Breece Hall New York Jets Running Back ready for NFL Training Camp, Ranked #2 by executives, talks Aaron Rodgers, Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, boasts Jets confidence as the best on defense & offense, 2024 goals, who wins the AFC & his family roots

"Either go out there and be the best or don't... I have all the potential to and I have the team around me to do it, so there are no excuses." Breece Hall NY Jets Running Back Kicking off our 2024 NFL Training Camp tour in partnership with Fanatics, we head to Florham Park, NJ to visit with the New York Jets, catch a little of the first practice and Ryan, Channing, and Fred sit down with the man who league executives ranked the #2 running back heading into 2024 season, Breece Hall. After a challenging 2023 season for New York, The Jets, with Aaron Rodgers back in the driver's seat, are aiming to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Breece Hall is all fired up on their chances and believes this year is the one for the Jets as confidence remains high and the belief in his teammates even higher. He tells the Pivot all about the added pieces to the Jets roster and why the energy in the building is at a different level with a competitive focus on and off the field which he attributes to his belief that the team is destined to reach the AFC championship this season. Beyond the changes and improvements on his team, Hall has not had an easy journey over the past year, and he confides in the Pivot about the peaks and valleys of last season, coming back from injury and battling through the hardships his team faced. Storying his football journey from a midwest school to slipping in the 2022 draft to suffering a brutal ACL injury to his bond with stars Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner who were all drafted the same year and and admiration for QB legend Aaron Rodgers, Hall opens up with the guys on what really goes on behind the scenes and the authenticity of locker room relationships. Hall shares never-heard-before stories about current and former players that will fuel your football excitement and open you up to the player's perspective of what it's like to chase NFL dreams. From his close-knit family upbringing that shaped the man he is to his insight on his former college roommate, Brock Purdy, to his off the field experiences in a viral airport confrontation that caused NY Giants great Carl Banks to intervene, to his ranking of fellow NFL running backs, this episode is packed with what makes football great- the grit, the love and the will to always want to be respected but win. We’re just getting started with our tour, and bringing you sideline views and locker room conversations as we gear up for the return of the NFL season! Don’t miss out as we continue to visit teams and connect with players, coaches and meet fans on each of our Pivot stops! Make sure you subscribe to YouTube for hints on upcoming cities and follow along for more training camp content, only on The Pivot in partnership with Fanatics! To stay connected this summer with your friends and family, sign up for this new customer offer for Mint Mobile and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to https://mintmobile.com/pivot $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on the first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details. 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.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  New York Jets camp, Aaron Rodgers, first play eleven on, goes deep to Garrett Wilson. We not even here for those two. We were here for Breece Hall. Had his pink shoes on. Listen, what the execs say is, he's the next back after Christian McCaffrey. But can he be an Offensive Player of the Year?

• 0:47Speaker 02

  Get that, close, work, inside out, inside out, work, good. Good, here we go.

• 0:52Ryan Clark?

  We believe so. He says he's a big play waiting to happen. Tap in and see what else he says.

• 1:34Ryan Clark?

  What's up, Slim? Oh, what happening?

• 1:35Speaker 03

  My bad.

• 1:36Ryan Clark?

  He rich, too good, nigga. Yeah, buddy. What up, boy? How you doing, family? Yeah. Ooh, we got two running backs on the other side.

• 1:43Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 1:43Ryan Clark?

  Let's line it up. Y'all ready?

• 1:45Channing Crowder?

  They casually have money.

• 1:46Ryan Clark?

  Nah, I ain't gonna lie. Y'all got, I ain't gonna lie, that one-two punch right there would be vicious, though. We gonna get him all the carries, though. I'm good. I want three. Hey, shoot, Dalvin went over there thinking he was gonna get carries.

• 1:58Channing Crowder?

  That's my dog.

• 2:00Speaker 05

  That's my dog. That's my dog.

• 2:02Fred Taylor?

  I was hoping to see a little one-two punch though.

• 2:05Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:05Fred Taylor?

  You know, but shit, it is what it is.

• 2:08Speaker 05

  Yeah, it was just more so like just situational stuff like the first, I about think three, four weeks, me and him, we were actually starting to ascend and then I think game five or six, like we had four or five of our starters get hurt in the same, same game. We had four linemen get hurt, so it was kind of difficult for them to kind of, you know, know what they wanted to do with both of us after the season. But he was a real good person, bro. He never complained in the facility, like me and him always kept it a hundred with each other. We were on the same like agreement is like whoever has a hot hand gonna be the one that's getting the rocker at the, at the time or whatever. So he, he a real good dude for sure.

• 2:40Ryan Clark?

  Well, welcome to the show, cause you just started doing TV. I love it.

• 2:44Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:45Ryan Clark?

  Breece Hall, we appreciate you, New York Jets running back, Fred Taylor, Channing Crowder. I'm Ryan Clark. Welcome to the Pivot, a part of Fanatics. And, you know, and mentioning your relationship with Dalvin. Dalvin is one of the best running backs of his era. I think we all can agree with that. You being a young player entering your second year off of an injury, I think that was a big reason why they made that decision. But I want to start before that. You were drafted 36th overall. Only two people from where you're from have been drafted higher, Barry Sanders, Cam Wimbley. But still, to me, as, you know, multiple Big 12 Player of the Year, you should have

• 3:30Ryan Clark?

  been drafted higher than that, I think. And you can see from especially the way you started your career before the injury and then after, once you were ready to go, we could see that sort of talent that equaled that production at Iowa State. Even in getting drafted, and I know you feel good about it, how difficult was it to sit through an entire round when you knew you were good enough to be drafted?

• 3:55Speaker 05

  Yeah, it was, it was still a blessing and everything, but I was definitely frustrated. And just through the process, you know, my agent Nicole Lynn, you know, I love her. She's like my mom's sister, best friend. So she was very transparent with me and saying like, if you don't go from 15 to 21, pretty much, then we want you to go in the second round. But me being naive, I'm like, there's not that many players better than me in this draft. Like, you know, after about pick 18, I started getting a little frustrated and everything. And I just remember having my family there at the NFL. I didn't go to the green room, but I was at a resort and everything in Vegas. And my whole family was there, a lot of friends from college and everything. And I just remember, you know, after the last pick, I was just like, this really just happened. And just trying to hold back tears, just anger and everything.

• 4:40Speaker 05

  And Nicole pulled me in my room and she told me everything is gonna be fine. And, you know, all the guys that I was at the combine, for the combine with like Sauce, Jermaine, you know, Trayvon Walker, just a lot of guys that went in the first round, like they were all, you know, celebrating and everything. And I'm just in my room sad, you know, emotional, just, you know, asking why me? And I knew the next day, you know, I wasn't gonna be around for too much longer. But, you know, it sucked. But that was like my fuel, just, you know, there wasn't that many people better than me and I'm gonna show everybody every week.

• 5:11Channing Crowder?

  Why were you always there? Because I even read about it where you was on JV and scoring like 10 touchdowns a game and shit and they still ain't, they still ain't put your ass on varsity. Like that feeling, brother, always being, I guess, undervalued, as I would say, kind of what you and RC talking about. Like, why? What's the explanation of that?

• 5:29Speaker 05

  Nah, my coach at high school was a little more strict. He just, he just didn't think I was ready yet. I was, you know, easily just as talented, if not more talented than a lot of guys on the team. But just my maturity and my work ethic wasn't there. Like, I could go out in the field every day and naturally be better than everybody. But I wasn't showing up to weights and everything how I should have been. So that's how he made me pay for it. And that was like my, my learning year because my, and I'm kind of happy I didn't play varsity because we weren't that good that year. And then once I got to play varsity the next season, we were really good going to state and everything. And that was, that made me really hungry and that made me want to prove a lot of the guys that I grew up with and played little league with that was already playing varsity did not, like I'm still that dude for sure.

• 6:06Ryan Clark?

  Reese, I know Freddie T is about to go. It may have helped the Team that you rush for like two bands, two years in a row to be better too. Like it it also it helps when you have a future NFL running back.

• 6:19Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 6:20Ryan Clark?

  Playing in the backfield too.

• 6:21Speaker 05

  Yeah, so and it it was a blessing because a lot of the guys that I played my high school ball with, I grew up with and played little league with too. So we're all just best friends throughout middle school, went to middle school with them and then playing at high school. So it was just like you going out every day, just having fun with your boys.

• 6:37Fred Taylor?

  Going back to where R.C. left off, where you where you were drafted. Do you recall the backs that were taken ahead of you?

• 6:45Speaker 05

  Oh, no, I was already one.

• 6:46Fred Taylor?

  He was the first back in that draft?

• 6:48Speaker 05

  Exactly.

• 6:48Fred Taylor?

  So that's the bullshit I don't like, right? And so NFL has this thing where they devalue the running back position so much, so much. And that that affects your draft position, right? And I believe that once they get you in there, they try and then they turn around and try and take advantage.

• 7:10Ryan Clark?

  They love you.

• 7:10Fred Taylor?

  You know what I'm saying? Like, here you go, carry, carry, carry, carry, carry. And then when it's time to pay you, the conversation and all of that changes.

• 7:19Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 7:19Fred Taylor?

  Why Iowa State? Do you think, I I guess I want to ask you, why do you think you fell to 36?

• 7:29Speaker 05

  I kind of ask myself that question a lot because like if you look at my film and my stats to production and the big plays and this, like everything's there. So that was my biggest thing. I went, killed the combine, had one of the best combine performances ever from a running back and everything and like that. And I thought after my combine performance, I killed pro day and I was like, all right, cemented, I'm going first round. And I guess it just didn't happen, I don't know. But and I look at other guys and look at my stats compared to them in college and my combine and all the metrics and stuff like that. And I'm like. That don't, doesn't make sense, but it is what it is though.

• 8:04Fred Taylor?

  Do you think, we're all SEC boys, LSU, Florida. Do you think that the outcome or the conversation changes if that were, you did what you did versus SEC rosters?

• 8:16Speaker 05

  Uh, nah, not really, cuz uh, you look at like, like my dog Bijon, like Bijon, Big 12, and he did everything he did. Great, great running back, you know, I look at him, like me and him were competing with each other in college every year, just who's gonna be the best, who's gonna be the best? And um, he went first round, he had everything. I, for me, I think it's more so just I went to a smaller school, nobody really knew who I was until everybody started kinda looking at, okay, running backs and towards the combine, towards the draft and everything. So, kinda later, but um, you know, you look at everything I did in college, you know, back to back, Big 12 Player of the Year, All-American, all that type of stuff is like, felt like everything was there, it just didn't happen that way.

• 8:53Ryan Clark?

  You mentioned Sauce earlier and Jermaine Johnson. You're actually a part of a historic class of draft picks, especially the first four picks of a draft. We're talking about Sauce, Garrett Wilson, uh, Jermaine Johnson and yourself. Four people with Hall of Fame potential. Teams don't get that sort of opportunity to collect a group of talent like that. How much do you guys relish in the fact that y'all could be the class or the individuals that get the Jets back to glory?

• 9:28Speaker 05

  It's crazy cuz like I said, me, Sauce and Jermaine were at the same place uh, for, training for the combine and uh, just us joking around, we all were like super confident, you know, knew that we were really good and everything. Jermaine was the arguably the best DN, Sauce was the best corner, I'm the best running back. So, I just remember uh, seeing uh, Jermaine, uh, Sauce and Garrett get drafted. And then, the next day, my phone's ringing from a New Jersey area code and I'm like, wow. Then the next thing, though, Sauce FaceTimes me, he just, he answered the phone and he's just shaking his head, he's like, yeah, it's go time. And I was just like, wow, this is crazy. But Garrett, I've known Garrett since high school cuz we uh, played on the same All-American team. And so uh, me and him had, we, we got really cool through that and then just us keeping tabs on each other through college and everything.

• 10:11Speaker 05

  I remember him hitting me up a few times and, you know, so those two, uh, Garrett and then Sauce is from Detroit, I was born in Detroit too. So, we kinda all had like a little, you know, connection for sure.

• 10:21Ryan Clark?

  So, does Garrett win the Rookie of the Year if Breece Hall doesn't get hurt? Do y'all ever have that conversation?

• 10:28Speaker 05

  Yeah, we do. We always joke around about it, but I think, I like to say I wouldn't want it just because as a competitor I am, but I was happy he did it. If it wasn't gonna be me, I wanted it to be him and Sauce. So, seeing them win it was definitely great, but I just remember, you know, when you have a season injury and everything, you get to, you kind of go through that process of asking like, "Why me?" You know, "Why this happened to me?" And for me, that was my first time ever getting hurt in my whole life. I never was in the training room like that, or, you know, I had some dings and nicks, but I never had nothing that held me out for months or anything like that. So, I just remember, we were playing Denver and I had just ran like a 60, 70 yard touchdown. And then we ran the same play the next drive, and I remember I saw Pat Surtain breaking off a block,

• 11:10Speaker 05

  and I tried to slow down and just fell on the ground, and I was kind of like feeling my knee like, "Okay, what happened?" So, I get up and I start walking back to the locker room. They made me get on the card or whatever. We go to x-ray, nothing, and then we get on the training table and they start doing this little thing with my knee, and they're like, "Yeah, it doesn't feel like it's intact." But I guess like my quads and stuff were so strong, so I'm still jumping around. Like, I'm like, "No, I feel good. I feel fine." And then they're like, "No, we can't let you go back out there till you go to MRI tomorrow." So, we win the game, we're flying back, and as we're flying back, my knee starts to swell up a lot. And that's when I knew, I was like, "Okay, I definitely did something." But I didn't, still didn't think I tore my ACL, and then I wake up at 5:30 in the morning,

• 11:51Speaker 05

  go get my MRI, and I found out, and I just remember just crying like, "Damn, my whole season's over with already." And that's the first thing, like, not adversity, but like as far as injuries, that's the first thing I ever been through. So, I just didn't really know how to take it or anything.

• 12:04Channing Crowder?

  And I'm on y'all, Freddie, you just asked, and I'm on y'all's side, bro. I played too. I had four ACL reconstructions, 17 knee surgeries, micro fractures, I had it all.

• 12:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 12:12Channing Crowder?

  But that's why y'all are the devalued.

• 12:14Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 12:14Channing Crowder?

  Because y'all getting y'all ass bashed in every single play.

• 12:17Speaker 05

  Right.

• 12:17Channing Crowder?

  You go to cut back and a wheel linebacker hit you in the knee. You know what I'm saying? Like, isn't that part of it? Is the ops of a Garrett Wilson go out there and play around with a cornerback all game? And y'all got 270 pound linebacker trying to fuck y'all up every single play.

• 12:30Speaker 05

  Yeah, but it's also frustrating too, because we touching the ball the third most, other than the quarterback and the center, and they're relying on us the most, so especially, especially for me, I feel like I'm the best playmaker on the team, other than Garrett. You know, me and Garrett go hand in hand for that, and... You know, that's why I feel like my value is so high because I do it both ways. I do it in the run game and pass game. So I feel like, you know, I look at myself as one of those guys like McCaffrey or Bijon, Le'Veon Bell, those type of guys where my value is up here and I feel like I can be one of those special, special running backs for a team that could be a difference maker. So I feel like I should be valued high.

• 13:01Speaker 03

  Do you think if you had a neck, it'd be easier?

• 13:11Speaker 03

  Hey, besides that chain? Besides the chain? Your chain is a 57.

• 13:20Speaker 03

  That boy gonna chip the trap.

• 13:25Speaker 05

  No traps on there.

• 13:26Speaker 03

  He ain't gonna never had no neck injury ever. He is next level. His spine strong, man. Goodness.

• 13:33Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's just, it's all the, all the shrugs, everything over the years. That's all it is.

• 13:36Fred Taylor?

  That's why those dudes be bouncing off you. I'm gonna go back, you, you mentioned the ACL and frustration. Exactly how frustrating was it when your rookie year ended? You don't have to been excited, you were the starter, and then that injury happens? And then the process of rehab and going through and coming back?

• 13:56Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 13:57Fred Taylor?

  Like, describe all of that for us.

• 13:58Speaker 05

  So, once I found out I got hurt, it, it, stuff didn't really start getting frustrating until I started doing my rehab. So, after I get surgery, the next day I was walking and everything a little bit, putting some, putting some weight on it, because I didn't have any meniscus or anything, it was just straight ACL. And then, with me running and squatting and trying to cut and stuff again, like, it was just days I couldn't do it, I was so sore, I just didn't have the confidence to do it. So it would be days where I would just have to step away from the trainers and everybody for 10, 15 minutes and I would just be so frustrated and then just go out there and just try to push through it. That's, that's when you get the best out of yourself is when you're sore, you're hurting, and you push through it just so you know that, okay, I'm still progressing and everything. But I definitely had my days where I didn't want to be there, didn't want to do it. But luckily, I had some great trainers.

• 14:42Speaker 05

  Shout out to my main trainer that was with me, Bobby Daplin. He did a really good job of just pushing me and being transparent with me and kind of knowing how to handle me and how my emotions were because, like I said, it was my first injury and I didn't have a high pain tolerance and I was just like, like, what's going on? Why can't I do everything I used to? And even my first game, I was still kind of nervous and everything. Luckily, I ended up having a pretty good outing from my first one, so that gave me a huge confidence booster after that.

• 15:07Speaker 03

  After your first game?

• 15:09Ryan Clark?

  Was that the game, he had like 10 catches or something early, right? I can't remember.

• 15:14Speaker 05

  No, I had 10, I think I had 10 carries for like 120 or something like that.

• 15:17Ryan Clark?

  So, and was that the game afterwards you was like, at some point you was like, I was still that dude? Like I thought that I was still that dude?

• 15:24Speaker 05

  Yeah, and it's kind of crazy because even like that game, like I still wasn't 100%. I just felt, I felt good enough to play and I was like, if I can play, I'm gonna play, forget it. And then just throughout the season, I just kept getting better and better, even though it sucked. I was still dealing with a lot of pain and waking up, not really wanting to practice and stuff like that. But just trying to fight through it, just trying to get stronger every day. And you know, after, I just remember the first game after Aaron got hurt, I was like, alright, if I, if we gonna win, it's gonna be because our playmakers, me and Garrett, we gonna have to help the team out a little more. So, just taking that burden on myself and just trying to do everything for the team I could.

• 15:56Ryan Clark?

  In mentioning Aaron, you played the first year as a rookie. You get injured, now the next offseason, you're rehabbing and Aaron Rodgers becomes your quarterback. And it's this huge frenzy around the New York Jets. It's hard knocks, it means you, we were there, right? We come to camp and you have all of those things and then you do have the letdown. The fourth play of the season, now your future first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback goes down. This offseason has been a little different. Talk a little bit about the feel of the locker room headed into your third year, but the true first year of expecting to have Aaron Rodgers as the quarterback.

• 16:41Speaker 05

  Yeah, the whole locker room aspect is different, especially like even Aaron, he did a great job of telling me, like once I got back, he was like, bro, like when you're out there, there's a whole different, whole different vibe from the team. Like, so I just feel like now, and especially that Aaron's back, he is practicing and everything. Like, you know, everybody's just uber confident, you know? We go out there, there's not a play that we don't think is gonna work. And then we got a new and improved O-line, especially with some old pieces we had from last season. We got Mike Williams, we know we got Hassan Reddick, like just adding those pieces. You know, our team's so confident right now, we think we can do whatever we want.

• 17:13Channing Crowder?

  I was gonna say, we're playing with a guy like Aaron Rodgers, who just a monster. We all played against him. Hey, we got you by 20 years, the man been playing for a while.

• 17:22Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 17:22Channing Crowder?

  RC played with Big Ben, who's a monster.

• 17:25Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 17:25Channing Crowder?

  Fred played with Joe Namath and YA Tittle and them boys.

• 17:32Fred Taylor?

  See, you ain't the only one. I get it. It's all good.

• 17:36Speaker 03

  Hey, Jay, they trying to trade for Joe Montana. So Fred could play with it.

• 17:41Channing Crowder?

  Him and Jerry Rice can work out in the offseason, but like to play and not even like, I always say when you talk about somebody else, you badmouth somebody else. No. But like you just said, to be in the locker room and then now have a first battle Hall of Fame. Like what does, what does Aaron Rodgers bring? What was the thing that you saw immediately like, okay, this is what Hall of Fame looks like?

• 17:59Speaker 05

  Yeah, just when we're on the field, just that sense of calm. Like we think everything is gonna work. We know that, you know, he's gonna see stuff and check us out of stuff that's gonna put us in a position to be successful all the time. So I say on the field is just that sense of calm and confidence. And then off the field, he's real big about us, you know, having a brotherhood and us being together. So he always tries to, you know, include the team in doing stuff, joking around. We threw some, we threw a Halloween party last year that was super fun. It was Great Gatsby theme and he pulls up in a, with a horse and a chariot, like trying to show off and everything. So it's just little stuff he does and how he, uh, how he just, he can talk to anybody. He was my locker mate too. So me and him gained a really great friendship just from him telling me like, just from, just really just having deep conversations and stuff like that, especially with us being hurt and everything.

• 18:42Speaker 05

  But yeah, he's just, he's just a great overall dude. And y'all know he has his own opinions and social media is always on him and everything like that. So just hearing the way he talks and why he is the way he is, why he thinks the way he thinks. He's just a super like unique human being.

• 18:55Fred Taylor?

  Who's been your biggest influence or mentor since you started playing ball?

• 19:01Speaker 05

  Other than my high school coach, Steve Martin, he was the one that put in my head after my sophomore year. He was like, you know, you can be the greatest thing to come out of Wichita after Barry Sanders. And that really made me lock in when he told me that. And I had my friends telling me I was going to the NFL and playing JV football like just because I was more talented, more athletic, faster than everybody. And then probably my stepdad, his name Jeff Smith, he played at Nebraska, coached by Tom Osborne and played for the Chiefs and the Bucks. So just having, you know, mentors like that to, you know, always talk to me, keep me on track and everything. And I also just say, just my friends, just never let me get into anything, get in any trouble.

• 19:42Speaker 05

  Always making sure, I was making it to practice, making it to lifts. If I didn't have a car, I didn't have a ride and everything. Just guys going out of their way to show me love. And that's why I feel like now, like I try to include them in everything I do. I want them coming to games. I want them coming to my camps. I want them, you know, being here when I work out and stuff like that. Cause you know, a lot of people helped me get to where I'm at. And I feel like, you know, not that I owe them anything, but I feel like I want them to be included on this journey with me as well.

• 20:04Fred Taylor?

  And along that journey, to go from Iowa State to New York, you know, I mean, Wichita to Iowa State to New York. Like, what was that adjustment like?

• 20:16Speaker 05

  It was different. I say people from the Midwest are overly polite, really nice, considerate. And you get into New York, you know, you're driving and people are trying to force their way into your lane, not letting you get over. People will bump into you walking and they won't hold the door open for you. Just little stuff like that, you notice that Midwest people are like, wow, they're like, people out there are really, really nice. And then I say the food is a lot different. It's a lot more in New York, it's a lot more Italian food, bagels and different stuff like that. But for us to be young and to have the draft class we did and us have the success that we've had as young players. Being in New York is perfect because of the market. And then just them having everything from fashion to the nightlife and just a little bit of everything, sports and everything. It's like the perfect spot to be.

• 21:01Ryan Clark?

  Reese, along with all of those amazing things you mentioned, there's the media of New York as well, which is really tough. And there's some crazy fans. Can you sort of take me through the airport situation? And why Carl Banks, a Giants legend of all things, had to step in between you and a fan that's screaming slap me?

• 21:27Speaker 05

  Yeah, so it was after the Super Bowl. You know, everybody goes out there to do their marketing stuff and enjoy their time out there before the game and after the game and everything. And I remember coming back from my flight, I guess somehow they got my flight numbers or my frequent flyer numbers or something like that. And so I walk out of my gate and walk through baggage, walk in the baggage claim and a guy comes out, two guys come out with a big cart. And it's like pylons, footballs, many. Helmets, trading cards, a whole bunch of stuff. And the guy asked me if I could sign like a, it was a row of like nine trading cards. I signed them real quick and I was like, I'm not signing anything else. Just because I feel like in the airport, like you kind of invaded my privacy. Like I don't really, I'm trying to be bothered, just trying to, you know, walk through there, listen to my music, chill out. And um, I had my hood and my hat on, so he, they, I knew they were waiting on me.

• 22:12Speaker 05

  They knew what flight I was coming off of and everything. And um, so as I'm walking to the baggage claim, he kept bothering me and kept asking me. And I'm like, I just signed nine, nine cards for you, bro. Like, I'm not trying to sign anything else. And just trying to just be polite and trying to de-escalate the situation. And so I text my marketing guy and he was, because he was on the same flight as me. He's like, I'm gonna be over there in a little bit. So he walks over and they're like, he's like, nah, I'm, uh, Bruce isn't signing anything else. And the guy's like, I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to him. Like, stop talking to me, like, just being overly disrespectful to him. And so we get to baggage claim and I'm waiting, I'm not paying him any attention. But he's literally like right here and I'm turning around and he keeps talking to me. And then Carl, that's when he sees, he was on the same flight as us as well. He is waiting at baggage claim and he steps over. I just turn around and I'm like, bro, you know they could like do something to you for this. Like, this isn't, this isn't right.

• 22:58Speaker 05

  And he took that as like a threat, like, oh, they can fight you or like, I'm like, okay, whatever. So he starts screaming and being overly obnoxious. And so I turn around and I laugh at him. And I just turn back around, waiting for my bags. And then I turn around one more time and I just see like forty people like sitting there like this. I was like, oh my gosh.

• 23:17Speaker 05

  So I grabbed my bag and we got out of there real quick. And then four hours later TMZ posted on the.

• 23:23Ryan Clark?

  Did you say you was gonna slap him? Why was he screaming slap me?

• 23:26Speaker 05

  Because like the way, I guess the way like I related was like, he took it as like, oh, they're about to beat you up or something like that. And um, so he kept yelling and I just turned around, I'm laughing at him and everything. And I'm like, they, I see everybody record and I'm just like, this is crazy. I never had anything happen to me like that. I was like, this is crazy, bro. So then from then on, after that, like my Asian, they like, every time I go to the airport, they have somebody with me. Like whether it's security or like somebody from the marketing uh, part, side of it or anything. Because like, that time is like, I was just like, bro, this is, I didn't know what to do. Because, bro, literally sitting here right in my face and my marketing dude, they trying to get him out of my face and everything. And I was just sitting there, I just turned around, I was acting like I'm trying to not, like not hearing him and everything.

• 24:08Speaker 05

  And he just, this went on, like, this went on for like ten minutes longer than what the video was. They're like, he, I'm waiting on my bag and he really like in my face yelling. And I'm like, are you finna sign this? Can you sign this? Like, talking, just being overly like obnoxious and I was like.

• 24:20Ryan Clark?

  You're a good man, boy.

• 24:22Channing Crowder?

  I'm saying, but, bro, that got... What did that change in you, though? Because that gotta be annoying as hell. Like you just said, it upset me that now you can't walk through the airport, go grab your bag and get in the damn Uber.

• 24:32Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 24:32Channing Crowder?

  You gotta have a dude escort you to the airport. You big as hell. You could hair butt somebody in the hell and they gonna go to sleep. Was that an eye-opening situation for you?

• 24:42Speaker 05

  Yeah, because I think if it was a little younger me, like college and everything, and we was like in Iowa, like outside the airport, then I probably would have been a little more like got mad. I probably would have done something to him. But just me being in the airport and I had people like around me, I was just like, I ain't even, it ain't even worth it. But then I get all my friends joking like, oh, he was meant to do something to you. Da-da-da-da-da. I'm like...

• 25:03Ryan Clark?

  You know the boys, you gotta say something.

• 25:04Speaker 05

  Yeah, I'm like, bro, stop playing with me. So, yeah, I'm like, y'all don't even understand. Like, even if we want to do something, even if we could do something, we really can't because we gonna get in trouble for it. So I was like, no, you got it, bro. It's whatever.

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• 25:46Ryan Clark?

  You said something earlier. You said talked about your value. And Freddie T even mentioned the devaluing of the running back position. It seems like CMC has cracked the code because he keep getting money above everybody else. There was, Jeremy Fowler did this survey or poll of executives in the offseason, and they did the top 10 running backs. And number one is Christian McCaffrey. And number two is Breece Hall. At three, I think it's Nick Chubb, and then it's Saquon Barkley. You're only in your third year. Your first year was cut short. For the executives in the league to think that highly of you, that says what they feel about the film they've seen. You, as Breece Hall, what makes you...

• 26:31Ryan Clark?

  Feel about yourself in a way that you belong amongst the names of Christian McCaffrey, Nick Chubb, Saquon Barkley.

• 26:39Speaker 05

  I just think it's like still my ceiling and my potential like for me, that was different for me than other guys. I feel like every time I touch the ball, I'm just a big play waiting to happen. Like whether you throw me the ball, you toss me the ball, hand it off to me, like I can take it to the crib whenever I want to. I feel like that's, that's what separates me from a lot of guys. And I watch a lot of guys. I watch Bijon, I watch Chubb, I watch Jameer, I watch McCaffrey. Like I watch everybody and like I like measuring myself up to those guys. But I feel like if you look at my situation from the last two years and you know, like our rankings and everything, just from that standpoint and what I've still been able to produce, especially with Garrett as well. I feel like we should definitely have a little bit more respect in the league than what we do. Luckily, like it was a blessing that they did put me number two, but I feel like I still got

• 27:24Speaker 05

  a lot to prove. I haven't even had a thousand yard season yet. So it's just little stuff like that. And I'm like, okay, once I do this and I could be cemented number one.

• 27:31Ryan Clark?

  You mentioned some of those guys. Who along with you though, do you feel like, and you know, I'm not even gonna do that to you. I'm gonna take you out. Right? Let's say Breece Hall isn't a part of the New York Jets or a part of the league. You're just a, a fan of running backs. Who are some of those guys that you like, hey, man, these are, are the dudes? And tell me a little bit about why they are.

• 27:54Speaker 05

  Healthy Nick Chubb, cuz he, if you see the way, his legs is two of mine. One of his legs is two of mine. Like he, you can't, nobody, no one person is tackling him. And I saw that firsthand my rookie year. We got one of the best defenses in the league and you see he running through arm tackles. He's breaking C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams tackles. And you see them big pullers running in front of him like nobody bringing him down by himself. So just seeing how he has a big playability and he has a big like way of just forcing missed tackles and everything. He, he up there alone McCaffrey, cuz he does everything right. Like if you watch his film from routes to his path on his outside zone, inside zone, like the little stuff like that for him, that's what sets up his big

• 28:38Speaker 05

  runs because he's doing everything the right way. He never takes a play off. He's great in the pass game, great in the run game. He's good at pass pro too. Healthy Jonathan Taylor. You see, he already, like, and people don't even, people don't even think about him. Healthy Jonathan Taylor, top five easily. Just because he also does everything well. A big play waiting to happen. 4-3 speed, 6-1, 2-30 like.

• 29:00Ryan Clark?

  He look like this dude.

• 29:01Speaker 05

  Yeah, exactly.

• 29:01Ryan Clark?

  He plays like this dude play, man. JT nice.

• 29:04Speaker 05

  Yeah, healthy Saquon, one of none. He does everything well. Super quick twitch, shifty, fast, long speed. I feel like me and him are real similar. We're just a big play waiting to happen.

• 29:18Speaker 05

  And then I juggle between like Bijon and Jameer.

• 29:23Ryan Clark?

  The young guy?

• 29:24Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah, I really like them. Like I watch Bijon, I watch every play Bijon had in college. Like me and him were always contacting each other, talking to each other. We got the same agent, like me and him are like this. So we work out at the same, we work out at Sports Academy out here. Just always challenging each other, pushing each other. Watching him like, he's similar to me in a way. Like I think he's a little shifteer than me, but he's a big play waiting to happen. You throw it to him, he runs routes, throw him a bubble screen.

• 29:46Ryan Clark?

  I'm gonna tell you what, nah, that's a scary list. I think what, and to me though, what Bijon was able to do, especially early last year when they got him the ball.

• 29:55Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:56Ryan Clark?

  But Jameer's ascension into-

• 29:58Speaker 05

  Throughout the end of the season.

• 29:59Ryan Clark?

  Throughout the end of the season, when they started to really put it in his hands, like he added a different dimension to that offense of speed that I think changed what they was doing. I know you guys know.

• 30:09Channing Crowder?

  And bro, I was gonna say, because the guys you bring up, they volume guys.

• 30:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:13Channing Crowder?

  Like you get the, like, C-Mac touched the ball. You know he touching the ball. We talk about it all the time, we talk about him. Like those guys touching the ball.

• 30:19Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:20Channing Crowder?

  Are you that guy? Can you encourage your coaches to be like, "Coach, I need me 22."

• 30:24Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:25Channing Crowder?

  A pass, run, flip, under center here, wildcat bitch, like, you know what I'm saying? Because those guys get the ball a lot and that's how you get 2,000 yards. Derrick Henry's another one, he's a different style of back. You need a pound of back.

• 30:36Speaker 05

  Exactly, so, and that's why like, he's also a top running back as well, but it's hard for me to like, watch him because we so different. Like we don't, we don't play the same, we don't run the same. Like we don't, like he's just, he's a, he a alien. I'm gonna just say that he does everything in a different way.

• 30:51Channing Crowder?

  Big old bastard.

• 30:52Speaker 05

  Exactly, like he does everything in a different way and uh- Like for me, like if you watch like my volume in college, I was getting 20, 25 carries a game. And like last season, it was like the first priority for every team is stop briefs. I'm getting eight, nine man boxes. So that was a Garrett like, cause I'm getting the ball, gotta make two people missing the hole and everything like that. But now that we added a few pieces to the team, we add Mike Williams, you press him, just throw him the fade, boom. Garrett, you press him, throw him the fade, throw him a quick slant, whatever he want to do. And with Aaron, like nobody's about to load the box. So that's when I'm really like, it's gonna be one of those things like Christian McCaffrey with Brock, like and all the pieces they got. Like no, you can't always load the box on them. So if you can't do it to me, I feel like that's when I'm really gonna get off and do whatever I want.

• 31:34Fred Taylor?

  The good thing about Ju is you can catch it well, too.

• 31:36Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 31:36Fred Taylor?

  So it's a matter of the, the play caller, just simply getting the ball in your hand.

• 31:41Speaker 05

  Right.

• 31:41Fred Taylor?

  And allowing you to do your thing. You mentioned Quincy and CJ. You throw in Quinnen, you throw in Sauce. Obviously you got the best defense in, in the NFL. Practicing against those guys each and every day.

• 31:54Speaker 05

  Frustrating. Frustrating.

• 31:57Fred Taylor?

  I, I decided to get to that point. Is there a defense, considering you're practicing against your, your defense every day, is there a defense out there that I wouldn't say you fear, but like when I play.

• 32:10Speaker 05

  Respect.

• 32:11Fred Taylor?

  Respect. I love, respect. Is there a defense out there that you respect or do you simply just respect them all?

• 32:18Speaker 05

  No, I definitely don't respect them all.

• 32:21Speaker 03

  That's the answer I want.

• 32:24Speaker 03

  Asking them teams.

• 32:26Fred Taylor?

  I mean, because I. Steelers, obviously. So I mean, but yeah.

• 32:30Speaker 05

  But I already, I got them my rookie year, so I ain't worried about them.

• 32:35Fred Taylor?

  Uh oh. You, you can't say that in here. I don't know. Cause he gets a little.

• 32:40Speaker 03

  I mean, it ain't the 08 Steelers. I ain't tripping.

• 32:44Speaker 05

  Really? I think what's gonna be my biggest test is week one, we play San Francisco. Like.

• 32:48Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 32:48Speaker 05

  That's gonna be my biggest test is everybody gonna hype up me versus McCaffrey, then Fred Warner. They got all those guys on the other side of the ball. McCaffrey versus CJ Quincy, you know, Sauce versus Debo. BA, like if he, if he's still there. I think that's gonna be my biggest test. Especially with, like I said, we got a new and improved team. So we got every piece that we need. So I feel like, you know, now that we're, we have every piece, now everybody's gonna get to see the full, full version of me and, cause I, cause I got some help now. But even before that, like, everybody knew I was a problem before, just the situation we was in. We dealt with a lot of injuries, playing with four or five different quarterbacks and everything. It's just, it's always hard to be successful that way. So I think that's gonna be my biggest test.

• 33:30Speaker 05

  But so far, you know, the team that, the team that's had my number probably been New England. New England's done a really good job.

• 33:37Ryan Clark?

  Great defense.

• 33:37Speaker 05

  Yeah, they've done, always done a really good job versus me. That's probably the team I get frustrated going against the most. But I feel like me, like, I can get off every game. I feel like every time I step out on the field, like, I, I got that mentality, Aaron got that mentality, Garrett got that mentality, like, I'm the best player, like, I can, like I said, I'm a big play waiting to happen, like, nobody can, you, you get in front of me, I'm taking me every time. So that's just my confidence, that's, and it could be arrogance, whatever the case may be. But I feel like with, with the guys I got blocking for me right now, like, any team we go with, go against, I'm, I'm taking me.

• 34:13Ryan Clark?

  I mean, you set it up perfectly for me. You mentioned what CMC does with his quarterback. You mentioned the fact that you played the San Francisco 49ers, week one. You were the two-time Big 12 Player of the Year. You had a quarterback that started a ton of games, gets drafted at the last pick of the entire draft, and becomes one of the best quarterbacks in the league and has already gone to a Super Bowl. What was it you saw in Brock Purdy that could have told you before everyone else knew that he had an opportunity to be a really good pro quarterback?

• 34:50Speaker 05

  For me, it was just seeing how hard Brock worked in college, like, and Brock was my roommate for two, two and a half years and everything, so having like conversations with him, like... He always told me like he was never the most talented, never the fastest, never the biggest, never had the strongest arms. So he always had to work overly hard just to meet a bridge of being as good as everybody else. So seeing how hard he worked, like it would be workouts that we had that like the running backs and linebackers, we failing stuff and Brock's still going, like just little stuff like that, just seeing the little intangible stuff that he had to him. And then just seeing how much, how good of a person he was. Brock wasn't a partier, he wasn't going out like drinking, doing none of that stuff. He was always football, football, football, which sometimes we try to like pull him out of that, just like, bro, let's play the game

• 35:35Speaker 05

  or let's do something. But just seeing how he's an all-American person, his faith in God. He never does, he never does anybody wrong. He always does the right things. Just seeing how good of a person, how hard of a worker he was. And he, like in college, he always had big play potential too, this potential to do a lot of stuff. We had some very big wins and everything. And us being at a small school, we didn't get the most talented people. So we kind of had to do a little bit more with less, which worked out in our favor sometimes, worked, sometimes it didn't. But I always knew he had it in him to, you know, be a, be a great player. But this, what he doing now is like a complete surprise. But he always even told me, he was like, bro, as long as I got the pieces around me, like I can, I'm gonna be successful. So just hearing him say that, and then now for him to have the pieces he needed, he's successful. So I really a surprise.

• 36:18Channing Crowder?

  Y'all call me what y'all want to, frugal, tight on money.

• 36:22Ryan Clark?

  I think cheap is.

• 36:23Channing Crowder?

  You like cheap. But I like to save money. But fellas, I ain't gonna, I ain't gonna walk through no damn hot coals. I ain't doing too much to save the money. I just love to save money. But with Mint Mobile, for three month plan, it's $15 a month. It's no hoops to jump through, no BS. And listen here, it's easy to get. $15 a month. And the hardest part of, you know what it was? Was to break up with the old wireless plan, because they gonna give me the flam gallery, Mint Mobile guy.

• 36:50Fred Taylor?

  I mean, for me, it's easy. Right now, my old wireless people, they just got hacked, all my information all over the internet. This is perfect timing. And you get the same thing. Unlimited talk, text, 5G, and it's cheap. Man, sign me up.

• 37:03Ryan Clark?

  Dang, I mean, they got all your selfies too, huh Freddie?

• 37:05Fred Taylor?

  All my selfies.

• 37:07Ryan Clark?

  Well, if you want to get started, you just go to mintmobile.com. And it says it right there for you. Three month plan, fifteen dollars a month. It's the perfect time for us too. We about to get on our training camp tour. We gotta be able to connect with the fam while we're gone. This is a perfect time for us. To get started, go to mintmobile.com/pivot. It's a three month plan, fifteen dollars a month, and it's an unlimited plan. So no matter where we are during our training camp tour, we can reach out, text, call, whatever we need, and we can get through to the fam.

• 37:39Channing Crowder?

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• 37:46Ryan Clark?

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• 38:18Channing Crowder?

  First of all, I gotta ask, what the fuck is a Breeze?

• 38:22Channing Crowder?

  I was about to say it, and I asked, I gotta ask, is it a family name? Is it a mistake?

• 38:26Speaker 05

  Nah, uh, I forgot the way my mom told me. I think she had a friend with Breeze in her name. Like, it was longer, but she had Breeze in her name. And my mom just liked the sound of Breeze. Like, she liked it was different. So she named me Breeze. My sister's name is Naria. So we got real different names, which is unique. I like it. Like, I don't want to be like nobody else anyway, so I'm cool with it.

• 38:47Channing Crowder?

  Bro, you the first Breeze. Y'all know any other Breezes?

• 38:49Ryan Clark?

  I do not.

• 38:50Speaker 05

  It's unique.

• 38:51Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 38:51Ryan Clark?

  I love it.

• 38:52Channing Crowder?

  It's very unique. And, bro, when you say stuff even about yourself and about Purdy, I go to church.

• 39:01Channing Crowder?

  I try to do good by people. I'm not winning no Super Bowls. I didn't win no Super Bowls. I didn't go to no Pro Bowls. For you to translate, watch Purdy, and it's you and himself, for you to be a top three back, and for him to be what he's doing right now, there has to be something that you can see that translates now, you being in the league, and being at a lower tier, I'm not bad-mouthing Iowa State or whatever, but a lower-tier college, and seeing, oh, we both had these that now is translating over because, yeah, working hard, there's a lot of dudes that run hard and do 10 more hundreds than everybody else, they ain't gonna make it in the league.

• 39:33Speaker 05

  Right. Like I said, we had to do more with less. That's really what it was. Like, I just remember in high school, like when we were at the All-American game, and guys like Garrett, everybody asking me where I'm going, I say Iowa State. Dudes are laughing at me and everything, and I'm a higher, I'm a four-star recruit, like I'm a higher recruit, and dudes is like, why you going to Iowa State? And then, fast forward, you know, three years later, then, you know, I'm doing everything I'm doing. And with Brock, I just remember Brock having a big freshman year, and then, he went through his ups and downs in college, but seeing him still remain the same person, be the same guy every day, I knew, that's how I knew he was different, because a lot of guys that went through what he went through in college would have transferred, folded, would have wanted to do something else. But seeing him stay the same guy and keep his faith and everything, like,

• 40:17Speaker 05

  he got a different juice in him. I don't know what it is, but I've always...

• 40:21Fred Taylor?

  I have a thought. Maybe the coaches knew they didn't have to depend on Brock because they had a briefs, you know? But a moment ago, you said you guys got all the pieces in place to go and be successful. That's what you told us. But you've also told the media that one added piece could be Devonte Adams.

• 40:47Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 40:49Fred Taylor?

  How huge would that be if that possibility would come to fruition?

• 40:56Speaker 05

  Uh, it'd be...

• 40:59Speaker 05

  It would be hectic for sure, especially with the receivers, men as how who go touch the ball. Because I know I'm getting my touches, but I don't know. They go, they go have to figure that out between them three. But yeah, I feel like if we got him, it'd be another case of pick your poison. Who you want to beat you? You want me to beat you? You want them three out there to beat you with Tyler Conklin and Jeremy Ruckert? Like that's every, that's all we need right there. So I feel like if we did add him, they would probably, they would say it was a cheat code, basically.

• 41:26Fred Taylor?

  We were talking about the devaluing of the position. He say he's going to get his carries. Most time when you talk contracts, they base the, the meat of the contracts are based on the first three years. Right? Sometimes you get like, especially for rookies, you kind of get that year to fill things out. Not every rookie makes a splash. I believe they also give you sort of a injury year or a down year. But that third year really determines, you know, the decisions that are going to be made in the front office. Whether they're going to consider you like they called me. And they, they considered me injury prone at one point, but I still put up numbers.

• 42:06Fred Taylor?

  They say they'll question your production, but ultimately a decision has to be made at that particular point. Coming into this season, do you have any pressures? Or do you feel any pressures entering this season?

• 42:19Ryan Clark?

  Also too, I think Eric, because I want you to answer his question. And also we should remind the viewers and the listeners, part of going 36 is you get to get money quicker.

• 42:31Speaker 05

  Yeah, right.

• 42:32Ryan Clark?

  Right? So that's another part of why this year is very important.

• 42:35Speaker 05

  Yeah, I wouldn't say I have any added pressure. It's just I've expect, I've always had the highest expectations on myself. Like coming in as a rookie, I wanted to rush for a thousand yards, make the Pro Bowl, do everything. And like it was trending that way. I just got hurt in the last year. We dealt with a lot of injuries, a lot of different quarterback play and different stuff like that. But if you look at my production, like from the situation we're in, it's way better than what it should have been. So, you know, McCaffrey, the only person I think almost in the league that had more all purpose yards than me, total yards than me. So like that speaks for itself in a way, but for me. My whole life, my coaches have always preached to me to do the little things right. Your natural talent will take over. So this offseason, just locking in, like I have had offseason to get better and not just get back to playing football.

• 43:20Speaker 05

  So that's gonna take care of itself. And then for me, it's like, like this your third year, you don't got no excuses. You either go out there and be the best or don't. That's, that's all it is. You know, I got all the potential too. I got, I got the team around me to do it. So it was like, now it's no excuses. You might, it's like, you might as well type of thing.

• 43:36Channing Crowder?

  And bro, man, you a good looking dude. We talk, he talking about like transition from Wichita, which I don't know what the fuck y'all doing Wichita, to Iowa State and now to New York. You talking about people bumping into you, but you gotta, people gotta shoot at you now. So what's the, you got old lady, you kept one from back in the day?

• 43:54Speaker 05

  Nah, I don't got no girl or nothing. It's, it was a lot, yeah, once I got to the NFL, it was a lot different than college because Iowa, it ain't nothing but like farm, like it's, it's just a whole different dynamic. So you get to New York and you get a little bit of everything, but um, you know, luckily I got a strict mom, so she ain't really going for none of that. She said, I can't date till I'm 30, so.

• 44:12Channing Crowder?

  He said, what now? You can't tell, turning. He ain't gonna date till you 30.

• 44:17Speaker 05

  Yeah, nah, I'm chill, I'm.

• 44:18Channing Crowder?

  So you backed up.

• 44:24Ryan Clark?

  Hey, no wonder why he be getting out of the box on him.

• 44:27Channing Crowder?

  He's angry. Crazy.

• 44:31Ryan Clark?

  Motherfucker! In, in that, when you look up the story of your record-setting touchdown streak in college, the picture is you hugging your mom. You mentioned your stepfather. I also think, are you related to Roger Craig in some way? Roger Craig is your cousin, so you've had some of these people sow into your career, but man, you know how moms is, they sow into your life. How vital has that relationship been for your development of who Breece Hall the person is?

• 45:07Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's been, it's been the biggest thing, just seeing um, my mom, she, you know, went through the whole single mother thing for a while. Seeing her, just she never said no, was always able to find a way to do anything for me and my sister, whether it was paying for cleats, showing up to practices, games, going out of her way just to, just to be places.

• 45:29Speaker 05

  Like I almost get emotional talking about it because we, we went through a lot when I was growing up. So, uh, just seeing like her go through everything and all the stuff she was willing to, you know, put aside for me and my sister, um, is, it, it means a lot to me for sure. So I feel like I always gotta repay her and show her the most love and just make her proud of me. Just, just because I, because how much work she put in for us. And then my older sister, she's two and a half, almost three years older than me. So I call her, she's like my sister mom. Like she was waking me up for school, taking me to school, picking me up, making me food and everything. So those two, um, like without them, I probably wouldn't, I wouldn't be doing nothing. They, they made me who I am for sure.

• 46:08Channing Crowder?

  What's the goal for mom? Cause you about to hit him in the head, you about to hit somebody in the head.

• 46:14Speaker 05

  Uh, she, I mean, she don't really care as long, she, she the type, as long as I'm straight, she's straight. And I'm the type, as long as that her and my sister good and I'm good. So she, whatever I get her, like it's gonna be nice. So she be content like. But I, I, I always make sure I do it big for my mom and my sister for sure. Um, and then my stepfather, um, just, I got a different type of respect for him just as a man. For him to, you know, come into a single woman's life with two kids and step up and be a father figure for us. Um, so I almost get emotional talking about that too, bro. It's, and I didn't, I didn't realize it till I got to, you know, later in high school and college. Just seeing the shoes he had to fill, um, he, he never said no.

• 46:54Speaker 05

  He was always there, never heard him complain, got us whatever we needed, um, picked us up and took us wherever we needed. Just, just always being there and then for him to be another influence for me as far as playing sports and everything. And just for him, just to see how humble he is, that rubbed off on me as well. Just to, you know, not gotta flex or not gotta always be on social media posting, talking about it. And just seeing how much respect he has around, uh, everywhere we go, um, back home and everything. It, it means a lot, but them, they put so much work into me and made it to the point to where it was like, uh, it got to the point where I knew I was destined to make it just because, you know, I had so many people in my corner. And like I said, just me, they always preached me to do the natural, do the little stuff right. My natural talent will take over and that carried on from high school to college to now.

• 47:38Speaker 05

  So I can't thank them enough, man.

• 47:41Ryan Clark?

  You talk about getting emotional with those things. The one thing I listened to you say was the fact that your sister had to do a lot. Whether it was pick you up, or drop you off, or cook. That feels like it was saying your mom was out grinding, trying to... What does seeing your mother work so hard, seeing her sacrifice and put things aside, how did that affect your work ethic? How did seeing that, whether it was an inspiration to make sure one day she didn't have to do it, or it was to be able to see that and say, nah, like, sometimes, we gotta put our feet to the grind to provide for who we love?

• 48:22Speaker 05

  Yeah, just, so my mom, she's a flight attendant. She's been doing it for north of 30 years and, you know, she would have to be gone for sometimes days at a time. So then it was just me and my sister thugging. And when we were younger, we'd probably go stay the night at my aunt's, my aunt's house and chill out with them and stuff, but... Just my sister being not that much older than me and taking on that burden of, you know, cooking, cleaning, picking me up, taking me to school, taking me to practice, picking me up from practice along with my stepdad once he came into the picture and everything. It was just for my sister, you know, me and her, we went from not being that close, and then once I got a little older, me and her, now she's, we're like this, like I said, she's my, like my sister mom, so,

• 49:03Speaker 05

  just for her to be there for me and she's an inspiration for me, just to see how hard she works and how she doesn't rely on me for anything. She's so independent that she likes doing her own thing and... And luckily, happily, my mom taught her that, that she doesn't need to rely on anybody. She can make her, make her own way, do what she needs to do herself and everything, so...

• 49:22Ryan Clark?

  Is that, is the, because this is, and this is like the most interesting part of the whole conversation to me. Is, is that the, the way your life was, right? And the way your mom worked and your sister? You mentioned earlier that you depended on your friends a lot, too. And it's why you want your homeboys at camps, and you want your homeboys at games, and, and those different things. It's almost like you had a village.

• 49:48Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 49:48Ryan Clark?

  You know, when you think about the closeness you have to, to those guys and what they were able to, to do for you, how much or how influential were those sacrifices from them? Or were those efforts from them into getting you here?

• 50:06Speaker 05

  When we was younger, it didn't even feel like it was like a sacrifice. It was just like you just, you know, when you homies, you don't count favors, you know? So just us, just always doing stuff for each other. So it's like my right hand man, my best friend Roy, like he would come pick me up for practice or would take me out to lunch at school. It's all my friends that I've had the same friend group since fifth to sixth grade. So just coming up with them and seeing how we're all maturing and everybody's doing their own thing and they, like I said, they don't need me for anything. They was, we was in high school, I was playing summer basketball, always playing football. I'm broke, they having jobs and everything and they having money. So they going out their way to do stuff for me, having me, taking me, bringing me around their family, taking me to have fun and stuff like that.

• 50:50Speaker 05

  And now it's like, you know, I want them to be a part of this journey because, you know, they already been a part of it this long. It's like y'all might as well just keep coming, you know? So just to have them be a part of this, it's been a blessing for sure.

• 51:03Channing Crowder?

  And bro, we, I don't think we ever had the stepfather conversation on this show. And I just thought about when you said it, man, like, when did it hit you? Because we actually just talked about it recently where I didn't talk to my dad, my real dad, like my biological father for like four, five years. And then we had to rekindle our relationship later in life as a grown man. But then to have a man that you know is not your biological father that, that steps up and like you say, to get emotion, that cared about you that much. And I know there's people that, I'm sure there's people that watch the show that are stepfathers, just knowing that there's a process to that, of that child to now look at you with such respect, but you have to gain that, I guess. When, how long did that take?

• 51:45Speaker 05

  I remember, uh, cause we moved from Detroit to Omaha. That's where all my mom's side of the family was. And I remember her telling me after school, when they telling me we was moving to Wichita. I wasn't, I was like, no, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, wasn't happy with that. Cause all my family was in Omaha. So it took a while, but as I got older and stuff and just seeing how he would go out of his way to make my mom happy and how he would go out of his way to do stuff for us that he didn't need to, like, that's when I started to gain the, probably once I was like 18, 19, that's when I gained that greater respect for him. Cause I'm like, like he been around for the longest and he ain't never asked me for nothing. He ain't, he don't never want for nothing. Like he just like to see us happy, he like to see my mom happy. And he the same as me, as long as my mom and my sister happy, he's straight.

• 52:27Speaker 05

  So like, that's why I feel like for him, it's like. I almost owe him, I almost owe him the world as well. Cause it's like, damn, like you ain't have to do none of this, bro. He done bought me football cleats, basketball shoes, took me on road trips, driven me to visits, like,

• 52:44Speaker 05

  spent countless hours with me talking about football, like,

• 52:49Speaker 05

  it's, it's been a lot of stuff. So for him to be in my life and be willing to, you know, give the way he's giving to us, it taught me that like, you know, I'm not too good to do anything for anybody, you know? So like, just seeing the man that he is and that rubbed off on me a lot as a growing up.

• 53:04Fred Taylor?

  Breece, you, you wore 28 at Iowa State. Another famous Iowa State player, Troy Davis, my guy.

• 53:13Speaker 05

  Monster.

• 53:14Fred Taylor?

  Monster.

• 53:15Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 53:15Fred Taylor?

  And I'm pretty sure the only reason you might not be wearing it in the NFL right now is because of Curtis, the Hall of Famer Curtis Martin. What are, what, what have conversations been like with Curtis? Have, have he helped you in any sort of way?

• 53:29Speaker 05

  I haven't talked to him now.

• 53:30Fred Taylor?

  Not yet?

• 53:31Speaker 05

  Uh-uh.

• 53:31Fred Taylor?

  We gotta arrange.

• 53:32Speaker 05

  The Troy Davis situation actually is kind of funny cause when I was coming out of high school, I wanted number one. I wore number one all the high school. So a senior got it and I remember being on the phone with my coach. And he was like, you want to wear 28? I didn't know who Troy Davis was at that point. So when our official roster numbers came out and Troy Davis saw that, the last person to wear it was his brother. And when he saw that I had it, it was kind of like, not him bashing me, but he was like, like, why are y'all just giving my number to some freshman, you know? And like, he's obviously in the history books at Iowa State, but I feel like I had, I left a greater impact than he did because like I didn't, I didn't get in no trouble. Like I always get back to the community and everything. So like when people talk about who wore 28 at Iowa State,

• 54:16Speaker 05

  they say Breece Hall, they don't say Troy Davis no more, you know? So I don't look at it as he wore it, it's my number.

• 54:21Fred Taylor?

  I see two, I see two dogs.

• 54:23Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 54:24Fred Taylor?

  Is what I see. But my last question, we always ask it of our guests, biggest pivot. What's been your biggest pivot in life? That's that one moment, that one, the most impactful moment in your life that, or is the reason for you being who you are today?

• 54:42Speaker 05

  It was in high school when my coach told me like, I gotta tell you, my, my coach, my friends told me I could go to the NFL. I was a sophomore in high school. I hadn't even played a varsity game yet. Like, that made me really like lock in and like I said, my friends did a good job of holding me accountable, making me show up to lifts and stuff every day and not skip nothing. So that was, that's what really helped me separate myself. But when my coach sat me down and he was like, if you want to do this, like we can really do this, like that, that changed my whole mentality of like, okay, like I, I know I'm more talented than everybody, but if I work this much harder, it's going to create that separation this much more to where, you know, I'm gonna be able to do whatever I want. So I would say that was one. And then in college, my freshman year, I had graduated

• 55:24Speaker 05

  high school early. So I was 17 when I got to campus and I was getting in a lot of trouble, like not doing anything bad. I just like wasn't going to tutoring some days, wasn't going to class some days. And Coach Campbell, he didn't, I was, should have started my freshman year, but he didn't, he sat me the first five games. Yeah. So he was, yeah. So that was like, I would get in a play or two here, but I wasn't playing like how I should have. And so he pulled me into his office before game six, I think. And he was like, this is gonna be the game that we decide to redshirt through. This is gonna be the game that you get in and go off. We was playing West Virginia that week. He gave the senior backs, the older backs, he gave them two series. He put me in. That game I had 185 three touchdowns.

• 56:08Ryan Clark?

  That'll do it.

• 56:10Speaker 05

  History for me.

• 56:11Ryan Clark?

  That'll do it. You know, to, to finish this off, because this is training camp show. The Jets have had a really good defense. Super Bowl caliber defense, in my opinion. You go out, you get Aaron Rodgers in the off season, he gets injured in the first game. Breece Hall is coming off of an ACL. It's time now. Who will the 2024 Jets be and why will they be that?

• 56:41Speaker 05

  I just think we're gonna be excited. Like, if you look at our offensive side, you got me, Garrett, Mike, and Aaron. All big playmakers, splash plays. We do it big and then if you look at the defensive side, it's just so much swagger. You got Sauce, you got Quinn and Quincy, CJ. Like it's just so much swagger on the defensive side of the ball. Hassan, like just so much confidence. So I just think the whole, our team is, if you describe it's gonna be exciting. Like this, it's gonna be nothing but big plays happening. I think it's gonna be smash mouth football from the defensive side and from the offensive side. It's like I said, it's gonna be pick your poison. So we just gonna be an excited team.

• 57:17Ryan Clark?

  Am I stupid to think that the New York Jets can win the AFC East?

• 57:23Speaker 05

  No, not at all. We, we got all the potential to do it.

• 57:27Ryan Clark?

  Can't wait to see it.

• 57:28Fred Taylor?

  Yes, sir. You gonna whoop my dolphins?

• 57:32Ryan Clark?

  Hey, that was awesome, man. Appreciate you, bro. That was awesome. I appreciate you, man.

• 57:37Fred Taylor?

  They play all three of our teams this year. They got the Jazz, the Steelers and the...

• 57:42Speaker 05

  I ain't seen the Jazz yet. I gotta see Steelers. I ain't worried about the Steelers.

• 57:47Fred Taylor?

  Long arms. We played up there two years. We played up there two years, I think. The last two years, I believe. Jacksonville.

• 57:54Speaker 05

  No, we didn't play up last season.

• 57:56Fred Taylor?

  You didn't play last year? It was the year before.

• 57:59Speaker 05

  Yeah, I was hurt though. I was already hurt. And then Miami, I had that number my rookie year last year that got me. But I ain't worried about it.

• 58:06Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, that's the game.

• 58:08Speaker 05

  We was late, we was late though. Cause he made the list so late. That was his fault.

• 58:15Ryan Clark?

  All right, Rue, man. We've been seeing you everywhere. We understand Fanatics Fest is gonna be just a one of a kind experience. But you know what it really is, bro? Everybody wants to get to a Michael Rubin party. This is like a Michael Rubin party for the fans.

• 58:28Speaker 02

  We're gonna make it a Michael Rubin party. We are. I, I feel that responsibility. We're gonna make it incredible. The thing is with this though, I don't know how no one ever did like a sports festival in any real way. Like we have it like, I went to Coachella this year. I've been to South by Southwest. Been to Comic Con. Like so many other industries have great sports festivals. Nothing like this in sports. So it was kinda like, we have to do this.

• 58:50Ryan Clark?

  Okay, so August 16th to the 18th in the Javits Center. Fans are gonna have an opportunity to experience something for the first time of its kind. What will Michael Rubin be looking most forward to presenting to the world?

• 59:05Speaker 02

  Well, I think the first thing I want to do is do something that's never been done before, and have it be good for everybody around me. So sometimes you can do something that's never been done, but it's unnatural. And so you're like, "Well, that was too hard. Was it worth doing?" I want to do something where people come through, and the 100,000 fans that come through this, like, "Man, I had the time of my life. This was incredible." I'm gonna be there from before it opens every day to after it closes, all three days. I will not leave that place. I want to be there to just get input from fans. What do you like the most? What do you like the least? What should we change about it for the future? And from an athlete perspective, we have a big announcement coming. Not ready to do it yet today, but we have 200 athletes that are coming through. And generally, when an athlete comes to any type of show,

• 59:48Speaker 02

  they want to figure out how do they get in, do what they need to do, and get out. We're gonna make it so people want to come and hang and stay, because, you know, we might even create like a little type of white party within.

• 59:59Ryan Clark?

  I like that.

• 1:00:00Speaker 02

  This is the map here. It's pretty cool. Shows you what's gonna happen here. So you got, you know, a bunch of athletes with the photo zone here. You got the autograph zone over here.

• 1:00:09Ryan Clark?

  UFC, NBA. I love the way that everything is spread out, too, and where it shows you WWE is here, the MLB, the UFC. Just looking at the many different names of the sports leagues, that's already crazy in itself. But to have collector zones and collector sponsors, how did y'all figure out, okay, how are we gonna separate these things? But what made you think these are the places and these are the entities we need inside this building?

• 1:00:34Speaker 02

  Well, we went to all of our big sports properties that we work with, and said, "Hey, we're gonna launch this incredible sports festival, and we need you to be part of it, and like, come bring the best of your sports property into Fanatics Fest." And that's why you have the NFL, the NBA, UFC, MLB, WWE, NHL, MLS, etc. But then we said, "Well, what else would people want?" Trading cards is really important, but we didn't want this to be the show. We want this to be a key aspect of it. So here you see the collector's sponsors, the collector's zone, here. And so you see, this is probably maybe 25% of the show is about collectibles and trading cards and memorabilia versus the entire show with a lot of other people. But then you've got lots of other brands here as well. So you've got the Fanatics Sportsbook, you've got the Giant Superstore, you've got Tops,

• 1:01:19Speaker 02

  you've got New Era, you've got Mitchell Nash, you've got Lids. But then you've got art here. So we really want to bring so many different things together.

• 1:01:26Ryan Clark?

  August 16th through 18th, Fanatics Fan Fest, New York City, because you already heard the man, is going to London. We're gonna go to LA. This will be bigger than just one event, but August 16th through the 18th at the Javits Center in New York. Can't wait to see you all there.

• 1:01:40Speaker 02

  And this is our first time, never done it before, but you know, you gotta dream big. And if you don't dream big and will it to existence, it doesn't happen. So we start Javits, August 16th, 18th, but then we say, okay, how do we make it better? Where's next? That's what we're gonna do. And so it's gonna be fun.

• 1:01:56Ryan Clark?

  But I'll tell you this, you sold yourself short, though. You said it's the first time you've ever did it. This is the first time anybody has ever done it.

• 1:02:02Speaker 02

  That's fair. That's fair. Well, Fanatics Fest NYC, I can't wait. My man.