Okay

... you know, it, it was a kind of a, it was a highlight for Cleveland sports.

Here it was, we got the NBA championship.

We have, uh, a, a championship trophy back in our town.

We have the celebration, the, the victory parade of that.

And here I am, the football player, getting invited to be in it.

But the...

You gotta be kidding me.

Mm-hmm

... you know, some of the things I believe our, our city and our community, and the resilience that we show as a, as a, as an area of second chances, and never s- never giving up, and getting back up.

And f- football I think so epitomizes that.

And some of the things that I've gone through off the field, um, as much as I'd love to just state to the positive things and, and, and, and maybe not remember those, I really think it's important to, to, to kind of reflect on them, and then, then highlight them and, and show people that we all go through things.

And, and in sports and, th- that, um, it teaches you to be resilient and come back.

And I'm really proud not only for myself to have come back, but now to be able to help other people.

And, you know, you hear me talk a lot about the people, the families, the communities that we're able to touch.

How, as a quarterback, can you help your offensive line in those situations to make sure that it doesn't always have to be a second play play by the quarterback, that you can maybe beat it getting the ball out of your hand quickly?

Yeah.

But also too, also too, one of the things that's, um, with, uh, uh, the great Mike Ditka passing, uh, last week.

To, you know, to, uh, 10 days ago, I was, had the honor of getting put into the NFL Gridiron Greats Hall of Fame in Chicago, and was the last class that, uh, to be put in before the great Mike Ditka passed last week.

And it's kinda started, that's started my journey of health and wellness for nine years ago, I, uh, I had that, um, seizure in the Chicago airport.

And- To be in a coma for, um, four days, 96 hours, and for Coach Ditka to be influential on me back then and, um, for that to happen there.

And then for, for me to be back there, uh, and Resurrection Hospital, which is where I was a frequent, um, um, a patient there from having seizures back, back in the day when traveling.

To be back there 10 days ago and, um, be with Coach in, in Coach Ditka's last class, um, in the Gridirons Great.

How, as a quarterback, can you help your offensive line in those situations to make sure that it doesn't always have to be a second play play by the quarterback, that you can maybe beat it getting the ball out of your hand quickly?

Mm-hmm

... you know, some of the things I believe our c- our city and our community, and the resilience that we show as, as, as an area of second chances and never s- never giving up and getting back up.

And for football, I think so epitomizes that.

And some of the things that I've gone through off the field, um, as much as I'd love to just state to the positive things and, and, and, and maybe not remember those, I really think it's important to, to, to kind of reflect on them, and then, and then highlight them and, and show people that we all go through things.

And, and in sports and, th- that, um, it teaches you to be resilient and come back.

And I'm really proud not only for myself to have come back, but now to be able to help other people.

And, you know, you hear me talk a lot about the people, the families, the communities that we're able to touch, um, I'm super proud to be able to still be touching people, families, and communities here into my fifth decade here in, in Cleveland.

How, as a quarterback, can you help your offensive line in those situations to make sure that it doesn't always have to be a second play play by the quarterback, that you can maybe beat it getting the ball out of your hand quickly?

Mm-hmm

... with a concussion.

And they would say, "Okay, we're gonna come out and you're gonna see me, Bill Tessitore, you're gonna see me, Dr. John Bergfeld.

Okay? Get our faces right." And we'd all laugh because, "Oh, yeah, we know you, Sage Still, we see you all the time." But we, these young kids, you didn't know when you get knocked out that you're goofy.

So, um, they're explaining that to you, and we're all joking and stuff, and they're gonna go, "Hey, we're gonna come out, and you're gonna be on camera," 'cause all the games are filmed.

So, "We're gonna do the finger test.

We're never gonna give you one, 'cause you'll, uh, it's too easy on the camera, and we'll never give you three, 'cause you may miss that.

What would you tell them?

No.

Okay? And, and Myles alters the whole game.

So, like, how now are we gonna be with that? And it's very important for Coach Bonkin to really...

And he gets it as an older, uh, older coach with his first chance, is when sometimes you trade your best player, what does the rest, what does the rest of us guys think? Okay? Like, are, are we playing for twen- another couple years from now? So that's dangerous to where, what, what the rest of the locker room is thinking.

And that's where sometimes, again, um, um, a Shador [laughs] could actually galvanize you-

Great year

...

in the, uh, Browns practice.

Great year

...

in the, uh, Brown's practice.

So I am so slow, okay? And I'm not saying this to be funny or self-deprecating, but I'm a slow, and I can't waste plays.

So I do, I could throw the ball away, but I did not like spiking the ball, because, um, it's just giving up on a play.

So you could throw an out, a quick out, a six-yard out, in 1.3 seconds, okay? You could spike the ball in about .3 seconds, okay? So there's a delta of that one second.

So- I would say, like, on spike plays or on those clock plays, I would notice the defensive backs would be way off or they would be milling around.

[laughs]