Ryan, Fred & Chan: Football is back, Deion's 2nd act, Tua & RC, Success vs Family Life

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find With the NFL Season kicking off, The guys are happy to be back in routine and excited for our regular shows to be coming back although we can't stress enough what a tremendous experience our Training Camp tour was and the amount of good stories and conversation we had with players and coaches this summer. Bringing everything back around, we just wanted to sit down with The Pivot family and have a show catching up on all things work and personal and look ahead to what we have going on this season. Started off talking some hot topics including Deion Sanders and college football, Ryan’s exchange with Tua, and balancing success with life at home. Ryan, Fred, and Channing look back on the progress they've made individually as well as a group and the respect they’ve continued to earn by being authentic and always having conversations with honesty and vulnerability. As the guys usually talk without holding back, Ryan opens the conversation by discussing the strides Deion Sanders has made in 6 months by turning the University of Colorado’s football program around. Although Channing hasn’t always believed or agreed with Deion’s approach, he admits that Shedeur Sanders' game has translated over perfectly to being on the national stage and that Travis Hunter is one of the best athletes we are witnessing to play the game. Not only is Deion impacting the University of Colorado’s reputation but he’s paving the way for other Black coaches to be their true selves after his reign. Ryan talks about how with more exposure comes more responsibility and with more success comes more accountability. Using the situation with Tua Tagovailoa and how something he would have casually said before received more scrutiny now and required a different approach than Ryan has had to do before... Fred and Channing weigh on the topic and offer perspective that maybe the world is just becoming too sensitive and when is it time to have tough skin and when is the time to push back. Wrapping up the conversation, as the season is upon us and more demands and work schedule increases, the trio talks about the challenges of balancing success and family life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  Finally off this dang road on the training camp tour, dawg.

• 0:33Channing Crowder?

  Long.

• 0:34Ryan Clark?

  Bruh, I am stinking old. Like, for real, I'm tired as hell.

• 1:05Ryan Clark?

  You know, it's one of those cool things, like you look at where we were last year to now. The difference in saying, "Welcome to the pivot. I'm RC. This is Chan. That's Freddie T." The different weight that carries. The way we were treated last year at this time, as opposed to this year. You know, and I think you kind of have these landmarks where you look at where you start to where you are, and we've had like the year mark, you had the Kevin Hart mark, you had the Rock, you had all these different things, and like now, the training camp tour was one of those real visuals that you could really, that was really tangible, because

• 1:48Ryan Clark?

  we could compare apples to apples. What to you was kind of like the best part, or what sticks out to you about the trip?

• 1:57Channing Crowder?

  I'd say it's the respect. Because we had a bunch of great players on, a bunch of great coaches on. We talked to a lot of very smart, educated, talented people, but the respect they give you now when you walk into place, the going to Dallas, and the security man tucks us back, and the next thing you know, you up in the box talking to the Joneses. And just the respect that's been gained there. Everybody runs up on Fred. We had dudes sprinting out, leaving the practice, that would stop and see Fred and turn back around.

• 2:22Ryan Clark?

  Hey, now, they all got gray hair.

• 2:23Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 2:26Channing Crowder?

  The young, I love watching young running backs talk to them.

• 2:30Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 2:31Channing Crowder?

  And that's the thing, but just really the respect they have and the admiration that people have for us, more than what we do, but what we're doing for people. And them players nowadays that's really coming up like, "Bruh, I love this one, I love that one." And people were quoting lines. People came to me recently, just in the airport, dude came up to me, OG was like, "Hey, when you said the thing about the dude that smiles the most still has problems," he was like, "Man, I watched that four or five times, because I'm the dude that's always smiling. Nobody asks me, 'Am I OK with it?'" So just impacting people's lives, but the respect that we've gained, I don't say given, the respect that we've gained overall, all walks of life, all facets of life, I really enjoy that.

• 3:10Fred Taylor?

  For me, it's simple, man. I'm just grateful for it all, grateful for the moment, you know, all those stops, everything that you said, but you have the young guys, they come up and they say, "Thank you." You know, they say, "I appreciate you," and you can see it, you can actually feel it. We're giving back, you know, it's therapy for me. And, you know, we grind, we move, shit, your ass, you, I know your new clothes are gonna say, "Thank you." Because for about a good four weeks, I know your old clothes were tight. Like, "Man, this motherfucker ass smell like ass." So your new suits are gonna say, "Thank you." But the grind though, man, looking back on it, you know, when we did the West Coast Swing

• 3:53Fred Taylor?

  after the fight, knocked out those teams, boom, talking about the fight itself, but after the fight, we start the training camp tour, and then we hit all of those teams, then we came east and hit all of those teams, but the love is the same, you know, being able to get in the buildings when a lot of other people weren't able to get access. You know, the coaches, Mike T. say, "Man, this, y'all home." You gotta love that. In New York, y'all are home. Anything y'all need, just let us know. Then you look up, they following you on Twitter. So the respect from the players and the coaches, the front office people, talking to John Lynch. You know, just that love, them saying they admire the show, that we got something special. So it makes you know you're doing something right.

• 4:37Channing Crowder?

  You brought up Dayball, the Giants coach. I would say that's the most memorable thing in this training camp tour, when we all sitting around talking and we heard 21 Savage playing. And all of us check our phones, thinking, oh, my phone going off, or my playlist on. And it was Brian Dayball. That was the most memorable thing that happened this training camp tour. That blew my mind, that Coach Dayball had 21 Savage on his damn phone.

• 5:00Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I think the cool thing that has been for me is the respect we have as a group. You know, I think a lot of times, you can move in these groups, or have these shows, or have these things. And like, people don't see y'all as a family. People don't see y'all as being together. And, you know, people call it, or my family calls it celebrities in the wild, right? Where people see us out, or see you somewhere, they're like, what you doing in the airport? The same thing you doing in the airport. I'm trying to catch this plane. Like, I'm trying to get on this flight to get where I'm going. But they're so used to seeing us on video, or on YouTube, or whatever it is, social media. And it's when they see us together and they realize,

• 5:45Ryan Clark?

  oh, like, these dudes really hang.

• 5:47Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 5:47Ryan Clark?

  Or these dudes are really friends, or they're really cool, or they really have one another's back. And so I think it makes them feel that the conversations we have are authentic. The conversations we have are truly who we are. And the other funny part about it is, everybody approaches us with our own personalities. Everybody that approaches you is smiling already. You ain't even said nothing. You just, you must look funny to them.

• 6:13Fred Taylor?

  They be ready to go.

• 6:14Ryan Clark?

  They be ready to go. They run up to me differently, right? They shake my hand like this. They run up to Fred, and you can see there in awe of his wisdom, of his experience. And so that's the thing. Like, their personalities have now taken on the characteristics of our personality. And when you talk about people we've interviewed, there's nobody we interviewed that was bigger than Prime. That was bigger than Deion Sanders. Right? And there's no one, like, you gotta think about this. Deion Sanders is...

• 6:44Ryan Clark?

  Not one of the best players to ever play his positions. He's one of the best players to ever play football, period. He's one of, truly, one of the greatest athletes to ever live. Deion Sanders' second act as a coach is probably more impressive. Right? Because it's not about what God gifted him and made him naturally. It's what he's learned, it's what he can pass down, it's what he can communicate. And they've been a lightning rod, him and his team, the University of Colorado, because of who he is. Right? This man takes over a 1-11 team, goes into TCU, who was in the national championship last year.

• 7:24Ryan Clark?

  The national championship runner-up, a 20-plus-point underdog, and pulls out the win. When you see what Deion's doing, and you see the belief that he has, when you're watching that post-game... And here's what was funny about the post-game press conference. Travis Hunter comes up, and he hugs him, and he says, "That's my son." And then he hugs Shador. And so the lady asking the questions actually calls Travis Hunter Shiloh. Because she heard Deion say, "This is my son." But he said it with such passion. He said it with such meaning to her. She didn't even look at who it was. She was like, "Oh, this gotta be Shiloh. This gotta be his real kid."

• 8:08Ryan Clark?

  When you're watching that, Freddie T, the moment of really realizing Deion went there and did that, in six months, turned a 1-11 program around to that, what are your thoughts, or what are your first thoughts in that moment?

• 8:20Fred Taylor?

  Now, I just want to quote Deion real quick, RC. He said, "When you do things different, people are afraid, people are scared." And just looking at the history of Deion, right? Prime has always been prime. He's always been that way. He's always been a personality, you know, he's always been passionate, very confident. You know, he speak to it, then he goes and back it up. When he was on our show, he said, "Look, I've won everywhere I've gone, you know, on every level." So, for me, you want to support and root for somebody, get behind somebody like that. And to see them be able to go in there and knock off a 17th-ranked team with a team that was just 1-11

• 9:01Fred Taylor?

  a year ago at their place, you know, I think it's a confidence booster. I think it shows that he's... He's extremely confident in himself and his players. And it's gonna build up that program. The naysayers, he doesn't even, he don't really worry about them.

• 9:22Fred Taylor?

  So really, I think it's a great start for them, that program. Confidence builder, it shows that they have great players. It shows that those guys, unlike what Channing said, can compete at the HBCU level as well as Power Five. You know, when you talk about Travis Hunter, when you talk about Shador Sanders, 500 yards passing, crazy. Travis should have had two picks and he played over 100 snaps. So it just shows, it just shows that these guys are great caliber players that can get it done no matter where they are, which echoes their coach, they can get it done anywhere. That's what I got from it.

• 10:02Channing Crowder?

  There's a couple of players that could play at HBCU and then go and thrive in big conferences. And them two, Travis Hunter's the most impressive athlete I've seen in a long time in college. That joke could play in the league right now. He could stop playing today, he gonna go top five pick. He can play ball like that. The thing I love about Deion, how he's doing it, is unapologetic. He's gonna be him at all times. And after the game, it wasn't, "Thank you, oh, I appreciate this love." No, I told y'all what's about to happen and we did it. We went out there to turn the organization around, to turn the entire school around from a laughing stock to now ranked that fast with, what is it, 87 new players? That's a mind frame, that's a mentality that you have to get across to children. Them are babies, them are 18 to 20 year old kids.

• 10:47Channing Crowder?

  And he has them believing in themselves and believing that they, they aren't that 111 team. That's the most impressive thing and I love how he does embrace those guys. How when he hit it, him was gonna come with it. Whoever he asked to leave and go with him, they were gonna come with him because it wasn't, I know y'all play for guys. They were guys that just a coach. They were using you, I was linebacker one at Florida. To Charlie Strong, I was chanting. I still talk to Charlie Strong to this day. To Ron Zook, to a couple of other coaches, I was, I was the starting linebacker for Florida. And that's what Deion has them guys, them guys believing. But the mentality to put on kids and get them to turn their mind frame that fast. Man, it's crazy impressive. He's right Fred. I, I questioned Deion every step of the way. Told him to his face, talked about it behind his back.

• 11:30Channing Crowder?

  Everything. I questioned Deion Sanders the whole, every step of the way. He's shutting my ass up. I had to put my foot in my mouth about that.

• 11:36Ryan Clark?

  Well, don't put your feet in your mouth. I know your feet stink like hell. You certainly don't wash below your knees.

• 11:40Channing Crowder?

  I was just about to say, they gotta rinse and repeat. You gotta rinse and repeat.

• 11:45Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you do not do that. But I wanna, I wanna talk about some, a certain, a couple of things that we all said. First Fred said, doing it his way. And also saying that it's not familiar, or that things feel different. It's not that, it's just that Deion does it his way. It's not just that it's different. It's that, for so long, if we wanted that job, we had to be like them. Right? If we wanted to hold that position, we had to speak like they talked. We had to assimilate, right? We had to compromise. The bravado, the confidence, the being uniquely and authentically African-American.

• 12:29Ryan Clark?

  Right? Which means our culture, which means the way we dress, the way we speak, the way we cut our hair. All of those things that actually make us dope as hell. Right? The things that we're attracted to in one another, they don't want that. And it's not that they don't want it because they believe it's bad. They just don't know enough about it. They're not aware. And all they've seen work is what Bill Belichick does. Right? What they've seen work is what John Hallbar does. What they seen work in college is Kirby Smart, is Nick Saban, is Dabo Sweeney. And so nah, you can't come up here dancing like Lou Young and win. Right? You're not gonna tell us what you're gonna do and then do it. That's not what coaches do, but it's what Prime does.

• 13:13Ryan Clark?

  But we also have to realize and be be smart about it and upfront about it. Prime could do that because he Prime. Prime can actually do that because of how good he was at football. Because of how much money he has, how accomplished he is, how successful he is. He ain't gotta prove nothing to nobody. You're actually hiring Prime. Right? That's not how it normally works. Like, some dude who worked up from a G A and a quality control guy, he can't go act like Prime a coach. Nah. Right? Because they're gonna be ready to get him out of there. I think that part of it is just so different and it's uniquely him because he can do that. I think the other thing on the other side of it, and you know Fred mentioned

• 13:57Ryan Clark?

  that these guys can maneuver in the H B C U's and play well, whether it's at Jackson State or Colorado. I tweeted after the game, something I thought was cool. Right? I was like, this is amazing. Like, Shador Sanders just introduced himself to the college football world. The first time the world, the people who truly view college football as a whole, who make the decisions on who's the best and who's the most talented and all these things, got to see him on the biggest stage for the first time. And he was, if Travis Hunter didn't play on his team, the best player on the field. Maybe the best quarterback that weekend.

• 14:39Ryan Clark?

  And I was like, man, what an introduction to college football. And black people went crazy. You know what I'm saying? Oh, you gonna take this back? No, you got me effed up. I apologized one time? And now I gotta apologize all the time? I wish I mother effing would. Like, my point was this. My point was this. It wasn't even about the fact that we didn't pay attention to Shador Sanders at Jackson State. It was about the fact that the rest of the world is not paying attention to Jackson State. The rest of the world doesn't care what happened against Southern University, or Grambling, or FAMU. That's not the way they view it, because they don't look at those people who are on

• 15:21Ryan Clark?

  the field at that time as people who they're going to draft and be able to compare them against. And the other thing is this, yeah, you know why College Game Day went to Jackson State? Because of Deion Sanders. The same reason that the two players that Fred mentioned can play on both levels went to Jackson State. Shador Sanders don't go to Jackson State if his po ain't there.

• 15:41Channing Crowder?

  No.

• 15:42Ryan Clark?

  Right? Travis Hunter doesn't go there if primetime, if the best two-way player we've ever seen isn't the head coach there. For the best two-way player we're getting to watch, no. And so, I just think that we have to be real, and I'm not where you are on HBCUs, but we have to be real. This is the first time Shador Sanders was truly tested in that manner. He truly had those amount, that amount of eyes on him, and he passed with flying colors. And it's okay to say that it's different from what he did at Jackson State two years before that or the two years prior.

• 16:17Channing Crowder?

  The competition is not there. It's no competition, HBCUs. I understand what you want it to be, and that's what people want it to be. We're talking about what it is. Nobody's looking at Grambling State's defensive secondary and saying, "Oh, he's eating up Grambling State. Oh, he's tearing up Jacksonville." They're not doing it. The competition is not anywhere close. You could take a, what they call it, PWI.

• 17:11Ryan Clark?

  25th, 30th ranked. And they'll run through NIA schools and all because the competition is just lesser. I believe in Shador Sanders now. Cause I, I can see him being a first round pick after watching that one game. Could you say that about Shador Sanders when watching him play at Jackson State?

• 17:27Fred Taylor?

  It would be, it would be hard to say because, because you don't know the level, the extent of the competition, the level of the competition. But because you kept tossing it around, I just want to say real quick. Shador said in his post game, that was the most yards he ever had in his life passing.

• 17:43Ryan Clark?

  He had to say it, it was.

• 17:45Fred Taylor?

  And you're talking about competition?

• 17:47Ryan Clark?

  Yes.

• 17:48Fred Taylor?

  Where? What happened? Like that kid just went out there and lit it up. But you know, I don't want to go too heavy on that because we seen it. Like we, it's a long season, it's gonna be very entertaining. Just gonna sit back and watch it. But since we're talking about upsets, boy, we are here. Let's talk about number five LSU. Can we talk about that? Jeez.

• 18:11Ryan Clark?

  Don't we have like a lot of other branches of this Deion thing to talk about? Like it's so many other things that go along with it that we could talk about.

• 18:18Fred Taylor?

  But not run away from it.

• 18:20Ryan Clark?

  I'm not really sure why we're talking about LSU. Like I don't really.

• 18:23Fred Taylor?

  I just, I just want to get it in because Clemson was a beautiful upset by the Dukies.

• 18:28Ryan Clark?

  I mean, I feel like people watch our show to get the branches of sports, not necessarily truly talk about what happens on the field. I mean, I think, so for me, Fred, not, I mean.

• 18:41Fred Taylor?

  This is how you are. Ooh, I love the fact that you are the host. You know how to clean it up.

• 18:45Ryan Clark?

  Now I'm gonna say this, like, like this straight up, bro. Like straight up, like, here's the issue, period, point blank. There should never be a time at LSU that when people from Florida State are catching the football, I gotta keep hearing Kirk Herbstreet tell me that this dude was a transfer from Syracuse. Like, that's not how it's supposed to happen. Or that this kid transferred from Tulane or Southeastern. And it's nothing against these kids. I want them all to do well. And I do understand that recruiting is not a perfect science. People get missed in the day and age of size and strength and speed. There are good players that go all over the world that have to go prove they're a certain thing,

• 19:29Ryan Clark?

  which is why in some ways the transfer portal is good, right? Those guys get to go to LSU, but that ain't what we supposed to do, right? It's supposed to be the top of the top 15 to 20 DBs in the world? Two or three of them supposed to want to come play for DBU? Two or three of them supposed to want to wear seven? And so like when you gotta go out and do that, that's tough. And the other thing is this too. When you bring Brian Kelly in, Brian Kelly has coached at Cincinnati, Brian Kelly has coached at Notre Dame, those kids different, right? The kids you recruit, we went to Notre Dame.

• 20:10Ryan Clark?

  The kids you're recruiting at Notre Dame, some of them may not need that extra push or most of them don't. Most of them have been planning on the Notre Dames and the Stanfords and the Dukes and all that. Like it's Louisiana, bro. Like you know that the public school system is ranked near the bottom of the United States? So when I'm looking at this kid's transcript, I gotta look at the kid's circumstances, right? I gotta ask what's going on in his house. I gotta ask what help he has. I can't run away from raising people.

• 20:43Fred Taylor?

  More importantly, RC, you gotta understand how to get in the house. How to be personable in the South is different than recruiting in the out West. And other places, I remember when Florida was trying to make a decision on who to hire. I think it was Malcolm Wayne they brought in, eventually brought in. I'm like, this guy didn't necessarily come across as personable, you know? So how are you gonna go here in the South and talk to these parents and get the best, the most out of this situation and then the kid? The same thing, you know, you have coaches that they want to dump all this money into, but how do they relate to the players, to the athletes? And you know, I don't want that to be an excuse from an early season upset.

• 21:27Fred Taylor?

  You know, Florida State, they came in, they were prepared. They managed the portal. You know, it seems that it was a success. They have a long season in front of them, so does LSU. But, but that particular night, and I say that just to, you know, give RC a hard time. It was a great game for a half. And then they just broke down. And that's communications from the staff, the players. Everybody was at fault. And Florida State ended up being a better team that night.

• 21:55Ryan Clark?

  This training camp episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. And when I think of BetterHelp, I think of what training camp can do to you. The type of pressures that are on each and every player here to make a team. Those things come out and sometimes send players into depression.

• 22:08Fred Taylor?

  It always started with therapy for me, RC. I felt that I wanted to be better. But the only way I could do that is I had to go out and get help. And therapy, you know, I started in person and then I eventually went full time online, which is what BetterHelp offers. No need to fall back. Go out there and seek the help you need.

• 22:28Channing Crowder?

  And if you're thinking about starting therapy, try BetterHelp. Online, like you say, Freddie, convenient. They'll adjust to your schedule, flexible, and they're there for you. And they're out there to help us. Don't be timid to ask for help because everybody need it. I've been to therapy. I know y'all have as well. BetterHelp, reach out to them.

• 22:46Ryan Clark?

  And listen, let therapy be your map. And you can let therapy be your map through BetterHelp. You can go to betterhelp.com/pivot for 10% off right now. That's betterhelp, H E L P, dot com slash pivot for 10% off your first month. Let BetterHelp be your map.

• 23:05Channing Crowder?

  Talk about the transfer portal because nowadays, watching all college football games, you hear, oh, this guy came from here. This guy came from Kent State. This guy transferred in this way. Clemson got beat by Duke, which is a crazy upset. Dabo Swinney doesn't believe in the transfer portal.

• 23:19Ryan Clark?

  He does not.

• 23:20Channing Crowder?

  That's the dumbest thing in the world. To your point, it's changing right now. But when we were in college, how many transfers came in? I think I remember two guys transferred to Florida.

• 23:28Ryan Clark?

  Remember when we were younger, you had to drop down a level of play.

• 23:31Channing Crowder?

  To get out.

• 23:32Ryan Clark?

  To be able to leave those schools. And you also had to be allowed out of your scholarship if you wanted to move laterally. So we didn't have those opportunities.

• 23:42Channing Crowder?

  But they have to embrace it now.

• 23:44Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 23:44Channing Crowder?

  Like them coaches that are trying to run from that thing. Well, you better embrace it and go get them kids. Because now you can see a kid who maybe not developed as much as he would, but you can now see him a little older. Or maybe playing a couple snaps and see him. And that's what teams gotta do. Florida, Fred, we can't throw stones in this glass house we living in at Florida. That look like a high school team.

• 24:03Fred Taylor?

  We tweeted, Jalen Ramsey got at me and RC on Twitter. We both got our asses beat. And we look awful.

• 24:10Ryan Clark?

  Well, I mean, y'all quarterback came from Wisconsin.

• 24:13Fred Taylor?

  Hey, but listen.

• 24:14Channing Crowder?

  You don't ever want one of them.

• 24:15Fred Taylor?

  But then you gotta couple that with playing against the backup at Utah. That was their backup.

• 24:20Channing Crowder?

  That was a two backer. They had a two, two, two quarterback system.

• 24:22Fred Taylor?

  So, I mean, it was, it's tough. It's still early. That, I'm gonna lay my head on that, but I wanna go back to, uh, Dabo really quick. Do you think his, the Dabo dynasty in Clemson is done?

• 24:31Channing Crowder?

  Zero. It's done. It's over. Especially if you don't wanna keep up with what's going on in college football. It's like, right?

• 24:39Channing Crowder?

  I don't wanna use an oven. Why don't you wanna use it? Cause I just don't want to.

• 24:42Fred Taylor?

  Don't wanna use the microwave.

• 24:43Channing Crowder?

  That's the most efficient way of cooking something.

• 24:44Ryan Clark?

  I wanna cook on the fire outside on a stick.

• 24:46Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, I know what you're talking about. When I heard he's getting on this transfer portal, you have to keep up or you gonna die. You have to adjust or die. And Clemson's football is gonna die if he doesn't get out that old way of thinking about it not being in the transfer portal. It's the dumbest thing in the world and you have to now keep up with guys like Deion. You don't wanna bring anybody in? I'll bring them all in. Eighty-seven new players. Come on in. And I got on Deion about when he walked in and told him, all y'all, he's like, I'm bringing my own luggage. And they gonna start too.

• 25:13Ryan Clark?

  So, I do have a question about that though. If you're a parent of one of those kids, of one of those players, what is your advice to your kid? What is your feeling on when Deion walks in there? One, you know y'all stink cause y'all one in 11.

• 25:31Fred Taylor?

  Yes.

• 25:32Ryan Clark?

  When Deion walks into that room and say, look, a lot of y'all aren't going to be here. I got dudes that's gonna come with me. And not even the dudes I'm bringing. There's gonna be people from the Florida States and from the other schools who may not be able to get on the field, who are four and five stars, who are gonna come here too. What's your feeling if you're that kid sitting in the chair when you first see Deion Sanders? Cause I'm sure when you hear Deion Sanders just coming, you're excited if you're Colorado. And he walks in right away and say, I'm probably not gonna be y'all coach. If you're the parent of one of those kids, what are you talking to, to your young man?

• 26:07Channing Crowder?

  I would have to. If my son was on Colorado and he comes in with that, we all saw it on social media. Go compete. If you prove yourself, you're gonna have a job. It's like when we talk about the cut day, we talk about getting cut in the league. And my whole take is, it's the 1% of the 1%, not the 5% of the 1%. If you're not good enough to play at that level, you need to trade down or transfer out or do something. These aren't children. It's not an 11U football team. These are 18 to 24-year-old kids. You need to learn life right now. Go out there and whoop somebody's ass, earn you a spot, or move on. That's what I would tell my son. If he was in, if he went to Colorado, I would say, earn your spot, earn the respect of Deion. Don't, don't wait or wait for anybody to give you anything. That's not how life is.

• 26:51Channing Crowder?

  Actually, a great life lesson, I think, Deion showed them dudes. You're not good enough to play here, find somewhere else.

• 26:55Fred Taylor?

  Coming from us, though, it's a bit skewed, you know, because we competed our entire lives. You know, this, here's a guy that was undrafted. He had to go in and show them, look, I'm worthy, I belong here. And he fought through and ended up playing for 13 years. You know, you yourself, you know, going through your thing in Florida, coming out early as a sophomore, getting to the league, becoming a starter, you know, alongside a Hall of Famers. So, our mindset is a bit different when it comes to that question, I believe. I think that's better suited for someone who hasn't been in our position. But, I don't know, I would tell my son, you gotta get your ass out there and compete. If you, if you can't play here, that dream you had of trying to make it to the next level, it's definitely not gonna happen there.

• 27:39Fred Taylor?

  You know, so, I don't know, but it's tough. It's easy for us to say, but it's tougher, you know, for someone who hadn't played, you know, on a professional level.

• 27:48Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I think that, I think the, but the conversation is, it's not easy, right? Because up until that point, your child earned the opportunity to be there.

• 28:00Fred Taylor?

  He gotta keep earning.

• 28:01Ryan Clark?

  Right? He earned the right through scholarship or whatever it is to be there. Now, I know there are a lot of these schools that are talking to these kids or telling these players, you can't play football, but we'll work a way that your schooling is still paid for if you wanna go to school here. You just won't be on this team, right? We won't use one of those scholarships for the people that put the helmets on for you. And the bigger issue to me is, if you're upset about that, your entitlement reeks. Right? Because you're not entitled to this. You know what I'm saying? Just because you worked hard last year, or you made plays last year, doesn't mean you have to be here. Doesn't mean those people have to keep you. But I do think,

• 28:46Ryan Clark?

  when you look at the negativity surrounding Deion, that's part of it. It's part of that being so public, seeing that, and now people looking at him with the sensitivities that we have now. Like, don't nobody want to be told the truth? Right. You know what I'm saying? Like, nobody want to be like, "You stink", or "You below the line", or "Whatever you are doing isn't enough". But the thing is, if I tell you that truth, which might hurt, down the line, it's so much better than me lying to you. Because if I lie to you, and I placate to you, and I keep you moving along, and I keep you hanging around, and I keep you thinking that this thing is gonna happen, do you know how bad it is when somebody tell you the truth? Like, when you walk away from me, or you get away from me,

• 29:30Ryan Clark?

  and you realize the truth on your own, or your friend tells you the truth, you're gonna be like, "You gonna come to me, and if you respected me, and you thought I actually cared about you, you'd be like, 'RC, why you ain't tell me that?'" Right, Freddie T., you come to me like, "You had all this time". And I think the world of sensitivity we live in is forcing people who don't want to, to look at themselves, and then in other ways, it could force you to look at yourself. Like, the Tua situation with me. You know? I'm gonna be straight up, bro. It's the, the timing of it was very funny. Because the week before, y'all two made all those jokes about my lower half. Right?

• 30:14Ryan Clark?

  You said I was built like a woman. Freddie T. called them drumsticks, or something. Upside down. Upside down drumsticks. Turned leg. I am! You built funny. I am, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm thicker on the bottom half than I should be. You know what I mean? For a man of my size. Yes. Right? Like, I gotta buy my jeans different, and get them taken up in the waist. Like, I get it. You know? But, the... For us, that was something we could laugh about. Right, and so I'm on TV and you're just there and like I'm looking at him and you know, I'm like, oh, he looks softer but bigger, like he had gained some weight, which he said he did and he said he put on muscle.

• 30:56Ryan Clark?

  And I'm looking at it in a uniform and it really was one of those things, well, I kinda like forgot I was on TV, really. And I was just talking like I talk, which I do on TV most times anyway. And you know, you said, and then you start getting the negativity from it. Uh, I think the same guy that trained you trains him.

• 31:13Channing Crowder?

  Yup.

• 31:13Ryan Clark?

  And he was, you know, he tweets about it and now everybody's saying something. Uh, there was a former football player who does radio in Denver. He puts out like a whole post about it, right? And you know me, like, there's certain things I think are cool and there's certain things I don't, right? Like, I'm not, I don't care, if you're on another na- a network or doing something, I don't care what you say, I'm never gonna say anything about it. Unless I DM you and I be like, "Ay, man, that was dumb."

• 31:40Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 31:40Ryan Clark?

  Or "That was stupid." Or "Why would you say that?" Or "That hurts in this way." But most of the times, if I don't know you, I don't care enough anyway. And so I was like, "Ay, man, like, you need to like, keep that soft ass stuff to yourself." You know, but like, that's my, that's my, my, my feeling on it. When you heard me say it and you saw it becoming a big deal, especially being in Miami and having to, I guess, deal with the questions, or answer for me as your friend, what was the whole story stir like for you?

• 32:11Channing Crowder?

  It, and I think it started before you and I put it on Brian Flores. Cause he treated Tua so, in early in his career, they were taking him out for Fitzpatrick. Then he started getting injured, so people treat Tua like this little baby. And that was my point when it happened and I did two days of radio about it. And I'm like, "Tua's a grown ass man." When he came out all sensitive, I was like, "Well, what are you talking about? Why is he worried about what you think about his body? Cause it's just sensitivity there." But everybody from when, from when Flo was there early on, Tua got painted as this little, this little delicate flower. And now-

• 32:48Speaker 00

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• 33:16Channing Crowder?

  He's trying to push back. So I see him, and I even saw him in the press conference when he did it. He almost ramped himself up to say something back to you, because he's really not built that way. He's a very nice kid. But it's just the sensitivity side. I'm with you. I don't give a damn what anybody says about me. And I know I'm a aberration in that plane. I really don't give a damn what nobody says. But I don't know why grown ass millionaires give a damn if you think their body looks funny. Who cares? Go do your job. Go perform. And he'll shut you up. Let's do it with MVP. That'll shut you up quick. Why does he care so much about what people? It goes back to this new age kid, the social media, them reading every damn tweet, reading every damn comment. It's turning people very sensitive because they're so concerned with other people's thoughts of them, not with just performing and thriving in life.

• 34:01Channing Crowder?

  They worried about, if I'm thriving, I need you to see that I'm thriving. No, just go do it. And the world will see your success.

• 34:09Fred Taylor?

  Right. For me, I think the apology is what stood out the most for me. You know, going on your social media and you apologizing. You know, it brings me back to the word respect. You know, we were talking about the respect we get as we go into these facilities, these other teams. So when you break that word down, right? Re-inspect. Respect is to look. Re is back, right? So when you're looking back, there has to be some sort of history. And for you to look back and realize what you said, it just shows you how much you respect that man at the very end of the day. And that's what I got from it. So I ended up gaining more respect for you as a man,

• 34:52Fred Taylor?

  for you to show that vulnerability and go back and just truly apologize for being out of pocket, for lack of a better term. Uh, the shit was funny. I can say that. It was funny to those who weren't so sensitive. But boy, you rattled the shit out of them Dolphin fans. They were tweeting at you. They were tweeting and you was defending and you was blocking them. But I mean, I mean, in, in sports, man, you can't be so thin-skinned. You know, it comes with the territory. Uh, we all have been through it. Shit, I tell you, I gotta deal with it. If I, if I look my name up, they got nicknames. They, they got Fragile Fred next to, to my name. Don't even laugh. I ain't got no thin skin, cause at the end of the day, I know the real.

• 35:36Fred Taylor?

  Tua, you know, he, he fought back, like you said. He had to jump into it and let him know that I ain't no punk bitch. I ain't no punk bitch, RC. So, and that's what he did and he defended himself.

• 35:47Channing Crowder?

  I was more upset, I was upset at you for disrespecting the wonderful ladies of Onyx.

• 35:54Channing Crowder?

  There is no woman that works at Onyx, which I'm, I'm a- A frequent, a frequent- Client, customer of Onyx. Not one woman in there that looks like Tua.

• 36:02Fred Taylor?

  But he said day shift. He said day shift.

• 36:05Channing Crowder?

  Day shift look like Tua.

• 36:07Ryan Clark?

  Hey, man, it is time for the DraftKings Sportsbook Picks of the Week. And I'm gonna be honest, I'm about to make somebody mad. I'm going down to Duval for my winner over Indianapolis.

• 36:19Fred Taylor?

  Hey, RC, you know I gotta follow you, man. Let's go Jacksonville.

• 36:22Channing Crowder?

  I'm going with that new boy slanging that ball in New York now. New York over Buffalo.

• 36:26Ryan Clark?

  DraftKings, those are the picks I already know two of us are gonna be right. I'm gonna be honest, like the, the, the thing was,

• 36:35Ryan Clark?

  it wasn't about, like, what people said to me. Like, I didn't care that, like, the Dolphins fans were mad. And I actually understood why they were mad. I knew that it was, this kid has at least seemed to be treated unfairly in ways. But I didn't care about them. It was when he had to answer the question about it. And the way it was brought up to him, the way he was asked, the way he responded. You know, and I said it, like, I do the job for a certain reason. And I try to do it a certain way. I didn't mean, and like everybody's like, you know, the apology, the if I offended you, obviously you offended him. I didn't mean to offend him. I didn't mean, like, I truly was joking.

• 37:19Ryan Clark?

  And if he took it in a disrespectful way, then I got it. And we talked on the phone. Like, we had a conversation, and it was such a, such a weird thing, because it felt like I was talking to Troy. You know, so like, that was the, the first thing. And I was honest with him. I said, to be real with you, had I been asked the question the way you would ask, I probably would have answered worse than you answered. Right? I said, you did exactly what you were supposed to do. You defended yourself. Right? I said, you did exactly what you're supposed to do when you feel like you've been disrespected. And like a man on the phone with him, I said, and I'm sorry. I said, I apologize, I said, because I didn't mean to disrespect you.

• 37:57Ryan Clark?

  No, there are things I say purposely about people and to people, and I mean to disrespect them. Right? I want them to feel disrespected. And I want to see how you're going to respond and what you do when I disrespect you. I'm not apologizing for that. What I will apologize for, though, is if that was not my intention. And it wasn't. But it also put me in a place, the Shador Sanders thing, uh, the Tua thing, a while back, a few weeks ago, me saying that George Pickens was more talented

• 38:39Ryan Clark?

  than Justin Jefferson. And I am no different than I've always been my entire life. I'm no different than I've always been my entire career. But it's like, dang, because I said that, is that big of a deal? Or because I said this, is that big of a deal? Or because I said that, now you gotta DM me and call me names and be hot with me because of these things? And it's starting to make me understand and realize that, like, with heightened success and heightened accomplishments comes more responsibility. Or at least you now are being viewed in a different way, under a certain microscope.

• 39:22Ryan Clark?

  People hold you accountable in a different way. Right? Because my thing about George Pickens is a conversation starter. Right, I can say he's 6'4" and he's 200 pounds and his wingspan is this and his hands are this big and he's leaping, I can say all those things and be like, still, Justin Jefferson's the better wide receiver. Justin Jefferson's harder to cover. I can say those things and because I know those nuances, right? You can ask me about the tour thing and I can say, "Well, it was a joke because of whatever his build is, I feel this way," right? The Shador Sanders, it's a, it's a statement made based on where he's in school now, but it's like people hold you accountable for those things when they start to expect a

• 40:04Ryan Clark?

  certain level out of your thoughts, out of your opinions. And I can be honest, I'm having to adjust to that, along with Fred saying like, "He respects the fact that I apologized." That was hard for me, right? Like when he was like, "I get scrappy" and when, you know, he was like, "Keep my name out of your mouth." Like, I was straight up like, "And?" But no, I understand now that I'm also 43, like I can't just be trying to fight people, but that's hard for me.

• 40:36Channing Crowder?

  And what's the, what's the Spider-Man saying? Well, great power comes great responsibility. And that's what I think you're gaining. You're gaining that power over people. They listen to you, they really respect what you say. It's when the thing with Russ and Ciara and all that stuff came with me and we were on The Breakfast Club and Angela Yee, because I was like, "Why does he care what I think about him or his lady? What does it matter?" And she was like, "You've gained people's respect to care about what you say." There's a bunch of people with Twitters and Instagrams that nobody gives a damn, they have eight followers.

• 41:10Ryan Clark?

  Say whatever the hell they want.

• 41:11Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, and nobody's listening, but you have all these followers, you have all this. And that, that hit me when she said, I was like, "I understand that. I still don't know why you care about my opinion, but I see that that power comes and they have that power over you." And once you get it, and I've even got, I've even got to a point now where I try to, I try to say things differently. I try not to really get, get on anybody too heavy because people are watching, kids are watching. And that's the thing with me, when I'm about to tweet something or text something, whoo, I got teenagers following me on this. Let me not say that, let me not cuss, you know, cuss on there and all. And I'm even changing my mind frame and you're on a way different platform, a way higher national TV platform, and I think people really care about it. And you were speaking of success. When you thrive so much to be successful...

• 41:57Channing Crowder?

  That you take, you take the energy away from your loved ones. Cause I, we go out, we be grinding, we doing a training camp tour, we doing all that. And I come home exhausted. And I, you know, I don't sleep past six, seven in the morning, but I sleep till nine, 10, 11. The kids are already up, Asia's out there with them. And she had to reset me like, listen, you're giving the world, all of you. You come home with nothing left for us. And we're the most important piece of this whole call. Asia holds down everything while we running and working and trying to be successful. And I think a lot of men, I just want to say that thing. I think a lot of men need to almost prioritize their life and prioritize their loved ones over success. Cause success is gonna be there and success will be gone.

• 42:40Channing Crowder?

  Them babies, your wife, your girl, whoever that is, your parents, the people you love. Put as much energy into them as you do to try to be successful. Try to get that up, that, that raise, try to make more money. And don't take all the energy away from them babies or, or your loved ones.

• 42:54Fred Taylor?

  I think balance and moderation is always key. Right? We gotta learn how to keep the main thing, the main thing. But how do you do that? Like, how do we figure out and make certain sacrifices? But it has to come from both ends. You know, Asia, she has to play her part. You know, you, you're out here grinding, you gotta play your part. And when it's time to get back to it, you gotta be all in. You, you can't be tired. That's, that's your sacrifice that you gotta make. You gotta find that, that second win. You know, and make sure those kids are getting everything that you give this show or your, your radio show. And now, you know, as a host, Inside NFL. So it's about finding that balance and the shit ain't easy. You gonna be tired.

• 43:37Fred Taylor?

  You know, she gotta know when I'ma step it up and do a little bit more. He out there getting it. And vice versa, you gotta know when she's been grinding. So finding that balance, man, and it's hard to say moderation, but try your best to do things in moderation when you're with each other. I think that'll level out the playing field.

• 43:57Channing Crowder?

  I think the hardest thing, we've talked to a lot of successful people. Stephen A. Smith has talked about it. You know, Marcus Freeman talked about a, a work-life blend. Like, I struggle with that. And whether I'm lying to myself or not, like, I feel like it's not about the success or the achievement. It's about the effort.

• 44:20Ryan Clark?

  You know, and a lot of times the conversation begins with me is that I'd be like this no matter what. In the sense that like, I'm like, nah, man, like when I grind, Jordan gets and Jaden gets and Logan gets and Yanka gets and you know, home is better. When I grind now, I can take care of my parents still too and take care of this and I'm not taking anything away from anybody. Right? I'm not looking at it as like my personal success. I'm looking at it as like, these are the blessings I've been given. You know, like you, you get from a lot of people that you're good at a lot of things. I'm actually not. You know what I'm saying? Like that's just the truth of it. I'm actually not, you know? Based on my draft status, I wasn't even good enough at football. Right?

• 45:03Ryan Clark?

  And God allowed me the opportunities to be in the right spot to make it work. And then my effort to prepare for those opportunities allowed me to take advantage of those opportunities when they came. And what normally happens is from that work, more work comes and more effort comes because there's more achievement. You know what I'm saying? Like goals change. We have to realize goals change and the people we love have to realize they change. And we gotta try to find some sort of synergy in some place where we can try to do all of that together. And sometimes like the hard question of becomes, can we do all of that together? And if we can't, who gives up what? You know, and so I think

• 45:49Ryan Clark?

  the thing about this, and I know we're about to end is this.

• 45:55Ryan Clark?

  We all have dreams and goals and wants. Right? My dreams and goals and wants have never been to relax while I can still do. It's never been to sit on my butt when there's more I can give y'all. It's never been to say, I'll do tomorrow what I can do today. And I get it. You may grind yourself to the bone, bro, and by the time it is time to relax, it may be over. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay with if my eyes close and I can leave.

• 46:40Ryan Clark?

  Something tangible for the people I love to be okay, when I can no longer make sure they're okay? That's my job to me. And it's not to say that like your presence doesn't matter, and your attention doesn't matter, and what you give here doesn't matter. But it's like, we all have to understand that there's a reason, and there's consequences and reactions to all, to all actions. And I just remember, man, like, my dad was at everything important, but he wasn't around all the time.

• 47:24Ryan Clark?

  I got my lunch money and tip money, because he worked the valet after he worked for the levy board. Right? I couldn't find my dad for two weeks after Katrina, because he was living at the levy board, when everybody else in Louisiana got an opportunity to evacuate. You know what I'm saying? And like, I'm proud of that. Like, I'm proud that that's my dad. I'm proud that my dad rode up to my football games in his valet uniform, and then drove to work before the game was over. Like, I'm proud that I had to, in my senior year, drive him to work, drop him off, because I didn't have a car. Like, they couldn't get me a car as a senior, and like, I had to be at school at a certain time,

• 48:09Ryan Clark?

  so I couldn't catch the bus. I would drive to the school, actually catch a ride with a friend. My dad would catch a ride with somebody, so he could come back and get his car.

• 48:20Ryan Clark?

  Like, they made those sacrifices. So what, that like, I ain't fucking see him every day?

• 48:27Ryan Clark?

  You know, and I just think, man, like, I am having a hard time with that. You know, because I think sometimes it's like, you're the best you may have been individually, but you being the best individually, is not what everybody thinks is the best for them.

• 48:48Fred Taylor?

  And that's a tough place to be. And that's the show. That's the show. Unless we can get talking about Beyonce and Taylor Swift.

• 48:58Fred Taylor?

  Y'all wanna talk about it? All right.

• 49:24Speaker 04

  Every game day, you show up for your team. Now, it's your time.

• 49:34Speaker 05

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