Julian Edelman: Surrounded by GOATs
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It is literally. So Julian Edelman joins us today, the legendary patriot. He's got more Super Bowl rings than I have, that's for sure. And I just love his story. He's an undersized, overlooked guy, grinder, and he ended up Super Bowl champion and MVP in 2019. And I am wearing my generic NFL hat for this interview.

And we're going to get to the bottom of all this Tom Brady nonsense. Where's that man playing? I need to know. And I'm going to know by the time this is over. So stand by. Julian, what's happening, man? Not much, man. How you doing? I'm good. I'm psyched to talk to you. It's so funny. I mean, we'll probably be jumping around all over the place in this conversation, but

I remember watching the famous Atlanta Super Bowl that you guys won and saying when Matt Ryan and the Falcons shit the bed so badly, I was like, they'll never be back. I was like, this is the end. I don't mean to be a dick and I'm not trying to be mean and everybody loves Matt Ryan. He seems like he'd be a great guy. But it was I knew that.

You don't come back from that. That's a tough one for the old psyche. I've lost in the Super Bowl, and it's a tough offseason afterwards when you're dealing with it because you have that taste in the back of your throat. You're playing in that final game, and you go through all the I wish I would'ves in that whole preparation two-week period that you had going into the Super Bowl, the things I could have done, things that...

And never have I lost a game like that, but it's definitely very hard to come back from. And I feel bad, but I don't because, you know. Yeah, why would you? Hell no. You either win or you lose. And, you know, it was part of our team and it shows a lot about the mental toughness of that 2016 football team in New England. And, you know, every team always has their

almost their, their theme. And it was, it was pretty, that's pretty insane. Like I've watched that game. I watched it probably like nine months ago for the first time on the TV copy. Oh, wow. As a spectator and as a fan and as the drama. It's totally different. It's a totally different experience, isn't it? Totally different. You know, the NFL does such a great job with

producing and making this game into a story. And I sat and watched. I was like, I don't know how we came back from that thing. That definitely puts you under. Yeah, you're living in real time. And then the viewer is having a completely different experience. And when there is a real storyline going on like that,

The viewer is getting it in ways that the players never will because you're you're you know, you're reacting on the spot and doing your jobs. Meanwhile, the billion people watching have a whole other perspective. And when Matt Ryan took that sack, I was like, bro, you cannot take that sack. That to me was it. You got to throw that ball away. Period. Full stop.

Yeah, you do. I mean, situationally, you probably don't want to take that sack, but there's more than just one play that defines that game. That's right. No, I know. You're right. You're right. You're right. That's how it goes. I mean, the holding penalty, the sack fumble by Trey Flowers, the high tower sack.

You know, the two-point conversions by Danny Amendola and James White. You know, having a rookie receiver on the outside. And Malcolm, who goes out and makes big-time catches in, you know, crucial situations to try getting the game to go into overtime. Tom having a short memory with the first half on the turnovers that, you know, we had. And the mental toughness for a team.

to really just put everything aside from what happened in the first half and really just think about going out and winning each play. I mean, that's a disciplined thing to have to do. People don't realize it's hard to just kind of not foreshadow, not think about what you're trying to achieve and really just think about the process and like, all right, well, if we don't win this play, it's just going to go worse. Let's just stack winning plays. And then that's what that team did.

No, they really did. Had Stephen A on the other day and we were talking about Russell Wilson and all that stuff. And I was like, there's a part of me that feels the same way about that because you've always spoken your mind. And I feel like a lot of these NFL analysts are so in the tank for the NFL. I love the NFL. We have a great relationship. You know, I don't want to say anything to piss the NFL off, but I think a lot of these announcers are so in the tank that they won't state the obvious.

If you're Russell Wilson and you're this franchise quarterback and all this, and you do not hand the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, why don't you just say, I didn't hear the call and hand it off? Because you know, you have to know, or you're an idiot. Say, I didn't hear the call. Yeah, but you don't know what the plan was going into that play.

I mean, we gave a 13 personnel group on defense, which is, you know, three safeties, one corner, and a bunch of linebackers. Big personnel. So, like, that is like red flags as the quarterback –

Let's probably try to get our team in the best playing call. We hit this same play and we've checked into this play multiple times and we got a blitz zero look. Let's do it again. And then they've had success on it. I mean, they hit that exact play probably three or four times that year, because I remember watching him practice in Arizona, Josh voice, one of our practice squad receivers at the time, killing our defense on that exact same play. Like,

10 times in a row. And I'm thinking, and like the urgency is so high when you're practicing for the Super Bowl week. Like everyone is juggling, Dan, like the offense, when you're not doing something for that, you have a little time off. You're watching how the defense does. You want to see if they're being accountable and they're putting their work in. And, you know, when defense isn't doing something, they're watching us and everyone wants to see everything.

I said, not only go over to him and don't like, I hope they don't run this goddamn play because we're going to get smoked on it. But you know, that, that it happened and, and we were prepared for it. And, and,

You know, Coach Belichick made a great call and he had a crazy look in his eye where he was staring over down at the other side. Oh, yeah. No. And that's another thing. Now, on the sidelines, could you could you see it? Because watching the game, it was patently obvious that Belichick was like putting the voodoo hex stare on him. Well, he did that. He was he was still everyone was like assuming that we were going to take a time out.

Yeah. And he was letting it run down. And then he threw out that personnel group. Like he was, I think he was looking to see what they were going to do. And I mean, that's part of his genius of being one of the best coaches of all time in all sports. So it's terrible for,

You know, Seattle and their fan base and Marsan and, you know, there's a terrible outcome. They won a Super Bowl the year before, so I'm not really sad for them. But, you know, someone someone's got to go out and win and there's going to be mistakes. And and that's football. You know, it's that's the crazy thing about football. Anything can happen. Yeah, but they've never been. Arguably, they've never been the same.

It wasn't much longer. Russell was gone. It's just never been the same. Coach Belichick, I've never met him. Really want to meet him. I want to do, you know, as an actor, you've got to do press interviews all the time, you know, whatever, red carpets and satellite media tours and Jay Leno, whatever, Jimmy Kimmel. I would love, I don't have the guts to do it,

But I've thought for years about going on in a cut up hoodie and just having nothing to say in the interviews where they'd be like, so 911 Lone Star season four is coming out. What do you what do you think about it? I'm like, I worked hard on it and people are going to like it. Just crickets. I would love, love, love.

to be, to do Bill Belichick as a bit, like, and, and commit to it. Like, you know how long that segment would be? How, it would just be gnarly. It'd probably be about 15, 16 minutes with like 17 words, 12 words maybe. Yes, no, maybe, on to the next. It's the greatest thing ever. I just, howl. The thing is, he's, he does that strategically. You know, he's such a,

He's such a crazy preparer where he doesn't want to give any information. When you're talking about injuries scheme, you could literally listen to some of these coaches, uh,

in a post game or in a pre game or in something or in an interview. And they'll literally give you the answers to the test sometimes. Well, we need to be physical. We need to run the ball. We need to set up our play action. And so if you've got people that are watching this on the other side, I mean, you can already, first and second down, they're going to try to pound that thing, look out for this play action out of this for me. So there's a lot of strategy. There's a lot of information you can get out of those things. And he doesn't want to give anything out.

And that's why he does that, I think. Well, it makes perfect sense. But if you ask him a historical question that has nothing to do with the game, that specific game, he will go into a crazy 15-minute monologue speech on how Lawrence Taylor was great at this. You know what I mean? Yeah. You just got to figure out how to press the right button with old Coach Belichick. He likes to fish, right? He's a big fish.

I think he does some deep sea fishing when he goes out into like, I think he's at a place in South Florida. Does he work out? Somebody told me a story, and I'll butcher it, of coming in and seeing the Belichicks up at four in the morning. I don't know. Is he a workout guy or no? Yeah. I mean, coaches, they all are in the gym or doing something.

I wouldn't call them workout warriors, but they definitely try to get some work in because they're around specimen athletes all day and they're harping. Nothing's more important than your head off and dietitian. You'll see them in the locker room or you'll see them in the weight room on a treadmill watching film with a sweat bag on with this playbook.

you know, for hours late at night. Like, that's what he does. I mean, that's part of his exercise routine. I wouldn't call it like he's a workout warrior by any means. But, I mean, if you look at him. He's fit. He's totally fit. I mean, I wouldn't call, yeah, he's no Sylvester Stallone, but he looks great for his age. Coach Belichick. I mean, he's aged pretty well with the stress that that guy goes through.

And what is your what's your take on his relationship with Robert Kraft?

I mean, I don't know personally what it is. I know they have a pretty good working relationship by the 20- Seems to be, right? Yeah. The 20-some years that they've been together, they've had a lot of success. So I think with anything, when you're with someone for a long period of time, I'm sure there's things that people don't agree on or have different opinions on, but they've always handled it very well.

Yeah.

you know, that there's a funk or there's this, and that's just people trying to get a story. And that's just, yeah. I was just trying to do content. The only, the only version of that I ever thought, Hmm, I wonder if there's any there, there was, um, you know, how, how, how Tom ended up, you know, moving on. And is it like, how hard did Belichick fight to keep Tom? Cause I, there's a, there's a part of me that makes up, I don't know if it's true. I, what I make up,

is both those guys at a certain point had done, they've ticked every box. They've done everything there is to do. They're both the goats. And there's a part of them that goes, you know what, I'd like to see, just want to show people that I can do this on my own, that it isn't just a systems offense in New England, that you can just plug and play. That's sort of what I make up about it. Any thoughts?

Yeah, I mean, they were together for a long time and they're both competitive people. And, you know, I don't know personally how that really went down. Football is crazy. You know, like when guys do their business with the team,

It's not like we all just get in the locker room and we sit and call in, hey, so I need this guy. What's going on? It's not like that. You kind of allow people to do and make their own decisions because ultimately they make the decisions for their team and that's their family. You let people do that on their own, but it

You know, you spend a lot of time with a lot of people and then they got to a bunch of different levels that a lot of people never even fathom or even think about getting with them out of success that these two have had. You know, they're competitive guys. I'm sure they, you know, once it went, it went different directions. They're both probably trying to compete against each other. So, yeah, you know, that's, that's probably what it is. You never know.

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Annual like Paul Tucksey Phil the groundhog that comes out Every year it's the Is Aaron Rodgers going to Retire or go it's like It's a that Can't be great well He lost his best wide receiver over it last Year yeah I don't get it I love he's cool dude I mean I think He's done and I love Watching him play met him once seemed Super nice and everything but I don't get the feeling that Green Bay wants to move off of Them

He's their guy. So I don't really get what the drama is every year. It's pretty nuts right now with the NFL in general and seeing with the salary cap, how teams are having success. We look at three of the four teams in the final four right now, they're all on rookie contract deals with the quarterback. And so that means they can pay a whole bunch of people around them. Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy,

Burrow, they all have insane amount of weapons. And that's because they're not taking up the majority of the cap. Now, Patrick Bones is there, but he lost Tyreek Hill. So, you know, there's a little play in ball on what your priority is at the quarterback position. Do you want to make money or do you want to win? You know, he took less money a lot of the years. So a lot of guys get a lot of different other players. And that showed you his priority was winning.

And Aaron, I mean, you can't read minds, but you can read mannerisms. I mean, if you're going to go out and you want to be the highest paid guy, you know, you got to sit there and say, well, you're probably not going to get the best weapons because you can't afford it. There's a salary cap. That's why there's so much parody in the National Football League. And it's getting pretty interesting if you take a deep dive and watch this.

these next five or six years, how teams are going to start approaching their roster. Like, you know, this Brock Purdy thing, if he goes out here and wins this thing,

I mean, that's going to be a new template on how to build a team potentially because these younger quarterbacks, they're getting smarter. They're developing quicker because they've been playing in seven on seven camps since they were 10 years old with specialty coaches. There's so much more information for them to gather. Athletes are evolving at such a faster rate and they're being able to get in the league and just,

Plug and play. I mean, look at your marches at the receiver position. It used to be one of the hardest positions to really jump in the league because of the complexity of the game, the reading of this. And all these guys have been doing this for a long time. So it's a testing. So I don't know if I answered the question. No, you did. 100%. I mean, so the theory is, by the way, it's the same in baseball. My Dodgers, I mean, 111 games.

And nothing to show for it. And I'm like, build a team that wins 85 games then. Let's go build a team that wins 85 games. You don't need to win 111 games. It's the new way the sport has developed. Do you need a quote unquote franchise quarterback? You know, these new kids, man, get them out, run them out, see how they do.

Yeah, it's with the rules and the cap. I mean, you're going to start seeing a lot of change. And it's going to be interesting to see who goes out and wins this. And then you're going to see the ripple effect. Because whenever you win a Super Bowl, guys unload. When you win, people are getting paid.

You know what I mean? So I saw it with the Rams. I mean, listen, we were not an anomaly with the New England Patriots with the amount of years we were able to, you know, hold the success 20 plus years. How how was that? Is that is that a Bob Craft thing? Is it a no? Nobody bailed.

I think it's a joint effort between everyone. I think it's Mr. Kraft allowing Coach Belichick to do the football things and them having a great working relationship.

You know, the players that, you know, signed the contracts with Coach Belichick and the Patriots, you know, Brady being there, the guys buying into the system. There's so many different, you know, theories and there's so many different ways to

to go out and win. It's different now, though, because the league continually changes. From when I got in the league in 2009, by the time I got out, it was a different game. There's constant learning on where the game's going, how the game is moving up, what players are getting more and more valuable. If you look at receivers versus the running back,

you know, in the last 10 years. A running back is almost irrelevant. Those guys are a dime a dozen because the game has become such a past-dominant game. Now you're seeing the Steelers making $20 million. You know what I mean? That was never... He never even thought about that. And tight ends are next. And tight ends are next, you know, with Travis Kelsey and Gronkowski and what, you know, these guys have laid the foundation for. So...

You know, it's become a big space game. So there's these guys that are catching that ball are going to get paid a lot more. I just wish I played in that era or I played in this era, you know, instead of playing in an era where it wasn't getting mad at that kind of dude. Yeah, I can only imagine watching that and seeing how that goes on. Am I crazy to think that Joe Burrow reminds me a lot of Tom?

He's like a modern day Tom. Isn't he? Kind of. Is the mechanics? Well, I think it's because of his pocket presence. You know, how he can manipulate the pocket with a sudden move. He takes deep drops. He can step up.

He has to go out and win some Super Bowls here. But he's got that cool, calm collectness in any kind of situation. It seems when the team needs it the most, he comes in and performs. And that's what Brady did for 20 years. He's still doing. And that's why it reminds you a little of that. And it's also, he doesn't have the...

flashiness of the improv skill of what Mahomes and Josh Allen have. It almost reminds you of when Brady was playing and everyone always talked about Peyton and Breeze and how these guys had signature plays and signature...

you know, tight games, but no one ever could really pinpoint when Brady did his. He just went out and won. You know what I mean? That's kind of what Joe Joe's doing. I mean, he was down three linemen, no one gave him a shot. I couldn't believe it in Buffalo in a snow game. And he starts out nine for nine, two touchdowns.

I thought he was going to be wheeled out on a stretcher based on the way that line played the week before. You would definitely, you knew he wasn't going to be taken out by a stretcher because the year of last year, the team led in allowing sacks and he was still into the Super Bowl, which is like, that's an anomaly. So durable. The ability to find a way to get it done, that's what reminds me of Brady.

you know, and performing under pressure. And just, he does have, even though he's, you know, it was the Heisman trophy winner, the number one pick, like all year, you still hear about Josh Allen and you hear about Patrick Mahomes. You don't hear as much about Burrow and he's showing up and he's reminded people like, oh yeah, we forgot about talking about this guy. No, because it's funny. I was about to say, well, that's a Cincinnati thing, but I thought, wait a minute, Buffalo has no more profile than Cincinnati does as a,

in terms of, well, actually that's not true. As a franchise they do, because they've been to so many Super Bowls, didn't win any, but they went to a lot of them. I was always surprised that Burrow didn't pull a

an Eli or a Peyton and that he actually went and played for the Bengals and he's turned that organization around. It's really cool to see. He's an Ohio kid. Yeah, I know. Same as me. But listen, I'm an Ohio kid and we rooted for the Steelers. Yeah. Dayton, right? You grew up in Dayton? Yeah. Yeah, I went to school in Northeast Ohio.

So you're a Kent State guy, right? Kent State. Now, do you really, is it true? I love this story. Do you really wear your, did you wear your Kent State t-shirt underneath your pads all the time to remind you of like, yeah, I came from Kent State, not Alabama? Hell yeah. I mean, I used to wear this yellow, like dry fit shirt for probably like eight or nine years straight for every practice. And yeah, I wanted to remind guys that

Like Papa said, I am what I am. I didn't go to Alabama. I didn't go to USC. I went to Kent State, a school that doesn't invest a lot of money into the football program. You pretty much had a vending machine in the locker room, had a Division I program. And I'm still here with you, and I'm a lot more willing to do that.

No, it's great. It's one of the great things about your story. I mean, everybody makes a big deal about overcoming adversity and things like that, but you, there would have been nothing. Well, it's not really true because people, you always had people seeing football skills in you. I mean, you had that offer to go play in Canada as a quarterback and you didn't do it. So it's not that

It's a shocker to people. Clearly, people saw your ability. And yet at the same time, it's also an amazing story that you were able to accomplish what you accomplished. I mean, it's been a hell of a ride. I was trained at a young age and I created a chip on my shoulder as a kid when I was always very undersized.

And you go into a high school, you go into a recruiting trip and no one gave you the attention because you weren't the biggest guy or the fastest guy. I always thought I was the best football player on the field whenever I was on the field until I got to the league and you start playing with guys. But before then, like I felt like I was the best football player on the field at all times. And that kind of have to prove it mentality from a very young age. It helped me.

to keep that drive and that, you know, that hard assness, you know, all the way throughout my whole career. And a lot of that is, a lot of that is building a story in your head and motivating yourself. You know what I mean? That's what I learned a lot from Brady. You always hold on to such a little thing.

that someone said in seventh grade, Norm, that, you know, he couldn't do, like, and he would still remember that because he would pull from that to hit that string to let himself not get complacent, to let himself, you know, to remind himself, like, yo, I was into the painting. I was never the guy that, you know, they were trying to

put on a pedestal. You know, they were trying to replace me at Michigan. You know, I was a system. He pulls from that stuff. And I learned a lot from him and to keep creating that chip, you know, so I don't know. Do you think that is useful combating the mental stuff that you need to break through and stay focused on or the physical? Because the other thing I think about is guys as they age,

Just, it's like, oh my God, another camp? Really? You know, like it's not for the faint of heart, the older you get to crush your body like that. Yeah. I mean, you got to get smart. You have to, you have to, I used to be a guy that would go in and run 70 routes a day, workout, run, and work my tail off, you know, and, you know, Brady would look at me and just say, well, you work smart enough. Amazing. I want you to get quality reps and something that you need to work on.

you know and instead of getting wannabe reps just to get a rep in yeah and you have to take that to heart and you're continually the older you get the harder it gets you know especially than you know in athletics because you have to do so much more to not get hurt to keep your body prepared to recover to go out and perform and

It does wear on you, and that's ultimately why guys give the game up is because you can't go out and do it. And that grind, that daily grind, it gets to you because when you were 22, you go out and it was easy. You didn't have to stretch. You didn't have to do this. You didn't have to do the pre-hab. You didn't have to do the body work. When you're 33, you're 34, you do two hours of work before work just to be able to go through work.

You know, you do two hours after and then everything is calculated and you're trying to get every inch you possibly can. And then when it starts to hit you and you turn on the film and you don't look like what you used to look like or you start seeing some kind of efficiencies. Yeah. So when you're like, I can't.

I can't see myself like that, so you got to give it up. Well, listen, Tom is the poster boy of that conversation. And probably this year more than ever because it didn't go the way he would have liked, obviously. And he went through so much adversity with his personal life at the same time in the public. And it's just it's got to be it.

unbelievably tough. There's so many openings for him. I mean, I don't know if you said right before I came in today, I was going through my little internet scroll and there, there he's, he's walking through, uh, uh, uh, private schools in Miami for the kids. Yeah. And I'm like, dude, by the way, if I'm Tua, I'm never playing again. I don't care. I'm never taking another snap ever. Yeah. But that's like, that's like the last concussion, bro, was, uh,

was a nut a nothing burger and you i don't need to tell you this you get the more concussions you get the easier you get concussed and that was a nothing burger it was like a clink yeah i mean that this is what he loves like if someone said you can't go you know you can't go out and do what you do you know you're acting and see it you know it's on you and and you know the the

This is ultimately is what giving him is going to give him the life he wants. And he loves football. I'm a little. Well, let me ask you this. If you're the owners of the Miami Dolphins. That's different. Now there's liability. Hey, I don't want this kid. I don't want to take responsibility for it. If he wants to play, God bless him. But I'm going to take responsibility for it. Hey, Mr. Brady, we have great private schools in the Miami-Dade area.

There's a lot of nice private schools out there, and the weather's pretty good for one year or two all year round, except hurricane season. But here's the other one that I'm not breaking any news is I love the idea of the Tom Brady residency in Las Vegas. That makes me laugh. Sorry, because it's exactly what it would feel like. Everybody has a residency. Why shouldn't Tom Brady? Yeah. His kids are in Miami, though. It's tough. He started getting older. Kids getting older.

You got to be around them. Yeah. And his kids, I remember when my kids were that age, you can feel, slipping away isn't the right thing, but you can see the horizon and you can see time is super limited. And I've always admired how dedicated he is to those kids. It's one of the things that I think people love about Tom. And that makes sense. From the years I've been around him, the guy loves football and his family.

And, you know, he's a simple guy and he likes to compete, loves to be with his family. Okay. Well, that brings you to another thing. He's got this ginormous TV deal. Who's it with? Do you know? I forget. It is a Fox. It's my guys. Fox. All right. So you would know this better than anybody. I don't mean to put you on the spot. Everybody knew Peyton was hilarious.

Everybody knows it. He's hilarious. He did my roast. He killed it on my Comedy Central roast. So funny. But you knew it. From the commercial, you knew this. Romo, maybe people knew that he had some sort of personality swagger. I don't think anybody was prepared for him to sort of revolutionize the booth, which he definitely did. And I don't mean this as any disrespect to Tom, and I don't know the man, but personally,

scintillatingly exciting would not be the way I would describe him. What's he going to be like in the booth? He's probably going to work harder than anyone else to do it. And that's the kind of guy he is. He's going to find a way

What he has to do to prepare. I mean, the guy knows football probably better than anyone in this world. You know, he's played 20-plus years. He's seen every scenario. He's seen different generations of the game, three different generations. So he's going to have a lot of insight, and he's going to know a lot about it.

You know, Tom could go out and call the same thing Tony Romo's doing when he sees a little zone blitz because of this shade on the eye. Tom could do that, too. Tom did it while he was playing a lot better than Tony Romo. I love that you went there. I love it. I'm a CBS guy, and I love Romo. I love Romo.

But, you know, Tom Brady's seen a lot of football and he's got a resume and he's got a fan base that he's got a lot of eyeballs on. So regardless, I think he's going to be all right. Yeah. No, listen, as do I. I mean, and it's going to be interesting. You know, it's going to be that that that kind of what is he going to be?

is going to make it appealing for the viewer like i want to see i want to tune in to see what brady's personality is going to be on this thing because when it's also a function as you know you're in the booth you know what it's like it's a function of who they pair you with too i mean you know do you have any synergy with with whoever is you know calling the play-by-play if you're the chemistry has to be on point definitely the chemistry has to be on point it's got to feel conversational you guys got to

come off as friends and finish each other's sentences. Like that's definitely going to be a huge part of it. But,

But I will see if he's even in the book. I bet you it's a different kind of, I don't know, you know, like, because I haven't asked him yet on the real details of what he's going to be doing. I bet you it's going to be a whole bunch of different things. I don't know. That's my feeling. My feeling is it's this ginormous, amorphous deal that nobody really knows what it's going to be other than they're like, we opened up the checkbook because we want this guy in our air and we'll figure it out later.

I mean, he's a hell of a guy to get. Yeah, oh, for sure.

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All right, I've got to talk to you about your movie.

80 for Brady. Yeah, dude. It's the greatest idea ever. I mean, so it's Sally Field, who I did Brothers and Sisters with. I love Sally. Lily, who I did the West Wing with. Rita Moreno, who I have met over the years. She's the amazing EGOT. She's got it all, man. Triple three. She had an Oscar, a Tony, Emmy, Best Actress.

the golden globe he he got oscar tony yeah yeah you got you got the acronyms i'm not really good with acronyms me neither i struggled and that was my business and i just struggled um it was unbelievable like to be on set with with those they're legends those ladies yeah and like you could just feel their energy and it honestly was crazy impressive to see how how they worked and

how prepared they were and the ability to turn it on and turn it off and make people feel comfortable. Cause you know, we're not all actors, you know, we, you know, we don't do that for a living, but you know, they, they would, they could put you in a, like a zone to make you comfortable and, and allow you to do what you had to do. And they were just really cool ladies, man. And they sat and took time with us cause there's a lot of downtime and we would sit outside and,

You know, Sally was such a sweetheart.

Rita, she was playing with my beard, made me all goo-goo-ga-ga-d and stuff. They have no filters. I had a blast. It was an unbelievable experience. I haven't even seen the movie yet. I've got to go see it. I can't wait to see it. Just all the ladies in the Brady jersey is so genius to me. That image. Sally Field...

Without a question, there is not anybody in my 45 plus years of doing what I do who works harder than Sally and who takes it as seriously. Sally is 100 percent actor. It's unbelievable. Yeah. And you could feel that.

You could feel that. And, you know, I was only around for a couple of days. Uh, but the energy that these, these women gave off, it was contagious. You wanted to like, you wanted to work, you know what I mean? It was, it was a pretty cool experience, you know, with especially, you know, my, my folks loved all these ladies, you know, it's a, we're in different generations. Yeah. It was crazy to get to meet them all. What a, uh,

an amazing experience for someone who's, you know, comes from a different world and you, you, you come into the acting world and you're surrounded by goats. You can't, you can't think of the goats. I mean, by the way, I just, I talked about your children's book for a quick second. It is, it's so genius that you're a squirrel and that you're taught the lessons of how to go through, through life.

by the goat named Tom is the greatest. It's so genius. I love it. The old wise owl was Bill. The old wise owl is Bill. He has a bill because an owl has a bill too. Exactly. Exactly. Uh, no, yeah, it was, uh, that was a fun experience. I, I was inspired by having my little girl six years ago. We, we just won a Superbowl.

My little girl was born and we were like, we want to do something. And I wanted to get in that space. I had a lot of inspiration from Marcellus Bennett, another teammate of mine who has a couple of children's books. And I was always called the squirrel.

And, you know, I sat down with my partner, Asarov, and we came up with this story. And, you know, it turned out to be a pretty cool thing that we made three books, a trilogy after each Super Bowl. And it was fun. And it's fun to see, you know, all the comments and all the love you get from

for those books and, or, you know, I've been with children's reading at a school on your own book. I mean, it was a really cool experience. And, uh, you know, watching your little girl read the book and cool messages, you know, accountability, hard work, all these little things. And if you could put it in a children's book form, you never know, you may get a couple of kids that'll listen. Writing in its simplest form is the single hardest writing you can do. There's a great quote. I don't know who said it was, um, um,

Forgive the length of the letter I am writing. I did not have enough time to write a shorter one. It's true. It's true. Your point across a little amount of words. Yeah, it's really true. Well, I'm excited. I hope the movie does great. Oh, I got to where I know you're a friend, but you he hasn't talked to you. You're a human being. You're entitled to your own opinion. Where's Tom going to play?

You have a gun to your head. You must give an answer. You must. I don't think he plays. Interesting. Can he go out? Well, listen, of course he can. What do you mean, can he? He's the greatest who's ever lived. You can go out any way he wants to go out. He can. But there's no woulda, coulda, shouldas about the season. Would he like to have one last season without the debilitating...

personal distractions that he had. Yeah, but then he goes out and say he does have the fairy book ending and he goes and wins the Super Bowl. He's I want to go do it again if I'm playing this good. I know. I know that's a real competitor.

See, that to me is the greatest point. It's about what you think. Like when I retired is because my body started giving up on me. You know, I couldn't do the thing like, but if I was still being able or if I still thought I could do it,

I'd still be playing. Okay, I got to ask you one other thing. Did you ever have one of those crazy Alex massages? Those insane TB12? All the time. All the time? I worked with Alex regularly. So...

Because he and I have been playing phone tag. I really want to get to know him a little better because I'm all about anybody that longevity, youthfulness, I'm down. I'm so down. But I hear they're excruciatingly painful. Is that true? They're excruciatingly painful if your body is tight. So the more you do it and the more often you get it,

Your body gets used to it. And then that's when it's not hurting, that's when the treatment's working because it's making you more pliable, more long. Your muscles are getting accustomed to it. Then you're getting more blood to your muscles. And how he uses his techniques, I mean, he has some of the best soft tissue talent and the ability to figure out

where it's hurting and why it's hurting and what areas he has to hit to make that area not hurt better than anyone I worked with. And I've worked with them all. Really? Oh, that's okay. He's a genius. I mean, he's now side by side with Tom for a reason. Yeah, for sure. No, I need to get back into that. But it is going to hurt, you know, the first few times. But you got to be able to like,

After you keep on getting on a routine with it, you feel a lot better and the pain gradually gets less and less. Awesome. Well, listen, this has been great fun. I hope you had a good time. Definitely. Big Ben. Thank you, brother. Big Ben, been watching you for years. Thanks, man. Thank you. I got so mad at you when you took Cassandra.

Oh, man. You know, if I can't run. He was too pretty. I was more like a Wayne. Yeah, listen, man. And you speak Cantonese. How did you speak Cantonese? I mean, I got all the clubs in the bag, bro. I got to use them. Someone's got to. If you have to, you use them. That's right. All right, brother. I hope I said we'll cross paths at some point, I'm sure. Definitely. Definitely. Nice man you. Thanks, man. Take care.

I could have talked to him a lot longer. I love talking sports with the studs, and that guy's a stud. Let me tell you. But if he thinks he's coming into my dojo with 80 for Brady, I will say, hey, welcome to the NFL, kid. But I am psyched to see 80 for Brady. I mean, listen, who can resist septuagenarians and Tom Brady jerseys? I know I can't. It's going to be sick. Anyway, you know what time it is. It's time to check the lowdown line.

Hello, you've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-4551. So have at it. Here's the beep. Hi, Rob. This is Sherry. I'm from Navarre Beach, Florida in the Panhandle. I am also a motorcycle enthusiast, been riding for over 20 years, and I noticed something

You had a new motorcycle on your episode one of your current season of Lone Star 911. Did you ride that bike? I have another question, and that is when you're writing your books, do you record into a messaging device so that you can write it all down later? I love your stories, love the podcast, and your books. Thanks so much.

Oh, thank you so much. I never gets old hearing those nice words. My motorcycle is a Triumph Bonneville. That's my personal motorcycle. When I was on a show called Code Black, my character rode a motorcycle and I rode my own motorcycle when I played that character. The motorcycle that you referenced in the first episode,

first episode of this year's 911 Lone Star, very excited about, is also a triumph. I like triumphs. They're my thing. They're my jam. So when I'm riding a motorcycle, that's what it usually is. In terms of my books, I am old school. I write everything by hand. All my notes are on legal pads. In fact, both of my books are

And my two prized possessions, like if, God forbid, I had to evacuate out of my house, one of the first things I'm getting are my bound legal pads of both of my books, all in my handwriting, chicken scratch, half of it's illegible, crossed out.

I can't type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts. I can barely write fast enough, but I certainly can't type. So that's why it's all longhand. And there's also, I think, something about pen to paper. There's just some zhuzh about it that I think is super special. Thanks for the call and please keep listening. Thank you all for tuning in and more fun up on deck next week on Literally.

You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced by me, Rob Schulte, with help from associate producer Sarah Bagar. Our research is done by Alyssa Grahl. The podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Joanna Solitaroff at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson at Stitcher. All of the music on this podcast was composed by Devin Bryant. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on Literally with Rob Lowe. ♪

This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.

At Ashley, you'll find colorful furniture that brings your home to life. Ashley makes it easier than ever to express your personal style with an array of looks in fun trending hues to choose from, from earth tones to vibrant colors to calming blues and greens. Ashley has pieces for every room in the house in the season's most sought after shades. A more colorful life starts at Ashley. Shop in store online today. Ashley, for the love of home.

All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I'll never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

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