0:09

Art originals. This is

0:11

an iHeart original.

0:19

It's twenty twelve and players

0:21

at Culver Stockton College in Canton,

0:24

Missouri are gearing up for football

0:26

practice. Canton is

0:28

a college town, but not a big

0:31

one. Nestled near the Mississippi

0:33

River, the population is less

0:35

than three thousand. Their source

0:38

of athletic pride is the Culver

0:40

Stockton Wildcats, but

0:43

times have been tough. During the

0:45

previous season, they went just one

0:47

and ten. It wasn't so much

0:50

sport as human sacrifice.

0:53

But there's a sense their fortunes

0:55

can be turned around, maybe

0:57

with some new blood. At

1:00

practice, a freshman named Mike

1:02

Davis looks around and spots

1:04

an older man, a very

1:07

very big man six

1:09

foot five and two hundred and ninety

1:11

five pounds, And Mike

1:14

starts to wonder if maybe this giant

1:17

has a son who's going to be playing here,

1:19

hopefully a kid who has the same oversized

1:22

proportions.

1:23

And I'm looking around the wave room, you know, just

1:26

like, who's this guy's got a kid

1:28

here?

1:28

Like, whose kid is this guy's.

1:31

Mike's head coach looks at the guy,

1:33

then back at.

1:34

Mike, and he goes, oh, no, that's that's

1:36

Andy he's actually gonna be playing for us, And

1:40

at that point my mind blew a little bit

1:42

and I was like, well, that's that's a grown

1:44

man.

1:44

I was like, you know, I

1:46

asked him, like, how old is he goes, Oh, I was thirty eight.

1:49

Thirty eight is older than the coach,

1:52

older than the trainers, older

1:55

than almost everyone in and

1:57

around the team. That's

1:59

how Mike and every other player

2:02

learns about Andy Staton.

2:04

Andy is the newest nostwn

2:07

for the Wildcats and a man

2:09

who's about to get a second lease

2:12

on life by returning to a

2:14

game he walked away from almost

2:16

twenty years prior. It's

2:18

an opportunity to provide a better

2:21

life for himself and his kids

2:23

and close a chapter on a story

2:26

he never quite finished. But

2:28

as a midlife crisis goes,

2:31

this one is going to.

2:33

Hurt a lot.

2:36

This is very special episodes

2:39

and iHeart original podcast.

2:42

I'm your host, Danish Schwartz and

2:44

this is old Man on Campus.

2:52

Welcome everybody. This is a little

2:54

different episode this week because we are in

2:56

the same room. The three of us have

2:59

never been in the same time zone

3:01

before and now were sitting.

3:02

For breathing the same air.

3:03

Breathing the same air, and it's the air at

3:06

the Super Bowl.

3:07

I know everyone I told that I was going

3:09

to Vegas this week looked at me like,

3:11

like I told them I was going to Mars. Because I

3:14

am the least likely person to be involved

3:16

with anything related to sports.

3:18

So you're not a football fan, Dana.

3:20

No, I'm a fan.

3:21

Of getting together with a group of

3:23

friends and men loved ones and eating snacks.

3:26

Yes, like I like a communal activity,

3:28

Like I like the idea of watching football together.

3:31

I don't. I don't really care about

3:34

sports in general.

3:35

But I'm not like one of those infuriating like sports

3:37

ball people like. I get why people like it, it's

3:39

just not I'm so

3:42

focused usually on history that I don't have room

3:44

in my brain for football rules.

3:45

It makes perfect sense. How is the Taylor

3:48

Swift and Travis Kelce made it to you?

3:51

That is actually my only interest in football

3:53

now? And I have asked my husband when

3:55

Travis Kelsey plays because

3:58

I like to see if she's there, I like to see

4:00

what she's wearing. Look, I'm a thirty

4:02

one year old white woman. This is that is

4:04

my super Bowl.

4:07

For you guys.

4:07

Thank you last year on

4:09

this set. We were in Arizona.

4:12

The Iheart's NFL partnership

4:14

is why we're out here, and

4:17

Travis and Jason Kelsey recorded

4:20

on our set. And this is before Taylor Swift,

4:22

before the podcast was you

4:24

know, the as huge a deal as it is.

4:27

So there's some people here.

4:28

Today who thought maybe the

4:31

Kelsey's and Taylor Swift

4:33

were going to come and it said they got

4:35

us. So the disappointed

4:38

views from the super fans walking

4:40

through.

4:40

I can take my shirt off like Jason Kelsey. If it helps

4:42

you, just.

4:43

Let's try it.

4:45

I can try to sing. We'll see how that

4:47

goes.

4:48

Well.

4:48

Today's story is not about Taylor

4:51

Swift or it.

4:52

Is about football.

4:53

It is about football.

4:54

And a big guy much like Travis

4:56

Kelsey.

4:57

Remind me what position did Andrew Stayton

4:59

play.

5:00

He was a defensive lineman, a big,

5:03

hulking guy stopping the run.

5:05

He'd be lined up across from Jason

5:07

kelcey. I don't know if that helps.

5:09

All I know the only two positions in football

5:11

that I know is tight end because that's Travis Kelsey

5:14

and my husband used to be a defensive

5:16

tackle.

5:16

Oh okay, well that's exactly what he played. He played

5:19

the same exact same position as your husband.

5:21

Great, I'm sure I would like him alone.

5:23

Does your husband have any college eligibility left?

5:26

Could get him out?

5:27

You might be he can be part season two. We

5:29

can focus on him.

5:30

The Howard's kniece because we can get him out here.

5:32

Y so far, so goodud And

5:34

while we're here, just want to thank everyone for

5:36

the incredible response that

5:38

the show has gotten.

5:40

Day Oh my god, thank you so much

5:42

to everyone who's listened.

5:43

Everyone who's listened, everyone who's watched

5:46

danis TikTok's about the show. All

5:49

the different iHeart shows that have

5:51

let us run our promos on their show, all

5:54

the radio stations, the kind of

5:56

feedback, it's all been great.

5:58

iHeart for letting us come to last Day.

6:00

Yes, stay here and get a fancy dinner.

6:02

Yes, yes, we'll have to do

6:05

extended credits. Here to thank

6:08

Josh and Kurt and Aaron

6:10

for letting us sit here on the set

6:12

and do our little banter.

6:14

Let's get into the episode.

6:18

I was so small coming into

6:20

high school.

6:21

My brother was graduated at six seven

6:23

about two forty, and

6:26

coming in my freshman year, I was about five

6:28

six, one fifty and

6:30

the wrestling coach told me. He said, why to

6:32

try? You know, one's sixty next year.

6:35

That's Andy Staton. He's describing

6:37

his formative years as an athlete

6:40

in Duwajack, Michigan. There

6:42

was wrestling, running, track, tennis,

6:44

and of course, suiting up for

6:46

football. Duwajack is

6:49

football country, the type of place

6:51

where babies get tiny footballs

6:53

to play with instead of rattles. But

6:56

the size and strength he

6:58

needed had to be earned.

7:00

A had hike.

7:01

Now I'm wrestling heavyweight. He goes, how can you wrestle

7:03

heavyweight? You weight one hundred and fifty two pounds. I said,

7:05

well, I'm gonna make it. That's

7:08

the time you had to weigh one hundred and eighty eight miles

7:10

to wrestle, while my sophomore year I came out one

7:12

hundred and eighty and had

7:14

to drink a gallon of water to make weight.

7:16

That's Andy determined, stubborn.

7:20

Tell him he can't and he'll find a way

7:22

around you, or if it's on the field, through

7:24

you. The grit the tenacity

7:27

was probably genetic. Andy's

7:30

father, Jerry Staden, was

7:32

recruited by the legendary

7:34

bo Schembeckler at Miami

7:37

University in Oxford, Ohio,

7:39

before turning to high school coaching.

7:42

Andy's brother Mark played

7:44

two seasons in the NFL and wound

7:46

up coaching for Michigan State. The

7:49

Stadens are a football family.

7:51

My dad was a small snows tackle in

7:54

the sixties and my brother was the largest

7:56

in the nineties. My dad played at about

7:58

two o five, my brother played at about

8:00

three twenty.

8:02

And when it was time, Andy strapped

8:04

on the cleats and the pads too, parlaying

8:07

his physical presence as a

8:09

defensive player for Duajack Union

8:12

High School and for a while

8:14

his life followed a predictable

8:16

path. Football came easily,

8:19

but class work didn't. He

8:21

wound up at Farris State University

8:23

in Big Rapids, Michigan, and became

8:25

a bulldog.

8:26

The D one schools they all called

8:29

me up and the last day before signing

8:31

said we can't trust your grade points. So they

8:34

all had eighteen calls and one

8:36

night nose back then on rotary phone. That's

8:38

pretty depressing. The next day D two

8:41

schools started calling me and I

8:43

ended up going on a couple of visits. I

8:45

ended up taking Farris

8:47

State's offer and went

8:49

up red shirted there.

8:51

But that's really the last time.

8:53

Andy's story plays out like every

8:55

other football story you've heard. For

8:58

starters, Andy didn't care

9:00

for college at Ferris. For his

9:02

first semester, he kept having problems

9:05

with people stealing his not

9:08

just electronic equipment like his television,

9:11

but swiping a check and other things.

9:13

This continued on a near weekly

9:16

basis.

9:17

People are robbing me.

9:18

So I ended up moving off

9:20

campus lived with some offensive

9:23

lineman, which hated me because I was

9:25

a D lineman and typically O line

9:27

and D lineman. I'm not saying

9:29

that they're a little more relaxed,

9:31

and then I guess I was a little more of the aggressive

9:35

one hundred mile an hour would up like a you

9:37

know, a rubber band that

9:39

we were ready to snap at

9:41

any time. So I kind of had issues

9:43

with these older O linemen and

9:46

which you know, I look back

9:48

on it now as I am that sure of course. So

9:51

you know, I was nineteen and crazy,

9:53

but I wasn't ready for as

9:55

myself.

9:56

He was still struggling academically.

9:59

College became a perfect storm

10:01

of problems. So at the end

10:04

of the year, Andy came to.

10:05

A decision fuck it out.

10:07

Played the spring game, and after the spring

10:10

game, about a week or two after I went to the

10:12

head coach and said I was done.

10:14

He dropped out after the spring semester.

10:17

He wanted to see what else was out there.

10:19

Call it a temporary lapse in

10:21

maturity. At twenty, most

10:23

of us have them. He

10:26

started going to Southwestern Michigan

10:28

College, but not for football. He

10:30

took time to think about what he really

10:32

wanted to do with his life. Then,

10:35

one night in nineteen ninety five,

10:37

while out with his girlfriend, a

10:39

stranger's split second decision

10:42

almost ended it. Andy was

10:44

out in his Pontiac with his girlfriend behind

10:47

the wheel. Another car, a Honda

10:49

Accord, tried to pass a tractor

10:51

trailer. The driver didn't

10:54

see Andy's call.

10:55

We were in an eighty six Pontiac and we

10:57

were out some country road, semi

11:00

coming up over a hill and we're in the bottom

11:02

of a dip and as soon as we come

11:04

up pressed it over the hill. Carl

11:07

students from a local university here

11:09

in southwest Michigan, pulled

11:11

out.

11:12

Hit his head on. I pulled my

11:14

arm out around her.

11:15

I went through the windshield, my hip caught the

11:17

dash, came back through.

11:20

There was a bench seat broke the

11:22

seat back. Of

11:24

course, when I went through.

11:25

I can remember the lights of the semi

11:28

and the glass fly in

11:30

and come back through.

11:31

You know, I was instantaneous, instant backwards.

11:34

The cars collided head on.

11:38

Andy, all six to five of him, was

11:40

almost tossed clear of the

11:42

pontiac. The damage was

11:45

substantial. It was the kind of

11:47

thing where doctors say you're lucky to

11:49

be alive. It's possible

11:51

being in great shape saved his life,

11:54

but Andy didn't quite know the

11:56

extent of the damage. At first.

11:59

He was more concerned for his girlfriend,

12:01

who was seriously injured. She

12:03

wound up being okay. Once

12:06

the adrenal kneln wore off, Andy spent

12:09

three weeks.

12:09

In the ICU.

12:11

Broke my back, crushed all my ribs,

12:14

nerve damage, whatnot.

12:15

Didn't think I was going to do football anymore.

12:18

He spent months recuperating.

12:21

His enthusiasm for returning to

12:23

college. Returning to football waaned,

12:26

and no wonder a broken back

12:29

tends to dampen your appetite

12:31

for a full contact sport,

12:34

so Andy dropped out of school, this

12:36

time for good. He diverged

12:38

from the family business of football and

12:41

opted for a more conventional means

12:43

of earning a living. Labor he

12:50

worked as a paver, He poured

12:52

asphalt for roads. He got

12:54

into the construction business and farming.

12:57

He used the physicality that had

12:59

served him so well on the field and

13:02

made a life for him and his wife,

13:04

who he married in nineteen ninety five, and later

13:07

for their two sons, Clay and

13:10

Luke. With every passing

13:12

year, football kept getting

13:14

further and further in the rear view,

13:17

and so was a life that made sense.

13:20

By two thousand and nine, Andy was

13:22

in the midst of a divorce and

13:24

the possibility his sons would be relocated

13:27

to Florida. Things were

13:29

looking well grim.

13:31

At the age of thirty seven, Andy

13:34

took stock and realized that

13:36

this wasn't the way he had envisioned

13:38

things working out. But

13:41

unexpected turns work both

13:44

ways. Sometimes life

13:46

blindsides you with tragedy or

13:49

a honda, and sometimes

13:51

it surprises you with a.

13:52

Little bit of a break.

13:54

Andy's break came in the form

13:57

of a phone call, one

13:59

that would turn his world upside

14:01

down. One

14:10

day in twenty eleven, Andy's

14:13

phone ring on the other end was

14:15

Jeff duven Deck, coach for the Culver

14:17

Stockton Wildcats.

14:20

So I was living in a farmhouse out

14:22

in another towel and came to see

14:24

my dad after I was cutting trees down and

14:27

my phone rings and I was talking to my dad and

14:29

I answer it and he goes, hey, is Jeff

14:31

Dubin Deck.

14:31

How you doing, Andy?

14:32

And I'm like good, good, just getting off work

14:34

and he's like, well, I'm looking for a nose

14:36

tackle that could play this fall. Like,

14:39

Jeff, I don't know any kids right now

14:41

that could play collegiate ball.

14:42

I haven't been following high school football.

14:44

And he's like, well, I want

14:46

you. And Jeff at the

14:48

time, I was thirty seven, and I

14:50

said I can't play

14:52

football at thirty seven years old, and

14:55

he goes, well, your brother said you're the mean of son of a

14:57

gun to ever walk down a football field, and I

15:00

want the meana son of a gun to play for me.

15:02

Jeff duven Deck's back was up against

15:05

a wall Newly and Stuff as

15:07

the coach for the Wildcats. They had

15:09

posted a dreadful one

15:12

and ten record in his first

15:14

season there. He needed more

15:16

muscle a defensive tackle,

15:19

and he happened to mention this to Mark

15:21

Stayton, Andy's brother, Mark,

15:24

remember, is a fellow coach. It

15:26

was Mark who told Jeff, Well,

15:29

what about Andy. Here's

15:31

coach Jeff.

15:32

We got one win in our first year.

15:35

You know, we struggled. I remember

15:38

coming back to visit Michigan State to

15:40

work one of their camps and do some recruiting, and

15:43

I stopped in to see Mark, Andy's

15:45

brother, and just said, hey, you know,

15:47

he's asking how it was going. I said it's

15:50

going, but we, uh, you know, we

15:52

just don't have any size. I mean, some bigger

15:54

guys, we don't have any He's like, well, you remember

15:56

my brother, he's going through

15:58

divorce and looking to finish his

16:00

college degree and all that stuff.

16:02

So Jeff looked into it. Logistically,

16:06

nothing was stopping him from recruiting

16:08

Andy, who had the size he needed.

16:11

Even though he hadn't played the game in

16:13

years or was it decades, A

16:16

lifetime of physical labor had kept

16:18

him strong. Andy

16:20

weighed his options. He didn't want

16:22

to be away from his kids, but

16:24

on the other hand, a degree could

16:26

open up new job opportunities.

16:29

Tuition to Culver Stockton, which

16:31

today costs forty thousand dollars

16:34

a year, would be fully paid,

16:37

and well, wait, wasn't

16:39

this all kind of crazy? Andy

16:42

was thirty seven, soon to be

16:44

thirty eight. Football is hard,

16:46

even on young bodies. This

16:48

was a Rocky type scenario, but

16:51

not the Rocky of that first movie,

16:53

The Rocky of Rocky Balboa,

16:55

where Rocky is in his fifties

16:58

and stages a comeback in football

17:00

years. Andy wasn't too far off.

17:03

So I'd like, Oliver, you Jeff, I think he was thirty

17:05

two or thirty three.

17:06

I said, could you wrap up again? He goes, well, no, but

17:08

I'm not built like you. My dad's looking

17:10

at me, and of course my dad, being a

17:13

you know, ex coach slash collegiate

17:15

ballplayer, he was what was that about last?

17:17

So I just got offered to go back to play out football.

17:19

And you can't play

17:21

football, you're too old. You're thirty seven.

17:24

So I started in a while he's kind of saying

17:26

this to me. I say, well, challenge accepted.

17:28

Pop pros outweighed

17:30

the cons A degree meant

17:32

a better financial future, so

17:35

off he went to become a Culver

17:37

Stockton Wildcat. Culver

17:42

Stockton is an NAIA school

17:44

that stands for the National Association

17:47

of Intercollegiate Athletics. It's

17:49

a governing body like the NCAA.

17:52

The NCAA is much bigger with

17:54

over one thousand schools compared

17:56

to the NAIA is two hundred

17:59

and fifty or so, but the

18:01

best of the NAIA can often

18:03

match certain divisions of the NCAA.

18:07

So while this was a liberal arts

18:09

school, there wasn't anything already

18:12

about the football. It was the

18:14

real thing. Something Andy

18:16

discovered in his first practice.

18:21

I get hit by I don't remember.

18:23

It was like an offensive guard pulled and I

18:26

can remember big blue and

18:28

red balls and.

18:29

I'm like, did I make a mistake? And it

18:31

was like the second snap of the practice

18:34

that will you know as far as hitting

18:36

part of it.

18:37

But I do remember that

18:39

first practice going, man, did

18:41

I make a mistake doing this?

18:43

And once I got my feet underneath me

18:45

and I was all right.

18:46

Meeting all the guys, of course they're questioning,

18:49

who's this old guy.

18:51

Andy's first appearance was, as

18:54

Mike Davis explained, a bit

18:56

of a surprise to the team, but

18:58

that amusement gave way to something

19:00

else when Andy suited up.

19:03

Here's Mike, huge,

19:05

huge guy, very hard move.

19:07

But yeah, I just first time I seen him at pads it

19:09

was like, holy crap, you looked even bigger.

19:11

Because he's a pretty large dumed so

19:14

well, if you were to basically

19:18

get into a car and drive it into a

19:21

brick.

19:21

Wall, like that's pretty much what it was. Every

19:23

time I would jump on him as soon as we you

19:26

know, the ball was snaffed. I'd be on top

19:28

of them all over. But he was just so strong

19:31

that it wouldn't matter. It could be, you know, first

19:33

of the punch. Every time he would just take me over and

19:35

move me back like it was nothing.

19:36

So there was no.

19:38

Drive even three man because he was just so

19:41

strong and made it very difficult.

19:43

But yeah, being

19:45

heads with a wall man.

19:47

Even at thirty eight, Andy had

19:49

exactly what coach Jeff was

19:51

looking for, what Rocky balboas

19:54

trainer, was looking for, blunt

19:56

force trump. He was the

19:58

team's resident brick wall

20:01

immobile and highly resistant to

20:03

attack. The idea of Andy

20:05

playing at his age was funny until

20:08

it wasn't until you had

20:10

to face off with him. But

20:13

once practice was over, the

20:15

aches began. Andy's

20:18

body was a throbbing nerve

20:20

ending. It wasn't just the car

20:22

accident that could have led to lasting

20:24

effects. No one's really sure.

20:27

It was the cumulative effects of

20:29

spending decades in manual labor,

20:32

and years before that, playing football

20:34

as a young man, there were

20:36

ice baths and massages and

20:39

a trainer who was tasked with

20:41

putting andy back together.

20:43

Hips, knees back. That

20:46

was probably the most.

20:47

I mean I was constantly taking ice baths,

20:49

get the lactic acid obviously out of my

20:51

muscles, going in, getting

20:53

hooked up to those electrodes stimulating

20:56

the muscles in every area,

20:59

and being older, you know, had

21:02

just.

21:03

You don't recover like young

21:05

people do.

21:06

You know when you're a kid thirteen, fourteen,

21:08

you'd go do something and you'd be sore

21:10

that night and then next day you're fine. Well,

21:14

when you're fourty, did you go out

21:16

give it one hundred percent on Saturday?

21:19

Going to practice and showing up thirty

21:21

minutes early just to stretch.

21:24

I was fine even,

21:26

you know, It's just until I went to bed and woke up the next

21:28

day and go ooh, and it was like literally

21:31

being in a.

21:31

Car accident train. It just

21:34

felt like I got this frap kicked

21:36

out of me.

21:37

I mean, I've got pictures on my phone

21:39

of bruises I'd have and they

21:41

were just grotesque. You're talking my

21:44

whole quad just completely

21:47

green and black and blue, you know, purple

21:50

armed brunes from my top of my bicep

21:52

to my wrists and it would swell

21:55

up and oh yeah, just I mean it

21:57

was that daily grind.

21:59

On the field. Well, that was different.

22:02

The field was a pain killer. Adrenaline

22:05

shaved a lot of years off and

22:07

Andy was able to do what Andy

22:10

does. Number ninety three

22:12

was a human bulldozer.

22:16

Some saturdays, I felt young again.

22:19

It was a transition. You know, I might be

22:21

lenting like a son of a gun from

22:23

Monday to Friday, but then on Saturday,

22:25

I'd get a pep in my step and fly

22:27

around, you know, a head out

22:30

of swivel.

22:32

Here's coach Jeff again.

22:34

There was one play

22:37

that I remember specifically where they were

22:39

double teaming up and he kind of took one hand

22:41

on one guy in one hand on the other and pushed

22:44

him both apart, and he was standing right and

22:46

the running backs away as he tried

22:48

to go through that area just

22:51

stuck out to me just because of

22:53

the strength and power shown

22:55

in that play. I don't know if that's necessarily

22:57

his best play, but it's just one that is

23:00

ringing in my head still.

23:01

Ten years later, Andy was

23:03

trying to fit in another way too. The

23:06

rules Culver Stockton mandated

23:08

that you had to reside within the state

23:11

to attend on campus,

23:14

so that first year he did

23:16

as freshmen do.

23:18

Yeah, I didn't have much.

23:20

I lost pretty much everything in the divorce,

23:22

so as far as material items, I.

23:24

Didn't have much.

23:25

But I went down there lived

23:28

in a fraternity house on campus

23:31

for the first semester because they.

23:32

Couldn't find a room mate for me.

23:35

And yeah, I went down there with just

23:37

basically close a couple of suitcases,

23:40

TV.

23:40

And I was about it and ended

23:43

up living in a frat house first semester,

23:45

which was interesting.

23:48

College is college, even if you're

23:50

twice as old as everyone else.

23:53

It was loud, you

23:55

know.

23:55

I was thirty eight years old and familied

23:58

up for all those years, and here I've

24:00

moved in and they're throwing parties every night.

24:03

I had to heal up so much because I was so

24:06

exhausted. I got no rest.

24:08

It was just so loud. And luckily

24:10

I was on the top.

24:11

Floor of the house and kind of in the

24:13

corner, so it was a little quieter

24:16

where I was at, but you could still hear him from

24:18

the basement going and they were typical

24:20

young guys.

24:21

You know they're having fun. I would lie

24:23

to say I didn't join them on Saturday night, so

24:26

I had fun.

24:27

I was gonna do my thing and

24:29

feel accepted amongst the young

24:31

guys.

24:32

Andy stayed in the frat. Just one

24:34

year after that he moved into

24:36

a dorm with Mike and some other teammates.

24:39

But wherever he was, Andy had seniority

24:43

and a group of twenty year olds looking

24:45

up to him. Maybe Andy had

24:47

some answers, not just for football,

24:49

but in life.

24:51

It was an interesting time. And then you hear

24:53

you what these young guys think of and their

24:55

way of thinking compared to my way of

24:58

thinking at the time, and I would question

25:00

it in my own mind. I would try

25:02

to figure out their understanding of

25:05

what they were talking about, just be able

25:07

to communicate with and luckily

25:09

having a teenage son at the time, like kind

25:11

of knew what they're going through, what

25:14

they're.

25:14

Likes, and what they didn't like.

25:16

It was an interesting time to go and be

25:18

amongst yung adults when

25:21

here I was old enough to be their dad.

25:24

Here's Mike Davis again.

25:26

Yeah, one hundred percent.

25:27

A lot of guys would go to him with life problems

25:29

and things that he had experienced or

25:31

been through. Like said, he's been my best friend for a long

25:34

time and I still reach out to him to this day.

25:36

You know, my father ended up passing away in twenty nineteen,

25:39

and he was a big supporter for me,

25:41

and you know, he drove all the way off from Dwajack

25:43

and we hung out with us for like a week.

25:45

And he's a great guy, and he's just

25:47

that type of person.

25:48

He's very giving of himself, but he

25:50

also shoots you straight.

25:52

So if it's something that you ask him a piece

25:54

of advice, he's going to give it to you. It's going to be hot and sunest.

25:56

You know.

25:57

I think that resonated a lot with

25:59

some of the younger guys, especially, you know,

26:01

he's twice in each.

26:04

The Wildcats were definitely because

26:07

a team on and off the field,

26:09

but that first season wasn't a

26:12

whole lot better than the season Pride.

26:14

They went three and eight, with

26:16

two of those victories coming after the

26:18

opposing teams had to forfeit after

26:21

using ineligible players in their

26:23

games, but their lone victory

26:26

outside of logistics was a

26:28

memorable one. That October

26:30

they played Lindenwood University Belleville

26:33

at home behind fourteen

26:35

seven with just under three minutes

26:38

left, the team scored two late

26:40

touchdowns. Andy contributed

26:43

ten tackles in the game and

26:45

forty five for the season, fourteen

26:48

of them solo.

26:51

At the end of the spring semester, Andy

26:53

traveled back to Michigan, where he had custody

26:55

of his two sons and where

26:57

he was able to earn some money selling cars.

27:00

You could call this an active recovery

27:03

time, since his body needed to

27:05

heal from the eleven game and

27:07

countless practices.

27:08

He had put it through.

27:10

Buddy of mine's dad owned both the Ford

27:13

and Chevy dealerships in our town, and

27:15

I would go and sell cars in the day

27:17

and then come home my boys

27:20

and work out, you know, just.

27:21

Kind of the normal.

27:23

I didn't stay down and train like my roommates

27:25

stayed down in at Culver and train,

27:27

but I had my son's full time in

27:29

the summer show.

27:31

I needed that time.

27:33

Andy returned to Missouri for his sophomore

27:35

year, his second as a Wildcat.

27:38

This time the team posted a

27:40

two and nine record, but

27:43

there was again a sense Andy was

27:45

able to turn the clock back a bit.

27:47

Of course, I was a ron stopper.

27:49

I wasn't much of a pass rusher, playing

27:52

at three hundred average, but

27:54

between three ten and three hundred and forty pounds

27:57

I could hold two three guys. I was double

27:59

on triple team almost eighty five percent

28:02

of the time.

28:03

Yeah, it was. It was great.

28:06

During that's and Andy's father was

28:08

able to see him play for the first time since

28:10

he was at Farris State. Well,

28:13

it seems like a simple thing. It

28:15

wasn't a foregone conclusion. Jerry

28:18

Stayton, then in his seventies,

28:20

had been through open heart surgery. He'd

28:23

been battling cancer, so

28:25

seeing him at a game was a big

28:27

deal.

28:29

I think we're in Iowa.

28:30

My dad came down to watch, and my brother's

28:33

closest friend in high school was living

28:35

out there, so he came to and

28:37

I was having a heck of a game I can remember.

28:40

And then the old line on

28:42

that particular team. Back then

28:44

they could do the chop block before they made

28:47

it illegal. And this one

28:49

kid, he just he kept chopping and then he would

28:51

leg with me. He hyper extended

28:53

my knee, and of course I

28:55

could still run, so I run

28:57

off the field. My trainer, Robbie

29:00

Carmichael, he's like you're

29:02

done, and I'm like, melt taa dapa,

29:05

and he's like, he goes, there's only

29:08

you know whatever, not even half of

29:10

the fourth quarter left, and

29:13

my dad's you know, standing by the fence now

29:15

looking at me.

29:16

I'm on the you know, the gurney, and I'm

29:18

just I.

29:18

Made him tape me up and I

29:21

went back out and finished the game.

29:24

Still the damage was adding up.

29:27

Every game can be like a minor

29:30

car accident with the same kind

29:32

of injuries.

29:33

I had a staff in infection in my knee

29:36

and I did miss two games from that,

29:39

and then I broke my ribs my

29:42

second year and I missed two games

29:45

with that. It was a home game and

29:47

guy crack blocked me and put his helmet

29:49

my ribs, broke my bottom.

29:51

I wouldn't let the doctor test him anymore.

29:53

He used the tuning fork style as

29:55

where he takes a tuning fork and he hits

29:57

it vibrates and if you scream,

30:00

it's broken. And he did the bottom

30:03

two and I told you to do another one, doc,

30:05

you're going to have broken ribs, because I

30:07

I could take it more.

30:09

There was another summer resting, and

30:11

then his junior year where the Wildcats

30:14

finally found their rhythm. They

30:17

went five and five for the

30:19

season, but four and two at

30:21

home.

30:22

It was an.

30:22

Experience as far as growing together, having

30:24

a winning season on our third year.

30:26

But that winning effort would come at

30:28

a very steep price. At

30:38

Culver Stockton, everything was largely

30:40

falling into place. Andy was

30:42

doing well academically, managing

30:45

to make it home to Michigan to see his sons,

30:47

and not partying too hard. But

30:50

football is unlike a lot of

30:52

sports, It's virtually a

30:54

form of combat.

30:56

I didn't move as well my third year,

30:58

just because I was hurting so much. But

31:01

my first year, I would say my first

31:03

season was my most dominating season.

31:06

I was a little fresher, was

31:08

so beat up, but I came in every

31:10

game.

31:11

You know. I gave everything I said I

31:13

always did.

31:15

By the time he was nearing his senior

31:17

year and crossing forty years old,

31:19

Andy's body had finally had

31:22

enough. Just getting to the field

31:24

became an exercise in determination.

31:27

There were there were times that I'd

31:30

have to have help. Guys would get me down.

31:31

Because everything that's called the College on the Hill for

31:33

a reason. Every there's hills everywhere in

31:36

Culver and to get down to the

31:38

stadium. You had to walk down about seven

31:40

flights of stairs. I'd have to

31:42

have help, either's somebody

31:44

on one side, me holding both hands on the guardrail

31:46

walking slope. I can remember

31:49

Sundays not being fun, that's

31:51

for sure. My body was completely

31:54

My knees were so loose.

31:57

You know.

31:58

The trainer he do tests

32:00

on him and you could separate them. They

32:02

were so the elasticity

32:04

in my ligaments were

32:07

They're gone.

32:09

It was decision time. Football

32:11

had given Andy a new lease on life.

32:14

But if you went on too long, it

32:16

might wind up being too much on his

32:18

body.

32:21

So I just knew I didn't have another

32:23

season. I physically couldn't. Did

32:26

I want to, of course I did, But I miss

32:28

also missed my boys, and I was ready

32:31

to be around them, you know, full

32:33

time.

32:33

And that was the other thing I had to get back.

32:36

I'd gotten my degree, I'd gotten my education

32:38

done, and yes, I could have stayed around

32:40

for another season.

32:41

I was ready to come home.

32:43

As they say, he wanted to play

32:46

four years, but the pain and recovery

32:49

was too much of a burden. Well

32:51

that was a goal, it wasn't the

32:53

goal. The goal was to earn

32:56

a business degree, and thanks

32:58

to his credits carrying over from Faris

33:00

State all the way back in nineteen ninety

33:02

three, Andy was able to graduate

33:05

in three years. He hadn't

33:07

just gone back to fix a football career.

33:10

He had also turned back the clock

33:12

academically.

33:13

I ended up graduating with like a three five.

33:15

I think it was culvert

33:18

where, you know, when I was at Faris,

33:20

I left there like a two seven.

33:22

I made it just two six.

33:23

I can't remember something like that. I didn't

33:26

care, you know, and listen second

33:28

time. I knew that the education was

33:30

the main factor, but it was also the time

33:32

to finish what I'd started at

33:34

such a young inch.

33:36

I had that opportunity. I was passive

33:38

though.

33:39

His final game came against Benedictine,

33:42

a twenty nine to nineteen loss

33:45

for the Wildcats. Fittingly,

33:47

it was senior day.

33:49

It was time to hang athletes up.

33:51

Once I've turned forty and played that last season,

33:53

it was definitely time to hang him up.

33:56

By now, it was twenty fifteen and

33:58

Andy returned to Dewagik with

34:01

a degree. He kept selling cars

34:03

for a while, but eventually turned

34:05

his attention to another their mode of

34:07

transportation.

34:10

Well, I stayed with the car industry

34:12

for all about a year and a half two

34:14

years, and just wasn't making

34:17

the money I needed to. And a friend

34:19

the family had this

34:21

diesel company selling diesel

34:23

engines and diesel engine parts and asked

34:26

me if I wanted to try it out, and

34:29

I said, well, yeah, I see what happened,

34:31

and ended up working for him,

34:33

and he ended up selling it about two

34:35

years ago. But I'm still a family owned company,

34:38

so I'm still still here buying and selling

34:40

diesel.

34:40

Engines in Dwagic. Andy

34:43

is a bit of a local legend. If

34:45

you know football, you know his story.

34:48

There's the comeback sports tale of it all,

34:50

of course, but there was more to it

34:52

than that. For Andy, football

34:55

was a way to moderate his emotions,

34:57

a kind of stress reliever.

35:00

My dad always told me, he said, you know, you're

35:02

so aggressive. The sports things what

35:04

keeps you out of trouble, And he was right. I

35:07

had a switch that I couldn't turn off

35:09

unless I was playing the game or wrestling

35:11

or lifting or whatnot. But playing

35:13

down there it helped turn that switch

35:16

off that I had been carrying on

35:18

for nineteen years after and I

35:20

mean it was an experience of a lifetime.

35:23

Being a Wildcat. Was also the end

35:25

of the what if game? What

35:28

if he had stayed at Ferris, what

35:30

if he had followed his father and brother

35:33

further into football. There are

35:35

questions that can haunt the mind for

35:37

years, maybe forever.

35:40

It was closing a chapter in my life that

35:42

never got closed after my

35:45

first year or you know at faris so when

35:47

you work so hard for something throughout

35:50

your younger years.

35:51

And then you give up on it. I mean I

35:53

quit. I was a quitter.

35:55

My family didn't raise quitters. That

35:57

was the hardest thing for me. So finishing

35:59

the game, finishing the school, it just

36:02

closed that chapter that needed

36:04

to be closed.

36:05

It's over now a memory, it's

36:08

a great memory.

36:09

I'd really have no complaints

36:12

of that period in my life, I

36:14

mean, other than not being around my son's on

36:16

a more regular basis. But God

36:18

intended that happen without

36:22

anyone knowing.

36:24

For Mike and other members of the team,

36:26

Andy's presence was something special.

36:29

It's hard to go through life thinking something

36:31

isn't possible when your teammate

36:33

returned to college football at an age

36:36

most guys are thinking about their prostate

36:38

health. Here's Mike.

36:41

He was He was an All Conference player.

36:42

I mean, it wasn't like he was some you know,

36:45

kicker, a bench guy or anything like that.

36:47

He played, and he played a lot. I guess

36:49

it just goes to show you me and you just never know

36:51

and you can be done doing something or not. But I

36:54

don't know.

36:54

I just one of those things

36:57

that it's impressive and to

36:59

know that if he could do it, somebody else

37:01

do.

37:02

And I think that his resilience is

37:05

unbelievable.

37:07

Today Andy doesn't really need

37:09

to be reminded of his accomplishment. His

37:11

body does that every day. He

37:14

probably needs knee surgery for starters.

37:17

I don't recommend guys going to doing it

37:19

paying for it.

37:20

Now I can barely walk. The pain

37:22

is ten times full. That was in pain doing

37:25

it, but now it's with me.

37:27

Twenty four to seven.

37:28

I sell diesel engines, sit

37:31

behind the desk, so I'm not really moving

37:33

too much anymore. But I

37:35

definitely wouldn't recommend it to any other thirty

37:37

eight thirty nine year old boys to go play

37:39

nose tackle.

37:41

And while there's no chance Andy is

37:43

going to become a forty eight year old

37:45

sensation on any field, it's

37:48

not because he wouldn't want to try

37:51

you.

37:51

Know, if I can still play to this day, I'd play every single

37:53

day in my life. I love stepping on that

37:55

field. There's no other feeling in the.

37:57

World except, of course,

37:59

the feeling that comes with finishing

38:01

what you started on a field

38:04

near the Mississippi, or maybe

38:06

the feeling you have watching your son

38:08

step onto the field today.

38:11

Luke Andy's youngest son plays

38:14

college ball at Northern Michigan,

38:16

where he's also a Wildcat.

38:19

He's enjoying it. He's a good sized

38:21

kid.

38:22

He's six ' four about two fifty two fifty

38:24

five, just continuing the family

38:26

tradition. He's playing

38:28

d Lion. He's starting long snapern

38:31

punk. He's got an unbelievable snap.

38:34

It's rare to see him.

38:35

Make a mistake when it comes to the snap.

38:38

And I told him that's healthier anyway, I said, your

38:40

body doesn't get beat up being a lot of snapping.

38:42

Oh. Like

38:44

I said, there's no other feeling in the world but

38:47

that hell.

38:47

I mean, it's something

38:50

that not many men get to experience, especially

38:52

at the collegiate level.

38:53

And just play every game like at your.

38:55

Last this time.

38:57

Andy finally, is what those Culver

38:59

Stockton players originally

39:02

imagine him to be on his first

39:04

day of training, someone's proud

39:07

cheering from the sidelines.

39:17

I cannot believe that story.

39:19

I mean, okay, you have to understand.

39:21

I'm kind of like an accident mavin like, I'm

39:23

down to go forty miles an hour and hit pavement.

39:25

There's no way you could get me. And I'm

39:27

a little older than this guy.

39:28

There's no way you get me on a football field and have three hundred

39:30

pound men hit me over and over again and be like, yeah,

39:33

I can do this, I can take it. And I'm not even afraid

39:35

of getting hit by a car.

39:36

I'm afraid of everything, and football scares

39:38

me so much. Even now, I

39:40

can barely touch my toes. I don't know how someone

39:43

his age was doing the physical feats

39:45

he was.

39:45

Do you feel like you understand your husband a little bit better now

39:47

though?

39:48

Oh?

39:48

Absolutely, Although he has told me stories

39:50

about playing football in high

39:52

school and getting like multiple concussions,

39:55

and I'm like, I do not know why people

39:57

do this on purpose, but

40:00

they do, and they love it and it's important to

40:02

America as a.

40:03

Culture completely, and all of my doctors,

40:05

there are parts of my body even feel anymore

40:07

like one of my knees like I can put in a position,

40:10

you can.

40:10

Just put fire on it.

40:11

I can't feel that. So very special

40:14

character, Yes, I have

40:16

one who's yours. I'm

40:18

gonna go with the coach because here's

40:20

what I what I like about the coach. Everyone

40:23

in college football he's competing

40:25

against, like they are recruiting

40:28

their kids, yes playing football,

40:31

and he decided to go, you

40:34

know, a little, a little outside the box,

40:36

way outside and just

40:38

find an older man who was physically

40:42

much larger than everybody and.

40:44

Could be the father most of the other teammates.

40:46

My very special character is

40:48

an implied character. Oh he or she is

40:50

not actually in the episode, but it is

40:53

Andrew's orthopedist, and

40:56

I just want to give respect where respect

40:58

is do?

40:59

I like that? Good call.

41:00

My very special character is also somebody who

41:02

is not actually featured in the episode. But I

41:04

want to know who was it who robbed

41:06

the six foot five defensive tax when

41:09

he was in the repeat college Yeah, repeat, I

41:12

kept getting robbed.

41:13

I'm like, who's robbing?

41:14

This makes a real like? Was it like

41:16

a trickster?

41:17

This?

41:17

Because I couldn't have been through brute force?

41:20

Zaren have you cast this one?

41:21

I did I'm glad you asked, Jason. I thought

41:23

a lot about this because there's a lot of.

41:25

Big guys, you know.

41:25

You're like, oh, maybe a young Vincent and Afrio, Maybe

41:27

that guy from like you know, the New Reacher TV show.

41:30

Oh yeah, a little little more muscle

41:32

and weight on him.

41:33

But I was like, you know what, No, I've got it, and

41:36

a lot of people they they may not see this and

41:38

may not agree, but hear me out. Put

41:40

a little extra weight on him. Maybe go send him

41:42

over to Italy on a eating tour. Yeah, Adam

41:45

Driver, he's got the height and also

41:47

he's got the intensity. You don't think about it,

41:49

but he's got the intensity.

41:50

He played an older man

41:52

in Ferrari.

41:53

Yes, there you go.

41:54

He can pull that off. I think

41:57

I don't think he's tall enough. But I would

41:59

love a role that brings chubby

42:01

Chris Pratt back. Oh yeah, I would

42:03

love if he got back into that

42:06

that physique.

42:07

I like it.

42:07

Here's who I would cast and bring it back to our

42:10

conversation at the top, But I

42:12

think we put Jason Kelcey and

42:14

Travis Kelcey in this together.

42:17

I don't know which one plays Andy,

42:19

which one plays his brother, but I

42:22

think they're going to be looking for something after this whole

42:24

football thing, and movies about football

42:27

is a nice.

42:28

Jump podcast Don't Last Forever?

42:29

Yeah that's right.

42:31

Where are they? Where are they? Where

42:33

are they now?

42:34

You know? Oh, they rented a building.

42:36

That makes sense.

42:38

I liked also the story because it had

42:40

kind of like a Paul Newman in Slapshot

42:42

feel.

42:43

I'm not sure if you know that movie, but.

42:44

It's just like this chaotic sports

42:47

energy and you're just like, I love this. It

42:49

makes you all of a sudden feel like in that case it's hockey,

42:51

but this case was football because I played football, and listening

42:53

to the guy, I'm like, I could feel the hits.

42:55

I was like, oh man, this is authentico. Yeah

42:58

yeah.

42:58

And also a very special behind the scenes

43:00

character producer Josh

43:03

Fisher over there for sound designing those hits

43:05

and making me feel like I'm concussed,

43:08

which is great. That's what you want to put people

43:11

in the story. Well, well, Zaron Dana,

43:14

thank you for schlepping out here to Vegas,

43:17

and we're gonna go to a nice

43:19

team dinner tonight. I don't think there'll be tiktoks,

43:22

but if there are, follow Dana's

43:24

TikTok.

43:25

I can't wait. Thank you.

43:27

This was such a delight to finally get

43:29

to hang out with you guys in person.

43:31

I'm so glad to be here with you guys.

43:33

Yeahs Aaron, We've probably been on hundreds

43:35

of hours of Zoom together. The first time

43:37

we have physically met in person,

43:39

Dana, it's been a couple of years since, uh,

43:41

since I've seen you, and you.

43:43

Knew me back in my post grad days.

43:45

Yeah.

43:46

Yeah, And can I be real with you guys, You guys were way cooler

43:48

than I thought you were be in person.

43:52

I'll take it.

43:53

I don't play football, but I do

43:56

try to be slightly cooler than people

43:58

expect in person.

44:00

See, I don't do that. I'd the exact opposite.

44:02

So that's why I can say that. I'm like, oh, well, you know

44:04

I tried.

44:04

Sorry, Well, thank you for listening.

44:07

We'll be back with another one of these

44:09

next Wednesday. Yeah,

44:13

very special Episodes is made by some very

44:15

special people. This episode was

44:17

written by Jake Rawson. Our

44:20

producer, editor and sound designer

44:22

is Josh Fisher. Additional

44:24

editing by Jonathan Washington, Mixing

44:27

and mastering by Beheid Fraser. Original

44:30

music by Alice McCoy. Our

44:32

researchers are Austin Thompson and Marsa

44:34

Brown Show logo by Lucy

44:37

Kintonia, And again,

44:39

just want to thank Aaron Kaufman and Kurt Garren

44:41

from the iHeart team for

44:44

letting us come hang out here, and

44:46

you know, I'm sure they got eight hundred other things they'd

44:48

rather be doing. Great sports. Thank you

44:51

very much. Very Special Episodes

44:53

is a production of iHeart Podcasts.