Navigating Life's Passes: Brett Favre on Football, Faith, and Political Beliefs :: Ep 40 Try That In a Small Town Podcast
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One of the people that did embrace you was Deion Sanders, who was a superstar at that time. He may have been at the top of the superstar status because he was playing baseball. And I tell people this all the time. Right at the end of practice, a helicopter would come land on the practice field.

Dion would jump on the helicopter and by the time I got home after I showered and watched film, I'd watch him steal second base. That's amazing. I mean, some of these dipshits, some of the things that they believe, I'm sorry, but some of the things that they believe is okay,

is not okay. I'm sorry. I mean, I think people like maybe there was probably a lot of people that said, I'm not voting for Trump. When they went in there to vote, they were like, I'm voting for Trump. Absolutely. I think there was a wrong direction. Did you go to Minnesota to stick it to him so you can play him twice a year? I got to know that. And then also go to the end of the year where the Bounty Gate thing happens and

And could you feel during that game that it was something different, that they were coming after you in a different way? Yeah, I'll start with the latter. The Try That in a Small Town podcast begins now. Try that in a small town.

All right, y'all. Welcome back. This is the Try That in a Small Town podcast. We got TK, K-Lo, Thrash on the end. I'm Kurt. We're from the Patriot Mobile Studios. Man, we have got an awesome, awesome guest today. He is a three-time league MVP.

Hall of Fame, Super Bowl winning quarterback, Brett Favre. Southern Miss. Thanks for being here, bro. Well, thanks for having me. Thanks for that wonderful introduction. I know. It should be nice to be brought on like that. Man, we appreciate you, dude. And we know it's in the middle of football season. We got playoffs going. There's a lot of fun happening, a lot of games happening.

This will air in a couple days. Do you have any favorites in the NFL right now? Any teams? I know the Packers are eliminated, but who are you looking at? Well, the Packers and the Vikings, for obvious reasons, playing for both. We'll see what happens. Honestly, I don't watch a lot of football, believe it or not. Really? I really don't. I used to watch more.

if I did watch, but I watched a little bit of the playoffs, the college playoffs. But like regular season, you know, like anytime during the day, I'm outside. I'm doing something. So I never come in and like,

just get in a recliner and watch for three hours. He's kind of like us, man. We don't listen to music. I don't listen to a lot of music. That's an interesting parallel. Yeah. We never listened. Seriously. We don't listen to music on our off time. It's like the last thing we want to do. Absolutely. Absolutely. And when I left football, um, I actually coached high school for two years. Um,

my first two years out, and I had a blast. It was sort of a favor to the head coach here at the local high school. I really enjoyed it. But after the second year, I was like, I think I'm just going to enjoy my free time. And that's what I've been doing. But I will watch. The

As I said, the college playoffs, NFL playoffs, I'll watch a little bit. But very rarely do I ever catch a whole game. And I never go, like, to a stadium to watch. That would be asking a little too much. Well, and you wouldn't be able to watch it anyway. You'd be in a box and everybody would be talking to you. Correct. You wouldn't even get to see anything. Correct.

Are you down in Hattiesburg right now? I am. I am. Yeah. I just climbed out of a tree and left that whole world down there. I was hunting, like, in a tree across the river from Natchez, Mississippi. I was. Were you around Glasscock? No. Have you ever heard of Rifle Point? It's right next to Giles Island. I know it very well. Yeah. That's where I've been for the last week, and I left it here. Beautiful place. Beautiful. Yeah. It's gorgeous. That whole world.

And I know you guys will know the Buzbus family, Matt and Brian. I was at their place Friday, Saturday, and yesterday morning and then drove home yesterday. So we probably crossed paths somewhere around Natchez. Probably did. I got home about an hour ago.

Well, the big question is, what'd you get? I didn't. I passed a lot of four-year-olds the whole time I was down there. So it was one of those trips. I've killed a bunch of big stuff down there. Lots of big stuff down there. That area is known for big deer. Vicksburg, they got really good deer. Anywhere on the river, uh,

It's good hunting. And if anybody's never been to that part of the world, like, you know, you hunt the Midwest and you hunt. I'm from Alabama, but still southern Mississippi and anything on the river is magical. Anything on the river. It's just beautiful. Well, I was in your state Tuesday and Wednesday. I was hunting in Demopolis. Yeah. Yeah.

The rut's going hard. I left the rut to come talk to you tonight. Do you believe in that? Well, you're absolutely out of your mind. Yeah, we all know that. I wouldn't do it. Well, for you guys, I would. Hey, Brett, obviously, so great having you on. And, you know, huge football fan, huge fan of, like, yours, like watching you play, the way you played the game, the toughness you brought. Played every game. Played her. I mean...

the quarterback position, you know, it's changed so much since you've, you know, been out of the game. And I wanted to get your thoughts on,

is there a quarterback that you watch today that you're like, you know, that reminds me of me, you know, that's how I would play the game. Is it, is it like a Josh Allen or is it, you know, like one of those guys that, that you, that you're liking to, to watch play? I think, I think Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, uh, have a little bit of me or I have a little bit of them, however you want to say it. And then there's another guy that, uh,

I think in regards to leadership and kind of his spunk, I relate a lot to, and that's Baker Mayfield. Yeah. I watched a little bit last night. I was pulling for him. What a tough joker, man. He played his ass off. He played his ass off. You know, they had a little hiccup there towards the end, and I think it cost them on a snap count. But those three probably are the most similar to my play.

Yeah, and it's amazing. You know, when you played, I mean, the hits that you took and the way the quarterbacks in that era, all just – the quarterback wasn't as protected, obviously. No. It's so different watching these guys play now. And what's your thoughts on that? It seems like it's going in the right direction, but, I mean, you guys – I mean, you took some massive hits, late hits. There was –

I mean, I've seen hits you've taken way after the whistle and on the sidelines and just, you know. Well, I'll be honest with you. At the time, I sort of relished, you know, I can't say relished the hit itself, but just kind of the fact that I could get back up and talk a little trash and kind of burst their bubble a little bit.

At 55, I think a little bit differently. Maybe playing the role of John Wayne was not very good for long-term physical. But, you know, it's a different game. There's no question about it. I can't say that I like it, but I think they're going in the right direction of protecting players.

With the quarterback, it's almost too protective. Sometimes they call a rough and a passer, and the guy just falls down. And I don't like that. I don't like that. And I think, you know, the cheap hits, the late hits need to be removed from the game. But the clean hits that, you know, quarterback –

I get it. You know, they want points scored. They want to see their guy out there on the field. So they're going to protect him. I wish they had thought about that a little bit back when I was playing. Yeah. Because I want to protect myself. You know, that's the thing. I didn't have the restraint to slide. I just felt like, what a sellout if I did that. How many of those times, I mean, you know, were you –

really hurt maybe you had a concussion maybe and how many times did you go back in when you thought you had a concussion who knows I mean a lot of those players back then you'd go back in you know the protocols were in place probably believe what my last two years and I played 20 years my last two years is when they really took a uh a closer look at concussions prior to that

You got a concussion and you say you went to the coach and said, look, I'm a little woozy. I think I'm going to sit out. Now, I would never do that. But the coach would kick me right in the ass if I had done that. You know, how dare you come out because your bell got rung? Well, now we know that, you know, getting your bell rung can be serious down the road.

Yeah. I was diagnosed roughly a year ago with Parkinson's. And one of the first questions I asked the doctor was, where do you think I got it? And he said, well, if it's not hereditary, and he said, we, that's the first place we look dad, grandpa, uncle, someone in the family. I don't have any history. He said, the obvious answer would be football. Um,

Now, it is what it is. There's no going back. You can't turn back the time. So it kind of puts things a little more in perspective as I look back at my career. Would I have done it differently?

Hard to say. My personality was that tough man, get up no matter what, get back in huddle, go on to the next play mentality. And I just find it hard to believe that if I were able to go back, that I would be able to change that. Wow. Hey, and it's probably a good time to segue into that. So last year you were the executive producer on a movie, Concussed.

And it tells the story of Tyler Sash, which I didn't know that before I watched the movie. And it was interesting because I actually knew his story. I'm from Iowa. My parents grew up right next to where he's from in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He went to the University of Iowa, all of that. So I was somewhat familiar with this story, not to the in-depth version that you guys told it.

you know just talking about all the concussions and stuff was that you know did you feel compelled that you needed to tell a story and what drew you to tyler's story in particular well the other uh guy that was involved in producing uh david cano really uh did all the leg work and and brought that story to light and i just kind of followed in with him and uh i

I was not familiar with Tyler, even though I played against him one time. So I was not familiar with the story. But, you know, when I started kind of diving into it, how sad, you know, what a sad story. He was Mr. Everything in Iowa, as you know. Yeah. And it just, and our goal was not to,

pick on the NFL or Pee Wee football or junior high, high school. It was to just shed the light on how serious this issue is. I have three grandsons. The oldest is 14, 11, and 8. The three of them, they all play soccer. None of them play football. If they would come to me and say, Paul, Paul,

We want to play football. I would support them, but I am not going to go out of my way to encourage them to play unless they want to play because of the fear. First of all, the expectations that they would be under to be like your grandpa. And secondly, most importantly, I would cringe every time they got tackled. Just knowing what I know now about the physicality of football. It would take the enjoyment out of watching them play. Absolutely. Absolutely.

I personally, we have two girls that are grown, so I never had to worry about it. They played volleyball or basketball or soccer. But I would certainly be, every time they got tackled or their head hit the turf, I would be wondering, did they have a concussion? Which is why I've been an advocate for youth flag football. And I call a lot of grief for that because of the way I play. But there's no reason for it.

junior high and elementary kids to tackle. Their brains are not developed. I'm not knocking the coaches, but they're not teaching proper technique. The kids are leading with the head.

And most concussions, I think people are a little bit surprised by this, but most concussions occur not necessarily from head to head, although some do. It's head hitting the turf, the whiplash effect. All the concussions I had was when I hit the turf and my head slammed back against the, you know, whether it be grass or astroturf or a frozen field. That's where the concussions occurred. So, yeah.

And that's the thing that I've tried to tell people. The NFL's done a lot to protect players, but the whiplash effect, falling to the turf, there's nothing you can do for that. The helmet does not protect them. Yeah, because your head stops, but your brain doesn't. Everything else in your body is still moving that direction. I've told that story. I don't know if you saw the movie Concussion with Will Smith many years ago. I'll be honest with you. As I watched it, I didn't know a lot of the

I knew like Mike Webster, what they talked about. He was like the first one that Dr. Amalu did an autopsy on and found CTE. He coined the phrase CTE. I was not familiar with that story. Dave Dorsen, they talked about in that great Chicago Bear defensive back who wrote a note, killed himself, uh,

and wrote a note to be sure and test my brain for something. He didn't know what, because CTE was just being discovered. So that was really the first time I walked out of there and I was like, damn, you know, and I was probably a year removed from playing. And I'll be honest with you, the big part of me, probably like all of us, thinks that we're going to be bulletproof forever.

But there was a small part of me as I walked out of there going, what does the future hold for me now? Little did I know I'd be diagnosed with Parkinson's. And whether or not it's related to football, more than likely it is.

And more than likely it's a result of, you know, playing 20 years in high school and college and so on and so forth. So Dr. Amalu, I had a conversation with him, believe it or not, on a conference call. And he said that same exact thing, that the head stops, but the brain continues to go. And that's the problem. The helmet does not stop the brain moving.

When the head stops, the brain continues to move, and that's where the concussion occurs, the bruising. Basically, bruising of the brain is the definition of concussion, more or less. So you can have the best helmets in the world, but you're not going to stop that whiplash effect. Brett, what was your first sign that something was going on, like your first red flag? Yeah, good question. And that's probably the question I get the most about concussions.

Two and a half years ago, roughly, I was outside doing something, weeding, mowing grass, whatever. And I happened to notice, I'm walking through the house, my arm was at a 90 degree. Now it wasn't frozen, but I just was kind of walking like this. My left arm, I was swinging it just like normal.

And I was like, what the hell? I put my arm down, went about my way, swung the arm. And lo and behold, a little while later, it was right back there. So that was the first thing. Shortly after that, and I tell people this story, sometimes we get a chuckle out of it. I'm brushing my teeth and I'm looking in the mirror, just like we've all done for years. And I didn't realize you turned a toothbrush in your hand. So, you know.

do one of these. Well, when I would turn the toothbrush, I would use my left hand. And I thought, what in the hell? That's kind of weird. And then the third thing was if I wore a long sleeve shirt or a jacket, long sleeve jacket, hunt jacket, you know, blue jean jacket, whatever. I could not guide my arm through the sleeve. I could feel my arm. It wasn't like I didn't have any feeling. I could just, I could not guide it through that sleeve.

And that went on for probably a year, year and a half before I finally reached out to one of my buddies here, one of the doctors, and said, I think I need to be checked out. And he actually asked me, much like yourself, what's going on? I told him, and he said, I want to see you tomorrow morning, but it sounds like Parkinson's. And I was like, you can tell from that? Well, one of the calling cards with Parkinson's is something to do with the gate, the walk.

And usually it has something to do with the arm, not swinging or at a fixed position. When I take the medicine that 99% of the people with Parkinson's takes, the generic name is Sinemet, but it's Carbidopa Levodopa. When I take the medicine every four hours, my arm swing is fine. If I...

forget to take the medicine for whatever reason and I'm an hour over. I notice my arm is right back to stuck in a 90 degree position. I'm like, oh, it's time for my medicine. But I'm very early. The good news is I'm very early in the disease. And I say good news because there's always, and I'm sure Michael J. Fox, who's made it famous, has said this for 30 some odd years. There'll be a cure next year or five years.

and then you hope that that's the case. And if that's the case, then my progression will stop right where I am and that's early in the disease. If you're late stage, there's all kinds of problems. I mean uncontrollable shaking and tremors, permanent rigidity and stiffness, but all that right now is at a milder level. But the medication that I take does nothing

to slow the progression. It just treats the symptoms for those few hours. Yeah. It's, it's, it's amazing. You know, my, my uncle was diagnosed with Parkinson's about 12 years ago now, and he's, he's 74 now. And, um, like you, like he's, he stays active and, and, and, and diet. And, and, and it's amazing, uh,

And like yourself, like he's spent a lot of his life, like staying in shape and, you know, it's, it's really helped him like the physical part of, you know, how, how in shape he was for most of his life. But the diet and the exercise and staying active has really with that, with the medicine and all the current treatments, he's great. Like he's in like he's mid seventies now and he's had it.

Going on 15 years, I think, actually. So it's very encouraging. Like you said, the medicines are getting better and better. Well, you're absolutely 100% correct. I've seen five different specialists. Some on recommendation, like, you've got to go see this guy. So I've gone to see these people, and they all say the same thing. What you're doing is the best thing.

And hope for a cure in the coming years. But diet, exercise are paramount. It's everything. Absolutely. It's actually, the doctor said, I think his last visit was a month ago, and he's like, don't change a thing. Keep walking. Do your push-ups. He does a lot of voice lessons, keeping all the vocal cords strong, keeping just...

he treats it like that, like a job. And he's been great. Anyway, all the best. I mean, because it's come a long way. Can you still pull your bow back? I can, yeah. I can miss, too. No, can't we all? All you got to do, brother, is keep walking the woods and keep walking that river.

That's all you got to do. Well, I try to stay as active as I possibly can. My thing is biking. My wife got me a bike about five years before I retired. And she was like doing tries and Ironman and all that stuff. And she got me a bike and it sat in the garage for probably 10 years. I was like,

Why in the hell would I ever do that? And once she finally convinced me to start doing it, and I kind of got over that ass pain, which you got to kind of leather your ass a little bit before you get comfortable. Nothing about the seat is comfortable. I don't care what you say, but I bike anywhere from 120 to 150 miles a week, outside or inside, depending on weather. Wow. Wow.

Do the mountain biking stuff also, like the going down? No, no. I don't need any help. That stuff freaks me out a little bit. You can crash on any bike. You're begging for another concussion. A mountain bike is just asking for trouble. Yeah. And do you wear the biking clothes to real tight? Are you one of those guys? Well, I'll tell you a funny story. So the first time my wife talked me into going for a ride. Again, the bike had sat there for 10 years. I mean, the tires were dry rotted and didn't have a mile on them.

So pumped the tires up and I said, I'm not wearing the biking shorts. Forget it. She said, I'm telling you, you're going to, you're going to regret that. And I'm like, I can't put wearing those down biking shorts. It looks like you're smuggling grapes. I'm not going to do it. So I didn't do it. Five miles into the ride. I was dying. Just absolutely dying. And I was so wrong.

I said, okay, you win. I'll wear the biking shorts. And it made a world of difference. I don't care how I look. It's how I feel. Jim, we got to find a picture. There actually is a purpose then to the bike shorts. I didn't know that. Yeah. Well, I learned the hard way. I can tell you that. Yeah.

Well, I mean, talking about the adversity and the Parkinson's stuff, I spent a lot of time since I knew that you're blessed enough to have you come on the show and everything and spent a lot of time just watching just some old games and just the adversity you went through on a personal level also. You went through a lot.

Even in college, like before your senior year, you had the wreck, and then you've had a lot of haters over the years. You broke every kind of record that there was. Your wife had cancer. I think your brother-in-law had an ATV accident. And having Parkinson's, my question to you is just –

I know you'll get through anything because you always have, and I've been watching it for a week. What do you lean on? How do you get through all that stuff? It's always been the same thing. Well, we have a good support family, but our faith. I can remember as if it were yesterday when my wife, she was 33 years

She was at the best shape of her life. She was doing tris, iron bin. And she said, I'm going to the doctor. Tuesday was our off day. And she went to, her mother-in-law, my mother-in-law was staying with us. And those two went down to Milwaukee for what I thought was a routine doctor's appointment. And when she came back, I said, how'd it go? And I had no clue that she had a lump on her breast.

And she, she said, well, I got breast cancer. I was like, come on, really? And that was on a Tuesday. I'd actually, uh, went in and work out and watch some film. And she got back late that afternoon. And I remember what day it was because Wednesday, the following day, her, her brother was killed on an ATV on our property. And I'm like, what a double whammy, you know? I mean, how bad can it get? Uh,

So, and I'll never forget we were playing Tennessee on Sunday night football that week. And I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast, but I remember that week very well. But we lean on our faith and, you know, I'm no different than anybody else. And there was some, I slipped and fall and get back on the horse again and, you

hit the prayers and hit the good book. But there's been a lot of things that, as you said, you pointed them all out that could have easily made me throw in the towel. All different times in my career. And, you know, and I said this in the hall of fame speech, you know, without Jesus Christ, there's no question that,

I would have never been in front of that crowd and speaking. May not have been alive, to be quite honest with you. So I'm very blessed and thankful that he's taking care of it. Yeah, we're thankful too. And one thing's for sure, you know, in talking about the concussions and stuff like that, you know, we didn't used to wear seatbelts. I mean, you know, when people drive cars, so...

My dad would come out of the truck. You live and learn and you improve. Yeah, we used to sleep in the back of the – I'm Monte Carlo up in the back window as kids because I trust my dad. He's not going to wreck us. But, you know, you live and learn and all those things. But you've kind of – one thing's for sure to me, just watching your game and these guys, we all talked about it. I know you're such a –

I don't know, you're a superhero to us and to the world and one of the best QBs ever to exist. And you were meant to play football. There's no doubt. If you ever think back like, hey, should I have done this? I wish I wouldn't. 100%, God wired you to play football. No question. I tell people my dad was really, his expertise was baseball. And he played both. But I had two goals.

I had to play pro football or pro baseball. And I didn't have, you know, it wasn't like, I hope it's this one. Whichever one offered me the opportunity, I was going to take it. And there was no plan C. So thank God I didn't have to

I went to school to be a teacher and a coach. Thank God for those students. I didn't have to be a teacher. Now, your dad, I heard a great interview, and you were talking about your dad and how he liked to give you tips after the game, you know, or like tell you what you didn't do, and you're like, Dad, you never threw a football. What are you doing? Well, we ran a wishbone. I remember when I was coaching high school,

At Oak Grove High School, they ran like everyone else, spread offense, quarterbacks and shotgun. That was sort of – I did a little shotgun the latter part of my career, but not huddling up, looking to the sidelines, getting to play. I was really the one who had to kind of relearn the offense. But I remember talking to the guys one day out on the field, the offensive guys, and I said, you know –

Back when my dad was my coach, we ran the wishbone and they kind of looked at me funny. I said, how many of you know what the wishbone is? One guy raised his hand. His answer was like,

I think it's like you hand off all the time. I was like, yeah, all the time. Most of the throws that I threw were a busted run play, and I had linemen 20 yards downfield. In fact, I threw a two-point conversion with one of my linemen, and no one ever caught it. I mean, the referees had no clue. Oh, my God. Yeah.

You know, but I've heard that too. So when you were in high school, football, I mean, it was a wishbone offense, but apparently you could throw like in the 90s with the baseball. So how did that option happen or, you know, that choice happen to say like, well, now it's going to be football, even though you weren't throwing the ball a lot then? Yeah, so I got a scholarship to actually play both at Southern Miss, baseball and football.

I'll be honest with you. A part of me wants to say that I knew I would start as a true freshman, but the reality is I really thought that my best chance to play early in college would have been baseball, which would come in the spring. So I go to training camp. I'm 17 years old. I'm last on the total poll of the quarterback position. I was actually seventh on the depth chart. And a couple of guys got hurt.

A couple of guys got in, didn't play very well. And by the first game, we opened up with Alabama in Birmingham. And I'm third, so I made a travel team. And didn't play in that game. We played two lane the following week. The first two guys didn't play very well. And the coach was like, put him in. And...

The rest was history. So at the end of that year, me and my dad talked about it, about should I go out and play baseball? Which, honestly, at that time, my first love was baseball. It was a close race, but I would say baseball was my favorite. But I knew that starting as a true freshman was something I couldn't, you know, most people don't get an opportunity to do that. So my dad was like,

my advice is just scrap baseball, put all your time in football. That way you don't miss spring practice and give someone else a chance to showcase what they can do. You're taking all the reps, and it was good advice. But once I got to the NFL, I didn't miss baseball anymore. But college, the further I got removed from it, the less I missed it.

So when you got Atlanta drafted you, correct? Is that right? So I heard an interview saying that Glenville, that didn't go so well, right? He was a little hard on you? I love that story. You probably heard the story. So I show up for the first minicamp the day after the draft.

There's two flights out of Gulfport, Mississippi, down the Gulf Coast to Atlanta. The first one was like 8 in the morning, and that was the one I was scheduled to be on. It got delayed. So I get to Atlanta, and it's about an hour drive up to Suwannee, Georgia. And the guy that picked me up, I'll never forget, Danny Mock. He was like in the scouting department. And it was just he and I driving up. And I was like, I'm going to be late for practice, which I was probably 45 minutes late, maybe an hour late.

And he's like, oh, it happens all the time. No big deal, coach. I mean, this is a mini camp. It's not that important. And I'm thinking, maybe so, but this is not – and it was something I couldn't control.

So I get to the facility. They're out there on the practice field. I'm like, this is the last thing I'm going to do is come out there late. You know, if there was 20 other guys with me, it'd be different. So I throw on my jersey and my helmet. I walk out of the facility and Danny's waiting on me. And he said, I'm going to bring you over to coach. So Jerry Glanville's got his back to me.

little short scrawny guy. He's got one of those air horns in his back pocket. He's got a black windbreaker on with a cowboy hat. And Danny says, hey, coach, got your quarterback. So he turns around and he's got his dark shades on and he says, Mississippi. I said, yes, sir, coach. He said, what school are you from? And I thought to myself, hell, they just drafted me. Sure, he knows that, right?

So I said, Southern Miss coach. And he goes, ah, damn, we drafted the wrong guy. We wanted a guy from Mississippi state. And I was like, honestly, I was like, should I laugh at this? Is he joking? Or did he really draft the wrong guy? And from there it went downhill. It only got worse. Later on, I found out when I was year 14 or 15 in Green Bay, uh,

We hired a guy named Sean Herrock, whose dad was the GM, Ken Herrock, at Atlanta, who drafted. And we struck up a friendship. I said, Sean, what's the deal? You know, was it Jerry that really wanted me out? He goes, absolutely. He said, during the draft, he wanted that. I was the 32nd or 33rd pick. We had Atlanta had two picks in the first round. They drafted a cornerback and a receiver. And then I was like the first.

First pick in the second round. And he wanted to pick – Jerry Glanville's a defensive guy. So he wanted to pick a defensive guy. And Ken Herock had the final say, and he said, no, we're getting this quarterback. So Sean, the way he put it, he said, Jerry was going to make life miserable on my dad by just beating you up over and over again. So when they got an offer at the end of that year from Green Bay to give up a first-round pick for a guy that didn't even play as a rookie –

and was drafted in the second round, they said too much to pass up, which was a blessing for me.

Oh, a hundred percent. That's an incredible story. I do want to ask you that year in Atlanta. So you barely played. Obviously, Glanville is not your biggest fan, but I think I heard you say one of the people that did embrace you was Deion Sanders, who was a superstar at that time. And he may have been at the top of the superstar status because he was playing baseball. And I tell people this all the time, right at the end of practice,

a helicopter would come land over the practice field. Dion would jump on the helicopter. And by the time I got home after I showered and watched film, I'd watch him steal second base. No shit. No shit. I mean, it was –

It was crazy. But yeah, he took me under his wing. Why? I don't know. We're still good friends today. Talk all the time. Oh, that's great to know. Cause Dion's still obviously in the headlines. He's doing a great job at Colorado and who knows what he's going to do in the future, but that's awesome. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty cool because they were in the world series that year. And so I'd go home and my brother lived with me, my older brother, he was teaching and

He was actually a teacher. Not a very good one, might I add, because to be honest with you, we stayed out probably until daylight every night. My motto was, I'll show Jerry Glanville. I'll party myself right out of his mind. And I did. I absolutely did. I would not recommend that. If there's any young people watching this, do not do that. But it worked for me. ♪ music playing ♪

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Hey, I do want to ask you about this because I think it's important. So I think we all follow you on social media. A little before the election, you know, it was a few months, I noticed you started speaking out a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more, and that followed with you even did a rally in Wisconsin for Trump. Right.

You know, it's not an easy thing to do. I do want to ask you if you felt compelled to do something to speak your voice or was it a natural thing that like, hey, this is just how I feel and I feel like it's an important time for the country. Great question. And the answer to that is twofold. I felt like I needed to speak up. I felt like a lot of us needed to speak up. Some would, some wouldn't. I just felt a calling to, you know,

No one's perfect. President Trump, I, no one's perfect. I'll be the first to admit that, but I really felt like we were in a much better position with Trump as our president. And I've had a chance to visit with him, much like Jason has over the years, and seen him in a different light, which was just very pleasant.

But, you know, this legal case I've been fighting, the civil lawsuit in the state for the last five years is the biggest bunch of BS. But the attorneys that I've hired are all conservative. And one is very close to Trump as well and actually represented him in the January 6th ordeal. And so they help kind of navigate, you know, slippery slope, you know,

But I had nothing to lose. My career was over. When that civil lawsuit came about, every endorsement I had dropped me. And so I'm like, what the hell? I might as well just fight the good fight. And that's kind of my motto. Just do what I can to help. And I was invited to go to Green Bay. And I was well aware that Wisconsin was one of those states that

would be hard to win if even there was a chance. And a lot of people that I'm still friends with up there was like, come do it, come do it. Maybe you'll, and I'll be honest with you. I didn't think there was, I didn't think I would sway one voter. Who knows if I did or I did, because I really felt like everyone had kind of drawn a hard line in the sand at that point, everywhere, not just Wisconsin, and said, I'm voting for

whoever runs against Trump, I don't care what they stand for. I'm just voting for them no matter what. Then there's those that were like all of us. We knew that Trump was the best thing for our country, whether you like him or not. He was the best person for our country. And we're going to vote that way. So I didn't think there was...

At that point, I was like, there's not too many people I would say it's on the fence. But I'll be honest with you, I was shocked that not only did he win Wisconsin overwhelmingly, but all the other ones as well. I think we all could have predicted the ones he wouldn't have won, and that was the case. But, yeah, I just felt a calling. You know, when I got up to speak at that rally,

I was probably more nervous than I've ever been in any football game. And it was, I don't know, five, six, 7,000 people just because it was, I was way out of my element talking politics. But it just kind of flowed out and, you know, I said a little prayer for one out there. I said, Lord, give me the words to say. And it was really awesome to see

First of all, him win, but see him win in Wisconsin. And quite frankly, some of those states that he didn't even come close the previous year. Yeah. Well, I promise you, brother, you did make a difference. Yeah, you did. I promise you that. Thank you. Absolutely. It was nice. We talked about it a lot. Made me feel so rejuvenated in the country itself. I think everybody had just had enough. Yeah. It came down to common sense, right?

you know what i think i think kurt said it best like you i think someone like yourself who you know because gets out there and and says what you're feeling is like it definitely had an effect yeah it has to you're not up there talking politics or the tax reforms you're speaking from the heart and what you feel like you want your kids to be able to grow up in and a good you know in a good common sense it was all common sense at that yeah

Yeah, I mean, this election, to me, was the easiest election ever. I mean, you want one of two things. You want this thing to fall apart like it's continuing to do, or you want it to get back together. I mean, some of these dipshits, some of the things that they believe, I'm sorry, but some of the things that they believe is okay is not okay. I'm sorry. No, it's not. And I think people like...

Maybe there was – there's probably a lot of people that said, I'm not voting for Trump. When they went in there to vote, they were like, I'm voting for Trump. Absolutely. I think there was a lot of that. We're going in the wrong direction. Yeah. I watched a Biden presser today, and I was sitting there watching, and I thought –

Man, if everything he actually said happened, this country would be in great shape right now. Oh, yeah. He really believes in amazing guys. Maybe he thinks it did. Who knows? It amazes me. He gets a standing ovation. I'm like, it's just crazy to me. That was nice, though, for everybody to, you know, there was a decision, like you said it, Brett. It's like, let's watch it fall apart or we can heal it. You know, I think people...

Made that choice. And I, Brett, you're right. I think they get in there and, and, and voted Trump. Obviously. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was, it was an overwhelming landslide victory. Yeah. I figured when I woke up that morning that there was going to be unfinished counting of votes and this will take several days, but it was so clear cut, but big of a victory that they couldn't cheat.

If they were going to try. I'm not saying they cheated. As Trump would say, too big to rig. The best thing that happened was everybody going to bed with her conceding and it was over before the next day. It could have gotten messy had it carried on and weird. But for everybody just to know, I think that's why...

you still feel that sense of calm I do overall in the country. It's like, okay, well, that's a clear-cut victory. Yeah. Let's move on. I think there's going to be a lot of people like yourself, Brett, and artists, singers, entertainers, actors, or whatever, they're going to start being a little bit more vocal. I think we're seeing it a little bit. I think you're absolutely right that people are seeing that,

that supporting some of the things that the left supports has not served them well, which is surprising me after Bud Light, you know, that issue with Bud Light, that you still see these big companies lean to the left a little bit and it costs them. You know, you would think at some point they'd go...

We don't want to go there. And I think that trend is starting to lean our way. So definitely with the individuals. Well, you're seeing a sad to say as sad as it is in, in California right now with these fires, you can see it where everybody's realizing, look, you know, cutting, cutting first responders and, and, and cutting your, you know, budgets where it really needs to be. And, and it's,

people are suffering and it's uh it's really sad to see that that funding but yeah taking that cut in funding and using it for housing illegal immigrants that's right it doesn't make a whole lot of sense no especially when you don't have water in your fire hydrant and your fire hazard waiting to happen on any given day

well that's your campaign yeah you're in california where that's that's you you're looking at one of your that's one of your major threats is is wildfire and and to not attack that and make sure you're you're protected and do the best you can to prevent it you're already doing a huge disservice so it's it's sad to see what's going on out there i think people are feeling feeling this and they're learning a hard lesson unfortunately and it's it's uh it's terrible to see what's happened out there you know

You're either going to see a big change out there, a big revolution out there, semi-revolution. I agree. Yeah. Or they're going to be coming here again. Yeah. And there's been kind of a migration coming our way anyway. That's right. But there may be a big migration coming. Yeah. I can't imagine living there.

and thinking still thinking that the leadership is very confident and it's someone else's fault outside of the state i can't imagine that if you got any sense about you that you would think that way yeah yeah i think it's kind of some good hope it's a sign when zuckerberg meta is um doing press conference on doing away with di and everything it's a

It seems like there's a lot of power and a lot of money moving in a more conservative direction or more... I hope it continues because you guys made the comment just a few minutes ago that there's a certain calm, that we're at ease, a much more manageable daily routine. You don't have to worry about a lot of stuff. Now, the California issue kind of festered up some wounds that we thought...

We think that everything's going to be okay, but that's kind of a reminder of we still got some work to do. But I think you're right. There is a great deal of calm and quietness, especially from really both sides. And Trump has been really surprisingly... I think they're starting to like him a little bit. Yeah. I think people realize, though, that the...

the media was, was fending that fire so much with, with the hatred towards Trump. True. You know, the media is feeding it to the, I think people, I think people in our are waking up to the fact that, wait a minute, you know, and we, we've met Trump and he's, and the feeling we've got from him every time we've been with him is like,

This guy loves the country. You don't have to like him. If you don't like him as a person, that's fine. We've had nothing but great things to say about him. Absolutely. When we're with him, it's like, man, this guy is just awesome. Yeah, all I had to do was just stop and think, this guy doesn't have to put himself what he's put himself through. He didn't have to do this. No. It's obvious that he loves his country. That's one of the most important points that I've tried to get across to people is like,

He obviously loves his country because he's got all the money in the world. He's got the biggest house or hacienda anywhere to be found. He's got golf courses anywhere in the world. Why would he want to be president? Exactly. You know, because he loves his country. You know, and then to get shot, you would think he'd be like, you know what? I'm just going to ride off into the sunset. Screw this. But no, he doubles down. He does.

Well, he's now the voice for the middle class, which is amazing. Has he ever been middle class? It's amazing to see the transformation. That's President Trump, and you guys know it like I know it on a more personal level. And he is engaging and easy to talk to.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's incredible. Hey, so we're coming to the end of this podcast, but I do. I always said if I get the chance to ask you this, I want to ask you about the end of your career a little bit. There's two things I got to know. So you had 16 years in Green Bay. You went to New York for a year because they wouldn't deal you to an NFC team.

Did you go to Minnesota to stick it to him so you can play him twice a year? I got to know that. And then also go to the end of the year where the bounty gate thing happens. And could you feel during that game that it was something different, that they were coming after you in a different way? Yeah, I'll start with the latter. Uh,

It's funny because when all that came out about the bounty gate and stuff, my wife was like, I knew something was up during that game because it was just different than any other game. For me, when you're in the moment,

you're kind of oblivious to what's going on. You just got, and it was so loud in that dome. I mean, it was deafening. You could, I was screaming at the top of my lungs and no one could hear me. So I was just very stressed out. But I did think, I have to admit, I did think, I didn't think that there was a bounty. I didn't think that, but I thought,

And I'll tell you why. There was a guy that played for the Saints that I played with for seven or eight years, Darren Sharper. He was the safety. Oh, yeah. He was hard-hitting. Great player for us. Real rangy. Very good, like, covering the field. Free safety. And he had two late hits on me that were way late. And that was very uncharacteristic of a Darren. And I even said to him after a second, I'm like, I'll call him Sharper. I said, Sharper.

What the hell's the deal? You never hit anybody late. You've hit me twice, like blatantly late. So again, did I think there's a bounty out on me? I'll say this. There's always a bounty on the quarterback, but within the confines of the game. You know, what they were doing was outside the confines. Like whatever you got to do,

Snap his leg, hit him like whatever. I'll pay for the fine, whatever it is. Just get his ass out. That's what they were being told to do. But if you could get a quarterback out or the best player out of the game within the confines, the legal confines of the game, hey, that's better for us. But, you know, so I thought something was up, but I wouldn't have –

gone as far to say that they were paying or at any cost. As far as the first, when I left the Jets, I had to have surgery. If I was going to play again, I had to have surgery on my torn bicep. I tore it about nine games in week nine, 10 with the Jets. I played, played like shit, but I played. But I knew if I, I knew I didn't want to go back and play with the Jets. Nothing against them, but I,

I knew the Packers sent me out there to just waste away and never be heard from again. I knew that, but I had no choice. So when the Jets wanted me back, Mike Tannenbaum was the GM, great guy. And he said, look, right after the season, he said, go home. If you want to come back, he was awesome. We'd love to have you back. I know that you've got a bicep issue. If you choose to play, get it fixed.

And just know that I'm not going to bother you right before the draft. I'm going to call you. And if you want to come back, come on back. If you don't, I'm going to let you go. And what's important about that, when he said, let you go, he was going to cut me, meaning I was free to go anywhere I wanted. You know, I could sign with whoever I wanted, talk to whoever I wanted and they wouldn't get anything. He said, and I'm going to catch hell if that happens, because I'm rather than deal you, I'm just going to let you go.

So I knew I didn't want to go back there. I said, I'll give it some time. So I came home. Draft was probably three months later, you know, second week in April, somewhere around there. And with each day that passed, I got further away from wanting to play at all, whether it be Minnesota. I was just beat up. I'll be honest with you. I was at the end of my rope. But in the back of my mind, I kept saying, if I do, give it up and just retire.

Even though I kind of feel like that's where I want to go, I'm going to always regret the opportunity to go play against the Packers. Prove myself. Right or wrong, you know, and I've told people this story, and it kind of posed the question, what would you do if a team – keep in mind, my best statistical season as a Packer in 16 years was my 16th year.

My last year as a Packer was by far the best stats I've ever had. So I made it difficult for the Packers to move in a different direction by playing so well. It'd been easier if I'd stunk. And they just said, hey, we're going to let you go. So I think what that did was made it hard for them to let me go and move in a different direction. The best thing that could happen for them was just me retire. So they don't have to deal with me. They don't have to worry about it. They can just move on. Well, I did that.

under some pressure to give them an answer. The mistake I made was giving them an answer too soon because once I said I was going to retire, they did a press conference the next day. It was fast, fast track to get him out of there. That's the way I felt. And then about May or June, you know, I was like, I kind of had the itch to play, but I knew I didn't want to play at Green Bay because I knew Manchin didn't want me. And I was okay with that.

I stressed that to everyone. I was okay with it. What I wasn't okay with was, and I made this comment to the GM and the head coach at the time. I said, so I'm not good enough to play for you, but I'm too good to play against you. And they didn't like that because if, if, if the answer to that is that's not, that's not true, then why not just let me go wherever I want. But you know, they didn't want to hear that. So,

That was always in the back of my mind. Like they wanted to, they won by trading me to the Jets and moving on. When I, I, you know, there may have been 10 teams that wanted me. I don't know that. I know that they said two teams wanted me, Tampa Bay and the Jets. And I didn't do myself any favors when, when I went back to Green Bay before I got traded, I had to go back in order for the NFL rule says you have to go back to your

the team that you're presently on, in order for them to make a move, whether it be cut, trade, or you stay there and play. So I went back knowing that the management didn't want me. And so after I got just yelled at for about an hour or two over at the facility from the head coach, he said, you'll see the GM. I can't deal with you. I said, all right, fine.

So I went and met with the GM, and he said, look, go home. Go back to your house here in Green Bay. My agent was in town. He and my wife were at our house. Go back and talk to them. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers want you, and the Jets want you.

Y'all figure out which one you want to go to and we'll come to your house in an hour and talk about it. So in that, that, that hour time, I looked up the schedules. The jets didn't play even close to green Bay. Tampa Bay played the Packers the fourth game of the year. So I said, I'm going to Tampa Bay. And it's a true story. So, uh,

They show up at the door. It was a GM and three other guys, not the coach. They come in and sit down and it was crickets for five minutes.

It was awful. So I said, well, I know where I'm going to play. Where is that? I said, Tampa Bay. And they were like, why would you want to do that? I said, I'll tell you why. The fourth game, they play the Packers. And I'm going to kick your ass. So an hour later, we jumped on a plane. We flew back to Hattiesburg. Our youngest daughter, I'm reading her a story in bed. She's like, Dad, where are we going?

I said, we're going to Tampa Bay. She says, why? And I said, because it's close to Disney World. And she's like, oh yeah, great. And no more than I got that out of my mouth, my agent calls me and says, are you watching TV? And I'm like, no. He's like, they just traded you to the Jets. And I went, you have got to be shitting. And so I had that in the back of my mind at the end of that year. I said, if I throw in the towel, they're going to win again. So

Mike Tannenbaum calls me the day before the draft and says, what about it? I said, I'm not coming back, Mike. He said, God's honest truth. He said, I wish you the very best of luck. I know what you're going to do. So the next day I was cut. They drafted Mark Sanchez as their quarterback. Two days later, I signed with the Vikings. And, you know, they had all the fanfare. They had helicopters. They had all this stuff. Believe me, I didn't want any of that. Because in the back of my mind, I was like,

I got to find a way to muster up the energy to play 14 other games. If you know what I mean. I knew there was two games I was going to be ready for. And fortunately that year, not only did we beat them twice. And look, I had some and still have some dear friends within that organization and in town. So, but no means of my disrespecting that team. But how could you not want to show your old team that,

or banned in your case. If you're competitive and that's just human nature, that's what you're going to want. So is Rodgers stealing your thunder? He's going to the Jets and now is Minnesota next for Aaron Rodgers? He's going to just finish it out like you did? Yeah. I don't know what the hell the deal is, but it's...

I love that, by the way. I don't know. I mean, the guy can still play if he can stay healthy. Yeah. Who will take a chance on him? I don't know. Yeah, that was great on his Netflix thing that you did. You guys had some time together on that, and I thought that was really cool because, you know, it –

Man, it's so great having you on. This is, for us, this is like... Thanks for having me. I really enjoy it. What a blast. You're my kind of people. Well, we appreciate that. I got to tell you one thing. It's like, if they ever tear down Legion Field in Birmingham, I got a lot of memories there. I played there.

I'll grab a brick for you if they ever tear it down. That's where we beat Alabama. That's right. I don't want to hear that, but we won't talk about that. High tide. High tide. Hey, Brett, one more quick question if you don't mind. And I know sports and entertainment are very much linked, and you've got the fans, you've got the audience, your heart's racing, the adrenaline and all that stuff. And I know with entertainment and Aldine and these guys, I mean –

If somebody will hire us at 90 years old, they can put us out in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank and we'll sing out there on stage and you can still get there, but you're not being able to play physically at a certain age or whatever. How do you replace that high? Do you miss that part of it or are you okay with it? That's an awesome question. Most guys that I've been around that retire, whether it be year 7, year 12,

Very few have played as long as I have. But most of the guys don't go out on their terms. You know, they got hurt or they just didn't perform at the level that was acceptable and they just get let go. I, on the other hand, I retired three times. And each time I came back, I played pretty damn good. And, you know, I knew really like we just talked about, really good.

When I left the Jets, I really had had enough. So I technically retired and came back out. But I really had had enough. And I felt like I got nothing to prove except to the Packers that I could still play. Is that a reason to come back and play? I ended up doing it. But for me, when I finally, after my second year with the Vikings, which was a terrible year, got beat to hell, I knew I'm done.

And I mentioned to you about coaching high school. I didn't even want to do that. I had enough of football, to be honest with you. And I'm sure guys have said that, and then three months into the season or two weeks into the season or whatever, or playoffs come about, and you go, I wish I was there. I have never wished I was there since I was a child. That's great. And those guys that I've – teammates that I've come across that –

had been out of football for a while. I'm like, hey, how's it going? Several of them have said kind of the same thing. Like, man, I miss the structure. Having to be somewhere at a certain time, I never thought would be important. But now I can do whatever I want and I don't know what to do. So having some, you know, my family was intact. I had two girls and I actually had my first grandson right year 20.

So I was busy. We did a lot of travel. We never traveled when I was playing. But since I retired, we've gone to Israel. We've gone to Ireland twice, Switzerland, Italy. And I know you guys do a lot of traveling. First, and I tell people this all the time, they thought something was wrong with Dad. My first year out of retirement, I said, let's go on a vacation. They were like,

You? Vacation? Because I was selfish all those years when that season was over. I wanted to come home, hunt, hide out, and just do whatever. Saw wood, dig holes, cover them back up, whatever it was. And I had plenty to keep me busy, but I was like, let's take a trip. And they were like, okay, where do you want to go? And I said, let's go to Yellowstone.

I just threw it out. I'm a big animal buff. I like watching these animal shows and stuff. So we went out there and we had a blast. And from there, we've never looked back. So it's been great.

That's amazing. Like, you know, we've said here, Brett, we've always been big fans of your professional football career. We're even bigger fans of who you are as a human being. We just appreciate you. We appreciate your time. And thank you for spending with us tonight. Come out to a show. Thanks for having me. Friends for life now. Thank you, Brett. Thank you so much. Guys, take care. I hope to see you at the show.

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