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The Bobby Bones Show
#543 - Brian Bosworth on the Moment He Realized Just How Famous He was in College + Playing at Oklahoma for His Grandad + Why His Dad is the Reason for His Infamous Haircut + Bobby Found Inspiration in Something Boz Did to Create Haters
01:13:20
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- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:11]
B
And we were on some cruise and I think that's when it first hit me. All of the players from Washington were going, hey, man. Hey, boss man, I'm gonna get a picture with you. And I'm thinking, is this weird? Why am I taking pictures with the opposing team?
- [00:27]
A
Welcome to episode 543, the Boss. Brian Bosworth. Couple things before we get started. I want to clue you in on a few of the people we talk about, just so you know, but Brian Bosworth is kind of a sports cultural icon. We've had a couple of sports figures in this. We had Stone Cold, we had Chase Elliott. And so if it becomes a certain level of icon, I enjoy sitting down for an hour and talking about, sure, the sports part of it, but also. Also kind of the elements that were involved as they were getting so famous. And with Brian Bosworth, the background, he was a linebacker at Oklahoma. He was really the most famous college player that I remember from my childhood. Then he went to the NFL. He was so famous, people rooted for him, hated him. And it was a lot of marketing. And now whenever you see these players and they get paid nil money and you know, they're doing things to set themselves apart. Like Brian Bosworth was that guy. He then became an actor. And Stone Cold was actually a movie he did that I loved when I was a kid. And now if you see those Dr. Pepper Fansville commercials, he's the sheriff. But we talk about all of that. And so he's a national champion at Oklahoma. He's a two time Butkus Award winner. Only person to ever do that, two time All American in the College Football hall of Fame. Just super famous. And so there's also a documentary. If you listen to this and you're like, I'm kind of interested. It's called Brian and the Boss. It's really good. And I remembered a stunt that he did in his NFL career and it's what motivated me to do the billboards when I bought the billboards here in town. Because he did that with T shirts. He was just making money and he knew people hated him so much that he made all these T shirts that were like, the boss sucks. And they even talked about that in that documentary. And I was able to talk to him about that in this. So super interesting. I loved it. Maybe this isn't for everybody, but you can also get a cameo from Brian Bosworth over at Cameo. I have bought a cameo from Brian Bosworth before for my wife's birthday. And, man, he sent Back like five minutes. It was like a TED Talk of Brian Bosworth's TED Talk. So here he is, the great Brian Bosworth, the boss. Oh, by the way, I need to mention a few people. So there are people we reference early in this. Joe C. That is the athletic director at the University of Oklahoma, the current athletic director that's about to retire. Great guy. Patty is Patty Gasso, the head softball coach at Oklahoma. I think she's won eight national championships. She is my brother in law's mom, DJ Gasso. So, so we reference her. I think if you know that you're kind of good going in. Brent Venables is the current Oklahoma coach. In case he just kind of says Brent or Venables. Okay. I feel like we're pretty good. Here he is. This was super cool. And we did this on like a Friday night at 7pm so it felt totally different for me too because I wasn't fighting sleep deprivation. Also, the boss curses a lot in this. So if you don't like bad words, this probably ain't for you because we didn't bleep. Takes a minute. But he does curse a bit. So just a heads up, Brian Bosworth. Here we go. What do people call you, Brian? Boz. What are people that know you but don't know you? Because like I know you but I don't know you? What?
- [03:47]
B
Boz?
- [03:47]
A
Boss. Most people call you boss?
- [03:50]
B
Pretty much. Yeah.
- [03:51]
A
They see at the airport. Boz.
- [03:53]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [03:53]
A
All right, here with, here with Boz. You have a boss hat on though.
- [03:58]
B
That's true. I don't. My wife got it for me. Same with the chair. Yeah, my wife got it for me.
- [04:04]
A
Well, for those listening, what you may not know is apparently we're sitting in burnt orange chairs and I'm pretty vocal about my hatred for Texas. And I would have never said this was burnt orange. I'm pretty colorblind, but I'm not a Texas guy and I guess you're not a Texas guy and the first thing you see is you're being put in a burnt orange chair.
- [04:22]
B
Yeah, I thought I was with like.
- [04:23]
A
A joke, like a prank.
- [04:24]
B
I thought you're just trying to trigger me.
- [04:26]
A
No, no, definitely not. This is. My wife picked out the color in the Cherish chair. But super cool for you to be over here. I got a couple things that I wanted to talk to you about specifically. One is I am now in a family. Like I grew up, I'm a die hard Arkansas Razorback fan. Grew up in small town in Arkansas. So I am Razorback all the way red. But my family, they could not be more pure Sooners like it is. It's soon. And the fact that Oklahoma's good again this year is difficult for me because we are not good. If we were both good or we're both bad, that works for us.
- [05:02]
B
Yeah.
- [05:02]
A
But I have like, there's a buy a bye week this week and my wife's like, I can't even watch us win this week. I just have to watch you guys lose. That's literally what she said when I was walking down here. So that that's where we are.
- [05:13]
B
Yeah.
- [05:13]
A
But how, how intertwined are you still with the program?
- [05:16]
B
Very much so. I mean, I go up to most of the games, spend a lot of time with coach Venables and the family and close with the staff. They usually ask me to come in and, you know, do as much as possible even though I'm not on payroll. Hint, hint, put me on payroll. Yeah, I just, I just love the university. I love the program. I just want to see it do well and continue to do well. So, you know, whatever I can do to help, you know, facilitate any goodwill, I guess. I'm one of the godfather ambassadors to it.
- [05:48]
A
You know, who I love is Josie.
- [05:50]
B
Yeah.
- [05:50]
A
Who's the athletic director there. And again, I have no ties to Oklahoma except for my family. They're massive Sooners. And also my brother in law's mom is Patty Gaso who coaches Oklahoma softball.
- [06:00]
B
She's the best lover.
- [06:02]
A
Yeah.
- [06:02]
B
Yeah. Close with her too. I'm get. I get to go to the, like to the games and she invites me into the, you know, you know Patty. Oh, love her. Spent a lot of time with her.
- [06:11]
A
Patty wants to ring my neck sometimes. I love her.
- [06:13]
B
She's. She's the best thing Oklahoma's got right now. I mean, she's our mvp.
- [06:17]
A
She's got a statue and she's alive. She's still coaching with a statue.
- [06:21]
B
Yeah.
- [06:21]
A
Yeah. So that's, that's how intertwined my family is to Oklahoma. Like I am in as much as I possibly can be. So that was the first thing I wanted to talk about. But I love Josie. Him and I text a good amount and good guy.
- [06:34]
B
He's done so much for the program. He built it back, you know, brought it back from the dead from the 90s and you know, all of the hires that he brought in and just, you know, working with, you know, the outside donors and, and making all the right moves and, you know, he's hands on, but he's a Great architect. He knows what he likes and he, and he, he, he brings the right guys in that can build that. He's a great captain of, of our, of our university right now. And he's on his way out. He just announced, he announced his retirement, so we're going to miss him.
- [07:07]
A
I went to a game in Norman last year. I knew Toby Keith, and so they asked me to come out and lead the Toby Keith sing along. It was like the second home game or so, and it was the first time I'd been to a home game because if there's a Saturday, I'm. I'm either in Fayetteville or I'm on a television. Yeah, but I knew Toby and it toured with Toby and they said, hey, would you come out and do this? And so I got to spend a lot of time there at the stadium. It's, it's hard to say. It's awesome. It's a great environment.
- [07:31]
B
It really is. It's a really special place. And our fans are, you know, it's, it's, it's different because I hear, you know, people talk about fans from other schools, you know how rude they are. And I've experienced it. I've gone to places where fans are just downright rude or mean or, you know, they're just ugly. Our fans, when we host, we do our best to accommodate everybody we want. We, we let them know we appreciate that they came in to experience it. You know, it's. Norman has grown so much since I played there. It was special when I played there, but now I go back and it really feels like a magical place. They've really done a great job of building out the university. This, the, the, the stadium. And we're going to do another stadium renovation. Some of the dorms. You know, I envy the guys because, I mean, we, we lived in squalor. We had bathrooms that we shared, you know, with 14, 15, 20 different guys on a floor. And these, these guys are, you know, they go to school and they've got kitchens. What? So it's, you know, these young kids, they don't know how good they got it. They really don't.
- [08:49]
A
And what's going to be true is in 20 years those kids are going to go, man, the kids today are going to go, man, these kids don't even know how good they have it.
- [08:57]
B
I know it's just going to keep.
- [08:58]
A
Getting bigger and better.
- [08:59]
B
Well, they got. Everything's got to be shiny new. It's got to be you. Something that attracts you, especially recruits, because you Lock. You walk in the locker rooms. Now I remember walking in our locker room and there's nothing special. But for us, you know, back in the 80s, it was special because of the tradition of the people that walked in before we got there. So they built the house. But our locker room smelled like, you know, dirty jock straps. You know, I mean, it was, it was a nasty place, you know. And now you look at these, the locker rooms, and they got TVs, they got Barber chair, they got all kinds of toys. It's like so many distractions. But I guess that's the only way you can attract some of these kids to get them to come. That's just one part of it now. Now, you know, it's all, you know, I was talking to Coach Venables this, this summer because they had the recruits come in in June and I went in and visit with them. I said, how do you really deal with this nil stuff? I mean, nowadays you go to, to a kid and they should be super excited one to get the letter and get the invitation to come here as a visit. But do they have their hand out, thumb up with a handshake or hand out, palm up? How much are you going to give me conversation first? And he goes, it's, it's a little bit of both. But we use that as a tracker and a filter because if we do have that kind of conversation with them right up front, then we know that's a red flag and they're probably not going to be one of our family members.
- [10:25]
A
And that's a motivation and a priority to them. And that's probably not matching priorities of what you want from someone.
- [10:31]
B
Absolutely not. Not from Oklahoma standpoint, but I don't know if it's necessarily a born priority for them as much as it may be cultivated in the house and the family, because the mamas and the dads and the uncles and the sisters and the brothers and the family just unit, you know, sometimes family feels like they're entitled to the, you know, the, the rewards of what the athlete, the son and or daughter, you know, has been blessed to do. And yet now they're pushing them and, you know, I can only speculate, but it just seems like the stories I hear with the asks, you know, I'll come, but I want to make sure that my mom and dad, they get to come to every game and they need, they need, you know, a siphon. So they need per diem when they get there. They need a hotel, they need. We're recruiting the athlete, we're not recruiting the family. And it's, it's really kind of crossed over to where, you know, some of the asks are just so ridiculous that you just, you don't want them in your locker room because it does become, you know, a poisonous environment.
- [11:44]
A
There have been instances where kids have gotten really bad advice and made really big bad decisions. And I won't mention it by name, but like transferring schools and all from advice from their circles, obviously their parents or the people that are older than them going, hey, hold out for more money.
- [12:00]
B
Yeah.
- [12:00]
A
And turns out it was bad for everybody.
- [12:03]
B
Yeah. This leveraging, you know, they play a year, you know, and they have a great year or a decent year. There's already dark conversations happening behind the scenes, usually with family. That's how it's filtered in, you know, and then the player, they immediately go, well, I'm going to leverage what I have and what I have done so that I can go to another university. Not because I'm a fan of the university. I've always wanted to play there. It's just because I can get paid more there. And I get that it's. Football now has become transactional. There's no tradition that you're really buying into. You don't. You don't really care about legacy because you got nothing. You're not planting any seeds. There's no roots. And these guys that go from one school to another, and by the time you look at their career, they played at four or five different schools. Maybe they've had, you know, great numbers, great career, but they don't have anything to fall back on because once the four years is done and then they, if they get to the NFL, you know, fantastic. But, you know, that ride doesn't generally last very long. I think the career expectancy is probably under three years now. Back when I was playing was 3.2, and I played exactly 3.2. Not by design, but that's the way it worked out. But you know, having the relationship, building that, that I did in that four years that I was at University of Oklahoma, even though I left with one year remaining, bad advice. But that building of those relationships was the foundation of all the things, all the great things are happening to my life right now. And if I had the nil afforded to me back in those days, there's no way that I would have leveraged playing for Oklahoma to go play at another school just for the dollar of it. Because I was a true fan of Oklahoma. I just wanted to be a Sooner more than anything. It was a Promise I made to my grandfather, I think in 1974, 75, because, you know, he couldn't come watch me play. He was a farmer in Oklahoma. But I begged him, come, come watch me play. Come do, you know, come watch me do what I really love to do. And, you know, I was living in Texas at his time, and he said, I just, you know, I can't leave the farm. I do the whole farm. The whole farm is me. I don't have hands that I, you know, can just, you know, you do this, you do that, and I'll be back in a week. So. And I got that. But, you know, he said, if you're good enough, there's a little school that's down the street here. I'll come watch you play there. So I remember running to the. To the farmhouse that day, and that's Grandma. Where's the school that's down the street? Granddad said he'll come watch me play football if I make it down there. And she goes, you mean the University of Oklahoma? And I said, I don't know. We're in Meeker. What's the school down the street? She goes, the school down the street in University of Oklahoma. I said, are they any good? And she goes, yeah, I think they won a national championship last year. Well, yeah, I think they're pretty good. So I made it a promise that I would go play there. I was 70. It was 74, so I was 9 or 10 years old. So that's when I became, like, you know, aware of, you know, want a plan, but a promise and something that I could work towards with something that I loved and something I was passionate about in sports for not only myself, but, you know, for a man that was one of the most important men in my life at the time.
- [15:41]
A
So Barry Switzer didn't have to recruit you hard.
- [15:43]
B
Oh, yeah, he still had to recruit me hard. Because during the recruiting process, I had doubt problems just about my ability because of the mismatch, Mixed messages I was getting from my head coach. I had two. Two position coaches in high school that just loved me. One was a punter. He was offensive coordinator, but he was a punter in Texas Tech. And he and I would stay after practice for hours punting. And he made me into a really great punter. And then the other guy was the defensive coordinator. He made me really great, you know, you know, defensive player. But my head coach was going, you know, you might be good enough to maybe get a Division 2 scholarship, maybe a Stephen Up Austin or something. I'M going. Something doesn't. Math. Math here. Because I've getting like. My mailbox is full of letters from all of the Division 1 schools from West coast, east coast, north, south, all of them. Notre Dame wants me to come and play tight end, which didn't make any sense. Scratch my head on that one. I looked at their roster. I'm going to 6, 5, 6, 6. I'm 6, 2. I know I play tight end here, but I don't. That doesn't make any sense. I want to play defense, but the stories were there. And so when I finally, you know, narrowed it down, after conversations, after really my father saying, this is. This is where you're going kind of conversation, every school that I went to to visit, I would. I would commit. Like, the smu.
- [17:17]
A
No way.
- [17:18]
B
Went to SMU first. And I remember that, that game, they'd won the Southwest Conference championship against Arkansas. I think that night they played them in the old Texas Stadium and walked in the locker room, everybody's hooping and hollering, having a great time. And I'd never won, you know, a district championship or any kind of championship really, in football. Just struggled, you know, as far as a team winning went. So I just love that energy and go, I'm coming here. Yeah, this is great. Knowing that I had four more visits left, and then. And then I go to. To Baylor, you know, and I'm sitting down with Grant Taft. Baylor was a kind of a tired, you know, campus, and, you know, they. Their stadium was like, in the bottom of a bowl and, you know, just didn't look great. Great. And. But I looked over at Grant Taft and kind of reminded me of my grandfather a little bit. And he'd passed away by the end. I said, ah, man, I can't say no to Grant. I'm. I'm coming here, man. I'm. I'm coming here. And then I went to lsu. I didn't commit to LSU because the guys down there, they, you know, they take you out for the. You know, for the visit. And they took me to some seafood place and said, this is how we do it. You gotta, you know, this. This is kind of a. A tradition that we do. We'll know if you belong here, if you can do this. And so they sat up and sent me down a big platter of crawfish. And I said, yeah, I love crawfill. Yeah, but you got to suck the head.
- [18:43]
A
Suck the head.
- [18:45]
B
What are we doing? So, yeah, sucked the head. And I did all of them. And I was on Pepto Bismol. The entire week that I said, not going there. So. And that. That campus looked a little old. As a matter of fact, I remember seeing the. They had the cage out front off. It's still there, but the cage where they had the tiger. And I think I saw, like, the bones of, like, the previous tiger. Like, they didn't feed him or something. It was just like, this is depressing. So I'm not coming down here. And then I went to A M. And that was really that first place that felt like one. I can play here. I've seen the roster. It's a great campus. Jackie Cheryl was a coach. Jerry Petty Bone was the. The. Was the coordinator who was recruiting me. He really started talking about relationships with Jesus. And it's like, this is kind of cool. It reminds me a little bit of, you know, being in the farm and, you know, and, you know, being a place that felt like home and. And I feel like I can play here because I looked at Oklahoma's roster and Oklahoma was my last visit. But I looked at her roster and I thought, man, I don't know if I'm good enough to play there. I mean, they've got. They just got the all state linebacker from Lake Highlands, and they signed him last year, so I'm gonna have to go in and compete against him for the starting job. And I don't know. I just had a lot of doubts. So I committed to A M and canceled Texas or Texas committed A M and canceled Oklahoma. And then Coach Switzer found out that I canceled and then came to my high school cafeteria, like, the very next week and pushes the doors open and we've got a thousand kids. And, you know, we had 3,000 kids in the. In the school. So we had a thousand kids each lunch, three lunches. And here Coach Switcher walking in in February wearing the mink coat. He's got all the bling, bling, all the, you know, rings on his fingers from all the Big eight championships and the national championships. And he's hollering my name across the capture. Where's boss? Where's boss? Boss is in here, right? And I'm just sinking in my chair. I'm going, oh, no, this isn't happening to me right now. And he goes, I know you want one of these. I know you want one of these. And I go, all right, so let's have a conversation. So he. He. He talks me into coming up, you know, and visiting and, you know, at the end of that weekend, visit the. I guess the tradition Is you just go in, you talk to the coach and you generally, I think the coach either tells you, you know, we like you, we'd like to offer you a scholarship, or we like you, but we don't like it enough. So we'd like to offer you a preferred walk on or thanks, but no thanks. But before we even got into that conversation, I just said, hey, coach. Oh, I don't. Why are you recruiting me? You can get any linebacker you want in the country. Uh, and I. My senior season, we were 2 and 8 and I thought, why do you want me to come here so bad? And he, and he just said, because you don't believe in yourself, do you? And I said, I don't really have an answer for you there. No, I probably don't know. And he goes, I believe you. I believe in you. And I think if you come here, I will pull out what you don't think is in there, but I'll pull it out. I'll make you an all American. I'll make you a champion. But the thing that really, that really grabbed me and put a treble hook in me was he said, I just want you to come home. I want you to come home because this is where you belong. And that was the first time that I felt a coach knew who I was and wanted to make me better than I imagined myself to be.
- [22:30]
A
Did he do that?
- [22:31]
B
Oh, absolutely. 100.
- [22:33]
A
How quickly until you realized that Coach Switzer was actually the guy that said he was going to do what he said he was going to do?
- [22:43]
B
The reminder came the first year I was there. We red shirted, so I had to watch. You know, we didn't play well. We had, we were kind of off, you know, hot and cold. We would win games, but not Oklahoma style. And we had some great players on both offense. Indeed we had, we had first rounders on defense, but we didn't, we couldn't get past. We lost to Texas, we lost to Missouri, we lost to, lost to Ohio State at home, we lost to Nebraska at home. And we were 7 and 4 and eligible for a bowl game for some reason. We had Hawaii on our schedule as a regular season game, but it was the last game of the season. I don't know how that happened, but I remember Coach Switzer came into the meeting room after the Nebraska loss and he just said, we're bowl eligible, but we're not bowling. I want to thank all the seniors for what you've done here. Unfortunately, we're not playing Oklahoma style football, so I don't want to reward the effort that we had this year by going to a bowl game. We're going to use the Hawaii game as the bowl game, and we're going to celebrate that. But we're going to start all over in the spring, and we're going to revamp this team and we're, we're going to build this thing back. And while we were over in Hawaii, I remember being in one of those big, you know, big rooms that we, you know, would eat and it'd be big buffet and stuff, but I came in late, it was like a breakfast. And they had, I don't know, big giant tables where everybody sits around. And I was basically in there with me and a couple other guys just scattered around the big room. And, and I'm, and I'm, I'm sitting there eating, and you hear this unmistakable voice that Coach Switzer had, and I, I, I hear him go, I'm going to need you to play like a, like a senior next year. I'm gonna need you to be my leader. Really counting on you. Just thinking to myself, what a lucky son of a bitch that guy is. And I'm looking around and I'm going, there's nobody here. And I turn around and look at him. I said, you talking to me, coach? And he goes, yeah, I'm talking to you. I said, but I haven't even played yet. And he goes, you don't remember that conversation we had in my office, do you? And I said, no, I remember it. I just, you know, I figured it would happen, you know, when I was on the field, not like in a cafeteria setting, that you're kind of sparking this thing to life. And, and from that moment on, it's like I knew that, that he was, he was trying to be the coach that, that's, you know, that started me. That sparked, you know, was my spark plug. And then there was another, another event that happened in spring ball. I got my shoulder dislocated, like day four of spring ball. And I think you only get like 20 days of spring ball. So I'm thinking, you know, man, I'm down, I'm out. Camp practice, and back in those days, practice was like a practice. We were beating the hell out of each other. There was none of this crap that they do today, you know, shorts and shoulder pads. It was full gear, non stop, 100% full speed. And I separated my shoulder and I figured, man, I'm out for a while. And here I am now, seeing that that linebacker that was in front of Me. His name was Evan Gatewood. Never made a mistake. And I had a cerebral defensive coordinator and linebacker coach and Gary Gibbs, and, man, he. The only way to get in his. In his. In his favor was to know exactly what he knows, be prepared all the time, and never make a mistake. And a mistake could be as small as a, you know, a misread or a misstep. I mean, you could. You could. You could read the play, right? You can. You could get the tackle for a loss, cause a fumble and recover it, and because you had a misstep, he'd give you a minus. So I'm just seeing Evan, and he's never making a mistake, and he's pulling away from me, and I'm going, ah, I'm going to end up standing behind this guy for the next three years. And I remember going into the. The training room, I said, what's the worst that's going to happen? He goes, well, it's going to hurt like a mother, but, I mean. I mean, I can't shoot you. I can tape you down, but, you know, it's your call. I said, tape it up. Let's go. And I remember running out there, and Coach Gibbs is going, what are you doing out here? And I said, I'm practicing. I got to get a job. And he goes, all right. So back in those days, two. Two scrimmaged against one. So I was running second team, and there was a. There was a pitch play, and it was one of those moments that you just have where there's so much frustration and you don't have control, but I just said, to hell with it. Just put the. Put the metal to the. Put the foot to the floor and just pedal the metal and just go, man, just go. And. And I shot through the gap and picked the dude up and drove him into the ground. And one of those hits where, you know, everybody on the sidelines.
- [28:02]
A
Yeah.
- [28:03]
B
And then all of a sudden, I hear, coach, which, oh, the hell was that? And he's pulling guys off, and, you know, he sees me on the bottom of the pile. He goes, bosworth. I knew it. That's what we got to do. That's. That's that guy. That's our guy. And I'm going, holy. All you got to do is run around here like a maniac, you know, without. Without care of your body. Just go. So that kind of was the. The instigation of. I know the formula. Play it like. Like it's the last player ever gonna play, but just do it balls out and that's kind of the way I played, you know, at Oklahoma. Just with everything I had and, you know, it just, it just, it. It worked out beautifully.
- [28:43]
A
Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor. And we're back on the Bobby cast. Was there a moment where that insecure kid from high school who didn't know if he belonged or was good enough, was there a moment where that flipped to, okay, I'm now either super secure or like I do, I will mask insecurity with things like I wear big glasses. I do things to kind of create like a superhero costume. What was the switch for you?
- [29:17]
B
I don't know if it's just switch. It's probably like a dimmer. It happened during the, during the, you know, the first year that I played, so in 84. Coach Gibbs was great at this. He didn't let me know or anybody know who's. Who's going to start. Our first game was against. Was against Stanford at home. And, you know, for some reason, I had my girlfriend I dated in junior high and then a little bit in high school, and she followed me up to, you know, to college, and she did one of these, you know, broke up with me like the week of the Stanford game. And I went into a emotional hole. I don't know why. Probably because my brain wasn't developed. And I thought, oh, my God, I'm never gonna get a girl ever. Never. I mean, she was beautiful, whatever. And it's like, how dare she break up with me? And what's, what's the problem? Because all you think about is football. It's football, football, football. That's why I'm up here. I'm up here to be a football player. And so she breaks up with me. So I go in a hole. Coach Switzer tells me, go home and figure it out and then get your ass back here. Which was un. Unheard of of game week. And then I come to go home.
- [30:23]
A
For him to say go home.
- [30:24]
B
You go to go home and try to fix or figure it out or do whatever. And I was down there for about a day and a half, and then they came back and because it didn't get. It didn't get fixed, that's a different story. And so I'm. I remember laying there on the, on the, on the practice field, like, week of Stanford game, and I'm looking up through my face mask at the sky, and I see Coach Gibbs's head just kind of come into my vision and he goes, you're my guy. You Got a big boy. And I just started balling and I just thought all that work and finally get validation that, you know, that. That I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm gonna actually be the starter. And then that first game, I was scared to death. It was like 80, 000 people. And I'm running out there and I'm going, well, it's do or die now. I gotta prove it.
- [31:14]
A
Home game.
- [31:15]
B
It was a home game, and I remember Stanford got the first. Get the first series, and it was like, dink, dink, dink, touchdown. I'm going, holy. I mean, it's like five plays. I don't. I barely even remember them. And then we shut him down from there. We won 19 7, but I got an interception that game. I had played a pretty good game, but it was kind of me feeling it out, and I felt. And I felt like I still had a little bit of governor on. On the. On the accelerator. And then the next week, we were going to Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh was ranked pretty high. I think there were seventh or eighth. And there was a defensive end that I really. He was my mentor, and I played against him in. As a scrimmage in high school, and I knew that he had gotten a scholarship to Oklahoma. So I kind of watched him vicariously during my senior year. And so Kevin was one of those guys that I'd look over and it's like, you know, you're. You're kind of like my Lus's blanket while I'm out here. About halfway through the second quarter, he. He blows his knee out. And I'm thinking, panic's setting in. It's like, there's my guy. I mean, that's the guy that I'm counting on, because I break the huddle and I call the plays, and I look over at him, and we're sitting there talking. We're, you know, we're communicating with each other and we're spreading that information across the defense. And. And I now I. Now I see him getting carted off the field, and he calls me over before. Before they take him completely off the field, and he goes, boss, this is your team. They'll. They'll follow you. You're the leader. Go out there and get it done. And I just. From that moment on, I just took the governor off and just played like I played in that scrimmage in the spring, and it just. It just accelerated from there. And that's when I started to feel like as long as I play with that kind of reckless abandon and Full of emotion and just give everything I have. The sky's the limit because I got the talent around me. We were really talented as a team, but I was very intelligent in. In the fact that I knew what the coach wanted to do and I knew how he wanted it done. And there was the one thing I never wanted to do was ever look over at the sideline and see that I had disappointed coach switch. I never wanted to see him shaking his head and like, you know, you know, pick the wrong guy or he's not what I thought he was. So I always use that as kind of this. This motivating, like you got to play, you know, more than, you know, the expectations that are out there. And it just kind of dimmed. It went from, you know, what I was. Use that. That term, kind of a dimmer. It just kept growing and growing and growing. And then. Then it kind of exploded with the Texas game, because that's. Texas was number one that year. And my girlfriend had the Audacity Ex girl, whatever came, had the same one from before. Same one from before. She was. She was finishing up school that semester. She broke up with me to go date some dude from the University of Texas whose name was Duke. I mean, you can't make that up unless.
- [34:22]
A
Sounds very unlikable, right?
- [34:23]
B
Yeah, Duke. And she has the audacity to come over in Texas weekend or Texas week to say, hey, Duke, and I would like to come to the game. No way you can get us tickets to the Cotton Ball. And I'm going, you Duke.
- [34:37]
A
She wants to bring Duke.
- [34:38]
B
She wants to bring Duke to the game. And. And of course, the answer was no. But I walked. It was. That was the same day that we had our press, you know, would have access to us. I think it was a Tuesday. And I walked across the parking lot for Bud Wilkinson's dorm into the. Into the stadium, you know, and one of the. One of the reporters was, hey, this is your first OU Texas game. I know you're a Texas kid and, you know, you know, what's your feeling about it? And I go, first of all, I'm not a Texas kid. I'm an Oklahoma kid born in Oklahoma. Get your facts straight. And I was pissed. And he goes, well, but it's going to be a big game, your first OU Texas game. What do you feel like? I said, you know what? Burn orange makes me puke. The arrogance and the idiots and the. Those guys can't wait to play. These guys, we're gonna rip their heads off. And it. I wasn't Thinking straight. I was just being all emotional and honest about it because I really did hate Texas, you know, just was like, all of it. And the very next day, all of this stuff's on the. You know, it's the bulletin board, front page news of, you know, of our sports page. And back in those days, they would. They would pin all that stuff up in our locker room just, you know, so the guys could read about the. The teams coming in and, you know, they, you know, could kind of size up the guys and stuff, you know, and all of a sudden, it's. Now it's splashed this other stuff, and Coach Switzer calls me up to the office. Matter of fact, I went to get to my. My equipment. You know, usually you check in and they give you your. Your jock, your socks, your, you know, your undershirt. And. And then. But before I could get it, the equipment manager goes, switzerland needs to see you. And I go, oh, shit. So I walk upstairs and walk in his office, and he goes, sit down. Yes, sir. Did you say all that stuff in the paper? And I said, yes, sir. Well, that doesn't help. You know, they're number one. I said, yes, sir. I know. I said, why'd you say all this stuff? I was just answering it honestly. He goes, well, now you got a target on your back. You better back it up. And I said, yes, sir. So it was kind of. He wasn't mad at me. He was just like, you know, he. He could have said, that's not the way we do it here, or let's be a little bit more politically correct or let's soften that tone up a little bit. But he didn't say any of that. He just said, you just better back it up. And that was the 15. 15 tie. But that. That was the game that. That we dominated them to the point where it's like, this is the number one team in the country, that we're the number one team in the country. We just kicked their ass. They know we know, and the whole world saw us, and the refs took it. So it is what it is. But now our confidence as a team has risen, and it just. It just escalated from there. We had a chance to win the national championship that year, had we beaten Washington in the Orange bowl, but we went down there, we got distracted, and we lost sight of a. A focus for a second because I think we got so excited that we. That we knocked off a number one Nebraska in Nebraska to get to the Orange bowl and win the Big eight championship again. That was the first time that, that Oklahoma had done that the previous four, four years. So I think the, the. The energy and excitement of doing that. And then we got to. To the Orange bowl and we thought, that's Washington. We'll beat these guys. And we didn't, you know, we just failed. Made too many mistakes, and we didn't realize we left the national championship on the field because that year they gave it to BYU beating the 6 and 5 Michigan in a Holiday Bowl. And had we won that game, it had either been a split or we won it outright. But we, we did learn a lesson about the opportunities that you get like that are very rare and far between and don't ever miss that opportunity again. And we made sure we didn't do that that following year when we went to play Penn State in the. In 85.
- [38:37]
A
Did you ever feel, while in college, famous, more so than just on campus, or was it extremely insulated?
- [38:46]
B
It got to the point where I felt kind of famous. Yeah, because every school that we would go to on the road, all of their players, even, even when we got to, you know, when we played in the Orange Bar, member of Washington's players, we. They'd get us together on these little, you know, Orange bowl like, trips and stuff, and we were on some cruise and. And I think that's when it first hit me. All of the players from, from Washington were going, hey, man. Hey, boss man. I'm gonna get a picture with you. You know, and they gave us those little Kodak cameras and stuff. I guess it's like the little freebie stuff that they would give you in the swag bag. And I'm thinking, is this weird? Why am I taking pictures with the opposing team? I don't know how my teammates are going to feel about that. But the team, my teammates were also, they, they kind of enjoyed the ride, too, because, you know, I would just say because I felt like we were good enough, we could back it up, you know, and, and it was just all organic. I wasn't doing it to, like, you know, you know, market myself. I was just, you know, living my best life and in the best, you know, school possible. And everything was working. All the stars were aligning. So I was along for the roller coaster ride, but I was bringing everybody along with me, and we were all having such a blast. And then it just kind of everywhere we went, you know, we'd, you know, at the end of the game, the cheerleaders would come over, hey, we want to get a picture. And I'm going You know, I don't sing, I don't dance. I just play football. We're really good. I'm not as good without these guys. But it just seemed like all the notoriety was, was. Was coming down on me. I mean, I helped a little bit because I, you know, I cut my hair weird. You know, I didn't think it was weird. I just cut it because my old man wouldn't let me cut it in high school. And I was just like, well, he's not, he's not, you know, here now, so I can do whatever I want to.
- [40:44]
A
So that wasn't like a big statement when you cut your hair the first time, like, to the world.
- [40:48]
B
No, I mean, it was more of a you to my dad because my dad was like, you know, you're not cutting your hair. I pay $7 to get that bowl cut, and that's, that's the cut you're getting. I said, but, dad, everybody in this, you know, in high school, right before fall ball, they all go get their hair buzzed and, well, you're not doing that. You're going to get your, Your bowl cut, and that's what you're getting. So, I mean, my dad was one of those, you live by his rules or you don't live. And I appreciated that. I mean, I, I would rather have a dad that was that way than a dad who was trying to be my friend. Because I see the consequences of parents trying to be their, Their kids. Friends instead of their parents. And they're not supposed to be their friends. They're supposed to be there to make them hate life so they can get the hell out of the house and grind their own foundation and build their own house with the tools of hard love, tough love, you know, And I thank God for, For that kind of relationship. I mean, I wish he was a little more warm. Warm and fuzzy and, and happy, but I know that that was what he was capable of. He gave me as much as he had. And, you know, it. It. You know, it was what it was. I wish it was more, but I appreciate what I did get from him. But, you know, it. All of the stuff that really happened really was. It just really happened organically. I remember when we were going to the Orange bowl that first year, I went and got the haircut. I want to say I got that haircut about halfway through the season. It was after. I know it was after the Texas game because I've seen pictures with me with just long, scraggly hair. So sometime during, during that season. And I remember Going to the Orange Bowl, I asked. The girl said, I used to be a towhead. I'd love to be a towhead again. Can you do that? And she goes, yeah, just sit down. And we were leaving that day to go on the bus to the plane to get to, you know, to go to Miami. And I was already packed, so I had made the appointment so I had. I could get trimmed up nice and clean and then get on the bus and then go. And back in those days, if you missed a bus, you're paying your own way. I mean, they might be upset with you, but to get down there, you got to pay your own way. And I'm sure you'd have to get up and do some stadium stairs at 5:30 in the morning. But I remember sitting in the chair and I'm looking at my watch and I'm going, holy, I'm gonna miss the bus. You got to get this stuff off, man. I gotta go. So she washed it off. I didn't even look at it. And I. I got to the bus, walked on the bus, and the guys just started donkey laughing. I mean, I'm just. What, What's. What's the matter? Your hair as. Yeah. What's wrong with it? It's orange. It's orange. I looked in the, like, the reflection. I can't see it. Is it orange? Really? She's. Yeah. Well, we're going the orange bow, that's why. That's right. I'm going to the Orange Bowl. I'm just trying to get everybody fired up. How do we feel? So it was like everything happened, you know, accidentally, you know, with a slight bit of on purpose. I corrected it later after I got back, but, you know, it was like, you know, everything that I did was like, how outrageous. Can I push this? How much further does. Is there really a line in the sand or is it just kind of an imaginary. Just keep pushing it. Keep pushing and keep pushing it. And. And I think that was. I was always like that because when I was a kid, man, I was a hellion. I mean, my dad used to beat the. Out of me to keep. To just discipline me. I mean, just. I. I was one of those kids in. In elementary school, I got kicked out of. Out of preschool.
- [44:33]
A
No way.
- [44:34]
B
Yeah. That's why I had to go to Oklahoma all the time in the summertime because my mom and dad worked, and I was just so freaking mean that they asked me, please don't bring your son back here tomorrow. We can't. We can't. He. He's destructive. He beats up everybody. He's a bully. Da da da da. And even though my, my dad would, you know, discipline me, didn't really fix anything, but they finally said, well, and if they left me at home, when they tried to do that, they left me at home with the girls, my sisters. I'd beat the hell out of them. I'd chase them around, I'd beat them with my whip. I'd beat him to the point where they'd have to lock themselves in the bathroom so I had access to all the food in the kitchen because they would eat all that. They would eat all the stuff that I wanted to eat. So. And they were, they were older than I was, so it was easy to punch them. And they, I could catch them because they were slow. But, you know, it just got to the point where we got to get rid of, we got to get rid of him in the summertime because, you know, he's going to tear the house down. And so back in those days, they just stuck me on a Trailways bus. You know, nobody would do that to a kid nowadays. You stick a little five year old on a Trailways bus by himself. And your grandma and granddad, they'll pick you up at the bus station, okay?
- [45:48]
A
They'll be there to receive you.
- [45:49]
B
They'll be there. And then I was on the farm, you know, by myself for, you know, for three months and then. But that was such a peaceful time in my life. But every time I would come back, the chaos would start. I'd go to elementary school, I was in the principal's office daily, sometimes multiple times a day for doing something disruptive in the classroom. And it got to the point where I just walk in and say, Mr. Hewitt, just bend over and, you know, assume the position. And he'd get the paddle out of the, out of the claws and he'd whip my ass two, three times. And I'd go back and I'll say, I'll see you later this afternoon. I remember beating my, my girlfriend at the time over the head with my metal lunchbox because I liked her. That was way I, you know, expressed the way I liked her. She didn't like it that much. But, you know, I was just one of those kids that I had that, like a Tasmanian devil that lived inside me and I couldn't control the energy, so it came out in, in waves of, of, of violence. So, yeah, the only way that I could figure out how to. There was a man in junior high school. My father was my coach in every sport that I did when I was young. So he controlled all of it. So I, I could, I felt like I can get away with any because there was really no consequences. But at some point in time, your, your dad can't be your coach and now you transition into school. And there was a school, my, it was called Sam Houston Junior High School. And it was going in from sixth grade to seventh grade. Seventh grade was the first, first year that was going to be school sponsored sports. And it was that going, coming out of sixth grade, going into seventh grade, that, that spring before going into summer, and, and the guy that was in charge of all the sports calls me into his office and he goes, look, I understand you're a great athlete. I read the papers, you know, you know, you know, people talk, you know, I, I see it. Unfortunately, you're not invited to, to participate in sports at Sam Houston. And I go, why? He goes, because you're disruptor. You're. You're in Mr. Stinson's office every day. You're a class bully. The teachers tell me you're a class clown. You're constantly disrupting class. Your grades aren't very good. So I just can't, I can't reward having the, you know, the blessing of being, you know, involved in sports because it really is, it's an invitation to do this. It's not a privilege to, to play. So I'm sorry, I just can't. I can't let you expose your poison onto the players that are out here that have the right to play. And I remember going home that night and going, oh, my God, my dad's gonna kill me. He's gonna beat the hell out of me. How am I going to tell him that? That's something that's almost getting, that's almost worse than getting expelled because at least you can go back. And that was the first night I remember laying in bed and then praying, God, I don't know what is wrong with me. I need your help because I don't want to lose the one thing that I love more than anything. And if, if you can just settle me down, point me in the right direct, fix me. I don't know what the hell's wrong with me, but please fix me. And I remember going to coach Graves. What a great name to end a career. Coach Graves office and say, hey, give me a chance. Give me one chance. For the rest of the trimester, you won't see me at Stinson's office. I'll be the, I'll be The teacher's pet. I'll. I'll break up all the fights at the bike rack because I'm the one that's starting them anyway, and I'll get on the honor roll. And he goes, all right, if I don't, if I don't hear one bad thing the rest of the year, I'll invite you to football next year. And, and from that moment on, there was like a calm that came over me because there was a purpose that I had, you know, to yet achieve. But the plan was follow the plan so that you can. That you can achieve your purpose. And from that moment on, it was like, okay, life kind of straightened up a little bit.
- [50:04]
A
The Bobby cast, We'll be right back. This is the Bobbycast. I got three final questions for you at Oklahoma. Did you ever start to get heat from opposing fans? Were they booing you ever?
- [50:27]
B
Yeah, yeah, of course. That's part of the, part of the course. But I, I kind of took that as I'm doing my job, because one year you're a linebacker, your job is to disrupt and destroy anyway. So, you know, getting into the head of whatever player on the other side was, was the most important, you know, thing I could do early and often, you know, during the course of a game. But getting into the heads of the, of the, of the fans just made me realize that I must be doing a really good job if they're, if they're using their energy to call me out, Boomy, whatever, call me names, throw stuff at me. There was. We were in, we were in Colorado one year, and I remember that game well because they were going to kick me out. They actually did try to kick me out because I used to write stuff on my shoes. And referees came over and said, if Boz has anything written on his shoes, we're throwing him out of the game. And of course, I already had stuff written on my shoes during warm up. So right before the game started, Coach Switcher comes over to me. Get. You got to cover all that stuff up. They're going to kick you out of the game. And I'm going, what? We're, we're leaving the locker room now, right now to get, to get, go the field. So I had the equipment managers grab a bunch of like, markers, little sharpies and just cover it all up. And first play of the game, they throw the flag, boss is out, and coach is going, what are you talking about? Coach, we told you, if you got anything written on the sheet, there's gonna be anything written on his shoes, his Shoes are black. We're playing Nebraska next week. We want to see what it's going to look like. We wear black shoes, and that's our model. And they go, okay, he can play. So halfway through that game, I'd made a couple of plays on their side, and I gave him one of these, like, you know, a little F. You. You know, to the. To the stands after, like, a sac.
- [52:19]
A
Or a play, like, on the field.
- [52:20]
B
You did that. And it was. Of course, it was late, you know, it was like in mid November, so it was cold up there. And one of plenty of their play of their student section were throwing frozen bottles down and trying to hit me with it, and they missed me, and they hit one of their own. Own cheerleaders in the back of the head. And they had had card her off the field. And we. We'd won that game, 28 to nothing. But they pulled me out, like, in the fourth quarter, and I'm standing on the sideline and. And I'm standing next to Coach Switzer, and all of a sudden, some shit's coming down. And he looks over at me, he goes, don't stand next to me. You can get me killed. Coach, man, I just wanted to say thank you for, you know, stepping up and taking, you know, taking up for me. And he goes, yeah, don't worry about that, but just get the hell away from me. Those damn communists up in Indiana, they got it out for you, man. You got to be careful with those guys. That's. That kind of. That's. That spurn, the. The whole T shirt thing, and, you know, in Miami, but, you know, yeah, everywhere I went, I knew that the fans both loved me and they hated me. But, you know, it really made me feel good because I felt like if that's the case, I must be doing not only my job right, but I must be doing it very, very well.
- [53:42]
A
I want to talk about the T shirt thing. So just a brief story from my career. I'd lived in Austin for a long time. I'd built my own company. Nobody really wanted to syndicate my show, so I did it myself, kind of a different way. Came here, was very disliked, felt very disliked. And the only thing that I could figure out how to do is kind of reverse engineer. I knew I was good enough, but I knew I was very different. And it was gonna be hard to get people to accept me. So I went and I paid, like $12,000 for two of the biggest billboards in Nashville, Massive billboards that said, go away, Bobby Bones. And there was Nothing else on them. I didn't say it was me. I didn't credit me for it. Until I wrote my first book, nobody ever knew it was me. But the reason I did it was because big letters, go away, Bobby Bones. People were gonna agree with it, or they were gonna go, who is Bobby Bones? Or they were gonna go like, no, I got his back. That's all from you, really. So when I watched your documentary, I was in a really bad place because I was like, this is going terribly. And I watched your 30 for 30, and you were talking about the T shirts and how you would make anti boss T shirts. That inspired me to do what has been the biggest thing in my career was to reverse what people normally do. So I created all of this negative to create the positive. And I've never. You and I never talked, but that story is so instrumental in, like, my career. You doing that motivated me and inspired me to do that.
- [55:00]
B
Well, you know, fans are super important. Both the fans that love you and the fans that love you that hate you. You need them both. It. It's always nice to have fans that just adore you and have none that hate you. But all the haters out there make the fans that love you dig in deeper and. And ask questions, why do you hate him? Why do you hate him so much? And it starts conversations. And I think now that, you know, back when I was young, I look back on myself as a young, younger person, and I'm. I was an. No question, I didn't like me. And now I look at where I'm at now and. And the person that I've been blessed to be and now born again and have relationship with Jesus and. And really, really know the impact, because I still scratch my head. I'm in awe that here. Here we are 40 years later, and we're talking about something that occurred 40 years ago. And yet the impact that people have, and I. I can't understand it because it's not my impact, it's their impact. But they talk with such reverence and emotion. And it. It's a. It's something deep inside that. That I'm. I'm honored that. That whatever it is that I did allowed them to free themselves and have confidence to do whatever it was that they were afraid or in doubt of. Much like I had to go through, We. I think we all go through doubt. We all have, you know, these things in our. In our, you know, souls that go, you're not good enough. You can't do that. You're not capable no one's going to love you. You're not likable, whatever it is. And if you really just kind of stop and, and, and, and grind on it and work on it and believe in yourself and have people. But I think you got to be a genuine person. You can't be fake. And that was one of the thing I as much as of an I was back in those days, I wasn't fake. I wasn't faking to be that. I was just genuinely being that person in that moment. Now, do I want to be that person for the rest of my life? No, because that person is unsustainable. I really only wanted to be that person for the 60 Minutes I was on the football field. That was really the boss. And then when once I got away from that, I could just be Brian. And Brian's really just, you know, I'm a quiet kid that just, you know, I'm a Pisces, so I'm full of emotion. I care about what people think. I care about how I interact with people. I don't ever want to like, be. Yeah, I'm around actors all the time. It's like, you know, they're just conceited and they're full of themselves and they have these, these expectations that everybody should do this for them or that for them or I don't want. It's like, dude, you know, get up and do it yourself. Like mow your own damn yard. I mean, if you got the skills, mow your damn yard. Don't pay somebody mowing your own. There's. You're never too big to go dig a freaking hole in your yard and plant a plant. Do that know nobody else wants to do because one day you're not going to be able to do it. You're going to wish, man, I wish I had done it. So just live your life authentically, but be kind to people and, and care about what, what impacts them, you know, and if there's something that you've done for them, appreciate the hell out of it. Because that was a blessing that God gave me that I then passed on to them. I didn't know that at the time. And it wasn't until, you know, I got saved. March 3, 2013 when it all came to back and, and the pastor said, now you can't keep this a secret. I go keep what a secret? All the things that you've been ashamed of. Don't be ashamed of them, talk about them. Because you don't know your journey is going to impact people in a way that will change their lives. And you won't know it, but. And they probably won't tell you, but they're gonna see or hear something that resonates in their heart and their mind and their soul that it suddenly wakes them up and go, huh, I have value. I am valuable. I am important. And I can do something with my life. It's not, I'm just not living and breathing and walking until the day I die. There's a purpose for me.
- [59:43]
A
That's good. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah. That what you did then influence and affected my career. Like the strategy of it. Yeah.
- [59:53]
B
Look what you built. You got this great stuff.
- [59:55]
A
I do got, I do got a nice house. I appreciate it.
- [59:57]
B
You do. It's got a great house. But I think, keep this in mind. There are no U holes that go to heaven. You can't write or rent this stuff up upstairs. So the greatest gift that you're going to have is, is, is the, is the love and hope in your heart that you don't. That one you get to cherish and hold. But then you get to give that away to the people you love the most. Your wife, your, your, your, your new baby that's coming. The people that you work with appreciate the energy and effort that they give. The supporters, the people that love you, your fans and the ones that hate you that looked at that sign and go, who the hell's Bobby?
- [60:34]
A
We agree he should go away.
- [60:35]
B
He should go away. No, I want to know what he's got to say because he, if, if, if, if, if he's that good, he must have something like Charlie Kirk. I mean the dude was probably, you know, I'm not exaggerating. He's probably the most Christ like person that we've had on this planet for the last 2,000 plus years. And we've just lost him. Now we know the impact of why he's gone and what we're going to miss, but we'll always hear his words because we've videotaped it. And now we really appreciate and are heartbroken that we've lost somebody that was so eternally valuable to, to humanity. And yet now we get to celebrate him. And that's how, that's how fast life can change. So I, I just, you know, I appreciate any and all the things that happened to me, but I'm just a small little dust, you know, with all the other stuff that's happening in important part, you know, this planet.
- [61:38]
A
Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor and we're Back on the Bobby cast. All right, final question. I love Stone Cold. As a kid, do you watch your acting tape much like you would watch a game film to see what you can do better?
- [62:01]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And I actually use. Because when I first went into acting, it was like I went and kicking and screaming. I had no desire at all to be an actor. It was my agent's, you know, dream. He wanted to be a, you know, an agent that had a player that transitioned into Hollywood. And we had that conversation before I signed with him. I said, I don't. I didn't really care. I'm not interested in that. If you want to, you know, pursue that, I just want to play. And so, you know, I thought I was going to be playing for 10 years, and then, boom, it's over in three years, and. And I go into a hole, and the next thing I know, he's calling me up, and you go, you got to get back here. We got a movie. I'm going, dude, what are you talking about? I'm not doing a movie. I'm no clue what to do in a movie. No, don't stick me in that. That's the most uncomfortable thing. I can. Pot. Then I'm going to be fully exposed as a fraud. I do not want to do that. I'm not. I'm not trained. I don't. I don't want to do any of it. And Michael Douglas, who was one of the producers on the film, called me up and he said, look, I know where you're at. You know, you're down, you're depressed. We got to build it back. We're going to. We're going to do it together. Trust me. I won't put you out there until we feel like you're ready. You're going to have all the support that you're going to need around you. Just. Just come back and let's rebuild your life. You. Your. Your life is not over at 22. And, you know, I took those. Those words of advice and said, you know what? I'm gonna look at. Look at acting. Much like it's a football team, and you got to train for it, and you got to work out for it. You got to practice and. And. And you got to do things like. And when you're playing football, it's not. You don't just show up on. On game day. The hours, weeks, months, that. The prep that you put in, all of the stuff that you do extra when eyes aren't watching, and you're doing the work because you know, that's the right thing to do. That's when your growth actually happens. Not when you get. You get a sheet. Here's your. Here's your weight workout. You go in there, do just that, and you do. And you walk away. No, it's that plus you do this and more and more and more because that's where your growth actually happens. So I looked at it like, that's how I got here. That's how I'm gonna try to conquer this new, you know, this new thing that's gonna, you know, I guess, now involve my life. Maybe that will fill the hole that's now in my life. And I. And I. And I approached it with those. With that. With that mindset, you know, And I. And I treat everybody on the set the same way I would treat, you know, guys on the team. And, you know, it's just. You got a head coach. He's your director. You got your, you know, the cast. They're the guys you play with. You got the guys behind the scenes, the tape in your, you know, your equipment managers, and those are. The guys are holding the camera and putting you in focus. There's rules and regulations. You got to be on time. You got to be. You got to be appreciative. It's all of it, and it's all part of it. And the fact that, you know, I remember my. When I was a kid, my. I used to ride motorcycles all the time. I was a dirt. Right. Dirt bike rider, and my. My dad had a bike. And I remember I. I stole his bike one day when he was at work because these two girls that were cute called me up. Hey, we want to go to stop and go get some food. All right, I'll come pick you up on a motorcycle. And I took. Both of them, had two girls on the back of the bike. I'm going down the street. You know, I'm, like, 14 years old, 13. What I was. I was in high school, I think. No, I think I was like. I think I was 15 years old right before I got my license. And there was a truck that was in front of me, and instead of just stopping and waiting for him, I just decided to go around him, and he ended up turning into me. And I stayed on the bike. One chick, you know, flew off, and the other chick, you know, was staying, and. But I. I. I crushed my entire foot. And my dad was like, you're gonna miss football. I was in. I remember being in the hospital screaming as they're scrubbing the blacktop. Out of my foot. And he's not. Are you okay? Are you all right? You're gonna miss football. What is wrong with you? And I'm going, I'll never do it again. Because you're damn right you're never going to ride another motorcycle until your football career is over. All right? I promise I won't. And I. And I never did. And as soon as the football career was over, I went down in Seattle and got me a motorcycle. Riding around in the rain and stuff. Little did I know that, you know, the first movie that they would make would be like a motorcycle movie, you know, and there's such a freedom when you get on a motorcycle. I don't know if you ride.
- [66:30]
A
I'm too scared.
- [66:30]
B
No. Yeah.
- [66:31]
A
Wreck the moped once when I was 12. Never again.
- [66:33]
B
Dude. It is such a. It's such an awesome feeling, especially when you're on a big, heavy bike and you got that much horsepower between your legs and you could do some dangerous stuff, but there's such a. A lifting of. It's so free, you know, it. You're. You're. It's like you're. You're. You're flying, and there's just, like. It kind of. It's kind of an adrenaline rush, and you start to. And I kind of started living a biker's lifestyle, and it. It was just ironic that they came up and go, here's your first movie. Your motorcycle. It. It's a. You're. You're infiltrating a motorcycle club, and I'm going to. Okay, sounds fun. I just don't know how to act. So we got to figure that part of it out. I'll ride the. Out of a motorcycle, but we got to figure out how I can talk. So it turned out to be great, you know? And, you know, I do watch. You know, I do create my critique myself a lot when I'm. When I'm Mark. Watching the playback on whether it be tv, whether it be film.
- [67:38]
A
Did you think Fansville would go this long?
- [67:41]
B
No. I hoped it did. I. I really enjoyed doing Fansville. We were trying to. Trying to do Fansville, the TV series, for a minute, but I don't know how that that would work. But I. I think it's just. It's ironic because when they. When they. When they came to me and said, Dr. Pepper wants you to be their sheriff in fi. I said, that's amazing, because Dr. Pepper was my guy. Go to drink when I was a kid. How cool is that? So, you know, it's Just funny how all this stuff kind of lands in your lap and you're just. You don't expect it, but ends up being just an amazing blessing. And we've had eight great years and hopefully we have another eight more.
- [68:23]
A
Yeah, that's awesome. Well, this has been a real thrill, so I, I really appreciate the time. Really appreciate the, the inspiration in different ways that you didn't know. You provided me. And so for me, I think that was my number one motivator for having you come by. And then two, my family are such massive Oklahoma fans. My family's ingrained in the school, obviously, with Patty, and so I know they're going to love this, too. So, yeah, for so many reasons, it's been a real honor to have you over. So thank you for spending an hour with me.
- [68:48]
B
Well, I really appreciate you bringing me on. Makes me. Makes me feel important because get to share the stories and then hear how whatever it is that I did in my past had a positive influence on you. And it got you these two burn.
- [69:02]
A
Burn orange chairs that I didn't know were born. Hey, you. You better believe these chairs aren't going to be here much longer after you get out of here. It's got to be weird to live in Austin, though, and be an OU guy.
- [69:11]
B
You know, it was. It was. It was awkward at first, but then I went out a couple of times and people, you know, the fans are fans and they, I think fans, especially of your rival, they appreciate the effort that you gave because rivalries are fun, especially when they're really good rivalries like Texas and. Oh, you are. And fans like to see their. Their team's challenge to the nth degree. How good are we? Can, oh, can we beat that team? And sometimes, you know, the OU Texas game, you know, it goes in weird ways, but I have found that, that the Texas fans truly appreciate the effort that I gave as a Sooner because I think they appreciate how much I love Oklahoma because you want the players that play for your team to love the team and tradition as much as I did for Oklahoma because it just makes the team better because the guys will, Will. Will live, eat, breathe, kill themselves in order to get that w, you know, and that's the thing that they're going to remember forever the effort that you gave. And I've actually gone to a few Texas, Texas games by invitation. At first, I was a little nervous about going. I said, yeah, they don't want me in their house. I'm pretty sure they're not gonna want me in there. And Then every time I've gone, it's, it's just been, just a great, a great warm welcome.
- [70:38]
A
You still do cameos?
- [70:40]
B
I still do like lots of cameos.
- [70:42]
A
Yeah, I bought one of those ones.
- [70:43]
B
Yeah, I, I appreciate those too because I get deep on them, you know, I always.
- [70:47]
A
Yeah, you sent me a four minute one back. I bought one for my wife's birthday. You said back like a four minute one. Talking about all the specifics of things that I had ment mentioned it was the most elaborate, awesome cameo we'd ever bought.
- [70:56]
B
Well, because I, I look at them sometimes. I look at some of these, some of these guys that have, they're on cameo and they're going, they're, they're like, you know, for 500 or 1500, dude, your time's not worth. You're gonna give them like a, like a 30 second blow off whatever, dude. Give them something. They, they go to the effort of they want something special. They give you specific informations but then open up your heart and talk to them. Don't just give a message. Talk to them so that they realize the person that, that they wanted to hear from and see is more than just a person. He's, he's a genuine human being that has, you know, that has feelings. He's up, he's down, he's been through some stuff. He give, he can give you advice, but more than anything it's, it's like an honor. It's like somebody's taking the time and they want me to express something important to that other person. Whether it be a happy birthday, lift them up, you know, congrat, congratulations, you know, job well done. You're, you're retiring, you're going into the next phase of life. You know, he's recovering from his surgery, he's super down and he needs, you know, he needs some encouraging words, whatever it is. But somebody went to the effort to do that. So give 110% effort back. Otherwise don't do it.
- [72:18]
A
Yeah, get a boss cameo. It was a. Yeah, we bought one. It was, it was one of the best ones.
- [72:22]
B
Nice.
- [72:23]
A
That's how life is. One day you're buying a cameo from Boz, the next day he's over at your house.
- [72:27]
B
In my burnt orange chair.
- [72:28]
A
In his burn orange chair.
- [72:30]
B
Hey now if you don't want these and you want to give them away, I won't say no. Cuz it is a com.
- [72:38]
A
That's what I'm saying. It's a comfortable chair.
- [72:40]
B
Yeah, it is a comfortable chair.
- [72:41]
A
It's a comfortable chair, and I have.
- [72:43]
B
Learned to appreciate, you know, there, there. You need things in your life to remind you how you got to where you where you are, you know, where you're from, where you at, where you're going, and what did you give up to get there.
- [72:57]
A
So which part of that would this chair be to you?
- [73:01]
B
What? What did I give up to get here? So I gave up hating burnt orange so that I could sit in a burnt orange chair and have an amazing conversation.
- [73:10]
A
I'm going to say they're not burnt, but okay, I'll accept it. There he is, the great brother Ryan Bosworth. Thanks for listening to a Bobby Cast production. This is an I Heart podcast.