34. Mary Crippen: NFeLementary Co-Creator and TikTok's Favorite Teacher

23:45They're like, well, this is all you're doing in my kid's class. So where is your history lesson. People will ask me all the time, what do you teach when the NFL season is over? And I'm like, guys, the thing is people don't realize is when I post these things, it's only like an eight minute, like it takes like probably like a 20 minute block and it's not every day. So it's funny, like they forget that, no, I'm teaching math, I'm teaching science, I'm doing writing, we're doing all these other things, but I only like, sure, if you want me to post me reading the novel Matilda, I guess I can show you that, but I really don't feel like editing that and videotaping that.

24:18I'm just like guys let's bring it back to reality here it's only eight minutes you're looking at let's let's get back to center but no the parents have been I mean my my administration the reason why I've been able to take it to the point that I've been taking it to is because I have such a supportive administration and such a supportive principal which is awesome I mean she loves it she sees because it also started so small and so organic like five years ago when I started with just really infusing the dolphins and the wins and losses and it grew as it grew it wasn't like this million dollar idea that I took, I let it grow with what I was doing in third grade.

24:55So when I first started teaching third grade, I was very, because I came from teaching primary kindergarten. And then when I moved to third grade, I knew that I wanted to incorporate sports. And my mom is the original creator of this program. And I always wanted to do what she did. But when I moved to third grade, I was just like, I can't. Like, A, I need to master what the curriculum of third grade is first before I start adding new things to it. Right. I want to get down what I need to teach before I can really find ways to expand on it. So I just started small. And that actually just came because of a random moment of talking about Patrick Mahomes on like the first week of school.

25:31So that's how it started. It started small and just then we went to tracking players and then we started talking about playoffs. And then the next year we tracked a player and talked to playoffs. And then where I was finally like, OK, I really think this could work because I've A, seen how the kids gravitate towards what I'm doing. And B, when we get to the playoffs, they're so interested in all the other teams and learning about different things. And the engagement is on point. I mean, kids even wanted to come to school when I was just talking about the dolphins. They were just excited to walk in on Monday talking about, oh, did you see Tyree Kill got arrested?

26:04Oh, did you see this person got in a fight? Oh, did you see the win? Oh, it was a game. Like they were already talking about it. So I think that's what really helped is because I had grown it naturally in my classroom to where I felt confident taking on this beast that is now NFL elementary. But my administrator has been so supportive. And so like, I mean, I'll have random people like, oh, FYI, Alexander Madison's coming tomorrow. And she's like, just put it in the calendar. And I'm like, all right, on it. And then my the parents in my class, I mean, they've been they've been awesome. And I think the biggest thing for them is that, you know, I've been getting texts over the break like the kids can't wait to come back to school like they're ready for break to be over because they want to go back to school on Monday.

26:42whereas she's like my fifth grader is like dreading going back and they can see the difference between here are these third graders that are wanting to go back to school and then there's their other siblings or other kids that are dreading going back and they see the desire to just want to be back in the classroom and I think that's the best thing that nf elementary has created is is the community and getting kids to want to be in school because that's such a big thing now is kids don't want to go to school they don't want to be there they don't want to learn and that's the best thing is the buy-in from NFL elementary.

27:13Kids buy in and they buy in quickly without even having to do much. No, I don't want to glaze over this because like we've been talking about like your curriculum and like what you've been doing, but you mentioned your mom and I actually have been waiting to ask you this because I feel like it's really, really sweet and special because in a post you said, she's the real MVP behind NFL elementary. So talk to me about her role in building this and like her inspiration on your life, your teaching life, and kind of the brand as a whole? Well, she created it back in 1999, which is insane. I mean, she just, it's like any other teacher would.

27:50She had a bunch of boys that were reluctant to do her math homework. And she said, well, you're going to do this math one way or the other. And that's how it created. And she sat down and created this curriculum. And I've watched over the years, my friends enter into her classroom. And I never realized the magnitude of this curriculum until I got older. When I was in fifth grade, when I was in elementary school, I, I was not paying attention to what my mother was doing. I just knew she was doing something. I always knew there was something, it was always sports in her classroom, but I didn't really know the magnitude of it.

28:19I mean, I'm, as kids, we're also very self-centered. We're not concerned what our, what our grownups are doing. We're just, we just know that they're there and they make us do things. But when I got into high school and I remember, you know, talking to a bunch of my friends about the NFL and we were talking about games and they're like wearing Chargers gear. And I'm like, why are you wearing Chargers gear? And they're like, because I drafted them in your mom's class in fifth grade. And I was like, you're still a Chargers fan? And they're like, yeah. So that's when I got older is when I realized, holy cow, like she has created lifelong fans here and she created such a bond.

28:51I mean, anytime we'd go to Publix, anytime we go anywhere and the community of where she taught, we'd be stuck there for three hours because everybody was coming, former parents, current parents, students that she had in the past to come and chit chat with her because they loved her. And I just saw all the amazing things that she did in her classroom. But yeah, it created just because kids were reluctant to do her work. And that's where it really began. So I knew I wanted to do some of that in my classroom. I just didn't know how. And her and I are very similar, but we're very different type of teachers.

29:23Like we're very similar in the sense that we're very outgoing and we can chit chat and we're very, we can yap, but very, very different on the other spectrum. Like she's type A, she's organized. She's got a plan. She's got this where I am type B diagnosed ADHD all over the place. So it's just like, she'll look at, she'll come into my classroom some days and she's be like, Oh, what, what's going on? Like, she'll just clean for me. Like, what do we got going on here? What are you doing? But it helped. I mean, she had the blueprint for NFL elementary, but she taught fifth grade. So when I wanted to do what I knew, I wanted to finally pull the trigger and I came to her and I was like, can I, can I do it?

30:00Like I had to ask her, like, is it okay if I take this? Cause can I, can I use this? And she was thrilled. I mean, she couldn't have been happier that I wanted to continue on her legacy, but I had to align it to all of my third grade standards. So I worked one summer, all summer taking what she did, looking through my pacing guide as a teacher of what I was expected to teach and aligned all the different sheets that my kids do to the third grade standards. But yeah, she played a huge role. I mean, still we jump back and forth on different ideas all the time. I mean, but it's so great to have that and to know like at the end of the day, like I can pick up my phone and I can call her and yap about, you know, complain about something in teaching or share a high or share a win moment where, yes, I do the same things with my husband, but with my mom being in the field, she just gets it, you know, and she's able to add her two cents or if I'm struggling with something, she can always bring me back down to zero.

30:54So it's been such a cool thing to be able to go through this journey with her. Shout out to mom. Yeah, shout out to moms. We love moms. It's so cool that you guys can continue to bond over it as well. Is she still teaching? No, so she retired the year that I started. So she actually got out right before, she taught for 38 years. She left and thankfully left right before COVID because I don't know how she would have done navigating the on the online stuff. But the thing is, when I started, I started in first grade and then I moved for two years and then I moved to kindergarten for three years. So there was five years before I even started doing NFL elementary.

31:37Yeah. Okay. Speaking of going online, what, tell me about the decision to like post this on social. Was it one of those things where you just like posted one thing because you're like, this is cute and fun. And then actually it was really funny. So when I started, so I had grown up, I'm, I'm, I'm one of those kids that I loved making videos. I, I, I like sat on iMovie all the time. I was always like, as a 15 year old kid, I remember my brother's high school, like asked me to do those baseball banquet slideshow. And I made like graduations. Like I was always the one making videos for people and for myself just for fun.

32:14So I remember the first year that I started doing the dolphin singing in my class I had a really grand idea that at the end of the season. I wanted because I have the board that you've seen where I have the w's and l's I was like, I really want to put together like A like a video compilation of like wl w and l so at the end of the season you can see The how the season went and I remember after the first year I did it And it's the first video I put on tiktok and it's still there. I think all the way at the bottom And it came out terrible, terrible. And it's because like, I would, I remember I would do it and I would like hold my phone like this and I'd have the marker and I'd try to like, you know, I tried doing it on my own.

32:53And when I, and then it was off and it didn't, it, it, and I'm such a stickler for like transitions and it didn't transition well. And it just, it was a great idea, but it didn't look great. So the following year I was like, okay, when I do this, I'm going to have, I'm going to make it look better. So that was when I started, I had a kid come up and he was like my Nico, my like camera holder. And it was, it was only like two minutes that we were talking about the win or the loss. So he would stand there and hold the, the camera during the lessons. And I remember during that season, I was each week putting together the video compilation that Nico had made, like from our little lesson.

33:30And I would cut out like just where you put the W part and leave the rest of the lesson. Like I didn't think anybody wanted to hear the rest of what I had to say. I was just trying to make a cute little compilation of W's and L's. And I had was putting it together and it was like week four of the NFL. And my husband and I are on a walk and I was like, babe, look how good this looks. I was like, this actually looks so good. And he was like laughing. And I remember I put it up on Twitter and I was like, we've been loving tracking the Dolphins wins and losses in our class. When the Dolphins win, we win.

33:57We get 10 extra minutes of recess. When they lose, we learn from, we learn from the loss. It's a learning experience. And I posted it and I was very active on Dolphins Twitter, meaning like I followed all the beat reporters. Like I was in the know of Dolphin's Twitter and I had like 500 followers from like 2011 from when I started Twitter, like friends. And my mom had called me hours later and she's like, Mary. I was like, yes. She's like, have you checked your Twitter? I was like, no, why? She's like, you might want to go look. And it was just every time you refreshed, it was like hundreds of thousands of people.

34:29And that was big back in the day, like having even a thousand views on it. But it was like a hundred thousand views. Then you'd refresh 200 ,000 views. And it It was like this little video was circulating through Dolphins Twitter and through NFL Twitter. And that's where I was like, oh, oh, my gosh. And then it was in that moment that I had Omar Kelly, who was a Dolphins beat reporter. He reposted it and tweeted, you should track Tyree Kill's road to 2000 yards because that's the way I learned math. And he's been so vocal about getting 2000. I was like, wait a second. This is not a bad idea. But the reason why I never did it was because I was just a reading teacher at this point.

35:09I didn't teach math. So I was like, you know what? What harm could teaching my kids, could infusing math in my reading classroom, could that do? No harm. So I went back that day. I like researched, okay, how am I going to make this applicable to my kids? How is this going to be a meaningful thing that we're tracking Tyree Kill's yards? And then that Monday, I introduced it to them and they loved it. And then I remember people were so interested in what I was doing that I was like, okay, I guess I'll like show them like some more of the lessons. And this was just basically Twitter. And then after, when I showed the Tyreek Hill, me introducing the lesson to them, introducing the topic of tracking him, it was Barstool Sports that picked it up and they reposted.

35:48They took it to a whole new light where I was at in Orlando. My brother was like, Barstool Sports just reposted you. And I was like, oh my God. Like they wrote an entire article about what I was doing. Like Tyreek Hill is doing so well that elementary school students are learning about him type of thing. So, and then from there, I mean, I had a TikTok, but it wasn't really active and I wasn't an active TikTok person. But I remember when I would, I opened the app one day and I saw my video on TikTok, but I didn't post it. And I was like, what? I was like, no. So I was like, oh, I guess I should just start posting them on TikTok too.

36:20And then it just started growing. But I mean, it's been a long time. It's been like four or five years. So it, you know, at first it was like, I got 10 ,000 followers. And I was like, oh my gosh. And then the next season it was like 50 ,000. And then it was 100 and 200. And this year it's just totally blown up. And I think it's wild. But yeah, the decision to post on social media was literally just because I wanted an aesthetic little WNL compilation. And then I realized how interested people were in what I was doing, which was wild to me. The rest is history. The rest is history. I think that a lot of the education system has come under scrutiny over there.

37:01I mean, I know that people always have their opinions about the education system, but even hearing from teachers, just that there's like a lot of struggles in the teaching profession. It's rough. It's rough out there. It's exhausting. Teachers don't get paid enough. And a lot of the curriculum. And the expectations are wild. Yeah. And then you're dealing, like now parents can text you, Like my sister, yes, third grade teacher, I was staying with her for like a month and she got a text at 6.15 a.m. from a parent. And so there's so many expectations. 10 p.m. Why not? They have a phone. It's fine.

37:37They're up. But I feel like this has had to have given teaching and curriculum a new and exciting meaning to you. Like, is that true? And has this ignited teaching passion? It's, yeah. I mean, I've always loved teaching, but being able to do this, and I'm so thankful that my mom let me take her curriculum and run with it and kind of make it my own and make it more me. But it's reignited like a fire in me. I mean, I, and it's not just because, yeah, the NFL season is going to end, but it's just, we have created such a classroom community and it is, there's no, like, I don't, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to going back on Monday.

38:15Like, I don't dread, I dread summers because I love coming to school. I love teaching. I love being with the kids. I love the consistency of going to work, of going to school. Like it doesn't feel like work to me. Yes. Like I know so many of the things I see on social media, like, and a lot of things I post, I don't really post a lot of the hard times of teaching because I just feel like people know, and that's not why they come to my page is to, to hear those things. People come to my page because they, they want a breath of fresh air in education. Like they don't need to hear me talking about the things that are going on in education.

38:49So I just refrain from that, but you know, it's, yeah, it's been, it's lit a fire in me and it's, it's inspired me and it's ignited a fire because I want other teachers to feel the same way. And I think that's been the coolest thing is with having 350 teachers this year joining and on in the curriculum. I mean, it's really cool. I almost every day, one of the teachers either posts on our Facebook group or sends me a text message, just saying how much this program means to them and how much it has changed their teaching career and what they're doing in the classroom. And, and that's, that's the best part is we forget because of the expectations that teachers have.

39:25It's like, we forgot why we became teachers. And this program reminds you why you became a teacher, especially if you're a football fan. I mean, it's, it's the best. Right. And I think the, one of the things, my takeaways from you in this whole, like speaking to you is obviously like the packages are cool. The players coming in, that's like really incredible. But even without that, even if, you know, Romo Duneza isn't showing up on your video board, like the ability to create community in the classroom and get your kids excited to come to school is completely priceless. And that's the best part is like, and I always, and I love how supportive the teams have been.

40:08And it has been so, it's been so heartwarming to see all the teams get involved in NFL Elementary and even support other classrooms too, which has been my favorite is watching the other classrooms get some love. But I always remind the kids, social media and the people on like TikTok, like it's not the reason for the program. Like it is like you can, I could, the boxes could stop tomorrow. It could have never happened this year. And this classroom community still would have been like on point. And I think I already, I don't need to prove it to people, but it's like the kids come in not talking about boxes, not talking about things.

40:43They're talking about the games. They, I mean, I logged in on with Zoom on them. Like I Zoomed with my kids in winter break and they were like, Miss Crippen, did you see this? Like they're talking about the games. They're not talking about the swag that they got. I mean, yes, it means so much to them, but like they're locked in because of the teams and because of the NFL. And I, you take those packages away and it would be just the same, which is the coolest part. I am finally back in San Diego after traveling for what feels like ever. and I'm so happy that when I opened my pantry last night, I have kusos in my pantry.

41:18I cannot wait. When I tell you I cannot wait to make lemon, pepper, salmon in my air fryer literally in three hours, I cannot wait. It is my favorite meal that is super easy. I just make like rice, some veggies, like Brussels sprouts and then salmon with lemon pepper seasoning on it. It is so fire. It is so delicious and it is so easy. and like who doesn't want to have a healthy meal and feel hot and feel so good and obviously i'm using kuso's lemon pepper seasoning so thank you to kuso's for sponsoring today's episode if you're looking for flavors that are natural bold no additives no crazy ingredients you get what you think that you're getting you get bold flavor you get a delicious meal so easily and honestly i can't recommend it enough so if that's what you're looking for then head to kusocuts.com slash the game or use code the game, no spaces at checkout for 10 % off.

42:15You know, the girls love to match. So match me with some lemon pepper salmon. Thanks again to Kusis for sponsoring this episode. I feel like we've uncovered a lot about the curriculum and it's kind of funny. This is the last thing I'll say, you know, about teachers widely using it. You know, there's a thing we say down here in Dallas and DCC Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader World often imitated never equal. So even though that the curriculum is greatly used by a bunch of different classrooms, you know, it came from you and your mom and it will never, you know, it's never equal. I think y 'all have been trailblazers in education and that's really awesome.

42:55But I want to smoke some ball real quick because Mary knows her stuff and she's cereal. So let's talk about the season. Victoria and I talk about this a lot on our show that the season has been absolute chaos with all the things that have been going on victoria's favorite teams lately you're a lions fan i am a lions fan but she loves the panthers and the saints yeah so interesting i love fantasy south i love the saints we interviewed ali ridgeway he's a saint swag and she's just like fabulous So we became TikTok friends and she was our first interview. So I love her. And I started like paying attention to the saints because of her husband, John Ridgway.

43:37But I just think the saints are way better than anybody gives them credit for. So I love them. They have a lot to figure out this year. They do. And, but they, they were projected to have one win and they've had five. I know. So, and that's by like, they figured it out. And I love how they're still playing for each other. Like, I love how just, they don't care. They're eliminated. Like we, like they're going to ball and like watching them play versus the time. I mean, I love it. it. Tyler Shuck, I mean, who would have thought? Literally. Yeah, it's been really fun to watch the Saints do it. Yeah.

44:06And they like rebuilt everything. Like they really went from the ground up and to like watch the team come together. And like they look like they're enjoying playing and they're like growing a lot. So I love them. The Panthers for the last three years, I've been saying the Panthers are better than anyone gives them credit for. Everyone's like the Panthers suck. And I'm like, do you watch that? Like, are you watching if you don't look at the score and you like don't consider what you know about the Panthers. On paper. Yeah. Yeah. Like the Panthers have a good vibe. A lot of their touchdowns are insane.

44:40Like they make great plays. They might not make enough of them in the last two years, but this year they're making a lot of great plays. So I love the Panthers. And then. And they're such a great organization. They're like such a good organization, like from top to bottom, like from ownership down Dave. And I love Dave Canales, their head coach, which like just they're great people, you know, and they give off good vibes. Yeah. And their social media team is A1. Like love their social media team. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly. What's the guy that sings a song? If you... You know, they just had him at the game.

45:12Yes. He sang at the game. I was dying. I wish they would have like maybe let people know. Like I wanted more, like I wanted to see more people in the crowd going and like... Yeah. I have a feeling a lot of people there did not know who he was. Not at all. Not at all. But now they do. He's a random guy. You know, now they're probably Googling him. I hope he gets his followers. It's so funny. He will. And then the girls, obviously, were a girls podcast. So the Colts. So the Colts are my other team that's up there. Yeah, because Carly Ursa. I think she's just so incredible. They're going to make a movie about her.

45:47Just like the blind side. Oh, yeah. For sure. Are they really? No, but they will. Later down the road. Running Point is essentially their family. but with all girls oh yeah yeah running point was modeled after nba so like yeah but yes similar similar story but with running point it was like the girl and her brothers versus like the girl it's all the sisters yeah yeah but it's similarities but what would mary what would you describe this season and like what's like man we'll talk about the dolphins in a second don't I'm going to get there. But how would you, how would you like describe this, this season?

46:35Oof, it's hard to describe the season. I think it's, it's been very chaotic. And I think there's been so many key injuries this year. There's been so many big injuries this season. I mean, starting us off with like Malik neighbors going down with the ACL and then the in and out of the Joe Burrow, the turf toe of Joe and Brock. And it's just like bing bong of injuries. And there's so many players that if you look at the list of people who are out, you're like, man, what would the season would have been? I mean, look at the Bengals now. I mean, yes, their defense needs a lot of work, but had Joe been in, would they been able to, because the NFC North was technically up for grabs because the, I mean, the AFC North, the AFC, like they could have easily been the top of the AFC North because the Steelers, I don't think they're that great.

47:18I think that they're just hanging on by a thread and they've been able to pull away with a few wins. And Mike Tomlin being Mike Tomlin of always having this winning record, you know, being this legendary coach, but he missed it. And with Lamar being out and they're starting off shaky. I mean, the Bengals could have been the top of the North this year. So, and I really, Joe Burrow is such a quirky guy. Like I was rooting for him, but yeah, I mean, this season has been wild and I would have never thought I love all the new head coaches. Like I really love Aaron Glenn of the Jets. I think he is. And I feel so sad that the season has ended up the way that it has for him.

47:56And I think it's like the curse of the Jets quarterback. Anybody who's gone through the Jets, it's like, it's sad. Like, I hope that Justin Fields gets another start somewhere. I hope that he's able to redeem himself. I don't know where that's going to be. Could be Atlanta. Could be maybe even Miami will pick him up. I mean, I don't know. but yeah and the Bears I think the Bears have been the most fun to watch they have been so awesome and I think Caleb Williams has faced so much scrutiny and I just love how he's so unapologetically himself and he doesn't let what all the media has to say about him and the way he decides to do his nails or drink his matcha like he doesn't give a he's gonna go up there and he balled out this year and he's been balling out and I think it's been so fun to watch their offense and the bears are such a legendary organization.

48:43Yeah. So that's pretty cool. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, it's, it's been wild. I would have never thought, I don't know. I thought the bucks would be more dominant that they were. I mean, it's crazy. They started off what, like six and one, and then they've been like one in whatever the last half of the season. I mean, it's nuts. Yeah. But this season has just been wild. And the Patriots, the new England Patriots, I mean, again, Mike Vrabel, I love him. And especially I met him at the NFL annual meeting. And it was funny because he walked up to me and was like, hey, like my name is Mike Vrabel. Like, I'm so so nice to meet you.

49:16And I'm like, I know who you are. Like, you know, like I was like, it was like fangirl. Like and as a Dolphins fan, I mean, he's had our number for being the Titans coach. So it's like I love what they've been able to do. And they have rebuilt the correct way. I mean, if rebuilding, if there was a way to do it, you look at the Patriots because what 2019 was the last time that they were on top of the AFC East. And now here it is 2025 and they've reclaimed their position. That's what a rebuild is supposed to be. Four years to get your pieces together. And then and they figured it out. And I think it's it's hard to root against them.

49:50I mean, I will never root for them, but I love Drake May. I think he he seems like such a good guy. And Michael May's base bake miss. I feel, you know, like it was awesome. I like them a little bit more. That was the best. It was awesome. I love how the fans have rallied around like Giselle never did a bake miss for us. You know, they've really rallied around and Michael May. They really have. Yeah. Yeah. I just think it's, it's been a wild season. I would have thought I would have seen the lions be about a lot better than they were. But again, they were riddled by injuries. That really was tough.

50:25I've been loving watching Sam Darnold do his thing in Seattle. That's been really cool. And the battle of the NFC West, I mean, the NFC West has probably been the most fun to watch this season. And I think with the 49ers, with how many injuries they've had and the fact that Kyle Shanahan has still been able to keep them top of their division fighting in the reins has been crazy. I mean, crazy. And I love Brock Purdy, like Brock Purdy story. I think that's, this is my third year in a row teaching it. It's my favorite story to teach Mr. Irrelevant. I mean, all the way to QB one. Yeah. It doesn't get, it doesn't get any better than that.

50:56Okay. Super bowl. Let's talk to me real quick. I, I will go as far as to say, I'm kind of rooting for the 49ers to get in the super bowl. Yes, me too. Just because it's in Santa Clara. And I think that'd be sick, but what are your two teams in this rule? AFC is tough. I would say it's either between, I don't think the, whoever goes for the North, I don't think North will be represented. I think, I don't think the bills have enough to make it. I think they really rely too heavily on Josh Allen in the end and he has to put it on his back and it's either even though they have James Cook but it's just they win and lose with him I feel like all the time it always comes down to him it's got to be the Broncos the Patriots I'm trying I love the Jags though I love Liam Cohen the Jags and Trevor Lawrence I don't know I mean AFC is tough it's funny my kids ask me this and this is what I do they're like you didn't give us anybody and I'm like it's so hard

51:56the AFC is hard to choose. I don't want, I would be cool to see the Broncos and Bo Nix. I'm trying to think who else is in the playoffs, Jaguars and all without Travis Hunter. Who else is chargers? I don't think, I think Justin Herbert, he's getting, he is like, I think he's been the most sacked quarterback this entire season. Like he's getting beat up back there. I don't think they've got what it, I don't think that their, their longevity is going to be enough to take them through the playoffs. Rams Seahawks. I would love to see the Seahawks. I think I think from the from the NFC, I think I'd like to see either the Bears because I love Ben Johnson, the coach, the Seahawks or the Niners.

52:39Those are the three that I'd like to see. Yeah, I feel like also the Texans. I've loved watching the Texans like the Texans are this and after all this tea, I mean, we could take this out if you want. But after all this tea with Alex Earl and Tom Brady being seen together. Now I'm like, I need Braxton to go to the Superbowl. I feel like he needs a win. He needs a win. I literally, I literally was texting Victoria about, we were chatting with us last night. And I literally said, I was like, imagine you're Braxton and you see your ex canoodling with the greatest of all time. And where were they?

53:15Like in Ibiza or something? like like literally where were they? St. Bart's or something. Yeah. It was like all these like big billionaires were all there. Millionaires. Yeah. So yeah I'm kind of reading for Braxton now. And like I like Alex Earl but I think it was just because it was so public and so soon like had it been like something that was top secret and nobody knew like you go girl you get you get your Tom Brady. But I felt so bad once it was like it's Tom Brady. So public just right after they had I've broken up and I was like, oh, I've been like, you couldn't just switch sports. Like you couldn't have gone like NBA or NHL.

53:49Like you couldn't just have like gone and flirted with like Ovechkin. I don't know if he's married or whatever, but like, I feel like that would have been a really good one or like any other sport, like baseball's not in season right now. So, you know, like, like, I don't think, I don't think it was a sport. I think it was just the fact that it's Tom freaking Brady. Like if it was any other player in the NFL, it would not hurt as much. But yeah. Yeah. People know Braxton because he's no out. I know. People know Tom Brady. And it's good because his college is in the final four for, he went to Miami.

54:25So, I mean, good things. I hope. But yeah, it's actually been cool. I was telling, I was talking about it with my kids the other day. The Texans started off 0-3. And there's a stat since 1990. only there's been no team that has started off. Oh, and three that has ever won a Superbowl. There's only been four teams that have started. Oh, and three that have made the playoffs two that have won their division. But I mean, tech, the Texans defense is strong enough. It's just, is their offense going to click? Yeah. Yeah. It's click on a click, you know, it's going to click. I mean, if Cesar Shaw can figure it out, I think it'd be really special.

54:57And Nico Collins is really good. He just has to stay healthy. Yeah. This season. I love their mascot. I love, and I love D 'Amico Ryan's like, they're good. They're good people. yeah they are like them yeah okay let's pivot and talk about your team

55:17honestly they got a lot to figure out i'm actually i'm okay i think it was a nice little a little moment for you know benching too i think he deserves to get bench i don't think he the qb performance player aside person aside the type of person he is i think it comes down to a business decision and you not playing up to the standard, had this been any other quarterback on any other team, it would have been the same decision. So I think when you separate the human emotion from it and it's like, that's what happens. Next man up mentality. I was shocked that it wasn't Zach Wilson, but I guess I'm actually glad it was Quinn Ewers just because, you know, he seems like she's a good guy to you.

55:52And he's so different than Tua when you listen to his press conferences like Tua, you don't really get a lot of information from him, but like Like, Quinn, like, you're holding on to every word because he's so good with talking to the media and sharing what his thoughts were and not just like, yeah, we could have done better. No, he's like talking ball with you on the thing. And you're like, oh, OK. Like, I like that. That's that longhorn program, baby. Yeah. But they just came out saying that they're they're going to hire Troy Aikman to be on, like, the general manager search. I saw that. Yeah.

56:23Why would I like a correspondent or something? yeah to help look for the new general manager which all right whatever yeah they just they have a lot to figure out a lot sure i don't know did you watch it out you don't like troy and you're a dcc well i mean i like troy aikman but to be like an advisor to find a general manager like i can i can see the correlation but i also can't right but oh i like it i like it he's been around for so long and knows everyone that I feel like if you're looking well and I think Jerry Jones and Steven Ross are good friends and so Steven Ross is the owner of the Dolphins Jerry the GM and owner of the Cowboys so I think that could have been through that connection like hey I'll help you out real quick yeah he's he can help you out yeah yeah what I mean Troy Like when, I mean, he's a legend over here in Dallas.

57:19So I like, yeah, I mean, I love the America's team documentary was so good. So good. So good. Kind of to your point earlier, talking about like GMs, I know everyone hates Jerry. And like, as a Dallas Cowboys fan, like, are there, are there situations and decisions that he makes that I disagree with 100%. But when you look at his story and where he came from, he's actually, I gave a different, I had a different level of respect for him. And I just think the way that he, he's been such a pioneer in the NFL and the growth to it. I didn't realize, you know? Yeah. I think it's one of those things where it's like, have you ever had like a pet where it's like, you have to put them down.

57:58And like, at the end you're like, we maybe have waited. We waited too long. Like we should have, we should have done this early. I think that's what it is. Like we waited too long to let him hang up his hat. And I think he's holding on to getting one. My husband said it like getting one more without Jimmy Johnson. Yeah. Getting one more without that air, like without that era. of him. Like, can he do it on his own? He's determined to prove, to prove himself. That's what it comes down to, you know? But I really do think it's cool with his family too. Like putting your family in all those positions of power.

58:26Like that's something that's pretty honorable too, but yeah. How did you become a Dolphins fan? Is it just because 305, Miami, Florida? Yeah. Okay. That's what I should agree. And I, like, I always grew up a Dolphins fan, but it wasn't really until I met my husband that he, back in 2019, he was going to all the Dolphins games, going to all the tailgates that when he started inviting me along with like him and his guy friends, that's when I started getting more like really into the Dolphins. Like I was a casual fan, but then tagging along with him to the games and being at hard rock, tailgating all the home games.

59:00That's where I really was. Okay. When I go to the games, I want to know more. Like I want, and I wanted to keep up with his guy friends. Like, and I always, I grew up a little girl being surrounded by boys, having all guy friends and then lost it a little bit when I went to FSU in college and then it being with him and his friends reminded me so much of like my childhood that I was like, if I'm going to hang out with these guys, like I need to, I need to like pay attention to what's going on. And that's when I was really into like the dolphins Twitter side of things. Um, but yeah, but he is the reason that this whole thing is probably blown up because of me becoming a bigger dolphins fan.

59:32Oh, I love that. I was actually going to ask you about your, your husband and like the journey that he's seen from his lens, kind of seen you grown into this really awesome person from a teaching perspective, from a personal perspective, how has he been supportive and played a role in that? Oh, he's been so supportive. I mean, it's been, it's so fun that I have like, you know, my little forever plus one that he gets to come and do all these things with. He's also like, it's been fun to like bounce different ideas off of him for like content or have him like watch different things. And he'll always give me his honest opinion.

1:00:05And it's funny. I did like YouTube live when I was on break and he gets all his friends to join, like get into like the chat. Like it's, it's, it's fun. I mean, it's, it's, it's been the best. I mean, what better way to be able to watch sports with your husband? I mean, our favorite time is just watching Sunday football together, you know? Yeah. That's really sweet. Okay. I have two questions from teachers and then we'll close it out. So my teacher friends, I said, Hey, I'm interviewing Mary. what do you want to know? And they said, how does she unplug in parentheses, if at all, LOL. And how do you find work-life balance with like everything that you have going on?

1:00:46Okay. So the ways I unplug, my husband and I are really big homebodies. Like we're not like, we will treat ourselves like we'll walk. We live in a great little neighborhood. We can walk to dinner. So we'll like go out and get some dinner together. But like, we love just like cooking. We're watching Sons of Anarchy right now, we like pick a show and we just watch the show together. I'll have like a glass of wine and that's really how I unwind and reading. I'm a big reader. So I'm currently, I don't know if either of you read, I'm on the last book of the Throne of Glass series. So that's a big way that, and it, it helps because I read on a Kindle.

1:01:18So it's like my phone goes on my charger at eight o 'clock. I think my do not disturb goes on. So my phone goes on the charger. And if we're not watching like a game or a show that I'm reading and it's so nice to unwind and like not get the constant like buzzing notifications. But sometimes it's hard. I mean, there's there's days where it's like or weeks where it all seems to build up at the same time where it's like there's so much going on all at once. I wake up really early. I wake up probably like five o 'clock in the morning for like when I teach. I get to school probably like 630 and I knock out a lot of like my teaching stuff.

1:01:53And it's a lot of like departmentalization where it's like after school ends, like during my school hours, I do everything that I need for teaching. Like I don't touch anything for NFL elementary. I don't touch. I mean, I mean, if I'm teaching anything with the content, yes. But like I don't touch anything on like my business side of things during the school day. So then after school hours, I'll give myself from like three to five or three to six, really, to like either edit a video, answer emails, chit chat with teachers in my curriculum, like guiding them through things. So it's a lot of departmentalization going on, but it's tough.

1:02:27I mean, there's even times where like, and I'm so grateful that I have my husband where he can put me in check and be like, okay, hello, relax. Remember we're on break, we're on vacation. We don't need to do this. And it's, I need it sometimes because I'm such a like, oh, oh, this popped up, like email popped up on my phone. I need to answer it right away. And it's like, no, no, no, no, you don't like take a breath. Yeah. And then what was the other part of that question? It was, how do you unwind? And then what? And then just work-life balance. There's not a lot of work-life balance. I mean, there is, but there's not.

1:02:59I mean, but the thing is, I feel like with the NFL elementary side of things, I really love what I'm doing. So it doesn't feel like I'm working, you know? So I think that's the hardest part is, is balance in a sense where I'm not always feeling like I'm on, where I can disconnect, hang with family, hang with friends. But so much of it, it's like, I love doing it, that it's like, it doesn't feel like work. Yeah. It's really the stuff from teaching, like the grading papers and the typical things that it's like, that I have to get done, that I don't want to get done. I don't know if I necessarily am a believer in work-life balance.

1:03:34I think that balance comes in seasons. And if you're building a business, which you are. There is no work-life balance. There is no work-life balance. I was in Hawaii for six days with my family. We recorded two episodes. I worked with our editor. I got social media stuff. I wrote an article like, and it's not a typical nine to five. Like, it's like, there are no times like when it when it comes, it comes. And that's what so many of the things that I do with like different brand deals that I'll have or different appearances or things that I'll get to attend. It's like we went on vacation for my birthday, but then we went to the Rams game and then they wanted to like do.

1:04:09So it's like there's so many different things where it's like it's wild. But yeah, work life balance is I think football season is my toughest season. And then once football season ends is when I'm able to really just, because I feel like at first when I started doing social media, I was like, I got to find a way to keep it up like all the time. And I was like, you know what? Like, no, I don't. Like who said that I needed to. So it's like, I put, I always want to be authentic. So it's, I don't want to just like pump out content for the sake of pumping out random things for people to watch and get views.

1:04:37Like if there's something that I want to say or share, I will. So it's like, it's usually when the NFL season ends, I'll still post different things I'm doing in my classroom are football related, but it's not as much, but that's okay. Right. And like, just cause football's not in season, like when I'm back in the classroom and when the season's rolling, that's when it's like, I've, I'm like editing videos for a long time when it's like, okay, these three things happen in class and I haven't edited one of these yet. Like I need to get, you know, so it's taking that. And I think social media is such a big thing where people, you know, a lot of people want to grow their platform, But also I also just like, I just want to be authentic with it.

1:05:13I don't want just and people are like, well, you should continue doing with NH elementary. It's like, no, like I don't like I like hockey, but not like that. Like and I don't want to do it just for the purpose of like posting on social media. You know, like anything that I do has to be with intent, not just because purpose for the sake of putting it on the whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. My last teacher question is what's the engagement like after the Super Bowl is over and how do you keep kids engaged in a similar way after the season ends? So the engagement is still there. I mean, I constantly reference the NFL after the season ends, but we and we still the greatest and the worst thing about third grade in Florida is that it's a retention year.

1:05:57So when the football season ends, it naturally picks up into our testing season where it's like the kids are tested weekly with something called portfolio. And then after that series of testing ends, it's like February, March, April, three months of it. And then May is when they take their big test of pass or fail. Like if you pass the test, you can move on to fourth grade. If you don't pass the test, you cannot move to fourth grade. So there's a lot of pressure on these kids. so it's such a natural ending of the football season because they're really gearing up for their season and I always take all the lessons that we learn from that NFL season of adversity or different moments that we've seen that are pushing through and they're now able to apply it to themselves but I still they still want to learn about it so I'm I always have my Adam Schefter notifications on so when like trade deadline starts like always like in the middle of math I'll look at my Apple watch and be like so-and-so just got traded to the blah blah and it's like, ah, like, you know, and I always do something for like the combine.

1:06:52So I do a mini combine for them. And we, they run a 40 yard dash. They, I have like my, the PE teacher helps me out. She does, she gives me little weights and they do like bench press. And then we set up like a shuttle run. And then we, they each list their scores and we have a spreadsheet and then they'll rank and like graph different scores, like graph them, organize them by least to grace, greatest, greatest, at least what's the average score that our class got for the four, for the 40 yard dash. So we'll do that. And then I do a big draft where they'll do a lot of research regarding the draft.

1:07:23They'll get to turn into general managers and they will. And I never like, so they'll draft for their team. So I'll stand up there and they'll get to draft for their team. And it's, I always do it based on what the first draft order is before any team trades away any picks. What, what, what the draft order is leading up into the draft, not like day of where it's like Carolina is straight at their fourth and fifth pick for whatever. And they'll get to draft players. But because a lot of them don't know college players, we turn into snacks. So like the quarterback will be our drink category or like the fast food restaurant, like franchise, the running backs will be your fruit.

1:07:59The wide receivers might be your candy. So like we do like over a period of a week, we'll take like 10 minutes a day to rank our favorite drinks, rank our favorite this, and then we'll make an order of like our highest draft pick of a drink or our highest rent, like fruit, whatever. So that's super fun and they love it. And then for the leftover teams, I usually let some of the kids that maybe only have like one draft pick if they're the Superbowl champion, they don't have a lot of first, second or third rounders. I'll let them take another, but yeah, we do the draft. And then there's so many that this is in the area where I get to expand on the NFL.

1:08:36So during the season is a lot of the same thing. They have their weekly report. They have their research report that they do. And it's a lot of tracking the team and the live stats from it. But in the off season is when I really get to take it to an enrichment level, is when I get to all have them look at a map. Okay, you're Roger Goodell and you're expanding the NFL by two teams. One team in the NFC, one team in the AFC. Let's look at the map of the NFL teams. Where would you put this team? What would the climate be of this? What kind of stadium would you have? And you have to look at the climate of the area of where would you want it?

1:09:07Maybe you want it in a state that doesn't have a team. Maybe you want a double action up in a, you know, so they get to take what they know and now expand on it, which is the best part. Like that's so fun is when they get to do all those sorts of things. Yeah. All of a sudden I want to go back to third grade now. I would love to do that. That sounds so much fun. I'd be like a whole like project on it and like go get like the poster board and like make my team. Yeah. I'm like the name of it. You get to make the team, the name, the logo. Yeah. And your jersey, like redesign. And like, there's so many little different activities you can do.

1:09:43Like, okay, this year they had the, what the, what were those additions called? The rivalry jerseys. Okay. Create your rivalry jersey. What would your rivalry jersey look like for your team? Right. And, and if you look at those videos that the teams put out, so all of the teams, like the reason for the jerseys, there was a meaning behind it. Like the Arizona Cardinals with like the sand speckles is because the desert, right? So having them do those different types of aspects of your team, like what, based on your climate, make sure there's one aspect of your jersey that represents the climate.

1:10:12Maybe it's the snow or the rain or the this. So that's such a cool, there's so many ways to expand on the end. I mean, I could talk for hours about this. I'm not going to, but I could. I love it. Those, you actually hit on my least favorite rivalry jersey. Those are terrible. They're horrible. I think the Niners one is tomorrow night. We get to see the Niners one in action tomorrow night. That's the black one, right? With the gold around the numbers. That one is so hot. I actually really like the Bills ones. The Frozen Tundra ones. I like those. Oh, those are really good. Those are so sleek. And I love, we talked about last week, I love when white jerseys on real grass.

1:10:51I feel like that's like peak, peak like male athlete. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Well, Giovanna, do you have any any final questions before we close it out? I don't be surprised when I show up to third grade next year and in your class. That's all I have to say. Well, tell everyone. So you've expanded NFL Elementary so that teachers every I'm like so convinced now I'm like, I need my friends to do NFL Elementary next year, because a lot of my friends since I've gotten into the NFL have like been asking more questions about it or have been tuning into games a little bit more.

1:11:30more, especially. You don't have to be an expert to do NFL elementary. Like if anything, it grows teachers fandom more because they're paying more attention because their kids draft it. So it's like, it's so cool. Yeah. And like anything to help my, like, like a lot of my teacher friends are burned out and they love being a teacher and they love the kids and they want to feel how they felt when they started teaching or like with a really good year. But you get, if you get a really, really challenging class sometimes it's hard to like keep it rolling the entire year and I feel like this is such a good way especially like the middle of the year like we're in December and this is going to go all the way through yeah like mid-February lead you up to testing so I'm like I want all my friends to to do it in some form so if you are a teacher it's great because it doesn't take up all the time like it's it ends in February so like then you have the freedom to do what else you want with it.

1:12:28Like you can have the creativity to expand in whatever, which way form works for your class. And that's the best part is like, and if elementary isn't like follow the script type of thing, like here's what I do. And I always tell it like, these are the things that I do, but you know, it's your classroom. Like you can take out some things. You can just do one portion of it. Maybe you don't want to go balls to the wall and go straight into it. Maybe you just want to track a team first, right? Like that's the great thing about it. You can adapt it to your classroom. It's not a one size fits all type of thing.

1:12:55Right. I love it. So tell people where to find you. Obviously, you have so much going on right now. You recently started doing YouTube live. So everyone checked into those. But people actually I was only going to do it in the break. But then people were like, no, we want more. And I was like, OK, I guess I'll come back to the more. I know, right? Want to be in your classroom. Yeah. Like they want to be there because I think. And I enjoy it. I think next season I'll start from the beginning. Like because there's some people who like love just interacting on an elementary school way and just want to like learn the game and a judge free zone where it's like fun to talk football and learn.

1:13:29People want like an easy watch and easy listen like that. There's like that TV show, like four seasons and people were like, what was the point? And it's like literally to like enjoy it, just like have something easy to watch. And so I feel like maybe that's what people want with this is like, I don't know enough, but I'd love to learn more. And I have this great girl who's like charismatic and energetic and fun and easy to watch. yeah you gotta teach me what I know I get so many messages that are like about how I've taught people the game of football through my posts and like how I've it's it's been so cool and I was like really wow because me teaching my kids is the level that so many people need it and like so many girls are like I never like you explained it better than my husband could for 30 years and I was like well there you go yeah helping husbands everywhere they need a lot of help they do okay so where can everyone find you um and i think it's mary's bananas across the board except youtube is at nf elementary and then the website for the curriculum is class class one two three dot com i currently have it as sold out because i'm gonna i'm adding more to it and then i'm gonna re put it make it available to people again in may so once like once teachers are like ready to close out the school like i don't want to stress anybody out with it now like no no we'll wait to the end of the school year and then we can revamp for the new school year i love it well thank you so much for being here it's such a joy to thank you i can't wait for everyone to hear this i know so many people are going to be so excited to hear you oh my gosh so i hope i didn't ramble too much no thank you for having me thank you and any anytime i'd love to come back anytime you guys need a guest anytime you guys want to chat ball i'm your girl

1:15:19you a baddie baby you gotta own it on a style in your grace