0:01

What's up, everybody, and welcome to the latest edition

0:04

of the Falcons in Focus podcast

0:06

presented by Ticketmaster.

0:07

I'm Scott Behar. That's Tory mclaney, as.

0:09

Always, the man of the hour,

0:13

Falcons rookie cornerback Clark

0:15

Phillips the Third. We're gonna get

0:17

into Clark Phillips Senior at some point here too.

0:20

Clark Phillips the Third is joining us here.

0:22

So stoked to have you.

0:23

And before we get into some

0:26

pretty fun stories from your background, let

0:28

me remind you all that as the official

0:30

ticket marketplace of the Falcons in the NFL,

0:32

Ticketmaster has a wide selection of tickets

0:34

available for every game. Whether you're

0:37

cheering on the Falcons at home or away,

0:39

Ticketmaster has you covered. Download the Ticketmaster

0:42

app or find tickets today at ticketmaster

0:44

dot com slash Falcons. That's

0:46

ticketmaster dot com slash

0:48

Falcons. Before you were a Falcon,

0:51

Clark, let's

0:53

go back before you're even a football player.

0:55

Maybe there's a story that your dad likes to tell

0:58

you were three, you were playing soccer,

1:01

but maybe mentally you thought that you were playing football.

1:04

Tell us what happened at that moment.

1:06

You're playing a generally

1:09

speaking non contact sport.

1:10

I don't know.

1:11

I've seen male soccer players can

1:13

get heavy flopping, Yeah, it

1:15

can get aggressive.

1:16

Yeah, So it starts with this, like I

1:18

grew up watching even at that age, Like all I did

1:21

was watch my uncle play. And so he was at

1:23

Idaho State, I want to say, and then he went to Portland State.

1:25

He was a running back. So that's all I knew. So even

1:28

though my first sport was soccer, all

1:30

I was watching on TV and all I was watching

1:33

in the stands. We would travel down to his games like

1:35

just to support, and so that's all I knew. And so

1:37

all I knew was tackle, tackle, tackle, somebody, go hit

1:39

somebody and all this stuff. And so you know, my

1:41

first ever you know, sport, and

1:44

I remember, I never forget. We were in a gym

1:46

and because we were so small, we were playing

1:49

soccer in the gym three or whatever, and

1:52

first I think it was the first play. As soon as we got started,

1:54

I went and tackle the kid. I went and tackled

1:56

him. And you know, of course as a kid, you look

1:59

for the reaction to everybody else. Everybody's

2:01

like, oh, and like how did I do?

2:02

Dad?

2:04

So I'm like super nervous. I'm like, oh no,

2:06

I did something wrong. Like people aren't reacting

2:08

right now. I mean from what I heard

2:10

my parents say. They said I started crying and I was like, oh

2:12

snap, like I thought like I was in trouble and everything. Everyone

2:14

was like, no, you're not in trouble, Like you're good. You just can't tackle.

2:18

So from then on, from then on, we knew

2:20

that, Okay, he needs to be in football. Yes, you tackle.

2:22

I mean the one question that if your dad were

2:24

here, that I would want to ask is how is his form

2:26

on the first round?

2:28

Did he lead with like like could he see what

2:30

he was hitting?

2:31

Yeah? Did he keep his head up? Yeah?

2:33

Right, all those important things.

2:35

Something tells me that that three year old who

2:37

got you know, you don't always remember

2:39

everything from back then. Someone tells me that there's a three

2:41

year old out there who was on the other end

2:43

of this tackle who definitely still remembers.

2:46

Oh yeah, you may have switched sports after that, Like

2:48

did I sign up for the right thing? This? Do

2:54

you?

2:55

I mean, I know this has now been almost

2:58

twenty years since then. But also,

3:00

happy belated birthday for those listening

3:02

Clarks right, Yeah, Clark turned twenty two.

3:05

Oh my god, he's.

3:06

In his Taylor Swift era. Hey,

3:10

but AnyWho, I know where twenty

3:12

years removed from your days

3:14

of playing.

3:15

That sounds crazy. I want to stay this age.

3:17

I don't want to get an Yeah, yeah, sounds crazy, older,

3:19

don't yeah, freezer soon.

3:22

I don't know if I like the way that,

3:24

But did.

3:25

You ever pick up soccer like later in life or

3:27

was that kind of like as soon as you latched onto football

3:30

at age four or five six, you

3:32

never looked back.

3:34

It was. I think I might have tried to do it again maybe

3:36

two three years later, but it wasn't for a full season.

3:38

I'm pretty sure it was football from then on, Like if

3:41

you you can ask my dad, but my dad knows that

3:43

it was football from then on because I remember it was flag football

3:46

and as soon as I could play tackle, because we try to play up.

3:48

My dad was trying to get me in tackle football as soon as possible.

3:51

I would have been out there Tyler if it was up to him. Well,

3:54

I barely can walk, but got on pads. So

3:56

it was one of those things where like I knew I wanted to play

3:58

it, and you know, the family knew too, because

4:01

it was one of those like that's all and that's all.

4:02

We do you know, so do

4:04

you?

4:06

So?

4:07

One thing that we found out when we were

4:09

going through like research and everything is that obviously

4:12

faith is really important to you and your family.

4:15

And I felt like everything that we

4:17

read about you was the

4:19

title of every article was like faith, family

4:21

and football. But what I what we found

4:24

really interesting is your grandfather founded

4:27

the church that your dad now pastors.

4:30

I am also a like church

4:32

kid from the South, like I which

4:34

I know you're from California, but like church kid universal

4:39

experiences for me.

4:42

My grandfather was also a pastor of a church, and

4:45

I remember growing up in church. And when

4:47

you're growing up in church to the extent of

4:49

like your family's involved in ministry,

4:52

you honestly are there

4:54

more than you're anywhere else. Oh yeah, you

4:56

live there. So for you, my question

4:59

was with you and your siblings,

5:01

what's the worst trouble that y'all

5:03

ever got in at church?

5:06

Well, I'll say being the

5:08

oldest, I was always kind

5:10

of in that leadership role. And I

5:12

think that's probably the way why I'm the way I am

5:15

today. I bring

5:17

that up because I let us into good things and

5:19

bad things and some of that was in church,

5:21

and me and my brother were definitely both jokesters.

5:24

He was more than quiet when the timid guy. But you

5:26

know when we get together were bad. We were a bad situation.

5:29

I'll tell you this. I remember

5:31

we would do these three thirty services, so we'd have

5:33

a second service, probably

5:36

every few Sundays or something, and uh, depending

5:38

on where it was at, we'd either go to another church

5:40

and basically support, or we'd go you

5:42

know to our church, our home church, and my dad would

5:45

bring in a guest pastor or something. But

5:47

I remember a few instances where me and my brother were

5:50

you know, real roroaldy in the back and we knew.

5:52

So we knew as kids, you know, you

5:54

kind of know where your parents is gonna be at those

5:57

church services. So I knew that my my pop's

5:59

gonna be in a poolpit, my mom was gonna be sitting

6:01

with the ladies or sitting you know, somewhere else, or sitting

6:03

in the front. And so me and my brother knew,

6:05

you know, all the kids at the other services and everything,

6:07

and so we knew when we could act up,

6:09

and we knew like sometimes okay, this

6:12

is gonna be it's gonna be one were having a good time. We're gonna

6:14

make some jokes back here. We're gonna go get the corn

6:16

bread and everything, because the three thirty service, the food

6:18

is always the best. Like we knew the churches that had

6:20

the best food. Like, oh yeah, we gotta go. We gotta make

6:22

sure that we go to act there little early may have to do that bathroom

6:25

trip, you know at the end the service, to make sure that you get

6:27

back there. And so you guys have done your

6:29

homework. Yeah, no, like because you

6:31

know, like you said, growing up in church, like from

6:34

a young age, you kind of you get those little

6:36

traditions and things. You kind of get them downpacked and

6:38

you kind of know what's expecting what to do.

6:41

I'm trying to think of a specific incident.

6:43

Did your dad have a like look

6:46

like from the pool pit, like if he could

6:48

hear y'all, and he looked and you're.

6:50

Like, that's a death stair, that's a death stare.

6:52

Right, Yeah, but like maybe everybody else

6:54

doesn't realize it, but you and your brother.

6:56

No, yeah, yeah, or it was

6:58

really I'll tell you it was really my mom. So

7:01

my mom like if she's seen it, she

7:03

would just kind of give us just like looking you see,

7:05

like her teeth kind of clinch together and her mouth

7:07

goes and she looked at and we just know, okay,

7:09

dang, she about to tell dad and in

7:11

trouble. When we get home and me and my brother look at each

7:13

other, we're like, oh, we're

7:16

about to be in trouble. It's not gonna go good. Well

7:18

maybe we could do somethingybe, we could do the dishes of someone we

7:20

get back, get back into good graces, you know. So

7:23

but now it was definitely that look at My

7:25

dad only had probably caught me once or twice goofing

7:27

all because I usually was good at having a straight face.

7:30

Like if I'm making jokes, I'll make Bryce like my little brother.

7:32

Yeah, yeah,

7:35

I don't know what he's doing, you know.

7:38

But now you and Bryce, y'all are like what

7:40

fourteen fourteen months apart. Yeah, so

7:42

y'all are basically I mean, and

7:44

y'all look alike too, because yeah, y'all are like twins

7:46

essentially. But when

7:49

y'all were growing up, I mean, I also

7:52

come from siblings, and you know, we're

7:54

not as close in age, but like, what

7:56

was it like growing up with him and kind of always

7:59

having that like around

8:01

and in moments where you know your parents are

8:03

busy, but you've got someone who's kind of your

8:05

your guy.

8:06

It was special, and I guess like I wouldn't

8:08

say that, like early on we took it for granted, but we

8:10

always was fighting and competing like

8:12

the first ten years, like and we

8:15

like we would we would compete so bad,

8:17

like just and I never wanted

8:19

to lose. And I'll say this on air, I never

8:22

lost and so like

8:25

yeah and so, but

8:28

it really instilled that in him, like he didn't

8:30

like to lose. And I realized that at a young

8:32

age, like I can't let this. And so as soon as he got

8:34

taller than me, I'm gonna skip to that, like it

8:36

became an issue now

8:39

he thought like his chess was out a little bit now.

8:41

But we just always compete, and because

8:43

we're fourteen months apart, like for me, I developed

8:45

a little bit earlier, so I mean not

8:47

in height, but like Develo,

8:50

but I was really explosive. I was really fast at a young

8:52

age and he was a late bloomer and so it

8:55

was always like a competition for me. But it was

8:57

like it was really I'm always winning so I was like, there is no rivalry.

9:00

Right again. Came a point though, twelve

9:02

thirteen fourteen, we both kind of he I remember

9:04

he hit puberty walking around like, man, you know, I'm

9:07

big now too. You go get the dishes, you

9:09

go get the dishes, and so it became

9:11

one of those things. But because I

9:13

was transition to football, because we both played corner

9:16

like, that was that was when we realized,

9:18

like, dang, like we can both go to the NFL,

9:20

Like we can both be the best at our position,

9:23

like, and we're able to coach each other

9:25

up were you know, able to play receiver

9:27

against each other. I go catch a couple of balls on them.

9:31

He won't do the same. But we go

9:33

back and forth. And it's fun because now he's committed to

9:35

San Diego State right now, I gotta shout him out

9:37

to that as of today, he just signed.

9:39

Yeah.

9:39

For those that are listening, we're recording this

9:41

on National Signing Day, right

9:43

And that was the first thing that I saw when I

9:45

was like doing the research for this podcast, I was

9:47

like, yo, Bryce is going to San

9:49

Diego State, Like, I mean, what's that

9:52

kind of been? Like you watching that

9:54

process from afar, you know, having your own

9:56

recruiting story, but kind of seeing your brother kind

9:58

of going through different things.

9:59

As Yeah, his journey has been different.

10:02

Way differently. And that's what I always tell people, is

10:04

like his journey was way more encouraging

10:06

to me than he ever know, just because

10:09

I feel like I was a kid, Like I said, I

10:11

developed early. I got a lot of offers.

10:13

I had probably every offer in the book.

10:15

And I say that with the most humble attitude because

10:17

I worked for it and all of that stuff and end up getting

10:19

and I was able to sign early. His story,

10:22

you know, he ended up having to go to Juco route. He didn't

10:24

have as many opportunities right out of high school, and

10:26

so he went to Juco route, which we all know

10:28

that can be tough. A lot of guys get stuck at the Juco don't

10:30

end up transitioning to the you know, big time Power

10:32

five, even though that's their plan. And he said,

10:34

I'm gonna do one year and I'm gonna get out. That's

10:37

what he did. He ended up going to TSU and

10:39

he ended up you know, making plays, having great

10:41

film. He did two years and now

10:43

he's having an opportunity to go to San

10:45

Diego State, you know, and so all

10:48

the credit to him, because a lot of guys, you know, with

10:50

the things that he's been through and the things that he's seen and kind

10:53

of things that he's kind of struggled through, it's

10:56

definitely been a it's definitely been a process.

10:58

And you know what, I think it's cool. It's like

11:00

how much you're enjoying his

11:02

success. I'm sure it was the exact same way,

11:04

but yeah, I mean, we're sitting here talking to

11:07

you NFL quarterback with starts

11:09

under his belt as a rookie, and you're

11:11

as jacked about your brother.

11:13

Signing with San Diego States as

11:15

anything.

11:15

I think it goes back to what Toy's talking about, right,

11:17

This is bond that you guys have had for

11:20

so long that I mean, especially

11:23

you play the same position.

11:24

You can speak that language.

11:26

Yeah, right, and we took it

11:28

for granted, but now even more so, sorry to cut

11:30

you off, like even more so now, I just I

11:32

understand we understand each other on a different level

11:35

off the field. On the field, It's not like I'm playing

11:37

d line and he's playing quarterback.

11:40

It's like, even if that was the case, we're both playing the

11:42

same sort. But we played exact same position. So

11:44

it's like it's a level of like, you

11:46

know, understanding and love

11:48

for it that we both probably can't even put

11:50

into words because it's like I understand what you're going through.

11:53

He gave up a play. I'm like, man, what was you thinking

11:55

there? You know? Yeah? Shoot, I saw this

11:57

all week we worked this, and you know, same thing

12:00

for me, like, hey man, what happened on this? You need to make that

12:02

tackle? You on my butt? And so it's like it's

12:04

a it's a comp it's a

12:06

consistent like learning, coaching

12:09

each other up with the competitive spirit,

12:11

the same spirit that we had at five, six, seven,

12:14

thirteen, fourteen. Now it's more so

12:16

poured into like, hey man, like what's up? Like it's

12:18

like, hey, what we're doing right here? You know I

12:20

he's never seen you do this Clark CP. I

12:23

ain't never seen you do the CP? What's up? Man? You're

12:25

all right? Like and but it's like somebody,

12:28

yeah, what's going on?

12:29

Yeah?

12:30

Everything?

12:31

Yeah, I know you? You know, I know you? And that's

12:33

what's so special about it. And like and now we

12:35

both every time we laugh about it, we're like, man,

12:37

what was up with us when we was young? Like, why would we always

12:39

fight? I'm like, I don't know, man, hormones,

12:41

emotions, I like all of that young stuff.

12:44

But I'm like, now we just every time we together,

12:46

we're literally best friends. Now we probably talked every

12:48

two three hours. Like, wow, every time I get a

12:50

chance, he the first do I called. Now, my girls him,

12:53

anything going on is him, And so it's

12:56

now now I'm so grateful. I'm grateful my

12:58

parents did it back to back, you know exactly,

13:00

because I'm like, I wouldn't I wouldn't have wanted

13:02

three years apart, four years apart, fourteen months. It's perfect.

13:04

Yeah, that's so great.

13:05

And the fact that y'all talk so much is really

13:08

cool too, because I talked to my sister all the time as well,

13:10

Like we have a snapchat streak that's stupid

13:13

five hundred Yeah, it's

13:15

embarrassing. I won't even say it's over two thousand

13:17

days. Yeah, that's straight.

13:18

And I was crazy.

13:19

I know it's I kind of won an award

13:21

snapchat. But for

13:23

you, do you remember like a time

13:26

that y'all really got mad.

13:27

At each other?

13:27

Like, what was the like biggest fight that

13:29

y'all ever got in?

13:31

Ooh, I remember me and my brother

13:33

were at my grandparents house and

13:36

so we would often. So my parents were, like my

13:38

dad used to travel a lot because he was

13:41

in healthcare and

13:43

like he would have to travel a lot. And I just remember my

13:45

mom would have to she would work like

13:48

later ships and stuff, and so they would drop us off

13:50

for like two three days at a time sometimes at my

13:52

grandma's house. And I remember me and my brother

13:54

like we loved it because we get to stay up, we didn't

13:56

have to go to sleep. It was no bad time my

13:58

grandma's. I didn't get as much for dude snacks.

14:00

Grandpa make his store, runs around the corner. We're

14:02

going to get every snack in the sheet, you know,

14:04

so like it. It came with so much

14:06

fun. But I remember we would always compete, like I said,

14:09

and everything, and my dad, my grandpa had from

14:11

when my uncle was living in there. He had this older

14:13

game so I don't even know what it was, but it had a game

14:15

called True Crime and a few other games. And I remember

14:18

we were competing. I think I was beating him in a game or

14:20

something and he ended up throwing

14:22

throwing the controller or something, and my parents

14:25

were coming in. I think thirty forty minutes later,

14:27

this is the last day of our little you know, staycationing

14:29

at grandparents, and my Dad's

14:31

coming in and I remember he had on a suit and everything I never forget,

14:34

and for some reason we ended up outside

14:36

tussling and throwing each other around, and my dad

14:39

he ends up pulling up and he thinks that, like, we're like

14:41

full on throwing punches and everything, and I remember he

14:43

snacked like I never felt so weak

14:46

in my child like but strong like I cause

14:48

I felt like at thirteen fourteen, like I'm a man, I'm

14:50

strong, And we were around that age, and I remember

14:52

my dad snagging us both up with one hand and

14:55

looking at us both and said, if I ever catch you both

14:57

punching each other, you guys, might this might be a last

14:59

day. And I was like, and we

15:01

were just both looking stunned like and

15:04

so but it was a beautiful thing because

15:06

we both learned, like brothers, that's not what we do. And

15:09

so even though we were competitive, even though

15:11

you know, we got into it all stuff, I'll tell you what,

15:13

never again did we ever like take

15:15

it there. We may have put hands on, may have

15:17

messed around, but we never ever you know,

15:19

let it get to the point where we're like throwing each

15:21

other around and doing nothing crazy like that. It was

15:23

like, okay, if it got there, now we're both just leaving.

15:26

All right, man, I'm done playing a game. And I

15:28

remember being like, dang, Pops is really

15:30

strong. I remember really

15:33

talking about it because we are, because you know, growing

15:35

up and especially playing football and

15:37

playing a you know, a sport with a lot of you know,

15:39

masculinity, and you know, you're talking

15:41

I'm strong and you knocked another man down

15:44

and all of that stuff. You kind of wonder

15:46

as a kid. Every man goes through it like a

15:48

little and lion king. Every man goes through It's

15:51

like, I wonder if I could take Pops,

15:53

you know, I wonder if like it's the thought that she

15:55

don't really speak out loud, but I wonder

15:58

if, you know. And so that kind to

16:00

settled that with me and my brother, Like now

16:02

there's no way, there's no way. Pops just snatched

16:05

this both up. And maybe the story's

16:07

gotten crazy, but I woant to say both of our feet were

16:09

up, like and I'm thirteen fourteen,

16:12

and I'm like, my dad is very strong, but I.

16:14

Would say he's I saw his Instagram

16:16

profile.

16:17

He's jacked.

16:17

Oh nah even now yeah, like and he now,

16:20

I'll tell you now, like he's on a journey, like he's

16:22

down so and he's

16:24

comfortable with me saying sharing this because this has been

16:26

a crazy journey. Like he gained weight, was

16:28

up to like two thirty or something, and he's two inches short

16:30

of me. Now he's one ninety two.

16:32

Wow.

16:33

He said that his goal is to be looking like me and my brother,

16:35

a higher performance D one professional

16:38

athlete like man. So now I'm like dang,

16:40

and like I knew that he could do that because my dad similar

16:42

to me. That's where I get it from. He can be very extreme

16:44

like and that's what's gotten him where

16:46

he is, and you know in his profession as a healthcare

16:49

you know, executive. But for me, I'm

16:51

like, dang, it's still as crazy to see. I'm

16:53

like, dang, Pop's got abs now because we grew

16:55

up and I saw I knew. We always knew he was super

16:57

strong, right, you know, because he power lifted, he body

16:59

built, and he did all that stuff. But never

17:02

did I ever think I'm like now, I'm like,

17:04

wow, Okay, I'm like I need to make sure

17:06

I'm looking all the way right, yeah, like

17:08

Pops is battling.

17:09

I'm like, yeah, you know, Oh it's funny because I

17:11

was I was gonna ask, like, if y'all work out together,

17:14

like you your brother, your dad.

17:15

My dad's really like the the only

17:17

person that really trains me and my brother like consistently,

17:20

like and it's gonna stay that way,

17:22

you know, because he's gotten us here and he's been the one

17:24

that stayed on us. And then the biggest thing too, I

17:26

tell people is that he knows us best, like

17:29

he knows when something's off with the body

17:31

because he's been the one that's done the strength training. He's

17:33

taken us. If he couldn't do it, it was like, okay, bet, I'm

17:35

gonna get you guys in the hands of somebody that can,

17:37

you know, coach you guys up. For dB because for

17:39

him, he didn't start playing football till senior or of high school.

17:42

Interesting only because he

17:45

was the fastest in the Everyone's like, why didn't you? He was one

17:47

of those kids that was super strong, super fast. He was doing

17:49

like four plates in high school on the bench just

17:52

at one hundred and sixty five pounds. Yeah, and so

17:54

it was like, what are you doing? We need you to play running. Back back

17:56

then it was the running, you know, they ran the ball, and so he

17:58

was like, we need you to play running and he was miloking and they're

18:01

like all right, and he was all right, I'll go play, you

18:03

know whatever. And you know, he

18:05

ended up getting some scholarship offers, but he ended up staying

18:07

back home. My grandmother,

18:10

rest of Peace, was battling cancer,

18:12

so he had to stay. But he ended

18:14

up I was like, dang, that's crazy, Like you could have really went,

18:16

you know, off of one year.

18:19

You know, it's for

18:21

already fifteen minutes into this podcast.

18:23

Time flies when you're having fun. But I think

18:26

it's interesting.

18:27

But when you get drafted there's

18:29

these kind of like narratives that kind

18:31

of I don't know if one draft analyst says that, they'll

18:33

say it right, but like one of the but

18:36

but like one of the narratives was this, like Clark

18:39

Phillips confidence is sky high, Like he

18:41

has this crazy self belief, okay,

18:43

and everybody just sort of assumes that's only football

18:46

like related, like, listen to the conversation that

18:48

we're having right now, that's where the confidence

18:50

comes from. It comes from having this support

18:53

system, having you know, generations

18:55

of people behind you, seeing sacrifice

18:57

from your parents.

18:58

Under that's where the confidence. I

19:00

mean, you're good at.

19:01

Football, yeah right, but it's

19:03

rooted somewhere deeper than that.

19:05

Oh yeah, I'm way deeper. And I'm glad you mentioned that because

19:08

my dad and he would always say when we were younger, but

19:10

we didn't understand it, of course, until we got about the

19:12

house. Like his biggest thing was, I want to teach

19:14

you guys at work ethic. I'm not going to give you guys anything.

19:16

I'm not gonna ever just hand feed or spoon feeds you. I

19:18

want to give you guys work at thic. And then you has to go a long

19:20

way. And so now I understand exactly what they're

19:23

saying. He taught us how to work, how to train, how to go through

19:25

loss, how to go through things, and we never want see in

19:27

a bad eye. He went through so much loss and so

19:29

many things, like in his childhood, even

19:31

in our childhood, so many things, his mother, his brother

19:34

like like all types of stuff that I'm like

19:36

now looking back, I'm like my dad. We used to think my dad

19:38

was a robot, just the way that he was able to handle

19:40

things and just okay, thing that happened.

19:43

Now, what we're gonna do that happened? Dang,

19:45

we didn't even know. Like, there's so many stories

19:47

I could get into, like for I'll bring up

19:49

one and I'll be done. He

19:52

ended up, he ends up losing his job. We're

19:55

about twelve thirteen, me and my brother. We

19:57

had no idea, like when

19:59

he comes in whatever and just a regular day.

20:01

I didn't find out till I'm out of the house that he's

20:03

doing Uber, doing Lyft just to make

20:06

sure, Like I'm like the level of humility

20:08

to go and do Uber and do Lyft after making

20:10

you one hundred and fifty two hundred thousand being a healthcare

20:12

executive, you know, for some time, and

20:15

to be able to just turn around and say, I need to make this

20:17

happen. I need to figure out a way to pay the bills. I'm not gonna

20:19

make, you know, my mom go and work two jobs

20:21

and I'm not gonna go. I'm gonna go do Uber,

20:23

do Lyft and other things on the side to make

20:25

sure that he could bring the bread in. I'm like, wow,

20:29

we had no idea. We had no idea, No idea

20:31

didn't come in, you know, throwing anything didn't come in,

20:33

like y'all need to go work, you know with

20:35

teenagers, Yeah, with teenagers,

20:38

right.

20:39

Because he wanted you all to focus on what

20:41

you're doing. Yeah, I want you to trying to treat.

20:43

Your goal is to go to the NFL. Yeah,

20:46

allowed me and my brother continue to do

20:48

U do us in school, continue to work

20:50

never once, you know, But that that's that's

20:53

one of those things that like I look back and I'm like just

20:55

forever grateful because a lot of people and it wouldn't

20:57

have been wrong for them to say, Okay, the kids got to get to work a little

20:59

bit. Now, I didn't need to go get a job at Taco bow

21:01

do something because we're struggling, you know, allowed

21:04

us to kind of stay in our lane, be kids and

21:06

continue to do our stuff. And I'm like, just

21:09

looking back, I'm like, that's one that can get

21:11

me emotion, Like Pops was being a man. That's a man.

21:13

Yeah, yeah, taking care of everybody.

21:15

R man?

21:17

What I could talk for an hour?

21:19

What else do you want to hit?

21:20

Oh gosh, I have so many things, so

21:23

many things that I want to hit. But there you talk about

21:25

like hard decisions. And I feel like when

21:28

a lot of people know the story of you flipping

21:30

from Ohio State to Utah

21:32

we're going to college, I mean that has

21:35

been written about a lot. That is a story that has

21:37

been told. You look up Clark Phillips the third on

21:39

Google. That's story a huge two

21:41

and three. Yeah, but my

21:44

question isn't necessarily about

21:46

like that and for you to tell everybody about

21:48

that. What's something that in that process

21:51

gets lost in the stories

21:53

that are retold about you? And what is something

21:56

about that moment in your life that

21:59

maybe people don't no.

22:01

Mmm, I'll

22:04

say this because a lot of kids

22:07

can get lost in the hype all of

22:09

that stuff. You start to get offers and nobody

22:11

can tell you anything, and you forget that you

22:13

can only choose one. I remember my

22:15

dad's biggest thing to me and even my brother,

22:17

even though he wasn't in the process, he always told him to learn from

22:19

my process so he don't make the same mistakes. And like

22:22

for me, my dad used to always say, like,

22:24

hey man, you can only pick one and then nothing.

22:26

None of this stuff matters as soon as you step foot on campus.

22:29

The same thing, of course, when you get drafted and that's

22:31

why I was directly applicable. I was able to look at that process

22:33

and kind of match it up to this. But now, like for

22:35

me, that's kind of the biggest

22:37

thing for me was making sure that like, Okay, even

22:40

though I'm highly touted and I was highly recruited all

22:42

this stuff, none of that stuff mattered.

22:44

Like when I committed, like because

22:46

you can get caught up in oh man, I got Nick

22:49

Saban wants me, you know, Ryan

22:51

Day, all of these guys that are at big time programs,

22:54

and then you know, I chose you, Tah,

22:56

And I was like, for me, that was

22:59

that was the biggest thing for me, Like I felt like, I'm

23:01

gonna go to a program that's you know, big

23:04

enough, and it wasn't about the hype. It was

23:06

all about, Okay, what can they do to develop me? And

23:08

how can I go somewhere that's gonna win, you know. And

23:10

so that's that's what came down to my decision. And

23:13

then when I look back at it, I'm like, I'm so grateful

23:15

that I was okay with And it's

23:17

crazy because for me didn't feel like going against the grain, like,

23:19

but for a lot of people it was like, what are you doing. You're

23:21

going to Utah? Like you got all these

23:23

offers, like oh, and people assuming, oh man,

23:25

maybe he didn't get accepted me. No, I

23:28

just chose Utah like it like,

23:30

but a lot of people may have gone with another higher

23:32

tier program if it wasn't Ohio State, just to kind

23:34

of Okay, if I'm not going here, I'm going there.

23:36

And so but for me, I'm grateful for my dad

23:39

kind of having that attitude too, and kind of instilling that me

23:41

and my brother don't be afraid to do your

23:43

own thing, Like you don't have to

23:45

try to follow the masters or follow the crowd just

23:47

because you feel like that's the cool thing to do if you

23:49

feel solid about this. And I felt solid about the

23:51

coaches, I felt solid about what they were telling me, felt

23:53

solid about what the plan was for me, and that

23:56

was the program that I chose And look

23:58

back look at it, and I'm like the rest

24:00

was history

24:05

draft pick.

24:05

Yeah, so.

24:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah, No.

24:09

There are some things to kind

24:11

of like wrap this thing up because we know you

24:13

have to go to another meeting, but I'm going

24:16

to play a little bit of true or false with you. I have

24:18

a couple of stories that I need you to tell me if

24:20

they're true or false. So first one

24:22

true or false. That you didn't have a winter

24:24

coat because you're from California when you

24:26

first went to Utah and you would double

24:29

up on hoodies in order to stay

24:31

That's true.

24:31

And my mom gave me crap for it for a long time because

24:34

they tried to stuff one in my luggage, like, oh, no, you're

24:36

gonna take this. I'm like, no, Mom,

24:38

I'm good, I'm okay. Oh. I struggled the

24:40

first few months. I struggle walk into classes

24:42

too. I didn't have a car. I'm walking in my

24:44

vands because I thought I was so cool and I was gonna

24:46

look flying school. I was gonna look cool. I'm going to

24:49

all my classes just before COVID, and I remember

24:51

thinking this is the worst decision because by the time

24:53

the snow drives, or by the time the snow's off

24:55

your feet, it is completely damped in your shoe.

24:57

It was the worst feeling ever. I'm like, oh, this is bad, and then I gotta

24:59

walk back in it.

25:00

I'm like, oh no, I from southern

25:02

California and where you can wear shorts through

25:05

it.

25:05

In sixty five days, a year and if it's seventy one, it's

25:07

cold outside. Yeah.

25:08

Uh so I feel that even

25:10

coming here, that it's winter in Georgia and I'm panicking.

25:12

Yeah.

25:13

We were talking about that on the way up.

25:16

True or false?

25:17

You are a serious roller skater?

25:19

I got, oh, yes, true, yes, Okay.

25:22

How why I saw

25:24

this? And I was like, you like legit

25:26

Rollerskate have like some rollers.

25:28

About six pair? Oh my gosh. Yeah,

25:30

I actually got to get them shipped down here. I haven't been yet,

25:33

but in off season. Best believe I'll be doing it. So

25:36

it starts like this, so about I'll say

25:38

my end of my freshman year at

25:40

Utah. I remember, so I didn't. I don't go

25:42

out. I don't really do. I'm kind of a born guy, more of a homebody.

25:45

So I watch anime. I do all of the stuff that you

25:47

wouldn't expect a football player to do, right, watch

25:49

anime, watch off TV. But so

25:52

we're I was having one of my two months

25:54

where I just do that, you know. And I think it

25:56

was mid season two and we come

25:58

back and so we get a few days I think about

26:00

have had to buy or something. I remember me and Mickai Bernard

26:02

because we lived together at the time, me and Micai.

26:04

Bernard was like, man, what we gonna do? And he like, see, I gotta

26:06

get you out of the room. Man, Well we got to do something.

26:09

And I'm like, man, what go to a party

26:11

or something? No, that's not me, you know, bro, I'm

26:13

not talking about and he was like, bro, let's go just

26:15

look up something to do. I'm like, what is it to do in Utah?

26:17

And this is two Long Beast dudes talk. Mikai

26:20

is from Long Beast too, And I was like

26:22

what and you? And he was like all right,

26:24

remember in the city we used to go to. I'm like, yeah, they

26:26

probably don't have those out here, but they probably closed are like

26:28

seven, because in Utah everything closed earlier. And

26:31

I remember after we got done, just you know, kind

26:33

of ragging them. We end up looking

26:35

at it. I was like, let's just go skating. So we go. The first

26:37

time. As soon as I get on the floor, somebody

26:39

clips me and knock me over. And

26:42

I remember seeing these old dudes about sixty

26:44

five seventy and seeing them just grooving

26:47

and dancing, and me and Makai looked

26:49

at each other about an hour in I'm sweating.

26:51

I'm really trying to do it, and we look. I said, I'm

26:54

gonna be the best skater in here. This is

26:56

a this is a classic fund center

26:58

in Utah, and they have three or four of them down

27:01

there. I said, I'm gonna go to every single one of them'na

27:03

be the best guy. I'ma the smoothest and everybody

27:05

is.

27:05

It's gonna be like, look at that guy.

27:07

Yeah, it is a little short stocking

27:09

dude on skates actually doing it. And

27:11

I said it then and you can

27:13

ask them today. Like he was like, dude, you're

27:16

really committed. Like I would go down the arm. I would drive

27:18

an hour just to go to the skating rink that

27:20

didn't have anybody there at two pm,

27:22

just to practice, just to practice,

27:24

because I was like, I'm gonna learn how to go backwards. I'm

27:26

gonna len how to be smooth and not fall. I was like,

27:28

how are they doing? And I remember asking for tips. It was

27:30

a dude named Clark in there that I used to call Superman,

27:32

and it's crazy. He was bald and the dude at a crazy

27:35

store. I can't get into it, but the dude was like

27:37

his name was Clark and he was like, he was like, you've seen Clark

27:39

in there, And it got to the point I was going, like every day

27:41

of the week. I'm like, I'm going like every day a week.

27:43

As soon as I get DOWNE watching, I'm like, where are

27:45

you going? And be like where you going? Clark? I'm

27:48

like, you already know classic, classic,

27:51

classic, like what skates you roll in? And I'm

27:53

like, I got got my bands today. I had

27:55

the custom pair and everything.

27:56

Oh my god.

27:57

Then I got Vanilla's when I really thought I was doing it, roll

28:00

Mountain skates, so I

28:02

got real serious about it. I'm probably rusty

28:04

now, but I still got some moves.

28:05

I mean I feel like we could go out there run now right

28:08

now.

28:08

Without it, I can hit a few spans and stuff.

28:10

Yeah, I feel like there's a whole content

28:12

idea in here.

28:13

Just I mean, yeah,

28:16

I'm already notebook all season

28:18

skating because I don't know how to skate.

28:20

So like you'll, oh, yeah.

28:23

Go down to skate Country and yeah,

28:25

oh yeah they have that out.

28:27

Yeah, don't tell me that. Honestly,

28:31

I love this.

28:32

Okay, you're gonna teach us for sure, all.

28:34

Right, definitely I'm gonna need it. I'm gonna need.

28:36

Okay, we still have so many notes. I

28:38

don't think we've ever done this work. Can we do a Clark

28:40

Phillips the third Part two at that point?

28:42

Yeah, we got we got other stuff.

28:45

We are out of time. Uh, super

28:47

unfortunate.

28:48

Next season, We're gonna run this back with the

28:50

other piece of stuff.

28:53

Okay, please do what you do.

28:55

Uh.

28:55

This podcast was awesome.

28:56

If you want more podcasts that are hopefully equally

28:58

awesome, UH, rate review and subscribe

29:01

to the to the Atlanta Falcons podcast Network.

29:03

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

29:04

Where you can find all these podcasts as well do

29:07

all that fun stuff. Give us a five star review,

29:09

and uh for Tory and

29:11

Clark, I'm Scott. This

29:13

has been a freaking awesome episode of

29:15

Falcons and Focus, presented by Ticketmaster.

29:17

We're just gonna skate around.

29:18

I don't know, it's

29:20

gonna be tough.

29:21

Clark's at the bar, very high

29:24

skates.

29:25

Okay, we will talk to you again next week. See you, hm,

29:30

hm