Tass
Lucky Devil
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My wife and I are from Hawaii. In 1994 I was working as a DJ out there on a station called I-94...they sent me out to media day at the Pro Bowl to get some sound bites (zingers) from the players. ("Hi, this is Erik Williams of the Dallas Cowboys. Hawaii's hottest music is on I-94.") I was totally jazzed to go meet some Dallas players...after all they are my favorite team and they had just won the Super Bowl!
So I show up there with my tape recorder and a fair amount of awe. I'm 5'10" and most of these guys were towering over me like....something that towers over small things. Anyway, I politely asked each player that wasn't busy giving interviews if they would give me a little sound bite for my radio station. All of them said 'sure' and did it (with the exception of Deion 'Why the Hell am I at media day?' Sanders.)
Now I have to tell you that I was somewhat dissapointed because I was hoping to talk to the Triplets but they didn't come to media day. That made me somewhat ashamed because I didn't like to think of the star players from MY team engaging in the kind of prima donna behaviors that I criticized when practiced by other players. Moose was there and he talked with me for a while. I remember asking him "So, how do you like being called 'Moose' as a nickname?" He said "Well, it's not the worst thing they could call me, I guess. I can thing of some really bad ones." To which I said "Well, at least they don't call you 'The Beaver' or something." to which we and a couple of the other guys standing around laughed about.
Steve Tasker was the coolest guy I met there. After I got his sound bite I thanked him and started to leave and he said "Hey, where you goin? Come on, we little guys have to stick together." I told him he sure played bigger than 5'9" and he was gracious. He asked me about what kinds of stuff to go do in Hawaii to have fun and he was a cool dude.
Brett Favre was standing all off by himself. I think this was his first pro bowl. Anyway, there he was looking all lonesome. No media talking to him. I remember watching him play a game that year and thinking 'Wow, this guy throws a LASER.' I also remember the commentators giving him grief saying he was too reckless with the ball and threw too many picks. But here he was at the pro bowl. I walked over and said "Hey Brett...you mind giving me a sound bite for my radio station?" He didn't mind and after we were done I said "Hey, man, I just wanted to tell you that I think you're the next one." He asked what I meant and I said "I think you're going to be the next great, big-deal Quarterback. Don't listen to the naysayers, man...you play your game and you're going to kick some ***." (Looking back on this now as a 35 year old man, that sounds completely presumptuous and pretentious! lol...I probably wouldn't offer my 'wisdom' to a pro athlete now. But when you are young and stupid you don't think about stuff like that.) But guess what? He said he really appreciated that and started circulating with the other players and stood a little prouder that day. I don't know if it was what I said or just the fact that a media guy his own age told him he was the bomb but it did have an effect, I'm surprised to say.
Deion Sanders was over talking with Andre Rison. When I asked him to give me a sound bite he said he was 'too busy'. He was just B.S.ing with Rison at media day! I said "Y'all busy comparing gold chains, huh? That's cool." Jesse Sapolu really laughed at that and bagged on them because 'da little haole guy wen tell you fahkahs off'. (I love Sapolu for that).
All of them also signed a T-shirt Fox was giving out (It said 'Nfl on Fox'). I sure wish I could find that shirt now!
So I show up there with my tape recorder and a fair amount of awe. I'm 5'10" and most of these guys were towering over me like....something that towers over small things. Anyway, I politely asked each player that wasn't busy giving interviews if they would give me a little sound bite for my radio station. All of them said 'sure' and did it (with the exception of Deion 'Why the Hell am I at media day?' Sanders.)
Now I have to tell you that I was somewhat dissapointed because I was hoping to talk to the Triplets but they didn't come to media day. That made me somewhat ashamed because I didn't like to think of the star players from MY team engaging in the kind of prima donna behaviors that I criticized when practiced by other players. Moose was there and he talked with me for a while. I remember asking him "So, how do you like being called 'Moose' as a nickname?" He said "Well, it's not the worst thing they could call me, I guess. I can thing of some really bad ones." To which I said "Well, at least they don't call you 'The Beaver' or something." to which we and a couple of the other guys standing around laughed about.
Steve Tasker was the coolest guy I met there. After I got his sound bite I thanked him and started to leave and he said "Hey, where you goin? Come on, we little guys have to stick together." I told him he sure played bigger than 5'9" and he was gracious. He asked me about what kinds of stuff to go do in Hawaii to have fun and he was a cool dude.
Brett Favre was standing all off by himself. I think this was his first pro bowl. Anyway, there he was looking all lonesome. No media talking to him. I remember watching him play a game that year and thinking 'Wow, this guy throws a LASER.' I also remember the commentators giving him grief saying he was too reckless with the ball and threw too many picks. But here he was at the pro bowl. I walked over and said "Hey Brett...you mind giving me a sound bite for my radio station?" He didn't mind and after we were done I said "Hey, man, I just wanted to tell you that I think you're the next one." He asked what I meant and I said "I think you're going to be the next great, big-deal Quarterback. Don't listen to the naysayers, man...you play your game and you're going to kick some ***." (Looking back on this now as a 35 year old man, that sounds completely presumptuous and pretentious! lol...I probably wouldn't offer my 'wisdom' to a pro athlete now. But when you are young and stupid you don't think about stuff like that.) But guess what? He said he really appreciated that and started circulating with the other players and stood a little prouder that day. I don't know if it was what I said or just the fact that a media guy his own age told him he was the bomb but it did have an effect, I'm surprised to say.
Deion Sanders was over talking with Andre Rison. When I asked him to give me a sound bite he said he was 'too busy'. He was just B.S.ing with Rison at media day! I said "Y'all busy comparing gold chains, huh? That's cool." Jesse Sapolu really laughed at that and bagged on them because 'da little haole guy wen tell you fahkahs off'. (I love Sapolu for that).
All of them also signed a T-shirt Fox was giving out (It said 'Nfl on Fox'). I sure wish I could find that shirt now!
