THE ED MYLETT SHOW - Terrell Owens - NFL Hall of Famer

Episode Date: May 30, 2018

Terrell Eldorado Owens, popularly known by his initials, T.O., is a former American football wide receiver. A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Owens holds or shares several National Football League (NFL) records. Over 16 seasons, his 15,934 career receiving yards rank second in NFL history and his 153 receiving touchdowns rank third. While he was one of the best players of his era, Owens also created a significant amount of controversy during his professional career, and also attracted attention for his flamboyant touchdown celebrations. In this interview we discuss Terrell's family upbringing, his grandmother's battle with Alzheimer's, and what he would change if he were to start fresh with an NFL career. We also discuss the possibility of a return to the NFL, given that Owens can still run a 4.5 second 40-yard dash.

Welcome to the Ed Mylet show, the place for winning. Here he is. Welcome back to Max Out with Ed Mylet. Gentlemen of my left does not need an introduction. This is Terrell, El Dorado Owens. Not my full name. Otherwise known as T.O. to most of you out there. And newly elected NFL Hall of Famer T.O. So congratulations on that. Appreciate it.

And welcome to the program. Appreciate it. Max out. Max out. Exactly. We're going to max out the day here today. I'm, uh, there's so much to talk about. So this guy, you know, if you don't know Google it,

but you're talking about, in my opinion, my generation, the best wide receiver in football, and arguably the best player in football during that time, 153 touchdowns, almost 16,000 receiving yards. Probably the most impressive thing, I don't know if you know this or not, only put player in the history they don't feel the score touchdown against every single team.

Did you know that? I do know that. Yeah, but even better than that, maybe you don't know this, only player in the history they don't feel the score touchdown against every single team. Did you know that? I do know that. But even better than that, maybe you don't know this. Only player in the history they didn't have to score two touchdowns against every single team. Did you know that? I think I did. That's the real thing.

You knew. So you're talking about, I mean, in the history of football, one of the all-time greats. But I don't, I actually don't think it's the most interesting thing about you. I think the most interesting thing about you that I've started to learn is how you grew up. So I want to talk a little bit about that because I don't, I actually don't think it's the most interesting thing about you. I think the most interesting thing about you that I've started to learn is how you grew up. So I want to talk a little bit about that because I don't think coming out of, you went to Tennessee, Chad, and Nuga. That's not necessarily no offense, but that's not a wide receiver NFL powerhouse of football,

right? And where you grew up and how you grew up, I don't think everybody would have predicted at eight years old or ten years old or even seventeen years old necessarily you would turn out to be the way that you did. So I want to talk about how you got there and what you grew up, I don't think everybody would have predicted at eight years old or ten years old or even seventeen years old, necessarily you would turn out to be the way that you did. So I want to talk about how you got there and what you did. So how did you grow up, like where did you grow up? Alexander City, Alabama, relatively small town. Like how small? I think 14,000, 15,000 people.

Small. So relatively small, I mean, where everybody knows your name. Yeah, right. Like that TV show, cheers. Yeah. Everybody knows your business. Right. They know what's going on. But our football team, our school, we were 6A. I mean, so we were pretty, pretty big in terms of school size. In high school. In high school. But you didn't play football before high schools, all right? No, I played in junior high, but I was just kind of just on the team. That's crazy. I mean, I played in junior high, but I was just kind of just on the team. That's crazy. I mean, I was really little skinny, scrawny.

When I left high school, I was probably maybe right at six feet. Or you could grow up. Six foot one and maybe 170, 75 pounds. Did you not even go back to the foot? Did you start like your freshman year on varsity in high school? No, I was on JV. I was on junior varsity. You played JV.

Right, junior varsity. And obviously once you get past the 10th grade, you have to play on varsity. So I played a number sport, some baseball, basketball, a rand track. Obviously football. So I just played the sport because I was competitive. Just like to play the game, my junior year, that was when I got really got an opportunity to play. I was like second to third string, so actually second string, so the receiver that was

going to be playing that particular game on a Friday night, he and I'm getting sick during the school day. And so I end up having to start. And so my running back coach Coach Lassiter came up to me and he goes, you know, Ricky Sik, he goes, you're going to have to start, you're going to have to play tonight. And so he basically gave me some encouragement, where I sat at my locker. He literally said, he goes, you're going to do fine. Don't worry about it thing. And he went on to say, you know what, you're going to score a touchdown tonight. Did you? And I did. You did. So the third leading receiver in the history of the NFL isn't starting as a junior in high school until the school.

No, senior, nor senior. You're either. Are you kidding me? No. You didn't start as a senior in high school. That's been in it. So you obviously, wow, like, isn't that a lesson? All you young athletes have followed me.

Hey, just because it's not where it needs to be right now, it doesn't mean it can't get there. And you want to be on the Norannourers that are following me. Exactly. You may not be on the varsity of business yet. This is one of the all-time greats in the history. And you're talking about, by that time, most guys would be recruited.

They got 8, 9, 10 schools coming after. Absolutely. That's crazy. So what did you do just like every time you get an opportunity, you just took advantage of it? Is that what would happen? I did. My coach, my head coach at the time, Steve Severese.

He basically, during the course of the school year, we have probably a 30 to 45 minute period, what they call it, enrichment period, where we can either study other work on other subjects, kind of to help get your grades up things that nature. I used that time to go down the lift weights. So he basically went around to, again, they sent something around to all the teachers that basically said, yeah, if a player wants to go out,

if you guys grant them, let them get a pass to go down to the weight room or what happens. So that's literally what I did. I took those moments, those 30, 45 minutes of enrichment period, talk to the teacher, went down to the weight room, and that's where I started to do put in extra work, just to kind of get myself bigger, faster, and stronger.

That always a theme through the whole 15 years, the NFL? Yes, that was a start of it. And so my coach now, he's a coach's savoury, he's over the whole Alabama Athletic Association, football association. And so these are some of the things when he left and he coached a couple of years at a couple of high schools. That was the message to some of his students that with me really kind of continuing and

beginning to success that I did early on in my San Francisco days, that was the story that he told those students that I was a kid that really put in hard work. I wasn't the most athletic, I wasn't the most sought after, I wasn't the most highly recruited, coming out of high school, going into college, but he always remembered during those enrichment periods, he could go down that weight room, go down that hall, he would hear somebody or weights clinking around in the weight room, he knew exactly who it was and it was me. That's awesome. So you, that's like just so you know even for me because I know a lot about you, I did not know you didn't start in high school

to a year senior year and so then you didn't get recruited by the Alabama's the Auburn's the LSU, you see, though? Yep, I just got asked this question just a few days ago. Yeah, again, Auburn is 45 minutes from me. Right. University of Alabama, they're hour and something away from me. But again, it wasn't, it's not their fault. I was a late bloomer. My body developed late. My skill set wasn't where it needed to be

to even capture the attention of those schools of that caliber. So again, when I look back on my whole professional career and even, you know, scholastically, you know, high school college, without my desire, coupled with my dedication and my discipline, those are my three D's, desired dedication and discipline. Without those 3, I wouldn't be where I am today. All these people spinning on planet earth right now, you've had one of the most extraordinary lives and sports of anybody the last 20 years, right? All kinds of different things have happened. And so before we get even to college, I want to go back back. I think behind, when

I interview people and my friends that are successful, I go back when they're a little boy, some talking little to Ronald. Yeah, yeah. Right, make sure I pronounce it correctly. Little to Ronald, I go back to that little boy, I wonder what was going on in that dude's life, to give him this edge, this drive, all these different things that make you up. Usually, there's like a great person behind him,

an extraordinary person, usually a woman, when it's a man. So for you, when you were this little boy, we go back to six year old T.O., eight year old, nine year old, what would your life like and who was instrumental in it? Again, growing up in a low income, type of environment.

Real low income? Yeah, I mean, I lived in the projects. So when you think about projects, I mean, being on welfare, I know what that's like. Having to stand in line to get blocks of cheese and bread and stuff like that. I know what that's like, you know, having to stand in line to get blocks of cheese and bread and stuff like that. I know what that is, the WIC program, Women, Eppin and Children. I'm familiar with that.

Food stamps, I'm familiar with that. I went through that process, again, living in the projects, again, if you've lived in the projects, you know what it's like. Not the best of situations you got, roaches crawling around, turn on the lights, they scurried around. Dude, I lived it. So again, my grandmother, like I said, my mom, I lived with my mom a little bit. Again, we stayed in the projects. She had me at a very young age.

My grandmother helped my mom raise, not only me, but my other siblings. So when you think about the women or woman behind, you know, that little six, eight, nine, 10 year old tarot. That's who it was, it was my grandmother. What did she do for you? What was significant about her? Just the way she raised me. I mean, she was from the South.

Anybody who knows anything about the 50s, 60s, you know, it was rough, especially for an African-American. She picked cotton. Wow, Her mom and dad picked cotton. So it was a generational thing. So these are some of the things that I learned. And even when she was on the phone talking to her friends, I was ear hustling at that age. I heard some of the hardships that not only that she had to go through but what she learned through her mom and her dad. I mean, at one point throughout her life she lost track of her mom. She had no idea where she was. And again when I got into college a few years into

the National Football League my mom tried to help find my grandmother's mom. There was rumors that she was in prison and all these things and obviously to no success. But again again, these are some of the things again, the way that I was raised. I'm a product of my environment and I feel like she raised me the right way. She taught us. Absolutely. You can add that to my list of these. It is in there, but discipline was a big, big part of it. Growing up in a household like that, I was under her roof. I had to buy by her roof. I can almost picture her.

So you were, when you made it, I'm just curious. You made it, you've signed, you've probably had your rookie deal, but then you finally had a, you know, you get that good contract, right? You're the first contract. What was it like for her, for you? Like, was she proud of you? Like was, did her life change?

Did she, what was it like for you to be able to do something for her? What would that feel like? Just because, you know what? You know, like, you have a breakthrough moment some day, like, what's that feel like? It changed and she had no idea it was changing, because she would diagnose with dementia.

That's right. And 96, and that was my rookie year. And anybody that knows anything about dementia and the progression and obviously Alzheimer's in which I'm an advocate for. Again, I didn't realize until I really did a lot of research and it became more knowledgeable about the disease. But she had no idea what was going on with her.

Her health was eventually going to deteriorate to where she had no idea. She wouldn't recognize her own son, her own daughters. So again, the bond and relationship that we had is so, I'm so thankful and blessed and fortunate because even throughout my 15 year career, I was able to, once she got to a point where she couldn't walk around, my grandmother was very active. She didn't drive a car for a period of years,

but she would walk all through town. That's how small a town was. I mean, she would walk through town. She didn't want to ride with anybody. That was her way of just exercising. But unbeknownst to her, her health was deteriorating. And she had no idea who I became. Understanding you talk about the contracts.

And I made in one year what she probably made her entire life. I ended up paying off her house. She had no idea. But again, these are some of the things that I felt like I owed to her because of some of the things that she did, not only for me, but my mom as well. And so everything that I've done throughout my career, she's definitely been at the backbone, she's been at cornerstone, she's been my inspiration, she's been my motivation, regardless of the perception

that people have of me based on the media portrayal of some of the situations that have gone up through my career. Yeah, speaking of that, one of the things a lot of people don't really even know about with T-O too, is he does a lot of work with Alzheimer's, he does a lot of work with people that suffer from dementia and things of that, one of the things a lot of people don't really even know about with T02 is he does a lot of work with Alzheimer's. He does a lot of work with people that suffer from dementia and things of that sort. And so you're talking about a guy who's put his heart, his time, and his money, where his mouth is on this stuff, too.

So I knew she was a significant presence in your life, and I didn't want to do an interview with you without honoring her. Oh, absolutely. So that's why I bring that up. So anyway, you go away, you play basketball and football in college, right? I did, my, and your college football team wasn't a winning team either. No, it's funny.

We played 11 games a year. Yeah. So I told a 44 games my whole college career, guess how many games that I won? How many did you win? 13. Oh my gosh, are you kidding me? 13, that's it.

Oh my gosh. So that tells you where the program was at that point in time. Yeah, yeah. From 92 to 96. Oh my gosh. Now where they are. Right. My, the athletic director, the chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,

me leaving there kind of putting them on the map, so to. They basically said, I've helped their program. Oh my God, of course. To get to where they are right now. And I was so touched and moved three years ago when I went back for the first homecoming in 19 years. I had no idea what kind of impact that me going to chat new to me, having the level of success that I've had in the

National Football League wouldn't meant to my my my college. I got to imagine that every single recruiting conversation they've had since the day you sign with the Niners and became something your name was said. And again, but like I said I was so oblivious. Yeah. From 96 being drafted with the Niners of what I was doing. Yeah. And what I was going to and what I became. I had no idea. Yeah, I think there's a lot of things. I think there's things that guys like you do that are just unconscious.

Like I just think there's a lot of things that are great about you that you take for granted because it's you and also some of the results or impact you can have. Unconscious and unknown. Yeah. There are so many great things that I've done throughout the course of my career in the media. They kind of handick and nickpick people that they want to put at the forefront and glorify.

I never really was fortunate enough to be one of those guys because of my personality. I think maybe it rubbed some people the wrong way because of my confidence. That often got missed construed with being a cocky and arrogant. My grandmother, we just mentioned, she would be appalled if I was arrogant or cocky. That's not how I was raised. And so for me to hear all these things and for the media to portray me in this light, yeah, I dealt with it internally. Nobody wants to be frowned upon or looked down on or be characterized as being arrogant or just a bad person in general.

So I had to internalize these things again. I was bullied, I was picked on as a little kid as well. I had self-esteem issues. I didn't like being dark skin. I didn't like being skinny. So a lot of these things that I experienced as a young age, it motivated me as I grew up. It's stacked and stacked. I tell you what, man, I appreciate a honest year, it motivated me as I grew up. It's stacked and stacked.

I tell you what, man, I appreciate it all on us. You are not only throughout your career, but also even now. Just saying those things. Because there's a lot of guys out there that are watching this. They're insecure. They're getting bullied. They're skins too dark, or they're skins too light, or their eyes are a certain way.

They're getting bullied for. They're too heavy. Before I knew the correct term of what being picked on me, now it's bullying you. You have this campaign around bullying. Again, I have a guy in Montana, William Hinder who has a program now to really combat and really build around guys like myself to help promote and with bullying you. I hope all you young guys out there, or parents who have young kids, I hope you play this part of the segment for them because he turned that into fuel for himself eventually,

right? And in terms of you, when you played, listen, I'm sure you'd acknowledge everyone makes mistakes in their life. Absolutely, yeah, no doubt. I gotta tell you, with the media loves to do, I work with a lot of athletes and with the media loves to do is they create characters. People aren't one-dimensional, You have many dimensions to you. So once you're a character, they love to portray you a certain way, ask you questions that

fit that narrative. Right. And then all of a sudden, find me an athlete who's not, find me a professional athlete who's not incredibly confident. And I will tell you, I will show you somebody who is no longer a professional athlete, right? Like, you have to play with immense confidence. It's not arrogance.

You just answer stuff honestly. So let's talk about that for the career for a second. I'm curious, this small town guy, not a big time school. Now you're in camp with the Niners. You're a rookie year, okay? Jerry Frickin' Rice is there. Yeah. Probably your hero growing up, right?

You gotta be. I never, like I said, my grandmother's so strict, I didn't get to do a whole lot. Didn't watch a lot of TV. That's crazy. The only TV shows that I really got to watch was Willa Fortune. I got to watch the Channel 6, Channel 12 news.

Really? I got to watch the Cosby show. Get out. Really, for me. But did you know who Rice was? What do you do? No, not until like my junior year in college. Oh my gosh, that's bananas.

Like junior year in college. Junior, Jerry Rice was, so your junior year in college. Junior year in college. I had no idea because I never followed football like that. Okay. You need to know who Jerry Rice was to your junior year. Junior year in college. I had no idea because I never followed football like that. I never really was a football fan. So you go to camp though, I know a little bit about the history.

So Jerry Rice is there. Then there's a number one pick in front of you, Stokes, you see a lake. When he got drafted the year before, 1995. So they got a number one. They invest a third round picking you. Right. What was that like?

Did you have to earn a roster spot? Were you the first thing, like I got to make the spot? Oh yeah, well, absolutely. I, again, not really knowing and being aware of what, what the draft consists of, what it encompasses. I mean, I, I thought, okay, you drafted, you're on the team.

I mean, I didn't know you had to, I didn't know you had to go through the pros, you got're on the team. I mean, I didn't know you had to go through the president. You got to make the team. So, like I said, that was kind of how clueless I was to really me playing beyond the collegial level, because I never thought that I would play beyond the collegial level. We mentioned basketball. I played three years of basketball.

I mean, the program wanted me not to play my senior year, understanding that had an opportunity to play professionally. OK. Football. So my love was so great for basketball. I was like, no, I'm not going to forego my senior year of playing basketball to concentrate on football, where that was never really on my radar.

It's crazy. But yeah, I was drafted, Ward number 15 in camp. My coaches, Larry Kirchee at the time, they drafted me on potential based on my physical attributes and what I could probably add to the game. They thought that I could learn under Jerry Rice, JJ Stokes, and then I got to be there and saw guys like Nate Singleton,

these are veteran receivers, Chris Thomas, and a lot of other free agents that were on the team at the time. So I'm looking around. I'm like, I'm number 15. I don't get an 80 number. You don't get an 80 number, a legit number until you make the team. I didn't know that. So 15 was my number going all the way through preseason. And as this preseason unfolded, you started to see the cuts break down as we get closer to the season.

So I saw guys that I felt in my mind were better than I was. Really? They were getting cut. So I mean, it's natural, natural instinct. Okay, if you know that your skill set is not where there's are, you're like, okay, well, I'm next. You're next, yeah. That's the same.

I was a realist about my abilities when I was in high school in college. I knew that there were guys that were better than me. That's crazy to hear. I knew in college, I knew that there were guys that were bigger, faster, and stronger than me, even in college. But that's what prompted me to get the key.

Not only did I work out in my spare time when I was in high school those 30, 45 minutes? Yeah. I didn't go home during the summer after my first minute saw more year of school. So I got the key from the strength and conditioning coach. I did the same thing. Got the key to the weight. There we go.

Did the same thing. I would go into that's how I got stronger because I was in there by myself. So I had to lift off by myself. I had to be careful because I was in there by myself. Nobody spotting to lift off by myself. I had to be careful because I was in there by myself. No spot here. Nobody spotting me. So that's how I got stronger. So these are some of the things that I did,

unbeknownst to the world out there, in terms of how I made it. This is so good, because you outworked everybody. It's also the things you do when no one's watching. Like when you play, the one of the things everyone would say, oh, it's physique, it's physique. Right. Now you know where this comes from.

It doesn't happen overnight. That's awesome to hear. I hope everyone's saying, oh, his physique, his physique. Right. Now you know where this comes from. It doesn't happen overnight. That's awesome to hear. I hope everyone's hearing these lessons, business sports, you name it. And then again, this running theme of you taking advantage of opportunity, right? So during that season, Rice gets hurt. That's second, my second.

Second season. Is that when you had your breakthrough was really the second season? Yeah, it kind of sort of, yeah. I play sparingly. Yeah, my rookie year, I played a lot of special teams. Yes. But what you got your couple passes that year you know, my rookie year. I played a lot of special teams. Yes. But what you got your couple passes there, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think I had my, I don't know how many yards I had. No, I think I had like four touchdowns in my rookie year. But again, I started kind of just familiarize myself with the playbook, Steve Young, just a culture of professional football in itself. And so I go in my second year, again, going into the off season, I'm preparing myself.

Yeah. Just to be a vital part of value to the team. And so we go into my second season, first game, we go down to Tampa. Jerry Rice, I think he runs a reverse or something, and Warren Saft, I think, just beat our defensive man, gotten from behind, and he tears his ACL. From that point on, I mean, I think just beat our defensive man, gotten from behind and he terraces ACL. From that point on, I mean, I get thrown into the fire.

Here we go. And so that's where that preparation, you know, that I, and just me familiarizing everything that I had done my rookie year leading up to my second year, I was preparing myself for this moment. I love it. And if I wasn't prepared, then I wouldn't have been able to add value to the team.

You see, I didn't say success because I hadn't resided, there was no level of success at that point. I was still trying to add value. I was trying to add value to the Jerry Rises, to the Steve Young, to the JJ Stokes, to the organization, to the team itself. So I hadn't really experienced any success at this point. I was still trying in that mode of proving myself

that I could play at the professional level. What a great distinction. So when did the, by the way, one thing, just off the whole thing, I turn on a football game, it's the playoffs, it's you guys against Green Bay. The best catch I've seen in the clutch moment in my entire life is that catch you made in the engine. That's a lot.

We're here with that though. 99. We're gonna feed this in right here. You're gonna want this guy come across, it's the middle and you get obliterated and hold onto the football, right? Like that's the kind of stuff about, like you added value, added value,

out of value and then it was like, oh my God, this guy's special, right? It's literally like where I caught the ball, it's like it's equanimously going in between two cars or going to the eye of a hurricane or a tornado. Because Steve Young, he put that pass where nobody else could catch it but me. How much time was left in the game? I think at that time when I called it about eight seconds left.

It's eight seconds left in the game, right? So I think things like that start happening. So you took advantage of your opportunity. Then there's these special moments and you start going, wait a minute. Maybe I got something here, right? So I think things like that start happening. So you took advantage of your opportunity. Then there's these special moments and you start going, wait a minute, maybe I got something here, right? Maybe I'm special. Why did you have this guy just so you know, this man had 20 catches in a single football game. So I'm curious, did you know going into that game like whoever the

corner was that we're going to eat this dude up or was that just the game kind of fell in your direction? Well, for everybody that don't know about that, this is Jerry Rice's last home game. Okay, I didn't know that. So yeah, this is Jerry Rice's last home game. We planned the Chicago Bears. We go into this game with the game plan and the mindset of, we're trying to send this guy

off into the sunset, you know what I mean? They're trying to send him off into something like this. You know what I mean? So our first 15 plays scripted are 20 plays. There, if it was, I think it was 15. Okay. I guarantee 13, 98% of the past plays, 13 to 14 of the past plays, or the plays in general, or for Jerry.

Okay. We're trying to send the greatest receiver of all time out the best way possible. Got you. But not only did we know that, but the world knew that, the Chicago Barat knew that. The deepest knew that. So they tried to prevent and they did a great job of taking him out of the game. It was open. I'm going for you. What did you just mention? You segue into this by saying, me taking advantage of opportunities. So that's what I did. So Jeff

Garcia, the quarterback at the time, he had to be smart going through his progression, progressions knowing that, okay, I can't imagine what Jeff was like. We trying to get the greatest receiver of all time. We trying to get him off. And he's, so he has to be smart about the game plan, not to force anything.

So he goes through his progressions and Jerry been the number one receiver and then you could have said that me and JJ again, depending on the receiver sets, on formations, we're two and three in a progression. So I was just basically running my routes to win, to be open, to be that second

area's receiver. If Jeff goes through his one option and Jerry's not there, he goes to two, he goes to three. I was on the receiving end of 20 of those passes. It's interesting. This is like the most telling part of the interview, just so you know, because the perception of you, I think sometimes is that,

and it's completely opposite, so I'm gonna bring another example up in a minute. I think like the ultimate team player on the field, I just asked you about a record you had for a long time, and you credited Jerry with it. You literally just said that he created opportunities for me, right? It really was. That's what a team person, actually most team guys would not even say that. So that's incredible. And I ask you about a record you hold. You basically give credit to Rice

for moving coverage his way and opening things up for you and to your quarterback by the way too. I'm curious because now you become the Jerry Rice the rest of your career. One of the things that's unique you guys when you're at a high level of sports is that you know you see the records he's got and but you have to understand something every football game this man went into for about a decade or more. The defense on that Monday when they got together was how do we stop 81 right you understand the whole the whole structure of the defense is how do we take away their best weapon. This was their best weapon. What's that like? I'm curious like all week. You got to be so good. You're going to face their best corner, right? Or they're going to slant coverage your way. You're going to get double

coverage most of the time, whatever it is. What's it like? No one a whole team is scheming against you. And how did you end up prevailing week after week after week, beating coverage like that? Was it your ability to run the route? Was it your film study? All of it? Like what was it? It's just my preparation. Understanding what they're going to give me. Understanding my coaching. Them helping me. They were helping me perfect. The craft will be coming to

receiver. Coming out of Chattanooga. I had no idea of, idea of really I wasn't faced with the level of competition that I was going to be facing in the pro so I had to work on these things you know day in and day out after practice working with my hands working with my feet my physical part that was a given I mean I could run through a guy all day all day but I knew in order for me to progress and get to the level of Jerry Rice, then I had to add some tools to my toolbox. I probably had a toolbox,

but I probably had maybe two or three tools in there. Wow. So I was lacking. So I had to add some tools to my repertoire into my box in order to really perform at the level that I knew that I could, once I started to grasp what I could do on the football field. So the separator was that extra preparation, those extra tools again.

You have average, you have good, and you have great football players. And you see that there's only the margin of with good and great is very, very slim. And what separates those guys, when you think about in football, you think about the Jerry, you think about the Tom Brady's your your Steve Young all of us you know Hall of Fame caliber or talent guys in basketball you think about the Colby's you think about the Michael George you think about the LeBron's and what they're doing later on in their careers is because they realized that there's something that separates them from good to good to great. Coming out of high school, I wasn't that great

coming out of high school, but these guys, when you think about Kobe's, the Kevin Garnet, the LeBron's, they're projected to be great. But it'll be a big disappointment and failure if they don't exceed or live up to those expectations. But you think about what Kobe did. He took the blueprint of what Michael Jordan did. You think about what LeBron has done.

Not only you can't just pinpoint and characterize him with one particular player. He possesses so many abilities from all these great players that are paid the way from him. He realizes that and he took advantage of the opportunities. So he takes the time to play 15 seasons. And now you feel like you look at this guy play, he to play 15 seasons. And now you feel like you look at this guy play,

he can play 15 more because he's invested in himself, he believes in himself. And that's what I had to do too. I knew that I wasn't good at that at one point. I was average. I started from average and I worked my way to good. And then once I saw him like, okay, I'm a pretty decent athlete.

What can I do to take me to the next level? I utilize the resources around me from my personal trainer to my coaches. I listen, when I would be on the football field and I would see Steve Young talking to Brent Jones, or he would be talking to the quarterback coach, Matt Kavanaugh, or when Bill Washington may walk on the field, or he's talking to Jerry Rice,

these are a conversation that they had. I was in ear shot distance. I would be paying attention. So there was something that he and Steve and Jerry are trying to get on the same page with. I knew that he's talking to him but I'm being taught at the same time. So I'm taking all this into account

and into consideration because I may be in that situation one day and ultimately I was because I had some big shoes to feel. I was a scared, I honestly, I was afraid to be average. I was afraid to be good. I wanted to be great, I wanted to be better than good. And so that's what enabled me to do the things that I did in the football field. When I saw smaller guys squirt through defenses,

how quick they were, how agile they were. I knew as a big body in order for me to get to that level, I had to work on these things. Wow. This is awesome. Maybe my, some of my favorite three or four minutes in the history of doing this, because this is like inside the inside of the inside of a hall of favor of anything. Same is true for any of you guys in business. You get to that level where you're good, you want to get to that level where you're being great, it's fighting

for these little extra things, those extra mentors, extra conversations, extra preparation, extra tool in your toolbox to communicate or close or product or whatever the heck it is. It's awesome. Curious, this is a football question. Toughest corner you had to go up against in your career. A NIS Williams. A NIS Williams from the Cardinals. Was he the Cardinals? Yeah. First he was with the St. Louis Rams. Yeah, Rams and then cards, right? Because we played I was in the N? First, he was with the St. Louis Rams. Rams are the cards, right?

Because we played, I was in the NFC West, so we played them twice a year for my first three and four years. And so he was a big corner. I was a big receiver. So again, I'm sure he did film study. Just like I had to do film study, and guys that did film study to try to minimize you.

Like you said, they gave me playing, how do you stop this guy? Yes. I was just gave me a plan. How do you stop this guy? Yes. I was just a young book 81. How do you stop this young kid? They stopped this young kid. They stopped this young kid. So him being a veteran, I'm sure he's study film

on what I did good, what I did decent, what I did poorly. And he probably tried to minimize those things, eliminate those things. What I did, great. A good at that time. And so it was tough getting a bump and run because it went to a small school. I wasn't faced with a lot of that.

So everybody probably want to get physical with you at the line of screens, but very soon, guys had the capacity to do it because you were so strong, right? And Williams could. Right, and the thing is, especially for him, he was just my size. So he could, there was some room for error for him

to make up. But if it's a smaller guy, if they mess around and they slip, I use my physicality or my quickness to get by, they know us around. They know us around. So they didn't come up and press me as much. But he was the guy that forced me. I'm like, man, I got to get better because I can't only just get by with getting, having some success against these other corners. There are gonna be other big corners in the lead. They're gonna look at him. It's like, okay, he stopped T.O.

So let me see how he did it. So I had to prepare myself for any in every situation. I love hearing this. The other thing about you as a player, then we'll move off this. But I want to say one thing is I think people underestimate how tough you were. First off, the best of thing is I think people underestimate how tough you are. First off, the best of ability is availability.

You're available all the time. You just, you were durable, like LeBron. It's one of the great things about LeBron, Jane. Nutrition. Nutrition. Take a break. You had the one year with his knee, but this dude plays football, right? Like he's available.

It's how you rack up these numbers, right? And if you have your football team bring value. You were tough though. And so I'm a Patriot fan. So I just want to talk about this one situation. You know what I'm going to say, right? But Super Bowl 39. Super Bowl 39. So this man gets to the Super Bowl. And the truth is, a few weeks prior to that, he basically breaks his leg and has a screw in your leg. Is that not your thing? Yeah, two screws. In my ankle, I draw a lot of the

ligaments in my ankle. Okay. On the diagnosis once I got my MRI, the following day, a lot of ligaments torn. I didn't know my leg was broken till I got an X-ray because they MRIed my whole leg because I went to sleep that night and my leg was really, it was aching so bad. Not my ankle, I got iceded. But I was throbbing throughout the course of the night up by my knee. So I told the radiologist, I was like, my leg was achbing throughout the course of the night up by my knee. So I told the radiologist, I'm like, yeah, it's like my my language aching throughout the course of the night. All right, cool. We'll just we'll just x-ray the whole leg or whatever and see what's going on.

This is one of the most under reported stories seriously. I think in the history of the NFL, right? This man played in the Super Bowl. No one thought he was going to play. They weren't sure the game planned for it, but no one thought he was going to play. This man played with a recently broken leg in the Super Bowl. This is something that no one talks about. There was even a slight limp

when you would watch him warm up, and then he flat early in the game. I'm watching the game, I go, oh God, Owens is gonna kill us. The only reason, I'm not being negative about anybody. I want you to talk about playing with that injury, playing through some pain, because you had to be in some pain

or some discomfort or you weren't at your best. But I'll be honest with you, I watched that Super Bowl. If they'd have continued to get you that football in that game, there'd have been a different result in that football game. I remember that last couple of drives you had were taken forever. I'm like, thank God it's taken forever.

They're not getting them out of the T.O. They literally, if they just kept feeding you the football, they could not cover you. You were like a man on a mission in that football. I'm not saying that because you're sitting here either. It's a standout moment for me in sports. I coach a lot of athletes. I know that you weren't at your best and you came in again.

The greatest opportunity of your career was this Super Bowl to shine and you shine. Had they won the football game, it would have been a legendary story people would tell forever because you played so hurt. So just talk about that game a little bit and that injury and playing with it. Your thoughts about it? Number one, my faith in God. I mentioned my grandmother.

We didn't touch on her earlier, but she was a Christian lady. Raised me in the church. Again, she always told me about Philippians 413. And that scripture is I can do all things through Christ's strength as me. My favorite scripture. So number one, I wanted to exercise my faith in God.

It was more, it was bigger than the Super Bowl. I wanted to show people that if you believe in yourself, you believe in God, if you believe in some higher being, and in my case, I believe in God that all things are possible. When doctors, doctors excluded me, they said that there was no way. They said there was no way I would be playing in the Super Bowl in six and a half, seven weeks, at three weeks. they said, there's no way he'd be walking around. But I wanted to fight the odds, so everything that the Super Bowl encompasses, when you think about the magnitude,

and you think about the end result of trying to hold that lumbarity trophy up, that never really dawned on me as I prepared. I knew what I was preparing for, but in order to achieve that, I had to get on the field to perform. Yeah. I had to be able to play in order for any of that to happen.

Amazing. So I just wanted to, you know, my training staff, Rick Berkhoater, they were behind me 100%. Those guys saw my preparation from the time that I got traded from Crazy from San Francisco to Philly. They understood how hard I worked. They had already heard about it, but then they got to see it firsthand. I prepared myself before every practice to try to eliminate injuries

For the long haul. It's like going on a vacation. When you got a car, you about to go Across country. You got to make sure the nuts and bolts, the cars, the tires, the balance and rotating, you got to make sure everything in a hood is rated for this road trip. So that's how I prepared for the season. So going into the Super Bowl, I prepared my rehab process from mid-December

to February. I prepared myself like it was the first time that I was preparing for anything. Wow, wow, wow. And so with that help of the training staff, I was able to reduce some remarkable things on that football. Was it a game time thing or did you know you were going to play that day? Leading up to game day. My first time practicing was Wednesday.

One day's and two days are pretty light days. So you were out seven weeks, first practice back as the Wednesday before the Super Bowl. Wednesday before the Super Bowl. Going into it, Wednesday it was unseasonally cold and rainy during this time of the year in Jacksonville. So that was my first practice. So up until this point I'm running around, I'm rehabbing, going through ladders, I'm doing everything, no problem. This particular day on Wednesday, it's raining, it's drizzling rain, it's cold, it's about 40 degrees. I started to run around and my leg started to ache.

Oh my God. So that good doubt in the head coach's mind that I would be ready by Friday. And it was, it was scary for me. And, and Rick, the trainer at the time, because he hadn't seen me limper, do anything up into this point. And I'm doing ladders, I'm doing drills to assimilate like game type atmosphere. So now I'm practicing for the first time,

and I start limping, and I'm like, oh my gosh, what's going on? I told Rick after the practice. I said, Rick, don't worry about it. I said, trust me, I know you believe in me. I said, just tell Andy, I will be ready by Sunday. And on Fridays, when they assess injured guys, and they have to clear them for the games.

So they had this meeting on Friday after I practiced, and Andy Reed still had doubt. Thursday was obviously better than Wednesday, but he still had doubt. So I told him obviously better than Wednesday, but he still had doubt. So I told him, I said, Rick, I will be ready. I said, just believe me. He believed me. That's one thing I will say about Rick.

He's now with the Kansas City Chiefs still right there with Andy Reed. We talked today, like I'd never departed. Well, but he knew I was gonna be ready. So he had to convince Andy. Andy, he's gonna be ready. And I think if Andy could do it all over again, he would give me more opportunities

on that Super Bowl 39 Sunday, because I think he took the reins off a little bit. But the opportunities that were given to me, that day, I had nine passes to come my way. I took advantage of the nine passes. How much you catching? Nine for 122. You had nine throw, nine throw? Nine throw? Nine targets, nine catches. much you catch? Nine for 122.

You had nine throw. Nine throw? Nine targets, nine catches. Nine? Yep. Now, for 122 yards, and I'm going to tell you, I watched the game. He won't say this, I will. The dominant player on the field today, and Tommy's a friend of mine, right?

And he won that Super Bowl. The dominant player on the field that day was T.O. He was the dominant player, and it scared me as a page of fear. Like, if they keep getting this man in the football, because it was one of those days, you're like, you've seen games like that, you've had games like that, you're like, this athlete is dominating these guys in this coverage, no matter what they moved your way, I think you could have had 25 catches

that day if they'd have targeted you 25 times. I'm not saying that because you're sitting here, I'm glad they did it, no offense, because it helped them win another super ball. Yeah, I honestly believe, if I had one or two more catches, that increases our chances of winning that game, and we end up losing by three points,

but there's no consolation prize for second place. It's one of the all-time gutty performances. People talk about way back in the day, Jack Young, but play with a broken leg. You know, everybody knows that story. The movie NFL is one of the all-time gutty performance, the history of professional sports and a Super Bowl was T.O. and that.

So just unreal career. We'll talk about the Hall of Famine, man. I got a question for you. Obviously, throughout your career, not everything was rosy, right? So on the field, real rosy. Not always off field. By the way, off the field, I don't

want to point one thing about T.O. too. Barely drinks, does no drugs, never a distraction off the football field. But there was some media stuff, how they painted you, how you reacted, et cetera. What do you regret? You went back, how they painted you, how you reacted, etc. What do you regret? You went back, you said, hey, I'd change this if I could. If I'm being honest, if I look back on my career on the field, I can't believe you change

anything, but off the field, media related, all that kind of stuff, what would you say? I wouldn't, I regret is a strong word. I don't, I don't regret anything. Could I have gone and could I wish I could go back and change some things. If I had to change anything, it would be my communication with management. It would be my communication with coaches. It would be my communication with players. But again, I attribute the lack of communication with my upbringing.

Yes. Because I said, it was socially awkward for me to be involved outside of functions where I had to be included. Because again, I wasn't allowed to do any of that with my grandmother. So I was a product of my environment, my upbringing. As I grew up and now looking back on it, again, I understand that my poor communication on every scale it hindered me not only in my professional life but my personal life as well when you

think about dating, you know, being in a relationship. What is one of the key things to solving a lot of things is communication. So again, I see where the lack of a father being in the household, how that hindered me a lot. When you have parents or you have kids with both parents in the household, you tend to see that those are kids that are more successful. When you have kids that are in single, especially in urban homes, they seem to face a lot more adversity. They're more challenged in a number of ways. And so I'm no different. And so as you said, I don't stand here and I've never said that I was perfect by any means. It was a growth and maturation process that I've had to go through that a lot of people have to go ahead to go through. And

it's unfortunate that people see me in a different light based on what they've heard through media, what they've read, obviously as a part of the media. But at the end of the day, I always refer and I just hold on those words of my grandmother, always be true to who you are. No matter what the situation, people are going to talk good and bad about you. Because if you allow that to manifest and get under your skin, you're not going to progress as a human being. So I've always felt that way. Always played with a chip on my shoulders even in every situation when it when it was something again with management or coaches or a player. I didn't allow that to

deter what I had to do on the football field. That's for sure. Because I knew that if I did that I wasn't I wasn't playing for the right reason. And we weren't going to benefit, understanding my level of play and what I brought to the table. My goal was obviously to win a championship. And in order to do that, I had to be efficient on the football field. And if I let outside things and outside noise affect me to where it affected my play, then where's my value?

Yeah, I appreciate that. That's an honest answer and I do see that too. The other thing too is that I watched all I know is I watched the guy contribute on the field and I watch and everyone that I know that knows you, so that actually knows you or is interacted with you, every single person tells me the same thing. He's such a good guy, so warm, even your spirit. He has no, you're good, warm dude. I watch how you treat my guys with the cameras.

Every little thing like that, because some guys don't do that. The camera comes on as you know, oh, hi, you know, and they're like, a whole different character. Who you see sitting here is who he is, right when this camera clicks off. And I love that about you brother.

Like I admire you, I admire what you've become and where you come from. And it's all culminated to kind of the final couple pieces here. It's culminated. Now you're on the ultimate team. Yeah, right. You're on the you're in Hall of Fame. Right. So if you go back, I'm just curious. I want to know how you feel about that. You go back to this little boy T.O. No father in the house, small town, food stamps, projects, mom's 17 when she has you. This is amazing, man. Grandma kind of raises you with mom, but grandma's the main influence.

Not a great high school player until you advance. Got your opportunities. Go to a relatively unknown college. Third round draft pick. When you get to the team, Jerry Rice is on the flip and team. And there's a guy they draft the year before who's a first rounder. So that's not ideal either.

And then, and I'm just curious, this journey's taken you from Dallas to Philly to you were in Cincinnati, Buffalo. Did I miss anywhere? Is that it? Yeah. San Francisco Philly, Dallas, Buffalo, Cincinnati. See, I kind of know my stuff, though. So you have this, you have this journey from this little boy T.O. to this man now, and now you're about to get inducted into the,

I mean, your great, great grandchildren are gonna come visit this bust of you in the Hall of Fame. I mean, you go down in history now, right? Like, that's amazing. Very few people have ever walked the earth end up in this group. What's that feel like for you? I'm curious.

Are you proud of you? Do you see it as a big deal? Like, I'm curious. I can't just have this Do you see it as a big deal? I'm curious. I just haven't sunk in because again, like I said, I felt like my career was incomplete. This, me getting to the Hall of Fame, that doesn't really, it doesn't complete my career for me. It doesn't validate it because I know I could have done more. Yes. Understanding the politics of the game, being that I was so outspoken.

What you see now, what we are as a country, as a society, and you think about the millennials, everything that I did back then, it was frowned upon. You think about the platform, the social media platforms, where these kids, and everybody has a voice, to be heard. Yeah. I was doing those same things.

It was frowned upon, but now it's being embraced. I feel like I was ahead of my time in terms of how people viewed me in terms of the platform and the voice that I had. I know that I'm not a bad person. We just talked about it. Could I have done some things differently, of course. But when you talk about character, I'm always going to defend my character. We're talking about the Hall of Fame and what that means. The reason I've been so vocal about that is because I'm going to defend my character. My reputation is what it is. You can ask anybody about that.

It's going to be good, it's going to be bad. But in terms of my character, that's what I'm going to defend because my grandmother, that she instilled in me, who I am, and who people get a chance to see on an everyday, not on an everyday basis. But when you fin 15, 20 minutes to an hour, you get to see the essence of who Terriol is. On that football field, it's like I'm a marble character, I'm a superhero. I put on that uniform and I turn into somebody else. You think about Peter Parker goes to Spider-Man. Dave the Benner and the incredible Clark Kent and the Superman, Diana to Wonder Woman. That's how I separate the two.

So being in the Hall of Fame, I understand it's an honor. It's great. It's a great accomplishment. I'm hoping my kids can one day sit and watch and really just hear the words that are coming on my mouth and understand who their father is. What I've had to go through, what I've had to overcome. It wasn't the worst of things, but everybody always has their path to success, their journey. That's why I wanted you on the show because I think it's one of the most extraordinary

stories. I think it's a story of achievement, of overcoming adversity, of hope, of honesty, of hard work, of toughness, of resiliency, of performance, of taking advantage of opportunities, when I put up multiple ones, like, done start as junior dude gets sick, ends up becoming the NFL Hall of Fame. I mean, I think this journey, this story is like,

I think it's as magnificent. Like, I want people to see it. And action speak louder than words. Your actions are scream. Look at the actions. There's a sheet here of your records. I started to think I was going to do it. We have a whole day I go interview on this stuff right here.

It's bananas. I want to say congratulations to you. And also how you treat people. Proceeds you. And I want to thank you for being a humble guy, a giving guy, a generous guy. You could be humble, giving generous, and still be strong and confident,

and I think people misunderstand that, and you embody it. Before we go, though, a couple of things I want to make sure they can do. First off, how do they find you on social media? Number one, because I want them to interact with you, because this man's going in the hall of fame. You're about to watch him go on the next journey

of his life, which is going to be extraordinary. All the philanthropic stuff you do, so how do they find you on social, first of all? At Tarolones and obviously Facebook, you can find me Facebook at Tarolones.com. Okay. I have two Facebook pages, I have a fan page, my personal page.

My personal page has a photo of me with some shades on it. My fan page has my logo, my T.O. logo. And so just to know that you're on the right page of those of mine, like I said, I'm very social media, active, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, all of that. And the reason I want you to interact with them on there too is I've told T.O. this and he's starting to do a whole lot more of it too. Tio would be an incredible speaker, those of you that run companies to bring into your company and have them interview to have them speak because the story itself is just

extraordinary, right? And like, we're talking beforehand, just so you know, people that walk the walk are unique. He could go play right now, right? Oh yeah, absolutely. And he may still be the first person we talked about. He never know who's in the Hall of Fame, who's still playing football if someone needs receiver. Tell him right now, yet three days ago,

you ran the 40, which way? Oh, I ran the 45. We ran a 45. 45, right now. And literally, I came off of playing that day, had a couple of meetings. Yeah. And then my buddy challenged me, Matthew Hatchett.

He played with the Vikings, played with the Jets back in the day with a good friend. He coaches at Polly High School. And he's about, we're about the same age. I think he's a year younger than me. And we're always talking about who's in better shape and we got to talk. And he goes, what can you run the 40? And I said, dude, I can at least run it 4-4-4-5. Yeah.

He goes, there's no way. Right. He goes, see, there's no way. I said, dude, just, and I haven't done anything. I haven't run in a 40 in like four years. I said, dude, I can at least run a 45. I said, I'm going to challenge myself to run under a 45. I said, 45 is easy. That's a given. So he was that, he coaches, he trains up some kids. He was at Culver City High School. I happen to be in the area. Again, like I said, I had just got off the plane did a couple of things. And he's like oh I'm over the high school. Come over and run this 40. So I always prepare myself. So I had some shoes in the

trunk. Always prepared. Always prepared. And yeah I ran I ran it a few times in my best time. Both guys clocked. Two guys clocked it. Four five. Four five. That's awesome. By the way, UGMs that are out there watching this just so you know ran a four five right off the damn plane so just imagine if somebody's chasing me that's why I had a hundred fifty three testers I was out there running scared I literally I was yeah it's so funny you we talk about the two hundred and twenty two pound football guy that's that's that's that's that's that's running around with a lot of confidence, a lot of physical

ability, but in my mind dude I always still envision I felt like I was that little kid in junior high high school that's a hundred and hundred and seventy eighty pounds. Getting picked on, running around that field with grown men. You think I'm about to let Ray Lewis hit me? You think I'm about to let Steve at water hit me? I'm out there running scared. That's how I had 153 tests. That's so awesome.

Four five with nobody chasing you. And then the last thing, I just, because he's also in the business world too. The guys who were filming this here, like I've seen this super cool backpack that I wanted to get, right? This whole new innovative thing. And he happens to be involved in the company

they were talking about right so just tell them real quick how do you pronounce it and how do they find it first ball I mean I'm in a lot of things and technology I'm in the home decor I'm in the fashion yes you know try to look good you know that's part of looking you know yeah staying lean but again when you think about fashion yeah you know there's so many elements to fashion but you think about backpacks and you know it cannot not backpacks are not just for school now. You can look cool, you can look stylish.

Again, this is a high-end type of backpack. It's Zooks bag, go to Zooksbag.com. That's X, double-O, X, bag, B-A-G, dot com, and you will see the style of bag that we're talking about. It's just not just a backpack bag. Right, tillin'. Just to put stuff in. You can put your laptop in, other items, but the cool thing about this bag,

it has two detachable speakers. That's the technology aspect of the bag as well, that you can play music, Bluetooth, very stylish. I mean, like, it's awesome. It's like a lifestyle bag as much as it is, right? It looks good, but also it's a lifestyle bag And I just tell you my camera guys. I'm talking about that you end up here and they're like hey, he's like that's my company Yeah, so it's awesome. So I'm I got this a great season of your life

And I'm proud of you and I'm excited for you and I'm grateful for today very much Thank you so much to you For being here brother. I enjoyed it so much And so as I always tell all of you first off make sure you're running my two-minute drill. It's not the two-minute drill he ran. Two-minute drill is that when I make a post on Instagram, in the first two minutes, anybody makes a comment with a hashtag max out to it.

You get into drawing that data, win my gear, my books, all kinds of stuff from me. So make sure you're making comments. And when you see this interview here today, you're watching an iTunes, giving a review, if you're on YouTube, some report, platform like that, make sure that you make a comment, give it a like or something like that. Hope you and Jace enjoyed today's program, everybody, and max

out. God bless you. This is the Ed Milett Show. Brought to you by Ask Kicking.