Jeff Saturday - His Path to the NFL and Playing with Peyton Manning
Introduction:
Welcome to Beyond Speaking with Brian Lord, a podcast featuring deeper conversations with the world's top speakers. I'm Brian Lord and on the show today we have super bowl champion and ESPN analyst, Jeff Saturday, as he shares his story of getting to the NFL, what it was like playing and sometimes fighting with Peyton Manning, and the importance of having ambition with wisdom.
Brian Lord:
Hi, I'm Brian Lord, your host of the Beyond Speaking podcast and today we have on Jeff Saturday former Indianapolis Colts, six-time Pro-Bowler, who holds the record for the most quarterback center games played together with a guy some may have heard of, Peyton Manning, so, Jeff, thank you so much for coming on.
Jeff Saturday:
Appreciate it. I think we got wins too, man. I think you shorted me. I think we got some wins too. So it was- Nah, man, we had a great time. It was in fact, that's one of the things I'm most proud of in my career. You know, you mentioned the Pro Bowls and the All-Pros and Superbowls and all those kinds of things that I was fortunate enough to be a part of, but that record in particular of he and I- that just speaks to longevity. Two guys working together that understood the value of teamwork and being together man, and, and pushing through, because listen, there a lot of Sundays where you don't feel like your body might be able to do it. He felt the same way, but you know, when you have someone who's pushing you in, you feel like is relying on you and vice versa. It just pushes you to a completely different level. And so that is really one that I'm truly appreciative of having and that being in the Hall of Fame, you know, listed that way is pretty incredible.
Brian Lord:
I mean, that's one of the fascinating things because the two of you came from two totally different places. So he's like football royalty before he ever steps on the field and you're a guy you couldn't even get a, you know, on an SEC school.
Jeff Saturday:
Yeah, that's right!
Brian Lord:
You [went] to UNC, which is a great school, but not known maybe as well as some others as a football place. And, and even, and I think you weren't even drafted weren't you working like at an electronic store or something like that?
Jeff Saturday:
Yeah, no, I, I was so I was a two-time All-Conference, two-time all ACC at the University of North Carolina. Had a great career there really enjoyed it. Mack Brown was my coach. We won a lot of games. But when I went to the combine, which is right before the draft and they did the combine, my arms were short. And so I went from being- which is crazy, right? I mean, like, you think-
Brian Lord:
You don't even look like, I mean, like, you look like you got long arms to me, but I could be-
Jeff Saturday:
For them, it was not. So, I mean, literally, it's like a cattle call, you know, like you're, you're in a, a big hotel ballroom and everybody's standing around the walls and nothing but their underwear and that you stand up on this stage and they measure your hands and your arms and your inseam and they're, you know, they're weighing you and your height and they're going through all these things. And all the Scouts are jotting all this information down and they measure my arms or for whatever reason, they were like, "Oh, it's just, yeah, it's short, it's going to be hard for him to compete in the NFL." And so literally I went from like number three center to number 11, just overnight. And so the 11th ranked center is not going to be drafted. And so I do, I go undrafted and I go to Baltimore Ravens for what I tell people is a cup of coffee. I was there for a couple of weeks and, and I knew when I walked in, you know, I walk in amongst trees. It's, it's like Jonathan Ogden, who's 6'9", and Jeff Blackshear, who was a guard and, and Orlando Brown, who was one of their tackles and he was 6'8" or something like that. These are just these huge human beings. And I walk in on this kind of shorter stumpy guy, 6'2", 6'3", my short arms really felt short then. And I was like, "Good. These guys can reach, you know, from here to Mars." And, you know, so it was, it was definitely a humbling experience. When I didn't get an opportunity I got released there and I was out for a year and I worked for an electric supply store you know, ESCO, Electric Supply Company of North Carolina. And I had, I worked for a guy named K.D. Kennedy who was a Duke grad and he brought me in and I trained, I kept training, just hoping that I would get a, get a shot to go. And when the Colts called me, yeah. I didn't think it would be any kind of possibility, but it was a, it was one that man, I grew up got ahold of it and, and the rest is history.
Brian Lord:
Yeah. So coming from two different places. What do you think that you two had in common that made it work so well?
Jeff Saturday:
You know, I think it's rare. First of all, like you said, my, my story Nate Hobgood-Chittick, who was my roommate in college literally goes into Bill Polian, who's the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts. Okay. So he walks in because they have a quote open door policy. Nate was the 53rd and a half. I jokingly say out of 53 guys for him to go in and even mention my name took huge courage to do it. So he goes in and Bill Polian, who was with the Panthers for a little bit of time, had, had looked at me when I was at the University of North Carolina. So you go from a guy who's literally a friend is asking him to get a job to Peyton Manning who, to your, to your point earlier royalty in the NFL. But what was interesting is when we got together, his work ethic and mine are almost identical, we're going to drive. We're both drivers by nature. We're leaders. We want people to come alongside us. So we're going to push, we're never going to ask anybody to do something we're not willing to do. And I think that's unique because for a guy who's the first pick in the draft and everybody knows is going to have this fantastic career. He worked like a guy whose buddy had asked the general manager to get his guy at least a tryout. I mean, that's... And so I tell people when you think- when I think about leadership and what I admire most about Peyton, it's that quality in him is that he drives like... He, he does not have a reputation or he did not have a name behind him. He worked his tail off like everybody else, like he had to keep his job and, and that's unique for his position in the NFL. And I was so appreciative and, and I tell people, my career is much better than I deserve, but I was around so many different guys that had that same drive and personality. It was just a great mesh.
Brian Lord:
And what are some of the things that you picked up from Peyton, or maybe some stories from playing together?
Jeff Saturday:
Oh man, we had so many. It, you know, I think when, when Peyton and I... When people realized how competitive we both were, we would have arguments in practice, right? And so he would bring up this most obscure call, you know, we'd line up and we're, we're in what they call seven on seven, which is really an offensive line verse defensive line and linebacker drill, very physical. It's all running all between the tackles. So this is where you put your big boy pads on, okay, this isn't, we're not gonna go throw the ball. We're going to go hit people in the mouth. Everybody's good. And every, all, all offensive linemen are really jacked up for this period of practice. And he would come down and he would give us these audibles that we hadn't heard since training camp, man, you know? And so guys are getting upset. They're like, what are you doing? We can't even remember, we're trying to facilitate, what is this play? So we're talking amongst each other and the ball snapped and you know, it's a busted player. It doesn't look good. So our offensive line coach Howard Mud is ripping us. And so I told Peyton, I was like, "Listen, you're going to do that one more time. I'm going to give you a, you know, I'm going to give you a no-look block, bro. What I'm just gonna, I'm going to avoid it. And all of a sudden you will get smoked, right? Well, we can play this game two ways." But that was kind of the charm that we both had is that we will both go at it. There's a great YouTube video of he and I on a Monday night game against the St. Louis Rams. This is when they were in St. Louis. And we get into, we get down to the- inside the five-yard line. And the whole week we had prepped that we were going to run the ball inside the five-yard line because of the defense they played. It was very difficult to try to throw the ball. And we checked at three, three straight passes, and all are incomplete and I'm hot. And I'm coming off the field. And I am ripping Tom Moore, who was our offensive coordinator. And Tom just puts his head down. He goes, "I know, I know." And I am just going at him and I get on the sideline with the offensive line coach Howard Mudd. I'm like, "Howard, this is trash. We talked about this. You can't throw the ball in there. We're lucky it wouldn't have picked six." You know what I'm going and it turns out Peyton hears me. And so he comes down from the other side of the bench and he is ripping me and I'm ripping him and we're going at it. And big [Inaudible] Glen, our left tackle ends up separating us, but we're going at it, man. I mean, we are going at it and come to find out he's mic'd up for the game. And so he sits back down on the bench and he's like, "This is better than be Desperate Housewives," which at the time was an extremely popular show. But, but you know, that, that showed people how we kind of go back, back and forth, but how much respect we had for each other, because when the game is over, you know, he and our arm and arm, there's no worries. I, you know, I'd never even thought anybody would even know about it until it was, it was played on you know, on, on all the sports channels afterwards. But I think it's that kind of respect we both had for each other that really helped our relationship. And then by the time we got to year six and seven, everybody called us an old married couple and I, it, and so he did a little press thing. One time where a guy asked him and he made a joke and said, "Yeah we are an old married couple. I'm the husband." And so everybody kind of chuckled at my expense. So when it was my turn to come up, I said, ask me the same question. So the gentleman did, I said, "He's right. I'm the wife. Cause I'm always right. Don't ever forget that." So that's kind of where we sit, man.
Brian Lord:
What was it like throwing Tony Dungy into the mix? Because you're an outgoing guy. Peyton's a pretty outgoing guy. What was it like throwing in somebody like that?
Jeff Saturday:
Oh, man, I tell you that the... Actually, even when I speak, I use Tony quite often. It was a redefining moment for me in two different areas of my life, one was in football. He brought in the idea of setting goals to me and listen, I was successful. I had started the NFL three years coming off, you know, never even have an opportunity. I was a two-time All-Conference in college. But when he sat down and approached our team, he gave us Tony's Top Five. And I mean, they're the most simple, it's top five and turnover's top five in special teams, top-five and penalties make big plays and don't give up big plays. And big plays were, were signified by, you know, a 12-yard runner, a 20-yard pass. And so those are the most boring things you've ever heard of. And this is how we're gonna evaluate our team, you know, from the time he gets there until when he's going to retire and they're all over the boards and it was a no excuses, no excuses, no explanations, and expectations and execution. And as we talk through those things, he wanted you to come up with your own Five that fit within his Five. And the most amazing part was for me was that even though he was, he's very calm, in his demeanor. He's so steadfast in what he believes in his convictions are so strong that as you would short your success, it really went back to those five things, and is it never had to be fancy. It never had to be anything more than what it was. What if we accomplish these five things, and this is all we chart ourselves on. We'll continually make this climb till we ultimately win the Superbowl, never talked about winning the Superbowl, it was always about, let's get these five things done. I have used that in my life, in, in my being a father and a husband. And I mean, just understanding the simplicity of what we can make life and then on the other side was my faith. I mean, he- everybody knows his, his, his strong Christian convictions and the way that he's lived his life, but I watched him win a Superbowl and I watched him lose his son. And I watched him and Lauren during that time. And I'm just telling you the testimony in both of those at the highest of highs and the lowest of lows could not have been more impactful in my life of seeing a person live out their faith continually, continuously every day. And I have so much respect for it and it, and again, it just impacted the way that I see things and the type of man I try to be.
Brian Lord:
And that's one of the things I like about you too, is that you obviously you've, you're at ESPN now. You're one of the most recognizable faces. You know, people see you, you know, millions of people see you every week and everything else, but you also are so involved at home with family, everything else, people can't see it right now, but you know, you coach high school football at Christian Academy.
Jeff Saturday:
Exactly.
Brian Lord:
And what are some of the things that you want to impart? Like I coach like just rec league softball, but what's something that, that you bring from your NFL days to those kids?
Jeff Saturday:
So I actually reached out when I took the job, I reached out to Tony, I said, and I'm stealing your stuff. And he's like, "I could not be more honored." And so we have all the same things, you know, the no excuses, no explanations. And so when we have these conversations, I try to tell guys this game is going to leave you one day. Some for some, high schools it. For others, college is going to be it, and then for others, it's going to be, you know, professional football. But ultimately the values that you learn in this game transferred to life and to business better than any other game, because you have such a small part in such a, such a big experience, right? You're on when you're on the field, you're one of 11. And then in football, it's broken down into all offense-defense, and special teams. So if you think you're controlling 33% of the game in each phase, and if you're only one of 11 guys think about the small percentage and the way that people think about football, when they see stars, "Oh, this guy has done this," but without all of their 10 guys being on the same page, you have no shot at being successful. I mean, absolutely no shot- doesn't matter how good one guy can be. As good as Peyton Manning is, if his line wasn't good, or if we couldn't run the football or if his receivers couldn't get open, he's just a guy and he's not even a very fast guy, to be honest with you. So he's going to... So that's, I try to tell my kids is everyone has a role, you all have the ability to impact this team for the betterment of our group as a whole. And it's not always about you. And I will tell you in today's time, that is getting harder and harder because guys want to brand themselves. They want to be about themselves. and so I combat that and especially young, you know, when you're, when everything is on you know, Snapchat, Instagram. So we talk about these things and, and, and I try to look at these young men and influence. And I actually had a girl, my team for the last three years, and she was one of the kickers and one of the most fun players I had to coach- just her heart and energy. And, and I tell people, I tell people all the time, I feel like you can have the greatest impact on this age because so many decisions are coming at them so fast, whether it's college, whether it's you know, high school, whatever, whatever things are hitting them. And they're just in a place where they're, they have the ability- you have the ability to mentor them and really speak in their lives and hopefully steer them in the right direction. And so I've had so much fun- by far been the most gratifying thing that I've done since playing it. And I've had so much fun doing it.
Brian Lord:
How do you measure yourself as a leader?
Jeff Saturday:
That's a great question. I would say the impact on people's lives. So the school that I coached for is a single A small Christian private school. So I got 40 kids on my team from ninth grade to senior, right? I mean, so, and I'm in, I'm in the Mecca of high school football. I mean, every school around me has 200, you know, 150 200 players on it. You know, you got Kirby Smart from Georgia and Nick Saban flying in to talk to players and, and different kids. But I try to tell parents if I can get to your kid and teach them that accountability and responsibility is theirs and it's not their parents and it's not their teachers. I'm making a true impact because I tell them in groups, "I don't want to ever deal with administration about you with the school. And I don't want to deal with your parents. I want to deal with you as a person," because ultimately this is someone else who's going to speak into your life. And so that's how I measure myself. "Am I'm making an impact on those guys?" And I'll tell you the newest one for me, which I have not done a good job and I'm trying to improve is with my coaches. And learning to coach coaches of, "Hey, here's, you know, here's the thing that we're really going to try to set as the standard" and make sure they understand that I care about them. I care about them as fathers. I care about them as husbands, much, much more than I care about them as just a coach. And again, in an industry in the NFL where you are hard-charging colleges, no different guys are spending a hundred, 115 hours a week working. What's really important? When we're all done with this thing. What matters most? And that's how I evaluate myself as a leader.
Brian Lord:
One of the things I really liked [that] you talk about when you go to speak for companies, and I'm sure it, it filters down with, with kids too, is one of the things you talk about is ambition, but you add "with wisdom."
Jeff Saturday:
With wisdom.
Brian Lord:
What... Talk about that.
Jeff Saturday:
So I, I got that actually. I did a commencement speech at Trine University and I remember going, and I tried to put myself back in that seat of where was I in my life. And I remember of all my friends, all, you know, I, I was graduating from Kenan Flagler business school with a BSBA. And so everybody in that program really hard-chargers, really bright people. And I remember sitting there and thinking to myself, we're all going to go, and you're fueled by success to a degree. And that's, that's fine. But I remember thinking to myself, "At what point do we realize the tipping point of how much time, energy, and effort are we putting it? And where's the burnout for it.?" And then as I progressed in my age, I realized how fast people were getting burned out. And when they weren't in the jobs that they really loved and cared about, they were in it for financial reasons, or it was an easy fit at the time, whatever it was. And I watched the burnout, um ratio with them even faster. And so I remember sitting down as I'm doing this speech, and I thought to myself, ambition is a, is an incredible quality and one that I want in all of my players and my coaches and in my companies that I own, I want that, but also want it with wisdom. And here's why, because in the longterm for the longevity of your company, your business, if you don't have wisdom, they're not going to be with you longer. And you're going to constantly be retraining new people instead of being able to live and grow with the ones who you want to stay. And it was when I shared a story that I actually read out of a book, and it talked about a fisherman who was a great fisherman, and he's you know, he's pulling in just enough, but, but there's a, there's a guy who's down there, who's just crushing it. And he's like, "Oh you know, you should get six more boats." You kind of go through the whole thing. And ultimately it gets back to, at the end, the guy's going to be doing the exact same thing where he goes, fishing goes back to the village, hangs out with his kids, takes a little siesta, you know, enjoys life and really kind of smells the roses. And I just said, make sure you understand, that's the balance of life that we all want a quality of life. We're all better people for it. And we want balance in our lives. And so you'll be a much happier human being if you have those things. I'm telling you of everything that I ever said, that's the one that most hung on. And, and, and they loved it. And it has been appreciated by so many different people, which is hard when you're 22 and you know, you're about to go pay bills, right. So but, but I've loved it. I've lived by it. And, and my wife Karen and I, we, we preach it and believe it. We tell our kids, we're going to go do this. And, and because we're going to enjoy it while we can.
Brian Lord:
Mhm. What's... I guess it kind of plays along with that... But what's one thing, if you could go back- So you've been so successful with ESPN, for somebody who wasn't maybe supposed to be successful.
Jeff Saturday:
Sure.
Brian Lord:
What's something you'd go back and tell maybe your high school or college self?
Jeff Saturday:
Oh, man. That is a tough one. What would I tell myself? "The road that you go down is designed specifically for you and don't compare yourself with others all the time." Right. Mean because when, when in what I did for a living, you're compared all the time. And I remember when I first started, I was very insecure and I would ask us all the time, you know, "Is that good? I mean, what do you think... You think that that's good?" I mean, and, and I never felt comfortable with who I was in the very early stages. And I don't know if that's because I didn't get drafted or things happened the way they did, but I know when I got comfortable, I really flourished as a man. I became a much better leader and I became a stronger person that I was comfortable in my own skin. And so I would give myself is "Whatever this other guy's journey is, it's for him." And, and, and mine was unique to me and what I had to go through and traverse. But, but I was very fortunate and that I felt like everything that I've done, even in my business life that has, has gone you know, poorly at times is I've learned so much and on the back end, I'm a better person for it. And so to have comfort that you're going to get through it, you're going to survive the storm. And on the other side, it's going to be a much, much prettier sunset than you can imagine.
Brian Lord:
One of the things that you really talk about too, and obviously coming from football is teamwork. What are some examples or stories that you have of that?
Jeff Saturday:
Yeah. Yeah. I kind of frame teamwork a little differently than most people's. I talk about knowing your role and understanding that everybody has a role and that you may be trying to ascend to a different one, but at the time, you know, this is your specific role. And I, and I kind of equate that to a quarterback and a center and what that looks like. We're both leaders, we're both team captains, we're all of those things. But on Sunday it was Peyton Manning's show or Aaron Roger's show. And if they check to an audible, I was, I was in that's going to make us a better football team. And so you had to understand what your role was at that specific moment and how important it was. And I like to share a story. When Marvin Harrison went into the Hall of Fame a couple of years ago, I shared it on ESPN. And I talked about the greatest teammate story that I can ever remember, and definitely that I was ever a part of. And we were playing the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. And we're driving down- we have been down the whole game and we're coming back, and this is the last time we're probably gonna touch the football and we get inside the five-yard line and we're in a huddle. And I remember Peyton looks over at Marvin and, and asks him, What, hey, what do you want?" And to them, that means, what route do you want to run? Cause I'm going to throw, and you know, I'm going to throw the ball to you. We're gonna score a touchdown. And you know, the whole thing's going to we're gonna ride off in the sunset type deal. And you know, from a receiver's perspective, I used to sit beside Mark on the buses when we're, after, after games. And when I would sit down, Marv would be complaining when my butt hit the seat. They ain't feed me, man. They don't give me the ride. You know what I mean? Their feed, Reggie, they're feeding [Inaudible]. They're doing, and I'll be like, "Marv, man, you had 12 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns. It's a pretty, pretty good day." You know, he's like, "Nah, man. Go back and look, I'm wide open. You know, they, they just try not to feed me." And so I would laugh. I go back and literally, he's triple covered, right? I mean, you couldn't get him the ball any more than he already got it. And I would always laugh because he always felt like he was open. And I appreciated that about him, all the great ones Reggie's like that. And every great receiver always thinks they're open. And so when, when Peyton looks over and ask him, you're thinking he's going to give them, you know, for whatever it is, a slant, a fade, whatever it is. And I remember him saying run it because that's how we're going to win. And I still get chills every time I tell the story, because at the biggest moment, I mean, here, you have two known Hall of Famers. So if [Peyton] does it to Marvin, it doesn't work out. No one's ever going to second guess that call, but he was willing to defer to the betterment of the team. And I think that, so- that goes overlooked so often, but that he was willing to put the team before himself, his accolades, Peyton's accolades and understand here's literally how we're going to win. And we ran it. Joseph Addai walks in the end zone, the offensive line. I mean, we're knocking guests cause we were so shocked. You know what I mean? And, and the, the moment and how important that moment was. And I look at kids now and when I'm, when I'm speaking to companies, that is what truly defines a teammate. When you know that they care more about the collective us than "I" you'll go, you will move heaven and earth to try to get to help them and do it- that's what builds a true team. And one of my greatest stories I got for him.
Brian Lord:
Now, one of the other things, too... I'm curious about as we're talking here is you know, you've, you've played for one of the greatest everyone who's kind of growing into one of the greatest or played, you know, with the Aaron Rogers' team, what- can you compare those two or?
Jeff Saturday:
Yeah. Completely different personalities. Right? So as hard-charging and Type A as Peyton... Aaron was the opposite. Aaron, it was very low key. Didn't say, you know, didn't- he wasn't a rah-rah guy. I mean, you know what I mean? He'd get in and, and just kinda, you, you try to encourage guys, here's what we're going to do, but their leadership style was completely different. And it was interesting because you see that both guys can be extremely successful. One does it vocally and the way that he charges and pushes people along and then the other can do it more of a kind of stand-back role. And so the coaching staff at Green Bay had much more to do to influence and impact, you know, energy and that kind of thing. As as we were the Colts, it was much more player-driven, but it was interesting for me to be able to see both of them and both be successful. And so when you think about Aaron and the talent that he has, I mean, listen, I know I've never been around a quarterback who has more talent from an arm perspective. I mean, he, he made some throws. I'm just telling you he made some throws that just blew my mind. I mean, rolling out to the left throwing it 60 or 70 yards. Oh, you know, rolling out to your left is impossible. But I remember the first time I- he and I were doing quarterback center exchange- it's how you warm-up for practice- and I'm pitching him some balls back, you know, snapping them to him. And he throws it and it comes by my ear and it just made a different sound. And I looked back, I was like, "Man, did you gas it? He's like, "What do you mean?" I was like, "Man you freakin' slung it!" And he's like, "Nah, I'm just, I'm just warming up." And I thought to myself, "Man, I don't think Peyton's ever thrown a ball that fast!" You know what I mean? So just different, different dudes, man, but, but both great in their own way. And, and obviously, both are going to be- Peyton's definitely in the Hall of Fame here. You know, he's retired, so he'll be in here soon. And then, you know, after Aaron runs through that, he'll have the same, the same parade that Peyton had.
To book Jeff Saturday for your event and for more information, please visit his profile.
Beyond Speaking is hosted by Brian Lord and produced by Eric Woodie
