have got you. Real ingredients? Zero shortcuts. Everything you love in one hand.

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Saints great NFL great college football great he is here as part of the NFL's NFL alumni's new obesity campaign over one-third of Americans deal with excess weight Duce I don't know if you know this but in my past I've been as heavy as 375 pounds so I understand this plight what got you into addressing this and why is the NFL addressing it Well, I think, you know, just from a long, well, first of all, thank you for having me. Thanks. Thank you for having me. And I think, you know, just trying to encourage some of the former athletes and just really

our population in general about the importance of, you know, making sure that we take care of ourselves. You know, there's old saying that health is wealth. And so I think that's definitely one, you know, if you want to be able to live a healthy and wealthy, quote unquote, lifestyle, it starts with taking care of the body. And so just to be able to encourage some of the former athletes and so that there are people out there that, you know, haven't forgotten about them. And so the NFL has done a pretty good job.

Even the PA has done a pretty good job of creating programs. But just to be able to encourage former players that there are things out there in ways for us to be able to still be involved, still be a part of a team, and hopefully to be able to just to do a little bit better of taking care of our bodies. If you were going to give an ex-NFL player a game that is brutal on the body, If you're going to give them one tip, two tips on what you can do to keep yourself healthy after your playing career is over, what would you say to do? Being able to hit, you know, the mythical, we'll call it 10,000 steps a day. Okay. And then being able to at least drink 120 ounces of water.

I think those two things are, you know, it's not the magic one or the magic numbers, but they've been proven that that helps with being. able to lose some of that weight that we kind of carry and just to be in being active. I mean, and so taking those steps, you know, on a daily basis and just trying to, you know, get those four to five bottles of water before 12 o'clock. And now I can get those other three or four in that afternoon. I think those are all, you know, things that we can achieve. Obviously, you know, I'm not a medical profession. Sure, of course.

And so to be able to rely upon what your doctor is telling you, you know, is what, you know, truly has to happen. But there's enough studies out there. You know, NFL alumni association on 3.com is one of the websites that you can go to just to be able to find some of that information. You know, but just from an encouraging standpoint, that's really what we want to be able to do. You know, it's funny.

You said listening to what your doctor tells you, just going to the doctor, having a relationship with a medical health professional is such a huge thing. Sometimes, you know, I'm from right up here in Baton Rouge. Sometimes, particularly in our community, we don't have the relationship with physicians that we should based upon costs, but sometimes based upon just the way we're brought up in culture. In that field. Yeah. So feeling comfortable with somebody in that field that you need. And so just the general will be able to at least lead you in the right direction.

You know, and you may need, just depending on that person, they may need something a little bit more. and we'll call it specific for them. Yeah. But, I mean, that's a start. And so if you can start, then hopefully, you know, that leads you down the right path that you need. And so I think it's important. I mean, we all, from a father's standpoint, even from a family standpoint, you want to be able to set that next generation up. Well, being around for that next generation is setting them up, you know, and that's what we have to be able to do to make sure that we're helping them to be successful in life.

And that's where, you know, starting with your own health is one of those factors. Right. Deuce, man, I'm a Saints fan. I'm a Saints fan. Been a rough year for us. We're in the dirt, okay? What do we have to do, Deuce? What do we have to do? We have a Deuce McAllister right now.

We have a player that reminds me of you in the way that he runs the ball, catches the ball, understands the game, Alvin Camara. We have some pieces. We have, there's a lobby there. There's some guys on the team, both sides of the ball. We talked to DeMario Davis. here a couple of days ago, what do the Saints need to do to get back to winning so we can watch some football on Sunday?

Well, you've got to be a lot more consistent. I think that starts with, you know, from I don't want to call it a leadership standpoint, but that's really the players owning what they're doing. I mean, and so you've got to have a little pride in what your job is and to make sure that from the top down, everybody understands what they have to do. And so like you said, there's some pieces there. But you've got to get younger at some positions as well. And from a depth standpoint, you've got to come.

continue to add to that. And so it almost had to be for the last couple of years, I want to call it a perfect storm with health. And we know we didn't have it. Of course not. And so when you had the injuries that kind of a light was shown on some of the things that you don't have a little bit brighter. And so you've got to get some pieces in. They've got to figure out the head coaching situation. I think that'll be done in a couple of days. The other piece is once you have that in place, what is my philosophy, offense and defense? And do I have the pieces there to be able to make these guys successful. And so we'll see what

happens on the offseason. You know, like I said, but it starts with the head coach. And so can you get the right, you know, QB in place from a long-term standpoint? And then from a defensive standpoint, that defense has to be elite. Last year it was not elite. And, you know, but that was how that team was built. We'll see how they

try to rebuild this team over the next couple of days, months, etc. I asked the Mario question here because you know, you guys both performed at a high level. Hall of Fame levels here in New Orleans. And there's another athlete in New Orleans right now that people want to perform at that Hall of Fame high level.

His name is Zion Williamson. If you were going to give Zion any advice being successful in this city, being accepted by the culture and the people here, what advice would you give them? Well, one, I want Zion. I want Big Z to be Z. And so I think, you know, that's first and four.

foremost. And so to understand the spotlight that he has on him, I think he knows and he does. And so he's a guy that wants to be here in New Orleans. Maybe sometimes there's outside media that doesn't want him here. You know, but he's in a place now where I think that he is taking it not for granted. Because in the past, he's been able to take it for granted in a sense because he was just so much better. Yeah. He was just so much more talented. But now I'm playing against guys that are, You know, maybe just as good as me in a jumping aspect, or maybe just as quick as me in a quickness aspect. Very few players have all of what he has. But for Zion now, it's about doing the little stuff off the court, where I take care of my body, you know, where I go and get the stretching done, where I, you know, try to create little stuff for himself where it's, hey, I'm getting better. It's hard to build up to getting in shape.

You see it in football a lot of times where a training camp I build up to get in shape. You know, and some guys just depending on their body and their style, they have to maybe do a little bit more maintenance all the time. And so for him, getting the nutritionist in place, you know, getting someone that I trust to be able to work with me on my game, but also taking care of himself off the court, then I think that unlocks the Zion that he really wants to be. I'll never tell a player, you know, whether Zion, football, basketball, or whatever,

don't enjoy their sport because, you know, you only get to do it for so long. Right. But you've got to understand as well that sport is what keeps you in it. Right. And so for you to unlock it, I've got to make sure that I'm doing what I need to do on the field or, I mean, off to field or off to court. And so hopefully he can continue to do that because there's been spurts, man. It's just been like, oh, yeah, this is who we've been waiting on. But it's only been spurts.

He hadn't been able to put it completely together. Consistency. I'm going to get you out of here real quick, but I want to I got to bring up one last thing, man. I'm from Baton Rouge, born and raised. I'm a gigantic LSU fan. Lane Kiffin's getting on my nerves, Deuce. Duce, I'm done with him.

Like, he's, he's, he's, he needles me. He pokes, he pokes, and then he puts the team on the field. And I don't, what's your estimation, Lane Kiffin, where Ole Miss is right now? should have been a playoff team this year. You should have been a playoff team. A tremendous amount of talent, but... They should have made the playoffs or they should have been a playoff team.

You should have made the playoffs this past year. You should have been in the playoffs. What I mean is, do you think that Ole Miss was robbed of a playoff spot, or do you think that the team underperformed and didn't get into the playoffs? You underperformed when you didn't get in. I don't think it's a robbery. I mean, you lost some games that you shouldn't have lost. Yeah.

I mean, and so you put yourselves where you didn't control the narrative and you allowed voters to be able to say, say, nope, we don't like the resume. And so you had enough talent where you should have been in the playoffs. And so I don't put that on the voters. I put that on, you know, the team. And they kind of understand that, that, hey, we have to go out there and perform. And so he's done an incredible job, though, to be able to get you in the conversation.

Because for the longest, we weren't even in the conversation. But now to be able to be in the conversation and it's unique. But with that uniqueness, there comes an obligation and the expectation. And so at some point, you have to be able to meet that expectation. And so we'll see if they can get in it this upcoming year. But, I mean, how that game is changing, the NIL factor that comes into play, the transfer portal that comes into play, it's really just semi-pro football. Good or bad for college football?

Depends on what you expect from college football. From a coaching standpoint, it's very tough. Because not only am I recruiting from a high school and then watching, quote-unquote, performance of other teams, I have my own roster that I have to worry about. You know, and so every year, sometimes every week, I'm having to recruit. And so you see the expansion of those staffs of, you know, hey, how do we keep this player happy? You know, how can I keep this player engaged? And then you see some of the things that happens with quarterback up in Vanderbilt where he gets another year because, hey.

And so you see that happen where junior college maybe doesn't count. Now, a lot of people think that's for every junior college. that's not the case. You know, and so we'll see how it continues to change. But college football is an interesting space to be in right now. Yeah. Deuce McAllister, Saints Legend. Thank you for your time served here in New Orleans.

And best of luck to you in the NFL in combating something that's a real problem for Americans and doing real important one. Thank you very much, dude. Thank you. All right, brother. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need weather tech floor liners in the summer, unless you hit the beach or go camping.

Then you'd want a cargo liner or road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business.

It keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. Matt Lathan for the Ringer here at Radio Row. We're here with Saints, great all-presenters. pro to Mario Davis my man how you doing brother um look a lot of stuff going on with the saints

in the news right now yeah the coaching search yeah just give me your overall thoughts on what has been to feel the head coaching position in new orleans i mean that's you know with any organization the head coach means so much uh just just the leadership you know having you got to have somebody that's going to fire your team up and make sure they're inspired to play and you got to have somebody's going to put your team in the best situation to win. I trust our organization and who they put in that spot. Our organization knows what it means to be a contender, and they're going to do everything they can to put us back in that situation.

So whoever they select for the spot, they're going to get my best, and that's all that matters. Okay. Go out there and perform no matter what. Yeah, for sure. So you have five all-pro selections. Yeah. Man, bro.

Yeah. They look like they fit you for that gold jacket, brother. Five all-pro selections. Being a successful athlete here in New Orleans, I was wondering if you had any advice for somebody like a Zion Williamson, who is another superstar that's here in this city that a lot of people want to see reach their potential here in the Crescent City. Well, I think number one, it just begins with what your goals are.

So for me, my goal was to be the best basketball, I mean, be the best football player that I could be, and be the best linebacker that I could be it. I felt if I put all my time and energy and focus into it, I feel like I could be one of the best ones in the game and one of the best ones to ever do it. But that was just one of my goals. That was, you know, me.

So everybody have different goals. And so, you know, if that's your goal, then you got to be able to eliminate the distractions that's going to keep you away from your goal. Yeah. I think when I'm talking to young people, what I think that no matter what their goals are inside the game, that much more than you having a,

a Hall of Fame career, I want you to have a Hall of Fame life. And when you come into this space, it's so many distractions, you have so many resources, you have so much free time that you can get caught up in all different type of stuff. But how do you get to the other side of it and still be able to be able to have retained your character and became a better person through it all? Like, I mean, I want you to be a great person. I want you to be able to be a great husband if you're married. I want you to be able to be a great father, if you've got kids,

and be able to have stored up your wealth that you can pass it on to the next generation. That's what my focus is. I believe that's a Hall of Fame life. And how do you have that in the midst of it? So I'm much more concerned when I'm talking to the young people in our locker room or a player in any space.

How do I help you have a Hall of Fame life? And like that's where I'm sitting at 36 years old. I have maximized my time in this game to when I'm gone. I know my kids sit. I know my wife's good. I know my grandbaby's going to be good. from a resale standpoint, but we still got our peace of mind.

We still love each other. We still love being with each other. And that's what's going to take you farther than anything, you know. Where does that motivation and drive from within you come from? Where did you get that from? My faith. My faith is central to whoever, everything that I've been about. So I feel like I was a person.

I was going to praise Jesus before it was cool to get on the camera and praise Jesus. I'm so glad we got so many athletes who get up and say glory to Jesus now, But for me, it's about the gospel going forward. Like, you know, God became man, lived the life that we couldn't live, and he gave us his life for ours. He died, he resurrected, and our faith is banked on that. That Jesus gave his life for our life, and we have eternal life for him. So that's all I want to do is I want to spread that goodness that's inside of me to other people.

But how do I do that? They're going to first look at the man. Like when people see me, it's more going to be caught than taught. They're not all going to hear what I got to say. They're going to watch my life. And so my life need to measure up. The same in public as it do in private. You know what I'm saying?

And so, and then who's going to see that the most is my wife, my kids. So how do I pour into my wife? I love her, right? That's something that my kids can be proud of. That then the way that I love them and raise them up, that's really your legacy. My legacy ain't no statue or business that I create. It's my kids. They're going to take on the principles that I stood for.

So the same way I'm in this camera and representing something, and when people see me I represent something, I got six kids. I want them all to represent. what me and their mother represented. And so, like, that's what I'm trying to live for. And I think when players, we have this huge platform, that we can represent that, that can influence, you know,

you know, when you look at our country, I think when areas are struggling, it's because families are struggling. And so it's like, okay, what messaging are you going to use with your platform is to live right, to be something worth following, to be a positive influence, to spread joy,

spread love, to bring back their appreciation. appreciation of family. You know, and so, like, I think that's, that's where it comes from for me. It comes from my faith. Then it overflows to my family. And then I think that's where you see all the different things I'm doing in the community, how I show up on the field.

How I show up on the field is really just because I want to impact my teammates. I want my teammates looking like I want to be like that dude. And if I show up, I'm on the field in an alpha environment and I'm a bum. They ain't like I'm trying to be like him. But if I'm a five-time R-Pro, they're like, okay, well, I want to be like that. But then when they see the R-Pro, I don't want you to follow the All-Pro life. Right. That's what I want you to get.

Because we don't see many all pros or many Hall of Famers who destroy their lives. Of course. And I don't want you to destroy your family life, destroy your kids' life because you couldn't get yourself together. You know what I'm saying? But it's a hard road to manage. And so that's why I try to help mentor. Let me ask you this. Because I have seen the upswing in people outwardly praising God and praising Jesus in sports.

Yeah. Nobody prays to lose the game. is there a blessing can there be a blessing in losing yeah um because life isn't about mountains and valleys life is about finding god in the midst of the mountain and valley see his word says i'll never leave you nor forsake you so when you're on a mountain top a lot of times you get blessed you forget god and then when you to the valley, you know, it's like you feel like you ain't got nobody, then you want to call out to God. But God is there the whole

time. He never leaves. And so it's about having that relationship to be able to find him in the highs when you're winning and the lows when you feel like you're losing. Because he doesn't change and he has a lesson for you to learn because he's constantly molding your character. Nobody's perfect in his world. But what he's doing is, he says, the

work I beginning you are carry on to completion. His design is for us to be holy like him. You be holy as I am holy. But God has to do that work. Ain't nothing that you can do to make yourself holy. But he can come in you and he can cultivate and shape. And what he does is he uses the experiences in your life.

He does it if you were 18 and 0. He can do it if you're 0 and 18 because he's shaping the person that you become in the midst of it. So look, a couple of questions to get you out of here. I got to ask you one thing. I saw something interesting that Cam Newton said on this podcast. Actually, it wasn't on his podcast. It was on first take. And they asked him if he would trade.

in his MVP award for a Super Bowl. And Cam, I thought, bravely, said no. He said if it's between the MVP and the Super Bowl, he's going to take the MVP. You are five-time All-Pro. Would you give up one, two, three, four, five all-pros to have that Super Bowl? We're here. The game is this week, Super Bowl, biggest sporting event in the entire world. how much of the personal success that you've had would you give up for the opportunity to play in and win a Super Bowl?

I think that's a phenomenal question. I think it goes back to what your goals are. For me, it was always about being the best player that I could be. And I think that allowed me to show up for my teammates the way that I did that winning a Super Bowl was never on my bucket list. I was like, how can I be the best player that I can be? And on the way to that, if it contributes to a Super Bowl, then great. I wouldn't change anything about my career. But would I give anything to win a Super Bowl?

Yes. But do I want to trade anything that I've accomplished? No, I wouldn't trade anything that I've accomplished to this date for a Super Bowl because it's almost like you're willing to sell your soul to get it. Like, I ain't that thirsty for nothing. Like I said, because of the highs and lows of life, I've learned. Like, I remember in 2018 where I gave everything and I didn't get a Pro Bowl, I didn't get an R Pro, and I was crushed. I was crushed.

So I'd be a fool to now having achieved that to be willing to give one of them back because I know how precious they are. Right. You know what I'm saying? But, like, in this game, what I do understand about, like, the business of this game, it's a competitive environment. Like, the, the mountaintop is to be able to get that. trophy. You know what I'm saying? So I don't want to downplay that like it's not significant. That is the most because it's, but it's a great teacher of life because it takes everybody, like me alone giving everything that I've given to be the best I can, I guarantee you I

probably have a bunch of Super Bowls if it was 22 DeMario Davis is on the team. You know what I'm saying? And that's something I can be proud of. Because I wasn't the most talented growing up, but it was the amount of work and what I was willing to sacrifice to be the best at what I did, that was everything. So I think that's how I would answer that. So me and you from the same neck of the woods, you're from Mississippi, I'm from Baton Rouge. The one thing that we don't get coming up, I feel like more than anything,

we get the scripture, we get all of us, but we don't get financial literacy. You're out here right now, I went into it, and you are doing a financial literacy form. Tell us a little bit about that before we get you out of here and why that's so important. Super important because, man, 33% of adults are financially literate in our country. And so we can increase that number into it, wants to increase that number to 100%. And the way they're going about it is going into schools with their Intuit for Education curriculum, 150 hours of content, financial literacy concepts, but also giving them gamified ways to apply that. So they're learning how to do taxes.

how to save, they learning how to budget, they're learning about credit, they learning about investing. So all these different things that are going to help them navigate. Financial literacy is a life skill. Everybody needs that. It's just like getting dressed, just like applying for a job, just like applying for college. It's a life skill, something that you need to know how to do, just like writing a resume. You need to know how to manage money because it's not just managing money. That's going to be a tool that allows you to have a successful life. And if you can build a successful life for yourself, you'll be able to build a successful life for your family, and then that'll just continue to create a perpetual cycle.

And that's what I think we need to do, especially in communities like some of us grow up in. It's just bad perpetual cycles. So we need to create healthy perpetual cycles. Mario Davis, thank you for joining us, man. Appreciate you. All right. Thank you all.

God bless. Enjoy New Orleans. All right.