00:00Former Raiders, Giants, and Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller, unretired, and then the Giants just traded him to the Dolphins.
00:07And the first thing that popped up in my mind is like, Darren, unless you really need the money, or you found, or you've got some new discovered love for the game of football, don't do it, bro.
00:18Don't do that to your mind, and don't do it to your body.
00:21Unretire or un-unretire, and then re-re-retire.
00:24I don't know, it sounded better when I said it in my head.
00:26Because usually I'd say congrats to somebody, and I'd be like, yo, go ball out.
00:31But we, no, we all saw the interview of Darren explaining why he stepped away from the game in the first place.
00:39I don't know if I've shared this with anybody, but I knew I was retiring when we played in Buffalo.
00:44The Giants we were playing here, it was a game where it was really controversial because one of the guys held me at the end.
00:50They didn't call it.
00:50It was in the first quarter of the game.
00:52We were running like this counter lead running play.
00:55And I'm kind of like leading through the hole like I'm a fullback, and the play is working.
00:58But I sit down on the sideline after like a drive where he ran like three times, and I'm like, what the f*** am I doing with my life?
01:03I'm out here playing fullback.
01:04I don't even want to do this s*** anymore.
01:05And I'm just like looking at the moon.
01:07It's like early first quarter, second quarter.
01:09Nobody else would really even know that I'm thinking this, but I'm on the sideline like, yep.
01:12I'm going to finish this year with the best of my ability, but I'm definitely done playing after this year.
01:16And that was the only time I played in Buffalo.
01:18You could see it right there in his eyes.
01:21The love for the game was gone.
01:23His heart wasn't in it, but I still do respect him for sticking through the entire season.
01:27And it's absolutely unfortunate the Giants couldn't get more than 11 games out of him after they gave up a third-round draft pick when they traded for him.
01:37Throughout training camp, the dude was absolutely unguardable.
01:39I thought he was going to have 100 catches during the 2023 season.
01:42But it is what it is.
01:44And if you sit back and you look at it, he's actually headed to a good situation because the Dolphins really need a tight end right now.
01:51But I don't care how long a player has been away from the game in terms of needing a reset or needing a refocus.
01:59Football is not the game where you can just turn it on and turn off the juice or turn on or turn off the love for the game.
02:06If you're thinking about retirement and Buffalo in a game in October where you actually had a chance to win and maybe even make a run after that game if you did win,
02:18what do you think your mind and body is going to be telling you when you're going through the dog days of training camp in that Miami heat?
02:26I was a Miami Dolphin.
02:27I know exactly what that heat is all about.
02:30An NFL training camp is the last place on earth where you want to test your love for the game.
02:36There's no sticking your toe in this one.
02:38There's no sticking your toe in the water on this one.
02:40You got to go all the way in.
02:42When them pads come on and they have you blocking D ends during a team run period or you're banging in the trenches and practice and it's hot,
02:52you think that doubt and that why am I out here is not going to leak back into your mind or your mental?
02:58So if your heart is in it and this is the return of Dee Waller, oh, I salute you.
03:03You're a baller, bro.
03:04But if not, come on, man.
03:07You put your time in the game already.
03:09Keep your body and your mental sharp and go live life.
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