Former NFL lineman and Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth joins Tom Green for a wide-ranging, deeply personal conversation that traces Schlereth’s unlikely path from Anchorage, Alaska to the National Football League. From growing up far from traditional recruiting pipelines, to battling constant injuries, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and repeated career crossroads, Schlereth shares the moments that nearly ended his football life — and the people who helped save it. Along the way, he reflects on brotherhood in the locker room, the culture of great offensive lines, the coaches who shaped him, and the friendships that defined championship teams in Denver.
Mark Schlereth sits down with Tom Green for an unforgettable episode that goes far beyond football. Schlereth opens by sharing what it was like growing up in Alaska, where opportunities were limited and the path to college football — let alone the NFL — was anything but clear. He walks through his winding journey to the University of Idaho, constant position changes, repeated surgeries, and the moment he was forced into an early retirement before stubbornly fighting his way back. Schlereth details how former teammates helped him get noticed by NFL scouts, how his career nearly ended due to Guillain-Barré syndrome, and how Denver ultimately gave him a second football life. The conversation dives deep into offensive line culture, unselfishness, mentorship, and why great units are built on trust and accountability. Schlereth also reflects on Super Bowl moments with John Elway, the coaches who saved his career, the physical toll of the game, post-career health scares, and the strange reality of aging as a former athlete who still feels 23 inside. It’s a powerful, funny, and honest look at resilience, loyalty, and what it really takes to survive the grind of professional football.
00;00;00;10 - 00;00;27;04
Tom Green
Hi everybody. Thanks for joining me for another edition of the other Tom green show. Today we start we're going to talk about a man named Robert Service. Robert Service was born in the United Kingdom, but as a young man ended up making his way to the Pacific Northwest. He eventually became well known as a poet. He wrote a lot about Alaska, and, he became so well known for some of his poems, including one called The Spell of the Yukon.
00;00;27;04 - 00;00;49;13
Tom Green
This is back in the early 20th century, and it starts out, he says, I wanted the gold and I sort it. I scribbled a scrabbled and muck like a slave. Was it famine or scurvy? I fought it, I hurled my youth into a grave. It sounds like a lot of fun in Alaska back then. Now, Robert Service, died in 1958.
00;00;49;14 - 00;01;12;07
Tom Green
It was about a year before Alaska actually achieved statehood. But they did name a high school after him outside of Anchorage. And the most famous graduate from Robert Service High School is our guest today. On the other Tom green show, Mark Schleifer joins us. Hey, if you want to have a really good time out at the airport instead of staring at your phone, you can swing by golf.
00;01;12;07 - 00;01;36;23
Tom Green
Then they have golf simulators in there. Right there on the mezzanine of the concourse. A you can go and check it out. You can buy increments of time as little as 15 minutes, depending on how much time you have to spare. They've got golf clubs. I got drinks as well. You can sit and enjoy yourself or you can hit some shots, get some practice in, maybe, set up one of the more exotic courses in the world to get in nine holes or something before your flight heads out.
00;01;36;26 - 00;01;56;08
Tom Green
Or so many people connecting through Denver. Tell them about it. You can even send them a gift card. Check them out. It's golf Incom right out at the airport.
00;01;56;11 - 00;02;03;17
Tom Green
So here he is, the most famous graduate of Service High School in Anchorage, Alaska. The great Mark Solaris joins me. Thanks for coming over.
00;02;03;19 - 00;02;06;04
Speaker 4
It is my pleasure. Always good to connect with you, Tom.
00;02;06;04 - 00;02;13;05
Tom Green
So when you were a kid growing up in Anchorage, you would get on the dog sled and go 20, 30 miles.
00;02;13;06 - 00;02;16;09
Mark Schlereth
Must you hustle? Yes. You know, you know, what's funny.
00;02;16;09 - 00;02;38;13
Speaker 4
About that is that, like, I grew up in Alaska and I always kind of scoff because people ask about igloos and dogs and polar bears. Yeah. Come on. It. Like, you guys don't know anything. But when I got drafted by the Washington Redskins, it was the first time I'd been to the East Coast. And like, I land at Dulles Airport in 28.
00;02;38;13 - 00;02;58;27
Speaker 4
Now, of 28, a sprawling highway, you know, it's got four lanes each way or whatever, but it was a two lane highway 28, and it's right by the the Dulles airport, the Redskins facility was just down the street and like trees hanging over it and everything else. And when I got there, I thought the whole East Coast was New York City.
00;02;59;01 - 00;03;20;04
Speaker 4
Like, I thought the whole eastern seaboard was nothing but like New York City. Yeah. And I get out to Virginia and I was like, is naive as people were about Alaska. I was as naive about the East Coast. So I was like, you know, I mean, touché. You get it? But, really, really cool that time and, and growing up in Alaska was just awesome.
00;03;20;07 - 00;03;28;18
Tom Green
But where you grew up, I mean, it was suburbia. It could have been anywhere. America. Sure. But it's. You were the only Alaskan to go to the NFL when you did.
00;03;28;25 - 00;03;47;18
Speaker 4
The, first guy ever born and raised in the state. Now, there were some guys that played. Rocky Cleaver played for the Jets, he played for, I think West High School. But most of the kids who had had an opportunity were transferred up there because it was a big military town. So, you know, the Air Force was there.
00;03;47;18 - 00;03;57;20
Speaker 4
That's how my dad got to Alaska. Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson was the Army base. And so it was a big you know, it was a big strategic place in, in the United States.
00;03;57;20 - 00;03;58;13
Tom Green
Russia, right?
00;03;58;13 - 00;04;11;21
Speaker 4
Yeah, exactly. From Sarah Palin's porch, you can see it. So, like there have been a couple of guys that weren't born and raised in Alaska, but I was the first guy born and raised in the state of Alaska to play in the National Football League.
00;04;11;29 - 00;04;33;12
Tom Green
So but your road, I mean, you think of, you know, all the great athletes who have kind of a blueprint, you know, you wake up and if you're Ken Griffey Jr, you wake up around the game or Boba. Sure, I'm this week and you know your path. You still have to be great. But they've they had a different path from Anchorage to the University of Idaho to the National Football League to Pro Bowls and Super Bowls.
00;04;33;14 - 00;04;36;10
Tom Green
It was not a direct path, no crooked line.
00;04;36;11 - 00;04;38;23
Mark Schlereth
It was. It was anything but. It was a very.
00;04;38;23 - 00;05;01;20
Speaker 4
Securitas path, through and to the NFL. And, you know, even even from a recruiting standpoint, like I went my first recruiting trip was to the University of Hawaii. And so I go to the University of Hawaii, and first off, it's during the Pro Bowl. And they brought a lot of recruits in during the Pro Bowl. And all the Pro Bowl players practiced at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
00;05;01;22 - 00;05;26;02
Speaker 4
And so you're standing there is you know, it was at that time, I think I was probably it was either 17 or just did turned 18. And and you're standing on the field, you know, with the coach, some of the coaches that are taking you around and you're watching Eric Dickerson and Earl Campbell and, and Joe Flacco and, and you're looking at these guys going, man, I don't have a chance.
00;05;26;02 - 00;05;26;21
Tom Green
To play with them.
00;05;26;22 - 00;05;36;29
Speaker 4
Right? To play with those dudes. Like you're just like it's you're blown away. And then I'm walking through the University of Hawaii weight room, you know, and I'm seeing all these Samoan kids that are just.
00;05;36;29 - 00;05;41;05
Mark Schlereth
And I'm like, well, I'm in the wrong business. And then and then I.
00;05;41;05 - 00;05;57;29
Speaker 4
Took a trip to Idaho and, and I was like, I got maybe I got a chance to play, like, maybe I've got a chance to play there. And the other thing for me, as a, as a kid is I was just like, man, I don't I don't want to wake up to sunshine every day of the year.
00;05;57;29 - 00;06;02;28
Speaker 4
I mean, I grew up in Alaska. There's weather, there's snow, there's. I didn't make you want sunshine.
00;06;02;28 - 00;06;03;12
Mark Schlereth
You know.
00;06;03;13 - 00;06;24;01
Speaker 4
I was just like, I think this would drive me crazy. Like, every day. Shorts and t shirt. No. And so Idaho just felt like a better fit, you know, for me. And I felt like I looked at myself realistically. Because as a kid growing up in Alaska, you know, our season was seven games. Yeah, that was it. Right.
00;06;24;01 - 00;06;55;24
Speaker 4
And you didn't play. There wasn't a playoff. If you won the you know, you won the conference. You had the best record in the conference. You were the champions. That was it. There was no there was no. So that's kind of how the whole thing operated back then. So I was like, all these other kids that are there are playing in Spokane, Washington or Seattle, Washington or wherever they came from, you know, they're playing ten, 11 game seasons and then playing in the playoffs and maybe playing 14 games in a season if they get into the state playoffs and everything else.
00;06;55;24 - 00;07;08;16
Speaker 4
And and I was just like, man, I'm not that experienced that. Haven't played a ton. And and frankly, I really don't know if I was really good in high school in Alaska. Right. But what was that competition level like?
00;07;08;16 - 00;07;20;20
Tom Green
That would be hard for them that, you know, you see it all the time, though. You know, Josh Allen, people judging him for playing college at Wyoming. How good is he really? Well, now we know. But you know, somebody had to bet on it, right?
00;07;20;22 - 00;07;36;09
Speaker 4
Yeah. Somebody has to roll the dice on you and give you an opportunity. And the two schools, it gave me opportunities. I mean, I at the time it was all Pac ten back then, you know, I follow Oregon and I follow Oregon State. And Washington was big with Don James. Yeah. You know, I really kind of thought about that.
00;07;36;09 - 00;07;57;26
Speaker 4
And they all asked me to walk on, but nobody's going to offer me a recruiting trip or offer me a scholarship. And so, you know, I didn't I had those two choices in both of those schools. Actually came up to a camp, when I was in high school, and, and, and so at this camp, you know, you ran 40s and you did vertical jumps and you did all this stuff.
00;07;57;26 - 00;08;05;20
Speaker 4
And, and both of those schools were the two schools that kind of followed me and recruited me heavily and then offered me scholarships.
00;08;05;22 - 00;08;20;28
Tom Green
So, I will say, when you're 17 or 18 year old fella and the choice is sunshine and shorts and Hawaii versus Idaho, you realize you're one of a, slim percentage that would opt for the Idaho life over the Hawaiian life.
00;08;20;29 - 00;08;22;14
Mark Schlereth
Yeah, well, you know, one of.
00;08;22;14 - 00;08;42;20
Speaker 4
The things I looked at, like I said, you know, just being realistic, was I really. I knew I was good in Alaska, but I didn't know if I was good anywhere else. And the other thing was, I was like, I looked at the athletes at Idaho versus some of the guys at Hawaii. And I thought to myself, you know what?
00;08;42;22 - 00;08;51;27
Speaker 4
I don't want to go somewhere and sit on the bench for 3 or 4 years or whatever. You know, I want to go somewhere where I feel like I can play, but not cocky.
00;08;51;27 - 00;08;53;13
Tom Green
Not cocky at all. More realistic.
00;08;53;13 - 00;08;54;18
Mark Schlereth
Yeah, very.
00;08;54;21 - 00;09;13;03
Speaker 4
Very realistic. Yeah. I was like at that place. I think that I think that, you know, I can play there and, and so I think I'll get an opportunity to play. And I thought the playing was probably and I still was naive enough to, you know, have that desire or have that belief that maybe some, some crazy could happen.
00;09;13;03 - 00;09;24;19
Speaker 4
And I get to the NFL. And so I still was always like, that was always the goal. And that's all I ever wanted to do from the time I was about, you know, 12, 11, 12 years old.
00;09;24;19 - 00;09;29;16
Tom Green
So at this point, you were strictly an offensive lineman. You've you I know you played some linebacker in high.
00;09;29;16 - 00;09;50;28
Speaker 4
School, right? I got I really got recruited. Hawaii was really look at me as a linebacker slash tight end and Idaho was looking me at more of an offensive lineman. But I was so athletically, I was athletically gifted. I you could run and jump and do all those things. And so, I, I went as an offensive lineman.
00;09;50;28 - 00;09;59;09
Speaker 4
I redshirted my first year, and then they flipped me to the defensive side of the ball. And so then I played three years of defense at the University of Idaho.
00;09;59;09 - 00;10;00;15
Tom Green
Interior like tackle.
00;10;00;15 - 00;10;06;04
Speaker 4
Yeah, like nose guard, defensive end, deep tackle. Yeah. I bounced around up and down the line of scrimmage.
00;10;06;06 - 00;10;07;27
Tom Green
This was Dennis Erickson was the coach.
00;10;07;28 - 00;10;33;07
Speaker 4
Dennis Erickson and then Keith Gilbertson after that. Okay. And you know, the issue was I just continue to get hurt. I continue to have knee surgeries and knee injuries and, and then I, and then like, after my junior year, I, I, they switched me back over to offense because we were they were struggling on the offensive line.
00;10;33;10 - 00;10;54;09
Speaker 4
And so I played center and I literally played I think my second game at center, I got my arm caught in a pile and dislocated my elbow. And so my elbow is going, you know, the opposite way it's supposed to be going. And at that point, that was like my six different surgery at the University of Idaho.
00;10;54;11 - 00;10;57;11
Speaker 4
And at that point I was actually retired from college football.
00;10;57;14 - 00;11;02;04
Tom Green
You that you couldn't physically make it. You were breaking too off.
00;11;02;04 - 00;11;28;16
Speaker 4
Yeah. The university just said, that's it. You've had done well on your scholarship and you can finish out. And so I was I was literally done from somewhere like November, my redshirt junior year. I was completely retired. I had surgery on my elbow and I'd have that fixed. And and so I was retired from like October until spring ball rolled around.
00;11;28;18 - 00;11;32;24
Speaker 4
And then I just started badgering the university to let me finish.
00;11;32;27 - 00;11;35;10
Tom Green
You felt healthy, and you just you want.
00;11;35;16 - 00;11;54;02
Speaker 4
To I just wanted to finish and I've been with these guys. And, you know, it's not like the nil stuff that goes on in today's game. Like, these guys matter to me. They're like, you know, you still have, you still have. I still have the texture. And with the inappropriate texture and with all the guys I played college football with, like, we're still every day Team extra.
00;11;54;03 - 00;11;59;00
Tom Green
Teammates, unlike today where you're kind of a more mercenary role traveling through.
00;11;59;02 - 00;12;24;24
Speaker 4
Exactly, exactly. So then I just then I just started showing up at the facility every day, like badgering the coaches and badgering people like, you guys owe this to me. Let me finish my my last year to which, you know, essentially, I like legitimately signed paperwork to limit their liability towards me. The injury risk, you know, like like, hey, 21 or whatever I was yeah, you got to sign this if you're going to play.
00;12;24;25 - 00;12;49;20
Speaker 4
Oh right. Grant Olsen you know, I don't care. And and so then I came back and and our, our fifth best offensive lineman was a center. So then they said, okay, we'll have you back. Can you play guard. And I was like, I'll play whatever. And so then I played my senior year, I played one year, of college football because, I mean, I played all four years, but I was always guy.
00;12;49;25 - 00;13;04;02
Speaker 4
I always was hurt. And so I ended up playing one year and I get done with that year, and I had a really good year. But I didn't have an agent. I didn't have any interest, I wasn't invited. Anybody's combined like it, just nothing.
00;13;04;02 - 00;13;08;11
Tom Green
And nobody may have seen Idaho back then. There's not as many televised games.
00;13;08;11 - 00;13;31;25
Speaker 4
There's not very many televised games. And and you know, I didn't have anybody pushing me. And so interestingly enough, I played with a guy by the name of Marvin Washington. We're still really good friends. And Marvin was at UTEp playing basketball, and his and the basketball team got it. The athletic department got kind of canceled, right? So he transferred to Idaho.
00;13;31;27 - 00;13;43;25
Speaker 4
And, and he ended up playing one year of college football. He played defensive end for us. And so he ended up getting like 14 sacks and was very highly kind of touted.
00;13;43;27 - 00;13;47;00
Tom Green
I remember him as a pro. He must have played over ten years and.
00;13;47;04 - 00;14;07;18
Speaker 4
Played like 11 years or 12. And and so anyhow, one day or one night I'm sitting, you know, in our, in the place where we lived in the apartment we lived in and, my phone rings and it's Marv. And he said, hey, man, so-and-so's coming to work me out of the facility tomorrow because just show up and crash the workout.
00;14;07;20 - 00;14;28;14
Speaker 4
And so, like, I had no agent, I had no interest, I had nobody calling. So I showed up at 7 a.m., introduced myself to the scouts, weighed in, did all that stuff. And then, you know, it's funny because I always give Marvin grief. He's this six foot six, you know, 265, 70 pound defensive end that's just ripped chisel for granite.
00;14;28;17 - 00;14;37;04
Speaker 4
And I benched him. I ran a faster forward than he did. I had a better vertical jump than he did. And like I crushed him in all these workouts.
00;14;37;05 - 00;14;37;23
Tom Green
Right.
00;14;37;26 - 00;14;59;01
Speaker 4
And so anyhow, that's how I got on the map. And and to his credit, man, like this is kind of the connection. And this is what I, I'm, I get sad about for college athletes in today's game. We had that connection where like he probably invited me to 8 or 10 more of his of his personal workouts to crash his workouts.
00;14;59;03 - 00;15;22;22
Speaker 4
And I whipped his ass in every workout, and he just kept inviting me. And then I got on the NFL's radar because my numbers were outrageously good, right? And, and so then teams started calling me and coming to work me out. And I probably worked out for 20 different teams over the course of the next couple of months before the draft.
00;15;22;23 - 00;15;30;06
Speaker 4
Right. And I can honestly tell you, Tom, if it wasn't for Marvin Washington, I wouldn't have played in the NFL.
00;15;30;07 - 00;15;36;15
Tom Green
Not just but the phone call. The fact that he said, right, come. I mean, he could have also just said, you know, I'm right. I'm good.
00;15;36;16 - 00;15;57;22
Speaker 4
Yeah. He knew he knew I had a dream and a desire. That's great. Right. And he just was like, man, I'm not going to be selfish. Like, just come and here's the here's the kind of the cool twist to the story. And I've told this a million times, but it's just, it's worth repeating. So after we win here in Denver, Super Bowl 32.
00;15;57;23 - 00;16;19;11
Speaker 4
Right. I'm sitting in the training room where I spent most of my most of my adult life when I was playing for the Broncos, the Redskins. So the training room packed and I it's, you know, offseason. I'm sure I had some type some procedure annual right my to clean out whatever. And and Mike Shanahan comes down and he goes, hey, listen, I think I need to talk to you.
00;16;19;14 - 00;16;39;13
Speaker 4
Oh yeah. What's up? He goes, we're trying to sign a defensive lineman guy that is a swing guy, a backup guy for us that can play deep tackle and, you know, and he goes, I don't really know this list of guys. He goes, but you've played for, you know, so long you get to know everyone. So who do you think I should sign?
00;16;39;14 - 00;16;44;10
Speaker 4
It goes. And it doesn't have to be the best player. It just has to be the best fit guy that will fit our team.
00;16;44;10 - 00;16;44;25
Tom Green
Yeah.
00;16;44;27 - 00;17;06;04
Speaker 4
So they give me the list. So give me the list. There's about seven guys on there and Marvin Washington's one of them. And I was like, there he is. Sign him. Yeah. And Mike was just like great. So he folds up the paper and takes off and and next thing you know, that afternoon, Marvin Washington's part of the Denver Broncos and Marvin on Washington.
00;17;06;05 - 00;17;21;08
Speaker 4
I play that next season, get a 98 season and win Super Bowl 33 together. And so I don't play it down the National Football League of his more if it's not for Marvin Washington and Marvin Washington doesn't win a Super Bowl. If it's not for me.
00;17;21;08 - 00;17;41;01
Tom Green
Well, your debt was paid. You you had a chance, Ryan, to settle that, which would be as a pretty big debt when you think of what that meant. And, you know, you mentioned Mike Shanahan and I think of of your football professional career with Joe Gibbs, Mike Shannon and others as well, but also the assistant coaches that you got to work for, like this week.
00;17;41;01 - 00;18;01;27
Tom Green
And we're going to talk about the Broncos game of the Patriots, the AFC Championship game this weekend. But you know, you think of Josh McDaniels matching up with Vance Joseph. And like that. Guys like Joe Bugle and Jim Hannifin and Alex Gibbs the assistant coaches that you got to work with. Those are Hall of Fame level assistant coaches with that pretty gifted.
00;18;02;05 - 00;18;35;13
Speaker 4
Yeah without question. And you know, it's funny because at the University of Idaho, I worked with a man named Dan Kizito. And Dan was unbelievable. Just an unbelievable coach and, a dear friend. Just passed away recently last year. And so Dan and I were were very tight. But I got great coaching at Idaho. And then I come into the league and Joe Bugle is, you know me he he created the Hawks all those.
00;18;35;13 - 00;18;41;05
Tom Green
And you played with them. They were still there when you got there. Yeah. The real hogs. Yeah. Jacoby's and Boss Dixon.
00;18;41;05 - 00;19;01;17
Speaker 4
Played with them all. Russ Graham and Mark May and and myself and Raleigh, McKinsey and Lashay. Yeah. And so, Ed Simmons. So. Yeah, I was part of of that group coming in and those guys were my mentors, you know, and I learned the game from those guys. And then Joe Bugle went to be the Arizona Cardinals head coach.
00;19;01;17 - 00;19;18;15
Speaker 4
And Jim Hannifin came in who was a legendary offensive line coach, a legendary coach in the league. And then I transferred, you know, here in free agency. And I had failed physicals coming out of Washington like Washington just told me, hey, we're done with you. You can't play anymore because you've had so many different in.
00;19;18;17 - 00;19;20;11
Tom Green
A cap thing. They just thought you.
00;19;20;13 - 00;19;21;06
Mark Schlereth
Yeah.
00;19;21;08 - 00;19;24;26
Tom Green
We're going to be. Well, the relationship may be the cap and money.
00;19;24;26 - 00;19;34;28
Speaker 4
Yeah. At the time, it pissed me off. Like you always as a competitor, you get mad about stuff like that. But you know, I'd had a bunch of knee surgeries, a bunch of different problem. A bunch of people.
00;19;35;00 - 00;19;36;24
Tom Green
We ends up were at 30.
00;19;36;27 - 00;19;47;13
Speaker 4
With 2020 knee surgeries, but 29 total surgeries. But but at that point it wasn't 20. You know, it was probably coming to Denver. It was probably 12.
00;19;47;14 - 00;19;48;09
Tom Green
I was only like 12.
00;19;48;12 - 00;19;55;22
Speaker 4
Yeah. But I had all these problems. But the biggest issue is I had suffer from Guillain-Barré syndrome.
00;19;55;22 - 00;19;56;12
Tom Green
Yeah.
00;19;56;14 - 00;20;18;29
Speaker 4
And so in 1993 I really played poorly. And this is the mentality of a football player. I was playing so bad and I didn't know why I was playing pain. I it was also not I was like, I've forgotten how to play football. It was so bad. And then I started losing all the feeling, my arms and legs, which was scary.
00;20;18;29 - 00;20;36;27
Speaker 4
Sure. Right. And I actually played a game in New York. I played about seven snaps, had no feeling on my feet from the like, just above my ankles down and I. This was stupid, I am. I went out and tried to play right? And I mean, I'm twisting ankles and falling all over myself and I finally pulled myself out.
00;20;36;27 - 00;20;39;25
Speaker 4
I go, there's something dramatically wrong with me.
00;20;39;25 - 00;20;43;08
Tom Green
We should tell people what barre is, and what it does is a nervous.
00;20;43;10 - 00;20;43;23
Speaker 4
Yeah.
00;20;44;00 - 00;20;45;17
Tom Green
So it's neurological, right?
00;20;45;17 - 00;21;15;24
Speaker 4
It's an actual allergic reaction to a viral infection where your body starts attacking your own central nervous system, like the central nervous system is a it is the enemy. So it reads the virus like across all your nerves. There's like a waxy coating that protects them. So it starts your, your, your own immune system starts attacking that and eating away that waxy coating which, which then exposes your nerves.
00;21;15;24 - 00;21;31;16
Speaker 4
And that's why you end up losing all. Like I lost all the feeling my legs from about my feet to my knees and my hands from my, you know, my fingers to my elbows. And, I just was just incredibly sick.
00;21;31;16 - 00;21;40;17
Tom Green
Football doesn't like that either, when it's not something, you know, like, if you tell me you sprain an ankle, pulled a hamstring, tore your ACL, they go, okay, we know, right? I already know.
00;21;40;23 - 00;21;41;16
Speaker 4
How to deal with that.
00;21;41;17 - 00;21;49;07
Tom Green
Guillain-Barre. I said, yeah, it doesn't even sound like it's from America, right, a French disease. What are you doing? Getting a French disease as a football player. All right.
00;21;49;07 - 00;22;02;26
Speaker 4
And and so for me, I mean that like my career was they didn't think I'd come back from it. Right. And so, you know, but this is the mentality of a football player. I was like, oh, thank goodness there's a reason I can't play anymore.
00;22;02;26 - 00;22;06;07
Mark Schlereth
I was like, I was like, I was almost relieved, but I just sucked.
00;22;06;07 - 00;22;37;04
Speaker 4
Yeah, I so I spent, like I spent a week in the hospital just getting tested, like Cat scans and nerve conduction studies where, the nerve conduction study is funny because they roll you down in the basement like it's something like, right. One I flew out of the cuckoo's nest right? And you're down this basement in this dank, dark like room, and then they stick needles, like, into your fingers and into your shoulder, and they connect electrodes to it, and then you have to sit.
00;22;37;06 - 00;22;41;06
Speaker 4
And I remember tapping on this, like this little foot pedal.
00;22;41;08 - 00;22;41;21
Tom Green
Right.
00;22;41;21 - 00;22;46;27
Speaker 4
And you're going to get shocked in a minute. Shocks the piss out of you. Right.
00;22;46;29 - 00;22;48;02
Mark Schlereth
This is it. And you.
00;22;48;02 - 00;22;49;08
Speaker 4
Don't know when it.
00;22;49;14 - 00;22;52;05
Mark Schlereth
Make click on the first 1st May click on the seventh one.
00;22;52;05 - 00;22;53;12
Tom Green
That's why they do it in the basement.
00;22;53;12 - 00;22;55;19
Mark Schlereth
Right. And so then it will shut.
00;22;55;19 - 00;23;19;10
Speaker 4
And it measures like how how how quickly the the electrode or the like the shock goes down from one extremity to the, to the, you know, the bottom. And I mean, there's just so many, spinal taps. I had several spinal taps which are just excruciatingly painful. Is it's just sticking this big needle into your spine and pulling out fluid, you know?
00;23;19;10 - 00;23;35;21
Speaker 4
And so there's all these all these things. And I was really, really sick for, months and months and months. And probably when I went back to training camp in July, I still I was probably only about not quite to 70.
00;23;35;26 - 00;23;37;04
Tom Green
Which was what was.
00;23;37;04 - 00;23;58;00
Speaker 4
It was I was playing at 295. Right. And so just, you know, and I still I still had a couple of toes that were completely numb. They weren't. And I really didn't get my strength back. I started really playing good football again, like November of that year where I started getting my strength back, started getting my weight back, started like all that, all that kind of stuff.
00;23;58;00 - 00;24;11;09
Speaker 4
I remember weighing in one Thursday, you know, you always have to weigh in. And I was behind our punter, and our punter weighed more than me, and I was like, he got to be kidding me. Like, like I'm starting guard.
00;24;11;09 - 00;24;14;20
Mark Schlereth
And my punter weighs more than I do.
00;24;14;22 - 00;24;26;16
Speaker 4
But anyhow, anyhow, you know, I started playing well in, in like November toward the end of the season, start playing well again. Then I went on to fail physicals at free agency happened. I started to.
00;24;26;18 - 00;24;27;14
Tom Green
Said, quit on you.
00;24;27;14 - 00;24;38;01
Speaker 4
The Redskins told me, hey, we don't think you can play anymore. So I was like, all right, well, at least I know. And you know that that always hurts to hear that. Yeah. But but you know, to to.
00;24;38;01 - 00;24;38;11
Mark Schlereth
Yeah.
00;24;38;11 - 00;25;00;24
Speaker 4
Their credit, I mean, free agency hit the phone, started ringing the very first day. I'm on it as soon as free agency hits. I'm on a plane out Chicago. But I feel that physical. Then I. Yeah, knees. And then I fly to to Indianapolis and I feel that physical. And then I fly to Atlanta and, And I feel that physical.
00;25;00;24 - 00;25;15;26
Speaker 4
I'll never forget sitting in that doctor's office with him, looking at my exam and going through things. And, and his exact quote was, you have the knees of an 80 year old woman, and I don't believe you play in yet. That's what he told me.
00;25;15;28 - 00;25;18;03
Tom Green
Were they all all failures were identical?
00;25;18;10 - 00;25;21;02
Speaker 4
Yeah. All the knee, all knee issues. Nobody would pass me.
00;25;21;05 - 00;25;28;06
Tom Green
So you you're probably starting to think that nobody's going to pass me, and I'm going to end up watching football instead of playing football.
00;25;28;08 - 00;25;43;19
Speaker 4
Exactly. Yeah. That's exactly where I was. I was like, man, this might be it. And I'm not I'm not ready for it to be. I was a 10th round draft pick from idol. I hadn't made any money. Really? Yeah. And so then it's like, well, what I'm going to do with my life, you know, my go into college, into coaching.
00;25;43;19 - 00;26;08;23
Speaker 4
I go back to Idaho and coach or whatever. So, you know, you're sitting there contemplating what are you going to do. And then Denver called me and and I literally I fly out here, you know, I'm all nervous about this physical. And I'm like, oh, man, I'll been feeling these physicals and I'm trying to I remember I had this rope that I would take with me, and I was trying to bend my knee just so I had a little bit more range of motion.
00;26;08;26 - 00;26;14;14
Speaker 4
Maybe that would help me like, oh, it's not as bad. So like my knee only that's all. It's locked right.
00;26;14;17 - 00;26;15;02
Tom Green
Here is it.
00;26;15;02 - 00;26;34;24
Speaker 4
Goes. Yeah. It's just completely locked and and it was I played that way. And so I was like, let me just try to stretch it as much as possible and, and literally doctors came in. They didn't even look at me. Hardly. I mean, I could have made like fart noises in my armpits and they would have been like, yep, you're good.
00;26;34;26 - 00;26;59;05
Speaker 4
Perfect. And so it turns out that Alice Gibbs was our offensive line coach, and he had been a fan from afar, and we had a special teams coach in Washington named Pete Rodriguez, and two of them were really friendly. They're good friends. And Pete had called Alex and Go and said to Pete's credit, now, I didn't know this until I got here.
00;26;59;08 - 00;27;18;18
Speaker 4
Pete called Alex and said, hey, listen. Like he started playing really good toward the end of the season. Like he's getting his health back and you know, Pete liked me and so and Alex had liked me. So Alex basically went to Mike Shanahan goes, I don't need to pass a physical. He will play on Sundays. I don't need him.
00;27;18;23 - 00;27;20;19
Speaker 4
I'll manage him. I'll manage his health.
00;27;20;19 - 00;27;22;18
Tom Green
So it was a fake physical. It was just like I didn't.
00;27;22;18 - 00;27;23;06
Speaker 4
Even really.
00;27;23;06 - 00;27;23;29
Tom Green
Check the box.
00;27;23;29 - 00;27;28;02
Speaker 4
Yeah, I didn't even really take a physical. They just kind of looked at me and you poked me a couple times.
00;27;28;02 - 00;27;44;18
Tom Green
When you're on that free agent tour, you know, you always think of, you know, picking your spot. Yeah. You know, you weren't picking your spot. Yeah. Anybody who called you was going to get you to come in and try to earn the job. You weren't looking to play with John Elway. You weren't. You just, grace of God pushed you here.
00;27;44;18 - 00;28;13;28
Speaker 4
I just want. Yeah, I just wanted a jersey. Like I just wanted. I just want an opportunity to compete. Just a place to play. And so this was. I mean, this was an answer prayer coming here, and it was the other thing that ended up happening is, you know, Mike Shanahan brought that San Francisco style of practice where we didn't we eliminated a lot of the the big collision contact stuff that had been part of my whole career, you know, in Washington.
00;28;14;01 - 00;28;48;21
Speaker 4
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we used to beat the snot out of one another. And so like, I remember the first practice, the first Wednesday practice, we weren't in pads. It was the first week of the season. And I was like, look around. Like, are you kidding me? Like, we're not going to hit each other in. The crazy thing was, Tom is like, you started to understand the value of the way we practice because Alex gives you set all time, full speed, no pads, and we practice like there was no real difference on the line of scrimmage without pads or with pads.
00;28;48;21 - 00;28;51;02
Speaker 4
You had a helmet. You had these little soft things to.
00;28;51;05 - 00;28;51;23
Tom Green
Shell, little.
00;28;51;24 - 00;29;02;17
Speaker 4
Shells to protect your shoulders. But you don't really. It's crazy. You don't really use your shoulder pads when you play.
00;29;02;20 - 00;29;04;07
Tom Green
You guys and your hands and legs.
00;29;04;07 - 00;29;29;03
Speaker 4
And his hands and and your forehead is is what you use. And so we practice with such speed like oftentimes you get in the game. The game felt slower than practice felt right. And so it was it was great. But what it ended up doing is like when we were pulling out and hitting the linebacker, those collisions became a thing of the past.
00;29;29;03 - 00;29;48;14
Speaker 4
Like you just fit up and it was just slamming into people on counter and all that kind of stuff. And just that, that lack of, you know, that those big collisions just helped your body that much more. And then the other thing that Mike Shanahan and I give him a lot of credit, and I tell him is all time, man.
00;29;48;18 - 00;30;08;12
Speaker 4
Like he saved my career because I wouldn't have lasted another year or two in Washington the way we practiced. Right. And I ended up playing another six here with Mike. But Alex was great. Alex gives was just awesome about being like, hey man, take these next four plays off. I don't need you for these. I don't need you here.
00;30;08;12 - 00;30;32;06
Speaker 4
We got a big blitz coming up. I'm not telling you what it is, but get in there. I want you to pick this up, okay? Right. And so for me, practice was like, if we were had a ten play period and the stars would take the first four, the backups would take the next two, you know, and then the starters would take the next four again, like I would take the first two, and then I would take the middle two of the next four.
00;30;32;08 - 00;30;39;27
Speaker 4
And so were our guys were playing eight plays. Of the 10 or 7 plays, the ten I was taken, 2 or 3 were.
00;30;39;27 - 00;30;50;15
Tom Green
Managed differently totally than the other offensive linemen completely because of your health, health issues. Yeah, they you know, I don't care how good Mark is on Wednesday. I need Mark somebody.
00;30;50;17 - 00;30;59;20
Speaker 4
Right. And they knew that like they knew that I didn't make mistakes. They knew that I understood the the offense. And I wasn't going to, you know, I was going to have busts and you.
00;30;59;20 - 00;31;02;22
Tom Green
Didn't take plays off on Sunday. You know, I played the.
00;31;02;22 - 00;31;24;27
Speaker 4
Entirety of the game on Sunday, but it was about manage me, managing me Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday so that I could play on Sundays. And and it worked out. It worked out perfectly. And you know, and then you got to have you got to have unselfish. This is all about winning it from a team standpoint. Dave D is and Vontae was my primary backup.
00;31;24;27 - 00;31;43;10
Speaker 4
And you know, we used to jokingly call him the stunt guard because Dave would practice for me and then I would play on Sundays. And this is one of the things I love about football. You know, we're sitting here in a situation where Jared Stidham is going to start in the AFC Championship game. He says hey man Bo Nix is one of my best friends in this that and the other.
00;31;43;12 - 00;32;03;29
Speaker 4
And there is this really cool aspect. And I've the only other place I have found this to be true is in parenting, where you root for the the success of others like it's your own success. Sure. Like you root for your kids like it's your like.
00;32;04;02 - 00;32;05;14
Tom Green
The whole thing, right?
00;32;05;17 - 00;32;26;01
Speaker 4
And like like you would think that that would create animosity where Dave practiced for me all week. And then I got to play on Sundays when we could be closer friends and we prep together like like we were starting like, yeah, the two of us are start like we we worked that way together. We studied film together. We did all that stuff together.
00;32;26;03 - 00;32;49;14
Tom Green
The most important unit in maybe in sports, definitely in football is an offensive line. As far as having to work in a cohesive sense as the core of, of a football team. And I've always wanted because you see good players, you see good coaches and you see offensive lines that do or don't succeed. And I just every team has good offensive linemen.
00;32;49;17 - 00;33;08;25
Tom Green
You know, every team has probably, well, most teams play a better coach than others. Is it coaching? Is it personality? Is it how does one team become a dominant offensive line team and another team ends up because those guys on other teams that are poor are probably pretty good players.
00;33;08;28 - 00;33;58;22
Speaker 4
Yeah. It really becomes your ability to play together, to see the same thing, to be on the same page and to to create that cohesive aspect of, of like, I cannot be the best I can be unless we are the best we can be. Right? And so then it becomes one of those things, you know, that, like, I still have, like I get a grin on my face just thinking about being in a team meeting on a Monday after a game and guys on an offensive line literally like ready to go to blows over who gets the responsibility for giving up a sack.
00;33;58;22 - 00;33;59;10
Speaker 4
Yeah.
00;33;59;13 - 00;34;03;08
Tom Green
That's not that wasn't me, man. Right. You're supposed to.
00;34;03;11 - 00;34;23;09
Speaker 4
Where everybody's like no no no no no no no no man. Like I could give up a sack and Gary Zimmerman would jump like on the hanger and they go, no, no, no, no, that's mine. Give it to me. The guy was supposed to drag. I jumped out too fast. I was supposed to give. You know, I was supposed to give stink some outside help, and I didn't do it.
00;34;23;16 - 00;34;31;13
Speaker 4
I'm responsible for the sack. And Tommy nail my ass like I was supposed to get over off the nose guard. We were slide in that direction.
00;34;31;14 - 00;34;33;13
Tom Green
Just trying to not have the sack. It's.
00;34;33;14 - 00;34;35;21
Speaker 4
Everybody's trying to take my responsibility.
00;34;35;21 - 00;34;37;17
Tom Green
I can be better. I could have been better.
00;34;37;17 - 00;34;42;20
Speaker 4
Like nobody wanted. Like everybody wanted to take the blame for something that went wrong.
00;34;42;25 - 00;35;05;03
Tom Green
So you spend the sweetheart years in Denver with Gary Zimmerman on your left and Tom Neil and on the right. Zimmerman's in the Hall of Fame. Many people think Tom can or will go to the Hall of Fame. Yeah, that's a pretty good rocking chair you had. I mean, you were a great player, but I imagine you've hardly ever went to the line wondering if Tom or Gary are going to help out here.
00;35;05;06 - 00;35;07;27
Mark Schlereth
Yeah, well, I be I was like, I got to.
00;35;07;27 - 00;35;24;17
Speaker 4
Pick up my game because both these guys are making me look bad, you know? I mean, they're like, it was like Gary was effortless in movement, as was Tommy. Tommy was probably the best leverage player ever played with.
00;35;24;19 - 00;35;26;22
Tom Green
He had to. He played awfully late.
00;35;26;25 - 00;35;47;04
Speaker 4
Yeah. And Tommy wasn't, like, a strong weight room guy. Tommy was not, you know, easy to make fun of him. But Tommy, like, he wasn't great weight room guy, but he was one of the strongest players I've ever played with on the field. And then Gary's fluidity of movement, like he just was unbelievable.
00;35;47;04 - 00;35;48;13
Tom Green
Seem kind of strong, too.
00;35;48;16 - 00;36;08;29
Speaker 4
Yeah, but he it was just it was more about his just movement skills, you know, big thick legs and and lower body. But he had these unbelievable just movement skills. And then you know and Gary always wanted like we'd always walk up the line of scrimmage. And Gary this two things he he'd be like and he always did this.
00;36;09;01 - 00;36;22;04
Speaker 4
And then he'd be like what do we got. Stink. What do we got? And I'd be like, just give me a second. You know, we get line of scrimmage, then, and call me and make a call. And I'd tell Gary what I thought we were going to do and this, that and the other. And then Gary Block, three dudes.
00;36;22;04 - 00;36;22;10
Speaker 4
You know.
00;36;22;10 - 00;36;28;10
Mark Schlereth
I struggle with my guy, you know, and it he made it look so easy. But Gary was Gary.
00;36;28;10 - 00;36;29;22
Speaker 4
Was hilarious because.
00;36;29;24 - 00;36;30;23
Mark Schlereth
Gary I mean.
00;36;30;23 - 00;36;55;15
Speaker 4
He's all decades 80 all decades 90s. He is a hall of Famer and he's the most nervous dude. Like I mean, he had himself convinced by Sunday that he couldn't walk anybody can't play. Right. And it just would crush everybody. So, yeah, I was I certainly I certainly was sandwiched between two unbelievably great players.
00;36;55;21 - 00;37;02;05
Tom Green
I think the I guess the iconic image of you will always be that last. Oh way touchdown.
00;37;02;07 - 00;37;02;16
Speaker 4
Yeah.
00;37;02;16 - 00;37;16;10
Tom Green
In the Super Bowl against the Falcons where the two of you were just laying on the ground. That had to be did did you know at that point what that meant. Like the game his career. All those things were probably that's the last image.
00;37;16;12 - 00;37;40;21
Speaker 4
Yeah. But it was like the story. The story the reason it's iconic is because you could see were both laughing. Yeah. In the end zone. Yeah. And so at that point we had called a QB draw. Right. And so my job is to invite the guy up field. And defensive linemen are dumb. Like if you open up and invite them up field, they're going to go up for you.
00;37;40;21 - 00;37;42;25
Mark Schlereth
Yeah. I mean, you know.
00;37;42;25 - 00;38;02;05
Speaker 4
And so I open up, invite the guy up field. He goes up field hard. Elway takes off inside. Of course now he's retracing right. So he puts his foot in the ground retraces. So I'm just trying to drive him into the endzone. And so we all kind of drive and pile into the endzone fall in the endzone. And Elway's laying there with the ball.
00;38;02;07 - 00;38;07;14
Speaker 4
And he and I are kind of face to face. But we got bodies on top of. So we're just looking at each other and.
00;38;07;16 - 00;38;08;12
Tom Green
You're stuck in the pile.
00;38;08;19 - 00;38;31;00
Speaker 4
You're stuck in the pile until everybody gets up and we're looking at each other. And like you said, the magnitude of the game, the magnitude of his career, he's going to be the MVP of the game. You just won a Super Bowl. And he's looking at me and I'm looking at him. And it's kind of one of those moments like, can you believe we just won back to back champions?
00;38;31;00 - 00;38;42;18
Speaker 4
That's kind of the moment. And so I think he was expecting something poignant from you too. And so we're both face to face mercy. And I just said.
00;38;42;20 - 00;38;58;18
Mark Schlereth
Hey buddy, how you doing. And he turned right. He started love. And he goes, and I never forget. He goes, you're an idiot. That's what he said. Well, and then we got up, we umpired. And that's when that picture that laughing.
00;38;58;18 - 00;39;00;25
Speaker 4
Is is where I said, hi buddy, how are.
00;39;00;25 - 00;39;01;07
Mark Schlereth
You?
00;39;01;10 - 00;39;07;22
Speaker 4
And he's like, you're an idiot. And that's where we were laughing. And that was it. That was that was the game.
00;39;07;25 - 00;39;19;17
Tom Green
So you mentioned earlier about being 17 or 18 and making decisions. You, in a couple days are going to hit another milestone. You're going to cross over into territory where I live.
00;39;19;20 - 00;39;24;19
Tom Green
You're going to turn 60. Yeah. That's a lot. Yeah, that's a lot of years.
00;39;24;20 - 00;39;25;08
Speaker 4
Yeah, I know.
00;39;25;10 - 00;39;34;16
Tom Green
The reason I ask you is because, all of the surgeries and all of the stuff he went through to play a few years ago, you also had to do some, some heart work.
00;39;34;16 - 00;39;34;27
Speaker 4
Yeah.
00;39;34;27 - 00;39;45;27
Tom Green
And you've talked about it. And I would think that for all the times you went in and had a scoped on or surgery done on your knee, you kind of said, I've been here, I've done that. It's no big deal. I've been in the basement where they electrified. Yeah.
00;39;45;28 - 00;39;46;18
Speaker 4
Right. Right.
00;39;46;21 - 00;40;02;23
Tom Green
But when, when they go in and want to look at your heart and do some stuff like that, that tends to be an emotional thing where we're men and women, you know, suddenly realize, okay, this is real. Yeah, yeah. How you felt.
00;40;02;26 - 00;40;28;13
Speaker 4
Going in. So I developed a fit, and, and, you know, it's very common with former athletes. It's like, I don't know what what the statistic is almost like, five times more likely. Really? Yeah. And, you know, there's a lot of theories behind it. Like the way it was explained to me is, is when you're an athlete, you like, you know, you you workout, you develop muscle.
00;40;28;13 - 00;40;53;05
Speaker 4
Well, your heart's and muscle. It actually enlarges to a degree. And then, you know, your, your electrical system is trying to send a new electrical kind of signal to the heart because of that. That's kind of the theory because it's a little bit bigger. It's a little bit. And once the electrical system changes, it's it's rhythm. You can't change it back.
00;40;53;12 - 00;41;10;17
Speaker 4
So the way they try to address it is they do what they call an ablation. So they go in through your groin and they they it this time the first time I had it, they go in with like electrode and and kind of sear your heart in a bunch of different areas where the electrical system is coming in.
00;41;10;17 - 00;41;14;10
Speaker 4
So it, it the electricity, the electrical signal can't penetrate.
00;41;14;10 - 00;41;14;28
Tom Green
Right.
00;41;15;01 - 00;41;37;29
Speaker 4
But, you know, it's, it's all through the top of your heart and it's, you know, it's pretty invasive. And and I'm telling you, Tom, I woke up from that surgery and I'd had 29 orthopedic surgery. I back surgery at 20 knee surgeries at seven elbow surgeries. I had a kidney surgery. I had all kinds of different things.
00;41;37;29 - 00;42;02;12
Speaker 4
Over the course of my career. I've never been in more pain that I was, and it was like four days. I was, I thought I was going to die. I literally woke up and thought I was going to die and I couldn't breathe. I mean, I couldn't take a breath. I was in so much pain. Well, when they went in, they accidentally, accidentally, like, cut my heart.
00;42;02;12 - 00;42;05;03
Tom Green
They nicked Nick my heart. It's always the worry, right?
00;42;05;03 - 00;42;25;28
Speaker 4
And then it bled. And so then they had to pull over. But, you know, they had aspirate all the blood out of my chest. Well, I got out. I think I went into the surgery at, at like 243. I came out at 268. Two days later. Really? I was so swollen. Oh. And I mean, it hurt. So I got the lyric.
00;42;25;28 - 00;42;48;18
Speaker 4
Couldn't breathe. I was in so much pain when I lay in bed, I couldn't move. It just was. It was horrendous. So anyhow, it, you know, it dissipated over the years. And then I fell back into AFib a year ago and I had the surgery again. But just in two years time, they now they do it through kind of this microwave.
00;42;48;22 - 00;42;49;14
Tom Green
Oh okay.
00;42;49;14 - 00;42;56;09
Speaker 4
And I went in, I had it I came out I the same day. It was a, it was a.
00;42;56;13 - 00;42;58;02
Tom Green
Completely different experience. Yeah.
00;42;58;02 - 00;42;59;26
Speaker 4
I was like, oh I'm fine. This didn't even hurt.
00;43;00;03 - 00;43;01;02
Tom Green
I'm going to Jiffy Lube.
00;43;01;02 - 00;43;24;05
Speaker 4
Right. Exactly. So I'm just so thankful for that. And Doctor Sundaram who did it and he's he's an unbelievable surgeon. But yeah like it it is. That's one of those things that you start to look at and you know, and it's so funny because I think when you're a younger person, you know, you see your, your parents and you grow up and you think, gosh, 60 years old.
00;43;24;06 - 00;43;24;13
Tom Green
Pretty.
00;43;24;13 - 00;43;32;14
Speaker 4
Old, right? And then you hit, then you hit the stage. And I like I still have the text. And I said, with all my buddies, I still look in the mirror and see 23 I'm like, let's go.
00;43;32;14 - 00;43;35;24
Mark Schlereth
I, I'm like, you know. So it's funny how you.
00;43;35;24 - 00;43;37;13
Speaker 4
Perspective changes.
00;43;37;13 - 00;43;38;03
Tom Green
Entirely.
00;43;38;03 - 00;44;00;08
Speaker 4
Yeah. And and it's so funny because I travel around the league every week and I call games and I meet with players and coaches and, and, most of the kids who play in the NFL, they have no idea. No idea that I played, you know, like I did a game. I did a game the Chicago Bears and a guy by the name of Montes.
00;44;00;08 - 00;44;01;16
Speaker 4
What plays defensive end?
00;44;01;17 - 00;44;01;28
Tom Green
Good one.
00;44;02;05 - 00;44;19;17
Speaker 4
Yeah, it's a good player. And he was originally a draft choice of the Washington Commanders. It was the Washington Football Team, I think, at the time. But, I'm sitting in there and he walks in and I shake hands and he's like. And at this point it's a couple of years ago. So I was really lifting hard at the time.
00;44;19;20 - 00;44;29;25
Speaker 4
So it was still pretty yoked. And he the cheeks, my hand looks him goes, wow, you pretty big. Did you used to play? And I go, yeah, I play. And he goes, college. And I said, yeah, I played in college.
00;44;29;25 - 00;44;36;13
Mark Schlereth
He goes, all right. And he sits down. And my producers annoyed, you know, and he goes, yeah.
00;44;36;13 - 00;44;38;20
Speaker 4
He, he started for 12 years, you know, he.
00;44;38;20 - 00;44;39;25
Mark Schlereth
Goes, he played.
00;44;39;25 - 00;44;46;20
Speaker 4
He played in three Super Bowls. And matter of fact, he goes every day. You walked into the the Redskins facility. There's a picture of him.
00;44;46;20 - 00;44;48;20
Mark Schlereth
On the wall, you know, hold the.
00;44;48;20 - 00;44;49;19
Speaker 4
Lombardi Trophy.
00;44;49;19 - 00;44;50;21
Mark Schlereth
Type of thing. You know it's nice.
00;44;50;21 - 00;44;51;22
Tom Green
That he said it. So you.
00;44;51;22 - 00;44;53;23
Mark Schlereth
Didn't right. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm right.
00;44;53;23 - 00;44;54;19
Tom Green
There. Montez.
00;44;54;20 - 00;44;55;20
Mark Schlereth
Right. I was like.
00;44;55;20 - 00;45;15;14
Speaker 4
You know, calm down. It's okay. But, it's it's funny because I grew up and I loved the NFL and I was a huge Steeler fan growing up. And, like, one of my great childhood memories is my dad taking me to Seattle to see the Steelers play after they had won four Super Bowls. It was like one of the years right afterwards.
00;45;15;14 - 00;45;36;23
Speaker 4
And, you know, standing in the hall hotel lobby getting Bradshaw swung on and stalwarts autographs and Frank O'Hara's and L.C. Greenwood and you mean Joe Green and and talking to, you know, talking to Jack Ham and Jack Lambert and like, I'm just in my element, right. And my favorite player of all time was Mike Webster.
00;45;36;25 - 00;45;37;17
Tom Green
Say yeah.
00;45;37;19 - 00;46;04;17
Speaker 4
And get Mike Webster's autograph and and doing all that. And the craziest thing is, like, today, I know I play in golf tournaments with those guys. I know those guys and I still pinch myself. So I was I was covered a Super Bowl back when I worked at ESPN in Arizona and and walking through the lobby and I'm walking with Trey Wingo and, across the lobby is Mel Blond.
00;46;04;20 - 00;46;24;16
Speaker 4
And I've never met Mel blunt time. And I'm like, Trey, I was like, oh my God, that's Mel blond. Like. And he's like, yeah. I'm like, oh my is I'm just you see the fan, right? So we're walking by and Mel peels off from the people. He's talking to is like, Amen. Mark, how you doing? Yeah. And I acted, Tom.
00;46;24;16 - 00;46;29;27
Speaker 4
I acted like I was cool, like, hey, Mel, how's it going? You know, no big deal. Then I ran upstairs and called my wife.
00;46;30;02 - 00;46;33;09
Mark Schlereth
Was like, you never going to believe you. Like you're never gonna believe who?
00;46;33;09 - 00;46;36;16
Speaker 4
Mel blond. And she was like, Who's Mel Blunt? And I was like, woman, I.
00;46;36;16 - 00;46;38;19
Mark Schlereth
Don't even know you, like, hang up.
00;46;38;19 - 00;46;41;09
Tom Green
Everybody knows who Mel Blunt is. 47.
00;46;41;09 - 00;46;46;29
Speaker 4
But I still like the first time I met Franco Harris. Yeah, like, I was like, oh, my gosh, it's Franco Harris.
00;46;47;06 - 00;47;18;23
Tom Green
So when you talked about, after playing offensive linemen in particular, either go up or down in weight, sometimes significantly. You look at Joe Thomas now, Orlando Franklin, the guys who've lost significant weight. And then there's some who I think, you know, go up towards 350, 400. Do they stop working out and keep keep the diet is it is do you think it's that the bodies are fake when you play like you have to make yourself way to 95 when you did.
00;47;18;25 - 00;47;31;25
Tom Green
Yeah. That that wasn't really like if Mark Earth had never come back to the University of Idaho and instead become a CPA, you'd have been a big guy and you would have weighed 228. Yeah, that's how it would it be.
00;47;31;25 - 00;47;50;14
Speaker 4
One no question. And I think one of the things that you, you do is when you find kind of your lane and say, man, this what I'm going to do, and then it's always about, well, I'm not big enough or I'm not heavy enough or I'm not. So then, you know, you get to the point where you just gorge yourself at every, at every meet.
00;47;50;15 - 00;47;50;24
Tom Green
Five.
00;47;50;24 - 00;48;13;24
Speaker 4
Meals. Yeah. You just and you're just putting in consuming calories. Right. And you're lifting, you're working out in your younger and you're doing all that stuff well. You develop those habits. It's really hard to cut those habits. And and for me, it was always a strange just to be heavy enough. And so when I first retired, man, I dropped my got a ton of weight right off the bat.
00;48;13;26 - 00;48;36;29
Speaker 4
And that was pretty easy. But those old habits die hard, right? I still eat too much. And, and so and then, as you know, as you get older, your, your body, your metabolism doesn't work the same. And so then you start eating like that and, and you put on weight pretty quickly. For me it's it's funny too, because I could turn around and be 280 like nothing now, right?
00;48;36;29 - 00;48;55;07
Speaker 4
It it just be easy and it's always funny because I usually start the season. It's about this time of year. I go, okay, I'm going to buckle down, I'm going to start eating right. I'm going to keep working out and doing all that stuff. And then the season rolls around and I usually start the season like right around between 245 and 250.
00;48;55;07 - 00;48;56;01
Speaker 4
You know, somewhere in.
00;48;56;01 - 00;48;57;10
Tom Green
There, good weight. Right?
00;48;57;10 - 00;49;15;28
Speaker 4
And then by the end of the season, I'm 266. You know, that's hotels and. Right. Yeah. Yeah. It's the whole it's the whole nine yards. So you've got to be really diligent about about what you eat and consume. And and I still again it comes back down to I don't look at myself as I'm going to be 60.
00;49;16;00 - 00;49;33;18
Speaker 4
I still see myself, like I said, it's 23. So I'm just do whatever I want to do. And and you know, you get to the point where you can't. I will say this though, when I'm when I'm not too beat up, I still get in the gym. I still try to lift a storm. Freakishly strong.
00;49;33;18 - 00;49;34;02
Tom Green
Right.
00;49;34;02 - 00;49;47;21
Speaker 4
And that has never left me. But I that part, like my body, feels better when I lift weights, right? If I don't lift weights, I. My shoulders hurt, my elbows, my everything aches.
00;49;47;21 - 00;49;50;03
Tom Green
I go the other way. Yeah. If I do anything, I hurt.
00;49;50;03 - 00;49;57;22
Speaker 4
Right. So I've got I've got to do that, you know. And I don't go crazy. But I try to, I try to be in the gym two, three days a week.
00;49;57;22 - 00;50;02;28
Tom Green
So you get out of the league and, you got to be slim and sexy if you're going to be a soap opera star. Right.
00;50;02;28 - 00;50;03;16
Speaker 4
Exactly.
00;50;03;16 - 00;50;07;11
Tom Green
I mean, detective Rock Hoover's not going to be some fat slob.
00;50;07;13 - 00;50;08;09
Speaker 4
Exactly.
00;50;08;09 - 00;50;19;06
Tom Green
You're right. So you had a couple of acting things, the guiding light. And that had to be a it was kind of a lark, right? I mean, it's just. Sure. I'll do it. If you want me, I'll do it right. Paid to look good, right?
00;50;19;06 - 00;50;27;22
Speaker 4
I was I was sitting in the I thought I was getting punk because I was sitting in the, ESPN newsroom when I got the email, you know, and as soon as I get the.
00;50;27;29 - 00;50;29;23
Tom Green
Guiding light for.com from from.
00;50;29;23 - 00;50;38;22
Speaker 4
The guiding light and, you know, and the and the casting director of the Guiding Light. And so I read this email and I'm like.
00;50;38;25 - 00;50;43;16
Mark Schlereth
Looking around for cameras like, are you guys a because it was a it was a ridiculous email.
00;50;43;16 - 00;50;48;23
Speaker 4
It was like, hey, man, we really like your television presence. And we think you have that soap opera look.
00;50;48;25 - 00;50;58;15
Mark Schlereth
Yeah. Oh, look. For sure, somebody if for sure wing goes punking me, right? That's what I thought. So loved it, right? Yeah. And so I just put.
00;50;58;15 - 00;51;26;28
Speaker 4
The email away and I go, I'll call when I'm not around here. Right? Yeah. So I call this, but I still am. Connect with the guy. His name is Rob Dossena was the casting director. And Rob was like, hey man, we'd love to have you come up and read and whatever. And, so I went up to New York one day that flew into New York and, and, you know, read two lines or whatever it was and bam, next thing you know, I'm detective Rock Hoover, a great name.
00;51;26;29 - 00;51;48;24
Speaker 4
Yeah. And and so I spent two years and it was just, you know, maybe once a month. I probably did 15 or 20 appearances on The Guiding Light. And I always joke around, though, that that the Guiding Light was on for 72 years. Yeah, it started on radio before it went to TV. It took me two years of recurring appearances to get it canceled.
00;51;48;27 - 00;51;53;22
Mark Schlereth
Right. So I made it what it is today. Yeah, that's my yes. That's my claim to fame is.
00;51;53;22 - 00;51;54;16
Speaker 4
I got that show.
00;51;54;16 - 00;52;05;02
Tom Green
Canceled. Then you did Red Dawn. You did some other stuff. Did did it was acting. I mean, did you think how hard could it be or did you think I should do this? I like doing this.
00;52;05;05 - 00;52;18;15
Speaker 4
No, I mean, it wasn't, you know, I got some opportunities and and took advantage of those. And they were they were fun, you know, they were fun. You know, one of the things that was really cool is I ended up selling some sitcoms.
00;52;18;17 - 00;52;19;18
Tom Green
Okay.
00;52;19;20 - 00;52;23;16
Speaker 4
And so I, I created some sitcoms and sold a couple of sitcoms and.
00;52;23;18 - 00;52;25;20
Tom Green
These are ideas you, you wrote or.
00;52;25;21 - 00;52;26;18
Mark Schlereth
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00;52;26;18 - 00;53;04;21
Speaker 4
And then I just happened to meet some people at the SBS. I met Steve Levinson, who created entourage and created, you know, the Ballers with rocket. I appeared on a bunch and and so we were just talking at a kind of afterparty, and, it was funny because, my wife and my daughters were there, and and so I'm talking to him, and they're having a conversation, and I'm pitching this idea and literally, no offense, like, I'm going to use the guy's name.
00;53;04;21 - 00;53;18;13
Speaker 4
And he was great. We were funny. But Jeremy Shockey comes kind of stumbling over and starts hitting on my wife, and I'm like, I go, I was like, I'm talking to these guys like about this idea. I got to go, hold on. I walk over and go, hey, Jeremy, that's my wife. And oh.
00;53;18;13 - 00;53;20;18
Mark Schlereth
Dude, sorry, guy. Right?
00;53;20;23 - 00;53;23;28
Tom Green
So this is at the height of Jeremy shock. Yeah, something like this.
00;53;23;28 - 00;53;27;13
Mark Schlereth
Jerry. Jerry. Jacob. Jeremy. Shocked. Right. And it was it was great.
00;53;27;13 - 00;53;55;19
Speaker 4
And so anyway, I come back over and they're howling, right. They're like, this is great. And so the whole premise of the show was based on kind of playing in the NFL for a long time, and then retiring and trying to figure out what's next in life. And so it was really interesting because it was like, you know, you you walk out the door to play in the NFL season and you're you see your teammates more, you see your family.
00;53;55;19 - 00;53;56;08
Tom Green
Yeah.
00;53;56;10 - 00;54;18;08
Speaker 4
And and so your wife has all these things she does like taking the kids to school, picking them up and doing all the things Kellen does. Right. And and she's in charge of everything and you pay no attention. So she's running, she's got systems and she's got all these things together. And then you your season's over and you come in, you're like.
00;54;18;08 - 00;54;35;25
Mark Schlereth
I don't like the way this is running, you know? And you're like. And your wife is like, shut up. Like, you haven't been here. You haven't been here for seven months. And then we used to go to training camp in Greeley. We'd be up there for 4 or 5 weeks, right? Like I spent over a year of my life sitting in a dorm room playing professional football.
00;54;35;25 - 00;54;43;23
Mark Schlereth
Right. So she's like, you have no say. Like, we've got our structure. We've got our system all set. Yeah. We're set. We don't need your help.
00;54;43;25 - 00;55;20;13
Speaker 4
And so it's it's just funny how things operate that way. And so we wrote the, the whole script on the premise of, you know, this guy that played for a long time that retires and Rob Riggle played me and Rob and I are friends and, we had we had a gas and we ended up writing it, and then CBS picked it up, and then we, we shot the the we shot the the, pilot, and, it came down, really came down to like, us and two broke girls, and they had room for one one deal, and they took two broke.
00;55;20;17 - 00;55;20;23
Tom Green
Yeah.
00;55;20;23 - 00;55;25;18
Speaker 4
That's that's and and the thing is, is because when they buy it, they own it.
00;55;25;21 - 00;55;27;11
Tom Green
Oh, okay. So you can't.
00;55;27;11 - 00;55;34;02
Speaker 4
Go shop it somewhere else, right? They own it. And so they say no and they stick it on a shelf and it it goes away.
00;55;34;02 - 00;55;35;00
Tom Green
Thanks. Yeah.
00;55;35;04 - 00;55;36;23
Mark Schlereth
Well so but and then.
00;55;36;23 - 00;55;53;22
Speaker 4
I sold another I sold another couple of of sitcoms that didn't get to be made into pilots, but they bought them. And so then it was just kind of one of those things where I really at one point I just kind of looked at and go, I'm not going to make a living.
00;55;53;24 - 00;55;55;04
Tom Green
Writing sitcom, right?
00;55;55;04 - 00;55;59;25
Speaker 4
And doing this like, I need to kind of stay in my lane and stay with the football.
00;55;59;25 - 00;56;18;08
Tom Green
So your TV career has been great, ESPN and Fox and it's, it's been so cool to see. And then, you had such a great, weekend this past weekend, the Broncos beat the bills. And there you are hanging around with Peyton Manning, which caused a lot of consternation with your morning radio partners.
00;56;18;08 - 00;56;19;19
Speaker 4
It did.
00;56;19;21 - 00;56;28;09
Tom Green
Because it sounds like Peyton Manning is more likely not to have Mike Evans up in the box than Brandon Stokely. Stoke failed to show for last last week's game.
00;56;28;09 - 00;56;36;14
Speaker 4
Yeah, I mean, he got the invitation. Stoke got the invitation. Stoke didn't show. Thought he was going to be a good parent and stay home with his boys and.
00;56;36;16 - 00;56;37;00
Mark Schlereth
Yeah.
00;56;37;03 - 00;56;45;11
Tom Green
That was a great crowd you were with. I mean, I looked at that clip of video and you're there and you see Shannon and TD and I mean, it's the who's who of Bronco football in many ways.
00;56;45;11 - 00;56;54;12
Speaker 4
Yeah, it's all us Hall of Famers in all of us. Ring of Famers minus one. There's only one guy in there and have the Ring of Fame. Maybe this is the precursor.
00;56;54;12 - 00;56;57;12
Tom Green
Yeah, that's who they want to see if they just re. Okay.
00;56;57;12 - 00;56;58;29
Mark Schlereth
Grease the skids right.
00;56;58;29 - 00;57;01;02
Speaker 4
Into the Ring of fame.
00;57;01;05 - 00;57;03;02
Mark Schlereth
No, it was it was really cool.
00;57;03;02 - 00;57;30;01
Speaker 4
You know, obviously played with Terrell, played with Shannon. And great to reconnect with those guys. Although, you know, Tedy and I coached on Peyton Manning's, you know, on his, Pop Warner team. So we were we were coaches on the team so we'd see each other. Yeah, we've seen each other a bunch, but, but reconnect with Shannon and then DeMarcus coming in and and you know, I, I know DeMarcus but I like I didn't play with DeMarcus.
00;57;30;01 - 00;57;43;03
Speaker 4
And we haven't spent a lot of time together. So just connecting with him and then obviously connecting with Peyton. And that was it was really cool. It's really cool sitting down with guys that have played but played different positions.
00;57;43;05 - 00;58;01;24
Tom Green
Yeah, but you're not doing and you don't have to do what you do for Fox. You don't have to do color commentary. You know, you're not knowing, but your eyes are gravitated toward the line play. Yeah DeMarcus was looking at edge rushers right. Peyton's watching what a quarterback. Yeah that's must have been fascinating.
00;58;01;27 - 00;58;22;18
Speaker 4
You know you you you view the game I always view it through a straw hole. You know you you watch it through the lens with which you played. And then to be with Peyton and to pick his brain on some things. And like they break the huddle and they line up and he'll just be like, oh, cover two man.
00;58;22;18 - 00;58;28;23
Speaker 4
Coming up. You know, I know. And I'm like, I can figure out what the coverage is. If I rewind it seven times, you know, like.
00;58;28;23 - 00;58;29;27
Mark Schlereth
Okay, all right, that.
00;58;29;27 - 00;58;35;27
Speaker 4
Guy's in the flat and that guy's, you know, the hook player and that, you know, and and he just sees it.
00;58;36;01 - 00;58;36;15
Tom Green
Yeah.
00;58;36;15 - 00;58;39;06
Speaker 4
And it just is it just is different.
00;58;39;07 - 00;58;41;01
Tom Green
His his brain is different.
00;58;41;01 - 00;58;59;11
Speaker 4
Yeah. It's different from because he looks at it like, hey man, I'm playing quarterback. I'm first thing I'm doing is looking at coverage. First thing I'm doing is looking at the front. You know, I'm like, hey, what are they in over front of there and under front. They're even front. And then I'm like, hey, what potential? Hey man, is that is that guy that's pressed on the corner in the slot?
00;58;59;12 - 00;59;01;01
Speaker 4
Is that guy a potential blitzer.
00;59;01;03 - 00;59;02;10
Tom Green
Based on their.
00;59;02;12 - 00;59;24;28
Speaker 4
Body language? And so I'm looking at things differently than he's looking at things. And so it's really cool to just kind of connect with guys and and have they're, you know, picking their brains. Like Shannon said, one of the funniest things like I've ever heard, we through this flat route to one of our tight ends and Shannon like beside himself, he goes, dude's got a knee brace on you.
00;59;24;28 - 00;59;41;02
Mark Schlereth
Don't throw it to a tight end with a knee brace on, hey, that guy's supposed to be blocking it. Yeah, like for me, I just, I, like, burst out laughing, like, because I would never see that, wouldn't it resonated with me, right? He's like, you can't throw it to a tight end with a knee brace. What are you going to do?
00;59;41;05 - 00;59;48;09
Mark Schlereth
You're going to get two yards just like you got. He's oh he's beside himself like you can't do that. And so it's just really funny you know.
00;59;48;09 - 01;00;04;26
Tom Green
So let's talk about what happens this week. Now throwing it to the tight end with a knee brace or what is Jarrett Stidham going to do. Obviously a shock to the system for all of the Broncos. But you know in retrospect do you think everyone was kind of wondering why Sean Payton came right back out and said it?
01;00;04;26 - 01;00;18;09
Tom Green
And I think what we're seeing now this week is the evolution of why he said it. Then he ripped the Band-Aid off. He turned the page. We're going to go beat the Patriots with Jarrett Stidham right. So can they go beat the Patriots with Jarrett Stidham.
01;00;18;14 - 01;00;40;21
Speaker 4
I think one thing that Nick Sean does a tremendous job of of instilling confidence in his players and and putting the pressure on his players. And so go back to the beginning of the season, Sean said. Hey man, I've had six teams in the history of my coaching career that I thought could win the Super Bowl, and this is the seventh team.
01;00;40;23 - 01;00;46;19
Speaker 4
And everybody said, why would you put that much pressure on your guys? Because I have an expectation of you guys.
01;00;46;19 - 01;00;47;01
Tom Green
Yeah.
01;00;47;08 - 01;01;04;00
Speaker 4
And I think you're this talented compared to the other teams that I've had that have, you know, have gone to NFC Championships, one that won a Super Bowl. And I'm putting it on you guys like this is my expectation of you. And so he comes right out and says hey man Jared system is going to rip it. He's going to be fine.
01;01;04;03 - 01;01;28;27
Speaker 4
And you got to understand George, Dan has been in this system now for three years. He's been you know he's been playing for Sean Payton. He was backing up Russ. He's backing up Bo. He's played well in preseason. I think they have a ton of confidence like my worry. And it's funny how the narrative what happens with the narrative because if Bo doesn't break his ankle, the narrative this week is way different.
01;01;28;27 - 01;01;31;25
Tom Green
Yeah, the whole game is being talked about different. Right.
01;01;31;27 - 01;01;52;07
Speaker 4
And my fear coming out of that game, when I heard the news about Bo, wasn't that Jared Stidham was not going to be able to play or oh no, we have no chance. I was like, he'll be fine. Like they'll figure out like he like Sean does a great job. And I've talked to Sean about this before, like when I first started going to Fox and Sean.
01;01;52;07 - 01;02;13;27
Speaker 4
I've been friends for a long time. I actually I actually consulted for the Saints back when John was a coach. There. So like I had called him and said, hey, man, just from a game planning standpoint, like walk through what's important. And he was like, oh, it was when I was a young coach, I used to see a weakness of the defense and be like, I'm going to attack, attack, attack, attack.
01;02;14;00 - 01;02;18;00
Speaker 4
And even if it meant I put somebody in an unfavorable position.
01;02;18;01 - 01;02;18;28
Tom Green
On his own team.
01;02;18;28 - 01;02;40;12
Speaker 4
On my own team. Yeah. He goes, now I look at it like, listen, if I put a guy in a in a bad position and that guy gets beat, you can't be mad at him. You got to be mad at your son. You. Yeah, it's on me. So my first priority is to mitigate my own weaknesses before I attack the weaknesses of the defense.
01;02;40;14 - 01;03;00;11
Speaker 4
And he goes, so I've kind of changed the way I do things. So for Jarrett Stidham like he'll put Jared Stidham in the best position to execute. What Jared is good at executing I don't have any. Like my fear wasn't about Jared sit and play him. My fear was our defense did not play good football.
01;03;00;16 - 01;03;16;29
Tom Green
I think that's the key for this game will be the Denver defense. If they return to the form they saw in the first two thirds of the season. They can dictate the game. I think the Broncos need to try to find a way to get ahead, stay ahead. But it's also you know, the defense has the challenge.
01;03;16;29 - 01;03;34;10
Tom Green
The other ten starters on offense too. You know you talk about raising your game well you're in the AFC championship game. You've already played great football. But what do you feel if you're the left guard on that team. And now you know that this is Jarrett Stidham. This is not Bo Nix. It may change this that or the other thing.
01;03;34;12 - 01;03;38;05
Tom Green
But I got to be good I got to be really good I got to be on point every play.
01;03;38;07 - 01;03;59;07
Speaker 4
Well you've got to regardless because every time you line up it's the NFL. And those guys are good across from me. And and New England is like New England. I've done several new England games. They're good man. They have good. They've got a couple good edge guys. They're really good inside. Barmore is good. You know Milton Williams is a really good player.
01;03;59;09 - 01;04;19;21
Speaker 4
They're linebackers. Spillane is a guy that played for Vrabel in Tennessee. Christian Ellis can run and he's. And then they've got two legit corners. Like Khalil Davis is a really good core. He's got great ball skills. Everything else I think I think with Gonzalez is is probably one of the top 3 or 4 corners in the, in football.
01;04;19;26 - 01;04;49;23
Speaker 4
So they're they're really solid. And one thing I know about Vrabel and and I played a bunch against Vrabel. And I've known Vrabel for a long time. They are going to they want to and they demand that their team capture the line of scrimmage. And you know we get so enamored with quarterbacks and receivers and throwing the football and this that and the other that if all you do every week is dominate the line of scrimmage, you're going to win 85, 90% of the games.
01;04;49;23 - 01;05;09;20
Speaker 4
Yeah. And that's one of the big identity things that he talks about all the time. And and so it'll be it'll be really interesting. But we you know the Broncos, the Broncos got out schemed out, played out executed on the defensive side of the ball. Now the great news is they created five turnovers.
01;05;09;22 - 01;05;10;19
Tom Green
Turnovers. Yeah.
01;05;10;19 - 01;05;20;01
Speaker 4
And that was that was the big difference. If you play that way and you don't create you don't. You're not. Plus in the turnover battle you don't have a plus three in the you'll lose.
01;05;20;01 - 01;05;21;06
Tom Green
Yeah.
01;05;21;09 - 01;05;36;14
Speaker 4
And so they have to be they have to be a lot better. And I thought Buffalo schematically did a great job of exposing a few things. I thought the other thing that happened is, you know, crowd noise is huge in that crowd was unbelievable.
01;05;36;21 - 01;05;38;18
Tom Green
I mean, on what's happened this year.
01;05;38;20 - 01;06;06;22
Speaker 4
I, you know, it's so funny because as, as a player, you're so myopic in your focus of doing what you got to do. And I know that the crowd noise is always loud, but, you know, being at home for us as an offense, it didn't affect us. Right. But, being there, it was incredible. But what one of the things that I came away with is I'm glad we got that first game out of the way, because I thought our defense struggled handling that crowd noise worse than Buffalo.
01;06;06;24 - 01;06;07;23
Tom Green
Like and James Cook.
01;06;07;28 - 01;06;08;28
Mark Schlereth
Yeah yeah yeah.
01;06;09;05 - 01;06;13;05
Tom Green
So he's in a running back. And Ryan New England's going to want to run the ball there.
01;06;13;08 - 01;06;14;10
Mark Schlereth
And they've got they've got.
01;06;14;10 - 01;06;25;29
Speaker 4
You know Stevenson's a really good player. Henderson's a really good player. They've got schematically they're ready and you can say whatever you want about Josh McDaniels. And I know a lot of people don't like him here, but that dude's a damn good offensive player. Really good.
01;06;26;02 - 01;06;33;00
Tom Green
So if you were to speak to the team on Sunday before the game, would you read them a Robert Service poem, something to, you know, fire them up?
01;06;33;06 - 01;06;37;07
Speaker 4
No no, no. Would not I would not do that.
01;06;37;12 - 01;06;38;03
Tom Green
But you.
01;06;38;05 - 01;06;38;11
Speaker 4
You.
01;06;38;11 - 01;06;52;20
Tom Green
You won three Super Bowls. I mean, you know, here you stand, you know. And for all the good luck, bad luck, injuries, things that happened to you along the way, here, you stand with the window, that opportunity that not many players, even teams get.
01;06;52;25 - 01;06;53;11
Speaker 4
Yeah.
01;06;53;12 - 01;06;54;01
Tom Green
It's pretty special.
01;06;54;04 - 01;07;22;04
Speaker 4
It's a it's a very special opportunity. And you know I just think back to my own career, you just don't want to let your teammates down. And the other thing I always tell teams, you know, when I've had an opportunity to talk to more players is they it's it's got to be that that sacrificial aspect of caring more about the guy that you play next to than you care about yourself doing whatever it takes to to win from that aspect.
01;07;22;04 - 01;07;48;12
Speaker 4
And then it's just a football game. Yeah. And and it's, it's really like I get the, the pomp and circumstance and I get the excitement and all that stuff. But once you get that first hit in, like, I can tell you, I started and got introduced in three different Super Bowls and once you get that first contact, that first hit, I never once went to the bench and going, wow, 100 million people are watching us or what?
01;07;48;15 - 01;07;54;00
Speaker 4
I never thought about, I just thought about what I had to do to be successful to help our team win.
01;07;54;05 - 01;08;02;12
Tom Green
It seems like it's hard to get the game started, like for most players, like the game just won't ever start, you know? Yeah, it's just hours and hours of can we just just.
01;08;02;16 - 01;08;18;02
Speaker 4
Now we I would just the me personally I'd just like to snap them at 9 a.m. be done with them, you know. But yeah, it is like, but when you get it like once the game starts, man, it's just about it's just a football game like any other football game. And I get that. It's like it's bigger.
01;08;18;02 - 01;08;24;12
Speaker 4
But you know, I think we can make it a lot bigger than it truly is in our heads. So we just go out there and you just execute.
01;08;24;15 - 01;08;34;18
Tom Green
Mark, I really appreciate you coming by spending some time with me. God, it's been fun. And, I always enjoy all of your work. But to get to sit down and chat with you today has been really cool. Thank you.
01;08;34;20 - 01;08;41;23
Speaker 4
It's been my pleasure. And it's always, It's always good. Connected. Thanks, but you got it.
01;08;41;26 - 01;08;55;05
Tom Green
Obviously a great opportunity to visit with Mark Slater talking about championship football and a life well-lived. We will, of course, continue here on the other Tom green show. So we're looking forward to seeing you back here again next week.