Ride Home Rants
Ride Home Rants
Beyond the Field: Resilience, Growth, and Lessons from College Athletics
Transitioning from college sports to life beyond the field is a journey filled with challenges and triumphs. Our panel of inspiring former college athletes, hailing from Bethany College, Eureka College, East Carolina University, and Elizabeth City State, share their unique stories of resilience and growth. From overcoming severe injuries to balancing academic and athletic commitments, these athletes provide profound insights into the character-building nature of sports and the invaluable life lessons they've carried into their careers in business administration, sports management, and communications.
Listeners are in for a treat as we reminisce about unforgettable college sports memories. Hear about Alabama A&M's leap to Division IAA in the SWAC, Lando's cherished football practices, Dan's post-game exhaustion, and Lauren's triumphant return from a severe ankle injury. These stories are a testament to the power of camaraderie and the emotional depth sports can bring into one's life. The panel also delves into the rigorous challenges faced by college athletes, whether it's enduring early morning training sessions in harsh weather, or navigating the pressures of maintaining academic and personal life balance.
The discussion takes a reflective turn as we explore the impactful role of relationships and mentors in personal growth. Our guests share lessons learned from their coaches and the significance of building genuine bonds that extend beyond the sports arena. Through personal anecdotes and heartfelt advice, the panel underscores the importance of character, perseverance, and finding balance between ambition and well-being. Join us for an enriching conversation that celebrates the spirit of college athletics and the enduring friendships formed along the wa
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Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Ramp podcast. This is your special guest, host Fiddy, and today I bring you a really, really great episode. It's called Our Story Hired College Athletes. We have a great panel of guests who are going to talk about their stories coming from the colleges that they came from, what brought them there and their journey along the way. Before we get started for this great panel of guests and this outstanding episode, there's a couple sponsors that I want to read off and let you know about them.
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Speaker 1:It's really exciting because a lot of our former guests have been college athletes. Tonight we talk about their story and where they came from and what brought them to that school, what they did there and how those life lessons along the way shaped the person that they are. So, without further ado, we're going to go through the guests. They're going to introduce themselves, tell you what college they went to, what year they graduated because we're kind of all over the map with that and then what sport or sports we did in school. So I'll start. Everybody knows me special guest. Philly Graduated from Bethany College in 2010, and I did four years of college football and four years of indoor and outdoor track.
Speaker 2:Hey, philly, thanks for having me. This is Matt Landowski, graduated from Bethany College in 2012. Played football and had a great time there, okay.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Lando Dan.
Speaker 3:Fetty, thanks for the invite. Dan Bolson, I'm a Eureka College grad from 2013. I was in college forever. Now I'm just teasing, but I did a Eureka College grad from 2013. I was in college forever Not in the season, but I did a year of college basketball, played my eligibility out with football as well. I switched the freshman year leap like some do, and went and played strong side defensive end.
Speaker 1:Thank you, danny.
Speaker 4:Thank you, coach Fitty, for having me. I'm Danny Gilbert Jr, played at Bethany College, did football and then I did track. I had a pleasure to play for Coach Fitty created myself for Bethany College. Thank you for having me. I finished in 2022.
Speaker 1:Okay, thank. Thank you, lauren.
Speaker 5:Hi everyone. I'm Lauren Labarski. I went to East Carolina University. I was there from 2012 to 2017, so I was at. I did that victory lap that everybody talks about. But I did track and field. I did through the javelin, the high jump. I was a multi-athlete but I specialized in the jumps and throws. But yeah, I am a pirate in two different states.
Speaker 1:Pretty proud and rounding out with the man myth legend who's been a great panelist on all of our roundtables, mr.
Speaker 6:Hey, mr Askew, like 50 said 50, you the man man, I'm just another guy right now, brother, I'm trying to get to your level and your stature. But, Mr, I'm just another guy right now, brother, I'm trying to get to your level and your stature. But, mr Askew, actually I went to Alabama A&L and Elizabeth City State. Graduated from Elizabeth City State in 2001. Played football and ran track for a year.
Speaker 1:Okay, thank you guys. We appreciate it. So we're going to go through a bunch of great topics here. You guys can elaborate as much as you want, or you don't have to, um, the first one is we're gonna start with you and then go to dan, uh, danny, um, and then lauren and then mr. So the first one is what was your major when you went to college?
Speaker 2:uh, I studied business administration, learned a lot of economics, accounting, all the good stuff to make you money.
Speaker 1:How about you Dan?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was at the time with an individualized major in sports management, which was something that was a track that was getting begetting popularity at the time. It was a little bit of what we had at our school was individualized majors where you put a collection of classes together, so it was a little bit of a makeshift group of classes. So one of my biggest wins in college wasn't on the football field or basketball court, it was actually working with a group of folks on the advising team that we got sport management as a focal point within the business administration degree. So leaving now, kids that go there can get a business administration degree with emphasis in sport management. So that was the major. And then I doubled with a bachelor's in communication as well, just to make sure that the individualized major wasn't the only thing I left with.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, okay, how about you, danny?
Speaker 4:I got my socialist degree in general studies of art in junior college. I don't know how I ended up studying Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat and all those great painters. And then I went to Arkansasansas, monticello uh, division two first, where I majored in uh uh social science, behavior and criminal justice, studying the logic of psychopaths, serial killers and stuff like that, and then um uh. Then I transferred to bethany and majored in sports medicine okay, okay, how about you, lauren?
Speaker 5:so I did kinesiology exercise science, as you can call like that physiology degree. That's what I was mainly uh studying back in the day. But I also, um had a uh sport science and business um degree as well. So I was double major between sport management and kinesiology. And it's so crazy because I don't really actually use any of that in my career now. But, um, yeah, I definitely know how to train the body, be able to run a sport team. So, um, very, sounds very familiar about what I'm hearing on the call okay, and what about you, mister?
Speaker 6:so my first uh, you know I was trying to do what dan did actually, you know. But um, at that time we didn't have sports management at all. I had a major in business administration and the concentration was in finance. At that particular time, when I went to Elizabeth City State, I still was majoring in business administration but I was also doing physical education, business administration but I was also doing physical education. So I was in between physical education and at that time at the school, you know, you had to teach from. You know, pe was set up where you had to teach from it. So I got to, you know, to the point where I had all my electives and all them other core classes done and then we had to go into the teaching part of that particular degree, but the PE at that time, and I had to take the practice test. And let me tell you something that sucker is a doozy. And, needless to say, I finished my degree in business administration, concentration and management.
Speaker 1:Roger, it's always interesting to hear what people you know majored in school. And I say this and I work, I've worked in higher ed a long time. It's like seven out of ten people don't actually use their degree in their career field. Uh, later on, just because you know your degree, did you a lot of path. That's extending the degree and then the work experience if you really want to stay in that field. You know, I got my degree in sports management. My degree at that time at best, because one of the hardest majors in the whole school not helping that when I'm in until you dive into curriculum curriculum is half business and it's half science. So not only taking like economics, finance, statistics and things like that, I'm also taking anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, theology class. So it was, uh, it was a dude with the doozy, that's for sure. So I'm always curious to hear that from people.
Speaker 1:Um, the next one, it's gonna be kind of simple. I'll answer this question. Or, you know, lando and danny myself, um, since we're all bethany guys. But uh, you know what division was your school? Um, so you know, bethany was division three. We played in the dac conference. So we're gonna skip right over to uh, to dan on this one, dan, is your school d1, d2, d3 and aia?
Speaker 3:yeah, it's d3. So eureka, uh, located near peoria, illinois, right on interstate 74. When you're driving west in the west central part of Illinois is right where Eureka is located Blink and you'll miss it. But it's a fun tool, fun town, 5,000-person town, a small college right there, like a lot of D3s in Illinois, indiana, ohio corridor.
Speaker 3:A lot of them have the same look and feel. You've all been there, you felt them For you, bethany folks out in West Virginia. You know that look and feel from what I remember with the Barth boys from Eureka who were after me a bit, but we watched them play through. The piece that's interesting on that D3 model is the conferences there's. So many of those schools have closed over the years, which is sad, but there's been a lot of small schools closed so my school switched conferences like four times since I was there so I've watched it go. I lose track sometimes of what acronym we're on this time, but right now they're still where they're at with the conference I didn't play in, but it's a collection of Northern Illinois and some Wisconsin schools.
Speaker 1:Gotcha Okay, Lauren how about you?
Speaker 5:So my school was definitely figuring it out when I was at my university because we jumped conferences in the middle of my career. But we went from the Conference USA, which is kind of like the old A-10. I don't know if anybody was following.
Speaker 5:And then we went to the American Athletic Conference so we definitely got to see a little bit about around like the north and definitely in the south. So we went all the way down to like South Florida and down to Houston, houston, texas, we were in rice. So I've definitely been all the way up in philadelphia. Yunny and I've been there, but we mainly focus on like those kind of um, I would say territories, but we would mainly I would I would say when track and field we really stayed a lot of central during the, the carolinas, because I don't know if anybody knew this, north Carolina actually has the most division one schools, which I was on a division one team and that has the most division one programs in any of the States in the U? S. So I think there's like 12 division one schools. Don't ask me to name them because I am definitely going to forget one, but yeah, east Carolina university was definitely figuring it out, but it was a cool school to go to.
Speaker 1:Okay, and how about you, mister was definitely figuring it out, but it was a cool school to go to. Okay, and how about you, mr.
Speaker 6:So when I was at Alabama A&M, at that time we were Division II and we were just getting ready to transition to D1 or 1AA, as a lot of people know it, in the SWAC. So right now they are in the lovely SWAC and you guys know your boy, deion Sander, was down there at Jackson State the year before, but that was in the swag. When I went to Elizabeth City State we played in the CIAA Conference.
Speaker 1:What division was that?
Speaker 6:Division II Division II For the next one.
Speaker 1:We're going to start with you, lando, on this. What was your best memory of college sports? So not college itself, but the sport.
Speaker 2:What was your best memory? When it comes to it, I would say the practice, the football practice, because you can only play so many games, but I feel like if you go through the whole program every day, it's just a beautiful thing. So I enjoyed every practice. I tried to, at least you know.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about you, dan? What was the best memory from college sports for you?
Speaker 3:I mean because there's a lot of ways to answer this, dan, what was the best memory from college sports for you? I mean because a lot of ways to answer this right. So I think, if I go just high, high level, it's the emotion. And it doesn't matter which sport you were in, necessarily, but basketball was a completely different type of emotional draining than football was. But you know, there's something about college football and I'll just pick, uh, you know, the, the, the. There's something about college football and I'll, I'll just pick on it. You know, right, I love college football.
Speaker 3:And there's something about sitting on your couch in your dorm room or your chair, whatever apparatus you have in your dorm room on a Saturday night, after you've played, or a Saturday afternoon, and you are emotionally spent. You don't have anything left in you. Your body's all bruised up, banged up, depending on what position you played. You're feeling all the pain and you're sitting there and you do not want to move, like all your friends are like where are we going to eat, where are we going to party, what are we doing?
Speaker 3:And you're like just leave me alone and leave me with all the ice you can possibly find me and I'll talk to you tomorrow at noon. So there's some really fun. If you win. It gets better than that, right. You heal quicker but more quickly. But it's kind of one of those, I think, the emotion and the way those emotions come out of you. And again, football. I love it because how many places can you legally just deplete somebody and not get in trouble for it, right? So why not? Okay?
Speaker 1:How about you, Danny? What was your best memory of playing college sports?
Speaker 4:My best memory of playing college sports. I don't mean to ruin the mood, but it was a moment where I came back from Miami. So my little brother had just passed away and I had to fly back to Miami from West Virginia and, um, I had I left his funeral that same night, I got on the plane and we had to come back because we was playing against Westminster, um that that uh, following week and then coach Arnold, his, his dad, passed away. Like um so, and then after the game, like just during that whole weekend practice, you know, I was kind of leaning on Coach Arnold you know what I'm saying Like, even though his dad passed away, I was kind of leaning on him for some sort of comfort.
Speaker 4:And I want to say the best memory probably wasn't in practice, it was probably during, at the end of the game, seeing Coach Garvey give Coach Honor the game ball and then Coach Honor, just filled with so much emotion, you know, he just ended up crying and then, you know, the whole team just kind of rallied around him and stuff like that. And I just think like that was a wholesome moment for not only just a Bethany football team but for Bethany organization to rally behind a coach who means so much to the program.
Speaker 1:so yeah, that was dope and Danny, I remember when you were passed away and I am still so sorry about that. I remember you coming to see Coach Upton. So you know our condolences on your little brother. We're glad that you're going to persevere, and I know that hurt will always stay with you, but at least you remember a good moment from that moment as well for yourself. So how about you, lauren? You know you were the heck of a track athlete in college. What's your greatest?
Speaker 5:memory. Oh, I have a couple of them, but I would say there was one moment that I was traveling down to Birmingham, Alabama, for our indoor conference meet and I was coming off major injuries. And this one I was actually high jumping. I was a high jumper and indoor and outdoor can't throw the javelin indoor they don't have enough room, Um but I was actually coming off a really severe ankle injury that I was in a fracture boot I had a ligament in my ankle which supports and holds like the weight bearing.
Speaker 5:Um, I guess I had like a grade two, grade three sprain, to the point that I almost had to get surgery. And um, my, my coach was like we really need you at this conference. We really like we could use the points that you could put up because you are that talented. And um, he's like, do you want to compete? I just know that you're injured. And and I'm like, hey, give me some time, like maybe I just won't practice and put a lot of weight bearing, but I'll do all the non like low impact stuff. And so I was doing that, I barely even practiced. And I remember my teammates were like, like, so you're going? Like are you nervous? That you were like going to compete without practicing.
Speaker 5:And then I just really was in tune with, like my mind, my body and just like the visualization of succeeding. And I I kept saying and it was this mindset, it was a belief that I'm like, no, I'll be fine, I'm just gonna take off this fracture boot and I'm just gonna jump my personal best, like I'm not worried. And the people are trying to make me worry. And I'm like, no, I'm good, like I'm gonna be fine. And lo and behold, we get to practice the day before and I do a couple jumps. You know I did three or four and I'm like I'm good. You know, I'm fine, I was super cool and calm. And then the next day I took that fracture boot off and I jumped a personal best and I got second at the conference. And the funniest the funniest thing about that other than I took the fracture boot off, I jumped practically one of my best.
Speaker 5:The name of the game is to not knock the bar off everyone when you're doing the high jump. And I was so eager to get off the mat because I nicked it, I cleared it, but it was wobbling back and forth and I was hyper focused to getting off the the mat that I knocked over the official and I like I have it on tape and everything like and I I bulldozed the official over on accident. So I was just so focused on getting off that mat that I didn't even see that the official over on accident. So I was just so focused on getting off that mat that I didn't even see that the official was standing right there in clear daylight. So, yeah, that was probably one of the best memories I've ever had. Just like the mind over matter. If it doesn't matter, you, you don't mind. And I just took that fracture boot off, I jumped over the thing and I knocked over the official, but I still got the, got the dub.
Speaker 1:So okay, that's awesome, that's awesome, how about? You, mister? What's your greatest memory from college? Sports?
Speaker 6:oh, man, tell you I can share two of them real quick, man. The first one to come to mind and this is amazing that I even can remember this, because as you get older, man, your memory really dig a foggy from concussions. Concussions is real guys. Okay, I just want you to know that. Uh, but this is November 1994 at Alabama A&O.
Speaker 6:I get my first start running back playing in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta Falcons. You know that was, you know coach came up to me, told me I'll be playing, well, I'll be starting. And I was starting as a true freshman, something that at that particular time with that school hasn't happened in years, a very, very long time. So I was really thrilled about that, to get my first start when I was at Alabama A&M in the Georgia Dome playing against Morris Brown. But the biggest one would be when my brother, ray Sean he was at Elizabeth City State with me and watching him run and you know, score his first college touchdown.
Speaker 6:You know that was pretty emotional. I never really told anybody, I didn't even thought about it. You know what I'm saying, I really, you know what I'm saying. You know, told him man, I really told him man. But I was just really ecstatic, happy to see him score, because you guys got little brothers and little sisters. They play in the same sport. You see them put the work in, you put the work in. But then to see them actually all them fruits and labor, that the hard work and sweats and tear, and and to be able to share that moment and see them do something great, it was really a great moment. So seeing my brother score that touchdown that's awesome.
Speaker 1:You know for myself on this one um, you know, mister, you coached me for a couple years. Land to be played with me, um, you know at that time. Or or Lauren Danny, you see me only as a coach. But you know, for people who don't know, when I played football I wasn't a very good football player. I tried hard, I tried hard, I did you can ask Lando and Lass Ask Mr.
Speaker 1:But I only played in three games out my college career and I think the proudest moment for me for football was the last game of the season, my very last game, where I was saying, vincent and I got to play the last four plays of the game and I got to be on the field for the kneel down as one of the personal protectors. And when you know it's your last snap and you, you, you're on the field for that. It's something you're really proud of. A lot of people complain their last game, you're on the field for that. It's something you're really proud of. A lot of people complain in their last game but are you on the field for your last snap, for your last game ever, and I think that was great. And then that kind of gave me the feeling that this wasn't a waste right, I was there and I was able to accomplish it, and I would say in track and field is when I set the single meet record for events in a meet.
Speaker 1:So Lauren and I did seven events in a mini meet Javelin, the long jump, the shot put, 4x1, the 4x4, the 100 and 200. And setting that record was great because it was something I was really proud of and no one's ever still done seven events in one meet in one day. So those are the two things that stand out to me, landon. We're going to go back to you on this one. What was the hardest, one hardest thing about being a college athlete in your opinion?
Speaker 2:Landon, go ahead. You got to stay focused. Academics practice every day, game day, I mean it's a job. Practice every day, game day, I mean it's, it's a job um and um, it's definitely a commitment, um, and when the season's going on it's a grind. So I mean, not everybody understands that, but it's like unless you actually are involved in it and do it. Even in the summertime, you got to work out every day, stay in touch with your coaches and then you're back in school again early before all the other students. It's definitely a special thing, man.
Speaker 1:For sure, Dan. What would you say was really one hard thing about being a college athlete for yourself.
Speaker 3:Man, it's hands down for me, like the February off-season intense training sessions. My alarm clock would go off at 5 am or 4.50, and I had to be over there to do stretches of like 5.15 in our Reagan Gymnasium, which Eureka College is famous for. Ronald Reagan graduated from there. So the Reagan gym, I'm in there doing calisthenics at like five 20 in the morning and you know, it's like in my junior year of college and there's six feet of snow on the ground outside and I'm not getting paid to do it and I'm like the hell, am I doing, you know, but I'm. I'm sad today because I love it right, we all do this sports, but we love it.
Speaker 3:But there's definitely a few moments when you're laying on the ground and you're just like man. I might be nuts right now, like I had to walk over here with like tennis rackets on my feet because there's so much snow on the ground. But no, it was fun. But I do remember a lot of cold, cold walks to that gym. Man, and I was a guy that I refused to take more than I had to, because there's so many dudes in the locker room. We had smaller facilities, so your stuff's just sitting out and I'm like, hey, I'm wearing what I'm going to wear over there to work out. I'm going to walk back. I live relatively close to the gym, so there was some cold post-workout walks. When you're just drenched in sweat head to toe, not a dry thread on you, and you're worn out, and it's like in Illinois weather like negative 10 wind chill, and you're like, yeah, this is commitment For sure.
Speaker 4:Danny, what would you say was the one hardest thing about being a college athlete yourself? Something hard, I don't know. I don't know Honestly, I don't know Honestly, I don't know. You enjoyed the whole thing, huh.
Speaker 1:I mean okay Hard. Thing.
Speaker 4:I would have to agree with Mr Dan here. Being in the snow my first time playing in the snow, coming from Miami, I remember my first snow practice. Actually, coach Garvey almost had to come snatch us out of the locker room All the Florida guys because he was not trying to come out of the locker room. It was, it was, it was, it was way too cold man. And then running, running outdoor, running outdoor, it was, I think it was like 50, maybe, 50, 55, maybe. And we was, we were not trying to run, were, we were not trying to run, we were not trying to come out of the van. The van probably almost Ran out of gas because we had the van on and you know, we had the heater on Sitting in the parking lot.
Speaker 1:Alright Lauren. How about you? What was that one hardest thing about being an college athlete?
Speaker 5:I would say, staying emotionally balanced, um, since I am like the only female on here, I'm going to talk about my emotions, um, but I'm married to a therapist, so go for it but I could say that the emotional battle from like between the academics and I was also training us for the heptathlon.
Speaker 5:So I had seven events and having to have seven practices practically a day and also double majors with weights in the morning and then also recovery and trying to like make sure you're properly planning for your future. And then you know the whole college aspect, being a real student, just like being a student, being a, you know, a spectator at the events, trying to feel like that you could fill all of your cups and in the end of the day it's not doable. And for me it's like I, I just really want to become the best version of myself in every aspect. But sometimes I understand there's only so much you can do and you have to sacrifice. And that was a really tough thing for me to like understand.
Speaker 5:And I've had some moments on the high jump mat with my old coach, coach Blaney. I know you're going to listen to this podcast after I tell you that I was on it. So here we are, I'm giving a shout out Coach Blaney. He was my high jump coach. He's retired. He actually retired my my senior year and he really was looking out for me emotionally. He could just tell that you know, I needed a day that. He's like you look overwhelmed, like you have like probably a couple of projects. You got to do something. He's like, what are you doing here? And I'm like, well, my practice. He's like, go home, go home. He's like, what are you doing here? And I'm like, well, in my practice. He's like, go home, go home. He's like, use this time to do what you know. That's on your mind.
Speaker 5:And that was the hardest thing I could say um, and I really appreciate, appreciated coach Blaney and other coaches that really just took the time to get to know you as a person, because when you're you know an individual athlete, you will push yourself to the max, because in the other day it's you versus you. It starts with you and ends with you. So if you want to do, if you want to do the thing, you're going to find a way. If you want to slack off, it's going to show on the track. So, yeah, I would say the whole emotional balance and just those ups and downs of roller coasters and, uh, that was probably the hardest thing but it definitely made me stronger in the end okay, now, thank you for that, mr.
Speaker 1:What about you? What's that the hardest thing, but it definitely made me stronger in the end. Okay, thank you for that, mr. What about?
Speaker 6:you. What was that one hardest thing about being an college athlete? I would have to say probably doing football camp. You know, whenever we had camp, you know we had two-a-days and even one particular place I was at, which I won't say the name, we actually had three days which I thought was highly, highly illegal. But those camps, man, you know two days, three days during the season, real two days and real three days back to back to back to back to back to back, which they no longer do anymore. You know it's going to be the hardest part, but which they no longer do anymore. You know what I'm saying Be the hardest part, but you know what I'm saying. And then, with that, you know, just actually, you know, doing the other side. You know we had curfew and anybody that got caught you know what I'm saying being out. If a coach caught you being out past curfew, it was lights out, it was over.
Speaker 1:And so you and so you know the camp, I think, for me and Lauren kind of hit on this and we all kind of talk about different things, but it's balancing it right. You're a young person still. You want to say college athletes or adults, but in reality you're still a kid. You're balancing growth of your mind, the growth of your body. You're balancing the emotions of your friendships and relationships, sports, school, your challenge, in ways you can't imagine physically, mentally, emotionally, you know, and it's trying to find like that balance right, because you have a lot of people cheering for you. You have a lot of people cheering against you.
Speaker 1:At the end of the circumstances, you're under a lot of pressure, um, you know, on people and I'm glad now, so many years later, you're taking the mental health of the athletes so serious, because it really wasn't like that for you know, some of us. I would say for myself, definitely the hardest thing, balancing all of that, because, for all the good that you did, there's still people saying, oh, you know he's on the team, but he ain't playing, he's on the track, he's not in treatment. Well, no, I am. Everybody has an important role to play. Um, we'll talk about that a little bit later.
Speaker 1:But balancing all that still growing human being, you're trying to balance the bad and ugly of you're battling with yourself and on the outside forces definitely make a challenging time as a college athlete. So the next one, lando, we're going to go to you, um, because I know everybody's gonna have a unique take on this. You know, college athletics don't take the toll on your body, and lauren kind of talked about this and we've all dealt with injuries and things like that. So how is your body held up? Truthfully, you know from playing college sports and then just the weird repair of injuries and things like that. Are you as healthy as you have been or is there things that have limited you because of injuries later on in life? Go ahead, lando.
Speaker 2:I'm going to be honest. God bless I never in 14 years of football I started when I was 8 years old contact football, played the whole way through. I never went to the trainer, never had an injury that was serious and I'm still holding up pretty good. I'm trying to 34 now but, you know, definitely trying to keep it going. But yeah, I was definitely blessed that my body withstood the hits and all that stuff, man, because it was no joke back then.
Speaker 1:And I will attest for everybody that's listening Matt Lando Landoska. I always say this is one of the toughest people I've ever played college sports with or tracked. So, lando, you do. I've told you this before. You have all my respect in the world. You're one of the toughest human beings I've ever, ever, ever played college football with, so that's a testament to your one hell of a tough guy. So I just want you to know that for yourself. So, dan, how about you? How has your body held up from the injuries and stuff over time?
Speaker 3:So, ironically, I had more injuries in my basketball career than I did in my football career. Uh, all the way through, when you go back, it's insane, but I had broken bones, I had stitches, staples you name it all in basketball. Maybe it was a sign that I should have just played defensive end the whole time. But, uh, to say it, but yeah, you know, somebody's got a bang on the rebounds on the boards. So no, it was. I mean, I had some. You know, I had a couple of broken bones here and there, but nothing that was crazy. Like I had mostly was hand or arm.
Speaker 3:I never had an ace, you know not kind of what. I never had an ACL leg or anything that really hampered the career. I had thigh bruises and laying helmets in the side and all that. I was a lower back. I got a 15 yard crack back penalty where I where I was blindsided and got a helmet right in the lower back and I still deal with pains from that. So it lingers requires me to do take steps to make sure that my lower back stays in good, good, good, good shape. But right now, right now, right now, right now, right now, right now, right now e5 to 70 pounds, depending on the day, lighter than my playing weight was.
Speaker 3:So, um, I will encourage any athlete who possibly listens to this that when you're done especially if you were an o-line, d-line linebacker, tight end, any position that wasn't a microphone with yardage and passes and catches uh, try to try to get yourself to where you get a routine or you get something where you can, you know, shed that weight. Uh, it doesn't happen overnight. You know a lot. Most of us have to have an arc in there somewhere. But you get to a point where, uh, you know it helps.
Speaker 3:So it took me several years to learn that message. So I'm certainly no walking savant, uh of you know la Lauren's kinesiology degree but our health sciences degree, but, you know, found a routine. And I think when you become that older adult and you have kids and things, you start to realize like you know what? Like we got, we got to be there for our kids. If you do, if you become a parent or you become a spouse to someone else, you know it's finite equilibrium. So I don't bench what I used to, I don't squat what I used to, but I definitely feel better after I got rid of a lot of that weight.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, thanks for sharing that?
Speaker 4:How about you, danny? I know you're relatively young to the game, but have you dealt with any injuries or you know the fallout of those injuries in your past couple years from graduating? When I was in junior college I tore my MCL and I sprained my meniscus. Then I was playing both sides of the ball. I was going from corner to wide receiver. You know how you get breaks when you're splitting reps with first and second team, so we'll go first team defense. I get three reps on defense, again I get three reps on offense, and it was going back and forth and I guess my body just got fatigued and I went to make a normal usual cut something I do every day stick my foot in the ground and go back the opposite direction. And then it just gave out on me and one of my big 6'4", 300-something-pound D linemen fell on top of me. I think back then I was maybe like a buck 45. And when I was preparing for the NFL draft, when I was training down here at Bama Ruta Sports facility down in Davie, I discovered I had an aggravated hamstring and then I had a slight tear in my right shoulder, my rotator cuff, and then I had a pinched nerve in my right wrist. So I was and, and I'm trying to do the 225 bench press and, oh my gosh, and I'm trying to run a 40 because I'm not trying to sit out on any other uh, uh, any other things that we're doing in a facility when the teams come in and agents come in, and I'm trying to do the bench press and I'm trying to run a 40 and I'm trying to do the broad jumping, the three cone drill and all these different sorts of things, and I'm just and, and, and kind of find out, I can't, I'm just like, and then I had to sit out on a bowl game. I actually played in a bowl game with my torn rotator cuff. It was the FCS Bowl down in Daytona at Bethune-Cookman University. I played in that with a torn rotator cuff.
Speaker 4:At the time I just thought my shoulder was hurting, like you know. I was like, ah, get over it. And then it came to a point where I went to the facility, I was starting my drop prep and then before you start your drop prep, they check you for injuries and stuff like that. And then they put you on this machine where they learn your body, they do certain movements with you and I couldn't move my arm, probably past this height. I couldn't move my arm. And then it was like, oh yeah, man, you might have a tear and my heart just dropped and I'm just like this is the end of my NFL career and I'm like I haven't even started. So you know, that was my whole goal was to make it to the NFL from a Division III level. And then I remember getting that email to my phone saying that I was a draft scout and I just went ballistic. I might have ran out of class, probably. I might have out of class, probably, man Alright so how about you, lauren?
Speaker 1:You kind of hinted on it with your ankle but how has your body held up from injuries? In terms of track and field, people don't know. I mean black athletes. Sometimes they're the most hurt athletes, right? Because of all the pounding we've taken, the running actions. You know ankles, things like that. So I know you're really in fitness now and you're still super active with everything you do, but how has your body held up from D1 track?
Speaker 5:I just accept for, however, I feel that day, to be totally honest, I don't necessarily know what it feels like to be pain-free, but I just look at it as you know, take on the day, seize the day, make things better, not worse. And you know, whatever cards you're dealt, you know, just try to get a better hand. And I can tell you that, based off of my college career, I had a lot of injuries. I had the the privilege to be everyone's case study in the athletic training facility, so all the athletic training students would ask me to be their case study representative. So I was getting asked questions about okay, you had an injury here, what about this? What had happened Like, oh then, whatever. And so I had semi-herniated discs in my back. I had, you know, fracture boots. I've had two rotator cuff surgeries.
Speaker 5:To kind of give you guys a background of, like, my athletic performance at East Carolina University my freshman year, I was an All-American track and field athlete, an All-American javelin thrower. I made it to NCAA's last round, broke the school record my freshman year. Double A's last round broke the school record my freshman year. And I made it to Eugene, oregon, and I was very close to actually qualifying for the Olympic trials my freshman year of college and that summer I really took training very, very serious. I went back to Hermitage, pennsylvania, and I was training really heavily hard to the point that I was overtraining. And once I got back to my university, my sophomore year, that sophomore preseason, I guess I did a little too much during the summertime that my body couldn't hold out, and that's when I had the back issues, the ankle issues, and I was able to heal myself that upcoming winter and then, sadly, that upcoming spring first practice out there I threw a couple throws and that's where my rotator cuff went. So I had back-to-back shoulder surgeries. So there was this huge article that my university actually put out that it was like Labarski's back, you know, senior year finally coming back for her title. And after I had two shoulder surgeries they wrote this article saying that I was going to make it back to Eugene, oregon. And sadly you got to be careful what you wish for, because all I wanted to wish for is just to hit 50 meters. And at my regional meet in Kentucky I actually hit the 50 meter sign three times in a row, out of bounds. So I um my ticket that was going to get punched to that last round to take me back to where I was.
Speaker 5:My freshman year, sadly, was kind of cut short, but I could say that it has given me the mindset that I can do anything that I put my mind to, even if I say hit 50 meters. But now I do. Um, I take care of my body. Now I play competitive beach volleyball. I'm actually competing in a professional event this upcoming weekend in Myrtle Beach, south Carolina.
Speaker 5:So I still train, I do functional fitness, but I can only, you know, double down what Dan said. It's just like you know, shedding some of the weight, really focusing on, just really, you know, giving yourself that TLC, taking the time that you have it, that TLC, taking the time that you have it. Just because we get older, we have less time, being an adult doesn't mean that you shouldn't take the time to really just continuing to build your body. But it's never going to be like we were when we were in college. We were 20 years old. Now I'm 31. So I called 30 something. But I could say that you know, whatever you set your mind to, you're going to become. So your product of your environment and also your mindset, whatever you set your mind to. You're going to become so.
Speaker 1:you're a product of your environment and also your mindset. Thanks for sharing that. How about you, mr? What was you know what was some of the injuries that you felt, or, I guess, the fallout from that. How are you feeling now? You're the most senior person on this call, so you know how have you held up over time?
Speaker 6:I'll tell you what. You know, the worst thing that I had, man, was it was actually my junior year I had a concussion. I had caught two concussions in one week and this was during practice. I'm talking about just regular nothing, it's striving it, just a regular O-hit. The first one you kind of just like, you know, you know what I'm saying. You walk back to the huddle. And the second time I went to get the ball, you know, quarterback handed me the ball going through the hole and just a regular old boom. You know what I'm saying. Hit, you know, I get up, you know, and I'm like I can't believe this. I forgot the boy name that hit me. I mean, he was a young class, freshman, I think, too Freshman or sophomore. This is a regular hit and I'm like what in the world? So I'm walking back to the huddle man, and then all of a sudden I had to go down on one knee and Marco that was our trainer at the time, he just came over. He came over. He's like Mr, you're done. He said you know, he asked me. He said did you have a concussion earlier this week? I said no, no. I said no, marco, I didn't. I didn't have no concussion. But he went, man, and he evaluated me and set me out.
Speaker 6:Man, I ended up missing you know what I'm saying the last. I ended up missing the rest of the season. This was early in the season, this was like week two, so I missed like nine weeks. And anybody that has a concussion in football, I'm telling you right now, if they come back in two weeks or one week, they're freaking something, you know. They're lying All right, because it's not possible. You know, and, believe me, I try, I try to come back every single week. They're lying because it's not possible. And, believe me, I try to come back every single week.
Speaker 6:But every single week the symptoms started coming on. I got sensitive to the light. I had to wear sunglasses 24-7. Couldn't go to class anymore because of the class and the light and everything.
Speaker 6:I mean this is a regular conversation. I couldn't even stand class anymore because of the class and the light and everything. I mean this is a regular conversation. I couldn't even stand to hear a regular conversation, you know, because it was just so loud, it was just so intense, and so I was like I had to stay in the room in dark, probably almost like 18 hours out of the day or something. When I went out I had glasses and hoodies and hats because it was just so intense. And now, every once in a while now, those symptoms. I'm 48 right now, so right now you get those concussion symptoms because sometimes I have stutterness, and you know you get those concussion symptoms because sometimes I have stutteriness and, you know, never really dizzy, not so much dizziness but sometimes just forgetfulness of just little small things, man, you know. So you know you just have to be aware and just you know, just know your body be aware. You know, sometimes you know you have to get checked with that stuff. So for me it was just those concussions.
Speaker 1:No, absolutely, and I'm going to kind of go down my injury list here. Lauren's going to talk about a case of freak injuries. So, Dan, I think you'll find it's hilarious, Lando was there with me. Some freak injuries I had Dan, you're going to laugh at this I sprained both my thumbs, dislocated both my pinkies, had hematoma in my left elbow, separated my AC joint in my left shoulder, sprained my right meniscus. I still have shin stones to this day.
Speaker 1:I have generative arthritis in my back because of the track and football running. At the same time I had hematoma and bursitis in my hip. I think I have two undiagnosed concussions during my time. So as I got older, right in my body it changed. You're talking about adapting. I can't squat no more. I can't do regular bench press no more. It's just too much pain, too much pressure.
Speaker 1:So what I focused on is power walking, doing the elliptical light impact stuff. I do a ton of stretching and I do a lot of stuff with just body weight exercises and dumbbells, because my body cannot clean and jerk no more. I'm 38, I cannot squat no more. Um, my back is through like it is through and when it flares up you will know it. Pain can be really debilitating over your whole existence. So wouldn't trade it for the world, but I'd definitely take a bruising too with that. So next one we're going to have a little bit of fun with this one. Besides the sport you competed in, you can only pick one sport. What do you think truly is the hardest sport to compete in at the college level? Is the hardest sport to compete in at the college level? What is that one sport besides what we did, that you think is the hardest college sport to be really, really good at? Lando, what do you think?
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:It just can't be football for you, lando, okay.
Speaker 2:I'm going to go with baseball. I'm going to go with being a catcher in baseball.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about you, dan? What do you think If you did football and basketball? What's the next hardest sport you think for somebody to be really, really good at college level? Golf, golf. Okay, how about you, danny? What do you think? Lacrosse?
Speaker 4:Lacrosse Okay.
Speaker 1:Lauren, what do you think?
Speaker 5:Honestly, I would say football. I dated the starting quarterback at my university and just seeing all the stuff that he had to do behind the scenes and just the film study and just seeing all the stuff that he had to do behind the scenes and just the film study and just learning the playbook and all this other stuff, it's another whole other sport in itself and I give a lot of respect to that.
Speaker 1:What about you, mister? What do you think? That one next hardest sport besides? You know you did football and track. What do you think? In college Lacrosse, lacrosserosse.
Speaker 1:So I'm gonna go, but nobody said I'm gonna go wrestling. If you want to be a college wrestler, and you want to be a good college wrestler, you have to have the toughest mental capacity ever, because you gotta start yourself, you gotta run, you train and when you're, you know 21 years old, 22 years old and the heavier you are with that and you're going up against grown men who want to throw you up in the air and body, slam you on your head and put you in an arm lock. That you can't imagine. I think it's wrestling, and I just think, especially the Division I wrestlers who are All-Americans and national champions. To me that is the hardest thing about being a college athlete. That is the toughest mental aspect of all college sports. That's just my opinion on that.
Speaker 1:So one of the next ones I want to ask you guys and I think we'll have a little bit of fun on this, guys, I think we'll have a little bit of fun on this you know, what is the advice you would give your younger self right now, talking to them about when you were playing a college sport. So what's that? Just a little bit of advice that you can look at yourself now at your ages, look at yourself at 18 or 19 and go, let me give you this advice. So what would you say? That would be Lando.
Speaker 2:Do not drink alcohol.
Speaker 1:Okay, you lose, you lose.
Speaker 3:Okay, that's fair. What would you say, dan? The most important? So I'll go a different route. I'll go going to college, right?
Speaker 3:So the most important thing that you can do is commit yourself to a program and a coach that you have the best relationship with. That is there's a lot of great places you can go. There's a lot of great aid packages you can get. There's a lot of great deals you can go. There's a lot of great aid packages you can get. There's a lot of great deals you can get now.
Speaker 3:But you've got to have that rock-solid relationship and if you cut the corner on that, because you take it because of what the name of the place is or the location or something, and you cut a corner for it, you've got to find out what program really wants you. I think that's applicable across multiple sports. You may choose to go somewhere that surprises somebody, but that coach and that program, they want you and that if they want you that bad, they're going to invest in you and motivate you to be the best version of your something. Because you're chasing it, you're going to probably find yourself all of a sudden, the first moment adversity hits, it's going to feel a little bit lonely.
Speaker 1:Okay, dannyy, what would you say? What would you tell your younger self?
Speaker 4:you know, right now, uh, with some advice um, honestly, man, uh, I would tell my younger self to just slow down and just and and just enjoy being there.
Speaker 4:Um, I was because, because I was so uh, uh, self-driven on, know, I want to make it to the NFL, I want to make it to the NFL. I was just so driven, I sacrificed a lot of me time, I sacrificed a lot of girlfriend time until my relationship just went down the drain. I was watching film, taking notes on film, hit the weight room extra, go running on the track extra, come back, take a shower, eat something, and then I'm watching film again and I'm calling my teammates in the room making them watch film and it was just really no time for social life. You know I was all film, film, film, film, learning plays, learning plays, learning plays. Social life you know I was all film, film, film, film, learning plays, learning plays, learning plays. Um, so I I sacrificed a lot of uh, good, good, uh, relationships. So I'll probably just tell my younger self man, just slow down and enjoy the moment and just enjoy being there okay, okay.
Speaker 1:How about you, lauren? What would you tell your younger self right now?
Speaker 5:So I would say that in the end of the day, it's a moment in time and you have to enjoy yourself and sometimes we overwhelm ourselves more to the point that we make it more out of the situation than it needs to be. And, reflecting back on the moments that I was, let's say, the most stressed out in my life, it's simply just another day, it's another opportunity. Our grades don't define you. Your performance doesn't define you and you know it's a process. It's not the end goal, even though some people do you know process. It's not the end goal, even though some people do you know professional athletics or whatever. But I would say, like, just to take it easier on myself, I really was hard on myself and I feel like I would overwhelm myself into more of an issue than it actually was. So I would just tell myself to give myself grace and, you know, laugh a little bit more, because in the other day it's really not that serious that's valid.
Speaker 1:That's valid. How about you, mister? What would you give your younger self advice right now?
Speaker 6:I was. You know, stay, make sure you stay focused and, for whatever you do, do not miss that game. And I will have to go into detail about that particular time on another show. Okay, you know.
Speaker 1:I think what I would tell myself is when things got hard, don't be hard on yourself. You're still a young person, you're still growing. These are going to be things that you're still a young person, you're still growing. Um, these are going to be things that you're going to learn at times will make you a tougher person later on in life to get through those bad times. So, you know, don't be too hard on yourself. Just get through the bad times, because you'll come out a better person is what I would say. So we have just a couple other ones here. I want to get through this with you guys. Landon, we're going to start with you on this. So what is the one thing, the just one thing, you learned or you've heard, a phrase or something like that that you have taken with you since being in college? What's that one thing that somebody told you or you experienced, or a phrase you heard that you've taken with you in life since you graduated? So what would you say that?
Speaker 2:I would say the one thing that I learned, um, through the four years of school were listen and just keep your mouth shut, and the coaches kind of taught me this a little bit. You know and just do what you're told you know and trust the system, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:How about you Dan?
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is a quote that I had first became a quote that, um, I had first became kind of uh, going back the clock a little bit, the sandusky penn state scandals that happened, uh, joe paterno, in that era, um, the uh quote that came across at the time that I think still is, is true. It was, it was said before that moment the first time I kind of heard it. It was adversity causes some people to break and other people to break records. And when I first heard that quote I thought you know it was referencing some tough situations, tough moments in life. But I think there's a lot of truth in that. I referenced adversity in my last comment, right where you know, part of that 18 to 22-year-old, 24-year-old, part of that 18 to 22-year-old, 24-year-old I think we've got some college athletes now that are on their ninth year of eligibility thanks to red shirts and COVID and everything else they can get now. But we've got some elder statesmen in different sports. But that adversity that you come across, especially in that 18 to 22-year bracket of age windows that most college athletes are in young men, young women they're going to go through it and it's maybe the first time they've ever gone through it because the first time you step on a d1, d2, d3, naia you name it practice field of any, you've come there from somewhere where you may have been that guy or that girl and you were a part. You were. You were somebody that pretty much showed up and held court wherever you'd been prior right for a lot of cases. And so you show up, you step on the field and you're like I've arrived and all of a sudden you're 18 years, I'll pick on football. You walk up there's a you know 18, 19 year old strong side defensive end. You're like I'm about to show them what it's all about and that 23 year old man you're lining up across from that's 310 pound left tackle All of a sudden just buries your ass. I've arrived to the real league now. Folks like there are men on this field, and so I'll never forget the first time that happened to me.
Speaker 3:We were playing UW. I got to give you a quick story, fitty, I'm sorry, but we were playing uw stout, which is one of the good uw programs up in wisconsin and you as in the league whitewater other places they're good and uw stout um. This again turning the clocks back a little bit here for you young kids on the call. But uh the uh. There was a running back who was an absolute twin to steven jackson and steven jackson's the running back from the league to some you know. But steven jackson was a great running back and they had a running back who was a doppelganger to steven jackson and he played like steven jackson and I got absolutely run over by steven jackson's doppelganger at uw style. I, I mean, just trucked like no other. I had him dead in my sights.
Speaker 6:I'm like I mean I could hit.
Speaker 3:I was. I liked the hit Right and I was ready to level him. And that dude would just looked at me and he's lower that shoulder and just truck stick. It was like straight out of Madden, where you watch a dude just get rocked and was like man, uh, we are not in kansas anymore. Toto, I was a sophomore in college. I rocked oh man oh, that's funny.
Speaker 1:That's funny. Um, danny, what about you on this one? What's that one thing that's just stuck with you, anything? What's stuck with you since you?
Speaker 4:um, the one thing that stuck with me was we was in practice one day and it was after my brother passed away. I had just left out of Coach Upton's office and I stopped at Coach Bill Garvey's office and then, you know, we was talking here and there and then Coach Garvey you know, he, he was an honest guy and I, I, I outside of coaching, um, I love, um, the way he carried himself as a man and, uh, and especially coach arnold, um, coach arnold ended up walking, walking himself in the office, and and one thing Coach Garvey told me was he was like Danny, unfortunately I don't come from that area. You know, down in Miami I didn't grow up like that, you know, with all the gun violence and stuff and he just told me, you know, he was like I don't know what I can tell you. And you know I told him, you know, coach, I just want to play ball. You know I told him, you know, coach, I just want to play ball. You know I told him, you know, I just want to play football. You know, I just want to make it to the NFL.
Speaker 4:Coach Arnold stopped me. He was like just be a man of your word. And that always stuck with me and it carried me to almost getting my lights knocked out. You were at the game, I think you were.
Speaker 1:We played your signings down in Philadelphia, oh yeah, yeah, I was still coaching with you guys. Yep, yeah.
Speaker 4:And then I was telling I was at Nickel. And then I knew I was faster than Phil and I told Phil, because he was a linebacker at the time. I told Phil, I said, hey, look, there's guards from the pool. I said I don't mind taking on a guard, brother, but you got to make that tackle. And I knew, I just knew I could beat Phil, I just knew I could beat him to the outside. I just told him look, I just need you to make that tackle. You know what I'm saying. I don't. I just told him look, like I just need you to make that tackle, like you know what I'm saying. Like I don't mind taking on him, but you know this guard from the pool, I need you to make that tackle, man.
Speaker 4:The play ended up happening. I ended up trying to beat the guard to the spot. I tried to get him before he got going and Bigfella was already going. You know. So I think that you know. So, um, I think that's that. Uh, you know just, you know being a man of your word, you know that's that's especially when you're playing football, man, and you got your brother playing, playing next to you. You know, you know when you uh playing for the person next to you and uh, you know, uh, coach Mr said earlier, you know, you, you going through all the sweat, the blood and the, the tears through camp, fall camp, spring camp, you're doing all the lifting and running and you're going through all that and then, with all that working out and stuff, sometimes it all boils down to one moment and that one moment can come down to you being the man of your word, if you're supposed to feel like it got. Feel like it got.
Speaker 1:Sure Lauren. How about about you? What's that?
Speaker 5:one thing, that phrase, that, whatever it may be, since you've finished, um, well, I have kind of like I'm a lump sum of three phrases. Um, be a creator yeah, everybody has the same opportunity. You know, we all were freshmen, we all came in as being the bottom of the totem pole back again, like at that time. So, being a creator, leave your legacy. You know, that was like a big one for me and I just knew that. I just really wanted to be a standout person for myself. It's not a popularity contest of who is better than who. I just really wanted to make a name for myself. And you know, I just knew that if I focused on myself, I would leave whatever I had and that would be my legacy.
Speaker 5:And I'm a strong believer in mind over matter. If you don't, if it doesn't matter to you, you don't mind. And if you think about it, so if whatever is coming to mind and if you don't matter, you'll do it because you don't mind. So whatever it is, it'll get done. If it's waking up at five o'clock in the morning for waves, if it's staying late for practice, if it's stretching, if it's, you know, let's say, taking some really healthy protein shake to the mouth after a practice, that tastes like crap.
Speaker 5:You know, whatever you got to do like if it doesn't matter to you, you don't mind, you'll get it done because you know that the higher power thinking, I think, really what is what got me through my career and is what has created me into who I am today. And you know, I've set records within my own professional career, you know, within track and field, and I still have records to this day. I still actually have the track and field javelin record at my university, so it's still staying on.
Speaker 4:Wow.
Speaker 5:And at my high school. I still have my high jump record there too. But you know, just leaving your mark Wherever you go and just really just knowing that Whatever comes to your mind, if it doesn't matter to you, you'll get it done.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, that's great, mr. How about you? What's the one thing that stuck with you this whole time?
Speaker 6:You know the one thing when I was at Alabama A&M and you know you talk about all of us know someone was playing D1, someone was said to us that we were D1 players. And even when I was at Alabama A&M as a freshman, starting as a true freshman, you know I was all about going D1 and being D1. And, like you know, danny was saying something earlier that made me think about my freshman year or my younger years in college. You know one of my coaches. He came over to me and this is Ernest Wilson. He said man, you're trying to make this a business. And a lot of times, you know, as young guys or young ladies in our profession playing sports, you know we want to make something of business. We try and get to a professional setting or a professional level. You know everything we do. We talk about the relationship, not having time for this, not having time for our loved ones or doing our work as best as we can. You know all we think about is the end game, but don't understand the process that we have to go through to get to that end game. And he's like stop making this a business. You know what I'm saying. You know he would tell me, stop making this a business. You know, take care of today and tomorrow, we'll take care of ourselves. And that's one thing he can't tell me Take care of today and tomorrow, we'll take care of self. So that really stuck with me, I mean throughout my whole time.
Speaker 6:And then, real quick, my last one is with my running back coach, coach John General Montgomery. Crazy coach, beloved him to death to this day. You know, as a freshman, sometimes as a freshman you can do silly things. So one day, you know, I'm in my dorm room and I get a knock on my door, you know, thinking it's a player or somebody, and I open that door and who it is it's Coach General John Montgomery, looking dead at me, and all he kept saying was Mr Mr, and he's just shaking, mr Mr, and he's just shaking his head like this. And he had a long talk with me that night. I mean, he's in my, you know, in the dorm room, you know in my room. And so when I, you know seeing the coach do that, you know what I'm saying come to the room to talk to you, lay some wisdoms, knowledge, on you. It was really you know something else, but just those two things, man really stuck with me throughout my whole time.
Speaker 1:Sure, you know for me, the famous Coach Weaver, who I played under and Lando played under and Mr Coach under, he said something one time the famous Coach Weaver, who I played under and Lando played under and Mr coached under at Bethany he said something one time and I've taken this through my professional career and when I was a coach at high school and college level, and he said in a team everybody has a role. Whether you're the top performer or the worst athlete or the worst person that's there, everybody has a role and you're all equal, because without those roles there's no team. And make sure you always know that you are appreciated and that you are always seen. So I really took that with me in the workforce and in coaching. Just know everybody has a role, whether you're the best or the worst. Whatever your role is within that team, embrace it and run with it, because people do see it, people do see it. And then another one, coach Upton, who a lot of us know on here. He told me the hardest thing to do is get up when you get knocked down, and especially when you have to get up when nobody else is watching, and you'll find out the truth about yourself. With that one Can you get up when no one's watching and you'll find out the truth of yourself with that one no one's watching, you get knocked down. So the very last one here and I know it's kind of a long episode, but you know, for all the uh, for all the guests, this will be. You know this will be fun.
Speaker 1:You know, outside of uh, your ethnic experience, though, in college. What's that one like memory or one thing you're so grateful for at your time, whether it was at, you know, east Carolina or Bethany or Eureka, or you know, alabama, a&m or Elizabeth City College, whatever it was. What's that one thing that's always like stuck with you? It's like the best memory of your college experience outside of sports, and I'll let all of you kind of think about this and I'll answer this one first.
Speaker 1:For me, it is now having to be a 38 year old and being friends with the coaches that I have and getting to know them on a personal level and having them at the confidant and as a mentor and as a friend. Um, you know someone like mister, who I've known for almost 20 years now. You know now we are friends for this long time. Um, you know it's a relationship right. It's relationships of being friends with Lando. After all the time, it's having Danny as a player now being friends. To me, the greatest thing was relationships that I gained from it and mentorship and the lasting memories. So how?
Speaker 2:about you, Lando. I'm going to go with you on that one man. You said it the best right there, brother. Okay, well, I appreciate it. It is about the relationships. Sum it up, man, it's what it's all about. So at the end of the day, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1:Well, I appreciate that, Lando. Thanks for backing me up. How about you, Dan? What's that? One great memory from your readout for yourself.
Speaker 3:Man this is pretty random, but sorry I'm still losing my voice from last week. Oh, it was my sophomore year, sophomore fall football season, and we were on a bye week and at the time I had attended a wedding for a friend, for a family friend, and had met On the UIC University of Illinois, chicago D1 Horizon League at the time program she was a All-American outside hitter on the volleyball team was very, very good, and you know I was always a big fan of volleyball for many, many years and so I dated several volleyball players. And then now, oh yeah, just upstairs so, uh, shout out to my, my wife, uh. But at the time, uh, the uh time, we got done with practice and my girlfriend at UIC was playing at Western Illinois University over in Macomb, illinois, and so from where I'm at to Macomb you get to drive a bunch of back roads, and so I had an F-150 extended cab pickup at the time and I jumped in and I drove like a bat out of hell I mean I'm talking a hauling ever loving you know what straight down the back roads, because I jumped in and I drove like a bat out of hell I mean I'm talking a hauling ever loving, you know, was straight down the back roads because I was late and I could not be late for that match.
Speaker 3:And I got up, I pulled it in, I showed in the locker room. The guys are like dude, it's a, it's a Tuesday night, what on earth are you doing? Like you're getting all dressed up, like you brought cologne to practice and dressed up like you brought cologne to practice and so they were all. I mean, I was just getting chastised by my teammates and so I got dressed, I got that truck, I got over there and I got in. That first set started. So it was a huge victory. I did not get a ticket.
Speaker 3:I think the statute of limitations have passed on how fast I was driving at this point, but I got there safely and then I drove back home night. But at the time it's still something I'll never forget because it was a night where it was a bi-week, like everybody just wanted to get out of practice, like we were done, like we want to go home, do studies, whatever. Well, all you know, that night everybody wanted to hang out and talk and I'm like I'm not looking to talk right now I got to get to a volleyball match like two hours away. So it worked out well, uh, in the end. But that is a memory. I've taken with me my rest of my, rest of my, you know, I, I I'm married up, so my wife's up there. So, uh, that that story has nothing to do with you, honey that's great.
Speaker 1:Thanks for sharing that. Um, danny, how about you? What's that? One thing that stood out? You know? Um with the person who graduated.
Speaker 4:One thing that stood out to me was I was watching a podcast one day and then, in the podcast when this was my first year at Bethany, I was watching the podcast and then, um, within that podcast, a guy said, um, um, don't allow yourself to be so caught up in someone else's opinion of you that you forget to work on your character. And, um, when he began to go in detail about it, um, he was just saying that you're too busy and caught up in hearing other people's opinion about you, that you want to change this about you and change this about you and be so focused on your profession that you forget to work on the main thing, which is you and your character. And I carried that throughout Bethany and it landed me to have great, great relationships with you and other coaches that also coach other sports. I remember I was working out at a Bethany and then the lacrosse coach came, came over, walking over to me. He was like, let me give you a lacrosse jersey for draft day so you can wear it. Just, you know stuff like that. And coach ronald um, and and invited me to his wedding. I was at coach coach ronald's wedding, um, and that's something I thought I would never be able to to, to experience in my 31 years of living. Um, just being at someone's wedding, especially, uh, a guy who I have the utmost respect for.
Speaker 4:And, coach Ronald, like you know, I'm talking about a guy that just didn't teach me football, but a guy that taught me about life. You know, I had different rules and principles of life, and Coach Ronald would be like, don't bring that street stuff to my school. And Coach Arnold would be like, don't bring that street stuff in my school. Just, you know, learning how to become a young man and learning how to respect myself in today's society. And it eventually carries over, because now I'm a football coach now and I'm a head coach of girls high school flag football now, and girls are getting scholarships to play flag football now. So, um, now I can carry those same traits and, you know, pass that on and instill a little bit of my identity. And then, you know, because of the, the quote that I heard on that podcast from that guy, um, don't be so caught up in other people's opinion about you that you forget to develop your character.
Speaker 1:So so, Okay, okay, nice for sharing that Um. You know, lauren, how about you.
Speaker 5:Um, I really love that, danny, that really hit you know. I appreciate you saying that because I I can really relate to that and all in so many different ways. But for me personally, I could probably go back to you, fiddy, that the relationships is what it was for me. I found my personality start flourishing when I was back in Scott Hall, my first dorm If there's any East Carolina athletes that are listening to this podcast good old Scott High School school, as we like to call it, where we had all the um different kind of sport teams that were all the freshman athletes were at scott, scott uh dorm and we all really got to know each other and it was super cool because I became friends with the golf team, the swimming team, the football team, the you, it Like.
Speaker 5:We all were like a big family and Scott um dorm and we had like a big courthouse or like courtyard so we would all hang out there. We would all, like you know, do arts and crafts like other than just sports. It was just such a cool like environment that we had our own, practically like our. Such a cool like environment that we had our own practically like our as you can call it, the 13th grade and that was. It was so much fun and I just found myself really just flourishing and just becoming just like a really just genuine person of wanting to get to know people.
Speaker 5:And even when I was going into my classes, I found myself just wanting to just interact with people around me because I feel like sometimes us being all athletes, we feel that you know that I just I don't know if anybody used to name like other people that were not athletes narps I don't know if that's like any like a non-athletic regular person.
Speaker 5:That's what we used to call these people, which I'm so sorry if anybody's like taking this offensively. It's just something that I guess people used to call people, but I would always want to talk to anyone. And so I became really good friends with people in my classes and it was just so cool to kind of just see how I just evolved as a person of just really wanting to be a good human and just get to know people on a personal level and because you never know what they're going through, you don't know what they're. You know because you never know what they're going through, you don't know what they're you know dealing with or what they come from or what they can offer, and just adding value. As being a person, I feel like that's the biggest thing that I took out of, like my college career, and just the relationships and the interactions. That was the main thing for me.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, thanks for sharing that, mr. How about you round this out on this one? Bring us home.
Speaker 6:Oh yeah, absolutely, man. Like everybody said, for me it's most definitely the relationship that you most definitely build up and have being around athletics and a couple of particular things. For me, just real quick, if you would have told me no, mr, you're going to be coaching in West Virginia at a Division III school and you're going to come across, you're going to have two roommates, one named Ryan Lee and one named Bunk, aka Andrew Rozzi, and then, as I'm sitting in the office, you're going to hear a loud, pitched voice, someone introducing themselves to you. How you doing, coach, mr Askew, I'm Johnny, 50. And look up and I say how you doing? Man, you going to be a manager or something you know.
Speaker 6:And he ended up playing football and freaking 50 right there. I'm looking at this kid and I'm like, is this dude really going to play football? And he played football and he never, ever, ever, ever, um, um, stop, you talking about somebody that's a resilience um 50,. You know this is giving you some extra kudos, man, but you know, and then you really helped me from a, from a recruiting standpoint. You know, because if, if you have um the strength mentally and if you physically want to do it, you are going to be successful and that's one thing that you taught me.
Speaker 6:I know I never really said this to you, but from a coaching standpoint, you know how I looked at players, you know, because if somebody want to play, you know and they're going to put the work in. I don't care if you had all the talent in the world or you had no talent, you are going to be successful, man. So you really helped me in my recruiting when I left Bethany College, man. So just kudos to you, brother, but I was really but the relationship. But just kudos to you, brother, but I was really but the relationship. But just getting back to the relationship that I built with you guys at Bethany College and even with the relationship that I built up at Savannah State and up in Minnesota, it's really unmatched, you know, because you just never know who you are going to come across and the type of information and knowledge that somebody can really you know saying put upon you. So for me it's a relationship. I love it. Uh, wouldn't trade it nothing in for the world, man well.
Speaker 1:Thanks for sharing that, coach, and thank you for those kind words. I, uh, I was a little bit different when I was, you know, coming in right. I was like 6'3", 160, maybe, so I probably didn't look much like a football player back then. But for all of our listeners out there, I think this is a great episode to really listen to and dive into and hear what we're saying. This is our story retired college athletes, people coming from different parts of the country, people coming from different backgrounds going to different schools, talking about their perseverance and their memories. I think all of us would agree to be left with no regrets. That's the main thing. You have to leave with no regrets. Give it everything you have until you have nothing left to give, because when you have that feeling in you that you have nothing left to give, you know it's time to write off in the sense that you've accomplished everything that you wanted To.
Speaker 1:All of our younger listeners out there who are looking at schools definitely take everything we said into consideration, especially what I'm saying about the relationships and buying into the schools. When times get tough, don't give up. Hear what Danny said. Hear about Lauren's resilience on coming back from injuries. Hear what Lando said Be all in Love those practices. Practices get hard, right, they get hard and they get monotonous. Hear what he said, and you know.
Speaker 1:Listen to what everybody said about relationships, too, you know. Or funny stories about, you know, driving a pickup truck on the back roads right, those are memories that'll stay with you for a lifetime, you know. And to all that, people who are post-graduation and have done college sports, I hope that you found some comfort in this, knowing that there's other people out there that went through the same things that you did. To all of our guests, matt, mr Lauren, dan and Danny, thank you so much for joining for this episode. This is wonderful. Again, this is our story. Retired College Athlet athlete. Episode of the Red Home Runs podcast. As always, be a friend and tell a friend about the episode, and if you don't like the episode, tell them anyways. I bet they like it just because you did. This is Biddy signing off and we will see you next week.
