Readings and welcome to What Happened to That Guy? A Ravens podcast about former players and life after football. I'm your host John Eisenberg. As the Ravens head coach in the early two thousands, Brian Billick always wanted to make sure he had his finger on the pulse of the locker room. So after the two thousand and fourth season, he took a week and flew around the country on Steve Bischotti's private plane to visit with several team leaders. I know, nice work if you can get it right. When he flew to Dallas to meet with Dion Sanders, Dion arranged for him to be picked up in a limo. The limo took Billick to sanders Mansion, a suburban enclave in a gated community. After they visited for a few hours, Sanders limo took Billick back to the airport. He flew on to Las Vegas, where Jonathan Ogden, the All Pro offensive tackle and future Hall of Famer lived during the offseason. Ogden picked him up at the airport, but rather than go back to the house to discuss the Ravens, the two guys hit the Vegas Strip. I mean, why wouldn't you. They wound up at a fancy restaurant eating steaks at midnight as they chatted about the Ravens. Billick then got back on Bishotti's plane and flew to Oklahoma to see Kelly Greg, the squatty nose tackle who manned the middle of the Ravens defensive line for nearly a decade. I'll let Billock tell the story from here and apologies he does curse as he recreates his get together with Greg. I fly in I think Oklahoma City and he picks me up in a beat up his original fe I mean it was a pizza ship and we went to which was clash of killing, you know, and sat there for three hours. You went where I'm sorry? Okay, yeah, I kicked me up on his beat up, shitty truck. That was Keret. Greg came to the Ravens from his native Oklahoma, and he's back there now in retirement, happily married for more than two decades, a father to three growing boys who surely get fed at Eyehop now. And then. When we spoke by phone for this podcast, Greg was riding out a violent thunderstorm in the cab of his truck, possibly the same truck he used when Billick visited all those years ago. I asked him if he kept up with his former teammates. You bet, I'm on a you know, obviously, especially deep in to buy. I taught Dwan Edwards, Johns and Justin Danae Revor Fries once in a bloomerle I have too many adult beverages and I'll shoot all those guys at Jack Nobal Reminisce. Fans love Greg like few players who've worn the Ravens uniform. It was just a perfect fit. Like Baltimore, Greg was an undersized underdog without airs or pretension, spend a season on the practice squad before getting a chance to play, never expected anything, knew he'd have to work extra hard to keep whatever he got, and as much as the ends loved him, his teammates loved him more. He was a sawed off former high school wrestling champion who loved to line up and hit people, and also loved the give and take of locker room banter. Before and after practice, he'd waddled through the carpeted locker room with a big grin on his round face, zinging his teammates with good nature. Barbes and cackling when they zinged him back. He was the first to tell you he wasn't real complicated. Growing up in Edmond, outside Oklahoma City. He'd liked to play football and wrestle and hunt and fish, and he hadn't really changed. He was genuine country, as they say. His former d line sidekick Trevor Price told me Greg was just about the funniest guy he'd ever met. We always had, you know, great time and locker and playing Frank Sun guys, you know, giving guys a hard time. We always just said, you know, skin like armadilla, and you know, we always just had a great time. And you know, luckily I was, you know, have around a little bit, and you know, we all we just had fun. And you know, all those guys, Trevor had a great personality. And that's one thing. You know, you looked at the guys and the Ravens the way they you know, sort of went about flecting their guys. They you know, the big, good guys that really love football, you know, and that's one thing, and love being a part of the team. And that's one thing I always cherished, just you know, laughing and conversations with the teammates. The defensive line is a rich source of Raven's history, with coordinators like Marvin Lewis and Rex Ryan and position coaches like the late Clarence Brooks coaching one of a kind characters like Tony Sarah Goosa, Sam Adams, Price, Michael McCrary, Hellodi Nada. Kelly Greg is a fundamental piece of that history. We had some great guys come through there, and you know it started off with Sam and Goose and Robernette and those guys, you know, Hordball, Billick. You know, they'd always you know, they let us have a good time, work their taels off, and that's one thing they always did. And we had some great guys. Bannon, Oh, we just said personality had are gone. It's just you know, all those guys bill can come around. We'd always say fire, fire, inferno. But yeah, we always you know, we always say even when Marvin was there, you know we was that fine. You knew we're gonna go out there and try to you know, shut people down and get after people, and you know, why not have a lot of fun while you're kicking button To understand where Kelly greg is now at age forty two, you have to go back years because there's a progression in his life that makes sense. Growing up, he was a policeman's son with that stubby body and really no designs on a long NFL career. He played at Oklahoma, but believe it or not, the Sooners weren't very good when he was there. Then he was a sixth round NFL draft pick in nineteen ninety nine, and he got cut twice before he landed in Baltimore, where he spent his first year two thousand on the practice squad. I remember calling on practice first on Kelly and Stretch I see this like you say, short fire plug guy. I'm thinking, okay, which coach is doing somebody a favor here? I mean, who who is this kid? You know? This kid doesn't He certainly doesn't look like a pro player with a body and a background like that. Greg recognized that his football career was liable to end any day, so he had no choice but to start planning for life after the game. She was very, very focused on more than anybody know. This thing can disappear quickly for any number of reasons, and I'm gonna I'm gonna save my money and make sure they take care of my family and whatever time I have in the NFL. Crazy how some guys blowing their mind and stuff because you know, guys think they're gonna make it forever, and you know, you gotta think about tomorrow for sure. You know, my dad was a police officers, so I thought, you know, even when I was growing up going to college, I thought about, you know, I wanted to go into law enforcement or something like that. And you know, I didn't know, you know, when I first got in the league, I decided to just be there for breakfast and gone by lunch. So I always had that in the back of my mind. I would sort of be my fallback, you know. And then I thought, you know, how long I would play, that I might go into it. But lucky enough, I was, you know, able to play long enough and save my money. So I said, no, I don't want it. I don't want to work a full day, so I'll just relax and yeah, that's about it. Really, did you hear that? Lucky enough? He said, typical Kelly greg There was nothing lucky about it. He worked hard to make the leap from the practice squad to the roster to the starting lineup in Baltimore. The thing that immediately with Kelly, it was whatever you needed. Because I used to run the scout squad on most offensive defense. It was you my way of kind of keeping in touch with all the players and touching all the players on a daily basis. And no matter I can be on the opposite. I need a dark get Kelly jumped right in. I need a fullback standing right there. I need a quarterback. No, Kelly, you cannot play quarterback. Okay, I'm not going to let you do that, but whatever you need it. He was just that word everybody, I'm gonna do whatever they want me to do. And then you began to see again his unique skills, that strength, that power, that burst, that leverage is impossible block just because he was so small, it's so powerful, and he understood leverage because he was a wrestling and the players loved it, you know, because he just was the anti player in terms of what he looked like. Greg never made the Pro Bowl, but he was good, really good, a strong and active force in the middle of some truly stellar defensive lines. Victor the line on first had said, Falcon's habited there thirty two two receivers right eye formation play acted Vic under pressure, Kelly Greg wraps him up and takes him down with the sack. At the twenty yard line. Kelly Greg monoamano and puts Michael Vick down. Vic Sloan was feat probably out of disbelief that a guy built like Kelly Greg could sack a guy built like Michael rick Is. Good things happen to good players, and when Greg signed a nice contract extension with the Ravens in two thousand and seven, it altered the course of the rest of his life. He no longer had to follow his father into police work once his playing days were over. Now he had a nice nest egg, a cushion, which meant he had options and could be more selective. So he didn't mind when the end came a few years later. You know, I'd have played for half of what they paid me. I just loved playing. I loved being out there. But you know, I'd say that last one or two years, especially at last year, something turned off, like, you know, I fell out of love. Without their grinding and being physical and stuff. You know, obviously I was getting all the more out. I used to practice being physical and stuff, and you know, my kids playing I hear a big hit and my phones started taking and cracking again. I'll miss playing one bit, but I missed drinking beers and hanging out with the guys and you know, joking around in the locker room. I looked back and over the times and the great memories that I had with teammates. I'm not making plays, just being together, lasting, fishing together. I miss that. No, I don't miss out there. You know. Grid and I tried to play it flowed me up like a line chair and stick me under the table. Like I said, I haven't missed it one bit. These days, Gregg isn't exactly a mister mom, but he has three boys, Wyatt, Writer and Maddox, ages fifteen, fourteen, and eleven, and he drives him to school every morning and picks them up later. He made enough money in football that he doesn't have to spend his days toiling away in an office, but he does work. His post football career is in wait for it. Sports talk radio Kelly Greg has cracked up at his Red Bull. I've poured my double cheeko and we are ready for a Friday of fun and killing. Unfortunate Friday. Let's go fast, No, mistakes. We're not out here long. Let's go and unfortunately you're gonna see me tomorrow becaus we're gonna be family leisure, that's right, doing our pregame. We're doing it again. Oh you seasons, so you know what's going to happen. The franchise is gonna fire up and you have a full day of coverage. Yep. Greg is the co host of a weekday afternoon show on Oklahoma City's biggest all sports station. For two hours a day, he's on live radio talking about Oklahoma and Oklahoma state football and basketball, pro football, college football, and of course, his hometown team, the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. He also works weekends in the fall as part of the pregame show on Oklahoma football radio broadcasts. You know, I did it, just something to do. You know, it gets me out of house and it's you know, it's important to be my kids, you know, still see me go to work and stuff. But yeah, two hours a day, it's for me and it's good too. I get to go down and do OHU pre games and stuff sort of sort of keep you know, I get my fill of football that ways, you know, running my fat mouse every once in a while on the radio and then you know, obviously game days are fun. So how long did it take you you were done with football? How long did it take you to get going in radio? I mean did you get into it right away or did you sort of look around? Oh no, it was just it was sort of out of half a stance. They had called me some one to seven point seven here in Oklahoma City. They had called me to see if I wanted to be on the radio, and I was like, you going five ten minutes and they said no, would you like to come in? And you know, in a sport job, you know, it's like talking sports in the sports bar. You know, I'd be doing the same thing if I wasn't on the radio. So why not get paid a little bit? You know, give me a job. Act like I'm, you know, talking sports in the bar. So you interact with the people a lot, and oh you bet. And I love it too, because for some reason there's a bunch of Steelers fans down here and I just get on there and I basked Pittsburgh and players that and they hate it. So it's you know, a little competitive juices go. I love bashing what in the world of a bunch of Steelers fans in Oklahomas. No idea, no idea. I think all the crazies of left Pittsburgh. Yeah, I get a kick out of it too, So it's all and good fun. There's quite a few Steeler fans here. And your persona on air, are you? I mean it's not a persona, it's just you, right, yeah, yeah, it's just just me. And you know, I get a lot of people get on me too, the grammar police. I'm allays been pronunciating and you know stuff like that. Me and school are never the best of friends. So I'd just like to have a good time and not sport. But so I heard it though talking on the radios, you know, you know back in the death that I would be easy. But seas you're playing and talking on the radio for sure, really you think that? Yeah? I think so? Say, you know, me watching basketball short of fish out of water, but now I try my best. Yeah, they don't turn it into hear me talk basketball? Tell you that? Yeah, but you have to in that town, right, I mean that's your team. Well, for sure, you know, I enjoy I go to a couple of games here and there, but yeah, it's you get a lot of preparation just for two hours. The good news is his schedule leaves him plenty of time to watch his boys played football, which surprise they all do. I'm at a lot of games and I get a kick out of it. You know, they're yeah, I having fought, and you know it's it's crazy. Seems like more of these little league games or sometimes more intense NFL, which is crazy serious deal these days. You know, back when I played high school little league, we just played for fun. Now everything is so serious, so it seems different. It does, Yeah, it does. I coached, you know, little league. You know, I helped out a little bit. But I see them parents and you know, they're like, well, what do you think. And I'm like, oh, he's gonna be great. You know, he's gonna be good. And they're like, no about college, and I'm like, I think we should worry about fifth grade over you know, college football right now. It's just, you know, sometimes it gets a little crazy. I had to ask, are his boys stubby interior linemen like their dad was? Has Kelly Greg produced more? Kelly Greg's my two older boys wide writer, built like me, short and squatty. You know, I'm looking. I didn't have a girl, she'd be built like me. But my two older boys are alignement. And my little guy, he's a little He's got a little athlete, didn't he. Yeah, well you had some athlete, didn't you be a different kind of athlete, you say, so, he might be a little faster or a little more. Yeah, he's a faster tower. He's he's waiting. You know. He plays tied in a little stand up wide receiver. But no, there you know, a bother as gonna have fun. Let's father Meg. You know it can't be that band. So he's talking sports on the radio in his hometown and watching his boys grow up and played football. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? And wait, it gets even better. Greg also owns a farm a three hundred and twenty acres spread about fifteen minutes from his house, farther out in the country. It's his happy place. It's got a cabin out there, and I got four horses, four pigs. I've had it for about I don't know eight years now. I got it when I first retired. I bought it from a golfer, Bob Tway. He won the PGA one time, but he had it. I always should hunt it out there before in the past, and that's one thing I you know, i'd hundred when I played a little bit, but you know I got done it. You know, that's one of my abs. I'm not a big killer. I probably I'm killed like four deer in my life, but I always enjoy chasing them. I'm always out there hunting or fishing or trying to grow feed plot. I want to live out there, but my wife won't let me. We're always out there or you know, it's a good getaway. I think that's the most important thing. When guys, uh, you know, they get done playing. Some of these guys in the past, they don't know what to do, you know, or they have no hobbies. And that's what thing is. I look forward to, uh you know, retire quitting that way I could fish and hunt more. I got a big bond out there, ol wheelers, horses for my kids. Yeah, I got a little jeeper. I'm always on my tractor out there messing around. So I'm a weekend warrior. I'm all hating no cattle. You know what I'm saying, Yes, yes I do, so are you you're not growing anything. I try to sweet peas, milo for deer, and I love you know, wild pigs. But I'm not a very I don't have very good green time. You know. My wife says, when I said I'm going out there right the tractor, that means I'm going out there to have a dope beverages and ship by the bond. So it's funny, isn't it. I mean, how people's memories are short. How many people remember you as Kelly Greg the NFL player? Ohe you Ravens Sunday Night football against the Steelers, And you know how much do you hear it these days? You know, sometimes you know more now. It's just usually people look at me like, man, you look like a football player, I said a long time ago. Yeah, you don't get recognized near as much as when you were playing with you know, every once in a while, even when I was up there playing, you know, people didn't know as the football player because I wasn't the tallest guy. So you know, it's never been one of those deals where, oh, you know, I like to be you know, recognized this to that, and a lot of people just think, man, you look like a football player. Do you ever be a football player. It's humbling, isn't it? You bad? Yeah, but you know it's all part of the process. It was a great ride. Every day I wake up and I feel very blessed and lucky, and you know, it's been a good ride so far. Kelly Greg ranks high on Brian Billick's list of all time favorite players he ever coached anywhere. Another story Billicks shared with me helps explain why. In two thousand and seven, during what turned out to be his final season as the Ravens head coach, the team was going south and rumors about Billick's job security were starting to swirl. Then one day he heard a knock on his office door. Reg was standing in the doorway. You know, NFL and you don't know ways thinks you're going when you're losing and you used to win in those locker rooms. Unhappy and all the things can go with it. And so Kelly comes up to my office and which is was unique. Oh jeez, okay, well what's going on? Though? He goes, coach, I just want to know who do I need to take out for? Like who do you go up to the Elmitate? Like who you want me to hit and I'm going Kelly, I'm okay, I'm good man. I appreciate, appreciate, because obviously he just wanted to be very loyal and could see things going to say and wanted to be helpful. Typical Kelly Greg what do you need to be to do? I always always appreciated that he went back and forth between fiery and funny. But one thing that never changed was he had his teammates backs and they had his because, oh did he love to rumble. Talk about the ultimate foxhole guy, the one you'd want to go to war with. Even though he's fine now with being a former player, done with the game, he does miss some things about being in the NFL, getting down and dirty with the Steelers, for instance. I always enjoyed playing the Steelers because it was just you knew, it's, you know, take no prisoners, let it all hang out. You know, you're looking trying to get guys like Hinds. I'll never forget, you know, he hit at one time and we're all trying to pick him up, you know, playing their lot Alan fanaka Jeff Harding, those guys. You know, that's one thing that you know I missed, you know, I I didn't miss playing football, but I missed, you know, getting in there or those guys and trying to mix it up because it was like a fighting you know, it was you know, because it was usually for them, you know, AFC North title and uh, you know, especially twice a year. But yeah, I missed those days with those guys for sure. Have you ever run into Fanica and those guys? I mean, do you know him at all? You know after the fact here, Yeah, I saw he got all skinny. I heard he's one of marathons. Now I probably can't catch him, but if I catch him, I getting back. Now that's a great, uh sports memory for you. Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. I'm looking right now at a Muddy Sandy film. I hated Hinsfield because you can never get footing, you know. Every time I see a big mudhole, I think, oh, there's hinsteel And you wonder why Ravens fans loved him so much and surely still do. More than a decade after his last game in Purple, he is still making fun of the Steelers, still carrying the Ravens banner on the radio, still recalling with great fondness how much fun he had in Baltimore. In fact, after we talked about how so many of his former d line mates were characters and then moved on to another subject, Greg halted the conversation to point out that we'd forgotten to talk about the greatest character of them all. Terrell Sugs Yo suck was the main game. He was always he was always a guy given guys a hard time. What a great guy to great teammate. I'll never forget. He'd always sit in front of me on the on the plane and I'd always have to you know, I'd get my headphones, I try to tie him up with something. You know. It was like our ritual before every game. I was giving him a hard time. So yeah, those are the little things you miss. So Terrell, go keep them. Get a house down the street from mine. I lived in Jamal Lewis's old house, but I always go there and knock on Terrell's door and mess with him a little bit. Greg loves telling football war stories. But when he tells them now to his sons, who were growing up fast, they roll their eyes, you know, every once while, you know if they remember when I used to do that, and they always look at me like, oh, here comes an old man story or from them hear me a hard I'm like, I'm like, I'm finding funding short. That's it from Kelly Gregg, former Ravens d lineman and no doubt, just a regular guy. You can find out more about his career at Baltimore Ravens dot com slash what Happened to that Guy? I'd like to thank him for speaking to me. Another episode of What Happened to That Guy will drop in two weeks and they'll keep coming every other week for the rest of the twenty twenty season. If you like what you're hearing, please subscribe so you don't miss any episodes. Be sure and tell your Ravens friends about it. This podcast is part of the Baltimore Ravens Podcast Network, which also includes The Lounge hosted by Ryan make and Garrett Downing, and new this year, Black in the NFL hosted by my colleague Clifton Brown. Wherever you get your podcast, just search for the Baltimore Ravens Podcast Network and everything will come up. It's all good stuff. This is John Eisenberg. I'll talk to you in two weeks.

Readings and welcome to What Happened to That Guy? A Ravens podcast about former players and life after football. I'm your host John Eisenberg. As the Ravens head coach in the early two thousands, Brian Billick always wanted to make sure he had his finger on the pulse of the locker room. So after the two thousand and fourth season, he took a week and flew around the country on Steve Bischotti's private plane to visit with several team leaders. I know, nice work if you can get it right. When he flew to Dallas to meet with Dion Sanders, Dion arranged for him to be picked up in a limo. The limo took Billick to sanders Mansion, a suburban enclave in a gated community. After they visited for a few hours, Sanders limo took Billick back to the airport. He flew on to Las Vegas, where Jonathan Ogden, the All Pro offensive tackle and future Hall of Famer lived during the offseason. Ogden picked him up at the airport, but rather than go back to the house to discuss the Ravens, the two guys hit the Vegas Strip. I mean, why wouldn't you. They wound up at a fancy restaurant eating steaks at midnight as they chatted about the Ravens. Billick then got back on Bishotti's plane and flew to Oklahoma to see Kelly Greg, the squatty nose tackle who manned the middle of the Ravens defensive line for nearly a decade. I'll let Billock tell the story from here and apologies he does curse as he recreates his get together with Greg. I fly in I think Oklahoma City and he picks me up in a beat up his original fe I mean it was a pizza ship and we went to which was clash of killing, you know, and sat there for three hours. You went where I'm sorry? Okay, yeah, I kicked me up on his beat up, shitty truck. That was Keret. Greg came to the Ravens from his native Oklahoma, and he's back there now in retirement, happily married for more than two decades, a father to three growing boys who surely get fed at Eyehop now. And then. When we spoke by phone for this podcast, Greg was riding out a violent thunderstorm in the cab of his truck, possibly the same truck he used when Billick visited all those years ago. I asked him if he kept up with his former teammates. You bet, I'm on a you know, obviously, especially deep in to buy. I taught Dwan Edwards, Johns and Justin Danae Revor Fries once in a bloomerle I have too many adult beverages and I'll shoot all those guys at Jack Nobal Reminisce. Fans love Greg like few players who've worn the Ravens uniform. It was just a perfect fit. Like Baltimore, Greg was an undersized underdog without airs or pretension, spend a season on the practice squad before getting a chance to play, never expected anything, knew he'd have to work extra hard to keep whatever he got, and as much as the ends loved him, his teammates loved him more. He was a sawed off former high school wrestling champion who loved to line up and hit people, and also loved the give and take of locker room banter. Before and after practice, he'd waddled through the carpeted locker room with a big grin on his round face, zinging his teammates with good nature. Barbes and cackling when they zinged him back. He was the first to tell you he wasn't real complicated. Growing up in Edmond, outside Oklahoma City. He'd liked to play football and wrestle and hunt and fish, and he hadn't really changed. He was genuine country, as they say. His former d line sidekick Trevor Price told me Greg was just about the funniest guy he'd ever met. We always had, you know, great time and locker and playing Frank Sun guys, you know, giving guys a hard time. We always just said, you know, skin like armadilla, and you know, we always just had a great time. And you know, luckily I was, you know, have around a little bit, and you know, we all we just had fun. And you know, all those guys, Trevor had a great personality. And that's one thing. You know, you looked at the guys and the Ravens the way they you know, sort of went about flecting their guys. They you know, the big, good guys that really love football, you know, and that's one thing, and love being a part of the team. And that's one thing I always cherished, just you know, laughing and conversations with the teammates. The defensive line is a rich source of Raven's history, with coordinators like Marvin Lewis and Rex Ryan and position coaches like the late Clarence Brooks coaching one of a kind characters like Tony Sarah Goosa, Sam Adams, Price, Michael McCrary, Hellodi Nada. Kelly Greg is a fundamental piece of that history. We had some great guys come through there, and you know it started off with Sam and Goose and Robernette and those guys, you know, Hordball, Billick. You know, they'd always you know, they let us have a good time, work their taels off, and that's one thing they always did. And we had some great guys. Bannon, Oh, we just said personality had are gone. It's just you know, all those guys bill can come around. We'd always say fire, fire, inferno. But yeah, we always you know, we always say even when Marvin was there, you know we was that fine. You knew we're gonna go out there and try to you know, shut people down and get after people, and you know, why not have a lot of fun while you're kicking button To understand where Kelly greg is now at age forty two, you have to go back years because there's a progression in his life that makes sense. Growing up, he was a policeman's son with that stubby body and really no designs on a long NFL career. He played at Oklahoma, but believe it or not, the Sooners weren't very good when he was there. Then he was a sixth round NFL draft pick in nineteen ninety nine, and he got cut twice before he landed in Baltimore, where he spent his first year two thousand on the practice squad. I remember calling on practice first on Kelly and Stretch I see this like you say, short fire plug guy. I'm thinking, okay, which coach is doing somebody a favor here? I mean, who who is this kid? You know? This kid doesn't He certainly doesn't look like a pro player with a body and a background like that. Greg recognized that his football career was liable to end any day, so he had no choice but to start planning for life after the game. She was very, very focused on more than anybody know. This thing can disappear quickly for any number of reasons, and I'm gonna I'm gonna save my money and make sure they take care of my family and whatever time I have in the NFL. Crazy how some guys blowing their mind and stuff because you know, guys think they're gonna make it forever, and you know, you gotta think about tomorrow for sure. You know, my dad was a police officers, so I thought, you know, even when I was growing up going to college, I thought about, you know, I wanted to go into law enforcement or something like that. And you know, I didn't know, you know, when I first got in the league, I decided to just be there for breakfast and gone by lunch. So I always had that in the back of my mind. I would sort of be my fallback, you know. And then I thought, you know, how long I would play, that I might go into it. But lucky enough, I was, you know, able to play long enough and save my money. So I said, no, I don't want it. I don't want to work a full day, so I'll just relax and yeah, that's about it. Really, did you hear that? Lucky enough? He said, typical Kelly greg There was nothing lucky about it. He worked hard to make the leap from the practice squad to the roster to the starting lineup in Baltimore. The thing that immediately with Kelly, it was whatever you needed. Because I used to run the scout squad on most offensive defense. It was you my way of kind of keeping in touch with all the players and touching all the players on a daily basis. And no matter I can be on the opposite. I need a dark get Kelly jumped right in. I need a fullback standing right there. I need a quarterback. No, Kelly, you cannot play quarterback. Okay, I'm not going to let you do that, but whatever you need it. He was just that word everybody, I'm gonna do whatever they want me to do. And then you began to see again his unique skills, that strength, that power, that burst, that leverage is impossible block just because he was so small, it's so powerful, and he understood leverage because he was a wrestling and the players loved it, you know, because he just was the anti player in terms of what he looked like. Greg never made the Pro Bowl, but he was good, really good, a strong and active force in the middle of some truly stellar defensive lines. Victor the line on first had said, Falcon's habited there thirty two two receivers right eye formation play acted Vic under pressure, Kelly Greg wraps him up and takes him down with the sack. At the twenty yard line. Kelly Greg monoamano and puts Michael Vick down. Vic Sloan was feat probably out of disbelief that a guy built like Kelly Greg could sack a guy built like Michael rick Is. Good things happen to good players, and when Greg signed a nice contract extension with the Ravens in two thousand and seven, it altered the course of the rest of his life. He no longer had to follow his father into police work once his playing days were over. Now he had a nice nest egg, a cushion, which meant he had options and could be more selective. So he didn't mind when the end came a few years later. You know, I'd have played for half of what they paid me. I just loved playing. I loved being out there. But you know, I'd say that last one or two years, especially at last year, something turned off, like, you know, I fell out of love. Without their grinding and being physical and stuff. You know, obviously I was getting all the more out. I used to practice being physical and stuff, and you know, my kids playing I hear a big hit and my phones started taking and cracking again. I'll miss playing one bit, but I missed drinking beers and hanging out with the guys and you know, joking around in the locker room. I looked back and over the times and the great memories that I had with teammates. I'm not making plays, just being together, lasting, fishing together. I miss that. No, I don't miss out there. You know. Grid and I tried to play it flowed me up like a line chair and stick me under the table. Like I said, I haven't missed it one bit. These days, Gregg isn't exactly a mister mom, but he has three boys, Wyatt, Writer and Maddox, ages fifteen, fourteen, and eleven, and he drives him to school every morning and picks them up later. He made enough money in football that he doesn't have to spend his days toiling away in an office, but he does work. His post football career is in wait for it. Sports talk radio Kelly Greg has cracked up at his Red Bull. I've poured my double cheeko and we are ready for a Friday of fun and killing. Unfortunate Friday. Let's go fast, No, mistakes. We're not out here long. Let's go and unfortunately you're gonna see me tomorrow becaus we're gonna be family leisure, that's right, doing our pregame. We're doing it again. Oh you seasons, so you know what's going to happen. The franchise is gonna fire up and you have a full day of coverage. Yep. Greg is the co host of a weekday afternoon show on Oklahoma City's biggest all sports station. For two hours a day, he's on live radio talking about Oklahoma and Oklahoma state football and basketball, pro football, college football, and of course, his hometown team, the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. He also works weekends in the fall as part of the pregame show on Oklahoma football radio broadcasts. You know, I did it, just something to do. You know, it gets me out of house and it's you know, it's important to be my kids, you know, still see me go to work and stuff. But yeah, two hours a day, it's for me and it's good too. I get to go down and do OHU pre games and stuff sort of sort of keep you know, I get my fill of football that ways, you know, running my fat mouse every once in a while on the radio and then you know, obviously game days are fun. So how long did it take you you were done with football? How long did it take you to get going in radio? I mean did you get into it right away or did you sort of look around? Oh no, it was just it was sort of out of half a stance. They had called me some one to seven point seven here in Oklahoma City. They had called me to see if I wanted to be on the radio, and I was like, you going five ten minutes and they said no, would you like to come in? And you know, in a sport job, you know, it's like talking sports in the sports bar. You know, I'd be doing the same thing if I wasn't on the radio. So why not get paid a little bit? You know, give me a job. Act like I'm, you know, talking sports in the bar. So you interact with the people a lot, and oh you bet. And I love it too, because for some reason there's a bunch of Steelers fans down here and I just get on there and I basked Pittsburgh and players that and they hate it. So it's you know, a little competitive juices go. I love bashing what in the world of a bunch of Steelers fans in Oklahomas. No idea, no idea. I think all the crazies of left Pittsburgh. Yeah, I get a kick out of it too, So it's all and good fun. There's quite a few Steeler fans here. And your persona on air, are you? I mean it's not a persona, it's just you, right, yeah, yeah, it's just just me. And you know, I get a lot of people get on me too, the grammar police. I'm allays been pronunciating and you know stuff like that. Me and school are never the best of friends. So I'd just like to have a good time and not sport. But so I heard it though talking on the radios, you know, you know back in the death that I would be easy. But seas you're playing and talking on the radio for sure, really you think that? Yeah? I think so? Say, you know, me watching basketball short of fish out of water, but now I try my best. Yeah, they don't turn it into hear me talk basketball? Tell you that? Yeah, but you have to in that town, right, I mean that's your team. Well, for sure, you know, I enjoy I go to a couple of games here and there, but yeah, it's you get a lot of preparation just for two hours. The good news is his schedule leaves him plenty of time to watch his boys played football, which surprise they all do. I'm at a lot of games and I get a kick out of it. You know, they're yeah, I having fought, and you know it's it's crazy. Seems like more of these little league games or sometimes more intense NFL, which is crazy serious deal these days. You know, back when I played high school little league, we just played for fun. Now everything is so serious, so it seems different. It does, Yeah, it does. I coached, you know, little league. You know, I helped out a little bit. But I see them parents and you know, they're like, well, what do you think. And I'm like, oh, he's gonna be great. You know, he's gonna be good. And they're like, no about college, and I'm like, I think we should worry about fifth grade over you know, college football right now. It's just, you know, sometimes it gets a little crazy. I had to ask, are his boys stubby interior linemen like their dad was? Has Kelly Greg produced more? Kelly Greg's my two older boys wide writer, built like me, short and squatty. You know, I'm looking. I didn't have a girl, she'd be built like me. But my two older boys are alignement. And my little guy, he's a little He's got a little athlete, didn't he. Yeah, well you had some athlete, didn't you be a different kind of athlete, you say, so, he might be a little faster or a little more. Yeah, he's a faster tower. He's he's waiting. You know. He plays tied in a little stand up wide receiver. But no, there you know, a bother as gonna have fun. Let's father Meg. You know it can't be that band. So he's talking sports on the radio in his hometown and watching his boys grow up and played football. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? And wait, it gets even better. Greg also owns a farm a three hundred and twenty acres spread about fifteen minutes from his house, farther out in the country. It's his happy place. It's got a cabin out there, and I got four horses, four pigs. I've had it for about I don't know eight years now. I got it when I first retired. I bought it from a golfer, Bob Tway. He won the PGA one time, but he had it. I always should hunt it out there before in the past, and that's one thing I you know, i'd hundred when I played a little bit, but you know I got done it. You know, that's one of my abs. I'm not a big killer. I probably I'm killed like four deer in my life, but I always enjoy chasing them. I'm always out there hunting or fishing or trying to grow feed plot. I want to live out there, but my wife won't let me. We're always out there or you know, it's a good getaway. I think that's the most important thing. When guys, uh, you know, they get done playing. Some of these guys in the past, they don't know what to do, you know, or they have no hobbies. And that's what thing is. I look forward to, uh you know, retire quitting that way I could fish and hunt more. I got a big bond out there, ol wheelers, horses for my kids. Yeah, I got a little jeeper. I'm always on my tractor out there messing around. So I'm a weekend warrior. I'm all hating no cattle. You know what I'm saying, Yes, yes I do, so are you you're not growing anything. I try to sweet peas, milo for deer, and I love you know, wild pigs. But I'm not a very I don't have very good green time. You know. My wife says, when I said I'm going out there right the tractor, that means I'm going out there to have a dope beverages and ship by the bond. So it's funny, isn't it. I mean, how people's memories are short. How many people remember you as Kelly Greg the NFL player? Ohe you Ravens Sunday Night football against the Steelers, And you know how much do you hear it these days? You know, sometimes you know more now. It's just usually people look at me like, man, you look like a football player, I said a long time ago. Yeah, you don't get recognized near as much as when you were playing with you know, every once in a while, even when I was up there playing, you know, people didn't know as the football player because I wasn't the tallest guy. So you know, it's never been one of those deals where, oh, you know, I like to be you know, recognized this to that, and a lot of people just think, man, you look like a football player. Do you ever be a football player. It's humbling, isn't it? You bad? Yeah, but you know it's all part of the process. It was a great ride. Every day I wake up and I feel very blessed and lucky, and you know, it's been a good ride so far. Kelly Greg ranks high on Brian Billick's list of all time favorite players he ever coached anywhere. Another story Billicks shared with me helps explain why. In two thousand and seven, during what turned out to be his final season as the Ravens head coach, the team was going south and rumors about Billick's job security were starting to swirl. Then one day he heard a knock on his office door. Reg was standing in the doorway. You know, NFL and you don't know ways thinks you're going when you're losing and you used to win in those locker rooms. Unhappy and all the things can go with it. And so Kelly comes up to my office and which is was unique. Oh jeez, okay, well what's going on? Though? He goes, coach, I just want to know who do I need to take out for? Like who do you go up to the Elmitate? Like who you want me to hit and I'm going Kelly, I'm okay, I'm good man. I appreciate, appreciate, because obviously he just wanted to be very loyal and could see things going to say and wanted to be helpful. Typical Kelly Greg what do you need to be to do? I always always appreciated that he went back and forth between fiery and funny. But one thing that never changed was he had his teammates backs and they had his because, oh did he love to rumble. Talk about the ultimate foxhole guy, the one you'd want to go to war with. Even though he's fine now with being a former player, done with the game, he does miss some things about being in the NFL, getting down and dirty with the Steelers, for instance. I always enjoyed playing the Steelers because it was just you knew, it's, you know, take no prisoners, let it all hang out. You know, you're looking trying to get guys like Hinds. I'll never forget, you know, he hit at one time and we're all trying to pick him up, you know, playing their lot Alan fanaka Jeff Harding, those guys. You know, that's one thing that you know I missed, you know, I I didn't miss playing football, but I missed, you know, getting in there or those guys and trying to mix it up because it was like a fighting you know, it was you know, because it was usually for them, you know, AFC North title and uh, you know, especially twice a year. But yeah, I missed those days with those guys for sure. Have you ever run into Fanica and those guys? I mean, do you know him at all? You know after the fact here, Yeah, I saw he got all skinny. I heard he's one of marathons. Now I probably can't catch him, but if I catch him, I getting back. Now that's a great, uh sports memory for you. Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. I'm looking right now at a Muddy Sandy film. I hated Hinsfield because you can never get footing, you know. Every time I see a big mudhole, I think, oh, there's hinsteel And you wonder why Ravens fans loved him so much and surely still do. More than a decade after his last game in Purple, he is still making fun of the Steelers, still carrying the Ravens banner on the radio, still recalling with great fondness how much fun he had in Baltimore. In fact, after we talked about how so many of his former d line mates were characters and then moved on to another subject, Greg halted the conversation to point out that we'd forgotten to talk about the greatest character of them all. Terrell Sugs Yo suck was the main game. He was always he was always a guy given guys a hard time. What a great guy to great teammate. I'll never forget. He'd always sit in front of me on the on the plane and I'd always have to you know, I'd get my headphones, I try to tie him up with something. You know. It was like our ritual before every game. I was giving him a hard time. So yeah, those are the little things you miss. So Terrell, go keep them. Get a house down the street from mine. I lived in Jamal Lewis's old house, but I always go there and knock on Terrell's door and mess with him a little bit. Greg loves telling football war stories. But when he tells them now to his sons, who were growing up fast, they roll their eyes, you know, every once while, you know if they remember when I used to do that, and they always look at me like, oh, here comes an old man story or from them hear me a hard I'm like, I'm like, I'm finding funding short. That's it from Kelly Gregg, former Ravens d lineman and no doubt, just a regular guy. You can find out more about his career at Baltimore Ravens dot com slash what Happened to that Guy? I'd like to thank him for speaking to me. Another episode of What Happened to That Guy will drop in two weeks and they'll keep coming every other week for the rest of the twenty twenty season. If you like what you're hearing, please subscribe so you don't miss any episodes. Be sure and tell your Ravens friends about it. This podcast is part of the Baltimore Ravens Podcast Network, which also includes The Lounge hosted by Ryan make and Garrett Downing, and new this year, Black in the NFL hosted by my colleague Clifton Brown. Wherever you get your podcast, just search for the Baltimore Ravens Podcast Network and everything will come up. It's all good stuff. This is John Eisenberg. I'll talk to you in two weeks.