From Undrafted to the Front Office

Ran Carthon1:49

Played for the New Jersey Generals. He was Herschel Walker's league blocker.

Oh, damn. That must have been fun. and [clears throat] then transitioned to the Giants, but he went I think he only had their they played in the spring, their season was over, then he went like two weeks off then right in the Giants training camp and I think the Giants even they made the playoffs or they or that might have been the year they won the Super Bowl 86. I don't remember exactly what year it was, but he played him for like 40 something games and count just straight downhill lead blocking, barely touching the ball.

Ran Carthon2:31

Oh, no. You can't hide.

Ran Carthon2:42

But that's what we always say. We say the game should be easier than practice. Practice is where you build cat callous. where you do all the hard [ __ ] and the game is like,

You know, cuz that's the at least that at that moment you could tune your coach out a little bit.

Ran Carthon2:57

Cuz you know, at practice he's over your shoulder. He can actually come and snatch you out of a drill or get in your face, but the game is like he's over here. He's got a lot of other stuff to worry about.

Ran Carthon3:55

I mean, you you got to think about Tyson. To me, it's either on or off.

Ran Carthon3:59

Right. So, if he's in the ring, he's on that. Even if you go back to this recent Jake Paul fight,

Yeah. just some of his muscle memory. There were shots where you saw him want to take and everybody's like, "Why does he keep biting his gloves?" It's because he's trying not to hit this man and counter him in a way that he knew at 60 years old he could still knock this dude out at any time he got ready.

Ran Carthon4:22

The the the the best part of that was u seeing his face when he got knocked down and he was like, "Yeah, that was like that hit spoke to him." Man, what's that what's that you drinking, man? What kind of water is that?

Ran Carthon4:39

Yeah, man. It's a cool ass bottle.

Ran Carthon5:22

Mhm.

Ran Carthon6:45

I mean, look, we're neighbors, you know what I mean? Like when we when we first introduced, it wasn't a matter of, oh, he has an adopted daughter. It was like, oh, this is a newer neighbor. Yep. Hadn't met him. Hey, cool dude. We And then you and I started talking. I I don't even know if if when we first started having our conversation if I even knew about your daughter, you know, but we had so many other people in common that it was like, "Oh, this guy's cool as hell." You know what I mean?

And then then to hear about your daughter, it when you learn of stuff like that, it just makes you want to take more of an active part. Yeah. Right. Because on the flip side where you're saying you and your family um are raising a black child, you got to think about it. Me and my family have lived in predominantly white areas where we're one of the few, right? So, a part of the reason for us even moving to this area and was around my daughter to being able to go to the high school that had a higher black population.

Yeah. Right. And um

There was moments when we lived out in Cali where each of my daughters were the only black girl in their whole entire grade.

Ran Carthon7:46

You know what I'm saying? So, so what Tinsi was going through in your household is what my kids go through on a day-to-day basis. And so, it was just it was just some commonalities there and we all able to help each other. And I mean, like you said, man, this this community support is why I don't plan on leaving and moving here. Just the camaraderie we have. And I mean, you see it every Friday when we're out at the tailgates for the high school, local high school games.

Your sons aren't playing, my sons aren't playing, but there we are. We start over here, but then we end up on the field and we're into it just as much as the dads who are actually have sons out there. But it's the cool thing where

If you're not at the game

And your boys or your daughters at the game, you know that there's a watchful eye on them.

That's exactly the same thing for me, like, hey, where's your dad? Is Oh, your dad's not here. How you getting home? You need a ride? You know how many times I've left that high school

And I got five teenage dudes in my car and I'm dropping them all off home. They're not my kids. I don't have I have a teenage daughter. I have small boys.

Ran Carthon8:48

But because I know their parents and I've Hey, are you coming to get them? I'm here. I can bring them home so you don't have to leave to come get them.

Yep.

Ran Carthon9:38

What you're talking about is literally what I still go through, right? Because again, my daughters were raised in predominantly white neighborhoods, white areas, white schools. And so even though they have a black mom, a black dad, and they have black family,

They still there are parts of them where it's like, I don't know that I necessarily fit in one way, you know, or the other, you know what I'm saying? And so when my uh my oldest daughter, she's a junior in college.

And so we were like, you know, like, okay, this is going to be interesting. Where's her friend group going to be? What is that going to look like? at her schools there, black boys at her school.

And so my daughters have grown to this space where they just have like a multicultural level of friends.

Um, but there's still a part of us where we're like, we still

Need to, you know, ingratiate them into more into black culture. Yeah.

So you can have like my, this is going to sound crazy. So for the viewing audience, I think this is my camera right here. Like please forgive me. Like my oldest daughter had not seen the movie Friday until she got to college. Right. Now, part of it too is it's a rated R movie. So, we kind of follow those guidelines with our kids. So, a lot of the the quotes from the movies that my wife and I say through the house, she never understood. It just went over her head.

And about a year ago, her and some friends, we were like, "You need to watch this movie." Yeah.

And she called us immediately and was like, "So much of my childhood is explained now."

Like, I get it. You know what I'm saying? But, but there's again, there is not just,

You know, black kids in a white family. It can still happen for black kids in a black family just based off of the area that they grew up in.

Ran Carthon11:50

You know, the best part too about the tailgates, man, is like, you know, it was it was one of those deals where, you know, obviously it was predominantly like the black dads that kind of put it together. Obviously, most of us are married to black women. So, it kind of became like a black family tailgate thing, but but you know, as well as I know, if you look to the left, it's a white families over here. You look to the right is white families.

But then once the food comes out,

It's like you can't tell who's a part of who tailgate cuz everybody's there. Everybody loves Big Dave's fish plates and and then the kids are over here throwing the football with these people cuz they all go to school together. So it just be it it starts off as three separate and then once especially once we get closer to game time, it just becomes one big tailgate.

Ran Carthon13:09

So, that's what my kids are. My my kids are they go they used to it was brown.

Ran Carthon13:16

And then it was uh tan. And one of them was like peach. But then because you know my wife is lighter complexed

And so they would call they would call my wife she's white brown and she's like what? Like you're you're white brown. And it's so funny because uh I think of the four kids, two out of the four in the earlier part of their life thought she was white.

Ran Carthon13:41

Yeah. because they're like, "You're I mean, we see dad. Dad's darker

And they're more closer to my color." They look at her and they're like, "You're not dark."

Ran Carthon13:51

So, you're white. You might be white, you know, and she's like, "You've seen both of my parents." Like, why would you think? But again, as kids in their mind, like you said, it's all learned behavior.

Ran Carthon14:34

Yeah. And but but I think I think with with the changing of communities, you know, if you go back to the 60s, I think the changing of communities kind of forced, you know, some of that, you know, some neighborhoods were overtaken, people kind of pushed in and out of these different neighborhoods. So I think it kind of became that. But I think the big thing is is um like you know you have you talked about my college experience. You have the the HBCU historically black colleges and universities

But then you have you know institutions like I went to University of Florida are predominantly white institutions. Now granted

On there I mean I was a part of the biggest fraternity on campus which was the football team. Yeah.

Right. Like let's let's start there. But I think the only initially the only colors that mattered, you know, at these some of these schools are the the school colors.

Ran Carthon15:21

Right. So orange and blue was our big thing. But we knew as a student population that there are 51,000 students on this campus as a whole, but there may only be 3,500 black students. Yeah.

So it's kind of like we

Everyone knew each other whether you hung out with each other or not. And but it was like again that's where that sense of community like, okay, let's make sure they're good, you know? And so that that's what it became. And like I said, even having that here, like it's again, you have perceptions of Nashville, Tennessee, Brentwood, Tennessee, Franklin, Tennessee, you have these perceptions, but when you're actually here and you're ingrained in the community, I think a lot of those things kind of just subside. Again, we have um you know, friends of our kids who who on a opposite side of the voting table as we are.

Ran Carthon16:11

Right. and and probably could in a in a sense have some friction there. You know what I mean?

But to have those innocent kids in the middle who all they care about is being able to enjoy their time with their buddies.

Ran Carthon16:22

Like for us parents, it makes you look at stuff different,

You know, and like, hey, look, man, you vote how you vote.

I'll vote how I vote. But we know that we are raising our kids on this common ground. And then our kids enjoy spending time with each other, you know, being around each other, getting invited to each other's birthday parties, wanting to sleep over at each other's house. And regardless of where you vote, regardless of where your religion lies, you trust me, first of all, as as a man, as a husband, as a father, but then you trust me as a black man to have your son at my house, sleep over my house, and you know that your kid is going to be well taken care of.

Like, to me, that means more than anything.

Ran Carthon18:21

No, no, no, man. Don't don't don't Damn it. Don't disrespect.

Ran Carthon18:26

So, uh when I was in school, I think we had around 1300.

Oh, okay. Oh, it was bigger than I thought. Yeah, we were a 4A school. Now, you know, going into my senior year, uh we only had like 17 players on the football team to start with.

Key West is a very small community, small island, uh four miles long, one mile wide.

Ran Carthon18:48

So, I was raised by my uh by my mom, my stepfather. Okay. My stepfather uh Robert Goodllo, he he was in the military. He was in the Navy for I think 26 years. Uh did 26 years in the um in the military. So, we've lived all over. Um, but I I call Key West home because up until, you know, me being an adult, it was the longest I've ever lived in one place.

But, man, you talk about a great upbringing. And Key West is another place for me that you talk about if you were from Key West and you lived on that island, it didn't matter what color you were, everybody looked out for each other. It was kind of like the old school mentality. If you were over here and you did something, by the time you made it home, your mom knew about it. Yeah.

Or that this person had the right to whip your ass and then send you home and you got another ass whooping. And so it was like it was like that type of community. We I came from a very close-knit, you know, family. Uh well, and close-knit community like I still I still go back to Key West. I was just there in August. Uh they named the uh kickoff classic game after me. So I went back for that. And just the just the outpour of love, right, that I received.

But I wasn't born in Key West. So

If you're born in Key West, they call you a conch.

Ran Carthon20:02

You're a kunk. And then if you're not from Key West, like born there, but you were raised there and it becomes your home, they call you a freshwater conch.

Ran Carthon20:09

So I'm really a freshwater conch.

But if you saw me with the people,

Then you would think that I was born and raised there. There are certain families in that community. Um the Butler family, the Osborne family, the Spotswood family, the Dava family, all these families have like like they just brought me in. Yeah. You know, particularly the Butler family. My best friend Curtis Butler

Um he comes from um

One of the biggest families in Key West.

They have they have like athletic lore like everybody from his family is a great athlete. and he became we we became best friends um going into ninth grade because we were the only two freshman on varsity.

Ran Carthon20:52

And so we spent a lot of time together and from there like he lived with his aunt and so she took me in. His grandmother was an administrator at the high school so she would check in on me and so like I've literally became a part of their family. And so now when I go back home, when I went just went back home this most recent time, like I had a moment to sit there and reflect and was like, I don't care what, man. Like Key West is home.

Like I don't care where I'm going to live. Like this is this is

It was it was just love, you know? And you felt it and it came from a genuine place and had nothing to do with other than me being from there, me being able to accomplish things in life and give that island something to be proud of.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Ran Carthon21:31

So, my recruiting process was crazy, man. Um, I got I said, like I said, I played varsity as a freshman. Really didn't play much. Then my sophomore year, I was having off to a decent year. Broke my ankle. Then I was out. Then my junior year, I had a big junior year. I ran for,300 yards um in like eight, nine games or whatever it was. And then, uh, placed second in the state in the 100 meters.

Ran Carthon22:01

Um, so my fastest time was a 1038.

Damn. And uh and I had my worst worst race in finals in the state finals. Mind you, I lost to a guy that I had beaten all season. So that was on me.

But

Ran Carthon22:20

That's the one thing I loved about track was it was on it was all on me. I couldn't blame, oh damn, Ken didn't get his block or he didn't. No, it was on me, you know. And so,

Uh, started my junior year. show you how South Florida as a whole football is crazy. We played Coral Gables High. First of all, let me say this. I don't know a lot of people know this. Going to my senior year, they had the first ever Nike combine. Y and it was at the University of Miami. Anybody who's anybody in South Florida football was there at the time. I go out, I perform well, ranked really high amongst the running backs at the camp. Butch Davis, who was the head coach at the University of Miami, uh him and uh Don Soldinger, who's a longtime running back coach at the University of Miami, they bring me up.

They offer me a scholarship and I'm like, "Yep, I'm going to University of Miami." You know, so I tell them, I'm like, "Hey, I'm I'm about 95% sure I'm coming here." I was like, "I want to go home." Talk to my folks about it. And I knew So University of Miami is actually in Coral Gables, right?

We were playing Coral Gables High. So, I was like, "Oh, this is going to be perfect." I was like, "I'm first game of the season. I'm gonna rush for like 200 yards against Coral Gables. I'mma commit to University of Miami and I'm going to be done and I can enjoy the rest of my senior year." And I'm like, I wanted to go to University of Miami just simply because it was close for everybody in Key West to be able to come see me.

Ran Carthon23:41

Go out and we're playing Coral Gables High and we're run I never forget running the stretch play to the right. I can see everything develop and I'm just pushing one guy like pushing him to his block and there's my cut and it's a house call. So as I'm pushing I put my foot in the ground to accelerate up the field and I get a horse collar tackle from the back and snapped everything in front of my ankle cuz my foot my toe was up like this.

My momentum was going this way but my body got pulled back so it just snapped everything in the front. You know who that person was? Who? John Vilma. He was I think Vilma was a junior

That year. So that happened.

So we we go on and we're up in this game because I don't play the rest of the game, but we're up four uh I think four four points and there's like three seconds left in the game. We score to go ahead. So instead of squib kicking, we kick it off deep, right? So you know in high school football, if it reaches the end zone, it's a touchback. You got to bring it from the 20. Well, this ball landed short and then they took it back to the house 96 for a gamewinner.

You know who that was? Who?

Frank Gore.

Ran Carthon24:53

So, Frank Gore,

Ran Carthon24:54

And Frank Gore and John Vilma on the same high school football team.

Ran Carthon24:58

And so, long story short, man. Um, you know, I was being recruited by by a bunch of schools. I had a couple track scholarship offers as well. Um, but I tore up my ankle. I went and got MRIs and I actually got misdiagnosed. They told me I broke the growth plate in my ankle. Yeah.

And that my ankle would grow back to form. I wouldn't run the same.

And I remember reading an article in one of the Scholastic Sports magazines. Uh this kid, he donated a kidney to one of his family members, but he was committed to Florida State. And so Florida State honored his scholarship because he couldn't play football anymore. They and they were like, "Hey, look, you still come to school on scholarship, but you'll work with the football program." So for me, I'm like, well, if this is true, like I, you know, I need to find a way to get into college where my folks don't have to pay for it.

And so I'll never forget Rod Broadway. He was a defensive line coach at the University of Florida time. Went on become a head coach and successful head coach at the HBCU level.

He was recruiting me and he called me. He was like, "Hey man, you know, heard about your ankle." He was like, "But we're not worried about it." He was like, "We'll determine what's what when you come here on your visit." He was like, "But we're going to recruit you harder." He was like, "A lot of schools are going to back off, but we're going to recruit you harder." And it was like I was standing there on the phone and I'm just like, "This is my shot."

Ran Carthon26:18

To lock in a commitment. And if I can't run again, I can't run again. But at least, you know, I know I'll be able to go to school and get education. So, I just told him, I was like, "Coach Broadway, I'm I'm coming." And he was like, "Wait, wait, what? What?" I was like, "Yeah, I want to be a Gator." I love it.

And he was like, "Oh, I wasn't prepared for you to commit. Hold on. Let me go get coach." So then I spoke to uh Coach Spurrier. I spoke to coach Carl Franks who was a running back's coach at the time. And I ended up being able to come back and play

Like the last three games of my senior year and had really good three games and all the schools that backed off all came back calling and I was like, "Hell no." Yeah.

You know what I mean? like University of Florida stood by me when it was all over in my mind. Y

And so I'm going to stand I'm going to stand by my commitment to them now that I'm well and I know I'll be I'll be fine. Now I still ended up needing to get surgery and I got surgery my freshman year of college. But all end up being well. But that that's how I ended up at UF.

Ran Carthon27:20

I ran track. I ran one meet at at um at at Florida. I was the third leg on the 4x1. Now imagine imagine me coming out in my unitard. You know I average track athlete is you know if there's

Ran Carthon27:37

So you know the body type dude I was 227 just yolked up y

In my unitar. I remember we ran in the Sun Devil Classic and it was I never I don't know who the guy is but he was a a sprinter for USC and you know you come out there you're doing your little stretch and you know he looks at me and like he's just looking at me and in my mind I'm looking at him and I'm picturing him saying hey man the shot putters are are down there like you don't belong.

Yeah. And [snorts] so I told myself, I was like, I don't give a damn. If I beat anybody else in this heat, I'm kicking his ass. Like, he's gonna he's gonna he's going to put some respect on my name today.

And man, so um I was the third leg and another football player, Taylor Jacobs, who played wide receiver on our team,

He was the anchor. And mind you, that was my first time ever running anything other than anchor.

Ran Carthon28:30

And so I'm digging this curve and I'm I'm kicking this little dude's ass. And then Taylor jumped out ahead of the mark.

Ran Carthon28:38

And so now I got to try to hit it in another gear that I don't have

And pulled my hamstring.

Ran Carthon28:45

And so we made the exchange or whatever. But then like after that meet I was just sitting there. I was like to that point I was like you know from a soft tissue thing. I never had a soft tissue in football.

Ran Carthon28:57

Like what the hell? And so I was like, "No, because I can't allow track to slow down." Because it was going into my uh senior year. Yeah. I was like, "I can't I can't allow this to happen." So I just only ran in that one meet.

Ran Carthon29:57

Yeah. That's what I felt with Julio Jones. Yeah.

Like Julio Jones was absolute freak for a person that size a wide receiver 63. I think at the time when we drafted him in Atlanta, he was probably closer to 230.

Ran Carthon30:10

Now mind you, this dude at the combine had a Jones fracture, which is like a fracture of the fifth metatarsal, whatever one it is in the foot.

Still ran a 43.

It's so crazy. and then had to get surgery. He came back and I just remember his first time being out on the practice field as an Atlanta Falcon and me and a couple scouts were standing there and he runs by us, right? Running a route and no [ __ ] This is God's honest truth. when he ran by like your body did like this truck

And I looked at other guys I was like did y'all feel that

And I was like but it explained it like his body wasn't meant for that amount of force

Right because not only was he big and he was fast but he could just slam his foot in the ground and get in and out of brakes because he was so strong in his lower body I'm like his poor feet weren't meant to handle that much force it was but he like but like you said man some of these guys are just freaks in nature.

Ran Carthon33:38

Yeah, big difference.

Ran Carthon33:40

You know what's cool and to hear you say that? Um, you know the u the trail that you run over by my house and where I saw you at?

Yeah, of course. I took the boys on a four mile walk. Yeah.

Right. So, we walked that and we ended up by Big Dave's house

And it was four miles and I'm talking about a seven-year-old and 8-year-old

And they were huffing and puffing and they were pissed off and so I use that as a teachable moment.

Ran Carthon34:04

So, we get back on the part of the trail u where you're just coming off of um off of Wilson Pike and there's this little bench.

Ran Carthon34:12

And so, I'm like, "Hey, look, at this point it's mind over matter."

Yeah. I'm like, "You're only tired because you're allowing it, you know." And I'm like, "All right, look. There's a bench coming up." I said, "We're about 100 yards away from a bench. You want to sit down?" I said, "We can sit for 10 minutes, let you guys get catch your breath, or we can keep going." They were like, "Keep going." So, I was like, "Okay, we're taking a step in a positive direction." So, we get there and I'm like, "Sit or keep going? Keep going." And I'm talking to him the whole way.

I'm like, "Listen," I was like, "I promise you guys we're not far from home." I said, "But your mind has told you that this is hard because you don't know where you are."

Ran Carthon34:48

I'm like, "But we're going to get to a point in this where you're going to know where you are, and your brain is going to automatically calculate how far you are from home." I said, "And watch how easy it gets."

So, we're walking and we come right out. We dump right back out and like their mood was like,

But I was like, "You see what I mean?" And they were like, "No, you were right." I was like, "So next time when you're" Cuz they're playing basketball now. you're on the court and you don't feel like you could push. I said, "Just remember, just remember this walk."

Ran Carthon35:16

Just remember this walk that you actually can go. And so, it's been cool because ever since that moment, they now want to do hard things. Yeah.

And so, we go out in the driveway now and I'm getting them used to using the backboard. You know, all these kids, they want to be Steph Curry, so they want to switch the ball and they want to shoot threes. I'm like, we're not that good. You know, we need to be under the basket, kiss it off the backboard. So, I just take them out in the back. I mean in the uh driveway and I do these little drills where I put the ball in the corner.

I have them dribble and I tell them left or right.

Ran Carthon35:48

And you got to go do a layup on that side and I get them tired. Then I put them on the free throw line. I'm like, "All right, you got to make three free throws in a row. If you miss, you got to give me five push-ups."

But it's like I do it, but they're learning now. And I'm teaching them how to like like you you're you're a marathon runner. just that part of the race where you got to find your that that inner peace where you can calm your body down and then now I have them running laps around the neighborhood. You know, I'm like, "Okay, you missed the layup. All right, give me a lap." And then as soon as they're coming back up the driveway, I tossing the ball and I'm like, "Left side." And then, "All right, now to the free throw line." And so my eight-year-old, he's getting it.

He's like, "Oh, I know what my dad's doing." And but but it's working because they're, you know, they're starting to see it and they're starting to realize

That they are in more control in terms of using their mind and not allowing it to defeat them.

Ran Carthon38:50

Undrafted. I went undrafted free agent uh to the uh Indianapolis Colts. Um

Ran Carthon38:59

Uh humbling cuz you know every every football player when whether you sign in high school or you're in college, you're like, "Oh no, I'm going to be a first round pick." Yeah. Like, so first of all, you go from in my mind,

I got to a point though where I was like, h maybe I won't be a first round pick, you know, but I I'll get drafted. Yeah.

Then you're [snorts] not you don't get drafted. And then you show up to NFL training camp and there's Edgerrin James, there's Dominic Rhodes, you know, that's that's in my actual position room, but then you look out, it's Marvin Harrison, it's Reggie Wayne, it's Brandon Stokley, it's Peyton Manning, it's, you know, uh, Dallas Clark, it's Dwight Freeney, it's Bob Sanders. you see all these great dudes and I'm watching Edgerrin James go through the ladder and do one opposition drills and I was like, "Yeah, I can't do that." I was like, "I don't have that ability." Like, my feet don't work like that.

Then I watched Dominic Rhodes. So, I'm I'm actually sizing dudes up. So, I'm like, "Okay, he's good." Like Edgerrin James, I can't take his spot. So, I was like, "Let me see what this Dominic Rhodes guy." Dominic is one of the quicker guys I've ever seen. I'm like, "Nope, can't do that. So then I put my eyes on James Mungro and no disrespect to my man Monger if you see this I love you MS but I'm like oh yeah I could compete with him you know I could compete with this guy but I I just had to find my way and so I went through that training camp actually got cut and uh ended up signing to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.

Now ironically enough my dad was the running back's coach there.

Oh man, how was that pressure? That was the worst damn experience in my life. Uh

Ran Carthon40:38

It wasn't It wasn't even pressure. It wasn't no pressure from my side. It was just If you If you know my dad and any player he's ever coached can verify this, his his style of coaching was that old school.

Ran Carthon40:56

Well, we got closer. We got closer to older I got. And but by this time we're like That's my guy. That's that's my dude.

And I remember just at one day at practice, um Roy Williams, the allp pro safety out of Oklahoma, he was uh I was running a scout team. And so he was coming on a blitz and so I stepped in his direction, but they're working on their timing, so I just let him go. So my dad, oh, you going to get the damn quarterback killed. You didn't block your man. So, I'm like, I know that this is like if it was our protection, I know that this would be my guy protection.

So, I'm like, all right, you know, whatever. On me. My bad.

Ran Carthon41:40

So, we're couple plays later, they do something else kind of same.

Ran Carthon41:48

OH, NO. I'm Oh, I'm getting there. So, then Roy comes again. Then I step, I butt him up and I'm blocking him and then he's doing all the extra, you know, hands to the face stuff. So now I'm like, "Oh, you going to let them you going to let the mother punk you and you're not going to stand up for you?" So I'm like, "Godamn, like I can't do anything right." So

Ran Carthon42:22

Yeah. And so we get to, it was much later in practice. So now Roy comes, I butt him up, and now I'm trying to drive him into the ground.

Ran Carthon42:33

Then Oh, you're trying to hurt the damn AllPro safety. So, at that point, I just turned. I'm like, "Man, shut the [ __ ] up." And so, now we have this this back and forth, right? We're going back and forth. And Coach Parcels is like, "All right, that's enough." So, Richie Anderson, who was our starting fullback, and that's one of my dad's guys. He had been with my dad multiple places. He walks me to the side. He's like, "Hey, little bro, like man, you know Pops loves you and you just just he's got to coach you hard.

He's got to show everybody he's going to be just as hard on you as he is.

Ran Carthon43:09

But still, it he wasn't under no damn pressure. He was just an [ __ ] Uh, and so now we're like, I'm kind of calmed down. And then my dad yells over to, "Hey, Richie, slap him. Slap his ass." And I'm like, "No, you slap me."

So now we're going. So again, I'm talking about this is Dallas Cowboy team. It's Keyshawn Johnson is on Larry Allen, Flozel Adams,

Leroy Glover. [snorts]

So Keshan, I remember Keshan like Mo, you gonna let him talk to you like that? You going to let him talk to you like that? So it was, so it was [snorts] like whatever. Practice is over. So now I'm pissed.

Ran Carthon43:47

So I'm like, man, I'mma go home. I'mma study. Like he's not going to be able to say [ __ ] to me. I'm make sure I'm on my stuff. Mind you, I'm I'm living with him, right? I'm living with him. So, I remember going home and I got my playbook out. I got my notepads, my highlighters. Like, I'm I'm just doing everything, making sure I know I'm converting it from, okay, I learned it in this language. I'm oh, this is this. So, I'm doing all this work.

I'm messing around and do those off. So, I hear the the alarm, you know, front door like let you know.

But I'm my cousin lived with us also. So, I'm thinking, you know, it's 4:00, 4:30, like, oh, it's got to be my cousin. I wake up to a slap and I'm like, "Oh shit." And then I look up and it's my dad.

Oh my god. And he's like, "I slapped you. Now what?"

Ran Carthon44:39

So I start laughing. [clears throat] So he's like, "What you laughing for? I just slapped you. What you going to do?" And I'm laughing. I said I said, "Man, I won. How did you win and I slapped you and you didn't do anything?" I said, "Cuz this has been on your mind since I said it." I said, "To the point that you left work to come here and do this?" I said, "Guess what? Now you got to take your ass back to work." And he was just looking at me.

He was like furious. I said, "Matter of fact," I said, "You better take your ass back to work before I call coach Parcels and tell him you're not in the building." And he looked at me, he was like, [snorts] "Fuck you." And then he left. And but it was funny because a week later, the Indianapolis Colts called me back and wanted to sign me to the roster, to the active roster.

Oh, nice. because I was on a Cowboys practice squad and Edgerrin James had tweaked his hamstring.

And so, uh, I get a call from my agent and he's like, "Hey, this is, you know, this is what's going to happen." And then my dad came home and he's like, "Son," he was like, "Uh, you know, coach sent me here to talk you into staying." He was like, "But as your dad, I'm telling you to take it."

Ran Carthon45:47

He was like, "You got to take it." He was like, "His money um you know money on the active roster had the opportunity to play and show people what you can do." He was like before our relationship like you got to go.

Ran Carthon46:00

You know what I mean? And I was like no. I was like I was leaving no matter what. You know what I mean?

But it was a cool opportunity

To be able to be coached by my dad.

You know what I'm saying? And it was just like one of those unique things. Would I ever want that to happen? Absolut. again like if I could go back and rewind the time I would have never signed with Dallas but it was a cool moment that we can say that we had and we we laugh about it now you know what I mean but uh so there so I end up going back to Indie long story short I played for five teams over three years

Uh Colts um Colts Cowboys um Seattle Green Bay Detroit were the were the five teams I played in I think I don't know how many games I actually played in real NFL games, but they were all with the Colts. I had several stints.

Ran Carthon46:49

Uh with the Colts, they would always bring me back. But I mean, those teams that I played on with the Colts, man, you talking about a grad school of learning football.

Ran Carthon46:57

To be in a room,

Ran Carthon46:59

Peyton Manning was our quarterback. To be in a room and hear Peyton Manning talk football. I mean, some of the coaches who were on this staff, I mean, Tony Dungy was our head coach. Jim Caldwell, who was the head coach at the at the Colts and at the Lions, he was the quarterback's coach. Tom Moore, who in my opinion, who he actually just retired yesterday, was one of the greatest offensive coordinators ever, you know, coaching this business. He was our offensive coordinator. If you go to the um to the Colts Arena, I just almost called it RCA Dome because that's what it was called back then.

But if you go to Lucas Oil Field Field now and you look on the um their Ring of Honor, about eight, nine of those guys who names are in the Ring of Honor were all on the same team.

Ran Carthon47:43

Yeah. And so I mean we had Hall of Fame GM and Bill Polian, Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy. Payton's in the hall. Marv's in the hall. Edin's in the hall. Uh Dwight Freeney just went in the hall. So that's just six. But then other guys that are in the Ring of Honor, uh Jeff Saturday, Tarik Glenn,

Ran Carthon48:05

Robert Mathis. Uh Dwight um um Dwight Clark um Dwight Clark, Dallas Clark, excuse me. All those guys were all on the same teams. Like they just built a great team, great culture. It was a team and that's where I learned like culture building.

That was a team that policed itself.

Ran Carthon48:25

If a guy got out of out of line, Coach Dunie didn't have to do anything

Because guys would police it themselves. And so we were a close, tight-knit team. Again, I was a guy that was on practice squad, roster, practice squad, roster, on and off.

But if you saw all of us together, you would think that I was a high round draft pick that played a ton of ball just because of the closeness and the relationships. And it's not it's not even just with the teammates, it's with the organization as well. So, I've I've always had, you know, a soft space in my heart for the Indianapolis Colts organization. And my dad and I cuz my dad retired in '92 as a player with the Indianapolis Colts. I think to present day, we're one of five father and son combinations have play for the organization.

Ran Carthon50:57

Not in the NFL because I never I was never comfortable in my space in the NFL, right? Because I was a fringe guy.

Ran Carthon51:05

And so I never would allow myself to get caught up in that. I mean, think about it. played Green Bay, Dallas, like two of the most storied franchises, you know, in in the all of sports, but it never occurred to me. I I just remember probably the one moment I could think about was um was my last college game and we played played Florida State my last home game rather uh in the swamp in Gainesville and I couldn't take the feel because I was crying so hard and I'm not a I'm not an emotional person that way but I just remember it was senior night and you know they do the whole ceremony thing you run out to your family or whatever

But I just remember because I always led the team out of the tunnel And so I just remember before we came out of the tunnel, I stood there and I kind of walked out a little bit ahead and I'm just looking at the crowd and it's 90,000 people and I'm like, "This is going to be the last time I run through this tunnel." And then I'm looking at my teammates and I'm just thinking about like the the year we had and I always did a thing where I sprinted all the way down to the opposite side of the field to the back of the other end zone and then I would just go and high-five the fans back there.

And I I just remembered that moment. And so I get on the sideline and one of my really good friends uh Tavarus Washington got arrested. So he put his arm around me and he was like, "Man, thank you." you know, thank you for everything. And again, I'm looking around and I just just start balling, but it wasn't just like tears and it was like the [clears throat] like and that was the one moment where I was like, man, I was really here.

Ran Carthon52:52

You know, at the University of Florida at the in the swamp, 90,000 90,000 people in this in this day, 90,000 people know my name.

Yeah. And it's because I had this helmet on and this orange and blue, but that was the only moment because again, my status in the NFL wasn't

Ran Carthon53:11

Concrete enough for me to enjoy it. Had I been a player that signed like a real free agent deal to Green Bay or to Dallas, then I could be like, "Wow." But I I never allowed myself to go there as a pro.

Ran Carthon54:17

Well, you we always have to remember that fan is short for fanatic.

Ran Carthon54:20

You know what I mean? So that kind of is what it is. And I I mean I love I've been a part of some some crazy fan bases. I know our Florida Gator fan base is crazy. the uh the 49er faithful, they're crazy. A lot of these fan bases are crazy where I feel like the line should be drawn. Like there's no one, I don't care what you may feel about an exec or a head coach or quarterback or a player, whomever, no one takes the football field trying to lose.

Ran Carthon54:47

Right. Everyone gives their entire best to build a franchise, to coach a franchise, to play for a franchise, to give the people something in that city, in that state to be happy about, right? No one wants to go through life and not win. But I think where the line should be drawn is when these players, us execs, these coaches, when we're out and we're trying to enjoy ourselves as a family. Now, I thank God this has never happened to me because I honestly don't know how I would respond to it.

But like I've seen it happen to people where they're like, "Oh, you suck." And I'm like, "Whoa." Like,

Ran Carthon55:25

Whatever you do for a living, me as a citizen, if I went to your job and I told you you s and I'm screaming at you in your place of work that you suck. I think we all have to just there there's a fine line. That's right. And I do understand that these people are spending their hard-earned money and this is their moment to decompress and detox from whatever they have going on in their life, you know, but again, it's one of those situations where it's a it's a really fine line.

And I think and because I'm a fan of places too like we have to we have to think about I I hate even now with me doing TV and we're evaluating players or not just in TV just me talking to my friends about players and I hear people say stuff you know oh man that guy he sucks

Ran Carthon56:13

But but not only that and I and I tell this to my cousin all the time. I have a cousin I talk to literally every day and we start talking about players and I know he loves and he actually understands it but I'm and I tell him like at [clears throat] your best you couldn't give this guy a shitty performance.

Ran Carthon56:32

You know what I mean? Like so no matter what we think we have to this something I learned from uh from the NBA uh champion James Jones. Um a long time NBA player played with the Heat, won championships there, played in Cleveland. He's a front office executive now um for the Phoenix Suns. He has this this rule. He calls it the 213 rule, right? So, in the NBA, they're only in the building as players for three hours a day. And he taught me, he said, you know, we all have a strange way of seeing these guys as players for 24 hours a day when in actuality they're only players when they're doing their job and then he was like, so for the other 21, they're people.

They're humans. And so again, you know how I am in term in terms of relationship building. I didn't necessarily have a name to put on it, but then I I adopted it. Now in the NFL, we have them for much longer. But I always said, you know what, all the resources that we've put in to identify this player, understand this player, we need to put in equal resources to understand the person because they're going to be people longer than they are players. And so I think for for fans I think if you want to yell for the like you said and go crazy for those three hours that you're at that game but once that game is over I'm not saying leave it but that person when they walk out of that gate when they leave that stadium and that that field they're human now and I think it's so much responsibility falls on players that players are supposed to maintain this high level of

Composure.

Yes. when you're when you're constantly being attacked, right? And you know as well as I know in the wild there's animals that could take a lot of [ __ ] but then you back them up into that corner and then finally when they lash out and you in my opinion, you don't get to play the victim.

Ran Carthon58:22

Because you've provoked this. You know what I'm saying? And so we have to just find a way to be respectful of these players cuz again whether whether you're a Baltimore Ravens fan, Tyler Loop did not miss that kick on purpose.

Ran Carthon59:31

I I agree and I look at because there was a lot of talk this whole season. Is Harbaugh going to be fired? Is Mike Tomlin going to be fired? Mike Tomlin never had a losing season.

Ran Carthon59:41

And but people are calling for, you know, someone's job. And I I've always taken taken that personally. Obviously, I've seen my dad go through it. I've seen my dad get fired. And my dad used to always say, "Son, if you're worth a damn in this league, you'll get fired at least once."

Yep. You know, and but I'm like, yeah, that sounds good in theory, but nobody wants to be fired. Right.

Ran Carthon1:00:01

But, you know, for a guy like Mike Tomlin who's been consistent, and again, I'm not making excuses for him. I'm just basing it off of the record.

Like, again, you're sitting home, you're wishing that this man loses his his livelihood.

Yeah. And and and I get it again, you're you're a fan of this team, of this organization or whatever sport you're talking about, but what you fail to realize is the domino effect it has. Yep.

Right. So the domino effect, you know, coach gets fired. Now the coach has to go home, explain this to his family. How is this going to affect his kids? You know, and then now this really uproots the family because now you may have a kid in their junior year of high school that if if coach says, "Hey, look, no, my family stays together. We move." Now, senior in high school has to go to a brand new situation, doesn't know anybody. Like, these are all things that happen when we wish for these people to get fired for other than a win or a loss.

Ran Carthon1:01:21

Like the guy's a coach. Well, I will say I I'll say this much having experienced it with my dad. Like black coaches have had it hard for sure to to get the opportunity. My dad was one of the You're familiar with the Rooney Rule, right?

Of course. Like my dad was one of the original coaches to go through that whole Rooney Rule cycle. And I remember

Ran Carthon1:01:47

Well, now black, yes. But but the uh proverbial word now is minority. So it's and and and even that like again I I've always said wording matters and

So you better understand like

Like minority is like if if a black person walked in this room right now by definition you would be the minority of course

You know in in this room and so to me if it's meant for black coaches say black coaches if it's whatever it's meant for just say it

Because minority becomes a catchall and now it can include a whole bunch of other things that you didn't intend for but anyway I grew up seeing And when my dad was going through the head coaching interview cycle, I remember calling him in this one particular search. Um, and he had just finished his interview and uh, I called him. He was like, "Hey man, I'm getting in the car. I'll call you when I get to the airport." So, he calls me from the airport and I'm excited.

I'm like, "How'd it go?" And he was like, "I'm not getting that damn job." And I'm like, "Yo, with a with an attitude like that, you you're not getting it." I'm like, I hope you didn't go into it with this that type of attitude that you are already lost. He was like, no. He was like, son, there are just things in life that you don't understand.

Ran Carthon1:02:57

And I was like, look, I got time today. You going to have to tell me. I was And he was like, nah. He was like, we don't have time today. He was like, but whatever you decide to do in life, you know, after you're done playing, he was like, you'll experience it. He was like, but there are just things in life. And so what was funny was obviously I get on the executive side of things and then the Rooney rule becomes an even bigger topic.

Ran Carthon1:03:22

Right. And they expand the Rooney rule to now uh extend out to front office executives. And it was then that you know you start to see the landscape of things and how things were shaken out. And I was like this is what he was talking about.

Ran Carthon1:03:36

You know what I'm saying?

Ran Carthon1:04:39

So, um

And I guess you knew a little bit because of your dad being there. So, you my dad always um he personnel was something he always pushed me towards because it was what he originally wanted to do. He wanted to be a scout and work in the front office.

Ran Carthon1:04:56

Well, sometimes it's an intern, sometimes it's a scouting assistant. So, it's various roles that you can get into. But my dad um Parcels made him coach. So that's how he got the coaching. So back when I was in college um they we have this thing called proday. So that's where all the NFL scouts come to see all the prospects from that school. So

If my dad came to Gainesville then I would chart all of his 40 times broad jumps, heights, weights. I would chart all of that stuff for him. And I'm kind of just walking around with him, you know, doing all those doing all the work. And if he didn't come and another coach from his staff came, he would make me get up in the morning, go watch film with that coach, meet him at our offices, watch film with that coach, talk to him about my teammates and whoever they were coming to see.

And so I had that already in my mind. And it's funny cuz when I first met my wife, that was what I told her I wanted to be was a GM of a of a team. And she said she looked at me was like like what? Like you barely go to class. like how are you going to

Ran Carthon1:06:01

At Florida. Yeah, we met.

Ran Carthon1:06:02

Uh she was a uh she's a public relations major.

Ran Carthon1:06:06

And then uh I ended up being a sociology uh major.

Ran Carthon1:06:10

And so she picked up a sociology minor to make sure I was going to class.

That's funny. But uh so yeah, so that was u and then like from there like in in even going back to high school, I would go get all the magazines, draft magazines, and I would sit in my you know, back in the day you had those big floor model TVs.

Ran Carthon1:06:29

I would sit in front of my TV and I would just watch the draft. I would record the draft. I would watch the draft. And again, I wasn't, and this was before obviously my dad put a name to it. I didn't realize what I was doing at the time, but I was trying to predict who was going to go where based off of what I had read.

And so, um, I remember it's probably my second year in the league going into the off season. Uh, I remember reaching out to Bill, uh, Bill Polium, the GM of the Colts, and I was like, "Hey, you know, Mr. Poland, I'mma be here this off season. I'm not going anywhere. Like, is it possible for me to come up and watch film with the scouts?" And he was like, "Oh, we've never done that before." I was like, "That's fine that you've never done it before. Like,

I'm going to be here. You're paying me, you know, this offseason money to be here. Like, can I just get some extra work in?" And so I pestered him about it to the point where he was like finally like, "Yes, you can come up, but you can't repeat what you saw, you know, and so I would go up and I would sit with their scouts and watch film." And then I would always read the scouting reports that we would get from their scouts for our upcoming opponent.

So, fast forward, I decided I was done playing. Uh, I I went back to University of Florida to finish my uh my last two classes. Urban Meyer was the head coach at Florida at the time. And shout out to Urban cuz he was just like, "Hey man, you can come around, you can do whatever you want, whether you want to sit in recruiting, you want to come sit in the coaches meetings, you can do what you want, you know, whatever the case may be." And I ended up sitting in recruiting uh with Terry Jackson and Mark Panton.

Mark Panton is now the GM atuh Ohio State.

Ran Carthon1:08:06

And so I would sit in with those guys. We would watch film, you know, we would talk through players. And so that's where I started to meet NFL scouts. The other thing I did too, um, which was just me hustling.

I knew I didn't want to play, but I hadn't turned in any like retirement papers. Y

And so a team would call and they have me come in and do a try out. And so I would take the try out, but I was using that try out as a way to meet the GM and say, "Hey, I want to do what you do one day." Because in my mind, I was like, "How else am I gonna meet a GM?" Yeah.

And try to get one of these jobs. So fast forward, I go to training camp

With uh not training camp, it was a mini camp tryyout with the Atlanta Falcons and Bobby Petrino was the head coach. And uh Lesne Sneed, he was the director of uh pro personnel for the Falcons at the time. Les is now the GM at the Rams. He's probably one of the longest tenure GMs. Probably third somewhere in there behind Mickey Lumis and John Schneider. But I met Les cuz he called me in on, you know, on the way we were leaving and he was like, "Hey man, we're not going to sign you." I was like, "Hey, man.

Oh, that's that's that's cool, but can I get your card because I want to do what you do one day?" And fast forward, I graduate from college. I had my agent reach out to some teams that he had relationships with, one of them being the Falcons. And Les remembered the conversation that we had. So he was like, "Hey man, we'll fly you up, you know, for an interview." Cuz they had just hired Thomas Demetro to be the GM. He's like, "We don't have anything." He was like, "I just want to meet you." Yeah.

You know, we can have a conversation. They flew me up and we we met for like four hours and um I met a I met a guy named Lionel Vitel. And I have to tell you this story because it it again it shows the importance of relationships. Lo Vatital, one of the most respected talent evaluators in the NFL, right? He come, if you know Lionel, he's got these big eyes and he's like this intense dude. So he's kind of intimidating. So I'm in Les's office and we're talking through some players.

So Lo knocks on the door and he comes in. He's like, "Hey Les, can I get a couple minutes by myself?"

And mind you, we're in Less's office. Yeah.

And so Les is like, "Yeah, sure, LV." So, Les leaves and Lionel sits down and he's like, and like I said, he's intense. He starts telling me this story. He was like, I was a no-name rookie out of Nickel State. He said, I signed with the team because they're running back. Um, he was like trying to get a new contract. He was like, I didn't know [ __ ] No one knew me. He said, but I went in there, I bust my ass, and I made the team.

And it was a vet. He took me under his arm, taught me the playbook, bought me a a suit or something like that. And and he was like, but he didn't know me from the guy next door, but for whatever reason, he took a liking to me and took care of me. You know who that was? I was like, nah. He was like, it was your father. He was like, so if your father was a [ __ ] to me, you wouldn't be here right now.

And he [snorts] was like, "So for that, I'mma put my name on the line for you." He was like, "But let me tell you something. Your dad created a name for himself in this league, and before I let you [ __ ] that up, you're going to have to deal with me." And so I was like, "Damn." Like,

Ran Carthon1:11:30

And so, long story short, I got the job. Yeah. Right. And I I wasn't an intern. I wasn't a scout because I originally was in interviewing for scouting assistant. Y

But they hired me as a pro scout.

Yep. And so, um, it was in that moment where I really started to learn, well, I knew the importance of relationships. But what really stood out to me was the groundwork that my dad laid. And I don't even know that my dad did it intentionally.

Ran Carthon1:11:56

Right. But for me, it was like, okay, moving forward, my dad, his name, his legacy got me to this position. So, I have to take this, carry it, maintain a good name, a good image because now I know I have kids coming behind me.

Ran Carthon1:12:13

Right. And I want to be able I want someone to look and say,

"Carthon, wait, you ran."

Ran Carthon1:12:21

You know what, man? Your dad did this. I got you. Come on.

Ran Carthon1:12:24

I want to be able to set that groundwork, you know, for my kids. And so, that's why I go through life the way I go through life. I'm, you know, always trying to mentor people, always trying to help out. And a lot of times, I know it comes across as unbelievable when I'm trying to bring two worlds together. And I'm like, "Hey, I don't want anything."

Ran Carthon1:12:42

You know, I just know that you need to meet Ken and Ken needs to meet you. And from there, y'all do what y'all do. Whatever comes from it comes from it. I just know that that was

I'm the conduit. [snorts] Like, I know that that was my my part in it. Yeah. And so I've made my name in the NFL just being a trustworthy and reliable person that people know that if my name is either attached to it is good or that you know at the end of the day if we need someone to find out something for us or help us with something like we can always go to Rand like that's why you know I I I move the way I move because of that and and just that one story that I learned on a job interview.

Ran Carthon1:14:57

We skipped we skipped the step. So again into the exact point you just made that the guy you're next to may be the president of Intel in five years. Less snee is and Lo are part of get me in Atlanta.

Okay. So I worked in Atlanta for four years. Then Les gets the GM job with the Rams in St. Louis at the time. So then he hires me into my first role as a director. And so I go with him to

Ran Carthon1:15:25

Yes.

Ran Carthon1:15:26

Well, it goes so it it's scouting assistant, scout, and then there's like director of pro personnel, director of college personnel, then there's director of player personnel, and then from there, it could I mean, the way they make up titles and and and [ __ ] Now,

Ran Carthon1:15:48

Yeah. And so, Les gets the GM job, brings me over uh over to St. Louis as director of of pro personnel. So I was with the Rams for four years in St. Louis and then the first year in LA. So did that transition and then from there I went to the Niners.

Ran Carthon1:16:10

Well, they they're they've moved now. We were in Thousand Oaks.

Ran Carthon1:16:14

Yeah, we were at Caloo. So I lived right the other way. So you come up to 101, get off on land.

Ran Carthon1:16:20

If you bang a right, you go to Caloo. You bang a left, you go down to where I lived.

Ran Carthon1:16:40

We were on on that backside by the sports fields.

We had they I think it was like they built us a makeshift um

It was very makeshift. Yeah, it was like 75 modular trailers like all interconnected.

Ran Carthon1:17:06

Yeah, they play at Sofi.

Ran Carthon1:17:08

So, it was like it was cool to be to have that experience, right? because the the process of what it was like for Kevin Dimmoff and Tony Pastors and that whole group to prepare to move a franchise from one place to another while getting a new stadium done.

Ran Carthon1:17:28

So seeing every iteration of Sofi Stadium, you know, from the beginning to what it is now, it was was a cool thing.

And then uh like I said, from there went to the niners. I went to the Niners as uh in a lateral move as pro personnel and then uh couple years I think I was in that role for three years maybe then I got promoted to director of player personnel and was [snorts] in that role for two years and then got the GM job here in Tennessee.

Ran Carthon1:17:58

Love it. Uh easily my favorite organization uh that I've worked for. Uh just the people from top to bottom uh are great. uh just the history you know of that organization. Um the owner uh Jed York um he's the CEO uh of the of the company. His uh his parents are part of ownership as well as his uh sisters and his brother Tony got rest Tony Soul was a part of ownership as well. But Jed and I are the same age, right? So it's a little bit different, you know, having a conversation with him versus his dad Dr.

York.

Yeah. Um, but like I said, those those people you talk about, everyone says it all the time. Oh, this is a family.

Ran Carthon1:18:39

And you're like, okay. And then you're a family till you're not.

Ran Carthon1:18:43

You know what I mean? You're a family till you're not. Um, but there with that organization, like you're legitimately family. Yeah.

Um, like to this day, if I text Dr. York, if I text Jed, if I text uh the twins, which are his sisters, like I'll get a response. Yeah. And this is ownership. You know, I was just there uh this past summer in training camp

Uh in a capacity with CBS, right? And I'm I'm trying to do everything above board, like, okay, where does the media go?

Ran Carthon1:19:12

And but when I walked in the building

From top to bottom, whether you worked in the equipment room to accounting and accounting or now all those places are there in a separate building, but it was like love, like, oh my god, you're back.

Ran Carthon1:19:26

Like, welcome home. You know what I mean? And it's uh like I said, John Lynch, one of the greatest leaders I've ever worked for. Um Kyle Shanahan, in my opinion, should be coach of the year this year. Um I won't I I'll spare you from going into my uh going into my pitch for him being coach of the year. But he was that was an awesome experience.

Ran Carthon1:19:49

Yeah, but I can I can counter your argument at every point. But but understand having to still continue to grow and learn football, listening to Kyle Shanahan talk football. You talk about our 2019 draft room. Our 2019 draft room, which was the year we went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Chiefs for the first time. That 2019 draft room featured five GMs and five head coaches, right? So, John Lynch, Mark Mayhew, who is the G end up becoming the GM of the Commanders, uh myself, Quacia Adopo Mensah, who is the u GM of the Minnesota Vikings, and Adam Peters, who's the GM of the Commanders now.

So, that was five GMs in that draft room as scouts.

Ran Carthon1:20:32

Then on the coaching side, you had Kyle Shanahan, you had Robert Salah. Yeah.

You had um Mike McDaniel, and you had Demo Ryan.

It's a lot of football knowledge. And so all like this was a a collective group that was put together and it was one of those deals, man, where like we could be in that room and obviously we respected John and we respected Kyle and their titles, but we could have football conversations in a way that guys could have football conversations. And what I loved about that organization, man, is again like everything was top-notch. The way they cared about their players, the way they looked out for the players.

Like the 49ers have a um it's it's run by former players, but they have a I'm I'm calling it a fund because I don't know what name to put on, but it's called the Golden Heart, and it's to help like former 49er players who are struggling financially or looking for jobs or those type things. They have this organization that helps these former 49er players. And I'm like, man, like there's not very many organizations. I don't even know if any other organizations have that, but that was easily um that was easily like the my favorite organization that I worked for.

Like I I root for I didn't grow up having a favorite NFL team.

Ran Carthon1:21:48

Right. I just rooted for wherever my dad was. And then I started playing and then it was like, well, I'mma root for whatever team I'm on, of course.

But then you get in the personnel side and it's like, well, I'mma root for whoever's cutting the checks, you know? And for me, um, even though I was here in Tennessee, you know, obviously, you know, we didn't have a ton of success, but I would always come home after those games and to like decompress my mind, I would watch the Niners game.

Ran Carthon1:22:18

And if the Niners won, I can at least feel a little bit better. Yeah.

You know what I mean? And I find myself now like I I root for the Niners. So, if you ask me in this present day who my favorite team is, I'm I will 100% tell you the San Francisco 49ers.

Ran Carthon1:23:55

Well, it wasn't very I'll say this, it wasn't a ton of adjustments. Um, it was the difference was knowing that I was in charge and win, lose or draw, it was on me. Yeah.

You know what I mean? And so, um, you know, when I first got the job, um, I knew what I wanted to establish. I knew that the way we did things at the 49er, uh, at the 49ers was the right way of doing things. And by that, I mean, you hear this word being tossed around now, collaboration. Yep.

Right. And and I'm I'm just going to be frank. I think a lot of people that, and this isn't just sports, this is just life. people that preach collaboration. I think a lot of people are full of [ __ ] uh when it comes to that because you don't want collaboration. You just want somebody to agree with you.

That's right. You know what I mean? And what I saw in San Francisco was true collaboration. And it was it was John and Kyle in lock step understanding what it was the easy Kyle Shanahan and his staff made our job as scouts so easy because they knew how to set the table. we knew exactly what we were looking for in every single um in every single player on the football field for their scheme. So we it made our jobs easy. It was no it took all the guesswork out of it.

And so that was one of the things I wanted to establish here. And the thing was too is like again that that sense of family where everyone can enjoy coming to work. I've I've worked in some places where I didn't enjoy coming to work.

Yeah. And it was like, god damn it. Like, I gotta go to this place. Like, let me put my fake face on and and go in here. But when I got to the 49ers, like even when we started that first season, 2017, 0 and9,

You you were never defeated.

Ran Carthon1:25:41

Right. Like you were like, damn it, we're so close. We're so close. And when we get that first win, it's going to the damn is going to break. And it did. You know, we we ended up winning five in a row to end that season.

And so again, won five in a row to end that season. The next year, Jimmy Garopolo tears his ACL in like the third game. We damn near have to punt on that season, but then the next year we're in the Super Bowl.

Ran Carthon1:26:06

Right. And so you have to live through those hard moments to get to the next step. But again, it's trusting the process, trusting the people that you have in place. And so one of the things, like I said, I wanted to establish that rapport with the coaching staff and having a full knowledge and understanding of what they wanted to do offensively and defensively and on special teams. So now it makes the scouts job easier. I I don't I I heard it somewhere and it just became like my mantra of hunting at the same time isn't the same as hunting together.

Ran Carthon1:26:41

You know what I mean? And I wanted us to be able to hunt together. We know what we're looking for. Let's go. Let's go out. Let's hunt. Let's bring it back. And so that's what I wanted to establish there. And again, that that true family environment. I wanted to be able to I want to know your wife. I want to know your kids. I want your I want you to feel comfortable bringing your family here.

Ran Carthon1:27:02

Right. I don't want it to be like,

Oh [snorts] [ __ ] like, damn, they caught me here on a Saturday with my kid. Like, am I going to get in trouble? Because I've lived that.

You know what I mean? I don't want you to have to

Worry about Let's say this way. I've I've gone through a a moment in my career where even though I'm in the house with my children, I could go two to three weeks without ever seeing my children awake.

Ran Carthon1:27:24

Right. Because I'm gone before they get up and I come home when they're already in the bed.

Ran Carthon1:27:29

And I'll never forget my oldest daughter one time, she was about four years old or so and she was like, "How come you don't live with us anymore?"

And that [ __ ] broke my heart.

I was going to say that. And so I always told myself, I want to one day put myself in a position where I can be able to spend time with my family and not miss things with my family. And so those were some of the things that I wanted to to bring here because I knew having those foundational things would would allow a culture, you know, to start to build. And again, you go back, you look at what what was done in San Francisco. You look at all those guys that are out there in San Francisco.

You look at all those things and you look at each one of those buildings that I told you about where their guys are and that's how they run their buildings. Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? And so that was some of the things I wanted to bring here.

Ran Carthon1:28:21

The the challenging aspect for me was understanding that everything I did to get me a position to get this role was only about 15 to 20% of what I did in the job.

Ran Carthon1:28:33

Right. Because you take on so many hats. Us football guys, all we think about, all we focus on is getting the talent right. I want to get the players. I want to get the right players on the team and pick the players and all of that, but there are so many other things that come within this job, man, that you have to manage on a day-to-day basis. Like, [snorts] you're lucky if you can create the time where you can sit down and write, let's say, five to seven scouting reports a day as a GM.

You're lucky. Scott Poli told me one time and I told him every time I see him now I was like you jinx me but he was like every day there going to be three to five things that come up that you hadn't planned for and it was like as soon as he told me that like that became that started to happen every day because it just takes you away and one thing I developed was I started coming in even earlier so I would get in between 5 and 5:30 and then I would keep my door closed till 7:30 7:45 and that would be my me time for me to sit there and watch film and evaluate talent.

And I, you know, here and there I could sneak in. Okay, players in meetings, coaches are in meetings. The hallways quiet where the scouts are, okay, I can get some film in, right? And then I would end my day doing the same thing. Usually after 6:30, the building kind of quiets down and then I would be in there till 10 and get me some film in. And so that was the one thing that I was like, "Oh, wow." you know, like time time I don't have time.

Like time isn't mine. Yeah. So, as soon as I open my door, like I'm solving everybody else's problems.

Ran Carthon1:30:10

And then being a leader that's uh that's in the mix,

It was one of those things where you know,

Whatever you say, whether you're saying it tongue and cheek or being like people take it serious. Yeah.

And people are also looking for validation from you. Y

So if a scout wants to come and have a conversation with you in that scout's mind that is the most important conversation they've had

For that day and the conver and from your end it's like like I'm having this conversation but I also got [ __ ] to do. You know what I mean? That's right.

But you you owe it to that person to give them your undivided attention in that time. And so sometimes that's 30 minutes, 45 minutes. It's an hour depending on what it is.

And next thing you know you look up and it's like well damn now I got to go to practice.

Yeah. practice is two hours. You come in, you meet with the coach and you go through some other stuff and then oh, you gotta meet with this person before the end of the day and then you look up, it's five o'clock and you're like, what the hell have I done today? And so that was the one thing that I was like that I initially like struggled with

Ran Carthon1:31:11

Well not even not even just the time management part of it. It was just like like I don't have time for myself to the point where like at my at my house um I had film at my house.

Yeah. So, I'm like, "Okay, [snorts] now I have to now I have to start thinking about it from a a time efficiency standpoint."

Ran Carthon1:31:29

Right. So, am I going to get up at 4:30, drive these 20 minutes to the job, or I can get up at 4:30, walk down the hall,

Ran Carthon1:31:39

And get even I can get an extra 30, 45 minutes of film in at home if I just do it this way. You know what? I'm just going to do it down here in my little film room at the house.

Ran Carthon1:32:06

So from I'll say it this way. Um, I was very comfortable being out front because, you know, I played, you know, I played in the SEC and, you know, so it was like you you're used to doing these interviews having a camera in your face. But in my role as a pro scout, as a director, pro director player personnel, I had grown so accustomed to just handling stuff behind the scenes.

Ran Carthon1:32:33

Right. making whoever whoever the leader was, let me make sure that my my leader is on with the best information, my leader is looking great. And that's where I was like, you know what, this is the perfect role for me.

Ran Carthon1:32:46

Because I can stay behind the scenes, do what I do. And I used to always say, and I had this in in like one of my presentations, my job in my mind was to make the head coach a rockstar.

Ran Carthon1:32:58

Right. Because if I'm doing my job and the head coach's face is all over billboards and he's being lauded as the greatest coach ever, that means I'm doing my job. That's right. Right. I'm giving him some talent to work with and whatnot. And so, I never particularly wanted to be out front.

But in this situation, it calls for me to be out front because if you think about it, I don't know that there have been very many GMs that were as visible as I was. Now, I know there are some people here, well, oh, you never spoke. Well, that's that's your opinion, right? Yeah.

The NFL rules don't require me to speak every day.

Ran Carthon1:33:32

But there are some GMs that

If put it like this, if Mickey Lumis walked in here, right, Mickey Lumis has been a Super Bowl winning GM, he's been a G, he's the longest tenure GM in the NFL. Yeah. If he walked in this room right now, you wouldn't have a clue who he was.

Ran Carthon1:33:47

You know what I mean? Because that's just the way Mickey goes about his business.

And so this particular situation calls for me to be out front. And I I mean I'm I'm very aware that like okay when you're out front you're going to face the scrutiny and I understood that and accepted it, you know? And again like I've I was always here for objective criticism, right? Like I I embraced that if it is what it is. If we're not winning enough games, then I get criticized for it. That's just that's life, right?

But sometimes I felt like the criticism took a personal turn. Yeah.

Right. Where you're making these assumptions about me and you've never had a conversation with me. And I'm speaking like particularly about media folks.

Ran Carthon1:34:32

Like you could easily if you present yourself the right way, we could easily have a man-to-man conversation or a man towoman conversation

And you could get to know me.

But on the other hand, you can't make these wild assumption statements about me and then expect for me to turn around and be nice to you.

Ran Carthon1:34:50

Like I don't owe you [ __ ] You know what I mean? And so for me it was always like be objective, criticize me, critique me objectively, but again like let's not make it personal. Yeah.

And I think sometimes it it became personal.

Ran Carthon1:35:29

Oh hell yeah. And I would tell you this, and not that everyone else would see it, but next time you see my wife say, "Hey, Ran told me to uh ask you to show show um to show me the pictures of him after games." I wasn't even aware that she would take pictures of me after games, like when I got home.

Ran Carthon1:35:50

You know what I'm saying? And uh

Ran Carthon1:36:01

I'm going to tell you something Ken this this past um Thanksgiving uh one of my cousins she came in town and I hadn't seen her in a couple months.

Ran Carthon1:36:11

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so we were sitting um we were sitting in my living room and we were just talking and she looked at me and she smiled. She was like she was like cuz you look back to yourself again. I'm like what does that mean? I was like, "What changed?" She was like, "You weren't looking like yourself." And I was like, "Damn." And she was like, you know, she was like, "I never wanted to bother you about it." She was like, "Cuz I know things are stressful." And and she was like, "But you hadn't looked like yourself in a very long time." She was like, "But you look like yourself." And that's just the that's just the fact of the matter, man.

It's almost like I remember uh someone when Obama left office, they had the picture when he entered office and the picture when he left office and how much he aged over those eight years. Like it's uh it takes a toll on you, man. Like seriously, it takes a toll on you, it takes a toll on your family. And the reason why it takes a toll on you is because you not only are you aware of what you have to do because again, this is our livelihoods.

This is how we feed our family. This is how we support our families, but kids are cruel.

Yes. And so you don't know if the scrutiny that you may be facing, kids are doing the same thing to your kids

In school. And so those are all things. So the day I got let go,

My first thing was I mean I told my wife and I was like, "Sign my daughter out of school, you know, because kids in at high school, they got phones."

Ran Carthon1:37:40

So it's going to hit their phones and I don't want her

To have to deal with this. Yeah.

You know what I mean? and kids saying something cuz like listen, I'm just going to call it spade with a spade. If you disrespect mine, I'm going to give her permission to kick your ass. You know what I mean? Like we're not I'm not going to play the holier than that game. If you do something for her and she feels like it's warrant to whoop your ass, then I'm all here for it.

Um and so to avoid those type situations, I was like, "Well, wait a minute. I, you know, I wanted her out of school." And even for my sons,

Like I didn't have the conversation with them. I just I waited like a couple days cuz they, you know, they're oblivious. Yeah.

And then it was a conversation like, "Hey buddy, like you know, dad's not going to be working for the Titans anymore,

So we won't be going to Nissan Stadium anymore." And they're like, "So, we can't go to any football games." And I'm like, "Well, we can go to football games. Like, we got friends in a lot of places." I was like, "Well, we'll do when the schedule comes out. We'll look and see where all of our friends are and then we'll pick a game and we'll go watch games at our friends." And then my youngest son, so do I have to like sit in the stands or can I sit in the suite?

Ran Carthon1:38:47

And so I'm like, listen, wherever our friends can get us seats, I was like, we'll just have fun and go support our friends. But, you know, that um like I said, man, it's um I'm forever grateful for the opportunity because it allowed me to realize a dream of being a NFL GM. Uh the best thing I took from it was the the relationships. Um because part of it too was me wanting to have an impact and impact these players and have an impact in their in their impact the player on the field, help them develop, become the best, but more so impact them as people, you know, off the field.

Like I'm so proud, you know, of guys like um Aziz Alshai, you know, making his first Pro Bowl this year uh with the uh Houston Texans, Luke Gford, a guy that we signed here. He made the Pro Bowl as a special team for the 49er. A guy like Cedric Gray uh drafted him in the fourth round last year and he came within that's I don't know what eight tackles or so of setting his single season record for most tackles in the like I'm proud of those guys and they're what they're doing on the field but the people they're becoming off the field and a lot of those guys you know still have good relationships with and like I told some of them like look man like when I told you that we're family like I meant that you know and I didn't say it just because we had the same logo or we were wearing the same colors.

Like I mean that. So I'm here for you no matter what. Like Ken, like I used to have uh guys come over for Thanksgiving, guys come over for Christmas, guys who needed places to go.

Ran Carthon1:40:18

Um and because that's just who I am as a person. And I mean, you saw some guys come out this year for for the tailgate and uh but it was just the the power of building genuine relationships with these guys, man. So, I'm for, like I said, the the the biggest blessing in my whole experience with the Titans was bringing me here to this area

Because I I mean, yeah, I've heard of Nashville. I've heard of Brentwood, heard of Franklin, but I wouldn't have come here on my own,

Ran Carthon1:40:49

Right. Like, if it if it was left up to me, I would go to the Atlanta area or back home to South Florida, I'd go where I've been, you know what I mean? But to bring me to this place and like you when we talked at the very top of this to come here and find community and to find these great people you you know you mentioned you know DQ and and Billy and you know Big Dave and find all these dudes that you just naturally connect to.

Our families naturally connect our kids naturally connect and it's just like to me like this is a place that I could live you know forever. I remember um yesterday, as a matter of fact, my son, for whatever reason, he wanted to walk home from school. So, I walked to the school, waited for him, he got out, we walked home, and in my driveway, you know, we wrote our name on the concrete.

Ran Carthon1:41:41

And so, he we're we're walking up and he goes over, he looks at it, and he, you know, kicks it with his foot and he's like, and then he's seven. He's like, "Is this our forever home?" And I was like, "Do you want it to be our forever home?" He's like, "Yeah, I want this to be our forever home." And I was like, "You know what?" I was like, "Man, I agree with you. I want this to be our forever home, too." So, that was my again being able to realize a dream, but then bringing me here and having a place that I feel like I can truly raise my family and like this was that was a big blessing.

Ran Carthon1:42:36

I'll be honest with you, man. I'm glad that we're not sitting here talking about the 2026 draft and the free agency class." And

Ran Carthon1:42:46

But, see, and that's the thing, too, man. Like one thing that we get so locked into is seeing people through the medium in which we know them.

Ran Carthon1:42:57

Right. So for everybody, I'm always just football.

Ran Carthon1:43:01

And you know as well as I know cuz we've had these conversations like I'm interested in so many other things.

Ran Carthon1:43:07

And football is really a small part of that. Now again I understand it like football has been my platform. football has been the way that people have known me and my family. But I always uh I was with one of my really good friends and um we were at dinner in DC. He was like, you know, what's next? You know, after all of this, what's next? And I was like, man, I said, you know, I said, I'm a big fan of the Godfather movies. I said, and I said, only thing that keeps coming to my mind is when Michael kept saying he wants to take the Corleó family legit.

Ran Carthon1:43:38

I was like, I want to take the Carthon family legit. And by that, you know, I use the the double antandra, like I want to get us out of the game.

Ran Carthon1:43:47

Right. Like I don't want my kids to have to grow up thinking that the only way they could be successful in life is playing professional ball. Yeah.

Like, and so when I told him that,

You know, he paused and he said, "Hey man, I want to share something with you." He was like, "If I offend you, like, I'm sorry. I don't mean to offend you." He was like, "All your dad could give you was the game." Cuz that's what he knows.

Ran Carthon1:44:08

Right. He was like that's all he could give you was the game. He said you know more. You've been exposed to more. So you owe it to your family to share with them more than the game.

Right. And so when you touched on it briefly earlier, you know, saying that like you don't have to be that dad that lives vicariously through their kid. I tell my kids all the time like I get mad at them for performances in game. I don't care that you didn't score or or whatever the case may be. I get mad when you don't play hard.

Ran Carthon1:44:40

You know what I mean? Like just go hard. Whatever the result is, it'll be the result. As long as you went hard and you left it all on on the field, on the court, or whatever you're doing, I'm good with that.

And so, [snorts] but even now, like for me, you know, my daughter, she's really big in the flag football here and big part of what they do with the boys varsity football team. But even her, like me exposing her to different things, like I get it, you love football, but let's be real, the the height in which a woman can go in this league hasn't reached the pinnacle where it could be or where it should be. So right now, the the ceiling's a little lower for you.

And so I owe it to you to show you a different path. And that's what I'm I'm working on with her right now and have her engaged in some things. It's like when I have certain meetings like I'm like, "Hey, what time are you home from school?" "Okay, well, make sure you're here by 3:45 because I'm going to set this meeting for this time so you can sit in on the meeting." Yeah.

And listen and start familiarizing yourself with these things. And so, again, I want to be able to get my family out of the game where if we want to be invol involved in football in some aspect, it's because we want to.

Ran Carthon1:45:49

Not because we have to. And this is the means in which you use to support your family. I've seen it too many times and it used to it it it it really pained my heart to see coaches um at when you see them at the combine or these all-star games who've been out of the game for you know five, six, 10 years and then they're trying so desperately hard to get back in

And I'm like my heart goes out to them

Because I get it. I understand where you are and I understand what now some of them are like just die hard. I just want to coach in the NFL cuz I love it. But some of them need that to support their families and I don't ever want to be just dependent on the game for that. Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? And so us having this conversation

Allows us to talk about other things

Than that. Like again, I understand um

That football sports will always be that that centerpiece on the table, but it's so much more of the table that we can cover versus what's in the center.

Ran Carthon1:47:35

Well I I'll say this Ken like I'm uh I'm very observant and people I mean you know me we've been around each other a ton Like I could talk to anybody. You put me in any room, I'm I'm comfortable. I'm good. But one thing about it, I know I talk a lot. I can talk a lot, but I'm just as observant, even not more observant. So, I study people's body language. I study your behavioral patterns, even if we're just friends, because again, I want to take those nonverbal cues from you to see where you are.

Ran Carthon1:48:07

Right. So if I walk into a room and I've been around you enough and I'm like, "Okay, Ken's in a shitty mood today."

So I know I can't [ __ ] with him or joke with him like, "Okay, I'm

Ken. What's up, man? You good? Okay, good. All right, cool." Like, "All right, brother. Then I'll feed off of your energy." So there were things that

I noticed

Or that I was noticing that I'm like, "Okay, I'm comfortable." So to say I was caught off guard would be a lie because I wasn't.

Ran Carthon1:48:44

No, but I I I would say this, and I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I have the ability to compartmentalize.

Ran Carthon1:48:51

Right. And I I look at it like um like opening up tabs on on the iPad or the computer,

Right? like I have the ability to be here, but then if I need to open up this tab, I can open up this tab and start fresh,

Right? And so, um, I'm able to, you know, go from these these different things. But to your point, if you have too many tabs open, that modem starts to function a little bit slower, you know what I mean? So, you have to handle some of those things. So, uh, when I was I I wouldn't say that I felt, uh, betrayed, you know, when I when I was fired. It kind of is what it is. Again, goes back to what my dad said. if you're worth a damn in this league, you'd be fired at least once.

Um, and so to like honestly like just me having the experiences I had growing up, like I said, me being a military brat, having to move every 3, four years.

Ran Carthon1:49:43

Like I'm used to I'm used to resets,

Right? And so that's what I took this as. This is okay. This is a reset. And I um I remember talking to uh to Turner Nash and we talked about some things that that he went through and I asked him I said, "Hey man, like how did you bounce back? What did you do in the meantime until you got to where you wanted to be?" And he said, "Man, you know what?" He said, he said, "I I took a year and he said that allowed me to connect more with my family, connect more with my wife, and be there in a way for them that I hadn't been." So, I leaned on that and Turner was one of the first people I talked to after the news was made public um that uh I had been let go.

And so, I this is the first time I've this is the first time I've ever said this publicly, so I'm going to give you give you something.

Ran Carthon1:50:37

I actually had the conversation with my wife and daughters the day before and was like, "This is probably about to come." And they were like, "No." I was like, "Just trust me. This is probably about to come." You know, I want you guys to prepare your mind for it. You know what I mean? So you're not caught off guard with it. And so when the news was made public, you know, I'm I'm driving down the road. I'm actually on the phone and then Turner calls. So I took his call and he was like, "So

Ran Carthon1:51:12

And so he's like, "So what are we going to do next?" And I was like, "I'm going to live off your script." You know, I said, "I'm going to be present as a as a husband. I'm going be present as a father." And I I'll be honest with you, I haven't had a bad day. Uh I've been able to be present. I've been able to travel with the family for spring break. Um I've been able to coach my son's flag football. I've been able to do a ton of things that I otherwise wouldn't be able to, right?

Like, yeah, I could be able to show up for a game, but I can now I be I'm at practices. I mean, yeah.

So, I'm I'm doing a bunch of things as a husband, as a father that I've never been allowed to do before. Like, I get up with my sons every morning. Help get them dressed for school, help get them fed, help get them off to the bus. I'm the dad now that like, damn, the bus is taking a little too long today. All right, let me grab my wife's minivan. All right, all the kids at the bus stop, pack up in the minivan. I'm going to drive you to school.

Ran Carthon1:52:04

Um and so I my sons expect me to pick them up every day after school.

Ran Carthon1:52:09

So I'm the dad waiting in the car rider line, you know, the other day. I'm sitting there at the car rider line and I had had a long day. I had been up early and was doing a bunch of work. And so I'm sitting in a car rider line and I don't play the radio or anything in my car and next thing you know I'm just doze off and I look up and all the cars ahead of me are gone and like there like it's probably like 18 cars behind me.

So I'm like oh. And so um but no man it's been it's been one of those things where to me it's all it's all in your mindset, right? It's all in your mindset. And I I remember going through that last season in Tennessee and I had this conversation um with James Mitchell, the team chaplain who's now a Patriot. He's now with Raves in New England.

And everything in my life, my personal life was great. My marriage was healthy and great. My kids were healthy and great.

And I was like, god damn it. Like this football piece is the only piece that's missing.

Ran Carthon1:53:12

So I went to him and I was like,

And again like I just like to be me.

Ran Carthon1:53:16

So I like listen man. I know you're the team chaplain and I know there I shouldn't be saying certain things, but I was like, why the [ __ ] isn't everything in my life like all on par? I'm like, I'm I'm happy and I'm great here,

But this [snorts] football season is so damn hard. Like, why can't it all meet?

Ran Carthon1:53:34

And then I have

I just I told him I said I wanted to have peace and happiness in all areas of my life. And he told me, he said, if you look in the Bible, he said there's one word that's used a lot. I can't remember the exact way he said it, but he said joy. He said happiness is fleeting. He said, but he was like, but if you're looking for peace and joy, like that is that is more attainable and you can have that more consistently. So from that moment forward, I started praying every morning, every night.

I didn't say, you know, please bless me with the winning lotto numbers so I can win this billion dollars and just disappear from life. Listen, please make this day the most peaceful and most joyous day I've ever had.

Ran Carthon1:54:24

You know, I pray for that every morning, every night. Peace and joy. Peace and joy. Now, one thing I've learned, again, it goes back to what I said earlier. Wording matters, right? I was never specific in my prayer of how I wanted that peace and joy to look.

Ran Carthon1:54:38

I just wanted peace and joy. And so I get let go. And yeah, that's a tough time for most. And even my wife is like, I'm still waiting on you to have a breakdown. You know what I mean? But every day I've had peace and joy.

Ran Carthon1:54:52

You know, I've had peace and joy. So that's why I can say like I haven't had a bad day because I wasn't specific, you know, with the Most High and what I wanted that peace and joy to look like. I just wanted peace and joy. And ever since that moment, which has been a year ago, two days ago, January 7th, I've had peace and joy, you know, and I embrace every moment of it. I tell my kids in the morning, like, who wakes up to be mad?

Ran Carthon1:55:17

Like, we're up. Like, let's just make the most of the day. It doesn't have to be an eventful filled day. If you want to just chill and be in your PJs and lay around the couch and watch movies, okay, cool. Do that. But we're not waking up to be upset or to find something to be upset. Like I refuse to do that. To me

To me that's just like me drinking a poison expecting somebody else to die.

Ran Carthon1:55:37

You know, and so um yeah, I mean it was it's it was more so tough for me because I cared about I cared about my kids

And I know there was some people like, "Man, I didn't know quite what to say to you like how you was." I was like, "Bro, like it is what it is." Like it's it's a part of the business. So the coaches that was most recently fired, if I had a relationship with them, I didn't text them. I called him.

Ran Carthon1:56:01

Like, and if you picked up, you picked up. If you didn't, I'll shoot you a quick text. Hey, man, keep your head up. You know, like this is just a part of it. You'll be fine. You know, blah blah blah blah blah. And um you know, that's again, it's uh it's a part of the business. Uh but again, man, like I'm enjoying my life. Me and my wife uh before I came here uh this morning, we had a big sit down. Not a big sit down.

She said she needed more time to prepare. But we um got on the whiteboard in my office and just started. Okay, here's the first, you know, we're in the first quarter of the new year. What are we trying to get done? You know, okay, boom, we got done with that whole conversation, the financial piece. All right, travel-wise, we're first quarter of the year. Let's just map out the first quarter. Where are we trying to go? What is what is January? What is February? What is March?

Where are we trying to go? What are we trying to do? And so like being able to have those type meetings, you know, now with my family, better organized my family. So we have it's like I couldn't have those if I was still, you know, working uh in the NFL. But, you know, the other thing it does too, man, is uh

Like I've always had big dreams,

Big lofty dreams. And um being an NFL GM was one of my dreams.

Ran Carthon1:57:13

But it wasn't the biggest one.

Right. And now what this does is I'm taking direction from the most high. I'm like, okay, when else have I ever had this much time to myself to kind of focus on me and do something else? And so now I'm challenging myself to work towards that main goal, right? And and it's it's it's been great. It's been a journey, but it's been great. It's been fun. You know, I mean, you know, a couple months ago, I came to you talking, hey, man, talk to me about this.

Ran Carthon1:57:43

And just being able to do those type things like I wouldn't have been able to do those before.

Ran Carthon1:58:42

[ __ ] And I wish I could tell you my preseason picks uh was Baltimore and Detroit. Neither one of those teams made. But if I had to predict uh I think I think I'm on record with uh the Rams, I'd say the Rams for the NFC and the AFC. Honestly, I'm think I'm choosing between uh Denver and and Buffalo for some reason. Buffalo. I I keep seeing Buffalo with the red helmets that they wore the other week. So, let's just go Buffalo LA and then I like LA to win it.

Ran Carthon1:59:19

I know that. I know that.

Ran Carthon1:59:21

Now, listen. I will say this for all the Patriots fan that's going to watch this that are going to say, "See, this is why he got fired as a GM. He doesn't know anything." Go on record. You can go back. I was one of the few people on TV that picked the Patriots to make the playoffs this year. I picked the Patriots and the Bears to make the playoffs this year.

Ran Carthon1:59:47

MVP will be Matthew Stafford,

Ran Carthon1:59:51

No, I think I think so. The couple things with Drake May. Drake May obviously young superstar on the rise. Um, you probably didn't know this, he only in his two years in the NFL, he's only got one 300 yard passing game.

Ran Carthon2:00:05

And that was that was a couple weeks ago.

Yeah. And so, uh, when you look at statistically, and they they'll they'll say it won't matter, but just the just the long haul of Matthew Stafford's career is going to factor in. They won't they won't say it, but it won't.

Ran Carthon2:00:30

Yeah, Stafford will be the MVP.

Ran Carthon2:00:46

Now you know what I I I have some things lined up uh that should bring me out. I'm kind of waiting on confirmation but

As of now I'm supposed to be out there the fifth and the 6th. We'll see if that actually cuz that's on our board at home. So we'll see if that and I actually put next to a tentative. So we'll see if that actually happens. All right, but we you know we're going to talk anyways.

Ran Carthon2:01:16

Yeah, man. I I appreciate you having me. Just like when you first of all, you sent me you sent me a [ __ ] text about it. Like, I hope you're available. If not, it's so I'm like, man, shut up. You're like, man, yeah, I got you. Like, you're my guy. Of course, I'll do it.

Ran Carthon2:01:36

Yes, sir.