Larry Shannon: Jumping out of the Gym

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Speaker 1: You're now diving. I'm gonna have been.

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Speaker 2: Who sit down with Seth living Oh jay U And this is strictly but I'm true number one of course, y'all.

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Speaker 1: Just have the other nevers boys talk now.

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Speaker 2: Mighta been that pitch tank. Welcome back to the Fish Tank, presented by iHeartRadio right here on the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, Seth Lovitt and the man with the best hands in the podcast business, O J. McDuffie. Juice. You are definitely booking the guests these days, and it's pretty easy to tell, but all I see are wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver.

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Speaker 3: Put eight more out there, big Seth. You got a perfect offense right there.

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Speaker 2: It's a perfect eleven wide receiver receivers.

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Speaker 3: On the field at one time. And we will win, win, win, no matter what.

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Speaker 1: Bro.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know I'm excited about this one. Mac. This this is one of my guys right here, Seth, one of guys.

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Speaker 2: He's one of our guys. I'm gonna take a little credit too, because well, first of all, let's just bring him in. So Larry Shannon, Welcome to the Fish Tank.

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Speaker 1: Man, man, it is my honor to be here with you.

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Speaker 4: Guys, and I've been looking forward to this since you guys reached out, So thanks for having me.

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Speaker 2: Well, it was a no brainer. And you know, Tim Bowens, the Great Tim Bowens rightfully gets enshrined in the Dolphins Ring of Honor and they have this amazing party and Juice is texting me. He's like, Yo, so and So is here, So and So's here, Larry Shannon's here. I'm like, Larry Shannon's here. Ain't see Larry, and I know he was coaching or whatever. And then we show up to the event and I'm sitting and I turn around. We're back to back, Like we got tables right next to each other, so we got to catch up. Was super cool, and I'm just thrilled that you were able to make some time. I know you're working those athletic director hours, so we're gonna talk about that. But those AD hours are no joke, are they.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's never at the whole moment. I tell you that. That's right.

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Speaker 2: Who needs doll moments in their life?

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Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know what do we get. Doll moments aren't aren't so bad?

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Speaker 2: I guess they're hard to find.

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Speaker 3: Those you didn't have a Doll moment tonight, So I mean it makes sense.

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Speaker 2: No, that is for sure. That is for sure. So we'll get right into this thing, Larry, And I feel like, I feel like the best way to begin this interview is really the same way your Dolphins career began, or at least the same way you were introduced to Dolphins. So I'm gonna go back to draft day nineteen ninety eight, and I'm gonna set the scene for our listeners. Okay, the Dolphins enter the draft before the draft actually starts. The Dolphins start to draft with the nineteenth overall pick in the first round, and there's a lot of speculation that Randy Boss might still be available at that time, but he kind of had this sketchy background and you know, didn't work out of Florida State, Marshall. You know, there was a lot beyond just the talent, and everybody knew that Jimmy was looking for a wide out to compliment my partner here, right, and Moss was such an intriguing player in this draft. But before things get started, Jimmy trades out of the pick. He trades down to the twenty ninth overall pick. He eventually selects John Avery, and then in the third round he finds this lanky receiver out of East Carolina by the name of Larry Shannon. Right, so now the draft is rolling. A lot of people are critical of Jimmy because I think he goes you know, Moss would have been available. I think he went it like twenty one or something. And so during his media availability, he says this quote, with Larry Shannon coming to our football team. By the way, he's probably a step faster than Randy Moss. So he's bigger, he's taller, he's faster. And then Jimmy goes on, you know, sometimes everybody gets carried all away, and he's like, you know, I don't want to take anything away or talk about somebody else's player, but I'm gonna make an example. Some people get carried away. And he's like, how much film are you guys watching? So Jimmy's kind of like, I know better, what film are you watching? I got this guy. And as soon as he said that, Larry, I'd never met you. I'll be honest, I didn't you know. I'm an SEC guy, so I knew John Avery, but I didn't know, you know, the East Carolina roster. But as soon as he said it, I felt like you put this big old bullseye on you that you never wanted and certainly never deserved. What do you remember from that experience?

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Speaker 1: You know?

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Speaker 4: I remember when my first step foot in the Dolphins facility for my first rookie mini camp, and I remember every reporter that you know was covering the Dolphins at the time rushed to my locker. You know, I've been I've been to Miami maybe an hour, you know, and trying to write my head around, you know, the NFL life and what this weekend is going to be like. And I got bombarded with the same questions that they pretty much was asking Jimmy, Like what do you think about Jimmy's comments? Do you feel any extra pressure? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes? You know, those are comments, you know, and so you know and that you know, that was before the big so all the social media, you know, it was pretty much like printed and paper up to that mini camp, and I wasn't quite aware of the magnitude of his comments and what it was going to lead to me when I stepped foot in Miami, so and I quickly realized like the things things a little bit different here, you know, with those comments being made.

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Speaker 3: Let's break all that down real quick. Let's let's break down what Jimmy was saying, big set. You know, he obviously was excited about your measurables. I mean, and I think it's important for our listeners to understand why the research tells us right here that six ' four two fifteen Is that right?

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Speaker 1: Right?

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Speaker 3: And what about the speed?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know I didn't run into combine, but my see, I know I was a four to three guy, you know at my my pro day, forty four inch vertical, you know, then I had my junior year.

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Speaker 1: My really a big go ahead?

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Speaker 2: Say that again? Hold on, hell.

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Speaker 3: Yeah he tried to just run, did he?

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Speaker 1: Set?

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Speaker 3: He just tried to like gloss over that didn't he That's a real number.

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Speaker 1: Right, Yeah? That was special.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, you know, God God blessed me with ability to jump. I mean, when I was in high school, I was jumping out of the gym, you know, and I just had it the whole my whole life.

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Speaker 1: And if you go back and look at kind of what I.

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Speaker 4: Did my junior year in college, I had a tremendously you know, a really big junior year. There was some crazy stat that was going around that I led the nation in average yards per catch amongst all Division one receivers.

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Speaker 1: I guess.

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Speaker 4: You know, the film was very impressive as far as the every time I touched the ball.

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Speaker 1: You know, it was big play after big play.

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Speaker 4: And then, you know, my my senior year of college, I'm expecting to have this big year.

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Speaker 1: Draft stocks very high after.

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Speaker 4: Everything I've done so far, and I break my leg and I missed half of my senior year, you know, the first half of it. And then when I did come back, I'm I'm running, you know, I'm out there running around on half an ankle, trying to get back out there and finish.

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Speaker 1: Then I go through all the draft process.

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Speaker 4: And and and then and then that situation takes place where you know, Dolphins picked me, and I roll into Miami with the high expectations.

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Speaker 3: You know, we definitely want to hear about, you know, what happened once you rolled in here and that I mean, that's that's that's definitely important. But before we go there, let's dial things back a little bit. You actually, I mean, you're a Florida kid, and in fact, you were born in big sess favorite city in the world, Gainesville, right, you know, tell us, tell us how a kid in Gainesville who attended Bradford High School and start Florida just thirty six miles thirty six minutes. So well, I'm sorry from from Gainesville doesn't end up at the University of Florida, but instead you're talking about where you're just at at East Carolina being a pirate.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it was, uh, it was my dream to go to Florida. You know, my dad was a huge Gator fan, my whole family, you know, like you say, it was only thirty to thirty miles from my town, so we would constantly be in Gainesville going to Gator games, and you know, usually it was it was just that thing where, you know, I was kind of a sleeper, I guess you could call. I was a guy that wasn't heavily recruited, played in an offense that was run oriented, you know, the wing te type, was kind of a tweeter, you know, whereas being tall, you know, six four and a half or whatever, but not heavy enough to be a tight end, you know, and then coming from an offense where I didn't split out and run receiver routes very much on film. So I don't blame University of Florida anybody for not offering me.

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Speaker 2: Uh I do.

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Speaker 1: You know it?

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Speaker 4: At that time of age, the way recruiting was, people didn't kind of project me where I would be.

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Speaker 1: They kind of recruiting me. Okay, you played tight end.

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Speaker 4: You're not heavy enough to play a tight end, you know in major college football. With that being said, you know, I did some things recruiting wise and got my name out there with some of my measurables. You know, some people would come, Im gonna watch back my high school basketball games or I remember going to like one of those Now they have them all the time where the high school kids go and they do the testing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, a little combine.

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Speaker 4: We did a little combine where they got put on by local high school coaches and ECU saw the results of that combine and they came down and filling me out, recruiting me, and they were projecting me to be a six foot four wide receiver.

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Speaker 1: That's what this is what we want you to do. This is our plan for you.

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Speaker 4: And that's kind of where that led where a lot of people who are looking at it the other way, you're looking at it wrong. I guess where they were saying, Hey, you're not heavy enough to be a tied end, and then you don't have the tape at receiver for us to kind of make to pull that trigger on you know.

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Speaker 3: You know, Larry, what's so fascinating about that? And fascinating one of the says favorite words, I love it. What's so fascinating about that is like in today's game, you might be that if that was the case, they could, they would put ten pounds on you, fifteen pounds on you and make you that flex tight end that can run and block and do all the things that. It's crazy how the game has changed a little bit.

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Speaker 4: Right absolutely, And I remember when I got to ECU. I mean within my first year, I was twenty pounds heavier. But you know I could just run so fast and jump so high. They you're going to be the split in and we're going to develop you here. But you are right though, Like now you get a kid in high school that's two hundred pounds, they don't they don't have a problem with offering him the tight end, not one bit.

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Speaker 2: I am so pissed off at the old ball coach, like I'm trying to understand it. So Chris Doring was there around that time, right, I mean he and he had a similar build to you.

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Speaker 1: He did, he definitely did.

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Speaker 2: I think he doesn't. I don't think he had a forty four inch vert.

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Speaker 4: Right, you know, I think Florida, well, you know, at that point where with Steve Spury, they were getting the you know, you know, the four or five star I guess you could call him now, they were getting the you know, they were getting the highly recruited guy.

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Speaker 2: You were in your backyard. It's not like you were somewhere in Idaho when they couldn't find it. You were in their backyard. And you know, I know they did a lot of that what do they call preferred walk ons and that kind of stuff, like you didn't even get that. I'm pissed now. I think they won a national championship.

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Speaker 4: You know they did, okay, But I mean, yeah, I know, nothing, man, nothing, And I always thought about this if I if I you know, what would I have done if you know, you had to transfer rules back then?

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Speaker 2: You know, that's an interesting point.

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Speaker 4: You know, that would have been a tough call because I would have loved to play in University of Florida, but Eas Cuho worked out for me. Man, you know, college was was great to me. My coaching staff was awesome. The locker room was a life change and experience. And I became you know, and I I work, I had to work at it, but I you know, I built my body into the the you know, the draftable guy that could run and jump and set records and do those types of things.

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Speaker 1: But I always think, you know, I do think about.

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Speaker 4: That a lot, like you know, you know, playing you know in the sec and right there in the backyard.

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Speaker 1: That would have been truly a dream come true.

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Speaker 2: Well, so let's let's talk about East Carolina a little bit. You know, you did your thing, like like Jrew said, you were a four year starter there. It was cool. So I sent a text to Patzertan who was part of your draft class. He was the second round pick the same year you came in. And he's got his own unique story how they traded up for him and the whole thing, and and I was I didn't think about it this way. I was just like, hey, you guys were part of the same draft class. What do you remember from Larry he's like, man, we had some great battles when you know, he was at Southern Miss and you were at the CEU. He's like, man, we went at it. And he's like, I just remember that big frame that catch radius and he goes and don't sleep on Larry could run like a deer. So you know, that was really cool to hear that from Pat. And then, as you said, as a junior, you led the country averaging twenty one point fourty yards per reception. So I have to imagine that the dream was to go to the NFL. Was there a point in college, like, at what point did you think that that dream was? What was tangible?

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Speaker 4: We had guys that were leaving ECU and you know and getting drafted, like Jerff McPhail was, you know, a couple of years older than me, and we watched him you know, leave and you know and get drafted, and we had some other guys sign his free agents.

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Speaker 1: So through the process.

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Speaker 4: So I'm like, man, like that would be you know, obviously the ultimate dream, right, the ultimate goal. I think after I had the successful junior year and everybody's like, you know, all the stats are coming out what you did, your coaches are raving about like what you're going to do the following year, and then there was like this little crack in the door of U does he A couple of agents reach out and say, are you interested in leaving early?

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Speaker 1: And it's like, man, I haven't even thought about that, Like is that even.

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Speaker 4: Possible for me? And I didn't feel like it was right for me. I didn't feel like, you know, maybe I should have some more research on it. But I kind of trusted in my coaches to say, hey, I think you need to come back. And you know, if you can put those type of numbers up your senior year, you know you're going to make a lot of money, is what they were telling me, you know.

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Speaker 1: And so and.

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Speaker 4: That's what I did, and everything was kind of trending toward that. You know, the spring, the national timing day when they come in in time, all the juniors, I think I had the fastest forty time by any senior wide receiver.

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Speaker 1: You know that, and you run the well it was low four to three.

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Speaker 4: You know, when they come in in time, you know, that's like combine.

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Speaker 1: Prep, that's just you working out. You know.

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Speaker 2: He's saying it like almost embarrassed.

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Speaker 5: Sorry, I read that fast side and it was very deceptive, you know, like watch me run, like is he really moving that fast?

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Speaker 1: But then my stride length and everything combined kind.

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Speaker 4: Of made it all come together, you know, and I think things are trending, things like I'm get that connection with your quarterback. All summer we had you know, we had a new starting quarterback. He actually was my roommate for a couple of years at school. We came in the same class, so we were throwing every day. You know, we were kind of get build that that, you know, you know juice, how you can give that somebody to look and they you know, they know what you're gonna do with that route. We're building that, and you know things are great. And then you know one of those like last college scrimmage before the first game, where you're in the stadium and you're kind of the last time you're probably gonna tackle to the ground. I catch a ball and I get rolled up on by a linebacker and I break my break my leg and not only did I break my fibula, but I tore I mean as a high ankles frame.

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Speaker 1: It was nasty. And that's when you know things changed for me. A little bit. That's when I went.

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Speaker 4: From probably you know, like early day one pick to man, am I even gonna get?

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Speaker 1: You?

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Speaker 4: You know, like that type of thing, you know, when you don't play your senior year hardly at all, and when you are and when you do play, you're limping around. I went to the Senior Bowl. I got invited to the Senior Bowl, and you know, it was it wasn't very good for me as.

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Speaker 1: Far as I just was not healthy.

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Speaker 4: You know, I just I was there because I felt like I needed to be there because I got invited. I felt like I needed to show people I was healthy again. And you know, I didn't think I didn't I didn't hurt my stock, but I didn't help it either. And then I kind of focused on the pro day. I went to the Combine. You know, I did not run or work out just because it just wasn't I wasn't ready, and then you know, prepared for the for the combine like it. You know, like I needed to kind of prove that I could still run and jump like I could. And I had some good pro days and so I kind of ended up being third round to the Dolphins.

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Speaker 2: I'm listening to this juice, And I'm choosing my words carefully because I know how we both see the coach through a different lens. But knowing Jimmy and thinking about what he said on draft day, like he obviously saw something he liked on films. So you know, for you to have all those things you just told us and to end up in the third round, I know we had multiple picks in the third round, but for you to end up in as a third round selection, which is not you know, that's not a day, that's not a sixth round pick, you know what I mean, So that's still like third round. Yeah, you can get some dudes. And so for him to do that, and then for him to say what he said, he had high expectations is what it sounds like.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, they did, just from everything that they told me and everything that happened in that process. When I have my pro day, they set like seven guys down, Yeah, and they pulled me to the side, you know and did the kind of you know, tough questions things like that that other teams didn't do. And I had a phenomenal day as well, and I felt good about it. You know, growing up in Florida, like if your name is called by the Dolphins. That's you know, that's you know, you get your name get called by anybody, but be able to be in the Dolphins was like, well, maybe this is where I was supposed to be, you know, you know, and I don't really have any regrets about where I ended up. And you know, I used to joke around with some people and that would I would say it.

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Speaker 1: Cost me a lot of money.

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Speaker 4: You know, if you you go from where I where I was before I got my ankle broken, my leg broken, to where I went, you know, you can't ever make make that signing bonus money up, you know, just to And then when I got drafted, the conversations I had with Jimmy on the phone that night of the draft, we're kind of the same things leading to you know, they accumulated some picks so they could have multiple second, third round picks, and they were eyeing me the whole time, kind of kind of the language that they used with me on the phone after they drafted me, and and that they felt like that I could come in and help out.

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Speaker 1: You know, the receiver room with some big place.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I was going to I want to backtrack, just real quick, because I didn't realize how similar some of our our situation was in college because I was considering leaving early and I talked to my coaches and they said, well, come back for another year, which is what I did. Then I come back for another year. I go to Japan, Po Japan Bo. I get hurt into Japan, bo, worried about, you know, my stock. I was supposed to be going to the Senior Bowl right from there. Yeah, you know, so with the combine didn't work out. Like he talked about, just concentrate on my pro days, man, And how much stress I had pro day wise trying to prove my that I could still you know, play at that level. It was tremendous.

00:19:40
Speaker 1: Man.

00:19:40
Speaker 3: How much stress did you have after you missed all those opportunities to show and prove, you know, and then all of a sudden, you've got the pro days pretty much all you had to give them all you've got.

00:19:51
Speaker 1: You're right, man.

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Speaker 4: It was like putting all the eggs in one basket, right. It was very nerve wracking. It was like the most pressure I think I've ever felt.

00:20:01
Speaker 1: Because when you're.

00:20:01
Speaker 4: Playing football, you know, once the ball snapped, there's you know, you don't feel the pressure, but when they're watching your every move, they're timing your every step, you know, they are trying to figure out whether or not you still got it. Are you have you?

00:20:16
Speaker 1: Have you lost the step? Are you healthy?

00:20:18
Speaker 4: The pressure was high as it's ever been for me, and you know it was one of those things. I remember trying to go eat breakfast that morning on my first broad day and couldn't even eat, like I was so nervous. Right, It's like I'm gonna throw.

00:20:33
Speaker 1: This up, right, Like that's the type of pressure I was on.

00:20:36
Speaker 4: You know, you got to drop the time down you you know, you got to catch every ball, You got to do everything right in order to you got that one chance to impress somebody, you know, and and that that pressure was unreal.

00:20:49
Speaker 3: So let me ask you this real quick. Who was throwing to you?

00:20:52
Speaker 1: Was?

00:20:52
Speaker 3: Was your roommate throwing to you?

00:20:53
Speaker 1: For you? For us? It was?

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Speaker 4: And that was everything, Like I mean, it was you know, we had kind of already kind of rehearsed it and went through it, and but you know, you never know what they throw at you. When the coach jumps in and say, hey, run this route, and so we we kind of you know, even though we didn't connect a lot of my senior year because of the injuries, we we were on point that day, you know, and then if things went so well that I actually scheduled another pro day because there was a few teams that didn't show up. You know, being at ECU, we always okay, when are they going to be at U n C, When are they going to be at NC State? We're going to do it the day after and strategically, like why those scouts are in North Carolina, They're going to get in the car and drive the e c U.

00:21:44
Speaker 1: So we did one more pro day like two weeks later, and.

00:21:50
Speaker 4: A lot of a lot of people came back, and a lot of every team that didn't come come.

00:21:54
Speaker 1: Came and they were like, man, you.

00:21:59
Speaker 4: At the you know, they were basically telling my agent that the word is out at the other pro days, like if you hadn't seen the Shannon kid, you need to go see him.

00:22:08
Speaker 1: Right.

00:22:08
Speaker 4: So that's so we didn't know the pro day and it was you know, any school that wasn't at the first one, any team that wasn't the first one, we're there at the second one. So and once again you got to you gotta perform for people that went there.

00:22:20
Speaker 1: The first time, you know, got to put on a couple of shows.

00:22:23
Speaker 3: Man, Well, that's that's awesome, man, I mean you and like you said that, that pressure is me. It's our first job interview, right, you know what I mean. Whatever we're doing the summer jobs is probably with the schools were hooking up, you know what I mean, probably weren't doing too much and didn't have to interview for. But this is the one. It was the real deal that we were talking about.

00:22:43
Speaker 1: Man.

00:22:43
Speaker 3: You know, Seth mentioned that you and Pat were part of that that draft class. So let's let's talk about that group a little bit. Larry, in addition to you, the two of you, John averyl we talked about a little bit. Was in the first round. Kenny Mixon and Brad Jackson joined you in the third round, and then our guy at Lorenzo Bromeo, we plucked him in the fourth round. What do you remember about that crew mix. That's a hell of a crew right there, personality wise, and some of them really good players.

00:23:06
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:23:07
Speaker 4: No, it's almost like you have a connection that you you know, you didn't know you have because you know you got someone you got so much in common. And then when you get together as a draft class, and then you know, you know, like me and Pat knew each other. Brad played against Cincinnati and Pat we played every year, every year, and we're going back and forth, you know, and knew who he was, you know, obviously you see him at this you know, the bowl games and the combine. You start to get to know these guys. And then when you all get drafted together, you know, and we had a lot of draft picks, you know, with those extra picks. You know, there's not just seven rounds of guys, you know, there's there's multiple draft picks. So there, you know, we're rolling deep man Classinati. You know that that draft class of ninety eight. You know, we got some guys. I think the bond that we had was everything Like during those you know, back then we had the you know the rookie mini camp, you know, and then we had the rookie you know, the rookie training camp where you come together and Ad that'sn't even there yet, you know type thing, and you're just looking at each other trying to like, can we do this right? You know, like we got each other's back, you know, so we you know, we build a relationship and then off the field, away from the facility, you're getting you're getting together with the guys at different events or different things going on in the Miami area. So that was a special group, you know. To me, I think it was a good draft class for the Dolphins. A lot of good production there, even though I really didn't do anything and we traded John the next year. You know, I you know, I don't want to call myself a bus but I think some people in the Dolphin you know, Miami area felt like, hey, we drafted Larry Shannon, we could have had Randy Malls and maybe held that against me a little bit, but it wasn't you know, my you know, my results in.

00:24:53
Speaker 1: Miami wasn't was out of my control. You know. Everything that happened was out of my control.

00:24:57
Speaker 3: And let me interrupt you real quick, Larry with that, because I love that you said that, man, because people don't understand the definition of a bus, you know, and I hate when people want to assume things like that, because when if you talk about a bus, that's somebody gets sixteen games, sixteen more games, fifteen whatever it is, three seasons or whatever, they play and then they don't produce where they think they should produce. When you're injured, I just call that bad luck in my opinion. You know, my best friend to John, they consider him that, but he never got opportunities either. So when you get hurt, it's not a bust and that will never be a bus I know when I was when I saw you in camp, Man, this kid is going to be special. But when you can't, when you're hurt, it's just bad luck to me, man, And so I would never I hope you don't feel that way either about yourself, bro, because they don't get it. People just don't get it. Sometimes I appreciate that. That means a lot. One thing that Dolphins.

00:25:51
Speaker 4: You know, we talked about like the high expectations they had for me and when they drafted me. So I come to Miami after the you know that that weekend where they're putting all the microphones in.

00:26:02
Speaker 1: My face and the.

00:26:03
Speaker 4: Media is like I'm the guy they want to talk to because of the comments that Jimmy had made were going on the field. And we complete the weekend of the mini camp and you know, I'm getting ready to fly back to ECU. You know, because were's a there's a break before we come back for you know, I guess they called OTAs now we used call them quarterback schools. There's a break there and training staff and they pulled me aside and they say, uh, basically like we know your leg. You know your your leg's not healed.

00:26:35
Speaker 1: We know you're you're the guy out there running around is not the guy we drafted or we you know, we have the expectations for it.

00:26:42
Speaker 4: So I went back to ECU and that whatever it was four to five weeks before I moved back to Miami for the summer. They had me rehab with a specialist like five days a week because of my broken leg and my ankle. This my my bones didn't quite right, and there was some like flexibility issues and and and I just didn't have like the range of motions. So they sent me back and salt a specialists in the area. And that's what I did for five weeks. This get I got after rehab to get the my my broken leg and tour angle kind of ready to go for the for the summer. They didn't want me to rehab with anybody ECU. They wanted me to rehab with the best guy they could find. And uh, and that's what I did, you know. And then I came back and you know that when you're a rookie in an organization, I think confidence is everything for you.

00:27:37
Speaker 1: Right when you're a rookie.

00:27:38
Speaker 4: And I think in the beginning of my first experience in Miami, I cked a little bit of confidence because I really hadn't.

00:27:45
Speaker 1: Played a lot of football. You know, I got hurt.

00:27:48
Speaker 4: I had the high expectations I'm still not quite healthy enough. You know, I got damn reno throm in football's and the pressure of that is a lot just by itself. You know, you got this expectation to well, you're going to get treated differently on the field by veteran players because you're a rookie, and they're going to test you a little bit more than they test anybody else. So I think early on my confidence wasn't there, right like, and then finally I told myself, like, look, man, you.

00:28:17
Speaker 1: You belong here. You're you're healthy, right they drafted you for a reason.

00:28:22
Speaker 4: And then you know, as training camp got ready to start my rookie year, I kind of felt like, you know, I was ready to go. And and then What happened next is a whole other story.

00:28:32
Speaker 2: We're going to get into that story in a minute. But you just mentioned a name, and I want to I want to go back to it, because, yeah, look, let's be real. You said you grew up a Dolphins fan. You're in the state of Florida. Your favorite player growing up war number thirteen for the Miami Dolphins.

00:28:49
Speaker 1: And I'm talking.

00:28:49
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about Jake Scott. It was Danno, and Scott wasn't Jake. But I just, you know, generationally, I think I think it wasn't Jake. So you're growing up it was dann Marino. And now you're in the same locker room, you're in the same offensive meetings. Like you said, you're catching passes, you're in the huddle with him, depending upon what the you know, what the personnel packages. How crazy was that for you to be sitting there with your hero going through those motions.

00:29:20
Speaker 4: It was surreal, man, at first to take the truth like you know, and then and then of course you get everybody that is a Dolphin fan back home or back at school. The number one question is how is it playing with Dan Reno? How's the catching Baptist for Dan Reno, you know, and the one thing I'd say about Dan, He's one of the best teammates I've.

00:29:39
Speaker 1: Ever had, you know, and he cared about you. And even though he was very demanding as.

00:29:45
Speaker 4: You know, as far as receiver quarterback relationship and you were you know, and getting open and knowing that plays and all that. You know, he sincerely was one of the better locker room does I've ever been around. And you know that's coming from a rookie to you know, a Hall of famer. That's the way he treated me, you know. But it was, it was it was surreal, man. It was obviously a deep dream come true. I think one of the things as my first summer in miamis were leading the training camp KO or athletic trainer. He went to like a athletic trainer convention or whatever. There were a lot of college trainers are there and he was He had dinner with the trainer from e c U and I didn't know this, and then the trainer from ECU told me this story later on. He said, yeah, I asked the trainer like, how's Larry doing, you know, after you guys drafted him and getting ready to start training camp.

00:30:34
Speaker 1: How's he doing? So Kevin told our.

00:30:37
Speaker 4: Trainer at ECU that Dan had high praise for me, like Dan told him like, hey, this guy can run. I put some balls out there, see if you could go get them. And Dan had told Relate the KO that basically, you know, like he liked him. You know what I'm saying, which that was pretty that was pretty special right there.

00:30:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt, man, anytime you get it for one trade, man, that's really really special. And so honestly, there at this point, thing seemed like it's going pretty good, man, and you know you're living out your dream. But as we all know, once everybody has stepped on the football field, you know that, you know, we're only one play away from being turned upside down in an instance. And unfortunately for you that that came pretty early and of your of your career and training camp to the extent that you're comfortable talking about, Man, tell us what you remember about the day you injured your knee and and then you know, I have to imagine that that probably changed everything.

00:31:32
Speaker 1: It did.

00:31:35
Speaker 4: So we're getting ready to report the training camp, right and it's that period of time where you know, like the rookies and some certain veterans that come in a couple of days earlier before everybody else, and man, I held out, like I actually I didn't sign my rookie contract until like ten pm the day before training camp started, and it was some language stuff my agent was trying to work through with about injuries and some other things that Dolphins were putting in the contract. So I'm sitting in my apartment in Miami and Davy or in Plantation, I guess it is, and I'm I just waiting to go to the hotel. Man, like the player in me is just like I can't miss anything, you know, I'm missing. I'm missing the meeting the night before, like I want to be there, like you know, I want to miss anything. And he's just like, no, you're not going, like until we get this worked out. And then so like ten pm that night he calls and said, Okay, we're good. You know, don't meet you at the at the hotel. You'll sign your contract, you'll practice the next day. And so that's what happened, and I go get in the hotel room, you know, wake up next morning. I'm going my first day of NFL training camp and probably within about forty five minutes of my first NFL practice, I tear my acl M. Yeah, and you know, Juice, it's one of those deals where you know you're running full speed and you you know you're going to make an inndcut.

00:33:09
Speaker 1: And it was a speed incut, right.

00:33:11
Speaker 4: It was one that I had the dB trailing me and I just want to go ahead and speed cut him. And I put my foot in the ground and I probably you know, probably made that cut numerous times before, you know, but just the way my angle of my foot, the weight on my foot, you know, it was an instant tear of the a c L.

00:33:33
Speaker 1: It was like someone shot me with a shotgun. The way that I.

00:33:36
Speaker 4: Failed, the way that it sounded, the way that it hurt, you know what I'm saying. I kind of knew instantly it was bad, but just hoping for the best. I think, you know, they carded me off. You know, I had to go get the MRI, and I always remember this. When I left the MRI, I uh, the guy, the technician there, you know, he very somber acting and I didn't really pay attention to at the time, but you know, wish me good luck, and and that was kind of like dang, man, he's serious. Like, so then I get back to the facility and then I I go into the training room and sit down, and that's when they broke the news to me, like, you know, you tore your a CL.

00:34:19
Speaker 1: You know we're gonna put you on IR.

00:34:21
Speaker 4: You're done for the year, and here comes eight nine months of physical therapy every day of your life.

00:34:27
Speaker 1: So very disappointing, man. Like used to bother me a lot.

00:34:34
Speaker 4: When I was younger, and when when I you know, when I finally got out of the league, and used to bother me a lot, like kind of the what ifs, you know, like what if, you know, what if I never got heard? Where would I be at? What type of career I would have had? But you know, I learned over time, man, that there was a lot worse things that happened to you, right than tearing your a c L and not having the career that you wanted to have. So I pretty much kind of just start wanted. At some point in my life, I woke up and said, I'm not gonna do this anymore. Man, I'm not gonna worry about like what people think about my career. I'm not gonna worry about like not you know, having this long, long career that I dreamed about having. I'm gonna be thankful for my time and to be, you know, thankful to you know, to be drafted the NFL, drafted by the Dolphins, and then to you know, meet the people I met and the experiences I had. I'm gonna pass those things. It helped me in my career. It helped me be a better husband and father, I mean, better be a better person, you know. So And and like you guys know, life stuff, man, like, things are gonna be tossed at you that you're gonna have to right, You're gonna have to deal with and how are.

00:35:47
Speaker 1: You gonna deal with them?

00:35:49
Speaker 4: When you go through some adversity and things don't go your way and you fight through that, it only makes you better man.

00:35:55
Speaker 1: So that's kind of my story, buddy, bro.

00:35:58
Speaker 3: And it's so man that that's some real ship right there, man, you know what I mean. And you know it takes some time, bro. You know, hell, I played the years that I played and still after night I was still like fuck why me at the end of it, you know what I mean. It takes some time to get that that mindset, Bro, and I'm so proud of you for that, man, because those football players who never really in football on our own terms. There's very few Peyton Manning's, you know, There's very few Tom Brady's. There's very few John Elways that you know can walk out when they want to walk out of the game, bro, you know, and man, and then you have to figure out. Man, that's just that's so all inspiring.

00:36:42
Speaker 5: Man.

00:36:42
Speaker 3: And I'm so proud of you, young man. You know, we're not young men anymore because you think about it now, when I first knew you were a young man, now.

00:36:50
Speaker 2: You man, that just makes you the old guy in the room.

00:36:52
Speaker 3: I am the old guy in the room right now.

00:36:55
Speaker 4: But no, I appreciate that, man. I I you know, we'd had this conversation years back. I had a different mentality about it. And at some point you have to move on and you have to use your life experiences that to help you be the you know, the best person you can be. And and it used to really bother me, man, I tell you it's it wasn't easy. I tell you that.

00:37:15
Speaker 1: Man.

00:37:17
Speaker 4: You know, it's not that you can't come back from a c L right, but in the NFL, you got a window, right, You got a window to establish yourself, right, You got a window to make your name. You got a window to say, this is a guy that's going to play in this league for a long time, this is a guy that.

00:37:33
Speaker 1: Can do these things. And you're you've gotta be wanted that window.

00:37:36
Speaker 4: You know, when you tear your a seal and don't play it all your rookie year and then they start like, oh, you know, they signing free agents to replace you, maybe drafting somebody the next year.

00:37:45
Speaker 1: You know, you're a shrinking I think one of the one of those.

00:37:48
Speaker 4: Things I'm proud of about is is coming back to following you, coming back my second year with Miami and going through that same thing again, trying to get healthy, trying to get my confidence back. Some people are better out than others. I struggled with it a little bit, and the Dolphins did a great job man of recognizing that I was letting the injury and linger a little bit.

00:38:13
Speaker 1: You know, I wasn't running full speed.

00:38:16
Speaker 4: You know, I wasn't finishing plays because when someone was close to my legs. And we're talking about that, you know that training, those mini camps leading up to the summer, you know, so they did some things sports psychology wise to help me kind of overcome some of those fears that coming back off of you know, a nasty injury like that, and you know, and then coming back and you know, and grinding through a training camp where am I going to get cut? You know, that mentality of you know, every day having to produce, you know, and prove that you're can healthy and stay healthy. And then you know, there's twelve receivers and how can you be the one of those six that they're going to keep, you know, And and that and that I was most proudusts of that part of my life and my football career of grinding through that and then waking up the day after the final cuts and you know, going into the locker room and knowing that you did it. You know, not my second year, you know, obviously you're you know, just trying to make a difference and get on the field.

00:39:19
Speaker 1: But overcoming that and coming back was one of the highlights of my football career.

00:39:26
Speaker 3: That absolutely.

00:39:27
Speaker 1: I know.

00:39:28
Speaker 3: You still you work with kids and you coach kids, Man, how much of your story do you share with them and use that for one for yourself to talk about it for two to let them know how things can go and how you still persevere and you keep moving on.

00:39:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think that's part of my purpose, man, Like I've been there, done that type thing. I also know how to overcome tough times. Also reflect to them, like about the tough times in life, whether as a football player or just as a father or or a husband or just trying to be a better person and knowing that there's gonna be some tough times and you're gonna be dealt a tough hand every now and then, how are you going to overcome that?

00:40:07
Speaker 1: And some of them face it, you know right now.

00:40:09
Speaker 4: You know, they face the injuries right now, or they face the disappointments right now while they're you know, while they're a teenager and and you've got to guide.

00:40:18
Speaker 1: Them along and help them along.

00:40:19
Speaker 4: I think that that's kind of why I've been where I'm at for so long, you know, and could have done some other things, but felt like, you know that I was enjoying life and enjoyed doing what I was doing after NFL football, being at the high school level and trying to change kids' lives.

00:40:38
Speaker 2: That's exactly what you're doing. Man, it's exactly what you're doing. And it's you know, we've said it a couple of times, we haven't said the school. So you're at Venice High School. It doesn't hurt juice when you're when you're in Venice, Florida, it's not the worst place in the world for for Larry to be. You know, he's uh, you know, we got the weather in the water and he's got the whole West coast of Florida over there and doing his thing. And you you you know, you're now the athletic director, but you were coaching ball there for a number of years. And then a funny thing starts to happen. You start to get on this run where some of your high profile former teammates are on the opposite sideline. Right, you guys start playing Plantation American Heritage and the Pat Sertan, you know, head coach Pat Certan, And then you guys get in this five year battle back to back to back to back to back against Saint Thomas Aquanas and Jason Taylor and Sam Madison are on the sidelines for that team, and you guys meet in the state playoffs every year, and then the team that wins ends up going on to win the dang state championship. What was that, like, did you ever think in a million years, with this unbelievable story that you just told us, that you would end up in Venice, Florida coaching against these guys that you were in the locker room.

00:41:47
Speaker 4: I tell you, I never know my wildest dream when I thought that that would have happened. And you're right, five straight years of the semi finals. So one game away from the state championship game, it's Venice versee Thomas, you know, and you know, obviously we know that Saint Thomas is the track record of Saint Thomas. You know, the wins, the state championships, the amount of talent they had.

00:42:10
Speaker 1: So the first time we played them, it was pat.

00:42:13
Speaker 4: I mean it was a Sam Only, right, I think it was Sam Only, And you know, it's good catching up with him, and like, man, that was Sam, you know, Juice. You know how it is when you those guys that played dB, you know, like right, like yeah, those guys that you know, it's it's a daily battle, trash talking. But then you build a report a relationship with and you're and they're just and they're they're like family. You know what I'm saying. There's like your your family that you've got to fight every day, right, those guys.

00:42:44
Speaker 1: So seeing seeing Sam and.

00:42:46
Speaker 4: Then the first year we played Saint Thomas, I mean, we're undefeated, we had we haven't had a game within thirty five points, we're under and then we're we're gonna win the state championship.

00:42:57
Speaker 1: And then we turned on the film and we're watching Saint Thomas.

00:42:59
Speaker 4: We're like, lord, you know it was like Division one guys on their roster, right, so you know, we play them and they beat the Brakes off us, and then Jason's uh, Jason's not there, I don't think, but you know, catching up with Sam starts to become this little rivalry. So then the next year Jason is coaching with them. They have to come to Venice, so we got to home field advantage and like, and we knock them off. Uh, and we go on to win the state championship. The following year, they're really pissed off at us. You know, we play them down and down there in Fort Lauderdale. You know, they beat us, and then it just kept going where it was five years in a row where Venice and Saint Thomas played, you know, the semi finals.

00:43:46
Speaker 1: You know, that was pretty cool.

00:43:47
Speaker 4: It was really it was always good to catch up with the guys, right, you know, the catch up with you know, and then Jason's kids are on the team at Saint Thomas and Sam's son and then and then you know, we just kind of they're asked me about my kids, you know, and and my family, and that was always special. Look forward to that, you know, even though we didn't want to play them, and when it was gonna be a tough game, but look forward to knowing that I was gonna get a chance to catch up with those guys and see them before and after the game.

00:44:16
Speaker 1: Was pretty cool.

00:44:17
Speaker 2: Juice, he's got this picture he showed me the other night, and you'll have to send it to me because we'll use this. This will be a great climp. But it's this picture of the three of them on the sidelines and they're in there, you know, they're in their coaches right, but it's you know, they're not wearing orange and Ale right orange, and you know, and he's wearing his Venice green and they're wearing their STA colors, and it was it was just really really cool.

00:44:43
Speaker 1: It was. That was cool. Yeah.

00:44:45
Speaker 4: And then a few years later we ran up against we scheduled American Heritage.

00:44:50
Speaker 1: They came over here to Venice and Aron Day. Yeah, you know their coaches. So I run to that.

00:44:58
Speaker 4: I go to the locker room, I go say hey, I pull one of their kids out. I say, hey, can you go get coach Sirtan for me? Like Pats walking out, I can see you walking out, you can't see. Maybe he's like, who the heck wants to me?

00:45:10
Speaker 3: You're like, oh, he doesn't even know.

00:45:11
Speaker 1: I love it. You don't even know.

00:45:12
Speaker 4: He don't even He didn't know the time I was coaching at Venice and then and I'm like, what's up then?

00:45:18
Speaker 1: And he's like, oh man, So he goes in against a Ron.

00:45:21
Speaker 4: Day and then we you know, we catch up for several minutes and then have a good game against him.

00:45:26
Speaker 1: And then that was cool. Love that a good time?

00:45:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, I absolutely love that. So Larry, you've been more than generous with your time. And again, I know with those ad hours some you know, you've got a family at home waiting for you to get there. We won't keep you much longer, but we do end every episode of this podcast the same way as the Fish Tank two minute drill. All right, so I know you're in the AD's chair now, but go ahead and put that whistle back on. You've coached your share of ball, so I have no doubt you're going to be prepared to handle this. We're putting two minutes on the clock. We give him any timeouts choice I want to give them.

00:45:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, we got Well, if you once won't, we gotta. We gotta offer it if you want timeout.

00:46:02
Speaker 1: Coach, You guys got me nervous.

00:46:05
Speaker 2: That's the goal.

00:46:07
Speaker 1: I think a good coach would never turn down a time out.

00:46:09
Speaker 2: I mean that's right, all right, you gotta time out if you need it. We're gonna hit you with a few fast paced questions, have some fun, and then we'll get you out of here.

00:46:16
Speaker 1: Sound good, sounds great?

00:46:18
Speaker 2: All right?

00:46:19
Speaker 3: All right, ready, all right, big stathy, Ready here I go. All right, So, Larry, your your middle name is David, making your name Larry David Shannon. How often are you mistaken for the curb your enthusiasm star.

00:46:31
Speaker 1: I'm not quite mistaken. People do have a good joke about it.

00:46:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I was like, wait, it's Larry David. I don't know, Larry. I probably knew it, but that didn't mean as much, you know, back in nineteen ninety eight.

00:46:47
Speaker 4: Hilarious, right, Yeah, so people people seem to have a good time with it, and they realize what my middle name is.

00:46:53
Speaker 1: I love it? So all right.

00:46:54
Speaker 2: Fans of ECU most famously remember you for a touchdown celebration against State where you pull a yellow towel out of your game pants. Dude, forget sharpie's in your sock. She had a yellow towel in his game pants, scores a touchdown, starts waving this darn thing around? Larry, who's got the towel today?

00:47:14
Speaker 1: I have it.

00:47:17
Speaker 2: It's at my U.

00:47:18
Speaker 1: It's at my mom's house.

00:47:19
Speaker 2: I love it.

00:47:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, great story there, I You know, I I was very frustrated player. I wanted to catch a ball in our biggest rivalry game of the year. We're playing in Carolina Panther Stadium. We break a record for attendance, and I'm getting I'm getting shut out.

00:47:36
Speaker 1: Man, Ball's not coming my way.

00:47:39
Speaker 4: They gave all the ECU fans like like the Terrible Towers like Pittsburgh, right, So they made it down to the sideline and I said man, I'm going to score a touch out in this game, and what I do, I'm gonna pull this towel out of my pants. And late in the fourth quarter, I finally get a good ball. I go up the deep ball, catch it, touchdown, and the tie is.

00:48:01
Speaker 1: Like down by my knee pads.

00:48:04
Speaker 3: It worked its way down that part, so.

00:48:11
Speaker 1: Hey, I was committed.

00:48:12
Speaker 4: Man, I went, I pulled it out, and I'm going crazy and anson running, the fans going crazy, and.

00:48:20
Speaker 1: Then uh, I get to the side that I'm like, this is not gonna be good for me, right right.

00:48:24
Speaker 2: It was all fun and games until somebody showed up on the sidelines and.

00:48:28
Speaker 1: I'm like, I got the whole the head coach, they want to see you about that.

00:48:35
Speaker 3: You know what, they're there when you're starting, and you can do it and then just do with it later.

00:48:38
Speaker 1: Man.

00:48:39
Speaker 4: And every time I see an ECU fan, that's the first thing they say, I'm so glad you pulled that towel out against the n C State.

00:48:48
Speaker 2: That's right. So it was worth it. It was absolutely worth it. It's also worth it. You've got a good get back coaching me. I called a time out before you answered that question, so we bought back some time, I know, to make sure that he stop the clock when he when he's doing the editing here sor right, we got too.

00:49:03
Speaker 3: Much probably where you'd be probably being't get back, you would be calling it.

00:49:07
Speaker 2: Well yeah, no, no, no, don't have me call you know what. Send my ass back up to the press box. Let me keep stats. That's where I belong. That's where I belong. Right, let's start to talk again.

00:49:15
Speaker 3: Time back and let's go all right, So we talked a little bit. You come, you came out to the hoop court to my house, you know a couple of times. And even though I know you know, at that point you were just you know, back pretty much just rehabing what you were doing. You had to scout some talent out there.

00:49:31
Speaker 1: Larry.

00:49:31
Speaker 3: Who did you see on my court that you put on Larry shen in top five?

00:49:38
Speaker 4: Well, I you know what what I learned really quick was how athletic everybody was, right, I mean, you gotta go j T right, j T, no doubt about it, you know.

00:49:48
Speaker 1: And I'm out you know, myrews.

00:49:50
Speaker 4: My first time out there, I'm like, hey, dude's gonna be out here and not trying to get hurt.

00:49:53
Speaker 1: They're gonna be I get out there, I'm like, I gotta change my mentality, Like like I'm getting heats up out here.

00:50:02
Speaker 4: You know, uh got you know, gotta you got you gotta put the guy that home court advantage. Knew every part of that court, my man, juice right, Like he's got to be leading the leading the team right.

00:50:14
Speaker 1: Down the court.

00:50:16
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and you're gonna get every call with those two guys.

00:50:18
Speaker 3: Let me just say every call or people gotta leave.

00:50:22
Speaker 1: You know. I Sam definitely on that team.

00:50:26
Speaker 4: And and I don't really remember how good a player he was, but I know he's gonna talk trash, right, I know he's gonna talk trash, and we're gonna have that edge.

00:50:35
Speaker 1: Uh.

00:50:36
Speaker 2: I was gonna put his hands on you too.

00:50:39
Speaker 3: He's gonna foul a lot, Larry, He's gonna file at.

00:50:42
Speaker 1: Foul a lot, right, man? What's that? That's a good times man.

00:50:47
Speaker 4: See, you know, I don't really remember him playing much, but listen, you know, just crafty as ever, right right, crafty.

00:51:02
Speaker 1: To do it all. So he's definitely on the team.

00:51:05
Speaker 2: Well I got one more, You got one more? Crafty's a nice way to put it.

00:51:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely nice what about you I told me about I'll go on it.

00:51:16
Speaker 2: You put the team together as well, run with it.

00:51:18
Speaker 1: That's what I like it.

00:51:20
Speaker 2: That's a good squad. That is a good I'm gonna all right, we're gonna hit this last question here. So if Dan Marino was your favorite player growing up overall, but you were a wide out, who is your favorite Miami Dolphins wide receiver?

00:51:35
Speaker 1: Favorite? My own.

00:51:37
Speaker 2: Mark duper dude, because it's super duper.

00:51:40
Speaker 1: He likes that speed. I love it.

00:51:42
Speaker 2: That is the two minute drill. He's got a good squad. And you picked the guy that juice is okay with that. His name's not O. J. McDuffie because he loves duke as well.

00:51:51
Speaker 3: So I loved I love whooping dukes. Button dominos right there too.

00:51:57
Speaker 2: Good man. This was even better than I could have expected, and my expectations were high.

00:52:04
Speaker 1: This was I'm glad I could get on in my office. You know, I got all the different things, my messed up camera. Uh but all right, man, this was a blast. I tell you what.

00:52:17
Speaker 4: I was been looking forward to it all day long and trying to plan out my day and making sure. But no one's going to interrupt as we were filming, and and I you know, part about my memories of of Miami and the special times the short time I was there was obviously meeting you guys. And and I'm not just saying that because I'm on here with you guys, but Jews, you were like a big brother.

00:52:43
Speaker 1: Uh. The receiver room was awesome.

00:52:45
Speaker 4: It was you know, the meetium rooms, and you know, the times that we had to get on the field and on the road.

00:52:52
Speaker 1: And just learning from you, man, was was very very special. Uh.

00:52:56
Speaker 4: And then like so when we see each other, that connection is real and it's as fam Man. I remember coming to your house, you know, going to your you know, I remember going to a couple of parties you.

00:53:06
Speaker 1: Had, and you know, and just just living it up man.

00:53:09
Speaker 4: And uh, and then Seth you know, the relationships that we built with you working for the Dolphins, our connection with Gainesville and and you know with you know, hanging out with I O and Zach and you know, and just got his being around you every day.

00:53:23
Speaker 1: Man. Was it was so good to catch up with you last two weekends ago at and the love that weekend.

00:53:28
Speaker 2: It was really cool, man, get our wives to me each other.

00:53:31
Speaker 6: It was just awesome. It was awesome change. But as soon as you see people, you just light up. So that's amazing. Cool man, That's that's what's up man and Larry Man. You know, Man, I so appreciate you, man, and love you little bro.

00:53:45
Speaker 3: Man. It's so so cool being able to catch up and you know, like we talked about the alumni weekend stuff is fun, man, But this is right here. It's like we get you a whole hour conversation.

00:53:56
Speaker 1: Man.

00:53:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, been rock solid, bro, absolutely Bro. I appreciate it, man, and much respect for you guys of what you're doing, big fan. So look forward to you know, connecting hopefully more than once a year, and you know, and having.

00:54:08
Speaker 1: You guys in my life. Man, that's awesome.

00:54:11
Speaker 3: So what's what's so? What's Venice looking like right now?

00:54:13
Speaker 1: We are nine and one.

00:54:16
Speaker 4: We only lost to IMG Oh wow, okay, We've we're like sixteenth in the country I think right now.

00:54:22
Speaker 1: So we're the number.

00:54:24
Speaker 4: One seedon seven A, the largest classification in the state. So we're gonna gonna take them one at a time.

00:54:30
Speaker 5: Here.

00:54:30
Speaker 1: We start next next Friday.

00:54:32
Speaker 4: I don't know who we're gonna play, you know, down the line, but in the championship games are being held down at f fy U Stadium night in December.

00:54:41
Speaker 3: Make sure you reach out once you guys reach there, because I'm saying you guys are going to reach there.

00:54:46
Speaker 4: Make sure you reach out, no doubt. Man, I'll definitely keep you guys in the loop where we're at. And then when they when they schedule the game. I don't want to look ahead. But what was really cool, man, was that in twenty twenty one we on the state championship and then twenty twenty two we lost it, and then we lost it again last year. But my story is is that for twenty one and twenty two we played down at Dry Pink, Okay. And we remember it as right Lockhart, right, remember scrimmaging and Lockhart.

00:55:18
Speaker 1: And then going now and playing down there that was that was pretty cool.

00:55:22
Speaker 4: And then seeing some of the old spots where we hung out on Fort Lauderdale and and then the plantation area was pretty cool as well, like to kind of reminisce a little.

00:55:30
Speaker 1: Bit, you know, very thanks to it, man, I appreciate you guys. I'll be safe. You're now diving.

00:55:40
Speaker 2: Just like Jews said, thanks for diving into the fish tank. Presented by iHeartRadio. Be sure to follow us on whatever streaming platform you're using, and don't be afraid to rate the show or leave us a comment. We love your feedback, and remember you can find us, as well as Drive Time with Travis Wingfield and all of our international partners on Miami Dolphins dot com. In a pistake