Marshall Faulk - The Ultimate NFL Running Back

Marshall William Faulk is a former American football player who was a running back in the National Football League for twelve historical seasons. Faulk played college football for San Diego State University, and was a two-time consensus All-American. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts as the second overall pick in the 1994 NFL Draft, and he also played professionally for the NFL's St. Louis Rams. Faulk was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017. Faulk has a charitable foundation in San Diego, California. Since 1994, the Marshall Faulk Foundation has been dedicated to building brighter futures for today’s underprivileged youth. Where they have been able to help young people tackle the challenges they face that often prevent them from achieving their dreams. 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.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

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• 0:45Ed Mylett?

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• 1:01Speaker 01

  Mr. President, my company, for me, of the explosion on our rig.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  On October 2nd.

• 1:06Speaker 01

  Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me.

• 1:11Speaker 02

  Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess. And Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and the Revenant.

• 1:18Speaker 01

  What would happen if I stopped drilling? You stop, you freeze to death, that's what.

• 1:22Speaker 02

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 1:25Speaker 01

  I'm not the first nanny.

• 1:27Speaker 02

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a middle without parent.

• 1:35Speaker 02

  This is the Ed Mylett Show. Compete, lead, and win.

• 1:43Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to Max Out with Ed Mylett. This gentleman to my left does not need any introduction, but I'm going to give him one anyway. This is NFL Hall of Famer. Only man in the history of the NFL with 70. Rushing touchdowns and 30 receiving touchdowns in the history of the league. This man right here. So this is the great Marshall Faulk joining me here today. Thank you for being here.

• 2:02Speaker 03

  Thanks for having me.

• 2:03Ed Mylett?

  It's really, really a blessing. So I knew who you were before the rest of the world does. And when I tell you this story, I don't want to tell you off camera. You're going to know right away what I'm talking about. I went to college at University of the Pacific. You know what I'm about to tell you?

• 2:15Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 2:16Ed Mylett?

  So.

• 2:17Speaker 03

  I made your school famous.

• 2:18Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you, well, you, you became famous because of my school, actually, is how the way I look at it. So just so you all know, I knew who this man was before the whole world did, really, in football. I played baseball at University of the Pacific and my sophomore year, they asked me to come play football because our corner got hurt. And luckily, I pulled a hamstring that week, so I sat on the sidelines and watched this guy enter the game. Let me tell you what happened. Okay? First off, he wasn't even the starting running back that day, right? You weren't even the starter.

• 2:41Speaker 03

  No, no.

• 2:41Ed Mylett?

  He's not the starter. This man ends up getting in the game. It goes 37 rushes for 300, make sure you get this right, 386 yards. Did you just hear what I said? 37 rushes, 386 yards, 7 touchdowns, and was responsible for 44 points in this football game.

• 2:58Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 2:59Ed Mylett?

  Do you remember that game?

• 2:59Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 3:00Ed Mylett?

  Oh, my God.

• 3:00Speaker 03

  I cannot forget it.

• 3:01Ed Mylett?

  And so at that point, I went, A, I'm not playing football because I don't relate to that at all. And B, I just watched one of the greatest football players of all time way back when. That was really the beginning, kind of, wasn't it for you?

• 3:12Speaker 03

  That was, that was the start of everything.

• 3:13Ed Mylett?

  It was. That game was.

• 3:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, that, that game was, um, it was like, hello, world for me.

• 3:18Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 3:19Speaker 03

  Uh, and, and people always ask me like, man, could you, could you envision yourself? You don't, you don't have those kinds of dreams. You have dreams of being successful, but to that degree?

• 3:30Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 3:30Speaker 03

  It just, it, it, you can never fathom or, or think in your head that that's going to happen. But I always tell people, I was prepared for it, though.

• 3:38Ed Mylett?

  What do you mean by that?

• 3:38Speaker 03

  I was prepared. The work that I put in, um, making sure, I, I knew I was the backup. And, and as the backup, I got a, I got a senior playing in front of me. Um, he was all-conference. The chances of me playing?

• 3:50Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 3:50Speaker 03

  Slim to none.

• 3:51Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 3:51Speaker 03

  The week before, I got like 2 snaps.

• 3:54Ed Mylett?

  Is that right?

• 3:55Speaker 03

  And then, and then, you know, second week of the season. He goes down and I'm in the game and Coach looks at me and he's like, "You just hold on to this football."

• 4:06Speaker 03

  You think about all the film work that I put in, just wanting to make sure that if I do get in,

• 4:11Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 4:11Speaker 03

  I know what I'm doing, I know what I'm supposed to do, then I'm not gonna let the other 10 guys in the huddle down.

• 4:16Ed Mylett?

  Down.

• 4:16Speaker 03

  And, you know, that's the work that goes in and the opportunity presented itself. I'm just glad I was prepared.

• 4:22Ed Mylett?

  You talk about taking advantage, because I think in every career, that's true. I mean,

• 4:26Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:27Ed Mylett?

  What if you don't? If you think about, what if you don't perform today? What if you put a couple on the ground that day, right? I mean, we may, it's possible you never even see the football field again. It's possible. So, it's true for all of you, like even starting out the interview, there's gonna be times in your career and chasing your dream, where there's gonna be a moment.

• 4:41Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 4:42Ed Mylett?

  And those moments are few and far between, and when they arrive, you need to be prepared for them because that was the hello world. I mean, I'm telling you, I've been to a lot of sporting events in my life. I've never seen an athlete dominate other athletes in my damn life like I did that day, and I knew after that point, I better keep an eye on this guy. So, before you get there though, before you become an NFL Hall of Famer, and one of the, you know, arguably the best football player I've ever seen, right? And guys that I know that were in the league will tell me that often. The best football player I've ever seen is Marshall Fogg. And so, but you go to San Diego State.

• 5:11Speaker 03

  Right.

• 5:12Ed Mylett?

  So, were you not, you obviously had to be a great high school player, but how do you only end up at San Diego State? And I don't mean to put down San Diego State, it's a great school.

• 5:19Speaker 03

  No, no, no.

• 5:19Ed Mylett?

  But this isn't USC Running Back University, right? So, how come you end up at San Diego State and not one of these big schools?

• 5:27Speaker 03

  It was a combination of, back then, they didn't label, you were only labeled to a position. If you were running back, you were running back. If you played defensive back, you played defensive back. If you played receiver, you played receiver. They didn't have this thing called the athlete. And in high school, I played quarterback,

• 5:45Ed Mylett?

  Oh.

• 5:45Speaker 03

  receiver, tight end, corner, safety. I kicked, I punted.

• 5:50Ed Mylett?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 5:51Speaker 03

  I returned kicks, I returned punts.

• 5:52Ed Mylett?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 5:53Speaker 03

  I kicked field goals, I held for the field goal kicker.

• 5:56Ed Mylett?

  Really? Did you really?

• 5:57Speaker 03

  I did everything. I did everything. And my football coach,

• 6:00Ed Mylett?

  You were a football player.

• 6:01Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 6:02Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 6:02Speaker 03

  He built football players. We were in a big school, and, but we were like, we were the smallest school in the biggest division.

• 6:12Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 6:12Speaker 03

  And we didn't have a, like, I mean, I played... I played whole games in high school.

• 6:17Ed Mylett?

  Literally every snap on both sides.

• 6:18Speaker 03

  When I got on the field, I didn't come off until halftime. I played offense, defense, I was on every special team.

• 6:25Ed Mylett?

  Oh my gosh.

• 6:26Speaker 03

  I never left the field.

• 6:27Ed Mylett?

  Do you think that had something to do with the way you played in the NFL? Cause you were one of the, you were like, you were really kind of that new breed of like, a complete football player at running back. You, you blocked well. You understood the blocking schemes. You were a great receiver, right? Obviously a great runner too. Do you think that had something to do with it?

• 6:41Speaker 03

  A lot to do with it.

• 6:42Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 6:43Speaker 03

  I, I, I became the, the why we're, why are we doing that? What is that?

• 6:48Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 6:48Speaker 03

  I want to do that. And, and, and my coaches, early in my career, my coaches, they didn't like it. It was, coaches don't like explaining why. Hey, we're going to do this play. Hey, coach, why we're doing that? I watched the film, they do this, this and this. They look at you like.

• 7:03Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 7:04Speaker 03

  Couldn't appreciate the fact that I was watching film on my own.

• 7:07Ed Mylett?

  You were.

• 7:07Speaker 03

  You know, at a young age.

• 7:08Ed Mylett?

  Did you really, I've been a young.

• 7:09Speaker 03

  Oh my, yes, yeah.

• 7:11Ed Mylett?

  You've always been a student of it.

• 7:12Speaker 03

  Just, I, I, I love, I love football. And there's only one way to get better.

• 7:17Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 7:17Speaker 03

  And everything that I did, I went home, I watched film. I watched practice. We, we watched practice and I go home, I watched practice.

• 7:25Ed Mylett?

  You did?

• 7:25Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:26Ed Mylett?

  And that's not.

• 7:26Speaker 03

  It's the only way to get better.

• 7:27Ed Mylett?

  Is that, and that's the only way to get better than anything, right? To do that, but is that a separator? That's what I wanted to ask you. So you get to the, you get to the NFL. By the way, I remember Mike Mart saying, literally their goal in football, it was almost like a basketball player like LeBron. You want to get him as many touches as you can? You're really one of the first football players I ever saw where the, the coordinator literally said, we need to get him X amount of touches a football game. And that's, is that part of that's because of your preparation too?

• 7:49Speaker 03

  Um, it was, uh, Mike felt, if they tried to get me to as much, he could get me the ball as much as possible.

• 7:56Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 7:57Speaker 03

  And when they couldn't get it to me, if they showed me as a, like I'm the primary.

• 8:03Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 8:03Speaker 03

  And I attract attention.

• 8:05Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 8:05Speaker 03

  There's a lot of one-on-ones. Isaac Bruce is going to win. Torrey Hope, they're going, they're going to win.

• 8:10Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 8:10Speaker 03

  The majority of the battles of the one-on-one.

• 8:12Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 8:12Speaker 03

  As soon as they get me to draw the attention.

• 8:16Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 8:16Speaker 03

  To my position.

• 8:17Ed Mylett?

  Totally different way of using a running back in that time, right? It's still not all that common. I mean, it's still not that common, but you were certainly the first.

• 8:23Speaker 03

  Some teams, Pittsburgh, they, they do it with Le'Veon Bell. Uh, Buffalo, they do it with LeSean McCoy.

• 8:28Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 8:29Speaker 03

  Um, Dallas do it with Zeke.

• 8:30Ed Mylett?

  That's true.

• 8:31Speaker 03

  They, they, they get him involved in the passing game. Maybe not as much as lining up as a wide receiver as I did. But they get him involved and it's, here, here's the reason. In football. The minute you break a huddle, running back, running back, you think he wants to run the football.

• 8:46Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 8:48Speaker 03

  If you run a swing route and they throw you the ball,

• 8:52Speaker 03

  the big 300 pounders that they have in the middle of the football field, you just got me away from them.

• 8:58Ed Mylett?

  Right, right, yeah.

• 9:00Speaker 03

  And there's the advantage. Now, now, you've got 180 pound, 190 pound cornerback, who really doesn't like to tackle.

• 9:07Ed Mylett?

  Right, he don't want to tackle.

• 9:08Speaker 03

  You've got to tackle me one on one.

• 9:09Ed Mylett?

  That's awesome. I get that, but you got that. See, I think you're one of the first players I saw, and I love football, obviously I don't know anything about it compared to you, but I would read that this man knew what everyone on the offense's responsibilities were. You knew what the guards was, the tackles was, what route the receiver was running, and like, and I think that helped you get in space too, didn't it? I mean, that's they trusted you getting the football for those reasons.

• 9:32Speaker 03

  Understanding the game, you know, and I just, I took it to, I took it to the quarterback level. I don't want to call it the, it's the quarterback level. And I, and this is what I tell people. A lot of, you know, I, I watch, I have friends who work, work in Hollywood and, you know, let's say you get a script. What if you only know your line?

• 9:51Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 9:51Speaker 03

  How are you going to know when their line is done? So you, you have to learn the whole script.

• 9:57Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 9:57Speaker 03

  So you understand the principles and what you're trying to accomplish.

• 10:01Ed Mylett?

  Do you think that that was the, that's a good point. Was that, I always wanted to know, when you get to an elite level, because a lot of people that watch this, whatever they're in, they could be in business and fitness and any sport, they're, they're at a pretty elite level. And then how do you separate? Because we were talking about before, you ran a 4.3540, that's, that's fast. But there are other guys in the league who ran 4.4s.

• 10:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:19Ed Mylett?

  What's the separator? Is it preparation? Like, what's the separator at the elite, elite level in sports or business in your mind? What's the, that little inch, that difference?

• 10:28Speaker 03

  Um, preparation, mental toughness, and understanding that when you come into the game, your skill level is here, and your knowledge is here. If, and they're going to intersect to where, like, you're You're playing and then they're gonna pass each other where your skill level goes down and your knowledge of the game goes up. The faster you can raise your knowledge, the longer time you're gonna have to be as good as you are physically and as smart as you can be mentally. That's the elite. The elite players, they're up here a long time. But Kobe Bryant, Kobe was like, once he got it and understood the game, he was able to slow down the deterioration of his body.

• 11:11Ed Mylett?

  I got you. Do you think that's happened?

• 11:13Speaker 03

  Yet he continued to grow.

• 11:13Ed Mylett?

  Do you see that in a guy like Brady a little bit?

• 11:16Speaker 03

  Yes, without a doubt. Like Tom is, Tom is, he's fighting father time. You know that? That's why crazy diets, all these workouts, all the stuff that he does because he understands, mentally, this dude is maxed out. I mean, he is, he knows everything. You might be able to trick him once, but you're not gonna trick him all game.

• 11:36Ed Mylett?

  Right, right.

• 11:37Speaker 03

  And he understands, the only thing that's keeping him back now is age.

• 11:42Ed Mylett?

  Age.

• 11:43Speaker 03

  So, he's trying to slow it down.

• 11:45Ed Mylett?

  And so his preparation is physical preparation, not diet preparation. It's that little separate.

• 11:49Speaker 03

  All of that stuff. Anything to slow down the aging process of his body so he can remain at that peak.

• 11:55Ed Mylett?

  That's crazy. And I watched that, I'm curious, it's a football question about that. I've just always wanted to know. You played with Peyton when he was young, right? And then you played with Kurt Warner. I'm curious, what were the similar, two great football players? You caught Peyton earlier in his career, but of those two guys, just out of curiosity, what was the, what are the similarities and what was different about the two of them?

• 12:14Speaker 03

  Both of them, they have unbelievable leadership skills and they're committed to doing things the right way.

• 12:22Ed Mylett?

  What do you mean by leadership skills? Like specifically, like what's that look like a little bit?

• 12:25Speaker 03

  They know, they know that each player requires a different type of encouragement.

• 12:34Ed Mylett?

  You don't treat everybody the same?

• 12:35Speaker 03

  No.

• 12:36Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, some dudes you can lay on and get on.

• 12:38Speaker 03

  Peyton, Kurt, like whether it was Peyton or Kurt, we'd have conversations and they knew the conversation with me had to be intellectually about how we're gonna pick up the blitz, what we're gonna do, these adjustments. He'd go to the tight end and he'd say, so when I do this, where would you like to be? You know, do you need me to let your motion go a little wider so you can hook the end? So, it's all about, it's all about encouraging people.

• 13:03Speaker 03

  Letting them know you understand what their job is.

• 13:06Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 13:06Speaker 03

  And that you are out to help them do their job better.

• 13:10Ed Mylett?

  Got you.

• 13:11Speaker 03

  Because, let's, let's be honest, the five guys that protect the quarterback.

• 13:15Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 13:16Speaker 03

  You only hear their name or number if they hold.

• 13:17Ed Mylett?

  That's up, that's up, right, right.

• 13:19Speaker 03

  When they score a touchdown, they never say, number 71.

• 13:23Ed Mylett?

  That's so true, that's so true.

• 13:25Speaker 03

  That yellow flag come out holding, number 71.

• 13:29Speaker 03

  So, so, so when you take them to dinner, you invite them to your house.

• 13:32Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 13:33Speaker 03

  Peyton, Kurt, let's sit down and watch film with the offensive line.

• 13:36Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, yeah. Did you ever do anything for your offensive line?

• 13:38Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, dinners, bottom stuff, I mean, yeah. And, and here's the reality, when you, when you do things for those guys.

• 13:47Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 13:48Speaker 03

  This is how I know when guys are taking care of their offensive line. Quarterback on his back.

• 13:55Speaker 03

  Running back on his back.

• 13:56Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 13:56Speaker 03

  They there to pick you up.

• 13:57Ed Mylett?

  Pick it up, yeah.

• 13:58Speaker 03

  Cleaning guys off.

• 13:59Ed Mylett?

  It is kind of telling.

• 14:00Speaker 03

  They keep you clean.

• 14:00Ed Mylett?

  It is telling sometimes when you see that not happen. You do, when you see it not happen, you're like, wow, what's going on in that football?

• 14:06Speaker 03

  I told people this, I was like, I watched the Washington Redskins, I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't give Kirk Cousins the big deal.

• 14:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 14:13Speaker 03

  And then they moved on, offensive line never helped them up, you never heard a teammate saying, we need to pay him, we need to keep him, something was wrong.

• 14:21Ed Mylett?

  Well, you just, you just knew it from being in there.

• 14:22Speaker 03

  Something was wrong, and, and I don't know Kurt personally.

• 14:26Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 14:26Speaker 03

  But if I, if I did and I was in his circle, I'd tell him, you gotta work on your leadership skills.

• 14:32Ed Mylett?

  And you got a fresh start this time, so you better clean it up this time.

• 14:34Speaker 03

  Gotta work on your leadership skills.

• 14:36Ed Mylett?

  That's awesome, what a great, what a great insight. So, I'm curious, a couple more football things. You've played on great teams, this, you've won Super Bowl, right? I was at that Super Bowl, by the way. You probably enjoyed it a little bit more than I did, but, but, but you also were on teams that weren't great.

• 14:49Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:49Ed Mylett?

  Do you know, do you know, like, you're in camp, you're like, we don't have it, or do you, does every camp, does everyone be like, we're gonna win this damn Super Bowl this year? Or did you, is there a point where you're on a good football, you knew you were the greatest show on turf compared to a team that won five games? Do you know, or is it, or do you not know until the season reveals itself?

• 15:06Speaker 03

  Every, every team, at the start of the season, um, they are playing their best players.

• 15:14Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 15:14Speaker 03

  And you feel like you have a chance of winning every game. The special teams, um...

• 15:22Speaker 03

  There's, there's just something different.

• 15:24Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 15:25Speaker 03

  When, when I, the start of the season on teams when we went three and 13.

• 15:30Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 15:30Speaker 03

  Or 13 and 3, it was the same.

• 15:32Ed Mylett?

  It is, okay.

• 15:33Speaker 03

  It was, it was, it was, the things that happened throughout the season.

• 15:39Speaker 03

  I hurt my knee, I go down, my backup comes in and scores three touchdowns. You know what? Thanks for being ready.

• 15:46Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 15:46Speaker 03

  Uh, Kurt Warner goes down, the backup comes in.

• 15:50Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 15:50Speaker 03

  Trent, uh, Trent Green throws a couple of touchdowns, we win a couple of games, Kurt don't play. Those are the kind of things.

• 15:57Ed Mylett?

  Little things.

• 15:57Speaker 03

  It's not as much the players that, that the 22 guys that start, it's the guys behind them. Because every team, you're gonna have, you're gonna have bumps in the roads, you're gonna have roadblocks, there's gonna be obstacles.

• 16:09Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 16:09Speaker 03

  Um, and you can't expect those 22 guys to solve every problem.

• 16:14Ed Mylett?

  That's interesting, cause I'm a Patriot fan, and every offseason like this, I watch they lose these guys, you know, and I'm like, but it seems to me that they understand building that back end of their roster too.

• 16:24Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:24Ed Mylett?

  Because that's gonna be part of the football season, you're just gonna have attrition during the football season, right? So I'm curious, let's talk about the Super Bowl just real quick. Is that the highlight of your career? We're gonna talk about the big highlight at the end here in the Hall of Fame, but I'm curious, what, what's that feel like? After all that work, you'd been playing a while too, right? And what was that like? And then compare it for me to the one against New England.

• 16:44Speaker 03

  Um, I played, uh, football, basketball, baseball, ran track, and had been a champion at everything other than football. I never won a championship in football.

• 16:55Ed Mylett?

  You're kidding me.

• 16:56Speaker 03

  So the, so the dream, the dream as a kid, we growing up, always, me and my friends, we ended the day when it was time to go home, this play is for the Super Bowl.

• 17:05Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 17:05Speaker 03

  You were on offense or defense, so it was all, and I never got a chance to experience that. Not only did I get a chance to experience it, it came down to this play.

• 17:15Ed Mylett?

  One play. One yard or whatever, right? Yeah.

• 17:18Speaker 03

  I mean, it's, there's no, I, I, I could have retired.

• 17:21Ed Mylett?

  Seriously?

• 17:22Speaker 03

  That was like, that. I could have retired after that game. I didn't, I didn't have, I really, I had to refocus, set some new goals.

• 17:31Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 17:32Speaker 03

  Because I was playing for that. I didn't need to win multiple. It wasn't about, I want to win three or four and be the, no, no, no. I have a childhood dream.

• 17:43Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 17:43Speaker 03

  I'm playing this game because I want to win a Super Bowl. I want that, I want that dream to come through. It came through.

• 17:48Ed Mylett?

  That's amazing. And does that stick with you more? I'm curious. Like every day you're walking around, you're Marshall Faulk, everybody knows you. You got your post-football life now. Does that stick with you more? And I don't mean to rub it in, but I'm curious. Does that stick with you more than the loss?

• 18:00Speaker 03

  I'm a glass half-full gunner guy.

• 18:02Ed Mylett?

  You are.

• 18:02Speaker 03

  So, um, anytime, football is a joy to me. And, uh, and the many Patriot fans out there, they, I, they think I hate the Patriots. And they have no idea of my relationship with Tom Brady, my relationship with Mr. Kraft, how I respect him. Just so you know, and I know you've got a lot of Patriots fans, I was the first player ever, ever, ever that Mr. Kraft sat down and talked to when he became the owner of the team.

• 18:29Ed Mylett?

  You're kidding me.

• 18:30Speaker 03

  It was my draft year. They flew me in.

• 18:33Ed Mylett?

  You're kidding.

• 18:33Speaker 03

  Um, he and I, we had a, we had a great, we had an awesome lunch.

• 18:37Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 18:37Speaker 03

  Um, I mean, we went to dinner that night. I met his family.

• 18:41Ed Mylett?

  Wow, okay.

• 18:42Speaker 03

  Um, got to meet his, his wife, who's an awesome woman.

• 18:45Ed Mylett?

  That's awesome.

• 18:45Speaker 03

  And, um, and, and he and I, we, uh, we've, we've always, there's just a respect. We talk about it.

• 18:51Ed Mylett?

  Sure.

• 18:51Speaker 03

  And he, he says to me, if I wouldn't have let Bill make the decision, you would have been with the Patriots.

• 18:56Ed Mylett?

  What an amazing damn Patriot player. The way they use running backs, come on.

• 19:00Speaker 03

  Bill wasn't into, but it was Marcel that time. He wasn't into, wasn't into drafting, uh, running backs. Didn't like California players.

• 19:07Ed Mylett?

  Is that right?

• 19:07Speaker 03

  Um, yeah, he just, I mean, if you just look at.

• 19:09Ed Mylett?

  He didn't go those, he goes east coast.

• 19:10Speaker 03

  Offensive players. He was draft defensive guy, but never really, you know, liked California players who played offense. But, but anyways, that was, that was my, that is my, actually, just last spring.

• 19:22Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 19:22Speaker 03

  I was one of the players, um, one of the Hall of Famers who went with Mr. Kraft to Israel.

• 19:28Ed Mylett?

  Oh, wow.

• 19:28Speaker 03

  Um, yeah, so I, I.

• 19:30Ed Mylett?

  That's important for everybody to know.

• 19:31Speaker 03

  I love and respect, but I have a duty on television. My job is I'm anti patriot.

• 19:38Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 19:39Speaker 03

  So, so I play my role.

• 19:41Ed Mylett?

  You play the role.

• 19:42Speaker 03

  The role, TV is a role, that's my job, I play that role. I poke holes in everything that they do.

• 19:47Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 19:47Speaker 03

  But, understand that I respect everything that Mr. Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, what they've built. I mean, it's, um, it's, it's, it's the model now and what you want to do and, and how you want things to happen.

• 19:59Ed Mylett?

  Wonderful, and segue that a little bit into broadcasting. You're my favorite guy on TV.

• 20:03Speaker 03

  Oh, thanks, man.

• 20:04Ed Mylett?

  I'm not saying because you're here either, I'm saying that because, and I think of other analysts, this is true. I've watched NFL Network and they'll literally say they enjoy being in the green room with you off camera. Everybody, just so you know, this is true, isn't it? The other guys at the network will say they've enjoyed, and, and, and other places you broadcast and will continue to broadcast. But, they'll say they enjoy being in the green, they love watching football with you because of your mind about the game. Other players say that, you know that, I, I say it, you wouldn't say it. And so, is the same preparation for you now going to doing the broadcasting stuff as it did playing? And is that why you're so prepared? Really?

• 20:36Speaker 03

  Very similar.

• 20:37Ed Mylett?

  You still watch film even?

• 20:38Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 20:38Ed Mylett?

  You do?

• 20:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, I enjoy it.

• 20:40Ed Mylett?

  Wow, you love the football game.

• 20:42Speaker 03

  Yeah, it, it's just a part of, you know, if, if, if, if, if the NFL Network right now, if there's a game on, like, oh, they, they show like classic games or whatever, I'm gonna watch that game.

• 20:53Ed Mylett?

  You do?

• 20:54Speaker 03

  As if I hadn't seen it before.

• 20:55Ed Mylett?

  Whether you played in it or not?

• 20:56Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 20:57Ed Mylett?

  That's crazy.

• 20:57Speaker 03

  It's all teaching moments, you know, like, if, people don't understand, like, they, they think, okay, they just draw up plays and go play.

• 21:04Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 21:04Speaker 03

  There's a whole strategy before you play the game, and then once you start the game.

• 21:10Ed Mylett?

  There's adjustments.

• 21:11Speaker 03

  You have a plan, I have a plan.

• 21:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 21:14Speaker 03

  Somebody's plan is not working.

• 21:16Ed Mylett?

  Hmm, yes, right, right.

• 21:18Speaker 03

  Now, when your plan is not working, what are you going to do?

• 21:22Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 21:22Speaker 03

  And then I have to decide, is that enough to get me out of my game plan?

• 21:26Ed Mylett?

  Right, yeah, yeah.

• 21:28Speaker 03

  And then if you get me out of my game plan. Do I show what I'm going to do versus this? Because I might have a divisional opponent next week.

• 21:37Ed Mylett?

  Wow, wow.

• 21:38Speaker 03

  I mean, there's so much that goes into it. That's why when you get to the playoffs and you don't know if you're going to play the next week, you're all in.

• 21:46Ed Mylett?

  Everything's in then.

• 21:47Speaker 03

  Everything's in.

• 21:47Ed Mylett?

  So guys will actually not reveal things in particular weeks because of who they're playing. That's fascinating. What do you, I'm curious, and we're going to shift into business in a second, but I'm curious. What do you miss about playing? Because like just right now, talking to you, camera went on, all of a sudden, we started talking about football. Like your face changed, just so you know, like you're lit up, you're, I can feel your intensity, right? So what do you miss most about it?

• 22:07Speaker 03

  The locker room.

• 22:08Ed Mylett?

  You do.

• 22:09Speaker 03

  The camaraderie.

• 22:09Ed Mylett?

  Guys say that a lot.

• 22:11Speaker 03

  You don't.

• 22:13Speaker 03

  I don't care what we do as a civilian. You don't, when you don't, when you're not playing a team sport, you can never get that feeling. At the country club?

• 22:22Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 22:22Speaker 03

  We're not sitting around.

• 22:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 22:24Speaker 03

  And our boxers talking about like, we're not in the hot tub, we're not in the jacuzzi, in the steam room piled all in, talking about this week's opponent, which we're just not. We're not doing that. We're not sharing stories of what happened last night or, or your kid took his first steps and I'm proud you were as a father. Or you're not, you're not, you don't have, you don't have that intimate setting to really conjugate as men. We don't have that. Women, they somehow get it.

• 22:54Ed Mylett?

  Right, they find a way.

• 22:55Speaker 03

  We don't, we don't have that.

• 22:56Ed Mylett?

  That's it, it's the locker room.

• 22:57Speaker 03

  And you only get it in team sports.

• 22:59Ed Mylett?

  Wow, that is, and team business too, by the way, some of you that are building team business, you get something similar to that. Uh, one last football question. What don't you miss? Is it how you feel Mondays? Or what do you not miss about playing football?

• 23:10Speaker 03

  Um.

• 23:12Ed Mylett?

  I've had guys tell me Mondays, like I ran for a running back, I've been through, you know, 30 car accidents.

• 23:16Speaker 03

  Yeah, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't play that way. You know, I didn't, I didn't, I never was out to prove that I was more macho than anybody else. Uh, I just, I wanted to do my job. And if I got my job done and I didn't have a headache, fine.

• 23:30Ed Mylett?

  Really?

• 23:31Speaker 03

  So, but, um, what don't I miss?

• 23:33Ed Mylett?

  Yeah. You love it. Look at you.

• 23:36Speaker 03

  I'm just thinking, I mean, I mean, cause I, cause I.

• 23:41Speaker 03

  Probably, uh, you know, there's, there's the, the work, uh, losing.

• 23:47Ed Mylett?

  Lu-

• 23:48Speaker 03

  I'll be honest, I'm thinking about it.

• 23:50Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 23:50Speaker 03

  Because you put so much work into it.

• 23:52Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 23:52Speaker 03

  Um, and I, I, I know it's not war, but blood, sweat and tears are out there.

• 23:57Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 23:57Speaker 03

  And, uh, you know, when those 60 minutes are up and you lost.

• 24:01Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 24:02Speaker 03

  Um, it's a bad, it's a miserable feeling. It's a awful feeling.

• 24:06Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, for, for the great ones it is. I think we both played with guys who didn't bother quite as much.

• 24:11Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, that's true. Some guys were in it for the job. It was a job for them.

• 24:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, I'm fascinated by getting in the mind of a, a champion of a Hall of Famer. And so the last football part, I mean, I'm literally, it's fascinating for me, like, cause you do this stuff for flexibility. Like, this is who you are, but not everybody's this way. Now, you know, people need to learn these things and oftentimes. Now you're a member, though, of the greatest team, right? There's something really special to becoming a Hall of Famer. What was that like? Like the call and being a part of that group now for, forever? I mean, down in history, someday your great grandchildren are gonna be part of that legacy that you're in the Hall of Fame in the NFL. So what's that feel like?

• 24:45Speaker 03

  It was, and it still is surreal. Um, I'm, I'm a football junkie.

• 24:50Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you are.

• 24:51Speaker 03

  Uh, part of my story is, uh, being from New Orleans, poor, not being able to ever see a pro game by buying a ticket. I paid, uh, one, you know, at the age of 13, 14, 15 and 16, I would, I would hustle up to get five, 10 bucks, whatever it was, the price increased, you had to pay that to get your rack to sell your popcorn or your peanuts. That's how I got to watch games.

• 25:18Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 25:18Speaker 03

  So I'm a football junkie.

• 25:20Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 25:21Speaker 03

  Respect the game, love the game.

• 25:22Ed Mylett?

  You do.

• 25:22Speaker 03

  Appreciate everything that was done, um, by the guys who was before us, uh, who made the game what it is. So, so we can have the lives that we have. People don't understand, they have summer jobs, they sometimes work during the season after practice, they have to go to work. It, it was totally different than the game that we play now and how we have it.

• 25:42Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 25:43Speaker 03

  And I get an opportunity to see these men, um-

• 25:49Speaker 03

  Don a yellow jacket and call myself a Hall of Famer, I have a number. Just like they have a number. And I get to call them teammates, I get to call them friends, I get to socialize. I get to sit down next to Tony Dorsett. And, and, and just.

• 26:05Ed Mylett?

  Must be.

• 26:05Speaker 03

  How you doing? How's it going?

• 26:10Speaker 03

  You know, when you think about it, I, I grew up with Barry Sanders and Emmett Smith, Eric Dickerson. I grew up idolizing these guys.

• 26:20Ed Mylett?

  Now you're on the same team as him.

• 26:21Speaker 03

  And now, now, um, they talk, we, they talk to me like we're friends.

• 26:30Speaker 03

  You know, and, and that's, that's the, that's the reality of being a part. They embrace me, they, you know, they take you under their wing, they tell you, "Hey, young fella, you gotta take care of yourself when you get old."

• 26:42Speaker 03

  They advise you the things and it's, you know, I have five older brothers. It's, but it's so different. The advice and, and, and being a part of that. And, and having the opportunity to just, to just, to just rub elbows with those guys, man. I sit around and listen to the stories. You know, and, and we have, that week, that Hall of Fame week.

• 27:04Speaker 03

  It, it's unbelievable when we welcome the new guys in, but to hear the older guys talk. And actually, um, just this past, actually last year, July was my first time getting to speak at the Niski Luncheon. I got to speak. I mean, it's like, you know, they, Willie Nunez was like, "Hey, Marshall, you know, tell us about your experience." I'm like, "Oh, my God."

• 27:27Ed Mylett?

  Really?

• 27:28Speaker 03

  I get to tell them about my experience. You know, it's just fascinating. And, um, now for me, uh, you know, I was part of the new wave. That came in, in two eleven, in two thousand and eleven. And now a bunch of the guys that's coming in are guys that I played against. Brian Urlacher, you know, Derrick Brooks came in last year. I'm like, it's, it's so cool now. Uh, not only is it guys that I looked up to, but it's now it's guys that I compete against.

• 27:56Ed Mylett?

  How wonderful is that?

• 27:57Speaker 03

  It's awesome.

• 27:58Ed Mylett?

  That's awesome. I'm having Trell Owens on my show in a few weeks and I'm gonna play him this clip so that he can see this. It's so good for me, just so you know, cause obviously my generation, you're a hero of mine, just to see how grateful you are. I don't think all people. Give themselves the gift of gratitude, like you're grateful for all this.

• 28:14Speaker 03

  Oh, without a doubt.

• 28:14Ed Mylett?

  I asked you what it's like to be like, you could have given me a million answers, your answer was gratitude. You know, and that's just wonderful.

• 28:19Speaker 03

  It is, man.

• 28:20Ed Mylett?

  That's so wonderful.

• 28:21Speaker 03

  It's, it's, it's, it's the reason we have the game that we have.

• 28:24Ed Mylett?

  Awesome. I love your passion. I like, I'm so, so grateful that you're doing this. Um, man, that just struck me. Because I didn't know that would be what you would answer. So that's just so powerful. I wanna, I wanna segue a little bit into your work as, because of a Hall of Famer. You're real passionate about these former players, like not only the ones that are on your team now in the Hall of Fame, but also you're doing some work now that you're passionate about both for inner cities when it comes to the financial services business a little bit. And then also you're partnering with a couple of my colleagues with Hannah and Bobby at our firm, and also you're really working with former players and I know you got a passion for inner city stuff. So talk a little bit. How'd you step into this, into the financial sector, so to speak?

• 29:00Speaker 03

  You know, I've, I've always, um, I, actually, I, I go back to my college days. I was, uh, interning, uh, in, in, uh, the public relations office for the San Diego Padres. And at the time, the San Diego Padres and the San Diego Chargers shared the stadium together.

• 29:19Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 29:20Speaker 03

  And, uh, I got to meet Junior Seau.

• 29:23Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 29:23Speaker 03

  And Junior said to me, you know, whatever you do, you're going to be a great player. Just remember, this community, give back. And I was like, okay, whatever.

• 29:35Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 29:36Speaker 03

  And then I watched what he did with his foundation in San Diego and how, um, you know, he, he went back to Oceanside and, and not just, not just Oceanside, but all of San Diego. Um, his thing was, was uplifting people.

• 29:51Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 29:51Speaker 03

  You know, uh, reaching that hand out, um, trying, trying to make sure, uh, other people had an opportunity. And for me, you know, that became kinda, kinda my thing, philanthropy. I wanted to, uh, my rookie year, I did a football camp, 1994. Uh, we did a football camp, we raised money, gave the money to the Boys and Girls Club, started from there. Then I started doing golf tournaments. Then we traveled to the Super Bowl to, to do golf tournaments and, uh, provide experiences and, and, uh, my foundation started to grow and, um, I wanted to give back and have inner-city kids like myself who was not exposed to much. Just so they can see there's more to life than what's on the street corner.

• 30:34Ed Mylett?

  Wonderful.

• 30:34Speaker 03

  And drugs, games, affiliations with bad things. You know, there's other things out there. And we figured out if you expose them, if you show them college, they're gonna want college. You know, if you show them, if you show them this beach, they're gonna try to get to this beach. They're gonna try to get back to it.

• 30:50Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 30:51Speaker 03

  And those are things that sometimes as adults, we don't understand.

• 30:55Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 30:55Speaker 03

  Kids, they, they sometimes need to be shown a dream.

• 31:01Ed Mylett?

  You're right.

• 31:02Speaker 03

  So they can dream, so they then have a blueprint to follow.

• 31:04Ed Mylett?

  That's so true. I mean, if you're living in a nightmare all the time, you're not about dreaming about things all the time, right?

• 31:08Speaker 03

  That's it. That's it.

• 31:09Ed Mylett?

  It's very true.

• 31:10Speaker 03

  It's nightmares, it's not dreams.

• 31:12Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 31:12Speaker 03

  Your, your dream is you got shot. Your dream is your house got robbed. Your dream is you got kidnapped. Yeah, exactly.

• 31:18Ed Mylett?

  There's a big leap between survival and actually chasing a dream. And so, I think it's wonderful. What about the former players? Like, you know, I've had a lot of guys on. It's something I noticed too. Just from a career standpoint or a life standpoint, I know you're passionate about even former players too. Like, what are you doing with those guys and how are you helping them?

• 31:33Speaker 03

  Well, we, I, I do as much as possible with any type of fundraising that goes on for former players, any way that we can help. And my newest partnership, obviously, you know, with WFG and what they do, but but you're the financial partners.

• 31:53Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 31:54Speaker 03

  We've kind of signed on a deal with the NFL alumni

• 31:57Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 31:57Speaker 03

  to kind of bring them the services that, that we offer. To give them an opportunity to see what, and it's crazy, but what, what having financial freedom is all about and having a financial education and understanding all the things that are out there for you. All the different tax laws, all the different loopholes that if you don't have enough money and you can't go to Goldman Sachs

• 32:22Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 32:23Speaker 03

  and stuff like that, you're not gonna understand. Well, we've provided techniques and tools for them to use. And it doesn't matter what your level of wealth is, what your level of income is. If you want to leave a legacy for your family, for your kids.

• 32:41Speaker 03

  We can help you create that. It doesn't matter how much you make.

• 32:45Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 32:45Speaker 03

  You know, it's about, it's about how much you put away and how smart you are with what you make.

• 32:50Ed Mylett?

  That's so true. I'm amazed at you. Like, I don't know if I've met an athlete who's able to speak on so many different things. No, really. I mean, seriously, when it comes to, we're talking about golf before the interview, football, business, life, and I'm really excited that we're partnering with you on this stuff too. I think it's wonderful and I love your heart, brother. Like, I love people who pay it forward because you've had a blessed life. You've worked really hard for it. But it's this gratitude that you have. It's such an important emotion that we all have. I love what you've talked about being a separator. I want to be curious because there's a lot of young people that watch my stuff. They look up to you, obviously, and we've just got a few minutes left. But I would mess up if I didn't give you a chance to like, address young people because you're talking about inner-city kids as well. So let's say one of these kids, no matter who's watching this, they got out of that nightmare and they got a dream. It's to play in the NFL. It's to be an astronaut. It's to be a successful businesswoman, whatever it is.

• 33:35Ed Mylett?

  What advice would you give a young person who wants to chase their dream? What counsel would you give them about it?

• 33:41Speaker 03

  I mean, it's, it's, chasing a dream is easy. It's your dream. The stupid thing is to not chase it because you own it. But I just encourage them to, to always look back, try to help others, and try to help others get ahead. Be careful of the people who want to take advantage of you and only, only do the things that you're passionate about. Don't do them because they're popular.

• 34:04Ed Mylett?

  Man, that is, the thing I got from you when we were off-camera and when we're on is, I think sometimes I discount people that are great at something that they're passionate for. Like, you love football.

• 34:14Speaker 03

  I love it.

• 34:14Ed Mylett?

  I actually think you love to compete.

• 34:16Speaker 03

  Oh, without a doubt.

• 34:16Ed Mylett?

  I think it's like, I think if we're playing golf, I mean, all of a sudden I saw your face change. We were talking golf. I talk about golf like it's fun. You talk about golf like, hey, I'm not playing around with this.

• 34:23Speaker 03

  You and I, we're competing right now. I just want to make sure that I'm better than you on your podcast. You don't know that, but I just want you to know.

• 34:31Ed Mylett?

  Well, I wish you the best of luck on that. No, I enjoyed today so much, my friend. Seriously. We went, we went, I want to go longer, but we went as long as I'm permitted to go because I want to be respectful of your time and everybody else's time here. This is how a Hall of Famer thinks, but more importantly, everybody, this is how a Hall of Fame person acts and conducts their life. They're grateful. They give back. They pay it forward. And they're humble about all of their successes. So from all the way back to you kicking the heck out of UOP in 1991.

• 34:57Speaker 03

  You got your revenge at the Super Bowl with the Patriots.

• 34:59Ed Mylett?

  I did get a little bit.

• 35:00Speaker 03

  There you go, there you go.

• 35:01Ed Mylett?

  But I went on that team, but what I got was, I got to make a dream come true of mine, which was meeting you today.

• 35:04Speaker 03

  Oh, man.

• 35:05Ed Mylett?

  And spending some time, and I'm excited about our new partnership together. And I want to thank you so much for today.

• 35:10Speaker 03

  Thanks for having me.

• 35:10Ed Mylett?

  Thank you, thank you. Everyone out there, you know, I bring these unbelievable people to you for free. Here's all I ask, right? It's free. Just give myself and the podcast a nice review on iTunes or a comment here on YouTube. Say some great things about us. And please continue to follow Marshall Fok and the progress he's having in his career. Max out, everybody. God bless you.