COLIN KAEPERNICK Talks His Failures, Gay Teammates, Jay-Z

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This is Colin Kaepernick, former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, a civil rights leader, and it turns out he's a real sweetie. Who's cooler, younger or a Montana? Who ain't really coming around much? Who like has more aura? As a guy. I would say Joe. Joe. Yeah. You can't. His legacy is like, yeah, yeah, I just went out and I won Super Bowl. Ten years ago, he led a protest that became international news, and most recently, he's written a book about it called The Parallelist Fight. Yeah, pretty of the question. I hate my life, dude. Wow. Wow. Can I ask you every question? I think you're doing all right. Shut the fuck up, dude. If I was on Sunday, you played at the Super Bowl. You started at quarterback in the Super Bowl. In your first, like, what, seven games? Game 10 of starting was the Super Bowl. So good. Oh, my God. And your coach was playing his brother? Yeah. Oh, my God. And on the other side of the field, there was Ed Reed. And Ray Lewis is the scariest thing ever. I'm Adam Friedland, and welcome back to the Adam Friedland show, as Colin Kaepernick put it. Next month, I'll be at Comedy Works in Denver. And in November, catch me at the New York Comedy Festival, Town Hall. Tickets are still available. Adam Friedland. Show. At that point in time, like, Ray, we weren't worried about. He was on the tail end of his career, like, we, I don't know about the game, but I would worry. So we were actually-- I'm sorry. --we were trying to get him in space. Like, that was part of the game plan. Probably, it laid to, hopefully. But space is better than it is. Well, guys, Colin Kaepernick for PB1, University of Nevada, Reno, Wolfback, a bullshit school that stinks. Of course, we all know that the UNLV running rebels, the best-- the best college of the football program is dog shit there. They've never been good at football. Basketball, we cooked. We were always excited to play UNLV. Yeah, yeah. It was going to be a good game for us. I also love how much you know about football. I love ball so much. Can I tell you something? It is a good theme for the conversation. It just makes me forget how shitty life is a lot of the time. And it's like, you guys already do so much for us. What's come across in my research-- I'll stop talking after this-- is the difference between your experience as being someone that does the thing, in my experience as being someone that appreciates it. So for me, I like the fact that if I'm sitting next to some redneck dumbass, and we are rooting for the same team, I like the fact that for that three-hour, we're like swan. Right? That's really beautiful to me. But for you, you're a human being that lives in the real world, and the expectation of you to not be a human being that lives in the real world is unfair. Yeah. I think it's simply put, no one wants to see how the sausage is made or what goes on behind the scenes. They just want to see the end product. And end product is amazing. It's entertaining. It's competitive. It's all of those things. And there is that element of, yeah, when you show up and you're cheering for the same team, you have a camaraderie around that city or the team or the players you're cheering for. But there's also the reality of the players of like, yes, that's going on. Also, as soon as I step off this field, I still have to operate within society. Obviously, you just got fucked. You just got, you properly just got fucked. And in front of everyone, and it was, we were all like, what the fuck? And then the game was on, and we're like, that's, we're not going to watch the game. And then I think we all, to tell you the truth, we all watched the game. We were relying when we said we did it, but the game is so good. It's so interesting, like kind of the difference with the eyes that we view it through. Because you don't watch NFL anymore. No. I've gotten to a point that I don't want to, I try not to support things that I think are detrimental to us. Yeah. Kind of everything is right. That's the space of like, how do you do, how do you think support the things that are least damaging? Well, as they all have impact, you were exploited as a laborer by an ownership class, like that's so real and close home for you, I imagine. You have an ownership class that you know is working counter to the benefits of the majority of their employees. They all do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I'm working counter to all of them. That's what an owner is, right? We'll have a conversation after. We'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. This is a great opportunity for all of you. No, I'm just kidding. No, I feel like, I'm going to union. I feel like I work for them, I feel like I work for them. But to that point, it is counter to the interests of the players. Your mom's a nurse. She was. Yeah. Why is she, why is she late? You do this prep. Why did you choose football? You were nice at basketball. Yeah. What are your stats? I don't know, probably like somewhere 15 to 20 points a game. And what's that? Bords? Dimes? I was a shooting guard, so I played two and three. Who's your cop? NBA. Ooh. What's such a loser? That's a great question. Paul George. I would take a Paul George. I like Steph. That my game is very, very much like Steph. You know what, Steph? Steph with Wembee's defense, I would say. You threw 94 in high school? Yeah. You had two no hitters? Yeah. One with pneumonia. And then football, do you get like state honors or something? Or what? Ability in college. I got shows. I think I was all state in football, I think. And what was your GPA? 4.5. Do you-- wait, have you ever think about guys that are like-- they're not popular, and they're also stupid. They're called losers. Do you ever think about them? You got both things? Well, I appreciate that. Or you got some nerds that gave you 4.5, maybe. No, I'm just-- Were you nice to the nerds? You have a nice day, everybody. You were a nice draw. I mean, I ain't looking myself as a job. What are you talking about? I heard those stats you threw 94. Yeah, but anyway. So one of the things growing up was like-- I was always telling you, you're nice to everybody. It doesn't matter, skill sets, position, and any of that. So it was like, I didn't-- it wasn't like, oh, my job. You got to treat me a certain way. Really, it's like, no, we all got a different talent. When you were in college and you set a-- the first quarterback and only quarterback in division won FBS college football to have passed for over 10,000 yards and rushed for over 4,000 yards. You also worked at the college campus store and no one knew who you were. So you guys-- As I got later in my career, more and more people knew. You know what, an idiot. Never try to turn any of this into a little bit of push. Cap. See, if we had NIL dollars, I would've been in different position. Well, you had escalate? You already could have escalate. I also-- we had to work over the summer to pay rent. It's so unfair that you got given these gifts to not me. Because first of all, I would have been making a ton of money. with or without NIL, if I were you. If I was the quarterback of a division one program, two, I would have been, had so many girlfriends, basically in every town, I'd go to Boise State, have a blue girlfriend. Do you ever go there and you'd be like, what the fuck is this field? - Yeah, that's the first reaction where you get there. - It's stupid. Why are they the only ones who do that? - It's smart for them, because they wear blue jerseys, so they blend in with the field. - What are they, the fucking, the Pacific Theater in World War II? They're like, you know how to do camouflage? Apparently you are. - You're from like near Fresno? Where are you, Central California? - North of Fresno. But Central California, yeah. Are you the goat, central CA at Joshi? Josh Allen. Is he Central CA also? - Oh, I'm not sure where he's from. - Bro. - If you and Josh are from the same place, six foe, mobile, big orbs? - I know he's not from Turlock. - What's your town like, Turlock? - Was a lot of agriculture growing up. Now it's gotten a little bit bigger. - Yeah. - But it's very small town vibes. Like the big moments for us growing up, we got a AMC theater, and we got in and out. Those were like game changing moments. - Animal style, bro. - Yeah. (laughing) - Dude, California does kind of, that is quarterback factory. I feel like. - 'Cause you have to go out. California's big enough state where you have to go out and compete all the time. - Yeah. - And it has good enough weather where you can do a year round. - What age were you when you dunked first song? - I dunked 'til I was, freshman, sophomore high school. (laughing) - I didn't get pubes until like, between software jitter. Seriously. It's six grade, two kids had sex, and I went home and I cried. 'Cause I was like, we're just kids. Now we're having sex. You've had the best life ever. I'm sorry about the NFL, but like, I dunked. If I had one dunk, I would die tomorrow. Just one cleave. Just, ooh, we can train you out for it. I know, I have to do plyometrics. - All right, a major thing I see career-wise is like you being put into backup roles and then earning your spot. So that first happened in Reno, right? - First happened while I was eight years old. - Really? Who was the, who was the, - So every level from eight years old, 10 years or 11 years old, middle school, high school, college, NFL. - Yeah. - You guys put in a backup role. - Yeah. - And then had to earn my spot. - You think that was racially motivated or? - I mean, whether intentional or not, I think so. - Well, you got the bad ass attitude, probably, too. - Yeah, I was always pissed off. - You seem like such a nice guy, too. - I dropped three people with respect, but also like on the field, you're competitive. - Yeah. - Once you step between lines, it's like, no, I'm coming to take the crown. - Okay, you get drafted to the NFL, second round, fourth pick. J.M. Harbaugh, quarterback, quarterback Whisperer, takes you, second round. There's some bums, bums ahead of you. Jake Locker? Who else, what's that other guy? - Blade, not shut up. - Come on, we're not gonna ponder, yeah. - Gabbard, also a bum. - Just play, just play. - But no, you get, Harbaugh wants you, and he knows the position, right? And you're back up, Alex Smith, is it true in my thinking, was Alex Smith bad for five years? He was a number one pick that was kind of struggling until the year you're rookie year, I feel like. - Yeah. I think he had bad coaches during that time period. - Yeah. - Alex was a talented player, brilliant, was instrumental in my success and growth. I think he finally had a coach that understood the talent that the team had and put him in positions to be successful. Without that, you can take the best quarterback and put him in terrible situations and they're gonna look bad. - You love Alex, great guy. Seems like a great guy. - Oh, incredible, yeah, yeah. But when you're a backup quarterback, effectively you're waiting for him to either suck so bad and you're team to suck, or a terrible him hurting himself, right, is that weird? You have a walkie-talkie on and you're just waiting for some guy's life to get, right? What is that like? - It is a weird dynamic. And there's a lot of quarterback rooms that are not great because of that dynamic. But for me, I always approach it after prepare, like I'm a starter and I have to make it so obvious that I'm better, that I can get that spot. - In practice. - In practice. - Yeah. And also, for me, I was trying to find times in the game where I could get coaches to be like, oh, we'll give you a couple plays here, a couple plays there. But ultimately, typically it's because the team is bad or they get hurt. - Yeah. - And then if you know at some point, someone's gonna get hurt. Like that's, you're gonna get injured. - Yeah. - Save. - So, and then at that point is, I have to take this and run with it as far as I can. - You go on a generational run. I mean, that Packer's game. I was like, the thing is the way, I don't know if you've ever heard this. Like, when did you know you had just fucking wheels? - College. - You were 440, is that right? - We're just saying things like I know with them. - I mean, you gotta be like not that fast. - That just means fast. Yeah, but that's like a back. - That's like a running back speed, right? But you're so time back, receiver. - The way your legs look like they're moving on TV is like you're not running fast. Then when you see the miles per hour against like a NFL secondary defender, right? You just see that you're like miles per hour. It is kind of how OJ Simpson used to look. Glider. - I'm not saying it has a guy, bro. - He had 2,000 euros, bro. But also he was falsely accused of killing his wife and her boyfriend, Robin Goldman. - Imagine setting your makeup. Then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all day comfy grip. Try new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. - Maybe it's Mabelie. - I'm just kidding. Anyway, cap. But, no, what I mean is like it was like you're just like a graceful runner, kind of like OJ Simpson for the naked gun movies. I don't know if you see that. I'm gonna go with the Usain Bolt rep. - Well, Bolt also, like he looked like he was chilling. - Yeah, and it was tall. - 'Cause he's 6'5. - Yeah, so just, the strides are longer. So it looks like you're not going as fast but you're covering ground. - What is scoring a touchdown feel like? Feels amazing. - What's better, like busting or touchdown? Super bowl. Just, please, I'm never gonna get a chance to ask anybody good. - I know you've been through a lot of them. - Is this like a 1 p.m. on Sunday game or is this like Super Bowl? - 15-year-old run, Super Bowl. - Oh, Super Bowl, touchdown, right? - Yeah, yeah. - How many buss would you say that is? - It's hard to quantify. - It's gotta be like a lot of, yeah. - Yeah, it would be a lot. - Yeah. - Best feel you're your life? - Yeah, definitely up there. - Okay. - That's good. - So you got the, you got the headset on. Did you go visor as backup quarterback? - Or just headset. - What do you mean visor? - You know, sometimes they have a visor. - Oh, like a, like a, oh no, no. - Or you went backwards hat, fitted? - I'll go fitted. - Fitted headphones, both headphones. What is the point of, who are you talking to on that thing? The quarterback? - So you don't get the full headphones. You just get an earpiece so you can listen to the play calls. - You can't like tell them the wrong play. So he fucks up and you can get, you could go. - No. - Maybe smart. - They don't give you that freedom. - Yeah. - So you're sitting there, you're like this. Games over it. Do you take a shower? - Yeah. - You shower after just not, for instance. - Well, you gotta do all the warm-ups. - Oh, you gotta do the warm-ups. - So, so third string, he does calisthenics, he sits, he gets to sit, he doesn't get the headphones, right? - No, they still get headphones. - And then he gets a shower with the (laughs) - It's the weird (laughs) that's kind of the best job in the world. Who are the guys that are like career second string? Like Luke McCown. - Oh, the, I think the most historic one, which Chase Daniel. - Chase Daniel. He made like $80 million and he's just showering with guys. That's all he did to do. That is, I do that for free. - You got into the wrong career, then. Should've been getting paid this all the time. - Dude, no, I don't, I don't, well, I have to pay the gym. What did you, like, spend your first check on? What was the first stupid thing you bought? - I actually didn't do any major purchases. - That's a good guy. - Because I was terrified of going broke. - I would buy so many Hellcats. I would invest in so many cousins restaurants. - Yeah, because it wasn't open of all gold, surf, and turf restaurant in the St. Petersburg, Florida area, of course. Dude, so you're responsible? You had investments and stuff? - Yeah. - Where do you have a condom? - I had a townhouse. (clapping) - You played in the Super Bowl? - Locker room culture, right? So baseball, locker rooms, you play baseball. You got Dominicans wearing the skittiest jeans. And then you got Maga. You got like Farm Boy, like just like, you know, like just low, like too many chromosomes, right? Then you have NBA, you got like confident euros. And then nowadays is like people's sons. Like that's the resident, right? WMBA, you just have lesbian race war, basically. That's what they say. They say Kayleigh Park is like Hitler or something. Why do they talk about WMBA's basketball that way? It's the most racist coverage of any sport. They make everything about white versus black. Do you notice that or do? Sorry. - Yeah, that's a good amount of that. - Why do they get away with it? - 'Cause the girls and none of us are watching 'cause they don't know how to do stuff. - There's people watching? - Yeah. - Right, right, these are going up. - Other girls probably. - That's all right. - Yeah, whatever. - So what are like the clicks like in a locker room? Obviously you got like guys from Florida. You have like people from Maga guys and like black guys from the deep south. Like how does an NFL locker room gel? Like how do you become a team when everyone's from such diverse backgrounds? I feel like I'm setting myself up here but typically it's by position groups. - Okay. - So like defense alignment, they become their like psychos. - Yeah, psychos. - Depends on the day. - Yeah. - O-line, Christian, white, Iowa, Big Ten. - So this is the part, as a quarterback, you want your offense alignment to be a little grimy. - Really? - Oh dirty. - Not dirty, but like-- - Told me more. - They have to be willing to like go toe to toe with people and try to bury them. - Yeah. - Like they can't just die. - But they have to be like, "No, I'm doing my job." Like no, you want-- - But it's like a little game. It's like, "Don't touch him. He's mine." You don't-- (laughs) - What? - Cut that. - Cut that. He's a civil rights hero. Why am I saying she like that? - He-- don't hit-- don't-- you're hurting him. (laughs) - Spill it to you. I heard the 10% deal. - 10%. - Is that true? - Oh, no, but-- - What percentage-- - Just, I mean, just like ads, like-- - Are there guys that are out of the closet to their teammates, but not publicly? - Oh, that's a good question. I'm not sure, but they're-- I mean, there are players on our team that, I don't think came out, but I think players were kinda like, you don't have to hide anymore, though. - Who's the gayest guy on your team? - I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not even people over here. Why do I have to talk to this? Where's it coming from? The gayest guy on my, our team is me, so it's chill, don't worry. What's the worst you ever got your Mell alone? - College. - Really? - College. Sean Wetherspoon. - Can I see a video of it? - You probably find it somewhere else. - I want to watch you get fucked up right now. - Oh, it's terrible. - How bad is it? - How's your bad enough where I thought I broke my jaw? - Pull it up, Sam. - Your mother was a nurse. - Yeah. - Why did she work, Arkham Asylum? Why did she let you do this? You threw 94. It's a great question. - What percentage Democrat, what percentage Republican? - To the NFL. - And what percentage like doesn't even know the concept of a president? What percentage thinks Roger Gidell is the president of the United States? - Yeah, yeah. There are probably a couple guys. - It's probably like two or three percent. Democrat Republican? I would say it's probably 70, approximately 70, 30. - 70, Democrat? Yeah. - What? - Is there a rich? - It's 70% black people in the NFL. - Yeah, but the brother is kind of like trolling them. - A little bit. - He's like rappers like him though, that's fair. - But they're not football players. - I have a question for you. Do you think the Sarspegel better is a good song? - No. - You just think as a song, it's whack. - Yeah, it's a bad song. - Do you think what would be a better song? Just if you were gonna choose a, just let's assume America's not being bad anymore. And you wanna give us our theme. Marshmallows. - Great choice. - Marshmallows. - Great choice, yeah, yeah. - Great choice. - That is a good pull, no? If Marshmallows was our national anthem? - Not mad at that. - Yeah. Why people, what will we do though? - With the cheering on. The bat. - No, but we wanna say, we'd not that word, obviously. If the national anthem had the word, okay. - I mean, that's where we got self-edited. - I'm just saying, it's even the song. No, okay. - I wanna talk about you going on this run, right? You're back up quarterback, you're young. You played four years at Reno. - Yeah. - So you're like 26, right? - Oh. - Is that right? - No, 24. - It came out, yeah, 23, 24. - 24, okay. So you find yourself in the Super Bowl, your first year. - Yeah. - That second year, the league had kind of caught up to like the run past option thing. But you adjusted to. You came out 400 yards first game. Weeks in season, you rip a 90 yard run. I wanna talk about the NFC Championship game. You lost the Super Bowl barely. You were one play away from going to the Super Bowl two years ago. - Yep. - It's just a year and a half as a starter in the NFL. - Just walk us through the Sherman Crab Tree sequence and what was going on there. 'Cause he did such an iconic moment. - The ball's coming out of your hand, right? Is it going in slow motion? This is the movie I'm painting in my mind. - Yeah. - Like what's going through your mind? Are you like, I'm going to the dance again. - Oh yeah. - Yeah. - I mean, you have one-on-one match-up. So you're also like, all right, one-on-one, the worst shot here, it's an incompletion, you take that shot and you're like, oh, we're going to the Super Bowl. This fourth quarter, believe we're a two-minute drive at that point, and it's like, we're going back to back. And we get a tip on, it doesn't go our way. - Seattle went on to destroy the Broncos? - Yep. - In your mind, are you like, I would be a Super Bowl? - Yeah. - Yes. And coming off of that, you would have had one appearance, two appearances, one Super Bowl. - Yep. - Fuck. - How did that, did that run through your mind? That summer, it was like- - Absolutely. - Like, still run through your mind? - Oh, it, you always play as an aerial owl. Like, oh, we're that close. And if they blew them out in that way, I, that probably would have been, you played it out as that probably wouldn't have been the outcome of we're playing too. - Yeah. - Which, who knows? But at that point, you get to, all right, we have to go and prepare for the next season. You get ready. You were injured in that next season, but you were still playing because you were waiting to renegotiate your extension. Is that right? - No. I was still playing because our doctors lied to us. - Yeah. - Or lied to me. - Yeah. - So, I kept playing. Did they hurt? They just give you- - Yeah. - No, this is part, they didn't give me anything 'cause they told me they were contusions or bruises. - How geeked is everyone playing the NFL? - Different variations. - Aaron Rogers said he was on Perk's set the whole time. He was like a teacher. - I mean, just people on Perk's, there's people on tour at all. There's people that are drinking before the game, smoking before the game. They're blazing? Oh, yeah, that sounds awful. Can you imagine dropping a pass at the end so you're like everyone in my life hates me. Why did I say that earlier? I think I'm getting cheated on. So the team, kind of the core of that solid team you had, they should bear everybody out. They should bear everybody out. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible all-day comfy grip. No tightness, no stickiness, no residue, just plump, dewy, hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Maybe it's Mabelie. The next year, I saw the guys you were throwing the ball to, you're under a chip. Who the fuck were those guys? They had a selic that wasn't Brent. You were throwing to another selic. Tom Selic. Garrett. Garrett Selic? Yeah. What in the fucking 2K creator player is that? Garrett Selic? I agree. Great guy. Great guy. I agree. I agree. You know these guys. Great guy. Yeah, yeah. Not. He's not Hall Famer. No, far from it. You were throwing to like guys and they were literally where the East West bowl key and peel sketch. Tyrell Smouchy-Falls. Okay. Let's do it. I'll say this. Yeah. I love my teammates. Okay. And how they showed up, we also were not the most talented team in the league. So you have three surgeries after that 2015 season. You're rehabbing that next summer. Yeah. One thing that stood out to me is like the proximity of you losing all your muscle mass. You're like, you're not in playing shape. You're like in pain, right? You're trying to like, your knee, your thumb, I think, and your shoulder. Yeah. It's your whole thing, everything, right? And was it that summer that you began to like formulate your plan for your protest? No. That had been. Yeah. Five years in the making. Okay. But you must have been pissed. If you were about to do those protests and you also just your fucking knee and shoulder and the thumb hurt, I would have been like, I can't wait to fucking protest. And that part kind of looked like a walking safety video. Yeah. Like a sleep. I got cast. I got a knee sleeve on it. Yeah. Had you been like watching the news a lot that summer and see like police brutality is because you just had more time, time off or whatever? I mean, during the time that I was rehabbing, you're able to see more because you're not just in meetings and practice all the time. But you have more time to read, more time to research. And then going into that season, I mean, Mario Woods has killed, all in Sterling's killed, Philando Castillo's killed, like all of those are very public and they're all on video. At that point, it had already been years of seeing Black people being-- Mike Brown and Ferguson, Trayvon, yeah. Being Tamir Rice, Andrew Bland, Freddie Gray, this wasn't a new thing, but it had reached a point where it was like, all right, what are we going to do? And that was always the conversation up. What do we do? How do we move this forward? How do we try to address it? Yeah. Now, ultimately lead to the protest. Even if it was just like, you like, I don't fucking feel like standing up for some fucking song right now. So after 9/11, the flyovers and the huge flags became a thing, like, in stadiums. And like, I think that that's the way I remember it being perceived is like, you were going against like that post 9/11 imagery that was like in NFL stadiums. Yeah. I mean, a lot of paid patriotism, millions of dollars that went into it, the NFL has to pay for it too. They have to pay. No. They get paid. They get paid. So the NFL being like, hey, we're patriotic, it's like, no, you're getting a check. The NFL is getting a check for the gas and the plane that we bought to fly over it. Yeah. See it. And what happened? All taxpayer dollars, dear taxpayers, if you want dollars going to things that actually help you, maybe the flyover is not the thing. Yeah. I just realized that because I thought that the tax dollars were going to shrink. The first two games you sat on the bench, you were like, fuck this, right? And then you like on a press conference, you were like, yeah, I don't want to fucking stand for the, like I'm pissed off right now, it's like America's being very evil to black people right now. And I don't want to fucking stand for a song that I don't even like that much. But like the third game, you spoke to Nate Boyer? spoke to Nate Boyer before the fourth game, before the fourth game. And he suggested that it would be more honoring the flag if you took a knee. False. Whose idea was the knee? Eric Reed. Oh, your teammate. Yeah. Why are people in this league where they're literally sacrificing their cognitive abilities? Why are their contracts able to be canceled? Like, it's a great question. It seems to be like a labor dispute where your union didn't adequately support you. I mean, the union is terrible. Yeah. Every other major league has guaranteed contracts. In baseball, you make like a billion dollars and you're, you're a translator gets a gamble away. It's amazing. You know, you want to be able to pay to people around you, so you need the guaranteed contracts. But why does the NFL not have that? I also players need to be more adamant. Yeah. They would take one weekend of no football happening and they'd have guaranteed contracts. Yeah. They're obviously terrified of other players taking the knee, right? They're terrified of Trump in 2016 running for president and saying, well, fire all those bastards. What do you call you? Like, uh, SOBs. You can say it, dude. You don't cuss? No, I try avoid it. You don't cuss? I cuss. I just try avoid it. Okay, fun. Do you think that the NFL and the NFL PA says, when you get in trouble with your guys and you, you, you get up to mischief with your people will protect you. When you're dog fighting, we'll welcome you back. When you're going to Atlanta, wait, by the way, you know, but if you fuck up our paper, if you, if you make Trump start saying that the NFL's woke and people start trying to protest the NFL, then you're fucking done. Yeah. It's a bad union. I mean, like, is that what did you in? I think it was the collusion among the owners. And I think it was, I think it was twofold or a few different factors. One, the alignment to Trump was one component of it. Like, they're donors to Trump. They raised millions of dollars for him. Yeah. They're aligned to him. And a second part is within the protest, there's both, hey, we don't, we don't want to have to support this. And there was also the realization, I think this is the one that's critical for players to understand was understanding the power of collective action. And I think players realizing the power they have gets the place of, oh, we're 70% of the workforce is black players, you're going to give us guaranteed contracts or we're not going to step on the field. Did you feel abandoned by your colleagues? Some. Yeah. And some, some were right there by my side through all of it. And beyond. Actually, speaking of Mike Vick, he did, the guy whose number you were, he said that you should get a haircut. And Ray, Ray Lewis said that your girlfriend pissed off Steve Biscotti. Biscotti. What is it? Fucking cookie. And OJ, OJ said you made a bad choice. You know that? OJ said, I did not know that. The guy who you modeled, you're running your run game after. I did not. I'm not running. After. Yet somehow all of these men had a path to redemption. Ray Lewis, of course, returned to the NFL after just going on a trip to Atlanta. Strings, strings attached to the return. Did Ray Lewis kill someone in Atlanta, Super Bowl, A Weekend? Maybe. Good answer. Mike Vick, obviously, he did his time. He was offered redemption. OJ Simpson, of course, one of the most beloved, he was falsely accused of one of the most beloved comedy actors. Why were you similarly offered a path to redemption? Because they didn't have leverage over me. But maybe you also just didn't have do anything to need to redeem yourself, right? Well, that as well. So there was no way of redeeming yourself from doing nothing. There's no redemption there, but the path to get back into the NFL didn't exist in the same way. of those instances because there was nothing to be able to leverage over me, but I help you get you off, just make sure you do things I need you to do, but I'll call you. Who is the most surprising person to show support? I'll say in the last years, a few years, I've had more and more people like the deep south, white people come up and be like, you know what, I used to hate you, I was wrong about you. Because you actually were doing free speech and you actually did get canceled, which is what they all think is happening to them, right? Which is really sad. Is that ironic that you actually got canceled as a free speech warrior? The hypocrisy of it is pretty remarkable, it's pretty solid cognitive dissonance there. You were raised by white parents, adopted parents, how did that affect your relationship? I understand that they showed you support throughout that time. We eventually got there, did not come out the gates that way. Well, your mom said when you were getting cornrows, like AI, they were being a little knucklehead. Something like that. Would it be chill if I got cornrows, like AI? If I was on vacation in Jamaica, I was there only with white people and they said I should do it. You have to do a photo shoot as part of it, right? Where do you think the movement is at? How satisfied are you in the impact you are? Because you did inspire people and even a shady way as it panned out. The players commission or tribunal or whatever the odors put together, they have donated money to prison reform and stuff and it wouldn't have happened and had it up in for you. Do you feel dissatisfied or satisfied? Where do you feel it? Just seeing what's transpired in the last 10 years? I think there's been good things that have happened and the impact that's been had broadly. I also think we're in a moment where police killings are up, whereas the society is not a great place. So, and NFL players really haven't kind of stepped up since here? Well, I think the NFL accomplished what their goal was. To pay it off? To be able to pay it off and just signless players, send a message that if you do try to do something or say something, I will come for you. What do you think the response would be today if it was 2026 and you did what you did? I think it would be very similar. I feel like it would be worse. Because everyone, when I was doing research for this, everyone was like, you know, I see, you know, I understand why you're doing this, but like, you can't disrespect the troops. But really in their minds, they were like, just listen to what you're told, right? Nowadays, I feel like people play fast and loose with racism way more than they did 10 years ago. It's probably as a result of having Trump for the last 10 years. Yes. I'll also say, I think that's a minority. I think most people are in the space of, we're fed up with Trump, we're fed up with the administration where things are going. He stinks. Yes. Yeah. You ever think he said anything funny? What's the funniest thing? He's never made you laugh one time, sometimes he does, not so much anymore. Cat come on, bro. He's dropped a couple of fingers. Like what? One time he was getting, he was at the Easter egg roll and they could give him a hat to sign. And he signed it and then he just threw it. It was funny. You see, I think he had a Halloween one where he put the median on the median. Yeah, yeah. It's pretty funny. You got to give it to him. Listen, broke a clock, bro. That's a terrible guy. First ballot hall, first ballot hall, first ballot hall, first ballot hall, of course. We all know that. So you tried out for the Raiders 2022 and you lost, they gave the spot to a guy named Nick Mullin. What was that like? Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible all day come V-Grip. Maybe it's Mavily. Um, I mean, the workout was great. Yeah. What's this Nick Mullin like? During your time like post-2016, when you've asked, when you've gone and had visits with him. So the first two visits, I believe were with Seattle and Pete Carroll and Baltimore, am I correct it? We didn't do a visit, but we're in conversation. Did you ever had a certain point and say, I won't be a backup? I have to be a starter. Did you have any demands on teams or were you like, I just want to get on a fucking 52 man or whatever it is, and I'm going to work. I'm used to be a backup. Yeah. I just want to shower. That's a neat shot. No demands as far as being a starter. I mean, we even went so far to say, I'll take a practice squad position. Really? Yeah, because I could probably get on that. That's probably could, we should stock you in. But we went to that length to be able to prove the point that if I step on a field with other players, players know. Players know if you're good or not. And Brady and Rodgers both said that you should, they both went to that for you. Yeah, they both said I should be playing. Did Rods hit you up? Did he show a love? No. I heard you're out of it. Okay, I have to ask you about this. I don't really care, but you ever ask Cam Newton what's with all the hats? No, I have it. I've always wanted to know, next time he is, next time he is. In a basic sense, this is a competitive sport. They're different franchises. The NFL is owned by all of its owners, right, and they're all franchises. But effectively, Jerry wants to win a Super Bowl. He's not just happy to have a nice stadium, right? Effectively, these guys all want to win, right? If there's a shortage of quarterbacks, how can you get all 32 guys to be like, I'm going to suck more and not get capped. Well, winning isn't the number one priority for the owners. What, they just let Bob Kraft do it every time? No, they're just folks that I'm making money. So like, if the protest leads in some way to play as an organizer, yeah, just great piece within the NFL, very good at socialism, most of the owners, phenomenal, not for other people though, just for them. When your guaranteed rev share is part of owning a team, like, you're going to make money regardless versus, hey, we're going to make sure that players don't collectively organize to get guaranteed contracts or hold this accountable in any form or fashion. They're going to prioritize making sure that doesn't happen over trying to win a Super Bowl. Within that group of voters, like, who has an outsized power? Who really calls the shots? You have Jerry Jones, Bob Kraft, John Mara, I think those are three of the key power players. But then that, Kronki, maybe in there, I don't think he has as much influence. Who's the most evil one? It's a great competition. I like Shot, Khan. I like his style. He's got the mustache, he's from England. He built a pool in the Jaguar stadium. Is it for no reason? Is that because he's the only one that's not white? No, I didn't realize that because I see them as the owners, I see them as the masters. He does have a great look for, though. His look is so amazing. His great look for it. And his suits are sick. You know this full of soccer teams, this is stink. Do you think, like, if you got a shot, you would take it seriously, or is that, is that dream extinguished at this point? No, of course. No. I still train. I still make sure I'm ready. So all I need is one of the owners to open the door. At what point do you feel like, you're like, fuck these guys? Actually, this is embarrassing, but I saw a clip from Charlemagne, the God, and he said, if you feel that way about the NFL, why have you spent the last decade? try to get back in the NFL if it's a racist organization why it also fought what questions do you have for Charlene the god well I'll say in relation to Bernard's comments I similar conversation that we see from a lot of Maga a lot of right-wing people that are racist like oh you don't like America why don't you just leave yeah like oh if you don't like the NFL why would you ever stay there why would you try because I have a passion for the game I also should be able to treat be treated equally to pursue my dream of playing football that's me I have to like the institution yeah well there is a tush the badge is cool the guys that the odors yeah are really cool no do you ever Bob Crapp got yanked you remember that happened oh yeah yeah you got an old-fashioned yeah yeah jet jet jet recently jet who jet York who's that which one is he he's not on the Niners all these guys have to pay to get their dicks jacked but apparently it's a thing obviously this is the thing you've done your entire life right what happens next you know for you what you're done playing it said you have to figure it out it sounds so sad wait you're like just to start being a look you figure out adulty about the other side yeah now if you have a lot of success there you don't really have to worry about that if you manage your finances correctly if you're building relationships correctly like you can take that run with it but for a lot of guys they have to go back and they're figuring out what the next career is yeah and basically have to start over from scratch yeah and then build from there and what do you think dispensary that that was your so that was one of the considerations so one of the kind of awkward things about this what you get you fucked and your life getting fucked unfairly is that like as a result now it's brought you to these worlds that are like some somewhat like elite a lot of instances you have it loumy yeah which is what that's an AI firm AI education company what does that do so we help improve students literacy within k-12 okay and then mission advancement corp you spoke at a Wall Street Journal tech live conference like some Ted Serrano's Netflix CEO Hans Zimmer from Batman begins I don't think I don't think I've got a book now on stage with that is it does it ever feel like does it ever feel like if my life did get fucked I wouldn't be able to be I don't want to say it's like you're lucky it's I'm sure you'd rather just be at the Super Bowl right they're writing oh dumbass books I mean it's a great book everyone please but like having to write a book sucks way worse than being the Super Bowl right not knowing how to read and play the Super Bowl is what I wish I could do you know how to do both right not to read I'm not saying you but is that weird right like it is weird a little bit I would say part of it a lot of things I was doing prior as well yeah because once you make it to the Super Bowl yeah like those doors already open yeah it is it is weird on the tail end some of the spaces that you get invited into you went to Michael Rubin's party ever the white party no you never do that no that's not evil whatever is going on over there close relationship with Bob Kraft another owner so I don't get invited to those parties should we go we're going to bring everybody with us wait if they don't let us in this race guys I'm being too big of a group for talking to a civil rights hero are you having fun bro with this yeah this is amazing all right let's talk about this bitch has Sean Carter okay so it seems as if you took the dinner with Jay Z over the one million you regret it I did not I would I would take the no it seems like you had dinner with this gentleman now he's talking crap on you I did not have dinner with him I'm I'm seeing this online like he had a free style at his concert at Yankee City begins to you and it's odd to me as to how that transpired it seemed like during during your your like ten years ago he was going to after you yeah like where why are we at this what's going why why why I mean he's trying to check should you battle should you make a bet not like us about him we we can think about that yeah I had no some people I could help really yeah do you know Kendrick Lamar loosely you don't drink now I don't I don't know him on personal I've come across him a couple times is he true he's really nice really nice yeah really cool I've always thought that yeah I would love I'd love to see you see this from ten years ago right and you're seeing this from like you have this weird path yeah like a lot of guys like fade away right like it in sports and you have this like moment of glory maybe that's like better I don't know if you were just the third string guy taking showers right instead of just like I went to the fucking NFC championship and the Super Bowl and then I just fucking became a civil rights guy kind of a better move my my is losing the hundred fifty million dollars whatever you like that that punch not great I mean that's probably a low end now where do you see the movement at no like I watched primarily for years they were taking knees before yeah before matches I mean like you did affect things and then it kind of got co-opted by this big corporation and do you feel like we've seen change or do you feel like we regress culturally I think both yeah there's areas that we've seen change occur yeah and we've seen that in the work that we've done directly with you know your rice camp there's also areas that I mean we're definitely going backwards you see a lot of what this administration is trying to do like yeah we're at a point in this country that people are comfortable with people getting snatched off the screw snatched off the street by ice yeah I that's become the norm and we're also seeing no to me we're seeing the undercurrent and wave coming of people rejecting that that's what gives me hope as far as where we're headed you know we're seeing that show up with who's getting elected in politics right now so I feel like you were kind of the last moment that we had which was like you know it's what when I hear about all the right being the champion it'd be like fuck going to Vietnam like America it's basically the same thing as you except he went to jail at the prime of his career you just had you just drank water on a bench but like yeah it felt like that was like a powder cake and that that was like a moment but I feel like I really kind of talked about Gaza but like we haven't really had a moment since then are there other athletes that have come to you and expressed that they want to yeah they're definitely have been I think a lot of them are scared of the repercussions on the other side of it and I think being able to shift that and build support around them is important how far can you throw a football seven five eighty six seven eighty one that's that's why I do reno sucks all the happening everyone you guys have fun you guys have a good time. I'm going to see you. [Music]