Eric LeGrand, Former Rutgers Player Talks Life Changing Football Injury & His Life Now

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find Former Rutgers star Football player Eric LeGrand became paralyzed making a tackle during a game in October 2010…since then Eric has used his experience to impact people all over the world and inspire perseverance during tough times. Filming this episode prior to Damar Hamlin’s incident, Ryan went back and visited with Eric to get his reaction and thoughts watching that Monday night game to include as part of the original episode. Visiting Eric in his home state of New Jersey, Fred, Channing and Ryan had the chance to sit and talk with the young man about his love for life, passion for football and will to help others. Eric described the play on the field and the moments after where he felt like his life was over followed by the realization that not only would he never play the sport he loved again but he’d never walk again either. Taking us through the trials and tribulations of that time, Eric has since parlayed his experience into an entrepreneurial spirit and created a legacy of motivation for anyone who knows his story. From Creating different brands around his name, to signing with the Tampa Bucs as an honorary player to being a sports broadcaster to opening his own coffee shop back in his home town…Eric has never spent a day feeling sorry for himself, only trying to become better and find more opportunities. Eric’s story is one everyone should hear and Ryan, Fred and Channing are extremely grateful for the opportunity to share his story and spend time with a young man who is a true role model and epitome of strength. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY)1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA), 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Void in ONT. Eligibility restrictions apply. Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min. $5 pre-game moneyline bet. Bet must win. $150 issued as six (6) $25 free bets. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/footballterms. Ends 2/12/23 at 11:59PM ET. Sponsored by DK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:01Speaker 00

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

• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  We're here with Eric LeGrand in his coffee shop. And a couple of weeks ago, right before the Damar Hamlin situation, we sat down with Eric and we went through his amazing journey, his amazing story. And also, we listened to his positivity and about who he is now, as opposed to the dreams that he felt were shattered when he laid on the field. I want to get with him about what he felt when he saw Damar Hamlin laying down, because Eric, like no other person we've spoken to, has a unique perspective on what he saw, on what he felt, and what Damar Hamlin and his family can be going through. It's Monday night. We're all super excited about the Cincinnati Bengal Buffalo Bills game. Maybe some people were watching Rutgers, but I'm not sure if anybody was, other than you.

• 1:15Ryan Clark?

  But you see Damar Hamlin fall to the turf after making what looked like a routine play. Stephon Diggs is now in tears. Josh Allen and Joe Burrow are hugging. Chudavious White is crying, being consoled, and they're covering him, so you can't necessarily see what's going on with Damar. But we hear he's receiving CPR on the field. He's rushed to the hospital. When you are watching that scene, what sort of things are going through your mind?

• 1:40Speaker 02

  It brings me back to when my heels hit that ground on that turf for the last time, and the immediate thoughts of that I'm going to die on this football field. I was fully conscious. I knew what was going on at the time. I couldn't breathe. But those moments of the fear of the unknown, not knowing where my life was going to go, it really always goes to that when I see somebody go down. And Damar, he stood up and then collapsed. And when you saw something like that and you knew that they were giving him CPR, and it was taking some time to get him off the field. I literally thought he could have died right there on that football field. And then you see all of his teammates' faces and the concern looks and the fear and the tears. And my mind goes right to my teammates and the thought of when my injury happened

• 2:23Speaker 02

  and them not wanting to play football anymore, being terrified of the game, and not being able to tell them right away that I was going to be okay. Thank God, a few weeks later, I was able to communicate with them, let them know to go out there and do your job and enjoy the game, and the game that you love for your whole life. But those moments of seeing their faces and his mom and his uncle, just the thoughts of that, I never want anyone to go through that because I know exactly how that feels. It reminds me of my mom, my friends and my teammates, and what they went through those first few days after my injury.

• 2:54Ryan Clark?

  With Damar now being able to communicate, the first thing he asked is, "Did we win?" And he's spoken to his teammate. He's going to continue to be on the road to recovery. When you think back to your time, what would be some advice you would give him as he continues to try to heal?

• 3:12Speaker 02

  Leading on all those letters that have came in, all the people that are wishing him well. I'll never forget my sister reading all the fan mail that was coming in. Everyone that started to reach out to me, the people I had no idea who they were. It uplifted my spirits, it motivated me, knowing that all these people have my back. Now, I gotta make sure that I do what I need to do to inspire them, get myself better, because now they're gonna remember my name. They're gonna remember this moment. It's a life-changing moment. So, knowing that I am, you know, better now, and now Damar is on the road to recovery, you want him to have that moment too where people are like, "You know what? That man changed my life." Whether if I like football or not, that moment changed my life. And look what he's been able to do.

• 3:54Speaker 02

  And you see how much money has been raised now for his foundation, which is truly incredible. So, to see that he's just in better spirits, I know his mom, his uncle, family members, they just gotta lean on each other, but everyone else and share all that love because you need that power of positivity and that power of prayer. We've just seen that miracle, but that has just happened.

• 4:12Ryan Clark?

  Well, question is this now. Are you rooting for the Buffalo Bills just a little bit to win the Super Bowl?

• 4:18Speaker 02

  I mean, you got it now. My team is out, as we talked about already. We don't got to worry about Denver, so. And I mean, you got to pull for Buffalo and everything that they got to do to be able to strap up the helmets again to go out there and play on such a short notice. I think you got a new fan in me now, at least for this year.

• 4:33Ryan Clark?

  Yes, sir. Let's get to the show.

• 4:58Ryan Clark?

  Man, but listen, bro. Welcome to The Pivot. This show was started to share stories like yours. And that's why we're extremely excited, man. So on behalf of Freddie T., truly the OG of the show, Channing Crowder. I'm RC. For everybody who doesn't know, this is Eric Legrand. And we are just so excited, man, to get a chance to sit down with you. And we know you've inspired so many with your story, but we wanted that story to be told on this platform as well. DraftKings, Happy Dad, we thank you so much for your sponsorship. For all the people that subscribe and have liked and have commented throughout this first year of The Pivot, we are so grateful. You know, there is no show without y'all. We know that and we appreciate that.

• 5:42Ryan Clark?

  E, man, it's just so crazy. I was reading about young Eric. You know what I'm saying? The cat that, what his mom's name is, Karen, had to make sure he wanted to practice in Pop Warner because he felt like he was too good to practice. And then, you know, you're playing ball here in New Jersey. You become a big recruit when you are in those spaces, man. And you're starting to realize, I'm better than these other kids. I'm bigger. I'm continuing to grow. What was that high school experience like for you? And tell us what some of your dreams were at that point.

• 6:16Speaker 02

  You know, when I was young like that, I always knew I had the talent and I played with older kids growing up. Like in my neighborhood, very diverse area, you black, white, Latino, Asian. And we all just competed against each other, whether I was in third grade, leaving a block finally, going to around the neighborhood. So going up against seventh graders, so we were always competing with each other. Then as I started to get bigger and playing, you know, kids my age, I knew I had a special talent and my mom always stayed on top of me. Like she was just always like, you know what? I know your skills, but we have to really push you and I'm not gonna let you stray away from what you want to get to. And I grew up in a single parent household. I always said my dad was there for me, he grew up, well, he was in the town next to me. And but my mom raised me, she made me just who I am today.

• 7:01Speaker 02

  And when I started to get to high school, I noticed my coaches, they never treated me differently. They kept me like I was just like everyone else, I was the water boy of the team my sophomore year. Meanwhile, I got a division one offer to go play at Rutgers, but I'm a water boy going into sewer holes and hooking up the the hose to the spink and things like that. So I was always humbled at a young age and that's always honestly just what kept me motivated and staying towards what I wanted to get to.

• 7:27Channing Crowder?

  You talking about playing football now, you in, you in Jersey.

• 7:32Channing Crowder?

  Bruh, was it football up there, is it football up there? Cause you're not, I'm, I'm a Florida dude, Georgia, Texas, California. We don't hear about the big time New Jersey football, man.

• 7:41Speaker 02

  Bruh, Jersey game, well, you know Jersey's on the map, we a small state, but we roll deep. There's nine million, ten million people that live in this state of Jersey. It's a, it's a very competitive area, yes, I know Florida, I got teammates from Florida, you know, Bella Glade and Miami and all that.

• 7:57Channing Crowder?

  You know about Belle Glade.

• 7:58Speaker 02

  Come on, bro, five, six, one, go get some.

• 8:02Speaker 02

  But I, yeah, I got teammates from down there and you know, they come up here like Florida, this, that, and I'm like, so why you up here then?

• 8:07Channing Crowder?

  We gotta spread our talent.

• 8:10Speaker 02

  So nah, I get it, I don't get to Texas, Florida and all that, but Jersey, I'm telling you, you know, we got the talent, we got the athletes and we got that grit and toughness. I mean, we get that bad rap always at Jersey, the armpit of the country now, but we got some, we got some dudes up here. We go out there and compete. The jersey on the map every day.

• 8:27Fred Taylor?

  You mentioned Belgrade, my hometown. I had a good friend of mine, my high school quarterback. You know, he went off the pit years ago. I think this was around 1995. Demell Stanley. He went off the pit some years ago. And during the practice session, he ended up, he came down with the ball, but he hit the back wall of the indoor practice facility. And he's been in a wheelchair ever since. I wanted to get right into it. October 16th, 2010. I'm sure you're very familiar with that day. And ironically, October 16th is also World Spying Day. I want you to take us through that moment when you suffered your injury.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  Crazy day because BetLife had just opened up and, you know, college, you're playing the NFL stadium. It's always where you want to be at. Same routine I went through pregame and whatnot. We were playing Army. And you know, when you play those military teams, man, it's always a tough game. Those guys, they don't give up, man. They go at you all game long. So we were in a battle with them. We had just tied it up 17 to 17 in the fourth quarter. Just five minutes left in the game. And I remember I ran down our kickoff a lot. I was always fast and I was 275 running down there. On kickoff, trying to keep up with them DBs. So it was, I knew I had a good head of steam on Malcolm Brow. And man, I was going to make a tackle on. And I said, do I want to use my shoulder or do I want to use my head on this play? I said, this is going to be a big collision. Let me use my shoulder on this play. But if anybody's ever seen the play before,

• 9:55Speaker 02

  my teammate actually got down there half a second before I did. And he dove at Malcolm's leg. But Malcolm Brow got twisted in the air. He twirled in the air. I put my head down, thinking it wasn't going to be an attack at all. We all know those football players, you see with your head. I thought it was going to be on the side of his body. Next thing you know, crowding my head goes right into the back of his shoulder blade. And I'm laying on the ground. And I remember the last thing I felt after my body went stiff was my heel slowly touching the turf. And I can't move and I can't breathe. And honestly, guys, I thought I was going to die on the field that day. I really did.

• 10:24Ryan Clark?

  You could take us through that time so vividly. And I'm always asked how I remember plays. Or Freddie T will be talking about a certain play in the game where he was running and he saw the cutback and he hit it. You'll hear Chan say, in this play, I stepped back to seven yards because I knew what was coming. Like, we can just recall those plays over and over and over again. And you recall that play so vividly and you paint that picture. When your heels hit the ground and then when you realize you can't breathe, then you're saying to yourself, you thought you were going to die on the field. What is that moment like? Like, in that moment, where does your mind go when you're thinking to yourself, this could be it for me. I'm dying in a place I've always wanted to be, an NFL stadium.

• 11:07Speaker 02

  I literally said to myself, God, take me at ease. And I closed my eyes at one point and I thought that was it. And as nothing happened, I remember I still was praying for a gasp of air. I woke up by eyes, I'm like, I gotta pray because my coach is looking down at me. He goes, E, just keep praying, just keep praying. So I'm praying for a gasp of air, anything to happen. At this time, they had brought the cart out. And when they put me, they did that roll over and they did a one, two, three lift off the ground. Somehow I caught a gasp of air. So I'm like, you know what? Maybe I just knocked the wind out of myself and I got a full body stinger because I've had a stinger on my shoulder before and I knocked the wind out of myself. And that's exactly what it felt like. So I'm like, you know what? Let me give that thumbs up to the crowd, let everyone know it's gonna be okay. I wanted to give that thumbs up and felt like the weight of the world was on my hands.

• 11:51Speaker 02

  Ironically, that game, I ended up getting like 25 tickets for people to come out there. So my mom and my sister were on the field, like, they came down to see me. My mom was hysterical and I just told her, everything's gonna be okay, I'll be all right. They put me in an ambulance and they put an oxygen mask on me. And I was ignorant to the fact of what an oxygen mask does for you. I never had one on before, so I'm thinking, once I take that deep inhale in and exhale out, I'll be able to breathe on my own. I remember I took that inhale in and went.

• 12:22Speaker 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.

• 12:51Speaker 02

  And nothing happened and I blacked out in the ambulance, just blacked out.

• 12:55Ryan Clark?

  What's the next thing you can remember after that? Like, I can't, I can't imagine the, the fear of, of trying to get some air and realizing that my body is not capable to do so. And you say you blacked out, so what's your next memory? When you open your eyes again, where are you?

• 13:15Speaker 02

  I was literally, it felt like a movie scene, you know, when you see someone get rushed down the hallway with the heartbeats like boom, boom, boom, boom. I remember looking up at a bunch of lights. I then blacked out. I woke up and I was in a room with a bunch of doctors and the nurses and it sounded like they were speaking a different language. Then I black, I woke up and I blacked out one more time, came, came back too. And I was in that same room by myself and just saw the monitors and the sounds going off. And then I don't remember anything until that following Wednesday. And this injury happened to me on that following Saturday. But I do remember waking up and Tom Coughlin was with the Giants at the time. He had came by with Jason Pierre Paul and the rookies that year to come see me. Then Andy Reid, so was, was with the Eagles. So he took the trip up to Turnpike and he came to see me and everything.

• 13:58Speaker 02

  And that was the year with Deshaun Jackson and then he was, he would text me when he had the big kick, returning MetLife and Mike Vick and all those guys. It was cool to develop a relationship with the, but I remember being in those moments and those being some of the first few people that I saw and remember. And actually, I'm not gonna lie to you, it kinda hyped me up a little bit because I'm like, yo, these NFL coaches know who I am, that little did I know. I wasn't gonna be playing football no more, but it helped give me a little bit of motivation at the time where it was very grim.

• 14:25Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, and you said, little did you know, like, when was that realization? After, you say that that happened on a Saturday, you woke up that following Wednesday, the first time you came around. And then when, when was the realization that I'm not playing ball no more? I might never walk again, I might never move again.

• 14:40Speaker 02

  I'd forget, my mom came in the room, said, Eric, let me know when you wanna have the conversation. And at the time, there was so many people reaching out to me, you know, wishing me well, sending me all these autographs and, you know, I was trying to soak that all in and enjoy that moment. I knew something happened, obviously, but I was just kinda enjoying all the love at the first. And then I remember about, about that following Saturday, about a week after the injury, I was like, Mom, you know, what happened, Mom? And she said, okay, the, the doctors said you fractured your C3, C4 vertebrae. Be paralyzed with a neck down for the rest of your life. They told me you'll never eat again, never gonna breathe on your own and they were hoping that you're strong enough to make it through the surgery. She said, you have already proved them wrong. You made it through the surgery and you're gonna beat this.

• 15:24Speaker 02

  And honestly, everyone after that who came into my room had such this positive upbeat attitude. And I never got to see anybody down. My boys would tell me, after we left the room, they broke down, like they were in the lobby, in the car. But I never saw any of that. So honestly, it kind of made me go into the athlete's mentality, you know, all odds against me, doctor saying this. They tell me I'm not gonna do it, you know, just with my faith, hard work and determination. I have to get better and now I got all these people wishing me well. How can I let them down?

• 15:53Fred Taylor?

  You spoke about the difficulty in breathing, you know, while you were lying there on the ground. And most times when we think of paralysis, spinal cord injuries, we think of simply not just being able to walk, you know, for the most part, and we cheer that on. But here you are, not being able to breathe. And I, in doing my research, and I read your story where you said, "Look, take me off this respirator. I wanna try it on more." What would provoke that thought? I mean, because that's life or death.

• 16:21Speaker 02

  It is.

• 16:21Fred Taylor?

  You know what I mean? It's one thing to say, "Okay, I'm gonna walk again someday." But look, I'm gonna try to breathe on my own. Like, that's very courageous. What provoked that?

• 16:31Speaker 02

  I was, honestly, I wasn't sleeping. That ventilator in my neck and everything all night long. And I'll never forget that machine.

• 16:43Speaker 02

  All night long and I'm just like, I can't sleep. So I said to my respiratory therapist, this is about about five weeks after my injury, I'm still very fresh in my injury. I said, "Can you just take me off this ventilator for a little bit? Like, let me see if I could just fall asleep while I was quiet." He goes, "Eric, if I take it off, I'm gonna have to put you back on in a minute." I'm like, "Give me that one minute, I'll fall asleep." She took me off and I'm not gonna lie to you, felt like I just ran a New York City marathon. I was like... I was pulling for air and everything, but somehow I was able to keep breathing. And she goes, hmm, maybe you are ready to start weaning off. An hour and a half later, I was still breathing on my own. So then she started to wean me off after that. Two weeks later, I was fully dependent and I was able to breathe on my own after that. After they told me, I'll be on this for the rest of my life. And that kind of motivated me.

• 17:28Speaker 02

  They told me this and they told me that. I'll be on this for the rest of my life. Here I am, a month and a half after my injury. And I'm breathing on my own. I'm like, you know, I got, I know I got a long journey ahead of me, but I'm not gonna anything hold me back.

• 17:40Ryan Clark?

  Anytime I've heard you speak, and a lot of that was a little ways out from your surgery, from your injury, there's always this upbeat positivity, right? Like every time I hear you talk about whether it was the actual injury, the journey since, there's always some sort of light, even mentioning your boys and how they made sure whenever they got into that room, they presented themselves as someone who believed in you that you could beat this. Your mom, the same way saying, they didn't think you were gonna get through the surgery. You got through that, you continue to prove them wrong. As an athlete, and all three of us are, I can't think of anything that would be worse to me

• 18:20Ryan Clark?

  than to my entire life, what people praised about me. The thing that got me into doors that I wasn't supposed to be in, or people didn't expect me to get into, was my physical prowess. It was the things that I could do with a football, the things that I could do with a basketball, the way that I moved, the way that I looked, all of this. And to have that taken from me in a split second, the way that you did, I couldn't imagine having the strength, I don't know where I would draw it from, to keep on moving, to have positivity, to believe in myself, to say, you know what? Take me off this ventilator. I'd rather try to get sleep by myself than be on something that you're telling me is keeping me alive. How many dark times did you have?

• 19:04Ryan Clark?

  How many questions did you have? What were those times like where you couldn't be positive for everybody else? Or you didn't feel like continuing to go on? What were some of those days like?

• 19:16Speaker 02

  I call them those terrors of the night. Those are the first few weeks, first month of my injury. When my mom finally, they got, you know, Rutgers got her a nice hotel to stay in with my family. That was right next to the hospital so she could get some sleep. My coach, Graciano, he would come up every day. At 11:00 PM, he would stay till 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM in the morning. Right by my bedside, break it down, film, go home and get up at 6:00 AM. And you know, run, you know how the college life is and coaches. Go through all that. And every day he would stay there. But around 2:00 AM, when he would leave, I was by myself with hooked up to a ventilator, neck brace and all them sounds. And it was the most terrifying moments of my life. It was literally, I had to rely on this call. If I needed a nurse, I had a call bell next to my head where I had to tap it. I'm like, what if I hit it too hard and it falls? At the time, I didn't have the strength to be able to talk.

• 20:01Speaker 02

  I'm like, I used to talk like, hey, I need some help. Like, that's how it was coming out. So those moments were absolutely terrifying. And I did not sleep of many of those nights because of that. But finally, I decided to have a conversation with one of the nurses that came into my room. I'm like, you know, I'm just gonna lean into her and just ask her, why she became a nurse? Like, why did you choose to do this job? And I'll never forget that she said to me, she goes, you know, I really took this job and I wanted to be able to help people because I see them come in here at their darkest moments. And I feel like it's my job to give them some hope on their way out. I don't do this job for the paycheck. I do it for my patients. And when I heard that, it kind of like made me realize, I mean, you know what?

• 20:45Speaker 02

  I got people in my corner, even though I don't know who this woman is. When she just told me that, kind of gave me that just sense of ease that I can trust them. They're here for me, they're trying to help me. And if they're gonna help me, then I gotta help myself and give my full effort towards this recovery.

• 20:59Ryan Clark?

  As you talk about getting off the ventilator and how you had to learn how to talk, like everything, what are some of those benchmarks, man? Because it's a lot of things that, you know, I, we don't know about what you went through.

• 21:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, when you go from bench at 4:15, I remember to then put a balloon on my stomach and telling me to lift it up off my stomach. And I said, what am I doing right now? Like, I used to be able to lift up all these weights, do this and that, you know how it is. And then they put a balloon on my stomach and tell me to raise it up, hold it for five seconds and then exhale. I'm like... Where has my life come to? But it kind of put me in that moment where my story has kind of started taking off the media. When I was going through therapy and rehab, I would go in there and everyone would stare at me coming. No one would say that they were, oh, that's the Rutgers football player. They just watched me go by. It kind of put me in that mode like hoodie mellow, throw my hood up and just go to work. Like it kind of put me in it, but it was like, I'm going to take this attitude, everything I learned on the football field.

• 21:52Speaker 02

  And those game day, you know how much work goes into those 60 minutes before we get to actually play the game? All the work in the off season, the winter workouts, summer workouts, spring workouts. So all those few opportunities you actually get to play the game, I trying to shift, I kind of shifted my mindset to that. To say, you know what? These therapy sessions are like my weight room sessions. And when I start to, you know, things start to come back, moving my shoulders, coming off the ventilator, things like to get a full range of motion back in my neck. Those are my game day victories now. This is my life now, so this is where I gotta accept what it is. But I'm also going to celebrate these milestones that I'm coming across each and every time. And that's kind of the mindset I took towards it.

• 22:31Channing Crowder?

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• 23:12Channing Crowder?

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• 23:36Speaker 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 like 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.

• 24:05Fred Taylor?

  And speaking about your energy and the great spirits. Hey, look, I've had a full leg cast. I've had my share of injuries and you know how frustrating that is. What, what, what drives you each and every day? You know what I mean? Like, just even here now. You know, just the energy, you know, the pep in your voice. Just every, like, what keeps you fighting? Like, what keeps you going, man?

• 24:29Speaker 02

  I think I got opened up to a whole different world that I had no idea existed. Being a football player, especially in college, you know, we're on a strict schedule. Every day is planned out for us what we have to do. We're all in our own little bubbles. You don't really know what's going on in the outside world when you're in college. When I got to Kessler, when I did my inpatient rehab, I started to see other people's stories and other people's walks of lives. And it was like, damn, like, I got all these people supporting me. Meanwhile, you got, you know, somebody who fell off the side of the house, broke their back, and now they got a divorce. Kids aren't coming to see them no more. You see somebody who was unfortunately a gang member, got shot, and he has nobody there for him. And after he leaves here, he's going to a nursing home. Meanwhile, my house is being renovated, building up a new house.

• 25:13Speaker 02

  Man, like, I had all this stuff coming to me. And I started seeing all these other people that are less fortunate than myself. And I was just like, you know what? I'm not gonna let this get me down. I gotta keep pushing because even though this situation happened to me, I'm very blessed for the people that I've met, the places I've gotten to go, and the things I've gotten to do. Meanwhile, I know people that are younger than me that are stuck inside the house. A good friend of mine, Ingrid, lives right here, actually in Jersey City, in, you know, a little rough area. She got stuck in her house for three months at one time because the elevator broke. And she's up on the top floor of that building. I'm like, I hear stuff like that, it's like... How can I give up? How can I not be driven for all the things I've got to do? Like being here today with you guys.

• 25:57Speaker 02

  I know so many people will love this opportunity. So I'll never take it for granted.

• 26:00Ryan Clark?

  When you talk about your, you know, being young, and we've all had that dream, right? When you, when you pick up a football and you realize how much you love it and what it means to you, we all have that dream of playing at the highest level. You even mentioned getting an opportunity to play in MetLife because you're in the NFL stadium. You start to envision yourself and what your future can be. When you realize, okay, that's gone for me now, right? I, I don't get that opportunity to wear one of these NFL logos, but I still have a life to live and live that life with the positivity that you're showing today. When did you start building your plan to be the new Eric? To be the guy that had to make the pivot to be something else?

• 26:45Speaker 02

  So I always wanted to go to the NFL, retire, become a sports broadcaster. So I started getting into becoming a sports broadcaster, working for Rutgers Radio. It led into the Big Ten, ESPN and things like that. But two years into my injury, people still wanted to hear about my story and my recovery and things of that nature. So I started to get into the motivational speaking and being able to share my story, being able to inspire people. But that was a whole learning process too, because yeah, I did public speaking and being a leader of team. You know how you get the guys fired up? You lead the team by example, by your words and things like that. But being able to go into businesses, go into audiences, schools and be able to share a story was something new to me. And I'll never forget going to, getting my first speaking engagement at a school and I went in there and I spoke a thousand miles per hour just saying, blah, blah, blah, blah.

• 27:30Speaker 02

  I'm like, I don't even know if they even knew what I just said. And my mom, my biggest critic, she said, I don't know what you just, I don't know what you just did up there. Like that ain't true. So I had to learn and start understanding, like studying, like how do you make, you know, certain points where you want to emphasize something? You want to pause on them or reflect on something? So it was all these things I had to now learn into. But it's just being that athlete, kind of just accepting the challenge and not saying, you know what? Just because it's hard and difficult, I'm going to give up on it. So that's kind of what it led me into now, into my entrepreneurship today.

• 28:01Channing Crowder?

  Did you see a change in yourself? Like, what things you, I wanna say, took for granted, but, like, you know, I would think about school. When I was in college, I wasn't worried about getting a 4.0. I'm playing ball, I go to the league. And then when you see when you, your life changed, you can't use your body anymore. Did you see just a crazy change in where all that energy went? Because you talk about your new game day. Did you see that change?

• 28:23Speaker 02

  Little, I actually did. You know, it changed a little bit on me because, obviously, I wasn't under the, I felt like the pressure I was when I was playing football and wanted to be able to make it to the highest level to support my family. And I was like, okay, when am I gonna do that? I can't physically do it. So I made sure I went back and I got my degree. Because I wanted my sister was able to do it for my mom and I wanted to be able to do it for her as well. And that wasn't easy, man. I'll tell you what, not taking classes via Skype and having somebody else send you the notes. You think it's good gravy and then you start going through the notes. You're like, I don't even know what I'm reading right now. And like, she didn't write this, right? Exactly. And like, so you reading other people's notes the way that they're, you know, interpreting things compared to yourself. But I was able to graduate in 2014 and from there, I was like, you know what?

• 29:07Speaker 02

  If I was able to get through this without even lifting up my hand and writing my name on the paper, there's nothing that's gonna stop me in this world. Yes, I, I'm in a wheelchair and things like that, but if I got the means to get somewhere a place to do it, I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna give my best.

• 29:20Channing Crowder?

  All right, this made me think about taking notes. My mind just turned, like, what other things, I don't say we take for granted, but things like weird stuff that you missed? Is it a damn foot rub?

• 29:31Speaker 02

  Put it on your shoes, like, all kind of things.

• 29:34Channing Crowder?

  Things that we wouldn't think about.

• 29:36Speaker 02

  Every single day, like, my process in the morning, getting up. I have a nurse and an aide that comes in and it takes me two and a half hours in the morning just to get up and be presentable for the day. You know, get up, get showered, get back in the bed, get dressed, and get into my wheelchair. It's a two and a half hour process every day that I realize, I'm like, dang, I miss rolling out of bed, jumping in the shower real quick and be able to get up here. Just even coming here today, you know, calling up my brother-in-law and my nephew, they brought me up here, but that's the things I always say I'm thankful for because not everyone has that, but there's those little things, like you said, you end up just going out to lunch, going to meet up with somebody here, I gotta call somebody, gotta do this. So those are the little things that you don't ever think about until you're in a situation like myself, I'm just blessed that I've got so many people around me that are willing

• 30:19Speaker 02

  to help me because it helps me be able to live my life to the fullest. Travel all over the world, you know, be able to do the fun things in life, so I'm very thankful for it, but. It's still every, it's in the back of your mind every single day when you wake up. All the things that you can't do.

• 30:34Fred Taylor?

  Did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers send you a ring?

• 30:37Speaker 02

  Bro, I even tweeted that. I said, let me get the ring. I know I was on the team for three months, but let me get the ring.

• 30:46Speaker 02

  It was cool to be a part of that organization when Coach Shiano was, he got the job down there and he brought me on and being able to just see what the NFL life was like, going to be a part of the organization, signing the contract, getting all the swag, you know, if it's free, give me three. So, you know, going through all of that, we go to practices. It was just cool to be a part of the actual NFL organization. Even though I never played it down there, I still will always be thankful for the Buccaneers for just that opportunity.

• 31:09Fred Taylor?

  That, that sound like something Derrick Brooks, you would have heard Derrick Brooks say.

• 31:14Speaker 02

  If it's free, ask my guy Ray Lucas, man, from the Jets, man. I was my broadcast partner, you always used to say, hey, E. Reezie, if it's free, give me three. And I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna use that. But yeah, the Bucks, no, they never sent me one, even though I tweeted.

• 31:27Fred Taylor?

  We gotta holler at them.

• 31:27Speaker 02

  I tweeted, I was like, yo, let me get that ring, man.

• 31:31Fred Taylor?

  But you also tweeted at Lolo Jones back in the day.

• 31:36Fred Taylor?

  You're just sitting around one day and, and I'm sure you're, you're active there on Twitter. You say, hey, let me, let me tweet at Lolo Jones. Like, take us through that moment.

• 31:45Speaker 02

  So, yeah, I remember Lolo Jones, man, remember she was like the superstar in track and field and Olympics and things like that. You know Lolo, she, she don't hold back from nobody on social media. She used to go off. So I'm thinking, I can lighten the mood and just say like, I'll challenge you to a race in my chair. Little, little, she, you know, she didn't know my story. So she just thinks I'm a regular football athlete challenging her. And she snapped and like, like, I don't know who you think you are, like, just because you're a professional athlete, you can do that? You gonna beat me in a race? I do this for a living, like all this type of stuff. I'm like, yo, and then everyone, you know, who knew my story, like, do you realize he's paralyzed? Like, he's only joking around and the Twitter, the Twitter warriors, they came out. They started snapping and I reached out to her, I'm like, like, listen, I didn't mean no harm by this.

• 32:30Speaker 02

  For people to come at you all crazy in these, you know, moments, sending you some nasty tweets. Like, I was just joking around on Twitter, you know, having fun. So I apologize for any, you know. You know backlash she took and then I mean she wasn't happy about it but like I was joking around it wasn't like I was trying to come up with any ill will.

• 32:45Fred Taylor?

  Right, but some good came out of it.

• 32:47Speaker 02

  It did, so I did got to I I met up with her, I wanna say a year and a half later for Wings for Life. We did a race with the Red Bull, they all the proceeds go to Spine and Put Injuries and it's a race that takes place at the same time across the world and she was a part of it down in Florida. And I was down there as well and we went to the starting line. We do take a picture like we were about to race. So we did actually actually be able to make a joke out of it and raise a lot of money from it, but in the beginning, yeah, I felt bad, man, people were coming at.

• 33:14Ryan Clark?

  Like what's crazy is that you felt bad. I think I think like that's the thing, I also, I went to school with Lolo.

• 33:21Speaker 02

  That was you, yeah.

• 33:22Ryan Clark?

  And she was posting about McDonald's oatmeal one time. And I asked a simple question and I was just basically like, you really eat McDonald's oatmeal? And she basically, you know, she read me the riot act in my in my Twitter DMs and it was cool and we kinda laughed about it afterwards and we talked about it. But I think that's like one of those things I see with you though, even having gone through what you've gone through, to be able to provide people with this ultimate grace. And you're simply even talking about the things that we take for granted, but you're not telling us we take them for granted, we're acknowledging that. And you're saying, yeah, you know, in the morning, it takes me two and a half hours to get ready. But it's not that begrudgingly, man, yeah, every morning I gotta wake up

• 34:07Ryan Clark?

  and it's two and a half hours for for me to get going. And you're you're saying all of these things and you mentioned also the people who you were rehabbing with, who you felt had it worse than you. And so now in your position, having had people support you and do those things, you've now, uh, through your philanthropic efforts, raised over a million dollars to donate to the Christopher Reeve Fund. How do those sort of things continue to keep you energized to move forward and be an inspiration?

• 34:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's like I never want people to feel bad for me, I never do. Because I don't need anybody to feel bad for me, I live a good life. You know, I've been very blessed, you know, yes, this happened to me, but I don't want anybody to feel bad for me because of what I have seen and what I, you know, just. Just unfortunate situations and that's kind of what keeps me going and when I feel like this happened to me, I felt like it happened for a reason. Christopher Reeve, he passed away in 2005. He was the leader, you know, in the forefront of a celebrity type person that was trying to be out there and raising money for spinal cord injury research. My injury happened in 2010 and it kind of felt like the research was kind of in the shadows of everything. Obviously, there's huge things that, you know, cancer research and things like that, that, you know, take the forefront, which it should. But there's also 5.6 million people that are dealing with some sort of paralysis.

• 35:21Speaker 02

  So I felt like that torch was passed along to myself and I formed Team LeGrand of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation back in 2013, with a goal to live Christopher Reeve's dream and that's a world of empty wheelchairs. And that's what I wanted to do, to always raise awareness around that, whether if I host cornhole tournaments, 5K events, yoga events, whatever it is, because I always say spinal cord injuries, they don't discriminate. It can happen to anybody at any given time, you being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So I just always wanted to raise as much awareness as we can and I'm proud to say now we actually just crossed the $2 million mark for spinal cord injury research raise.

• 35:55Channing Crowder?

  You were joking with Lolo and you were joking about your disability.

• 35:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:58Channing Crowder?

  It's funny, I said, but like, but you can only say it, like, we can only tell black jokes.

• 36:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 36:05Channing Crowder?

  If somebody else come and tell a black joke, we go snap, you know?

• 36:10Channing Crowder?

  You know, where's that line? You know what I'm saying? Like, could I mess with you, be like, hey, bro, can you grab that for me?

• 36:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:15Channing Crowder?

  You know what I'm saying? Like, do your friends mess with you? And you actually would, though. Yeah.

• 36:19Speaker 02

  All the time, man. My friends, so I even pulled up another post that kind of got crazy. I don't know if y'all saw it, so this is when Beyonce performed at the halftime show. I forgot what Super Bowl it was, but I put the joke of she had, literally put me falling down after my injury. And I went limp and I was like, Beyonce's performance got me like, bruh, like passing out. Yeah, people are like, can we laugh at this? I'm like, yes, I'm the one that made the joke about it, like, go ahead, man. Like, that's who I am. Like, I don't take anything in the heart. I joke around, we try to make the best of the situation and I know some people could be ignorant to the fact of an injury. So I'm always using it as an educational moment, but that don't mean I'm still not me. I'm a clown, man. I'm a jokester. I love to have a good time.

• 37:00Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, and I knew you were in the locker room, so I know, like, we know, you know what, everything. Dudes get divorced after 15 years, you make fun of them when they come in the next day. It's heartless in there. But to that point, because I had to ask that question, it was something, you know, something I wanted to know too, like.

• 37:16Ryan Clark?

  What are the things that get to you about how people treat you? Or different ways, things that you like, or things that you just, people do naturally? You'd be like, why do, why do humans act this way?

• 37:25Speaker 02

  The one thing that always gets me is when people will look at me and then turn away real quick because they look at me at a different way. And instead of, some people, someone, people will come up to me and ask me, you know, about my injury. If they don't know my story or situation, but they're willing to learn, I appreciate that. It's the ones that look at me and go the opposite way, or just run away from, or bump me in and keep it moving, like treating me like I'm a different total person because I, you know, I may look a little bit different than them. That stuff will always irk me. It's like, you couldn't take the two seconds to just say hi or something, just, you just gotta look at me all funny and then keep it moving and run away from me. That's the stuff that I get that I always feel like, you know, feel for other people that may not have the same confidence. And I have confidence in myself, you know, and things like that. A lot of people don't.

• 38:09Speaker 02

  And a lot of times I see people don't even want to come out the house because they're afraid of how the world is gonna judge them and look at them because they need help and assistance for pretty much everything. And that's the stuff that irks me a lot because I see it happen too many times, more times than you would think. And it's just very unfortunate.

• 38:25Ryan Clark?

  When you're sharing your story and your perseverance with other people who may have the same injury or other people who are dealing with things, and you do have this positivity, how often do you run into other people who are in these positions that don't, right? That are depressed, that are sad, that are dealing with it every day and not necessarily coming out on the other side as you have, at least in your attitude? How do you relate to them and try to encourage them when they do see you and you are smiling and you are laughing and you can joke about it? Are you able to talk to them in a way that lets them say, no, you know what?

• 39:06Ryan Clark?

  I still deal with the same type of things and here is how I persevere. Here is how I keep a smile on my face.

• 39:13Speaker 02

  I get it all the time. People reach out to me like, I don't know how you doing, like I'm going through this. I just lost this person, I lost my job, or I have depression, anxiety and things like that. And I just always tell people like, you know, whatever you're going through is very important. You gotta be able to take your face on and that cuz that's the only way that we're gonna be able to build up ourselves. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to be vulnerable, but no matter how bad your situation may be, no matter what it is. Someone always has the worst, believe me. No matter what you're going through and it's all important is it needs to be put on the table. You let that emotion out sometimes, but I know what it is though. Someone may is going through something ten times worse than you, so be appreciative for the things that you do have. Don't focus on the things that you don't have and it's something you really want.

• 39:57Speaker 02

  You just work your butt off to get it. Be thankful each and every day of your life because at the drop of a dime, anything could be taken away from you. So that's how I kinda try to relate to it and I guess hearing that come from me and being in my situation, something a lot of times they're like. Yeah, cuz especially someone without a spinal cord injury and they're just going through a little pity party or whatever it is at the dinner or something. They see me say that and they're just like, yo, I gotta get my stuff together, man. I gotta get it right, you know, so that's kinda how I handle a situation, kinda not. That is like a, you know, trying to put somebody down, but just like, look, look what you do have. Look what you can do. Don't take that for granted and if you continue to need help, then go ahead, be, ask for help. And I'll be here for you. That's why I try to, you know.

• 40:40Ryan Clark?

  That's a little locker room right there though, when you walk around, man, pick your head up. Get your chin up.

• 40:46Fred Taylor?

  Trying to formulate a, a question without, you know, being insensitive, you know, family. No children, you know, do you have those, like those, those, help me, R C.

• 40:57Ryan Clark?

  Aspirations.

• 40:58Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, those aspirations, like, uh, no, um, they freeze your sperm, like, I, I don't, I don't know the, the proper question, but do you have those aspirations?

• 41:08Speaker 02

  Absolutely. I always think about it. If, you know, the right girl comes around, you know, I believe me, I, I have my fun, I do, do my thing. But in my situation, it has to be a special someone that's gonna come in my life and understand it all the way where they're giving you, like, you know what? I'm gonna look past all the, you know, your physical disabilities, but look at the person you are and be able to start a family with you and. Yeah, I mean, being on TV, things like that, people reach out, you know how it is, girls reach out, things like that, but it's gotta be that special one, I always say, yes, you go out, have fun, this and that, but until I find that special one that, you know, understands me fully, I'm gonna just live my life to the fullest and be, if one day it happens, I have, believe me, I want little Elie Gs running around and playing football and things like that,

• 41:50Speaker 02

  and I got my nephews here and doing, playing in sports like that, and those are my family, but yes, do I want my own? Yes, I definitely do, but we'll see if that right person comes along, which I believe it will, and there's been opportunities, but like I said, I gotta figure out if it's the right one.

• 42:06Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, E, hold on now, E, now, Chan say he shoot his shot, he got the joint where he hit him with the sugar foot, right, and then he also asked him, he like, hey, you know Joe? And he'd be like, who? He would be like, well, don't worry about it. So, so, so when E shoot his shot, man, how you doing?

• 42:19Speaker 02

  When he shoot his shot, he don't hold back.

• 42:23Speaker 02

  Crazy, I'm telling you, all my boys be getting, I mean, you tripping, bro? Yo, if I don't try, then you don't know. I gotta find out, bro, personally, I'm, you know, I'm gonna talk to you a little bit, get to see what you're into, things like that in nature, and then see how I can relate and tell you how you respond back to me, but I always will hit somebody up, so, all right, she's talking about this, I know a little something about that, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk about that and then see where it goes from there, but my boys like, yo, E, you can't be doing that, so I'm like, yeah, relax, bro, I got this, I got this.

• 42:55Ryan Clark?

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• 43:16Channing Crowder?

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• 43:33Fred Taylor?

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• 43:45Ryan Clark?

  Now remember, get your mobile devices out and download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. And any new customer that uses the promo code PIVOT, any $5 wager you make on a football game, you get an additional $200 in free bets. Let's get back to the show. You said I've always had belief. And you know, you said you touched the E and touched the L on the sign. When you think about where you are now in 2022, and I'm also upset, you ain't bring no coffee, you ain't bring no tea, it's cold outside, bruh.

• 44:15Speaker 02

  You hit me up two hours before it. I only came with a package.

• 44:20Ryan Clark?

  But you know, what are you believing in now? Obviously, you have your business that was started, I think it went online in March. You know, now you've teamed with the New Jersey Devils as well. They're going to continue to help you promote. What are the things you're believing for now? Because you've shown, man, that 2010, October 16th, your life changed, but your life didn't end. And so now you have to believe in more things. What are some of those things?

• 44:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, during the pandemic, I felt like everyone was at each other's throats, man. And the world was in a crazy place. So I was just trying to think like, how can I bring people together? And I never had a cup of coffee in my life until August of 2020. And I tried, and I was like, you know what, this stuff ain't half bad, you know? This is good stuff, but I don't know anything about it. So I decided to hire a business advisor because I said, what do people want? And what do they need? Coffee, people need it every day. People live on that stuff. So I hired a business advisor, started learning about the business, trying to understand that. I lost our online store in January 2021. And then our brick and mortar just opened up in my hometown in May of this past year. So I'm like, these opportunities were presenting themselves. I'm like, I'm going to capitalize on it, even though I didn't know nothing about it. But I'm going to jump into this field because I want to be able to,

• 45:33Speaker 02

  like I said, bring unity to the community with a daily cup of belief. When you come through LeGrand Coffee House, it's an open place. It doesn't matter if you're in a wheelchair, it's fully accessible. People get around, they can enjoy themselves. It don't matter what you look like, and just be able to have a good coffee, feel comfortable, and then when you leave, you leave satisfied. And that just leads me to my other business endeavors too. A lot of times, I started Eric LeGrand Whiskey. People think that someone with a disability can't drink. I enjoy the finer things in life.

• 46:01Speaker 02

  I believe I've been, I've had too many drinks out and about, but so I started Eric LeGrand Whiskey because I felt like it's something that represents me as tough, as hard, as something you have to be patient with. So we started that company, we're launching on February 1st and getting ready to roll that out. So I said, I'll take care of you in the morning, I'll take care of you in the evening.

• 46:20Channing Crowder?

  And we need something to wake you up. If it's, if it's free, give me three.

• 46:26Channing Crowder?

  You gave it to me, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take it and run with it. E, do you ever think about, man, this is just wild to me. You playing Rutgers, right? There was a small percent chance you were gonna go to the league. Let's be honest.

• 46:43Speaker 00

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• 47:13Channing Crowder?

  You're famous because of your football injury. Eric LeGrand means something because of your injury. We were, Inky Johnson, we had on Inky Johnson, and he had a football injury in his, in his arm. I don't know, you, I'm sure you.

• 47:28Speaker 02

  Of course I know.

• 47:28Channing Crowder?

  Okay, yeah, so Ink, so Ink was telling us, he, he almost, I say anger a little bit, when we would ask him about it, he's like, no, this, like, it was almost a rebirth of my life, like, where I, what I became. And I say it, bro, you're probably more famous now than if football kept going. Do you ever think about that?

• 47:49Speaker 02

  All the time. I always said, people that never paid attention, watched the down of football, they know me now, and they tell me how I've inspired them, and they want to support me and be there for me. And it's, it's crazy to see the amount of people that have come out the woodwork because they see my story, and they don't see Eric as the football player. They see me as the person and my injury, and everything that has happened to me, and how I've been able to overcome so many things in my life and all these obstacles. They're like, I want to follow that story. I want to know more. I want to be a part of more. So yes, playing football, I made it to the NFL. Yes, people that watch the NFL and things like that, yes, they would know me. But the world now outside of, out of football, has opened up a whole different support system that I.

• 48:30Speaker 02

  Man, I can't let them down, man. It's crazy to see how many people have my back, to be honest with you.

• 48:35Channing Crowder?

  You still love football?

• 48:37Speaker 02

  Oh, man.

• 48:37Channing Crowder?

  Even with what it did? I know you called games and all, but like, we heard the story of what happened when...

• 48:44Speaker 02

  Bro, I'm old school. I love football. I saw that hit that you put on Westbrook, and they had that on... I swear to God, today, that's me. Like, I grew up in that era too, man. I love that old school hits. And yes, I understand all the safety and protocols that they're trying to take. But I'm that old school type, man. I love football. I love seeing those hits. I love just the game and everything that it takes just to get to those moments. And when it comes to, I like to put myself up in front of red zone on football Sundays. Don't bother me, let me watch my football. That's me, man. Football's made me into the man that I am today, and I'll never have any sort of animosity towards it.

• 49:15Fred Taylor?

  I want to know, since we're talking about football, you mentioned those Broncos and your whiskey. How many shots you got to take a game watching those Broncos this year?

• 49:23Speaker 02

  Two bottles deep. Yeah, it's been rough, man, by Broncos. And, you know, we talked about this little off-screen, but yeah. It's tough to see where the franchise was. And I'm telling you, I talk junk, so when during the Peyton Manning days, and when they were winning the weekend, we got hours loud, and everyone needed to know about it, about all my boys. To watch in the valley these past six years, I would forget, it's like four head coaches in like eight years, whatever it is. And it's just like, damn, to see where that franchise is. It hurts because you know what the prestige is there, the Broncos, yes, they have the three Super Bowls. And obviously the Steelers, Dallas, they'll have more. But I feel like that level of expectation in Denver is just not where it should be.

• 50:04Speaker 02

  And then it comes into Russell Wilson, you think everything that he's achieved in his career, to see where it's going now, it's just like, how and why? And I just think this is a humbling moment for him. This is a humbling season for him. He's to look himself in the mirror after everything that has happened and say, you know what, I just need to go back to playing football. Forget all the outside stuff. Yes, I know you have a brand to build and things like that, your business. But you got to get back to the basics and why you play football and the love of it each and every day. If you want to be successful again, just everyone needs to go through those trials and tribulations in life. And this is Russell's right now, because he's on that seven-year contract. Broncos can't just cut him, but we're going to go out there and throw three interceptions every week now. It's got to be a humbling moment for him.

• 50:46Fred Taylor?

  Have you tweeted at him?

• 50:47Speaker 02

  I ain't gonna tweet at him now and let him know that.

• 50:50Ryan Clark?

  I mean, something inspirational.

• 50:51Speaker 02

  I mean, if I could lift him up, what you need me to do, Russ? I'll do it for you, bro, anything, anything, bro. What you need, man? Just to help us get back to the player. I'll be Patrick Mahomes, bro. We haven't beaten him since he entered the league, man. So, anything, whatever. But, nah, for real, man. I know this is a humble moment for you, Russ. And we gotta, we gotta get you back to what you was like when you were in Seattle and running around, making all those crazy plays. But I believe it'll happen, man. We all have those come to terms in life, those come to life moments.

• 51:21Ryan Clark?

  I think we all believe the same about Russ. We've seen what he's been able to do. I think what I took most from you talking about the Denver Broncos and the way you've spoken about football is that you absolutely love it. That this sport means a ton to you, even with what you've gone through because of it. And so, listening to Fred ask you about having a family. If you have an opportunity to have that family, if you find the right one, as you said, and you have a son who wants to play football, would you let him play football?

• 51:55Speaker 02

  1,000% I would because of just that the person that it made me. The relationships that I made playing the game of football, that brotherhood, that bond. Like, we never all played together, but it's a brotherhood. That's the respect that you get playing the game because you know the grind and you know that struggle, the life lessons that you take from the game that you can bring into your everyday life. I would love for my kids to have that opportunity to go through that. Yes, I know my injury happened. It's a freak accident and playing this game is a dangerous game. But I feel like you can get so much more out of it by playing the game unless you do not play. So, I'm like, you know what? If I had a kid and a son and he wants to go out there and play, let him go play. If he's passionate about it, he loves the game. Now, if you're not gonna go out there and just, oh, yeah, I wanna have fun with my friends

• 52:39Speaker 02

  and this and that, no, because that's how you do get hurt. But if you love it and you really respect this game, 100% would love to give him that, let him get that chance to go do it.

• 52:47Ryan Clark?

  We always have these opportunities to sit down with people who inspire us. It's very rare that we've gotten the opportunity to have someone that's gone through what you've gone through. And even aside from that, with all the people we've had that have had these great lives and accomplished all of these amazing things, I don't know if we've had someone be more positive. I don't know if we've had someone have a brighter light. I don't know if we've had anybody sit in front of us and truly talk to us in a way that says, you know what, anything that we encounter in life, we can get through that as well. So I'm grateful. I know the same for Fred, the same for Channing. Man, so thank you. Continue being you. Continue being that light to people who are going through things. And also continue showing that a positive attitude,

• 53:31Ryan Clark?

  that believing that there is more out there for you allows you to accomplish things that others believe that you can't. And so, man, again, man, this has been The Pivot, and we thank you for sitting down with us.

• 53:42Speaker 02

  I appreciate you having me on. It's been a blessing. Like, what you see is what you get with me. I'll always keep it real.

• 53:47Ryan Clark?

  I appreciate it. That was dope, dawg.

• 53:49Channing Crowder?

  Race to the truck.

• 53:53Ryan Clark?

  Only you, dawg.

• 53:55Speaker 02

  Uncle Shadow, man. He ain't gonna go out and get in trouble, bro.

• 53:59Ryan Clark?

  On the real, with them knees, you beat him too. Yeah, you probably can. You beat him.

• 54:28Speaker 05

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

• 54:38Speaker 06

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