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00:00:28Transcription by CastingWords
00:00:58Transcription by CastingWords
00:01:00The biggest thing that happened in college sports was that game where we went back, SC, and played Alabama.
00:01:08Coach, this opener with Alabama, that's certainly no patsy.
00:01:11How do you feel about playing what may be your best coaching friend, Bear Bryant?
00:01:15Well, we talked about it and kind of arranged the game, and I think it's great that our school plays
00:01:21their school, and their people see our people, and our people see them.
00:01:26Alabama and Bear Bryant against USC in front of a crowd in Alabama.
00:01:32These were people, but less than 10 years before that, you couldn't even drink from the same fountain, you know,
00:01:38at these universities.
00:01:39There still weren't any black players south of the Mason-Nixon line.
00:01:43At USC, you have Jimmy Jones, and you had Clarence Davis, you had Sam Cunningham.
00:01:48The advantage we have at USC is we're playing the best players.
00:01:53They weren't there because they were black.
00:01:56They were there because they were great.
00:01:57And that was the way my dad looked at it.
00:02:01USC beats Alabama, and they're getting embarrassed.
00:02:06The fans in the stands, almost all of them white, it's not lost on them that Sam Bam Cunningham had
00:02:13an incredible day.
00:02:14Sam Cunningham of Santa Barbara, number 39, tearing on the play.
00:02:19Even if we're uncomfortable with that here, at that time, south of the Mason-Dixon line, we're even more uncomfortable
00:02:26with Alabama getting its ass kicked.
00:02:29That lopsided victory there, that was a big deal.
00:02:32That was a big game.
00:02:34And it did change a lot in sports, particularly in the southeast.
00:02:39And I think it was Coach Bryant coming over, and he and Coach McKay were like this, they're big buddies.
00:02:45And he said, that's it, I'm going to change the culture here of what we're doing.
00:02:52I remember the aftermath of what was written years later, that Sam Bam, my brother, and USC just reaped havoc
00:03:00down there.
00:03:01Just remember Bear Bryant, the interview of him saying, I've got to get me some of those.
00:03:07And, you know, I knew what some of those were.
00:03:11Alabama didn't have any African-American athletes on their football team.
00:03:15And you look at Alabama nowadays, how many national championships, oh my God.
00:03:21That's almost, I don't want to say a miracle, but that's like, you're talking about opening up an opportunity for
00:03:28not only African-Americans, but everyone.
00:03:31And my brother made an impact on America and American football.
00:03:39Junior Sam Cunningham flies over the top.
00:03:42When he got to USC, he would dive over the top, and he would say, Sam Bam!
00:03:49He was no joke.
00:03:52He had everything.
00:03:53So I had to earn and work hard to get what he had.
00:04:00My junior year, I began to receive letters from major universities.
00:04:05And here I am, 13-1 in high school.
00:04:08I'm thinking, I'm going to go to USC.
00:04:10Took a trip.
00:04:11And they said, well, if you're not starting by your third year, to give you a chance to make it
00:04:15into the NFL, if that's the case, we'll switch you to another position.
00:04:19And that was enough right there to say, well, I don't think you really want me to be a quarterback.
00:04:24So I said no to USC and yes to UNLV.
00:04:28My mom and dad passed away my first year of college in 1981.
00:04:33I had to grow up quickly.
00:04:35I asked my brother, Sam Junebug, I said, do you think I can make it into the NFL?
00:04:40He says, your arm is already as strong as the quarterbacks in the NFL, but you need to learn how
00:04:46to be a leader.
00:04:47There's Cunningham.
00:04:48He's 6'5", 190, only a junior.
00:04:51That's when I started that, working out in the middle of the heat.
00:04:55Third in the nation in total offense.
00:04:56Get off of my summer job and then go straight to the gym and work out and get the guys.
00:05:02And come on, man, we got to get, we got to get better.
00:05:05And I was like, we, we are good.
00:05:07And then we started believing, I started believing that I can do this.
00:05:13Randall Cunningham is a strong force.
00:05:16Our whole program has been built around him.
00:05:20Next thing you know, we're going to the California Bowl.
00:05:24Randall Cunningham already has made the Kodak All-America team.
00:05:27My brother, Sam, tells me, I'm going to be there and I'm going to be on the field taking pictures.
00:05:33Cunningham, three, a bullet pass.
00:05:35I'm on the field and I see my brother on the field taking photos and things.
00:05:39Cunningham going long.
00:05:40Oh, what a grab.
00:05:42I'm like, just in a zone.
00:05:44I was running all over the place and I ran for a touchdown.
00:05:48My brother was in the end zone.
00:05:50He high-fived me.
00:05:51He shows his ability.
00:05:52And I was like, wow, my brother's a professional football player and he's watching me and he's
00:05:57supporting me at my game.
00:05:59I was MVP of the game.
00:06:01Then I'm going to bowl games, the Shrine Bowl, the Hula Bowl.
00:06:05That kind of solidified me getting into the NFL.
00:06:09We have our first quarterback selected.
00:06:11I would say a lot of people, Mel, will have to be surprised that he is the first.
00:06:14A lot of people project Cunningham as a real project, but a guy with great natural ability
00:06:19takes a long time to get rid of the ball, but certainly move.
00:06:22He's been signed at 4-7.
00:06:23He could even play free safety.
00:06:25He's that good an athlete and he has that at speeds and certainly at 6-4, he has that side.
00:06:30No one knew that I had signed a $1.1 million deal for three years with the Tampa Bay Bandits
00:06:35in the USFL.
00:06:36Well, Norman Brayman, the owner, Mr. Norman Brayman, finds out that I had signed with the
00:06:43Tampa Bay Bandits and he said, I will never sign Randall Cunningham to a contract.
00:06:48It was like I had deceived him.
00:06:51No, I was looking out for my best interest.
00:06:53Randall Cunningham was part of this incredible new generation of Black athletes across sports
00:06:59who are just different.
00:07:01You know, they were born in the context of not remembering necessarily the Black freedom
00:07:06struggle of the 1960s and instead grew up more with the expectation that they should be treated
00:07:12like men and taken seriously.
00:07:19I think it's very difficult these days for people to remember that Black people in the
00:07:251930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, so many people were trained to be just perfect from the very moment that
00:07:33they stepped outside of their homes because Black people were so relentlessly hated on.
00:07:41Well, here they are together on TV for the first time, The Temptations and The Supremes.
00:07:46So, of course, that carried over into the Motowns of the world where let's always be neat.
00:07:54And then in the 80s, America was falling in love loudly with Black culture.
00:08:02Well, if you're feeling all right and you think you're on.
00:08:04A lot of the popular hip-hop by Sugar Hill, that was coming out of really a disco sound.
00:08:11My radio, believe me, I like.
00:08:13The hard breakbeats.
00:08:15It didn't look anything like Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five.
00:08:18It didn't look like Melly Mel.
00:08:25And that was one of those moments where you're like, oh, my God, a star is born, right?
00:08:29Of a citizen, but I kick my fire away.
00:08:32Driving the culture.
00:08:33Rap music wasn't the only part of that, but it was probably the biggest part of it.
00:08:39That was just what was happening.
00:08:41But I couldn't survive without my radio.
00:08:43And also very aware that it was something that was very new.
00:08:46My next guest, my homeboys from Hollis, Queens, Run-D.M.C.
00:08:53Run-D.M.C. was amazing enough with hard times.
00:08:58And it's like that.
00:09:00And then Walk This Way, we're not just going to metaphorically kick down doors.
00:09:05We're going to actually show boots kicking down doors between worlds.
00:09:13It was a demonstration of the level that they reached, that they could do a collab with a world-famous
00:09:20rock star.
00:09:21Doing something together sends the signal.
00:09:24It sends the message that Run-D.M.C. is a big deal.
00:09:28We're starting now to see the very beginning of athletes who were reflective of the culture of hip-hop that
00:09:36was beginning to proliferate around the country.
00:09:38And Randall Cunningham was the first of those quarterbacks who really embodied that culture.
00:09:48This hip-hop thing is something that's fresh.
00:09:51Randall Cunningham is the perfect quarterback, the perfect black quarterback to come in the midst of all that.
00:10:00All the quarterbacks in the history of the National Football League up to that point.
00:10:05He changed the way defenses think about quarterbacks or had to think about quarterbacks probably as much, if not more,
00:10:13than anybody.
00:10:16The athletic ability Randall Cunningham had was devastating.
00:10:22I watched things this guy could do.
00:10:25It was shocking.
00:10:28He not just looked like us, but he played as we imagined we would play.
00:10:34That creativity and that artistry.
00:10:36He broke the mold and was signaling to us that mold doesn't fit us.
00:10:43Randall Cunningham was electric.
00:10:46He had a very powerful arm.
00:10:48Busted plays were not a problem.
00:10:51That could be part of the plan or just something that occurred to him.
00:10:55He was, at that time, a unique player.
00:10:59He had all the confidence in the world.
00:11:01The teammates had confidence in him.
00:11:03He was the right guy in the right place at the right time.
00:11:06And it was, it was just scary to play against.
00:11:10It's very difficult to defend something you don't know is going to happen.
00:11:28I remember this one.
00:11:34The highlight that comes to my mind, Monday night football game.
00:11:45I nicknamed him Gumby because he got hit, falls down, stumbles around and gets back up.
00:11:51Touchdown.
00:11:52You think you got him, you don't get him.
00:11:55I never felt like he was trying to make a statement.
00:11:58This is the way I play.
00:12:00There had been enough of a cultural shift and he did it.
00:12:02When I received an MVP and it was locally in Philadelphia, I went.
00:12:06I'm considered the top player in the NFL.
00:12:12It was a very fulfilling emotion that once again, it didn't kick in.
00:12:20Because you can't get caught up into that.
00:12:23A good kick.
00:12:25A super kick.
00:12:27Gets away from Megan.
00:12:29And is still running away from Megan.
00:12:32That is unbelievable.
00:12:34A quarterback takes a sack and then comes back and punch the ball 91 yards.
00:12:41And Randall Cunningham was a big deal.
00:12:43And Sports Illustrated just made it official.
00:12:47Sports Illustrated was ahead of his time in predicting that.
00:12:50I don't know that they thought it would take four decades.
00:12:55Turnover here will float.
00:12:57And a sack in the end zone is not outside the room.
00:13:00The point.
00:13:01Here comes Smith.
00:13:03There's Cunningham.
00:13:05Dodgers left.
00:13:07And puts it way downfield.
00:13:09For Fred Barnett who has the catch.
00:13:12And the race is on.
00:13:14There are no flags.
00:13:16And 95-yard touchdown.
00:13:19This type of play just defies description.
00:13:22And he just makes a play that only he can make.
00:13:26Boy, all the air has gone out of this stadium.
00:13:29And you know, they don't have a replay board here for these 80,000 folks.
00:13:33They're really going to have to wait until the 11 o'clock news to catch one of the great plays
00:13:38of all time.
00:13:40I developed a charisma and I saw opportunity.
00:13:48I wanted to be successful as big as I could become.
00:13:52From a quarterback standpoint, a black quarterback standpoint, he was the first one who understood he could do what John
00:13:58Elway was already doing.
00:13:59What Dan Marino was already doing.
00:14:01What Joe Montana was already doing.
00:14:03Doug Williams couldn't do that.
00:14:05James, Shaq Harris didn't have the opportunity to do it.
00:14:08He was a black guy doing those things.
00:14:11Randy?
00:14:12Speak up, could you?
00:14:13Got water in my ear.
00:14:14Randall is really the beginning of black quarterbacks as stars, as celebrities.
00:14:20So success came through different things off the field.
00:14:23Started my own company, Scrambler Inc.
00:14:26We're having a lot of fun with television and it's educational so it's good for kids.
00:14:31Randall, will you come and sign autographs for two hours?
00:14:33Randall, will you show up over here?
00:14:35Randall, we're going to pay you this amount.
00:14:36The next thing you know, my net worth started going up because I began to handle every single call that
00:14:44came in for me.
00:14:45And whether it was a candy bar, the Randall Cunningham bar, or Randall Cunningham potatoes, just people were coming to
00:14:50me.
00:14:50They wanted me to brand everything.
00:14:52I was like, not going to turn the money down.
00:14:53You only play football for so long.
00:14:55He was a forerunner of seeing the world as his oyster and that it could not be contained just by
00:15:03a football field.
00:15:04Is the white media setting him up to fail?
00:15:07How is he going to handle that?
00:15:18Any time you kind of curb what is available to an artist to express themselves, you're affecting the art usually
00:15:24in a way that's not that good.
00:15:25And eventually what they found was the message that was resonating and the kind of music that was selling, including
00:15:32in the suburbs, was not accommodating, was more realistic.
00:15:39The amount of bodacious energy in hip-hop and rap culture carried over into so many things.
00:15:46We're going to make things that really reflect us and how we're living and what our history looks like, all
00:15:52of it.
00:15:53Too punk! Too punk!
00:15:55What the market told the industry was, oh, you don't have to self-censor because that's not actually going to
00:16:03help you.
00:16:04How come in almost every song you guys do is always you guys against the police type thing?
00:16:10Because that's how it is.
00:16:11Our music, movies, television, and advertising regularly push the limits of decency and they bombard our children with destructive message
00:16:20of casual violence and even more casual sex.
00:16:24Oh, we always have backlash, right?
00:16:28I think that one of the things about American history is that progress has never been a straight line.
00:16:35I believe that the rap music promotes, by its very language and by its very actions, promote violence against authority.
00:16:44We've seen the backlash numerous times in American history to any amount of African-American success.
00:16:54I bought the Purple Rain album for our 11-year-old and I didn't know that Darling Nikki was on
00:17:00it and I felt that it was inappropriate.
00:17:02State lawmakers from Kentucky to Arizona to Ohio say that isn't enough and promise to introduce mandatory labeling bills when
00:17:10legislatures meet next year.
00:17:12What my concern is, is that these companies and some of these artists are engaged in cultural strip mining.
00:17:19They are selling explicit sex and violence to younger and younger kids.
00:17:23They take the money and they run.
00:17:25I think one of the main attractions to any kind of music is that you like the sound, but the
00:17:30lyrics are not unimportant.
00:17:32Tipper, thank you so much for being with us. I appreciate you being here.
00:17:36I think that when you think about black quarterbacks and kind of the template that people had in their minds
00:17:41for them, really for about 25 years or so.
00:17:45Randall, in a lot of ways, is the prototype, but he's the prototype in a way that's very important because
00:17:52he had proven himself to be so successful.
00:17:54He was special. Special to an era. Special to a time.
00:18:01Joe Namath gives you just the quarterback as being cool.
00:18:04Let Maxi not cool in your face.
00:18:07Hey, hey, hey, hey.
00:18:08Hey, hey, hey.
00:18:09Hey, hey, hey.
00:18:09Hey, hey, hey.
00:18:10Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
00:18:11Randall is giving you that with a much different aesthetic, embodying a measure of black cool.
00:18:17Cutting him on the roll.
00:18:20being in the quarterback position you're almost set up if you're successful to being thought of
00:18:25as a celebrity thinking about randall cunningham as a celebrity adds to thinking about him as a
00:18:32football player down to the sideline to tom jackson mvp of this year's football randall
00:18:37i started to believe that it was real but you're only as good as your last game we have we
00:18:46have
00:18:46been in contact with the national football league and they say they have never seen conditions like
00:18:52this for a playoff game ever if they're going to score a touchdown they need it now
00:19:02when the eagles kept coming up short in the postseason there's tremendous frustration we get
00:19:09two-minute warning with the rams leading 21 to 7 first down philadelphia up the middle of fires again
00:19:18he tries to lateral the rams get the ball recovered by kevin green and that should put the lights out
00:19:26for the eagles who are you going to blame and it all fell on randall i thought it was unfair
00:19:33final seconds tick away on an empty scene here at veterans stadium an important game for randall
00:19:39cunningham and the eagles and it is going to end in a disappointing fashion
00:19:49when you get to the playoffs you face better teams randall has hall of fame talent hall of fame i'll
00:19:57say
00:19:57it's a hundred times for anyone to hold the fact that the eagles didn't win a playoff against him
00:20:04the fact that he would get blamed for that is moronic i thought um it became more personal because
00:20:11he had he had established this sort of stardom and the way he carried himself and the way he lived
00:20:17and the way he was kind of out there uh that when you fall you fall farther and you fall
00:20:23harder
00:20:27you see number 95 here from the left side of the screen bryce popped a little bit low
00:20:32a clean hit though and there goes a couple of ligaments and they say that he'll have surgery
00:20:38tomorrow i'm sitting in that darn pocket you know that's not my style you know
00:20:45a lot of people have criticized randall cunningham because he runs out of the pocket so much well i've
00:20:50ran out of the pocket i've been healthy when i come back i'll be back to the old randall
00:20:55he senses a quarterback he's obviously i remember being on philly radio and screaming and hollering
00:21:03back at hosts about some of the stuff they thought
00:21:08listening to callers talk about randall cunningham
00:21:13it was so much racist stuff i just could not believe what i was hearing and it was the host
00:21:20of
00:21:21the show it was the colors of the show and it was like non-stop and the descriptions and the
00:21:28depictions
00:21:28and the belief and how it was ascribed at a time in which we should have been way beyond it
00:21:35i mean it was like pure hatred and i'm thinking myself if this is going on on talk radio just
00:21:42imagine what's going on behind the scenes with this guy it was like every day 6 10 wip radio is
00:21:49cunningham worthy to be the starting quarterback is cunningham washed up and it's like can y'all talk
00:21:55about someone else you know what have i done to you i haven't done anything bad i i i i
00:22:01do charity
00:22:02work i visit schools and i started looking at the things that i did and try to justify it
00:22:06which wasn't good and uh it hurt me and i'm like wow man and hung it up and i was
00:22:14done
00:22:15my heart was broken for sure
00:22:34how you doing man time to get a little football action in now when i went to minnesota it was
00:22:40just
00:22:40it just happened it wasn't me maturing it was people began to see me as the real person that i
00:22:49had become good job good job nice play rando a year and a half later i'm the most valuable player
00:22:55of the league
00:23:03got it together in minnesota
00:23:07i absolutely saw a different quarterback
00:23:13there's a deep downfield
00:23:15touchdown
00:23:17cunningham is going to work
00:23:19to moss
00:23:20he's got great speed
00:23:23cunningham dropped
00:23:24moss goes deep
00:23:29here's cunningham
00:23:30has caught
00:23:31by randy mollett
00:23:33give to smith and a fleet flicker
00:23:35toss back to cunningham fires deep got lost
00:23:38and mine
00:23:39touchdown vikings
00:23:41place in lindsey
00:23:42cunningham crouches under the center
00:23:44he's going straight ahead and dives into the end zone
00:23:51touchdown
00:23:53what a good looking drive that was
00:23:59born again that one gave me a lot of satisfaction
00:24:02i cherished that sports illustrated cover
00:24:06because you're going to give it everything you got
00:24:08and that's what was created in us
00:24:10do everything on a whole nother level
00:24:14because you know i saw
00:24:15shaq harris
00:24:18doug williams
00:24:19and warren moon
00:24:21throw vince evans in there
00:24:23yeah they gave me hope
00:24:35i went into the wilderness
00:24:37and then minnesota was the redemption
00:24:46the truth of the matter is is that
00:24:48american culture at this point what is truly american is black culture to a large degree
00:24:55now this is a story all about how my life on the television
00:24:59turned upside down and i'd like to take a minute just sit right there
00:25:02i'll tell you how i became the prince of a town called bel-air
00:25:05you can choose whatever examples you want
00:25:18this was blackness in so many different ways without offending anybody necessarily but also being incredibly undeniable
00:25:28i got in one little fight and my mom got scared and said you're moving with your auntie and uncle
00:25:33in bel-air
00:25:33like we know black people took control
00:25:38it is one of the few times we've seen white america have to catch up
00:25:41it's had a profound influence
00:25:43on on this entire nation
00:25:46i'd just like to say that
00:25:48how delighted i am that we've now reached this moment
00:25:51when they can firmly announce
00:25:52the starting of a fox news channel
00:25:58we've been very lucky in being able to obtain the services of mr roger ailes
00:26:03roger ailes created the modern grievance industry
00:26:07so he created the backlash news industry
00:26:10ailes mainstream a certain kind of racism into american life
00:26:15in certain ways doing the same thing for george h.w bush
00:26:19moukakis not only opposes the death penalty
00:26:21he allowed first-degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison
00:26:25one was willie horton who murdered a boy in a robbery stabbing him 19 times
00:26:29and then he began to recognize that wait a minute if i could start a whole network
00:26:34if i could just have people pushing these messages on a regular basis every single day
00:26:38maybe even i don't know for 24 hours like that cnn thing over there
00:26:42i could get rich all the news you need before there was fox news we had right-wing talk media
00:26:49i consider myself conservative and i don't hide that fact
00:26:52political conservatives uh would talk about and espouse their politics on am channels
00:26:59and one that emerges as the voice of white conservative america is this fellow rush limbaugh
00:27:06the most listened to radio talk show in the universe
00:27:09he's selling a version of america that hearkens back to a period where black folk
00:27:19weren't as central to popular culture
00:27:25why because whatever i do here is right because i am the show
00:27:29he had dreams of owning an nfl franchise yet he found a home as a radio host
00:27:34and was always willing to play the race card when it came to people in the national football league
00:27:41look let me put it to you this way the nfl all too often looks like a game between the
00:27:45bloods and the crips
00:27:47without any weapons
00:27:49there i said it
00:27:57randall's success opens the door for the 99 draft
00:28:02but what randall cunningham said that if a coach and general manager and a team
00:28:09had the willingness to back a quarterback that had those kinds of attributes they could be successful
00:28:16from the worldwide leader in sports this is an espfu special presentation of the nfl draft
00:28:22the quarterbacks five of them may go before halfway through the first round
00:28:27and the talk was all who's the best who should go number one of these guys
00:28:31keely smith was coming out of oregon dante culpepper out of central florida donovan mcnab out of syracuse
00:28:41growing up i played running back being in chicago walter payton was my guy
00:28:47and so everything walter did that's exactly how i played
00:28:51and in eighth grade our quarterback got hurt
00:28:55and the head coach called my dad and he asked would he be all right to play a quarterback
00:29:02and so who did i move to after that randall cunningham was my guy
00:29:08i grew up in an area called the wild hunters it's an area in which it's uh not low-income
00:29:13housing but
00:29:14the area in which you might see violence and so situation happened right next door to us and we
00:29:21ended up moving out to dalton it was exciting we had our own rooms we come on one day and
00:29:27people
00:29:27spray painted stuff on our walls windows were knocked out it was an awakening where you start
00:29:34to learn a little bit more about the adversities of life and what you may be faced with
00:29:40when i went to syracuse i had a football scholarship with the opportunity to play basketball
00:29:45i felt like everything that i did on the basketball court i brought basketball to football
00:29:50i want to evolve my game donovan mcnab is most dangerous when he's running around the
00:29:57field when he's scrambling watching a lot of professional players watching film on war and
00:30:03moon watching what made them great that's when i started learning so going into the draft
00:30:12all i heard about was me achille and dante it was always us three
00:30:21i wanted there to be no hesitation of who's going to be number one i wasn't going for two three
00:30:27i was
00:30:28i was going to be the number one favorite
00:30:44the last play of the game
00:30:56and it was like oh the cleveland browns on the clock and at first it was you know oh well
00:31:05donovan is
00:31:06you know a lot of people projecting them number one and then cleveland take me to dinner well i already
00:31:12had philadelphia set at that that day and time can we do it tomorrow after my workout and they were
00:31:18like oh well you know we were leaving about i'm like you're not gonna watch my workout and so that
00:31:25kind of in my mind i was like oh okay all right well it was nice seeing you guys like
00:31:30you know
00:31:31but going into the draft is when things started to really like stuff started to come out
00:31:36he displayed so much character and poise and he's such a solid human being
00:31:42i remember talking to a few guys in the cleveland organization leading to the draft
00:31:47that they weren't going to draft me
00:31:51because they didn't want to start the franchise franchise back off
00:31:54in cleveland with a black quarterback
00:32:00the cleveland brown selection is from the university of kentucky
00:32:04quarterback tim couch hey and i all you watch the video i just sat there and i was clapping i
00:32:09was
00:32:09like you know tim was a cool dude the mindset is the quarterback has to look like this that's what
00:32:16happens that's what makes you take tim couch over donovan mcnab you know for my browns which is
00:32:23you know bullshit to be honest with you so now the number two pick is coming up and you know
00:32:28the
00:32:28eagles fans are hoping running back we'll see the philadelphia eagles select donovan mcnab
00:32:35quarterback syracuse university
00:32:39you know i'm happy i'll get the hat and i'm just smiling but i'm getting booed
00:32:44i think donovan was a little bit defined by 60 drunks in new york the mayor wanted ricky williams and
00:32:51and so the radio station took these 60 drunks up to and they got all the publicity
00:32:57i'm like you know smile you know and i gave the old school thumbs up and so i remember going
00:33:06back
00:33:06into the green room and my dad's like hey it's okay we're gonna show them that was another turning
00:33:13point for me where i realized not everybody gonna like it but i'll show them
00:33:23america didn't meet michael vick until january of the year 2000 in the sugar bowl
00:33:31and i don't know if you've ever seen one man play football against 11 other players but that's what
00:33:37that was it was the most mind-blowing thing that any of us had ever seen he's got his man
00:33:42open he's got
00:33:43never seen a quarterback that fast never seen one that could throw like that never seen anything like
00:33:49and i remember thinking at that moment like there's never been a michael jordan of football
00:33:54meaning someone who could just impose their will on the game because it's such a team sport too many
00:33:59variables too many bodies on the field david's a great show didn't they sure did and i remember
00:34:04thinking i wonder if this dude could be that my family is so important to me and now i have
00:34:10the
00:34:10opportunity to take care of them so i've decided to leave virginia tech
00:34:16i was a beat reporter for the chargers 2001 the chargers had the first pick in the draft
00:34:22i'm ecstatic i'm like i'm gonna get to cover michael vick the head coach at that time was mike riley
00:34:30mike riley was ecstatic but we're all excited this is gonna be amazing i get to sit behind doug flutie
00:34:36um they had a bunch of good players rodney harrison was still there and i was excited about going to
00:34:43the west coast fly out to virginia tech for a private workout vick shows up with some friends
00:34:50and a guy who one person described as his bodyguard which i'm sure was just a friend who went by
00:34:56the
00:34:56name of butter and i knew right at that moment there is no way they're gonna draft michael vick
00:35:08i loved everything about syracuse my coach kevin rogers told me that they were recruiting mike
00:35:15he's like i want you to host him okay tell me about him and he told me about him and
00:35:19then when he showed
00:35:19up on campus mike was so quiet donovan was an amazing guy i was a big fan of his and
00:35:28i was able
00:35:29to visit with him and hang out with him and got to know me and so we were just talking
00:35:35and i was like
00:35:35what's up man he was just like man i'm just i'm i'm in awe and i was like what you
00:35:41talking about he's
00:35:42like man like i look up to you like i watch you like i i want to be the next
00:35:48donovan mcdav and i was
00:35:49like ah that sounds good i just want you to be the best version of you you be the next
00:35:54mike the
00:35:55whole time i was there i just i was looking around it was snow on the ground i remember he
00:36:00said
00:36:02but i need you to talk to my mom and i was like talk to your mom so i talked
00:36:08to her she was just
00:36:09like domi he's just so excited to be there like but i need him to be here i need to
00:36:13be home and i go
00:36:14it ain't that far from virginia like they really want him here and she's like i just need him home
00:36:22my mom would never be able to make it out here consistently the way i know she'd like to support
00:36:26me and so that hurt so virginia tech has your mom to thank you absolutely absolutely we built that
00:36:36relationship from that particular point on they began gathering outside the theater being in the
00:36:45final hour once again the day of the draft the night before the draft atlanta falcons they traded up
00:36:52yesterday afternoon the san diego chargers and atlanta falcons swapped the number one pick of the
00:36:57draft i'm like thank you because the flights was gonna kill me now my mom's closer and she could watch
00:37:04this is the guy that's from the same place as alan iverson and he's giving you kind of a young
00:37:10street
00:37:11blackness that had not been present at quarterback even the guys on the broadcast are like we don't
00:37:17really know how this is going to go the atlanta falcons select michael vick quarterback virginia tech
00:37:24it doesn't really matter who i play for you know i didn't really care you know as long as i
00:37:28had the
00:37:28chance to an opportunity to play in the nfl you know i felt like that would be a blessing they
00:37:35didn't
00:37:35say i drafted you to be you i don't know about the outside noise i don't know what they saying
00:37:40i drafted you to be you that was the crelude to michael vick and donovan mcnab
00:37:52donovan mcnab he was a hall of fame caliber player
00:38:03he was a pro bowl player he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league that moment where donovan
00:38:11mcnab is leading his team and he's not alone now michael vick is a starting quarterback
00:38:18wins and has a first down and more michael vick is like nothing we'd ever seen before
00:38:25you know you got donovan mcnab
00:38:28coming through at the last moment but escaping mcnab rolling to the outside coming back this way
00:38:35he's going to launch one he's walking behind the line
00:38:37a different type of player
00:38:56that was a real transformational moment from a league that just a decade earlier was majority
00:39:04african-american without any african-american starting quarterbacks
00:39:13the e in espn stands for what entertainment espn and other sports outlets saw what talk radio was
00:39:22capable of which was you know entertaining people with opinions and they wanted to inject more opinion
00:39:29into their nfl pre-game show so what easier way to do that than just hire the most opinionated person
00:39:36they could find and have him spout off during the show the most dangerous dude in the usa
00:39:44i have postulated that for some we need to change the symbol of this country from the eagle to a
00:39:50dilapidated near-death dehydrated big sow with hundreds of thousands of little piglets attempting to
00:39:57suckle from the south but there's nothing left you know you think about the absurdity of this this
00:40:02was a guy who never played football in his life who had no no basis of expertise whatsoever who was
00:40:08there to interrupt tom jackson and steve young you know great nfl veterans of the game interrupt them
00:40:14and tell them they don't know what they're talking about with regard to football i think the sum total
00:40:18of what you're all saying is that donovan mcnab is is regressing he's going backwards he basically said
00:40:23two things he said donovan mcnab is not a very good quarterback and he said there's this odd hexagonal
00:40:31conspiracy between the media and the nfl to make you think he's a good quarterback i'm sorry to say
00:40:37this i don't think he's been that good from the get-go i think what we've had here is a
00:40:42little social
00:40:43concern in the nfl i think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well
00:40:48we're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well i think there is a little
00:40:51hope invested in mcnab and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he really
00:40:56didn't deserve that that was a totally inappropriate statement by rush limbaugh donovan mcnab was a
00:41:05really good player you know if if he was a marginal player and if you could make a reasonable case
00:41:12that some owner or gm or coach wanted to make a social statement at the expense of winning games
00:41:19and at the expense of a better quarterback who was sitting on the bench if you could possibly make that
00:41:25case and if you did it in a nuanced way that would be a valid thing to say but they
00:41:32didn't have anybody
00:41:33better than donovan mcnab actually donovan mcnab's one of the most underrated players of all time he was
00:41:40basically saying hey he wouldn't even get a chance if he wasn't black now affirmative action has creeped
00:41:45into football and we're giving people chances who don't deserve them there is just as much left-wing
00:41:52media bias in the sports media as there is in the mainstream news media and i was simply making that
00:41:59opinion known i took the african-american quarterback and i matched them to white quarterbacks
00:42:05who were producing at the same level on the field and there was no great race conspiracy that was
00:42:12making out you know bad african-american quarterbacks to be better than they were this comment that i made
00:42:18about mcnab and the philadelphia sports media is not outrageous it's only outrageous because some of the
00:42:24people who heard it have a speech code and think about the power of what he was saying don't trust
00:42:30your
00:42:30eyes don't trust your ears there's this incredible race conspiracy that you know nothing about that is
00:42:37infecting the way that you see donovan mcnab and every other african-american quarterback it's so
00:42:43destabilizing because you know fans had seen donovan mcnab play they'd seen him go to the pro
00:42:48bowl they'd seen him take his team to the playoffs and he was delegitimizing he was taking that away
00:42:54and it's really a preview of modern politics where an awful lot of the game is trying to get people
00:43:02to disavow what's right in front of them you know what's obvious to them rush limbaugh quit what he
00:43:07called his dream job as a football commentator for espn after expressing an opinion over the weekend
00:43:14that philadelphia quarterback donovan mcnab was overrated by the press because he's black it's in
00:43:20some sense impossible for donovan mcnab to answer because anything he says anything he does has now
00:43:27been framed as you know your understanding of him as marketing this like charitable endeavor to make
00:43:34him look better than he is everybody was waiting to see what donovan's reply would be and i thought
00:43:41that it might have been his finest hour was the way he handled that you know he said you know
00:43:46people
00:43:46i mean comments like that when i read comments like that it makes me sad you know where we are
00:43:51right now and and how we still look at the world it showed me how smart he was and how
00:43:57savvy he was
00:43:59about not returning fire but taking the higher road comments like with rush limbaugh what he said
00:44:07almost basically calling me overrated um he's not the one that's doing it's the defense or you know
00:44:14it's just like oh like i am out there playing the quarterback position like i am out there with
00:44:19the ball in my hands at all times but it ain't me and what he realized and what he said
00:44:24later on
00:44:25the way i could settle that argument i had to go out and play better
00:44:34and i think they won 12 of the next 13.
00:44:57johnny mcnab and the philadelphia eagles michael vick and the atlanta falcons
00:45:04who's my proudest moment i think probably making it to the nfc championship game two african american
00:45:11quarterbacks going head to head for the first time in the history of the nfl in a conference
00:45:18championship game a historic day here in philadelphia we go to philly we might beat donovan
00:45:23i'll get the chance to go ahead to head with him one of my idols like a game that i
00:45:27watched for so many
00:45:28years and watching you know troy aikman and steve young and brent foe off compete in those games
00:45:34and then it was me and donovan this is what it's going to be for the next 10 years gonna
00:45:40be me versus
00:45:40donovan
00:45:48little pump fake now over the middle trump or what a throw what a hit what a catch
00:45:56and he wants the crowd to give him a little more applause than that play action lewis
00:46:05touchdown and they will celebrate i appreciated that moment the only thing i regret i kept telling
00:46:11myself it was really easy to get here and we'll get back and it's when i look back on the
00:46:17journey
00:46:17it really wasn't easy you had to earn it finally do you feel like the world's off your shoulders no
00:46:25but we got one more game to play and that's the reason we set out to play this game is
00:46:30to win the
00:46:31super bowl
00:46:35it was two guys that i always had in my mind while i was in the playoffs it was doug
00:46:40williams and steve mcnair because i wanted to win it for steve and win it for myself and i knew
00:46:46what
00:46:47it meant for all of us that doug did it but now it's a new regime i felt like i
00:46:51could carry that torch
00:46:53and that torch is so meaningful to us as black quarterbacks
00:46:58from mcnab over the middle touchdown
00:47:04blitz mcnab throws touchdown philadelphia westbrook
00:47:12blitz coming from new england the pass is caught as much time on the clock as possible
00:47:20another blitz from new england mcnab over the middle pass is complete and that's another first
00:47:25down down the middle of the field lewis touchdown and philadelphia is not finished yet
00:47:34and i just came up short they gotta throw two hell marys down the middle of the field the pass
00:47:42is
00:47:42picked off by harrison
00:47:46rodney harrison takes it in and nine seconds remain and the new england patriots
00:47:53are on their way to solidifying their team as an nfl dynasty if i would have won that super bowl
00:48:02things would have been a whole lot different for me now do i regret it no i mean things happen
00:48:06and
00:48:06my life has been pretty good anyway but what it could have been my winning a super bowl
00:48:28i'm up at training camp in greenville south carolina and as after one of the two-a-day practices
00:48:35i'm with andy young the great civil rights leader and at the time he was on the atlanta falcons board
00:48:42of directors and he's waving me to come across the field after i practice and i go across the field
00:48:48and he says you and i need to talk to number seven number seven being michael vick so we three
00:48:54of us go
00:48:55over to his side and we're talking about things he had has to do great this is how you should
00:49:02carry
00:49:02yourself off the field you're in atlanta georgia got to be careful and he was very receptive i
00:49:09mean he was uh and i remember andy and i was saying to ourselves okay he gets it he didn't
00:49:17get it
00:49:18you know i just had to take it serious man um but still wanted to enjoy it and not lose
00:49:24sight of
00:49:25you know how fortunate i was to be in that position and i take it for granted michael vick
00:49:31had a cultural cool that had not been seen before
00:49:37welcome to the michael vick experience
00:49:39keep your hands and feet in the harness
00:49:41enjoy the ride
00:49:48welcome to my ride what a point start here's a few tips remember push up in the pocket zone
00:49:55center of the book director's real ticket
00:49:56we're gonna teach you
00:50:04full acronym brick showing blitz
00:50:21it takes a snap
00:50:24and it's different players.
00:50:25They saw in Derrick Brooks, Brian Dolphin.
00:50:30And that's not in the playbook, but it should be.
00:50:33Damn.
00:50:36Good times.
00:50:37I didn't make those guys miss it like that,
00:50:39but it's a good commercial.
00:50:45Yeah, it's kind of dangerous, man,
00:50:47to have that type of money when you're really, really young.
00:50:51So, Randall Cunningham reached out all the time.
00:50:55Warren Moon reached out all the time.
00:50:57Rodney Peet.
00:50:58Man, there's just a bunch of them, man.
00:51:00It's just always reached out, offered advice.
00:51:02And sometimes I listened, and sometimes I didn't.
00:51:07Star quarterback Michael Vick of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons
00:51:11is in serious trouble with the law.
00:51:13He and three others were indicted on charges.
00:51:16They ran a dogfighting ring out of Vick's Virginia home.
00:51:20So now everybody's like, what?
00:51:22Like, nobody could believe it.
00:51:23Like, what is Michael Vick doing fighting dogs?
00:51:25Michael Vick appears to have been a professional dogfighter
00:51:29in moving dogs, in interstate commerce,
00:51:32high-stakes wagering on major fights.
00:51:34I was like, uh-oh.
00:51:36This city is about to get wrecked right down the middle over this.
00:51:39It is about to show its ass.
00:51:41Some of the things that he's said
00:51:42and some of the things that he's done
00:51:43has rubbed a large segment of this city, you know, the wrong way.
00:51:47Yeah, it was nothing nobody could do.
00:51:49I had more than enough people telling me the right things to do.
00:51:52I just had so much and was controlling my own life,
00:51:55thinking I was in control of my own life.
00:51:57I was just making my own decisions
00:51:59and doing what I wanted to do.
00:52:00Is a record-breaking NFL superstar,
00:52:03a former number one draft pick,
00:52:06losing a $120 million contract over dogfight?
00:52:26I recruited him to come to Philly
00:52:28because I believe that everybody deserves a second chance
00:52:32and everybody needs that person in their life
00:52:35to give them that opportunity.
00:52:37And when I talked to him, he didn't believe it.
00:52:39He was like, are you serious?
00:52:40I was like, yeah.
00:52:41Like, this is a perfect opportunity for you to learn.
00:52:44We can work together.
00:52:47Literally, I've seen the future for him.
00:52:49Felt like that torch was now mine to pass.
00:52:55I'll get you back on track.
00:52:57I can't, you know, explain how deeply hurt
00:53:00and, you know, how sorry I was, you know,
00:53:05once, you know, everything went down
00:53:06and I had to explain to my three kids
00:53:09what had happened, what had transpired.
00:53:12And it was my, you know, it was because of daddy's faults.
00:53:16And that was the toughest thing.
00:53:19So, you know, I just want to say,
00:53:21I asked them for a second chance,
00:53:23you know, to be a better father,
00:53:26to do the right things and to show them the way
00:53:28and how things are supposed to be done.
00:53:32Play action, play action.
00:53:35That's burning.
00:53:38Donovan McNam.
00:53:40Brian Westbrook out here.
00:53:43Once McNam drops those,
00:53:44got Vic standing there beside him.
00:53:47Here's Vic now.
00:53:48You know, he drops.
00:53:50This is really unbelievable.
00:53:53Donovan, uh, and Michael Rick.
00:53:56Working out.
00:53:58It's just really just astonishing.
00:54:00Let me see it.
00:54:17Speaking of Donovan,
00:54:18I knew I had a responsibility.
00:54:22Because that was all he talked about.
00:54:24Making a position better,
00:54:26making it more recognizable
00:54:27and allowing us to be us.
00:54:29And so, we all appreciate one another.
00:54:32We all appreciate the journey, I think.
00:54:34And, uh,
00:54:35we all support one another to this day.
00:54:43It's a different mindset now.
00:54:45And guys like that now are getting a chance.
00:54:54What it means for a little kid,
00:54:58especially a little white kid,
00:54:59growing up to say,
00:55:02I want to be Patrick Mahomes.
00:55:04I want to be Jalen Hurts.
00:55:06That changes attitudes
00:55:08about race itself.
00:55:13When you look at where you come from
00:55:17as a person of color,
00:55:19you're looking for someone to leave you.
00:55:21You're looking for someone to,
00:55:23to say,
00:55:24I can do it.
00:55:30It's not a detriment that you're athletic
00:55:32and you can scramble
00:55:33and you can get out of the pocket.
00:55:34It's a bonus.
00:55:35And that's what I'm seeing now.
00:55:37And it's just,
00:55:38it's made our game better.
00:55:41There are always sacrifices
00:55:42that the pioneer has to make.
00:55:44If you look at the lineage.
00:55:47So Marlon Briscoe and Shaq Harris
00:55:49had to figure out a way
00:55:51to even play quarterback
00:55:52so that Warren Moon could see that
00:55:55and see that example,
00:55:56think, you know what?
00:55:57You're going to make me switch positions.
00:55:58I won't even start my career in the NFL
00:56:00because I will play quarterback.
00:56:03So that eventually,
00:56:05Randall Cunningham
00:56:06and Donovan McNabb
00:56:08and Steve McNair
00:56:09really have Hall of Fame careers.
00:56:12So that today,
00:56:13so that in 2025,
00:56:15to start the NFL season,
00:56:16you look around
00:56:17and half the teams in the league
00:56:19have black quarterbacks.
00:56:23I'm just very proud
00:56:25that I played a small part in that.
00:56:27And whenever I talked to Doug,
00:56:29whenever I talked to Randall,
00:56:30you know,
00:56:30we're just proud of the fact
00:56:31that we were able to help this,
00:56:33that next generation
00:56:34and get more opportunities
00:56:35to play the game
00:56:36because now they're showing
00:56:38what they can do.
00:56:41For me,
00:56:41it makes me feel proud, man,
00:56:43because the stresses
00:56:45and the things
00:56:47that we went through
00:56:49to, you know,
00:56:50show that we could lead
00:56:52at that position
00:56:53and to see the emergence
00:56:55and the standards
00:56:57that are happening today.
00:57:00It makes you feel
00:57:01like your labor
00:57:04or my labor
00:57:05was not in vain.
00:57:35I've always thought that
00:57:36in the hall of fame, yes it's about stats, yes it's about numbers, yes it's about winning
00:57:44championships, but there's something to be said for impact that's beyond the numbers
00:57:52and beyond the record books. What kind of impact did this guy have on the game? That counts too.
00:58:10James Harris. I'm in college and I'm watching him and kind of emulating him and he's playing
00:58:19for the Rams in a playoff game at Minnesota against the Vikings and I go out there and
00:58:23watch because I want to see James Harris do his thing. I was always watching James Harris
00:58:30and James would be right there and he used to drop back and oh my stance stood tall in the
00:58:34park and he would launch it and I was like number 12, yeah. Welcome. It made me very proud
00:58:41to see someone like James that was performing on such a high level with such an air of professionalism.
00:58:53not only his athleticism but his demeanor off the field and the way that he carried himself. He was a
00:59:00professional.
00:59:03You know Shaq was, he was the man in LA. He was cool, calm and collected. I loved the way
00:59:08he played the game.
00:59:09He had a great arm and and I just loved everything about him.
00:59:14When I think about people really paving the way after hearing Shaq's story.
00:59:20I felt like Shaq was just alone and you know he just was out there just fighting and defending for
00:59:27himself and just wanted to make it work and make it happen.
00:59:30So anytime he called me I make sure I pick up the phone.
00:59:33You couldn't go in there without thinking about Shaq Harris, you know, Joe Gilliam, John Walton, Jimmy Ray, you know,
00:59:44Sandy Stevens. All them boys came to mind because that's, that's, that's the shoulders that you was off.
00:59:51I would see him riding around in his, his Mercedes Benz sometimes and I'd say that's, that's what I want
00:59:58to do one day.
00:59:58I, I loved him as a player because he represented what I look like and I kind of modeled my
01:00:04game after James Harris.
01:00:09That's powerful. I mean, I am humble. I don't think anything can make me more happy than seeing those guys
01:00:17pay tribute to me because it's such a brotherhood and sometimes only the group of us, uh,
01:00:28uh, understand it. It helps the fact that I realized that I made a difference in their lives and that
01:00:38I was able to, my play on the field and the way I carried myself gave them hope that one
01:00:47day they could play in the league and it's right that the best player will play.
01:00:56We just wanted to be right. It's not about being fair. It's about being right.
01:01:04And that's all any of us ever asked for.
01:01:46You look at this wall, this tell you what grandma was all about, you know.
01:01:50Yeah, it just reflects back on how many great players we had.
01:01:55But you know what we were built on is the four legends
01:01:59is named after.
01:02:00Oh, yeah.
01:02:00Coach Havde, Carter J. Nicholson, the man with the golden pin,
01:02:05Coach Robinson.
01:02:07And Prez.
01:02:08And Prez Jones.
01:02:09They were the legends.
01:02:11No doubt about that.
01:02:12Hey, Shaq, James Hunter ran as fast as he want to run.
01:02:18Yeah.
01:02:19Hey, man, this wall here, some of you
01:02:24remember all your life, just walking down this hall.
01:02:26This is the experience before the best years of my life.
01:02:29And I'm just happy I was able to play with so many great players.
01:02:34I don't think it's been twice we were $100 in my four years.
01:02:38This is the history right here.
01:02:40And we had some more.
01:02:44It's hard to tell black folks.
01:02:48It's hard, man.
01:02:51It's hard, man.
01:02:52It's hard, man.
01:02:52It's hard.
01:02:53Yeah.
01:02:54Yeah.
01:02:54Eddie G.
01:02:56Yes, indeed.
01:03:00Wow.
01:03:00We owe him a lot, though.
01:03:02All right.
01:03:02We owe him a lot.
01:03:04Hellcat.
01:03:04Oh, you so do.
01:03:04Look at that for, dear old grammar.
01:03:06Damn it to hell.
01:03:08Yeah.
01:03:13Yes, ma'am.
01:03:14Yes.
01:03:14Yes, ma'am.
01:03:15Yes, ma'am.
01:03:15Yes.
01:03:18So we have any questions?
01:03:19Yes, ma'am.
01:03:19Yes, ma'am.
01:03:19And thank you fine for the 2006
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