Full Transcript for Former Vikings & Jaguars receiver Matthew Hatchette | NFL Players: Second Acts Podcast

was the goal, if you will, of getting into the business. My agent at the time being Dwayne Martin with Impact Sports, and he was business partners with Will. So we got to go. on a lot of sets and watch him build the production company Overbrook and all that good stuff. So that's kind of what got my blood boiling for the movie industry. But yeah, the lookalike thing, it is what it is. Depends on who you talk to. 00:02:58 Speaker 2: Is there any funny or wild stories that have maybe come off that? You got in a phone over some. Yeah, I mean, this could be good. 00:03:06 Speaker 1: I'm his cousin. This could be good. 00:03:08 Speaker 2: I don't always have to tell them no. 00:03:11 Speaker 1: You know, I should have used it more. I'll put it that way. Well, let me rephrase that. Maybe I did use it more and I didn't know. So, you know, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star, ESPY, stuff like that. So maybe a couple of those times when they let me in, maybe they thought I was Will. If they thought I was Hatch, they'd be like, yo, my man, wait. You know what I'm saying? But maybe the couple of times when I got the VIP treatment, maybe they thought I was Will. So maybe I did use it and I didn't know I was using it. And you didn't ask. I didn't ask, you know, but hey, over here. And they never said Hatch. So now that you say that, yeah, maybe I got in because I thought I was Will Smith maybe. But no, there's a couple of times I've signed some autographs, you know, Hatch 89. And they're like. That's not Will. That's not a W. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's a hat. Yeah, I'm Hatchie. But a Vikey's like, no, we don't know who you are. You know, one of those type of deals. So, you know, but it wasn't crushing. 00:04:06 Speaker 2: When that has happened, did you go from here to like. 00:04:09 Speaker 1: No, because I didn't understand it because I'm still, you know, NFL-minded. Right, right, right. They know me. They just playing, you know. The fans just playing with me. They know who I am. But no, it's all in fun. I don't take it that serious. 00:04:22 Speaker 2: So you go from... Mercyhurst University. 00:04:26 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:04:27 Speaker 2: Private Catholic school. 00:04:28 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:04:28 Speaker 2: In Erie, Pennsylvania. 00:04:29 Speaker 1: In Erie, Pennsylvania. 00:04:30 Speaker 2: To Langston University. Yeah. 00:04:33 Speaker 1: Black College. 00:04:34 Speaker 2: HBCU. 00:04:35 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:04:36 Speaker 2: What were those differences? What was that like? 00:04:40 Speaker 1: Mars and Venus. 00:04:43 Speaker 2: Two total different worlds. 00:04:45 Speaker 1: HBCUs are, we don't have a lot. Yeah. We just don't have a lot to offer as far as anywhere from, I think I might've got a pair of socks in four years, you know, at Langston. We just didn't get anything. Right. You know, like the big schools, the Alabamas of the world and all that, you know, y'all, y'all get everything, you know, we don't get nothing. So it's just, it was a total grind. It was an everyday grind, but you know, going through it, you're like, okay, you know, it's It's what I expected because I didn't know anything else. I had never been to, you know, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, USC. I've never seen those schools. So going to Langston, I'm like, you know, I just thought, you know, you only get a pair of socks. 00:05:27 Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? 00:05:28 Speaker 1: After time, you know, after you get to the league and I see all these other guys who went to these other prestigious schools and heard the stories and the money and all, I'm like, hey, I missed out on all that. I missed out on all of that. But It made me appreciate it where I came from. I wouldn't change it for the world. Looking back, you know, long, long time ago. But that's what made me that that daily grind of waking up and not knowing, you know, if I'm going to if I don't get out of this, it's all my all on me. 00:05:57 Speaker 2: Yeah, my fault. 00:05:58 Speaker 1: You know, so I was like, I got to grind to get out of here. That's how I felt. But I think that gave me the edge when it comes to playing sports because when I got to the field of the NFL, I didn't care if you went to Florida State, Ohio State, Alabama. Now I'm here. Now we're equal, so now I get to win. So that kind of gave me my chip on my shoulder. 00:06:16 Speaker 2: So in some ways it shaped you for who. 00:06:17 Speaker 1: You are today. I wouldn't change it for the world. I wouldn't change it for the world. And again, I remember I think my mom sent me $ 2 once for milk because I told her I had some cereal, but I didn't have no milk. So she sent me $ 2 once. And, you know, going back and hearing all the stories about, you know, the SEC schools and, you know, the stipends that they got. I'm like, I got two bucks. You know what I'm saying? Like, it was a world of difference. But again, I wouldn't change it for the world. 00:06:45 Speaker 2: It probably cost her just as much to send the money. 00:06:48 Speaker 1: Well, a stamp back then was 25 cents. So we made 175. 00:06:52 Speaker 2: I want to know, though, I got to know this because, all right, first of all, how'd you end up at Mercyhurst? Mercyhurst. All right. How'd you end up there? And then from there, What was the decision to say, you know what, I need to jump off, enter in what they call today's transfer pool. I need to go. Which nobody left schools back then. Because you had to sit out a year. That's why nobody wanted to do that. How did that kind of come about? And then, you know. 00:07:23 Speaker 3: So answer that one question. The second part is what other schools were recruiting you? 00:07:29 Speaker 1: Oh, man. I didn't get recruited. Okay. Truth's out. You know, it's like, you know, it's 2026. It's like, you want to like, he played in the league. Right. He went to a D1 school. They paid him all this money when he was in college. He had a great college experience. He was a superstar in high school. I

didn't have that story. I want that story. You know, I want people to think that about me, but I guess the reality of it is, because I guess I never told this story is, again, I was a late bloomer physically. I graduated high school as a quarterback in a corner. And I was, Six foot, 155 pounds. Graduated high school. 00:08:04 Speaker 2: That ain't going to get it. 00:08:05 Speaker 1: Right. But I didn't know that wasn't going to get it. So in my mind, I'm still headed to the NFL. Could care less my size, right? I'm going to the NFL. I play quarterback. So I had zero scholarship offers. And I remember it was like April before my senior year, or during my senior year. And you know how the teacher goes around the room and says, you know, where's everybody going for... college, you know, their next, their second act, let's say, right? And everybody's, you know, I'm going to Ohio State or I'm going to go to Kent State. I'm going to Bowling Green. And I remember the only thing I had, well, I didn't have a school. So I just stood up and said, I'm going to the NFL. And I remember a girl behind me laughs and says, yeah, right. And I just remember it so clear and vivid, like, oh, they think I'm a joke because that's what I have portrayed. I don't, I wasn't going to college at that time, right? I wasn't serious about my NFL career. I could say it, but I wasn't doing the things to be serious about it. So at that moment, like probably that night or whatever, like, okay, I got to get to college some way, somehow. And Mercyhurst was the only one that really take me. So I went up there and, you know, I played a little bit as a freshman. And then I know my 10th, I think the 10th game, I think I had like 160 yards and like two touchdowns. Like I balled out my only game I started, whatever. And I was like, oh, I can play. I'll be all right. You know, cause I was just changing from quarterback to receiver. So I'm like, oh, I can play a little bit, but I think I need something bigger. And, you know, I'm a big dreamer, so I hit up Miami. I hit up Florida State. I hit up Oklahoma. They're like, no, you don't got nothing you can offer us. Those type of conversations. I didn't even get a coach on the phone, probably just somebody, you know, an intern or something. And then my only other option was to go to Langston University, Coach Johnson. And he was like, you can come on down here and we'll figure it out. I said, all right, I don't know what that means, but I'm going. And I went down there and I just started to figure out. It was a 17-hour drive. And just I got dropped off literally in the middle of nowhere because if everybody knows where Langston is, it's in the middle of nowhere. It is. Like 30 minutes outside of Norman, which is OU, and then probably 15 minutes away from Oklahoma State because we're in the middle. And I just got dropped off and I was like, you know what? I don't know what this journey is, but I got to figure this thing out quickly. And I just started like the day I got there, I just started this workout habit of in the mornings, afternoons, nights, like everybody else is going out to party. I would go run routes on the field. Like I just didn't care about nothing else except making it at that point. I didn't know what the definition was of making it, but I was like, I'm going to make it. And I remember that was my first Christmas being there. And I remember I wasn't coming home for the first time, like, you know, first time away, not going to go home. I'm going to, you know, tough it out here. And I like had no money living in a trailer at the time. And I remember walking from, from the school to my trailer. I was like, this is, this is low. This is the lowest part. I've, you know, I don't, I don't know what this is, but it's low. Right. And I was like, you know what? Let me go back up to the weight room. Just get lift. Like that is like, it's just the work. That's all that mattered to me. I'm like, let me just go put in some more work and, That whole Christmas break, I just stayed at school and just worked and worked out, lifted, ran, lifted, ran. I'm like maybe three people on campus, you know, and I was just that moment. I was like, I think this is what it takes to make it. I don't know, but I think this is what it takes to make it. 00:11:35 Speaker 2: So did y'all have dorms or were the dorms trailers? 00:11:37 Speaker 1: We had dorms that I transferred during the January. So that January through May, I had to stay in a dorm. But the next semester I was in a trailer. Trailers was balling. 00:11:49 Speaker 2: That's off campus. Off campus living. 00:11:51 Speaker 1: I mean, in today's... University of Auburn had them. Yeah, see, some schools have trailers. We didn't have, like, no bells and whistles. We had water. Auburn University, I apologize. We had water. We had electric, so we was balling. You know what I'm saying? Water and electric's all you needed back then. That was it. I get it. 00:12:11 Speaker 2: I get it. So you figure out the whole piece, right? You figure out running routes, this is what it's going to take to get there. You make it to the league. You do enough. You go to Minnesota. 00:12:22 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. 00:12:23 Speaker 3: What's that welcome to the NFL moment like once you get there? 00:12:27 Speaker 1: I think the welcome to the NFL moment for me, really it was before I got there. I think it was the Denny Green moment. I think it was because I was, I remember going through, you guys went, you went to the Combine? 00:12:39 Speaker 2: I did, yes. 00:12:40 Speaker 1: I know you went to the Combine. So the Combine's in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the headquarters, right? Right. So I was calling up there every day like, you know, it's Matthew Hatchett. I haven't got my invite yet. You know, oblivious to reality. Right. 00:12:56 Speaker 2: That's kind of a good thing, though. I think that helps. 00:12:58 Speaker 1: I just left right. I'm going straight. Yeah. Right.

That's just that's that's my my deal. So I probably call about two months and it's like mid-February at this time after my senior year. And they're like, you know, Mr. Hatch, if you haven't got your invite by now, you're probably not getting it. It's like next week, you know. All right. Cool. And I just started working out for teams separately. Like I didn't have a pro day. So I just, you know, like the Cowboys were at Oklahoma State on Tuesday. They come get me on Wednesday. The Giants were at OU on Thursday. They get me Friday. So I had like 15 different workouts like within like a three-week time period. So I'm just working out every other day. And so the draft comes along and then the first day goes by. This one was two days, right? So the draft goes by first day. No calls. Second day, I think the Rams called, Cowboys called, and I think the Vikings called. And my worst workout was for the Vikings, right? I ran a four, five, six, I think, for the Vikings or something. I ran a four, three for a couple other teams. And I was like, so the Vikings was the last on my list. And I remember, I think it was April 22nd, 4.05 or 4.25, Denny Green called me. He's like, Matthew Hatchett, you want to be a Minnesota Viking? I said, yep. And that was the moment that my NFL moment was that. Because after that, you can't take nothing away from me. So I was like, I remember just running outside and doing the Will Smith Pursuit of Happiness thing and running around my block and, you know, crying. Thank you, Lord Jesus. You know, that whole thing. And that was it. And from there, it didn't really matter if I got cut or if I, you know, went to a Pro Bowl. I'm like, the dream was that moment. And I tell, you know, the kids all the time I try to relate to is the moment's only two seconds. That moment's only three seconds. You're going to do all this work for years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. But the moment is only a two second moment, but it's so worth it. That two seconds is so worth it. So that to me was my moment of getting into the NFL. 00:15:03 Speaker 2: And how many people were with you when you got that call? 00:15:05 Speaker 1: Solo. Solo like a cup. No. Yeah. How? How? because it wasn't expected. You didn't know. We didn't know what a draft party was. We didn't see, you know. The only other person to get drafted from Langston was Hollywood Henderson. I don't know if you guys know that name. A linebacker that played for the Dallas Cowboys. He was Lawrence Taylor before Lawrence Taylor. Like 6'3, 6'4, 245, linebacker, super athletic. We turned punts he was so athletic in the 70s. He was like, I drafted I think in 1976 or something like that. But, yeah. But, yeah, so I didn't know. So I was on my couch writing, literally writing names down, watching the whole thing. Okay, he's gone. Okay, Rams took him. Okay, I was doing that thing. Just solo. 00:15:51 Speaker 2: Solo. 00:15:51 Speaker 1: Solo. Do you have any parties? 00:15:54 Speaker 2: Uh, I tried not to, but then my parents, like more people just kept showing up. 00:15:57 Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. Yeah. 00:15:59 Speaker 2: Like what is going on? I would say, where were you though? 00:16:02 Speaker 1: Huh? Where were you? 00:16:03 Speaker 2: I was at home at my parents' house. 00:16:05 Speaker 1: Okay. 00:16:06 Speaker 2: Um, I, I'm gone months without ever hanging out or partying because I wanted to put my all into the draft process. 00:16:12 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:16:12 Speaker 2: Um, I couldn't work out at the combine cause of a hamstring. So of course in my pro, I was there though. 00:16:18 Speaker 1: And yeah. 00:16:19 Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? 00:16:19 Speaker 1: They take people who don't work out before they take people like me. You feel me? 00:16:24 Speaker 2: I had my interviews and things of that nature. Then I had all my stuff at the Pro Day and back at Alabama a couple weeks later. And then it was like, I had no visits. So I didn't know. And now looking back on it, I understand why. It was like, Roman, you checked a lot of boxes. 00:16:42 Speaker 1: Yeah, you already know who you are. 00:16:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, you're at Alabama. So we know the film. We can watch the film. We can grade how that goes. You're a three-year starter. You're a two-parent home. Dad was a coach. Like, what they say about you. You just check a lot of boxes. So, like, I don't need... to waste my top 30 visit on a player like you when I kind of know. 00:17:02 Speaker 1: Exactly who you are. 00:17:03 Speaker 2: We know exactly what we're getting. So when my coach Sean Payton described it, he was like, and I kind of got offended. He was like, you were safe. I was like, what do you mean? 00:17:15 Speaker 1: Exactly. Yeah. 00:17:15 Speaker 2: That's what he says. 00:17:17 Speaker 1: It's a compliment. Yeah. 00:17:18 Speaker 2: It's a compliment. He's like, dude, you were safe. Like we, big school, dah, dah, dah. You just checked all the boxes. He was like, yep. Turn it, turn it in. 00:17:25 Speaker 1: We're good. Yeah. 00:17:26 Speaker 2: And, um, So as far as my party, I literally had not gone out for two months. And for me, that was a long time at the time. 00:17:38 Speaker 1: Yeah. Who's this guy? 00:17:40 Speaker 2: The night before the draft, dude, I totally kicked the ball out the ballpark. I woke up in Tuscaloosa about as the first round was starting. And then I drove home after I showered. And then I was home for about 10 minutes. And then the phone rang. 00:17:52 Speaker 1: Wow. 00:17:53 Speaker 2: So it kind of like worked out perfect. And then, you know, and you talk about that moment. That moment was so crazy because you get the phone call. I have no idea why anybody's calling my parents' house. And then, you know, they tell me who it is. They're going to draft me, dah, dah, dah. And I'd heard these horror stories about people getting that call and they actually don't draft them. So when I got off the phone, my mom was like, who was it? And

I was like, it was nobody. They were just asking about where I am and was I watching. And then, like, A minute and a half later, you know, your name scrolls across the bottom and then everybody just goes crazy. Yeah, yeah. And, like, I remember that moment so vividly. 00:18:31 Speaker 3: Did Sean not say, congratulations, you're a Saint, we're taking you with our next pick? He didn't say none of that? 00:18:36 Speaker 2: Yeah, they did. They said they're going to draft me. And I was like, okay. 00:18:40 Speaker 3: But was there a congratulations behind it? Like, congratulations, we're taking you. 00:18:44 Speaker 2: I don't even know. 00:18:45 Speaker 1: Right, right, right. 00:18:47 Speaker 2: Because mine was like, congratulations, you're a Chicago Bear. Like, we're taking you with our next pick. Like, it was confirmed. So that's why I was like, wait, he said he was driving to you and then got off the phone and you still didn't know? 00:18:57 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:18:57 Speaker 2: I just didn't believe it. Oh, okay. 00:18:59 Speaker 1: I didn't believe it. Yeah. 00:19:01 Speaker 2: And so, like, you know, those are the things that, you know, you remember that, though. 00:19:05 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:19:06 Speaker 2: You remember that moment. Yeah. And, like, to have everybody in my neighborhood, everybody came over then at that point. And then I got to go out and hang out with my brother's. In small town Prattville, Alabama, which is where I'm from. I'm sure y'all painted the town. 00:19:19 Speaker 1: We painted the town. Yeah, we did. 00:19:21 Speaker 2: Actually, black and gold that night. 00:19:23 Speaker 1: Hold on. Let me ask you guys this. Have you guys, since that moment, gotten another phone call that was that important in your lives? Like you said, it's so clear. It's so vivid. It's so intentional and detailed. I mean, Or what other call comes close? 00:19:42 Speaker 3: I got the email saying that I got accepted into the FBI, but nothing comes close. 00:19:48 Speaker 1: That wasn't close to the... Mm-mm. 00:19:50 Speaker 3: I mean, it's a good email because you got to go through a lot to go through that process of joining the FBI. 00:19:54 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:19:55 Speaker 2: But there's nothing like that phone ringing. Like you, I was five or six. 00:20:00 Speaker 1: I'm going to be a. 00:20:00 Speaker 2: Professional football player. I'm going to be in the NFL. 00:20:02 Speaker 3: So five, seven, 10, 22. 00:20:05 Speaker 2: And then you finally get the call. 00:20:07 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:20:08 Speaker 3: Chills, everyone's crying, jumping for joy. I had a small party, like yourself. Not that many people, but small party. That feeling, every time I tell that story, whether it's on camera or to another person, I get the same feeling. I get the same exact feeling. 00:20:24 Speaker 1: That's why I know the exact time and date. 00:20:26 Speaker 2: To your point, yeah, it lasts two, three seconds. It took a lifetime to get. It took 15 years to get that moment. But those three seconds. 00:20:36 Speaker 3: you know, 20 years later since I got drafted, I still feel it every time I think about it or I tell the story. 00:20:42 Speaker 1: Nothing comes close to it. 00:20:43 Speaker 2: For me, I have a call that's very similar. It was a very unique situation. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, was pregnant with my oldest daughter. And we were playing in San Francisco in the playoffs. And so, you know, she was not showing. at the time so you know you're playing in san francisco we're playing on a saturday so we leave a day early so we leave on thursday doctor's like dude it's fine she's not showing yeah she's not dilated or anything go play ball go win yeah we'll induce on sunday and bro we'll keep this thing rolling we'll go win us another game in the playoffs okay great thursday get there great friday get there great wake up saturday morning i got like three missed calls. 00:21:26 Speaker 1: Yeah i'm like Something, hey. 00:21:29 Speaker 2: So I call back and she's like, I just went into labor, this, that, and the other. And so for me, that's probably about the only other call that. 00:21:36 Speaker 1: I've ever gotten. 00:21:37 Speaker 2: That's close. 00:21:38 Speaker 1: Got it. 00:21:38 Speaker 2: Even close. Like, man, I'm about to be a dad. 00:21:42 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:21:42 Speaker 2: And then you bury those emotions to go play your game. 00:21:45 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:21:45 Speaker 2: And you don't know. And she's like, you know, I'm going to hold on until you get back. 00:21:49 Speaker 1: Because you don't know how long it's going to take. Nobody knows. 00:21:52 Speaker 2: And she came in the second quarter during the game. 00:21:55 Speaker 1: Wow. 00:21:55 Speaker 2: Which I didn't know until after the game. And we lost the game. 00:21:57 Speaker 1: Smart. 00:21:58 Speaker 2: So we can edit this for later. But when you said a phone call, I just, when Tiana got, I got the call for Tiana's heart. 00:22:06 Speaker 1: Yeah. There we go. I just did it. 00:22:08 Speaker 3: I don't know how I missed that. So when I got that, when I got that phone call, that was like, oh. So instant joy. 00:22:15 Speaker 2: Every time I tell that story, it takes me back to that place. 00:22:17 Speaker 1: So yeah. Yeah. 00:22:19 Speaker 2: Good job. 00:22:19 Speaker 1: Good stuff. 00:22:21 Speaker 2: That's why you're my work wife. We'll be right back after a quick break. So, Hatch, you go to Minnesota, didn't screen, you get the call. What was it like playing with one of the best wide receivers ever played the game, along with the guy that only scores touchdowns, Chris Carter? So, like, what was that like? Two Hall of Famers. 00:22:48 Speaker 1: Two Hall of Famers. I got there in 97. And Randall Cunningham was a quarterback. And Cunningham. So me being a quarterback in high school, I was the Randall equivalent. I was the quarterback. Did I say that right? Yeah. Equivalent to Randall Cunningham.

00:23:03 Speaker 2: I knew what you meant. 00:23:05 Speaker 1: That's what I meant. 00:23:05 Speaker 2: I knew what you meant. 00:23:06 Speaker 1: So it came out the right way. Mercer, there's education coming out. It's a tough one. It's a tough one. But, no, I think Chris and Jake Reed, don't forget about Big Willie Jake, right, from Louisiana. Yep, yep. They were in Minnesota when I got there. And I still don't know if I say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. The network will steal my idea anyway. So, basically, we're the first team to have all big receivers. So the NFL changed in 98 when Moss came. because you had Chris Carter, 6'3, 215. Jake Reed, 6'3, 225. I was 6'3, 215. Moss, 6'4, 215. And, of course, that's when we go out and set every offensive record known to man. The following year... Robert Smith was running back, too. Robert Smith was running back, right? Cunningham, shoot, had Hall of Famers. Johnny Randall on defense, right? Big Corey, rest in peace. Corey Stringer, Andrew Glover at tight end. We... Or the following year, the Packers started drafting big corners because they couldn't compete with the big receivers, right? At that time, it was the Darryl Greens. I think Aeneas probably was the biggest corner at 5'11, 6'0, maybe, you know. And then they drafted, I think, McKenzie in the second round, then took another corner in the fourth round. Then you saw 6'1, and 6'2. And since that 99 draft, you've seen big corners go in– Hence, right? And I think, again, our success, because if you talk to those 32 defensive coordinators after that 98 year, yeah, it's the size of the receiver. Because, again, Chris Carter, Jay Rice were the big ones, but there were still Andre Rison was a smaller guy. Yeah, he was. Who else was out there at that time? 00:24:58 Speaker 2: Terry Glenn was smaller. 00:24:58 Speaker 1: Terry Glenn was small. There was all the 5'8, 5'9, receivers. So once we did that on offense, again, it just started changing the whole dynamic of all the defensive players being drafted in the NFL. And I think I want to go do a documentary on this because it's clear. Obviously, now you see 6-3, 6-4 on the outside. They don't even want a small corner anymore. I saw you guys episode with Daryl Green. He would not get drafted today. You can go run a 4-2 all day, but at 5-8, they're not going to draft you. They're going to make an excuse not to draft you. You can be a seventh rounder and then stay around for a couple years and work your way up. But nowadays, they'll take a 6-3, 6-4 corner all day. 00:25:37 Speaker 2: Indiana has a guy right now that's coming out in this year's draft. 00:25:40 Speaker 1: Pons. 00:25:41 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a smaller corner. That's 5-8. Run a 4-3 or a 4-2, high 4-2. 00:25:48 Speaker 1: And it's still like, they will make excuses not to draft him. And I think he's going to be a player. I think he's going to be a really good player. He's good. He's good. But yeah, I mean, it was great. Again, got to learn a lot from Chris and Jake. And then when Randy came, you know, we were the same age, so we got to bond a little bit as far as learning the game. I would say Moss is probably the first athlete I've ever seen do something that I couldn't do athletically. Because I thought I was a good athlete, right? I was 6'3, ran a 4'3, and But for Moss to catch up to footballs is a whole different speed. We see guys nowadays, a guy catching one-handed ball, they try, that's the next Randy Moss. Like, pump your brakes. There's only one. He makes three guys miss, and he runs a six-yard touchdown. That's the next T.L. Pump your brakes, people. They don't have to do this year in and year out. They make one highlight, and they're superstars. Matter of fact, even worse than that, I see people– on Instagram making catches on air. And did you see that? It's on air. What are we doing? Why, why do we get hype? Anyway, let me, let me not go down that road, but Mike Moss did it weekend and week. 00:27:00 Speaker 2: Out over people, over people, multiple people. 00:27:03 Speaker 1: Being double covered and triple covered. And, and we'll Sam buzzing out. I was like, that's different, right? It's a different type of beast. So again, athletically, I don't think I, At that point, I couldn't learn nothing from Moss. I wanted to learn the mentality of Moss, right? Chris, on the other hand, I could learn his physical attributes because I could do what Chris does physically because he wasn't a freakish athlete. So between those two, I tried to, you know, of course, polish my game after those two, but different type of mindset and physicality from both of them. 00:27:35 Speaker 2: You said something that, what was that, that you could not do that Moss thing? You were just like, was it just running, not catching? 00:27:43 Speaker 1: No, I've never had enough acceleration or speed to catch up to a slant. When you run a slant, the ball's out in front of you, and he would, like. 00:27:54 Speaker 2: Oh, he would burst then. 00:27:56 Speaker 1: Different type of speed. Yeah, okay. Right? So, you know, as a quarterback, they throw a go ball at 45 and five, right? So five and a hitch, the quarterback throw it. five yards to the sideline, 45 yards down the field. Moss' goal ball was at 55, right? So I couldn't get to 55. There's a clip of the Bengals. He was– you've seen the one with D'Angelo Hall. 00:28:23 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:28:23 Speaker 1: D'Angelo Hall was a 4-3. 00:28:24 Speaker 2: He was a 4-3. 00:28:26 Speaker 1: And Moss, he left him like he was a 4-7, right? It wasn't even– I mean, he just– as the ball's in the air, right, he's leaving a 4-3 guy. There was a ball– Cunningham could throw the ball pretty far. There's a Cincinnati Bengals clip where he just took five in a hitch and threw it as far as he can. And it's probably the fastest I've ever seen a human being run. Because when Randy put that head back like this, you know he's running. And I think the ball landed at like

60. down the field. And that's off of five and a hitch. No other human being can get down there off of a quarterback taking five and a hitch. And he went and got that thing, and it was like, wow, that's a different type of player. 00:29:05 Speaker 2: The beautiful thing about watching Randy was he would do one move and go, and then he never would look back. He just would just do this. 00:29:14 Speaker 1: Hand up. 00:29:15 Speaker 2: The hand goes up, and he's just, come on. 00:29:17 Speaker 1: Throw it. Yeah, hand up. Because I'm going to be there. Because that's what he would tell the quarterback. He would tell Carl Pepper. He would tell Randall. Look, just... Just throw the ball, man. I'm going to be there, dawg. And he would be there. He just wanted the ball at the spot. And then people always, well, he can't run routes. I'm like, you got to be kidding me. Those are people who don't know what they're talking about. But I got a sluggo versus press is a very hard one. route. You know, like those are hard routes to run versus press. I'm not talking about go routes versus press, right? That's easy. But like those type of routes, like they're very hard to do. But he had every route in the playbook, obviously. But those are just people trying to pick at, you know, well, they like other players. They want to say, well, he can't do this. No, there's nothing that Randy could not do. It was that simple. 00:30:01 Speaker 2: Hatch, I got one more question. So that 98 season was special. You guys finished the regular season 15 and one. 00:30:08 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:30:10 Speaker 2: And you end up losing to the eventual NFC representative. 00:30:13 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:30:14 Speaker 2: The Atlanta Falcons. Jamal Anderson. 00:30:16 Speaker 1: The Dirty Birds. Doing the Dirty Birds. 00:30:19 Speaker 2: It was probably around the only time as an Alabama guy I was like, man, Atlanta's kind of cool, you know? 00:30:24 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. 00:30:26 Speaker 2: I mean, outside of their music. But, like, that was a real thing. 00:30:28 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:30:29 Speaker 2: Because you made me talk about that, how disappointing that of an ending of a season that was. 00:30:35 Speaker 1: Or how it happened. 00:30:36 Speaker 2: Like, what do you remember about that? 00:30:39 Speaker 1: We were, what I remember clearly, it was fourth quarter and I caught a touchdown. So we're up by 10. And I remember we're on the sideline talking about our plans of what we're going to do in Miami. Don't do that. Don't do that. And I'm like, that was, it had nothing to do with us. Like we didn't go out and play bad after that. But that's why I just, I believe in the football gods. Like, you just don't do that. It was too early. We weren't ready. I think it was only like eight minutes left, right? But we think we won the game. We've been winning the game. 00:31:14 Speaker 2: You said you're up by how much? 00:31:16 Speaker 1: By 10. By 10. In the fourth. Yes. And it's our offense. We can score at any time. Yeah. They get the ball. They go down and score. So now they're down by three. So we get the ball back, and we go three and out. And then they get the ball back, and they kick a field goal to tie it. We go into overtime. So as we're in overtime, we're like, yeah, this is not– We should be home already. We should be celebrating already. And I think at that point, we would beat that team 99 out of 100 times. It was just that one game. We couldn't close it. I think the biggest spread in NFL history for a playoff game, for a championship game, we were favored by 17 that game. And we didn't close it. And there's just some things I think that went on in the locker room as far as we weren't mature enough to win. Now knowing ball, now knowing systems, now knowing organizations, I think the immaturity of some of the players, we weren't old enough to win that game as a team. 00:32:24 Speaker 2: Were you guys lacking player leadership? 00:32:26 Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's part of it. now you've seen what the Patriots do, right? You've seen the Spurs and you know the story of how the Bulls were, you know, were champions. Like we needed that. The leadership that we had, I think it came from more of a selfish place than a let's go team place. And I think people just don't understand the, What Tom Brady did as far as not having talent or the top talent around him to really still go up against better players and win games, that's a craft. It's a learned craft. And I don't think that our locker room ever learned that craft. Because, again, we had Hall of Famers everywhere. It's true. There's no reason that we should not be winning three out of four Super Bowls, right? But obviously this whole thing of sport, we're starting to learn it. Not about skill set. It's about mindset. And I think that's what we're learning in college football right now. Of course, I have all the tons of examples for professional sports. But I think that thing, it's clear as a bell to me now. That's why we didn't win it. We weren't a mature enough team to win that. 00:33:40 Speaker 2: It's probably a full circle moment, though. 00:33:42 Speaker 3: Remember when Atlanta lost to New England in that. 00:33:46 Speaker 2: One Super Bowl? 00:33:47 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Second half came and they just. Yeah. I mean, because Tom Brady was on the– One of our– They crying over there? 00:33:58 Speaker 2: Yeah, I got shot. I heard some tears drop over there. He's an Atlanta guy. He's an Atlanta guy. 00:34:04 Speaker 1: But, again, if you go back and watch the Tom Brady clip at halftime, what was he saying? Just one play. 00:34:11 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:34:12 Speaker 1: Or just let us score one time. I'm still going to believe we're going to– like those are the conversations that need to be had, not saying– What about me and, you know, I have to get mine. Like, you can't win championships like that. You just can't. 00:34:28 Speaker 2: So why did you retire?

00:34:30 Speaker 1: You know what? In 2003. 00:34:31 Speaker 2: So bluntly, too. 00:34:33 Speaker 1: You know what? Dude, do we ever retire? Do we ever retire or do just teams not want us anymore? 00:34:40 Speaker 2: I was going to say, sometimes football retires you. They retired me. 00:34:45 Speaker 1: If there's something that keeps me up at night, It's that. It's that statement of, did I actually retire or did teams not want me? That's a scary truth that I will still not say it. You know, I'm like, well, nobody wants me. Like, that's the facts, right? Because you're going to play as long as somebody wants you, right? I tell people a lot of times the injury bugs of players is their best reason to stop playing. When they're injured, they're not going to believe you. Everybody wants to work their way back. But if you get injured and you leave pro sports, for the rest of your life, you'll have the reason. If you don't have that reason, you're always, did I leave too early or did a team just not want me? Was I not good enough anymore? I thought I could play still, right? But again, NFL is situational. You had to be in the right system, right coaches. You know, I remember I went to the Jets. I was the only big receiver. Everybody else was Wayne Corbett, Lavernius Cole, Santana Moss. Those were 5'9, 5'10, guys. And I just didn't do stuff like they did it. My body didn't move like theirs, and their body couldn't move like mine. But my skill set was not used because, you know, they wanted me to do little, you know, little receiver stuff, right? Yeah. I'm not going to move like that ever. And I just, I didn't find the right fit, right? So I know after Jacksonville, I was in Jacksonville, and first four games, I came in like a 13th receiver, like 13th on the depth chart. Remember, I hurt my shoulder. I was just like, you know what? I ain't telling nobody. You know what I'm saying? Like, we got to play. 00:36:35 Speaker 2: It's preseason. 00:36:36 Speaker 1: I'll get cut in preseason, right? So, and we got a, I think Jimmy Smith, right, should be in the Hall of Fame right now. Really good player. Really good player. Jimmy Smith gets suspended for his first four. I'm like, I'm sorry, Jimmy, but it's time. For me, you know, it's a very selfish thing to say, obviously, but nobody cared at that month. It's my time to get on the field. So I end up starting week one. And then in four games, I was playing pretty well. So Jimmy comes back in his fifth game and, you know, we're, just feeding him the ball he had like 12 targets first game back then like the second game back is week six had like another like 10 targets and so we're on our bye week and uh and it was like we have a you know kind of re-evaluation of what's going on with our system our offense we weren't very good at that time we were like one in five maybe two and four at best and um so you know receivers coaches like this we got to get more you know get more bang for our buck. We got to, you know, Jimmy Smith had 22 targets and he's got, you know, 14 catches and, you know, in 200 yards, whatever we got, we got to get these type of numbers. We want to be efficient in the past game. And I'm like, my numbers are almost like that. I think, you know, I didn't say nothing of course. And the meeting's over. So I go back and reevaluate my, my tape over six games. And I had like, you know, 26 targets and, you know, like 18 catches and 300 yards. So efficiency, my efficiency was better, but it wasn't, you know, I wasn't Jimmy. And at that point, I'm just, after that game, after that week, I didn't play a whole game, a game the rest of the season. They just deactivated me the rest of the season. So there's always going to be a little bit of, you just never know what the organization's trying to do. And at that point I was like, I thought I did everything I came to the NFL to do. I was a team leader, team receiving leader as a receiver while I played. What more could I do? And that's the reason I was like, I think it's time that I go a different way. I think it's time I closed the book of this NFL career because it's, this is the, this is my top of the mountain, right? This is, This is my delta. Yeah. And I was like, let's go do something else. 00:39:02 Speaker 2: So you go do something else. You're in your second act. 00:39:07 Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. 00:39:08 Speaker 2: And then you get into acting. 00:39:09 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. 00:39:11 Speaker 2: How did that come about? Where did that come from? 00:39:13 Speaker 1: I don't even call it acting. I just, it's... What do you call it? Yeah. Want to be on TV. 00:39:20 Speaker 2: Okay. 00:39:21 Speaker 1: Because that's not acting to me, right? That's just somebody I want to be on TV. That's all that is. 00:39:26 Speaker 2: Um did you ever get any acting classes. 00:39:29 Speaker 1: Took acting classes for 10 years okay um I was never going to do something where I was going to half-ass it right so I took Aaron Spizer right best in the business to me Aaron Spizer great acting coach well I was coaching everybody you know from Will J-Lo The Rock he he knows everybody he he was he was doing everybody But yeah, I was in his class for 10 years. It's like somebody saying, I want to go to the Pro Bowl, right? But they don't want to go through training camp. 00:40:01 Speaker 2: Right. 00:40:02 Speaker 1: Like, yeah, I want to be a movie star. Yeah, who doesn't? You know what I'm saying? Like, who doesn't want to be on Superman or Batman? Of course. But there's a lot of things that go on with that. So I love the craft of acting. I love the craft of getting into a character or people watching or whatever you want to call it. But as far as do I want to do that the rest of my life and have everything that comes along with it? No. Because I'm kind of private. I don't want to really do red carpet stuff. That's just not me. And you have to do that stuff in order to be that. For Will to do what he did, he was literally on

the road doing media work. More than he's, you know, on set, you know, shooting a movie because you have to promote yourself, you know, and I'm just not a big self promoter. But again, I like the craft of it. But during that time of, again, auditioning and doing all those things and. you know, I got a couple of awards and did some things, but I was like, you know what? I want to produce. I want to put it together. I want to be the idea behind it. I want to create something today that didn't exist yesterday. Like that was to me, got my blood flowing. 00:41:13 Speaker 2: What's been one of the best projects that you've actually worked on? 00:41:16 Speaker 1: Um, uh, well the take we, um, the take I produced as my very first film, um, uh, my buddy Brad Furman directed it. Um, we were up for independent spirit award that year. We lost to, movie with Penelope Cruz in it. Um, which is the independent, um, spirit awards is what, the independent Oscars basically. Okay. So it was, that was a big deal. That was a big deal, especially for my first one. Um, and then after that, um, I produced a movie called, um, uh, without the glass as the director, why am I forgetting the name of it? I'm tripping. Um, That one's going to kill me. I'm sorry. It'll come back. It'll come back. But yeah, and then we went to a festival, the ABFF, American Black Film Festival, first film to sweep all awards. So we were five for five in all categories. So I was pretty proud of that as well. And then from there, I was like, you know, like I said, it wasn't about on-camera stuff. I was just like, let me produce some stuff. And then that's kind of when the whole industry started changing. Right. So people say, do you make movies? Like, I don't really make movies. I make content. Right. Because podcasts, movies, TV shows, they're all blended now. Right. You can you can have a 10 minute movie. You can have a five minute TV show. You can have a two hour podcast. It's just content at this at this point. So that's when I get into the podcast space. So this whole thing that we're doing here right now is a sports and entertainment podcast. I would like to say I kind of invented the space. You did that. Well, you tell me. You tell me. In 2018, no football player, group of football players had a podcast. So I hit T-O. I'm Mike Tee. I want to do a podcast, but I don't want to talk about football. I want to talk about life and transitioning what we're doing, you know, have a guest on every week, blah, blah, blah. That was 2018. And since then, you've seen all of these other podcasts, but nobody had one in 2018. And we got called Get Your Popcorn Ready. Of course, me and T.O. shot that for about five years. And then since that, after that came I Am Athlete, then Pivot, and then, of course, all of these other ones. So... I don't know. I was the first one in the space, but I don't know if it was. 00:43:27 Speaker 2: I want to give you the credit. No, it's okay. 00:43:29 Speaker 1: Thank you. 00:43:29 Speaker 2: No, it's okay. I'm cool with it. 00:43:32 Speaker 1: I'm okay with giving credit where credit's due. 00:43:35 Speaker 2: The fact that you're like, yeah, I just can't believe you did acting school for 10 years. And then you're like, you know what? 00:43:42 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:43:43 Speaker 2: I kind of don't want to be on TV. I don't want to be on TV. 00:43:47 Speaker 1: The thing I learned about, but we are on TV, right? Because it's all this, it's like what I learned about it, it's like I learned I can create my own thing anyway. 00:43:56 Speaker 2: Right. 00:43:58 Speaker 1: I'd rather do that. I'd rather create something over here than go to CBS or Fox and say, can you put me in a TV show? It doesn't sit right with me, right? It's like I'd rather go just create something that doesn't exist, Um, and not to say I'll never do anything ever again, right on, on film, but this stuff is like, it's way more moving. Uh, I get way more out of it and I'd rather do something like this because it's more realistic in my opinion. And the whole, the Hollywood dream is it's just, it's different now. It's 2026. There's just so many different avenues. You have actors and comedians, let's say, that are mad at the new actor and comedian because they go to YouTube and they get a deal. Yes. You didn't go to no acting class. You wasn't on stage getting embarrassed for years. And why do you get to blow up so soon? 00:44:46 Speaker 2: It's so interesting the way you put that because it's what you said earlier or alluded to earlier was that it's all about content. 00:44:53 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:44:54 Speaker 2: So even the comedians. 00:44:56 Speaker 1: You. 00:44:56 Speaker 2: Know, I don't even know if half these comedians can do a whole set. Because I just see clips. 00:45:01 Speaker 1: Just see clips. 00:45:01 Speaker 2: From content. 00:45:02 Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, it's kind of good. 00:45:03 Speaker 2: And then they get to blow up faster than the ones who actually are struggling, getting booed. For years. Have done the whole thing for years, right? But because they're not as tech savvy or Instagram savvy to get in the right algorithms. 00:45:18 Speaker 1: Not as young, probably. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:45:20 Speaker 2: So, like, all of those things are. I think there's something to that. It's super interesting when you put it in the terms of what you do. I'd like to know, has it hurt you at all that people have actually, you know, with your doppelganger? 00:45:37 Speaker 1: No, no. 00:45:38 Speaker 2: Never hurt you? I'm sure, I don't know if it's actually helped you either, because then they find. 00:45:42 Speaker 1: Out you're not. 00:45:43 Speaker 2: So it can't actually help you. Right. But like, has it ever hurt you? 00:45:47 Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, being on set, you know, I got the... I think the one thing I learned from Will was just his work ethic. Again, because Dwayne was with him every day. I remember it was Ali. Ali, he was in

character probably for eight months. He was Ali every day until he shot. Things like that, I got to see him. I would do that. One thing, Will, he told me a story about giving a guy a book. man, I gave this one dude a book, man. Then, you know, he came up a couple months later, you know, asked another, not a favor, but some advice. So I gave him another book. He's like, he didn't even read the books. I was like, man, Will, ask me to read a book. Because that's how I feel about it. It's like, that's how, if you ask me to read it, I'm going to read it. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to read it. I'm probably going to read it 10 times. Because I want to know exactly what you got out of that book and how I can apply it. And I just remember like, that's how I see the industry. Like the people who are doing it, right? The professional athletes who are doing it, the 1% actors, the 1% musicians, the people who are doing it, the advice that they give to the 99 percenters, the 99 percenters will still never do that work. They'll never do the work. I refuse to believe that I'm not a 1% or in everything I do. So what if, If it's a podcast, well, how can I get better at podcasting? Like, you should read this book, Hatch. I'm going to read it. I'm going to know it. I'm going to take notes. Like, that's what I have to get out of it. And so I didn't think I was going to get that with acting. I didn't think I was going to be the one percenter in acting, but I can be the one percenter in putting the pieces together. I still think that there's something out there that I... There's a project that I'm going to do that's going to change the world. I don't know what that project's going to be, but I just believe it's going to happen one day. I think that's kind of what wakes me up every day. Okay. So... But yeah, Will, I mean, yeah, he's Will. 00:47:55 Speaker 2: Stay tuned in. We'll be right back after a quick break. I want to know. 00:48:02 Speaker 1: What you want to know, Peanut? I want to know how you get the name Peanut, man. 00:48:05 Speaker 2: Coach, all right, 30-second story. 00:48:07 Speaker 1: Yeah, 30-second story. 00:48:08 Speaker 3: Came out of the womb. I was about a five-pound baby. My aunt looked at me and goes, looks like a peanut. 00:48:13 Speaker 1: Oh, Peanut. I've been Peanut ever since. Is that your real name, though? 00:48:18 Speaker 3: I thought it was my real name as a kid because my mom and pops literally just called me Peanut. 00:48:23 Speaker 2: So it was like, what's your name? 00:48:24 Speaker 1: Peanut? Peanut, yeah. No, it's Charles. 00:48:27 Speaker 2: Oh, why did they call me Peanut? 00:48:29 Speaker 1: So there's no Peanut, like it's not in the middle name or nothing? It's just Peanut. 00:48:33 Speaker 2: Anthony's my middle name. 00:48:34 Speaker 1: Okay, that's what I wanted to know. 00:48:35 Speaker 2: We black folk, man. We got a nickname for everything. So my brother's nickname is Duck. 00:48:39 Speaker 1: Okay. 00:48:39 Speaker 2: And I've never called him Duck. 00:48:42 Speaker 1: Duck. Duck. Duck and Peanut. Duck and Peanut. 00:48:45 Speaker 2: All day long. 00:48:46 Speaker 1: Love it. 00:48:46 Speaker 2: I've never called him Duck. Anything other than Doug. 00:48:49 Speaker 1: That's funny. That's just what it is. Yeah. No nicknames, Ro? Horrible. Nobody liked you, but that's what that means. That's what that means. No way. 00:48:58 Speaker 2: Well, my name is so unique. 00:48:59 Speaker 1: It's just Roman. 00:49:01 Speaker 3: You know what I mean? No, what I'm curious to know is, okay, we do acting, producing. How do we get into coaching? 00:49:08 Speaker 2: Where does the coaching come from? 00:49:10 Speaker 1: I need a fix. Yeah. If I don't get ball, I start itching. I get cranky. It's like I need some football in my life. I think it started from training. I was just training some receivers going to the league, just trying to help them for their pro day. And then I was like, you know what? I think I can coach. I think I can translate what I want multiple players to do but send the same message. And not everybody can do that. We've had coaches. You get a position coach, and two years ago, he was the Lions as a tight end coach, and then five years ago, he was the Redskins or the Commanders as a D-line coach, and now he's your corners coach. You guys ever think, like, how would he get this job? Because you can't be all of these things, right, and now be my corners coach. You're supposed to know everything about corners. What I learned is about coaching is It's not about what you know about the position. It's how can you relate what the coordinator wants directly out of his mouth to those players and you not miss a beat. That's what the coordinator and or the head coach wants the coaches to do. It's not about knowing the corner position. I have to install something. I'm going to say it five different ways and he has to take it those exact ways and give it to these players without missing my translation. Because if you're a corner, right, you can coach it a certain way. I don't want you to coach it your way. I want you to coach it my way. That's what makes you a good coach. And that's why you'll see coaches go coach a DN, coach running backs, coach linebackers, and they'll coach a bunch of different positions. 00:50:51 Speaker 2: And let me just read out this guy's resume too because you bring that up and we didn't allude to– because I'm literally like, bro, he's like the– the Jamaican family from In Living Color. 00:51:05 Speaker 1: Like this guy's got. 00:51:06 Speaker 2: How many jump you got, man? 00:51:07 Speaker 1: How many jump you got, man? That's hilarious. 00:51:11 Speaker 2: He's literally with, all right, 2011. He's a D coordinator at Calabasas High School. And then to a position. 00:51:19 Speaker 1: And I did that to learn defense. 00:51:22 Speaker 2: Which is like, play wide receiver, quarterback, not as a defensive coordinator. 00:51:25 Speaker

1: I was like, what? 00:51:26 Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense when I read the resume last night. And then it was like, oh, and then he goes to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the same team the next year. Then served as a wide receivers coach at Crespi High in 2013. These are like back to back to back. Then went to Viewpoint High School from 2014 to 15 before taking on offensive coordinator and quarterback's coach position at Pierce Junior College. So now I'm out of there. I got to go up a little bit. 00:51:53 Speaker 1: Yeah. Go get the Juco. 00:51:54 Speaker 2: That's a hustle. 00:51:55 Speaker 1: Yes, very. 00:51:56 Speaker 2: The Juco game's a hustle game. 00:51:57 Speaker 1: Different world. Yes. 00:51:59 Speaker 2: Then he went to Orange Lutheran High School in 2016. Trinity League. 00:52:03 Speaker 1: All right. 00:52:03 Speaker 2: But then going to Long Beach Poly High, which everybody knows that school out here, in 2017. What did you coach then? 00:52:10 Speaker 1: Offensive coordinator, quarterback coach. Okay, good. 00:52:12 Speaker 2: Okay, we stayed a little bit consistent. And then Loyola High School from 18 to 24. 00:52:17 Speaker 1: Offensive coach, quarterback coach. Offensive coordinator, quarterback coach. 00:52:20 Speaker 2: Yeah, now we're the head coach. 00:52:21 Speaker 1: Offensive coordinator, quarterback coach, head coach. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. 00:52:26 Speaker 2: Collecting all that information and data. Like what all, as you were going through that, because you told me what you learned ultimately as a coach is like, dude, don't teach what you know. I want you to be able to teach what that guy's wanting you to teach. So then how can, without having a big drop off. So the D coordinator can actually coordinate and not have to coach every position. 00:52:47 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:52:47 Speaker 2: What, as you were going through that process, like what all were you picking up from each spot when, and kind of, Adding more into your game of coaching. 00:52:56 Speaker 1: Everything. As much as possible, right? So your safety. If you're going to go coach safeties this summer at the Saints, the best advice I could give you is go sit with a quarterback or an offensive coordinator to learn how they're trying to attack The defense. Right. That's my advice I give you, right? Now, for that time, you'd be like, it's still going to be a little... I know ball, so I'm not going to be that lost, but there's still some stuff you don't know. You sit with Tom Brady, he'll be able to teach a little bit about the offensive system of how we're trying to attack you guys. Then you go there and install your defense, and now you can have more nuggets for your safeties to say this is what they're trying to do to you, this is how they're trying to attack. And, for example, the reason I... go to so many like, you know how they have the internship, right? For the players. I would always get denied. Like, oh, we're going to take somebody

else. Okay, cool. But to me, I missed that time of going down there. Like, I don't care about the internship. I want the knowledge. So I just started flying myself in. Like, hey, Troy Walters, right? He's a wide receivers coach for the Bengals. I want to come down there for three days. You know, can you ask the head coach if I can come down? Yeah, come. You know, I'll pay for my own hotel and own flight and, But it's the same knowledge that the intern's getting, right? But now I get to get the knowledge, right? Kerry Colbert, right? Hey, ask Sean if I can come in and just watch practice for a couple. Yeah, come on down. I've been at UCLA all week. I just want the knowledge because at the end of the day, I'm going to take something out of that. 00:54:33 Speaker 2: I'm not mad. I can tell you're collecting that. That's why I wrote off what I... Green and grown or ripe and rotten. That's what Bucks used to always say. 00:54:41 Speaker 1: There you go. 00:54:41 Speaker 2: Green and grown or ripe and rotten. You seem to be pretty green, my brother. 00:54:45 Speaker 1: Yeah, I try. Again, I'll go to youth games. I'll try to pick up stuff from youth games. If you talk to a lot of NFL coordinators, I was watching the Philly Special was stolen from a youth team, from a youth game. Smart. The Super Bowl Philly Special, the reverse, yeah, it was stolen from a youth game. So there's always something out there. And whenever you stop learning, of course, you're dead to the game. 00:55:09 Speaker 2: All right, well, talk about your game, your team's game this year. You guys went 83. 00:55:13 Speaker 1: Yeah, go Oilers. Yeah, HB. Huntington Beach Oilers, yeah. 00:55:18 Speaker 2: Yeah, so you guys are the Oilers. 00:55:20 Speaker 1: Yeah, we're the Oilers, yeah. 00:55:21 Speaker 2: Okay, Huntington Beach Oilers. Huntington Beach Oilers. 00:55:22 Speaker 1: Shout out. Shout out. Yeah, we got some dudes. We're going to be pretty good. Got the number one quarterback in the country, Brady Edmonds, committed to Ohio State. Going into his senior year, again. 00:55:33 Speaker 2: He's... How do you not mess this up? Like, when you got a guy, you know what I'm saying? Like, how do you not mess this up? 00:55:40 Speaker 1: Well, I don't think about messing it up. 00:55:42 Speaker 2: How about that? I was going to say, how do you not mess this up? Like, I'm personally trying to miss the layup. 00:55:49 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I've been on the last 15 years or so. I've been on the Elite 11 circuit, the Nike circuit. We go across the country, look at the top quarterbacks and the top players across the country. So when I was at Long Beach Poly, we had Matt Corral. He's the number one quarterback in the country. Ended up going to Ole Miss, playing in the UFL right now. Again, Brady White, worked with him tons. Worked with a lot of top guys. So I feel comfortable with that. So I'm not shocked that I have Brady. But as a team, the goals are, yeah, you have a certain core that says, yeah, you guys should be CF champs, let's say. You know, it's still high school, you know, so you don't know what teams are going to show up sometime, what kids are going to be available, all that good stuff. It's still an uphill battle in California because there's just so many good teams out there. There's a lot of private schools who take the majority of the talent, if you will. 00:56:44 Speaker 2: Maturde. 00:56:45 Speaker 1: Maturde, Bosco, Santa Margarita, you know. You know, we just kind of get the crumbs, but we'll be able to compete with anybody. I feel that. And so we'll just see how the chips fall at the end of the season. But I'm excited for our guys. 00:56:57 Speaker 2: And now because they have one state championship game, too. 00:57:01 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's. 00:57:02 Speaker 2: It makes the playoffs and the whole thing a little bit more difficult as well. 00:57:05 Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's so many schools. So many schools. It's like you have– if you win CIF, that's usually the goal, right? CIF championship, that means you won this division in your area. And California is different. It's like the old BCS rankings. So if you have Division XIII team, let's say, and you got two transfers in, you'd win Division XIII every year. That was how it was 10 years ago. So now if you're Division XIII and you go 10-0, they're going to put you in Division III or Division IV. After the 10th game, that's when they rank you. And that spits out Divisions I through XIII. So you have a good season. You're going to be in a higher division with better competition. You're not just going to go roll through a bunch of small schools. I actually like that. Yeah, it's fair. It's fair. So I love it. I love it. And that keeps it again. We won't compete with the Trinity League teams. That's something totally different. Yeah. Right. Because they play by a different set of rules. Right. So just which is fine. 00:58:04 Speaker 3: So being a being a coach, it's it's an important role. And you have a huge impact on the on the youth, these young kids. 00:58:12 Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah. Right. 00:58:13 Speaker 2: How do you handle that piece? Because you're. 00:58:18 Speaker 3: You're like that, that father figure to a lot of these young men for what you tell them as they go through college and you're kind of help raise them. 00:58:26 Speaker 2: In a sense, you know, from 14 to 18. 00:58:29 Speaker 1: Absolutely. Right. 00:58:30 Speaker 2: How do, how do you handle that? 00:58:32 Speaker 1: Oh, I, I think I learned more from them than they learned from me. And I try to keep that attitude. Um, if I'm, I'm never like coach that'll be in front of the kids saying, Hey, 98 Vikings, we used to do it like this. Like, nah, it's about the kid. Right. And, I'm trying to get the parents to understand more than the kids because the parents is what, it's kind of the kitchen table theory, right? The kitchen table theory is, we got it from my boy, George Whitfield. It's the most

sacred place in the world, The kitchen table, when you go home every night and you sit with your family, that's where you're going to learn your values and your standards of a family. I need that to be reiterated from the parents to the kids more than just to me to the kids. So here's an example. You install something, the kid's doing it one way, Kid doesn't like it. Kid's failing. Kid goes home. Man, coach is tripping. We doing it this way. It's whack. Parent says, yeah, your coach don't know what he talking about. You lost him forever. But if the parent can say, hey, just keep listening to coach. He's going to you guys are going to get it right. That's a whole different world. And that's where the parents got to understand. That's your role. If you can do that with your kid, then you you will have a successful kid. Right. But you can't. do the opposite and say, yeah, he don't know what he's talking about or they're doing this or you guys lost by 30. So now he's the one. Take that conversation out. So that's the goal that I'm trying to get to. That's why I pretty much talk more about community than I do just our team because it takes our community to win the game because we need the same conversation happening all the time. You guys won Super Bowls, right? It's the community that's going to win it, not just the player themselves. And that's kind of what I'm trying to preach and teach, I guess. 01:00:26 Speaker 2: I didn't win the Super Bowl, unfortunately. 01:00:28 Speaker 1: I thought you won the Super Bowl, buddy. I did not. Me and you both. Yeah, misery loves company. 01:00:32 Speaker 2: Give it to me. 01:00:33 Speaker 1: All right, buddy. I feel your pain, B. You get this next one. I'm done. I'm tapped out. 01:00:45 Speaker 2: So we ask this to most of our guests. Mount Rushmore. 01:00:52 Speaker 1: Yeah. 01:00:53 Speaker 2: All right. Four people of influence on Hatch who have gotten you or helped you become the man that you are today. Who would those four people be? 01:01:04 Speaker 1: That's awesome. I've never thought about that. I don't want to get into my feelings too much thinking about it, but number one is going to be Michael Jordan. Absolutely. Not the basketball player. And again, maybe not even the person because I don't know Mike like that. I met him one time. forehead got really sweaty and i got nervous my voice went real high but that's besides the point um but the persona of what he just was it was it was just so big such a big deal to me and my my upbringing um that would be number one uh mount rushmore of influence probably denny green would probably be number two why denny green he was the I won't say the only person in my life, but one of the very few people in my life that treated me fairly and treated everyone that I saw fairly. You guys had a lot of coaches. And there's a lot of people you guys see on the field. You're like, why is he playing? Or why is he not playing? And Denny Green was really simple. You got 12 plays this week. If you grade out at 99%, you'll get 14. If you grade out at 79%, your 12 goes down to 10. It's really that simple. And if I played well, I got more reps. I got the ball more. I did more in the system. If I didn't play great, it came. But that's the only fairness I think I've ever seen in life. Yeah. You know, so I would put Denny Green up there for sure. The third biggest influence. Man, that's tough. Probably have to be my. It would have to be my dad. Um, and again, my dad left when he was nine, when I was, when he was nine, that's hilarious. When I was nine, but the things that were instilled in me as far as the discipline and work ethic, imagine if he was there until I was like 20. Yeah. I'd, I'd be like RoboCop, you know, that's how I feel. Like I got, I got enough. All right. He gave me enough. And at the time I hated everything about it. Right. I hated everything that, uh, Growing up was tough. Growing up was tough for me. For my tough. There's way worse or toughs out there. I get it. But for me, it was my tough. But I think that's exactly what I needed. So he would have to be three. Four? Man, that's crazy. Mount Rushmore of influence. Probably Randall Cunningham would be after that. Really? 01:03:45 Speaker 2: I didn't see that happen. 01:03:46 Speaker 1: He... He showed me you could be a good person and do it the right way. And that's not... In our business, you don't see that a lot. You just don't see it. He was always... I met the old Randall. I didn't meet the Whitney Houston Randall. 01:04:05 Speaker 2: I heard about this. Those are two different Randalls. 01:04:08 Speaker 1: So I met the late Randall and the influence he put on me as far as being confident and I didn't have to feel bad about not hanging out or not being one of the guys. I was never one of the guys. I always tell kids now, try harder to fit out than you do fit in. And I think that really Trent Irwin played for the Bengals. He's a free agent now, one of my little mentees. I always tell him, you're never going to fit in if you want to go to the league. And he never understood it, right? So he's in his fourth year at Stanford and he calls me. He's like, man, I just don't know if this is worth it because he was just feeling so, you know, out of touch with his classmates. Go Trent, it's worth it. Just, you don't know until you get there, right? And I think he's on his sixth year. It's worth it. Right now he just fishes and golfs in the off season. Like it's a beautiful life you have, right? It's worth it now. It's not worth it then because you're, You know, these guys think I'm weird. These guys think I'm a nerd. Who cares? Just stay the course. And I think that's what Randall taught me. Just stay the course. It doesn't matter about anybody else's opinion. And I think that's what really rang true and got me through those first couple years in Minnesota. I think that would be my Mount Rushmore. 01:05:38 Speaker 2: It's the beautiful Mount Rushmore.

01:05:39 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's crazy. I never thought about that. Man, that's deep. 01:05:42 Speaker 2: Something we came up. 01:05:43 Speaker 1: With, we try to ask everybody. Yeah, that's a good one. That's awesome. 01:05:46 Speaker 2: We appreciate you coming on the pod. 01:05:47 Speaker 1: No, thanks for having me, guys. I appreciate it, man. 01:05:49 Speaker 3: It's nice to have the innovator, the creator of the pod to have him on. 01:05:53 Speaker 1: So, we appreciate you. 01:05:54 Speaker 2: Good luck to the Oilers. 01:05:57 Speaker 1: Thank you. You guys back in Cali, come talk to the kids, man. Come say what's up. I would love that. Like I said, Tony Gonzalez came last year, Marcellus. So, yeah, we always have some guys come speak to the kids. It's always fun. Good message, because we speak the same language. They can just hear it from somebody else, basically. It'd be great, though. 01:06:18 Speaker 2: What's it like when you're getting kids kind of recruited, too? Like, do you play a part in that by, like, being very open-door policy to colleges? 01:06:24 Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. 01:06:25 Speaker 2: Because that's kind. 01:06:26 Speaker 1: Of— NIL recruiting, I'm deep in it. I'm knee-deep in, because it's part of it. There's the high school coaches that are trying to win on Friday night. And they say, you know, we got to get ready for such and such. I don't care about that. No, it's your fiduciary responsibility to help this kid and their family to prepare them for tax prep, financial advisor, agent. You have to do all of that because it's a big deal. I mean, this money is changing these kids, you know, whole family lineage. They might get fiduciary. $ 500, 000, $ 750, 000. Like if they do it the right way, they can be rich forever. So I think that's a big deal right now. And I take pride in being able to have those conversations with all the colleges and agents and players. Like that's a big deal to me. 01:07:13 Speaker 2: Thank you for that. Appreciate it. You're going to make them better. 01:07:16 Speaker 1: That's the plan. You're going to make them better. Thank you, brother. 01:07:18 Speaker 2: We're going to be on somebody's Mount Rushmore. 01:07:20 Speaker 1: Thank you. I hope so, man. That's the goal. That would be awesome, man. 01:07:24 Speaker 2: Oh, man. Well, so thanks to our viewers and guests wherever you pick us up and our watchers and listeners as well. I'm talking about trying to do a whole bunch of things at one time. 01:07:33 Speaker 1: Hatch is our guest. 01:07:35 Speaker 2: Our viewers and listeners out there, wherever you pick up your podcast, thanks for always tuning in. Whether it's Apple Podcasts, the Our Heart Radio app, make sure you like, subscribe, share, leave some comments. Anything else? Tell a friend to tell a friend to do what, Peanut? Tell a friend. 01:07:48 Speaker 1: There we go. 01:07:49 Speaker 2: You can also check us out on the NFL's YouTube channel, Peanut. Get us out of here. Hey, man, I'm Peanut. That's my guy, Rome. And this is our special guest, Hatch. Thank you for listening and watching the NFL Players Second Acts podcast. 01:08:01 Speaker 1: We are out. 01:08:02 Speaker 2: Deuces. Hatch is almost like his. 01:08:06 Speaker 1: Almost. Almost.