#479: Find A Way with NFL Legend Merril Hoge

Merrill Hoge, welcome aboard the Par Train, my man.

We're pumped to have you.

I'm looking forward to it.

I love, I love hearing the word par.

[laughs]

For me, that's a good word.

[laughs]

We're gonna talk about that, I think, today.

Um-

Yes, sir.

But I'm gonna start you with a, a tough one.

I'm gonna start you with a deep one.

At 25 years old, what did you think toughness was, and what do you think toughness is now? Has your definition changed?

Well, no, I, I, I don't think to- toughness, toughness will ever, never change.

Um, you know, toughness to me is, um, handling things that you don't think you can handle initially.

So if you'd have said toughness back then, I'd, I'd, I'd reflect it right on the farm I worked on, on the ranch I worked on, moving mile line, hand lines in irrigation, you know, in farmlands.

At, you know, 6:00 in the morning, you know, just to start out at the, the initial, the initial one, you know, there's 32 pipe in a quarter mile, you know.

So I'd move quarter mile lines, half mile lines, and even mile lines, hand lines.

And with water in them, shoot, they, they're, uh, they're too heavy to pick up, even for a grown man.

So you have to unload the water at some end and lighten the load, and then they get stuck in the mud, and for a kid it's a lot.

So initially I couldn't move them, but I found a way to eventually move them, and that's kind of the way I look at toughness, you know? Um, does it make you quit or does it build you?

Hmm.

So then how much of it...

There's so many things you've overcome.

I'm sure we'll talk about some of it for sure, and obviously get to how that relates to your golf game today, and we're gonna cover it all.

Merrill Hoge, welcome aboard the Par Train, my man.

We're pumped to have you.

I'm looking forward to it.

I love, I love hearing the word par.

[laughs]

For me, that's a good word.

[laughs]

We're gonna talk about that, I think, today.

Um-

Yes, sir.

But I'm gonna start you with a, a tough one.

I'm gonna start you with a deep one.

At 25 years old, what did you think toughness was, and what do you think toughness is now? Has your definition changed?

Well, no, I, I, I don't think to- toughness, toughness will ever, never change.

Um, you know, toughness to me is, um, handling things that you don't think you can handle initially.

So if you'd have said toughness back then, I'd, I'd, I'd reflect it right on the farm I worked on, on the ranch I worked on, moving mile line, hand lines in irrigation, you know, in farmlands.

At, you know, 6:00 in the morning, you know, just to start out at the, the initial, the initial one, you know, there's 32 pipe in a quarter mile, you know.

So I'd move quarter mile lines, half mile lines, and even mile lines, hand lines.

And with water in them, shoot, they, they're, uh, they're too heavy to pick up, even for a grown man.

So you have to unload the water at some end and lighten the load, and then they get stuck in the mud, and for a kid it's a lot.

So initially I couldn't move them, but I found a way to eventually move them, and that's kind of the way I look at toughness, you know? Um, does it make you quit or does it build you?

Hmm.

So then how much of it...

There's so many things you've overcome.

I'm sure we'll talk about some of it for sure, and obviously get to how that relates to your golf game today, and we're gonna cover it all.