Bill Bant: The Original T.D.

00:00:00 Speaker 1: You're now diving into the fish. Thanks. I've been at straight sitting down with Seth, oh Jay, and this is strictly for them true fans, golf fans number one one, of course. The nest was talk never been. A Welcome Back to the Fish Tank, presented by iHeart Radio right here on the Miami Dolphin's podcast network, Seth Levitt and the man with the best hands in the podcast business, Oh J McDuffie, juice. How you feeling today, man, I'm back. I'm back with the best hands, bro. That mean it's a lot to me, big sad. It was kind of a special Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Man. It took a little time. You know, I thought you had lost faith to me. You must have been some other guys doing podcasts that had better hands. But I've been I've been scouring, you know, all these podcasts. I haven't seen anybody yet. There's some podcasters who can catch, but I don't know if they can catch and hold on to it after getting hit over this. That's what I'm talking about. That's a differentiator there. Well, we have a special guest here today, a non traditional guest by the name of Bill. Bill. Welcome to the fish Hello, gentlemen, what's up, Bill, what's going on? Thank you so much for having me in the show. I'm very excited. Yeah we are too, man, Yeah, we're very excited. Now listen, if you are listening to this and the name Bill Bant doesn't catch your attention right right somewhere I think in the Turkey Bowl once or twice with way more important job head not necessarily for the Miami Dolphins. I don't think he has the best hands in the podcast business. But if you don't know Bill by name, you do know Bill Bant? Do you know his work? If you've ever been in a Miami Dolphins game from I don't know ninety seven to probably two thousand and six, and you looked on the sideline and you saw that eight foot dolphin that got your pumped up and was cheering on maybe took some pictures with your kids outside of the stadium. That was actually our mild mannered Bill Bant. Your alter ego was TD the Dolphins mascot. Yeah, that was me and I certainly Clark Kent did it during my time with the team. Yeah, it was an interesting run ten seasons with the Dolphins. As t D certainly excited to stars stories about my time there. We got to hear all about your stories there. We also were going to talk a little bit about its. Bill's a fellow podcast as well, and as I said, I don't know that he has the best hands in the podcast business, but he does have a great podcast, the All Eighties Movies podcast. We're going to talk about that as well. But we got to hear about life as t D. It's an interesting story. Like when people find out that I was the mascot for the Dolphins, they asked, how do you get that job? And my answer is always I was at the right place at the right time, and it's all who you know. So going back in South Florida sports history, as we know, Wayne Hung Zinga was the owner of the Dolphins, and at the time it was also the owner of the Florida Panthers and the Florida Marlins, and both the Marlins and the Panthers both had mascots. We had Billy the Marlin and the Stanley Sea Panther, and of course we also had the heat down there who had Bernie and the mascot for the Panthers. Talked to Heyzinga and said, you really should have a mascot for the Dolphins. Wait a second. Stanley CE Panther is the one who told Wayne Isazinga that the Dolphins made a mascot. That's how the story was related to me. So I'm just relaying. I was surprised too. I don't think I ever talked to mister Heiazinga my whole time I was there. Yeah, I'm trying to wrap my head around that. I wonder if he was in costume when he delivered this message, right, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I'm sorry I cut y'all, but I'm just mind boggling. So I guess Heizinga was game and told your organization and they decided that they were going to develop a mascot and it was going to be TD and the person that was going to be the mascot was Stanley C. Panther, So he was going to jump over to the Dolphins, and he was initially tapped as the first mascot of the Dolphins. But at the same time, he was finishing his season with the Panther and during one of the final games, he was doing this skit on the ice where they would have like a replica of the opposing team mascot would come out into the ice and every all the fans would start billing, and then Stanley would come out the opposite end and skate as fast as it can and just cream the character and everyone would go nuts. And the ironic thing was that was usually me in that suit, but for some reason, on this one night, he said to me, I got a friend doing it. I don't need you to do it. So they do the skit. He hits the penguin, shreds his knee, totally blows it out, And at this point they had already debuted Stanley Panther got it, and they had already debuted the cheaty mascot at that point, because I think it happened like in April of ninety seven, right after the draft. So now they don't have someone to put into the costume, and so Stanley's, hey, can you fill in for me? And I was like okay. So I talked to the Dolphins and like, what we'll have you do is you'll do the training camp for us the two preseason games, and then the person they hired we'll come and start the season and you can work with him as the backup for the rest of the year. Like okay. So I started July one of ninety seven, and I worked all through training camp and that's when we did training camp twice a day. I worked the first two preseason games. I worked pre game for the first three games to the season, and then we got to the Monday night game against Chicago and I got a call that day and like, Bill, yeah, you're doing the game tonight. I'm like, yeah, I know, I'll be there, Like, no, you are doing the game. Like, we checked out his knee again. The doctor said he's done. He cannot do this anymore. There's way more damage than we thought. So my first regular season game was that Monday night game against Chicago against who was going to become our next coach, Day want Stat And then finished half the season and then I had an audition to keep the job, won the audition, and then did another nine years. You know. I think that Monday night game was after it was supposed to be a Sunday game. I think the Marlins were playing in the World Series at that point, was that what it was or something like that, and we had to yeh, and we had to move our game to Monday. Night, that's what happened. Yeah, there's so much to unpack there, So I know it's it's it's a it's very complicated. There's so much. So, first and foremost, I was shocked that Stanley C. Panther pitched this, that he was bold enough to go up to the owner and say, hey, you're not you know, hey billionaire, you're not doing your job right. You need a stuffed fish on the sidelines there. But now I get it. He was trying to half a full years. He was trying to get so then that happens. You were the guy who would dress up as the person who would get obliterated by Stanley C. Panther. Yeah. So coming on college, I worked for this entertainment company called Sports Magic, and we traveled all around North America doing halftime shows like fan interaction and all that. But we also had a satellite team in South Florida. So if you baseball or hockey fan in those mid nineties and heard of the Bleacher Brigade or the Panther Patrol, I was a member of that team. So we were the guys that went around, you know, to the sling shots, and then the mascots were like great I got like four people I can use as props. So Philly the Marlin was doing a skit in the stands and the Marlins are playing the Mets or something, and I would be sitting the stands wearing a Mets jersey and he would come down with something and accidentally dumping all over me and all the fans would get all hysterical. Or if we were playing the Cubs, I would play Elwood Blues and we would go out and do like a dance number during between innings, which is always great because I always got me on ESPN and there's actually a picture of me, Billy and the play Jake in the World Series program doing doing one of those skits. So it was it was kind of fun. And that's you know. Anywhere we traveled, we would meet all these mascots, and the mascots like, hey, can you do can can you dress up as a referee and we'll do this dance number and stuff like that. So I got to interact with all these mascots all throughout the United States and it was a fun thing to do. And when we knew that the Stanley was moving over to the Dolphins, they were looking to fill that role, and I did audition to be Stanley and I was in the final two but obviously did not get picked. Man, that's crazy, big seth. I love that, you know the fact that you guys, you know, really started your own little union of actors going across the country right doing things like I mean, some of those skits that I've seen are outstanding. Yeah, so you guys those are like, I know where we know their plants. We didn't know you guys worked together like that all the time. Oh yeah, they would know we were coming and they would plan things out and like, hey we got you know, some extra bodies and they can do this. You know, we can help you out in this way. Or we would do halftime shows or intermissions during hockey games. We would bring games that we would do for the Crowns. So we did a little bit of everything. So it was a really a lot were sports entertainment companies, so we did it was cool. I did like the NHL All Star Game, Mass League Baseball All Star Game. I got to go to the Mexico for the NBA. So I got to do a lot a lot of traveling early on, right out of college, and it really kind of prepared me for this role. I want to talk about the obliteration of the opposing team guy. I mean that, I mean did you go to like stunt school for that? I mean that's a you said, he's coming one hundred miles an hour on, I set you right. It takes you out, actually took himself out. But how does that mean you weren't there? But how does that? Like? Are you guys you practice that? Yes, we did practice it, and I would have like elbow pads on, knee pads on, and you just learned to just relax. You would just relax and take the hit. And then they knew how to like grab you and roll, So would you relax? You were actually landing on the mascot most of the time because they hadn't even more padding that you did. And I see what happened this instance is because this is a guy that had never done it before. He locked right, and then when he tried to turn, his knee got caught and yeah, he just shredded it. Oh that's exact. Yeah, that is unbelievable. So you're like, are you in some kind of mascot witness protection? Because I feel like Penn and Teller or you're giving away all the secrets right now, which is great for our podcast, but I hope that it's not putting you in any you know, compromise. No, no, no statue limitations are long gone that you've left that life long gone. Yeah okay? Oh Man, too funny, you know, Bill, I remember, like my first game as a rookie coming through the Dolphins, and how nervous I was. You know, all the stuff that I'd done in collegues, it meant nothing at that point, because I mean compared to you know, what I was paying for in the NFL nerve racking. Now, how about your first year? Did you have any like pregame jitters like like I did, Man, Because I mean once I got started, once the first hit or first kick off or whatever, I was okay. But did you have pregame jets as well? Oh? Yeah, big time. Because as a kid, even though I grew up in Philadelphia, the Dolphins were my one of my favorite teams. They were my AFC team and the Eagles were my NFC team. So now all of a sudden, I'm in the tunnel and Dan Marino's right over my shoulder and I'm about to leave the team out that I rooted for as a kid. So this is mind blowing. I you know, I can't believe this. And I remember, you know, our first preseason game. This is the first time everyone's going to see t D on the field. And as if you notice, I have a flag behind me, and this is the actual flag that I used to use to bring out the team on the field. Dory Grogan's been looking for that. The way we changed we changed logos were okay, it's somehow mysteriously came in the mail. Once you got I don't know how it got here. So the game in this flag and they gave me like this wooden pole to use that I was going to run out and I was gonna get cute and I would run past the I don't even think well, because it was the baseball we didn't have the logo on the field. So about the forty yard line on the other side, and you wave the flag while they introduced the team. So before the game, I'm just practicing waving the flag just to get a feel of how heavy it is. And I'm like, all right, this is kind of heavy, but it shouldn't be an issue. So I'm in the tunnel and then here you go, Dan. Dan's right to my shoulder. I'm like, wow, this is amazing. I can't believe this. And I get the ghost signal. So I run out and I got the flag and I stop, and I'm just so excited. I'm just waving the flag frantically as much as I can. I'm like, wow, this flag is really light, and all of a sudden I catch in the corner of my eye the flag is crumpled on the field about five feet away from me. When I was swinging the flag, I just swing and I was like, oh my god. So I just grabbed the flag and just ran off, just ran, and I was like eight feet tall, and there's just, you know, forty thousand people the stands for a preseason game. How do you I'm just I'm just out there waving the stick. Oh it's too funny. Did it get better? All right? So you know, I got a little bit of ribbing from employees, and I was like, all right, this is not going to happen again. So we take the stick and we tape the crap out of it. I'm like, there is no way this flag is coming off. So same thing we're in the tunnel. Dan's over my shoulder waiting for the go go run out again. I'm like, sweet flags on there, I'm about to wave it. I do the first wave, stick snaps in it. Oh man, flag just crumbles in my hand. I think somewhere yeah, and I just ran off. I felt like Gonzo on the Muppa Show trying to blow the damn horn. It's just I was like, I'm having no luck. So luckily after that we replaced it with the metal pole and never had a problem again waving. So the weight changes then at that point though, too Now, I mean it's not it's not. I know. I see those guys and I see yourself that that flag is no joke, big seth. I mean that thing is. That's when you're going against the win a little bit, that that thing is a beast. Yeah. You really have to use momentum just to try to get that around, and you almost dose like a giant figure eight, and momentum kind of helps you swing that around. It's initial first two swings that feel really heavy, and then you're like, okay, so this isn't too bad. Get it going, gotta get it going, all right, and let's not forget that he's doing all this in costume. It's like that would be hard to do just under normal circumstances in my opinion. But whatever it was, you got over these early challenges. Hell, you did more than one hundred games. I don't know if you've counted them up, but it had to be more than a hundred games preseason, regular season, postseason, throughout your time as t D. And during that time, you've got all these responsibilities. You've got responsibilities to pump up the crowd. You've got responsibilities to make sure every kid that screams your name feel special. You've got responsibilities to I imagine, stay engaged in the game because you don't want to be celebrated if we just threw an interception, or you don't want to look like you're disinterested if there was a touchdown that was scored. How do you because you see this on TV and you see mascots when when a player scores and they want to go high five a player, or are you, you know, waving no, you can't make this kick when the opposing team is kicking a field goal. How do you balance that responsibility to be entertaining and to be engaged in the game, but to not make it kind of about you or you start to interfere with the product on the field. Yeah, that was certainly never my intention to interfere with the game itself. People paid money to watch our team play on the field, and I wasn't not going to do that. I knew, I knew my place. My place was just to enhance, just be a outlet for fans, just you know, to high five fans when something exciting is going on, to engage with fans pregame, or hug kids during the game. So it was, yeah, my role in game day was just to survive because we have those one o'clock Sunday afternoon games. And to be honest, being in that costume, I usually lost about three pounds an hour. So I would start about ten o'clock doing stuff pregame, and then I'd be out there till the game's over. So you figure I usually lost about twelve pounds a game, and then I would try to spend the whole week trying to put that back on. So Bill, what you say, you never crossed the line, but you and I talked about this. There was a postseason game where you got a little bit excited. Oh yeah, I mean you had to. I mean everywhere. We were playing the Colts and that was the Lamar Smith game, and man, it seemed like it had like seventy five runs that game. And there was a point where we thought we were gonna lose because it was a vegetarian who missed that kick right, and then we came down and scored and everyone dog piled and I jumped right in. I was just so excited we're gonna get that over at that point because you usually during the fourth quarter, I'm you know, I know everybody at that point it's really just watching the game. So I don't, you know, stay stay behind, just cheer, just watch what's going on. Just make sure you're enhancing whatever's going on. But at that moment, you just it's a playoff game. You can't you can't help it, especially when something like that happens. You know, it was actually an overtime when we got there in that game, big stuff, right seventeen yards manning, I mean, that was that was That was some fun stuff. Man. But I have seen some other mask guys build a kind of got got their team in trouble. Not only did they get themselves in trouble. But you know, I'm seeing some penalties and different things from mask guys that really won't be a part of the game. You at least wait until the end of the game to get get involved. Yeah, I mean that's what people are paying. Yeah. I certainly never wanted to do anything that was going to cost a penalty to the team because I knew I was gonna be in the office on Monday and that could be walking a much larger penalty. I wasn't taking that. I wasn't taking that chance. You know. Game days are just, of course the most visible part of what you did build, you know, but that was just a fraccent of what your role was a STD and what you're doing for the team. You had school visits, charity visits, corporate appearances, I mean, TD it was a full time job. And step was telling me what your philosophy was as far as what was your altered responsibility with the guards to season ticket holders and you know, trying to build a fan base. And I thought, you know, it's very interesting. It's very interesting perspective because you know, people ain't think about you on game day or maybe a school visit, but there are a lot of other things. Can you share with us some of that and then on the clip side some of your wildest experiences that you had a STD. I mean, I really saw my job as the mascot was to be an ambassador for the team. I mean once the season started, with preseason or training camp, all the way through the Pro Bowl. You know, you guys, as players, your every day. You know, you had your Tuesdays off and you do your community. But what other outreach was there? So I felt that was on me to try to really get out there and spread the word of the Dolphins. And you know, I felt like the ambassador. And you know my job wasn't People weren't going to buy tickets to come see me at a game. But if I visit kids at schools or other locations, maybe we'll start watching Dolphins on TV. Maybe when they get older, they because they become fans there are I was trying to build your future season ticket base. I wasn't really worried about the present in the sense that I was going to enhance the product. I was trying to help the Dolphins words spread out there, because you know, one time all we had down there was the Dolphins. Now we have three other major sports teams that were competing with and their schedules are a lot different there. Some of their players have more free time. So I just had to get out there as much as possible and just you know, hey, the Dolphins are cool, We're still around. You know, we're competitive, Come come watch our games. So anything that I could do to get out there, I was all for it. And I love doing schools. That was that was my favorite part, just doing school business. You would go in there and they've had the auditoriums full of kids, and you would just get them. You could do no wrong, you could do wrong. I can jump on a cafeteria table and start dancing and you know, kids are just laughing and clapping, and you know they're leaving their high fiving, and you know you just made their day. It's it's it's stuff they remember forever. It's like I remember as a kid when we had appearances from people that would do presentations at our school, Like I remember those like they were yesterday. So that's the same thing I wanted to impact on kids or future or future Donald fans. You know, there's there's people now that are probably maybe listen to this podcast. Like, wait, I think it took a picture with this guy and maybe going through and going oh yeah, oh my god, yeah that was that was the guy. Yeah, that's pretty dope. And I think what's fun about that is that is one of the things that people will remember about it. But you also had experience in ford Hood that seemed like it was pretty interesting that Big Staff was telling about what happened in ford Hood. Oh man, So this is my first time I got to travel with the cheerleader show team, and I think this is a ninety nine and the cheerleaders are going to Forthood to do two shows and an autograph signing, and they would do the show, singing, dance and all that kind of stuff, and they integrate it into me because when they do these shows, they're like doing costume change after costume change after costume change, So me coming out there to do like a little bit or two would give them a break. So we were doing one show in a theater and then we were doing an autograph signing the next day, and then the third appearance was an outdoor show. And we're in Forthood, Texas in September, so it is hot, super super hot, and they take us to where we're going to do the outdoor show, and they have this makeshift stage and it's an open field, and then behind the stage they have an air conditioned tent for the cheerleaders. Well, I can't use that tent because the cheerleaders are changing, so they get me a bread truck that I'm going to change in the bread truck. The bread truck has you know, the big sliding door the window. I can kind of see what's going on on stage, so I'll know when my my cues are. So, you know, I don't want to I don't want to complain about anything because I'm like, this is my first time going on a trip, and if I say something and like, this might be your last time going on a trip. So I'm like, all right, I'll just suck it up and I'll change in this bread truck. And one of the worst things about getting in costume getting in your costume when you're sweaty, where the costumes already sweaty, and since we already did the two hour appearance at the store, my costume was already soaked. So I'm just like, so I get in the bread truck, closed the door so no one can see me because the bread truck like people could kind of see if they're if they're sitting in the right place, they could kind of see into the truck. So I was like, you know, I don't want people watching me get dressed. So I closed the door of the truck, lay all my stuff out, and then I'm just watching the show through the little window. And of course while this is happening, I'm just I'm sweating and I'm sweating, and I'm sweating and I'm sweating, and I had like two bottles of water and they're already gone at this point, and someone from Fort Hood comes to me and goes, hey, are you okay in there? And I'm like, yeah, how do you open the door on the other side? I noticed there's no latch to go open. He's like, oh, I think you locked it. I'm like, oh, well, do you have the key? Like no, I think it's on the other side of the base. I was like, oh my god, and I'm you know, I'm like, well, you gotta go get that key. I gotta go out in like twenty minutes, so at this point, So at this point, I had half the costume on and I just I just take it off. So I'm literally now sitting in the back of this bread truck in my underwear because I'm like, if they don't come back with the key, there's no point in me sitting in here sweating and possibly passing out. So luckily, like fifteen minutes later, I see a car come around, like, oh, we got the key. So they popped the door and they just lifted a little bit. And even though it's super hot out there, the air that came in it felt like it was frigid. So I started throwing the costume in and I'm just looking out the window and I'm like, oh my god. It's the act before I'm supposed to go on. And usually it takes me about nine minutes to get the costume on once I lay everything out. I think I broke a record this time, and I literally about three minutes got it on, throw the door up, and I jumped out, and I'm literally putting them in my head at the same time butting it in and then run up to the stage and get on and do my act. No one had any clue what happened. Nobody saw it. No, Yeah, the cheerleaders knew nothing about it. The people who were putting on. They had no idea that I was locked in the back of the truck. The show has to go on, Harvey used to say, I don't know what we uses. Well, Harvey used to say, everybody sees the swan gliding across the water. Nobody sees these little fucking legs baddling like this undernything. So there's you, Harry. But but that's what it is, right, you get off there. Everybody chairs hey TD, Giant dolphin, and you almost died in the back of a flipping bread truck truck. Don't close the door all the way, Bill, You gotta leave a little crack underneath, you know, you see, people, I learned my lesson. I learned my lesson. Good good the next time you find yourself in the bread truck. So another thing you did parades, right, everybody loves parades, mascots, balloons, the whole thing. You've done the Macy's Day parade, You've done the Pro Football Hall of Fame parade in Canton. And of course it seems I don't know if this is all mascots or is this just Bill Banta's TD. But with each one of these things you had some crazy story yeah, so I think it was two thousand three or two thousand and four. I got I got to do the Macy's Parade twice, and the first time we got invited, you know, just let her. Hey, we're gonna fly you out the NFL has NFL float and we're gonna have kids from their Junior Training Camp program, which I think is now the Place sixty. There's gonna be some alumni and I think there was maybe eight of us that got invited to be on this float. So, you know, super excited. I mean, everybody's seen the Macy's Day Parade, so this is this is a big deal. I'm like, man, this is like one of the biggest things I've ever done. And normally when I do parades, you know, you get on the float and you stand there and you just kind of waved everybody you're in the back of the car to wave. So it's like easy peasy kind of stuff compared to you know, running around and trying to pass out. Yeah. So, you know, of course, the day before the parade, a whole bunch of the mascots and I get out together. Hey we're in New York. You know, I think our call time was the mascots are hitting the streets next thirty in the morning. Six thirty in the morning. Yeah, we got to the hotel probably around four, so mad enough time to take like basically a nap, get down to the lobby. They put us in like a New York Public transportation bus, drive us over to the to the parade route. So one of the parade organizers just like, okay, yeah, we need you guys in costume. And so today you guys are gonna walk along the float. And and we're like, whoa walk along the float? What I mean the average sleep among all of us is maybe ninety minutes. And they wanted us out there an hour before the float took off. And we're like, no, that's not happening. Let us know when the floats about to take off, and we'll get there and we'll we'll come out to the float. So sure enough, you know, we get the call, Hey, float's about to take off. We need you out there. So you know, we throw on our heads and run to the Yeah we can't. Sorry, sorry, that's okay, throw on our head. So you know, we're running to the float, and I'm thinking to myself, there's no way I am walking this route, so I just jumped right on the float so I make sure I'm on the TV side. I'm just sitting there waving. So if of course, you know, being the Miami Dolphins, we're in New York. The Jets are one of our biggest rivals. And I was like, yeah, I'm sure I'm gonna be getting heckled the whole time during this parade. People are just gonna be giving me crap, so you know, I'm expected. I'm like, I don't care. I'm just gonna be waving. So we're out there and I'm on the float and we're going through the route and people are like d T D T D, Yeah, che D T D. And I'm like, wow, how popular I'm here in New York. This is great. Thirty minutes of this straight, I'm just here T T D T D. Then all of a sudden, I hear this one guy just scream out, Tony Dorset, You're the man. And I was like what, And I turned around and I didn't realize Tony Dorsett was right behind me. Everybody has been calling out for him. They could give a crap. It was me dot. So yeah, that for a moment, I just caught him like, but yeah, you know, Bill. One of my face ever times with mascots is when at a Dolphin game, a whole bunch of mascots coming in town and play against a little league football team, and it seemed like the mass guys really take it out and the little kids pretty tough. Man. Have you Have you played any of those games where, I mean the mascots versus like one of the best little little league teams in football? Oh, I was called soul Crusher in one game we were up in jackson Can we gave this episode t the soul Crusher. I don't know if that was. Yeah, So we were we were playing this uh peewee team up in Jacksonville, and I was playing safety and this kid ran around the sideline and he was going down like the fans were going crazy because they thought this kid was going to score, and they had this perfect shot. I wish I had the video of it, the shot. It was just a kid going down the sideline to the end zone and I came out of nowhere and I blew them up. I just, oh, how old are those kids? I don't know they were pads they're patting that we did they were there. They were pants too, they were good. He come, he got up, he got up, he was fine. Up. Did you tell him that, you know, rub some dirt in it. I didn't talk to the costume kind of. I couldn't say anything to them fair enough. But yeah, I got some I got some crap field and mascots from that. Yeah, you just crushed that. Kids, You're crush. We got it, so crush. All right, I'm gonna I'm gonna take this one. I'm gonna flip the script completely here. So the soul crusher. So you didn't just crush souls? Right. So on a more serious note, one of the major responsibilities for t D were the hospital visits. And uh, I know, just from our experience with Jason Taylor Foundation, I'm sure you know, Juice, You've been on plenty of hospital visits. They're unbelievably rewarding. You know that you're doing something special for young people who are really oftentimes facing their darkest moments. But it's also difficult. It's a it's a lot, it's a lot to process. It's you know, especially if you're a parent or but to go in there and see see kids in these positions, to see families in these positions. I know you really enjoyed those visits and you would go there and try and brighten the experience at least that moment for young people. Can you talk about I know there was one in particular that that stuck with you. Can you talk about the hospital visits as TV, I would try to go three or four times a year to the different hospitals and visit. And then of course the team would go every year. So when we would do, the team would go down, so I would have to get down there before them. So the team is usually get on a bus and the bus would take him down, but I had to get there before getting costume. And then I was assigned a group and one time I got to do the hospital to visit with Marino. The times I would do, you know, like linebackers and so in this one particular day we were doing, I was with the offensive alignment and the issue is we have big three, big offensive alignement and me, so trying to get into a room it was just way too tight. Yeah, and then we would use they have two cheerleaders with us. So when I said, it was like you know what, you guys go first and then when you come out, I'll you know, I'll run in. I'll be the clean up act. And usually there would be someone from the hospital that would take all the groups around and kind of let you know what was going on with the kids. So you kind of knew going in what the issue or a problem was, and all right, if you get through this story, this is a tough one for me. So we get to this one room and the woman told us, you know, this boy just had an operation and unfortunately they had to remove his arm and it was removed from the shoulder and they had the operation a couple of days ago, and he's just he's been really depressed. So you know, if you guys can come in and make a smile, that would be great. So the offensive linement go in with cheerleaders and I'm just sitting out there waiting and they all come out and I can't I can't remember who it was on the offensive line. He was just shaking his head. He's like, TD, that's gonna be a tough one for you. So they come out. I go running in the room and the kid's there and he's in the bed, and you know, one of the first things I always have to watch is just you know, are what are they hooked up to? Because I have to be aware because I can't see that well. So I've gone forbid i'd go in there and pull something or you know, hurt him or something like that. I have to be super careful. So I go in the room and I see the situation. So the kids in the bed, and then he has his parents and there was someone else from the family that was sitting there with him on the other side of the bed. So I go in the bed and I kind of jumped on the end and I'm playing with them, and you know, you're doing all like the silly mascot one oh one kind of stuff. You're you're you're rubbing his head, You're pretending like his feet stink. And I'm getting no response from this kid whatsoever. Nothing, And I'm like, oh, man, okay. So I run over to the parents, like I sit on the dad's lap, I go through the mom's purse, and the parents are laughing like, oh, look at TV. So farny. You know, I don't remember the kid's name was, but you know, they're like, oh, this isn't so great. The TV's here. I'm still getting nothing from this kid. I'm like, damn it. I'm like, I just want to get make this kid crack a smile. That's all I want before I leave. So I try one or two other things. Nothing's working, so I'm like, okay, I can't. I don't know what to do. So usually one of the bits I would usually do when I'm leaving a room is I'm usually like waving to the kid and I would turn and smack my face into the doorway and then I would kind of get a laugh, and I'm like, you know what, I'm going all out in this one. So I ran at the door and hit the doorway as hard as I can, fell back kind of to the flip, jumped out, and then just spring it out of the room. And as I spring it out of the room, I heard a laugh and I'm like, yes, I gotcha. Great good. I'm so happy. So I leave the room and I'm waiting to see what's going on. We're we're supposed to go next, and then all suddeny here behind me is D D T D. I'm like, who's calling me? And I turn around the kids parents and the mom just comes up to me and gives me the big sug and just goes, thank you so much for making my kids smile. It's the first time we've seen him smile since the operation. And that's what it's like. Damn it. That's why I do this job. That's why I do this job. And I'll never forget that moment. And every time I think about it, I'm doing exactly what I do right now. So it's tough, but I can never forget it. I can never forget it for as long as I left. Those are always the toughest TD man. Those are always a hospital business, and those kids many they're always the toughest business. They really are. But imagine what it meant for him and that family. Yeah, yeah, man, really really really powerful stuff. Man. I know that. I mean that that kid, they're going through a lot right there. But I can also imagine it. I mean, there's some children, there's some kids you probably ran into. They're probably lead to need a little more parenting, if you know what I mean. Oh yeah, you know what I mean. We definitely went in the opposite end of the spec. You see all the stuff on social media with people mess with Mickey Mouse and you know, pulling on mascot's tails and things like that. Man, they do you have to have to do you ever have to deal with a kid that was a little unruly or lack and parental supervision when he needed it most? Oh yeah, definitely, big time. Usually when I would do appearances, I would usually have a handler with me, so the handler could usually take care of those situations. And one of the big things about being the mascot is I would never never talk in the costume. Even if staff was addressing something about something, I would just nod in my head or shrug or whatever. I wouldn't even I wouldn't even talk to people that I worked with. I was just like, I'm in the suit, I'm in the character, but we're doing this one night, I'm doing this appearance. It was the Monday night with Jimmy Cephalo would do the show I Think with and they would do that live show before the mid night night game and they would be on location and they used to be downtown Fort Loredell, but for some reason this year we were at David Busters. So I'd be there David Busters and when they would do the cutaway they would it would usually be like a meal and cheers. I would be playing like one of the video games or something like that or whatever. So usually I was in there by myself. I didn't have a handler. So every time the camera would break away, there was these three kids between the ages of ten and twelve that would just like run up, punch, runaway, run up, punch, runaway, run up, punch, runaway, and it was just annoying me. Were their names, JT, Mike, and Travis. That's all I wanted. I don't think so, I don't think so, all right, just just check it, just check it. So the point, yeah, that was my first guess. So as the night went on, they were getting boulder and boulder, and they just started hitting more and more, and because there was really no one around, no one was doing anything about it. So eventually I get sense of the kid was coming and I went to go hit me, and I around and I grabbed him and I grabbed the arm and I pulled him as close as I could to my face and I said, kid, if you hit me one more time, i'm gonna find out who your parents are and we're gonna get you thrown out of this place. Do you understand me? You knock it off? And I just let go and I walked away. You broke character? Yeah, I broke character. I did, And I hate it doing that, but I just had to in this instance right right again for the rest of the night. Did it rest messing me the rest of the night. I did't see him again the rest of the night. That was Yeah, I love it. I hope he's listening to this podcast. To one big seth you know what I mean, picked the biggest one out of the yard. Ye oh god, that is too funny. I would Yeah, which if it was those three guys, which one do you think it would have been j J for sure? Yeah, that's my money's on j T as well. So all right, sorry, Bill, we got a little inside joke here at the show. You know, I mentioned your your latest creative endeavor. You know, it's been many years since you've been TD. I know you live out in the West Coast now you're out in LA. But you recently you started the All Eighties Movies podcast, which you're the producer, right, You've got a producer's credit, producer and host, yeah, and a host and then Jason Massik is your co host. And you guys do an incredible job of doing deep Dives and all things Eighties, all movies Eighties, unbelievable catalog of films you've reviewed Juice. I don't know if you've checked it out yet. To me, the one I've listened to that I thought was above and beyond all of them was the Hoosiers episode you guys killed That really really good. But yeah, for some reason, we had some amazing special guests we were able to secure. I mean, you know, going through their agents and all that. It took a long time. But once we're able to do a lot. Time to share that one. I love it. But tell us, but step I have to tell you this. What was amazing about you being on that episode is usually when with the show, I prepare about five pages of notes. I think you had about eight. So you even blew me away with your preparation for that. So you were you were serious about this information. I was inspired to prepare for sure. I did not want to put bad tape out there. That's that's for sure. Thank you for those I think those are kind words. But tell us how you found your way into being an eighties movies expert. I'm so intrigued, as you might imagine, by the podcast Space so, like, what led you to create the All Eighties Movies Podcast? So I went to college at the University of Miami for film school, and that's what I thought I was originally going to do. And like I said, life finds a way, and somehow I sign tracked and ended up becoming the mascot for the Miami Dolphins. And after ten seasons, I kind of thought, you know what, I still have the dream. I want to be a filmmaker. So after I left, I moved out to California, and of course what's happening now? There was a writer strike coming on, so there wasn't any work, so I had to find something to do to make ends meet. But on the side, I was doing some small films. I was writing, only Want some Awards, so you know, we got stuff coming on, and you know, unfortunately COVID happened. So when COVID happened, everything shut down again, and I just wanted to be creative. So Jason Massac, who's the co host, was actually one of the actors in one of the movies I wrote, and we went to school together. He was actually in my first student film, so I've known him for a really long time and we would get around and talk about movie practice we were going to do. You know, the last two hours of the night was just talking about movies, talking about movies that we had recently seen or just movies that we just loved. And I said, you know what, since we really can't do anything right now because everything's locked down, why don't we just do a podcast? And you know, we were trying to think of because there's so many movie podcasts out It's like, so, what can we do to make us stand out? I was like, well, you know, the reason we went to film school is because of the movies that we loved during the eighties, So let's talk about that. Let's talk about how those movies have influenced us to do what we're trying to do now. And that's where we came up with the All Eighties Movies podcast. And you know, it's it's fine, it's way out there. So I'm very excited and I appreciate you coming on to do an episode with us, and uh, just hold the listeners of the listeners to the show. I mean some of the great like feedback we get is because I listen to your podcast. I'm now showing my son this movie. So it's like, oh, that's really cool. You know. It's it's almost in a way, it's like mascotting. I'm trying to build the new generation of eighties movies lovers. Interesting. It's it's tough with eighties movies. Man, it's show kids nowadays, man, because the graphics. I try to show my kids Rocky one time, they're like, Dad, what is this? This is ridiculous because we're trying to I was trying to prepping for Creed, you know, and all the whole Creed series. I try to take them back to Rocky. We got through like fifteen minutes of but they don't understand they were throughing the town. Yeah, all right, all right, all right, Bill, we're gonna finish it up right here. Man, it's been so it's been so good, and I can't now. I'm just look at some of the eighties movies where I really enjoyed it, and we look at catalog that yeah, I'm definitely gonna have to check that out. But you know, players and coaches, you know, they have hard time sometimes managing the two minute drill, but we know they handle it right. So we feel like mascots can handle two minute drill as well. So at this point in the episode, we're gonna put two minutes on the clock and Seth and I we're gonna throw some quick hitting questions at you, and we're gonna see what you the first thing that comes to your mind. No pressure, it's not it's not that tough. Just you know, just whatever comes to your mind. All right, are you ready? I'm ready? All right. You mentioned earlier you grew up in Philadelphia, so this may be a tough one. All right. Who's who's the better mascot, the Philly Fanati or the San Diego Chicken. The Chicken is probably more notorious. But I gotta go. Yeah, I gotta go home team, come on better you better go home team, you know, exact more notorious. I like that, the notorious one. Okay, So t D Bernie Billy, the Martin Billy, the Martin Billy. Marlin and Stanley C. Panther who got you your job? They sit down at the same poker table. Who's going home in the big winner? Oh my god, it's funny that you mentioned. I actually have a picture of me, Stanley and Billie playing cards. I'll have to try to get that to you. If I can find Unfortunately, unfortunately Bernie was not there that night. But if we were playing cards, I think it would be Bernie. He's a cheater. I think he would win. There you go, if you ever met the original person who played Bernie, he did not need that costume. He was the same in and out of the suit. He was hysterical, he was he was great. I love it all right. As a certified movie expert with your own movie podcast, tell us what was Dan Marino's greatest performance on a silver screen man? Well, first, I would say the fact that he was able to sell people ice atuner gloves being a quarterback in South Florida super impressive. Most people probably don't know this is he actually did a show for the CW called Animal Crackers, which he actually worked with mascots. It was like a half hour comedy. If you can find it on streaming, give give it a watch. But I mean, come on, a detective is right there? Yeah? I mean no brainer, right? I mean that really kind of jump started his entire film, right, how would think? So? Okay? Second said, Dan didn't start in any eighties movie. So with him out of the conversation, what is the greatest eighties movie of all time. For me, it would be Raiders. That is the two minute drill. That's great. Yeah, the first one, right, I mean that's that was that was like, is pretty good? Well were they all? I guess how many were actually in the eighties? We three? Okay, see Temple of Jum and last Crsade was eighty nine. I think this is this is what he does. This is what we've got asking that question. You should have known it, yeah, I should have known that. So Raiders of the Lost Ark, why it's just time. I've saw it on the big screen maybe three or four years ago, and just watching it, I'm like, you could almost take that movie now not have to change a thing. And if no one knew, ever knew about the Indiana Jones character and watch this movies for the first time, they would be incredibly impressed. It's a timeless movie. It just it withstands the test of time. Juice is gonna test that with his kids. We'll see how timeless make the right age though, because I made the same mistake trying to show some of these eies movies to my kids, and I realized I did it at the wrong age. I'm like, if I wait until they saw it the same age I saw it. It might work. That's the move, that's the move. So I think you're good. I think you're a good. Bill. This was awesome, man. This was we you know, just like you do on your podcast. We love to wax nostalgic here in the fish tank, and uh man, it was. It was awesome to work with you. We joked about the poker games. We had our little poker game that we played. But just to be able to catch up with you like this, to go on your show, and now to have you dive in the fish tank, it's been a lot of fun. Man. Oh no, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. And please if you ever need me back, there's tons of stories I still got in the vault that I'd love to share. I bet and a suit. We think he might have to suit the ball as well. Yeah, we wanna d Hey, thank you diving in Bill, All right, thank you so much. You're now diving. Never been that pitch take who that sitting down with Sep for living cry oh j tru truth and this is strictly for him. True fan GOP fans number one one of course, y'all this ha ordinary sports talk. Never been that pitch tank, don't get you. I got on years time to never been that pitch tank. It's on the legend that we're talking when you never been that pitch tank racking, Well, oh, j you're seth for you never been that pitch tank. I'm never had the two got to dever butt him down hard, celebrate big or cry hard. Leave it out on the field. We're gonna try hard. Old school a new school, mixing in, feeling like we're up close when we listened in Dolphins tells here Miami is the deep end. We're vibing with our favorite players. No seat bread, we get what's step and Jeff bringing up stars we never heard to the public. Man, we love me Dolphins first, never, but we loyal to the team. Wasn't happy and we upset. We'd be like, what's next. Don't foist the subject. You know what's allid about the fist hitting? If you're ready for that, wasn't time to dive in. Don't foist the subject. You know what's all about the fist hitting? If you down with Dolphin's, nation's time to dive in. Don't foosh the subject you know what's solid about the fish? You looking at that fish tank and time to dive in and pitch tank. Okay, show I got on year. It's time to never been at Fitch tank. It's on the legends that we're talking when you devernment that Fitch tank rapping. But oh Jack and Seth Devern minute mixt time, don't ever had a talking about it. Never minute