Calvin Johnson: NFL Legend

22:31And, I mean, I think that's the big credit to, you know, one of them just being consistently there, you know, whether it was too much or overbearing, but just the fact that they're consistently there. My dad always played the other role. He was just cool, calm, collected, you know, and, you know, just seeing him same demeanor all the time, you know, whatever, whatever with whatever's going on, you know, those two totally different personalities. but we're able to see the work they put in for everything that they got, and that's why we are the way we are. And they balance each other well. That's exactly it.

22:59You mentioned everything your mom touches turning into gold. I understand it's follow-through that she has that's really helpful, right? Strong follow-through. She might do something, but she's going to go back and make sure it's right and stays tight. What do you think you most learned from your mom and dad? With my mom, you know, just having vision and goals, you know, and just seeing those things, you know, if you put your mind to it, you work towards it, you know, everything, nothing's out of reach. You know, with my dad, I think, like I say, for him, it's just my demeanor. You know, I always try to keep cool, calm, collected, you know, and I mean, not that I am all the time, but with what I've seen him go through and the way he, you know, continues to maintain himself.

23:43How so? just from what he had to deal with, going to work day in, day out. He's on call when he's on the railroad, so we'll be in the middle of the day. It always seems to happen whenever we're having fun. So whatever, no rhyme or reason to what time he gets called, he's got to go. He's out the house in 30, 45 minutes on the work, and he might be going for a day, he might be going for 12 hours. It just depends on the call. But he come back home, he get home, first thing he does, food on the table, whether it's morning, afternoon, evening, getting food ready. Then he'd go take a nap or whatever and catch up on his rest.

24:17But he didn't let the fact that he was ever tired or stressed out from work or whatnot affect what happened at home. In what ways was your mom strict? We wanted to do something. We knew not to ask mom because we were probably going to get to know. We always ask dad. And then he would be like, well, go ask your mom. We just didn't bother asking. But with her, like I say, whether it was school, she was disciplinary. Both of them preach that do it to the best of your ability or you won't know how good you can be. And the worst punishment was not being able to leave the yard, right? Yeah, when you get in trouble and like you can go outside, but you can't leave the backyard.

24:51Then you see everybody in the cul-de-sac playing kickball, baseball, whatever, football in the street, you know, just, yeah, that was the worst happening to stay in the backyard. So you're playing for the Lions. It's a snowy game against the Eagles. She's in the airport, I believe, going home. Yep. and she slips and falls, take it from there. We played up there in Philadelphia. She slips on some ice going into the airport, and I fell and hit her back. In the process of getting checked out, they noticed some abnormalities and found out she had pancreatic cancer during the process. And fortunately, you know, you hear pancreatic cancer, it's like death sentence.

25:28Fortunately, she found it, I guess, as early as you can. And when the John Hopkins, Dr. McCary, did a little Whipple operation on her, and, you know, that happened like five, six years, seven years ago now. Why was it important to you to bring it up in the speech? Because, I mean, we heard she had it. We didn't know what stage exactly. We kind of heard it was early. It hadn't really metastasized yet, but every time you hear that, it's like, yeah, and then you find out later that, you know, it's done something already. But, you know, just to see her faith in action, man, she just, you know, all she was just in her prayer closet all day, every day.

26:02You know, she was in the hospital. She was always in good spirits. always speaking positively, wouldn't let anybody come in there speaking any or bringing any bad energy or anything like that. So she did a great job of just controlling her, her whole attitude and the effort that she put into her recovery. And taking that spill that fall was about the best thing that could have ever happened to her. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the issue with pancreatic cancer is you just don't find it until it's too late. It's too late, yeah. What was your reaction when you initially found out? It just, you know, everything just drops.

26:37You know, it's just, oof. It's like that's the one. I mean, you might not know much about cancer, but if you know anything about cancer, you know, like, pancreatic is not the one you want to get. So we found out it was a blow. You know, I mean, sure, we had, my dad had a quadruple bypass, like, when I first got into the league. So it can easily be without both my parents right now. So, you know, just a straight blessing. What was the hardest part about her process of going through that? Just seeing her, you know, she wasn't really, let's say, deteriorating, but she was losing weight, you know, and just seeing her looking real frail.

27:10You know, that was a scary time. Whether the mom or the dad, your kind of takeaways from going through those experiences? Just enjoy the time that you have and spend as much time as you have with them. You know, right now the business keeps me up here, but, you know, my oldest son is down there, so I get back down to Georgia to see them and the family. But, you know, it would be nice to be living down there and enjoy, like, all the time I have left with them. Baseball. Yeah. So first, what's the deal with you and powdered mashed potatoes? That's a college thing, man. We ain't got no money, man.

27:44Man, we was in college, and that's my go-to. Don't athletes on scholarship, can't they eat for free in the cafeteria? We can, but it's like certain times, too, though. I mean, I had a heavy potato diet, like, from high school to college. High school, you wouldn't believe it, but all I ate was French fries every day. Really? Every day in high school, like, we had, like, you can buy a regular lunch. You know, you buy, like, burger and fries. I had, like,$2 to spend on lunch or$3 to spend on lunch every day, so I bought French fries and a drink, you know? So that was good. But, you know, and then I got to college.

28:19You know, I've always been a fiend for French fries or potatoes. and, yeah, powdered potatoes, man. I don't know what got me on them, but it was just easy. Go get some powder and I could eat it and I'm good. I don't know why, but I loved them. Better diet today? Oh, yeah, much better diet today. Yeah, oh, yeah. I actually make my own potatoes from scratch now. There you go. But, I mean, otherwise, like, I can't imagine you'd be in the shape you are today even if you are still working it aggressively, right? No, yeah, I mean, I just try to eat right, man. That's the biggest thing, you know. Just eat a good diet, you know.

28:54I mean, I don't exercise probably as much as I should do, but I think that eating a good diet keeps me in pretty decent shape. So what was it about the Fairburn Flames jersey? Back in the day, I played baseball at Duncan Park, and that's where actually Eric Berry, he played with the Fairburn Flames. And every time we're leaving baseball, you know, from T-ball all the way up to like, you know, I was in middle school, I always wanted to play football just because it was so cool. They had the orange flame on the helmet with the blue helmets, and almost like a little Bronco-like jersey, kind of, you know, and I just loved it.

29:25Blue was my color. You know, it was blue and orange. It was more so just because they looked so cool that I wanted to play. I mean, that was it, right? That's why I wanted to play because the uniforms look so cool. And you could have gone pro in baseball. What was the offer that you got, and why did you ultimately turn it down? I know we got one from the Dodgers offer letter. I don't know why I thought it was Cincinnati, but it might be. I don't know. I was playing baseball all growing up. High school, I started to get pretty good at it. I was hitting really well. Obviously, I was covering out center field like no other, but baseball got boring because when I started playing football in seventh grade, I was running back, cornerback.

30:01I got to high school, I hit my growth spurt, and they moved me over to receiver. And kind of got good towards the end of that second year, third year, turned it up, and senior year just kept going. But it got to the point where I was like, man, I want to go to college. And mainly the reason I wanted to go to college was because while I was a senior or a junior or whatever, my sister was in college, and my mom would send me up to her at Clark Atlanta, and she would do a little, like, tutoring. If there was some course I might need some help on, she would just help me out or whatever. And then I got to just chill out downtown and see the college life.

30:31I was like, man, I got to be a part of this. And then not only was football taking the precedent, baseball was falling behind, but college life I was thinking about too. So I was like, yeah, I'm going to school. So regardless of whatever the economics of the offer were, you knew. Yeah. And not to mention your mom probably wouldn't have let you go anyways. I'm not so sure. I don't even know. She probably wouldn't have been favored. She probably would want me to go to school for sure. And then before that, I had a couple guys that played before me at school that actually went off into the farm leagues and kind of see how people get lost sometimes in it.

31:04Oh, really? Yeah. So that was something you were aware of even then? I was thinking about that, too. Yeah. So tell about being 12 years old and the class assignment where you wrote about your future. You know, I didn't even know about this until I went home recently and she showed me this letter that I wrote. And it was like, whoa, literally spoken to life. I sat there and read the letter talking about, you know, I want to be a professional athlete and do things that are able to, you know, help people's quality of life and stuff like that. And I'm like, wow, that's exactly what we're doing right now.

31:34Was there something that you said in the letter that kind of most stood out to you? I think, I mean, yeah, being a professional athlete, yeah, I always wanted to do that. But to be able to talk about, you know, how we're going to come out here and try to change people's lives and create a better quality of life for people, and that's kind of exactly what we're doing right now, you know, and continuing to build, yeah. And your mom had initially resisted you playing football, but it was something about that letter that opened her up to the possibility, right? I don't even remember what it was, but, yeah, she didn't want me to play football.

32:06And I think mainly because I was little, she said I couldn't play until I got to seventh grade. And, you know, from when I was, you know, shoot, however young I was, it felt like that took forever just to get to seventh grade because I wanted to play football so bad. And then the first day playing football, I wanted to quit. Because everybody's hitting you? Well, yeah, because we had a stupid hitting drill. Like, I'm running down the sideline, and then there's like a D lineman coming down at an angle, crashing me like on this tackle drill on the sideline. I'm like, they don't do that. They don't do this.

32:33And you also had offensive line cleats. Oh, man, my mom had me out there looking nasty, just nasty. Just had me in one of the Rydells, like, molded Rydell boots. It was ugly. Oh, and so tell about the Butterfinger dubbing. My 10th grade year, I got moved up to varsity. I was trash my first two years. They called me Butterfinger, so I couldn't catch a coat. And they put me in a game, and I remember I, like, dropped a couple balls, just hit me right in the hand. I remember, like, yesterday, I could see it. It just hit me right in the hand. Still did the stay. I'm like, man, I still remember it. And I remember it was a big letdown.

33:09I think we lost that game. If I would have caught those balls, we would have easily won the game because there would have been big plays and stuff like that. And it was just like, man, all of a sudden I just got the butterfingers. It was a joke, and then it just kept on, butterfinger, butterfinger. I'm like, man, y 'all ain't going to come caught with butterfingers. So what did, when you dropped those passes, what did teammates say to you? I don't remember what they said at the time. I just remember the after effect, you know, of what it felt like to lose those games. And then, you know, sometime later, it was a joke, but Butterfingers, and then everybody started calling me Butterfingers, Butterfingers, Butterfingers, until I started making some plays the next year.

33:49And it was a joke, but it really wasn't. It was a joke, but it wasn't. Yeah, right. How did you feel at the time? You know, it cut. It cut. Like legitimately? No, yeah, it cut for sure. You know, I was like, man, I'm out here, you know, embarrassing myself. I'm like, that joint can't do that, you know. But the only way to get rid of it is to work it out, you know. And so I put that chain, that little rubber football and that bungee cord on that chain-link fence. You just went to throwing that ball. Like what you do, you throw it away from, and the rubber, the bungee cord brings it back twice as fast as you throw it out.

34:18So I think that just really just helped with reaction really more than anything. Do you think going through that experience where you were dropping the passes and people were giving you a hard time helped ultimately in you having success? 100 % because all those times it's just like you get used to people. Not used to it, but you understand that people are going to be mean. People are going to say stuff, but it doesn't affect what you're doing. It doesn't affect how you keep on living. It doesn't affect what tomorrow's going to bring. because it might be a totally different day. It just depends on how you approach it, what your mental is like.

34:53And you mentioned throwing the football into the chain link fence. If you could, just explain the work ethic that's responsible for the success that you achieved. Yeah, man. It's just I saw my dad, you know, grinding day in, day out. So I'm a mom. I go from, you know, flight attendant to school teacher to school administrator to now having her minister's license. So it's like anything you want to do, you can do it. If you put your mind to it, work it until I'm not dropping that no more. And that's why I said put that chain on that fence. All I did was go out there and just throw it away, catch it, throw it away, catch it.

35:29And then just try to work those hands, just work on the quickness. It's just whatever I see, you just got to be real with yourself, too. Whatever you see you need to work on, you got to attack it. You know, you can't go at it passively. And even if the drills and what you were doing changed over time, to what extent did the time investment and the commitment only grow as you wanted to have more success? It only grew because you've become that much more, for me, I became that much more paranoid about if I'm not preparing at least at the same level or better than I did last time, I'm going to fall short.

36:02I'm falling behind. Really? Paranoid is concerned somebody else will pass you up? Not even concerned somebody else will pass me up, but maybe I didn't put in enough attention to detail on maybe how I'm coming out of this route or putting enough attention to detail on how this guy's going to be playing on film. What about sacrifices that forces you to make in kind of pursuing your professional dreams? It would have been hard for me to have a family during that time, because I don't know how I could have, you know, put all the love into the game and then put all the love into a family at home and still be able to, you know, take care of my body, get in my hyperbaric chamber, you know, get all my body work done and then come home with a wife and like, hey, while she's putting the kids down to bed.

36:46So every day, so it's just using my game ready, my compression, just thinking about all the things I did on a daily basis. I wouldn't have had time for family. You have to be selfish if you want to. You have to be selfish with your time. I mean, 100%, you've got to be selfish with your time. Even if you do have family, you're going to have to be selfish with your time. Your wife is going to have, I mean, like coaches' wives that are in good marriage, they're some real OGs because, and you've got family and kids, because the wife is holding down the household. Right, and probably in— Coaches at work from 6 a.m.

37:15to 9 p.m., you know what I'm saying? So that's like a daily thing. And probably impossible to have success at everything, or at least all at the same time. I mean, you see Tom Brady do it, but it's not even like— So there are times that you would catch the ball playing and actually not really have any idea how it got to you or that you actually caught it. Explain that. I think it's just, it starts with muscle memory. I think it's just, one, you just do things so many times that you can almost just like do it in your sleep. So there'll be times where I go up and make a play, you know, or catch a ball, and I just don't even remember it happening because it's just, I don't know if it's just I'm so used to doing it.

37:57You know, almost like when you're driving. If I'm driving south here going like to the airport, I'll almost accidentally get off at the facility. I don't do it anymore, but I almost accidentally get off at the facility just because I've done it so many times. So it's just the same thing, you know. I'll be running the slant route, and I can do it in my sleep. Matthew, he puts it on me in the same spot sometimes, just depending on how it's going. Don't even remember. I just remember after playing, oh, how did that happen? So your longtime quarterback, Matt Stafford, who we talked to the other night at your party, spoke about how when you first, the two of you, started playing together, you guys were not on the same page.

38:31Not at all. What led to you guys syncing up? Yeah, I mean, time led us syncing up, time, communication, and just me getting to understand, like, okay, Matthew just always throws a fastball. Okay, get ready. As simple as that. Okay, but when was it at its worst? After he came back from injury. He got injured early, and then when he came back, you know, Sean Hill had all this touch. You know, all we had, I played with, like, five different quarterbacks, you know, and then, you know, you're used to seeing that change up, change up, change up, and then he'd come with that fastball all the time and he'd get back ready.

39:00I remember at the time, you know, I was mad because I was like, dude, like, effing my fingers up. But, like I said, I just got used to it. Like I said, one, for me right now, it's more of appreciation. I'm like, man, anybody got to play with that kid. Like, if you're catching that ball with your hands, I call you, you're a receiver now. What do you think of him no longer playing for the Lions? Good for him. He got to get away and go somewhere where he really wanted to be, I think. You know, he spent a lot of time in California. I honestly thought he might end up in Texas. That's where he's from.

39:27I'm sure he wouldn't mind going there. But once Dak Prescott showed that he was going to be healthy, I was like, oh, yeah, that's not happening. But, you know, being in Cali, he spent a lot of time there in the offseason. I think he's very comfortable. What did it mean for you to have him at your ceremony? Oh, it's huge. You know, I appreciate him coming. I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to make it because I knew he was going to be in training camp. Right. But I think, I mean, Sean McVeigh is a cool coach. I mean, I met Sean, so he's a cool guy. And I think that just the fact that we have a good relationship, me more so with Matt, you know, that he allowed him to come out.

39:56So the Hall of Fame. Take me through everything that you can remember from finding out you were being inducted, starting with the doorknock. That day at the door knock, obviously my wife knew that day and then the day before, so she did a hell of a job. She's never good. I could tell when she's like holding something, so she did a good job there. The way she played it off is she said we had a family call. And it wasn't out of the ordinary because it's corona. You know, we would do a call, like a monthly call. Just check up, everybody on FaceTime, yada, yada, yada. And she's like, I think my friend Mel's coming over, so I hear a knock, knock, knock.

40:26I look at the door. I'm like, Mel? Like, mail is like, freaking mail ain't nothing but like five, five, if that, you know. I see there's like a bear at the door. I'm like, what the hell? So I started walking to where my pistol's at. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. I was going to get my pistol. I don't answer the door at night without my pistol. That's crazy. We're in Michigan. I'm going to get my pistol. My wife is like, you're good? You do not need your pistol. Once she said that, I'm like, what you mean I'm good? What you mean? And like, it's nighttime. Did you see this person at the door? And she's like, you're good?

40:58I'm like, okay, something's up. And then it starts to like, holy moly, this ain't right. This ain't real. I didn't think, I was honestly, I was like, man, I don't even know if it's going to happen. And then she's like going up to the door. And as I'm walking through the door, I'm like, oh, it's starting to sink in. I'm like, oh, and I opened up the door. I was just at a loss. Lost words at that point. What were you thinking? I'm like, it actually happened. I'm like, it's a dream. Till the next day. I was like, you know, I was literally pinching myself. I'm like, this real? Like, it's real. Yeah, because even now, talking about it, you can tell it.

41:31Even now, it's starting to sink in. I got the jacket and all, but I think that it'll all come home when I get to go to the game and get the ring in front of the fans. I think that'll be a real emotional time. Are you aware enough of what's going on in that moment where you actually can remember it? I remember every moment of it. I remember every moment of it from David. I might not remember every word, but from David at the door telling me, You know, congratulations. You're one of however many that have ever played. He's an encyclopedia of football. You're one of one small number of however many hundred thousands of guys or thousands of guys have come to the NFL and the hundreds or millions have ever played the game.

42:14I'm just like, man, stop. You're really making a lot of really heavy on me right now. So, yeah, it was an interior starting to pour. And David Baker being the Hall of Fame head, the experience from this past week that most sticks out to you would be what? Just the guys embracing me, you know, all the gold jackets embracing me there. That was probably the most comforting thing. You know, you never know how that's going to go, how that's going to be. You know, you got all these guys, all these, you know, alphas in one room and stuff like that, but they were nothing but gracious, you know, shared like from Marshall to Bruce Smith to Charles Haley to, you know, Irvin Carter.

42:58Man, just being able to just have those conversations with those guys that you looked up to, Harold Carmichael, like the first big wide receiver, you know what I'm saying? You can't put those conversations in the word or what they mean. You know, it's hard to, you know, it's just, it's just, like I say, It's just his greatest honor, you know, just to be able to have those conversations, you know, that nobody else can have and nobody else know about, you know, the things that happen in the locker room, you know. Is there a single favorite part from the past week? Man, the funniest thing to me that happened when I was talking to Jimmy Johnson, there's a lot of funny things that happened.

43:32Jimmy Johnson was telling me about a time his Cowboys went out to play the Redskins or the Washington football team now on the East Coast. I think he said they're already in the playoffs. This might have been one of the last games of the season and they laid an egg out there. He said he went back into the plane. He'd always go back there whether win or lose and talk to the team or whatever. He said he was talking to his team, or he went back to check on the team after the loss, and they were right there having a good time, playing cards, yada, yada, yada. He said he saw the stewardess pulling out the food tray.

44:00He's like, nah, they're not eating on this flight. He told her to put the food up, and they just flew home without eating. I'm just sitting there thinking, like, that's the worst thing you could do to the team, like not give them food after. because he just played four hours running around, and you're looking forward to getting something to eat and drink. Oh, man, he made him sit up the plane without eating. I was like, he was mad. They pissed him off that game. Retirement. Tell about the conversation with your dad that ended up leading to you playing in ninth season. I remember sitting there with my arm on the couch looking out the window, and I was like, man, dad, I don't think I can do it anymore.

44:33My body is hurting. It's not fun. All I do is run. You know, the joints are beating knees and ankles. They never stop swelling up. You know, it's been rough to get out there on the field and play. And he was just like, I don't think I'm done. He was just like, you know what? I can tell him he didn't believe me at the time, but he's like, man. But he took it in, and he was like, well, you think you can do it again? And I sat there, and I was sitting there thinking about it. I looked out the window. I looked up. And before I could say anything, he was like, well, you thought about it, so you can do it one more time.

45:07And I was like, all right, you're right. Like, do it one more time, and there was too many things. There was about three, four games in that last season where I just didn't want to be out there. Body hurt so bad. Even though I'll take the tour doll. Like, I remember playing St. Louis my last season. I had, like, one catch that game. And I was just, I feel like I was just running insane the whole game. You know, I just couldn't push out my ankles because they're swollen. It's swollen. So you just didn't have the range of motion. So it was just not fun because I just, like I said, I didn't have the juice.

45:35That's what I got caught. I didn't have the juice. And I always told myself at the beginning, like, I would like to play 10 years, have 10 ,000 yards, you know, average 1 ,000 yards a season and just leave an impact on the game. But I did tell myself, like, once I feel like I'm not the same, putting out that same product, I'm done. I'm going to hang them up. And it was that time. And what was the different feeling the last season? Just going into the game, you know, not feeling confident because half the season I didn't practice. And for me, I told you earlier, like, preparation, you know, that's when I'm at my most confidence.

46:03I feel a little paranoid when I don't get all the preparation that I need. I feel like I'm missing something. And every week all we'd be doing while the team was practicing, I'd be inside maybe running in the water, treadmill, just trying to keep my wind up or biking all week. And just maybe I'd go out there at the end of practice and just watch. Yeah, I knew what to do. But for me, just having those live reps, you know, that meant a lot for me and not being able to do that with the team. You know, me personally, I hated seeing guys like that didn't practice all year. You know, and I hear guys coming from other teams, they come here like, like, dude, like, why do you run so much?

46:35Why do y 'all do it like this? I'm like, dude, that's all we know. We in Detroit. We're trying to get it. We've been forever trying to get it. So we got to work hard. We got to bust our ass. But you come from other teams, like, dude, we don't run our stars like that. Larry don't run like that. That guy doesn't run like that. It's like, hey, that's all we know. What, if at all, about how Barry Sanders retired influenced you? It didn't. But it's funny. Come to find out, it might have been some of the same reasons. You know, for me, like I said, my body was shook. My body was done. But at the same time, I feel like the team, they weren't retaining some of the top talent that we had.

47:11So I saw it as a time to rebuild. And I'm like, I'm not here to rebuild. We're going to win. We have to win now or we're not going to win at all. And I felt like, you know, we had those guys on the team. When you had those guys on your team, those studs, you got to fill it up, get it in there. When you get a chance, even when you're sniffing the playoffs and you feel like you can get there maybe on a couple of years, you got to fill that team up and get the team in there. If you want a chance to win that Super Bowl, You know, I feel like that was our challenge. You know, we had staff, we had Sue.

47:36We had an offense that was putting out 5 ,000 yards a year. We had one of the, we had a top defense. You know, we had some mean defense alignment in there. You know, we just added a couple more pieces in the back end there. You know, we had some decent, but, you know, we got a team there. But we got rid of like three guys on that defense in line after that year of maybe that last time we went to the playoffs. Why? Why did you get rid of them? Yeah. Why do you think that is? I don't know if it's personality or money. But I know the team personnel, we're good on the team. Might have been personalities upstairs that get clashed with some of the guys on the team.

48:08But forget y 'all. Y 'all down on the field. If we good down here, that's all that matters, you know. Was that the feeling among the teammates that were still around? Well, the ones that, I mean, the teammates that were still around, I think, I mean, it's easy for anybody to see. I mean, you get rid of three of your top four defensive linemen, and you get rid of Suik along with one of those guys, you know. You're in a rebuilding mid-year. You're not planning on going to the playoffs because the D-line, they're half the reason why you get there because they're the ones that get on the quarterback, that force some air throws to come out so the secondary can get in on the action and get some picks and get the offense back on the field.

48:47If you don't have that, then you're just getting run up and down the field, and that's what happens. They just run the ball on us. Why did your first year away, you were retired, why did you want nothing to do with the game? I didn't. I was done with football. I was just like, I've been around it all my whole life, you know, or at least until this point, and I'm done with it. I just didn't have anything for the game. Maybe it was part of the way I was treated when I left for the Lions, too. But it wasn't long. It didn't take me. The next, the following year, I started watching a little bit more.

49:19The year after that, I was watching about every game. I was like, man, I'm like, there's not too many more guys that I actually grew up playing with that are still playing. So I want to be able to watch some of these guys play. That was part of it. I'm like, let me check these. Let me tune in to Matt. Let me see Matt play. Let me see. So I still watched the Lions play. I was still a fan of Matthew and the guys that were still on the team, for sure, Slay and all those guys. So the injuries that you alluded to, take me to a morning that you would wake up while you were still playing. I mean, every morning, especially the last couple of years, I can't even walk.

49:53I get up in the morning and I literally slide across the floor, like shuffle, because I don't have any bend in my ankles, because you wake up, everything's just super stiff. And it takes a little while. Literally every morning I get up, I shuffle across the floor, and I'll be out the house. I'll wake up. I'll probably be out the house in like 10 minutes. And I go to work. I'll get to the facility and do ankle work. Steve, sure, he was my PT, and he would just work the ankles out and try to free them up and move all the fluid around in there and then tape them up so I can move around. And that was a daily basis.

50:26Name all the injuries that you can recall sustaining during your career. You know, broken fingers, ankle sprains, ligaments in the knees. Not full tears, just partial tears. I fortunately never had a full tear since college. But I think the ankles and knees, you know, the scopes, getting the knee drained before games, all that stuff took tolls. Let's see that finger, by the way. Which one? Yeah, that one. Yeah, of course, that one. So this one was stuck. So this one was stuck like this for the whole, like, 11th season. So I played the whole 11th season, like, catching balls like this. And then I was like, man, I cannot keep playing like this because sometimes a ball would hit that finger, like, you know, and it would hurt like a mother.

51:09Especially when Stafford's throwing. That's what I'm saying. He's all over the door to me. So I think every time it would, like, straighten it out when it wasn't able to straighten out. And it would hurt so bad. So I was just like, okay, let me tape them together. So that kind of helped out a little bit. And then I finally was like, let me go get this operation. The trainer at the time told me I should wait until I was done playing to get the operation. I'm like, dude, do you see my freaking finger? I can't even put my hand in my pocket right now. Yeah. So when he got to operations, Dr. John Hopkins up in New York.

51:37He got a special hand surgery place right up there in New York City. He went up there. He told me it would never be straight again, but I'll at least be able to function, use it, and put my hand in my pocket. So this is as straight as it is ever going to get. I could, you know, straighten it up a little bit, but that's as straight as it's going to get. It doesn't really, you know, it hurts, you know, when I'm gripping stuff, you know, or if I'm playing golf for a while, but that's what them topicals are for, you know. And what was the first year injury you alluded to in your Hall of Fame speech with the back?

52:06Yes, yes. See, nobody knows about that, except for the people that are actually there, you know. It's so fun. So, we're playing the Eagles, it's probably the first half of the season, early in the season, playing the Eagles, and I had safety in the corner on me. I go up, they're literally, I'm in the middle of them. I go up, and they're up under me, so I'm thinking I'm going to call them, fall them, but I go down to the, they split, and I literally fall on the small of my back. I hit the ground, and I lay in there, and I'm literally like, I can't feel my legs. So I immediately start to tear up, and I'm like, oh, s***, I can't feel anything.

52:37And it took a little second, and Jonathan McNapp come over, he's like, come on, little fella, get up. And my coach was like, come on, we're going to walk off this field. And I get up, he helped me up, and I end up hobbling over to the sideline. It took a while, I'm not sure how long the ordeal took, but it took me a while to be able to get up and walk off the field. I had to walk off under help, but he's like, we're going to walk off this field. I was trying, Jay. He's like, we ain't going to show no weakness. I was like, damn, I can't feel my legs, man. And it started to come back. It was really tingly.

53:05And I get off to the side, and they bring the cart over, riding off the field. This is why I hate Philadelphia fans, man. I was getting a cart off the field, and they were throwing shit and booing. I was like, y 'all motherfuckers just don't even know. I can't even feel my legs. Like, y 'all some ass shit. But, you know, that's just Philly fans, you know, for it. But that's the instant, and it took a while for me to actually be able to run. I couldn't run. I literally couldn't run for, like, a whole, like, week or two. Like, and the coaches, they were pushing me, and I'm like, dude, y 'all just don't, nobody really understood because you can't see it.

53:33They see me. I look good, you know, but they don't see what's happening on the inside. And I literally, I was hooked up to machines, like, by chiropractors that would, like, pull my lower body and hold my upper body and pull up and pull it. I'm like, it was terrifying. I'm like, I hope this thing don't mess up. But, you know, stuff like that because I had discs, like, bulging and stuff like that, and it was just sharp pains. And that's what the medicine was, the tortles and that stuff. They took off that dole and allowed you to play. But that whole first year, even through the end of the year, it took me a long time to get that back right.

54:03And even now, if I'm not constantly doing back exercises, I'll wake up and it literally feels like I don't have a back. Do you remember what those two weeks were like when you couldn't run? It was hell because I had coaches that wanted me to play, that wanted me to get back on the field. I got doctors that are not saying that they can't tell me what's wrong. Yeah. But I know that I can't. If I try to run, it's just like I'm getting stabbed in the back. How about issues with your body today? Today I'm good. I mean, so if I do a camp for my guys and I'm out there doing the drills, I feel like I just play the full game.

54:34I'll just be out there like, hey, this is the three steps I want. Or, you know, this is how you do it. I'll just do a display on each one of the drills I do with the guys. And I swear to God, like, by that evening, my ankles are swollen. The next day I wake up in the morning, I'm shuffling across the ground again because I feel like I just played. And even if you ride a bicycle with the ankles, right? Yeah, I feel my ankles will swell up. Anytime I'm doing anything with any kind of impact, even if I snowboard a lot. But fortunately, my snowboard boots, they keep it compressed. But I still start to swell up after I take off the compression.

55:02And what about the rib? I got a rib that, I don't know, I remember this happening in practice, man. I got hit one time, and my rib just sticks out all the time now. And it's just, yeah, it's easy. I don't have any cartilage. That's what it is. I don't have cartilage on it. I ripped the carlet so they'll get like this and all of a sudden sometimes I do something weird, I play too much golf, they'll stack up like this. And I get to see my chiropractor and he'll tighten me up. And a knee? Huh? You have a knee issue? Knees are good. Knees are good now. I might feel a little pain or swell up, but I don't have any issues with there.

55:35I used to get those things drained before every game. But fortunately I don't have too many issues there. Describe the feeling when you get a concussion. You might blank out, you might see stars, you have headache. I never got to the point where I've grown up, but I've seen people get to the point where they've thrown up. You can't sleep. Just headaches, migraines. I think that's the main thing that I have, just migraines. But other than that, I don't feel like I've had too many side effects from them. Hopefully, I haven't. What do you mean when you see stars? What's that actually? It's literally like blinking lights.

56:10You're like right here, but you've got blinking lights. How many, like, do you think you've had? I mean, shoot, it's hard to tell, man. That's the thing. A concussion can be as so little as, you know, just a bump, but as long as your brain touched that skull, that is a concussion. Right. I mean, you get a concussion just from driving in the car and getting a little minor fender bender. So think about how many times we hit head to head or that head hits the ground. You can't really call how many times, how many little or major concussions you have. And did I hear you say somewhere you think upwards of 10?

56:43Yeah, easily. I mean, you're going to get a concussion every year if you play football. And how many of those do you as a player actually report? I remember there was a discrepancy one time where I said I did and the Lions said I did, and it was just like, okay, you're going to tell me. But, you know, they're just trying to protect their butts. You say you have a concussion, and then you have to go back and say you misspoke. There's a game that we played the Vikings, and I was going up over the middle. Matt threw it up. It was up, and it touched my hand, so I probably should have caught it. But I felt the linebacker right up front of me.

57:14I literally came down, chin on his hip, and got us the cheerless. He always, like, when I got tackled, he was always there. He was my dog. I got up too fast, and I went right back down, and he caught me. And I'm not sure if that was the same time when that happened, but, I mean, like, you could look at the film and see what happened. That's a concussion. What was the conversation that took place with the team where they needed to change your sleep? They're like, yeah, this came out, but we don't have it written up. We didn't report it. I think this is the thing. They didn't report it, you know, whatever.

57:44So, you know, they just, you know, cover your butt. Should doctors that diagnose concussions in the NFL work for the team you're playing for? No, no. No, conflict of interest. They're going to do what the team wants. All of them are. They're going to do what the team wants. The team wants you on the field. They're going to push you to get back on the field. You know, not to say that there's not no doctors that take your best interest. I'm not saying that all of our doctors on the Lions didn't do that, but, I mean, there's a conflict of interest there, clearly. Why do you think that hasn't been changed when it's so obvious?

58:15I mean, unless the NFL is going to go out there and pay for all the doctors. I mean, still, if it's the NFL doing it, then still slightly a conflict. So I don't know how you get around that. I don't know how, and they're not going to let anybody just end. Concerns for lasting damage? You know, all you do is just pray for the best. Just live life to the fullest. and say, why are you here? And like I said, we're just trying to find solutions that will help us out. Right. I mean, but you have to have thought about it before. Oh, yeah, of course. I mean, when the concussion movie came out, everybody was thinking about it.

58:42I mean, people still think about it to today. I mean, a lot of rules, we've seen a lot of rules change recently because of that. I mean, when I was playing, it was okay to do the crack back. I mean, it changed later in my career. It was okay to, you know, because we celebrated. We celebrated that stuff. It was a part on ESPN. Like, I forget what it was called. Like, when you knock somebody out, you know, I forget there's a part, So, you know, it's not celebrated no more, but I mean, it's football. You're going to have concussions. You're going to have injuries. You alluded to this a bit ago when we were talking about retirement and Barry Sanders.

59:13You've, I mean, pretty publicly said you didn't feel like you were treated the way you should have been on the way out. How so? You know, for me, you know, I felt like I did a lot for the city. You know, honestly, I mean, talking about dollars and cents, I mean, I played half my contract, and I earned half the money on the contract. So why are you coming after me? But what really made me feel that way was like, dang, when you see Romo come out, you see Andrew Luck come out, you see how their owners take care of them. I had to honor meeting Jim Ursa, and I see why he did that because he's in touch with his players.

59:43I talked to Edren this weekend when he got drafted with the 2020 class. I see why he didn't come after Luck because he loves his guys. He spends time with his players. I asked him, like, was he always around you guys? I'm like, dude, he's like a friend. You know, I'm like, who says that about their owner in the NFL? I mean, you see Jerry Jones around, but you don't think you hear the guys maybe say he's a friend. You can appreciate the fact that he's around and has his eye on everything. You know, when we're playing with the Lions, I mean, you see him out of practice. But, I mean, I don't think that was an everyday thing, you know, when I was playing.

1:00:15And how do you think that different dynamic ultimately ended up impacting the end result? Well, that affected us because they just see us as we're just pawns out there. We're just numbers. You know, they don't see the personalities. They don't see the people. I'm just not getting to learn the ownership. I never really spoke to him when I played. I actually spoke to Bill, a young man for it, because he's not really part of the team as much anymore. It seemed like all his sisters and the mother took over. But, I mean, he would be in the training room when I would be in the training room all the time.

1:00:42You know, he'd be out there working out. So I had to have good conversations with him. But after he was gone, I mean, they weren't really around the team. How did the team respond either privately or publicly when you first kind of addressed your misgivings? I don't even remember how the team actually responded. I mean, I spoke to ownership, you know, that day when I told the team that I was done. So, you know, they were just like, you know, thank you. We appreciate, you know, all that kind of stuff. And what do you make of their efforts to resolve it? Not really any effort. No? I mean, they sent us some stuff, but there hasn't been really any effort to resolve it.

1:01:20Do you think it's likely that there will be positive resolution? That would be nice. You know, I'm not going to close the chapter, you know, but I'm not going to bend over backwards to try to do anything because I didn't do anything. I did my job. What do you think has to happen to make it right? I'm not saying they got to repay me the 1.6 all up front, but then they figure out a way to do it and not have me work for it because I already did the work for it. Because that was the offer that was made, right? Come work for it. Right. That's a joke. Your wife, who, you know, once you worked for the team, who is your staunchest defender and kind of tough lady.

1:01:58She said, it's the principle. It's petty. Pissing match over$1.6 million when they actually saved money. Time can't heal all wounds. That's what she said the other day on the phone. And I'll put it like this. Imagine you had a friend. Or maybe not even a friend, just somebody. They gave you something, and then they take it back. Are y 'all going to still really hang out? Y 'all still cool? Like, imagine you did a whole bunch of work for it, too. It's the principle. It's the principle of it. Like, no, you cannot have me back unless you put that money back in my pocket. You ain't got to do it all at once.

1:02:33You ain't got to do it, but you got to commit to do it in the right way. You know, don't have me. I'm not working for it. I don't mind coming and doing work for the organization because I love football. I love pouring back into the team. But there ain't no way in the world I'm coming back over there to do anything unless that's coming back, and I see how it's coming back. I probably shouldn't have said Fran because it wasn't a Fran. It was more of a, you know, it wasn't a Fran situation. because with a friend, that would hurt a little more. And with a friend, I'd probably try to figure out a way to work out.

1:02:56There was no friendship there. It was just a work relationship. Is that why you consciously kind of decided not to address the team in the Hall of Fame speech? I mean, Mama always tells you, if you ain't got nothing good to say, don't say it at all, right? You know, I don't have anything to say to the organization personally, but the fans, you know, they've been the ones that have been there to support. You know, I was drafted pretty high. whether I came to the Lions or not, I was going to a team. And I was going to appreciate those fans or whoever that team was for who they were. But more than anything here in Detroit, it's about the fans.

1:03:31They made it that much more great to be in that stadium to play in front of. Because, one, what we've been through here in Detroit and what we built out of that, coming from 0-16 and the fans still being there all that time and supportive. Not just me of everybody, the family, all of the families. So love Detroit sports. You know, love the city. I've been to all the sports venues. I mean, it's a great town for sports. So, you know, that's why I said what I said, you know, but I don't have, I just don't have anything to say. And obviously you're one of the greatest wide receivers ever to live, one of the greatest Lions players of all time.

1:04:06I mean, there is the desire to figure it out and repair the relationship, right? Yeah, I mean, like I said, I love football. You know, it's not, it ain't about the team. You know, I still pour into those guys when I can. You know, I still hang out with those guys when I can. So if the team wants to, you know, get their stuff together, that's cool. I'll be happy to come back and pour into the team. I'll do it with other teams, so we might as well be the Lions too. Shoot. They got to get their stuff together, though, first. Married life. Yeah. Why Brittany? Well, this is how I met Brittany. Brittany was working as an intern my second year in the league.

1:04:38And she, you know, at the Lions, they have, like, these safe shirts on. I don't even know what the acronym means, but they're security. And so she was, that's her internship. She was working in front of, over there by the receiver position. So Roy Williams at the time, he was like, man, you see that girl over there? You know, you got camp eyes, you know. Any female at the time just walking around, all you see is dudes. Any female looks good. And Roy was like, man, I bet you won't go say nothing. I'm like, you crazy. How much you want to bet? And he put$100 on it. So, you know what I'm saying? Long story short, he gave me that$100.

1:05:07I went to go meet her after practice when she was on her way to the car. I feel like I was all nasty and sweaty probably. But anyway, I tracked her down, went to go holler at her. and really didn't even talk to her from that point. And we saw each other out and stuff. But we really weren't really, really talking at the point because she knew I had somebody else talking to. And she was like, nope, don't want no parts of that because I know. I'm like, how do you know? She's like, there's a thing called social media. I was like, oh, okay, okay. Now that social media gets you in trouble. And you're also a football player too.

1:05:36And she grew up in a football family and probably knows better. Exactly. She already knows. She's like, okay, y 'all out here being dogs and stuff. like that, yada, yada, yada. And, you know, it's just, for me, I was like, man, like, she just had my eye ever since, you know, but it was six years later, five years later, before we even really, really got acquainted again. Oh, really? Yeah, it was like, like, I told you, she didn't want to mess with me because I had a little, like, a girlfriend at the time, and I don't know, for some reason, we was always real awkward around each other. I think it's like we both liked each other, but it was just always awkward.

1:06:09I remember one time Nate Burleson tried to get us at a dinner. And I forget what it was, but it was just the most awkward scene because we were just sitting across from each other, weren't even talking to each other. And everybody else was trying to get us to talk. So it was just, you could tell then, like, there was something up. But I didn't think about it like I am now. I'm like, damn, she liked me. I liked her. But that's what it was. So how did you guys go out for the first time? She hit me up saying, I'm coming through Atlanta, you know. And I'm like, oh, shoot, that's what's up. But I'm going to Florida.

1:06:35I'm going down to Miami with the boys, you know. And she's like, oh, shoot, I'm going to Miami, too. I'm like, oh, shit, that's crazy. I'm going out for my birthday. And I'm like, oh, shoot, this is an opportunity. So we're down there, and I actually get her a cake. It worked. And then from that point on, we were like, we're talking, and now we're here. Okay, so one of the stranger proposal stories. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So denied a proposal. I'm getting some award in Baltimore. Wait, wait, wait. We need to backtrack to you mailing a package to the house. and asking her to pick it up for you.

1:07:12I totally forgot about that. Wow. So I think I had, was it the ring, I think? Uh-huh. I had to mail the ring. I forgot why it was mailed, but either I forgot it or something happened. I had her get her to bring it, and I had to get her to bring it without her opening it up. I forget how I did that. And this is like a year before you proposed. This is a while before I proposed. It was. I forget where we were going, but there was a time. I think we were - You're in France. That's what it was. And we were, yeah, we were going to France, and I was going to propose. I don't know why I didn't. I forget why I didn't propose.

1:07:45Maybe she'll probably be able to tell you better. But when I did propose, we were in Baltimore, and I knew I was so nervous because I was going to propose at this one night, and we fell asleep. Literally fell asleep and woke up, and it was like after 9 o 'clock, and I'm like, oh, I blew it. That was my chance. I was going to propose to her on the pier and all this stuff. And we were home. We woke up home or something. Like, okay, there's a sushi spot open. Let's go get some food. Go get some food. You know, eat up. Yada, yada. We're walking back. We're walking back at a pier. And I was like, you know, let me see your finger, you know.

1:08:19I'll mess with her. Because I knew what I was going to do. I was going to propose to her that night. But I was the one that messed with her before. Did she know it was coming? She didn't know it was coming. I had a ring measurement thing tool I got from one of my friends or something. I was just like, let me see your hand. And I stuck it on her finger. She started to get excited. And I was like, I just want to measure your finger, see what your ring size is. I was just messing around. And she was pissed. She was very mad. She started to storm off. And she started walking back towards the hotel.

1:08:43And we're on the pier. And I was like, hold up, hold up, come back. And then I got down on my knee. And I actually pulled the ring out and actually proposed to her. And yeah, she said yes. And that was that. I probably left out a couple of details there. But she'd probably fill you in. Done with kids? Done with kids. She says we're done, we're done. I got three boys. I got a seven-year-old boy from a former relationship. He's seven years old. And then I got a three-year-old and I got a four-month-old. What's the hardest part of parenting in the way you went with your son that lives in Atlanta?

1:09:19It's tough because obviously, you know, your co-parent might not see eye to eye on everything. But, you know, it's just really just, you know, trying to keep the lines of communication open. They weren't great at first because obviously, you know, you got the whole baby mama situation and you're not married. There's tension there between families and stuff. We all went through that, but that was, you know, 70 years ago. And now we're at a point where, you know, I invite her to the Hall of Fame ceremony. You know, him and the mom came and we're all in there just, you know, we even partied after together.

1:09:51So it's a good thing to be in a situation where we're all on the same page. And you guys deserve a lot of credit for that because it's probably easier said than done. It's so much easier said and done. That's another movie itself. So your mom was a strict one. Your dad was a laid back one. How do you and Brittany co-parent? You know, we switch off. Like there'd be some times where, you know, I'd be on the boys hard and then she'd be chill. And she's like, calm down. They're all right. And there's some time where mom, where she get, where she get on now. And I'm like, I don't say nothing to her when she get on.

1:10:19I'm just letting her, like, let her do what she do. So I don't know. I feel like I got a mix of both. The non-cannabis work. How much private receiver consultation work do you still do? Probably a couple every year. I don't do as much when I first came out because I just, you know, you want to be in the game. I still want to be in the game, but I just don't have the time to do it as much as I used to. But I love to go travel and meet new guys, especially guys that, a lot of guys try to get me with tall guys that are maybe even taller or lankier, just can't move their feet as well. So prime example of, hey, my feet weren't always falling fire.

1:10:56They didn't always move real fast, but I worked them out. I worked it out. And that's all you got to do. You just got to work it out. What do you enjoy about that? I love just pouring into the guys and really just seeing them. I try to dump everything into them. I just wanted to grasp a couple things, and I just wanted to see it in the game. I had the opportunity to chat with Chris Godwin when he was a young man. See him now as a champ down there in Tampa and playing with Tom Brady. And he telling me, thank you. I just hope I'll be able to pour into guys like that, man, because it means a lot just to see those guys have success, especially after you've been able to work with them a little bit.

1:11:30Why locker room consulting? It's a perfect name. Rob, we came back from Italy doing like an Italian football league Super Bowl. They had a Super Bowl over there. We went out there, and we were a special guest. We're sitting over there thinking just about business opportunities. We're just sitting in all these rooms just talking business from football to apparel and different things. And we're just like, man, a lot of guys, when they come out the league, they get taken advantage of. I've been part of that. You want to stop it. You want to help guys put a good team around them, of advisors, so that they can cut through a lot of the BS and just really get to whatever it is that they want to do in their post-football life and just surround them with a network of people that they can lean on.

1:12:16So that's our goal with locker room consulting. and then as well create business opportunities for them to invest in as well. But I think first and foremost is just making sure the player themselves is in good shape. Because too often, and there's a long history of documented poor financial decisions which lead to players who make the bulk majority of their lifetime earnings over a handful of years broke shortly after they're retired. Somebody's always going to come with the next get-rich-quick scheme. I've been part of them bad business transactions too. So it's just a matter of putting the right people around you that can dive a little deeper into what's really going on.

1:12:58And having that team of people around you will save you a lot of trouble. Do I have this right that you franchised an Auntie Anne? I did. And that's one of those business ventures that I'm talking about. It didn't go really well for me because one thing I learned about it is you've got to be there. You've got to be there. You've got to put your stamp on it. I was up here most of the time, and that was down in Georgia. I mean, you put people, one thing that I learned really quick after playing football is that not everybody's going to do things the way you do and try to live up to a standard of excellence in everything that they do.

1:13:27You know, I had to change from what I used to say, like living up to, you know, trying to be perfect. Obviously, there's only one person that walked this earth that was perfect. And we're not that, you know, we're always going to fall short. But if you're just striving for, I mean, for me, I strove for perfection, knowing that I wasn't going to be perfect, but trying to do every little thing to the best of my ability. That's all it was really for me. It was really just trying to strive for excellence in everything that you do. So what was the kind of takeaway from that experience? The big takeaway for me was that if I'm not there, if I'm not there to see it, if I'm not there to push it, I can't rely on somebody else to put in the same kind of effort I would.

1:14:03What attracted you to real estate? Real estate was tangible. It was something I could see, something that I could actually put my hands on, something I could actually move. and it's not something intangible like a stock, where you're not sure what the rhyme or reason is for what it's doing. So it's easier for guys to come out of the league to grasp because some of them are already doing it, and it's just something that you can see. It's much easier to deal with. And you can trust yourself. It's hard to trust a lot of other people to do your stock portfolio or stuff like that. I'm in a fortunate position to have some people I can trust, and that's why locker room is existing, so we can help put other people in those good situations.

1:14:44And how do you go about deciding what to invest in? Just, you know, user team, user advisory team. You know, we dive through it. Dive through all the pros and cons. Is it true that your mom was instrumental in helping negotiate your kind of big NFL contract? You know what? I know Bus Cook. You know, he's my agent. I know Bus, man. Bus is going to relay. He's going to relay whatever's going on to Mama Johnson. So I'm sure that he relayed whatever was happening to my mom. So that's why she was thoroughly involved. I guess that's the one thing I've learned to appreciate growing up, you know, is that she's going to dive into the details, nitty-gritty, get into it.

1:15:19And that kind of annoyed me at first, you know, especially as a grown man. But, you know, she's been great, you know, as far as, like, you know, imparting that on me, like, hey, you better go through it with a fine tube cone. Because you want somebody having your back like that and also imparting that wisdom. Best and worst financial decision you've made? I feel like the best has been, hmm, I would like to say, you know, joining the cannabis industry, but that's yet to be told. That story's yet to be told. The worst one I would have to say is probably loaning money. You know, you loan money and you think you're going to get it back, especially like people that are close to you.

1:16:00But for anybody I would tell now, like you're loaning money to a friend or anybody close to you, just know that you're not getting it back. And I've loaned a lot of money to people, and I've grown. I'm just like, okay, I know I'm not going to get it back. It's cool with me now. But I think what that does, though, is it sours relationships. And relationships are one thing. Money you can always get back. But relationships, man, those are very, you've got to cherish those. And if you can, not allow money to get involved in those relationships, don't, because money can easily mess up a relationship.

1:16:30Best financial advice you ever received? The best financial advice I ever received was probably from my attorney. Just let me read everything you get. You know, those attorneys, man, they pull out, like, okay, this isn't right. This right here, this little sentence right here can be the difference in, like, you're getting your money, you're not. You know, stuff like that. You know, stuff that I wouldn't see. And is there kind of a grander picture behind how you go about managing your money? Yeah, I mean, I have a great team. They've been around for a very long time. And one thing I think that they have done that others haven't is just being very, very big on education.

1:17:07You know, anything I don't know, anything I might not know, if they feel like I know, I've got people over there that are great at explaining anything I need to know. And to the point where I've brought other people on to them, and those people that I've brought on to them are thankful. So that's what we're talking about, just being able to add or bringing guys into that network. Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate you doing this. No doubt. Thanks for listening to my chat with Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson. During our time together in Canton, we also spoke with Johnson's immediate family, plus some former coaches and teammates, including quarterback Matthew Stafford.

1:17:45You can watch all that on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash Graham Bensinger. Also there, a tour of Johnson's home office memorabilia, and find out what special piece of gear he was able to stash away before the Hall of Fame could. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a rating, a review to share your thoughts. Thanks again for listening.