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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Welcome to the Gary Cronicle's The People Show.
00:11 Checking the pulse of Husker Nation
00:12 brought to you by DPS Concrete Construction.
00:14 Check them out at dpsconstruction.net.
00:18 Ladies and gentlemen, before I bring on my guest,
00:21 all right, who has won a plethora of awards,
00:23 had a phenomenal 10 year career,
00:25 and is going into the College Football Hall of Fame.
00:28 Real quick, if you would like to make sure you don't miss
00:31 more interviews just like this one,
00:32 I recently interviewed Daniel Kaelin, Trev Alberts,
00:36 okay, gonna be doing more stuff like this
00:38 throughout the whole off season, hit the subscribe button.
00:41 Also, if you'd like to show a guy
00:42 from the great state of Nebraska,
00:44 like Mr. Danny Woodhead, some love
00:46 for going into the College Football Hall of Fame,
00:48 smash that like button, and I gave away who my guest is,
00:52 if you couldn't tell from the headline
00:53 of this video already, Mr. Danny Woodhead.
00:55 How you doing, my friend?
00:57 - I'm doing good, brother, how you doing?
00:59 - Dude, life is good, holidays were great.
01:02 Half the time the best part is when they're over,
01:05 and I mean that just 'cause craziness
01:06 kinda dies down and life gets back to normal,
01:08 but I appreciate you joining me.
01:10 So, first question right out the gate.
01:12 Obviously, as everyone knows, you grew up in Nebraska,
01:14 played high school football in Nebraska.
01:17 All right, your senior season you finished
01:19 as the Class A leading rusher,
01:21 as well as Nebraska's Class A all-time leading rusher,
01:25 with just under 5,000 yards from 2000 to 2003.
01:30 What was it like growing up in the state of Nebraska,
01:33 playing high school football here,
01:35 and things of that nature?
01:36 - Yeah, it was great.
01:39 I mean, Nebraska, I mean, and you played here,
01:42 Nebraska's a football state.
01:44 - Yep.
01:45 - We love our football, so Friday night lights,
01:49 I mean, it's a whole thing, the town,
01:52 it doesn't shut down, but I mean,
01:54 a lot of people go to the game.
01:56 It's just a great atmosphere, it's a lot of fun,
01:58 and man, yeah, it's a great state to grow up in.
02:03 Blue collar, hardworking town in North Flat I grew up in,
02:08 and it was a special thing,
02:11 and there's a reason why I came back.
02:14 - Absolutely, no doubt about it,
02:16 and it's interesting because you and I chatted briefly
02:19 before you came on, and then last time I interviewed you
02:22 was like six, seven, eight years ago.
02:25 You were actually hit by a car as a kid.
02:27 I thought you couldn't walk after that,
02:28 but you're like, no, no, Adam, that's somebody else,
02:31 but it's kind of--
02:32 - It's a better story.
02:33 - Yeah, don't let facts get in the way of a good story.
02:36 Also, facts don't care about feelings,
02:37 so it's whatever narrative you wanna fit
02:39 for the particular day, I guess,
02:40 but dude, let's talk about this, okay?
02:42 And of course, I have to ask this question,
02:44 however you'd like to answer it, feel free to do so.
02:47 Your recruitment to Nebraska, obviously,
02:49 it didn't work out so you played for Nebraska,
02:51 but I gotta ask, were there a lot of talks
02:53 between you and the Huskers, very little talks?
02:55 Did you almost come to UNL?
02:57 Was it not really ever close to happening?
02:59 How did that really go for you, my man?
03:02 - There were each time that I went to camp,
03:05 and then I went to a couple games and whatnot,
03:09 but it was, yes, there were some talks, but not enough.
03:14 I thought I did enough, more than enough,
03:19 in camps to show, and I thought I did enough,
03:22 more than enough in games to show,
03:24 but it just wasn't to be had.
03:28 They told me that I wasn't big enough,
03:31 and they said maybe I could walk on
03:35 as a kick or punt returner, maybe,
03:38 but never was offered to walk on.
03:42 People always say, "Oh, you could've walked on,"
03:45 and quite frankly, if they would've offered me
03:47 to walk on, I probably would've told them to pound sand.
03:51 (laughing)
03:53 I just wasn't gonna go to a place that didn't want me.
03:56 - Yep, I get it.
03:56 - And that's just kind of what it was,
04:00 and I'm okay with it.
04:02 Someone else asked me this,
04:05 and I am beyond all right with it.
04:08 Am I mad?
04:09 No, I'm a 39-year-old man.
04:11 If I am angry about which school,
04:17 that I could've went to or didn't go to,
04:20 whatever it was, maybe I'd grow up a little.
04:24 And did I wanna go there?
04:26 Yes, that's the exact place that I wanted to play,
04:29 but that was not God's plans for my life,
04:33 and I'm okay with that, and His plans were far greater
04:36 than any other plans that I had at training
04:39 to play at Memorial Stadium.
04:41 He had other plans to do some cool things
04:45 at Shadrun for four years,
04:46 and then playing the league for 10 years.
04:48 So I am not mad.
04:50 - Dude, that's exactly what I was about to say.
04:53 All right, so you go on to play at Shadrun State,
04:55 and I didn't know this until I did a little bit of recon.
04:57 Like, you are the first ever recipient
04:59 of a full athletic scholarship
05:01 in the 96-year history of Shadrun State.
05:04 Okay, in addition, for folks who don't know,
05:07 Danny won the Harlan Hill Trophy twice,
05:09 which is basically the D2 version of the Heisman Trophy.
05:12 He won it in 2006 and 2007, all right?
05:16 Tied for first place in D2 history and career,
05:18 scoring with 654 points, 109 touchdowns,
05:21 and Danny is only the second player
05:23 in collegiate history, period,
05:25 to score more than 100 touchdowns.
05:28 All right, what was it like
05:30 winning the Harlan Hill Trophy twice,
05:32 and what sticks out to you most
05:34 about your time at Shadrun State?
05:36 - Yeah, it was cool, man.
05:39 I've never been one for individual awards,
05:42 so I don't wanna say I could care less,
05:47 because I know that those awards
05:49 were really, really cool for the college,
05:54 and it was really, really cool
05:55 for the players and the coaches that I was with.
05:58 So in a sense, it's still a team award in my eyes.
06:02 So that was an amazing, amazing time
06:05 to share with all the people
06:07 that helped me get to where I was.
06:10 So for me, everything, even this whole thing,
06:13 like, man, I'm hoping that the guys I played with,
06:16 the offensive linemen, just anyone that was on the team
06:19 or a part of it, the coaching staff,
06:22 I'm hoping they feel like they have a piece of it, too,
06:24 because they really did.
06:26 As you know, I mean, it takes 11 dudes
06:29 to figure out a play
06:30 and to do something successful on one play.
06:33 So it wasn't just me.
06:35 Yeah, was I the one that carried the ball?
06:37 Yeah.
06:39 But I'm hoping that they feel the same
06:43 with the Hall of Fame
06:46 as hopefully they felt with the Harlem Heels.
06:48 But I'd say the thing that sticks out to me
06:50 at Shattering or whatever is,
06:52 and I'd even say this about the NFL,
06:54 is it's not the games.
06:56 It just isn't.
06:57 It isn't the playoff games.
06:59 It's not the Super Bowl like in the NFL.
07:02 I mean, it's the relationships that I made
07:04 and the people that I was around.
07:06 Those are the things that I'll remember.
07:07 I'll remember us staying up late
07:12 playing NCAA football,
07:14 recruiting so we could get to the next season
07:16 in our dynasty.
07:17 - Dude.
07:18 - I'll remember those things.
07:20 - Oh, man.
07:21 - I'll remember my brother breaking a trash can
07:24 when he lost to one of our friends in the dynasty.
07:27 That was hilarious.
07:29 Those are the memories I have.
07:33 Yeah, there's some games I'll remember,
07:35 but it's the relationships that I built
07:38 with my teammates and with my coaches
07:41 that I'll remember forever.
07:43 - Dude, that's awesome.
07:44 I'm laughing because I can relate.
07:47 This is your interview,
07:48 so I'll share more stories at another time.
07:50 But dynasty mode, recruiting mode.
07:52 My brother-in-law, Phil, and I
07:53 were playing at like 2.33 in the morning, okay?
07:56 And I beat him in a game,
07:58 and I put him up on my shoulders
07:59 and started twirling him around, all right?
08:02 And another friend of mine was asleep on the couch,
08:05 sits up, looks at us,
08:06 and just rolls their eyes and goes back to sleep,
08:09 you know, 'cause it's like 2.33 in the morning.
08:11 Dude, that's awesome.
08:12 I completely get that.
08:13 - Those guys get mad or--
08:15 - Oh, man, are you kidding me?
08:17 I totally relate to that.
08:19 All right, so you were a guy who was a four,
08:21 not three, not two, not one,
08:22 a four-sport star in high school.
08:24 You once scored 47 points in a basketball game.
08:27 You ran a 10-5, 100-meter dash in track.
08:31 You set records in soccer,
08:33 obviously played football as well.
08:35 Okay, you were also timed as you were getting ready
08:37 for that NFL draft coming out of college
08:39 at a 4.33, 40-yard dash,
08:40 which was the second fastest of all
08:42 the running backs that year, 4.03 pro agility,
08:45 which was the fastest.
08:47 Okay, and I say all that to say this
08:49 because you were not invited to the combine,
08:52 and obviously you went undrafted.
08:53 But, you know, as a guy who's going
08:55 to the College Football Hall of Fame,
08:56 had a 10-year NFL career, as you mentioned earlier.
08:59 Okay, what are your thoughts on that process
09:02 as you look back on it now?
09:04 Did that motivate you as you think about it now
09:06 going forward, or what was going through your mind
09:09 at that point in time?
09:10 - Yeah, I mean, the thing is, like,
09:13 right, wrong, whatever, I think everyone's motivated
09:18 by different things, right?
09:20 And I was motivated to do whatever I could
09:26 to be the best player I could be
09:28 with the gifts that God gave me.
09:30 That was a motivation.
09:32 And then there's a human element, too,
09:33 where, I mean, you feel like you're getting overlooked.
09:38 You feel like coaches have overlooked you.
09:41 You feel like scouts overlooked you.
09:44 You feel like the combine process,
09:47 everything overlooked you.
09:49 So, yeah, it definitely motivated me
09:51 as an extra motivation.
09:53 I think that was just my competition kinda kicking in.
09:56 And I mean, did I, at every stop,
10:01 for the people that doubted me,
10:03 was I trying to prove people wrong?
10:06 I don't know if I was trying to prove them wrong
10:09 or make them look silly.
10:11 So, I mean, it's kinda the same thing.
10:12 - Yep.
10:13 - Did I watch Nebraska games
10:16 or keep up with Nebraska games
10:18 when I was playing in college
10:22 and hoping they would lose?
10:23 Yes, I did.
10:25 Like, I wanted 'em to lose.
10:27 Is that right?
10:30 I don't know.
10:30 That's just kinda where it is.
10:31 Now, am I a big-time Husker fan,
10:35 big believer in the staff we have now?
10:38 Yes, I am.
10:40 But it's the same thing with the NFL.
10:42 If you can use something to motivate you a little extra,
10:47 why not?
10:48 - Absolutely.
10:48 - As long as it's not like ruining,
10:51 you don't wanna want things bad to happen to people.
10:55 You don't want, like,
10:56 but you do wanna prove people wrong
10:58 who have said you weren't good enough.
11:00 - Dude, there's a human being element to all of us,
11:02 'cause we're all human beings.
11:03 Some people are motivated to prove people wrong.
11:05 I can say I was absolutely that way at times.
11:08 I came to Nebraska, again,
11:10 they told me I wasn't good enough to play here.
11:12 So I've always said I didn't show up
11:13 with a chip on my shoulder,
11:15 I showed up with a whole forest, okay?
11:16 So I get it, dude.
11:18 Some people are motivated to prove people wrong,
11:20 some people are motivated to prove people right,
11:22 some people have never had to deal with that.
11:24 Dude, I love hearing everybody's unique
11:27 individual story and take.
11:29 Now, as you mentioned earlier, 10-year NFL career,
11:33 I wanna ask you some questions about that.
11:34 Before we do, if you find folks at home,
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11:51 All right, so you sign with the Jets,
11:54 there for three years, the Patriots for three,
11:57 and you finish your career,
11:59 Chargers, Ravens, the last four years.
12:02 How was your NFL experience?
12:05 And what are some of the, you know what, let's go to this.
12:08 I wanna ask about playing in the Super Bowl specifically.
12:10 What was that like for you?
12:12 What sticks out the most to you
12:13 about playing in the Super Bowl?
12:15 'Cause that's gotta be pretty frickin' cool.
12:16 - Yeah, it was wild, man.
12:18 Everything was different.
12:20 Everything was different about the whole situation.
12:23 You're there for a week.
12:24 You have a 30-minute halftime.
12:28 You know in the NFL, what is it, like 10 minutes
12:30 or something?
12:32 It was just like, everything was different.
12:35 You had Madonna performing.
12:37 I think it was Beyonce did the Star Spangled Banner.
12:41 I don't know, but it was like, it matched my anthem.
12:43 But it's like, everything was weird.
12:45 You had Deion Sanders, Joe Theismann,
12:49 Michael Irvin on the field before.
12:50 You're just like, what is going on?
12:52 - Yeah.
12:53 - And it was an incredibly cool experience.
12:57 But then you had to find a way
12:59 to make it to be a normal game.
13:01 And really, it was after the first hit.
13:03 Like, okay, we're just playing football
13:05 just like the normal season.
13:07 All right, let's go out and do our thing.
13:09 It was a great experience.
13:10 Obviously, we came up short.
13:12 But man, like, the experience I had in that,
13:14 like, I don't, some people look,
13:17 like, they'll be like, oh, I'm sorry I brought it up.
13:19 Like, I think I cared.
13:21 Like, I cared at the time.
13:23 - Yeah.
13:24 - But like, I don't care, man.
13:26 Like, it was such a blessing and so cool
13:29 that like, I got to play in that game.
13:31 Some people don't even play in playoff games.
13:33 I played in the Super Bowl,
13:35 was fortunate enough to score a touchdown.
13:37 Like, I have some memories
13:39 that I will have forever from that game.
13:42 I'm not gonna sit and pout because we lost.
13:44 Was I mad at the time?
13:47 Obviously, but I'm 39 years old now.
13:50 Like, that was forever ago.
13:52 I just feel very fortunate, very blessed.
13:56 I have so much gratitude, you know,
13:59 for the things that I was able to do or to be a part of.
14:03 - All right, man.
14:04 What was it like playing with Tom Brady
14:07 and for Bill Belichick?
14:09 - Man, with Tom, I mean, it's great.
14:11 And Bill, I mean, you,
14:13 they have an expectation of excellence
14:17 and that's like a very big thing is to expect excellence
14:22 and then they hold you to it.
14:24 Some people don't like that because it may,
14:26 you know, maybe you lose playing time
14:28 'cause you don't run a route correct
14:30 or you don't do something, it's like,
14:31 but that's what like champions do.
14:34 They do every little thing correctly.
14:36 And I would say with both of them,
14:40 that's why they were so good together
14:41 is 'cause they both expected that.
14:43 And everyone around them that they led did the same thing.
14:47 Otherwise, they weren't gonna be on board
14:49 or they weren't gonna get playing time or whatever it may be.
14:52 So, man, it was three years that I'm very thankful for.
14:57 And probably, I mean, it makes me view,
15:02 I mean, I grew up with a great family, great parents.
15:07 Obviously, taught me to work hard, do all those things,
15:10 but there was also some things that,
15:13 being at New England helped kind of mold me as an adult
15:16 into like what I'm gonna do in business
15:19 and how I'm gonna conduct myself around others.
15:23 Be on time, you know, do whatever jobs ask of you,
15:28 just do it, do it to the best of your abilities.
15:30 Be on time, be respectful of other people
15:32 and things of that nature.
15:35 So, like, that was a key time in my life, I'd say.
15:40 - All right, man, here's my,
15:42 are you ready for a hard-hitting question?
15:44 This is my hard-hitting question of the day.
15:46 All right, so this is based off, it's interesting,
15:50 the first line of your Wikipedia page is not about football.
15:52 It says, "Danny Woodhead, amateur golfer."
15:56 Then it goes into your football career.
15:58 And so, here's my hard-hitting question of the day.
16:00 Do you still have nightmares from the day
16:02 when Dan Whitney and I absolutely schooled you in golf?
16:06 (Dan laughing)
16:07 - Bro, of course I do.
16:09 I mean, that was a tough time for me.
16:11 (Dan laughing)
16:13 You guys just, you embarrassed me, you know?
16:17 You made me look bad, so.
16:19 No, it was, bro, that was such a fun time.
16:21 Such a great time of just like hanging out
16:24 and chatting up stories and playing a little golf, too,
16:28 and playing a little competition.
16:30 But man, that was just a good time to relax and hang out.
16:35 That was a great time.
16:36 - So, Dan's a good golfer.
16:38 You were the best golfer on the course that day.
16:40 I don't know if he'll like that.
16:41 I am awful.
16:43 But I enjoyed hanging with you guys as well.
16:45 All right, here's my actual most important question
16:47 of the day, and congratulations for going
16:49 into the College Football Hall of Fame.
16:51 So, here's my question.
16:52 What does it mean to you to be going
16:54 into the College Football Hall of Fame?
16:55 - Number one, on a big scale,
16:59 it means that I had a lot of people around me
17:01 that were really good at what they did.
17:03 Coaches, players, just people that took care
17:08 of whatever was needed.
17:09 But they, it took a whole lot more people than just myself.
17:15 So, I wanna start off with that.
17:21 That's what it means is that a lot of other people
17:24 get to enjoy the successes or the awards
17:26 that I've experienced, and I hope they do.
17:28 I hope they feel a part of it.
17:30 I don't want them to ever be like,
17:32 "Oh yeah, I played with him."
17:34 No, you were a part of it.
17:36 And that's the number one thing it means to me.
17:39 Number two, I would say this is the first individual award.
17:44 Not that, all the other ones are great.
17:48 I don't wanna, but like, where I was like,
17:50 "Whoa, this is crazy."
17:53 It was the first, like, even the Harlem Hits
17:56 was a very big deal, but like, this is something,
18:01 I think it's, maybe it even is a bigger deal
18:04 because I'm 39 years old, retired six years ago.
18:09 And I'm experiencing these things,
18:12 and then you see the other names in the class,
18:17 and it's just like, "No."
18:18 Like, maybe what I did in college, or just for a living,
18:25 I think I was pretty good at that.
18:26 And it kinda, I don't wanna say it validates,
18:30 but like, even my wife doesn't, nothing.
18:34 I mean, she was with me since freshman year of high school.
18:38 We dated.
18:38 She'd been through it all, like everything,
18:42 and nothing really gets her excited about anything.
18:45 She's like, "Oh yeah, cool.
18:46 "Oh, you're doing this.
18:47 "Oh yeah, you're in that field."
18:50 And this time, like, we were reading it,
18:53 and like, she even almost teared up.
18:55 Like, it was the first thing
18:57 that I had been really excited about.
19:01 Now, I got inducted into the Shattered State Hall thing.
19:05 That was awesome because I got to go back, see friends,
19:07 and just people that were huge in my college,
19:11 just experience.
19:14 And then this is like, just on a different level of,
19:19 I mean, it's the highest honor I feel like I could get
19:22 as a college football player.
19:25 And it just, it was kind of a, whoa, like,
19:28 I think we all sit back and we see the goodness of God
19:34 and what he's done in our lives.
19:36 And it's like, man, you had it figured out, God.
19:40 You had it figured out that I didn't need to go to Nebraska.
19:43 You had it figured out just on anything
19:49 and everything in my life.
19:50 And this is definitely one of those times
19:52 that it's kind of more like sitting back
19:55 and seeing in some ways what the Lord has done in my life.
20:00 And it was for four years,
20:04 but what he's done in my whole life.
20:07 And it's just like, it's just another moment
20:10 where I can be very, very, very thankful
20:13 of what the Lord allowed me to do.
20:17 And I mean, mine is in football.
20:21 Other people's can be in whatever career path
20:25 they may take, a banker, a lawyer, a whatever, right?
20:29 A teacher, a coach.
20:31 I think we all have different marking points in our lives
20:35 where we can sit back and go, man,
20:37 God, you had it figured out.
20:39 And I think this is just another one of those times
20:41 for me in my life, it's just mine is on an athletic level.
20:45 - Man, I love that.
20:47 Congratulations.
20:48 I wanna thank you for taking the time to join me
20:51 and everybody at home has always hit me up,
20:54 questions for you, all right?
20:55 Let me know in the comments below
20:56 your favorite Danny Woodhead memory.
20:58 It can be high school, college, or pro.
21:00 Let me know any suggestions you might have
21:02 for future interviews this off season.
21:04 And if you just wanna show Danny some love,
21:06 just say congratulations as well.
21:08 Until next time, Husker Nation,
21:09 go Big Red and always remember to throw the bones.