Greetings and welcome to a special edition of What Happened to That Guy? A podcast about former Baltimore Ravens and life after football. I'm your host John Eisenberg. Lionel Dalton was a key contributor and one of the many larger than life characters on the Ravens first Super Bowl team. He was a big bellied defensive lineman who plugged holes, smothered running backs, and lit up the locker room with his bright smile and a roaring laugh. His teammates called him Jelly Roll. A native of Detroit who entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Michigan, he played four seasons with the Ravens and also spent time with the Broncos, Redskins, Chiefs, and Texans before calling it quits after nine years in the NFL a solid career. Now, he's forty six and living in Atlanta, and he's written several books since he retired, including one called Who the Hell We Are. He also has traveled the world, started a nonprofit, done all sorts of things, but in the past year his life has taken a turn. He never expected What Happened to this Guy? I'm gonna let him explain. So let's go back before we get to that. Let's go back a little bit, if you don't mind, back in time and you know you you, I mean, you had some great times here with the Ravens, and you know being part of that super Bowl winning team, you know how much impact you know, looking back on it now all these years later, you know how much impact did that experience have on you? The fact that you know you were on a team. It wasn't just good just went all the way and won the super Bowl with with so many great characters and friends of years. I'm sure I noticed that no matter the obstacles you faced the life, you can if you stink together, you can find no way to win. I've never won anything outside of you know, individual accomplishment like track in All State, but on the win as a team, the unity we had, being the camaraderie we built, we built that was priceless, and I think that's what I missed most as I retired, going into my goldie year, and I don't need to go to years yet, but as I get older, I missed the camaraderie. And we had a lot of camaraderie on that team, a lot of different characters from Googles to Read to Rob and that mac mcquarie to Stover to we had a lot of trend Deffer. We had a lot of characters on that team. And somehow we put it all together. A defensive line room with something, wasn't it. Yeah, we had a great We had a great first team as well as second team. On our second team is left and winning started another other team that we love. So we were loaded in defensive line of defense. So you left the Ravens. You played five more years of football right in the NFL. Yes, So nine year career, a great run in the NFL. Yes. And I asked all the guys you know, were you ready for football to end? Did you think about football ending? And had you planned for it at all? To be honest with you, I played football opportunity, and to play on Sunday. I hated practice. So I enjoyed the opportunity to be able to provide a good life for my kids that I didn't have, and I really enjoy I enjoy Saturdays and Sundays more than I enjoyed during the week, just going out, hanging out with the guys, going to eat Saturday night and having fund in the games. So for me, I retired on my own terms. So that also moren Sapp had just got cut from Oakland. They tried to bring me to Oakland, and I was just my wife's birthday. I missed our birthday of the year, and I just you know what I'm I don't like playing anymore and I just retired. So I tired on my own, a constantly on my own at my own will. So yeah, I was. I was ready outside of the checks. I don't miss practice, you know, beating up my body. I missed Sunday. Sometimes I still get goosebumps when I watched the games, But yeah, I was ready. Everybody that I talked to has said the transition out of football is tough, and I'm wondering what your experience was tough as in, I guess it's different. People go through different things, not from the standpoint of missing the camaraderie with other teammates and keeping myself busy. So I guess it's different from each playing. And I think a lot of us don't know who we are outside of being the player. But I knew who I was outside of being the player. I knew what I wanted, you know, I know I wanted to help other people? Who were you sure that you know that you weren't entirely sure what you wanted to do when you were once you were done with football, I know I wanted to help others. So I always wanted to do philanthropy work. I've always done that and I like it. It just makes me feel good, and so I know I wanted to do that, but I didn't. Honestly, I missed the camaraderie and the checks. We won't be honest with you, but playing the game though, I didn't miss it because I was ready. So once you were done with football, what did were you? You're living now in Atlanta, is that right? Yeah, I just moved to a line I've been in three years. But I was in South Florida for the previous nineteen years. Nineteen years, so you were mostly in South Florida then since you finished with Yes, so it was also all the childhood and Detroit. You were ready to have a little better weather. Is at the part of the deal. There Sound Florida in December and I usually go home to Detroit and I'm I'm on the beasts, like I have on sandals in December. Why what else? Why would anybody want to live anywhere else? And so I was I went there for a bye week. I went to for the bye week, and then I came back into the season over bought a house in two thousand and two, and I was there up until two seventeen. So what were you doing there? What did you get into? I mean your philanthropy work. So originally I volunteered with the boys and girls clubs. I wanted to learn the process of working with children. Then I started my non profit in two thousand and eight and I started East, East and West Broker Football League that still consists today in South Florida. It was a league form were no weight class because what I noticed in South Florida football is so competitive that a lot of kids don't get to play. And so what I did is I created a lead for all those kids who didn't get to play. So we had eight teams, We had twenty four players, and everybody started. Everybody played, And so I saw a need and I addressed it, and so I helped a lot of kids that were overweight. We didn't have a weight class, so it helped a lot of kids lose weight, and if a lot of kids an opportunity to play football who usually wouldn't because of high competitive little league is in South Florida with football a lot of players down there. Yeah, it's a lot of players and a lot of players kids and they usually they usually get all the playing time and then all a little like like I'm in Bocas. So a lot of the little like kids would couldn't play because they were smaller and they didn't really get you know, they didn't really get an opportunities. So I created a league for them. That's great. So I mean it's obviously you've got a heart out for other people. You know, you've got other people in mind. Let me, So you moved to Atlanta and uh, it's it seemed like I mean, I thought one thing that was really interesting and then was that you did a ton of traveling when you were down with football. Yeah, that's another thing I love to do. I wanted to see the world. After going to the Hula Bowl if my first experience out of the content of the United States, I knew I wanted to travel. And my wife was who had a look at the real estate career. She was tied of working, and we both said, let's just try. We sold our house to just travel and maybe we would thought about living in another country abroad. So we traveled for about nine months. I went through I started in South Africa, went to Tanzania, by Swanna, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt, and then we went over to the UAE, went to Dubai Abu Dhabi, and then we went over to Southeast Asia. So we went to Malaysia. We loved Bali. We almost moved to Bali, almost bought my moms bought aloft in Bali, and but we ended up getting pregnant in Bali and my wife said she's not having her baby yet outside of the United States. So we moved back to We went back to Florida. We didn't like it, but she didn't like it there. She didn't want to raise a kid there because Florida South photos a little while, and so we moved to Atlanta and we liked the people here. They're really nice. It's a little or and so we decided to make a line of home. So you I mean, since football's over, you've done so much. I mean, you know, you've you've traveled the world, You've done and started a nonprofit and uh, you know, done so much. And it seemed like you had no inkling any health issues that what was going to happen a year ago on New Year's Eve. It just seemed like that that you didn't there was no idea that that was coming. I actually didn't feel anything. I didn't feel sick. I didn't feel like any things bothering me. But I had a lot of fluid information in my body, you know, flight of that's from football. And I was overweight and I've gained probably like twenty five pounds as I retired. In the combination of that, and I used to take motion every day before practice, and motion really beat up kidneys. A lot of people don't know that, so be careful when you take motion or any ibprofit. And it's the combination of that, and had been having high blood pressure. I'm treated for like a year. It wore at my kidneys. And January twenty twenty twenty two, because I had a year, I had a New Year's party. But that morning, round four o'clock, I woke up to show the breath. I went the CVS to try to get something. Nothing works, so I just went to the fire station around the corner. They checked me in to my hospital Line of Georgia and the doctor told me my kid needs for functioning at twenty five percent. I need to go on the alysis, say sign. And I've been on the aalysis ever since. So just a both out of blue. Yes, no sign. No, my blood pressure is a little high. But I had just finished when I got the news. They called me after they ran my like they called me after they ran my results and told me to go to the hospital. Now, I was just finished doing a workout at the gym, so I was I was feeling great. I just didn't like it's one of those diseases like you don't really you don't feel it. You don't. It's no unless you really go to the doctor and you know what's you know, you take your in tests for daily. It's hard to really know until it's too bad, Like it's one of these diseases to sneaks up on you and you don't really know. You having into it's too late, you have to code of dialysis. So so you went from you know, basically having a normal lifestyle to dialysis. How many days a week I do it? Now? Well, I go to the center. Now I used to do it on my own at the house. Well, I can do it every day for two hours, but now I go to the center's three days a week for four hours at four and a half hours a day. And I like the center better because the nurse is there and she can make sure my levels are correct. Because in getting the kidney donated there is a lot of stipulations. You have a report card, so you have any issues with the doctors. They document everything. So if I got mad at the doctors, they write that down, if I said something into the nurse and they look over it, and the kidney looked over look over your records, and that's how they pick who gets the next kidding me according to their report card. So you got to ridge, really, So I decided to go to the center because the nurses can keep me in line and keep my levels normal and I won't have any problems, and so I could be It can speed up the process of getting an organ donation. So four and a half hours a day or three times a week you're there. Yeah, that's an awful lot of time to sit and think, isn't it. Yeah? Yeah, but I tend I took it my wife told me, I should take that time and figure out something I can do to be a productive So I wrote. I wrote my first book about our travels. It's called who the Hell Are We? Just traveling trying to figure out who I am, do what I'm trying to do Africa in South Feast Asia. And then I wrote a kid's book about my daughter's travels, and that because I took a manion picture of the first an ABC book about my daughter's travels. So I take the time and try to do things productive for those four hours, keep me focused on what I want to do in life instead of looking around me and seeing everybody who's suffering and feeding into that energy because it can really drain you. M So I try to keep a positive outlook even though I'm going through trying, trying times. Well, congratulations on doing all that writing. I can speak from experience. Writing a book is not easy. No, it's not at all. I thought it was gonna be. It was. It was just work. Yeah, it's a lot of work. That's great, uh, and certainly some great experiences you have to draw on. But so, uh, you're now basically uh in a holding pattern? Is that right? I mean you you're you're hopeful of getting a kidney donation and and you're on the list, and that's where you are. It's just a wait and see game. Is that correct? Well, it's two it's two options. So if you can get lucky to find a living donor, like somebody who wants to donate a kidney, the process I shorter because I'm an old. I'm an old, I'm an old blood type. It's a lot. Everybody can't receive my kidney, but I can't receive everybody's kidney, So my way time is five to eight years. The other other blood types is anywhere from like um, four to five years. I've been getting a lot of support from the Ravens and different people in Baltimore, and I had two Baltimore Ravens fans who decided they wanted to donate, and so right now they're going to the process and I'm having I'm crossing my fingers that everything goes smooth and hopefully I can get a kid anybody. End of the year. Oh man, So Ravens fans heard about your situation. Yes, it was a Good Morning the Americans Show. And then I did an ESPN piece and I had one call from Good Morning America show and then one just call from the ESPN right up. So it's seemed like the you know, the more I talk about and get the word out, more people are like really like really trying to help. And I really appreciate, um, you know, the support of the city. That's some sterious stuff. Man. Yeah, you know you got fans of the Ravens trying to donate a kidney. That that is. That's pretty intense. That's amazing. Man. Like I have a lot of great members in Bontonmre. Like I have my son there, I got married there, my first team there, so a lot of my have a lot of my most memorable moments, won the Super Bowl there, a lot of my most memorable moments. And hopefully I get a kidney there, it would be great. Yeah's add on to a great thing that the city has contribute to my life. So when you're on uh, you know, when you're on dialysis, are you able? What kind of life are you able to have? Can you work out? Can you is it your diet matter? You know? What are you able to do? What? You know? How normal is your life? And this is what mindset comes in because when I originally did it. They told me I couldn't work out and do anything. So I didn't do anything. I was losing muscle and I was just getting you know, getting my blood clean and coming home from work. Then I met coming home from the analysis. It feels like work sometimes. And then an NFL ref freached out to me, Russell Russell what was his last name for god? This is the NFL ref freached out to me via a friend of my family. And he had the analysis and was refereeing and working out throughout this whole process. And he told me, working out it is great for dialysis patients because you swept more because you don't use the read you don't you don't, you don't go, you don't year anything now because they take the water out of your blood, because that funs amason. So he told me working out and eating a plant based diet helped him throughout this process and he was able to steal keep his in a referee and job and working and stay productive physically. And so I started working out and I started eating play bass, and I noticed that I don't I feel healthier now after dialysis that I did before when I was doing nothing and eating like I used to. So you're able to work out in I mean you're you know, I mean I can't. You know, I can't do five hundred pounds like I did when I was the Ravens. But I could still put a couple of bars and do a few through reps and you know, just tone up. And the main thing is cardio because a lot of times when they clean your blood, it puts pressure on the heart. So I wanted to keep my heart muscle strong, so I do a lot. I try to do least cardio three to four times a week, you know, just to keep my heart strong and keep my blood pressure with you know, my blood pressure, which one of the reasons caused me. They created my kidney failure. I try to keep done inline. They just took me on the blood pressure mass because I've lost over one hundred and I made one hundred and thirty five pounds lost sign started dialysis. He lost one hundred and thirty five pounds. Yeah, people would recognize me that something. Now I'm like two hundred and fifty. I'm like two hundred and forty three pounds, man, I got up to three fifty when I retired. I played on three thirty through fifteen three, three fifteen and three thirty, and I got to three fifty when I retired and I've lost no. Two forty three. Have have you heard from any of your teammates? Yeah, so I got a really cool call yesterday from Marma Lewis. Marmain Lewis called the check on man. He saw the ESPN interview. He called me and you know, we talked about old times, backed a few jokes, told about some memories from memories from when we when I played, and some of his memories of me. And it's pretty cool. Man felt good to talk to him and he last he gave me his number and told me to call him if I need to talk about anything. I talked to Keith Washington keep Watchington checks up on me via Facebook probably once a month checks on me. Jermaine Lewis has called me if you would text me a few times. Other teammates with different teams like we commit you and have a few people to reach out. I have about ten to fifteen teammates reach out to me after seeing that to see an interview on good Money in America. Yeah, I reached out to him me and they didn't know because I didn't really tell anybody. You know, as tough football players, we're not trying to keep every biggest secret. But I find I found it liberating just to tell people and get the word out, and it helps me, you know, feel it helps talking about it, dealing with it all by yourself. How are you feeling? Are you? Are you optimistic? Um? The nurses asked me, like, what am I doing? Because everybody else in there is tired, but I'm the only one in there doing something. I said, I don't know if it's from my trainings from football, you know, mental toughness, but um, sue, I'm a fighter man, so I'm I'm gonna do everything that the doctors tell me. I'm everything I'm gonna. I'm a research and I'm on a Facebook group of kidney vegan kidney wellness and they talk about recipes and different things you should do to let them back the side effects. And I've been doing everything that everybody's been telling me, and I feel pretty good. Some days, I feel the hydrated. If they take too much flood off of me, so it's like the hydration, I get headaches and you feel sluggish. But you know, after you drink a couple of you know, a couple of ounces of water. You know, you box back in an hour or so. But for the most part, I feel pretty good. I'm not you know, I'm optimistic. I've getten you know, a lot of love and support from the community, which helps a lot. My mother has been coming around more, which you know. I love Mimi because she's always cooking, so that it's nice. You could it's nice. Um, I mean I've said it's nice. But I'm doing okay, man, I'm doing okay. I'm not going I'm thinking, I'm okay. I'm optimistic. I'm rambling right now. Sorry, but no, you're not rambling at all. That's good to hear. And I mean, you got you got a tough fight on your hands. So I think you need every right, whatever fight anybody has right you. You take all the things you have going for you. You need them all, right, support, family, whatever it may be, whatever it is to get you through, right, Yeah, exactly. And the support has really been lifting my spirits and I feel great. I have good days, man, I've been having really more good days than bad days. We all have both, but I've been having more good days and bad days. And you know, so I don't know. Yeah, yeah, well listen, I appreciate it, thank you, and I want to wish you the best of luck with this. Thank you. It's really a tough fight you're in, and I know it's tough times. And so I am glad to hear that the you know, the word has gotten out and that the Ravens and the Ravens fans are responding. I mean, that's a pretty cool thing. Yeah, that is really cool. It's really cool. Yeah. So, um, I'm excited. I'm optimistic. Um. The one lady who donated from the Ravens, she was donated to her mother. Her mother was older and her mother she lost her mother, and she wanted to donate her kidney in the name of her mother. To me, I was like, man, she had me and my wifes and tears her story and so I'm really thinking, let's receive a blessing from her, because it just seemed like it was meant for her to give me. It was meant for her to donate because she wants to do it and she's really passionate about it. And uh, man, that was amazing to hear that. I broke down a glass a few times I broke down, and so I'm const my fingers optimistic and hopefully I can get back to life as normal as normal's life is right now as I can once I get this kidney transplanted. Well, all the best to you, Lionel, and and there's a lot of people out there rooting for you. Thank you. I really appreciate this. Okay, that's it for this special episode of What Happened to that Guy. I'd like to thank Lionel for giving us all the time we needed and for sharing his story and for shining a light on the subject of organ donation. It is not a topic the Ravens take lightly. A lot of people don't know this, but fifteen years ago, Dick Cast, the team president, donated a kidney to an ailing friend from law school. Maybe in the end, some connection to Baltimore and the Ravens will help Lionel get the new kidney he needs. Certainly hope so. And I'm wishing them the best. Thanks for listening. This is John Eisenbergen

Greetings and welcome to a special edition of What Happened to That Guy? A podcast about former Baltimore Ravens and life after football. I'm your host John Eisenberg. Lionel Dalton was a key contributor and one of the many larger than life characters on the Ravens first Super Bowl team. He was a big bellied defensive lineman who plugged holes, smothered running backs, and lit up the locker room with his bright smile and a roaring laugh. His teammates called him Jelly Roll. A native of Detroit who entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Michigan, he played four seasons with the Ravens and also spent time with the Broncos, Redskins, Chiefs, and Texans before calling it quits after nine years in the NFL a solid career. Now, he's forty six and living in Atlanta, and he's written several books since he retired, including one called Who the Hell We Are. He also has traveled the world, started a nonprofit, done all sorts of things, but in the past year his life has taken a turn. He never expected What Happened to this Guy? I'm gonna let him explain. So let's go back before we get to that. Let's go back a little bit, if you don't mind, back in time and you know you you, I mean, you had some great times here with the Ravens, and you know being part of that super Bowl winning team, you know how much impact you know, looking back on it now all these years later, you know how much impact did that experience have on you? The fact that you know you were on a team. It wasn't just good just went all the way and won the super Bowl with with so many great characters and friends of years. I'm sure I noticed that no matter the obstacles you faced the life, you can if you stink together, you can find no way to win. I've never won anything outside of you know, individual accomplishment like track in All State, but on the win as a team, the unity we had, being the camaraderie we built, we built that was priceless, and I think that's what I missed most as I retired, going into my goldie year, and I don't need to go to years yet, but as I get older, I missed the camaraderie. And we had a lot of camaraderie on that team, a lot of different characters from Googles to Read to Rob and that mac mcquarie to Stover to we had a lot of trend Deffer. We had a lot of characters on that team. And somehow we put it all together. A defensive line room with something, wasn't it. Yeah, we had a great We had a great first team as well as second team. On our second team is left and winning started another other team that we love. So we were loaded in defensive line of defense. So you left the Ravens. You played five more years of football right in the NFL. Yes, So nine year career, a great run in the NFL. Yes. And I asked all the guys you know, were you ready for football to end? Did you think about football ending? And had you planned for it at all? To be honest with you, I played football opportunity, and to play on Sunday. I hated practice. So I enjoyed the opportunity to be able to provide a good life for my kids that I didn't have, and I really enjoy I enjoy Saturdays and Sundays more than I enjoyed during the week, just going out, hanging out with the guys, going to eat Saturday night and having fund in the games. So for me, I retired on my own terms. So that also moren Sapp had just got cut from Oakland. They tried to bring me to Oakland, and I was just my wife's birthday. I missed our birthday of the year, and I just you know what I'm I don't like playing anymore and I just retired. So I tired on my own, a constantly on my own at my own will. So yeah, I was. I was ready outside of the checks. I don't miss practice, you know, beating up my body. I missed Sunday. Sometimes I still get goosebumps when I watched the games, But yeah, I was ready. Everybody that I talked to has said the transition out of football is tough, and I'm wondering what your experience was tough as in, I guess it's different. People go through different things, not from the standpoint of missing the camaraderie with other teammates and keeping myself busy. So I guess it's different from each playing. And I think a lot of us don't know who we are outside of being the player. But I knew who I was outside of being the player. I knew what I wanted, you know, I know I wanted to help other people? Who were you sure that you know that you weren't entirely sure what you wanted to do when you were once you were done with football, I know I wanted to help others. So I always wanted to do philanthropy work. I've always done that and I like it. It just makes me feel good, and so I know I wanted to do that, but I didn't. Honestly, I missed the camaraderie and the checks. We won't be honest with you, but playing the game though, I didn't miss it because I was ready. So once you were done with football, what did were you? You're living now in Atlanta, is that right? Yeah, I just moved to a line I've been in three years. But I was in South Florida for the previous nineteen years. Nineteen years, so you were mostly in South Florida then since you finished with Yes, so it was also all the childhood and Detroit. You were ready to have a little better weather. Is at the part of the deal. There Sound Florida in December and I usually go home to Detroit and I'm I'm on the beasts, like I have on sandals in December. Why what else? Why would anybody want to live anywhere else? And so I was I went there for a bye week. I went to for the bye week, and then I came back into the season over bought a house in two thousand and two, and I was there up until two seventeen. So what were you doing there? What did you get into? I mean your philanthropy work. So originally I volunteered with the boys and girls clubs. I wanted to learn the process of working with children. Then I started my non profit in two thousand and eight and I started East, East and West Broker Football League that still consists today in South Florida. It was a league form were no weight class because what I noticed in South Florida football is so competitive that a lot of kids don't get to play. And so what I did is I created a lead for all those kids who didn't get to play. So we had eight teams, We had twenty four players, and everybody started. Everybody played, And so I saw a need and I addressed it, and so I helped a lot of kids that were overweight. We didn't have a weight class, so it helped a lot of kids lose weight, and if a lot of kids an opportunity to play football who usually wouldn't because of high competitive little league is in South Florida with football a lot of players down there. Yeah, it's a lot of players and a lot of players kids and they usually they usually get all the playing time and then all a little like like I'm in Bocas. So a lot of the little like kids would couldn't play because they were smaller and they didn't really get you know, they didn't really get an opportunities. So I created a league for them. That's great. So I mean it's obviously you've got a heart out for other people. You know, you've got other people in mind. Let me, So you moved to Atlanta and uh, it's it seemed like I mean, I thought one thing that was really interesting and then was that you did a ton of traveling when you were down with football. Yeah, that's another thing I love to do. I wanted to see the world. After going to the Hula Bowl if my first experience out of the content of the United States, I knew I wanted to travel. And my wife was who had a look at the real estate career. She was tied of working, and we both said, let's just try. We sold our house to just travel and maybe we would thought about living in another country abroad. So we traveled for about nine months. I went through I started in South Africa, went to Tanzania, by Swanna, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt, and then we went over to the UAE, went to Dubai Abu Dhabi, and then we went over to Southeast Asia. So we went to Malaysia. We loved Bali. We almost moved to Bali, almost bought my moms bought aloft in Bali, and but we ended up getting pregnant in Bali and my wife said she's not having her baby yet outside of the United States. So we moved back to We went back to Florida. We didn't like it, but she didn't like it there. She didn't want to raise a kid there because Florida South photos a little while, and so we moved to Atlanta and we liked the people here. They're really nice. It's a little or and so we decided to make a line of home. So you I mean, since football's over, you've done so much. I mean, you know, you've you've traveled the world, You've done and started a nonprofit and uh, you know, done so much. And it seemed like you had no inkling any health issues that what was going to happen a year ago on New Year's Eve. It just seemed like that that you didn't there was no idea that that was coming. I actually didn't feel anything. I didn't feel sick. I didn't feel like any things bothering me. But I had a lot of fluid information in my body, you know, flight of that's from football. And I was overweight and I've gained probably like twenty five pounds as I retired. In the combination of that, and I used to take motion every day before practice, and motion really beat up kidneys. A lot of people don't know that, so be careful when you take motion or any ibprofit. And it's the combination of that, and had been having high blood pressure. I'm treated for like a year. It wore at my kidneys. And January twenty twenty twenty two, because I had a year, I had a New Year's party. But that morning, round four o'clock, I woke up to show the breath. I went the CVS to try to get something. Nothing works, so I just went to the fire station around the corner. They checked me in to my hospital Line of Georgia and the doctor told me my kid needs for functioning at twenty five percent. I need to go on the alysis, say sign. And I've been on the aalysis ever since. So just a both out of blue. Yes, no sign. No, my blood pressure is a little high. But I had just finished when I got the news. They called me after they ran my like they called me after they ran my results and told me to go to the hospital. Now, I was just finished doing a workout at the gym, so I was I was feeling great. I just didn't like it's one of those diseases like you don't really you don't feel it. You don't. It's no unless you really go to the doctor and you know what's you know, you take your in tests for daily. It's hard to really know until it's too bad, Like it's one of these diseases to sneaks up on you and you don't really know. You having into it's too late, you have to code of dialysis. So so you went from you know, basically having a normal lifestyle to dialysis. How many days a week I do it? Now? Well, I go to the center. Now I used to do it on my own at the house. Well, I can do it every day for two hours, but now I go to the center's three days a week for four hours at four and a half hours a day. And I like the center better because the nurse is there and she can make sure my levels are correct. Because in getting the kidney donated there is a lot of stipulations. You have a report card, so you have any issues with the doctors. They document everything. So if I got mad at the doctors, they write that down, if I said something into the nurse and they look over it, and the kidney looked over look over your records, and that's how they pick who gets the next kidding me according to their report card. So you got to ridge, really, So I decided to go to the center because the nurses can keep me in line and keep my levels normal and I won't have any problems, and so I could be It can speed up the process of getting an organ donation. So four and a half hours a day or three times a week you're there. Yeah, that's an awful lot of time to sit and think, isn't it. Yeah? Yeah, but I tend I took it my wife told me, I should take that time and figure out something I can do to be a productive So I wrote. I wrote my first book about our travels. It's called who the Hell Are We? Just traveling trying to figure out who I am, do what I'm trying to do Africa in South Feast Asia. And then I wrote a kid's book about my daughter's travels, and that because I took a manion picture of the first an ABC book about my daughter's travels. So I take the time and try to do things productive for those four hours, keep me focused on what I want to do in life instead of looking around me and seeing everybody who's suffering and feeding into that energy because it can really drain you. M So I try to keep a positive outlook even though I'm going through trying, trying times. Well, congratulations on doing all that writing. I can speak from experience. Writing a book is not easy. No, it's not at all. I thought it was gonna be. It was. It was just work. Yeah, it's a lot of work. That's great, uh, and certainly some great experiences you have to draw on. But so, uh, you're now basically uh in a holding pattern? Is that right? I mean you you're you're hopeful of getting a kidney donation and and you're on the list, and that's where you are. It's just a wait and see game. Is that correct? Well, it's two it's two options. So if you can get lucky to find a living donor, like somebody who wants to donate a kidney, the process I shorter because I'm an old. I'm an old, I'm an old blood type. It's a lot. Everybody can't receive my kidney, but I can't receive everybody's kidney, So my way time is five to eight years. The other other blood types is anywhere from like um, four to five years. I've been getting a lot of support from the Ravens and different people in Baltimore, and I had two Baltimore Ravens fans who decided they wanted to donate, and so right now they're going to the process and I'm having I'm crossing my fingers that everything goes smooth and hopefully I can get a kid anybody. End of the year. Oh man, So Ravens fans heard about your situation. Yes, it was a Good Morning the Americans Show. And then I did an ESPN piece and I had one call from Good Morning America show and then one just call from the ESPN right up. So it's seemed like the you know, the more I talk about and get the word out, more people are like really like really trying to help. And I really appreciate, um, you know, the support of the city. That's some sterious stuff. Man. Yeah, you know you got fans of the Ravens trying to donate a kidney. That that is. That's pretty intense. That's amazing. Man. Like I have a lot of great members in Bontonmre. Like I have my son there, I got married there, my first team there, so a lot of my have a lot of my most memorable moments, won the Super Bowl there, a lot of my most memorable moments. And hopefully I get a kidney there, it would be great. Yeah's add on to a great thing that the city has contribute to my life. So when you're on uh, you know, when you're on dialysis, are you able? What kind of life are you able to have? Can you work out? Can you is it your diet matter? You know? What are you able to do? What? You know? How normal is your life? And this is what mindset comes in because when I originally did it. They told me I couldn't work out and do anything. So I didn't do anything. I was losing muscle and I was just getting you know, getting my blood clean and coming home from work. Then I met coming home from the analysis. It feels like work sometimes. And then an NFL ref freached out to me, Russell Russell what was his last name for god? This is the NFL ref freached out to me via a friend of my family. And he had the analysis and was refereeing and working out throughout this whole process. And he told me, working out it is great for dialysis patients because you swept more because you don't use the read you don't you don't, you don't go, you don't year anything now because they take the water out of your blood, because that funs amason. So he told me working out and eating a plant based diet helped him throughout this process and he was able to steal keep his in a referee and job and working and stay productive physically. And so I started working out and I started eating play bass, and I noticed that I don't I feel healthier now after dialysis that I did before when I was doing nothing and eating like I used to. So you're able to work out in I mean you're you know, I mean I can't. You know, I can't do five hundred pounds like I did when I was the Ravens. But I could still put a couple of bars and do a few through reps and you know, just tone up. And the main thing is cardio because a lot of times when they clean your blood, it puts pressure on the heart. So I wanted to keep my heart muscle strong, so I do a lot. I try to do least cardio three to four times a week, you know, just to keep my heart strong and keep my blood pressure with you know, my blood pressure, which one of the reasons caused me. They created my kidney failure. I try to keep done inline. They just took me on the blood pressure mass because I've lost over one hundred and I made one hundred and thirty five pounds lost sign started dialysis. He lost one hundred and thirty five pounds. Yeah, people would recognize me that something. Now I'm like two hundred and fifty. I'm like two hundred and forty three pounds, man, I got up to three fifty when I retired. I played on three thirty through fifteen three, three fifteen and three thirty, and I got to three fifty when I retired and I've lost no. Two forty three. Have have you heard from any of your teammates? Yeah, so I got a really cool call yesterday from Marma Lewis. Marmain Lewis called the check on man. He saw the ESPN interview. He called me and you know, we talked about old times, backed a few jokes, told about some memories from memories from when we when I played, and some of his memories of me. And it's pretty cool. Man felt good to talk to him and he last he gave me his number and told me to call him if I need to talk about anything. I talked to Keith Washington keep Watchington checks up on me via Facebook probably once a month checks on me. Jermaine Lewis has called me if you would text me a few times. Other teammates with different teams like we commit you and have a few people to reach out. I have about ten to fifteen teammates reach out to me after seeing that to see an interview on good Money in America. Yeah, I reached out to him me and they didn't know because I didn't really tell anybody. You know, as tough football players, we're not trying to keep every biggest secret. But I find I found it liberating just to tell people and get the word out, and it helps me, you know, feel it helps talking about it, dealing with it all by yourself. How are you feeling? Are you? Are you optimistic? Um? The nurses asked me, like, what am I doing? Because everybody else in there is tired, but I'm the only one in there doing something. I said, I don't know if it's from my trainings from football, you know, mental toughness, but um, sue, I'm a fighter man, so I'm I'm gonna do everything that the doctors tell me. I'm everything I'm gonna. I'm a research and I'm on a Facebook group of kidney vegan kidney wellness and they talk about recipes and different things you should do to let them back the side effects. And I've been doing everything that everybody's been telling me, and I feel pretty good. Some days, I feel the hydrated. If they take too much flood off of me, so it's like the hydration, I get headaches and you feel sluggish. But you know, after you drink a couple of you know, a couple of ounces of water. You know, you box back in an hour or so. But for the most part, I feel pretty good. I'm not you know, I'm optimistic. I've getten you know, a lot of love and support from the community, which helps a lot. My mother has been coming around more, which you know. I love Mimi because she's always cooking, so that it's nice. You could it's nice. Um, I mean I've said it's nice. But I'm doing okay, man, I'm doing okay. I'm not going I'm thinking, I'm okay. I'm optimistic. I'm rambling right now. Sorry, but no, you're not rambling at all. That's good to hear. And I mean, you got you got a tough fight on your hands. So I think you need every right, whatever fight anybody has right you. You take all the things you have going for you. You need them all, right, support, family, whatever it may be, whatever it is to get you through, right, Yeah, exactly. And the support has really been lifting my spirits and I feel great. I have good days, man, I've been having really more good days than bad days. We all have both, but I've been having more good days and bad days. And you know, so I don't know. Yeah, yeah, well listen, I appreciate it, thank you, and I want to wish you the best of luck with this. Thank you. It's really a tough fight you're in, and I know it's tough times. And so I am glad to hear that the you know, the word has gotten out and that the Ravens and the Ravens fans are responding. I mean, that's a pretty cool thing. Yeah, that is really cool. It's really cool. Yeah. So, um, I'm excited. I'm optimistic. Um. The one lady who donated from the Ravens, she was donated to her mother. Her mother was older and her mother she lost her mother, and she wanted to donate her kidney in the name of her mother. To me, I was like, man, she had me and my wifes and tears her story and so I'm really thinking, let's receive a blessing from her, because it just seemed like it was meant for her to give me. It was meant for her to donate because she wants to do it and she's really passionate about it. And uh, man, that was amazing to hear that. I broke down a glass a few times I broke down, and so I'm const my fingers optimistic and hopefully I can get back to life as normal as normal's life is right now as I can once I get this kidney transplanted. Well, all the best to you, Lionel, and and there's a lot of people out there rooting for you. Thank you. I really appreciate this. Okay, that's it for this special episode of What Happened to that Guy. I'd like to thank Lionel for giving us all the time we needed and for sharing his story and for shining a light on the subject of organ donation. It is not a topic the Ravens take lightly. A lot of people don't know this, but fifteen years ago, Dick Cast, the team president, donated a kidney to an ailing friend from law school. Maybe in the end, some connection to Baltimore and the Ravens will help Lionel get the new kidney he needs. Certainly hope so. And I'm wishing them the best. Thanks for listening. This is John Eisenbergen