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- [00:02]
Vince Wilfork
You're listening to DraftKings Network.
- [00:27]
Interviewer
We've got Miami Hurricane royalty in the house, two time Super bowl champ, national champion in college football, five time Pro Bowler. And I say this is compliment, not insult. Half the man he used to be because Vince Wilfork has slimmed down and gotten healthy. Nice to see you, sir.
- [00:46]
Vince Wilfork
It's a pleasure. But the heart's still the same. No matter how much I weigh or lose, the heart still stays.
- [00:51]
Interviewer
Well, you've always been saluted for your heart. I'm going to read some Belichick quotes to you that are very flattering because he calls you one of the greatest leaders ever. But I told you before we started here, I was hoping to do some of this stuff biographically with you. So when did you know you were going to be a football player? Because I've read that you told your parents very early.
- [01:09]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, around four or five years old. I told my father, like, I want to be an NFL football player. You know, at a very young age, I understood who I was when it comes down to being, you know, what I wanted to do. That's what I wanted to do. That's all I wanted to do. That's all I wanted to know about. And my father, he used to coach some football back in the day. So, you know, I only played one season of football, and it was flagged because of my size and my age. So I used to go to practice all the time with my dad and watch him coach. And when they do drills, I'm on the side doing it myself. When it was time for them to condition, I would go on the side and condition with them. And that's how I came up with football. And I went all that years, my childhood, I went all those years without playing no football after my first time playing it because either I was too young or I was too big. It was the weight limit or your age. I used to miss both of them. So my next time playing football after that was in high school. So between, you know, four and five years old, to high school, I played basketball. You know, basketball was my sport, you know, and I was a pretty good basketball player, you know, and when I got to high school, my high school coach, he thought for sure I was going to pick, you know, playing basketball, because that's all I did, you know, But I was like, no, I'm play football. And he kind of looked at me, he like, listen, you haven't played football since you was four or five years old. And, you know, all you used to do is play Basketball, you know, the tournaments, the aau. And he used to watch me play. He was like, you picking football? I'm like, yeah, that's what I want to do.
- [02:42]
Interviewer
But not as a defensive tackle, right?
- [02:44]
Vince Wilfork
You didn't.
- [02:44]
Interviewer
Nobody wants to be a defensive tackle as a child.
- [02:47]
Vince Wilfork
No, but, you know, my father. And my father was a great high school football player. Like, he was, you know, he was known around town as could have been one of those ones to make it, you know, but some other stuff happened in his life, and what was more important to him at that time was, you know, starting a family. So he chose family over football. So I think I've always, you know, lived my dream through my father. So every time he got a chance before he passed away to see me play, that was always a blessing. And I always wanted to make my father proud, you know, And I. And I knew me and my father connection was sports, you know, everything else. But, yeah, sports was like, yeah, you know, even my brother, you know, we. My father was this sports guy, and we watched every sport. You name it, we watched it. It didn't matter, you know, and that's where I kind of get all my grit from, my grind, from understanding how to be a professional, understanding how to play the game, how to respect the game, how to respect people, you know, because my father taught me all that. And I used to watch my father, how he communicate with his friends while he was coaching and then the players as he was coaching, just how he communicated and interacted with them. And so I kind of took all of that from my father and said, hey, I want to mold myself. I'm a football player. That's what I want to be able to put everything in this basket, to be this, you know, and once I took it, once I got to high school and I really started, you know, taking the series and playing, it was a no doubt for me. You know, I knew. I never. I never played jv. I never played freshman. I was varsity. Started varsity all four of my years. My first year in high school, I was a defensive end, 275lb defensive end. And then the next year, they moved me into defensive tackle. And I'm like, I'm talking with my coach. I'm like, wow, I am. My father played defensive end, was number 75. I played defensive ends wearing 75. That's what I want to do. Like, why? Moving me to tackle, you know, And I really didn't understand it at the time, but, you know, sophomore year, I was £300, you know, so, yeah, so it's like, you know, to me, I'm like, I don't care about that, you know, but he was like, no, you know, this is your position. This is. And at first I was rebellious. I didn't want to do it, you know, but once I started understanding and learning the game and fallen and I grew up a Hurricanes fan, so I've always watched Warren Sapp and Cortez Kennedy, Russell Malley understand who Jerome Brown was and the tradition of defensive tackles. And that's what my coach explained to me. Like, listen, you're going to be in, in the line with these legendary defensive tackles that came out of the University of Miami, you know, and once I saw it like that, I was all in, you know, and that's how I started becoming a defensive tackle my second year in high school, and I never looked back from them. A lot of people don't understand is when I got to New England, I had to learn how to be a nose tackle. I didn't. I had no clue how to 2 Gap or how to be a nose tackle. So that was a whole new.
- [05:35]
Interviewer
That's crazy. Belichick says you're the best two gap defensive tackle he's ever seen in 43 years of coaching.
- [05:42]
Vince Wilfork
And I had, and I had to learn that. You had to learn it in the pros. I had to learn it in the pros. So when I got drafted in New England and I got drafted, they just got rid of probably the best nose tackle ever with Ted Washington, right? True nose tackle. That's when you talk about nose tackle and two gap. He is, he's the top dog, right? So they got rid of him and they drafted me. And you know, you know, at, um, I'm, I'm penetrating defensive tackle. You know, I played one eye and two eye and three techniques. We were going, you know, we was hitting and getting it, and when I got there, they were like, no, no, we're not doing that. And I'm like, what you mean we're not doing. This is how we make plays. Like, what do you mean? So he like, no, we don't do that here. Like that. I'm gonna teach you how to two.
- [06:23]
Interviewer
Gap and your job is not to get moved.
- [06:26]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, I can't get moved. I have to take a beating. I have to take double teams. I have to basically hold up blockers for guys behind me to make plays. That was, that's, that's a 2 gap in those tackles. So at first it was, you know, it was rough. It was tough because I'm Used to just hitting and getting. And then I had to really learn that position. And it took me three years, it took me three years to learn that position. Once I finally got to a point, say, you know what, I'm a nosacker now. Now I have to be the best I possibly can. Now when I got out of my pouting phase and I don't want to do this, I want the Sags, I want the TFLs. Once I got out of that mindset and really focused and locked in on learning how to be a two gap nose tackle, it was lights, camera, action.
- [07:10]
Interviewer
Explain to the audience or strangers what the relationship with your father was because you were, you were a caretaker before you were 10 years old.
- [07:19]
Vince Wilfork
Oh, yeah, absolute. At 8 years old, you know, my father was in and out of the hospital When I was 8, my brother was 10. We took care of my father. You know, my mom was in and out of work, sometimes she wasn't working and when times she was working, we all was taking care of my father. And I remember being what, 10 years old, me and my brother taking care of my father and at the same time having my grandmother pass away in my arms, Me and my brother arms at 10, you know, so not only did, you know, I had to handle, we had to handle my dad now we had to make sure and take care of my grandmother who died in our arms. And I remember, I mean, it's 1 2:00 o' clock in the morning, we're driving to go to the hospital, my mom driving and she, my mom's crying. Me and my brother, we sit in the back seat basically holding my grandmother while she's deceased. And that's at 10 years old. So that woman, she was like a mother to me and my brother. You know, I tell my wife all the time I love to be rubbed. And the reason I love to be rubbed is because that's where comfort, that's what my grandmother did to me every night. And mind you, my grandmother was probably 80 pounds, but she would lay me across her lap and she would rub my back every night and she would put me to sleep, you know, so I tell my wife all the time, well, my grandmama did it to me. So it's like, it's a comfort for me to be touched and be rubbed, to be, you know, nurtured, you know, because my life just wasn't set up like a typical kid where I can play, I can do this, I can have friends, I can go here. I didn't have that because, you know, me and my Brother. We had responsibility at a young age to take care of my father. And we never. We never once felt bad about doing it. This was just something we did. We loved my father so much, it didn't matter. But my father used to always tell us, I don't want to be a burden to you guys. You know, as a kid, I'm like, I don't care. Like, I don't hear that. We, we don't care about that. You're our father. We gonna make sure you're good, you know. And it was times where, you know, my father would, you know, be. Feel good enough. And either it was my brother or me, we would get out of school, drive home, pick my father up, bring him to the practice, get ready to practice and practice, and we all go home together. And that was daily. You know, when my father felt up to it and he was having a good day and he wanted to be out to football practice, we would go get him. We would take time out of our before practice, you know, just go home and get him so he can be out here. Because my father loved that and he loved us and he loved the guys. Like, he loved my teammates and the friends. Friends and stuff. He loved that stuff. So, you know, everybody used to call my daddy coach, you know, because he would get on anybody, he would coach anybody. He didn't matter, you know, and he's always have a saying, it's hard, but it's fair, you know, And I have a buddy of mine all the time, he'll text me, it's hard, but it's fine. Every time you say that, I'm thinking my father, you know, so our relationship was really, really good. And then it wasn't a normal relationship where, you know, we just had the freedom just to be a kid because we did it, you know, Our freedom was taking care of my father. So a lot of stuff in life, you know, even now, you know, it's a lot of stuff that I have to learn at an old age and not. Not to put on top of it that, you know, being 20, 21, 22, 23 years old, now all of a sudden I get drafted, my dream come true. Now I don't have my parents, my father, you know, so, you know, all this money. So where's, you know, my job and what my wanted, my dream to be, I've got it. So why do what I have to worry about, you know, learning certain stuff because I am where I'm where I want them to be. But it doesn't work like that. You know, you still have to have some stuff in your life. You have to learn, and you have to teach yourself. You have to educate yourself on some stuff. And we all go through that, you know, and I was no different. But, you know, at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade. I wouldn't change anything, you know, Only thing I would change is to keep having my parents here, you know, but my process and how I had to go through my process and things I had to do to make things happen and make it shake. I wouldn't change any of that if I was put in the same situation.
- [11:36]
Interviewer
Oh, but the way that you're talking about this, you lost your parents months apart while you were in college, and they were both in their 40s. Like, I remember when that happened to you. Reading and feeling heartbreak on your behalf. Like, how. What kind of suffering is that to be able to deal with that at that age?
- [11:55]
Vince Wilfork
You know, So I lost my father June 5th. My mother's birthday, June 6th. So I lost my father June 5th, you know, and a couple days before that, you know, I would go see my father all the time in the hospital. You know, once I leave school, I'm in college. Once I leave school, I'll shoot up, you know, to Boynton to see my father and just to talk to him and just be around him. I would do that every day, you know, and last time I did it, I don't know if it was God or what, but something my father used to always say, give me your. Give me your national championship ring because you're going to lose it. Because I was known to lose everything. And I used to always tell my dad, like, no, I'm not going to give you this. Like, I'm not going to lose. I'm not going to lose it. So. But something was on me that my last time seeing my father alive, you know, I called my mom. I'm saying, hey, you know, how's Pops doing? He's like, he. He haven't talked all day. You know, he just, you know, being stubborn. I said, okay, I'm on my way. And I said, let me go pick my ring up, you know, because I'm gonna. I'm gonna give it to him, right? So I go pick my ring up, and, you know, I get there, I bust in the room, like, pops, what's up? And he know my voice, and he popped up like, hey, son. I said, I got something for you. So, you know, I put the ring on his hand and his finger, and I'm talking about he was filled with. He was overjoyed. I mean, he. He couldn't stop talking. Now, mind you, this was a guy that went all day not talking to nobody, not talking to the nurses, nothing, right? But now all of a sudden, he had this energy, you know, So I felt good about, you know, leaving, but I. I know what my father been through. Cause I've been through it with him. I've seen it. Me and my brother, we saw it. So we knew my father over 20 years. My father struggled, but, you know, he just kept. He kept pushing. He kept pushing. But I knew that day, I'm like, okay, I made him happy, you know. So I get in the car, head back home, and my mom called me, yo, Daddy. Just. He said he called all the nurses in here, showing them your ring.
- [13:46]
Interviewer
Woo.
- [13:46]
Vince Wilfork
The woo. So my dad was happy, you know, and, you know, I went home and, you know, I said, hey, everything's going good. And, you know, he's fine, he's excited. He got the ring. Woo, woo, woo. And the next day they called me, told me he passed. And, you know, I couldn't believe it. But at the same time, it was like a. It was a peace because I know how much my father struggled. He never seen. He never let us see him struggle or feel down. He never did that. My father was a strong individual, mentally and physical. He was just strong, strong, strong. So when I got that phone call, it hurt me, you know, it hit me because my relationship, Only thing I was doing is like, when I make it, you guys don't have to worry about nothing else you gonna have. We used to talk about what kind of car you want. My daddy wanted an Escalade. My mama wanted an Alexis. You know what type of house she want. I got you. Whatever house you want, we got it, you know, so it was like, me, I was playing for my parents, you know, but when I lost my dad, it was. It was heartbreaking because our relationship, but I understood that it was getting close, you know, it was just. He lost that battle, you know, so, you know, I kind of put it somewhere. And I was 20 at the time, six months from that. November 7th. My birthday is November 4th. So my birthday comes November 4th. We're about to go play Tennessee. And Coach Coker called me. He's like, you can't make the trip. Your mama had a stroke. I'm like, my mom had a stroke. Like, what? So I'm like, okay. My first game ever, only game I ever missed in college was, you know, going to check on my mom. After having that stroke, you know, and here you are. I'm 20. When my father passed away, okay? My mama just turned 46. The following day, my birthday, November 4th, I turned 21. And November 7th, my mama had a stroke. So that caught me by surprise, that one. It caught me by surprise big time, because my mom, you know, she was a big lady, but for the most part, she was healthy, you know? And I'm like, man, my father, not my mama. So automatically I'm thinking, like, man, what's gonna happen to her? You know, I just went through it with my father, like, what's gonna happen to my mama? You know, all the normal stuff. I'm sitting here thinking, and I got football, and, you know, I got a baby on the way. So it's like a lot of this stuff going on in my life right now. You know, I'm trying to figure it out, you know, at 21 years old, trying to figure it out, you know, and mom got to a point where she was okay, and, you know, we was pretty confident where she was. She was coming home soon, you know, doing her, you know, rehab and all that stuff. She was doing fine with all of that. And sure enough, I get a phone call. Mom passed December 16th. Now I can't remember that Christmas. Only thing I remember is I quit. I quit football. I was done. Because people have to realize I'm not a selfish person. I played football for my parents to get them out of what they were in, you know, seeing the struggles, being poor, being in the hood, seeing a lot of killings, and being around a lot of stuff. So my whole objective was being a great football player for my parents, you know? But now I don't have them. So it was like, I'm done. I don't care about this. Like, whatever, you know? And that was my mindset to my defensive line coach. He pulled me to the side one day, and he was like, listen. He was going through some personal issues that year, and he told me what those personal issues were. And all I can remember was us being clowns at the University of Miami. The defensive line. It was like every day after practice, he had to leave. And we was like. And we used to always joke him, like, you don't love us. You never watched film with us. You never spent time with us. So we used to always joke him. But when he told me why he was doing that in that moment, I felt bad, you know, I felt bad. And he was like, I'm not telling you what to do, but just understand. Do what your parents Would want you to do. He's like, I know you. I know both of your parents. I know your daddy very well. I know exactly what he wants you to do. He said, I'm not telling you what to do, but just do what they want you to do. And I wasn't trying to hear. Just lost, you know, I'm 21 years old. Just lost two parents within six months from one another. I don't want to hear that mess, you know? And once the dust kind of settled and everybody was gone, you know, I really. I took some time out and really think about it, you know, And I called. You know, I called the team and said, hey, I'll meet you guys out in Arizona for the bowl game. And I think I got there.
- [18:47]
Interviewer
I.
- [18:47]
Vince Wilfork
Don'T know, Tuesday when I can't remember, it was such a fog. But I got there kind of late, you know, And I just remember Andrew Swayze, our conditioning coach. He was just running me just to get me back going, just to shake you, like, hey, condition, condition. You missed a lot of practice. Be like, you gonna play? We have to condition. We got the condition. And I always hated condition. But in that moment, I didn't care, you know, it was just. I was a zombie. But all I knew was football, you know, And I went out and I played that game, and I really don't remember it. You know, if I watch clips now, some of those things I don't remember. I now remember us being robbed. I remember that, you know, but even that, it didn't do nothing for me. Like, I had no emotions towards a football game.
- [19:36]
Interviewer
I can't even imagine the fog you were in. How long were you in that fog?
- [19:41]
Vince Wilfork
I was in that fog for the rest of my life, honestly, Because I grew up in a household that our communication skills weren't good. We had so much other stuff that's going on in my life, and in our household, communication wasn't one of them. So I didn't learn how to communicate, you understand? So that haunted me still to this day. I have bad problem communicating certain things because that was just part of my life. I never learned. I never had time to, because why? Everybody was out dating, having fun, figuring out who they were. I was taking care of my father, me and my brother. That's. That's what we were doing. We didn't have the luxury to do all of that stuff. We ain't have. No, we didn't. We didn't have that luxury. We had school, football, home. That's it. And we talking about it At a young age. So it took me a while to kind of understand who I am, why I am the way I am. And I'm not telling you everything is good because it's not, you know, it's not, you know, it's. It's things and problems and issues I have as an adult that stem back from my childhood that, you know, I have to fight those demons. But I'm willing to put the work in anything, you know, I never shied away from work.
- [21:01]
Interviewer
It doesn't sound like you had a childhood, though.
- [21:03]
Vince Wilfork
No, I didn't. But it's okay. God blessed me to have a successful career and a successful life, be around some good people, great people sometimes, you know, some of my friends didn't work out. You know, my first marriage didn't work out. But it's okay, you know, we all learn and we grow. It's just being, you know, surround yourself with the right people that's going to tell you the right stuff, not just be yes men.
- [21:29]
Interviewer
When you say that you have communication issues and you were too busy surviving, right, to learn certain skills.
- [21:35]
Vince Wilfork
Absolutely.
- [21:36]
Interviewer
And what does it entail, taking care of your father for those who don't.
- [21:40]
Vince Wilfork
Understand what that is that he have to understand. My father was at a point where he couldn't walk. He had to use the restroom. We have to pick him up, physically pick him up, take him to the restroom. And that was constantly. My father would be so weak. My father would be so down. My father would be just. He would try to do stuff himself, but he'll fall. Because my father was this guy that he never wanted to see. He never wanted us to see him down, never. So he would try. We caught my father so many times up and about, moving around, had no business doing it, you know, but that's my father, and my father's a man. So I know what it means for my father to be able to go fix a sandwich or get him a drink of water himself. But at the same time, I know the state that he's in as well. So a lot of times my father fail and we find him on the ground, and luckily that we're around, we can hear it and he's on the ground and we get frustrated. But at the same time, we're the kids. I could sit there and say, why are you up? You can't be doing. But we're the kids. At the end of the day, I'm going to honor my mother and my father, whatever that entails. I'm going to do that and. And that's how me and my brother work. And my brother, you know. You know, my brother had the same opportunity that I had with football, but, you know, he's older, so my brother seen a lot, a lot more things than I did and had to be a part of a lot more stuff than I did because guess what? I was in school, I couldn't be there 247 with my parents, with my father. My brother was though. So my brother seen a lot of stuff until this day. My brother hate hospitals. I do too, because he was there every day. You gotta understand, from 1992, my dad probably was in the hospital out of those two years. He probably was home probably a month in those two years. All in all, who was with him? My brother, 24 7. That was his deal, you know, so my brother stood in the paint and did a lot of stuff, you know, for my parents. And it started his growth. You know, it's. It's tough, it's hard. But I don't complain in life. I try to figure out and find solutions. And I don't want nobody having pity for me. But just understand that's why a lot of times people do certain stuff and people are a certain type of way and people don't know why. You have to understand what's their why. You know, it's a lot of people go through some stuff, what's their why? You can look at an individual and judge that individual for doing certain stuff, but what is his why? You don't know his story or her story until you know they story. You understand a lot more. But just by judging from the outside looking in, just like everybody with my career, everybody. Oh, Vince, always happy. He's smiling, he's this. I played every game with a broken heart. Every game when I will walk out of the stadium into the tunnel where you have family and friends and they all gather on it. And I see mothers, I see dads, I see uncles, I see all of this stuff. Only thing I had was my immediate family. That's it.
- [24:48]
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- [25:13]
Interviewer
Yep.
- [25:13]
Miller Lite Advertiser
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- [25:32]
Vince Wilfork
There's a Miller Light at Dan's chair.
- [25:34]
Miller Lite Advertiser
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- [26:07]
Interviewer
Yeah. I've read you say that your only regret is that your parents. Your only professional regret is that your parents never got to see you playing.
- [26:16]
Vince Wilfork
100%. Because I did it for them. I knew what it meant for my father to see me at a level that he could have been at, but he didn't. Because he made some different choices in his life. And I don't judge him for that. You know, Each his own. But my father saw it in me at a young age. He saw it, and that's my only regret, is playing the game and not having my parents there. Because I knew my father would have been in every game. I wouldn't have been able to get him out of my house. You understand? My mama too. You know, it's. I knew how much. How much that would have took off of them. The stress level or just trying to make it every day and trying to do this and trying to do that and see. People have to understand, too. I'm built a certain type of way because I done had family members fail us. I done had family members turn their back on me and my brother. My mom and my father turn our backs, turn their backs on us family members. So when people see me and I act a certain type of way or I don't put up with a lot of stuff, I understand my story. My family turned backs on me, and I'm not saying all of them, but key people, yes, Turn their back on my father and my family. I witnessed that with my own eyes. I've heard it with my own ears. And at that time, you know, there's some stuff I wanted to do to him, you know, but it is what it is. But I've been through a lot, but, you know, I'm still standing through the grace of God, you know, that's. That's first and foremost, you know, because without Him, I probably. I don't know where I would be. I'd definitely be lost and who knows where else but God's good and it is what it is.
- [28:06]
Interviewer
So football, or the end of football, when everybody would be with their families, was a reminder of your grief.
- [28:15]
Vince Wilfork
But you know what? I didn't know how to deal with that. A lot of stuff I dealt with just putting it somewhere and keep it pumping because the ball never stops. The train never stops. You know, if I'm here or not here, the ball gonna continue.
- [28:29]
Interviewer
Oh, but you know, it's not healthy now as an adult, you see what I'm saying, right? All that down, stuff it all down.
- [28:34]
Vince Wilfork
So now, you know. But like I say, that's how I dealt with it. But now I can. It's impossible for me to handle that way, you know, I mean, because I'm a lot smarter now. Got a little bit more wisdom and understand, hey, you have to communicate certain stuff.
- [28:47]
Interviewer
But it sounds like you've gotten a good deal better at Community.
- [28:49]
Vince Wilfork
I have, but I'm still not there. But I have. But it's all work. Life is about work. You know, it's about work. I don't. I don't care if. How much money you have or how much money you don't have. If you're not good as an individual with yourself, it doesn't matter what you have. It doesn't. Once you're okay and understand who you are and your purpose, you'll be fine. You'll be okay. Life's going to be whatever it is, because guess what? Trials and tribulation will always be here. You gonna always have problems, you're gonna always be disappointed, you're gonna always be hurt. You're gonna always be disrespected how you handle those situations, you understand? So life is always. I'm always trying to grow, you know, I'm always trying to grow. And that's what I'm gonna continue to. Can I tell people all the time, you know, I can cut grass today, and in two minutes that grass is starting to grow, it doesn't matter.
- [29:43]
Interviewer
But you're good, you're, you're good at gardening, you're good, you, you're good at work. You like work?
- [29:49]
Vince Wilfork
Yes, yes.
- [29:50]
Interviewer
You, you tend to a garden?
- [29:51]
Vince Wilfork
Yes, yes, I don't have one now, but. Because I don't have a space. But yes, I'm a full fledged outdoors type of guy and I tell my wife this all the time and, and friends and stuff. I say, listen, I could do everything a woman can do except for have a baby, but I can help make one. You understand me? So my parents, credit to my parents and credit not even knowing growing up and have to learn how to cook, how to clean, how to nurture, how to care, not even knowing it was going to teach me a life lesson as an adult, right? So everything that I had to do as a young kid, now I'm, you know, I'm to a point where it's, it's. I can do my daughters had when she was young, which I've done. You know, I can, I can, I can cook, you know, I can clean. I can, you know, I'm a nurturer. Like all those things I can do, you know, and it was just planned that way that I'll be great in those areas in which I am. But I love the garden. I love the garden.
- [30:51]
Interviewer
What do you see as your purpose?
- [30:53]
Vince Wilfork
My, My purpose is to lead. And you know, I, I understood that when I retired because when I played the game, no matter if I was in, you know, high school, college or pros, I always was a leader, you know, and my leadership doesn't stop because I'm retired. You know, it's just a different form now. So I have to be able to lead in my household. I need to be able to lead because a leader gonna always have to answer questions. People always come to you to get your knowledge or get some answers. And I pride myself on that. And, and that's the most important thing as a leader is you have to understand you have always been watched. No mean you might think somebody's not paying you attention, but you're always, somebody is always paying your attention. They always listen to what you say and they, they value that. So you have to be careful as a leader what you put out because people want to follow in your footsteps because guess what? They heard. Vince said this, you know, not only in football, but like, hey, if I'm talking to, you know, a young guy outside of sports and just having a regular conversation, I'm, I'm putting wisdom, I'm giving knowledge. I try to be supportive, you know, negativity, I try to leave that alone. Like what's the good in people? And understanding that. So my purpose is to lead on the field and off the field.
- [32:14]
Interviewer
I'm gonna read some of these quotes from Belichick. As good a two gapper who has ever played this game and captain of captains, the true leader of the team. That's a team with Tom Brady on it. And he's calling you the true leader of the team and also the best defensive lineman I've ever coached. That's player leader on the field, off the field, practice player.
- [32:37]
Vince Wilfork
I mean, all I knew was football, you know, And I think football was my outlet in life. You know, if I didn't have football, I can only imagine where I would be. But football was like second nature to me. It's like waking up, you know, going to play a game. Like that's how easy it was for me to be able to sit back and look at a formation and diagnostic what's going on and it splits that. That's my wheelhouse. I put everything into that, you know, because I put everything into things that I care about and I love, you know, because I want them to be the. I want to be the greatest at everything. I do what I choose do. I want to be the greatest. And that, that's, that's not gonna stop.
- [33:27]
Interviewer
Did you play with rage, with emotion, all that stuff that you were pushing down?
- [33:31]
Vince Wilfork
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I was, I was mean. I was mean. I was, I was, I was, I was hell on wheels. Like, you know, my anger, my aggression, I took it out on people on the field. Like that was, that was my thing. If I want to impose all my will on you until this game is over, I'm gonna beat your head in until I feel like it's enough. And all of those come from my pain. Everything I've been through, you know, that's what it came from. But it allowed me to be who I needed to be and people respected that. For me, they respected that.
- [34:17]
Interviewer
Did you ever run into a single person whose strength pushed you back because you were always double teamed? So is there a name that you think of when I say, yeah, this person. If I've got to play this person the night before, I've got someone who's going to have more rage than me, more strength than me.
- [34:37]
Vince Wilfork
Not more rage. I've played against some guys. Cause you gotta understand, it's a lot of, it's a lot of people. I was bigger and stronger Than. And on top of that, what made me, I think what makes me one of the great. A great player is my knowledge of the game. I was a smart football player, but somebody matching. It's hard to match me in all three of those areas. Now, you might have somebody that might be strong, but they might not be smart enough or somebody smart that's on the side. So it was never all of the shebang. You know, the one guy that I could say that held his own, and I love him to death, is Nick Mango. Nick was very, very good. Nick. Nick was smart. Nick was strong, he was big. He could move. Nick, out of all the centers I played against, he is probably the most complete center that I played against. And I had to play against him twice a year, you understand? He was really, really good. And we had battles, you know, we had some battles. And he is one of those guys that if somebody need to get blocked single, he can hold his own. Yeah, yeah. He don't need the double teams and all that. Like, he can. He can hold his own by himself. You like? And it might be some more out there, but for me, it was Nick, like, he was just. He was just good.
- [36:07]
Interviewer
When you talk about your childhood and the pain in your childhood and the things that imprinted you beyond taking care of your father, what are the things. How would you describe what was around you before you get to the University of Miami?
- [36:24]
Vince Wilfork
Well, it's probably the same in every, you know, hood. You go to a ghetto or poor, you know, poor community, you know, drugs, you know, stealing, killing. It was no different for me. I've seen it all. I've been a part of some stuff that I'm not proud of, but it didn't yet. The survival, survive, survival, you know, and that's why I say a lot of times people want to judge, you know, poor people or the hood, the ghetto. But you gotta understand, if this is all we know, if this is all we know, we're going to tend to lead towards what we know. Until you have that person come in and say, hey, you can't do this this way. And this is why you need to be the one to get out of here and make it, you know. But a lot of people don't have. They don't have that all the time. They don't have that luxury of having people in their lives or around them that can steer them in the right direction. But thank God I was so foundation. My foundation with my family and just understanding. I grew up never wanting to. I never wanted to disappoint my parents ever. So I. My mindset was always like that. And even to this day, I take disappointment hard. And I take when I disappoint somebody very hard. Because how I grew up, you understand? So I never wanted disappointed my parents. So I've always tried to do what I needed to do for them in. In mind and understand. In order for my parents to get this car or this house, I have to me, I have to be on the right trail. I have to that my path. Have to be full of prayers and a lot of support around me. Now, I had a ton of prayers and I had a few support. Not a lot, but I had a few. But all I need is a few, you know, and I. And I understood what it takes to be the best. I understood what it, what it was going to take me and what I had to do to be successful for my folks. And I did that, you know, and looking back at it now, you know, I had to sit out six months for the University of Miami because of grades, for grades. And a lot of times, you know, people, when people talk about grades or you this or the other. Well, I had to miss school to take care of my dad. It wasn't that. I just wanted to skip school and hang out and do it. No, I had to. I had to not go to school to make sure my dad was good.
- [39:05]
Interviewer
It bothers you, huh?
- [39:07]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, it bothered me. Because what bothers me is people that judge. Because people can point the finger all the time, but until you know that person's story, then you will get it. You saying so? Yeah. I set out six months. It cost me six months of college, which it tore me up because all I knew was football. It tore. It tore me up, okay? But at the end of the day, it wasn't the end of my career. Like, I got my grades right. Boom, boom. I went in December. Fine. Career started off. But, you know, a lot of, you know, around that time, you gotta understand, you know, people were saying, oh, I knew he wasn't gonna do this, he wasn't gonna do that. You gotta understand, like, people started doubting me. People started doubting me. And I love when people doubt me because I love prove people wrong.
- [39:52]
Interviewer
You were always responsible.
- [39:53]
Vince Wilfork
Yes.
- [39:54]
Interviewer
There was no choice, right?
- [39:56]
Vince Wilfork
No choice. No choice. No choice. But that's why I am the man I am today because of everything I've been through. And I know what, I know what it's like to struggle. So I don't want anybody to get it twisted because of who I am. Now, and you saw me on Sundays, and my life is easy. No, no, my life. No, I. I had to work. I had a lot of things going on in my life. A lot of people probably wouldn't have made it. And plus, you also got some great stories out there, even better than mine, some guys that made it what they had to go through in life, but still made it.
- [40:36]
Interviewer
Who are these people who are doubting you?
- [40:38]
Vince Wilfork
Oh, it was neighborhood people, and it was neighborhood people, but at the same time, you know, haters going to hate, you know, being successful. A lot of people don't like people that successful. That's just what it is. Because how can you be successful and I'm not? How come you get all of this? And I, I play. I play. I play football, too. I play basketball. I did this in high school. I went to college. But how come you get to live out your dream and I couldn't? So you're gonna have haters. And I always say, I love haters because that, that lets me know I'm doing something right. The day I don't have a hater, it's a problem. You know, It's a problem. So I love it. You know, like I said, I. I just like who I am. If I can touch anybody or a youngster that's going through a lot of stuff in their life and they hear it is, hey, listen, it doesn't stop. The grind doesn't stop. You know, your dream doesn't stop, you know, and as long as you. Your life is going to give you what you put into it, if you work at it, you want to have good results, it's no different than anything else in life. If you practice and put forth the effort and things to make things better, it'll be better. But if you just talk about it and never make no changes, it won't change.
- [42:00]
Interviewer
Explain to me the relationship with your brother. Have you told him? Have you thanked him for how it is that he helped you with your dad and how it is he helped you get where you are?
- [42:11]
Vince Wilfork
You know what the crazy thing is, is I am because I have some plans for him soon. Hopefully soon, because I put myself in his shoes and, you know, at the end of the day, we all have problems. Like, you know, it is what it is. We all have problems. But for my brother to understand his mindset, I had to look at everything through his eyes and understand what he's seen and what he been through. When I was in college, what he had to do, his life had to be stopped. So we'll have that conversation, you know, we definitely will, because like I said, I have something that I'm planning with him and for him and I think would be awesome. You know, it's. I don't think it's never been done before, but when we get to that point, we'll see if it's ever been done. Even if it's been done before or not, it's still going to happen.
- [43:09]
Interviewer
But it sounds cryptic though. You got a surprise for him?
- [43:12]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, I got a surprise. Yeah, I got a surprise for him. And you know my brother, you know my brother, My brother, he's a warrior. He's a, he's a, he's a grinder. Like, he, he. Man, he's been through a lot. He been through more than I have seen more than I have because you got to understand, he was there when I was in school, he was there. So I'm pretty sure, you know, it's a lot more stuff that I don't know that went on. But my brother been through that, you know, And I got to a point where I had to stop really judging my brother because until I realized his story is different than mine, even though we grew up the same way, but his story is different because his lenses are different and what he been through is different than what I did. You see what I'm saying? So. So I'm excited about what I have planned for him. I think, you know, as a younger brother, I looked up to my brother. Like, you know, he don't, you know, I used to tell him, I'm like, man, I've looked up to you, like things you've done. And even with you playing football, my brother went to college and, you know, I was the first person that I want to talk to him like, hey, what you learned? Because now I want to implement, you know, college stuff in high school. So what you learn, you know, so probably he means a lot to me. We all, like I said, we all have our issues and our ups and downs and stuff, but that's my brother. That's my blood brother. And we, okay, we going to be fine. But everything, life, life can be tough. But when you get those tough times, how do you respond? That's the key.
- [44:50]
Interviewer
You somehow didn't start your freshman or sophomore year at the University of Miami.
- [44:56]
Vince Wilfork
Correct.
- [44:57]
Interviewer
So you, you started your junior year and then went to the pros and were a first round pick, but your first two years at Miami, you did not start. How did that go for you? Did you doubt at all?
- [45:08]
Vince Wilfork
No, I never Doubted because I. I was one. I understood 100% who I was. I knew. I mean, we could talk about it, you know, my fellow Hurricanes, but I was better than the D tackles in front of me. That's just what it is. But of course, they older. They've been there for a while. But what. What happened was I played more snaps than all of them, and I made plays. So being at the University of Miami, the one thing I always loved about that is we never complained about who's playing, who's not. Like, we didn't care. We knew we had a bunch of dogs. We knew we had our second string just as good as our first strain. When we practice, we practice hard. We know that. So we never looked at, oh, I'm not playing. I don't want. Nah, we never looked at it because we know we was gonna be called upon and you had to be ready to go. And we were. And that's why I really never tripped on not starting my job. Always was, when I get my opportunity, take advantage of it. I don't care if it's one player or 50, take advantage of it. And that's exactly my mindset was, I'm gonna take advantage of it.
- [46:14]
Interviewer
A lot of people think, and I understand the mental part of this, that the quarterback is the hardest position to play, but I feel like position is the physically hardest to play. Do I have that wrong?
- [46:26]
Vince Wilfork
No, you don't. As a two gapper, yes, because we take a beating. I mean, we take a beating. We don't go nowhere fast. We told. We taking up blocks, everybody else around us making the plays, we're not getting no stats, not getting any of that. Like, we getting up at the end of the bottom of the pack. We're at the bottom of the pile. We don't get talked about. All right? So I think I changed that from a nose tackle standpoint because of the plays I made, which was unheard of as a nose tackle. I made some critical good plays in my career as a nose tackle, but I came with a bunch of study. Like, I. You know, my. My goal was if I can steal one, play a game, just one. That's all I wanted to do. Steal one play. And I will watch film. I will watch film. I will watch film and find that one play that I can steal, you know, and most of the time, I did it. Sometimes I watched something. I really never got a beat on anything. Or sometimes in a game where I hear something and I get, okay, I'll put that in the register bank, because If I hear this again, I know exactly what it is. And I. Everything is all gloves off. Like Bill, I ain't playing technique. Last time he said, this was this play. So I'm gonna make this play, you know, so. And I think I got to a point with Bill. Once Bill realized the type of player I was, you know, that I wasn't just doing stuff just to do stuff. I played within the scheme, but I was smart. My iq, football IQ was very high. I think Bill gave me a lot more leeway to do certain stuff. So it got to a point where, you know, I would handle the defense up front. Like, the linebackers didn't have to talk to us. They just talked to the back end because I handled everything up there. I called the plays, I called the stunts, I moved around, I did all of that. You know, it was plenty of times where, you know, I'll go to the sideline and I'll tell Bill, hey, this is what they're doing. This is how they block it up. If we did blah, blah, blah, boom. It wasn't even the play. We just made it a play on the sideline. We do it. So I think I earned that trust from Bill because he understood that I wasn't just going to. I wasn't a selfish player. I wasn't. So he understood, well, by me doing this, I'm putting our players in the best position to make the plays. It don't have to be me making them, but somebody need to make them. I'm not for the sit up here and take on a double team when I know what the play is. And you can just go do this, I'll do this, you do this. How about that? And I think that's where me and Bill's relationship kind of built, from him knowing that I was a pretty good football player. And on top of that, I was pretty smart as a no star coach.
- [49:07]
Interviewer
How did you lead, though? Did you find yourself in many confrontations? Did you have any reason to be involved with conflict with teammates? How did that work?
- [49:18]
Vince Wilfork
No, I. I don't. I don't talk a lot, but at the same time, like, you know, you get tested and stuff. I always wanted to be. I'm the one. All of this runs from me. I'm the engine. If the engine isn't running correctly, the car can break down like it ain't going to happen. So if I'm the engine, I have to make sure I'm on my P's and Q's. I got to understand, I know what I'M doing. I have to. I have to understand. Each one of my teammates is different. The personalities is different. Sometimes you can show somebody, they'll learn. You have to talk to somebody, they'll learn. Or you have to walk through or you can. It's multiple ways to learn in my job, and I feel like if I'm playing with this guy, I have to understand how he thinks. I have to understand how he learns and how can I get through to him so he'll understand to be on my page. I've been doing it for so long, so I could just say something, and I can have a player just sitting here saying, okay, what you. Because in my mind, I've already done it. I've done it. But I had to be. I had to be able to break stuff down because I want to be great. And football's a team sport. It's not just about me. So if I want to be great, I have to make sure the people around me feel the same type of way and approach the game. Exact same type of way. So I think it was just part of me. I think it was my presence and how I talk and how I spoke and by them watching me, you know, by them watching him when Bill put up highlights and he showed certain plays, they'll watch, you know, what Bill is talking about, so they'll learn. So now they're like, okay, he's the real deal. You know what I mean? So I just think it came. I can't. I think it came with that.
- [51:04]
Interviewer
What is the closest that you have come to playing the perfect game? Do you have a game in your mind that you recall as. No. No.
- [51:13]
Vince Wilfork
I mean, I don't have good games, but. Perfect game. No, because closest you've come.
- [51:18]
Interviewer
I didn't say perfect game. I just said closest you've come. I know guys like you never say they've got the perfect game because guys like you tend to be not very forgiving of themselves.
- [51:27]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, I think. I think the Houston I played played the Houston Texans. I forget which year it was, but we played them in the regular season, and I had a pretty good Darn. Like. I basically slowed their offense down myself. So that was a pretty good game. And the AFC Championship game against Baltimore. I forget what year it was these years, starting to run into them. But when I, you know, I started the game off with a sack and a half. And then third down later in that game, third down, I had a tackle for loss, Ray Rice. And then that fourth down, I put the pressure on Flacco. To throw an incomplete ball. And that was a critical point in that game because of the time they was driving. You know, it was, it was a lot going on. So the sequence of those plays, you know, it's pretty good. But as far as, like, I think. I think people can define that about how many plays they made a game in. What was the situation in those games, you know, for me to sit back and I probably, I played a lot of football, so I'm probably missing some stuff. Who knows? But I. I had like 16 tackles my third year against Buffalo Bills, so, you know, we can go.
- [52:42]
Interviewer
A lot to choose from.
- [52:43]
Vince Wilfork
You know, it's a lot to choose from. So I just always wanted to be a person that my team is going to depend on.
- [52:51]
Interviewer
You've been retired now for eight years. I know very few people in your position who don't struggle with retirement just because it's such a big part of your identity. And now you're, you know, 35 years old and you're like, well, the rest of my life is ahead of me. How did you deal with the transition? How did that go for you?
- [53:09]
Vince Wilfork
It was hard. Transition hard because, you know, when you take something away. Yeah, I've been on a regimen for over 25 years playing sports, so my days were very similar for 25 years. So when you take that away, you kind of. You have to try to figure out what's the next, you know, transition. Like, what do you want to do next? You know, and then a lot of people get in certain stuff and a lot of people get depressed. A lot of people go through midlife crisis because, hey, all my life, this is what I've known. This is what I did, this is how I did it. You know, six o' clock in the morning, I had a purpose being up at 6 o' clock in the morning. So now when I wake up at 6 o' clock in the morning, I'll stare at this scar. What is my purpose? So it can be hard, it can be tough, and I've tried so many different things and nothing really stuck with me until I kind of got back to my basics and understanding, my passion and my love. And that's food, you know, and that I think the last two years with that kind of. It put me right back in the game. I feel as if I'm still playing the game now. This is how I wake up now.
- [54:15]
Interviewer
Connects you to your father too, right?
- [54:16]
Vince Wilfork
Yes. 100. You know, I grew up. My dad, man, no matter how sick and bad my dad was feeling, how Bad he was feeling. My dad always found a way to barbecue. It was like one like, yeah, I'm not feeling good and I'm weak, but hey, let's. Let's go get these slabs of ribs and put on this, you know, so. And also my mother, My mother was a great cook. Like, I'm the fourth generation of great cooks. Like, I have a list of people in my life that that's what they did, you know, I can remember being, you know, a young kid and going over to my grandma house. She's selling plates, you know, and I can, I can remember going in and. And smelling her cleaning chitlins. And I'm like, nah, I don't never want to eat that. It smells stink, you know, and so I remember those things. But I was surrounded by some great cooks, and that's a passion of mine, is cooking. You know, I love to cook. No matter if it's on the grill in the stove, Stove top. I like to bake. You name it, I love it.
- [55:16]
Interviewer
You know, because you're a giver, right?
- [55:18]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, I am.
- [55:19]
Interviewer
I got to get you down here to see if we can convince you. I don't know what it would take to convince you to help us with a spread around here where we would have the honor of having Vince Wilfork for us. Since you're over in Weston, over there.
- [55:32]
Vince Wilfork
I think we can make it happen.
- [55:34]
Interviewer
We'll have to do that to support GHI 75, your barbecue label. So you've poured yourself into the business of that.
- [55:41]
Vince Wilfork
Yes, yes. You know, GHI 75 stands for gotta have it, you know, 75. And that was something that my dad used to say all the time growing up. But when I got to the NFL we call situation of football, gotta have it, you know, and it's like a must have play. You have, you have to have this play or you'll lose. So I, I kind of named it after, you know, all of those things from our childhood, my career in football. And every time I heard it and brought me closer to my father, always let me know my father is around him. So. So it's like I can hear him saying it. So, yeah, we, we. I, I really, the past two years, I really started taking this serious. I think this product is amazing. I think, you know, it's a really good product.
- [56:30]
Interviewer
Is your mouth watering right now? Yeah, because right now that sounded like a slurping sound.
- [56:35]
Vince Wilfork
Because you know what? Everything good advertisement, everything about this sauce, it has meaning. Everything about it, from the label, from the flavor, it just have meaning and what I've done and I pour it out because I'm thinking about everybody. And one of the main thing, few things that I really love about it is it's gluten free, right? We don't use no high fructose corn syrup, no preservatives, and it's coming in the glass bottle. So anything, you know, we don't want to deal with microplastic, all that mess. We don't. We're not doing that.
- [57:12]
Interviewer
Good for the earth, good for your.
- [57:13]
Vince Wilfork
Body, good for everybody. Exactly. We're not going to play that game. So when I tell you it took a lot of. We put a lot into it, just thinking about the average person. And also we deliver a great sauce.
- [57:26]
Interviewer
You've lost a ton of weight. Can you explain to us what football did to your body?
- [57:33]
Vince Wilfork
Well, I've lost probably 70, 80 pounds. And that came from. Just stop playing football. My son was playing baseball in Texas, so I would be able to practice two, three, three hours a day in that Texas heat. So I'm drinking 2 gallons of water like it's nothing. And one day I just got on the scale because I always promised myself, man, when I retire, I'm never getting on the scale ever again. I've seen it too much, right? So one day out the blue, I said, let me just get on the scale and see how much I weigh, right? Well, I was down 20 pounds, and now I'm like, man, am I sick? Like, what I'm doing, like, because I'm not doing nothing crazy, like. So I started just monitoring what was going on and what I was doing. Well, half of my meals I'll eat and I spend majority of the time outside just, just running around with the boys and the kids and that's it kind of trained my system. Like, I didn't need all of that. But now I'm at. To the point now where I feel little things, you know, because I lost a lot of muscle mass, I lost a lot of fat. So I feel little things, like, you know, a little part of my back or my neck or my shoulders, you know, my ankles. Like little things I'll feel and it'll come and it goes. But I didn't understand how big of a deal it was when I was playing when people used to tell me, man, I can't believe you can do that, man, that's crazy. You could do that. And I'd be like, man, what are you talking about? But now I get it because I go to lift weights now. I'm not even half the person I am now. Lifting weights in the type of way that I'm moving, I'm not even half the person that was. So now it kind of put a perspective on who I used to be and who I am now.
- [59:23]
Interviewer
What is the most that you weighed? What. What is the most you ever weighed?
- [59:26]
Vince Wilfork
I'll tilt the scale. The heaviest I ever been playing football. 2. 380.
- [59:31]
Interviewer
380?
- [59:32]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah.
- [59:32]
Interviewer
Oh, my God. That can't.
- [59:34]
Vince Wilfork
When I got, when I got down to, um, after those six months, 385. And the first thing my strength and conditioning coach, Andre Andrew says, he said was, I'm gonna get that baby fat off of you. That's what he told me. So I played at, um, around 345. That's what my weight in, you know, um, 345. So when I got to New England, they said 325. I'm like, where did that come from? Like, like, well, you weigh 323. It come. I'm like, yeah, but I was trying to lose weight and get down for y'. All. And plus I was sick. Like, my everyday weight is 343, 45, you know, and Bill was like, well, tough luck. So I'm like, okay, no problem. I said, I. I never miss a weigh in, but I guarantee you, you catch me two hours after it's a problem. But weighing in on that specific day and when I need to weigh in or I've always was good.
- [60:25]
Interviewer
You never were fine. Not one time.
- [60:26]
Vince Wilfork
I never missed weight.
- [60:27]
Interviewer
Not one time?
- [60:28]
Vince Wilfork
No. Never miss weight. No.
- [60:31]
Interviewer
You say it as if it's matter of fact.
- [60:33]
Vince Wilfork
That's. That's. Bill can tell you that. I believe you.
- [60:36]
Interviewer
It just sounds crazy.
- [60:38]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah.
- [60:39]
Interviewer
So you always weighed in, you were never overweight?
- [60:41]
Vince Wilfork
Nope. Never overweight.
- [60:42]
Interviewer
As a point of pride.
- [60:43]
Vince Wilfork
Yep. I don't care what I had to do, but I would be at 325 when it's time to weigh in. I guarantee you I was like a boxer. I weigh in, but two minutes later I'm hydrating, back, eating. I'm back at 3.
- [60:55]
Interviewer
47. Were you doing all this stuff, though? Were you in the song Everything with the everything you name like a wrestler.
- [61:01]
Vince Wilfork
Oh, you name it.
- [61:01]
Interviewer
Cause you were a wrestler in high school.
- [61:03]
Vince Wilfork
You name it. I did it like I would. The funniest thing is, so when it's weigh in days, you can always tell because when you pull up to the parking lot, it's already kind of filled already. And I would go, I would be driving on you know, going to work. And I would see Ty Law, he's on the highway running by the stadium. But we always knew it was that, you know, it was time. And I got to a point where I'll get up at 3 o', clock, check myself, see what my weight is. If it's not what it needs to be, I'll start. I'll go run some miles before I go to work, just so I know I made the weight.
- [61:40]
Interviewer
So explain it though, to me, because you said little pains, and I think your pain threshold is an uncommon pain threshold. So my guess is that you were in pain a lot of times without even realizing how much pain you were in, because it was just your life for a long time. For the person who does not understand the job that you did for 13 years, five times as a Pro Bowler in that league, what is the body's cost on that? What does that feel like now? And what did it feel like as you were doing it? Because I've got to imagine it was something that stayed with you.
- [62:11]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, when I was playing and when I had to go through it. So we say we played. We played a game on Sunday. Monday we'll go in and, you know, just do some light stuff, watch film. And if we start implementing plays for this zig week, we start small there. But Monday is fresh off a game, so your body and your adrenaline still going. So Tuesday's our day off. So Tuesdays, that's when your body really feels the impact of this weekend. Right. Depending on the type of game you play. Like if we play the Steelers or the Ravens, I'm going into Wednesday first, you know, first practice of the week, still sore from the game, but we can't stop because it's a new opponent. We have to put this in. So you have Wednesday, Thursday, and sometimes, you know, Friday you can recruit, recoup. Sometimes people recoup by Friday, sometimes people don't. Early in my career, I recoup fast. You know, my body heals fast. It numbs up, you know, so by Thursday, I'm good to go. You know, I'm back at it. I'm good to go by Thursday. Once I got later in my career, it took me SAT till Saturday. So it was a couple times I played on a Sunday, still sore the older I got. And I'm still doing the stretches, the hot tubs, I'm still doing all this stuff, but just over time it just. It just catches up with you.
- [63:39]
Interviewer
How about now, though? Like I would imagine, I mean, in the morning there's Freaking.
- [63:43]
Vince Wilfork
Honestly, Honestly, right now, I can be good. And then one day out the blue, my shoulder go numb or I have tingling in my fingers or my knee bothering me or my low back. Like, I just. My low back just decided it want to bother me this past week for whatever reason. So I'm still dealing with a low back. You know, just little aches here and there, but nothing drastic. Nothing. Like, if I want to go outside right now and play some basketball, I could. You know, it doesn't stop me from doing anything. But over the years, you're talking about 20 years worth of football in general. Over 20 years. Those little, little ninks and these look, you. You start to feel them, you know, something that you. You forgot all about.
- [64:29]
Interviewer
Did anyone come close to tempting you out of retirement after you got to 35 years old?
- [64:35]
Vince Wilfork
Nah. Cause, you know, I made it very clear to myself and other people. I say the day I started losing a love for the game and my mind started thinking elsewhere besides the game, it's time for me to call it quits. And that's exactly what happened. You know, it got to a point where I was tired of going to meetings. The new generation that was coming in, it wasn't adding up with. And how I. How I learned the game, the conversations that was having. And then I tore both of my groins. So I'm like, man, I'm not for the. Like, this is not. And I started thinking about other businesses and other things. I'm like, okay, yeah, it's time for me to go. So I never wanted to take and cheat the game. I could have easily. Like, I left the game healthy. I left the game healthy. That's why the Texans was kind of surprised that I retired because we was talking about doing another deal. I left the game healthy. I left the game on my terms. I was tired of it. I was tired of hearing meetings because you gotta understand, I went from the New England Patriots to the Houston, Texas, the same playbook. So I've been. I was listening to the same playful playbook for 13 years.
- [65:37]
Interviewer
But you also knew what winning was and what a champion looked like. And at that point, you knew that you were no longer going to be winning like that.
- [65:44]
Vince Wilfork
Yes. You know, and. Which was okay. And I love the Texans, like, like that ownership. I love them. You know, I love them because they try to create that atmosphere now. You know, now they have guys there, they have a good team. They. They haven't won a game yet this year, but they starting to put the pieces in play. You Know, when I got there, it wasn't football first. It was all this other mess and then football come when it comes. And that was a disaster for to suck, you know. But now they putting football first. Like if it ain't about football and winning, we're not dealing with it.
- [66:25]
Interviewer
Do you enjoy watching football now?
- [66:26]
Vince Wilfork
Yeah, I still do. Yeah. Now me playing, do I miss it? No, I don't miss it. I miss the locker room. I miss the fans, I miss my teammates. That's what I miss about the game. But the game itself, nah.
- [66:39]
Interviewer
Have you followed. Do you watch the documentaries on the Patriots and any of that stuff? No interest. There's time. You lived it.
- [66:46]
Vince Wilfork
I lived it. I lived it because you got to understand, I grew up a Buffalo Bills fan, so I knew how crappy the Patriots was. I know. So I don't need to go back there. And plus the dinings, the years I was part of it. So I don't need to see that. I was part of that. So I don't have no interest looking at docus on the Patriots at all or no team, honestly.
- [67:09]
Interviewer
Is there a story, any story that you would share with friends who wanted to know something about Belichick and Brady that perhaps is not known? Not about their relationship, but any sort of dynamic that you had with either of them individually, that would be the story that is untold. Because both of them speak of you in a way that they speak of very few others.
- [67:35]
Vince Wilfork
No, I mean what I've seen with them, I've seen them bump heads all the time because they too competitive. I mean, Bill is super competitive. Tom is super competitive. So Tom seen it one way. Bill saying, no, it ain't like I've seen them have them conversation. But that was. That's what their relationship was like. Tom challenged Bill and Bill challenged all of us. Just straight up, he don't care who you are. He'll call you out in front of the team, you know, and I always loved and respected Bill from that he's not just going to pick on certain people. No, he called his leaders out. He called Tom, he called me out. He called Brusky, Ibel, Seymour, he called all these guys drunk. Like you name it, he'll call you out. So it really wasn't really nothing was crazy with them. Now if you talk to an offensive player because you understand Bill go to meetings. So who knows what happens in meetings. But as far as I'm not even.
- [68:28]
Interviewer
Talking about the conflict, I'm talking about your relationship with both men. I wasn't talking about their relationship with each other.
- [68:34]
Vince Wilfork
Oh, no, it's ton of respect. I mean, you know, my relationship with Tom. Tom was the I got offense, you know, and I just came with a different mindset and a different approach for the defensive players in the team in general. Because a lot of guys I understand, I take the time to get to know my teammates. When I cook, my teammates come over, we have conversations, we talk about family, we talk about everything besides football. So I wanted to know who you are as a person, as a family man, as a father, husband, off the field. I wanted to know that because now it teaches me how to gauge you and get through to you. And I think a lot of my teammates really love that about me because I don't see it the same. I'm not going to say the same thing Bill said. I'm not going to say the same thing Tom said because I think our relationship a little different, a little deeper than that as far as, you know, build relationship. And I, me and Bill have a great personal relationship off the field. Bill, Bill is a wonderful, wonderful person. Like he really understands how life works. And a lot of people don't understand that. Until you go sit and have a conversation with him in his office, just you and him and you really break bread. You will see genuinely what type of man he is. Like everybody see this football and he's not going to talk and smile this and cussing people out. But behind closed doors, Bill is real as it comes.
- [70:03]
Interviewer
You are too. Sir. It was a pleasure talking to you and it's been a pleasure watching the entirety of a profoundly professional career. Thank you, Vince. And I'm going to hold you to that. I'm going to keep this number and I'm going to let everyone here, their mouth is going to water when that GHI 75 is something you're slathering on that meat.
- [70:21]
Vince Wilfork
Don't worry, I got you. Trust me.
- [70:23]
Interviewer
All right, Looking forward to it. Thank you, sir.
- [70:25]
Vince Wilfork
Thank you, buddy.
- [70:36]
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- [71:20]
Vince Wilfork
There's a Miller Light at Dan's chair.
- [71:22]
Miller Lite Advertiser
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- [71:55]
Interviewer
Yeah.