I've yours today we have a very special guest the inspiration behind the hit
Disney movie invincible keynote speaker and former teammate to the current 2018
Super Bowl champs Vince the poly Vince they go it's great to be here in this
town of course thank you so much so let's get right into it
when you were in high school you earned a college scholarship for pole vaulting
as you know we're in the midst of Olympic season did you ever consider
trying out for the Olympics that's a great question because you know that was
my one of my original dreams I had the dream of being a thought off the eagle
first and my either was Tommy McDonald the little guy and I was a little guy
but I wanted to I've actually wanted to be a decathlete or a performer all my
life and I was always enthralled with that a member Bob Richards and and and
all these guys were great partners back in a day and well you know what I wound
up coming out of high school on your foot and a half off the world's record
and I never pole vaulted before the world's record had just hit 16 feet and
I had 14 six and as I went into college and they got me as a at say chose
college I went in as a pole vaulter but then the coach made me do all kinds of
different events I wound up doing five different events every meet so so
getting into this decathlon state of mind that's what I get out of college
and I started coaching high school football I took it very seriously I
started training to try to qualify for the Olympic Trials decathlon in 1972 and
I got to score that I needed but it wasn't sanctioned by the governing body
so I couldn't get in any the Olympic Trials per se so I just said well that's
it you know whatever was it was 24 26 forget this one it's going to go nowhere
so as luck would have it if one door slams another one opens and I started
playing semi-pro football and that led to to me getting into the NFL and then
the movie invincible name is sitting here with you that was pretty cool they
call that the butterfly yeah that actually brings me to my next question
at the age of 30 he became the oldest rookie in NFL history to play without
any college experience when you to Philadelphia I know that you didn't
have a football team at your college and as you said you were committed to using
Joseph's for track how did your post collegiate football career begin it
actually began bike I was a head track coach at my alma mater and Suburban
Philly and I had I had a coach that coached all the throwing events the
javelin shot put discus of which my partner Dennis Franks was state champion
in the discus for the state of Pennsylvania and his name was Bill he's
one of the characters in the movie I won't say his last name
so anyway bill I paid in these rough touch legs he said come on and he says
you owe me two at every Sunday morning we'll talk before we go to the Eagles
game cuz I wasn't season taken order so I did it and that was what I did I was I
was I was coaching I was playing these rough touch leagues is they portrayed in
a movie and it was exactly like that it was so cool and after David over that
jump into training or right down in the stadium and see the Philadelphia Eagles
play I was a season ticket holder back then and that's a sort of that I had
that always had that love for football and it sort of kept the football skills
alive and gave me that confidence that I've ever given a shot I'd be able to do
it I mean to go from a season ticket holder watching the game to on the field
that's that's incredible yeah that's why they made a movie about it I'm not gonna
kid you but that's how they made the movie that's why they made the movie
about it and but you know what it's everybody's
story I mean it's not just a football story and a lot of people have gone from
one one thing to the next you know made those tremendous leaps and that's what
the invincible does it celebrates those victories that people have when people
say it can't be done well I think that's why it's such a successful movie choose
because it's so relatable the story yeah you know what it's not a relatable to
the story's no brainer it's relatable to generations and and have somebody come
up to me and they have a child with them and they say you know remember the movie
we watched about that football guy you know they'll say my name that football
guy and they you know they you know invincible and as soon as they say those
words they look up and they say but he doesn't look like Mark Wahlberg you have
a tough time capturing that you know it it's been great and it's
been a great run that's why I'm sitting here talking to you because of it sounds
pretty cool during your time with the Eagles you were voted special teams
captain and man of the year in 1970 I was very very proud of that how did you
earn such impressive titles that's in such a short period of time I'm making
the plays just like my partner Denis Franks we know he was special teams
captain the next year as we gain the trust and the confidence of our
teammates because we made the plays and we were leaders in certain ways Dennis's
more gregarious and I am and but a great leader and I was more the quiet guy
existe killer and the assassin out on the field and guys just said you know
this is God we want to lead you and that's pretty much how that happened and
then but I'll have to tell you that of all the things that I've ever received
that the Man of the Year award that I got in 1977 was one that I covered the
most because of work in the community that's when you make a real impact and I
was very proud to say that I got to be a finalist along with Roger Starbuck and
Archie Manning and watches Roger Staubach won the award but to say that I
was Man of the Year and it really to get that you know give us cat and that's one
of the greatest new boards have ever gotten you beat the odds many times in
life first by making it to the NFL at age 30 and then later in life during
your battle with me how do you mean so positive in the face of adversity
because I have positive people around me I have a beautiful family I've got
beautiful friends I've got Dennis I've got my wife Janet of 24 years she was so
much like me she was world-class gymnast it was told she'll never make it
she doesn't have the skills everybody's better than you and she took that and
took it to the peak level that you could you know represent in the USA and and
that beautiful children around me you know and they inspire me and I look at
them and and I see their dreams in their eyes you know and so I try to stay
around positive people and that's very active I try I don't try I stay fit and
that's very important one of the greatest things is actually getting out
on stage and we get out there and be in front of groups and be energized by them
and they motivate me just as much as I motivate them because I can see as I'm
looking at I'm out there and I'm not just they're
not hearing it's going into their soul and I'm there then I've made an impact
and there's no greater thing to me that you can do in life and it's make an
impact on somebody's life so do you think the key to a positive attitude is
surrounding yourself with good energy positive people yes audience and also
having a purpose you know and being relevant and in keeping that dream alive
never stop dreaming it's never too late to get in the game and it doesn't make a
difference what level you're at you've got two potential to take it to the next
level you have that potential to make that dream come true whatever that thing
is but you have to be willing to pay the price and you got to be willing to
hustle let's not forget about it the dream then you're just your poseur
and they're like school posers our clients have described you as fantastic
personable and aesthetic because they see me as one of them it's very simple
I'm the guy that came I was the son of a pig farmer I mean if I can make it
anybody can make it you know my mom and dad never got beyond the 8th grade and
there were dreamers too they came in from immigrant families and and so I I
can relate because they see me as one of them I don't put myself above them put
myself on a pedestal and look down I I look eye to eye with him at that same
level before you go I have to ask about the the huge movie invincible in the
movie as you said you were played by Mark Wahlberg are there any moments from
your life that didn't make it into the film that you wish had well yeah there
were a couple one in particular I wish that they could have told the real story
as to how I made the team we couldn't do it because because of it they would have
called it a Rudi moment when Rudy found out he made the team he went out and
made a phone call to his father when I found out I made the team when coach
Vermeil came up to me on the field so congratulations old man you're a
Philadelphia Eagle welcome to the team the first thing I did is I said can I
make a phone call and he said we're going to call press conference and I
said no I want to go call my dad and I down to a payphone they don't have
payphones anymore and I made a collect call which means a person is answering
has to pay for the call and I called Westinghouse where my dad worked for
25-30 years and I got to shop Stewart it's just these guys are right out of
central casting and I just said hey I said slim talk hey hey that's my father
his little boy is a Philadelphia Eagle and you could just hear it in the
background they were going crazy kingi King he we did it we did it you
know and we went have a party force every
party probably as long as we did when the Eagles just won the Superbowl but it
was it was a party they'd never forget and a moment to remember and you know
and it's been has it been immortalized now with the movie invincible so they
had a change of scene around a little bit I wish they had gone back and got to
see the real deal that I was I was a school teacher and that's very important
to me that I'm a school teacher it's the greatest thing I've ever done I mean the
forget playing professional sports being a school teacher was the greatest
profession I've ever been in and but now you know I'm and I mean that same thing
because I'm up on stage and I'm teaching and and and coaching and there's no
greater thing to do than that I was gonna ask I'm curious how your time as a
teacher has influenced your your life now as a keynote speaker
that's a great point because it's preparation and I was always a teacher
that I didn't go there and I just okay open up the book and you're going to do
this and that I was a guy when you did in my classroom where we're not only I
instructed but I did a lot of audio-visual back then you know one of
the first thing was you overhead projector which they thought was
high-tech but I always used the overhead projector and I did a lot of AV and then
after our talk we had that time period we would sit for 10 or 15 minutes and I
would instruct them and they would go through what I just tried to teach them
so they didn't have to be confused when they get home and get frustrated and say
well the guy didn't teach me right because I was there with them but the
key was when I was teaching them this is in the late sixties early seventies hard
rock was at its best and I had the hard rock music playing in the background in
my classroom so they loved and I had all the posters all around
we're all they used to have these low lights and I had the glowing lights set
up in my classroom and when it walked in there they see welcome to homeroom 24
the pride of Interborough you know when you walked into that classroom you want
it to be there and that's what I like to think that when people come to hear me
speak they want to be there because I've got something to tell them so I they say
I was a pretty cool teacher same thing of you know five or six times in a day
it's got to be fun to you right I mean you can't have fun doing it so that the
work that to me was the best way to do it and I thought I was
I broke the rule in terms of the dress because I was always training in the
morning for the decathlon so I always I always had my track shoes on and I
forget about it I if I had a tire on the tire was down here and it was pretty
hard to send you a picture that was given to me by my students when I left
to chase my dream it's pretty cool what is next for Vince I'm going to continue
to watch my children beautiful children Gabrielle and Vincent chase their dream
and do whatever I can to help that and same thing for Janet and starting a new
a new project with my partner in crime and also my teammate where the
Philadelphia goes Dennis Frank's and we've written a book called the last
laugh from vision of victory and we're going to start promoting that book
there's some book signings and go on and start having a series of books and
perhaps if we're lucky we'll have a dual speaking series going on with Dennis and
I talking and helping people getting from here to there you know realizing
their full potential Grave spaced out there is wasted potential and we think
that we've got the we've got their vision of victory we've got the victory
code that's going to help them get to that next level well your story is just
incredible and you have a whole new adventure ahead of you happy birthday
again thank you for joining me very much great interview by the way and I like
that shirt that's what a badass be sure to check out Vince on eagles talent com
thank you for joining me you're welcome