Up on on gay gay presents conversations with a legend

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Alright here we go up on game it presents conversations with a legend and this truly is a legend of mass proportions that I'm super super super excited to be a part of and do this interview the one the only Mr. Captain L Kirk they say T for star trekans but for stiller aliens it's Captain of the world

Captain L Kirk and that means Levant Kirkland the great Levant Kirkland middle line backer for the Pittsburgh Steelers man it's a pleasure it's an honor to do this this interview with you

How are you feeling man? How's everything going life? I just seen you in Philadelphia or in Harrisburg so we got a chance to link up just tell everybody how you feeling what you got going on what's going on in Levant Kirkland's world right now

Oh man such a lot and thank you so much for having me on the show man I know I've your life my little brother indeed I really appreciate your enthusiasm toward me it's funny but I appreciate it though

I am with the South Carolina football Hall of Fame as a nonprofit and we are trying to educate and power and encourage our student athletes in the state of South Carolina so that's one thing that I do I do a couple of podcastes I'm actually going back to school to get my masters in psychology

I am writing a book a book called Thank You and it talks it really shares my gratitude toward people places and experiences so I'm doing a great deal man I feel good I've been working out with a great trainer named Jimmy and I've cut out sugars in my diet so we good to go baby

I love it I love it alright so you mentioned the South Carolina Hall of Fame obviously you're a Clemson great now let's start let's start here and we'll talk about we'll get to legends program and your involvement

Are you involved with the legends are you up on the legends programs yes okay so we'll talk a little bit about that because I love the plug the legends program just because there's so many of us that need a voice and need a platform and need to be heard because it's so much wisdom that just is going unheard

and so this was why I started this show this series to be able to capture and collect the stories the information that we can pass on to not only the next guys up but to actually let people know that we're still relevant we're still brands that are investable you can still monetize you know what we got going on they just need to know what we got going on so let's start at the beginning

now it's only been Orlando pace shots out to the to the go to of lineman that has been a high profile guy coming out of high school from Leonard Williams to Thomas Davis senior to you name it Mike Rucker

guys have have been virtually obscure not very highly touted or recruited coming out of high school making it to the next level what was your high school situation like I know you're from South Carolina now is it small or is it okay so you come from a small area to

Carolina is a hotbed for football because most everybody I didn't talk to you then come from somewhere in the carolina's so just tell me a little bit about what your background was and what was your your journey to college

well you know I come from great great parents hard work in Paris you know my parents start off as sharecroppers actually for sisters three brothers and we're from a really small town one traffic light you can run your 40 in Lamar South Carolina you be

very small town one eight well we were two eight when I played and just wasn't really getting any really looks I was the youngest of them I'm the youngest of the other boys and I just fell in love with football my brother all my brothers were really good athletes but really didn't get an opportunity to go to the next level

and I thought one day I was throwing a ball around my backyard I caught it and I was like you know what I'm gonna play I'm gonna play pro ball with that with the high school

and my coach called me in at the 10th grade year my father you gotta know my father was really straight so I had to ask ask to go to practice every day he was a minister so I had to ask to go to practice every day

to go to practice every day right and so let's let's be clear here now because I'm a preacher's kid too that permission was to make sure you didn't have to clean up something or or

or like so I understood that very clearly so it's all about prioritizing as long as you ain't got something to do around what we got going on in God's house you can practice that's it that's it so I didn't so one time I didn't ask my father

and so I missed I missed a practice and my head coach called me in and he had a little stern talk with me and he said like you know we had a jammery he told me that I wasn't gonna play the jammery because I didn't go into practice

and I'm like and I was like well I have to ask my father I didn't see him he said that's your responsibility so I was like okay cool

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