Devin Hester the NFL’s most prolific return specialist, historical Super Bowl kick return, journey to a gold jacket, Miami’s top 5 hurricanes & reveals a life-long lie he was embarrassed to share.

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast Most well known for his opening kick off touchdown return in Super Bowl XLI, Devin Hester carved a unique niche in football as a specialist who flew his way to the top of the history books. Hester played eight of his 11 NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears and is known as the most prolific return specialist in league history, he holds NFL records with 19 kick-return touchdowns, 14 punt-return TDs and 20 return touchdowns, which includes punts, kickoffs, missed field goals, fumbles and interceptions. Growing up with turmoil and heartache as his father, who he never met until later in his childhood, battled an illness after being released from prison. In a difficult moment, Devin opens up sharing what the true cause of death was for his father after spending his life telling the world his dad passed away from cancer when in fact it wasn’t. The release of burden is heavy and the guys offer a sounding board. One of the University of Miami’s standout players during his collegiate days, Devin talks about his choice of going to school there and the controversy surrounding his attendance and how his playing days shaped his career. Talking with Ryan, Channing and Fred, Devin names his top 5 NFL players with Hurricane roots. Most thought, Hester would be a first ballot Hall of Famer, but Hester shares how he discovered he was the last one left off the golden list 2 years in a row but for him it’s no longer about the Hall of Fame it’s about the journey and never giving up after all the knock downs he had. Premiere Episodes of The Pivot release every Tuesday at Noon est with special football drops on Fridays at 3:30p est! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:01Speaker 00

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

• 0:28Ryan Clark?

  Oh my God. Man, this is the first time I ever saw you know one scared. I'm already scared. Hey, man. Say, this is the first time I ever saw him and I was like, shit, don't kick it to him.

• 0:41Channing Crowder?

  Bro, why is he even loading him like he about to catch this?

• 0:43Ryan Clark?

  He's supposed to be out of bounds.

• 0:44Channing Crowder?

  It should have been out of bounds 10 yards ago. And that motherfucker caught the ball and got the hell on. I tell you the fastest, watching a dude run during a play was probably you and Chris Johnson.

• 0:57Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 0:58Channing Crowder?

  And during the play, I was like, uh-oh. This ain't, this ain't, this ain't what we really want right now.

• 1:03Ryan Clark?

  Hey, man.

• 1:04Channing Crowder?

  And the motherf- F1 race car.

• 1:07Ryan Clark?

  Like I always say, some people leave the hospital with more. Hey, so, hey, when their mama taking them out of there, man, they got more than some of us got, dawg.

• 1:16Channing Crowder?

  My mom and daddy didn't give me that.

• 1:18Fred Taylor?

  Hey, Sam, but you weren't the only one that say, don't kick it to him. Peyton Manning tried to tell Dungy, don't kick it to Hester, but he did it anyway.

• 1:27Ryan Clark?

  You know why he did it?

• 1:28Fred Taylor?

  Tried to prove-

• 1:29Ryan Clark?

  Because all the teammates-

• 1:30Fred Taylor?

  That he wasn't scared of him.

• 1:31Ryan Clark?

  Chapel.

• 1:32Fred Taylor?

  Chapel.

• 1:33Ryan Clark?

  Chapel, the, the night before- The David and Goliath story. The night before the Super Bowl, the chaplain preached about David and Goliath. And the reason that David ended up conquering Goliath was because he was the only Israelite that was unafraid. And he said the whole game plan was obviously to not kick it to him, but after chapel, he said to himself, are we scared of a man?

• 1:58Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 1:59Ryan Clark?

  And they kicked it to him. What, but when the ball was coming to you in that moment, when you know you're not supposed to be kicked to the opener kickoff, what's your thought?

• 2:08Channing Crowder?

  I was shocked.

• 2:10Speaker 04

  Because you know, as a kid returning, you can read the approach of the ball. If he's wide, you know what I mean? He's trying to get it this way. He narrowed, he's trying to get it to the left. So he was more two yards outside the ball. And I'm like, I don't know why he's kicking his ball. Ain't even know blooping it. And when he kicked it, I'm like, oh shit, oh shit, kicking it to me. And I'm like, damn. I'm like, shit, coach was like, hey, listen, Devin, for this game, you may get one opportunity. To be honest with you, he said, if you take it and you break two, three tackles and you go for 25 yards, that's it. So he was like, you gonna get one out of 20, man? You better make the best of this, man. And so, God forbid, it was the first one, I'm a sock. And I'm like, boy, this is my first time making out to him

• 2:55Speaker 04

  and make a play on the ball. This is the Super Bowl, first play of the game. I know I ain't gonna touch the ball no more the rest of the game. Shoot, I can't go down. That's my mentality.

• 3:05Fred Taylor?

  How does that return stand in your head, considering, you know, it was probably the greatest opening to a Super Bowl ever?

• 3:14Speaker 04

  Right.

• 3:15Fred Taylor?

  Right? But you guys lost.

• 3:16Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 3:17Fred Taylor?

  How does that diminish the moment?

• 3:19Speaker 04

  It killed the whole Super Bowl atmosphere. You know what I mean? Of us just playing in the Super Bowl. But it was like, how everybody looked at it was like, man, this is one of the most greatest plays that ever happened in the NFL. And for it to be in the NFL, in the Super Bowl, and not on the Super Bowl, the first play of the game, it never started out like that. And so, you know what I mean? In the end of the day, it's a bittersweet type feeling. You still gotta cherish the accolades and the compliment that you made as an individual, as well as, you know what I mean? Knowing that we lost the game. And so, it's a bittersweet when we talk about it.

• 3:55Fred Taylor?

  Have you though? Because that was your rookie year.

• 3:57Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 3:57Fred Taylor?

  And the things you did that year was simply amazing. I believe the Bears offense, for a team to reach the Super Bowl, I think the Bears offense was the lowest scoring offense in the history of the game.

• 4:11Speaker 04

  Facts.

• 4:11Fred Taylor?

  You had games where Cutler threw for 34 yards, yet the defense and yourself due to returns helped you guys. You broke a few game-winning returns that year, your rookie year.

• 4:22Speaker 04

  Right.

• 4:23Fred Taylor?

  Are you able to put that into like, real-time perspective?

• 4:26Speaker 04

  I think me and Robbie Gold was leading in points on our team. Robbie Gold is our kicker. So I think I led the team in touchdowns. As a returner that year and Robbie laid in points as a field goal kicker. That year, our defense and our special team just carried us all the way through. You know what I mean? And the offense fed off of us, you know what I mean? And when the defense got going, we got a couple of three and out. I got some big return. Even if they won touchdown, we were giving our offense on a 40 yard line. You know what I mean? We're one or two first down, we had field goal rank. So they really fed off of us and allowed the offense to put some points on the board here and there.

• 5:29Ryan Clark?

  Well, you know, it's our fault, man. We were so excited that you were here and hell, me and Chan was so damn scared.

• 5:37Ryan Clark?

  Before you walked in, I was like, he finna score again. He walked up fans. We didn't get an opportunity to introduce you. Devin Hester, man, welcome to the Pivot. Chan, I'm RC. This is Freddie T. A record-setting football player who all of us believe should be in the Hall of Fame. 21 return touchdowns, 14, what is it? 14 punts, six kickoffs and a missed field goal. I think you took 408. You know, everybody knows about that part of your life because we could cut the film on. Right. A lot of people don't understand what got Devin Hester to that point. The things that built him up through adversity.

• 6:17Ryan Clark?

  One of the things I found funny was your little brother talking about the fact that they didn't cut the grass in the winter where you guys played. I think it was Wells Field or something like that where you were growing up. I laugh at people from Florida. They got all kinds of reasons why y'all fat. Some folks chase rabbits. You know what I mean? There's all these, all these different things. But for you, what was it like, you know, growing up where you did? And you know, whether it was playing two-hand touch where you said, man, it started with a throw and I would take that back to the house or? Being pushed to play football, to get through certain things, you know, you've gone through in your life, which we'll get through. How did your upbringing start to shape who you were as a man?

• 6:58Speaker 04

  Florida, you're, you're kind of forced to play football. You don't have no choice. You know what I mean? We, of course, you have every now and then, you have one or two guys that just want to be that basketball player. But in Florida, our Christmas was like 85, 90 degrees. So when you talk about, you can always look at a, a Florida athlete compared to a New Jersey or, you know what I mean, up north type player. When you just look at the way they move, it's so advanced. And I think it just comes from us playing football year round. Like, I can remember growing up, all we did was homework, outside football. Homework, outside football, every day. That's all we did. So when it came for rec ball, we was all in one community. We knew everybody.

• 7:43Speaker 04

  Everybody went to the same middle school. That's all we knew.

• 7:46Channing Crowder?

  And growing up, bruh, you, you read the stories. Read stories about your, your mother, how much she meant to you. Your father and your father-in-law.

• 7:53Speaker 04

  Right.

• 7:53Channing Crowder?

  And like, even deeper than that, not just football, like.

• 7:56Speaker 04

  Your stepfather?

• 7:57Channing Crowder?

  Stepfather.

• 7:57Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 7:58Channing Crowder?

  What is father-in-law? I don't even know how that works that well. Oh, that's your wife's daddy.

• 8:03Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:03Channing Crowder?

  Or your stepdaddy.

• 8:04Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:05Channing Crowder?

  Well, your stepdaddy and your mother. But even deeper than that, like, to RC's point, like, what made you, everybody ran around, bruh.

• 8:12Speaker 04

  Right, right.

• 8:13Channing Crowder?

  But everybody, like, your chain has, which I'm assuming, greatest of all time, like, that side of it.

• 8:18Speaker 04

  You know, when serving people, you just know he got it. And unfortunately, I was blessed to just say that this guy here just, whatever he does, like, anything, like, growing up in the boys' league club every day, pool, table tennis, baseball, whatever, like, I was just blessed to be one of the great ones, the best ones on the team. And not only that, but I grew up where I always had to play with the older kids. I never fit in with the younger kids. And I think that what made me so special was when I started playing with kids my age, it was too easy. Because at the age of four or five years old, I had older cousins making me play with the 13 and 14-year-olds.

• 9:03Speaker 04

  The talent that I, I was building up.

• 9:07Speaker 04

  It was already me, safe answer, a five-year-old. He's not going to kindergarten, going to first grade. Nah, your parent, I'm moving you to sixth, seventh grade, on rip. And I think that separated me from, so that's why, like, me growing up, to be honest, I never felt comfortable when I had to play on my age group. Because I felt like I had to play down to fit in. So I would take players off, I would slow myself down. So I wouldn't be the sore thumb where I stick out. I never wanted to be a team captain, you know what I mean? Because I already knew I was one of the best ones on the team. So I didn't want my homeboys, our people on the team, say, "Man, Coach always showing him favor. He always the favorite one on the team.

• 9:51Speaker 04

  He can never do nothing wrong." So in practice, me growing up, I had to force myself to sometime, play down to everybody. So when it was my opportunity, say, "You know what? You don't have no choice, it's time to play football." That's why it was always so easy for me. Like, my, I can remember my first time playing part one, when I played on Little League, first play of the game, touchdown. When I got to high school, they moved me to Boston as a true freshman. First play, first carry, touchdown. You see what I'm saying? Like, when I got to college, my first play of the game against Florida Gators. First time touching, bowling orange roll.

• 10:25Speaker 05

  But then you called it though?

• 10:26Speaker 04

  Touchdown, yeah, I already told my special team coach, I said, "Listen, man."

• 10:29Speaker 05

  They called it.

• 10:30Speaker 04

  "Listen, bro, y'all don't know how, like, when I want to play, I can play." I say, "Listen, bro, I'm finna tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take this to the house and I'm gonna take my helmet off. Because I'm finna show y'all that I'm well-built for this, you know what I mean?" So he said, "All right, so you a freshman, I don't care what you, yeah, yeah, yeah, you gonna get, and he gonna get your head tied on the 10-yard line." Sure enough, to the house. Like, bro, like, I felt so dominant when I got to the league, bro. To the point where, in my mind, it was time where I would attempt to take my helmet off and throw it to the side and get ready to catch the punt. That's how much confidence I had in myself.

• 11:06Speaker 05

  Okay, okay. Real, real talk. There.

• 11:09Speaker 04

  He go touchdown. Real talk. Listen, listen, if you go back and watch, they did a clip of my first two years in the league. And just watch how dominant I was. Every, every three returns I had, one of them was a touchdown. Every three, every three times I touched the ball. So imagine, people don't realize, has to fell off after two years. No, if you look at the statistics, my, my next three, four years, I wasn't even able to make the Pro Bowl because I didn't have enough returns. That's because team was kicking away from me. That's why I got moved to offense. In my mind, bro, like preseason games, I was averaging thirty yards a, a return, at punt return.

• 11:53Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, that's, that's, because that's a lot.

• 11:56Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 11:56Fred Taylor?

  And, and we're gonna get back to that, but what's standing out to me is, you talk about, you know, and even the people that are watching this or hearing this, you talk about how easy and how dominant you were as a youth.

• 12:10Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 12:11Fred Taylor?

  But it wasn't always that way.

• 12:12Speaker 04

  Right.

• 12:12Fred Taylor?

  You know, when you pull back the layers, there were moments where you, you cried a lot and you, you, you know, didn't really, you lost your love for the sport.

• 12:24Speaker 04

  Right.

• 12:24Fred Taylor?

  Um, you lost your father, the cancer, and your mom was in a severe, uh, were in a car accident where she, um, had severe injuries from it.

• 12:34Speaker 04

  Right.

• 12:34Fred Taylor?

  Um, and you battled childhood depression.

• 12:36Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 12:37Fred Taylor?

  What, where did you get your strength from though, to continue?

• 12:43Speaker 04

  Probably my mom. My mom, you know what I mean? Me growing up and after losing my father, and then my mom in a car, a severe car accident where she had to be airlifted. The, the car that they sold her and my grandma in was like, it was God that both of them was alive. You know what I mean? So my mama went through a trauma stage for like, almost a year where she couldn't even walk. And the first six months, uh, watching me mom get out the bed, to go use the bathroom and boo hoo crying because she was in so much pain. This, this is going on for like six months straight, where every time she had to go use the bathroom, she was boo hoo crying, tears coming out.

• 13:27Speaker 04

  I'm trying to help out the bed, my brother, we trying to help out the bed, and this six months straight, bro.

• 13:32Fred Taylor?

  You around twelve?

• 13:33Speaker 04

  I was like about twelve years old, about, about ten, eleven. And watching that, man, and like, wow, with a neck brace on and just scars and, you know, just everything, just from the accident, bro, I'm like, wow, how could, how could a person go through this with every day? You hate to use the bathroom. You can't even get out of bed. And just going through that situation, man, and still been able to be more mature because now it was more on our own, where we had to grow up and say, hey, mama not, she's not mama right now. Like, you know what I mean? You guys gotta start learning how to iron your clothes, wash your clothes, wash dishes. You know what I mean? Cook, get each other ready. We got a little sister. You know what I mean?

• 14:20Speaker 04

  You know what I mean? The faith that she had in God, you know what I mean? I think it's another thing. My mom, people don't realize, my mom is a pastor. And we grew up in the church, and the faith that we had, and she instilled in us, bro. Like, I felt like I caught my first time at Captain Holden go when I was nine. Like, for real. Like, that's how much we was in the church, man. Like, we did homework. We did schoolwork, everything in church. We went to church three, four days out of week. Like, I know y'all probably went to Sunday school, church probably on Sunday. We went four, five days a week. I grew up with Sheila Clark. You spent Halloween in church?

• 14:52Ryan Clark?

  We celebrate Halloween, bro?

• 14:54Speaker 04

  Yeah, we went to church all the time.

• 14:56Channing Crowder?

  What's wrong with Halloween?

• 14:58Speaker 04

  Bro, it's a devil's.

• 14:58Ryan Clark?

  Halloween's Eve, man. It's the devil's holiday.

• 15:00Channing Crowder?

  Devil's holiday to do with. The devil ain't got no goddamn holiday.

• 15:03Ryan Clark?

  Chan, we got, we went to a lock-in, the Harvest Fest.

• 15:07Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 15:08Ryan Clark?

  We slept at church.

• 15:10Channing Crowder?

  I like lock-ins.

• 15:10Ryan Clark?

  And they give you candy. That's why you definitely got some candy from church.

• 15:13Channing Crowder?

  I got way more than candy at my lock-in.

• 15:17Ryan Clark?

  Not at church, bro. Not at church.

• 15:22Channing Crowder?

  I like me, I like me a lock-in. That can't go nowhere.

• 15:25Ryan Clark?

  You know, you mentioned the strength you gained from your mother, but when your father was diagnosed with cancer and he had to tell you and your brother that he wasn't going to be around much longer.

• 15:40Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 15:40Ryan Clark?

  And that he loved you. What was that conversation like for you?

• 15:44Speaker 04

  Me and my father didn't grow up together. We didn't, I didn't know my father until, I would say my first time ever seeing my father was, I want to say kindergarten. He came to our school to pick us up. My father was in prison. Me growing up, I think my father got locked up. Maybe not like three months, seven months. So I never really got a chance to see my father. And first time he seen my father, I ran from him because I was scared, just.

• 16:15Speaker 04

  We had rumors that, you know what I mean, when he get out, he gonna kidnap us and all that. So I was afraid and we didn't know when they were getting out. And so when he did get out, I was in kindergarten. You know, we at the school, you got the teachers and your parents coming to pick up, teacher, pick, pick you up. And then the teacher saying, this your father? Yes, this your father? So kids leave with their parents and I seen him because I seen pictures of him. And my eyes lit up. And she was like, that, Devon, this, this man said he's your father. Is this your father? And I was just so speechless and I was shaking because I thought he was gonna kidnap us. So first thing I think of was I ran to my brother class. He's, he's a year older than me. And I bound on the door, hey, hey, is Norris here? And he's like, yes, right there. I was like, we gotta go.

• 17:00Speaker 04

  So he looking at me like, what's wrong? I said, Daddy here, he about to kidnap us.

• 17:04Ryan Clark?

  Damn.

• 17:04Speaker 04

  And so the first thing we did, he grabbed his book bag. We take off, we running home. We go home, tell my mom, hey, we just, I just seen daddy. He out, he here, he tried to kidnap us. So that was like, that was my first time meeting my father.

• 17:18Ryan Clark?

  You know, because your brother's a junior.

• 17:20Speaker 04

  Right.

• 17:20Ryan Clark?

  Why would you or who told you the stories? Or where did you guys get it from? That, that's what your father would do once he was released from prison?

• 17:28Speaker 04

  We just like, you just have families where you get into it. You know what I mean? My mom got into it, my dad's side of the family. While my father was in prison, you know what I mean? It was kind of distant. Nah, I don't go over there. Nah, they, they this, they that. That type of family, you know what I mean? So my mom always told you, just be aware if your dad ever get, get out. You know what I mean? It may be a chance, maybe he may be trying to kidnap. There's rumors going around that, that's what his mindset is. So that's what we were told. How did the relationship mature then? It matured because on many he got out, you know what I mean? Started getting himself together, start got a job, got his own place and um. We kind of slowly worked our way back into, you know what I mean?

• 18:11Speaker 04

  Seeing him on the weekend, spending the night during the weekends and, you know what I mean? That kind of built a relationship where we were like, okay, now we know who our real daddy is. Spending the night on him started like, I would say within a year or so, he was over there every week.

• 18:25Channing Crowder?

  Did that, did that help you?

• 18:27Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:27Channing Crowder?

  Cause a lot of things, you know what I'm saying? The, the, the single mother stuff's big. I was worried about a single mother, but did you, did you feel that that helped you? Because like you're saying, the start of the relationship, you ran from them.

• 18:38Speaker 04

  Right, right, right, right.

• 18:38Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 18:39Speaker 04

  Right.

• 18:39Channing Crowder?

  But did that help you as a, as a you?

• 18:41Speaker 04

  It helped me because, you know, you always want to know who your real parent is. Regardless of how bad your situation is, your parent gave you up for adoption. When you get older, the older you get, you always want to say, wow, I really, I want to know how my real father is. I know this is my, my stepdad. I know in reality, he's not really my dad. I want to know who my real daddy is. So me and my brother, we were so eager to like, let's, let me learn who my real daddy is. And so when we start doing that, I'm gonna be honest with y'all, man.

• 19:16Speaker 04

  The story that we put out about my dad had cancer, he did, he had AIDS. And I was, I'm, I'm just tired of lying about this situation, bro.

• 19:26Speaker 04

  You know what I mean?

• 19:29Speaker 04

  He had AIDS and, uh, that situation, you know what I mean? The cancer is, is out of the books, cause I'm tired of, you know what I mean? And this is my first time telling anybody. So my dad, he really had AIDS, but I was so embarrassed to say AIDS. I always covered it up with cancer. But me growing up and me and my brother getting a chance to learn him. And when we started building a relationship with him, that's when we found out he had AIDS. And so

• 20:00Speaker 04

  I don't know if you guys have ever been around people that had AIDS and, and

• 20:05Speaker 04

  the transition that they started having, when they started getting in bloom. Where they're in and out the hospital, they're losing weight, you're scared to touch them. It was like, wow, man, I finally get to be my dad. I'm like seven, six, seven, and then dang, I meet him. And shoot, now he got AIDS, when I really started growing, having a relationship with him.

• 20:35Speaker 04

  So it was like, wow.

• 20:39Speaker 00

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

• 21:09Speaker 04

  I'm scared to go over there now. You know what I mean? And it was tough, you know what I mean? But the time that we did, I would say we spent two, three years of bonding. But then at the same time, as a kid, you're like, wow. I'm scared to eat when he cook. You know what I mean? At a kid, you don't know. And so, you know, they come give me a hug. Scared to give him a hug now, you know what I mean? He kiss me on the cheek, I'm nervous. You know, dang, you know what I mean? I ain't know you, you know what I mean? I ain't know you couldn't get aid from saliva. I'm a kid. So I'm like, now I'm freaking out, you know what I mean? So just everything in that situation, man, I didn't think.

• 21:52Speaker 04

  I'm glad I was able to spend two or three good years with him.

• 21:57Speaker 04

  But just the story that I have, you know what I mean? Just asking my uncles and my aunties, well, how was my dad? Well, how was he growing up? And I don't know if, I know my dad used to go to Beagle Lake a lot and race a lot of cats from Beagle Lake. He was very fast. I know that's where I did, I did get my speed from. He was, before he got locked up, he was a side hustler. You know what I mean? He did a lot of street betting.

• 22:25Speaker 04

  He didn't like to work. He didn't, he ran track for like one or two years in high school, but he didn't like the sun. And they say he was a pretty boy. He just was, he just, he just always dressed up and had all the pretty girls. But he was the fastest thing on earth when it came to Palm Beach County. Like, there's so many stories that they gave me, you know what I mean? Where he raced like. The guy that won state championship, he went and raised him, they had a bet going on the whole neighborhood. They say he ran past dude slapping him on the head and turned around, last two meters. Like, that's just what he did, you know what I mean? He just fast, but he ain't want nothing to do with sports. So when people talk about my dad, that's the only thing I can think of, you know what I mean? Okay, this is what he was.

• 23:08Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, first, I want to apologize, man, that you had endured that as a kid. But I understand your pain. Because I was in college, I tell RC and Chan and everybody else that's watching this. I was embarrassed, you know, by a few things growing up. But one of the big things, especially being in college, was that they would say, because AIDS, when AIDS come about, there wasn't a whole lot of data or information. Like, we didn't understand, you talk about kissing him. Then later, they started talking about blood transfusion and all this stuff, how you can actually get AIDS.

• 23:48Fred Taylor?

  But the one negative thing that sort of followed me was my hometown. You mentioned Belgrade. It was considered the AIDS capital of the country, of the US. And that's, there's 16,000 people there. So you didn't understand that it's per capita. You know, and the percentage was the highest per capita. And everybody was boxed in. So that was something that followed and embarrassed me in college. So if people would say, hey, where you from? You know, it took, you know, me to really stand up and man up to say, I'm from Belgrade. You know, and that was tough. Because it was, the easiest thing to do was say, I'm from Palm Beach. I'm from West Palm Beach or whatever.

• 24:32Fred Taylor?

  But then I would have, you know, I would have been a sellout. So I started falling in love with saying, I'm from the muck, I'm from Belgrade. Because, you know, we have a rich history of great athletes that left, and we dominated for a while. So. I understand what you have probably went through as a kid.

• 24:53Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 24:53Fred Taylor?

  And, uh, man, just, uh, just, just not knowing. You know, especially being in youth, but, um, I'm glad you're able to share that here on the Pivot with everybody. But I'm pretty sure with all of that, your mom's injury, uh, your father losing your dad, that just made you a lot stronger.

• 25:12Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 25:12Fred Taylor?

  Individual.

• 25:13Speaker 04

  Of course. And like you say, bro, I know he, he from the more, I'm from Palm Beach. We, we share ties. Like I got, my, my grandfather from that era. I got Uncle Jesse. His jersey is retired and they, and they.

• 25:25Fred Taylor?

  Was a dog.

• 25:26Speaker 04

  And they, and they high school. He went to Berkeley. So you know what I mean? We, when you talk about Berkeley and Palm Beach, it's, it's the same thing.

• 25:34Ryan Clark?

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• 25:46Channing Crowder?

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• 25:57Ryan Clark?

  It's probably good for you because I'm sure your parlay has never hit. So they probably did the no sweat bet just because they love your personality.

• 26:03Fred Taylor?

  I'm following Chan. It, it only makes sense. The no sweat bet is so sweet. I gotta do it. But check it out. Because we're in Jersey, I'm playing this week. Wherever you are, don't worry about it. They got the DraftKings Daily Fantasy. If you're not there wherever the sports book at, you still can get in the game.

• 26:21Ryan Clark?

  Get out your mobile devices and download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Any new customer using the promo code PIVOT, you place a $5 bet, instantly get $150 in bonus bets. Back to the show. You know, you mentioning, you know, those high schools, like, you know, we always joke about it. Everybody understands what Florida is when it comes to athletics. More importantly, when it comes to football. You know, it's the reason the Miamis and the Florida States and the Floridas were what they were when we were all in school. And now, obviously, things have changed, but, uh, I believe you had a touchdown return in the Cali Florida game.

• 26:58Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 26:59Ryan Clark?

  Uh, on the return. When you were getting recruited, what drew you to UM?

• 27:04Speaker 04

  They were just the hottest team at that time. It was the hottest team, um.

• 27:10Speaker 04

  U M, people don't know U M was my first college letter. And I think that right there just, that's my first college, I got a college, I got a letter from U M my sophomore year, middle of my sophomore year, and it came from U M. And I was like, wow, they were like, listen, man, we, we see something in you, you special. Then I had a cousin by the name of Mike Smith that started linebacker at U M, I don't know if he played around your time for it.

• 27:37Fred Taylor?

  Smitty, yeah.

• 27:38Speaker 04

  And then like, when, you know, you get recruited, you start getting free tickets to go to the games. And then just, just going to the games, bro. And sitting in that stands and being able to mingle with them guys before the game and then to see them come out that smoke, bro. At, at the O B. I was sold. I say this, I, I gotta play for them. I don't care what, what other team recruit me. I gotta play for mine. And so I was locked in and sold from day one.

• 28:05Fred Taylor?

  But that wasn't almost always the case. Because after you committed, fully committed to, to U M, uh, there were some S A T.

• 28:15Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 28:15Fred Taylor?

  Allegations that came about. Can you take us through that, that process and how that came to fruition?

• 28:21Speaker 04

  At the time, man, we getting recruited from all these things, you know what I mean? As a kid, when you get the five visits, all you can think about, man, I'm finna miss Thursday and Friday at school. You know, and I'm finna go on a flight, you know, I ain't never been on a plane, I'm finna start flying and going to play, I'm finna use all five visits. You know, I don't care, you know what I mean? So, U M already knew I was going there, but I was like, man, I'm gonna take advantage of these trips, man. And so like a lot of teams, like, I was shutting down all rip, like, the Virginias, the Syracuse, back in the day Clemson won all that, the Clemsons and all that. Nah, I'm good. And then it was like, I start looking at the map, the, the, the count, the map, and I'm saying,

• 29:04Speaker 04

  what do I wanna travel, you know, what places do I wanna see? And so I started traveling, I ended up going to Purdue, I know my point, I'm like, why the? Hey, nothing. Hey, so when I got, I said, man, I just wanna go so far. I want to see snow. Is there snow around in Tyco? So, you know what I mean? You know, from Florida, we ain't never seen snow.

• 29:22Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 29:23Speaker 04

  So I want to see snow. So I went to Purdue, bored down to it, you know what I mean? After a while, started shaking hands, getting close to signing day. And to piggyback, so I ended up taking my SAT my junior year. And we, when you, when we all know as athletes, when you take your SAT, within two weeks, you get your test scores back, two or three weeks. If you don't get them back, something going on. If they don't found something, they don't challenge it or something. So I took my SAT my junior year, middle of my junior year, got my SAT scores back, everything good, right? Going to my senior year, this is the best feeling when you, when you an athlete, you take your SAT your junior year, and your GPA is close to like a 3.0, you know what I mean? And you, all your test scores, now your whole scene, all you gotta worry about is football?

• 30:09Speaker 04

  I would encourage every athlete, bro, if you planning on going to college, if you get all that stuff, not at your junior year, your senior year is just playing football.

• 30:17Channing Crowder?

  Easy ride.

• 30:19Speaker 04

  There's nothing to worry about. So I was in that situation, you know what I mean? Going to my senior year, I just had a ball, just getting recruited, having fun, you know what I mean? And then signing day was coming up. Coach is calling me, hey, what you gonna do there? Listen, man, I'm sorry, man, you know what I mean, I'm going to U of. Then I start again, certain colleges calling me. Of course, hey, what you gonna do? We put too much time in and my job is on the line.

• 30:48Speaker 04

  I don't invest more time, I don't cut two or three, four players that we could have pulled, that we could have had, but I'm constantly working on you. Coach, man, I don't know what to tell you, man, I'm going to U of. Start again, coaches start again, man, heated. Cussing and stuff, I said, bro, I gotta let my mama talk to you now, you know what I mean? So my mom started talking to some of the coaches, like, listen, my son already made the decision, we getting rid of signing with U of. So one of the coaches, after a while, he, I guess his job on the line now. If he don't get me, I guess he is gonna lose his job. So he like, listen here, you know, being straightforward with y'all. If he don't come here, I promise you, he would never see another down of football in his life.

• 31:32Speaker 04

  So my mama laughed at him, she cussed at my, hung up the phone. Bro, all of a sudden, I get the U of my check in my dorm room. I'm finna get off, you know what I mean? I'm finally here, you know what I mean? And then...

• 31:46Speaker 04

  The dean come knock on the door, "Hey, we got a situation. It's nothing real about. Come down to the office. We gonna sort it out, work it out." I go down to the main office. It's been a situation where they're questioning your SAT scores. Another call in, it was called in the NCAA, and they want to question your SAT score. So I'm like, "Fine, whatever. Go ahead. Question it." They come back two days later, they're like, "Nah, just chill out. Go to your room. We're not gonna let you practice today." "Just go to your room, relax. You come to practice and watch, but we can't allow you to practice." "Fine." So I go to my room. We chill. I let my mom know what's going on. Next day, we go meet up again, and they saying, "Hey, man, you know what I mean?

• 32:28Speaker 04

  Unfortunately, it's an incident where they saying that your score is match somebody else's scores." And I say, "Okay. So how y'all, who cheated off who?" They say, "Your score is match him, but you score higher than him."

• 32:46Speaker 04

  I said, "Hold on.

• 32:48Speaker 04

  Hold on right quick." So I cheated off Chandler, right? You saying I cheated off him, but I got a 9.8. He got an 80.

• 32:58Speaker 05

  How you cheat off me?

• 33:02Speaker 04

  You see what I'm saying?

• 33:03Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 33:03Speaker 04

  So that was the situation. Your score is match the guy you're sitting next to you, but you score higher than him. So I say, "Man, so what do I gotta do?" They said,

• 33:15Speaker 04

  "UM can go ahead and..." They know this because it's no proven fact, right? There's no proven that it happened, but if UM allow you to play, and we do more investigating, it comes back that they realize, say that you cheated, then UM will be ineligible for the bowl.

• 33:35Speaker 04

  So UM like, "Bro, we just won a national championship. We on our way to another one." "Dean, I know we love you, dawg, but..."

• 33:45Speaker 04

  We can't allow you to jeopardize this season. We gonna have to sit you out. But it's up to U M. U M. You can play them. And we do, we dig into it. And we find out something, we gonna, we gonna disqualify you out for the whole season. So you gonna say, nah, we just gonna sit them out and wait the next year. Let everything clear out and then come back to play. So I say, so what I gotta do now? And D, you gotta chill. You can stay up here. Or you can go home. I say, bro, I'm not staying up here. Can I go to class? I say, nah, you can't even go to class. So when they found out it was up to U M. All the colleges started calling me now. Listen, we got another scholarship right now. We willing to take. So you know what I mean? This was, this was where I said, you know what I mean?

• 34:27Speaker 04

  This was where I would say I really gained faith in God. I'm on my way home. My momma phone getting blowed up from colleges. Listen, we just found out the situation. Maybe it was that guy. Whoever did the call. Maybe he called. You know what I mean? Listen, we willing to take D right now. We gonna play him. We know that it ain't, it ain't no proof that he cheated or whatever the case may be. We'll take him. My momma said, nah, we gonna stick with U M. So when I got home. The minute I pulled in that driveway, bro, like tears just started flowing from my face. And I'm like, man, wow. Is it really over for me? You know what I mean? Cause

• 35:05Speaker 04

  where we grew up, it was football or

• 35:08Speaker 05

  Mm-hmm.

• 35:09Speaker 04

  The street.

• 35:10Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 35:10Speaker 04

  You know what I mean? You play football and you seeing all the cars around by with the big rims and the music banging. I'm playing this because I want one of those cars. And I wanted to get it the right way. You can get it the right way or the hard way. And so when I went home, I said, I don't know nothing else, bro. Play the football. So, bro, I go in the house. My momma, she look at me. I look, I open, when I open up my door, bro. And I seen all the little posters from Florida State that I had on my wall, all the college posters and looking at them. I'm like, boy, listen. I'm finna call one of these teams, tell them come get me, bro. I can't, I can't sit here. My momma, my momma told me, bro, listen, you sign with U M. You gonna stick it out.

• 35:50Speaker 05

  Wow.

• 35:51Speaker 04

  And then, so like, when I called U M. And I, I, I I was finna leave without my momma's permission at one point. So I called U M. Like, listen, bro. My momma told you I'm finna stick, but I'm trying to go get it. I'm trying to at least go to school, bro. You know what I mean? At least be in class, doing something, on the practice squad or something. I'm finna go somewhere. And they say, hey, David, listen.

• 36:15Speaker 04

  We got about 12 vets fighting over your jersey number. This is our commitment.

• 36:23Speaker 04

  We won't no, we won't allow nobody wear number four to let you know that we gon', we committed with you.

• 36:30Speaker 04

  They had like 12 vets. I don't know who they were, but they wanted number four. And they said, listen, that's our commitment to let you know that we gon', we gon' stick with you regardless. So when they told me that, I said, you know what, I'm gonna stick it out, bro.

• 36:46Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I mean.

• 36:46Speaker 04

  That's the only reason I stuck it out, bro.

• 36:49Ryan Clark?

  To be honest, good for Miami because they would've been stupid to not stick with you. And that was obviously the, just part of the heyday. That was like the second iteration of UM dominance. When all of you guys were at school and then what you became in the NFL, not just you, but from the, the Ed Reeds and the, the S. Dots, the Sean Taylors, the Frank Gores, Clinton Portis. But going forward, man, you mentioned that Florida State posters that you ripped off your wall. Devin Sanders has been a huge supporter of yours, called you before the Virginia game one year and say, "Look, I want to be your mentor. I believe you can be certain things."

• 37:31Ryan Clark?

  Morton Anderson is in the Hall of Fame. I believe the two best special teams players of all time are Devin Hester and Justin Tucker. I believe that both of, both of you are first ballot Hall of Famers. You know, Freddie T. mentioned that Super Bowl year, Rex Grossman wasn't in. Like, I'm gonna be honest, that wasn't the team. You were the team. The defense was the team. When you think about the Hall of Fame, I'm sure you believe you should get in. You actually said, "I know I'm gonna get in, but it's about how long I'll have to wait." How long do you think you have to wait?

• 38:06Speaker 04

  I mean, I was preparing for this question just driving here. And then I thought about Fred and you know what I mean, his time of waiting.

• 38:16Speaker 04

  And I always look at it like it's like a draft.

• 38:22Speaker 04

  We all in here, we know we straight dogs. If you don't get drafted in the first round, you don't even cut no more. You just, team picked me and I'm ready to play football.

• 38:32Speaker 04

  That's how I felt about the first ballot. As a kid growing up, you know what I mean? I want to make the first ballot. If you put it in that way, you know eventually you gonna make the Hall of Fame. Everybody make the Hall of Fame, that played 12, 13 years in like. But it's, do I get drafted the first round? That's what I want. Do I make the first ballot of the Hall of Fame? That's what I want. So when I didn't make it, the first ballot, you know what I mean? I was tore. You know what I mean? I started looking at everybody else that's in the Hall of Fame, what they did, what they accomplished. You know what I mean? We got the kicker in, Gay in it. You know, okay, we got a special team in it. I got a shot. When I make it, then make the first ballot. Now I'm at the point, this is going on my third year, it's like,

• 39:17Speaker 04

  the more I'm accepting it and I'm just waiting for my time now. So right after right now, it's just more just, when it happens, it happened now. That's how I'm feeling.

• 39:26Fred Taylor?

  Your mentor, Coach Prime, Devin. His stance, how does that make you feel knowing that he's going to bat for you?

• 39:34Speaker 04

  When you have guys like that, that's in it. We all know it, like Devin is, when we talk about Devin, you know what I mean? He's one of the elite guys in the NFL. When you talk about NFL, like, he's in that Peyton Manning category. He just up there, you know what I mean? Whatever he say, he got weight behind his name. So when a guy like that speaks up, you know what I mean? And then, you know, you have other guys speaking up, it's,

• 39:59Speaker 04

  it was a way for me to sit back and just observe. Cause when I didn't make it, I went off. To be honest with you, I called the league. I called, I called. Well, I called, so the guy that is over the Hall of Fame, he calls you. You gotta think about it, I was the last guy to get cut two years in a row. They picked five guys. I was the sixth guy. Wow. So when you made the top 10, that dude called you. Say, hey, listen, we making a cut tomorrow. Either you gonna make it, I'll give you a call, let you make it. I'm gonna give you a call, let you know you didn't make it. That's who I called when he called me.

• 40:38Speaker 04

  Hey, I say this now.

• 40:43Speaker 04

  Lead guy over the Hall of Fame.

• 40:46Channing Crowder?

  He wrote all that in lead.

• 40:48Speaker 05

  Lead guy over the Hall, you had to get into that company line.

• 40:50Speaker 04

  I said, you know what I mean, I just, I wanna know what happened. Like, you calling me, telling me the last guy get cut. Let me know what was said in the room. Like, when did I get cut? Like, I know ten guys on the final. What number, I wanna know all this, what number was I? He say, yeah, you just last one again. I said, what? And he say, um, Devin, to be honest with you, man, I was voting for you. But some of the other guys just said, like, the reason you didn't make it because of the minimum, the snaps that you had. So we can't compare you to, it's hard to put you in the Hall of Fame if we got. Zach Thomas, he did ten thousand snaps.

• 41:34Speaker 04

  Compared to you, you only did a thousand. You know what I mean? So that's,

• 41:42Speaker 04

  that's the reason you didn't make it, to be honest with you. We know you gonna make it. But it's so hard to compare you to these other guys, cause these other guys are putting in ten, ten thousand snaps in their career, and then we looking at your minimum snaps that you played in the league, and you only showing fifteen hundred, two thousand snaps.

• 42:02Speaker 04

  That's, that's my only answer I can give you.

• 42:04Channing Crowder?

  Right, and to that point, cause it was one of my questions. You being the stupid athlete, like, we joked about walking in and me and RC being scared as defensive players, like, man, he bout to score again on us.

• 42:16Channing Crowder?

  Do you think through your career, because you said you was playing with thirteen years at five, do you think through your career, anybody maximized you, maximized your ability on either side of the ball? Cause to play defense and offense in the league is crazy, bro. You know what I'm saying, like, you speaking about Devin.

• 42:32Speaker 04

  Right.

• 42:32Channing Crowder?

  Devin was a hell of a returner.

• 42:33Speaker 04

  Right.

• 42:34Channing Crowder?

  But he was an all-pro cornerback as well. Did, did anybody really ever, you being a dumb athlete like you were, did anybody ever really teach you how to play a position at a high level?

• 42:44Speaker 04

  I don't think so. And, and I, and I talk to this a lot, um, to Fred Stepbrother, which is my best friend, Leroy. And he always say, man, you had a good career. And I said, I didn't, bro. I didn't, bro. He say, you did, you, you was good in college. I wasn't. I wasn't, bro, cause I.

• 43:06Speaker 04

  I felt like I had so much left in the tank, bro, that I could have been, if I would just use right. I get Reggie Bush's pro, but I could have been another Reggie Bush in college, bro.

• 43:19Speaker 00

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

• 43:48Speaker 04

  When I got to the league, bro, I felt like if I would have stayed at a position, and just mastered that position, bro.

• 43:56Speaker 04

  I feel like if I would have stayed at corner, I would have mastered that position. I would have been a better, overall fulfill my destiny and just playing football. Like I was always bounced around, bro. Never, never just played one side of the field. From high school, part one, college, NFL. Never, bro. And then it was to the point where it was like, okay, we struggling on offense. Put him on corner, put him against the best receiver. We struggling on, we struggling on defense. Now we, now defense is suspect. Put him on offense. Put him at running back, just get in the ball. He gonna do what he do my whole life, bro.

• 44:38Ryan Clark?

  Why do you think that was, though? Because normally, someone who has an immense amount of talent, like you, they figure that out, right? They figure out what he's best at. It seemed like being ultimately talented, as you were, worked against you. Because they more so used you to plug holes, instead of saying, this is how Devin Hester can become the best player he could possibly be, and fulfill his potential. Why do you feel it was so hard for you to find one spot?

• 45:09Speaker 04

  The reason why I never mastered, because it started at a young age. So, I never was saying, okay, Dev. Probably your instinct growing up. By the time you got to high school, or even college, they said, okay, you just gonna be a corner. Run by corner.

• 45:25Speaker 04

  That's it. Learn it. Learn the off, learn the defense.

• 45:27Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 45:28Speaker 04

  Master it. Line battle. We drive, we, we, we recruit as a linebacker. That's all you playing.

• 45:33Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 45:34Speaker 04

  When I got picked up by mine, it ain't say cornerback, it ain't say receiver, it's an ATH.

• 45:40Speaker 04

  So now, when you get to the college level, playbook is that big. Defense and offense.

• 45:48Speaker 04

  I'm getting both of them. So now my head is spinning. I can't master one. Because I'm trying to learn this one out. Doing practice, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm warming up with the cornerback. I'm running drills with the cornerback. Next week, I'm in the running back room.

• 46:03Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 46:03Speaker 04

  Next week, I'm in the receiver room. Next week, I'm with the quarterback because we learning Wildcat.

• 46:10Speaker 04

  So I never was put in a position where you can say, damn, listen, master it. The only time I felt like it happened was my sophomore year when they put me at corner the half of the season and say, listen, we just gonna let you just focus at corner. And half of the season, I ended up leaning the picks, the team that picks.

• 46:25Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 46:27Speaker 04

  Parade All-American, all that, Playboy, all that.

• 46:31Speaker 04

  And then the following year, you say, okay, we, we, I'm getting too much notoriety, I'm getting blowed up too much. Listen, damn, we gonna move you to the third string because we getting too much media coming on. I'm tired of all these press icing about you. So you know what? They getting them off my back. We gonna move you to the third string.

• 46:46Ryan Clark?

  Ain't no way they did that, Dale. No way these people came to you. I, I, I, I, I don't. Dale, that's hard for me to believe at U M now. At U M, y'all had everybody. The, the, the press.

• 46:58Speaker 04

  Ask somebody that you know, anybody that you know that was there in my sophomore year.

• 47:02Ryan Clark?

  That's crazy.

• 47:03Speaker 04

  Just, just go, you go have a conversation with them and say, hey, damn, the sophomore year, when he start, when they put him at corner and he start doing good and led the team in picks.

• 47:16Speaker 04

  Peace Bowl, I won Defensive Player of the Game. Parade All-American that year, All-American, Walter County, all that.

• 47:24Speaker 04

  Going into the spring, spring next following season. This ain't regular season, this is just all season training.

• 47:31Speaker 04

  Nah, we're with the third strange right now, bro. Till we calm this media, you get into us press.

• 47:37Fred Taylor?

  That was, that was, that was Larry Coker. Yeah. He, he's quoted as saying, I don't know where to play this kid because he plays every position. And to be that much of a threat at every single position. You know, the one, one, I guess the only thing I can think about is, you know, I think you would be so, as dominant as you were then, like you just preceded your era, right? Even when you talk about Hall of Fame, you were such a great talent that, uh, you know, they just, one, they didn't know where to play you. Right. In, in terms of evolution of the sport. In today's game, I think you would be so pissed off because you wouldn't get the ball kicked to you because of the rules. Right.

• 48:21Fred Taylor?

  Uh, but just to go back a bit, in terms of you talking about the reps in the Hall of Fame, because, you know, I, I've started studying it. Yeah. The more- That's also never going to change for him though. It, it's never gonna change.

• 48:31Speaker 04

  There's, there's nothing he can do about that.

• 48:33Fred Taylor?

  There's no criteria, right? And that's never gonna change. But when they look at errors, and they weigh a lot of it on errors. When you look at another Chicago great, Gail Sayers. Right. Who played running back, who did returns and all these different things, he's a Hall of Famer. Right. I think, obviously, when they talk about the reps, he didn't maximize reps. But that, that's a, that's a valid argument for you. And hopefully they can look at that and you can get in and be a part of the next class, which I think, you know, should be like high, high consideration and you will make it. I got a few questions and then you can answer whichever one you- I'm answering all of them. You want.

• 49:12Fred Taylor?

  One, um, are you the best player ever in the history of University of Miami football? Are you the, the best returner in the history of the NFL?

• 49:26Speaker 04

  I gotta say no because I haven't proven it. And when we, when I say I haven't proven-

• 49:31Fred Taylor?

  To which question?

• 49:32Speaker 04

  To, for you, um, best athlete, you are.

• 49:35Fred Taylor?

  Best, best player for you.

• 49:36Speaker 04

  Best player for you, um, I haven't proven it because-

• 49:40Speaker 04

  Everybody else that I would consider voting for, they was just that position. When you think about Santana, Ma, right? What other position he played besides receiving kickoff return?

• 49:55Speaker 04

  When you talk about Ed Reed. Ed Reed ain't played no offense. Ed Reed ain't played corner. Ed Reed was a safety.

• 50:06Speaker 04

  The rest of the guy, Ray Lewis, that's all he played was linebacker.

• 50:10Speaker 04

  Me, I played receiver my first year and running back.

• 50:15Speaker 04

  Receiver and cornerback my second year. Junior year, started off at run, at quarterback, ended the season playing receiver and running back. Finish out your top five. Santana, Ed, Ray, give me two more. I can't name them in order, but I would say Santana, Michael Irvin.

• 50:37Speaker 04

  Ray Lewis.

• 50:41Speaker 04

  Sean Taylor.

• 50:45Speaker 04

  And I'd say Willis, McGee. A U M. Okay.

• 50:52Ryan Clark?

  Devin, we don't have, I don't have a lot of time to debate this. And Channing got the next question, because that's how I work on this show. But there ain't no way in hell Ed Reed's not on that list. That's why I said Ed Reed.

• 51:09Ryan Clark?

  He kind of bumped it.

• 51:14Speaker 04

  I think I threw Santana in there for him. I said Santana, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, and Willis.

• 51:24Ryan Clark?

  Oh, okay. I almost can't count them.

• 51:28Channing Crowder?

  It's just crazy, this still blew my mind from earlier, bro. So you bring up them, Ray got a lot of goddamn attention at U M. Ed did, Sean T, Andre Johnson, he stole my soul in the league a couple of times. Just the guys I know, Tana was a monster. And them dudes, bruh, when they were thriving and bringing attention, Willis and them running back, Frank G and them boys, bruh, the attention was all over them. Why, when you had attention, that blows my mind, you getting too much attention? We need to pull you off the defense? That shit's crazy to me, when U M is not Kennesaw State, bruh, it's U M.

• 52:04Speaker 04

  I think it was because I was younger at the time. I was younger.

• 52:09Speaker 05

  I was a sophomore. These guys, when they started, when they really got their household name, they had to be like their juniors. And so they had to decide to come out or stay. When you think about it, nobody talked about really end his sophomore year like that. But his junior and senior, when he made a name, right?

• 52:28Ryan Clark?

  Apex one year, nine and X.

• 52:30Speaker 05

  San Antonio really blowed up his junior and senior. So with me, it was my sophomore year, bro. Like, they had a, they had a draft projection. If I was eligible, I was like, at my sophomore year, I was, I was like top 15 pick, bro. But I couldn't come out. You see what I'm saying? I was sophomore, so, okay. We all know in these high, these schools, when they know like, you, you young, you can't come out. He been here, he'll say, y'all too bad, and I, you a little bit better than him. But since he's a senior, we gonna let him go hit a ride. You got two more years. We was so good.

• 53:14Ryan Clark?

  Everybody was good.

• 53:15Speaker 05

  You can plug, you can plug, you can plug the, the, the six string corner here, fifth year senior. Plug him in, bro, because the rest of these dudes gonna eat. He just gotta just do his assignment and just be in the right place. Cover two, you just jam him inside, play the corner, and then work back down to the flat. That's all you need to do. And you gonna be okay. That's how it was, bro.

• 53:37Ryan Clark?

  That's how it was. Put him inside, when they throw it to the flat. You gonna make this tackle. Also too, we got Jonathan Vilman them, and DJ Williams.

• 53:50Speaker 05

  You gonna make it happen. We got two first round detail, you got two first round linebacker, you got two first round savers. The other side of the corner, he was a first rounder.

• 53:59Ryan Clark?

  My, my question to, to end the show. And first off, thank you for being so open about a lot of the things. You, I've heard you talk before, I've read a lot of things, you know, to say that, or to admit that, or to...

• 54:16Ryan Clark?

  Give the world that on our show is a privilege. It truly is, man, and we're grateful for you. But you're gonna be a Hall of Famer. I believe, we all believe that. I think the world knows that. When you get an opportunity to stand at the microphone and thank the people who have helped you to talk about your journey to that point, what are gonna be some of the things that you're gonna want to tell the world about Devin Hester's journey to a gold jacket?

• 54:47Speaker 04

  I think my main topic is gonna be really thanking the people that really was there for me. You know what I mean? For me, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to finish it. Because it was so easy for 90% of them, just, okay, you got talent. Just, everything just panned out for you. Your talent just took you everywhere, all the way through up to the Hall of Fame. Everything I went through, bro. It was hard. Everything, bro. From going to college. What I had to deal with in the league. Just it's easier for

• 55:32Speaker 04

  some of the guys to stand up there and say their speech and not drop one, too. Because it just came so fucking easy. But the ones that really, really had to struggle to get way, some of the ones that can just get up there and just smile and just kiki their whole speech, bro. Like, I salute them because they were best with talent, and they worked hard, and they studied, and they did what they supposed to do to make it done. But when you got them roller coasters, bro, and someone drops, it's hard to come back up. And you find a way, bro, without no help, to get up there, and then you rise to the top, bro. It's a different, it's a different speech, bro. It's different, bro. And so, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to finish it, bro, because it's not making the Hall of Fame for me.

• 56:16Speaker 04

  It's what I did to get there, bro. And how hard I had to say, you know what I mean, that at the end of the day, regardless of what situation I'm going through, keep pushing, bro. Keep pushing. It wasn't easy for you, but your talent was there to hold you down. But you were put in blocks where you could have easily said, "Fuck it, bro. I'm straight, bro. I did what I can. You know what I mean? They doing this to me, they do." I could have been pointing fingers at everybody, bro, that I had a situation with and just gave up.

• 56:43Speaker 04

  But it's gonna feel real good to me because I did give up, bro. That's what's, that's what's gonna be, that's what's going, that's my Hall of Fame for me. Not getting the award because I normally get it and I know I deserve it, but it's, the Hall of Fame is when I look at me not giving up.

• 57:02Ryan Clark?

  From your, your mother's accident to your, your father's illness to people trying to keep you from ever stepping on the field and to be told at the, the peak of your college career that you're too much, we're gonna knock you down again, man, and then to rise to where you did in the NFL, to where still to this day, when I'm asked about the best players I have ever seen play, you're one of them.

• 57:28Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 57:29Ryan Clark?

  You know, for a man to be able to say, look, every third time I touched it, you can ring up the scoreboard. That's different.

• 57:36Speaker 04

  Yeah, let me ask you a question, bro, because I, I, me and my roommate talked. He was a starting safety, right, named Anthony Reddy, messed up both his ACL.

• 57:48Speaker 04

  But I'm a player I feed off emotion. If coach give me good vibe, well, listen, I'm gonna be the best thing out there. You do anything, say anything negative towards me, I'm shutting it down. So when you have a coach that know that, and then my roommate, bro,

• 58:09Speaker 04

  four years later tell me that it broke, because he didn't want to tell me this.

• 58:13Speaker 04

  Coach used to tap me and say, hey, I'm finna go, I'm finna go mess him up right now before practice start. I'm finna get in his head and tell him something where I know gonna mess him up.

• 58:24Speaker 04

  Dee, you going with the third string this week, uh, Dee. Just say something negative that

• 58:33Speaker 04

  what, what you know that's gonna, gonna get in my head to the point where I'm like, I don't even want to practice no more.

• 58:37Ryan Clark?

  How would you respond to that when he do it?

• 58:40Speaker 04

  It was day, bro, in practice where I would leave. Hey, you, um, clear it, don't say nothing to nobody, go to the locker room, take off my equipment, get in my car, just ride. I did it about five times. My whole, my junior, I'm saying my junior, I did it about five times. Where I just, like, you, you probably never experienced just in college, just in the middle of practice. Just walk off and nobody know you left, you just go get in your car and just clear it.

• 59:08Speaker 05

  I did it five times my junior, bro. And it just comes from just,

• 59:14Speaker 05

  like I said, I'm an emotional player, bro. The crowd going crazy, I'm gonna go crazy. Y'all better not kick it to me. They must have been going crazy when they kicked it to you at Duke. Jesus.

• 59:24Channing Crowder?

  Do you think he was testing you to try to build that callus?

• 59:29Speaker 05

  At first, right? It's just like you got a kid, right? It's certain thing you can say that's gonna build him up. And then it's certain thing you can say where I say, I can't say that to him. I can't say that to him. You learn your players. That's what good coaches do, learn their players. That's what great players do, learn their players. So after the fourth, fifth time, you already know what it's gonna do to you. So don't do that to him. You feel me? And that's what it was, bro, like, I'm ready to go, I'm finna lock this dude down. We getting in a lot.

• 1:00:01Speaker 05

  Don't go with the ones, go with the threes, cuz you gonna practice with threes today.

• 1:00:07Speaker 05

  I don't wanna practice no more, man. I'm done, bro.

• 1:00:09Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:10Speaker 05

  I'm done.

• 1:00:10Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:00:12Speaker 05

  I wanna build the one, bro. I wanna work, I wanna, I wanna go with the say the star and say it. Cuz at the end of the day, me and him gotta communicate. Even though you give us a play call, you know what I mean? As long as me and him on the same page, bro, at the end of the day, right? Regardless, dang, I ain't hear the play call from the coach. Hey, say the, we finna do this here. At least we know what we doing on our side. We straight. It's the chemistry, bro.

• 1:00:32Fred Taylor?

  D, I'll say this, and we'll rap. Despite the ups and downs, the roller coasters, you know, coaches trying to get in your head, you're able to persevere through that. I think this the second show in a row that RC's wearing a hoodie that spoke to what's going on with the guests in the show. You stood firm.

• 1:00:51Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:00:52Fred Taylor?

  You know, stand firm, you were able to stand firm and, shit, you about to be in the Mecca soon, man, so we appreciate your, your time, bro.

• 1:01:00Speaker 05

  Appreciate you guys.

• 1:01:01Fred Taylor?

  Much love. And make sure you tell him Fred Taylor was my favorite player growing up. And when he get, you gonna be Fred.

• 1:01:07Speaker 05

  Yeah, make sure that.

• 1:01:08Fred Taylor?

  Get Fred, tell him they got a jacket on. Yes, sir.

• 1:01:10Speaker 05

  See you, brother.

• 1:01:11Fred Taylor?

  Hey, shit, I'm gonna be there.

• 1:01:12Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:01:13Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, that's all I want you to say. Fred Taylor was my favorite, you know, player growing up. Yeah, man, I had great hair by the time you get there. Hey, it's all good.

• 1:01:20Speaker 05

  I might have a great time about, bring him by the time I get there.

• 1:01:23Fred Taylor?

  It's all good, it's all good.

• 1:01:48Speaker 06

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