NFL Players: Second ActsChris Harris, Jr. on his NFL retirement, Champ Bailey mentorship, reclaiming land in Tulsa
On the latest NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, Peanut and Roman are joined by Super Bowl champion cornerback Chris Harris, Jr. During an improbable 12-year NFL career after going undrafted in 2011, Chris not only won a title, but he turned himself into an All-Pro, and was a vaunted member of the Denver Broncos “No Fly Zone” secondary that’s still considered one of the best defensive back groups in NFL history. After not playing in 2023, despite staying in shape in case a team called, Chris talks to the guys about why he is now officially retiring from the NFL. The three guys also take us behind the scenes of the drama that unfolded in Super Bowl 50, and Chris explains why he stands by his post-game comments about Cam Newton that sparked a controversy that’s still talked about today.
The NFL Players: Second Acts podcast is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Radio.
We had already seen the gutlet like we've already seen Big Bean. Then we had to see Tom Brady. We wasn't really scared of Cam at all. Tom Brady was the man. So if we got past tom Brady and Gronk, we fla. Oh nahs, ain't nobody beating us.
Thanks for tuning in, Peanut to me, and this is the NFL Players Second Act podcast.
We're in La.
I got my guy, my uncle, the nephew, the everything you want, the.
Great Beard and everything, my guy Roman Harbor. What's up, baby? What's up?
I didn't know I could be your uncle and your nephew at the same time. This is some really crazy Southern thing going on right now. But thank you for ever all the time, for always being there. All of our guests that's always tuned in, whether you're watching or listening wherever you pick up your podcast that whether it's Apple Podcast, iHeartRadio, Give us a like, a follow, give us a review. Do all those little things continue to spread the word. Tell a friend to tell a friend. Peanut, who is our guest today, We got a good one super Bowl champion. He is a part of the infamous No Fly Zone defense.
He is an undrafted guy. He was he made the All Decade twenty ten team.
Uh.
He's from Kansas. He's an entrepreneur.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Chris Harris Junior to the podcast.
You know, I've gotta be honest. You know, that was pretty good.
You never he hasn't really done that for a lot of our guests, so that was good.
I got a gat. I'm feeling the energy right now. It's love. It's all love.
Like I did my yoga this morning. I got my tea right here. It's I'm feeling it right now.
dB. Love to be love too. That's it. That's true.
That's true. I mean, I'm with it. He said, you're from Kansas, but you're from Oklahoma.
Yeah. Well he went to Kansas, which is cool to you.
That's why I want to get to Yeah, and you started all four years.
Yeah. Yeah, I went in KU. You know they they had to leave at one corner and.
He was he on, like your recruit visit. I want to know if recruit visit to Kansas that he wouldn't.
Man. When I went on my visit the KU, I was probably I didn't have any offers until probably basketball season really really more basketball. Yeah, okay, so I had more basketball offers first, and.
That was not in the bio. Yeah. Yeah, people don't know that I got out of store, see that.
So, man, Gino came to our basketball practice and that's when I got offered. And then during this it was like a dead season. Nobody was on campus at that time. Yeah, so I went. I kind of went like a sneaky visit when nobody was up there. It was probably like a couple of players that from Kansas that had me on the video.
Yeah.
I didn't see to leave until I got until I pulled up the campus. But it was just you know, it was just a great spot for me be able to go and play early and play in All Americans because he was All American at the time and in his senior year. So it was just a great opportunity to go up there and compete.
So what made you choose football over basketball? You always knew you were a football guy.
Oh, Man, I just knew I wasn't growing. Yeah, man, I wasn't growing as much as everybody else.
You know.
You see you see the point guards, You're not too many five eleven point guards.
So I just thought football would be my best way to go.
And I never really played corner until I got to college. So seriously, yeah, so I didn't know if I was gonna play what position in college? You know, So coaches just like, we'll just find you by the defense athlete he be, and and that's pretty much how. I just went in there and just went in there and started that corner.
That's that's what's up. So what did you play in high school? Was it confused?
I just played safety, man, I just was like a free just wrong, you know, and just go back, go find the ball.
You know, Hey, it worked out? This is a true Is it worked out? How this is? I don't know how that happens.
Like I'm not only have football scholarship, I'm playing basketball. They see me, Hey, look, we just gonna find you a spot out here, athlete.
For you specifically?
Does it ever get tiring of you being asked about being the undrafted free agent guy that made it bah blah blah, or are you just like, hey, look, I'm just this football player that made it, probably broke through some odds, but this is who I am and this is who I be. But you after hearing your high school story, I'm sure you don't.
Oh man, it's just uh, it's just part of my journey, you know, especially within the NFL circle. You know, a lot of guys know how I came in the league.
You know, I think I had.
I had one of the lowest signing moments two thousand you know, one of the last guys picked up on our team.
Sorry to Laught, Sorry Laught. You know that's how we do, Ricky. Yeah, you gotta come out there. You got to stand up.
On that chair.
Two thousand dollars, Cansas University.
The clown had some good vets, you know.
I had Dawkins, yeah, champ Uh, you know, Boomerville, DJ Williams, Yeah, yeah, a lot of good vets.
So Hall of famers, Yeah, a lot of good vets. Man.
So they didn't really clown me too much. They kind of took me in, you know, couldn't have took care of me like a.
Little like a little little brother man, because they know you ain't had no bread, champions, no money.
Come on, take care of him, man, So he had tons of money, take care of.
I like that. I like that.
So are you officially done with football? And what are you keeping busy with? Now outside of some other things, we'll go in.
Well, I wanted to kind of stay I wanted to stay in shape and stay ready to go last year just in case, because I felt like the year before, even with New Orleans, I still play solid. I thought I would be able to get picked up places safety or Nickel.
I don't be like Jackson Kareem Jackson. Yeah, I didn't even get a chance to do that.
You know, and I'm probably one of the top tacklers in my era go back and look. But it's just, you know, just not having the opportunity. That was probably one thing I was probably regretting, not being able to play safety a little bit like a Ryan Day getting a chancefer from Nick you know what I mean. I didn't get that opportunity.
A lot of cats got to steal like four or five years off of that. Yeah, I didn't get a chance like straight twelve years straight corner, you know what I mean.
Yeah, I think I could have played safety, but my knees couldn't let me. That is interesting. So how many corners do you guys think? Both you guys, how many corners? Looking like you know, when I'm done playing corner, I want to transition and play safety.
It's a few years in. Rod Woodson he was the first to do it.
That I.
First, Rod Woodson, Charles Charles, Charles Woodson did it?
Did it?
Kareem Jackson's doing it currently? Yep, ma am I drawing a blank. Southern Hall of Fame aneas Williams's Williams, heang, it's killing me. Would you count Winfield and he played Nickel more, I wouldn't say he played safety though, but.
Does Nickel Grande? I mean Ronde is another one too, Yeah, Ronne.
I just wanted to know, like from a cornerback's perspective, who, like, do you guys actually think about these things? I never thought about it, I mean, because you don't get to go from safety.
To the corner.
So I said it when I played, But looking back on it now, if given the opportunity, if if it would have gotten me another year or two, I definitely would have played safety for sure.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean I thought for sure I was gonna go play safety, you know, just being able to have the football, IQ, being able to tackle in space, understand the game, I thought i'd be It would be a smooth transition to safety, you know, but you know, just the way it is.
You know how the league is now. They're getting more of the veterans out.
If you look at it, look at the free agent list, it's all vents, you know something. So that's just the way the NFL is going right now. And that's just probably my only regret. But I had a hell of a time at Corner, you know, yeah, playing a great year. He had a great career, kind of kind of reforming the nickel right, because in my air, I would say it wasn't too me Nicholas playing straight man. Say hey, coach, you can play couple one all day in the nickel and have this guy covered these guys, you know, Ron Day and them was more of a there was a zone zone, vision break, things like that. So I didn't really get to do that too much in my career. That's probably another thing I regret. Like Petera got to see the ball a lot, you know.
Yeah, he got I totally agree with you.
I played going from a man to man scheme for a majority of my career, then all of a sudden going to his own teams, Like man, I didn't know it was so much easier. It just feels so much more comfortab when you got to see the ball and it slows down because you see more, you get more information, You get a ton of information. So people you used to always talk about how coverage are y'all just a curve of two team? We might be, but I guarantee you you ain't gonna play cover two like we played, because it's gonna give us picks forrest fumbles, take ways forst fumbles, take ways we.
Off the fill on third down.
Rod Mayor Nell used to always say, if you can, we used to do nine on seven cover two.
Every time.
He was like, if you can play cover two and stop the run and stop the run, you can stop anybody. And we just hey, I'm tell you the call curve two. Hey, y'all, guess what the call is? Curver two. And that was how we ran the defense. And so it was a bonus when you played Cover one or Cover four or whatever else. You know your bliss, You got what's the corner opposite of you.
Because he was always one of the guys I always looked up to him.
Tim Jennings Jennings, Yeah, a little short guy, Georgia.
Yeah, you didn't have to lead off with a little short guys. You have to.
Well that was our relationship because he was a little like a little short guy.
He is shorter though, Tim is short. I know Tim. It's love Tim, you know I love you. Bro shout out them had boss skills. Man, Why you call him out like that? Man, I called about you just said it, you know what. I tried to just fly under the radar like he did when he.
Was like, oh yeah, so you know I own a couple of Nike houses, Nake warehouses.
Oh yeah, I got some real estate. So let's let's dive into that.
Uh how do you get in the Nike owning a Nike warehouse? We were talking about this earlier and like that's just not your normal real estate.
Yeah, man, I got into it early.
You know early, man, my team was able to find some great opportunity to be able to get in and be able.
To get some warehouses.
Really it's it's it's pretty much they hold all their stuff there, and right I get to hold the hold the building, you know, make sure everything's good, make sure everything is disputed shipped out right. And man, that we probably my financial of Isa Mark Quay, he probably got me hooked up in that one. Probably like twenty sixteen after the Super Bowl. Yeah, and just being able to hop in on those being able to get land. I got tons of land in Oklahoma and take a lot of man it is and now they're they really rebuilding a lot of it, right because you know, we had that toss up Massac in nineteen hundreds, right, trying to bring that back. So yeah, so I got a lot of land into that. So hopefully we'll be able to develop some new things for our people down There'll be able to help that grow. But it's just you know, with me, it's just been taking my time, you know, just taking my time finding the right things. You want to find the right partners in every situation because that's when bad deals and things happen.
Right.
I never was the person. I always had to learn because you know, I came to the league with two thousand dollars coming up. I didn't come in the league with twenty million dollars sign upon this.
You know, I call that you're the guy who's you're not from the lucky financial sperm bank.
So yeah, yeah, So I had to learn how to budget, had to manage my money, had to be able to say no, you know, at a fast at a fast pace because I didn't have it, Like nobody could just call me Chris, give me, send me some money. I'm like, I'm undrafted, y'all see what I got. So it kind of helped me in that way too, but it really helped me down into the line now where I'm about to be. I'm done now, I'm a year out now, so now I kind of have a little bit more establishment.
Yes, for those that don't know, and y'all you listening, got to learn to say no and what saying no means.
Any family member, relative, cousin, best.
Friend, someone you went to high school, grade school, you gotta tell him no because at some point in time, if you're the guy that says, you know what, he.
Would never do that, she would never do that, you're wrong.
Somebody, At some moment in time, somebody's gonna ask you for some money.
Quick question.
I want to follow with what's been your favorite business venture since getting to real estate?
In business? What's been your favorite one? Like, man, this is this is really cool, It is really fun. Like what man? Just getting the land? Man?
Okay, I think yeah, getting land that my people's had lost, you know, over just not being able to read simple things like that. So being able to get that back put the horses and stuff on there. You know, that's been the funnest part right there. That's dope be to just rebuy the stuff back from yeah loss. So now that's the whole generational wolf.
And you can just pass it on in kids, grandkids, yeah, uncles, cousins, whoever.
So you keep it all in the family.
How important would it be though, because you talked about how they lost it, and so as you want to get this back and then keep it in your family to make sure they understand how they lost it, and so making sure you're having that conversation.
How important of a piece is that because you talked about how.
You and your financial player, financial advisor, you know, you guys some really smart decisions and things that he's you know, pushed you into and you've got to learn so much about these things. How important is it going forward to make sure that your next generation of your children or your children's children understand what all this intels.
And that's a key thing because you know, they grow up, key thing, because you know they grow up. They didn't grow up how we grew up. You have a group you know, our kids are privileged. Their privileged kids, private school kids. Yeah.
Yeah, with the Wi Fi baby.
Yeah, you know, I passed early. You know, just taking them back there, let them see it. Taking them when I have events, uh you know, for for homeless or anything like that, for community events, taking them there with me. Let them put in the work too, you know, and letting them see things. You know, if old are your kids, man, I have a I have five kids who I have a nine to seven five for and uh.
One okay, came forget the one came to get.
The one that's but yeah, you know, just showing and they all girls. So I try to take them girl dad okay, Yeah, So I try to take them to the events and things like that. When we're doing uh my wife's done that. She's doing a great job just helping them develop them and be women. Know, like hey, when I take them there and letting them know, like this whole area, all these lands was y'all was our land at one point, right, So just letting them know because we have a we have our own family cemetery things like that.
Wow, it was just our own just my family, just our family.
You got those deep Oklahoma, Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah. I think it's so cute cool that you make sure you maintained by taking them back. My you know, my dad's from the middle of nowhere, Alabama and they call it like the black Belt. So every time we've gone back, it's kind of similar what you're saying. He's like, he's shown my kids where like his great grandfather was buried, yeah, in the cemetery, and like, oh, this is his uncle and this is a brother that died when he was very young, and just kind of making sure you know all these things to be able to pay it forward and that you you don't just kind of just just kind of skip over these things. I think it's very important that you continue to let your kids and your daughters know all that stuff. Really cool that your wife continued to support you too. I've I've read a little bit on her too, and we'll get into that. What's the name of the show on the Paramount with Kevin Costner and he's got the big ranch in Montana.
Yellowstone Yellowstone.
Yeah, you like the black version of Yellowstone, Like you keep it in this family, keeping it all in.
I like that. That's that's what's up. That's what's up. Yeah, we'll be back in a minute, all right, So let.
Me let me pivot and change it real quick. So this is our first time meeting. We played against each other super Bowl fifty Now after all these years.
Do you still hold true to what you said?
You know, after the postgame, the postgame interviews, you were saying some words. I don't think you were talking trash or anything like that. You were just speaking, you know.
He was telling them about their game. People, was just telling about the game playing.
Yeah, And I think Cam might have got a little salty about it because the way the the way the setup was your I guess your section was like right literally right next to his. It was behind the bad setup, back to back with just a little sheet in between.
And nobody knows that who's on the other side.
That was a bad set up, and he had he had heard it, and I'm pretty sure he felt some type of way, and then he ended up walking on stage like this. Do you still you still hold true to how you felt and what you said and how that whole thing carried out or played out.
I never knew it was, honestly, I never knew Camp was on the other side.
Yeah, So I was just talking mess you know, yeah, which you should. Yeah, you know that was the game plan. Yeah, it's it was a good game. Heat, I hate to say it, bring the heat.
They always kind of always what do you call it, have chippers in the back. They always had extra blockers in the back of the camp play action, extra blockers for camp, try to get funtions Brown and take again on space one on one routes. Right, So when they did that, we would just bring the linebackers late. Just keep bringing them late, non stop, just keep bringing them late. And we know Cam likes to hold the ball a little bit longer. Yeah, so we just late delayed, blitz them all games, play man the man press, get up in them and we felt like but like me, Roby and to leave could cover Tech Gang, Funches and Brown and Olsen And that was the game plan, you know, and sick them dogs on them, sick d where von Malik Jackson.
I was so mad that game because we was what seventeen and one at that point, you know, I would I want to know Chris's opinion because I know you guys won the game, but if we played ten times, how many times do you guys beat that team?
And I didn't even play that game.
I would say, depending on okay, is Peyton gonna be healthy?
Because he was not healthy. Was not what I'm saying. He was not healthy. He was he couldn't throw the ball thirty yards. So if we got a healthy Peyton many I don't know.
I'm just saying, like, and we can't play all in Denver too. I watched We're not playing all in Denver. I go back there, I go back and I look at that game. Number one, you guys out played us all right. Number two, I thought you guys out coached us, and we're better prepared for all the situations. You guys made adjustments better than we did. I give you all the credit for winning the game. But I look up and I still like, there's no way that team was better than our team. I don't care if Brock Oswald or Peyton man it was playing quarterback.
It was just so.
Brandon was like, but that kind of lets you know exactly the team that plays the best that day is the one that wins. And these guys, you guys played better period, and so but I look back and I'm like, I think if we played them ten times, they may win three.
We felt like our defense is the best. It was. You guys definitely balled. We felt like it wasn't nobody.
We had already seen the gutlet like, we've already seen big being. Then we had to see Tom Brady and the ain't going to see We wasn't really scared of Cam at all, right, because we had already seen Tom Brady was the man. So if we got past Tom Brady and Gronk, we f like, oh no, ain't nobody beating us?
Right.
The first Super Bowl that we had, we had twelve starters on defense that didn't play against Seattle. That people forget about that, right, Me and Van didn't play a lot of a lot of a lot of our defensive starters didn't play in that game. So we wanted. We was hungry to get to that second one. And it was a long If people go back and look at that season, right, a lot of our mishaps happened because Peyton, you know, pay no doubt, he was hurt. You know, we had to bring in broad Bracket did a solid job coming in, but that was the main issue was is Peyton gonna be healthy?
Right? So we got them healthy enough at the end to be able to ride that wave.
At no doubt we knew that defense, Yes, we knew that defense was gonna carry us there, and we felt like we was nobody could touch us on defense.
That sounded like Chicago. We was always talking about the defense. You know, love Smith will come in games and say, I remember when Pep first got to Pep, when we got Pep from Charlotte. We're playing the game or was game week, and Lovely Smith comes in the defensive meeting room and he goes, all right, defense, we got to score two to and then he leaves and then Pep goes, hey, Yo, what are you talking bout?
Yo?
What about the offense? I was like, won't care about the offense. We gotta score points on defense, and if we score points, will win. That's the Chicago man, that's just the Marnins the main way, that's what we do. And he was so intrigued by that, but he was also mad. He was like, but they paid him money though they got us score points. But that was just the mindset of how we were in Chicago. It was just like, no, it's it's a defensive city. We're defense first. We don't care about offenses. We got to get these points and it carried over.
Well. They scored that game too, so yeah, I give you guys credit. You guys scored. You did score twice. There it is. It's dam He just stuck that key and.
Just Cam fumbled. They Ward could have picked it up and scored. We could have had two touchdowns.
Yeah, because he got it on like the three of the four ight as well have been a defensive touchdown yea, I forgot.
About that one.
Yeah, and they did score before that, So I think your defense actually outscored our offense that game.
MA think we had like three or four Yeah, three or four turnovers for sure. Yeah, let's switch the subject. Switch the not mad. I'm not mad.
Y'all had a great defense too, Like the Panthers was like one or two. Y'all were right there. What is y'all would have been one scoring? I think scoring y'all might have been number one. Giving up points and stuff like that and then yards and stuff. I think everything else was us. But y'all were tough too, man. Luke Kinckley and Josh was playing great. Yeah, man, y'all had a solid secondary along with the D line was crazy. So y'all definitely had a squad man it was you know, he just ran up against one of the top defenses.
Man. Yeah, man von Miller. He owned that game. He did. All right, I'm ready to move on there.
I don't know about career highlight, and don't say that game personal career highlight.
Man. I would say.
Something that you look back on and you see it now and it still gives you goosebumps, like damn man making big play.
I had a couple.
I have about three big plays AFC Championship game, especially the fourth and one.
They had a fourth to one played with Brady.
And they kind of it was like it was a rollout, but he would faked the handoff and he brought Edelmand behind the line and I left my man and stayed back for to leave.
That was probably probably one of.
My best plays just because it was it wasn't it was straight just playing off playing off play.
This is an instance. Yeah.
So, and to be able to make that play in IFC Championship, that would be probably one of my favorite players.
All right, I got another one. Then.
If that's one of your favorite plays, what was your welcome to the NFL moment? We're an undrafted guy. Out of the University of Kansas and you get to your team and it's just like all right, rookie. Then you were just like, yo, this is this is me. This is the NFL. Holy Holy, this is this is the league. What was moment like for you?
Man?
I got a couple you know, my first game, you know, we played the Raiders and they had fatten at that time.
It was Monday night, you know, it was.
The first Broncos Raiders game, my first time experience at a Denver you know, for getting that rival is a big you know, like I'm looking at Dawkins champ out here.
You know, I'm just watching that this time. I'm just straight gunner. You know, at this time. I didn't started playing until like week four I started playing.
But man, I seen sorry, darc Man, Sorry, I seen I see McFadden come over there and just like boom, just gave dunk one of them shoulders on the sideline and I'm like, oh no, that to Brian Dawkins mcfatten. And after that, I was like, Okay, this is the NFL. You better be you better be ready to hit. Yeah, And then I would say my next welcome to the NFL game would be against Aaron Rodgers.
Right.
We went down to Green Bay. As soon as I came in the game, we were getting killed. So they were like, hey, just throw them in there. This is what he can do, you know what I mean, just throw them in there.
Uh.
First player I came in there, I had damn what was their receivers? They had driver Jennings, Jennings that had Jennings.
I was on Jennings.
They threw him like a now route, like Aaron Rodgers test me out, just throwing a little now route.
Now. I came in and just smacked him right out right when he got it.
So that was kind of like my first time, you know, really getting real, real game type reps and going against Aaron Rodgers.
Man. So after that, man, that.
Was like, I'm not It's always funny to me, like the plays that you remember because you can get so many players, but it's like, oh, but I remember this one time and all he did was through a now route.
Now I just tackled it. But just you gotta explain.
So the now route is the receiver just he doesn't even run, He just stops staring.
And turns quarterba furs and throws it out to it. It's really it's one on one. We think our guys better. Yes, what are you gonna do? Yes?
I have an interesting couple thoughts I would like to know, because I experienced has been a totally different way, and that is the NFL lockout. So lockout for me was I just won a Super Bowl in two thousand and nine, I was gonna becoming a free agent. I was gonna be a free agent because my contract was up, but you had to be U The owners opted out, so then you had to be six years to be able to come a free agent unrestricted free agent, So I was restricted, So I lost out on a little bit of money.
For you.
On the other hand, you were supposed to get drafted. The year that you got that the NFL had a lockout. Yeah, you go undrafted. There's no communication between agent and ownership or whoever, and you just sitting there.
So I want to.
Know what that felt like because I always think about what was me in those times? But what was you to be an undrafted guy at that time, sitting back not knowing anything about your future, and then you get a call and you're like, bro, you got to be somewhere in like twenty four hours or a day and then let's go man that whole process.
You know, I was just confused.
I was hot really that whole time, because I'm like, I started forty some games a big twelve.
I'm shocked by that.
I've already played Des Brian, Jordy Nelson, these guys, you know what I mean. Jeremy Macklin, Yeah, you know all these receivers. I'm already crabtree. I'm already fail these guys, but I'm not getting invited into the combine and things like that. So I was, you know, I was already hot about that, and then not having any communication at all, you know, after the after the pro date, that was it. We couldn't talk to no scouts, you couldn't talk to no gms. None of that was going on. So after the draft, you know, after the draft, they usually have undrafted get picked up, right, Yeah, and uh that didn't happen that year. You know, that year was no undrafteds picked up. It was just a draft and you kept it moving, right.
Uh.
So once we got to I just I just kept my mind saying, you know, people were telling me how you might as well just give it up as well. Start working on to your next you know, you'll get to your next job or you know, going to school.
You know, the draft was over. You know, the draft was over here.
They didn't really know about people didn't really know about undrafted getting picked up things like that.
Did that weigh on you though? People telling you that constantly? Oh yeah, I had to That's why I wanted to know this. I really wanted to know this.
Yeah, all the time people, I mean, you just get ready for your next act, you know, maybe one going to coaching, things like that, And I'm thinking on the back of my head, like maybe I should be thinking about this stuff too, you know. And once July came up, it was probably like the end of July, I think, man, I just got to call out of nowhere, you know, from I had the Cowboys, the Dolphins, and the Broncos. So I had those three like and they called like in ten minutes, like you know which one you want to come to, you know. And then my agent thought that Denver would be the best spot just because they had new GM. You know, this is always first year, so I was kind of like always first class, you know, meet, so we wanted to start fresh.
You know. We knew they had they had Champed, they had Dawkins.
But they really didn't or they had Goodman too, and Andre Goodman too because he was he played for about good He played for like eleven years too at Corner. So they knew that they had more older guys and they were they were looking to make a transfer, so they thought it would be a great spot for me to go there and play. And that's why I went with Denver right out of nowhere called me next day pull up. They had a we had a run test, y'all. Remember y'all know from over Hill. Yeah, I know, we all had that run test. Man, all the vets everybody came straight off, you know they were that was in luckout.
Yeah, yeah, they do anything either. No, man, I never seen all the vets out of shape. Man.
It's that air though. How was the air when you when you got there? How was that altitude when you got there? Did it effect?
It's like, yeah, oh man, it takes about it takes two weeks you really get fully fully acclimated, right because when you practice in the practice field, it's.
Gonna be higher when you go to the male high, when you go to the when you go to the stadium. It's gonna be thicker up there there. So even though you're training in Denver, right, you're training in the valley, right, but still higher when you get to the when you get to the stadium, So you're.
Gonna feel it either way it goes.
I hate it playing Denver, no matter how I hated it. It was the only time I ever came out of the game as a dB is we went to Denver. We had like three dB rotation because I just I was just like, I can't typ of my helmet, yo, coach, I need some air, Like, couldn't do it.
Hate it playing in Denver.
If I was if I was an offensive coordinator Denver, I'm no huddle every time I would totally get just so winded, just walking not doing anything.
Like a fat person.
Yeah, He's like, man, what is wrong with me? Well, this is my next couple of questions. I'm gonna get up. I'm gonna let Peanut get us up out of here. I want to know do you still have that silver Avalanche truck on twenty six because I heard about how you spent your first million twenty sixes.
Yeah, yeah, I had to have in twenty sixty now. I mean, I gotta get around Denver, Colorado somewhere.
So man, that and that that tire is so thin. I had twenty sixty too, so I can't.
We took those out. We definitely had to take You ain't getting through no so and no twenty sixes. We had to take those off. Oh man, I had it for I still got it. You still got my mom over right now.
Okay, okay, you know that's kind of it's kind of extra in case we need it.
Yeah, I heard that. I kind of used it as a work truck.
Yeah, it's a work truck now, you know. And it's good for that, you know. It's it's one of the last avalanches. That's why I want to keep it, because they don't they don't even sell them anymore, you know. I think you gotta it's hard to find those, so I think mine's was like one of the last ones. So I'm like, hey, we're gonna keep into the to the wheels fall off. Man.
I agree. I agree. We're gonna take a short break and we'll be right back.
And this is a question we like to try and delve into with all of our guests, and that is that who is on your personal route Mount Rushmore of influence, oh man?
And how many is on Mount Rushmore? For right? It's full? All right? Not four? It's full. Okay, it's four. Oh man, that's tough. I'm gonna just go with.
Let's go with like Mount Rushmore teammates, good teammates that I had. You know, okay, I like that Champ Bailey, you know, being able to have him Hall of Fame guy. But give me confidence, you know, like, hey, you can play, you can coach, throw him out there with me. You know what I mean when you hear a guy like that say that, you know that gives a player of confidence.
Questions because you brought him up.
Champ used to do this like sideways backpedal, kind of open thing. Then I saw you start doing it. Did you Did you learn that strictly from him? Because I had never seen anybody cover or do Cover three like this, and you guys were some of the first ones ever doing it.
Man, Champ had every tool.
That's That's one thing that he taught me is that you want to have every tool. We want to be able to play sideways, play square, inch on the line, yes, reach step on the line, be able to run and be able to cover on the run and motion things like that to him. Let me know that I had to put a lot of tools to my game if I was going to be successful like him. I'm not six to one six two like chem Melly running four two, So I got to be able to have these tools tighten up. And that's one thing from watching him, Watching those guys, they were perfectionists when it comes to technique fundamental.
So Champ Bailey, you got three more man.
Let me think of some other ones. Wesley Woodyard, Yeah, y'all know. Wesley Woodard, great man, great vet guy that definitely showed me the ropes, you know, showed me how to come in and be a professional as an undrafted what's it gonna take on special teams to be able to kind of move myself to playing defense? So he was one. Let me think about two more teammates. The marriage Thomas dt Man RPD dt Man.
Good dude. Me and DT went at it every day. Every day.
It wasn't I. DT wasn't coming there. I'm giving you a life day today. He knew I wasn't giving him a life day, you know, But it was just that constant competition every day and then just knowing that we can go out here and battle, then we go go eat lunch at Flemings or death Frisk and just cheer.
You know.
That's just my guy man, RPD DT. But he was just he was quiet and just a quiet assassin, yea. And he was always the same. So that was good. That was a good big brother to have that kind of keep you calm kind of not he never got too like emotional, you know. He was never in his feelings things like that, even though he had times that he could have, you know, but DT man, he was a perfect He was a great example of being a big brother in the NFL. How to be a leader not just vocal, not vocal, but just being a leader period. Oh man, who should I go with it on this one? I would say, y'all probably don't know him. Well, y'all do no him?
Derek Wolf?
Yeah, Wolf Wolf was such a he was an animal, right. He brought that like kind of he gave. He gave you that edge like I know you can go out here and do whatever because I know you got this big dual behind you.
He's gonna ready to fight for you, no doubt. Right.
He was like that big one of that. He was the little brother, but the big brother. Yeah, you know, and ab D we always went vacations together.
You know.
That was just one of my one of my partners right there, and he was just he brought that. He gave you that intensity on the field at all times. Right if you come out here, you say, if you're not on your stuff, you just you're going through the motions a little bit out here. You not really got that firing in this game. Right, Nah, we'll gonna let you know. Yeah, we'll gonna make sure you get right, you know what I mean. He might and he might be doing that another way. He might say, hey, Rivers, I'm gonna eat your kids. What you're gonna do it is trying to wake up, you know. He might say some crazy stuff crazy, you know, but man, just having him, Uh, those are my Rushmore teammates, you know, just because they added something to my game mentally or physically and uh, you know, gave me that little extra boost.
And those are my guys man right there. Definitely, Chris Man appreciate that. Thanks for coming on the podcast.
Man.
We appreciate you showing some love and just giving us these stories and enjoyed it. Learn a little bit more about you and your family and the Tulsa Land and all that. That's that's you know.
I like that. Got a lot of black history out there, man, it is. It is.
Didn't even know about the the Tulsa Master until I was older in life, so there it is. I had heard about it, but not like how we all know about it now. But yeah, that's that's awesome. So yeah, thank y'all for tuning in. I'm Peanut, that's my guy room. Our special guest Chris Harris. Please like, subscribe, follow, iHeartRadio app. Please go to Apple Podcast to get your podcast.
Thank y'all. That's it. We're out here. Appreciate y'all.
