Will Cain Country - Revisiting A Converstion With Marcellus Wiley

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

With Will on his final day of vacation, he revisits a conversation with former ESPN host, former NFL Defensive lineman, and host of the Never Shut Up podcast, Marcellus Wiley. Marcellus and Will breakdown the keys to the game for the 49ers and Chiefs, as well as exploring a multitude of areas in sports and life. They delve into Marcellus' journey from Compton to Columbia, and who were the toughest offensive lineman Marcellus went up against. Tell Will what you thought about the show by emailing [e-mail] Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for $5.5 plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. Hey, it's Will Kane. I'm off this week. spring break but i thought here on a sports friday on cane on sports let's revisit with one of my old colleagues one of my own friends who has the uh unique position of surprising so often when you hear what his opinions are marcellus wiley it's one of my

favorite interviews so far here on the will cane show which streams every day live at 12 o'clock Eastern Time at Fox News.com, the Fox News YouTube channel, and the Fox News Facebook page that can always be accessed on demand by simply subscribing on YouTube to Will Cain's show. I hope and think you will have fun with this conversation with Marcellus Wiley. Why just survive back to school when you can thrive by creating a space that does it all for you, no matter the size. Whether you're taking over your parents' basement or moving to campus. IKEA has hundreds of design ideas and affordable options to complement any budget. After all, you're in your small space era. It's time to own it. Shop now at IKEA.ca.

Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy host of the Tragaddy podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. to take the quiz. It's five questions in less than five minutes. We ask people on the streets of New York City to play along. Let's see how you do. Take the quiz every day at the quiz.

Dot Fox. Then come back here to see how you did. Thank you for taking the quiz. Marcellus Wiley, my old friend. So great to see him again. It's been way too long, too many years. Oh, man, I got to do it like I used to always do it. Will Cain is in the building.

What's up, brother? How are you? I'm good, man. I'm good. I'm glad to be back connected with you. I'm going to tell you why in the course of this conversation together, why I'm so glad to be back and connected with you. But I want to start.

You're in Vegas already. I want to start with the Super Bowl, I think. Tell me, let's start right out of the gates with your pick. What is going to happen here, Niners, Cheese, Super Bowl? Oh, I appreciate it, man. You must just give me the biggest compliment because I'm still in L.A., actually. This is my home set in my home studio, but look, I guess, the support is kicked in.

My pick is a slap in the face and don't bet against Patrick Mahomes anymore. I've eaten too much crow, betting against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs over the years. This dynasty is real, win or lose, just because they always put themselves

in position to win it all. So I'm going with the Kansas City Chiefs. I've seen the San Francisco 49ers play great games, but also sputter. And I think in this moment, Brock Purdy, who I think is a very good quarterback, will look at those lights. And they're not too bright for them,

but just like anyone, when you first see the day of light, you've got to adjust. And in those moments while he's adjusting his eyes, Patrick Mahomes is making the scoreboard adjust. So I think that the Chiefs continue to roll, man, and they get them another championship. Hey, man, I am fascinated by Brock Purdy. I said this earlier this week.

At some point, and I count myself, among this crowd. I have to stop relying on what I used to think about Brock Purdy and I start having to factor in what's actually happening before my eyes with Brock Purdy. I mean, look, I saw him play at Iowa State. I saw him go to San Francisco. I know he got into one of the best situations you could possibly land in Kyle Shanhan. And I thought, well, you could put Tua. You could put DAC. You could put anybody in the situation that Brock Purdy is in and they're going to end up in the exact same place. But at some point, I've got to give him credit for what he's actually doing. And I started thinking about historical comps, Marcel. So I was like, to win like this,

this early in your career, very rarely does it that you fade into the background and you're like a one-hit wonder. More often than not, we're watching the beginning of something. And I'm not saying he's Tom Brady, but it reminds me of the start of Tom Brady when everybody's like, oh, he's a game manager. Oh, he's a sixth round draft. pick. We dismissed it until it became undeniable. And I have to wonder if we're not doing the same thing with Brock Purdy. Oh, we're absolutely doing the same thing. We're guilty of it. And this is why they always say you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. And your first impression when it comes to an NFL player is the draft process. You know, you can see someone in college and

say, oh, he's amazing. But then once he gets drafted low, you label that guy. He has that stigma on them. And we've all been through it, whether it's you after puberty and the girl's like, that's real? Like, and she just can't believe. And you're like, yeah, I've changed. You know, I'm not the same guy Iowa State. I'm Brock Purdy now. I'm 49th's quarterback. Look at me. It happened to me when I got drafted. I got much cuter to the girls who remember me from high school not looking the same. Maybe my bank account changed too. So we've all been through it. Here's the thing with Brock Purdy. It doesn't matter how it's going to turn out. We've seen players go all across the board.

We saw, let me give it to you like this. We've seen the Donovan McNabb, who looked like a future Hall of Famer because he continued to be in the NFC championship game year after year, and then it just went away. It just went a different direction in terms of how his career ended. We've seen people start slow, and then Rich Gannon turns out to be an NFL MVP

and becomes a machine later in his career. We've seen John Elway, wait, wait, wait, wait, get his championships at the end. We've seen it so many ways. Why are we trying to predict the Brock Purdy way? Right now, he has led the NFL in statistical categories and put his team in position to win a championship. Do you know how hard that is?

Like, for anyone who doesn't believe in Brock Purdy, let me just tell you how hard it is just to make it to the NFL, let alone be on the team, let alone to get some reps and practice, let alone be the starter, let alone lead the league in categories. That's not by law. luck that's by him and his skill set respected for what it is right now i love what you said because and we will do it after the super bowl we always did like what was the formula what was the path that's repeatable so somebody else can build a championship but you laying out all those different

paths from rich gannon to donovan mcnab shows there is no repeatable formula there is no secret ingredient, I do like that because it's in the face of what we try to do in copying success. By the way, do you think you ever get over first impressions? Do you think no matter how much money you make or how much better looking that you get, those high school girls ever truly think of you than the way they thought of you in high school? No, no. I've had this candid conversation back in those days. I remember saying, like, no, you didn't really like me then,

and now you don't really like me then, it's just because things have changed, and are you really going to buy into me? Like, you really wanted Brad. But Brad didn't turn out like you thought Brad would. So now I'm playing B. You know, having those conversations. It's so funny.

And back to your earlier question, I played against Tom Brady when he threw his first NFL touchdown pass. I literally was the defensive end coming around the corner about a yard or so away about to get Brady, he throws it, I look up, touchdown. You know what I thought in my head? Whatever.

Who is Tom Brady? Like, we were just happy we didn't have to play Drew Bledsoe, right? And we're like, ah, this dude ain't going to be anything. And he looked up, he beat us in that game. We looked up. He becomes the goat. So it's not by design, guys. Relax.

Just enjoy the ride. Speaking of you in defensive end and your path, which is not a traditional path, I think I've asked you this before off camera. I might have asked you on camera. Your story is so unique. Like, why did you go from Southern California to Columbia? It's either, like, if somebody's looking from the outside, it's like this guy was always interested in the best education he could find,

or you flew under the radar and didn't get the offers from the big programs that you wanted, and the best you could find was Columbia. How does Marcellus Wiley end up in the Ivy League? Well, there's another or. I actually did get the offers, not the Crem de la Crem, like Alabama. and Michigan wasn't calling me. But I had offers to go to UCLA, could have went to Cal,

Pact 12 schools, et cetera. So I was like a four star, you know, maybe three, high three, low four. I was in that world. So I had opportunities, but I didn't want to go to a football factory. To be candid, I knew what people were saying about me

and saying about people where I'm from, from Compton, from Los Angeles, South Central. The statistics said that you, weren't going to make it. I lived in the dumb jock era where, you know, every time you said you play football, people look down on you, like, oh, really? Okay, that's why you're here. And I also knew being a black man and a big black man from Compton just didn't sound like people were respecting it like they should. So I said, something about my resume, this perception of me has to look different, really express who I am, be who I am, be who I am, be you,

unique. And I always believed that I was a student athlete. I had, you know, great success in the classroom. I was intellectually curious. I was a bona fide nerd and I was proud to be a nerd. Used to watch all the Revenge of the nerds movies. Like, yeah, that's me. And then I was also watching the football movies. I like, yeah, that's me. I'm the MVP and the class valedictorian, right? Loved it. And I hated that I had to choose, like, or prioritize sports, which I knew was going to come to an end, whether it was high school, college, or even. Even the pro level, playing 10 years, retiring at 32, had much more life to live. So I made a choice to bet on my brain between my ears, then bet on my body.

I said, look, if I make it to the NFL, I'm making it to the NFL. Great. And going to Columbia, I knew that people would assume my intelligence. They would just look at me and be like, oh, you went to Columbia? And I saw it in when I took my recruiting trips, I told everybody where I went. And every one of my friends was excited about the football. schools. And all of the teachers and counselors and the principal, they were excited about Columbia. So I just bet on the elders and their wisdom. And I said, let me go there because I know things

will be different. And it actually was. Who did it come down to? Like, Columbia wouldn't be the only program that would offer you that, you know, whatever we're talking about, reputational advancement that you wanted. I mean, you could have, I assume if you can go to Columbia, you can go to Princeton. Cal is a great school. So who did it come down to? And why was it Columbia? Yeah, no other Ivy League recruited me. Now, you want to know why? Because I'm not the first and not the last. I still hear this story. Columbia recruits the most in New York and the second in California. So they took the risk. All the other Ivy League schools didn't take the risk because they were like, we're not going to be able to get a football player from California. So

that was their assumption. They were wrong because they should have tried. I still would went to Columbia because it's in New York City. But UCLA was the closest. And I had a dark horse there. I wanted to go to Cal, but the coach, Coach Snyder, he left, went to Arizona State. I didn't want to go to Arizona State. But Cal was close. If coach would stay at Cal, it could have been Cal, UCLA, or Columbia. But football factories. Like, I'm from L.A. Like, you know, knowing Kishan Johnson growing up, and he's like my big brother. I know ballers. And I'm like, I'm not going to those schools with all those other five stars just because I'm a football player. I have more to me. I have other dimensions I want to develop. And it was no

slight to them. It was just a slight to that experience. And I'm glad I went to Columbia. I give it to you in the short. At Columbia, I realized that there were only three Ivy League players in the NFL at that time. I was like, hey. And then on the same page, I read that we, We had six owners from the Ivy League. I'm like, there are more owners in the Ivy League than actual players. It was just a different dynamic and different perspective, brother. You keep using that term football factory. You know, I have a nephew, Marcellus, who is, he was a four-star.

He could have gone anywhere he wanted. He plays offensive line. He went to Odessa Permian, which is famous from Friday Night Lights. And he chose Clemson, you know, his uncle, me is a big Texas Longhorn fan. He thought about the Longhorns. He thought about A&M. He could have gone anywhere. He chose Clemson. And you know why? Because of what you just described, among the powerhouses, it feels apparently, as it's told, it feels the least like a football factory. It feels like a family, whatever Dabo has created there. It is something different in

its feel from every other program in college. Yeah, you got to love that too. And that's what you want. You want to develop yourself and all the muscles, especially the ones that haven't been fully developed or some that are going to atrophy because you're going down the same yellow brick road. So look, I don't have any slights towards that experience for anybody. I know it in and out. It's just there's more to you.

And are you going somewhere that's going to develop all of you or more than just your football skills? And a lot of kids, look, at that age, you're not thinking about alumni. You're not thinking about where are you trying to make your nest in terms of home life. And Kishan actually told me something very interesting. I love to repeat it to all the kids out there to have decisions to make. He says, trying to pick a school where you're going to actually live because that network will be vibrant.

It will be existing right there at your doorstep versus, oh, when I go back to school for reunion, when I go back to school for homecoming, et cetera. And I didn't even think like that. I wasn't going to live in New York City. I took it as a paid vacation of sorts. So the experience is just to develop you. That's what college was, and that's what college is. It's a means to an end.

Make sure it gives you the best resume possible. Kishon is spot on with that. And that's something I learned after college as well. I went to Southern California for college, but I always probably knew I'd end up living back in Texas. And I love my college experience, but I don't have the network from college that you would want to have wherever it is that you live exactly is described by Kishon. Hey, so I think it's a truism

that is a generalization, but still a truism, that we are products of our environment. You brought up Compton. And by the way, you know, my introduction to Compton, Marcellus, and we're roughly probably the same age, is Boys in the Hood. It's NWA and Boys in the Hood. That's how I first learn about Compton, right? And then I went to college in Malibu, admittedly. But, you know, yeah, I mean, I got to know L.A. a little bit. And I've always been fascinated by things. I fall down the rabbit hole of learning. And I've watched documentaries on Crips and Bloods. I've even spent time on maps looking at like who owned what streets and what areas, like Pairu Bloods, you know, versus this sect of this set of Crips. And I don't know where you grew up in Compton, but if it's

true, Marcellus, that we are products for our environment, and that at least at some level is, was present in your life at some level. I'm curious where you absorbed so much wisdom. Because what you just described about why you picked up Columbia and the way you thought about your life beyond football at an age when very few people, white, black, rich, poor can think beyond, hey, the mindset of an 18 year old. It's hard to ask, I tell me, I tell my son this, it's even hard to know where you're going to live. So if you want to do this networking thing, it's hard at 18 to go, hey, I think I might know where I'm live when I'm 30. But you were thinking beyond the opportunity in front of you in a situation where it wouldn't

have been the easiest to be immersed in wisdom. You come away from it and approach it with wisdom. How? Yeah, buckle up, brother. Yeah, you know, I used to hear that growing up, product of your environment. And I used to always flip it. Not to be contrarian, but what I got juice from was saying, I'm going to produce for my environment instead of being a product of. And that made me start to have a different mindset. I used to always tell myself I got to be greater than my greatest excuse.

And we all have excuses. I don't care how rich you are. I know very, very wealthy kids. And I know very, very poor kids. And I was one of them. I grew up on welfare food stamps. all of that. But I say, I've got to be greater than my greatest excuse. Because if not, I'm going to be stuck right where I am right now. Now, so how did that get reinforced? How did I start to gain some

wisdom from my experience? The adversity that came my way, the gangs, the drugs, the poverty, that was all challenging, just like in the movies like everyone has heard in the music. But the most damning thing, the thing that undermined most people to me wasn't that. It was the low ambition. Their dreams have been beaten out of them by their circumstances. I'm a product of my environment. So they started to really internalize all of these ills. And I started to notice, why is everybody snapping? Why is everybody mad? Why is everyone so short? Why is their mother mad at the kid at the toy store for picking up a toy? What do you expect? He wants a toy. He's at a toy store. But don't you go in there and top of anything. Don't you go in there and touch anything.

And I was the victim of a lot of that. And I was like, What is really at the core of this? Ah, people are not living out their dreams. Their dreams aren't their reality. People have jobs, not careers. So I started to just take evidence of my own family. And I had a lot of uncles in the streets. And three of them, two got murdered.

One committed suicide because of the street life, gangbanging. I didn't even know they were gangsters. I just loved my uncles. Then I start looking. And then, you know, they got into their troubles, et cetera. then they do wear a lot of blue and it's like what? And then it just all started to happen for real.

Like, oh, the people everyone's talking about, they're talking about my family. They're talking about my uncles. They're talking about us. And I used to watch my uncles literally walk out the house and get respect. Hower people would salute them, bow down. They scared the world.

And then they walked back in this house, broken, crying, hurt. Didn't even have that much money as people thought, bought it all just a flash for everyone else to see and didn't have any of it stored and saved up. And I used to just sit there behind the veil of this perception of what the street life really is. And I was like, y'all getting fooled. This ain't it. And so I just went on a mission with only two weapons, which was I was a good student and I was fast. I knew I could run. I could race anybody and beat them. I was just a fast little kid. And I just took those two and just ran with it.

So I never let anyone compromise my academics. I didn't let my school decision compromise it or change it. I always kept that balancing act. So all of it came from really looking at my mother, a straight-A-e student who had two kids, 17 and 19, being told she would make nothing of her life. And I was like, if she didn't achieve exactly what she wanted because she poured it all into us,

it's on me. That responsibility is mine to make my dreams of reality. Did anybody ever try to pull you into the gangs? I mean, gentle pulls. Like, look, I don't think anybody could pull you into the gang. I really don't. I think what happens is they pull and you, you know, you ever see somebody that, come here,

and you go, nah, I don't want to come. And then you finally just relent and you go. Yeah, they grab my hand. And then I was like, man, move. I slapped their hand away. Like, I don't, I wasn't attracted to it because I actually saw it. It's weird to me. I think a lot of times,

either, A, they get to the kid before the kid even knows who they are. So I had an identity already. I thought I was a smart football player that ran track. I thought I was somebody already. Even at age seven and eight, I knew I was something. And I tell kids all the time working with my foundation project transition, the way to find out your identity, it doesn't have to be traditional. Stop sitting down and just beating yourself up saying, who am I?

What am I? How about you start off instead of saying, who am I? Say, who am I not? Right? Start off by saying, I am not a gangster. I am not a drug dealer. I am not a bad kid. I am not going to get caught up in these streets. So instead of always saying what you're going to be and who you are, just say what you're not and start there. So I had a starting point that was probably different than some of those other kids attracted to that life. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Marcellus Wiley. Now's the time. Go hit subscribe at Apple, Spotify, Fox News podcast. Hit subscribe right now on YouTube and you'll hang with us every day live, Monday through Thursday, 12 Eastern time or watch and listen whenever you like to the Will Kane Show. I'll see you

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