S1: Oh , wait wait wait. Let's start over. Look , bro , I am nobody's special. Okay , so you do not have to be nervous. Just say our names and let's just talk. You know what I mean? Just. Just be yourself. Just chill. Dawg. I'm not a nobody special. You don't have to perform. We're just going to have a conversation. Okay? So just be chilling off.
S2: Welcome to. You're from where? A student produced podcast sharing real stories from across the Imperil Valley. This episode features Cedric Thompson , a former NFL player and Collegiate School graduate whose journey to professional football didn't start in a pipeline or a powerhouse program. It started in a place most people would never imagine before the NFL , before college football. Cedric was growing up in Los Angeles , navigating family challenges and trying to find direction after his parents divorce. Then everything changed. He was sent to live in Bombay Beach , a remote town along the Salton Sea known for its decaying infrastructure , abandoned homes , and one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country. It's the kind of place that can feel forgotten , isolated , harsh. Cedric has described arriving at night and feeling like he had stepped into something out of a horror movie for a teenager coming from Los Angeles. The contrast was immediate and overwhelming , but in a place where there's very little to do. Every choice matters. Boredom can lead you one way , or it can force you to focus. In this conversation , Cedric talks about how it took to adapt , to stay disciplined , and to build something for himself in an environment where nothing was guaranteed. From Calipari High School to the University of Minnesota and eventually to the NFL. His path was built on consistency , resilience , and decisions made in moments when it would have been easier to quit and in the end , the place that once felt like the most unfamiliar became the place that shaped him the most. This is Cedric Thompson.
S1: Yeah , so I'm originally from Los Angeles. I'm from LA. I was born and raised there. Um , you know , in LA , like there's a bunch of different things you can get into , uh , you know , that's gangs , that's drugs. There's all kinds of things. And I think the saving grace for me was football. I was put into football when I was like 9 or 10 years old , and I didn't play football because I wanted to. It was a resource that my parents put me in to essentially keep me focused on something , to stay out of trouble. And I think football was the thing that kept me on the straight and narrow , because anything that didn't help me with the sport , I didn't. I didn't do right. So I didn't drink , I didn't smoke , I didn't do anything because I knew that it wasn't going to be conducive to me performing on the field , and I had no idea if performing on the field would do anything for me , but I didn't. I just enjoyed like seeing myself progressively get better. So I played football. I did a good job staying out of trouble because football kept me on the straight and narrow. But I got into some trouble in like middle school , high school , because going from middle school to high school , my mom and dad got divorced. And when they got divorced , that like really , really kind of broke my world a little bit to see the people who were raising me split apart and then had to start a new beginning to some degree , you know , at 14 years old. And then I went I moved to a city called Palmdale my freshman year , and that's when I kind of really got into my first experience of , you know , getting in trouble and like , fighting and doing stuff like that. Because I didn't have my dad , I decided to go with my mom. After that , I moved to , uh , my mom made me leave from , uh , Palmdale to go move to Bombay Beach. Uh , that's where my dad lives. Yeah , I know , Bombay Beach. Is that right? Yeah. I better know where it's at. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Yeah , I've been there before I moved.
S1: I moved to Bombay Beach , and , uh , that's when my life completely turned around. Because I learned how to be disciplined , to work hard , to not make excuses. And , um , I think that's ultimately is what got me to do all the things that I'm doing now is what Bombay Beach taught me , because you really have no excuse. And I think , I mean , you guys know when you live in a valley , you know , it's a small knit community. It's not many things to do. Um , and you kind of have to pick make a decision off if you're going to use boredom as a , um , excuse to do bad things , or you're going to use boredom as a , as a , as a , as a pathway to do something positive. So I think for me as a young kid , um , those were my troubles. And that's how I kind of got over , uh , the troubles is , is using boredom and not pressuring myself to do what everybody else was doing because they were using their board of the in a way that was , uh , conducive to their , uh , to their future. I'll never forget driving to Bombay Beach. We drove there. We drove there at night. My dad had picked me up in LA in the truck , and , uh , we're driving out there and like , I'd never seen Bombay Beach in my life. I never heard of it. I was like , all right , we're going. I'm going to live with my dad. That's all that I do. And I remember driving in and like , you can see all the abandoned houses. You can see how small the town was. You can see like , and kind of look like something from the Hills Have Eyes at nighttime. So I remember driving up and going into this house and I was on the stand and you can see the water. So I'm like , oh , man , it's like a beach out there. It's like it's like a lake. But it didn't smell that good at night. So I'm like , maybe it's just like the salt because like growing up at LA , when you go to the beach , you can smell the salt from the ocean. And I woke up that next damn morning. I was like , oh my God , bro , this is not a beach. This is not like a place that you like. You only see this kind of a place in like horror movies is what it what it seemed like. So it was a huge culture shock. And that goes back to what I was saying about earlier about , um , you have to kind of decide on what it is that you want to do when you're faced with adversity. And I could have easily been like , okay , I don't want to be here. I need to go back to what I , what I was used to , which is which was which was my mom. And like , getting in trouble and like , kind of like kind of find my own way. Um , and I ultimately decided not to , to do that. I saw this as as crazy as it sounds , at 14 years old , 15 years old , I saw it as an opportunity to do something because I knew that where I would have went back to wasn't going to be , um , anywhere that I wanted to be. Like. I was the first person in my nobody in my family graduated high school. Um , and I knew that that's something that I wanted to do. So all I had to say that it was a huge culture shock. And when I was shocked , I ultimately had to make a decision on what I was going to do. Um , and I made a decision that I ended up being okay.
S3: So at Bombay Beach , did you have , like , any other family or was it just you and your dad?
S1: My dad. It was me and my dad. And then , like , you know that there are kids in Bombay Beach. But they were younger than me. And I had two friends who , um , moved from Michigan to Bombay Beach because , like , their grandpa owned houses out there named College Mall. And there was a couple other , like , teenage kids out there. But as far as family was just me and my dad. Oh , wow. Mhm.
S2: Going from Los Angeles to Bombay Beach wasn't just a move. It was a complete reset. In that type of environment. There's no hiding your decisions. You either adapt or you fall into it.
S1: I remember when I first got to Bombay and I was like , well , I guess I'm going to be living here. So I got to figure out what high school I'm going to. And , um , I , I remember I had like , this little red , like Dell , like laptops and , um , you know , back then , you kids won't believe it , but , like , Wi-Fi was , like , really hard to get by. Back then when I was like 14 or 15 years old and I used to like go to like these , uh , the street who had , like , Wi-Fi and like , I learned how to , like , hack into , like the Wi-Fi and , like , be able to , like , use the internet. And I was like , football teams in the Imperial Valley. And the first thing that popped up was brolly. And I'll never forget me. And like , damn , like their colors are sick. I thought , wow , cats like , the logo is sick. I want to go here. And then I found out that , like the bus that comes to Bombay to pick up the kids , the furthest that it goes is the cow Pat. So then I looked up. I'm like , oh , okay. Like these colors are the logo. The Hornets is like , whatever , but whatever. Like we don't have an ark. We ain't got nothing. So I ain't got no choice. This is what I gotta do. And what's interesting about , um , going to cow Pat for me is like in LA growing up , like , you know , it was very , like , gang infested. So growing up for me as a teenager is like black , black people and Hispanic people didn't get along. So I , I remember like being like , man , I'm about to go to this school and I'm about to be , like , fighting , like every day , because it seems like there's not a lot of black people out here. It's like all like Hispanic people. And I'm getting on the bus and like , I was like , damn , it took like 40 damn minutes to get to school. Like , you know , like , like driving for , like , driving up in the mountains , like picking kids up and like , you got to pick kids up in the mountains and you go down like , the highway , and then you gotta stop an island , and you gotta wait in an island for all the kids to get on the bus and island. And then you're like , go to college , drop the kids off at the elementary school , and then you drop. Then you get dropped off at the high school. And I remember , like , getting dropped off and like , walking in there and like , being so nervous. And I realized instantly that , oh , not like they don't care. This is a different this is a different culture. This is a different culture from what I know , um , in LA. So I felt comfortable right away. And it was a culture shock because , you know , I wasn't the only I was one of the only , like , black kids there , um , at Cal , but they were , like , welcoming and , um , you know , it was an overall good experience. Um , when I first got there and I , and I signed up and played football right away , which is super helpful and played for Coach Shaw's crazy ass. And that was a thing of a thing of itself.
S2: Even in a new place , respect wasn't given. It had to be earned every day.
S1: Well , being somebody who didn't live there , it was. It was. I think it was one of the things I was nervous about was like , this isn't like a community , like all these kids that grew up with each other. Like when you live in these small towns in the valley , it's like you go to the same preschool , elementary school , middle school , high school , and you can kind of see those connections right away. I saw those connections right away when I got to Karpat. But I think for me , like everybody did , welcome me with open arms. And I think all the counselors and teachers did a great job making sure that I felt included in everything. And I think even with the football team , I mean , you guys know when you play sports , like if you if you , you gotta earn your respect , you know , and I knew how to play , but I had to honor the guys who were in front of me too , by not stepping on toes and honoring like that. they've been here longer than me , and I gotta wait my turn and stuff like that. So I fell in line when I needed to , and I also worked hard to make sure that I got my respect on the football field. And when it came to being in class and being in that school , I was trying to be respectful and understanding and , um , you know , kind of fitting as best as I could when I was at the school as well.
S2: You think that , like when people started noticing that you were like , really good at football , that they started treating you like differently , like more respect to you , like , not just football players , but just like everyone at school.
S1: Well , I think that's a really good question. And I think for me. People treat you differently for different reasons , right? So like my teammates and my coaches treated me differently because I worked and I earned their respect. It wasn't about the it wasn't about the , you know , all the touchdowns and yards and stuff that I had. It was like , I didn't just get this because I just hopped up and I got it. I worked really hard for it. I used to be the first one in practice and the last one I practice. I would be running bleachers and running around all the time to like , get better at it. So those people , my teammates and my coaches respect me for that. And obviously there's like the other people who just like , see like the the end results or the touchdowns and stuff and they treated you differently. But that never really bothered me because I knew why I was doing what I was doing. And if people treated me differently , you know , I never disrespected them. But like , if you didn't talk to me before , many of you were talking to me. Now it's great. But it's like , I know that this is just a facade , you know , like you're just you just want to be a part of what , um , everybody is excited about , you know?
S2: Well , how how would you get to , like , summer practices since you said , like , you guys didn't have a car out there , and.
S1: That's a good question. So for summer practices , bro , there would be times. So Kyle has a park and I used to sit at that park. And I would like call different friends and be like , hey , like , can I stay at your house? And uh , some days I'll be at that park to like ten at night , just calling people and like , they're asking their parents if I can stay there. And then through that practice , I ended up getting some friends who like I consistently will let me stay. And then over the next couple of summers , like , I was like living with these people , basically. I had a friend named Billy Zambrano. I ended up just staying out all the time. I had a friend named Michael and I would originally stay there , but like his mom , his dad had a new wife and his wife didn't like me staying there. So like , there were plenty of times where , like , I thought I was staying there. And then Mike's dad's wife would say , I don't want him there. So now I'm back at the park , waiting to find somewhere else to stay. So originally I'm like , I would like a lot of the times what I would do. Um , no , I think no , I would just like , get rides in the summertime and just wait at the park and wait for somebody to let me stay , or I would have somewhere to stay for x amount of time. Um , until those people's parents were tired of me staying there. I mean , my dad is like a big like , we gotta do what we gotta do kind of guy , you know? So , like , he knew that when I went out there that I had to do what I had to do , you know , like I had to stay , and I knew how to protect myself. And I had good judgment. And my dad didn't really. He didn't really. He didn't , I didn't. He knew that I was I had nowhere to play football. Got to be out there. I got to be practicing , you know what I'm saying? I got him back. So , like , he. He didn't think. He didn't think anything of it. He was just like , do what you gotta do , baby boy. You always help me do what you gotta do. And , like , uh , yeah , I just figured it out.
S2: That grind , that uncertainty.
S3: That's where the shift started.
S2: Not when things got easier , but when he decided not to quit. Would you also be staying , like , during the school year at other people's houses? Because , like for us , we have practice like after school and we don't get out till like , like nine sometimes , like we don't leave school to like nine at night. Yeah , yeah. Because we have weights but like after school , during season and then practice after.
S1: Oh , no. I think you guys have a new rule where you can't , like , practice at a certain time of the day because of the heat. Right. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. See , when I was in high school went like that , but we were , um , you know , we were in the heat , bro. Like , we got up in the morning and , like , we had two days still , and we were in , like , the crack of the heat , so , like , I never it never was a late night stay. It was always. We had practice in the morning or right after school. And then I was done by like , you know , 5:00 and then there was a late bus to go back to Bombay Beach. And I would always catch that. But later on in high school , I would , I would stay. I had I told you I had that friend Billy and like I , he ended up being like my brother. He's like one of my he's still like probably my best friend and one of my best friends to this day. He was just out here a couple of weeks ago , um , in Minnesota. And , uh , I would , uh , stay with him. I ended up staying with him all the time. So anytime I needed to stay , like , it's just like on Fridays , we had to , like , drive up to San Diego to like , play these games. And when we got back at like two in the morning. So I would like to stay with Billy over the weekend and go to school on Monday and then catch the bus back home , uh , to Bombay. So I would stay out there during the school , during school , um , and stay with Billy and just kind of figure it out. Uh.
S2: You think like or like when do you think you really started? Like. Like thinking like , oh , I can really , like , go to college or like , go , go like NFL. Like when you realize.
S1: You know , like I said. So my goal was always to just graduate high school. And I just really enjoyed working hard and I enjoyed seeing myself progress. Like I love like a market measurement. So like if I was lifting weights and I was like incrementally go up by 0.5 or £5 , I just enjoyed that. And I think through that process I was like , oh man , I'm like getting stronger , I'm getting faster , I'm getting better. And it was crazy , dude. I didn't know anything about college football. Like I played , remember when I was a kid? I played football because my parents put me in it , but I didn't like , watch the NFL. I didn't watch college , I didn't watch anything. I just played the game. And I'll never forget like it was my somebody. So when I noticed I was getting good was my junior year and I , you know , I remember my first game , I was like , oh , damn. You know what I'm saying? I'm gonna I'm gonna snap it a little bit , you know what I mean? And then like the game after the game , I'm like , oh damn. I'm like , I'm like the real deal. You know? Like , I'm like , I'm like , the real deal now. So going into my senior year , I have the confidence and I like tore it up my senior year. And then I met somebody named Justin Hannon. And then he told me to make a tape , and then he started sending the tape out. And then when he sent the tape out and colleges were reaching back to me saying , I can play that song , I was like , oh , damn , I guess I could play , you know? I mean , I guess I can play the game. And so I didn't really notice it. I knew that I was good because , you know , I was , you know , I mean , I was scoring touchdowns and breaking tackles and doing all those things. But it was it was a it was my I knew him and within myself I was good. But I got validated from these big colleges and and now it made me realize , oh , I guess I guess I can play in college. And that's when it was new for me that when they told me that I can play there because my goal was never to like , play in college , it was just like it kind of just happened through the hard work.
S3: Since you didn't really know , like anything about , you know , the colleges and stuff like the ones that reached out to you. How did you how did you realize , oh , I want to go here. No , I want to go to this one. Like , how was like , how did that work?
S1: It's a good question. So I remember the first college that reached out to me , it was called , um , Northwestern Oklahoma State. It was like an Naia school. And I was I was visiting back home. I was in Compton , uh , visiting my visiting my family. And then the coach had called me and I was like , hello? And then he told me , yeah , this is coach Whatever from North Northwestern Oklahoma State University. And I was gassed. I was like , jumping up and down , like , what the heck of college called me or whatever? And then I found out it was Naia , and I didn't know that man. I was like , whatever. Like a college called me. So then I started to learn. Once a college college , you start looking them up. So I was like , oh , okay. Naia like , you know , the the thing I always look at is , you know , are they sponsored by Nike or Adidas or whatever? That was like the thing I will always look at and then , you know , next thing you know , like D2 start calling , I'm like , oh , these arenas are bigger. Oh , there's more people. Oh damn , this is crazy. And then I'll never forget the first big college was Boise State. And I remember Boise State cuz I was like , they're the ones with like the blue football field. That's that's yeah , yeah. And I was like , oh , they're calling me. I'm like , damn , I can play there. I'm like , oh , okay. And then next , you know , Colorado is calling me the U of A , and like I'm just like , oh my God. So now I'm like googling these these schools and I'm seeing like these stadiums and these people. And then that's when I learned about like the Pac 12 and the Big ten and all these I'm like , oh my God , bro , this is like big , big , big time football. Um , so I just learned through once they reach out to me , I will Google them. And then , um , that was it. Uh , just looking them up once they called me because the only college team that I really knew growing up was USC , because that's where I was from. And like , you know , we just love because growing up in LA , we didn't have a we didn't have an NFL team. We just had USC. And like USC , this one like Reggie Bush , Matt Leitner , all these guys were there when I was a kid. So that was like our NFL team. So I didn't really know much about , um , uh , college football teams besides USC and anybody that they played against. And then , um , you know , that's when I found out about the act and then like , uh , I had to take the act when I took the first , when I took it the first time , I didn't get that good of a score in it. So a lot of the schools that offered me like , um , I think Colorado , University of Arizona , um , Boise State , uh , there's a couple other ones they like pulled their offers back because I didn't have the act , but there was one school that was waiting on me. Even when my low score was , it was Portland State. It was a D1 double A , and I flew up there. Took a trip to Portland and like thought the college was dope. Came back and I was going to sign with Portland State because I was , like , getting nervous. Like , I need to sign somewhere before , you know , signing days up and whatever. So Portland State was pressuring me to sign. But the day of signing day , the night the night before signing day , the University of Minnesota had called Justin and they were like , hey , don't let we might give this kid an offer. Don't let him sign. And bro , I'm telling you , I'm like , freaking out. I'm like freaking. I'm like my mom. My mama calling me , telling me like you to sign that paper. What if they take the scholarship? You're , like , freaking out. Um , that was the first time like that. The date , the night. A couple of nights before the signing day , I had my first anxiety attack. I had an anxiety attack , and I went to the hospital I went to I went to the freaking hospital in Raleigh. Um , so I , um. So I ended up not signing with Portland State. And then I went to Minnesota in February when it was blistering cold and I was like , damn , this is like way , way different than anything I've ever I've never seen snow in my life until I came up here. And then I took a trip. Uh , I took a trip and , like , fell in love with , like , the city and , like , again , I saw the locker room , and I saw the facility , and I saw who they played against. And then also , the first game of my freshman year , I saw that we were playing against USC. So I was like , this just seems perfect. You know what I mean? Um , so I came up here , I signed and then came up here , and then the rest was history. And then you just people said , you get used to the cold up here , but you just don't like , it's like negative whatever it is outside right now. And I'm dying , bro. And I being for like 13 years , so you don't get used to it.
S2: Opportunities were limited.
S3: To competing at one of the highest levels in college football. Uh , did like any of your family , like , move with you over there , or was this just , you.
S1: Know , I was the first person to graduate high school. The first person to get to a D1 scholarship. The first one to go to college. First one everything , bro. I just tied up my shoes and I just went for it.
S2: That's great. How do you think? Like the competition level was the difference between , like , going from , like , Kalapuya to Minnesota , like , I mean.
S1: It was different. It was different. And here's , here's here's what's funny too , is like. So when I , when I got here , when I was getting recruited out of high school , I was recruited as an athlete. So because I played , I had to play everything in camp. Pat bro , I played receiver , running back , I played D-line sometimes I played everything so I can run and I was strong and I was , you know , I was tall and , um , or tall for like that for high school. And , um , so I always knew that I was really athletic. And Minnesota had signed me. They signed me as an athlete. And like , they didn't know if I was going to play running back or if I was going to play or play defense. They didn't know what I was going to do. So , um , two weeks before fall camp has started , the DB coach walks up to me and says , we need you to play safety , all right? Like that. And , um , never play. Say to you before. Like , I played a little bit in high school , but coach , I would just be like , don't let nobody get behind you and just stay back there. That's all he would tell me. I didn't know anything about no scheme. And I remember , like , you know , in Cal Pac was 40 guys on the team. And then you go to Minnesota , it's like 130 or something. You know what I mean? So the competition is like crazy , crazy high. And what I noticed right away going there was I'm like , these guys are talented , but like they don't work hard. You know , they don't really work that hard. So I just I worked all of them and what I , I and I realized really quickly , like , well , mom taught me this to you , if you work hard , that trumps talent. Any day you can outwork somebody. You can out talent , somebody. Um , so the competition was high because , like , it was a higher level. But me working hard and learning how to learn in the playbook and learning how to like , not be afraid to make mistakes. Learning how to put in the extra time. Learning how to be the first one. Learning how to be the last one to leave. Learning how to ask questions. Um , even when I was afraid of the answer. Not being. Not being afraid to admit that I don't know answers. That is what separated me. And that's where the the , the difference in competition didn't really matter , because I was willing to put in the work to keep up and surpass the people who were in front of me and be able to compete with my competitor. Work trumps everything , bro. Like it really , really does. I never was the most talented ever in my life. I had some , like , raw ability. Like I was always fast. I was I was athletic , but but always. And I always started at the bottom. Everywhere that I went , from Pop Warner to high school to Minnesota to the NFL , I was always at the bottom. But I work outworked everybody and I always got that. Always got me to the front every single time.
S2: Do you think your work ethic , like , came in like a lot more when you went to Bombay Beach and there wasn't really like , nothing else to do. Or did you always just have that?
S1: That's a good question , I think. Yeah , I've thought about this a lot , and sometimes I think if I didn't go to Bombay , would my life look like I can't remember? I remember like loving football and like , wanting to , like , be the first one to , like , run the lap around the park in LA. I remember stuff like that. So I think innately , I've always had this desire to like lead and work hard. But I'd be lying if I say Bombay Beach didn't change my life because of what I had to do. But again , like I said earlier , I ultimately had to make a decision to work hard. I could have easily went the other way and not done anything or even left. So I credit Bombay because of like the options that it gave me. But it did come down to me deciding to work hard. Um , and I think you can do that in Bombay Beach. You can do that in LA , you can do that in Imperial or Central. You can do it in fricking like Alaska. It doesn't matter where you're at. It's this a decision that you have to make to work hard , um , and not really make any excuses and not point fingers at anyone.
S3: But even then , nothing was guaranteed.
S2: Every level just brought new challenges.
S3: How did you feel? You know , playing your years of years of college and then finally , you know , the NFL. Like , how did that feel like that? I mean , that's like crazy.
S1: I didn't ever think about playing in the NFL like that. You know , it was just like whatever. You know , I just like , enjoy working hard and I enjoy being with my teammates. And you know , it got to we had something called Junior Day and and um , in college. And that's where all the NFL scouts come to essentially like talk to the juniors about going to the NFL. And I was like , oh , okay , this is interesting. So we have to go to this meeting. And then we had to take something called the Wonderlic test. And then we took the Wonderlic test , and I had a high score of it's basically like , how smart are you to be an NFL player is basically what the Wonderlic test says. And I found that I had a high score. Oh , okay. Well , that's I mean , that's cool. So that was the first time the seed was planted in my head that I can , like , potentially do this. Then I found out that you can ask the NFL your junior year if if you submitted for the draft this year , would you be draft? So let me just ask and see what they say bro , I asked , they sent that damn letter so fast like , no , you wouldn't be drafted this year. I had letter I printed out ten of them and I laminated them. And I put them on my front door to my apartment , on the ceiling where my bed was , on my mirror , underneath my bed. I put one in my backpack. I wanted to see it every day , because at that point , it wasn't even about making it to NFL. It was about like , y'all got me effed up. That's what my mindset was. So I took that energy into like the work that I did to , like , prove myself right , that like , oh no , I think I can do this because it's like the highest level. Like I believe I can do it. And then sure enough , then By the end of my senior year. Came and my name got called. And I'll never forget. Like , you know , we had a draft party in San Diego , and I never forget my name being called. And I was outside , like laying by the pool , just looking up at the sky. I was like , what is happening? You know what I mean? Like , yeah , it's happening , you know what I'm saying? And it all just comes down to like , hard , like hard work and just believing in yourself and not let nobody tell you that you can't do anything. And I think , you know , getting to the NFL was a huge culture shock for me because I learned a lot about that. Now , this is still football , but a lot of it is business. You know , a lot of it is business. And , you know , this I think that's probably the only thing in my life where I was like , I wish , I wish I had somebody who was there before me to kind of show me the way , because since I was the front runner , almost everything in my life , um , having somebody to , like , guide me in the NFL , I think I would have lasted a lot longer because it wasn't about talent. Um , it was about understanding the business and , like , putting yourself in the right position. Um , so it was a culture shock in that way.
S2: Making it to the NFL wasn't the end of the struggle.
S3: And a lot of ways it was just the beginning. I remember when I was watching your videos , it's it showed that you were never , you know , starting pretend in the NFL. You were never like , you know , on like the ace like ace pretend a squad of like the team. But you still being there , you know , training with them and stuff like that. How did that how did that feel when they , you know. Well , kind of like when you didn't like start like how did that feel? Did you lose like your motive. Like to , you know , oh , I can do this and stuff or did you were , were you like , I'm gonna outwork them the same way that I did in college.
S1: Oh , man , I really I really struggle when I was , when I was in the NFL because when I got drafted , uh , they kind of treat you like royalty. They treat you like you're already on the team. So like , again , like. And mind you , like again , I don't know anything about the business. I'm like , I got drafted , I'm on the team , I got Nike deals. I'm getting money. Like all this stuff. I got a signing bonus. Like , I don't have to go over there and do what the other rookies are doing. Like me in the 4 or 5 draft picks are kind of doing their own thing , learning the playbook , going into like taking us on a bus and doing all these things. So when the games had had came and I wasn't playing well because I , I told them that I can do anything. So I'm like playing safety , strong safety , nickel. And then in the NFL , all these positions are very different. You know , in college , like free safety and safety , you're kind of doing the same thing to some degree. But in the NFL all these positions are doing completely different things. And I just wasn't playing well because I was trying to do too much showcasing like my athleticism. Um , so when I got to the league and like when I had got cut and then I signed on to the practice squad , I never forget my first practice squad , uh , practice. And I remember , like , getting a three point stance because I was like , on a punt block thing. And I just started smiling , and I was like , see , this is where I'm supposed to be at. Like , this is how I've always done it. I've never got anything handed to me. And that was the first time in my NFL , my rookie year , I was like , this is what I need. And I just had a fire under me the whole time. But at that point I was like , digging out of a hole , you know , like I was. I was digging out of a hole. And when you're down , when you're that low in the league , like , it's hard , it's hard to get out , man. It's really , really hard. So like , I had to hand it to me and like , I was never I wasn't used to getting things handed to me. And I kind of took it for granted because I had nobody really showing me the way. And then once I got released , I was like , oh no , this is like , this feels right. Like being at the bottom feels right. And I try to dig myself out. But it was just it was just hard.
S2: Do you think the talent , like the talent or the competition from high school to college was bigger , or from college to the NFL?
S1: I mean college to the NFL by far , bro. Like , I would see people do stuff in the NFL I've never seen in my life. Like just athleticism and like how smart they were. It was just like you. You couldn't even , like , comprehend how smart these people were. Like , I never forget when I went to New England , I was playing and I went to the Patriots and I my first practice , uh , we were playing in like the , the game to go to the championship , and we were playing against the Chiefs. And , uh , you guys are too young for this , but there's a safety named Eric Berry for the Chiefs. And he was like the star safety. And they had me as like the I was mimicking Eric Berry at practice. And I never forget like going up into uh to like the to to I was playing a strong safety and I went up to go be Eric Berry and Tom Brady. Like looks at me and he looks at me and he like kind of opens his eyes really slow and like looks back and just changes the whole play. And I was like , what? Like what I got. It was like it was like a computer in real time , you know what I mean? So just like the , the , the how smart these guys are in , in , in , in the NFL was like , what makes the difference. It's not the athleticism like you have like your freaks. You know what I mean. But it was like how smart these guys were is what separated everybody , um , from being great to being mediocre. Um , so the it was a lot different when it came to town , but it was all up here. It wasn't it wasn't about like athleticism , because if you got drafted or you're or you're in the NFL , I mean , you're you have some athleticism , but just by default , like you have to be athletic to play in the league. So it was all about up here. And that's what made that was a jump for sure. When I'm thinking of home I'm thinking I think of the Valley. I don't think of LA. I tell people all the time like , man , the Valley is a special place. It really , really is. And I think you guys don't understand it because you live there , man. The valley is a special place and I know , look , it can be boring. You see , the same people like I get all that. It's easy to like do the same thing over and over. But what happens is when you become an adult , like , systems and routines really matter. And , you know , like it's flying over your head now because you're a kid. But having a system and having a routine you follow is what makes you have a successful life. And that's what the Valley taught me , is that being in a routine and doing the same thing and appreciating the work and appreciation. Appreciating getting up at the same time every day and appreciate seeing the same people and like being able to. Being able to be comfortable having like strong conversations and build strong relationships. When you're in a big city or in an environment with a bunch of people , those skills fly by because you don't have a place where there's community. Um , and you have to , like , go see the same people every single day. The valley I give my life to the valley because of , like , what it taught me and the person that is. And a person that has shaped me into and how it's like , helped me to have sustainable thought processes and routines and structure to be able to. And I can like , take that. And I believe that you can drop me anywhere and I'll be able to survive because of the valley and what it taught me. So the valley is genuinely a special place , and I give my life to it. And every time I'm like , I want to go home , I don't think of LA , I don't think of Palmdale , I think of the Imperial Valley , and I think of Bombay Beach. And that's where I want to go when I go home. And so I'm telling you , I'm in like your kids , bro. So I know that's probably flying over your head. I'm telling you like appreciate where you live , bro. Because like when you get older , you'll appreciate it if you can learn how to have like routines and and systems and like appreciate like seeing the same person every day and shaking their hand and like having a hard friendship and like fixing their friendship or whatever. Like it's going to pay off in your adulthood , I'm telling you.
S3: He left Los Angeles searching for direction.
S2: And found it in a place most people would never choose.
S3: A place people call it forgotten.
S2: A place people overlook.
S3: But for him.
S2: That's where everything started.
S3: Because sometimes it's not about where you come from.
S2: It's about what you decide to do when you get there.
S3: From Bombay Beach.
S2: To the NFL.
S3: This has been. You're from where?
S2: Thank you for listening.
S3: You're from where? Featuring Cedric Thompson. Hosted by Lulu and Malachi Rodriguez. Edited and produced by Doctor Thomas Taki. Episode music by Richard Vega and Sparta Sound Productions. Credits. Music by Emanuel Twilight.
S2: Technical and operational support provided by KPBS. Technical producer sound designer Adrian Villalobos , KPBS audio operations assistant Rebecca Chacon , and KPBS Director of audio Programming and Operations Lisa Jane Morissette. This programming is partially made possible in part by the KPBS explorer. Content. Fun.
