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- [00:00]
Chad Hennings
This episode is brought to you by JT Clothiers. Hi, I'm Chad Hennings, and welcome to Forces of Character podcast, where we try to have conversations about building a life of impact. My guest today is a dear friend from the Dallas Cowboys for teammate. You know him as Moose Darrell Johnston. Darrell, growing up in upstate New York, attending Syracuse, the Cowboys broadcaster, now executive in professional athletics. He's worn a lot of different hats, and we're going to dive in today and talk a lot about character, leadership, and difficulties for him and making the transition between wearing those different hats. So let's bring him on. Darrell, thank you so much for being on. Appreciate it. Taking the time. I know you're a busy guy.
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Darrell Johnston
No, no, absolutely make time for this one. It took us a while to get here, but we're here.
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Chad Hennings
Amen to that. But let's, you know, kind of start in the beginning. Grew up in upstate New York, attending Syracuse. Just talk to me, to me about early influences in your life. Coaches, parents, family, friends, kind of that started to instill in you who you are and that foundational person that you are today.
- [01:22]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah. A very small town in upstate New York, Youngstown. I won't say Youngstown, because a lot of people automatically go to Ohio. So we're about 15, 20 minutes north of Niagara Falls, right at the mouth of the Niagara River. My mom's family were farmers in that region. It was a big farming community. My dad was the youngest of 10. So a lot of different dynamics growing up. You know, my dad's older siblings were anywhere from 18 to 21 years older than him. His parents were older when he was growing up. So some things that he had to adjust to there is being the youngest, being probably raised more by his siblings than his parents. So very close relationship with his brother John and his family. My mom's family, she was one of four. They worked the farm. That's probably where my work ethic comes from.
- [02:12]
Chad Hennings
So you actually. Did you work on the farm?
- [02:15]
Darrell Johnston
One of the times when I was younger, my grandfather requested that my mom send me to him because he watched me and felt that I didn't know how to work yet. So how old was the age of that? About 10. And I came back home and I'm like, you know, hey, how was everything? I said, well, it took me twice as long as if grandpa would have let me use the tractor. You know, I would have had that thing done in half the time it took. And she asked him, and that's when it came out. You know, he needs to learn how to put in a long hard day of manual labor. So that was kind of the, the big one there. And I would go to market with them. Occasionally we go up to Buffalo with all the produce that the farm generates. And that was going out to grandpa's house and staying there because we'd be up at 3:30 to be up in Buffalo and set up for the 6 o' clock farmers market in Buffalo. So and doing that at 14, 15. So that, that's kind of really where a lot of the roots came in with the work ethic. Sports was a big part of our town growing up. Soccer was the first sport that I played and believe it or not, today, you know, still one of my passions and you know, I really enjoyed it. It's been fun for me to watch, you know, English Premier become what it is worldwide, the msl, the USL become what they are here in the United States. You know, it's just, it was a really fun sport and it's if you're taught the right way by the right people. We had a company in grand island called Tam Ceramics and they went over to the UK to hire ceramic engineers. So at eight years old we were being taught soccer by former semi professional soccer players from Scotland, the uk, Sweden. So we became this little soccer niche community. That was an awesome experience for me growing up and then transitioned into football. Football was still the number one sport back there. And my first big impact was Dave Adelizzi as a young third grader having enough guys playing football where the younger team was going to split into two. And we had a very good team that year. It was going to be my first year playing. So they literally had kind of a little mini combine and a mini draft. And Dave Adelizi took me as a guy from outside of town. I think he surprised, you know, a lot of our coaches who were there that he recognized who the talented kids were. And we did a really good job, you know, that season as a, as a kind of a first start team. But Dave was probably the first big impact on me with the game of football, believe it or not. The detail and the mental part at 8 years old, 10 years old, you know, learning that part, kind of learning that there's going to be physical traits that help you play this game. But what separates is the attention to the detail and the mental part, which is going to be true in everything that you do moving forward. So he was probably the first person where the game of football was not about getting better on the field. It was going to make you a Better person because there's so many life skills that go along with the game of football. And at 10 years old, I was starting to get exposure to some of the things that Coach Adelizzi talked about.
- [05:28]
Chad Hennings
You know, it's great that just see comparable similar upbringing to the aspect of the work ethic growing up on a farm and, you know, coaches that instill that mental piece. But it's encouraging that I think sometimes parents today coddle their kids a little too much, that they don't give them the responsibility or put the pressure of the tasks. And they certainly don't instill the big picture. It's more tactical how to improve your skill set on the field than strategic. How can this apply to other areas of your life?
- [06:00]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, football. I. I learned more on the football field through the course of my life than I did in any classroom. That's gonna pay dividends moving forward. Not that your education isn't important, but what you talk about, camaraderie and teamwork and all the different elements, being able to work with people who maybe you disagree with or don't see eye to eye with, that's a huge skill set and a huge talent. You learn that on an athletic field later, right. As I got at the end of the youth football career, Gil Tomei was probably, you know, the next big impact on my life coming in is I kind of was wrapping up youth football and moving into high school football and, you know, just a tremendous man. Some of the things about the game that I love today were instilled by Gil Tomei. You know, I had to lose weight, right. So I'm eighth grade, I'm sucking weight, you know, just to be able to play football because they didn't want to have any injuries. And that was one of the ways they modified limitations. Yeah, not by position, but actually across the board. So for me to be a little bit older in eighth grade and still, you know, kind of meet that threshold and play youth football, I had to be 10 pounds lighter than everybody else because they thought I was a little bit more mature than everybody else. So I was. I was 5 foot 4, 115 pounds in 8th grade, I think.
- [07:17]
Chad Hennings
You cut weight?
- [07:18]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah. Yeah.
- [07:19]
Chad Hennings
Wow.
- [07:19]
Darrell Johnston
And that's, you know, that's mom and dad like, you know, turning the other way as I. As I cut weight.
- [07:23]
Chad Hennings
So that's interesting. So get into high school, high school coaches, et cetera. Who was any. That you can recall?
- [07:30]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, we had a really unique, you know, freshman year, we had some young guys come in, you know, Mike Prescott, I'M never going to remember the other gentleman's name because he came in, he was a new guy in our town. And it's one of the things that you hear about what they do at Midland Odessa, what they do at South Lake Carroll, what they do at Allen, where the same offensive defense are taught all the way up. And they were a little bit rebellious, and we were running a little bit different stuff, and we were kind of different. We would do what the coaches wanted to do. Freshman, JV varsity. And we didn't have that continuity all the way up. It was a little bit different from season to season. So freshman was good. It was an experience getting into the game of football. You know, I wasn't one of those kids who was on the varsity in ninth grade or on the varsity in 10th grade. I did it, you know, by step, 10th grade. I was on JV football with all my kids in my class, when you got to varsity, it was usually the 11th and 12th graders. So, yeah, I was not pulled up early. There was no talk of me being pulled up early. So, you know, for me, going into ninth grade, the funny thing is you had to make a decision, are you gonna play football or you're gonna play soccer? And soccer is a fall sport in the north, as opposed to being a spring sport down here in the South. So when I decided to play football, I had a lot of people say, oh, my God, you just. You made the wrong choice there. I mean, you're a better soccer player than you are a football player. So, you know, the expectations for me moving forward were never all that great. You know, I was not somebody that, you know, everybody had eyes on all the way through, you know, from youth football into high school and all. You walk in as a freshman and you're a starter on the varsity team. So that was not my path. That was not my path at all.
- [09:10]
Chad Hennings
So why Syracuse?
- [09:12]
Darrell Johnston
The only school that recruited me, that was a Division 1 school and I could graduate without any college debt. I found out when I was at Syracuse, I was the last scholarship offered that year because another player that had agreed verbally to go to changed his mind and went to Penn State. So basically, my expectations were, let's offer it to the kid in the Buffalo area. He's a good student. We can showcase him to the parents coming in. We can keep the alumni on the western side of the state happy, and we'll get a guy who's going to work his tail off for the next five years. So there was no expectations of me ever being a Contributor to. To the Syracuse team.
- [09:58]
Chad Hennings
When I get signed, it's amazing how things turn out.
- [10:02]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, right.
- [10:02]
Chad Hennings
So, influences. I know you had some amazing coaching influences at Syracuse from coach Wojcig McPherson. You know, talk about teammates and individuals. Those two individuals, specifically.
- [10:15]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, yeah. There's a handful of people that have a huge impact on your life. And, you know, for me, it's Syracuse. The reason my football career became what it became was because of Mike Wojcick, who was our strength and conditioning coach. There are two teams in the history of the NFL who have won three Super Bowls in four years, and Mike Wojcik was a strength coach for both of them. I do not find that to be a coincidence at all. What he turns you into as an athlete and the confidence that he creates for you mentally is amazing. And that's something that I don't think people get. You know, when you're from a small school that doesn't have a big weightlifting program, and you walk into a Division 1 program, and you are not even anywhere close to being on the same level as the other people from a physical strength standpoint. So being able to be around Mike and work and get to that point was a huge thing. Dick McPherson was our head coach there. He had kind of turned Syracuse around, you know, from the glory days of back in the 60s. And we had. We had a couple of really great seasons. He was more like a father figure. I loved watching him coach. You know, he had his little pseudo, you know, Bear Bryant tower, you know, on the field, and, you know, he could see everything turning from side to side, offense, defense. But he allowed his coaches to coach. He was really a great kind of CEO style, you know, picking the best people that were a part of his past and his network and. And not being afraid of bringing in younger people that had different ways of doing things and maybe a different thought process on stuff. And one of those people that he brought in was Jim Hoffer, my running backs coach my sophomore year. And Jim had been a quarterback at Cornell. He'd been at a number of places already. He was just a brilliant young football player. Had an hour conversation with Jim yesterday. I mean, we are. We are still close, we are still tight. He is one of the smartest football people I've ever been around still to this day. And he. He made football fun for me again. I got down to Syracuse. It was overwhelming. I didn't have great coaching positionally at that time. I really felt like I was in over my head. Maybe everybody was right. Maybe I didn't belong here. And it was a conversation I had with my dad one day, you know, just kind of walking down, you know, from the car to the apartment, hey, how's everything going? And it's like, ah, this is. This is a lot harder than I thought it was. You know, I think maybe everybody was right. Maybe this is a little bit too big for me. And he said, I've watched you play football since you were 8 years old. He goes, there's no reason you can't have success here. He goes, you'll figure it out. He goes, because the one thing we're not going to do is walk away from this. And that was that got me back on track, got me thinking. But then when Jim Hoffer landed there and made the game fun again, I don't think people realize how hard the game of football is. And if you're not enjoying it, you're not going to be able to make it. You're just going to. You're going to fall by the wayside.
- [13:28]
Chad Hennings
You know, just listening to, you know, two things that resonate with me is that aspect of work ethic. You got to put yourself out there, you got to put the time in. You got to do. Do what it takes to succeed. But then also the aspect of a growth mindset, you know, we talked about before on this program, too, is Carol Dweck's growth mindset, fixed mindset, growth mindset that, you know, I'm as good as I can be, that, you know, no matter how much time I put in, this is who I am versus a growth mindset. I can always improve. I can find the way. I got to think outside the box to be able to do that. And it seems like, you know, those influences in your life, from your grandfather starting off of work ethic to your coaches, how can you think, you know, Coach McPher, how can you think outside the box, bringing new talent in, new ideas, etc. That resonates. You guys had a phenomenal, well, undefeated season. Your junior year with the boys should have been probably national champions at that time.
- [14:26]
Darrell Johnston
Well, we opened the door with a tie. We never should have tied Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. We should have beaten them. We had a third and one late in the game. If we convert that third and one, we're gonna run the clock out and kick a field goal and walk off 16, 13. We get stuffed on the third and one, have to kick the field goal, give them one more chance to go down the field and tie the game. So, yeah, it was. And again, you know, Everybody can. I remember the reaction by our sideline after that when they were walking the field goal team out to tie a bowl game. You know, we're 11 and oh, and they're 9, 1 and 1, and you're going to tie. You're going to. You're not going to go for the victory. And so everybody was upset. And the other perspective is, well, we had our opportunity down there. Just convert the third and one. They don't. They don't get an opportunity to go down the field and tie it. So there's always a way to find out where. Where you fell short in what you're doing as opposed to looking to the other side. And, you know, why would they do this? So, you know, that was another one. I got one from Blake Bortles during my broadcasting career, and it's really resonated me because I was a prove people wrong guy. I mean, just listening to my story, I was never supposed to do what I was going to do. And everybody wants to know, well, how did you achieve the success that you've experienced? And I was a prove you wrong type of guy. You know, when that story came out about me at Syracuse, you know, that would have. If they would have told me that while I was there, that would have fueled my fire so much because I just, you know, if somebody says something like that to me, automatically my motivation was, I'm going to prove you wrong. And Blake Bortles had gone through kind of a career where guys in the NFL, his peers were being critical of him. And, you know, you get drafted three overall, you have expectations, but, you know, that was the team that drafted you three overall. And he struggled, and he was finally having that season where you got to see who Blake Bortles really was. And I asked him, I said, it must be awesome this season to be able to prove all those people wrong that doubted you that you deserve this opportunity. And he's like, well, he goes, if you look at it from that perspective, there's still a little bit negativity to it. Right? You know, I'm proving somebody wrong. That's my motivation, is to prove somebody wrong. He goes, I choose to prove those who believed in me right, that when there were times when it didn't look like it was going to happen, and they stood by my side and they encouraged me to keep working, you know, for me to be able to prove them right, that they had that faith and belief in me at that time when it was dark, you know, those are the reasons that motivate me Not. Not proving somebody that I don't know wrong, you know, who cares about what that guy says? So that was like a. It was an epiphany for me that you said, oh, my God, it was incredible.
- [17:00]
Chad Hennings
You know, again, mindset, you know, a person can accomplish, you know, a goal, different routes to it. You can take the negative motivation or the positive motivation. Ultimately, though, what's going to be the better route to take? And then again, it's a choice to take and it's just your thought process.
- [17:19]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, well, the mind is. The mind is a powerful thing. Yeah.
- [17:22]
Chad Hennings
Yeah. Transition. The NFL drafted by the Cowboys. What was that transition like? And going into that, because your 89 season was the 89 season, right? Was your first year? 1 in 15.
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Darrell Johnston
Yeah.
- [17:38]
Chad Hennings
Give you the rope, Take it.
- [17:40]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah. Well, not. Not only me coming in and not knowing really what the NFL was all about, but, you know, really a coaching staff and ownership doing it for the first. So we had a lot of first time go around guys. You know, Jerry Jones had just purchased the Cowboys and was the owner and hired Jimmy Johnson, first time NFL coach. And so there was a lot of unknowns coming into that. And, you know, we grew together as a team. But the big mistake I made early in my career is I thought my work was done. Like getting to the NFL was the goal. No, not getting to the NFL. Getting to the NFL and succeeding and continuing to grow and become a better player. Now you've got, you know, a staff, you know, that's probably, you know, going to be able to help you shape and mold you even into a more complete football player. So, you know, that was my biggest mistake. I had a little bit of an exhale when I got to Dallas at first. And again, who comes back into your life at that time? I'll never forget Jimmy Johnson walking past me and he said, hey. He goes, your strength coach from Syracuse is one of our three finalists. And we've really enjoyed our conversations with him. And I'm like, mike Wojcik here? And Jimmy's like, yeah. And I'm like, I don't know about that. And he's like, what, you don't. You don't like Mike? I'm like, I love Mike. I said, these guys aren't ready to work that hard. Jimmy goes. Jimmy goes, you may have just got your friend a job. And he came in and that was the beginning of that team. The way that we worked, the way that we built our chemistry and our camaraderie, we were always together. You remember the way off seasons were. They were awesome. I mean, they were awesome. And watching everybody get stronger and faster and then getting on the field and competing with that newfound strength and speed, you know, Mike was just. He was so revolutionary in what he was doing at the time. And as soon as he walked in the door, he's like, what have you been doing? I said, mike, what was here and what we had at Syracuse? He goes, no, no, no, no, no. He goes, you can get a workout in anywhere with anything. He goes, what have you been doing? And that was kind of the.
- [19:50]
Chad Hennings
Wake up.
- [19:51]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, yeah. Time to get back to. Yeah, well, Syracuse, part two. Come in. As somebody who doesn't know and was never in a strength and conditioning program and have the fortunate opportunity to work with Mike and then get to the NFL and think, you know, your work is done. No, there's a lot more to do. And then have be blessed that Mike comes back into your life. At that time, you know, I'll.
- [20:15]
Chad Hennings
Amen. You know, those individuals that have had impact in your life, transformational impact in your life. Mike was definitely one of those guys. You know, you talk about an individual that brought Norvin the Soviet weightlifting.
- [20:32]
Darrell Johnston
Unbelievable.
- [20:32]
Chad Hennings
Doing some cosmic stuff. But it was things thinking outside the box that our improvement. I knew, well, you could probably attest to this when you got on the field. We knew that we were physically in shape, better than everybody else. Bigger, faster, stronger, et cetera, than anybody that we played against, without a doubt. Kudos to Mike. Mike, well done, sir. You know, you talk about. I talked with Darren Woodson in a previous conversation too, when he was on. Prior to you, and we talked about. I've never been around a group of more selfless individuals regarding putting their pursuit of excellence as an individual. Subordinate that to that of the team. You know, the three phases, offense, defense, special teams, you know, yeah, sure, Michael wanted the ball, Emmett wanted the ball, but it was to win. Not just win games, but, you know, ultimately from Jimmy's mindset, winning Super Bowls, that was the ultimate end game. But what was that secret sauce? What was that? And I'll give you free rein. Was it the camaraderie, the off season workout? Can you even put your finger on it? That made that team so special because we played a lot of teams that may have had just as much talent positionally as we did, but we dominated, particularly three of the four years that we were there. What was that that made that culture in the locker room so special, in your opinion?
- [21:54]
Darrell Johnston
I think we transcended teammates and we got to the point where we were family. And everybody talks about, you know, when you get into sports, you know, that's your family, you know, and it is talk in a lot of places. It wasn't talk in our locker room. We truly were family. We're still close to this day. I mean, all of us. You know, that group is still very, very close. And if something happens, everybody shows up. It's something that I experienced in college at Syracuse, and people told me, this will never happen at the NFL level, at the professional level, you don't have an opportunity to build those bonds and those friendships and those relationships. We were stronger in Dallas than we were at Syracuse, and we were really, really strong at Syracuse. We had a friend of ours get diagnosed with brain cancer, and he was terminal. He had beaten it, and it came back, and he was in Hospice. Within 24 hours, there were eight guys in that hospital room. And it just. That was who we were at Syracuse. We were family. And that family tie was even stronger in Dallas. The way we work together, the sweat equity we put in, the way we challenged each other, you know, we made each other better. The way we competed at practices. You know, I remember talking to Jane Obichek, and he was like, you know, how did you become so good at running rounds? He goes, I gotta go against Darren Woodson every day at practice. You know, we were so good on both sides of the football that we were playing against and practicing against some of the best players in the NFL on a daily basis. So that level of competition just broke. Brings out, you know, the best in everyone. So I. I just think, and I'll never forget Jimmy saying this. This. This was probably 1990, maybe 91, but I think it was 1990 when. When you're a long way, you know, you won in 15 the year before. You're getting ready to do a 7 and 9 season. So there was really no indication at that time, but he had that. That vision and that confidence. I don't know if he could see the individual talent and just needed to get the right blend to get it to all come together. But he said, when we get this thing turned around, there's gonna be enough credit to go around for everybody. And that was the humility of the team. You know, I'll get my due down the road, just continue to do my job, do my role. And, you know, that's what people would ask me. How did you do what you did? Well, that was my job. You know, that's just. You know, there's a lot of jobs out there that are dirty, you know. You know, Mike Rowe, you know, just talk to him. Right. Dirty jobs, you know, I had a dirty job, but it was my vessel to be a part of the championship teams that we all started to see emerging from 1990 to 1991. I didn't think it was going to happen as quick as it did in 92, but you knew it was coming.
- [24:28]
Chad Hennings
Yeah. Darren Woodson paid you an ultimate compliment also. He said that when he was a rookie, he looked around, I asked him, I challenged him, you know, who had an impact on you as, you know, as a player transitioning in. And he had mentioned to you that you were the consummate professional. You know, the old Joe Avezano thing, if you're 10 minutes early, you're late, you know, on time for meetings, doing what was expected in the weight room, you know, on the practice field, etc. You know, it's kind of that evidence of to what you do in life. Just watch me. Don't necessarily do as I say. So kind of describe at that point in time, you know, that transformation of who you're becoming as a leader in the locker room, how you chose to lead.
- [25:13]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, by example, for sure. You know, as an executive now. And we talk to these young men and you tell them, you know, be a professional in everything you do. Everything you do. So being on time, taking notes, being in the weight room, if you're hurt, get in the training room. You know, everything that's expected of you, do it and do it at a high level. So for me, it's always been a lead by example type. I'm not a real rah rah guy. And people have said, you know, I'm a little bit like E.F. hutton from back in the day. I don't say a lot, but if I'm gonna say something, you should listen to it. And I've had a few people that have come up to me that were teammates of ours and on two occasions had said it was important that somebody said something at that time, but it was more important that you said something at that time, because you didn't say things a lot. And it really resonated with everybody. So when you spoke, you know, it was. It was something that people needed to listen to, and that always meant a lot to me because I am not a rah rah guy, you know, to encourage. I love to celebrate the success of the team or the individual, but I'm not that real rah rah guy to kind of get things going. And I would rather, you know, do my job and have people, you know, come up to me and compliment me afterwards. Nothing, nothing fueled my fire more than an opposing coach during pregame walking up to me and saying, hey, you played a hell of a game last weekend. Holy smokes. Or one of our opponents coming up after the game and just saying, when we play you, I know I got to go 60 minutes. I mean, you are not going to stop. You're going to come every single play, regardless of what the score is. Those are the compliments that I look for. I don't need publicity from the press. I don't need notoriety, you know, especially at my position. It wasn't, you know, the fullback position at the time. There was no recognition from all Pro to Pro bowl to anything, and everything had shifted into the running backs. And so fullbacks were kind of a part of a group that was never going to get any recognition. So you did your job behind the scenes and did what was best for the team. So it was really easy. It was just the dynamic of the position, and then me knowing this group's going to do something special and I want to be a part of it, and the way I'm going to do that is by being the best I can at that position.
- [27:26]
Chad Hennings
You know, you're a very modest and humble guy, but the legendary career that you had blocking for the guy who holds the NFL rushing record. But I think you talk about a great aspect. You do what you're called to do. You do your duty, let everything else take care of itself. The NFL recognized that aspect, the fullback position, predominantly because of you, that they created that Pro bowl position. So you, as a Pro bowler in 93, 94, you know, leading that out. You know, I so appreciate that, too. It's kind of like, as a Christian, for when you evangelizing, it says, you know, demonstrate your faith, use words when necessary. You know, it's actions, actions that speak so much more. Going back, you know, looking on that, how did you, you know, back to leadership position, who were those guys that had, you know, other than you talked about Mike and Jimmy, you know, position coaches, guys in the locker room that you can point a finger at that said, you know, I learned something from them regarding your leadership style. Maybe Troy, maybe whoever. Yeah, take that away.
- [28:34]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, everybody, right? Every. And that was the great thing about our teams is there was a. There was a defined leader in every positional group. There was a handful of guys that were the upper echelon on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. And then there were the guys who were, you know, represented the team. So that was the biggest thing is we were like an army. I mean, we had great leadership all the way down the ranks. And that was the good thing because everybody was monitoring each other. Nobody had to worry about what the running back room was going to do because we were going to do our jobs. Nobody had to worry about what the secondary was going to do because we know Woody had that, you know, task in hand. Brock, Marion, all those guys, I mean, it was just you competed to be a leader as much as you competed to be a player. And that was one of the more unique things. I mean, it was just, you know, people talk about it, I'm just like, oh, my God, you know, I mean, how would you have picked captains? I mean, we had so many people that were deserving of it. Jim Jeffcoat was one of those guys, you know, kind of the guys behind the scenes, just consummate pro, just a grinder. And, you know, coming. The challenge for Jim Jeffcoat of coming from the previous era and being the older guy and, and embracing his role and working his ass off at an age with a bunch of young guys around him and kind of, you know, really leading that defensive line room for a while. So it was, you know, you could learn from everybody because everybody has a little bit different style. And I would always watch the dynamic in a situation that was unique and just see how they. How they managed that and how they navigated that. That's where I got a lot of my lessons.
- [30:06]
Chad Hennings
You know, you mentioned thing that it just resonates with me and to take lessons learned in one phase of life and apply it to others is that, you know, do your job. You know, it's segmented that everybody does what they don't be concerned about what the guy across, you know, another position is doing. Do your job, be the best that you can be, and allow, you know, that aspect of trust and leadership with that resonates so much now.
- [30:33]
Darrell Johnston
How can you do your job if you're worried about that guy doing his job? Yeah, you've got to have. You've got to. And that's what we did in the off season. We built that trust that I have the confidence that he's going to do his job. He's going to be one of the 11 that makes every play successful.
- [30:48]
Chad Hennings
You know, kind of dive into a little bit about Coach Johnson's motivation. I mean, some of the things that we did that, you know, we put limitations on ourself up here mentally when physically we. We can do so much more. We had mentioned that, you know, as our friend John Gieseck always says, you know, it was more physically difficult for us during the week. That game day was a day off in comparison. Right. You and I both talked about that. But what Coach Johnson would do for us from a mindset perspective. Talk about, like when we did the, you know, going over to play in Japan. As soon as we get off the plane, the bus we run in 110s.
- [31:27]
Darrell Johnston
Yep.
- [31:28]
Chad Hennings
You know, talk about, you know, like 93 Super bowl in Atlanta, doing metal drill, you know, before this is game, just. What. What did he do? That leadership kind of things that you picked up on as to keep people focused and go beyond their potential.
- [31:45]
Darrell Johnston
I remember in 1989, we'd gone through training camp, and then we were three and one, I think that year in training camp, and I think the only game we lost was our last game against Denver, and they brought John Elway off the bench in overtime to beat us. So you're going into the regular season, you know, hey, this isn't going to be as bad as we thought. And we go down to New Orleans and get housed 28 to nothing, and we can't block, we can't tackle. The game is moving at a completely different speed. Speed than what we saw in the preseason. And I remember that first meeting after the New Orleans game. Jimmy came in and just basically said, we're going to be doing things differently as we get ready for week two. I thought you guys were men and I could trust you to prepare the right way. Obviously, that's not right. He goes, if I'm going to fail here at this level, I'm going to fail doing it my way. So just be ready for a different approach. Getting ready for week two. And that was Wednesday. Full go middle drill drills we did during training camp. Backs to the ground. It was competitive, violent. And that was, for me, a great learning moment. Because what he said, if I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail doing things the way I believe they should be done. And that really, really resonated with me. And it just. It kind of stayed with that group the whole time. And that was. That was our biggest thing because, okay, we know exactly how this is going to be. So how do we function inside this element and not beat the hell out of each other and get each other hurt? And it was up to us to find a way that Jimmy felt comfortable with the practices we were having, but we weren't killing each other out on the practice field. And we finally got there, you know, 92, 93. So, you know, that was a big thing. But I just, the leadership that you had there, you know, the things that Jimmy talked about and sometimes they would go in one ear and out the other because, you know, he stayed true to who he was. You know, he's gonna, he's gonna have the same pregame speeches, he's gonna do the same things. But I'll never forget what Herschel Walker said one time. He goes, we, we were getting ready to play you guys and we had a, we had a great week of practice. You know, the film we watched, the way the coaches spoke to us. He goes, we actually felt really good. And we're out on the field pre game and here you guys come and you came down the tunnel at the vet and you took the field and we just went, we're not going to beat these guys. And it wasn't, you were arrogant. He goes, you just, your team came onto the field and there was an air of confidence in your posture and the way you, it just, you were like a machine. And it just, it took six days of creating a belief and all the effort we had put in and it's gone and a second as soon as you guys walked on the field.
- [34:31]
Chad Hennings
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- [35:51]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah.
- [35:51]
Chad Hennings
And that.
- [35:52]
Darrell Johnston
That's Ronnie Lott. We. We scrimmaged the Raiders in training camp one year. I think it was. It was 90. Quite a few years. Yeah. Every year. Every year. It was the first preseason game, and like you said, that was a war. That. That preseason game was a joke. Yeah, those practices during the week were a war.
- [36:09]
Chad Hennings
Every other series.
- [36:10]
Darrell Johnston
Oh, my God, it was unbelievable. So we had gone through the training camp with them, and then we played them on Halloween later that season. And I talked to Ronnie after the game, and he's like, what do you guys do week to week? I'm like, I don't understand the question. He goes, the team that we just played compared to the team that was there in training camp, because you guys were good. This team today, my God, from where you were in August to where you are now in October, how do you grow that much? And that was another one that always stuck with me, that our team was always getting better and better and better again.
- [36:46]
Chad Hennings
It resonates so much with me, too, because it's how in life, it's the process, but it's. If you're gonna. You gotta practice how you want to play. You gotta put the time in with that intensity, with that mindset, and it's. It works.
- [37:04]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah. There's one team that presses the envelope in the NFL in today's world, with all the restrictions on time and pads and this and that, and I think people would be surprised to hear it's the Kansas City Chiefs. You look at them as maybe of a more, you know, kind of flashy, not working hard. Andy Reid has always been a grinder. He always took the Eagles into Lebanon Valley for training camp and did what we did, get onto a college campus and be a family for six weeks and practice hard. Andy still does that. I mean, he still takes him away. I think it's Midwestern University, Central Missouri University. And they go down and they lock down and they work hard, and Travis Kelsey is practicing and Patrick Mahomes is practicing and Chris Jones is practicing. And that is why Kansas City has been who they've been under Andy Reid.
- [37:50]
Chad Hennings
You know, and that was, you know, resonates too, is mindset. I can recall a lot of times we'd have a lot of young rookies coming in. They immediately, because of draft status, want to be like, you know, I'm going to be like Michael Irvin. I'm going to be like Troy. I'm going to be like a Charles Haley, you know, All Pro, or Darren Woodson. Too. But they haven't learned to pay the price, and they haven't learned that aspect of excellence yet. And it changes. But let's talk about overcoming adversity. You and I both had the old cervical fusion. You had that later in your career. You know, predominantly. I want to understand why did you want to come back? Do you want to talk about the injury?
- [38:35]
Darrell Johnston
What? Yeah, yeah. It's just. I mean, it's repetitive motion, right? You know, I'll always remember Mickey Tuttleton was. He had a neck surgery right after mine. Drew Dossett did his right after me. And he's like, hey, I want you to come in and meet Mickey. And I'm like, how does a baseball player have a cervical spine injury? He goes, well, yours is repetitive motion this way from the contact, and his is repetitive motion this way from, you know, baseballs and stuff. So it's just a repetitive motion that wears down that area. So for me, you know, kind of getting through that, in hindsight, I wouldn't have done it. I would have retired. I did not play well coming back. I always held myself to a higher standard than anybody else, and I did not look, I did not like watching my film. I just. I wasn't the same. And it. And you couldn't not think about it. It was just always in the back of my mind, not that I was going to have a catastrophic injury, but just my handshake deal with Drew Dossett was, if anything goes wrong, you're going to retire. And so my fear was always the fear of retirement because I wanted to be on the field. When Emmett broke the record and the play that had happened, I had finally kind of had a breakthrough. I stopped cutting as much as I was the year before. I was using my head a little bit more, maybe a little bit more shoulder. And we were playing Washington in week one, and it was just a toss sweep. And we come out and, you know, you can cut on that play if you want to cut, but I didn't want to cut anymore. So I stay up, and you're going against a bigger guy. You know, it's a defensive end, so you're coming in. And then there was a guy who was unblocked, coming down, down the line, and he's looking at Emmett. No, not looking at us. So we have three of us coming together at the same time, and I just got spun out that way. And it was the first time I had the burner again since I'd had my surgery, and it was a bad one. And I knew at that Time that. Oh, boy. I think that might have been it.
- [40:35]
Chad Hennings
So I was just following question to that. When did you know it was time to hang up the cleats?
- [40:39]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, it was just. I had a handshake agreement with my doctor that if. If I herniated. And he told me, he goes, the catastrophic injury, you're no more susceptible to that than anybody that's out there on the field. He goes, but what you are more susceptible to is another herniation above or below your fusion, because we're. We're putting more stress on those other two areas. And I hurry. I herniated right below my fusion. So. And he just, you know, came in, put the mri, because, remember that conversation we had? I said, yeah. He goes, it's time. So. And I. I didn't realize what I had put my wife Diane through. I didn't realize what I put my wife or my. My mother through. They could. They didn't want to watch the games anymore. So I'm not playing to the level I want to play at. Nobody's really watching me because they're afraid to see what's going to happen if something terrible happens. So it was just. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't do it. And I've actually told that to two people I've talked to. We had a young man with us this year in the ufl, and sometimes you have to protect people from themselves. And I shared my story with him because he didn't want to quit. He wanted to keep playing. And I said, just, here's my story. And I mean. I mean, I got very emotional with him because it just came right back to me. So I think we can always share our experiences with people so they don't have to go through some of the stuff that we do.
- [41:58]
Chad Hennings
That's life. That's mentorship, discipleship. You bet. So as you're approaching that time, did you think about transition then from the NFL to what was the next step? What was the next phase of life? Why the broadcast booth?
- [42:13]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah. No, I'm kind of that in the moment guy. Right. Everything sneaks up on me. So, yeah, I didn't really have a plan B, but we, you know, we got an opportunity to do a ton of TV and radio here. You know, I tell everybody, listen, Dallas is not New York. It's not Chicago, I said, but it's very, very good, and it's very, very challenging. You know, when they ask questions here, they're intelligent questions. I think we've got a great. A great Sports group here in the, in the DFW area that covers all our sports. So we had on the job training through our career. So I had people, when I hurt my neck the first time, I had ESPN reach out, CBS reach out, had a number of people reach out. Hey, you know, checking to see if you're not going to go back and play, would you be interested in getting into broadcasting? So then when I did retire, you know, I reached back out to them and said, well, I'm going to retire now. So if that offer is still there from two years ago, I'd like to kind of look at that and see what the options are there.
- [43:07]
Chad Hennings
Kind of talk about a little bit about, you know, lessons learned through athletics in the locker room, translating some of those skill sets then into the broadcast booth. What translated? Well, how did you apply those skill sets to what you're doing now?
- [43:22]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, the hard part for me in broadcasting was I was a fullback, right? And it's a different, it's a different mindset there. When you're in the broadcast booth, you're the quarterback. So I just kind of reflected back on the way that Troy did things and the way that Troy went through his day. And on Sunday, I'm the quarterback, I'm not the fullback anymore. I'm not blocking. I'm the guy that's, that's leading the team down the field. And so I needed to be a lot more assertive. I needed to step out and be that vocal guy. So that, that, that was a little bit of a transition because that's kind of getting out of my comfort zone a little bit there. But, you know, I think when you get to it, you get to a point where it's, it's give and take because you're in the booth, you've got your production team in the truck and it's, it's, it's syncing those two up and everybody's seeing things the same way. It's a ton of conversation during the week. So when you go into Sunday the same as we do, we do all of our preparation during the week. So Sunday's easy. Everybody knows what I want to see. Everybody knows what I think the matchups that are important are. Everybody knows what camera angles I'm going to like in this game compared to the game we had last week.
- [44:27]
Chad Hennings
I'm curious, as a guy who's fairly soft spoken, your approach this again, I'm going back to that mindset piece. Growth mindset, fixed mindset, did the broadcasting piece, the communication, the verbalization aspect Come easy or was it something that you had to learn and teach yourself and grow into?
- [44:46]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, it really was. You know, when people see me as a broadcaster that knew me growing up, you know, I was you know, still soft spoken, kind of shy, you know, not, not a gregarious guy at all. And they, they always kind of, you know. They chuckle A little bit. You know, I never would have thought you'd be on tv. I mean, not you, not you. There's some early, there's some early clips of my interviews in high school that you would definitely agree with them. I would never be in front of a camera, you know, as a profession. So again, it's, I can get to a point where I go into this space when the broadcast starts and it's like being in the huddle. I try to stay in a huddle the whole time I'm on, on the broadcast. And so I'm seeing football and just kind of, you know, voicing my opinion on what I thought was good, what I thought was bad. I always try to take the positive side, but every once in a while something happens. You know, we had a situation last year and it was, you know, it was Trevor Lawrence when he got hit by Aziz El Shair. And I got on my soapbox. So I've gotten on my soapbox probably three times over 20 years, but I just, I just felt that that was one that needed a little bit more because it lacked the respect that you have for an opponent. And it was easy for me to get to that point because I had two situations where I was losing, I was losing a knee, you know, one, I was going forward and my knees were locked and I was going to go out the back. Another one, everybody was rotating and on both occasions I had somebody from the other team stop the pile from moving and keep me from having a season ending knee injury. So I've always focused around that respect for the opponent. And for me it was just, it was really difficult to watch. And you know, hey, it's a physical game, it's a violent game, but there's also certain things that happen when you see it that are just, they're not right. And so I got on a, on a little bit of a soapbox that day for maybe the third time in my entire career.
- [46:47]
Chad Hennings
Influences in the booth, Were there any other guys that you looked up to that you watch from afar and were mentors to you?
- [46:57]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, well, everybody, you know, growing up as a kid, you know, Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell and Don Meredith. And how am I Going Frank Gifford, I mean, that's the dream team right there. And everybody has chased that group. And then along comes Madden and Summerall, and they become the next iconic group in the booth. And just. Just taking the explanation and bringing the game to a level that just generated so much interest from the fan base and doing it in a way where you laughed and you had fun. And not just men that are watching football now. Had a great opportunity to work with Dick Stockton for a number of years, Kenny Albert for a number of years, I've been around. Kevin Harlan was the first guy I worked with at CBS. It's amazing, the people. Bill McAtee was actually the first game I ever did. It's amazing to me, the people that I've been around in my career. And one of the best compliments that I've ever received. And I never knew this. I had somebody call me up from Sirius Radio. When Pat Summerall passed away, he said, hey, would you like to come on the radio with us? We'd love to have you come on and just talk about, you know, Pat Summerall and just, you know, his iconic voice and everything he meant to broadcasting. And I'm like, absolutely. So you're on the phone and you're waiting to come on, and the guy goes, and now we're going to talk to Daryl Johnson, the last guy to do a broadcast with Pat Summerall. And, hey, welcome, Darrell. And it's. There's this big, long pause, and I'm. He's like, are you there? I'm like, is that true? He goes, what? I said I was the last guy to do a broadcast with Pat Summerall. He goes, yeah. He goes, that Cotton bowl was the last game that Pat did. And after that game, his wife, Cherry, asked Pat, you know, how do you feel? Thought you did a great job. Because at that point in his career, it is what it is when you get to that age and the game's moving super fast. And he looked at me and goes, if I could work with him every Sunday, I could work for five more years. And that meant the world to me. The world to me. Because there was times when he got stuck and I could get him out or he would lose a train of thought and I could restart that thought. And it's just.
- [49:15]
Chad Hennings
It's teamwork.
- [49:16]
Darrell Johnston
That's being a good teammate. Exactly. I mean, it's just. It's everything we're going to do in life. We're going to be a good teammate. If you fail, we fail. I'm not going to let you fail. It's simple.
- [49:28]
Chad Hennings
Again, I know the folks are not stating the obvious, but certain truths that resonate through athletics translate to other aspects of life and teamwork, etc. From leadership principles, character principles, work ethic, across mindset, across the board. Yeah, I had the opportunity. I did a radio commercial one time with Pat Summerall, you know, in separate booths. And I'm just sitting there, you know, got the headphones on, and his voice comes out. I'm like, it's the voice of God.
- [49:56]
Darrell Johnston
My wife kept the voice message from him for years. It was hysterical.
- [50:00]
Chad Hennings
And a great man.
- [50:02]
Darrell Johnston
One of the best people you'll ever meet, truly. I still don't know how this happened. Scott Murray invited me to a lunch one time, and it's Lamar Hunt, Pat Summerall, me and Scott Murray. And I didn't say a word. I just listen to these stories. It was unbelievable that they're talking first person about stuff we've, like, dreamt about forever, you know, I mean, getting back to the whole super bowl, coining the phrase thing. It was. It was. It was. It was amazing. It was a day I'll never forget.
- [50:32]
Chad Hennings
That's awesome. Another transition, you know, few people in life get the opportunities, you know, typically, to make one transition in life. You've made a couple, you know, from athletics to the broadcast booth now into, you know, upper level management.
- [50:46]
Darrell Johnston
Why'd you.
- [50:47]
Chad Hennings
Why you wanted to go down that path or why'd you want to go down that path?
- [50:51]
Darrell Johnston
I think we all have that desire to see if everything we've learned, if we can take little pieces from all the people that we've talked about that have been important in our lives and put together a team to compete for a championship. We've always wanted to have our fingerprints on that process. So I started thinking about it probably 2015ish. So when the alliance of American Football started and talking with, you know, some of the people you know out in Dallas and, you know, Will McClay has been another huge impact on my life. Just a tremendous man and, you know, just doing some things, and he's like, well, they're all going to be in town if you want to meet with some of them. And it was Bill Polian. I had a connection to Bill Polian and just, you know them. Would you be interested in this? And I said, yeah, I'd love to. I'd love to take a shot at it. So that was my first time, you know, being a general manager and, you know, really being able to do, you know, the kind of the nuts and bolts and, you know, just an amazing opportunity, you know, at that point. So you kind of get the appetite whetted there, and then you go on to the next one in 2020. And it just. It seemed like it was never meant to be, right, because, you know, the seasons were ending. But I always felt like this was going to be my way to give back to the game of football, which provided so much for me. You know, I met my wife. We have our family, really, because of the game of football, because it brought me to the city of Dallas, where she was at. And so, you know, I just. I've always felt that I needed to be an ambassador for the game of football, and I wanted to be able to create those opportunities, opportunities for other young men. And I thought I could do it through the general manager role. But then when the opportunity with Fox came along to go up to that next level, to get to the league level and really now start to put your stamp on what you think is important in the construction of an entire league and be able to give back to not just the group of guys that you have, but the group of guys that make up your league. And to watch some of these young men, you know, to watch Kevonte Turpin become who Kevonte Turpin became for the Cowboys, you know, Brandon Aubrey, there's been a number of them. Dondre Tillman, you know, just. It's been amazing. We've got some guys up in the NFL who've changed the trajectory of their life, and that's what does it for me, is, you know, trying to, you know, fulfill that mission of providing that opportunity for. For as many young men as we can.
- [53:23]
Chad Hennings
Who'd you lean on from a leadership perspective, both as a, you know, from a team perspective and then from a league perspective? Did you solicit any advice? Did you go to Jerry?
- [53:33]
Darrell Johnston
Did you go to everybody? Everybody that's in our life, right? You're walking into uncharted territory. I mean, me being a GM for the first time. Gil Brandt was a great resource for me at that time. He got me with Bob Morris, who's. Who's a local guy here in McKinney. You know, Bob was both. He was a coach and then he was in personnel, so he was my bridge to understanding that transition from player to personnel. You know, he was huge in my development early on in that phase. I've reached out to Jimmy on multiple occasions. You know, we know coaches, but we don't know general managers. So, you know, when I have to hire a general manager, well, what am I looking for? You know, everybody sees the game a little bit differently. You know, hopefully they understand what kind of offense it's defense you're going to run, and they're looking for those types of players. And Jimmy gave me some great advice. He goes, listen, he goes, you're going to. You're going to work with him and he's going to learn how you want to evaluate and what you want to do. But he's got to be a hard worker. He's got to have a passion for the game and he's got to have a good personality. Those are the three key things that he has to have. Has to have a passion for the game so he can work hard and be a joy to be around because you're going to be grinding. You can teach him all the other stuff, but if he doesn't have those three things, don't take him. And so that was getting outside the skill set and getting into the person, which was really eye opening for me.
- [54:50]
Chad Hennings
So what has been your biggest challenge?
- [54:56]
Darrell Johnston
God, that's a great question. Adapting to the player today has probably been my biggest challenge. Understanding that I am the old curmudgeon in the room and things are very, very different in the game of football today than they were when I played. And when you are, explain just some of those differences.
- [55:18]
Chad Hennings
I mean, highlight some.
- [55:20]
Darrell Johnston
Oh, the time that we spend preparing, you know, week to week, when you're talking about the upper NFL level for us in the ufl, you know, the same thing. You know, the practice time, you know, we get in the weight room, you know, we. The uniform, you know, you know, be one of. We have 43 guys active on game day. Be one of the 43, don't be one of one. You know, we'll give you an opportunity for you to show who you are as an individual with your personality. But we don't want to do that, you know, in a way where you're. You're different than everybody else. You know, you can show your love of the game and celebrate all you want. You know, we encourage that, but we want to go out there as 1 of 43. So, you know, we're very. We're old school in a lot of the things we do, because a lot of the people at the upper level of the UFL are guys that were in the NFL in the 90s and the early 2000s, and that was a different time. You know, after 2010, the NFL has really changed. So we're all pre2010, and so we're old school and we've actually gotten some buy in from the guys. You see them kind of grow and understand and it comes back to being a professional is doing things the right way in every single facet of your day. Be the best weightlifter, be the best film studier, be the best teammate, be the best practice guy. And then when you go home, be the best husband, be the best father, be the best friend, you know, so it just, it's finally starting to resonate with them, you know, kind of some of these old school values where, you know, we get a little bit of pushback before but I think they start to understand us a little bit and I think it makes sense for them.
- [56:57]
Chad Hennings
And if they start to see the success in their own lives based on that process. Yeah, I've always been curious because I asked Darren Woodson that same question of leadership in the locker room was how did the players change? Did he have to communicate differently between when we first came in in the early 90s versus there in the latter 2000s. I saw a dramatic change even within the work ethic of the player back then. I can imagine now with the influx of social media, now with the players coming off with nil money, don't necessarily need to get into that piece out of college. The expectations and their view, foundational view on team I can see are totally different. That unfortunately the negative aspects of the nil piece but in the portal. But do you really see that? I mean is just curious. The players have changed that much. Do you see is it social media that has had the impact on them or what? Can you put your finger on it?
- [58:02]
Darrell Johnston
I think it's society and social media. I think it's the individual brand maybe becoming more important than the team brand. You know, that's the one area that I see is, you know, some things seem to be more important from an individual perspective than they are from the team perspective. And I don't know how you have success. I don't know how you win the championship when you're that way. And that's, you know, I think we all look at things from the outside and we never really know what's going on inside. And that's why I wanted to share about Angel Reid and what Kansas City does to get ready for their season. I think we have a perspective on Kansas City because of the personalities on the team. And you know, well, that that's probably just a team that doesn't work that hard, that just has a lot of natural talent. No, no, no, no. That's A team that has a lot of natural talent and then works really hard and maximizes that. So, you know, they're a team that seems to be that kind of outlier that that. That can kind of balance that the way society is now and the individual brand and what they're doing and still strike the balance in their lives. To understand what's the most important thing. The most important thing in our. In our sport is winning championships. And so that. That is something because they've accomplished it, they'll never lose sight of it. And they can always go back to, you know, where they were. If anything gets to drift a little bit too far, they're always going to be able to have that memory of where we were and where we've kind of slid to, and how do we get back to where we were.
- [59:32]
Chad Hennings
I'm always trying to find these universal truths. And you talk about continuity. Look at back in our day, in the 90s, winning three out of four, New England, winning three out of four. Those individuals that had that impact. You mentioned Mike Wojcick, but it was that work ethic, that process that got them there. To your point, I love that you can always back off. You can. It's tougher to ramp it up than it is to back off. And in this, you know, for those folks that are listening in, it's. That truth translates to no matter what, whether it's in the broadcasting booth, whether it's leadership in the ufl, whether it's, you know, that starting your own business, an entrepreneurial aspect, there are certain intangible truths that are going to get you there.
- [60:18]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah.
- [60:19]
Chad Hennings
And it's to resonate.
- [60:21]
Darrell Johnston
Finding your balance in everything you do. Right. I mean, I think that that's the biggest thing. It was easy for us to go from Jimmie Johnson to Barry Switzer. To go from Barry Switzer to Jimmie Johnson would have been a very, very challenging thing for us because to your point, you know, grinding and then taking your foot off the gas a little bit, but, you know, not to the point where you're not reaching the goals that you wanted to do. I did it in broadcasting. There was. It was me finding my balance of what is my foundation of preparation, where I'm not so cluttered with all these different pieces of information that I can't stay in real time with the game. I've got a bunch of stuff that was written on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday that everybody already knows. They want me to start talking about, hey, why is that happening? Why are they not playing well today? And so it was kind of getting to the point where I've got my foundation of everything I should have leading up to the game, but my mind is open and becoming able to be flexible and move quickly with what's happening in front of me.
- [61:16]
Chad Hennings
Keeping the main thing.
- [61:16]
Darrell Johnston
The main thing, exactly.
- [61:18]
Chad Hennings
Now, you mentioned balance. Rewind this conversation down. I know your family is very important to you. How do you maintain balance? How did you strive to maintain balance back in the day when you played and, you know, today you're a guy that's all over the map. How are you maintaining your balance with that, with your being a husband and being a father?
- [61:37]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah, yeah, I probably could probably be a little bit better. I do. I don't know if I'm a workaholic, but I do like to be busy. I'm not one of those guys that wants to ride off into the sunset and just do hobbies for the rest of my life. I want every day to be meaningful, and I hope that that is translated to my kids. Diane's been an incredible supporter of everything that I've done. I've been away from her with some of these ventures for long periods of time, and she's always supported that because she knows how important it is to me. I did not go into coaching because I did not want to be away from my family, because I knew if you got into coaching, how much time you are away now. It's changed a little bit since we played. But still, broadcasting gave me the opportunity to be around my wife and my kids more, to be around them during the most important years. I really didn't start getting into the front office stuff with the spring football until the kids were older. Aiden was a senior in high school, Evan was a sophomore in high school. I was able to see them. The great thing was it was San Antonio. So it was easy back and forth. Kids were playing lacrosse. They'd get down into the Austin area. I could drive up from San Antonio and go see them play, you know, when they were down that way. So you just. You do what you have to do with what's important in your life. You find a way to make it work. And I've had a great. I've had a great teammate with my wife Diane, who's helped me do that. And then I think that we just, you know, when the kids were young, you know, we were able to be around them a lot in those formative years. And that was. That was the most important thing for me, to be able to be there to help Diane. And that was Even hard. I mean, she'll give you some great stories. You know, Aiden played hockey when he was young, and she's, you know, she's running marathons and he's playing hockey, and she's trying to tie skates, and her back is all out of whack, and she's just driven, you know, two and a half hours up to Wichita Falls for a hockey tournament. So there were times when she was on her own, and she, you know, she's doing all the heavy lifting, you know, while I'm out doing broadcasting. So it was just. It was being good teammates together and having each other's backs, you know, as husband and wife and then. And then creating a solid foundation for your kids. But, yeah, family is. It was very important to my mom and dad growing up, and I learned it from them. It was very important in Diane's household, growing, growing up. So it was something that was really easy for us to kind of. To set that example for our kids.
- [64:22]
Chad Hennings
And you're modeling that. It's not necessarily the words you said, it's actions. Well, I know your kids. They're good kids, dear. Let's close on this. Just. We'll close on the concept of identity, and I'll give you kind of a working definition. To me, identity is a filter that you pass your thoughts, your words and your experiences through that provide that meaning and impact. Now, if I had to throw out to you, define, give me your identity, who is Daryl Johnston from an identity perspective?
- [64:49]
Darrell Johnston
Oh, I think I've always striven to be a man of integrity. You know, there's not a lot of things that I look back on and am disappointed in how I handled them, but there are a lot of, you know, it's. It's one of those things that we talk about. You know, you try to be the best person you can be every day, and you fall short on a regular basis. But having that, what we just talked about, that family to support you that's around you, you know, kind of lift you back up and then kind of, you know, grow together. But that's the most important thing for me is, you know, if I say I'm going to do something, I want people to believe that that's going to get done. You know, I don't want to be a person of words. I want to be a person of actions. All the things that you've talked about, I think that that is the most important thing. You know, people that talk a big game, can they follow through with that, with their actions? So I always want to be that person that if somebody said, hey, if I want something done, I want to go to Darrell because I know he's going to get it done for us. So, you know, that that's very, very important to me, that people look at me and there's a respect there because of how I've lived my, my life. That, number one, he is somebody that we could ask to do this just because of who we think he is from the outside. But then everybody we've talked to that knows him well, we expect it to get done the right way.
- [66:12]
Chad Hennings
That's awesome. You know, it kind of reminds me of my working definition of living excellence is that aspect of having a strong identity and then living each day with a sense of integrity and character and purpose.
- [66:23]
Darrell Johnston
Yeah.
- [66:25]
Chad Hennings
Awesome. Well, hey, I appreciate you coming on. This has been a great, great conversation and keep on keeping on. You are making an impact and I appreciate the role model that you are for so many people around, you know, in this North Texas community as well as our nation. Thank you, brother.
- [66:40]
Darrell Johnston
Well, the same to you. This is the again, it's stuff that they don't teach in school anymore. And you got to be around people and you got to be able to have access to a podcast like this so you can hear these men messages because we just, we don't talk about it anymore. It's not there anymore. We just don't have. We don't have the male and female leaders and mentors around our kids as much anymore that live life the way that we would like them to live it.
- [67:05]
Chad Hennings
Mic drop moment. Appreciate it. So if you've enjoyed what you've our conversation, what you've heard today, follow me on social media. If you want to learn more about what we're trying to accomplish with the podcast, go to my website, Chad hennings.com check out the book Forces of Character. And above all, I want to encourage each and every one of you, be a force of character. Take care and see you next time.