James Harrison

0:00Some people use ChatGPT to answer questions. Others use it to get real work done. With ChatGPT work, you bring the goal, plus real inputs like briefs, notes, files, feedback, data, and project plans. It can help turn them into an analysis, tracker, deck outline, prototype, or workflow you can review and keep shaping. You stay in control, giving direction and choosing the final output. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode. Available on Plus and Pro plans. Hey, this is Anthony from Raiders of a Lost podcast. With movies, the actors get all the buzz.

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2:31Oh, what's your story? Don't you dare be sour. Clap for Stephanie. And feel the power.

2:51Welcome to What's Your Story with Steph McMahon, a WWE and Fanatics original production. Well, thank you very, very much for being here today, James, with me and Elise. And we're appropriately plugging your show, Debo and Joe. Yes. Right? Yes. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that first? So, Debo and Joe is a show that we just started with SheShe Media. We're on live Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, 11 to 1230. we started back in September of last year we talked basically football a little bit of BS and a whole lot of Steelers to be honest with you a little bit of Browns because you know Joe played for the Browns and we kind of got to talk about them even though they suck yeah that's what opinion your opinion and what is the biggest similarity and what's the biggest difference between being one of the most punishing and intense football players to have ever lived to now be behind a microphone?

3:53I mean, does anybody make you want to just stand up and get in their face? So here's the thing is that I think the transition is something that a lot of people are like interested in because they don't get to see me be like me. Like they're like, oh God, he's funny. You know, he's actually a nice guy, all this other stuff, because they're looking at, you know, the persona that I played or I had my whole career where, you know, I didn't smile, I didn't laugh. You know, my job wasn't something that I smiled and laughed about. It wasn't something that I could walk around, you know, cheesing and get done.

4:29So I think just getting to see me actually my real personality is something that, you know, people are surprised by. And how do you feel about that? Do you like the world getting to know who you really are? Or is it better or easier to be the man behind the persona? So at first it was kind of hard because I was trying to hold on to that persona. And it was something that I built up over the years. Sure. My mom, she was like, hey, they take kindness for weakness. Don't walk around smiling, laughing, and cheese and somebody go try and take advantage of you. So from the time I could understand and listen, you know, that's what I was raised.

5:14You know, that's how I was raised. So getting into the profession that I was in, it was, you know, it was easy to do. But now, like, I actually welcome it, especially, you know, since I had kids. You know, that was something that I don't really express that same thing to my kids. I let them understand that. But, like, something that I didn't have growing up is, like, we didn't openly communicate them words. I love you. So that's something that I say to my kids, you know, every day, you know, they, that's the last thing they say to me. And the last thing I say to them is I love you more. And that's something that, uh, I didn't understand growing up that when my parents said they love me more and I could never love them as much as they love me.

5:55That's something that I found out. Like I'm telling my sons, like y 'all, y 'all can never love me as much as I love y 'all. That's right. So, um, like I said, it's welcome now because they get to see a side of me that isn't, uh, isn't so uh hidden and uh like I said I'm more open a lot of that is because you know I accepted my lord and savior almost two years ago so that helped me to really open up so you were the youngest of 14 right but there was what like eight years in between you and your next sibling so were you kind of more like the baby so I was like the baby that so here it is it was like a Brady Bunch type situation okay okay so my dad has seven my mom had six okay then they had me oh all right so I'm the only one by actually my mom and dad but if you see us together you wouldn't know that it was halves like right right yeah it's tight it's all love so like I got to get the things that they didn't I got a lot more one-on-one time like when they took when they took ass whoopings yeah they took them all together because they didn't want to tell them nobody right i would have snitched i would have told everything but i i didn't have to go through that process but uh it was it was sort of a only child like you took your licks later in life yeah yeah they say i got away with a lot more you know i tell my kids the same thing i'm like yo your nana would have like if that was me she would have beat the brakes off of me like dude y 'all get away with a lot y 'all get to negotiate out of whoopings i'm like i don't even know what that is like.

7:31I know they do. They negotiate. It's crazy. And you've talked about before how being a dad really changed you in your perspective. And I've also heard you talk about your own father. How did it change you? What do you take from what your dad taught you that made you so proud to be his son? What values do you instill in your own children? Um, you know, my, my, my, uh, my parents were my hero, but my dad, you know, he was, he was really that guy and, um, everything that he did, I wanted to emulate. I wanted to be like, and, um, he, you know, he was just amazing. This is a guy that came in. Like I said, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a blended family and he treated everybody like they were his.

8:22It didn't matter if they came from his seat or not. and you know if I could be half the man he was I'd be twice the man I am right now so like I didn't need to look to any outside source that that was my source my sources was in the house my heroes were right there so they you know when they asked you that who did you look up to when you were growing up I looked up to my mom and dad I looked up to James and meals of Paris and that's who I look at. It's hard to keep your routine over the summer, especially when it comes to eating right. But now that it's fall and we're back to school, it's time to get back to eating real food.

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10:33And you stay in control. You give direction, review drafts, approve actions, redirect the work, and choose the final output. so you spend less time sorting through busy work and more time making progress on the work that matters. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode. Available on Plus and Pro plans. Hey, this is Anthony from Raiders of a Lost podcast. With movies, the actors get all the buzz, but nothing happens without the crew behind the scenes. That's how it is with GEICO. They're your support system behind the scenes.

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13:06Listen. So I'm going to give you an example of how like saying I love you wasn't said. So it's my rookie year at Pittsburgh and I'll never forget it. It's a dude named Andrew McRae and he's talking to his family and he's talking to him. He's like, all right, dad, I'll talk to you later. I love you. Mom, talk to you later. I love you. I'm like, you know what? This sounds good. I'm like I'm gonna try this Yes You know So I go and you know I call I call my dad And I'm talking to him And you know We're just talking about whatever So before I get off the phone I'm like alright dad I'll talk to you later I love you You know He's like alright Hang up the phone He didn't say it back Two seconds later No he didn't say it back He didn't say it back So two seconds later After I hung the phone up My mom calls me And she's like Hey You alright everything okay yeah i'm like i'm good what's going on she's like you sure your dad told me you just talked to you i'm like yeah i'm good he said well you're sure everything's good i'm like yeah why well he said you said i love you like you okay like there's something going on you about to do something about to go do something like what's going on so like the love you was like hey i'm about to sign off and go do something to somebody do something to myself like that's you know that and i didn't want that i didn't want that feeling with my kids right right and something that you know and we got more before my dad's passing we got more communicative about saying i love you and expressing it without it you know with words instead of just actions did you find did you keep saying it from that first time on no no it was a minute it took a minute because it kind of got me like, yeah, they think I'm fine.

14:54So, like, I would say my dad passed at 16. I would say up until probably around that 14 time frame, we got more communicative about it. You know, he went through a whole process of colon cancer, lung, prostate, all that stuff, you know, all that. So we were more, you know, communicative because, you know, you saw what was coming. Right. Yeah. Life. Yeah. Yeah. Happens. But and kind of a fair thing for your mom to have concern, right? Because you had some trouble maybe a little bit growing up in high school. I had a little trouble growing up. I wasn't bad. Senior year. I wasn't bad, but like. What happened?

15:36It was a situation that, it was jokes. It was. Oh. So. It was a BB gun. And we're in high school. And we're shooting each other with a BB gun. How? But because the school I went to, like, I was one of five only blacks that started going there at that point in time, it became an issue. And it didn't become an issue until after the season. So, like, the whole process, it got crazy. Basically, I lost every scholarship offer I had. One of our coaches, he got fired because he shot somebody, too. Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they came to the school. Shot the wrong person. He shot one of the students. The student that they were trying to say I shot.

16:20That's pretty bad. Yeah. Just a BB gun. Just a BB gun. Like the crazy thing. Where did he shoot him? Dude, in his butt. It happened in August. Okay, all right. It happened in August, and this didn't come out until like December. Like after one of the other dudes had left and went somewhere else. So like the cat I shot, like it, dude, it was a whole three, four-month investigation. Wow. Dude, they brought us in. They brought the whole team in down to the Summit County Sheriff's Department. Dude, they had me in there for three hours. Oh, my God. Three hours, dude. This big Kojak-looking dude, man, he's sitting there, and he's asking me questions.

17:03And my mom is like, yo, just tell them what you did and go from there, da, da, da. So I'm like, all right, look, I shot this dude and, you know, blah, blah, blah. Who shot this person, that person? I'm like, I don't know who shot nobody. I don't know nothing. All I know is what I shot. I know who I shot. Right? So they wanted me to tell them that the coach had shot the boy that his mom was trying to press charges. Right, right, right. I was right there next to him. I'm like, I don't know who shot what, man. I'm like, I just, I just, I'm like, I don't know. I'm accountable for myself. I didn't see it, man.

17:31Yeah. I'm like, I don't even want. Everybody that went down there, every player that went down there was like, oh, yeah, they had me down there. I ain't say nothing. I ain't tell them nothing. So everybody coming back, they saying they ain't told nobody nothing. And everybody talked. I get there and I'm trying to deny all. I'm denying it all. He say, listen, man, all you got to do is tell us the truth. You were sitting next to the coach. The coach pulled the pistol. He shot him. So-and-so was right here and blah, blah, blah was right here. He told me that da-da-da-da. I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about.

18:00I said, you're lying. He played the tape. Man. I'm like, all you snitching, lying. Y 'all can't hold water. so like my mom came in ended up having to come in uh but before that happened dude was like uh like i said he was like yo he's like you think this a game huh i'm like no it ain't a game i'm just telling you what i know he goes he gets up he stands up and he slams the table he's like i done broke murderers and killers you think i ain't gonna break you I said, I ain't murder or killed nobody, though. Right. Went and got my mom, my dad, and they was like, just tell them what happened, da-da-da.

18:41And I ended up getting, like, some type of disorderly conduct, whatever it was. But it killed all my scholarships. And the only school that was back was Ken. It's all right. I mean, it worked out for a reason. That's right. That's right. Everything happens for a reason. So then what was that journey like for you, right? Because you didn't really think it was a big deal, right? You still kind of don't think it was a big deal in terms of what you actually did. But what lessons did that teach you then? Because at the time, losing all that scholarship must have been earth shattering. Well, I still ended up getting to go to Kent.

19:19Kent ended up still offering me a scholarship. But I kind of messed that up, too, because my grades wasn't what they were supposed to be. so I ended up going in as a prop I messed up the prop because I thought just going to school was gonna work and that didn't work because I didn't get the grades right so I realized then I had to get the grades so I ended up losing two years of being able to play and only got to play three years um you know it was uh I wouldn't say it was a a hard lesson I mean it was just the realization of like, yo, you're not just going to be able to go through and just walk through everything.

19:59You're going to have to sit in there and earn it. Because at that point in time, like really playing football wasn't hard for me. Learning and trying to get good grades was extremely hard. And I realized like, yo, one comes, like you can't get one without the other. So I ended up, you know, locking down and getting into my books and really, you know, having to learn and understand. I used to do coaches tables like where you actually in the coach's office for like two and a half hours just sitting there doing homework. I ended up making the dean's list and all the other stuff and, you know, made it through that process to where I got eligible.

20:32And then I keeled it back down, you know, just to stay eligible enough so I could keep playing. But I don't know. I don't think I really locked in, locked in until after my junior year and going into my senior year where it was like, yo, you got an opportunity where you could actually make money doing this. Right. My whole thing was like I just had a love for the game. Going to college for me wasn't about education, I'm not going to lie. It was about getting the opportunity to keep playing. Right. They were like, you could play football. Because that was your passion. That was it. That was it.

21:08Was it just because you were really good at it, or was it your passion regardless? No, I like punishing people. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I did. That was my joy. What do you like about punishing people? For real. What do you like about that? Is it an opportunity to take out oppression? I'm enforcing my will on somebody that don't want to do what it is that I'm forcing them to do. This guy that's going up against me, he doesn't allow me to make this tackle. or he wants to stop me from being as quarterback. So you put all that on the person in front of you. Oh, yeah. Tell me something I can't do. I think that was something else, too.

21:42The fact that, oh, you're too short, you're too slow, you're too small, all this other stuff, like, yeah, that motivated me. That drove me. That was something that, like, you tell me something I can't do, I'm going to do everything in my power through hell and high water to prove you wrong. Now, patting me on my back and saying, hey, you'll be able to do, nah, get the hell out of here with that. Like, tell me something I can't do. Right. So it seemed as though it took you a little while to find your niche in terms of, at least from what I have read and seen, you struggled with the plays and you said you were in the practice squad and then you'd say, hey, take me out.

22:20This likes to hit. This doesn't like to learn. The learning process of the professional game changes. Right. Like, it's a lot, especially in Dick LeBeau's defense. Dick LeBeau is the greatest D coordinator to ever coordinate in the NFL, period. But his defense is the hardest to learn. And with me coming in and trying to just play the game, you can't do that. You can't just go out there and play with your hair. Like, you've got to know what you're doing. Because if you don't, you can have like one motion could take you from a free blitzer where you have no responsibilities but to try and sack the quarterback to now you're actually man on man on the tight end or a damn receiver.

23:08And if you don't cover him, that's a touchdown. Yeah. So I had to actually sit down and be like, you know what? Like, I can't just go on my talent anymore. I got to learn what I'm doing so that, you know, I have a better opportunity to be able to make it. So once I actually sat down and took the time to be a true professional and learn the defense, then it was easier for me to be able to, you know, make the team and translate to, you know, where I ended up going. And then through that process, once I knew what I was doing to better help myself, I started learning what the guy next to me was doing.

23:47And then the year after that, it was what the guy further down was doing to where now I can go in and year, you know, seven, eight. And I know what the whole defense is doing every play so that if I don't have a responsibility that is in my area, I can adjust where I'm going to help my teammate, which will better help the defense, which will better help us as a whole team play better, get paid better, all that. There's a lot of synergy and similarities there to every business, right? And I think every sport. My daughter was a running back on the boys' varsity tackle football team. Thank you. She scored a touchdown in her last game.

24:31But she didn't necessarily have a good understanding of the game. We started working with a coach named Arpedge Roll. And he's really amazing. and he taught her how the game worked and how you have to understand everybody's role, what the different positions mean when four people or five people and I'm just making up numbers or lining up against you and where they're positioned, that is indicative of what the play is going to be, right? Right. And then you parlay that to professional wrestling, right? Like you've got to know your role, you've got to know the next person's role, you've got to know everybody's role in there because, God forbid, something happens.

25:12Yeah. Because in wrestling, it's a dance, as you learned, you know, when you were then on heels. Yeah, I did heels. Stephen Emile, he actually broke his back. He fractured his vertebrae because he jumped off of the top rope wrong. Dude, it was crazy. We had to stop filming for a minute and everything. Like, you know, we adjusted what we were shooting and all that. but I don't think people understand how physical wrestling is. Like, yeah, you know the outcome. The outcome you know. But hitting that mat, getting slammed on that mat, falling to that mat, somebody hitting you across your face, that shit is real.

25:56It hurts. Like, I don't, like, the mat got a little bounce to it, but I'm trying to tell y 'all, like, it hurts. And then, like I said, the big difference for me is, like, he's actually, like, he's actually, like, working with me. Like, he's helping me do this stuff. And I'm like, dude, there's no way I'm going to be able to hold this dude straight up in the air, man. Like, no, he's going to help you. I'm like, how the fuck is he going to help you? I know. He's going to brace here and this and that. I'm like, oh, my God. So I'm looking now. So, like, I look now and I'm like, oh, yeah, I can see this and that and all that other stuff.

26:27But, dude, like, it was great. Like, that experience, like, I did all my own stunts. So I got to do all my own wrestling. Like, I really wanted to try and, like, do that for a minute. Like, once we did our first season of Heels, like, I was trying to get into, like, the wrestling thing. Like, I actually talked to WWE. They didn't want to give us no airplay whatsoever. I worked with CM Punk. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He was like... What's your favorite thing or one of the things that stands out to you that he taught you? I did the powerbomb on him, I guess, where you drop him up and you slam him down to the ground.

27:05And he was like, dude, that was great. And then I guess he ended up tweeting something. He was like, yeah. He was like, this is the greatest powerbomb I ever had. Like, it looked real, and it didn't hurt at all. So all you guys slamming people on the ground like y 'all, he was like, unnecessary. I'm like, yo, are you okay? He's like, yeah, I'm good, man. Is it true that you practice on your boys in the pool? yeah yeah like so i i've seen the footage they uh they were younger then but um and they were lighter too so it's easier yeah it wasn't helping so it was easier to do then but what i didn't realize is like dropping back into the water from that like your back smacks the water it's like it hurts well it's like you're on a mat the clip that i watched it can the first moment you do it it's a back a backsplash like i don't know i felt it yeah yeah it hurt like it stung like i woke up easy on my back for a second dude like i can't believe that actually hurt i'm trying to play it off so he don't know i'm hurt right right yeah he got on a life vest so he didn't feel it because you can't sell right not when it's well back then i'm a with my kids i'm wide open it don't matter especially now like my sons are 18 and 16 so our communication is 100 % open like it's no I never sugarcoated anything with my kids when it was the point in time where you know I felt like they could understand then you know I tried to explain things to them in a you know as a matter of fact way as I could I think between the ages of two and six to be honest with you when you can't reason with a child, the only thing they can understand is reward and punishment.

28:56And that's why I am true, 100 % disciplinarian, and I'm going to spank that ass. Tough love. Yes. That's just what it is. Because I can get you to understand not to do this by pain quicker than I can get you to reason why you shouldn't take a key as a 2-year-old and stick it in that socket. Right. Because if you run over there and stick that key in that socket, what's gonna happen i'm not there to do it like at first it becomes a game hey no little johnny don't do that right now he's thinking it's a game it's not a game so as soon as you go to do it i'm gonna tell you the first time no as soon as you can understand yes and no i can spank you i can pop your hand because now you know yes i do no i don't i just told you no immediately after that if you do it again i'm gonna spank you so now he knows oh snap i do that i get pain i'm not gonna that no more and like i said between two and six they can't really reach it like they don't understand why you shouldn't go and jump off the couch head first onto the ground because you're gonna break your neck listen don't do that again you do it again i'm gonna pop your ass right my my kids are three and six so i am i'm in that exact moment so i'm gonna i'm gonna show my son this clip later yes james say you're gonna have debo come to the house he's coming to the house And he's going to take care of business.