WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.310 Now, as much as I'd love to keep this 00:00:02.320 --> 00:00:04.230 job forever, great storytelling depends 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.150 on the next generation of journalists 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:08.549 rising up and asking great questions, I 00:00:08.559 --> 00:00:09.990 got a chance to meet some of them, and 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.150 they put me to the hot seat for some 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:13.830 mock interviews. And let me just tell 00:00:13.840 --> 00:00:16.470 you, these students came prepared. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:17.990 >> Are you a pineapple and pizza type of 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:19.910 guy or just keep it plain? 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.029 >> This interview's over. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.550 >> A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with 00:00:22.560 --> 00:00:24.790 students as part of CNN Academy, a 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:26.390 program to help nurture the next 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:28.790 generation of journalists. A total of 80 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:30.950 students. This group of college age and 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:32.870 new graduates come from across the 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:34.950 country from Penn State to where this 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.030 panel was held, Georgia Tech. 00:00:37.040 --> 00:00:39.270 >> So what as a reporter helped you develop 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:41.030 skills from playing in the NFL? 00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:41.750 >> Teamwork. 00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:43.670 >> And as as that teamwork aspect, you have 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:45.430 to be able to go and work with a team 00:00:45.440 --> 00:00:47.029 with producers, work with directors and 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.709 shoots. So what have you able to take 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:50.150 away from the teamwork aspect? 00:00:50.160 --> 00:00:52.069 >> See how she did a follow right there? 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:53.430 But sometimes your good people like 00:00:53.440 --> 00:00:55.189 teamwork and like they didn't really 00:00:55.199 --> 00:00:56.790 want to talk about it. What a better way 00:00:56.800 --> 00:00:58.790 to learn about reporting than to get 00:00:58.800 --> 00:01:01.510 right into the hot seat and let them 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:02.790 interview me. 00:01:02.800 --> 00:01:05.030 >> What advantages does being a good team 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:06.710 player, being able to operate as a 00:01:06.720 --> 00:01:08.230 member of a team have when it comes to 00:01:08.240 --> 00:01:10.149 being a a journalist? Like where does 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:13.109 that give you an edge as a journalist as 00:01:13.119 --> 00:01:14.710 compared to people who maybe aren't so 00:01:14.720 --> 00:01:16.149 good at working on a team? 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:17.910 >> I played nine years in the NFL and the 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:19.429 average career is three. Were there more 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.109 talented players than me physically? 00:01:21.119 --> 00:01:24.630 Yep. But no one's going to outwork me. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:26.390 No one's going to be more coachable and 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.230 no one's going to be a better teammate. 00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:31.030 And so, same thing in TV, very cutthroat 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:33.190 industry, radio, whatever it is. I mean, 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.109 there are people who would love to take 00:01:35.119 --> 00:01:37.830 your job. So, how can I make myself 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:38.950 indispensable? 00:01:38.960 --> 00:01:40.710 >> What would you say is like a challenge 00:01:40.720 --> 00:01:44.069 that you think um this new like upcoming 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:45.910 generation of of sports journalists will 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.590 face and what would be your advice to 00:01:47.600 --> 00:01:49.749 like overcome that? I would say one of 00:01:49.759 --> 00:01:51.910 the biggest challenges is to not get 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:55.030 replaced by AI. And I say that part 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:59.109 jokingly, but like quite serious. Um, so 00:01:59.119 --> 00:02:01.270 what do we have that computers don't? 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:03.350 It's those interpersonal connections and 00:02:03.360 --> 00:02:06.389 relationships to just be human, interact 00:02:06.399 --> 00:02:08.229 with people, have conversations with 00:02:08.239 --> 00:02:09.669 people because now you have an 00:02:09.679 --> 00:02:12.309 experience with an athlete or a coach 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:13.990 that you put on air or that you put in 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.390 an article or that helps get you another 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.869 uh interview with that person that that 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:21.589 AI or no one else can do. Only you can 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:22.869 do it because there's one of you in the 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.710 world, right? I saw that you did 00:02:24.720 --> 00:02:26.309 wrestling and football when you were 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:27.830 younger and that you set these records 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:29.350 that were super high and I hear you 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.790 talking about like you want to outwork 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:32.390 everyone. It seems like that's been a 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:33.990 principle that's been in your life from 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:35.430 the beginning. Can you talk more about 00:02:35.440 --> 00:02:36.790 kind of like what's instilled that? 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:38.550 >> I was always chasing a dream, right? I 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:40.229 always knew from the time I grew up that 00:02:40.239 --> 00:02:42.229 I wanted to play in the NFL. I had a 00:02:42.239 --> 00:02:44.790 support team around me, my parents. Uh 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:46.550 my mom cut seat belts out in the back of 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:47.990 the car, made a harness for me so I 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.589 could drag tires. Moved to a bigger 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:50.869 school district so I would get noticed 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:52.630 by colleges. And so what I'm getting to 00:02:52.640 --> 00:02:53.990 here is just having a yes coach 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.830 mentality all along the way. Like having 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:57.750 my dream, having my goal, but sometimes 00:02:57.760 --> 00:03:00.949 that's not what God has made us built to 00:03:00.959 --> 00:03:04.070 do or is not our ultimate path. And you 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:05.830 may not know that yet, but if you have 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:09.270 that yes coach mentality, so I go to 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.270 defense, lead the team in tackles. All 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:12.550 of a sudden, I'm the only player in 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:14.630 Stanford football history leading one 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:16.309 year, tackles in another. But if I had 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:18.229 said, "No, no, I'm a running back. I'm 00:03:18.239 --> 00:03:19.670 going to be a running back AFL." I 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:21.030 wouldn't have had that. and then I get 00:03:21.040 --> 00:03:23.270 drafted to the NFL. All these things in 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.070 my life like happened because uh I had 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:28.229 that mentality of like I know what I 00:03:28.239 --> 00:03:29.430 want to do, what I think I'm going to 00:03:29.440 --> 00:03:30.869 do. This is what I'm aiming for every 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:33.110 day. I'm going to pursue it with a 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:34.869 relentless passion. But like if I sense 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.990 a roadblock or my team needs me here, 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.390 then yes, coach, let's do it. I'm here 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:43.760 for the team.