Coy Wire makes Peanut cry, talks Flava Flav being his biggest fan, going from NFL to CNN

Published Dec 18, 2024, 11:00 AM

NFL Players: Second Acts

On the NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, former All-Pro Charles “Peanut” Tillman and former Pro Bowler Roman Harper break bread with NFL legends about 
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On the latest NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, former defensive back Coy Wire joins Peanut and Roman. Coy talks about playing both running back and linebacker at Stanford before being drafted to play defensive back and having to cover Randy Moss. Coy then explains why he decided to go into journalism after football, what it is like to work at CNN, and shares stories from the Paris Olympics. He also looks back on the emotional story he reported about Peanut and his daughter’s heart surgery.

The NFL Players: Second Acts podcast is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Radio.

I'm cooy Wire, former Buffalo Bill and Atlanta Falcon, current CNN anchor in correspondent, and you're watching NFL Players Second Acts Podcast.

Thank you for tuning into the NFL Players Second Acts Podcast. I'm Peanut Tillman and this is my guy, Roman Harper. What stuff? How you feeling? Are you gonna bring the energy today? Well?

I feel all right because you feel your incumbent with a weird nickname though, that was awesome. But I will first and foremost like to thank iHeartRadio for allowing us to be in their studios today right here in midtown Atlanta. Believe is the name of the location, or if you want to be very fancy, the upper west side of Atlanta. So it sound right. It doesn't even sound right, Peter, it doesn't even sound right. You know, we fancy today, So here we go. Tell us about our next guest.

Our next guest is a ten years that in the NFL for the Bills and the Falcons, and he was team captain for both of those teams. He is a CNN correspondent, he is a play by play by play caller for the Falcons, and he's an author. Ladies and Gentleman please welcome to the pod. Corey wire Yay, happy to be here.

Fellows appreciated the blessing us. Man, it is my pleasure. I have to tell you. You know, we didn't chat before this, but I've been watching you guys the podcast and it is so powerful. I was brought to tears of the episode with John Abraham, former teammate of Mind.

Yeah.

I encourage everyone out there if you haven't seen it, watched the episode with John Abraham.

You know that's a.

Guy who I did not know all he was going through and that was my teammate. Yeah, and I wish I would have known I could talk to him more, you know, as one of the team captains, that's what you take pride in doing. But for him to be so open with you all, and that's a big credit to you all for the conversation you allowed him to have and share with the world. As you mentioned, it's going to impact the lives of so many people, not just former football players, people around the world who are going through some troubles and find a way to get through. Here in his story, man, I was so power So I commend you all, yeah, for what you're doing, the work you're doing the time you put in to help us share our stories and hopes that it can help someone else.

It's good stuff. I love that, man. I appreciate that.

First and foremost, I'll received that we're starting off with good vibes already. But the fact is, like, when you have people like a John Abraham Good up there and talk about those stories, and people like him that are so talented, so good that we don't know that are really struggling, I'm like, you become a light and you shine so bright that it allows others to be seen that are up under you that can't be seen or don't have the voice or the platform to talk about these things because they truly feel like nobody will hear them.

And I think it's so much more powerful when it comes from former NFL players who a lot of people will look at it and think they're superhuman, they're invincible. And when they hear that even a John Abraham, a Roman Harper, Charles Tillman goes through some things and like life is tough, even they go through it and can make it through that, maybe I can too, right, Yeah, it makes you feel that comfort so well.

First and foremost, you led Stanford in rushing one year you let them tackles, and.

How do you do that? Like, how does were there were there no athletes or I think we had? How did that one draft picks?

My senior year, we Tyrone willing Ham was our head coach. Yeah, one of uh with the icons of my life as far as coaching and leadership, and my freshman year led the team in rushing. But like six six games in, I break my thumb, I have two pins put in. That next year we had two running backs come in freshman, Kerry Carter and Brian Allen, and they too would one day go on to play in the NFL. So you had three future NFL players of your team playing the same position. So that next year we're each playing a third of the time. You can't have three of your best players like rotating in a third of the time. So that next year, coach Willingham said, coy, how would you like play defense?

One of you has to do it?

We think you do, yes, coach, yes, coach, Like did I want to know, like was my dream to be a running back in the NFL?

Yes?

But that yes coach mentality just opened so many doors for me. I went in and and just you know, went went all out. Being a running back helped me be I was a linebacker, you know at this size, but I thought like a running back. So that helped me a lot of holes. So yeah, I spent my last two years as a linebacker. There, got drafted as a safety to Buffalo, never played safe to port and never had the back pedal in my life. And there I was trying to have to cover Jerry Rice and Randy Mosson as a rookie.

As a young, dumb rookie, right, So.

But it was just that, you know, they draft me, you know, won't play defensive back, yes, coach, And so it's just I just kind of ride the wave.

Had you ever played defense before or was it always just offense? Like growing up it was I was always running back in high school. I did play defense, but it was never a focus of mine.

I mean I I mean, yeah, yeah, I was like an edge guy. I literally was just an edge guy. But I would carry the ball like thirty forty times a game.

But to me, though, you're that much better than everybody else because you took a you went and got drafted and played a position that you really didn't know how to play and you made it work and you played ten years like that. That's extremely impressive. Yep.

I'll use a quote that I will never forget. When I was at Stanford and Dusty Baker, the legendary baseball manager and player, Tyron williham our coach, brought him in to speak to us one day out there in the Bay Area team meeting, and he says, man, we've accomplished nothing in and of ourselves. If we think we have, we are foolish. We're nothing more than a conduit of knowledge and information. And I'll never forget that, because you know, every point in my life, I've always had people help me achieve things that I could have never done on my own. So when I got drafted to the NFL to play defensive back again, never had to backpedal in a game in my life.

I had coach.

Steve Jackson was my defensive backs coach and he's now with the Tennessee Titan, still coaching. I think he should be a coordinator someday. He's an incredible genie. He was a hell of a player, played nine years in the league as a small defensive back, tough as nails. He would spend so much time. You know, coaches spend a lot of time already. He would spend extra like late into the night, early before everyone got there, watching film with me, getting me caught up to speed of how to be a defensive back in the NFL. I had London Fletcher, who should be in the Hall of Fame. And when that first game, well so my fifth year and I had to switch back to linebacker because we had some injuries, like Coy. If something happens to Angelo Crowell, man, you're gonna have to go in.

Go.

This is a Thursday, go in the linebacker meeting room. And so there were playing the Chargers. Sure enough, first series, crow I think had like a fracture in his leg that they didn't even really know.

So they're like, why are you in?

I go in the game now at linebacker for the first time in the NFL, and London Fletcher's beside me, and before every play he's like, cooy, koy, Coy, come come, come this way. It's gonna be power. Oh this way, sure enough, power this way.

Boom.

There I am tackling future Hall of Fame really Danian Tomlinson like, and then London Fletcher like and Takio Spikes and having those guys beside me and Troy Vincent's behind me, and the defensive backfield I Lawyer Maloy that I played their safety with for a while, like Pierson prelu Isael Reese.

These guys helped.

Me more than they ever know, Like I was just watching and listening and observing like some of these incredible players. And so I can't really take credit because without them I would have never done and their willingness to help, I would have never been able to do what I did.

What was your first welcome to the NFL moment?

Well, the first walk in the NFL moment was when I I had never seen an NFL game in person, and so there I was with the Buffalo Bills and running through that tunnel on game day and man, tears were just blowing down.

I'm like, how am I gonna play this game? Right now?

I'm crying like a baby right now. So that was one of them. Another one there in Buffalo when you know we're in a huddle, it's a big third down and big defensive tackle Pat Williams.

Yeah, big guy, some.

Veteran, and I'm in the huddle. I'm like, come on, boys, this third down, let's go do this. Man shut the hell up. And I'm like, Okay, this is a rookie, right, this is a rookie. But that kind of put me in my place a little bit.

But you were too excited. I was a little too.

Excited, jes Yeah. So those But then like on the field, welcome to the NFL moment. We're playing against the Vikings my rookie year, and Randy Moss was a receiver. I'm playing deep a haf safety and he starts running down the sideline go route, staring me in the eye, puts his hand up like the staring me in the eyes. Here comes the ball, stirring up like the ball's coming. I just come over and blast him. Ball wasn't even close yet. You're not catching this ball on me, But just remember seeing that eye contacted him, just striding out putting his hand up.

I was like, yeah, I'm with the big boys. Now.

It's so funny, how like those moment butch you remember exactly, like the little small details like this guy literally looked at me.

Yeah, I'm like, I didn't throw his hand up like throwing boys now. Yeah, we used to call that the hot head Oh, that's funny the high end. He was good with that. Where did your journey start? Like where did the journalists come from? Like where did you want to? Or why did you want to get into the media space? Like where did that come from?

I didn't know I wanted to when I first was done playing, Like you have to be so locked in to be an NFL player.

At least I did. I couldn't have.

They always did a good job of Like do some internships think about life after football? I couldn't because if I did, I would lose my edge.

Right.

I was never the biggest, fast, or stronger. I had to be all in. And so when football was sitting taken away from me, I was hurting, Like I I I lost who I was. I was an empty shell of myself because my entire life that's what I was, That's who I was. And when I didn't have that to wake up to in the morning, it hurt. I remember in the middle of the nights, I would wake up my heart's racing, my arms are numb, and I'm like, am I having.

Like a heart issue?

A stroke? What's happening to me? And my wife's psychology major, Thank goodness, she said, I think you're having panic attacks anxiety. It's actually like me, what, No, Like I looked at all the symptoms, like, yeah, I'm having anxiety attacks and panic attacks like this up here was affecting all of this. And it's like, but I know, I have a degree from Stanford. I could go back to school, I could be a lawyer, I could go do whatever. There's so many things I could do. But it's like, no one ever asked you when you're growing up, what's the second thing you want to be when you grow up? Like we get to live our dream and so that's yeah. So it wasn't until I said, you know what, I just need something to do each and every day, something that is my new mission, right, And so I knew I always wanted to like write a book to like share some of the tips and tricks that helped me overachieve in my life that maybe kids could take something from. And so I started doing that. As soon as I started doing that and have that new passion, that new mission, I've started to feel so much better. And it was very cathartic to be able to do that. And with the media, you know, as an NFL player, REP I was often talking to the media. And at some point about a year after I went through all that struggle and that adversity mentally emotionally, a friend of mine said, hey, you were always good talking to the media.

Maybe you should be the media.

You know, I can connect you with somebody to maybe give you an opportunity. And then Pack twelve Networks gave me a shot. They let me call four games, Like you've never done this before, We'll let you call four games. After that, they're like, well that was pretty good. You want to sit in a studio show the rest of the time. And that's how it all happened. I mean it was really like I didn't once I got into it, and then that, like I said, that became my new game. Then I really started to be passionate about it and sharing stories and telling stories.

I can mean you for the game calling.

I called one game, like a couple of weeks ago, he called me it was I bro was I was like, yeah, I'm not, that's my thing.

That's not my thing. Like it's it's tough.

Three and a half hours of breaking news. You don't know what the story is going to be.

Who's the story? And you talk about ten or fifteen stegas and you stop and then.

It's a dance that you don't realize they make a dance. I always say in the media, it's not easy to make it look easy, and like the play by playing the analysts and NFL game, they're like the epitome of that where like.

That ry though, yeah, yeah, you got you gotta have chemistry. You have to study your stuff, know your stuff.

And you might have to be ready to like pivot and not use any of it because correct you can come in with this narrative of what this game is going to be and the game rolls out completely different. So everything you thought was going to happen, yeah it happens. You got to be ready for that too. And so that's what live football is when you're calling the game in a studio.

Man, you know, it's one of my favorite things to do is call the Falcons preseason games. It's a blessing to have that opportunity, but doing it for about six years now and then the preseason is so much tougher because the fosters are so much you know, and so my spotting board as they're called, we have our little boxes with the player's name number and where they went to school, maybe some stats about them. It's like this big at the end, though, I always say, you know, like I'm going to do all the work and prepare and be kind of ready, but like you said, you never know what the day is going to be like, So when when it's game day, I just say, you know what, I'm just gonna sit and watch as a fan and like see what's happening and share that story in the moment, whatever it may be. And that always helps me. I pretend like I'm talking ball with some friends, like what I'm seeing and what I think is happening.

So but yeah, it's it's a beast. It is not easy to make it look easy. Na. It was probably my first one, and that was my first time ever doing it like live, Like I never practiced. They were just like, hey, we want you to call this Bears Jaguars game live go. I was like, okay, yes, coach, Yes, coach, yes, coach, And probably my first and last. Like it's I'm a studio man all day.

So you mentioned about the panic attacks and all those other things. What advice would you give to somebody that's maybe going through something where they don't know they had anxiety for the first time. They've been really good at all these things in life, and all of a sudden they hit a wall and they're no longer being able to do those same things, and they don't know what that feeling is. What would you give them advice to maybe help them get through that or see through it the way you did, Maybe not in the same fashion.

Yeah, but what was your advice?

The first thing is acceptance, Like be honest with yourself, just like even though you thought you were invincible and nothing like that, whatever happened to you? Just like, no, this is the reality of my situation right now, I'm hurting mentally, emotionally.

That's one.

The second thing is don't be scared to share that, right, whether it's with your spouse, you another, your parents. So friends be vulnerable, like it's okay, hey, to not be okay, and you be shocked at like the amount of people someone might say one thing that helps you put things in their perspective, and they'll also help remind you that maybe it's not as bad as you think it is. And because sometimes up here we are affected by what we think others are thinking and and so yeah, so those are my two things. Just acceptance and then be vulnerable and share because because our human spirit, like I think human nature is to help others, is the one to be there for people, and your pain and your struggles might be exactly what someone else needs. They need someone to help, and you're going to impact their life in a positive way. You think you're going to be a burden, but you're not. So I think as football players mentally physically tough, that's where we're born, bred, raised, trained, right invincible, cutthroat mentality, invincible. So it's understanding that that former NFL players would feel that way.

But once the.

Game is over, I think you do away with that life and now you just realize I am human because I think we fool ourselves and think we are. We get that Superman complex and so, but we're not.

But that's the cliche part about it, though, is like you you're the tough guy and then all of a sudden you have to be reminded or you have to you have to make that switch. And that's to me, I think that's probably the hard part, is just trying to make that switch to say, all right, well maybe I can be vulnerable, maybe I can share this with someone or say that I'm not okay today mentally, I'm in a bad place, i feel depressed, or I'm whatever. But I think it's it's allowing that person to make that shift. And we said it yesterday we're talking a couple of other people. It was like, we got to give ourselves grace. You definitely got to give ourselves grace. And that's something that I think we as football players, we don't we don't do once we retire. We still want to have that that mentality. And when you go, when you're going through it, you don't realize you're going through it because it's probably something it's a new experience, it's a new emotion, it's a new feeling that you haven't quite felt, and you don't know how to navigate through these waters.

Yep, you know, yeah, I think you know, my wife taught me really how to open up because in early in our relationship and even sometimes to this day, like I try not to burden her with my burdens, like I feel like i'm you know, misery doesn't love.

You know, company, right like they say it does.

Your company doesn't love your misery, right, So yeah, So that's the way I always felt and so like and I do want her to think I'm strong in that and I'm tough. And she said, Queen, you stop doing that, like I'm your teammate, like I'm here to help you. I don't think less of you if you're feeling down or you're feeling low, or you can't figure something out or this that the other thing. So that's where it all started for me. I was unfortunate that my wife Claire has really helped me be that way. And then you just realized that like that, that is normal to be that way, and it was abnormal the way we were trained.

Absolutely absolutely, Yeah. I was one of my workout partners. He has really helped me put it into words. He was like, you know, when you're the former football player, you the way you've lived your life, the way your mindset has been. At some point you got to learn to be comfortable with being the warrior in the garden, Like you don't need to wear your armor anymore. You can be like and it's okay, and it's really uncomfortable at first, but learning how to be cool with being the warrior in the garden and understand like it's still in you the warror mentality is in you, but you're just in the garden.

You just got to be cool with that.

I'm like, I know what, that makes a lot of senny, just like, Okay, we saw and.

Just move on.

So, uh, we'll be back in a minute. How did you get to see an It like very non traditional arts path. It's not a lot of former athletes that get to work for the news side of the television stide.

So I spent a year a PAC twelve Networks. Then I did three years at FS one with Fox Sports. And at times when CNN would have a big news story, it's like, you know, dealing with concussions, this is abauck, like twenty ten, twenty eleven, they would call me as a former NFL player to get my thoughts on what's happening. And so I was a guest and so they were kind of aware of me. And then I remember I was at a Super Bowl one year and the head of CNN Sports at the time came up and said, we've been watching you. We've been putting together a sizzle reel. I send it up to New York. How do you feel about covering all sports? And I said, yes, coach, Yes, coach, you'd be able to stay here in Atlanta, CNN headquarters. I was flying every week to the West Coast, so you know, we didn't have children yet, but I was missing my wife and you know, a little more quality time and all that and just that opportunity. Didn't really know what I was getting into, but I did like the prospects of it, and thank goodness I did, because here I am now my ninth year at CNN, and it's just it's just been incredible.

It's my new game. It's a TV is a lot like football.

I mean, I have my locker room, I have my my writers, my editors, my producers. I have my position coaches, my head coaches. And when I'm on that TV, just like on an NFL game day, if I didn't get my stuff together, if I wasn't prepared, if I missed a tackle, it's not just on me, because now I'm putting that guy behind me in a compromising position and he might miss a tackle. His jobs now on the line. I like that pressure to perform. I think NFL players we all like that pressure to perform and that accountability. And it's not just me, but this team and our mission is dependent on me being the best I can be. And so that's how I approach every hit, every show, study my butt off, and be ready to tackle it full throttle. Knowing that I got people dependent on me, I would be the best teammate I can be. So yeah, CNN is it's been. It's been awesome for me, and we'll see how much longer I can keep this thing rolling.

What the expectations because you work for a news company and seeing it, but the expectations of covering sports, which is what you do a lot of times, like, what are the expectations of it?

How is it different?

Kind of break it all down for me, because it's very like, Okay, this is what it was, and then you guys move on.

They don't. It's not it's more tree top level sometimes. Yeah.

So being a news anchor, news correspondent or a reporter, it's so much different than what we're so accustomed to in today's world with sports media, where it's a lot of opinion and analysis, and I mean I really can't do that. I really just tell you the what and let you decide what to think. Like I can't give my opinion or all the mindsets it's totally different, and it was really tough for me at first because I started at Pack twelve Networks and that's one as an analyst where I can like really bring the heat like.

We see you know, like you do right sec. So that was tough for me.

But at the same time, I like it because I don't have to be critical of someone.

Yeah. Yeah, topic, So that's my thing.

I study my butt off to know the facts of what happened, when it happened, how it happened. I tell you what, letting viewers decide what to think. That's just my job. So I appreciate that aspect of it. And the most fun I have is getting out in the field when I get to be around these events and share that story and take the viewers there. But yeah, it's good. I get to do a wide range of things. I'll anchor on Ciena International a show called World Sport. It's a thirty minute show every day, and having to learn about cricket and F one and European soccer and all that.

The real football, as they say, cricket is crazyrick is crazy. Still don't I still don't quite understand all the rules to forever yes, yes, days.

The game can go for days, so yeah, I mean I get to do that obviously, I says the correspondent type work. And then one of my most favorite things to do is CNN ten. It's a ten minute on my new show, and it's geared towards the next generation. It's in schools all across the world. We get about three million viewers per episode. And I love that because I rarely talk sports, are covering the news of the day. But I know the impact I'm able to have on that next generation and that's powerful stuff. So I felt like that was my next step at CNN, something that I could do break out side of sports. And I've been doing that for two years now and that's become, you know, my passion. So do you remember the Do you remember Channel one?

Channel one? So you had Chris Cooper, Chris Craig Jackson, Chris Jackson, a Lisa Lane. It kind of reminds me of something similar to that. I used to watch it in YEP, like junior high and it was ten fifteen minute news about current events, yep, and that's what it is. It kind of seems like it's something similar. It's exactly like that a newer generation of it.

Yep, it's exactly like that quick ten minute shows teachers. We release each episode the night before so teachers can get eyes on the topics and so they'll create lesson plans around it. They'll quiz the students on the content that they saw. And the biggest thing I learned that about that being a journalist in the news was like the power of words, even a single word. So I'll give you an example, Like we were doing a story about the border wall, right and President Joe Biden said this, and someone wrote a story that day. We have writers who can write the stories for us, and the writer put Joe Biden said this about the border wall. Even former President Trump said that, And it was that one word even that implied that you were almost surprised that even Donald Trump would say that. But you don't do that, like that's showing bias. And so it was just simply President Joe Biden said this, a former President Donald Trump said this, But do you see how that one word is, like even he said it, you know, and I don't want to be that, Like I can't be that for these kids or for those teachers who are trusting me to be the giver of this information and this news to their students, and so, like, I really take pride in that. That's where I kind of came up with that word, I tell you the what, letting you decide what to think, so that it just I learned about the power of words and even just a single word can have and make a huge difference on how the information is received or how you're sharing a story.

Peanut, what do I say all the time? Words matter? All the time? Yeah, that's a huge thing for me.

My wife hates it because I'm like, I say it, I'd use I stole it.

Hey, words matter, they do.

Words truly truly matter, matter, And it's a difference between you are and you're acting.

Like that's correct and even to ourselfs especially right like those words. Like we were at work today in between the show, one of my producers we have a papa shot. He's like, I'm gonna break the rector today. But he goes to start the game. He says, oh man, my arm's tired. I'm like, you're done. Like you careful what you say because you're gonna believe it. You already said you're done, so you're not giving yourself the best opportunity I learned learned from One of my heroes growing up in the football world was Walter Payton, and I've read books about him, Never Die Easy. One of his books, he talked about how he when he would get an ankle injury. This is a guy who spent what sixteen years in the NFL, I think, and only missed one game, and that was because his coaches wouldn't let him as a running back. Yeah, and not a big running back, but he was tough as nails, and when he would get an ankle injury, he would lie in bed and tell himself, I'm getting better. I feel good, I feel great. My ankle is fine. Ankle is fine. He would picture of tiny men going and working and repairing his ankle. I'm good, I feel great. That power of the mind, he believed that it affected his body and kind of the proof is in the pudding right with that, So I think, yeah, words matter for sure, and if you look at the grace of the grace, they are very aware of the thoughts that can affect the things.

Yeah, I'm trying to be better about that in golf because like a lot of negative things.

Come out of my mouth about my own self at golf. Is there someone that you want an interview that you haven't interviewed yet after wise or just just a person in jail. Well, it used to be the rock. It used to be the rock. But I did get the interview, and you guys are kind of doing the eyebrow people.

Yeah, we had a fine interview, No, man, because I get just as excited from an interviewing an athlete like an Alana mar that you may be never heard of as I do a superstar.

I don't.

I don't you know, have anybody that I actively seek. I just seek those stories that I think people need to hear. And that's what I love showhow me?

Is there one unique story that's like, man, this story like shook me or shocked me.

When I actually covered.

Well, I get emotional a lot like when I interview people I learned, like read a long time ago. One thing, if you can get someone to cry or in an interview, that's powerful stuff because you know they're really opening up. And there's this one interview a few years ago. It was a guy, I mean, I just was taken back by his selflessness, former NFL player and he was doing this rowing across Lake Michigan to like raise awareness and funds for children's pediatric cancer initiatives. And his name is Charles Tillman. And here we were a few years ago, sixty five miles more than twenty four hours across Lake Michigan.

Yeah. What kept you going? The people, the fans, the people, the heroes that we honored on the front of our boat. The purpose of why I was doing it, you know, Pi I could cancer research, and it was just it was a great CAUs man. And the people that rallied in came to our support was it was truly pronable.

What was it like when you saw Tiana and the rest of your family and former teammates they're supporting you had to finish.

I got emotional. I started to cry. O me what I was? What hit you? The support hit me? One? Two? I was extremely tired. And three the people that were on the front of our boat, the boat some of them had passed away, and to know their struggle of what they dealt with and what they had to deal with and go through day in and day out, and it just man, it just it just it hit me. And it was Yeah, it hit me like a ton of breaks, and that emotion is powerful.

The wise man once said, nothing great happens without inspiration.

Yeah, yeah, what's yours? Them? Them? My daughter, she's my inspiration for me to go through twenty five hours or on a boat. To me, that's nothing compared to what these what these kids have to go through.

Take us back to when that the heart failure, the heart transplant was affecting your family, your six month.

Old daughter there in the hospital. What was that like? I was just like, oh wow, this is she could she could die? What in the world? And you know, fast forward to her getting a heart for three three months later. It's the best day of your life, but it's the worst day of your life because you know, you're happy your daughter is living and receiving a heart, but you know somewhere else in the country that someone else's child died and my daughter would be the recipient of my heart. It just goes to show the true spirit of humanity and caring and loving and giving.

Man, it's just your heart got me that day like that. You did that, Yeah, and for whom you did it. You talked about all the names of the people on that boat that you were rolling for. How you afterwards you cried.

Yeah, you know that's what you told me that today, And I think this is the type of thing that people need to see more of from professional athletes, former football players, like they don't understand, but more than just football players, you know.

So those are the type of stories like that one got me.

That one Look at that, dude, that one got me, and you're still doing it today.

Yeah you today. Yeah, that one got me. Yeah, damn you, Thomas, damn me, Thomas. Yeah, that one got me. Yeah, man, you're a good man.

And you know, those are the type of things that I think people need to realize more. You know, it's so easy to hate on pro athletes and think they are invincible, but like we're such good people and that it's more way more than not. But in the media often we see the not and so I feel it's a blessing to be able to share stories like Charles and other athletes out there who are so much more than just athletes.

So I just love the.

Fact that, you know, I learned this years ago from a pastor friend of mine, was that once you become affected by something, you'll become an advocate for it forever. And so Pinut and his family were affected by something very very unique, and it's really really cool to see like the journey that has started and the things that Peanut and his foundation and other things have been able to do because of one situation and he didn't let it tear him down or his daughter tear her down, and it's really cool and it can get us all choked up over this, and it's just like it's just a passion and it's like the things that the power that we have to do when we decided to.

So so thank you guy.

Sorry surprise you like that, man, But when I knew I was coming here with you, and I wanted to share that story again because it deserved to be told. So shout out to the team for keeping it a secret.

I receive it. Yeah, it was. That was a good time. But like you said, man, you go through something and you know, for her to have a heart transplant and that whole thing, and you see, like day I was affected, our family was affected, Our family and friends were affected by it, and you know, trying to take a negative and turn it into something positive and just bless other people because we were blessed with her receiving a heart transplant. So I wanted to take that blessing and bless other people and just keep it, just keeping going and paying it for that. I can't pay it back, so I just want to.

Because our tough times can make us tougher strength through our struggles, right absolutely, and the strongest burning.

The hottest coves.

Man, It's all how we were all going to go through it in some form of fashion. It's how you let it affect you moving forward and you're doing the best of the best with it.

Man.

Yeah, I want to know what it was like though, to cover the Olympics in parents. The Olympics are such a huge event, especially the Summer Olympics, and what it means to so many different countries, all the different countries there, Like, what was that experience like to just be around all of the Olympics in what the events are.

It's my most favorite event to cover because it is the best of sports on full display. And what I feel the best of sports is, especially in today's world, is bringing people from all different socioeconomic, racial, gender backgrounds, all these difference differences. It doesn't matter who you are, what country you came from, You're all coming together for this common love of sport and you're embracing and you're hugging and you're high five. And football is a lot like that, as we know, right, those locker rooms get that we bring together so many different types of people and we respect one another. Olympics is that full throttle, right, And so that is the first thing that I really appreciate about. The second thing the athletes that you interview, they don't get microphones in their face, open lockers every day.

Yeah, the Olympic sports are completely different. Yes, So they're not jaded.

I mean, you know, we understand it can be tough sometimes to talk to media. Right, every day, they get their one moment maybe once in their lifetime, maybe once every four years, and so they are so open and eager to share their story. And that's what you love as a journalist, right. You want someone, you want to be that conduit for those good stories. And so I just love how humble and passionate they are for that one big moment and I get to share that story. So it's such a blessing. On the work side of it, it's a grind. I mean, it's three and a half weeks straight with a lout, a full month of maybe four or five hours of sleep every day because it's around the clock. You're either going to an event, You're either going to an interview, you're either on air a live window. And so I usually get sick at the end of every Olympics. My body gets round down. So screw you, You're done, Like shut it down for a bit. But man, I just love it. It is like a super Bowl for me now right. I never got to play in a super Bowl like you guys did, but it I love it. I get so pumped up. And this was my fifth Olympics, so yeah, the next one is in Italy. I hope I'll be there for that, the Mountaintops for the next Winter Games, and and then I'm planning for the twenty twenty eight Olympics. To see the three of us on a flag football team, well, well.

I would so do it. I would so do it in the hard we'll coach, maybe we'll coach there. I'm not like.

I played in flag football tournaments with some of these like good teams. These dudes are dead ass serious and I'm not that serious. Yeah, and so to the when every game is the super Bowl is me I'm problems out here. They run circles around there.

Yeah, well they're not.

No, they just everything's so much better, Like we don't know all the rules, Like they're doing this throw to display all you and like you just got to be really really dial then and you can't you just like that.

I mean, I'm good, y'all. I don't need all that. So you're in you're in Paris and you see a favor play yeah boy, yeah boy, And he was like shell shocked to see you. Man, that's cool, Like how how dope was that?

It was incredible because you know, that's someone I grew up listening to you and to have him recognize me, I was kind of shocked at first.

So I pinched myself all the time.

You know, we're we're blessed to be able to do some of the things we do, meet the people we meet, right, And so for me, I was just there to help share his story and the impact he was having on the on the women's sports teams in Paris at the Olympics, you know, the water polo team, and for him to then give me that love and that energy he made a little rap about me just like freestyle was like my.

Mind was blown.

I was like, man, I can't eve believe this is happening right now. But yeah, it's a blessing to have those opportunities. I do not take them for granted. I mean I see TV very similar to the NFL, not for long, right, you got to you gotta really bring it every day, be passionate about what you do and take advantage of those moments. And when you have that mindset, it really helps make the most of those moments you do get. So we did a great story with Flavor Flave there and yeah, really cool.

I want to talk about Mount Rushmore for people, for icons for you, for icons of what helped you get to where you are right now in life. If you could put four people on Mount Rushmore, who would those four people be?

So definitely my mom just symbolizes love for me. I mean she cut seatpelt out of the back of one of our cars when I was growing up so she could create a shoulder harness because we read about if you could like put a tire to a chain on a harness and run.

It would help you. She did that. Like my dad work ethic.

My dad work ethic, working three jobs. I mean I remember like going in his room at night hearing like I thought it was like screeching and he's on the floor full body cramp because he was like doing ups overnights and working at the grocery store and like so he's doing three jobs and like so that's where I got my work ethic of for my brother and sister there as one person, just because just like ultimate support cheerleaders of my life, sacrifice and things they want to do when they're like taking me off to wrestling tournaments and this and that, and they're sitting up there in the bleachers like all board, but they sacrifice some of their fun in childhood for me to achieve my dream. And finally I talked about my wife already Claire, I mean just my rock, you know. Or she sacrificed her passion, her career to like raise me and my girls, our daughters, and so there's just that ultimate sacrifice and I mean those are that's that's my mount rushmore Man.

Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, that's a good one. I think Corey. You're off the hot seat, baby. We appreciate you coming on the show. Man.

Oh, I loved being here and I love It's an honor and privilege. You guys, keep doing it, man, because you're impacting lives.

No, Man, I appreciate you number one for coming here. Number two man for listening that you know, to hear from other former players talk about the mission and the journey that we're on. We didn't know it was going to be like this. We're just riding along with it too, right, Yeah. The fact that you get to hear other people's stories and you're like, dude, like that's my teammates, and like being able to talk about that and then probably share it with other former teammates like that is what this thing is all about. And being able to share like other people's second acts and really understand, my guys, it's the locker room has just changed a little bit, but we're all still rooting for each other. We're all still find ways to keep up with each other, and we're really just one big fraternity that just keeps poring to each other. So thank you, brother, because we're all rooting for you because we all see you, appreciate, all root for you as well.

Man. To just know that it been a blessing to be here man, all.

Right, man, for all of our viewers and listeners out there. Appreciate that everything that you always do. Man, give us a five star rating, give us a review, leave a comment.

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I got excited because I got it right. I got it right. I got it right. I'm your teammate. I got you.

So you forgot what you always say, Tell a friend to tell a friend, to tell a friend.

That's what I'm talking about. Tell a friend. There we go, get us out of here. Hey, this might have been the best one yet we heed telling friends rooms. Remembering the NFL YouTube channel. Hey man, I'm Peanut as Coy. That's wrong and this is the NFL Player's second Act podcast. We appreciate y'all.

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